Another Frog Tournament Win / Reg. Season Title
Whew. Well, it's been about 24 hours now, and I've just about recovered from that last tournament. It was a long one and hotly contested, despite actually having only a median number of competitors (about halfway in between our largest and smallest fields of the past).
I stuck by my strategy and relied on the style of play with which I'm most comfortable, playing very conservatively, and it truly paid off. The first step was a very surprising development barely halfway through the tournament, when Dustin was knocked out by his own daughter. I'll freely admit that this took a lot of pressure off and changed my needs significantly both as they related to that one tournament and the regular season race - Dustin can be an aggressive player I don't match up well against so his departure allows me to be a lot more relaxed and cautious, and since both he and I were tied in the regular season standings meaning either a second or first place finish above the other will take the title I was able to sit back and nurse my stack several times viewing just making it to the top four with enough of a stack for a stab at the top two a good goal.
No doubt, though, it almost didn't happen. I did end up taking the stacks of a few all-in opponents and growing a significant chip lead, holding just over 50% of the chips when the field shrunk to 3 players - but both of my opponents (my good friend Mark and my wife Pam) wisely know how to take advantage of my conservative play and bought a very long series of hands with raises I would not call, eventually putting me clearly out of the lead and potentially slightly in third place. As is often the case, though, patience paid off, and I caught the right hands to play slowly, giving me the chance to jump back and take out one opponent with about three hands, and then a similar leap back and overall win in two hands a bit later. It was, without a shred of doubt, a deeply bitter victory, as both my friend and my wife are still looking for their first tournament win, and to have them both be so close and be the one to snatch it away again - let's just say it was far from a happy moment for me in that regard.
So, I have the fourth win and the regular season title, and also wrenched the all-time wins lead away from Dustin, who is no doubt already dreaming about wrenching it back away from me. Time to look ahead to the big one, our annual season tournament of champions in a few weeks (the end of this month). Personally, I'm rooting for Pam or Mark to take that one, as they both qualified with second place finishes in past tournaments, and it would be supreme justice for one of them to take their first win in the big annual tournament - both played outstandingly well last night, and I can see either of them taking it as real possibility.
Frankly, my wife has gotten scarry-good. She knows my philosophy and style well too, and only the cards really make the difference for me anymore with her - so the next time I don't get the cards and am up against her, I'm toast.
I stuck by my strategy and relied on the style of play with which I'm most comfortable, playing very conservatively, and it truly paid off. The first step was a very surprising development barely halfway through the tournament, when Dustin was knocked out by his own daughter. I'll freely admit that this took a lot of pressure off and changed my needs significantly both as they related to that one tournament and the regular season race - Dustin can be an aggressive player I don't match up well against so his departure allows me to be a lot more relaxed and cautious, and since both he and I were tied in the regular season standings meaning either a second or first place finish above the other will take the title I was able to sit back and nurse my stack several times viewing just making it to the top four with enough of a stack for a stab at the top two a good goal.
No doubt, though, it almost didn't happen. I did end up taking the stacks of a few all-in opponents and growing a significant chip lead, holding just over 50% of the chips when the field shrunk to 3 players - but both of my opponents (my good friend Mark and my wife Pam) wisely know how to take advantage of my conservative play and bought a very long series of hands with raises I would not call, eventually putting me clearly out of the lead and potentially slightly in third place. As is often the case, though, patience paid off, and I caught the right hands to play slowly, giving me the chance to jump back and take out one opponent with about three hands, and then a similar leap back and overall win in two hands a bit later. It was, without a shred of doubt, a deeply bitter victory, as both my friend and my wife are still looking for their first tournament win, and to have them both be so close and be the one to snatch it away again - let's just say it was far from a happy moment for me in that regard.
So, I have the fourth win and the regular season title, and also wrenched the all-time wins lead away from Dustin, who is no doubt already dreaming about wrenching it back away from me. Time to look ahead to the big one, our annual season tournament of champions in a few weeks (the end of this month). Personally, I'm rooting for Pam or Mark to take that one, as they both qualified with second place finishes in past tournaments, and it would be supreme justice for one of them to take their first win in the big annual tournament - both played outstandingly well last night, and I can see either of them taking it as real possibility.
Frankly, my wife has gotten scarry-good. She knows my philosophy and style well too, and only the cards really make the difference for me anymore with her - so the next time I don't get the cards and am up against her, I'm toast.
posted by Greg J. Hipius at
1:54 AM
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