A "D" Lister's Mookie Recap

Well, last night, the bloggers of the Internets gather once again for the Mookie. I love playing this tournament because it gives me an opportunity to play with some very experience players for not so huge a buy-in. With 4 hours of sleep and a whole days worth of working. I apologize for any moments of poor judgement or fractured speech.

I didn't recap last weeks tournament, I meant to, I just really didn't have time. Its been pretty crazy around my life, but the FUD is starting to clear and I'm quickly becoming excited for the new opportunities!

I enjoyed being the underdog again last night. While the picks were going on, only Buddy picked me with the last pick of the night. Which, I have to say, was better than my last deep run.

The guys from BDR were hilarious as usual, but I gotta I do have a bone to pick with them. When we got down to three handed, not sure who, but one of them asks, "Does OhCaptain have a blog yet?" Thanks! I won this thing a month ago, you didn't bother to click the link since then? And the answer is "Yes, I do I have a blog now."

In my morning perusal of Google Reader, found a few interesting posts about the Mookie. Not too surprising to find Hoy is now complaining that he can't win it because the format is gear towards Maniac aggressive luckboxes. Hoy, you need to examine your game. Here's what he had to say:

In my view it takes two main things to have a solid shot to win a Mookie, due to the large fields and due to the low buyin of $11 which means a lot of players who are not the tight-aggressive style normally indicative of the higher-bankroll guys. It takes (1) aggression to get through this big field, and (2) luck, moreso than in the other tournaments due to the large field and large number of passive and loose players.

I think that his impression of the tournament and his arrogance in how poker should be played results in his inability to win the Mookie. Anyone that has played me will probably not call my game lucky agressive. I can be about as tight as they come. I don't have the pedigree of Hoy, but when he says "...a lot of players who are not the tight-aggressive style normally indicative of the higher-bankroll guys." it tells me that he's only comfortable playing players that are TAG. Therein lies his weakness, his inability to adjust his game to different styles.

Come to the table to win. You've got to beat everyone. Don't just play the people that you know how to beat.

The other blogger I found interesting this morning was LJ. I sat next to LJ all evening. She doesn't remember the hand she busted out on. Probably because she busted out on a hand I was shocked at how bad she played. In the course of 2 hands, she went from a comfortable stack to out, handing all of her chips to me. I appreciated the effort! But watching her play last night, I'd have to guess she was very distracted or lacked G.A.S.

Enough ranting. I probably get demoted to the "E" list, but this is my blog.

I settled into my usually Wednesday position. Got snuggled into the couch with a blanket (it's -20°F here...it ain't girly to get cold at that temp). I get the headphones on and fire up BDR. I even get the IM chats going with PokerFool and Bodie25.

My first table include Martyr99, AlCantHang, DaBag, LJ, IlkkaK, Lucko21, OhCountess (relation - the Mrs, fellas). AlCantHang starts accumulating chips with some rather dubious calls and raises. It was apparent to me that he came to gamble.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5060341374: The Mookie (37226882), Table 7 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:08:23 ET - 2008/01/30
Seat 1: Martyr99 (2,985)
Seat 3: AlCantHang (5,925)
Seat 4: DaBag (3,270)
Seat 5: pvanharibo (3,045)
Seat 6: IlkkaK (2,955)
Seat 7: OhCaptain (3,045)
Seat 8: lucko21 (375)
Seat 9: OhCountess (2,805)
AlCantHang posts the small blind of 15
DaBag posts the big blind of 30
AlCantHang: wow. thought i was dead and going to bed <- Hmm...do I sense a bit of self-doubt?? The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [Kd Kc]
pvanharibo folds
IlkkaK folds
OhCaptain raises to 105 <- a simple pot size raise
lucko21 folds
OhCountess folds
Martyr99 folds
AlCantHang calls 90
DaBag has 15 seconds left to act
DaBag calls 75
*** FLOP *** [Qs 7c 3s]
lucko21: i was willing to gambool, i know u rr me light sometimes <-referring to the previous hand. Al had just won a monster pot. I figure he's still rolling from it.
lucko21: nh
AlCantHang has 15 seconds left to act
AlCantHang bets 175 <-This bet seems small. I just raised preflop for 105. I also think about the fact that I'm new, no one knows me. So he's leading into a raiser. I sense a trap, but I seriously doubt he hit a set here. Besides...look at the flop!
DaBag has 15 seconds left to act
DaBag calls 175
OhCaptain raises to 1,015 <--If he's flopped a set, I'm dead here anyways, but if he didn't, he's gonna push all in with AQ, KQ or another pocket pair. I really believe that.
AlCantHang raises to 5,820, and is all in <-- There it is. I think if he has a set, he just smooth calls me.
DaBag has 15 seconds left to act
DaBag folds
OhCaptain calls 1,925, and is all in <-- KK should be ahead. I now need to hope I holds up.
AlCantHang shows [As Qh]
OhCaptain shows [Kd Kc]
Uncalled bet of 2,880 returned to AlCantHang
*** TURN *** [Qs 7c 3s] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 7c 3s 6d] [5h]
AlCantHang shows a pair of Queens
OhCaptain shows a pair of Kings
OhCaptain wins the pot (6,370) with a pair of Kings <--Sweet Jesus! No aces!

