The Ferguson

That's what I got for 3 hours and 45 minutes of tournament playing.

I entered the Ferguson, the $1 tournament that starts 10:30pm pacific. I've entered a couple times in the past, and donked out of it - played incredibly recklessly to try to accumulate chips early, and bombed out each time. Tonight I decided I'd try to actually win the thing. I took chances when I could; I performed an awesome suck out with A10 vs AA (which got the chick so pissy she railed for about 15 minutes about it and didn't shut up until someone agreed to transfer her $1), and generally played very well... most of my steal attempts worked (probably because I played incredibly tight), most re-steals worked, and until I made a totally boneheaded move in a battle of the blinds, I was coasting...albeit at the bottom of the list, but still with a chance; really one double-up and I would've been mid-pack.

While the 6 bucks is no big deal, what IS a big deal to me, is that the starting field was 1,292 deep. From a money standpoint nothing with any significance happened until the final 5, but just knowing now that I am able to wade through a huge field like this is a boost to my confidence. Granted, there's a chance that the $28K's and bigger tournaments will attract a more .. uhm.. 'refined' crowd than the $1 Ferguson, but if I play a similar brand of tournament poker that I did in this, and in the RPT tourny last night, I think I can make a run at one of these bigger tournaments.

Stats for the tournament:
Flops seen: 33, 13%
Tunrs: 19, 8%
Rivers: 15, 5%
Showdown: 12, 5%
this here tells me that when I'm going to the river I'm planning on a showdown most every time

Where'd I win the hands?
Preflop: 11
Flop: 5
Turn: 1
River: 2
Showdown: 8

I'm happy with these stats. Squeaky-tight I think, but that's the brand I play. The one thing I'm most psyched about with these stats, is that I saw 12 showdowns, and won 8 of them. I won 75% of the showdowns. That's good stuff.

I'll be hitting a couple of the 18-seat token sit n go's tomorrow, and possibly entering a satellite or 2 for one of the two big Sunday tournaments.

Vegas was a boost to my poker-playing mindset. I played great poker while there (except for that one stupid move), and the confidence I won there seems to have boiled over into my current online playing. I'm feeling totally on top of my game, so much so that I'm contemplating renting a car tomorrow and hitting the Tulalip for some NL cash games (well, 2-500 spread limit, but it pretty much plays the same as NL games the size I typically play). I need to invest in Flexcar.

I'm exhausted; must get to bed.