My Aruba Trip...

[Talking Poker]

I'm out of hte "Become a Pro" tourney. There were 168 players in total, includingan estimated 20 or so who didn't make it and got blinded off. Maybe even 30. I finished around 50th, which pays exactly the same as 2nd does, btw.

My first table was great - really nice people... We were having fun and I was playing well. I got moved to a new, much quieter and much less fun table just before the break (after level 3). I had a decent amount of chips when we returned from the break, but probably not much above average.

One interesting hand came up where the BB (absent) was all in, and I was involved in the hand wih another player. I flopped top pair, and he led out at it. I decided to call and make a play on the turn. Well, a flush hit the turn and he fired again. This is a guy who I watched lead at a flop with a set of 9s on a completely uncoordinated board, so as I was about to fold, I said, "Well, at least I'll get to see his cards" (thinking the all in guy could contest for the pot). Apparently that's not how it works though. My mistake, no problem. Well, then some other guy at the table starts waving his hand in a "come on, let's go" type of way. I said, "What? I'm not allowed to think about my hand?" He said, "It's obvious you're going to fold." (It was). I said, "Well, I don't like you rushing me, especially when I'm not a slow player," so I capped my cards and sat back in my chair. I didn't want to be a ass to the rest of the table though, so I folded after about 5 seconds or so.

Moving on.... The antes kicked in and I got cold decked and lost quite a bit of my stack without even getting a reasonable hand (or opportunity) to open with. Just under the original 2000 starting chips, my buddy (see above) opened for a minimum raise (to 400). I reraised all in from MP with 99. He decided to call 1500+ more chips with his AJo. He hit an Ace on the flop, and that was that. I tapped the table, shook a few hands, and headed out.

Other than that one guy, most of the people were really friendly though, and I enjoyed meeting them. I got to play with a few big name UB players, P0ker H0 and I forget the guy's name that starts with an S. Hopefully I'll get to know some of them better as the week goes on and maybe we can get some fresh blood around here...

Now it's time to relax in Aruba. 7:30 is the Welcome Reception ($50 if you don't have tickets - I have 2), but other than that, there is nothing on the schedule for me today. The big one starts for me tomorrow.

To Be Continued......