PhantomMut

Okay, finished second in a 45 player play-money tourney a bit ago (twins very placid today, and on a staggered feeding schedule, which is nice) and all-in-all I was happy with my play. Got to heads-up by playing smart, aggressive poker, didn't suck-out on anyone, didn't go busto on the two occasions I was sucked-out-upon. At the beginning of heads-up I was outchipped by about 3:1, and had gotten it down to a 2:1 deficit when the following hand occured:

PokerStars Game #11886184443: Tournament #60314038, 2000+110 Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2007/09/05 - 12:40:34 (ET)
Table '60314038 3' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: phantommut (21560 in chips)
Seat 7: mdmccormick (45940 in chips)
phantommut: posts the ante 50
mdmccormick: posts the ante 50
phantommut: posts small blind 400
mdmccormick: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to phantommut [Ah 4d]
phantommut: calls 400
mdmccormick: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac 4h 5s]
mdmccormick: checks
phantommut: bets 800
mdmccormick: calls 800
*** TURN *** [Ac 4h 5s] [7s]
mdmccormick: checks
phantommut: bets 3800
mdmccormick: raises 3800 to 7600
phantommut: raises 12310 to 19910 and is all-in
mdmccormick: calls 12310
*** RIVER *** [Ac 4h 5s 7s] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mdmccormick: shows [Ad As] (three of a kind, Aces)
phantommut: shows [Ah 4d] (two pair, Aces and Fours)
phantommut said, "gack"
mdmccormick collected 43120 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 43120 | Rake 0
Board [Ac 4h 5s 7s 9h]
Seat 1: phantommut (button) (small blind) showed [Ah 4d] and lost with two pair, Aces and Fours
Seat 7: mdmccormick (big blind) showed [Ad As] and won (43120) with three of a kind, Aces

So cold you don't want to stick your tongue on it, that's for sure.

Flop Aces-up, you don't expect your opponent to flop a set of aces, that's for sure.

Earlier in the tourney, I maybe get away from that hand. As is, I think this has to qualify as a "whatchoogonnado?" situation.

Kojak giveth, and Kojak taketh away.

First: the giveth.

It wouldn't be a gift if I'd actually earned it, and early in the evening I look down in early position at KJ off-suit, and bump it to something like two dollars. Alceste min-raises, if I recall correctly, and I call. So it's just Alceste and DaMut to the flop.

(Those of you with eidetic memory who know exactly what happened when for how much, bless you; but all I'm aiming for is accurate texture with these things.)

Flop is 5 5 J rainbow. I bet six dollars with top pair, King kicker. Alceste immediately goes all in. I immediately call. Alceste shows pocket Queens.

Yes it was stupid, and yes, I sucked out when another Jack hit to boat me up on the river.

What was I thinking? Well, in as much as I was, I was thinking he had a nines or tens; that he was buying the pot; and did I mention that I wasn't thinking, because this is Alceste we're talking about, and I hadn't yet insulted him that evening? (Except, of course, with that call).

We'll get back to the "taketh away" part.

Two weeks without a Crackhouse run. My hands are shaking....

Okay, not really. But I am looking forward to Wednesday night. Although I shouldn't go.....

Two weeks ago I felt like I was getting sick, so I stayed home and did get sick. Blech.

Last week I was still getting over the flu-ey thing, and Liz wasn't feeling well, so "no Crackhouse for you!"

This week I want to go, but my company has been missing payroll (!) and I'm not sure that budgeting to blow ~$100 is a really good idea right now.

We'll see if my employer can pay me what I'm owed from last check, and what I'm owed on this one, on Wednesday. If not, my Crackhouse habit may have to be kicked, or at least put on hiatus. There be babies on the way.

Which leaves PokerStars and play money.

So, December (actually starting right before Thanksgiving) has been suck-out-the-Mut month.

In that time, I'm actually up about $20 in online dollars. In PSD I'm now down a cool million from my high water mark of 4.2M.

Quite a bit was from bad play. Quite a bit of that bad play was the direct result of Cooler hands.

The mut's poker luck hasn't been great of late....

Ran into the donator of all donators just now:

Forget the cards, look at that number.

437,400

That's more than 10% of my current bankroll.

I want to send him flowers.

Bankroll status: 4.10M PSD, 53.45 USD