Weatherford Tournament (1/29/26)

Losing is never a fun outcome in poker. You can certainly learn something from a losing session, but you rarely walk away with a smile on your face after cashing out for less than you came with. However, it is debatable on what kind of losing is the worst. Some believe being card dead all night is the worst way to lose. Others think it is always having second best at showdown. Another line of thinking is playing well and feeling like you made good decisions, but ultimately not winning at the end that is the worst way to lose.

Being card dead is certainly the most boring way to lose as you never get to even be involved in pots. Yet, for me, the worst way to lose is always coming in second, even when having big hands. That is what happened to me last night. I certainly could have played a little better on one particular hand, which I will discuss in a moment, but for the most part I think the night played out exactly as it was going to no matter what I had done.

My regularly weekly tournament in Weatherford started off pretty well. In the first 20 minutes I had turned my starting stack of $5,500 into $11,500 thanks to one specific hand. I had K-2 of hearts in middle position and with the two blinds and one call in front of me, I just called and another player behind also limped. We ended up going to a flop and getting two hearts. It checked to me and I decided to take a check and see what happens approach. It ended up checking behind as well and we saw a black card on the turn. It checked again to me, so I elected to bet half the pot and see who was interested in winning. Three players, one of them being the guy behind me, called, and the river was a third heart, giving me the second nuts. It checked to me again and I made a bet that was nearly the size of the pot. The guy behind me thought about it for a little bit and made it look like he was going to raise. Ultimately he just called and another player in early position also called. I flipped over the second nuts and won the pot, putting me in a very comfortable position early in the tournament.

And that is where the wheels came off. About 20 minutes later I was in the small blind and had 3-4 off-suit. After a few callers it came back to me and I decided I would complete the blind bet and see a flop. It would have to be something like two pair, three of a kind, or an open-ended straight draw for me to be committed to it though. Lo and behold, the flop came J-4-3 with two hearts. I flopped bottom two pair. Being first to act, I had two legitimate options open to me. I could take a check-call mentality and see what develops, or I could be the aggressor and make bets that were small enough to not inflate the pot. I decided to take the aggressive approach and see if I could maintain control of the hand.

I bet about a third of the pot and was called by the big blind and a player in middle position, who is Danny and known to be a loose cannon. Whenever Danny has any parts of a board he will make pot-sized bets, whether it is bottom pair with a backdoor draw or an open-ended straight draw. You are never quite sure how strong he is, but normally when he receives a little pushback he will let it go.

The turn was the king of spades, giving us a board of J-4-3-K with two hearts and two spades. Again I bet, and this time it was about half the size of the pot. With so many draws out there I didn't want to give a free card, but maybe since I had received two calls on the flop I should have slowed down. The big blind again called my bet and Danny, who was now last to act, made a raise. He bumped my bet up about four times what it was.

I thought for quite awhile about what to do. Normally if you are holding bottom two pair and after making two bets, somebody who shows that much aggression should be your cue to step out of the way. However, as I mentioned before, Danny likes to make big bets when he is holding weaker hands. I truly felt I was ahead of him at the moment. He may have a pair with a flush draw or some other drawing hand, but I didn't put him on a set or a better two pair. Maybe he lucked into two pair with K-J and he was trying to get the flush draws out, but I honestly felt I was still in the lead.

The biggest problem was I wasn't taking the big blind into account. He had only called both of my bets and I didn't think he was as strong as me. So after a lot of thought about whether to just call or push it all in against the aggressive player, I elected the all in approach. This is when it got interesting. The big blind then called the all in, which he had the least amount of chips of everyone. Danny decided the pot was big enough for him to also call, so he came along. I had both players covered.

It turns out the big blind had J-3 for a higher two pair and Danny was holding Q-10 for an open-ended straight draw. At least my one read about Danny was correct. The river was an ace, giving him his straight and he won the entire pot. While it wasn't the outcome I wanted, I still was sitting on about $5,000 in chips and was back at basically a starting stack.

