I know I have been back for a few weeks from Ocean’s 11 but I haven’t had much time since then to post about it so here I go now…

I arrive at Ocean’s 11 Thursday night around 9pm and my friend Kittie picks me up from the airport and off to Ocean’s 11 we head.  We get to O-11 and right a way I see Janice, London and Lupe and Cara all playing in cash games so I go over and say hello before I go register for the weekend’s tourneys.   After I registered Kittie and I and Maui  decide to go back to our Condo on the Ocean as it was already almost 11pm  as weI wanted to rest up before the next day’s tourney.  Well we get to the condo and I couldn’t believe how nice it was and very spacious.  6 of us shared a 2 bedroom / 2 bath condo and it was perfect.  One room had a king size bed which me and Maui shared, then the other room had a queen bed and twin bed in it which PokerQueen and Wifey and Ruth shared and Kittie opted to sleep on the couch since she was having back issues.   In the condo next to ours, Lucy, Chelli, SDJen, Musichead, Cara and Bonita were staying and their condo was even more beautfiul decorated all safari with a huge balcony looking over the ocean. 

The next day we go and play in the LIPS tourney which I didn’t do too well in.  I was trying to use Gus Hansen’s style but wasn’t getting anywhere.  Very early on I was getting low / medium pairs and wouldn’t connect to the flop at all and had to fold.  Then I thought I could raise a very tight player’s blinds but she happened to push all-in when I tried it and I had to fold my K5s.  Then I pushed all in on the button with A5os when it was folded to me and the BB had AQ and I was out just after the first break, sigh, not good at all.  I don’t think I raked in one pot during that tourney!!  Oh I forgot to mention that Linda Johnson got moved to my table too. 

 After that Kittie got knocked out shortly thereafter so we decided to go back to the Condo to relax for a few hours before dinner and that night’s festivities.    That night was the talent show at 0-11 and every year it is a blast.  There are a group of gals that put on such a funny skit every year and this year they did a skit from Menapause which was hilarioius because they were signing a couple of different songs with dildo’s.  After the show we decided to go play some cash games.  The list was long and it took me an hour to get into a 4/8 game.   After losing a $100 bucks in an hour I was ready to go back to the condo to rest up for the next day tourney, the Ladies State Championship.  I remember telling my husband that I don’t know how I will do but he told me go in there play my game because it was a new day and new tourney. 

So the next day I go in clear my mind tell myself you can do this and try to mentally prepare myself.  This time I put on my IPOD and focused on the players at my table.  I was seated in Seat 2 and Got2b (Juli) was seated in Seat 5 at my table too.  We also had a very well dressed older man in his 60’s at our table who must have been a local at 0-11 because every dealer knew his name which was Ceasar.   Juli asked him why did he want to play and this tourney and he said because women are fun to play with. 

Well the tourney starts and very early on I was able to double up when I hit a straight against another lady’s two pair and boy did I put her on tilt but she checked the flop so I checked my open ended straght draw (I had J 10) and she had KQ.  The turn brings the 9 and she bets 800 and I min raise her to 1600 and she calls.  The river is a low card she checks I bet out 2K and she calls and I told her I had a straight and she turns over her KQ in disgust and says I knew you had a straight then why did you call me????  So at the first break I had almost 12K in chips and we started out with 4K.  Then later on I had the pleasure of taking out the older gentleman at our table who happened to be the last guy in the tourney and everytime one of the guys got knocked out the women would cheer and applaud, but our table happended to be right next to the back exit and the older gentleman made a bee line for the exit even before the river card hit because I had pocket Kings against his AK and I turned a set!!  LOL   Finally, our table got broke and we were down to 3 tables.  I got seated at Janice’s and Sly Golf’s table and I had a pretty nice chip stack of around 60K.   The women seemed to tighten up there game more because we were close to the money so I was able to pick up some blinds and antes.  Janice was very short stacked and was able to double up but she ended going out 21st because we combined to 2 tables after that.  Everyone wanted to pay 18, 19, 20 their money back but there was one particular lady who didn’t want to.  Her name was Vivienne and she was a dealer from Oklahoma who was probably second in chips at that time.   After 19 and 20 busted out finally everyone, including Vivienne decided to pay the bubble so everyone was very happy to have made the money.  We were down to 11 and one more person needed to bust out before the final table was made.  Everyone was playing very tight I am in the SB with 96os complete it and the BB checked.  The flop comes 9 9 2 I check my trips and the lady pushed all-in I quickly called her and she turned over 52os so I took her out and made the final table, yeah!!!! 

