Badger Poker...Better, but not by much

I thought of taking the night off as I hadn't been running good lately. Yes, I played better at the Cafe the other night but still not as good as I could. A couple of days off might do me good. But a certain whiny bitch at work insisted that I play so he could have something to read. Ok, he didn't insist but he did whine.

I was sent to table 2. As I sat down, a guy in an Angels hat was talking with a guy with a Red Sox jersey. Is it me or is suddenly a bunch of people in Milwaukee Red Sox fans? Give it up already! Table would fill out with an interesting group. A Middle Eastern guy sat in the middle. The Sock Girl (was on my left at the Cafe) was on the far end. A guy with a really ugly shirt and Jager visor sat down two spot to my left. A girl sat on my left for a bit before she got up to move her car. Apparently either she or her husband just got a parking ticket outside. There was backwards Deacons in the corner. Ricky Ricardo sat on my right and the Turtle rounds out the table.

Play started out slow. Very slow because of the Turtle. I think he may have been a bit stoned as he wasn't paying much attention to the game or was always veeeeerrrrrrrrryyyyyyy ssssssllllloooowwwwww tooooooo aaccctttt. Ugly shirt went out first about a half hour in. He had paid Parking Ticket off half of his chips when he kept firing away until she raised him on the river. Sock Girl took him out with a brutal suckout. He flopped top pair but she hit runner runner for the club flush with something like Q J suited. Ricky Ricardo went out soon after that. Someone kept calling him on the phone so I knew he was due for a "what the fuck" all in bet. Sure enough, it came with a A 4 push. I had K Q suited and wanted to call badly but mucked it (good muck to as nothing hit me on the board). I believe I played 2 hands in the first hour. A 10 and K Q. On both I raised it pre flop and fired the second bullet. On firing the third bullet, Red Sox folded on both plays. I stood at about 12000 after the first break. Not bad, but still need to get more chips in the opening session.

The second session opened well for me. We played with 8 players for the next hour. It started with a strange play. Turtle was in the big blind but didn't realize it. He sat down and folded. At that point I told him he was big blind. It looked like he stared at me angrily and tossed his chips in. At least he didn't try and recover his cards from the muck like others would have. I believe I had K Q on that hand and went for the steal. Mid East called my raise but folded on the flop. A couple of hands in I caught pocket rockets and raised it to 1500. Sock girl decided to call. Parking ticket on my left made a comment that that she saw one of my cards when it was dealt. She didn't say it too loud but was rather confident she knew one of my cards. Flop came Q high with two suited. I fired away for 3500. Sock Girl thought about it and folded. Parking ticket told me I had the ace of spades so I showed the table. Next hand I get A 2. Seeing how I just showed the table the pair, I decided to try and play it again. Raised to 1500. Sock Girl and Deacons came along. Flop totally missed me but I fired away with 2500 this time. Sock Girl thought about it again and this time helped my cause. She started talking about how some guy had aces twice in a row. I played along and they both folded. Thank you Sock Girl.

But from there, the game went down. I played one hand rather poorly and paid to see some cards. Red Sox Jersey caught some lucky cards. I was in the small blind and wanted to limp in with K J spades. Parking ticket though raised it to 2500. 4 people were in so I had to call. Flop came all diamonds. Jersey bet and everyone folded. He had called 2500 with Q 4 diamonds? Next hand, I limp in with 9 10 and go heads up with Red Sox Jersey again. Flop came 10 high but all hearts. He bet 1500 and I called with top pair. Turn was no help and he bet 2000. River didn't help me and he bet 3000. I tried to figure out what he had. I had very little confidence in my 9 holding up as a kicker so I folded. Figured he had A 10 or K 10. I was a little pissed that I had paid that much for nothing.

At this point, two new players were added to the table. King Tut came with a really small stack and some guy with a He Man action figure (the little flying magic guy with the hat, not He Man or something good). WTF is with the He Man thing? Why not just bring your little Star Wars action figures and play with those between hands? At this point, the Mid East guy is kinda rolling the table with Red Sox jersey. Sock Girl happens to look down on the ground and pick up a Nike Sock and asks if anyone lost their sock today (hence her name). She then declared the sock to be good luck and swore that if she won, the sock would come with her to every game. Ok. Unfortunatley, Turtle kept playing slow. I got into a debate with King Tut about betting. Parking Ticket raised the pot to 2900 to force Deacon all in. Mid East though tried to come over the top and raised to 5000. I pointed out that he had to raise the minimum of the prior raise, or to 5800 in this case. King Tut then went off saying that is not a rule. We called over Jason and he stated that I was correct. So Mid East bumped it to 6000. Deacon folded and Mid East pushed on the flop to fold Parking Ticket. Deacon got knocked out on a stupid play after that. Raiders Fan was then added to the table (interesting enough was his 2005 World Series of Poker shirt). Down to 4100, I decided to make a move. I was UTG+2 and saw A 2. I figured there was a good chance to steal the blinds as things were tight and Raiders fan would not defend without a good hand. It worked and I got some blinds just before the break.

Our table was broken up after that. I started the 3rd session at a pretty aggressive table. I was in trouble with blinds at 2000/4000 and only 5100 left. I had to push and push soon. I would be able to see 5 hands before the blinds got to me. Fold, fold, fold, fold. Plop my 4000 in front of me. UTG + 2 raises to 8000. Folds around and I push blind. Hey, I am beyond pot committed. He flips his cards over and shows A J (I believe). Flop comes J Q 8, turn is nothing, river a 9. Before I turn my cards over, one guy announces "Watch, 7 10". Sure enough, I turn over 7 10 clubs for the straight and double up. In the small blind, I see A K and push. One guy had raised to 8000 so I bump it the 4200 more and he calls. He has A J. Flop is a 7 2 x. Turn is no help but the river spikes the J and I am done. Luck kept me for one hand just to smash my dreams into the jagged rocks below on the very next. Oh well. Once again, I finish somewhere in the 30s. It is an improvement but not good enough. Next week, I vow to win one.

Badger Poker...Free pretzels!

