$20 gone in 32 hands

$20 gone in 32 hands? That'll happen, when the hands include the following:

Hand	Position	$ to see flop	Result
6♦5♦	7th of 10	$0.50 to make pot $2.25	Missed flop in $3 pot, folded to bet
4♦3♦	6th of 10	$0.50 to make pot $2.25	Hit middle pair 9♠2♠4♣, checked, called one $0.50 bet, folded to $1 bet when K♥ came on turn
6♦5♦	7th of 9	$0.50 to make pot $2.25	Hit middle pair 8♥6♥4♣, called $0.50 in $3.50 pot Hit open end straight draw on 3♥ turn, called BB’s $1, button raises $, BB folds, I call, pot is $11 Missed when 9♥ on river, checked, called $1 to try to win $11.
3♥2♥	SB	$0.25 SB, plus $0.25 to make pot $2	Missed flop, folded to 2 bets
2♠2♦	5th of 8	Call $0.50, all fold, except SB, who raises, I call, $2.50 pot	Missed flop (Q♦9♣8♥), SB bets $0.50, I raise to represent strength, SB calls Turn is A♣, SB checks, I bet $1, SB checkraises to $2, I fold.
8♦7♦	5th of 10	Called $0.50, called $0.50 raise to make pot $4.75	Missed flop, checked, folded to bet
A♦3♦	BB	$0.50 BB, plus called $0.50 raise to make pot $3.50	Missed flop (K♦Q♥2♣), folded to $1 raise.
K♣K♦	6th of 10	Slowplay: called $0.50, called $0.50 raise to keep 2 players in.	Scary flop of A♥J♥4♦. SB best $0.50, I raise to get info, other two players call. Turn is A♠, SB checks, I bet, last player raises, I call. Pot is $10.50. Bet $1 on T♠ river, player raises, I call my last $1 all-in. Lost to A♣9♥.

Edit: added a lot more detail

Critique my mistakes, s'il vous plait

This post will be a bit long, but I'd appreciate your take on one or more of the following hands. My specific questions are in blue. I've looked at the hand history from last night, and see about $22 worth of mistakes I made in six hands of the 74 I played. The other -$36 was just bad luck, like holding AQo when four-to-a-flush come on the turn, never pairing an ace, and missing my open ended straight draws. These tables are full or nearly full; I'm omitting pre-flop folders for clarity:

Hand 4: Calling a bet with two overcards to the raggy flop: -$1
I don't know if this was such a bad bet. I've got A♠9♠ in the cutoff position, and I call a single raise preflop. I'm last to act of the three players who see the flop: 4♥2♦5♠. Brandywine checks, CSparrow bets $1, I call, and Brandywine calls. My question to you: did I play this one right? Should I have folded these two overcards here?

Ending: The turn is 9♥, CSparrow bets $2, and I fold top pair top kicker. Brandywine calls, the river's J♥, and wins with a Q♥5♥ flush, over CSparrow's K♥K♠. I'd have had the worst hand.

Hand 19: Calling on the turn facing two bad possibilities: -$4
On the button, I'm dealt T♠T♦. Brandywine and CSparrow call $1 each, and I raise to $2. They call. With $8.50 in the pot, the flop is 9♠7♠K♦; an overcard, and a possible flush draw. Brandywine checks, CSparrow bets $1, and I conclude there's only one way to know if I'm facing a higher pair or a flush draw: I raise to $2. Both players call. (With a 35% chance of hitting the flush by the river, it's correct for someone to call on a flush draw with a pot this size.) I've got my info: I'm probably beat.

The turn is 3♠. Brandywine checks, CSparrow bets $2, and I... call (?!). This was a clear mistake, even with $16.50 in the pot. I generally figure there's a 10% chance that another player is bluffing, so the pot odds weren't right for this call.

Ending: Brandywine also calls, and the river's 5♦. The other two players check, I bet $2, Brandywine calls, and CSparrow folds. Brandywine's wins, beating my tens by pairing the king with her T♥K♠.

Hand 24: Trying to buy a small pot on the river with ace-high: -$2
Nothing much to this one. The flop checks around, one player calls my $2 attempt to buy the pot on the turn, and at the river, the pot's $7.25, with a board of 4♠3♥4♣/4♦/7♠. I've got A♥6♥ and am first to act. I try to buy it for $2, get called by raygo24, and lose to his 2♥2♠.