Going into the final table I was second in chips with 99,500.  The chip leader had 113K and Vivienne the Oklahoma dealer had 94K.  I got fair warning about Vivienne and her agressiveness and let me tell you she was very aggressive.  She was raising every hand that was folded to her and since she was too my immediate right I never had an opportunity to do my own raising.  The table was playing very tight and we didn’t see a flop for almost two rounds and Vivienne became our new chip leader.  Well I was getting tired of sitting back and letting her run the table so I decided the next time she raised I was going to push not caring what kind of cards I had so she of course raised and I pushed all-in with Q6os and it was folded around to her and she quickly mucked her hand and said I respect you.  Then after that she doubled up one of the short stacks with her A7os against her pocket queens so she started to slow down a bit after that.  I was on the button with A5os and everyone folded to me so I raised and Chellie (Riverlady) had pocket Jacks and pushed all-in well it was only 14K for me to call so I did and I ended up making a straight on the river and she goes out 10th place.  At that point I had about 160K in chips.  Right after her another short stack goes out 9th.  At one point there were 4 people all-in two people had AK one had pocket 7’s another had pocket queens.  The lady with the pocket 7’s was the SS and she quadrupuled up and was actually the one who ended up winning the tourney.  The queens ended up taking the AK side pot and busted out one player.  So now we are down to 6.  The other lady who had the other AK was very SS.  Then this had came up Vivienne pushed all-in and I had A9s so I called and everyone else folded she turns over KQos and she flops a Q and I go out 6th in retrospect I should have waited for the lady who was very SS try to go out before me as she was coming in the blind and i don’t even think she had enough to cover it.  O-well I ended up cashing $2200 and I look forward to next year!!!

Well I haIve been really sick for the last month and I have been to the quick care / emergency room 4 times now and first they tell me I have a cold, then I have bronchitis, then walking pneumonia, now acute bronchitis.  I have been on 4 different antibiotics, 4 prescription cough medicines, a round of steroids, and 3 in halers and I’m still coughing away. Last night I was coughing so much that I collapsed and my husband called 911 b/c I coudn’t catch my breath, the paramedics came and gave me some oxygen and took my vitals and said my b/p was a lttile high, but I didn’t want then to take me to the ER again because I was just there the night before and I feel like it will be a wast of time.  So I have made an appt with my mom’s doctor Monday morning in hopes she can help me.  I am so worn down from this I literally am exhausted every day.  I am supposed to leave for O-11 in 5 days but right now I just don’t know if I can make it, but I am going to do my best.  Right now the medication I am taking has helped with my coughing, I am just concern once I am done with it the coughing will just continue.  I pray to God for strength and please make me better.  I feel blessed that i have a great husband and family who have really helped me and my boss for understanding that I have taken so much time off.   I also pray for Mindy for her to keep fighting her battle with cancer  and Gyla and Janice and all the other sharks / chix in Texas  to stay safe and weather this bad hurricane.

