Aruba wrapup

Aruba was a great time and also the perfect time for a vacation. 90 degree weather along with a 5k poker tournament is paradise for me, and I really needed a break from the online grind as I wasn't doing too well the past couple weeks. I started Day 1b of the tournament - 15k starting stack 25/50 starting, 90 min levels - the structure is fantastic....So my starting table had Jeff Madsen on my right, although he lost to a nasty 2 outer about 10-15 hands in - good thing he did cause he played every single hand up until busting......I had one hand with him where he had raised in later position and I called with AJo...The flop came 89T giving me an open ender so I check/call his flop bet. The turn comes a Queen - I check again and call his turn bet. The river pairs the board with a T - at this point I figured hes going to fire the river a high % of the time considering how aggressive he is - at the same time I can't really c/r the river here incase he shoves then I'm in a really tough spot. I decide to c/c on the river and he mucked. A little later on our table broke and I got moved to Liv's table. At this point I have maybe 17-18k when I pick up QQ in the BB I believe. It folds around to Wiscomurray in the CO I believe who bumps it up to 700 at 150/300 - Liv is on the button with 8k I believe and 3 bets to 2100 - I decide to raise to 5100 at this point basically putting Liv all in - wisco folds she gets the rest in and has TT - I hold and pick up a nice pot putting me around 25k. Soon the table breaks and I get moved to a table of unknowns. Not too many big hands played out there - one hand that was interesting was when I was in the BB with QTo. It folded to the CO+1 who just limped I believe at 150/300 - he had about 12-14k in total. the SB completed and I checked the BB. The flop came T85 with two diamonds - sb checked, I bet 60% pot, and the CO+1 raised from 600 to 1800 - sb folded and I called. Turn came an offsuit Ace - I checked he fired 3k - Not too much made sense at this point - Any pair would be opening preflop, any ace as well - what did he limp 85o?? I wasn't planning on going anywhere with this hand so I called. River came a blank deuce. I checked and I saw him getting ready to put all the chips in but he checked behind and I was good. Had he shoved the river logically I wanted to call, but being a pussy I might of folded :(.....his line just didn't make much sense. Day 1 ends with 28k.

Day 2 was pretty rough - about 1 level in we have to redraw for tables - great I draw table 1 - the problem with this is this table will never be broke - the higher tables like 20-30 eventually break up, so if you draw a tough table 1 your pretty fucked. Well obviously thats what happened. Heres the lineup - seat 1 - laggy euro guy - seat 2 - titantom32 - seat 3 - Matt Brady - won the event last year - seat 4 - Roothlus - seat 5 myself - seat 6 james mordue a pretty good live player - seat 7 Tmay420 - seat 8 basebaldy, seat 9 a young internet player.....so ya this was godawful and the problem was I couldn't open that light vs this table.....I played pretty nitty the whole table - I was able to make some hands here and there, although after roothlus got knocked out a new kid moved to his seat, and I ended up calling his sb shove to my BB with a6 for 12 bbs when he had 77 and I didnt get there. I ended up getting down to 20 bb but doubled after holding JJ to Tmays AK. I didn't get much going though after that, and ended the day around 38k after bluffing 10k off with KQ on a 23555 board.

Day 3 we had I believe 80 or so players left and I started the day with 20 bbs roughly. Nothing was going my way - I wasn't picking up hands and when I did I couldn't connect on any flops whatsoever....Eventually I got down to 12 bbs 10 away from the money or so. It folded around to the SB who put me all in - I looked down at A2o and made the call - he turned over K7s - I flopped the ace but he backdoored the flush and sent me to the rail.....boooo.....

I gotta say now I understand why people say how internet and live poker are so different. Its almost like a whole different game your playing - Understanding stack sizes and pot sizes is so important, and the mentality is so different. You're now face to face with people and if you make a shitty bluff it might be shown, where as online you don't have that physical factor....I remember one pot we had 6 limpers - I had 77 and it took me a minute to figure out the right raise pre - online its so much easier and I'm more comfortable...I also think I play better overall online - I think I see more spots where as live I was more cautious. I guess over time that will change but this year I definitely understand how live is a big change. Anyways Im off to play online today - I played most of the majors yest but bricked em all, but felt great how I played - hopefully I get some wins this month. Till next time