So I've gotten out of habit of posting as I work on my game and get through some mind-blocks. Its been a hard road so far and while I have adjusted so that I don't go broke - I know what got me here was not good.

Anyway - I've had a couple of solid nights the past two nights that have helped rebound my bankroll back up to $50 (it was in the $20s at its lowest), which puts me back to around January 7th for money.

The important thing here is that I have managed to recover my ring game play at limit Omaha Hi/Lo and that is where the bulk of the recovery has come from. Since the bulk of my losses came from PL Omaha High - I find it is a nice recovery to my mental state as well.

In terms of tournaments, I have continued to show solid progress but have yet to come out with a solid victory. Last night was one of my best recently - a 135th finish out of just under 4000 in the $0.50 multi. I brought home $2.20 - yippee...Overall I am losing slightly at multis - but a lot of this has to do with taking shots at bigger tournaments that my bankroll can't support and not making the money.

SNGs - well - this was my other big loss. Due to poor play and some coolers I was hit real hard while still playing the $5+.50 SNGs. When I dropped back down to the $1 SNGs - it made a big difference and has helped me recover.

Unfortunately, I did have my bad nights here and there even at the $1 SNGs and in order to keep pace to release my bonus - I needed to play 7-8 a night. So I had some solid nights - and some that were, well, not so solid.

So right now, I'm playing the $0.50 multi when I can, and the $0.25 multi ($100 added) and the 10FPP ($500 added) for big tournaments (all 3k-5k fields). I'm playing 3-7 SNGs a night - usually still 1-table $1+.20 SNG.

For ring - I am taking a bit of a risk with only ~100BBs playing the $0.25/$0.50 limit Omaha Hi/Lo full ring.

All of this is generating about 10-15 FPPs a night - so hopefully I'll be able to release my bonus a little earlier than March and hopefully recover by then as well. Time will tell of course.

So - in the tournament last night - I had a bit of regret about how I played this hand. Unfortunaltely - I had just moved to the table 1 hand earlier and the villain in this hand came in after that 1 hand - so I am flying blind.

Late tournament - we are down to 136 players with 3994 to start it. Blinds are 1k/2k with a 200 ante and at my last table, I had doubled up on two occasions pretty recently to put me at 32k - which is just below average for the field. At my new table, there are 4 below my stack, one at 36k, one at 46k and then the newcomer to the table has 170k.

I am the SB - the new big stack is UTG. He open raises to 10k and it folds around to me.- I have AJo. Now - I can't see myself flat calling here - since I would be out of position and very little information to go on. I could fold here - and that might be the best move - but at the same time - I feel I could be ahead of this guy a fair amount of the time. That said - since I have no read and he is new - I don't know how he built up his stack.

That said - pushing here seemed the best idea at the time. I'm only scared of a couple of hands (granted - they are in anyone's range) - and while I would never get a huge favorite over me to fold - I might get a few of them (I would think AQ would have a hard time calling - as would KQ or even JJ (maybe). He does have a big stack - but at the same time I convinced myself that might promote some of his weaker possibilities into calling.

In terms of value here - improving to 70k would be a great benefit here (better than all but 1 stack and having 35BB to work with) - while folding would keep me at ~15BB - and while not in trouble - I would need to find some hands to take soon.

The hand is below - for reference.

