MTG to Poker

Many moons ago I was into Magic: The Gathering. Not like David Williams, into it, but I enjoyed playing it. Then the online version was developed and I started playing that. Truth be told, I was never very good. But it was fun. And I wasn’t playing poker at the time. And in all honesty, for me, there was no transition between MTG and Poker. A few years back, when I discovered online poker, I wasn’t playing MTG much and decided to sell my cards. Sold ‘em on EBay, and used the cash to fund my Party Poker account. That money was quickly gone.

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Well a few months ago, I tried to get back into Magic. I enjoyed it, but only to a limited degree. Plus, the software takes up a ton of hard drive space. So I’ve decided to sell again. I recently sold any rare cards in my collection to Slappy, and he transferred me some cash on FTP. Unlike this weekend, when my good play was slapped down like a wet fish, MY donkey plays were rewarded with suckouts to win. In the cash games I played, I managed to get my money in, multiple times way behind.

Two key examples; I’m at a 6-handed cash game (.05/.10 nl). I have three tight players on my left and two loose players on my right. I know… horrible seating position. I don’t know why I didn’t move across the table when one seat opened up and would have put me in the perfect position. Anyway, I was down to my last $4.00. I had been playing bad, so I wasn’t even going to play, but said, “What the hell.” I threw in the last of my cash. I fold a couple of hands.

Then, in the BB, I get AcJc. You know… the nuts! Tighties fold. The button raises it to .35. SB raises to .70. I push All-in, figuring the button for a steal and the SB for a re-steal. The button calls. Uh-oh. The small blind calls… rut-roh. They still have some cash. Flop comes x-K-T (rainbow). I know I’m dead at this point. That had to hit one of them. They both check. The Turn brings a Q. My first thought is, I’m dead. Then it dawns on me. Huzzah! Broadway, the nuts. The Button and SB get the rest of their cash in here. Button has JJ and now has the straight draw. SB has TT for a set. No ace hits and the board does pair on the river and I almost triple my buy-in (stinkin’ $2.00 rake).

A couple of rounds later, I still have around ten bucks. After I fold UTG, I figure I’ll just log off. At the last minute I decide to play one more round and pay the BB. I get dealt QQ. Sweet. Tightie McTightie to my right, raises it up. We have about the same amount. I raise from the big blind. I re-pops it to about $3. I push. He insta-calls with… AA. “DOH! All that bad play, down the tubes in another bad play.” Naturally, I’m rewarded with a flop of QJJ. No ace hits and I have about $20. I don’t disappear right away, in deference to my opponent. But after about two rounds and no hands, I log off.

The next night I play a little better. I stick mostly with SnGs and can’t seem to win a danm thing. Probably playing too many (had around 4 going at once… I’m no Hevad Khan). I’ve pretty much depleted my bankroll. All I have left is… again $4.00 and I’m still in a $6.50 turbo SNG. I throw the last of the cash into a short handed table and procede to lose that to a bad beat. Oh well time to wait until I have something else to sell or cash to give Slappy to reload me.

What’s this? I’m still in the SNG with 4 people to go? Well, there’s still some hope (yes I more or less forgot I was in there. I won a big hand or two early, but had been folding almost anything that came my way. I didn’t realize we were this close to the money). I get dealt a few hands and build up my stack a little. Bubble bursts. We’re all pretty close in chips, but the blinds are getting high. I don’t remember too many hands, but suddenly I’m heads up with a small chip deficit. I turn that around quickly and manage to take that down to reload my balance with $27, Woo hoo!

Edit: Last night (Wednesday) I blew about $15 of that in SnGs without a cash. Hurrumph!