The rain fell on downtown Milwaukee Tuesday night. Good thing we don't play cards outdoors or the pretzels would have gotten all soggy. Yes, it the latest attempt to generate bar business, they had a bowl of pretzels on all of the tables. Supposedly, they even put extra salt on them to get people thirsty. Stupid, but funny. But you didn't come here to the Badger Pretzel report, you want to hear about poker so on with the show.

As you have read (or not if you have never been here before- and if that is the case, why not?), I have been running bad the last 2 weeks. Don't know if I am playing too tight or loose or just making some bad plays (like getting aggressive with a pair of 10s). But I had decided that if I didn't do well tonight, it was time for a hiatus.

For once I wasn't starting at the same table. I was off to table 6 with an eclectic group. Buckwear from the first season was there. I liked the sight of that as he was rather loose and aggressive. A good lady player was on my right. On my left was someone from Madison? We started talking about the bars around campus at UW and the drink specials they have on the weekend and how they changed the law and what not. Next to him was Photograph. Guy had a picture of his son/daughter on the table. Whenever he needed luck, he kissed his finger and put it on the photo and asked Maury/Murray? for luck. I bet the kid would like it a lot more if you didn't chain smoke. Around the bend was a somewhat serious/aggressive guy I had seen at Rock Bottom in the past. On his right was 15 minutes (yes, he lasted 15 whole minutes). The was the mute and a guy in red.

Play started out rather interestingly. Seemed like everyone except for me and the girl on my left wanted to be in every hand. Photograph would begin to amass some chips. As mentioned already, he took out 15 minutes with two pair, aces and jacks. 15 minutes bet 5000 on a pair of aces. Wow, what a stupid play. He played A 2 suited that hard? The two was going to be a factor, so I was surprised that he would actually bet it out. He should have checked as Photo would have bet only 2000 or so. That is why he lasted only 15 minutes.

Some loose play continued for a bit. The mute went out on two pair- second and third pair nonetheless on an obvious straight. I didn't play much but felt the need to get aggressive at times. The only hand I would bet out pre-flop was A 10. I got one caller and he folded when I bet a flop that missed me, but I had over cards. Photograph was doing a decent job of collecting chips as was Madison. Buckwear continued his aggressive play and had done a decent job of chipping up as well. We played the majority of that first hour at 7 players. At the first break, I as sitting at 7700.

I was still determined to finish better than I had over the last week. I felt I was playing a bit tight though. I still mucked a number of hands- A 6, A 3 that would have filled out full houses. In each case, I was in early position so I wasn't in a good spot to just limp. But seeing how the deck would have knocked me into a good spot, I decided to play some of these hands in the second session. Needless to say, they all missed me.

Two players were added in, the Marine and another quiet guy after the break. Suddenly the table got tight. Any pre flop bet caused people to fold. I hoped to get some cards to take advantage of it. Best I saw was K 7 suited on the button so I limped on in. Flop came A Q 6. It checked around to me and I fired out 2k on the steal. Everyone folded except for the Quiet Guy. He looked like he would fold but then called. Hmm...did he have the A? Turn was a rag. Quiet guy check as did I. River was another rag. He checked and I turned up my K high. Ends up he was on a straight draw and I take down a decent pot. I am at roughly 12500 now, which is still low. I don't play many hands at this point. I am not catching cards. I defend my blinds a bit. Do some stealing but my chip count is not going anywhere. Yet somehow, I feel like I have succeeded by hitting the second break. Amazingly, Photograph, who had been a table chip leader for most of the first two sessions had given them all away. He called down a lot of second pair hands. Buckwear was the major beneficiary of the generosity. Madison took a bit of them as well. The Marine had busted out as did the girl on my left. Only 3 of the original table had survived this far.

At the beginning of the third session, we were broken up. We dealt the first hand and were given notice. It didn't seem fair to the blinds. I thought they should have mucked the hands and let us move before we played. I got moved into the wind table. Sat down in a spot that had a jet stream of cold air blowing on my. Good thing I didn't have to worry about cooling off my cards. Table was a good group of players. Tigers hat was there but had substituted the Bosox hat. ATM was on my left. Madison came along and stayed on my right. Doo rag was there with a good stack. The Biker had a big stack in front of him. Worst Player Ever was there. Hadn't been at a table with him in a long time. I wasn't too familiar with the rest of the guys. One guy seemed to stay hidden on the bend of the table. Another was too busy smoking. When I sat down, chips were flying around. But things seemed to tighten up again. Blinds were 1000/2000 so I know I didn't have many cards to wait on. About the 5th hand, in the big blind, I saw K J. 3 players had limped on in. With only about 8k in front of me, I had to choose between pushing and raising. Why raise? Two reasons. One, the table had tightened a bit, and two, I wanted to see a flop and be in control. Bosox had made a comment that he was afraid I would raise it up, so that helped convince me. I bumped in 2 more and saw a flop of 10 6 2, two diamonds I believe. Naturally, I went all in. Biker thought a bit and mucked as did Bosox and Doo Rag. Worst Player Ever commented I had pocket deuces. I was tempted to show my cards but decided not too. Small blind was folded out. I limped in too see a flop with 8 9 spades, but caught nothing. A hand or two later, I looked down and saw A Q. Bosox had raised to 8000. He had done the same thing in the previous hand, but everyone folded. I put him on anything from a small pair to A K through A 10. I re-raised all in. ATM commented that he probably shouldn't call but he tossed his 6 or 8k in as well. Bosox called too and showed A K. ATM had 6 6. Flop came Q x x, but with two clubs. My Q was a club but Bosox A was a club. Turn was a club. River was the K of clubs. Bad enough it was a king but it didn't need to be a club.

I played better this time around and came out somewhere in the 30s. I am curious if I could have played that last hand different. To simply call down half a stack to see a flop had me committed. Would Bosox fold with 2 over cards? Possibly, but in early position, he may push to force me out if the flop missed me. I don't think he would expect runner runner to fill his flush. Any ideas on how you would have played it?

Bagman's words of wisdom- Sadly, Bagman was conspicuous by his absence. Haven't seen him in a while. Don't know if that is good or bad. Word of wisdom though came from the bar. All drinks were 3 bucks. Finally, someone is using their brain here. Don't know why there don't try this more often. If they want to boost revenue, slash the prices on the drinks. Dollar tappers would go over big. They are still making money on dollar tappers. Or make it interesting, have drink prices go up as the blinds go up. Anything but putting more salt on the pretzels.