PokerStars Game #14826388017: Tournament #74369633, $0.50+$0.00 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIV (1000/2000) - 2008/01/25 - 23:36:23 (ET)
Table '74369633 14' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: Macki1220 (171202 in chips)
Seat 3: pedinker (23114 in chips)
Seat 4: jbh0711 (46621 in chips)
Seat 5: LWF10 (19330 in chips)
Seat 6: looneyttune (36450 in chips)
Seat 7: forestfan (14348 in chips)
Seat 8: Starstealer (32329 in chips)
Seat 9: Megstir (20796 in chips)
Macki1220: posts the ante 200
pedinker: posts the ante 200
jbh0711: posts the ante 200
LWF10: posts the ante 200
looneyttune: posts the ante 200
forestfan: posts the ante 200
Starstealer: posts the ante 200
Megstir: posts the ante 200
Starstealer: posts small blind 1000
Megstir: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Starstealer [Ah Jc]
Macki1220: raises 8000 to 10000
pedinker: folds
jbh0711: folds
LWF10: folds
looneyttune: folds
forestfan: folds
Starstealer: raises 22129 to 32129 and is all-in
Megstir: folds
Macki1220: calls 22129
*** FLOP *** [9s 6h Th]
*** TURN *** [9s 6h Th]
*** RIVER *** [9s 6h Th Qh]
MLM002 is connected
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Starstealer: shows [Ah Jc] (a pair of Nines)
Macki1220: shows [Ks Ac] (a pair of Nines - Ace+King kicker)
Macki1220 collected 67858 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 67858 | Rake 0
Board [9s 6h Th Qh 9c]
Seat 2: Macki1220 showed [Ks Ac] and won (67858) with a pair of Nines
Seat 3: pedinker folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: jbh0711 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: LWF10 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: looneyttune folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: forestfan (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Starstealer (small blind) showed [Ah Jc] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 9: Megstir (big blind) folded before Flop

Having another solid night of poker tonight - I do wish I had spent more of it generating FPPs though (because I'm starting to see I'm just not generating enough...).

3 SNGs - finished 2nd and out of the money twice.
Limit 0.25/0.50 O8 Full Ring - two separate sessions. The first was 67 hands for a profit of $7.50 (15BB). The second was 39 hands for a profit of $6.65 (13+ BB).
$0.50 NL HE multi (3475 players) - knocked out in the first hand (see my wonderful AKo in the low content section).
$0.25 NL HE multi - $100 added (3894 players) - knocked out middle of the pack with nothing spectacular.

Still playing a $2+.20 multi that started at 8:15pm. 1921 players to start - down to 53 players. I'm in 19th chip position with a just-about-average stack.

Just about doubled up on this hand. Down to 31 players - in 7th position.

PokerStars Game #14925576305: Tournament #75430435, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVI (2000/4000) - 2008/01/30 - 00:19:44 (ET)
Table '75430435 51' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: ShortStackak (67925 in chips)
Seat 2: hazyboo (78778 in chips)
Seat 3: isis-tiger (168941 in chips)
Seat 4: ladyl-66 (50426 in chips)
Seat 5: Bogie_Binion (57500 in chips)
Seat 6: Big_Cabron (15922 in chips)
Seat 7: Starstealer (67566 in chips)
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 (50626 in chips)
Seat 9: flyhammer (54643 in chips)
ShortStackak: posts the ante 400
hazyboo: posts the ante 400
isis-tiger: posts the ante 400
ladyl-66: posts the ante 400
Bogie_Binion: posts the ante 400
Big_Cabron: posts the ante 400
Starstealer: posts the ante 400
7xxcookxx7: posts the ante 400
flyhammer: posts the ante 400
ShortStackak: posts small blind 2000
hazyboo: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Starstealer [Jd Kh]
isis-tiger: folds
ladyl-66: folds
Bogie_Binion: folds
Big_Cabron: folds
Starstealer: raises 6000 to 10000
7xxcookxx7: folds
flyhammer: calls 10000
ShortStackak: folds
hazyboo: folds
*** FLOP *** [6c Kd Qh]
7xxcookxx7 said, "besides short maybebogie a she"
Starstealer: bets 20000
flyhammer: calls 20000
*** TURN *** [6c Kd Qh]
Starstealer: bets 37166 and is all-in
flyhammer: calls 24243 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [6c Kd Qh 8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Starstealer: shows [Jd Kh] (a pair of Kings)
flyhammer: shows [Js Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
Starstealer collected 118086 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 118086 | Rake 0
Board [6c Kd Qh 8c 3h]
Seat 1: ShortStackak (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: hazyboo (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: isis-tiger folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: ladyl-66 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Bogie_Binion folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Big_Cabron folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Starstealer showed [Jd Kh] and won (118086) with a pair of Kings
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: flyhammer (button) showed [Js Jh] and lost with a pair of Jacks

Then this one a few hands later:

