Cash game goodness, Stanley Cup predictions

Last night started out with an early exit from the $18K guaranteed... I registered via a $75 token that I had won a few weeks back in one of those juicy token frenzy's. I had been waiting for the right opportunity to use it up, and since there was no Riverchasers to play in, I went for the $18K. 350 players, and I think I went out somewhere in the middle of the pack. Card dead, and passive play were the reasons for my demise. In fact, I don't even think I was up over 2K in chips for more than a few orbits. It was pretty frustrating.

After that I decided to play a little cash game. However this time, I wasn't going to just play in the "bankroll managable" game. I was going to take a shot at a bigger game. I've been telling myself for a while now that I know I am good enough to play at higher levels... but never had the roll to support such a risk. Well, I decided that I would jump up a level and see how I faired. As expected, the play is not much better. After scoping out a few tables, I decided to jump into a full ring $1/2 NL game where the plr/flp was 25% (the lowest of any tables I could find). I recall when Astin was here for a visit, he gave me this tip and I decided to use it. It worked out very well. I bought in short ($80) planning to play tight early and establish the proper image. I even waited for the blinds to come around and made notes on my opponents for the first few hands. Then, it happened. My first hand I was dealt 5d3d and called the SB preflop raise. I flopped a straight and managed to play it well enough to double up on my first hand of the night:

I played for another hour and here is how I finished:


The only other hand that stood out was when I held pocket 9's in the BB. The devil lady Kitty raised it 3x and it folded around to me. I called hoping to trap her, and although it didn't really turn into a trap, I did manage to double up. The flop came 4-4-4... and I checked my full house hoping that she had an Ace. She bet out the pot, and I min raised her to see where I was at. I was a little nervous at this time as she quickly called. The turn was a Queen and this time I bet the pot... she raised and after some thought, I went with my initial read and re-raised all in. She flipped over A-K and I dogged the river. Phew. It felt good to make that call. It's those kind of calls that really keep me interested in cash games, even though I don't play in them that frequently. I found, that when I do, and I pick the right game, play my game and play what I perceive to be "correct poker," I can hold my own. So another $200 added to the BR in about 1.5 hours. Needless to say, cash games are where the money is. It's been said many times before, and up until last night, I hadn't really experienced the potential for some serious part time earnings. I look forward to working on this part of my game in the near future.

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The Stanley Cup Finals are almost here. I've been making my picks for fun here on this blog, and for the most part I have done ok.

Here's a couple of quick stats before I make my decision:

1. Since the inception of the Stanley Cup, either a Canadian team or the Detroit Red Wings have won Lord Stanley's Cup in every year that ends in a seven. Yes that's right, every year. Since the Red Wings are now out... well doesn't that mean the Senators are destine to win?

2. If you want to really cheer for a "Canadian" team then you need to cheer for.... The Ducks. They have more Canadians, in fact they have SEVEN more Canadians on their team then the Senators. The Ducks have 19 Canadians and the Senators only have 12. So.... the Ducks will win? Ask Smokkee.

My Pick: I have to stick with Ottawa. Sorry Astin, but it has to happen. The Leafs will never win the cup again, that we know for sure. Ottawa obviously gives us our best chance to bring that Cup back to Canada. Edmonton was close last year (game 7 loss to Carolina), but I really think that the Sens are the better, deeper, hungrier team. I'll take the Sens in 6.

Have a good weekend everyone.