August 7th

Completed a pretty decent week. I played in 4 tournaments and cashed in 2 of them. Made 600 profit in a Monday NLHE event at Diamond Jims in Rosamond. I went back there Wensday and played in a "Triple Tiered" NLHE Shootout. There were 6 tables and a total of 60 players. The final four players from each table would advance to three tables of 8 each, with the final three from those tables making the final table.

APU (As per usual) I didn't get much to play, yet 2 players were eliminated right away form the first table. I was able to get in a blind steal almost every round as the Lady to my left was telegraphing her moves in advance. When we got down to 5 players, I was able to move in on her with Jh 3h and she folded 8 8. She went out on the next hand with with K 5, and I made the "semifinal table" with about 7K in chips.

This table also lost a couple of players right away. One of the key hands for me was when I found 10 10 in the hole and moved in on the button with about 9K. The BB had about 2 more 1K chips than me and he called and laid down K J. Of course a King hit the flop right away and it looked like curtains for me. Of course I was so focused on hitting that 10 on the river, that I didn't even notice that deuce of clubs on the river that gave me a flush. As a matter of fact, an off duty dealer that had sat down at the table for a moment was the one to call the hand. The dealer and the guy with the K J didn't even notice it either until the ODD (Off Duty Dealer) called it!

When it got doen to 4 handed the kid on my left started to point at me and say I was the next one out. At this point I had about 22K in chips. An Asian guy on my right had about 28K, and a tight solid woman in her mid 20's had about 30K. I hadn't seen her show down anything but group one's in both the T's I had played with her, so I respected her play a bit. I gently told the kid that one might be better off playing the whole table, and not just one player. Besides, I had stolen the BB from him 5 of the past 7 rounds, so who was he to talk. In any event, the mouthy newbie found A 4 in the hole on the next deal, and decided to call my all in raise. I had A 5, but he caught a 4 on the flop, and I was down to 7k in chips, with the 4K BB bearing down on me and the mouthy newbie crowing away about what a great player he was. Luckily for me, his shouting was cut off when he found big slick in the hold, and he tremblingly put his entire stack out to call the Asian guys All-in raise. My new pal had QQ, and another mouthy newbie bites the dust!

At the final table, we all started with 30K in chips, with the Blinds at 1 and 2K. I found nothing in the hole to play except A K which lost to an all in call of 8K by the Asian guy with pocket 8's. I did manage to last until 6th, going out with Q 9 suited,but lost when the Q 10 caller hit a Q on the flop. I picked up 130 for that, netting a $70 profit.

On Thursday, I drove down to Lake Elsinor Casino for a $40 Omaha 8 tournament. APU, I recieved no cards, and when I did venture a play or two on the pot, the cards didn't hit. I was one of the first one's out, even though I took the $30 rebuy that gave me another 1K in chips. Though it seems like alot, the blinds here start at $25-25 playing 25-50, and double every 20 minutes, so within 4 rounds, you're playing 200-400 on a sub 1K stack. I'd rather get blown out early then try to survive scrunched over a tiny stack only to get eliminated on the bubble.