PokerStars Game #14925615520: Tournament #75430435, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVI (2000/4000) - 2008/01/30 - 00:22:05 (ET)
Table '75430435 51' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: ShortStackak (64325 in chips)
Seat 2: hazyboo (71178 in chips)
Seat 3: isis-tiger (170541 in chips)
Seat 4: ladyl-66 (42826 in chips)
Seat 5: Bogie_Binion (61100 in chips)
Seat 6: Big_Cabron (14322 in chips)
Seat 7: Starstealer (139009 in chips)
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 (49026 in chips)
ShortStackak: posts the ante 400
hazyboo: posts the ante 400
isis-tiger: posts the ante 400
ladyl-66: posts the ante 400
Bogie_Binion: posts the ante 400
Big_Cabron: posts the ante 400
Starstealer: posts the ante 400
7xxcookxx7: posts the ante 400
Bogie_Binion: posts small blind 2000
Big_Cabron: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Starstealer [Kc Ad]
Starstealer: raises 6000 to 10000
7xxcookxx7: folds
ShortStackak: folds
hazyboo: raises 60778 to 70778 and is all-in
isis-tiger: folds
ladyl-66: folds
Bogie_Binion: folds
Big_Cabron: folds
Starstealer: calls 60778
*** FLOP *** [7h Th Ah]
*** TURN *** [7h Th Ah]
*** RIVER *** [7h Th Ah 7s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Starstealer: shows [Kc Ad] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
hazyboo: shows [Qs As] (two pair, Aces and Sevens - lower kicker)
Starstealer collected 150756 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 150756 | Rake 0
Board [7h Th Ah 7s 4h]
Seat 1: ShortStackak folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: hazyboo showed [Qs As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 3: isis-tiger folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: ladyl-66 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Bogie_Binion (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: Big_Cabron (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Starstealer showed [Kc Ad] and won (150756) with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

And chip leader with this one:

PokerStars Game #14925669933: Tournament #75430435, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVI (2000/4000) - 2008/01/30 - 00:25:22 (ET)
Table '75430435 51' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: ShortStackak (67525 in chips)
Seat 3: isis-tiger (142941 in chips)
Seat 4: ladyl-66 (41226 in chips)
Seat 5: Bogie_Binion (57500 in chips)
Seat 6: Big_Cabron (6722 in chips)
Seat 7: Starstealer (249587 in chips)
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 (46826 in chips)
ShortStackak: posts the ante 400
isis-tiger: posts the ante 400
ladyl-66: posts the ante 400
Bogie_Binion: posts the ante 400
Big_Cabron: posts the ante 400
Starstealer: posts the ante 400
7xxcookxx7: posts the ante 400
ShortStackak: posts small blind 2000
isis-tiger: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Starstealer [Ah Ad]
ladyl-66: folds
Bogie_Binion: raises 4000 to 8000
Big_Cabron: folds
7xxcookxx7 said, "nh"
Starstealer: raises 12000 to 20000
7xxcookxx7: folds
ShortStackak: raises 47125 to 67125 and is all-in
isis-tiger: raises 75416 to 142541 and is all-in
Bogie_Binion: folds
Starstealer: calls 122541
ShortStackak said, "gg"
*** FLOP *** [2s Js As]
*** TURN *** [2s Js As]
*** RIVER *** [2s Js As Tc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
isis-tiger: shows [8h 8c] (a pair of Eights)
Starstealer: shows [Ah Ad] (three of a kind, Aces)
Starstealer collected 150832 from side pot
ShortStackak: shows [Qs Qc] (a pair of Queens)
Starstealer collected 212175 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 363007 Main pot 212175. Side pot 150832. | Rake 0
Board [2s Js As Tc 6d]
Seat 1: ShortStackak (small blind) showed [Qs Qc] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 3: isis-tiger (big blind) showed [8h 8c] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 4: ladyl-66 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Bogie_Binion folded before Flop
Seat 6: Big_Cabron folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Starstealer showed [Ah Ad] and won (363007) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Good luck dude... i'm railing...!! you deserve this one.

In case anyone is wondering - I'm getting a crap run of cards... and with needabeer catching up - I just can't risk calling him down on his all-ins...

win plzkthxbi

NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111

ps...why couldnt you do that during the stake