Prep for the Home Game Chapter 2

Ninja.

Chapter 2

So I had to bounce to the craft store for a new palette and while I was gone I get a txt from Truth. Paint was no longer bringing four guys- he was brining just one. Damnit! I’d been discouraged from inviting people because we were “full”. So, I make a last ditch effort to round up troops and come back completely dry. Everyone is too far away or poor or already committed. Truth has another guy from the office coming now, but that only makes six. We will see how it all plays out.

Okay, all of my last minute invites went busto. Nobody could come. Truth’s back-up guy did show so we were six handed. But I jump ahead…

A few days ago Truth and I started The Pink Chip Challenge which is a two man heads up tournament. We each started with five pink chips and 5k in chips. After each round of heads-up the loser gives a pink chip to the winner. The goal is to collect all 10 chips. I spent 3 entire games completely card dead in the face of Truth’s “Aggression Aggression Aggression” heads up strategy. He bitches at me to not fold and to make moves, but it’s because he doesn’t realize I am totally capable of getting 83off 15 hands in a row. Our first session he had me down to one chip and then I fought my way back to 3 or 4. We decided to play a couple of rounds waiting for people to arrive- the exact same thing happened. I went two rounds without a pair. Not without a “pocket pair” but without even hitting a pair on the flop. The Cute Helpful One was dealing during both horrific runs. I suspect collusion.

Paint arrived at about 6:30 with a fellow named DJ. Truth, Paint, and DJ used to all live on the same street. A bit later Sheriff showed up and shortly after Island arrived. Since we were six handed we decided to play two tournaments instead of one.

The first tournament I had almost all easy decisions. I had one tough lay down against Truth, but otherwise I had good position and cards to raise people out of pots or clear folds. I built a pretty big stack this way but still found myself an underdog when I went heads up with Truth. True to history he raises or reraises every hand while I draw NOTHING. He goes all in on the first hand where I have an ace and I figure “fuck it” and call. He turns over JJ, but I hit my ace. This crippled his momentum and I took him out a couple hands later. First place in the first game- go me!

The second tournament was similarly easy to play. I had no cards ever and I bled my stack down to weak fairly quickly with the aggressive blind and ante schedule. DJ and Sheriff had both gone out and left so we were four handed. Paint, to my left, had a MASSIVE stack. I raised in late position with only limpers with KQoff. He reraises me all in. I think about it- I am ready to lay down, but then I look at his stack. I am hurting for chips and realize he can trivially raise me all in. Any pair, AceX, any suited connector… ANYTHING and he can test my resolve. So I call him. He flips over JJ. I hit two pair, but he rivers the ace high straight and I am out. Truth goes out a few minutes later and then I watch the least aggressive round of heads up I’ve ever seen. Paint and Island just limped and checked down every hand until the blinds were absolutely ABSURD. Eventually they went all in and Paint took it down. It was so boring and so long that I don’t even remember how it ended.

After everyone went home I decided I wasn’t up to getting online to play so Truth and I watched the first four episodes of the 2009 WSOP. I know they have hundreds of hands to edit down from- but even if what you see are 1% of these players hands I can’t fathom the way they play. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I am off to bed, but before I go let me pose a question.

I am considering trying to make a commitment to cash in at least one game a day for a year. Maybe give myself some parameters that let me earn days off with multiple cashes or big cashes or live trips out of town to play… Good idea or bad?