I still have some funds on Absolute Poker left from the PSO Blogger Freeroll winnings, so last night I decided at the last minute to use some of it for a satellite to the WSOP Ladies Event qualifier.

It was a pretty light playing field for $10 - there were only 14 other takers beside myself. So with that number of players the top three would get the qualifier entry, fourth would get $27. My first table started with only 7 players - fabulous! I love playing short handed!

I played a slow tight selectively aggressive style, and stayed third/fourth pretty much throughout the first hour. 5 of the 15 were knocked out in the first twenty minutes, two of them by me (w00t!).

Now, I do think my game has improved over the last 5-6 months, but it wasn't until last night that I really knew it. Most of these women were awful. Even I could see how fishie they were. Unpredictable (which is a good thing, really) but loosie goosie. Only two others in the game were reasonably tight and I'd say that over half of every table were calling stations...."oooooo Ace 2 offsuited, what a great hand". And some of them did quite well by being calling stations; there was one player who's luckbox abilities rivaled CJ's!

It took very little time to get to 5 players. I was in third place, when I was dealt a s00ted big slick on the button. A few folded, a few called, I bet 4xBB, or $400. SB folds, BB calls (no surprise, she's one of the worst calling stations) and the rest fold. Flop comes Ace, 4, Q rainbow, BB checks and I go all in because she has never called an all in, and there is no way I want Ms. Luckbox to catch anything. She calls. Hmmmmmmm.

Now she has me outchipped by only a little, so if she's made a set, I'm out. No. It's pocket tens = no set. And yet even though I've got her, I get that sinking feeling in the pit of stomach and the little voice in my head that says Kat, no way are you going to win this hand.

Turn is a 3...one half is hoping while the other half of me is still sure that the poker gods are going to seriously slap me down here. And yes. There was a 10 on the river. How did I know? And why could I not "know" it before I pushed all in??

So while I bubbled, I wasn't really all that upset. Yeah, who am I kidding - the air was blue around me from the language spewing out of my mouth as I looked at my screen in disbelief. But it faded quickly. Because I realized that I played it right, with what I know about poker right now. And that I knew a little bit more than I thought, thanks to the direct (and indirect) coaching of the girlie chat thing folks that I see regularly.

You guys rock.