Badger Poker...Still running bad

With a new week upon us, I had high hopes to start a new run. Since the opening night of the second season of Badger, I haven't done squat. And even at that event, I limped onto a final table. Yes, I had to get some mojo back.

I was sent to table 2. There was Darkman there along with Towel Man from the home game. One of my new favorites, Trick or Treat was on my left (maybe this time I can get some of those chips he hands out). There was SG on the far side with one of the newer players, Tattoo. I couldn't tell if the other guy in the middle was Allergy or not. Didn't quite play like him but I can't quite recall what Allergy looked like. On my right was Sigh Guy (every time he made a play, he would think and think, let out a big sigh and make his move). Two new guys round out the table, Shepard Express and Sunglasses. I wish I could have a good rant on Sunglasses because anyone, and I mean anyone, that wears sunglasses at these events cracks me up.

Things started well for me. On the second or third hand I caught A A. I was able to raise it up to 800 and had 4 callers. Flop hit well at A J 4, but there were two hearts in it. I decided to make anyone pay to pull the flush and fired out 3000. They all folded and I take down a nice early pot. Sunglasses gets into an interesting battle with Sigh Guy and gives off about 2/3 of his chips to him. Flop came 6 6 x. I thought Sunglasses had the trips as he was betting out rather aggressively. Turns out Sigh Guy had the 6 and took it down. But Sigh Guy would end up giving it to the guy who may have been Allergy. Towel Man played out a nice bluff with J 9. Fired the second and third bullet. Why Trick or Treat was still in the hand was something I never could understand. Then again, that is why he is Trick or Treat. He in there to hand out his chips to those who come knocking. Sunglasses went out soon as did Trick or Treat. Darkman had hardly played a hand. Tattoo was mixing it up a bit. SG did little as well. I played a couple hands here and there and took in small pots or kicked out some chips. Took one tiny bad beat when I pushed Shep Ex all in. I had 8 8 and he had limped in UTG. I bet it out so he would be committed. I was surprised he called with Q 4 suited. It would be enough at he would not only flop the Q, but would fill out the heart flush. Yes, those crap plays never do work for me.

Things were going well until Sigh Guy kind of tilted the table. He went all in 3 hands in a row. First time he doubled up on A 10 when the A hit. Next he went uncalled and showed Q Q. Third time he did it with K J. I was tempted to call him on the last one. I had A J. I thought about it and folded for two reasons. Darkman had limped in front of him and A J is not as strong as people think. I didn't want to need some help on the flop, nor go out after 45 minutes. As much as I wanted to put an end to Sigh Guys nonsense, this wasn't the hand to do it. Turns out Darkman had A J as well.

But the mood at the table had changed. No wonder was going to limp in just to be raised all in, nor was anyone going to raise in front of Sigh Guy in hopes of trapping him. Unfortunately for me, I would be the one that was trapped. I looked down to see 10 10. With 3 limpers in front of me, I raised it to 2500. Shep Ex then bumped it to 7000. With just 1900 left I had to move all in if I called. I pushed. Shep Ex had trapped me with A A. Could there be sweet justice as I exact revenge from that crappy Q 4 play? Nope. I was done. Funny how I didn't want to go out at the 45 minute mark, but the 55 minute mark was ok. He played the hand well. I couldn't help but wonder if he didn't raise it because of Sigh Guy or not. I guess it didn't matter as he made the hand pay off nicely.

Still running bad and I do not like it. I either have to play it through or maybe go to drastic measures. I am leaning on the latter decision and may go ahead and walk away from the game for a week or so. Sometimes that is the best way to turn the ship around.

Bagman's words of wisdom- Don't know if this comment was directed towards me or not, but I found it kind of amusing. At one point, Tattoo either misplayed or misdealed or did something strange. He said "Great, by the end of the night I am going to have a nickname." C'mon, if I am writing about the table, of course you get a name.

Playing the home game

Played in a home game on Friday night. Got an invite from Bob about a co-worker who runs a tourney every once in a while. Cor had won the last one and said it was a good place to go fishing. So I thought it would be worth the $35 and got signed up. Now, if I could learn to be patient, I could have done well. Instead, I came in 10th out of 17.

The competition here wasn't that good. That is why I ended up being disappointed in my finish. We drew randowm tables which put me at the short table. Funny how the 4 women ended up at one table. My table was good though. There was the guy running it who for some reason kept a towel on his lap, some big meathead next to him who was easy to bluff on, a very aggressive guy, two not-so-good players, a really young kids and one of the more annoying people I have sat at a table with in a long time. Apparently this was the guy's father-in-law. I tell you, if Mike Sexton said it on TV, he said it at the table. Somehow it was Gus Hansen this or Gus Hansen that. I wanted to put a sock in his mouth. He was driving me nuts. He even created this little cardboard cutout to help him keep track of his chips and to tell him the difference between the small blind and big blind.

The game started out fast for me. Got Big Slick on the second or third hand. It was raised to me so I re-raised it up. Flop came A Q x. I made a pot size bet and was called. Turn was another Q. He checked again and I made a half pot bet. He called. River was a rag so I bet again feeling confident he did not have a Q. He called and showed A 10. I chipped up nicely to start. Had A K again a couple hands later but got nothing out of it. The Kid had A K pay off nicely for him when he flopped a full house. But he played the hand wrong and drove the players out. He could have taken a number of chips of the annoying FIL. But he made huge bet on the turn. Annoying FIL had raised his small bet on the flop. I told him if he checked it, the annoying one would have called and he could have gotten more chips out of him.

My stack was going up and down. I started to play some hands that I shouldn't have. But I also ran some good bluffs along the way. I bluffed meathead out of two good pots. Watching him play, I notice he would play a lot of draws and wasn't confident about his cards. Twice he folded two pair on the river because he was scared someone had trips. He would put a lot of chips out there but couldn't finish it. So on two busted straight draws I moved on him. Took down two good pots too. On the second one, I moved all in on him with just K high. He laid down his pairs again. This time I showed him the bluff, knowing I could piss him off and put him on tilt. Worked perfectly. His next words were that he was getting mad. Later he would wonder how people could bluff like that.

