Los Angeles Trip Report 12/5/04

I played a $200 tournament at the Bicycle Casino on Saturday. I had the opportunity to meet both Geormiet and niin, both of whom were playing the tournament with me. Both nice guys. I connected with Geo before the tourney and we had a chance to chat for a little while. niin and I were not able to make cell phone contact initially, so I just went and took my seat. The person on my immediate right was vaugely close to niin's description, and sure enough it turned out to be him. Out of 300+ people in the tourney, I was right next to one of the other two ITHers!

The tournament itself was fairly well run. We had 1000 chips to stars and 30 minute levels. The players were bad. I saw a lot of awful play and pegged maybe three people at the table as solid players. The rest were maniacs or weak calling stations. On to the action! Here is a recap of all of the hands I won: ________. That's right. I did not win a single hand. I had a maniac on my left and a calling station on his left. Rotten position. I bet my KQ with top pair and a flush draw into the calling station and she then made a huge bet when an ace turned and I folded. I then raised AQs and the maniac called. I missed and put out a fairly good sized bet and he called. I check/folded the turn. By the time the third level came around, I had 400 chips on a 50 blind. One player who had been quiet suddenly tripled up with AA by moving all in in the dark on two opponents. The next hand I got KK UTG (my first pair) and made it 150 to go. He called. I moved my chips in in the dark and he called on a 589r flop with a set of fives. Bye bye, ammbo.

Overall I had a great time. I met a few friendly ITHers and had a good time with the people at my table. I like to be a chatterbox at the table, but I usually back that up with good play. This time was not to be. I was very disappointed with myself that I made moves on two players I should not be making moves on so early and that my overall performance was so dismal. I have had a bit of a live tournament drought lately and I think I need to examine my live game for holes. I do think I lose a little bit of aggression when I am in a live game vs. online.