A horse is a horse

Finished 3rd in the WPBT Circuit event tonight. Not too shabby for a H.O.R.S.E event. I wish I wouldn't have donked off my chips in the end though. I knew the Poker Princess wasn't going to lay the hand down. Her Stud game is waaaaay better than mine. But I did have outs. Yeah, I know that is a lame excuse. Congrats to CJ for winning the H.O.R.S.E event. Well done.

Things didn't look too good for me early on. I wasn't getting anywhere. My cards were average at best. I took down some small pots but nothing big. I figured I would have to be patient and then hope to double up. Basically that is all that happened. I was down about 900 and it was looking bleak. In the Omaha round I got a hand that included a pair of 9s. Yeah, not strong but the table had tightened up so I figured I could try for a steal. What I didn't realize was CJ was in the big blind and he likes to defend those blinds with a passion. I then got lucky by flopping a set and having it hold up.

Once I got back above the starting spot I turned on the aggression to chip up. I was willing to bully the small stacks when I had position, something that can be easily done in Razz. I did make one huge mistake in Razz. It was towards the end, not sure if it was with 3 or 4 people left. I was dealt A J 10, all diamonds. I raised it up and CJ called. The next card was a blank for me. I continued betting and CJ called. The next card was a Q. I kept thinking I have a gutshot straight draw and back door flush. This time CJ bet. I raised. He thought a bit and re-raised. I hated that move. I knew he had two pair. Queens and fours. I took my time to decide if I wanted to go for the straight or not. Instead I folded. CJ was quite relieved. I knew I was behind. He even mentioned startling his dog because he was yelling for me to fold. It wasn't until two hands later that I realized we were playing Razz, NOT STUD. All throughout the hand I was playing the wrong game. Turns out I was ahead, not behind. Damn!

Still not a bad finish. I have stayed patient at the end though. I may have gotten lucky if I had survived the stud rounds.