I gave some chips away on a bad read. Towel man, the organizer, pushed all in on a K 10 x flop. It was only 70 some chips and I called with A 10. He had checked raised me on the flop. I was sure if he had the K that he would have bet it out. Thus, I called. He had the K and then the pot. Bad read.

That would start my downfall. I was in good shape at the first break with about 50% more chips than I started. One of the chicks at the other table was running over people. We had lost 3 people at our table, and the aggressive guy was starting to take over. And take my chips. I played some loose hands here and there and before I knew it, I was short stacked. Then I made a mistake (possibly) by not pushing all in preflop with A J suited. Flop came K high and I was done when I pushed at that point.

The play was pretty wild at times with people calling down with second and third pair. Annoying FIL kept yapping away during the whole game. Funny as when I left, he was smoking. He told me that I was a much better player than he and I just didn't catch some cards. That was about the only intelligent thing he said all night.

Badger Poker...Yet another night report

Being able to do these reports right away at night sucks. That means I didn't even last 2 hours in the tournament. Such is the case at Bar Milw. The best hand I had all night was 10 10. And I didn't even play it. That is how it goes when you are running bad.
Things started with a bunch of unknowns, except for Smoker Chick. There were two young guys with hooded sweatshirts. At first I thought they were brothers. But one was more of a mouth breather than the other and they didn't talk to each other. So I guess they could have been related. There were the goatee boys, one with a regular goat who was quite large and a marine like guy that had a small caterpillar die underneath his lip. Jager hat sat there. There was a guy who looked like Beavis at 40. I kept thinking he might call himself Cornholio and go all in. But the prize at the table was Trick or Treat. He and Beavis wanted to play every hand but Trick or Treat was giving out his chips like they were candy. I think he saw the river on the first 5 hands just to not call the last bet. I never did see his cards.

But he did represent how play was at the table. Over the first hour, there were very few preflop raises. When there was, there was no action. If everyone limped in, there we saw a river. Some strange play as well. Small goat called an all in bet of 7000 with Q J suited. He was beat by K J. People called all in bets with any ace. Me, I was pissed I didn't get any of Trick or Treat's chips. The only real action I had was raising with K Q suited and having everyone fold and raising with A J and having everyone fold. That was it.

I did try to play A 2 clubs once. I was in late position and called. Flop came 9 high with one club. It checked to be and I bet it. Only Beavis called. He then bet the turn when an 8 came out. Possible straight was there so I folded. Lost untold blinds. Nothing would have hit either. I finally went out when I was in the big blind and called a 600 bet with 4 5. There were 4 other players in so it was worth a shot to see small cards. Flop came 6 5 3. I was open ended on the straight draw with middle pair. I check and Jager hat bet 2000 and was called by the mouth breathing hood. I moved all in. I guess my mistake was that I didn't move all in without checking. I don't think it would have mattered. Turn was a J. Jager bet and mouth breather raised. Jager called. River was a 4, giving me two pair but a possible flush. Jager bet 5000 that mouth breather called. Jager had 7 7 for the straight that he caught on the river. Mouth had A J. Me, I was done. Last an hour and a half doing very little but mucking.

As I said the best hand I had was 10 10 but I folded that when someone moved all in for 7000. He was called by small goatee and crushed him with Q Q. I pretty much ran bad all week. I have a home game to play tomorrow and I wish I could back out. I have already paid in so I am stuck. I need to turn it around. Maybe by winning some actual cash, that will help.

Badger Poker...Like playing bad football- 3 and out

Sometimes you just know how things might go from the first hand. Either you don't play it well, you get a bad beat or you get crap cards as a sign of things to come. I decided to go with the first. My table wasn't too bad. Some guy with a Kanga knit cap as well as another with an Oakley knit. Young dude who had beaten me at Gametime a month ago was there. Angst- a guy who looked like every decision he made was the hardest in the world. A quiet Asian, a chick, Tired Guy and some dude in glasses. On my left was the Blind small Blind call. First round he called all small blinds without looking.

First hand I played was done way too aggressively. Actually it wasn't too aggressive. I raised up with a pair of 7s. I had 3 callers. Flop came J 10 x. I bet it out and 2 people folded. Glasses called. Turn was no real help so I bet it again. Glasses thought, mumbled about too many outs and called. River was a Q. I check and he bet out 3k. I mucked and commented that he sucked out a straight. About the only thing I could have done was limp in and take my chances. Tried to be aggressive and I gave away a third of my chips. Just great.

I must have pissed off the poker gods because I didn't get a playable hand for the next half hour. Closest I came to a decent hand was maybe a one gap suited cards. Otherwise crap. During this spot, Angst was still being very aggressive, raising preflop a lot of hands. Oakley knit was playing a lot of hands. The chick was calling down hand and barely losing a lot of them. Asian pushed all in and doubled through when he flopped a straight. He then would go on a tear. There was a big hand that knocked Young Dude out. He was down to about 3600 and pushed all in from the big blind. Glasses called as did Oakley knit. Flop came 8 8 x. Oakley went all in and Glasses called. Glasses showed A Q, Oakley knit had J J. Young dude had A J. No help as another 8 came on the river for a full house.

Asian guy would make a move on me. Limped in with K 10. Actually I tried to limp but it got raised to 900. Saw a flop of 6 8 9, two hearts. Had the K of hearts. It was checked around. Turn was 10 hearts. I made a semi bluff at it and bet 1500 after Asian had checked. It folds around to him and he goes all in. Damn his check raise! I lose another chunk there.

After the break, I decide I need to make a move. I was on the big blind when I saw A 7 and decided to push my remaining 3600. Angst had raised it to me so I thought that these two cards were as good as any. Problem was Small Blind Blind Caller wanted to go for the ride too. He thought and looked at his cards before calling. Flop came A 9 K with two hearts. I had the A of hearts so I didn't mind it. I had to take another look as I then thought I had A 9 instead of A 7. Turn was another 9 and gave me no help. They both checked. River was a heart. SBBC then went all in. Angst went through his routine and called the 9100 bet. I don't know why as I knew SBBC had the flush and showed K J of hearts. Angst had A Q. Without SBBC in there, I would have enjoyed a split pot. Instead I was done. My game is not going too well in the series right now. I need to plug some holes. Doing these reports the night of the tournament kinda sucks.