Hand 73: Not letting go of AKs when I know I'm beat: -$4
I'm in the big blind, and get A♥K♥. Four callers, and I raise to $2. The four callers re-call, and the flop comes A♣9♣8♣. I've got to scare the players out who are drawing to a flush, or find out if someone's already made it. The small blind checks, I bet, get two callers, and CSparrow raises on the button. The small blind folds, I re-raise, two folders, and CSparrow calls.

The turn is Q♣, the pot is $18. Crap. My only chance of winning this one is by representing a high club, so I come out betting $2. CSparrow raises me back. The pot is $24. It's worth $2 if there's a 10% chance that he's bluffing. Would you call, fold, or re-raise here? Bluffers don't tend to do so by raising on the turn, right? I called, and think I made a mistake doing so. I'd bet to get information, I'd bet to represent, and I'd learned from both bets that I was beat. I should have folded.

Ending: the river's Q♥, I bet, CSparrow calls, and he wins with his K♣T♠.

Hand 74: Betting with insufficient pot odds: -$6
The very next hand, in the small blind, I get low end suited connectors: 5♣4♣. Brandywine and Done4 call, I call, and the big blind checks. The flop is 3♠K♠2♣. I've got an open end straight draw, and if an ace hits, there's a good chance I'll have someone on the hook for a juicy pot. I bet $1 into the $4 pot (side question: should I have folded here?), the big blind folds, Brandywine calls, and Done4 folds. The turn is 7♠. I'm facing a possible flush, which will beat any of my eight outs. Assuming I'm not facing a flush draw, there's a 17% chance that I'll get a card I need on the river. I bet $2 into the $6 pot (my mistake), and Brandywine calls.

The river pairs me, with a 5♥. I compound my mistake by betting $2; Brandywine capitalizes on it by raising to $4, and I inexplicably call. Brandywine shows her A♦4♠ for a straight. I never would have put her on that hand (playing that in middle position?), but I shouldn't have been at the river anyway.

Hand 75: Tossing away the rest of my chips: -$4
I'm then dealt A♦Q♠ on the button. Done4 calls, Lucky555 calls, BabblingFool checks (he posted BB in the cutoff), and I raise. All three call, and with $9.50 in the pot, we see a flop of 4♣K♣7♦. The three players check to me, I bet $1 to buy the pot, and only Lucky555 calls me. 9♠ comes on the turn, which shouldn't help him, so I bet $2 to try and buy it again. My chip stack is down to $4, and Lucky555 sees it, because he raises. I'm pretty sure at this point that he's got a king, and the $17.50 pot should be below my 10% bluff estimate, so I should fold. I've lost two good hands in a row, though, and I don't plan on rebuying, so on a bit of tilt, I re-raise all-in. He calls, and wins the pot with A♥K♠.

Give me back my booty

I ended up ahead $28 on Saturday, but got my butt handed to me (down $58) on Sunday. I guess I shouldn't move to higher limits ($1/$2) when I'm not feeling well, although I don't recall any bad plays that I made. I've downloaded my hand history and will be analyzing it tonight to see where I went wrong.

I suspect that it was just a run of bad cards, and the few times I got good cards, they never hit (e.g. A♥K♥ lost to pocket deuces), or worse, ran into trouble (e.g., A♠Q♠ ran into K♠K♥ and A♦K♣).

Paris bets away £100k Bentley

Paris Hilton: the whale who's a fish: Paris bets away £100k Bentley

It's Tiggerific

It's been a bouncy week in online play.

4/15/2006	+$5.28
4/16/2006	+$17.50
4/17/2006	+$8.95
4/18/2006	-$13.98
4/19/2006	+$8.29
4/20/2006	+$7.85
4/21/2006	-$4.28

Add the $10 bonus achieved on 4/16, and I'm up just under $40 for the week.

No monster hands lately; just a lot of top-pair top-kicker, or flopped sets.

Edit: fixed dates

Test post ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ test

♣
♠

♥
♦

Throwing money into the wind

Bah. Yesterday... not so good.

First, I went to pokerinside.com to check my rakeback balance, and discovered that the CDPoker.com bonuses are offset against the rakeback, so with my $10 bonus payment last weekend, my rakeback balance is below zero.

Then, I played two simultaneous 50¢/$1 tables last night, and at my worst point was down $36. Some bad cards, some bad beats, and some seriously bad play.