About 10 minutes later I was dealt A-Q suited when the blinds were $100-200. With one player ahead of me calling, I made it $700 and was called by three players total. The flop came ace high and I made a continuation bet of $1,100. It folded around and I won the pot. The very next hand I was dealt A-J off-suit. I took the same line, only this time making my raise $600 since nobody had called yet. The button initially only called $200, not realizing I had raised. After correcting him, he decided to add the extra $400. The blinds also called the raise. The flop came J-4-4 rainbow. The blinds checked to me and I bet $1,100 again. This time I got one caller, the button.

The turn was a six, putting two diamonds on the board. The pot now had $4,600. I was cautiously optimistic I was beating his jack, since the more likely suspects to have a four were one of the blind players, but since they both had folded I figured I was still leading. My opponent held approximately $3,200 and I didn't want to run him off. So I figured a bet of $1,600 would be fine and that would give him about $1,600 on the river. He did call and the river was a five. The final board was J-4-4-6-5 with no flush.

I still figured to be in the lead as I thought my opponent would be holding K-J, Q-J, or J-10. I figured I would show a little weakness at the end and let him make a bet. I checked and he went all in. After I quickly called he showed 4-5 suited, for a full house, not that he needed the five to hit since he was way ahead with his three fours on the flop.

So that was two poorly played hands where I didn't correctly value my opponents hand. With only $1,600 remaining I waited it out and went all in near the end of the rebuy period after hitting an ace on the flop while holding A-7. I was called by two players and figured to be out-kicked, but it turned out I was ahead. One opponent held second pair and the other had A-6. However, the turn was a six and I had to rebuy.

The first hand after rebuys were over I was dealt pocket sevens. After one player limped from early position, I decided to just see if I could hit a set on the flop and not get overly aggressive with my sevens. The dealer also called and the blinds completed and checked. With blinds at $150-300, we had $1,500 in the pot. The flop was K-7-4 rainbow and I was ready to be back in this tournament. The blinds checked, as did the early position limper. I bet $600 because I knew nobody had kings since they would have raised pre-flop. I didn't want to run anybody off. The button called, the blinds both folded, and the early position limper called. The turn was a jack, making the board K-7-4-J.

To my surprise, the early limper bet $1,200. Shane is a tight, passive player and I should have probably been a little more wary of this bet, but with third set and the only draw to be afraid of being 5-6, I still felt pretty confident I was sitting pretty with the best hand. I had started the hand with $5,000. After the $300 pre-flop call and the $600 flop bet, I was sitting on $4,100. If I just called I would have $2,900 remaining. After the turn bet of $1,200 from the early limper, the pot now had $4,500. My call would put it at $5,700.

I could either call to induce the button to also call, or I could push all in and I figured the opponent in early position would likely call since it would have been $2,900 in a pot of $8,600. He would be getting nearly 3 to 1 on his money and probably calls with either a king or jack. I decided to push it at that moment.

The button folded and Shane instantly called, flipping over pocket jacks for a higher set. That was the end of my night and I decided I didn't want to wait around for the cash game to start. Maybe I am losing these hands no matter what line I take, but I really felt like I could have done much better, especially after having such a great starting stack early in the tournament.

2025 Year-End Weatherford Tournament Results

Despite walking away from the game last night in Weatherford up $1,100, I was still disappointed that my name isn't going on the plaque this year. I ended up finishing in third place, good for a $500 payday, and profited another $600 in the cash game afterward. Yet, based on the amount of good luck I had going in the tournament finishing third is a huge let down.

There were ten players in the game last night who qualified and I started off sixth in chips. The first four knocked out would win lotto tickets and starting at sixth place we started paying cash. The top winner got $1,400. We broke the players up into two tables of five and I had the median stack in my group. Darrell was our chip leader and had approximately $2,000 in chips more than me. The low man was Scott F., and he started about $3,000 less than me.

It was a great start for me as about ten minutes into the night I flopped a set of nines and was able to nearly double up when Danny rivered two pair. I bet nearly everything I had by the river and it essentially took me from $8,000 in chips to $15,000. About 30 minutes later I finished Danny off when I called his check-raise all in with pocket queens. The board was 9-3-2 rainbow, so it was a pretty safe board for my queens. I did think about it for a bit as he called my pre-flop raise and could have flopped a set like I had done to him earlier that evening. However, even if I called and was wrong, it would have put me back to my original starting stack and I figured Danny was just being too aggressive, which he can certainly be. It turned out he had pocket fives and didn't get any help on the turn or river.