And now....
Bagman's words of wisdom- Caught this amazing bad play just before I left for the night. And it happen to be Bagman. I was speaking to MGM as Bagman was going up against Cowboys fan. Final board showed a flush. Bagman had check the flop, bet the turn and the river. Cowboys fan raised on the river. I knew he had the flush. It was apparent to everyone but Bagman who raised all in. Cowboys fan immediately called and showed the nut flush. Bagman had two pair and it seemed he tried to slow play it. Slow playing two pair??? He even said "What was I suppose to do?" Easy one. Fold!

Badger Poker...Next time, I bring the bowling ball

Week #2 at Bay View Bowl. Without the Packers on, the crowd was certainly going to be bigger. Looked like we started in the high 50s, maybe low 60s in players. Once again, a lot of new faces were there. I was sent to table 1 to start things out. OCC was there, an aggressive player. Twin's fan's lady was there. Coldman sat on my right. There were 2 newbies on my left. Backwards hat who seemed to play any A he saw. Nike would wanted to just do it and play hands. And the chipophiliac who bled chips. Little Gus Hansen was there. Tired Guy (he looked like he could fall asleep at any moment. That or he was stoned) rounded out the table.

Tired guy started be running over a couple players and collecting chips. He busted Twins fan's lady K K with an ace. I was suprised that she paid him off like that. Though the ace hit the flop, she kept betting it out. He called all the way and took in roughly half of her stack. Backward hat was playing any A and hitting them. Little Gus Hansen went out quite early. He was busted on a number of hands by either Backwards Hat or Tired Guy. He finally chucked it all in on a flopped straight. But a 10 hit the board and Backward Hat sent Little Gus home. I took down a small pot when my 5 5 quickly became a set on the flop. I bet it out and nobody wanted a piece of it. OCC and Twins fan's lady quickly bailed. I would have the Hilton Sisters broken up by K J. Problem there was I didn't fire the second bullet. I may have taken it down if I kept firing as Tired Guy thought I had Big Slick. When the A hit the river, he may have laid it down. But I would have had to keep firing away. I tried to get away with Q 10 suited twice. The first time I limped but folded to a large bet instead of going for the gutshot straight (wouldn't have hit it). Next time I raised it up just to have Gramps go all in on the flop. Backward Hat's trip 9s ended up winning when he showed A 9.

A new guy came to the table and started talking about this site. I basically played ignorant about it. I hope he didn't think I was blowing him off. I appreciate that people read this, but I rather not talk about it at the table. Away from the table is fine, but not at the table. I would rather keep what little anonymity is left here. Then again, anyone can truly figure out who is doing this by paying a bit of attention to what the results are. Soon other new people would be added. One dude looked like a little boy. He seemed so small that at first I thought he may have been an elf. But Lord of the Rings had chips and wasn't afraid to use them. I survived one hand when I went all in from the big blind with A 9 and beat deuces. But by the time the blinds got around to me again, I had to push. Elf raised to 4k and was called in mid position by another. I raised it 400 more with K Q. I had a chance to triple and this seemed as good as any other opportunity. Flop came K 10 4, two diamonds. Mid position bet out and the early raiser folded. Mid position showed A A. Turn was an A. Only a jack would help me but the river was a 3. I was down and out of a very unmomentous (is that even a word?) tournament. I finished somewhere in the high 20s or so. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Thursday night bonus coverage!

I feel like I have let some people down tonight so I will try to give some bonus coverage from Full Tilt Poker. Sat down at the NL table with blinds of .25/.50. The average pot is just under $10 according to the table stats. So I start with 20 bones to play. I am trying to work off my bonus and need to keep my cash lasting. I had dropped $200 here over the past weekend on some nasty beats (AA is the best hand to start with my ass!)

I start by mucking the number of hands I see. Then I notice A Q hearts staring at me. I raise it up and everyone folds. WTF? I thought this table had players. I mean with one player showing a name of KingJackoff, someone has to be willing to throw some cash around. And I would soon find him. Some fishy named jason_t. I noticed he was very tiltable too. I catch 8 8 and simply call. Flop comes 6 4 8. Bingo! I put out a small bet and jason_t raises all in for $5.80. Ha! Cha-ching. Easy money when he shows K 4. Next hand I get 10 10 in the small blind and call the dollar raise. Flop comes A Q 7, all clubs. One of my 10s is a club so that ain't bad. I check and Zammy checks as well. Turn is 6 of hearts. I bet out 50 cents and get called. River is a 5 of clubs giving me a decent flush. I toss only a buck in case they have the high club. They show a pair of 4s and I take it down.

Best part is the guppy known as jason_t has added $50 to the table. Sweet. I get a chance at that cash a half dozen hands later when I get cowboys K K. I raise it to 1 dollar (by accident when I hit the raise button without changing the amount) and I get 5 callers. Flop comes K A A. Nice. Two people check and I bet $4. Only the fish calls. Turn is a Q. Fishy checks. I can't help but think that he thinks he is slow playing me. Sure enough, I bet $12 and he raises me all in. Cha-ching again. I just hoped he didn't have A K or A Q. Nope, he has Q J and I win a $60 pot.

I lose a chunk of it back to another player. From the big blind I play K 4. Flop comes 2 K 5. I bet a buck and it gets called. Turn is a 4. I bet the pot- $4 and it gets called. River is another 5. Shit! I bet 4 bucks and get raised. My 4 kicker won't do anything here so I bail. That river totally sucked. I make some of it up when the river helps me fill a straight but I am still not near where I was. I watch my favorite fish get hooked badly. He gets all in preflop with the Hilton Sisters just to be called by A Q. Flop comes 5 5 5. Turn is a 7 and the river is the case 5. He flopped a full house just to lose to board quads and the A kicker. That is a bad beat.

