Golf Match #7 and some poker

Last Saturday I finally got to play a little poker online. I am still trying to make a $50 deposit through Epassporte on Full Tilt so I can turn around and take out a chunk of money. Until I actually receive any money from an online poker site, I'll have to believe it's all play money right now. The US government has really made a mess of this!

I started playing some cash games at .50-$1 NL. Here were a couple of the interesting hands:

I start with $98.50. For some reason, I decide to speculate and call a raise to $3.50 from Katzman55 under the gun in middle position with the 6d 8d. I get one caller behind me and the big blind comes along as well. $14 in the pot to the flop.

Flop: 4d Qd Jd.

The big blind checks, Katzman bets $14.50. Katzman had $94 at the start of this hand. I think about slow playing it, but there are still two other players in the hand. I want to fold out the higher flush draws and if someone wants to go broke with top pair, then let them do it. I raise to $58. I get the other players to fold, but Katzman goes all in and it's $32.50 more for me to call.

Of course I call and I expect to see at least one diamond in Katzman's hand or trips. Instead he has Ah Qs for top pair and no draw. Boo-yah! Poker_Bully1 rakes in a $195.50 pot.

The second interesting hand involved playing QQ out of position. I was in the small blind with $219.15 in my stack. There are two limpers to me and I raise with QhQs to $5. The big blind folds but Big_Cec and Katzman call the raise so there is $16 in the pot.

Flop: 5s 3d Js

I bet the pot of $16 and big_cec calls. Big_cec had been check raising me out of a lot of pots and playing a little crazy. I thought this would be an opportunity to win some money back. I thought he might have a medium pocket pair or a Jack with a medium kicker.

Turn: 5s 3d Js Ts

Now the flush draw just hit and a possible two pair also hit. I decide to check and try to keep the pot small. Big_cec does the nice thing and checks behind me.

River: 5s 3d Js Ts 9c

Another backdoor draw hits. I think about betting, but I don't want to get raised off of yet another hand. I decide I will call whatever Big_cec bets because there is a good chance he's bluffing or trying to value bet a Jack. Big_cec bets $35 and I call. He turned over 6c 4c for the busted low straight draw. My hand is good!

I even played in a $24 multi table tournament with 1,100 other maniacs. I got crappy cards and even got my Aces cracked. I still managed to make the money and busted out in 160th place for a big profit of $9. I had a medium sized stack near the bubble and was dead set on stealing a ton of blinds before the bubble burst. My problem was, every time the situation was right to steal, my hand was horribly bad. I just couldn't push with 2-7 off, 3-8, or Jack-4. When I did have an Ace, it was with a low kicker in early position just waiting for someone with Ace-Jack to call and bust me. After the bubble burst, all the shorties were pushing in trying to double up. I saw one guy quintuple his stack by getting a great run of cards in about 4 hands including pocket Kings against my Ace-King which busted me.

On to golf. Bill has some crazy idea that I have never beat him when a family member was with him. He doesn't count the match with his Dad where we was down one with one hole to play and lightning canceled the rest of the round. This time, his wife, Alisha was going to ride along in the cart.

I have just finished reading a golf book by Jim Hardy on the One and Two Plane golf swings. It definitely straightened out for me, which swing keys I should be concentrating on for my two plane swing. I was looking forward to playing, even though I had not played a round of golf in almost 3 weeks.

I started out very solid, while Bill had some real struggles. After 4 holes I was up 5 strokes. On the sixth hole, I missed a great opportunity to step on his throat. We both hit good drives and Bill went at the green first from 170 yards. The pin was tucked on the left side of the green behind a bunker. This hole can be tricky because there is not a lot of room over the green, before it goes out of bounds. Plus there is a slope away from you on the back side which can turn a shot that is 6 feet too long into a 2 stroke penalty. Bill's shot was fading right and took a crazy hop over the green and out of bounds. His 4th shot hit the middle of the green. If I can make par here, I may pick up another two strokes. I hit my shot crisply but it was fading a little right as well. It landed just over the bunker on the right and I never saw it bounce. I figured it landed softly and I was still in bounds. I came up to the green to discover the bad news that I had also hit it out. What a stupid mistake!

