CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: What a Day!

My run came to an end 13 places out of the money (JJ vs. QQ).

Ante: 500

SB: 2,500

BB: 5,000

Finished 33rd out of 161 players.

Tomorrow, I will recap some hands from today's event. For now, I must get some sleep in preparation for tomorrow's tournament.

Two highlights from today

• All day, I had the honor of playing against Al Krux (a tough opponent but I learned a tremendous amount from watching him play)
• A beautiful snowfall

Yawnnnnn...

~Sammy "The Dentist"

www.sammythedentist.net

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: Third Break

T$100 chip color up.

Sitting at T$64K.

Antes: 500

SB: 1,500

BB: 3,000

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: Second Break

A bit of a roller coaster, as my stack went from T$42K down to T$18K back up to T$54K.

Highlights: had quad kings AND got action (sweeeet), great call with middle pair, and lost the minimum with pocket kings.

All in all, still in the zone but need to stay focused. Have a blast playing cards and enjoying the company at the table.

Chomp! ~Sammy "The Dentist"

www.sammythedentist.net 

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: In the Zone

Just a quick update. Made it to lunch break.

Entrants: 161

Starting stack: T$22,000

Average stack: T$26,000

My stack T$42,025

Yesterday's day of rest and relaxation is providing dividends today.

Chomp! ~Sammy "The Dentist"

www.sammythedentist.net

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: A Day of Rest

Special thanks to Joe (at PokerRoad.com) for the logo patches and to Rosemarie for coordinating delivery on a Saturday.

Yesterday did not go as planned but turned out to be just what I needed. After making an early exit from the tournament, I took the rest of the day to cleanse my body and clear my mind.

So, how did the tournament go so wrong, so fast?

The first hand was a bad break.

• My AKs vs. 88
• Board ended up A 4 A T 8
• A well-played hand, shipwrecked by a two-outer

The second hand was a designed play (to capitalize on the situation above) that backfired.

• My AA vs. 44
• Board ended up 4 Q 6 8 8
• As I have mentioned before, I do not go on tilt: simply put, it adds no value at the table

Two hands after the two-outer debacle, I picked up AA. In order to maximize my potential profit early in the tourney, I made it look like I was steaming and overplaying my hand. My plan worked but then backfired when my opponent hit a set (and I misread the situation for my tournament life). I went with what I felt was right at the time. Upon reflection, my true mistake was not in crafting a situation to maximize my profit but in losing sight of the other side of the coin...minimizing a potential loss.

My decision making was not optimal. My judgement was clouded. The solution was clear. Break time.

I do not allow myself to get frustrated at the table. However, it does brew and build and must be released, constructively. Yesterday's events allowed me the opportunity to see that while I have left the day job behind for this vacation, I had yet to truly take a day for myself. Exercise/meditation/massage filled my day, as clarity/peace/joy filled my mind/body/spirit.

Given the chance, would I make a different decision on the hand that busted me out of the tournament? Absolutely. But I am not going to beat myself up over the outcome. I went with my gut and paid the price. I am okay with that because the alternative is far more destructive.

If you trust in your instincts, you will occasionally be disappointed; deny or second guess your instincts and you will never win...in poker or in life.

Chomp! ~Sammy "The Dentist"

www.sammythedentist.net

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: Zzzzzz

What can I say? After 13 hours of play, my brain failed me as I drifted into automatic-pilot land. 

I misread a situation that led to my demise. Looking back on it, I could have avoided the situation but I rushed my decision-making process. While I do not want to use exhaustion and/or my gurgling dinner as excuses, they were factors in the ultimate outcome. Clearly, not my proudest poker moment (finishing around 55th out of 379 players on a boneheaded play; 40 places got paid). Lesson learned.

* Last hand of the night: my donkification.

Key factors

• Ante: 500
• Small blind: 1,500
• Big blind: 3,000
• One player has been on tilt for about an hour
• I have been extremely tight and have a solid table image (big cards, solid hands, aces, not getting out of line)

Action folds around to me and I preflop raise to T$8,000. The SB folds and the BB (player on tilt) calls. Pot contains a total of T$22,500 (T$5,000 in antes, T$4,500 in blinds, my bet of T$8,000 and his call of T$5,000 more).

Flop comes down Ac 8c Ts. BB checks. I bet T$10,000 to represent the Ace. BB raises to a total of T$25,000, in a manner similar to his previous blowups/folds to a reraise. This is where I made my mistake; my instinct may have been correct but my process was not.