I miss out on a potentially nice pot when my K J sees a flop of J 5 J. I bet the pot and get raised back. Unfortunately it wasn't the fish. I checked the turn thinking he might have A J, but call the $5 bet. River is a blank and my set is good. He raised back with 2 pair. Damn, I could have pushed and made some nice coin there.

Hope you enjoyed the bonus coverage. Next week I will do better, I promise. This online play may not be as exciting as Badger Poker. But I did make $44 in an hour.

Badger Poker...Breaking the rules

Yes, I broke rule #1. Patience. That is how you do well in the Badger Poker Series. Headed down to Dump Milwaukee for the Thursday stop. Crowded house greeted me. I was sent to table 5 to start (and I guess finish). My first impression was that this was a rather tough table. Smoker Chick was there as was Doo Rag. MGM was there listening to his tunes. E the Drun er Sober (no vodka in the Red Bull) was on my right. Wooden Necklace (a rather loose player) on my left. There was Safety Pin (he had on some kind of flannel overcoat that had safety pins instead of buttons on the cuffs. WTF?) Sweater and Brewers pullover. Last guy was Allergy. Allergy? Yes, allergy. The was the guy played for the first 45 minutes, I swear he was allergic to his chips. Kept tossing them away from his like they would kill him.

Play started with me on the button. I think I had A rag for the first 4 hands. Mucked them all. None would have hit me so I didn't mind. There was some action early. Doo Rag opened for a raise that was re-raised by Sober. Flop came J high. Doo Rag pushed. I knew he had an overpair but I was willing to be Sober had him beat. Sure enough. Sober showed A A while Doo Rag had Q Q. American Airlines took the Hilton Sisters for the ride and Sober doubled up quickly. I kept folding until the button came around. I thought everyone had folded to me so I raised it up to steal some blinds. They folded but I had missed Allergy limping in early. Of course he called. A flop a A J x came, no help to my 7 4. I bet and Allergy folded.

About another orbit goes by before I raise it up with K J. Smoker Chick calls as did Brewer Pullover. Flop comes A 3 x. I bet it out to see who may have the A. Smoker Chick calls as the other folds. Turn is another A. I check. River doesn't help me but I realize the only chance I have to win this pot is bet so I fire 1500. Smoker Chick goes all in. Fling go the cards. She had a full house, Ace over 3s. Nice hand. I would cost me some more chips when I tried to raise with K Q. There were 4 people in the pot, Wooden Necklace, Allergy,.and Smoker Chick. Smoker had gone all in preflop. Flop came J high. I checked. Wooden Necklace went all in. Allergy folded. I looked at Necklace and knew he was stealing it. Problem was I didn't have a hand to beat him. I folded. His 5 5 stood up to Smoker Chicks A Q and he took down a nice pot.

I played one last hand after that. Limped in with A 8 clubs. Flop came A J 6 with two diamonds. I tried to make my move and went all in. Safety pins thought of it for a while and raised. Allergy got out of the way. Pins showed A 9 hearts and won on that kicker. At first I thought it was a bad call. How do you trust the 9 to hold up? Yeah, I know some of you are saying but you pushed with an 8. There is a difference between calling and making the bet.

So I played an hour, breaking the first rule of poker. No XBox for me- this week. Worse yet, I have no Bagman words of wisdom for you.

Badger Poker...5 hands and a mistake

Tuesday night at Rock Bottom was nice. You could get a good meal upstairs before playing some cards. Now Tuesday brings you to the Have a Nice Day Cafe. A place where the 70's and 80's puked up all over the walls. Picture Dump Milwaukee and put something on the walls and a little worn down carpet. Oh yeah, more booze behind the bar. Not a bad place to play except for it being a little cold in there. That decribles HAND. HAND is ok. George wanted hand, Jerry wanted hand. And on Tuesday, everyone gets HAND (hmm...sounds like there are cheap hookers hanging around). Bit I digress.

First thing to note on Tuesday was the assigned seating. One step closer to playing by tournament rules consistently. I liked it. But some others didn't. It didn't shock me when one of the others was one who always started at the same table with the same people who for the most part were weak players. It is alleged that this table did some chip dumping late in the season so people could get into the finals so a change was made. The argument was that they come to be social and have fun, but you can be social and have fun with others. Difference being is that you do not have the advantage of knowing how others play all the time. All in all, it isn't a big deal. I prefer it though. Luck of the draw puts you at weak or tough table.

My table to start was interesting. Only noticed one guy to start, Darkman. The dreaded Darkman who cracked my aces on Saturday. Oh, I won't forget that! Otherwise it was a table of newbies. Guy to my left looked like the Grimace from the McDonalds commercials of way back. If he was wearing purple, it would have been a dead ringer. Next to him was another husky guy, but a bit smaller. There was the serious guy, a dude with the Fox Racing shirt, the Indian guy, some spiky hair dude, and a hmm...how do I put this sensitively...a LESs interested in BeIng with A maN (not that there is anything wrong with that). Table play is interesting to start. Spiky starts by trying to be aggressive and wins the first pot. But when he tries to continue, Grimace jumps all over him and takes a chunk out of him. Grimace begins to rule the table with his betting. He is playing a lot of hands, staying aggressive. Some are trying to stay with him. Fox Racer seems to enjoy giving his chips away as does Indy. I have mastered the art of folding. There were a couple of hands that I found to be quite interesting. I am not quite sure of the order they came in but I believe the first one involved my potentially alternative lifestyle friend to my right. She was in the small blind and saw the flop that came Q Q J. Grimace bet out 2k. She stared him down and called. Turn was an A. He bet out about 5k. She thought about it, counted out the chips and called. She only had about 1600 left after that. I would have pushed there because you know her chips are going in the after river anyway. If not, then why are you calling that big bet? But she called and the river was an A. Grimace pushed her all in and she reluctantly called? She had flopped the full house, Queens over Jacks (WOW! How fitting a hand for her! Queens over Jacks- get it??? man, either I am clever for that one or I am the only one who thinks that is funny). Grimace turns over A 10 for Aces over Queens. Talk about a bad beat. I tried to think of what she could have done different here. Slow playing the flop like that was the best play I think. She tried to draw more out of him. She should have pushed on the turn. It wouldn't have taken him out of the pot, but it was her only move. There is the chance that he would have called the all in on the flop, but it wouldn't have mattered in the end. Next was the suckout by Fox Racer. One of the stupidest plays I have seen in a while and one that reminded me of how I wanted to play tonight. Grimace came in with a small raise. Fox and Indy both called. Flop came K 4 5. Fox bet, Indy called and Grimace raised. They both called. Turn was a 3. Check, check, bet 3k, and they both call. River is a 2. Fox checks (huh?), Indy moves all in. Grimace called and Fox Racer calls. Indy shows Big Slick (he didn't raise preflop???), Grimace showed the set of 4s (it was more than obvious someone had a straight, especially Indy who suddenly bet out) Fox showed a pair of 6s to win the pot with the 6 high straight (now what in the blue blazes was he doing calling 5000 worth of bets with second pair???) He sucked out in the end and got lucky. Massively stupid play, but he got lucky. It was at this point that I reminded myself about the newbies and early rounds. They will call anything and everything no matter what pair they have. Grimace should have known he was beat. Indy should have been more aggressive. Indy would go out soon after that with second pair. Fox Racer would move on. Spiky kept feeding chips and would be knocked out with second pair as well. Besides some blinds, the only hand I played at the first table was A Q suited. Bet out a pot size bet and had only one caller. Bet the flop and they mucked. At this point we got broken up and I moved onto the disco floor.