As has been my Mookie life the last 2 weeks, I say here, around 6000 chips for what seemed an eternity. The next time my chip stack made any kind of up or down motion was almost an hour and a half later.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5061353558: The Mookie (37226882), Table 7 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:30:20 ET - 2008/01/30
Seat 1: KillinKegz (8,245)
Seat 2: pokerpeaker (2,415)
Seat 4: DaBag (1,530)
Seat 5: pvanharibo (6,880)
Seat 6: Astin (4,746)
Seat 7: OhCaptain (6,134)
Seat 8: IlkkaK (1,775)
Seat 9: OhCountess (6,815)
Astin posts the small blind of 100
OhCaptain posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [7c 6c]
IlkkaK folds
OhCountess has 15 seconds left to act
OhCountess folds
KillinKegz folds
wwonka69 sits down
wwonka69 adds 1,720
pokerpeaker has 15 seconds left to act
pokerpeaker folds
DaBag has 15 seconds left to act
DaBag calls 200
pvanharibo folds
Astin folds
OhCaptain checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac 6d 6h] <--folks, this is why we raise before the flop. Life only gets worse for limpers.
OhCaptain checks
DaBag bets 500
OhCaptain raises to 1,000 <--I see a lot of people do this weakass reraise with junk, lets see if he bites..
DaBag raises to 1,330, and is all in <--There it is! I've gotta call this. I'll bet he's got an ace.
OhCaptain calls 330
DaBag shows [Qh Ad] <--No one ever listens to me. This is the hand of death. It should never be played. Its is cursed.
OhCaptain shows [7c 6c]
*** TURN *** [Ac 6d 6h] [Qs] <-- OK. That's not funny. Knock it off *** RIVER *** [Ac 6d 6h Qs] [3s] <-- Ahh.
DaBag shows two pair, Aces and Queens
OhCaptain shows three of a kind, Sixes
OhCaptain wins the pot (3,160) with three of a kind, Sixes
DaBag stands up

It was a bit later, that LJ gave gave me all of her chips. I seem to have misplaced the hand histories. She gave them away in 2 hands. One on a steal attempt gone bad, but the last one, that one still makes me thing. We are the only two in the pot. She limps and I'm in the BB. I don't remember both cards, but I do know I had a K. I think I had K6. The flop comes KKQ. Wow...again with the flopped set for a BB special. This time, I checked to her. She did a candy ass raise, I reraised and she pushed all-in. Again, I'm not laying down top set and I have no reason to believe she's got a bigger kicker or QQ. She turned over Q5, I think. I still wonder what she was thinking. At this point, I was still playing rock like and folding almost everything.

