In the Zone

Aside from the $700 hickup I had Wednesday night, my results have been great this month. I have been grinding 0.5/1. The fact that I moved down two limits didn't really hurt my pride. I'm winning a lot, withdrawing a lot and living life. The fact that the US dollar has improved helps a lot. I get 25% more Norwegian money for my dollars now than I did in July. I had another good session today. I really feel that I'm taking my game to a higher level these days. I'm making some seemingly insane bluffs and calls that I wouldn't have done a few months ago, and I'm usually right. Betting and calling with no pair has become common. This is because I have a great feeling for where my opponents are at. Confidence is also a key factor. When you're on a downswing, you become afraid to execute the moves that you essentially know are correct.

Here is an example of a pretty crazy play I made, although this was in a live hand, so there were more tells to work with. I was playing a live cash game with some friends, 4-handed. Magnus Carlsen limped on the button. Magnus is a 17 year old kid who is ranked as the second best chess player in the world and also a good friend of mine. In May he gave a simultaneous display against 30 of the strongest chess players in my home town and I was the only one to beat him. I think I wrote about this in my previous blog. I made all the local papers and one of the largest national TV networks aired an interview with me on the sports news. It was one of my shining moments.

Anyway, like I said, he limped on the button. Joar was in the small blind and raised it up heavily. He was on stone cold tilt at that moment. I was also semi-tilted. That's why I called him in the big blind with 94 of clubs. Magnus also called. The flop was 753 two diamonds. Joar bet out, I called with my gutshot and Magnus overcalled. Turn was an offsuit T and was checked through. The river was another 7. Joar thought for maybe two seconds and then bet out. The thing is I know Joar likes to bluff the river when he has no chance of winning at showdown, especially when his opponents show weakness. I knew he was bluffing at this point, because what could he have? In his current state of tilt I was sure he would have value bet a T or 7 on the turn. He is more of a tournament player than a cash game player. That's why I was also pretty sure that he wouldn't value bet a 5 or 3 on the river. In tournaments player generally don't value bet and call down as thin as in cash games. At first I thought about raising in case he was bluffing with a better hand. But the problem with that is that Magnus could have slowplayed a monster behind me. And I didn't really think he would bluff with J high or better anyway, because it looks like everyone has low cards. I looked over at Magnus and he looked like he was thinking of calling. But he's a smart kid obviously, and I didn't think he would overcall if I called. So I called with my 9 high, Magnus reluctantly folded and Joar mucked instantly. I raked in the big pot, Magnus asked me if I could beat his ace high and I flipped over my 9 high to Joar's disgust.

I'm hoping to take another shot at 1/2 next week. Bankroll: $3.6k