Yes, the disco floor. This place has that theme so I was playing on one of those tic tac toe lighted squares. I didn't mind as long as I didn't look down. At this table was a couple of faces I knew. The Black Widow was there as was the Manager. Darkman came to the table with me as did a very small stack. There was one slow guy with a big stack of chips and some chick who just wanted to play some cards. I folded many a hand here as well. A couple people got knocked out while I sat there. I played two hands here. One time in the big blind I had K 10 hearts. I raised the Manager who was in the small blind and he came along. Flop came A 5 5. He checked, I bet, he called. Turn was a K. He checked and I checked. River was an A. He checked. I tried to buy the pot and bet 4000. He called and showed the full house. No raise? Interesting even when he said he thought I had the A. If you thought I had the A, then why would you call? I got most of those chips back when I saw A J suited and bet preflop. Had one caller, the ATM, pay me off. Flop missed me but I bet again and he called. Turn still didn't help but I fired the second bullet and he folded. We took a break soon after that. I had two meaningful hand to this point. I wonder if I can get a degree in mucking.

A couple hands after the break, the ATM would pay me off again. I checked from the big blind with Q 9. Flop came 2 6 9. I bet out a pot sized bet, had some limpers fold except for the ATM here. He called. Turn was another low card. I bet again and the ATM spat money out. River was a Q and I moved all in. He folded (I guess I was over my limit). They moved 5 other people to our table then. Among them was one quiet guy who I had played with before, a newbie, Faggy Dude (this guy once called me a dick because I said he couldn't make a string bet) was put there as was mp3. Cubs fan filled out the last spot. I only had about 13k when I made my mistake. The manager raised to 4k (blinds at 1000/2000). I looked down and saw two black 10s staring at me. I called. Two others, ATM and mp3 went for the ride. Flop came 3 K Q, two diamond. ATM checked, Manager checked and I thought it might be a good spot to buy the pot. I bet 3000. mp3 raised all in. The others folded. I was stuck. I think my move should have been all in. I had played with mp3 before and knew he could be aggressive. Did he have just a draw or K Q or just one. I suspected just the draw but didn't want to take the chance with the over cards and folded. I fucked that one up. If I was going to make a move, it had to be all in, otherwise, don't bet it. Blinds came around and sucked half my chips. Then they were moved up to 2000/4000 and I was screwed. All in on the big blind and I am done when 2 3 diamonds gets obliterated by the heart flush.

It was just one of those nights when I didn't catch any cards, nor even the cards I did catch would have done nothing if played.

Words of wisdom from Bagman- This didn't come from Bagman. I saw he showed up late and I don't know if he played. He may have because about a half hour before I was done, I noticed him sweating doo-rag behind me. That would be par for the course. Surprisingly though, he was quiet. But I would give the award tonight to the husky dude at the first table. He said he wanted to create pool for the ALCS. You put in your money pick which obscure Yankee was going to screw over the Red Sox this year. Great idea! You know someone like John Olerud, who came out of retirement, will have a big hit to knock the Sox out. Then we could have the story of John Fucking Olerud to hear for years.

Badger Poker...A new season begins

It is a brand new season of Badger Poker. New locations, new prizes, and new players. I even have a new feature below. And please remember, names are changed to protect the innocent. Any inferences or similiarities to real people is purely coincidental (wink,wink). I tag these characters as I see them and how they play the cards. So if you see a guy playing poker and you think he is going to write something about you, hey, don't beat him up, just buy him a beer. You could become Bought him a beer guy. But on to the report.

I stopped in to the Bay View Bowl to see if I could start the season with a victory. The crowd was sparse as is somewhat predictable since the local sports team was "playing" football. Note the quotes as while they were playing, the other team came to win and laid the smack down good! The expectation was only about 40 some people. It appeared I could get points just for attending. Sweet! Problem was, there were some of the betters players there. C was there. Raiders fan, Cubs hat, State Visor and Smoker Chick. I sat down at table with Smoker Chick and one other guy I recognized. Everyone else was new. To my left was Bet on Anything guy. To my right was Packer Fan who was all decked out (if he is such a fan, why is he playing cards and not watching the game?). Next to him was the quiet Asian guy. There was Coldman. He must have been sick and all he did was sniffle and cough. Slow Bus (to be explained later) and another no name round out the table. No name would be gone soon and thus, doesn't deserved to be named. Bagman shows up late and darnit sits at a different table. Someone even called him "Bagboy" which he apparently did not care for and sniped back "you can talk to me when you beat me". Down Bagman, down! He like the Asian guy needed poker bandages as they bled out chips to Bet on Anything guy and Coldman. I found the table to be a bit tricky at first, but also realized it wasn't going to be that tough. I didn't get much to play to begin with. I did win an early hand that I had raised up with just an A. I bet out the flop and the turn to take down the pot uncontested. But I believe that was all I won over the first hour. I played my blinds and maybe limped in a one or two more hands. Bet on Anything was trying to run over the table. He won a good sized pot early and played just about every hand. When he did, he well, bet on anything. His aggressiveness was paying off for a while until Coldman took down a good size pot on him. Playing Q 4 soooted, he made a set of 4s and got paid handsomely. I sat there trying to figure Coldman out. Between his sniffles, he kept asking questions. I didn't know if he was not too bright about poker or was acting it up. I sensed it was a bit of both. He knew what he was doing but thought he would play it up a bit. Smoker Chick held her own. She is a tough player and will hang in some pots whether she has it or is still drawing. It can be hard to put her on a hand. Slow Bus was a talkative guy. He tried to downplay his abilities early but played some good poker. Good, not great. Slow Bus just about went out and he fed Bet on Anything guy most of his chips. He called a couple hands down to the river just to fold. He finally made a push and went all in with his last 2700. Coldman called as did I as I looked down and saw J J staring at me. I knew I was going to be behind but if I caught the flop, I could get a number of chips off of Coldman. With a small crowd, it didn't take long as 3 people got knocked out early and we consolidated tables.

