After level seven we’re doing a color-up and I’ve finally got some good news!  I started the level with a little over 20,000, chipped up slowly to about 25,000.  In a couple of different hands, just made good value bets and good bluffs in positions when other people missed flops and were tight players, when I had a good read that I could take down a pot with a stab on the turn.  Did that a couple of times with air and it worked! 

So I was at about 25,000 and I picked up Queens.  Someone raised in front of me and I re-raised.  They folded and I picked up a little pot there.  I was sitting at about 30,000 with pocket Tens in the small blind.  The player three off the button, a relative beginner, limped for 600.  The player next to him looked like he wanted to raise, thinks about it, and looked confused.  His expression clearly indicated he wanted to raise, but he opted to call.  I put him on a pair of some sort, or maybe Ace-Queen.  He called, the button called 600, and it comes to me in the small blind with my pocket Tens.  I want to take it down right there, there’s plenty in the pot, so I pop it up to 4,000, a pretty big raise.  The last time the table saw me do that I had Queens, so I thought I would get credit for it.  Much to my surprise, the initial limper quick-called the 4,000.  He only had about 20,000, so to call one-fifth of his stack without even thinking about it, I put him on Ace-Queen or eights or better.  The second limper thinks and thinks and thinks and thinks and shoved all-in for 17 or 20,000, something like that.  I ended up thinking about it and went with my initial read.  I don’t think he flat-called pre-flop with Jacks or better, so I don’t think I’m dominated.  Worst-case scenario I’m in a coin-flip and I think the other player probably has some of his outs if he did indeed have Ace-Queen.  I thought I actually had a strong chance of having him dominated.  I knew that it looked like what I did was a squeeze play, when in reality I had a hand.  So, I ended up calling.  The caller folded and I turned over my Tens.  The guy who shoved had nines.  For once, my four-to-one favorite held up, which is a new thing for me in the last couple of weeks.  That was great and now I’m up around 60k and above average for once, which is awesome!

With about half the field left, 40,000 is average and I’m cruising.  We have one more level to go tonight.

Vanessa