MarieLizette
The Miscellaneous Rantings of Marie-Lizette
Back to Back Busto
Yesterday I played in a couple of Commerce Casino's L.A. Poker Open events. The first was Event No. 7, the $225 6-Max NLH event. I thought it might be a good day because I got some pretty good hands and was able to be aggressive, until became obvious that my hands weren't holding up. Of course, as so many superstitious tournament players will tell you, it is a bad sign when you get Aces early. Well guess what... I got Aces within the first orbit - on the button - and no action whatsoever. I was out midway through the second level with 
vs. 
.
I then jumped into an $80 single table satellite. I stayed about average throughout most of the levels. When we got down to 4 players, the shortstack proposed a chop and the big stack objected. The very next hand, the big stack shoved on his small blind (which he had done 3 orbits in a row) into my big blind. I looked down and 
and snap called. He flipped over 
. We both filled up, on the 
, 
, 
board, my hand being best. Immediately after, he offered a chop. I offered to save the $80 and play for the rest and the other three players agreed. Once everybody was assured to get their money back, the play loosened up a bit and I managed to catch some great hands. I literally won the table in 6 consecutive hands. 
The 6pm L.A. Poker Open event was the $340 H.O.R.S.E. event. I'm not a great mixed game player, but I enjoy the challenge so I spent a hour trying to decide whether to play or not. Because of the current state of the economy, mixed games don't attract the donkeys the way they used to, so it was a very tough field. In the end I decided to play.
Again, I was cruising right along in the event, when who should sit down at my table? None other than Shirley Rosario, a friend, fellow poker blogger and top ranked mixed game player. Talk about drawing the nut low. But it got even better when Jay Newnum sat in Seat 4 after Ben Lamb busted out of the WSOP main event. To quote Danielle Anderson, "Doom switch officially on." The table was pretty nitty and we just kinda pushed the chips around. By the time the table broke, we all were just a little above starting stack, having only knocked out one player during the first 4 levels. The table broke around level 5 and I busted shortly thereafter. Booooo! 
I can't complain though. I went to Commerce with $300 in my pocket. I played two events and a satellite and returned home with $100. Not a bad price for a full day of entertainment, playing poker and hanging with friends. It costs me just about about the same to take my kids to a sit-down dinner and a movie, with popcorn and stacks.