So after bubbling both tourneys over the weekend and playing each day for about 7 hours, I still didn’t have enough poker and this time I decide I am going to go play 1/2 NL cash at Binions since my fiance played there on Friday and made a profit of almost $500!  So I get to Binions and put my name on the 1/2 NL well their 1/2 NL is a 40 min and 100 max buy-in so I decided to put my name on 1/3 NL with a min of 100 buy-in and 300 max.   So I get seated and there is this guy in seat 10 who is obviously very drunk or on something.  So I sit down and I am dealt AQh so I raise it up to 10 and I get 2 callers including the drunk guy.  The flop is 2h 3h 5s so I bet out 20 one of the calls folds but the drunk guy goes all-in and he has me covered so after thinking for a minute I say call b/c I had the nut flush draw and a straight draw.  The turn is a J and the river is Kh so I turn my cards over and say I have the flush and he threw his cards in the muck and said I can’t believe you called with only a flush draw and I said well I had a straight draw too so I double up my first hand!  Whooo Hoo!  Well this drunk guy was just crazy, he would always raise then would push all-in on the flop he paid off a lot of people at that table including my self again.  This time I had pocket 8’s and I called one of his raises of $13 as a couple of other people too, well the flop was 8 K 10 all hearts.  So I bet out 30 and the other 2 people folded and this guy says once again I’m all-in well now I am contemplating if he has a heart or not and I say o-well if he does I call and the turn is a 4c and the river is a 6d so I turn over my cards and say I have a set and once again he throws in his cards in the muck and he doubled me up again!!!!  Yeah!!! A few hands later I am in the BB with K 10os and it is an unraised pot so I check my BB the flop is K K 10 OMG I flopped a boat.  So I bet out 25 everyone folds except this one old man who just calls my 25 so I am thinking he has a K the turn is a 9 so I bet out 60 and he says raise and I am thinking oh he must have made his full house now!  He says I’m all-in well it was 150 more to me and I insta call and then the river is a J and he flips over KJ OMG he caught his full house on the river, I couldn’t believe it!  So there went all my profit in one hand!  Then the stupid old man racks up and leaves and takes all my chips with him not even given me a chance to win them back! fcker!!! After that I was so mad that I had to just leave the table and go walk around for a few minutes.   After that I decided I am going to the Golden Nugget to play.  Well at the golden nugget there 1/2 NL is a min buy-in of 100 but they have no cap so I go to  a table and people have stack after stack in front of them on top of 100 bills and I buy-in for $140.  Well my first hand dealt I have pocket queens well someone raised it to 17 and this old man called and I called as well.  The flop is 10 5 2 the orginal raiser bets out 30 the old man calls the 30 and I raise it to 60 the OR folds and then the old man says I’m all-in and he has me covered so I look at him and I say did you flop a set or something and he just looks at the board so I think and think do I really want to go broke my first hand so decide to muck my pocket queens face up and then he shows me 9 10os.  OMG, he just totally bet me off the best hand! DAMMIT!  After 2 hours of playing I never won any real big pots and was down 60 bucks so I just called it a day!  Poker really sucked for me this weekend!!

