The haircut, the fundraiser and the mookie

My hair was in need of a cut and the original plan was for my friend Autumn to come over at 5pm and get it done before the two tournaments I had registered for started. Actually, the first plan was to get it cut yesterday, but she had to postpone. I called her on my way home and left her a message. I expected to meet her at my place as planned. She called me back and wanted to reschedule to 8pm instead.

No problem… what problem?

I mean really, I had the fund raiser tournament starting at 6pm and the mookie starting at 7. The new plan was to play both and do well. Unexpectedly, I got lucky at the weirdest times. For example, before my cut (which started at about 8:45) we hung out with Lola and watched the Canucks game for a bit (they lost 2-1 in an overtime shootout – yet another distraction) and I continued to play poker at both tables.

I ran very well, and felt like I was playing tight, solid poker. After all, I was two tabling and about to get my hair cut. I had mega patience going on.

Before I knew what was happening, I was sitting in a chair with a cape on. I had the wireless mouse underneath and I was really focused on both tournaments. The charity tournament had Andy Bloch playing in it (as well as three other Full Tilt Pros) and he was hitting flops and had the chip lead every time I would look up… I will still getting my hairs trimmed etc. (In fact, as I write some of this tonight, I realize that I have not even looked in a mirror yet and it...)

Anyway, apparently it is hard to play to final tables at once. At least it was for me. Not too often that Schaubs does that, let me tell ya…

Did I mention I was also getting my hair cut during both money bubbles? I haven’t even looked at the hand history, and for the first time in a long time I didn’t turn on Holdem Manager. All I kept saying to myself (and the girls) was “I can’t believe I am playing at two final tables while getting a hair cut!”

It was surreal, it felt so weird yet I was so focused. It felt great.

There were some recognizable bloggers at the charity final table with me. I had a blast, but to tell you the truth it was hard to give my full attention near the end. No excuses though, I am happy with the way it worked out. By the time I realized there were five left in the charity game, Andy Bloch had been eliminated. Screen shot shows that when you highlight a pro, his name turns red…

I did not know that.

I kept grinding the mookie and got lucky a few more times I’m sure. I had some good cards which is the main reason for my double final table night, but also made some nice plays that I was proud of. My bad plays were too magnified and I obviously have a lot more to learn.

I always will.

Eventually we got down to heads up. The cut had ended about 10 minutes earlier and Autumn had to run as it was getting late (did I mention her middle name is leaf? If I told you her last name you would laugh your ass off, but I just can’t do that here and now, maybe if you ask me in person). I pulled my hairy self up to the kitchen table and tried to concentrate on winning my first Mookie… It felt like I was in a dream world. It was as if I didn’t even realized that I was playing heads up. So many things were going on, and now all of the sudden I had the opportunity to fully focus on the heads up match and it just felt different. It was like I couldn’t focus, even though it was the quietest it had been in hours.

Then something happened.

I lost my connection. It wasn’t the first time, but it was the first time in about an hour. I quickly did the usual which was to restart the poker program and log in again. It disconnected one more time and then I was back. I think I had lost my connection after trying to bluff the river for the third time… smart.

Losing focus quickly, I logged back in and noticed that my opponent had raised my BB and wondered if he was waiting for me or trying to steal my blinds… Or, did he noticed that I clicked the “I’m back button” in time. I’m not really sure when I clicked it but I suppose I could check.

No excuses. He raised 2.5x and I held A8o. I just called and the flop had an ace. I check raised and he re-raised. I called, and I know I should have folded, but I called. 25K more and the blinds were still very small in relation to my stack. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. He had AQo and he played it well.


Just like that I was drawing to three outs and I couldn’t catch one last time.

It’s all such a blur though. It was such a rush and still such a blur.

I'll get that Mookie one of these days, as long as I can get a hair cut while playing heads up...