Rocky

so i'm going to rent Rocky tonight for some inspiration. the underdog can do it. eye of the tiger, baby. i have more chips than a lot of players left from days 1a and 1b, and i have time to be patient and find some good spots.

i was a little bit frustrated after finishing day 1 without ever picking up a hand. but i know my time will come. with 50 big blinds to start the day, i have lots of play (and fight!) left in me. i will focusing on playing my best poker and putting my chips in ahead. i felt comfortable the entire day on friday, and i thought i played pretty well, it was just one of those times where the cards didn't break for me.

there were 2 hands that i bluffed where i lost a few chips, but i thought my reasoning and logic behind how i played them were good. they just ended up having a really solid hand. i open raised in the cutoff with 46o and the small blind, who i was targeting as probably the weakest player at our table, called. the flop was a scary KhQh8h. he made a small lead out bet and i made a small raise. the turn was a blank, and we checked it through. the river was the 9h, putting four hearts on the board. he checked to me again. at this point i'm thinking he probably has something along the lines of AQ or KT with no heart. i didn't think he could call much of a bet so i bet about 2/3 pot and he check raised. i guess i was representing his hand! damn! i think a big bet on the turn would have caused him to fold. but against such an ABC type player, i think him checking the river would normally have meant he was giving up.

the other hand was against the chip leader at our table (Marcucci Gianluca from italy) who finished the day 4th in chips in the whole tournament! he limped in MP, i raised with KJ in the cutoff. he was the only caller. we saw a 9 high flop, all hearts. (again with the hearts!!???? maybe i have a subliminal thing with bluffing heart flops...) he check called my c-bet. the turn was the Ac. check, check. the river was a brick and he checked again. now what is his range? he could have any heart...but hearts missed. he could have a hand like T9s and flopped top pair. or he could have any small pair that failed to improve. i think the latter two options were more likely, so i bet the river and he quickly called with AhQx. that guy just hit the crap out of everything all day!

i'm done thinking about friday now, and ready to think about accumulating chips tomorrow. a guy at my table on friday went from 12k chips to 55k in the span on 5 hands. my turn is coming.

i am ready to accept the chips of my competitors. if i raise it, they will come.

and now here's a link for your listening enjoyment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu9xx5Ri278