Ok, so its a new day and new tourney and I put Binion’s tourney behind.  I go into the SS thinking I am going to win my seat!  Well we start off with 5K in chips but the blinds are only 20 mins.   Well I ended up at my table the lady who the Binion’s tourney the day before, Riverlady ( Chellie) and a lady who won a WSOP bracelet in Stud Hi in 1997 who I had brunch with and the other Lady Sharks.   Well I decide I am going to play a little loose in the beginning when I normally don’t since the rounds are only 20 mins and I want to try and accumulate enough chips to stay alive during the middle stages of the tourney since I am usually always short stack during that time.   Well by the first break I had build my stack to about 7K by this time I have a good read on all the players and which ones I can try and take advantage of.  I am in seat 7 and seats 10 and 1 are the tightest players at the table so everytime it is folded to me I raise their blinds with any two cards (thanks to Jan Fisher’s advice from the poker discussion).  One time I had 23os and I raised 4x the tight players BB, but this time the lady in seat 1 called well the flop was K 4 9 she checks and I fire out another bet and she folds, wheeewww!  After the second break I was up to 15K in chips which was a little over 10 M’s.  After the break I get AJs in MP and it is folded to me, so I raise it up 4xBB and the lady on the button goes all-in everyone folds back to me well she has me covered so I think and think and I decide to call and she flips over AKos dam!  Well the flop was A J 4, yippee!  The turn was a 7 and the river a 5, yeah I double up!  Shortly after our table is broke then I am moved to JoJo’s table and she is sitting on a stack of about 25K.  Well I didn’t get any good cards at all at this table and there was always a raise in front of me so I didn’t have any opportunity to try and make any moves.  Then because I was coming up in the BB I got moved to another table that was short.  Well I sit down in the BB and I am dealt QQ, the UTG player makes it 6K and a lady in MP goes all-in for exactly 6K and a lady on the Button calls 6k leaving only 2K behind??  So I am thinking do I call, fold or raise here since 2 players are almost all-in, well I decide to call the 4K the flop is J J 4 the UTG raiser checks and the button puts in her last 2K, well I decide to put the other 2K in the pot as well b/c there is just too much in there and maybe we can eliminate 2 players and the UTG raises does too, well the turn is a 2 I check she checks the river is a 10 I check she checks.  Everyone flips there cards over and you will not belive this the UTG raiser had KK the lady who went all-in pre-flop had AA and the button lady had JJ and I had QQ!  The four highest pairs, can you believe it!  The lady with JJ flopped quads!  Everyone at the table was just shocked!  She scoops in a huge pot the lady with pocket AA is out and I am down to 20K and there are still 4 tables left and only 20 seats are being given!  Well after getting no decent hands to move in with I am down to about 12K and I push with pocket 5’s lady calls me with KQs I flop a set yeahhh!  There is one spade on the board, the turn is another spade and the river is a spade, NOOOO!  I am 31st!  But JoJo and Shirley Williams did win their seats so congrats to them.  It was a very disappointing day knowing I was so close to playing in the WSOP, but maybe next year! 

I was so amped and excited about playing poker this past weekend.  First I played the Binion’s Ladies Classic Tourney on Friday.  I drew a good table because they were some very tight women that I was able to take advantage of and by the first break I was up to 9K in chips after starting with 5K.  Then by the second break I was over 20K in chips.   A key hand was when the blinds were 100/200 with 25ante and I was in the SB with Q2d well 2 people limped and I completed my SB and the BB checked.  The flop was Q Q 2 with 2 clubs , I check the BB checked one of the limpers bets 400 I just smooth call and the BB calls the turn is a 7 clubs, I check the BB bets out 800 the MP player calls and I raise it to 1800 then the BB moves all-in for 6K and the MP after thinking for awhile folds and I insta called.  She turns over 4 5 clubs?? I turn over my full house and scoop in a nice pot.  Well shortly after that our table got broke after one of the ladies complained the lighting was really bad, UGGGG!  So I went from being the chip leader at my table to a table that had 2 people with about the same amount of chips as me.   I continue to maintain my stack stealing blinds here then I get AK in MP it is folded to me I raise it up 4x BB to 8K well the Button goes all-in and it is another 4K to me so I call.  She has A 6 an Ace flops and I was like yeah and then she rivers a 6, DAMMIT!  Now I have only about 15K by this time we are down to 3 tables and the blinds are 1000 / 2000 with 400 antes.  People are playing a lot tighter now because we are so close to the money.  So I decide to push with any A or K that I see, I pushed in with A3os no callers, then I pushed with K9s no callers, so I was back up to 26K then I was UTG with pocket 10’s and I push once again and this asian girl who was one of the chip leaders says, I hope I have a good hand b/c you sure have been pushing a lot and I say “what can I say the cards are coming now” so she looks at her cards and she says hmmm dealer how much does she have so the dealer couts out my chips and I have 25,900 then she goes maybe next time and mucks her hand.  Then the lady on the Button goes I’m all-in and the blinds fold and she has 21K in chips and turns over AQs and I turn over my pocket 10’s.  The flop comes all low and I am thinking in my head 10 10 10 10 the turn is a K and the river is a Q.  DAMMIT!  So now I am down to 5K in chips and I am the BB next hand so I make an announcement at the table.  Ladies I am pot committed so please donate!  Well the lady on the Button said I will donate and she limps in and then the SB goes all-in for 8K and I put my remaining chips in and the lady calls the SB all-in and she flips over AQ again SB flips over QJ and I flip over QJ, DAMMIT, I don’t even have any live cards!  Doesn’t matter the board was blank and I was eliminated 25th 5 away from the money, blah!     

