And They're Off

[This may well be the last post for a bit since we're heading to the airport in an hour, but I'll try and update a as we go but whatever happens there'll be pleanty to read when I get back!]

Yesterday was an early start. We got up at 7am and packed Miss Pink off to the Airport. She's gone to Cyprus with the family for a week in order to while away some of the time that I'min the states as well as delivering some wedding invites.

It's now 9:30 the following morning. I haven't slept yet, we leave for the airport in a couple of hours, and I did a third of my bankroll at the Gutshot last night.

Bummer.

I arrived in the afrternoon just in time for a £33 freezout but slipped slowly into insignificance and busted out when I put in my l;ast two big blinds with JTo. I lost another £30 or so in a 50p/£1 PL game with a max buy-in of £50 shortly after.

In the evening I played in the 'freeroll' satalite for the monthly £250 tourney. It's not really a freeroll since you only start with 500 chips, rebuys are 1000 (£15), and top-ups are 2000 (£15). I soon got rid of my starting 500, grabbed myself a glass of wine and waited for some sort of cash game to get up and running.

Eventually I sat down at a very juicy 25p/50p PL self-delt game, with a number of first timers. Although there was potential for making some money, the pace of the game was pretty slow and I jumped at the opportunity of having a proper dealer when the £1-£2 game started up. This is a game above my bankroll, although it shouldn't have been above my ability and there was the definately possibility of reeling in some 'live-uns'. However, I was the one playing like a fish and most of the £130 I sat down within a couple of hours:

I raised a £5 straddle after one limper to £20 in mid-position with JJ. The small blind (a good, scarry player) thought briefly and flat called. The straddler folded and the limper called. The flop came Axx it was checked to me. I bet £40 into the £60 pot and the Small Blind check raised. I folded faster than Ozumo Aziaki, World Champion of Origami 1999,2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. I was not ammused by my actions. I mean if the small blind wasn't already beating me pre-flop (very possible)then it was almost certain that one of them had an Ace. I should have put approximately nothing into that pot. The other biggish looser for me came when I overplayed 99 on the flop after raising preflop and I suddenly found myself with no chips.

I stupidly rebought for another £200, but made a dertermined effort to play well. I did play well and managed to escape from a couple of good but second-best hands. I still managed to find myself down to £130, but I eventually managed to double up when I finally hit a set against someone's top-pair, top-kicker. That put me only £150 down for the night and I decided to play till the blinds and cut my losses.

Oh how fatefull that would turn out to be, fro what do I find but two red Kings under-the-gun only to have them run smack up against AA. That left me with £50, which was a pretty insignificant stack by that stage, but again before I could decide to cut my losses, I find myself all-in with AK against AA. I'd love to say the flop came QJT, but it didn't.

Blech.

My only mistake is that I sat down at a table to big for my bankroll and therefore played scarred for the first couple of hours. Once I managed to find my feet, I got a little unlucky and, BOOM. All of a sudden I've posted another big loosing session at The Gutshot.

It's really not what I was looking for at all proir to hitting up Atlantic City. It's pretty much gonna limit me to playing $1-2 NL and $4-8 limit games. That's no bad thing, but it'll make it much harder to cover my expenses, nevermind begining the process of recooping some losses.

On the pus side, while writing this I've won $150 on Paradise, so it's not all bad!

Forgive my prattling. I haven't slept in over 24 hours.

America here we come!