For example, I'm dealt pocket fives under the gun. Lots of limpers, a raise, I call, and the flop comes 4-6-7. I bet, a couple callers, a raiser, and I re-raise and get a couple callers.

The turn's a K. I'm distracted at the other table now, so I bet, get raised, re-raise, and get called. I've still got an open ended straight draw (8 outs) and two more fives in the deck (2 outs). Of course, if I hit another 5, then anyone with an 8 beats me, so those aren't really outs.

The river's a J. I bet, get raised, re-raise (with second lowest pair? WTF?), get capped, and call. I lose something like $7 to J6, which had me beat since the flop.

I did, however, end up "only" (sheesh) down $14 for the night, because I won $17 on one hand. I'm dealt AKs in the big blind, and after capping the betting pre-flop, have two opponents left.

The flop comes K8K. Nice. If I bet from the big blind, they'll have a good read on me. I check instead. The player to my left bets, the other player calls, and I smooth call, trying to set the hook.

The turn's an J. I check again. My opponent bets, and I check raise. He re-raises, and I cap.

The river's a beautiful A. I bet, we go back and forth, and it's capped. I show my KKKAA full boat. He shows his Q8 for two pair. Chomp.

Ninjas and knights run amok in Pierce County

Apparently, the Tacoma City Council is afraid of swordfish wielding martial artists, because their weapons of choice are available at the local Qwik-E-Mart.

HOW BIG A PROBLEM?
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department tracks assaults that involve weapons. Here are statistics from 2003 and 2004. Detailed information from the Tacoma Police Department was not available.
• Swords 50
• Machete 20
• Brass knuckles 18
• Daggers 11
• Nunchaku 11
• Blow guns (darts) 7
• Other martial arts 22

Full story at the News Tribune. Man, Pierce County's a fun place to live.

AAAAhhhh...

There's an old hold 'em saying about AK: you'll win small hands with it, but lose big ones.

So what about AQ?

If it's me at the 25¢/50¢ table tonight, I hit quad aces on the turn.

In the (small) money

It's notable (to me at least) that I placed second in a six-person $1 + 10¢ SNG last night, too. It's the only tourney of the last seven that I've played where I ended up in the money. I wasn't getting any good cards for most of the game, but hit a few lucky double-ups at the end, like when my AT all-in beat my opponent's K8 all-in, hitting a ten on the flop. Mostly, I just sat back and let the other five players knock each other out.

This win gave me a $1.80 prize, +70¢ for the tourney.

Bonus, rakeback, and whining for action

I passed another milestone last night. At CDPoker, for each hand you're dealt, if the rake is 25¢ or more (meaning the pot is $5+), you get a point for each 25¢ of rake. Get 500 points, and you get $10 of your signup or deposit bonus paid out. As further motivation, your bonuses expire after three months.

I hit 500 points last night. +$10. The points have been coming a lot faster now that I've been playing 50¢/$1 tables.

Only about 2000 more points to go to collect my remaining $41 in bonus money. It's unlikely that I'll hit that by the end of June, unless I jump up to the $1/$2 tables, and I don't plan on doing that until my bankroll is at around $200.

FWIW, I also signed up through a rakeback site (tell 'em TravisL sent you), which will pay out 30% of the rakes I contribute. For example, for a hand at a 10 person table resulting in a $10 pot resulting in 50¢ of rake, I'd have contributed 5¢, meaning I'd get a 1.6¢ rakeback. The rakeback gets paid out once it hits $25 (minus a 15% fee), but if I wait until $100, the fee is waived. Micro money, but it's still a positive flow. I'm at about $5.

At the tables themselves, yesterday was an up-and-down kind of day. I played before noon yesterday, and after being down $15, ended up down only $5. After the Easter festivities ceased, I played more last night, and came across the fishiest 50¢/$1 table I've seen in a long time. Very generally speaking, you can tell how good a player is by how many chips they have in front of them. If someone buys in for $20, I figure them for an average player, like me. A lot of times, a newbie or weak player will buy in for the minimum, $5, which isn't enough to ram-and-jam the pot if they flop quads to their pocket aces. Most of the time, the 50¢/$1 tables have two or three people below $20, and the other seven above, some up at $60 or $80. If the table's all above $20, I tend to look for easier pickings -- no sense in being the small fish in the pond.

So last night, I check the tables, and at a full table of ten players, the biggest stack was $12. C'mon get in the boat, fish. C'mon get in the boat fish fish.