Saturday I pick up London from her hotel and we head over to the Sahara for the 11am tourney, however I ended up busting out during the first hour and since London was still playing I decide to buy-in the 1/2 NL cash game for $100.   I happen to come in to the BB so I posted my $2 and I am dealt A2os well 3 people are in and I check my BB the flop 2 2 7 I cheeck this guy bets out 15 the other two players called and I call.  The turn is A and I check again this time the guy bets out 40 and the other 2 fold so I go all-in and he insta called me the river is a 9 I think and I flip over “Welcome to the table” I say thank you    So after laying low for a little while so I can get a read on the players.  Player 1 is a girl in her early 20’s and she was weak tight, a LAG was in seat 2 I am in seat 3 Player 1’s husband is in seat 4 and his friend was in seat 5 both novice players.  Guy in Seat 6 was good an asian kid in seat 7 who I thought would be a good player turned out to be kind of weak.  So a few hands later I have KK on the button, I notice most everyone is limping a lot at this point and everyone limped in again so I raised it to 17 and UI get one caller, the Asian guy.  The flop is Q K 4 and he checks so I bet 25 he calls the turn is a 7 but puts a flush draw out there and he checks again I bet 50 and he thinks for a minute and he pushes in for 17 more so I call I turn over my pocket kings and he turns over Q J and I rake in another nice pot.  Well after taking a short break with London, I go back to the table and I just missed my SB and BB so I posted the 3 to get a hand and I am dealt 95d well every  limped in and we see a flop it comes A 5 7 it gets checked around the turn is a 5 everyone checks to me and I bet 20 then the guy next to me says “I can read you like a book” and I am thinking WTF I am in a hand here can you shut the f&&k up!  Well everyone folds except the LAG to my right and the river is 9 he checks and I bet 50 and he calls I turn over my boat and he mucks and says he had the ace.  Then the ahole who said I can read you like a book said dude don’t you know when she bets she is strong.  I said to him “well I am glad you got me all figured out”  Then he says don’t take it the wrong way I don’t think you are a bad player, I say ok, whatever just play your game and I will play mine.  Well the ahole bought in for $500 and was trying to be a bully but lost  ov er 300 bucks.LMAO Karmy a !  Shortly after, London busted out 10th in the tourney, so I cashed out my profit of $353!  I’m starting to really like this game.lol

