I've been playing a wednesday night $40 NLHE tourny at a friend of a friend's workplace, and it's doin' me right. the tourny is weak enough, 1/4 full of guys who've never played before, or who know enough to call ak "slick." if i raise 3x bb early on everyone laughs while they fold, saying stuff like "if you want my blind that much, you can have it."
my first 3 weeks i failed to cash. the field ranges from 10-15, and i never got ahold of any chips that first month. in the last 4 weeks, though, i've won twice, and placed 3rd twice.
some highlights from my win last night:
10 players left, i limp after 3 limpers with KQs, and we see a flop with 5 players. flop comes KKX. checks to me, i bet half the pot and get one caller. turn comes Q and putting two diamonds on board, giving me the nuts. i bet 1/2 the pot, he raises the minimum, and i raise him back 2x. he calls. the river is

, completing the flush. i bet 3/4 the pot, and he goes all in for his last 10k or so. i had him barely covered, but that didn't matter much to me, what with me holding the nuts and all. he had K3o, and complained about the way i played my hand.
i don't like to berate players after i bust them...but he played K3o, let's not forget, and i bet every street. and this guy is supposedly one of the stronger players there.
another highlight: with 4 players left, i have about 80k of the 100k at the table. in the small blind, i put the BB in for his last 8k with

. in an act of pure genius, he calls with

and was shocked and disappointed that i also had 2 clubs. he figured he was calling b/c 23s was one 'a them strong suited connectors. he hit his 2, and doubled up.
with the huge chip lead, i raised about half the hands, and the other guys held on tight to finish 3rd. the 23s caller got heads up with me, and called all in with A3o. i had him dominated, and that was the night.
anyhow, i really think i have a hold on this tournament, and sorta wish i could play these things 5 nights a week.
stay tuned; smoore and i have a series of strategy articles planned about playing small NLHE tournies against bad opposition.