So even given my -$5 for the morning, I ended up +$17, plus the $10 bonus.

I also discovered a great psychological strategy. I got dealt KK in the big blind, so raised pre-flop. The next few players folded, so I whined, "gimme some action". The button did; I'm sure he thought I was bluffing. I rammed-and-jammed, and he called me from the raggy flop through the rainbow river with middle pair. Bwah ha hah.

I did the same thing with pocket aces at another table 20 minutes later, with the same result. Reelin' 'em in. Tasty.

Mine your step, avoid depression

The Seattle Times is reporting that an old mine in Issaquah is slowly reopening, leaving a deep hole that "a stray animal or unwary hiker" could fall in to.

"The growing size indicates the debris used to seal the mine shaft 50 years ago has deteriorated. Anyone stepping into the depression to get a closer look at the hole could fall through the thin crust of dirt overlaying the mine opening."

Bobbi Wallace of King County Parks "worries about mountain bikers and geocachers — people who take part in scavenger hunts using handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) units.

"In their eagerness, they often go through the underbrush instead of staying on designated trails, she said."

Mind your step. "There isn't an emergency crew in the county that can rescue you if you fall into an old mine."

That's deep.

Edit: adding Snakes in a Mine. And line breaks.

Puggy Pearson, 1929-2006

Puggy Pearson, who was one of the seven players in the first WSOP, and who won the 4th WSOP in 1973, passed away yesterday. Stories at PokerNews and CardPlayer.

Bah. Stupid deck.

Down $12.70 last night. Just couldn't get two big cards all night, except for AK once, which lost big to AA. Bah.

Connectors suit me well

Two major barriers broken in one hand tonight.

I'm dealt 5d6d in middle position, call 50¢, then call a 50¢ raise, get a flop of 9d2sJd, and hit the Jd on the turn, winning an $11 pot against a guy who couldn't let go of his AhKc, even when a 9s hit the river.

This pushed me over the $100 mark in my online account, but more importantly (from a psychological standpoint) it put me back in the black for 2006. My 2006 online bankroll* plus my 2006 home game winnings have now surpassed the $150 I lost on my four trips to the Commerce and Bicycle Club casinos in LA.

I was thinking I was going to hit this mark yesterday, but I lost a few races in sit-n-go's, and made some bad plays at 50¢/$1, but did come back from a $17 deficit to only end up down $3.77 for the night.

So... In terms of payoff, my two biggest online hands of the year both came following questionable bad calls of pre-flop raises in middle position (today's 65s, and Sunday's QTs). That's kinda strange.

* My current bankroll, minus the $8.72 I started the year with.

Wonderbug, Doctor Who, Lake Steilacoom, and Mint Julep

Yeah, I know Wikipedia's been around for a long time, but I think it's reached some kind of tipping point recently, because I've been using it a heck of a lot more in doing some basic research.

I've found it helpful enough that I started to feel that I should start contributing to it, so I have, thanks in part to Thornkin's dare to create a Wonderbug entry.

Razz

After listening to episode 39 of the Ante Up! podcast, I was intrigued enough to download the Full Tilt client and tried out the Razz play money table last night. What a simple, odd, yet intriguing little game. In short, it's 7-card stud, lowest hand wins, straights and flushes don't exist. A2345 is the best possible hand. Hey, it's good enough of a game that TJ Clouter got a WSOP bracelet for it in 2004.

Two hands, two wins, $22

It's been a bad few days at the online tables, with losses Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and getting my very large stack booted from a freeroll tourney when I went all in after the flop with an over pair, getting called by an low pocket pair that hit a set on the turn.

Today, however: mmmm... toasty.

Playing two simultaneous tables (a 25¢/50¢ and a 50¢/$1), I'm sitting about even for the day. I hit quad fives for a nice chunk o' change, but just got my aces cracked by an all-in suited connector that hit runner-runner for the flush. Because he was all-in for $1.05, I didn't lose much, but I wanted to give the impression that I was steaming. Maybe I was, a little bit, because the next hand I'm dealt QTs under the gun, and as I click "call" for 50¢, and then call the big blind's 50¢ raise, I'm thinking that I shouldn't really be in this hand with these weak cards.

Four players: big blind, me, middle guy, and a guy who just posted the big blind to play.

Here's the flop: TcTsKh. I've hit a set, with a really good kicker. Only pocket kings are beating me now.

Big blind bets. I raise to $1. Middle guy folds. Posting guy raises to $1.50.

