Last night and I fired up 2 tables on Party, and an hour later, I was happy for two things;

1-I'm able shrug things off easily
2-I'm not using my poker bankroll as a source of income

At the end of the hour I was down 2 buy-ins all over two hands. I should've known I'd have a troublesome night, when dealt the Hilton Sisters on my first hand of the night, and mistakenly hit "fold to any bet" after the flop came down rags. At least, that's what I think happened. Not having a chance to open PokerTracker before the cards started flying, my mouse moved over the icon do just that, and when I looked back at the table, my cards were flying across to the stone-faced dealer. "I didn't muck that!", I screamed. My roommate laughed at me.

Hand #1-

I'm on the button and dealt AcKc. UTG minumum raises to $1, and there are 4 callers, including me. There's only one thing I hate more than the mininum raise while playing Pot or No Limit, and that's slowrolling. Luckily, slowrolling is impossible on the internet. The minimum raise, however, is everybody's signature move. I don't play NL to watch people act like it's limit poker. Ugh. Anyhow, the flop comes 10c-Ah-Kd, and, as Vince Van Patten would say, there are "fireworks going off in his head". The initial raiser bets the pot, which is somewhere around $5, the guy to his immediate left raises the rest of his stack to $9.50. Odd. The 3rd guy folds, and I'm faced with a decision. There's no use in calling, right? I mean, if I call the $9.50, it's not like I'm in the position to fold this if I don't improve. In my head, I'm asking the question "Can I fold this?", and outloud I answer "No, you can't". The roommate gives me the "who in the hell are you talking to?" look, and I raise it to $22.50. And the first guy immediately calls. Ruh-roh.

This situation is one that bothers me about Party Poker. There are 3 people that are all-in before the turn and river are even dealt, but the program doesn't expose the hole cards until the chips are being pushed to the winner. I'd like to be able to see where I'm at before the turn and burn, damn it! Imagine my surprise when the chips are being pushed to the initial raiser, as he flips over AA. He medium-played his aces, and I'm down one buy-in. I can't even be all that mad about this, because I was behind the whole way, and the only thing that would've saved me was if I'd hit my runner-runner club flush.

Hand #2

I didn't want to be that guy that lost his buy-in right away, and quickly reloaded to exact revenge on the person who now had his money, so I shut down the 2nd table, and focused on the other, where I was up about $10.

I go on a folding frenzy until I'm in the BB and dealt AA. Alcoholics Anonymous. Bing! Bang! Boom! Kablammo! With the re-creation of a Batman and Robin fight scene replaying in my head, I raise it 3x, and the 3 people that had limped before me all called. The SB had folded, so when the flop comes down Xs-Ks-Xh, I bet out 3/4 of the pot (about $4), and everybody folds, except for the button, who just calls. Hmmm...trips? Could be, but when the ace of hearts comes on the turn, I know that I'm ahead. I bet out small hoping to induce a raise, he falls for it, and reraises me all in. I'm ecstatic. I'm elated. In my head, I'm already spending this chump's money on beer. I'm also stunned that the pot goes to him after he backs into runner-runner flush, while holding...are you ready for this? The impenetrable fortress that is the K-6h.

I don't normally type anything in chat, but this time warranted something, anything, to make myself feel better. I quickly told him exactly how I felt about his hand, and entered the best diss known to man; "WEAK." There, that showed him, even doubly so because I capitalized the whole word! Take that, you bitch! I silently closed Party and PokerTracker, a defeated man. And then I grabbed a beer and all was well.

My roommate had been watching over my shoulder while all this was happening, and I think he was more pissed about it than I was. And this is the exact reason that I told him that he's not allowed to ever play online poker. He couldn't handle it. There's already one Phil Hellmuth in the world, the addition of another-living in my apartment, no less- might be apocalyptic.

The Iggy Shuffle

Can I tell you how excited I am to be playing in tonight's blogger / reader /anybody tournament? No? Too bad. I'm not one that normally gets starstruck, but come on. What 11 year old boy didn't want to go on a Ray Brower hunt with Gordie Lachance, Teddy Duchamp, and a fat Jerry O'Connell? I know I did. I'm so giddy right now. Hell, I might even be twitterpated. Or it could be the hangover, I'm not quite sure yet. Regardless, this is going to be one hell-of-a fun tournament, one where I'd pay $20 for the chat alone.

Even though I displayed my skills (that don't pay the bills) in the last blogger tourney by placing 16th, it's my goal to make the money this time. And take out every Minnesota blogger along the way. I'm looking at you, Chris.

Note to self: If you're seated at the table with Fast Eddie, turn off his chat. Immediately.