The hump

And no, I'm not talking about my lovely lady lumps. I don't even think I have those. *looks down shirt* NOPE!

Two weeks back, I was watching the Colts/Pats game on Mondy Night Football. The pregame talked about Manning's inability to get over the hump, the one obstacle that always plagued him. That was Tom Brady & the Pats. And they always say, once you get over that hump, it is no longer an obstacle, and you do much better.

Well, I'm at my hump. I've been at my hump for a long time, I just haven't realized it really.

I started playing private games at AJPoker in March. The first game I played in, I made it to the final table, and made it on the bubble to cash (5 cashed, I was 6th). The very next time I played at AJ, I made it to the final table again, and finished 8th, cashing on Absolute Poker.

Since then, I have made the final table 6 more times, and have yet to win it. I have cashed about 20 times on there. Yet, the one thing eluding me is to win a private game.

Well, tonight was the start of Season 5 of their league. I qualified for the finals 3 out of the 4 leagues (and the one league I didn't qualify for, I didn't play in). So, I'm going into this with almost a certainty that I will make it to the finals again.

So, I set up for Paradise, and I'm ready to play. I was dangling as a short stack for a while, then finally built up my chips to about 2600. Some move-in specialist moves in on me. I'm sitting on AQs in spades. There is 3 hands away before the break, and I figure, if I go out, I might as well go out before break, and save me some time. I also thought he had a middle pair, and I was going to be at a coinflip, so I call.

He turns up AQs in HEARTS. All I'm thinking is, "NOT ANOTHER SPLIT," as this was looking to be the 5th split I had seen at this table. Then the almost unthinkable happens: the flop brings two spades. Now I'm feeling teased, but the flirt delivered with a spade on the turn. Unreal, now I'm sitting in 8th with 30 something left.

I sat on that for a while, and made it to the final table. Jingo joined me. I think this goes to show that skill ends up paying out in the long run, as me and Jingo, as well as other regulars (sorry if I left you out), often make it to the top of the heat in these things. So, once again, I'm poised to post a win finally. One problem, I wound up getting chipped off, and getting shortstacked. So, on one hand, I make a move with K9 suited in spades. Two callers, and the flop comes ATx, two spades. Now I'm thinking I'm gonna triple up. Turn comes an Ace, but I'm still optomistic that if a spade or maybe even a king comes up, I triple up. But then I see the two callers get their money all-in. Now I'm out the door. Sure enough, one shows AT, and I'm out the door.

I cashed again. But, out of 9 final tables, and 21 cashes, I have yet to win a game here. Once again, I will state this. I'm at the hump. I'm trying not think about it, cause it's like quicksand. The more you try to fight it, the deeper in over your head you get. I know I'll get over this, I'm (and I hate to sound so cocky, but) too good not to get over this hump. I've won other places, so it's only a matter of time before I win an AJ game.

I have no idea what I'll do to celebrate it. Splooge, I guess.