Big blind calls. I cap it at $2. Posting guy and big blind call.

The turn is Jd. AQ or 9Q or JJ or KK all will beat me, but I don't think many of these drawing hands would stay in, except maybe KK or AQ.

Big blind checks. Is he trapping me? I bet $1. Middle guy raises to $2. Posting guy folds. Big blind calls. The AQ or KK possibility worries me, so I call.

The river is a beautiful Qs. Anyone trying for a straight has hit it, but my full house will now beat them. Big blind checks. Nice -- he doesn't have it. I bet $1. Middle guy facing a $1 bet into a $16.75 pot... folds?!?. He's worse than a 16:1 dog? Unless he's got absolutely nothing, I always figure there's a 10% chance that someone's on a complete bluff. Big blind calls, and shows Qd4s, for two pair (QQTTK). I bring in the $17.75 pot.

My other big hand isn't nearly as cool -- just pocket nines facing a board of 866/2/J, facing A8 and K8. Another $6.80.

[Edit: added the fact that posting guy folded on the turn. Minor detail.]

Wal-Mart Bingo cards

It's been more than a year since I first came up with the idea, but I've finally come up with my Wal-Mart Bingo cards (Word .doc).

I'm not a programmer in a real programming language, but I've used Word VBA enough to come up with this working Word document. You'll need to have macro security set to medium and macros enabled for it to work. If you want to build this in a real program, my code follows.

Rules: print out as many cards as you want, then go to Wal Mart. The game starts when you lock your car. The first player with five in a row and back to the car wins. You can't use the same person for more than one box.

Private Sub cmdGenerateCard_Click()

Dim collSquares As New Collection
collSquares.Add "Screaming kid"
collSquares.Add "Screaming adult customer"
collSquares.Add "Screaming WalMart employee"
collSquares.Add "Customer with > 4 piercings"
collSquares.Add "Physical violence against an SO"
collSquares.Add "Physical violence against a child"
collSquares.Add "Physical violence against oneself"
collSquares.Add "Traffic accident"
collSquares.Add "Parking lot road rage"
collSquares.Add "Expired license tabs"
collSquares.Add "Customer wearing Nascar logo"
collSquares.Add "Customer wearing alcohol logo"
collSquares.Add "Customer with excessive bling"
collSquares.Add "Customer wearing pro wrestling logo"
collSquares.Add "Defective WalMart TV Network monitor"
collSquares.Add "Pregnant teenager"
collSquares.Add "Teenager supervising 2+ kids"
collSquares.Add "Broken car window"
collSquares.Add "Morbidly overweight customer with bare gut"
collSquares.Add "Plumber's crack"
collSquares.Add "Drunk"
collSquares.Add "Senior citizen trying to look rich"
collSquares.Add "Customer with a mullet"
collSquares.Add "Employee with a mullet"
collSquares.Add "Customer visibly missing multiple teeth"
collSquares.Add "Employee visibly missing multiple teeth"
collSquares.Add "A mohawk"
collSquares.Add "Unnaturally colored natural hair"
collSquares.Add "Customer with loud floral print shirt"
collSquares.Add "Liquid bodily fluids, outside the body"
collSquares.Add "An employee flailing like a panicked Sim"
collSquares.Add "A customer flailing like a panicked Sim"
collSquares.Add "Someone talking to themself (no cell phone)"
collSquares.Add "Someone with a missing limb"
collSquares.Add "Pants with crotch stain"
collSquares.Add "Inappropriate use of the store intercom"
collSquares.Add "Transvestite or cross-dresser"
collSquares.Add "Profanity"
collSquares.Add "Excessive body odor"
collSquares.Add "Assault with an electric cart"
collSquares.Add "A customer singing"
collSquares.Add "Verbal racism"
collSquares.Add "Someone injured in the store"
collSquares.Add "A cowboy hat (worn)"
collSquares.Add "A midget"
collSquares.Add "Excessive tattoos"
collSquares.Add "An employee with a lower back tattoo"
collSquares.Add "Hearing a foreign language"
collSquares.Add "A yelling customer"
collSquares.Add "A yelling employee"
collSquares.Add "The 'Ding! Fries are Done' guy"
collSquares.Add "Someone with Ozzy Ozborne's linguistics"
collSquares.Add "Five or more kids in one family"
collSquares.Add "Aggressive dog"
collSquares.Add "Someone wearing a wifebeater"
collSquares.Add "A customer with more makeup than Tammy Faye"
collSquares.Add "An employee with more makeup than Tammy Faye"
collSquares.Add "Misuse of grammar"
collSquares.Add "Misspelled handwritten sign"
collSquares.Add "A frighteningly large scar"
collSquares.Add "A Red Hat lady"
collSquares.Add "Cowboy boots(worn)"
collSquares.Add "Goth"
collSquares.Add "Woman with a mustache"
collSquares.Add "Blue bag tumbleweed (in parking lot)"
collSquares.Add "Car with duct tape repair"
collSquares.Add "Car with more than 5 bumper stickers"
collSquares.Add "Toddler alone"
collSquares.Add "Homeless advertising (e.g. 'will work for food')"
collSquares.Add "Someone buying chewing tobacco"
collSquares.Add "Someone religious (e.g., w/cross necklace), acting non-religiously"
collSquares.Add "Nose picking"