With Danny knocked out first, we combined to one table of nine and I was the chip leader with about $21,000 in my stack. This was nearly a quarter of the total chips on the table and I was way ahead of the average starting stack.

The worst part about combining to one table was I ended up pulling the seat to the right of Troy, which is not where I want to be. I need as much advantage as possible against him and table position is key to helping with that.

I did have a fortunate hand that took Troy down to a minimal stack. He raised in early position while I was in the big blind with J-8 off-suit. I hadn't planned to call, but I had a large stack, as did Troy, and two other players called his raise. I decided I would call and only proceed if I hit two pair or better or an open-ended straight draw. Well, as luck would have it, I ended up flopping bottom two pair when the board came K-J-8 with two spades. I elected to check and have Troy make a continuation bet. I would then proceed from there based on what the other two players did. Troy did exactly as I had hoped and made a continuation bet that was slightly smaller than his pre-flop raise. One player behind called the bet and the other one folded. I decided to strike while the iron was hot and not play it passively. I committed to a check-raise and made the bet four times as large as Troy's flop bet. Troy decided quickly to call and the other player folded.

The turn was a red 4 that was no help to anyone. I felt pretty confident I still had the best hand and made a strong bet. I don't remember the exact amount, but it was approximately a third of the pot. I figured I could slow down if a bad card came on the river completing the flush, a big straight, or potentially two higher pair than my jacks and eights. Troy didn't hesitate too long and called.

The river was a beautiful red 3 and I now knew I had the best hand. I made a bet slightly larger than my turn bet, hoping Troy would come along with a good king or get sticky with just the jack. It turns out he had a dream draw with 10-9 of spades. He had flopped a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw. Luckily it didn't complete and I built my stack up to over $30,000.

I felt really confident at this point that I would be a strong contender for winning the tournament, especially with Troy on the ropes and nearly out of the tournament. Unfortunately, he got extremely lucky with pocket aces when two other players tripled him up. This put him back in the running and I no longer felt like my lead was going to hold.

Although I didn't take part in the side bet of high hand for the night that some of the guys did, I would have ended up winning that. I was holding J-9 suited on the button and after Darrell limped from middle position, I decided to just see what came and called. The two blinds also came along. The flop came 9-9-9, so I elected to slow play my four of a kind. We all checked through and the turn was an ace. It again checked to me and I should have made a bet here. The idea behind betting is that anyone with an ace is obviously going to call and think we have the same hand. A small bet of half the pot or less would build it up a little for a nice river bet. If nobody has an ace, even if somebody hits their random card on the river for a smaller full house, it is doubtful they put much money in thinking any person betting the river has either the fourth nine or an ace for the best full house (minus pocket aces, which is unlikely since nobody raised pre-flop).

By not betting the turn, I feel like I missed a bet that could have potentially set up a bigger payday on the river. It also could have resulted in somebody check-raising me thinking they are trying to push me off if I am bluffing the ace since I am on the button and it was checked to me. Simply put, I should have made a smallish bet on the turn and see if anyone came along with the full house.

Instead I just checked and we saw a jack hit the river. The two blinds checked and Darrell bet $500. I almost instantly took a stack of $500s and put it out there for a raise, trying to make him think I'm pushing somebody off with another ace and I don't want to split the pot. It turned out my raise was another $3,500. Darrell didn't like it and was ready to flip the table over if I showed the fourth nine, but he reluctantly called with his ace.

I was coasting along just fine until we got down to the final four. I had about $27,000 in chips and was second behind Michael. However, Troy was right around that amount as well. The shortest stack at that moment was Wes B., who had about $8,500. I was the dealer and gave myself pocket kings. I made a standard three-bet re-raise after Wes bumped it up ahead of me. It didn't quite put Wes all in, but he elected to push it and I instantly called. He showed A-9 off-suit and all I had to do was avoid an ace or some weird run out that gave him a straight or flush. I was looking really good until the river when an ace spiked.