I drove back and re hit the shot and just missed the green on the left and got up and down for 6. I gave up two more shots over the next three holes and made the turn in 42 with a 3 stroke lead.

I gave up my lead on 10 after a horrible drive, pitch out, chunked 6 iron, wedge, 3 putts. Bill made a great sand save for par and it was all even.

On 11 I made a miraculous putt from off the green to save par. Bill took the lead on 14 with a par while I made bogey. I made par on 15 to Bill's bogey to tie up the match again.

On 16 we both hit good tee balls. I had 130 yards in and hit a good pitching wedge. Unfortunately I put a little draw on it and the wind pushed it a little further left into the deepest bunker on the course. Bill really hit a bad shot and hooked it left of the bunker for an impossible pitch shot over the bunker to a green sloping away from you. There is no way to hold the green from where Bill was.

I was happy to find that my ball had settled on the up slope of the bunker so I had a chance to make a decent shot. All I really needed to do was get the ball out, because Bill was going to make bogey for sure. Instead, I decelerated and took too much sand and left it in the bunker. My second attempt rolled to the fringe past the hole right where Bill's 3rd shot settled. We both two putted and I was down one again.

On 17, we were both in the fairway again. Bill hit first and put it in the bunkers on the left. Obviously trying to avoid the lake on the right of the green. I had 155 yards so I was between a 7 and an 8 iron. I decided to choke up on a 7. Usually when I choke up on a club I tend to hit a bit of a draw, so that was a perfect shot shape to avoid the water on the right. I hit the ball solidly but for some reason, the ball started to fade to the right. I thought I might catch the edge of the green, but it bounced over the green into some of thickest rough on the course. At least it wasn't wet. For about the third time that day, I hit a bad pitch shot and left myself 25 feet down hill. I hit the putt for par and it looked good the whole way. At the last second, it just veered off to the right. Bill had 20 feet for his par. He hit a good putt and it looked like it was going in as well. It stopped about 6 inches short and he made his 5.

So once again, our match was coming down to the last hole. I hit my drive left and was forced to lay up a good distance away from the green for my 3rd shot. Bill was right down the middle with consecutive 2 irons and 110 yards away from the green. I had 170 yards in and was hitting a 6 iron. I was relaxed over the shot, because I felt like I had nothing to lose. No one expects me to hit a good shot from this far away so let it fly. I hit it solidly again, but that stubborn draw found my ball again and I went into the bunker on the back left of the green about hole high. Somehow, I get a reprieve as Bill pulls his wedge again and goes into the front left bunker.

All Bill had to do was get the ball somewhere on the green. Instead, he skulled it out of the bunker, over the green and into the lake. Yes!!!!! So after the drop, he'll be chipping for bogey. I am back in this thing!

I was in the middle of the bunker, so I had to carry about 8 yards of sand and land the ball in front of the pin. This was also an easy shot to hit too hard and into the water. I made sure to accelerate the club head this time and hit a good shot. For a brief moment I thought it might go in as it scooted by the hole, one inch to the right. I was left with a 10 footer for par.

Bill hit his chip to 3 1/2 feet and had that left for double bogey. My putt was going to break a few inches to the left. I wanted to make sure I got it there, because I had been leaving putts short all day. I hit a good putt, but I gave it too much borrow and it curved around the high side of the hole settling in tap in range. I was in for 6. Bill tried to make me give him his putt, but that's not how I roll. He made the clutch putt and we finished tied.

Now our match is still tied at 3.5 to 3.5. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the match because on the one hand, I had a big lead and should have won. On the other hand, Bill had the match won and somehow I escaped with a tie. Now the match has come down to best of 3. Stay tuned.