Half way...do you believe in bad karma?

Week 8 has concluded to me. My attempts to be win back to back league nights is over and I didn't quite make the points either. I did my best to stay with chips, but as they say, it wasn't in the cards. To put more pressure on the night...my stomach was still working hard to get through the fantastic soup paid for with the soggy money of Bodie25 (his tears still flowing...hehehe).

I felt I was playing well all night. I know have a functioning tell on one player thats a lock. In watching his betting patterns, he leads out the betting when he has a draw with a minimum raise when he's in position. He follows with another minimum raise on the turn. If he doesn't complete, he will check the river. Bet! He'll fold! Using this kept me in chips for most of the night. Floating him made up for the fact that I was totally card dead. That was until...

I'm in the BB. The blinds are 50/100. I have 2050 in chips. The UTG player raises to 400. This seemed strange to me. He was low on chips and I sensed he was weak. next player folds, the player 2 to his left (an emotional player) calls. It folds back to me and I look down to find pocket 10s. I'm pretty sure that neither of these guys is playing a pair. There is a lot of money in the middle right now. I think I have a good shot at taking it down right now with a move. So push all of my chips in the middle. UTG goes in the tank. This is his tournament. He only has 675 chips left and he does call. The other player almost instantly calls. This is his tournament too. He has 2000 in chips. When we turn them over, I'm up against KQo and AKo. I am in the lead!!! Of course, the dealer puts out to queens, and I collect the side pot.

Well that certainly sucked. Our table get busted a few minutes later, and I'm moved to a new table. My stack much smaller, but I've been her before and fought back.

I find myself again in the BB. Jen (a loose player), calls from the cutoff. The button folds and the LB, Rosemary (tight, passive), moves all in with her remaining chips. It wasn't a full raise, so if I remember my rules correctly, that caps the raises. I call and so does Jen. The flop comes QJ7 rainbow. I had found 97o when I called. I've only got 700 left...so I push them all in. Jen missed, so I figured I try and catch her fishing. She calls and is fishing. I almost triple up. For the first time all night, I know have 2500 in chips!

Our table gets busted again and I move to a table made up of mostly the same people I started with. The guy on my right is one of the players you just hate to play. He never seems to get his money in good, but somehow, someway, he finds the cards he needs.

I'm now in the BB again (I sense a theme here). The blinds are 200/400 and I have 2400 in chips. I'm looking for a spot to push since my M is not good at all. The LB just calls and I squeeze 5♦6♣. Not much of a hand, but this guy will probably call with any two cards above a 6. The flop comes 7♥8♣9♥ - I have the sucker straight! I took this as an opportunity to push them all in. It's the sucker straight, but what am I waiting for. This is about as big a monster as I could hope for. He checks the flop, I put my remaining 2000 chips in the middle. He thinks and says, well, I'm gonna need a lot of help, I call. He turns over Q♥9♠. I had to know...so I've looked this up at CardPlayer for you. There is an 89.19% chance I'll win it from here. SWEET! I can almost taste the free beer at the final table now! 2 cards to dodge. When I look at this, he's drawing dead except to running hearts, another 7 and the river would have to pair the board, or runner straight. All I need is a small black card...and the turn is the 10♥s. CRAP! That's like the absolute worst card in the deck! It's both a ♥ and a straight card. He's still only a 27% favorite to win the hand. The river...K♥...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Good night...and good bless