April has been such a roller coaster. I started the month as high as I have ever been, by winning a seat at the World Series Main Event. That high continued as I crushed the Bodog tables in the first half of the month. Then came the week of the 17th of April. This week I proceeded to give all my hard earned gains back to the other players on Bodog. The worst one week streak I had ever been on dollar wise. Weekends are when I have my biggest winning days on Bodog and I expected to make a comeback this past weekend. Alas the losses only continued on Friday and Saturday.

I decided to make Sunday an MTT focus day and attempt to play as many majors as possible. Bodog 100, UB 500, PS 200 were all on the menu. I was also trying to satellite into the Pokershare WSOP satellite on Sunday. I managed to satellite into the UB 500 but came up just short in the Pokershare WSOP satellite. This Pokershare satellite is a particularly good deal because for $27 I had an opportunity to win one of two seats offered that were worth $500 each. Why such a good deal, because I only had to compete with TEN other entries! Alas when we got down to 4 players, we had 3 equal stacks of around 4500 chips and a short stack under 2000. One of the equal stacks decides that he will go all in on nearly every hand. After the first all in, I suspect that this will be his modus operandi for the rest of the tournament, but I am not sure that this is the case. On his second all in, I am third to act with AQo. IF I knew for sure that he was going all in every hand, it is an easy call and I actually have him covered by about 300 chips. Alas it is his second all in and I don't know if he just got AA for the second time in a row or if he has decided that 'All in' every hand is his best chance to win. To my regret I pass on this opportunity. 10 hands later, it is obvious that 'All in' every hand is his strategy and everyone has folded the blinds to him every time and he now outchips myself and the other former big stack.

Strategies like his do not sit well with me and I am now just looking for a hand to cut him off with! 24,36, 47 are all clearly no good to call with. After 5 more hands I finally get a pretty marginal hand A7o. Considering this guy is all in every hand, it HAS to be the favorite in my mind and I call. Cards are flipped and damned if he doesn't have TT, a huge favorite to my A7. No help arrives and I am out. I am still analyzing whether I should have played that differently. The blinds were pretty small, 75/150 I think. My stack was slightly larger than the other 'big' stack and the small stack was being grinded down. I could have waited for a true "Premium' hand" as myself and the other 'big' stack were slowly grinded down. This would then come down to luck to determine who blinked first or got a premium hand and busts up Mr all in.
However as Mr all ins chip stack was growing, any win further down the line could mean that a double up would only put pressure on the other 'big' stack as he would have to take his double up shot or get blinded out. All tough questions and in hindsight I think I foolishly called all in with my A7 and lost a great opportunity to get in to the WSOP satellite for $27. Next week I am going to play more of these to make sure I get in cheap.

Sunday things quickly go badly in the Bodog 100 and I bust out fairly early. I get fairly deep in the UB 500 and PS 200 at the same time, doubling up early in both. I had the WSOP lobby page of Pokershare up intending to buy in, but had forgotten about it in the heat of the battles in the other two tournaments. At that point I get an IM reminding me about the Pokershare satellite. Thank you Golf Nut for reminding me since I managed to sign up with 3 minutes to spare I believe. Full cost was $500 but with a $13K seat added and 16 participants, I figure this is still a very good deal.