With Wes B. doubled up, the very next hand I was dealt pocket jacks. First to act I made it seem like I was making a tilted raise out of frustration and it folded around to Wes in the big blind. He re-raised me and I decided to keep the illusion of frustration, anger, and tilt going by pushing all in. Wes thought for a long time and wasn't sure if I was lucky enough to wake up with strong hands back to back. He finally made the call with pocket nines. It turned out he had only $300 less than me, so this was his tournament life on the line, but a loss for me essentially ended my night as well.

In the window, a nine was shown for the first card on the flop. I was drawing very thin after he hit a set on the flop. However, I hit my miracle two-outer on the turn and we went to the river with Wes needing the final nine in the deck. It didn't come and I got all my chips back from the previous hand, with interest.

Once we were three-handed I never really made any headway. Troy simply kept building his stack and Michael was trying to fold his way to second. After a long time of going up and down, I had approximately $20,500 when I was dealt A-K off-suit. I raised it to $2,500 when the blinds were $400-800. Troy called me while he was the chip leader. The flop was medium to low cards with two diamonds. I knew I had a diamond, but wasn't sure which card it was and I really wasn't banking on going runner-runner for a flush. I simply wanted to hit an ace or king on one of the next two cards. I bet $4,000 and Troy came along for the ride.

The turn was another low card that was a diamond. So now I do have the potential flush in play. I didn't take long and pushed my remaining $14,000 into the pot. It was essentially a pot-sized semi-bluff. I was very happy to take the pot then and there, but even if he called with something worse than two pair I had a lot of outs. What I didn't expect was to be called by a pair of twos. Troy held pocket twos, with one of them being a diamond. With any ace, any king, and any diamond, I would end up doubling up and becoming the chip leader.

Unfortunately, my night ended when a black nine showed up. I took away the $500 third place winnings and moped my way over to the cash game. Things went really well there and I made another $600. Overall, the night put me back in the black for the year, so I shouldn't be upset. Yet, I felt so confident with how I was playing along with the luck that seemed to be on my side. Troy seems to be my nemesis when it comes to our weekly Thursday night game and I am committing myself to really studying ways to become good enough that he no longer has the inherent edge against me.

I have to wait another year for the chance to get my name on the plaque and it really seemed like this was my year with the way things were falling my way last night. I'll just have to keep at it and continue learning.

2025 Year-End Weatherford Tournament Pre-Game Broadcast

I mentioned in my previous post that the year-end freeroll tournament in Weatherford is coming up this weekend. However, local weather looks to be pretty bad starting Friday and icy conditions are predicted for Saturday. So, the group elected to move the tournament up to Thursday instead of pushing it back a week since we have some guys who qualified but cannot make it at the end of January.

I was hoping to get a little more practice in before the big tournament, but that's not going to happen. Another variable with moving the date so close to when we play is that one of the players who qualified in 2025 has now moved to Abilene and he is a maybe for Thursday night. However, he did give his blessing to move it. He said he would do his best to make it.

Going into this year's tournament, I am sixth in chips out of ten players. Even if Wes B. doesn't show up for the tournament, I am still sixth in chips. Having to only compete against eight opponents would be fantastic, but I feel confident I can succeed even if all ten of us show up.

The top prize for first place this year is $1,400. Sixth place will receive $55 and everyone below that just gets a lotto ticket. I'm really hoping I can take home the championship this year, but it will be the hardest year yet as I don't think I've ever been this low on chips compared to the other players.

I am going to have to make some moves to gather chips and the good news is I am at a soft table to start. Hopefully I can accumulate a few extra chips before we combine at nine players. I'll post next week with results and some hands that I play throughout the tournament.

2025 In Review

Thus far my play in 2026 has started out in the pits, so my mood to talk about what happened in 2025 is a little tainted. While the end results were another positive year and I ended up making more than $20 per hour, I feel I could have done better.

I started out pretty hot with a trip to Las Vegas last January with Joanna and the Veceras. After playing five different sessions at the Horseshoe Casino, I ended up leaving town up $845. Only five days into the year and I was on one of the fastest starts to a winning year I've ever had.