After this, my stack reaches 20,000 chips. I loosened up a bit her for a while I also turned up the aggression. It was not uncommon for the table to walk to me in the blinds. I was tournament chipleader and seemingly on a rush.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5061850785: The Mookie (37226882), Table 3 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:14:23 ET - 2008/01/31
Seat 1: heffmike (10,329)
Seat 2: schlepp571 (12,100), is sitting out
Seat 3: MiamiDon (9,495)
Seat 4: OhCaptain (20,303)
Seat 5: CheckinMyAA (6,991), is sitting out
Seat 6: lightning36 (9,270)
Seat 7: Schaubs (4,490)
Seat 8: Donkey Shortz (6,520)
Seat 9: mookie99 (2,710)
heffmike antes 50
schlepp571 antes 50
MiamiDon antes 50
OhCaptain antes 50
CheckinMyAA antes 50
lightning36 antes 50
Schaubs antes 50
Donkey Shortz antes 50
mookie99 antes 50
CheckinMyAA has returned
OhCaptain posts the small blind of 250
CheckinMyAA posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [9c Ac]
lightning36 folds
Schaubs folds
Donkey Shortz folds
mookie99 folds
heffmike folds
schlepp571 folds
MiamiDon folds
OhCaptain raises to 1,950 <--With a walk to me, I raise it up. I know this will look like a steal, but calle me crazy, I like a good suited A9 to go the races with CheckinMyAA raises to 6,941, and is all in <--This is most likely a resteal. But I'm also way ahead in chips. I believe he could do this with any ace or two painted cards, I call.
OhCaptain calls 4,991
CheckinMyAA shows [2c As] <--I love it when a plan comes together.
OhCaptain shows [9c Ac]
*** FLOP *** [Th Tc Jc]
*** TURN *** [Th Tc Jc] [5d]
schlepp571 has returned
*** RIVER *** [Th Tc Jc 5d] [6c]
CheckinMyAA shows a pair of Tens
OhCaptain shows a flush, Ace high
OhCaptain wins the pot (14,332) with a flush, Ace high <--OK Stupid, now whatcha going to do?
CheckinMyAA stands up

I screwed up a hand a bit after this and did something totally stupid. What I remember of it is I made 2 pair on the river. The board has flushes and straights coming out the wazoo. For some stupid reason I raised 6000 on the river. 2 pair was no good.

The time between bubble and 3 way action was not long at all. People were flaming out like crazy. I did my best to just stay out of the way. I was pretty card dead and fools and their money were quickly being parted, but before I knew it, we were down to Surflexus and Mookie.

It was quite clear, I was not the railbirds favorite. Mookie had that. What I had was patience and desire. Apparently not enough, but they were there. We battled for more than 30 minutes. 3 way poker. My observation was that Surf was actually playing tight and Mookie was applying the pressure. I used this too my advantage and decided I was going to selectively attack Mookie. Surf was only entering pots with strong hands, to fight with him could end in disaster. Mookie on the other hand was raising almost every button or LB, but he was also afraid of protecting against the resteal.

With that information, it went like this. Mookie - raise, OhCaptain would steal. Mookie - raise, I fold, Surf Folds. Surf - raise, Mookie and OhCaptain fold. Surf - raise, Mookie call, OhCaptain fold. Small squirmish. Mookie down in chips. Fold, Fold, Fold. Mookie raises, OhCaptain folds Surf calls. Small quirmish, Mookie has chips. Fold, Fold, Fold. Anyone seen if this deck has ranks or suits on them

I battled my way back from the starting size of about 30,000 chips, up to 90,000 chips and the lead. I felt really comfortable, but dang! This was intense poker. We battled and fought until finally I went for a steal of Surf's blinds. I had A4, not a horrible stealing hand, but surf tables A9. I never improved. This brought me below the 40,00 chip mark. I also get dealt a long string of hands with 2's in them. 32, 62, 62, T2...absolute crap. I wanted to get something with a shot at showing down. And when I saw this, I had hope in my eyes again....

Full Tilt Poker Game #5062884601: The Mookie (37226882), Table 3 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:04:04 ET - 2008/01/31
Seat 4: OhCaptain (2,656)
Seat 6: surflexus (143,528)
Seat 9: mookie99 (87,816)
OhCaptain antes 600
surflexus antes 600
mookie99 antes 600
surflexus posts the small blind of 2,500
mookie99 posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [Td Ts]
OhCaptain calls 2,056, and is all in <--Yeah...this sucks
surflexus calls 2,500
mookie99 checks
*** FLOP *** [Kh Kc Ks]
surflexus checks
mookie99 checks
*** TURN *** [Kh Kc Ks] [Tc]
surflexus checks
mookie99 bets 5,000
surflexus folds
mookie99 shows [Ad Kd] <--Sweet mother...he flops friggin quads! I'm drawing dead.
OhCaptain shows [Td Ts]
Uncalled bet of 5,000 returned to mookie99
*** RIVER *** [Kh Kc Ks Tc] [9c]
mookie99 wins the side pot (5,888)
mookie99 shows four of a kind, Kings
OhCaptain shows a full house, Kings full of Tens
mookie99 wins the main pot (7,968) with four of a kind, Kings
OhCaptain: gg
mookie99: gg
OhCaptain stands up

Yep. I lost to Mookie's quad kings. Watcha gonna do?

I had a blast! My hats off to Mookie and Surflexus. That was about as much fun I've had short handed!