The added seat tourney is one of deep stacks and early on it played out much like the other WSOP satellite that I played. I played my normal game since you have a lot of room to maneuver in these deep stack tournaments however luck did not favor me and I could never get a big stack grinded up . What I did do was get in trouble. The blinds finally get up to 75/150 and we still have 6 people on each table. StickyInc is on a tear on the other table and has busted 3 people to get over 20K in chips there, but no one has busted off my table where we all have about 5k stacks STILL! I have K8o in the small blind and action is folded to me. I raise to 450 since this is a small blind raising hand. My buddy in the big blind who I know VERY well reraises me to 1000 chips total. I call since he is VERY capable of making a move on me like this.
Flop comes down AAK and I think it is highly likely that my hand is good here. I bet 1500 into the 2000 pot and my buddy minimum raises me to 3000. He only has a little over 1500 chips left after this reraise but he has me covered. I have about 2000 chips left and am faced with a tough decision. My K is likely good here but the range of hands my buddy could have reraised me with is small. He would have reraised me preflop with a top pair or a hand that was AT on up to AK. He also could have reraised me on a bluff but his minimum raise tells me this is unlikely. His minimum raise is the key to my reading of the hand. Knowing him as well as I do, I know he loves to minimum reraise when he has what he perceives to be the nuts! Also his reraise leaves him with only 1500 chips behind and essentially pot commits him. If he were bluffing he would have pushed all in here most of the time. My read tells me he must have an ace to feel confident enough to minimum reraise here. Thus I make a tough lay down that nearly cripples me since I have only 2000 chips remaining. (My buddy later confirmed that he had AJ on that hand.)

I now have to get a premium hand and double up in the near future or quickly face extinction. My M is down to under 10 so all in to steal blinds is definitely a proper move. Within one circuit I get 99 in the cutoff. The action is folded to me and I raise only to 450 hoping to get action on the hand. Sure enough the big blind pushes all in and easily has me covered. I instacall since this is what I was hoping for. The BB flips over A something I dont recall, but both cards were higher than my 99 making it a coin flip. Luck is with me and I double up to around 4K chips and manage to get out of immediate danger.

I have my stack up around 5500 with some steals and the FT gets set with a couple more bustouts. StickyInc gets to the FT with a stack of around 24K and ShipIt has about 15K. Nearly everyone else has between 5K and under 10K. Immediately deal talk inundates the table. Chop up the money ($8K) in this instance and distribute to the 9 'losers' and play for the 'seat'. The two big stacks object to this of course! I would object too if I were in their position. Someone says, 'Why not take $800 and it will be a freeroll for the seat?' StickyInc at this point goes too far and says, 'Well $500 or so means nothing to me. I am rich and wipe my ass with $500 bills. I came to win a seat or get nothing!' Scattered grumbles are heard around the table and several folks IM me privately saying ' PLEASE bust that punks ass!' I think to myself, great, I have another cocky young kid to contend with, but he is the least of my problems at the moment. My stack is in need of doubling so I can have enough chips to be able to steal and survive.

However let me share my thoughts on deals like this at the FT. Even with a stack as big as Sticky's on a FT, I would not feel assured that I would take one of the two paying spots just because I have the biggest stack. I have seen a lot of things happen on FTs and guiding a big stack to victory is no easy task. I would have made a counterproposal that gave me a higher proportion of the chopped up cash: say 3 or 4 times what everyone else would receive if they bust out. If the table won't go for it, fine, I have the big stack and will be happy to continue without a deal since I have a better than average chance to win. I WOULD NOT alienate the entire table by saying 'I wipe my ass with $500 bills!' Believe me, EVERYONE on that table was now gunning for Sticky!

Two people including my buddy bust out early on the FT as they lose races for all their chips. I get 99 in early position and make a steal raise to 600 with it. The blinds are 100/200 and once again I hope to get reraised in a race situation so I can get some chips! The big blind reraises me and once again I push with my 99 to run into AK. It is a classic race and I am fortunate to win and double up to a significant 12k. At last I have a stack that can make a run at this Sticky guy and his buddy Ship It who also shares the same big stack attitude. They both share rude comments with the table at any mention of deal talk.

The blinds continue to escalate and people are falling out quite rapidly as the small stacks all seem to lose races, except for my own exception to that rule. The blinds get to 300/600 and my steals are now for 1800 and I have managed to maintain my 12k stack. We are down to 6 folks remaining and I suggest a deal once again. I know the luck factor can be high in these things and guaranteed money when only two spots pay sounds good to me. The still big stacks of Ship It and Sticky are both above 20K and refuse to deal. They make some more obnoxious comments and I think that they interpret my dealmaking offers as signs of weakness. Alas, I am just talking about the realities of coin flips and the vagaries of that whimsical woman also known as Fate or Variance!

