Did the Poker Gods Hear Me?

My last post was a desperate plea to the poker gods to show some mercy on me. I am beginning to wonder if they listened.

Last Tuesday night at my international home game I took a horrendous beat right when I was getting ready to leave. Instead of driving home with about $130 in my pocket, I left with nothing thanks to Amir, one of the aggro players.

Amir invited us to play some outdoor poker on Saturday, and the ideal weather and lack of an evening plan made this a no-brainer for me. A nice six-handed game was in store. Before the game began, Amir and I talked about the big hand from last Tuesday. It appears that Amir somehow read the board wrong and thought he already had his straight made after the turn. That would explain why he elected to only run the river once. In the international home game, if someone is all in before all the cards are dealt the players in the hand talk about whether to run it one, two, or three times. I could not understand why a guy on a draw would only want the river run once. Now I know. He thought he already had me beat. How is that for terrible luck -- for me -- when my set went down to a rivered gutshot?

On Saturday I played pretty well and actually caught some cards. It was kind of funny. The two aggro guys, Amir and Alireza, both perceive me in a different way. Amir always gives me credit for having a hand and will fold to me, yet Alireza always thinks I am bluffing. I, of course, use these perceptions to my advantage. I left after almost four hours of play with a decent profit. Things were looking good. Had the poker gods let me off the hook?

Earlier today, I read the latest post by Very Josie, who had been entering some online tournaments with Poker Grump. Although Josie went deep in a couple of tournaments, she was missing that kick that you get when you actually win one. Strangely enough, I won freerolls on back to back nights on Face Up Gaming just over a week ago, but the competition was so bad for large parts of the tournaments that the victories didn't seem like much. Only winning a few bucks might have had something to do with it.

So ... inspired by Josie, I decided to play in a CardsChat private tournament. I have been a member of CardsChat for over seven years, occasionally playing in freerolls or buy-in tournaments. Now I have to tell you, the CardsChat tournament players are tough. There are no gimmies in these games -- you have to earn your spot at the final table. Some good play on my part and a little assistance from the poker gods (I had card rackitis) resulted in this:

Yeah, it was not like I crushed a massive tournament for a huge score. But ... I did win against some good players, and the added cashish in the tourney made for a pretty decent ROI.

Have the poker gods let me off the hook? My international home game is having a deep stack tournament Tuesday night. I am looking forward to finding out.