For x = 1 To 24
    RandomNumber = (CInt(Rnd() * collSquares.Count))
    RandomResult = collSquares(RandomNumber)
    ThisDocument.FormFields("Bingo" & x).Result = RandomResult
    collSquares.Remove (RandomNumber)
Next x

End Sub

Private Sub cmdClearCard_Click()
Dim ff As FormField
For Each ff In ThisDocument.FormFields
    ff.Result = ""
Next ff
End Sub

007 can't play poker

Expert Imported to Teach Bond How to Play Poker:

Daniel Craig, the British actor who will play 007 in the upcoming James Bond title "Casino Royale", was reportely so bad at poker that film exec's had to fly in an expert to teach him.

John Duthie, U.K. poker player and commentator, was brought to a hotel in Berlin to coach Craig (right) before filming of several crucial scenes revolving around poker.

One insider told England's The Sun newspaper, "Daniel could not play cards. It was so funny. It is a critical part of the film, where Bond shows how cool a customer he is, but it was frustratingly ridiculous how long it took to teach the cast how to play or behave at a poker table."

This comes as the latest contrast between the 007 character and Craig, who reportedly admitted that he hates guns and can't operate the Astin Martin DB5's manual transmission.

Data track of my poker balance

I've been keeping track of my daily balance for a few months now, and I'm feeling pretty good about the last couple of weeks. With the $20 bonus I got from pokerindex.com, I'm up almost $80 in online play. Combined with being up in home game play but down in B&M casino play, I'm almost even for the year.

The fickle KQ: good, bad, and almost bad

On Saturday, I placed 14th out of 97 players in a freeroll, just 4 places out of the money. 10th place would have paid $20. KQ let me down again. Ah well.

A bunch of friends came over for poker, and in spite of being down $15 early, I ended up ahead $17 for the night. Four out of five times, Shrek isn't going to have that K that he's representing, and I'll successfully get his all-in. I also got to see Bill turn a 10¢ chip-and-a-chair into $2.50. KQ won 2-out-of-3 times for me. Saturday was a good day.

Sunday, I made the mistake of playing online (25¢/50¢) in the middle of the day, with all the distractions that it entails. I found myself trying to scare people off with my two overcards, which almost never works, and the overcards almost never hit. Down $16.15. It was a bad day.

Monday night, I played online again, and dropped down $10 over the course of about two hours. A series of brutal hands did me in:

1) In the big blind, I'm dealt Q6o. The board comes AQ6/4/T. I lose $2 to a KJ rivered straight.

2) Two hands later, on the button, I get 99. The board comes A48/5/8. The other player isn't playing like they had the A. They had TT instead, and take $1.75 from me.

3) The next hand, I get 88. The board comes 53K/5/6. I fold on the turn, because I've put the other guy on a 5. Nope -- but he had JJ. Down another 75¢.

4) The next hand, I get AJo. The board comes J9A/Q/T. I'm expecting the other guy to show his K straight, but no, he's got 65, but I've only started with $1.90, and can't get value for my cards.

I rebuy for another $10, and although I realize I've been getting some bad and semi-bad beats, I think I could also make do with playing two simultaneous tables. That'll keep away the temptation to play A6o.

About an hour later, I'm still about even on both tables, and the run of good cards finally shows up. The best hand had me raising like a madman on the turn and river, when my KQ hit a 8JT/9/9 board (a K high straight), against two other players with queens. +$11.50 on one hand, but down $1.90 overall for the night.