I then went into what is probably the worst losing streak I've ever had. At my lowest low, I turned that $850 profit into a a loss of $400 by the end of February. Luckily, I had a great night in Weatherford that turned that around and I never looked back.

In just one month I went from down $390 to up $1,220. And there really wasn't a win larger than $500 in that timespan. During the month of April I then bounced up and down and ended up at nearly the same spot, up $1,095.

At the very end of May I broke the $2,000 profit mark and finished up $2,440. And by June I had broken the $3,000 mark.

In July, August, and September I had some wins and losses that kept me right around the $3,000 profit point. It wasn't until October that I was able to finally hit $4,000 in profit. However, that didn't last and I dopped back down to $3,000+ in November.

I finished the year in December with some good wins and ended up with a total of $4,600 in profit. I played a total of 219.75 hours and my hourly total was $20.93. My largest win in a single session was $765, played in Weatherford, and my largest loss was $600, which was at WinStar.

Since 2022, I have started profiting at a higher rate than I had for the decade before that. From 2009-2021 I averaged an hourly rate of $10. However, in the last four years, I have averaged $20 per hour or higher. This is mostly due to making more calls and bluffing at a more frequent rate. I was a very tight, aggressive player and since becoming a little looser, but less aggressive, I have pretty much doubled my hourly rate. My best year was 2022, where I profited $6,150 and averaged $33.65 per hour.

I'm still working to find the right balance of aggression, tight play, and mathematically correct decisions that will optimize my hourly rate. I've challenged myself to implement some new strategies and after only a couple of games it has not worked out well. I will post next week about some hands that haven't gone the way I'd hoped, but poker isn't a grouping of multiple sessions, but one long game. Even if I am losing now, I have to keep plugging away and believe it is going to turn around for the better.

I've got my year-end tournament coming up in a week and that could result in a very big win if I can pull off the victory. I won it all in 2019 and hope this year is when I get my name on the plaque for a second time. As I prepare for the tournament I will make a post of where everyone stands in chip counts and what my odds are. With only 10 players making the freeroll tournament, I feel confident I will at least make the money.

More Frequent Posting

I made a "resolution" on my other blog that I would post more in 2026, and I think that needs to carry over to this site as well. In recent years I've simply posted my totals for the amount won, played, and hourly rate. I will likely do that again for 2025, but I need to also make some regular notes and post about recent sessions to figure out how I can become a better player.

Certainly in the past couple of years I have started maximizing wins and minimizing losses, but there is absolutely some progress to be made. One area of my game I need to get better is when I go on tilt. I'm an emotional player and I let the hands that don't go my way impact future decisions. It especially kicks in when I either have gone card dead or a suck-out happens when I was a big favorite. While I've gotten better with handling the rage, I still let it influence me.

A specific goal I am setting for myself this year is to handle my tilt better. Whether that is taking a walk when things aren't going my way or just calling it a day and cutting any losses I may have, I need to find an outlet for my frustration at the card table. Again, I am light years ahead of where I used to be. It used to be so bad my nickname was Arcade Hall, because there was an arcade room with games and pinball machines in our area called Tilt. Although I no longer worry about it being that bad, I can definitely keep it in check even more than I already do.

A second goal this year is to try and implement specialized tactics, and to even use those tactics on specific players. I attend a game pretty regularly in Weatherford and play against the same people every week. I have two guys who challenge me the most and I want to find strategies that will work against them to tilt the odds in my favor.

Now that Emery is about to go off to college and the boys are old enough to be at the house by themselves, I think I will start trying to play at our local poker house in Burleson a little more frequently. Normally if I'm not playing in Weatherford, I drive across the Red River border to WinStar, but that is a 90-minute trek and there is a card room just 20 minutes from my house. It is one of those clubs that you have to pay an entree fee and hourly rate, but I have frequently struggled with the WinStar crowd. So if I can save myself an hour's drive one-way and find a game where I have a better edge then it surely will be a win-win situation.

Hopefully I will be posting more this year and see an improvement in my game as I work on strategy throughout 2026.