I have been wanting to trying playing N/L cash game for the longest time and this weekend I actually ventured out and tried it.   As most of you may or may not know I am more of a tournament player and don’t really play much cash games.  When I do play cash games it is mostly 4/8 limit.  Well my fiance encouraged me to give N/L a try and so we headed off to Red Rock Station.   When we get there I buy-in for only $100 for the 1/2 N/L game.  One of my biggest concerns in N/L cash game is losing all of my money in one hand.   How do I get pass this?  Anyways we sit down at the table and I watch the first 5 hands before I play to try and see how the players are playing.  A guy in seat 8 is very agressive and raising the pot to $10 every hand, he has about $600 in front of him.  There is a an asian lady in seat 10 not playing too many hands, a gal in seat 2 not playing many hands then her b/f is seat 3 who is playing a lot of pots with the guy in seat 8 and lost a big hand to him and now is on tilt.  My fiance is seat 4 I am seat 5 and a guy who is passive is seat 6.  So the first hand I play is my BB when I am dealt A6d and AG in seat 8 makes is 10 to go and the guy in seat 3 calls, my fiance calls and I call.  The flop is 6 K 10 with two diamonds, my fiance checks I bet out 15 and AG makes it 50 more the guy in seat folds, my fiance fold and I thought forever about just moving all-in with my bottom pair and nut flush draw but my fear of going broke on one hand set in and I laid it down,  I told my fiance what I had later and he said it wouldn’t have been a bad move to move all-in, o-well.  If I was in a tournament I probably wouldn’t have been afraid to push right there, but I realize that I am not playing in a tournament and it is cash that I have a hard time letting go of…A little while later two young guys in there 20’s who are friend sit at our table.  Right when you look at them you can tell they are gamblers and are probably here just to have fun because the first hand they play the one kid raises it to 10 and his buddy says “Dude you are raising my button and he says I re-raise and raises it up to $20 then the guy in seat 3 says “Oh two new players I think I will raise it to $50 and I knew when he made that comment that he had a big hand.  So the first kid folds but the guy on the button calls.  The flop is 4 8 9 and the guy in seat 3 bets out $50 and the guy on the button cold calls the turn is 2 and the guy in seat 3 checks and the guy on the button bets 80 and then the guy in seat 3 starts counting out his chips thinks for a minute and says I’m all-in and they button says I call and flips over pocket 4’s and the guy in seat 3 flips over pocket queens and is busted out and he says I didn’t think you had that big of hand- WTF do you think he is going to call your $50 bet on the flop with nothing???  Well a few hands later I have AJ suited and of course the AG in seat 8 makes it $10 so I call in the SB and the BB calls too.  The flop is A A 5 so I check the BB checks and the AG bets out 25 so I just call the 25 and the BB folds.  The turn is a 9 I check the AG guy bets out 50 and I push all-in and he calls the river is a K I show my A J and he mucks his hand and I double up.  Whoo-hooo!  A few hands later the young kid in seat 2 raises it to 10 the loose AG guy in seat 3 calls, the guy in seat 1 calls the guy in seat 3 calls and I am in the SB with pocket 7’s so I said I am raising and push out of stack of my 5’s which was about 100 bucks – and everyone folds and the guy in seat 1 says I know you had a big hand and I just smiled.  So after about 2 hours of playing I cashed out $80 bucks profit.  I know I have a lot to learn still but I can’t wait to play again! 

Sometimes I admit that I let my emotions take over while I am playing in a tournament.  For instance, if I notice someone is raising a lot or being very aggressive with such mediocre hands then I tend to sometimes think “how can I trap him” then my focus turns on that particular player instead of just concentrating on the table as a whole.  Why do our emotions come over us like this?  Is it really possible to not play with our emotions?  Like when we suffer a bad beat, what do you do to overcome that feeling?  Are emotions just part of the game?  Please let me know…

First I would like to thank Linda for hosting such a fabulous party and inviting all of us to her wonderful home.  I don’t know how many of you have been to Linda Johnson’s but she has a beautiful home with poker memorabilia everywhere, it’s kind of walking into a museum looking at such great art.  She has just a ton of pictures of her and the poker pros and friends, and yes, I even saw some LPS ladies photos in her home too, like London and Lucy.lol  Linda put out a fabulous spread of food from chips to dips to litte sandwhiches and made some yumm-o lasagna and the desert was too die for.  Linda please give me the receipe for that boston cream desert, it just melted in my mouth!  Well there were quite a few ladies there, from LPS there was Maui, myself, JoJo, Lupe, Poca, Pokermom, Jan of course, about 8 Oklahoma Hotties and a few gals from my home poker league.  Then Linda invited a few of her personal friends like Kathy Leibert, JJ Leui, Clonie Gowan and after dinner we sat around and listened to each one of them tell us how they make it in the poker world as a lady.  It was very inspiring and I really enjoyed it.   So many thanks to Linda Johnson I had such a wonderful time and I did take lots of pictures, hopefully I will get them posted soon for all to see.