I have TJs on the button and attempt to steal once again. The shortest stack on the table is in the small blind with 4000 chips. He hesitates a while, feigning weakness. The big blind folds and I reluctantly call the additional 2200 chips since I am getting 3-1 on my money at that point. It is very likely that I am behind, but not necessarily more than 3-1. Most likely I face AK and am a 2-1 dog with a chance to eliminate a small stack at the cost of 1/3rd my own. His reluctance to push indicates strength and I know he wants a call. Well, pot odds dictate a call and I do. The small blind flips over AA and I resign myself to losing 1/3rd my stack. Unfortunately for Mr Smooth of the small blind, the flop come xxTTx and I luck out against his bullets!

The other short stack busts out, leaving four of us standing. Ship It and Sticky have around 30K each, I have 17K and Barry Bonds has 15k or so. Once again I propose a deal and it is swatted down! Time to get to work on busting up two young punks! The two big stacks get into a couple big hands and trade some chips back and forth without a showdown. Sticky ends up with about 10K more chips than Ship It. Then once again the two big stacks get hands and they get it all in preflop. It is a classic QQ vs AK matchup!
Ship It's QQ holds up against Sticky's AK and Sticky is now left as a crippled under 10K stack! The very next hand Sticky pushes with garbage (tilt!) and is called by Ship It who finishes him off and leaves him with a stack of nearly 50K. It may not be classy but I had to ask Sticky if he can still find $500 to wipe his ass! Poetic justice is indeed had on the poker tables SOMETIMES!

Barry Bonds and I have a BIG hill to climb. I steal successfully and win some small pots to work my way up to 30K. Barry is not so successful and loses half his chips to Ship It on a busted steal attempt. His stack is under 10k and he cannot defend his blinds. I steal liberally and do not get called. Barry attempts to steal from Ship It when I fold and he gets called. I forget the hands but Ship It won. Now I am assured of at least $8k and am totally psyched! I have about 35k chips to Ship Its 45k at this point and I feel that I can outplay him HU. But knowing you are better does not always translate into winning when that woman Fate is around. Ship It and I trade several hands back and forth until I get AK in the SB. I raise my standard 2x raise I use when playing HU. Ship It raises to 7K. I think about where I am and I push since I would be pot committed to make a proper raise of 21K. This puts the hard decision on Ship It but he instacalls with QQ. The flop contains a lovely Ace and holds up to the river. Ship It now has around 10k and is in a bad position to my 70K.

Once again, not classy but these two characters had really upset me with their lack of manners on the table. I say ' Too bad 2nd place guarantees you enough money to wipe your ass.' or something to that effect. He is silent as he is staring down the barrel of a gun at this point. He makes a couple of all in steal attempts that I fold weak hands to. I am just looking for a better than average hand to call him with. No need to risk doubling him up with a weak hand at this point. I get AT I think. I raise from the SB, still my standard 2x that I can fold if I have a weak stealing hand. He thinks a bit and pushes all in. I call since AT is far better than an average hand and Ship It has two unders. An ace hits the flop and seals his fate when the rest of the board offers no help!

Woohoo, seat number TWO to the WSOP! The feeling is awesome since the 13K makes this month positive again and I have more money for buy ins at the WSOP! My daughter is away so I only have the cats to high five in my victory dance! I must say thank you to all those that railed me. An especial thanks to those that were on the FT and busted out. Three IMs popped up as soon as I won saying 'I am so happy you beat that Ass!' or something to that effect! This victory didn't feel as good as the first one, but it was even more satisfying because of the way the FT went down! My father told me long ago that WHAT is said is not nearly as important as HOW you say it. It still rings true!