I did not take time to adequately assess the situation. I should have already known how much he had behind. I should have already known how much leverage I had left. I should have taken my time to calculate my options and the probability of each result.

Instead, I allowed my tired brain to go on autopilot and reraise all-in (for an additional T$30,000) to push him off the hand (as others had previously done). 

Flop: Ac 8c Ts

He snap called my all-in and I knew I was on my way out the door. He turned up two pair: As Th. I turned up a ridiculous gut-shot draw: Ks Qc. The turn and river were no help.

What was I thinking? I wasn't and I justly paid the price for my fatuousness: all out.

Yawnnnnnn!

~Sammy "The Dentist"

www.sammythedentist.net

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: Dinner Break

The teeth are insatiable and did not want to go on dinner break. That was not the case about three hours ago.

I went card dead and fell to about T$7,000. The good news is that this tournament has an excellent structure, so I still had about 25 big blinds. Definitely enough space to still play solid poker. As others were shipping there (still adequate) stacks into the center of the table (and exiting the tourney), I was reminded of the word of the day: patience.

I took my time, value betting my way into my comfort zone. Then the cards started teasing the teeth. Not to be outdone, the teeth flirted back and (to be blunt) the earth moved and they were spectacular. Yowza! The timing was perfect. However, I did miss/lose a bet or two in misreading my opponents.

The last hand before the break was one such hand. I read my opponent as stronger than he actually was and mistakenly overplayed the nuts (thinking he could call or would reraise).

Long story short, I have some good news and some bad news.

Bad news first: my lunch (salad with grilled chicken and hard-boiled eggs) is very talkative. While it is not agreeing with my stomach, it IS agreeing with the porcelain throne. [Too much information alert: luckily, I made it back to my room in time. Phew!]

Good news: I won the last pot before the break to increase my stack to approximately T$70,000 (average stack is ~T$30,000). Unfortunately, the hand took so long to complete, I did not have time to get an accurate count before they kicked us out of the room for the dealers to go on break.

All in all, things are going well: the teeth are still motivated to chomp, chomp, chomp, and my plumbing is working like a WHISTLE!

Gurgle, gurgle, chomp!

~Sammy "The Dentist"

www.sammythedentist.net

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: Lunch Break

This will be quick, as we only have a 35-minute lunch break (and I only have 10 minutes left).

Approximately 380 entrants.

Started with T$16,500

Currently at T$18,050

I got as high as T$21,ooo but ran into a couple of hornets' nests (getting as low as T$13,000 at one point).

Today's word is "patience" and that is exactly what I practiced.

It looks like this will definitely be a two-day event. I am not sure they expected so many players. It could be that it is the first day of the series or that Black Friday shopping has presented an opportunity to play poker on an otherwise holiday/family day. At any rate, it is a good sign.

Gotta head back to the tables. More later.

Chomp! ~Sammy "The Dentist"

www.sammythedentist.net

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: The Dentist Is In

Headed down to the tournament floor. Updates may not happen until lunch/dinner break (electronics banned from playing area).

Chomp! ~Sammy "The Dentist"

www.sammythedentist.net

CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: The Dentist Is Back

After a long hiatus from poker and the blogosphere, I am leaving the day job behind to focus on my well-being and poker overbite.

Day after day of long To Do lists, I sensed something was amiss but dismissed the feeling. It didn't go away. Every few days it would return with renewed strength. Until, I realized the problem: on most days, my name wasn't even on my To Do list and when it was it was squarely at the bottom.

That has to change.

I started to position myself for a vacation (delegating tasks and prepping team members) in the hopes of getting back the old Sam and making him feel new again.

Did You Know?

It takes the human body up to 90 seconds to secrete the needed adrenaline to handle a "crisis" situation. It takes the human body approximately 12 hours to process and overcome the side effects from that one rush of adrenaline.

Do the math and it is no wonder a majority of our population suffers from exhaustion, insomnia, and other health-related issues; compounded over time and/or with pharmaceuticals, the effects can become chronic.

My New To Do List

• molt the corporate persona and residual stress
• recognize the onset of stress and decompress accordingly
• nurture my inner self
• visit family and reconnect
• work on my craft (poker/writing)

Tomorrow, I start playing in the Superstacks Hold'Em Series at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino. Let the journey begin.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Gobble, gobble, chomp!

~Sammy "The Dentist"
http://www.sammythedentist.net/