The next table started out tough. I was just above 10k when I sat down. That table had Addidas, State Visor (though he didn't wear the State visor, he had another one. Does he have a closet full of visors?), Smoker Chick, Doo-rag, and flannel man among others. Things got interesting because every pot was being raised up preflop. No limpers allowed! I bled some chips trying to limp in or defending my blinds but that didn't work. I think I won one pot at this table too when I raised up with A K and had no callers. There was huge pot taken down by flannel man when he took quickly called a all in semi bluff. When the flop came down K high, a guy pushed with 9 9. Flannel man had the K. No 9 and he was done. Flannel man was in good position. It seemed everyone else was doing good except for me. I was still hanging around the 10k mark and not doing much. And then they moved us again.

We were down to 20 and the blinds were only 300/600 (hey I said it was a small crowd!). I got moved to the table under the lights along with Smoker Chick and another. At this table was Coldman who had a good size stack in the rack. Flannel man was moved there as well with Doo-rag. Then there was King Tut. Remember the old Batman TV series? Of course you do. Well, this guy reminded me of the King Tut character. I swear he is a body double. Ok, back to poker. I think I folded pretty much each hand for half hour. Got the worst cards imaginable. Q 8 seemed to be my favorite. I can't tell you how many times a got a Q matched with a crappy low card. But there was some action at the table. Flannel man got taken out by King Tut when Tut raised preflop and Flannel went for the ride. Tut's two pair were higher and Flannel was gone. I sat back and played tight because I was curious to see how long I could last with pretty much nothing. Plus there were two older guys at the table that were short stacked and playing no hands. I wanted to simply last longer than they would. King Tut had a huge stack and must have been chip leader. Coldman helped feed Tut with a couple hands as his stack was quickly dwindling. But Tut would get crippled by Smoker Chick. They went to battle with an all diamond flop. She checked the flop as did he. A fourth diamond hit and she made a small bet. He moved all in. She called and turned over the nuts A Q diamonds. Tut was devastated. An all in bet with just a 3??? WTF? He had about 8k left- damn still more than I had! One old guy goes out and the other table seems to get smoked. We take a break and I am done to 5k. I need to make a move somewhere.

When we resume, we are sitting at 11 people left. Blinds are now 1000/2000. I am in the small blind. Before the cards are dealt, I decide to push with any high card. I think I can steal Coldman's big blind. And I was right. Saw K 7 off and pushed when it was folded to me. He thought a while. I told him that folding was an option and I could start to deal the next hand as soon as he mucked. Muck he did and deal I did. Next hand I get A J and push in from the button. Smoker Chick had limped in from mid position. She thought for a bit and called. Showed J 9. Flop gave me an ace and I doubled up. Actually with the blinds I moved to 17k, high point for far for me. Coldman gets knocked out at 11 and we consolidate to the final table. Yes, once again I get some pretty crappy hands and luck out to the final table! Slow Bus comes over as does Buffalo girl. They are pretty much the only ones to note. OK so I can't quite recall who else but I know there were only 9. I dealt the final blow to King Tut when the Hilton Sisters visited and he called with a K. The last old guy was gone when he was blinded down and out. Table got kind of funny as Slow Bus tried to run over it. But Buffalo girl would have none of it. She called him evil and they went to battle a couple of times. This is where he got his name. At one point he didn't know it was his play and when he snapped to, he joked to excuse him as he took the slow bus to school. I think he meant the small bus but Slow Bus stuck. The dealer kept calling him that and now he is tagged. Back to poker. Doo-rag gets knocked out by Smoker Chick as he pushed all in with A J. She had A 9 and the race was on. She rivered the 9 to send doo-rag to the cleaners. We got down to 5 now. I was pretty much the short stack at the table. One other guy was right around my level of 18k, but Slow Bus and Smoker Chick had huge stacks. Buffalo girl had about twice what I did. I stole some blinds with A 7. But gave the chips back as Slow Bus continued to raise the pot when he had something suited or connected. The Q 8 hands kept coming again. I did win a pot when I bet out a weak board and Smoker Chick folded. Finally I pushed again with A Q. My 18k went in and was called by Slow Bus. Even though he was sure he was beat, he didn't want that preflop raise to go to waste. He showed K 3 of clubs. Flop came A 4 5 with just one club. I am looking good here. Turn is a 6 hearts. Now he is open ended on the straight and fills it with a 2 on the river. Damn! I wanted to win the hoodie!!! Oh well, I get a nice visor instead for finishing in 5th. Well, actually I got a coupon for a visor. Maybe I can make a deal with State Visor and see if he wants to expand his collection.

And now the new feature I have promised....

Words of wisdom from Bagman. This new feature will highlight some of the stupidest things heard at the tables (and not necessarily from Bagman). I dedicate it to Bagman as he seems to supply a lot of the comments. Last night came this gem: Bagman said that the girl he was seeing wanted to break up with him, that they didn't have the same interests. She is a Harley Davidson calendar girl and thinks that he just wants her physically. So, to win her over, he was just gonna have to write her some poetry. Best yet, he found the tranquil setting of a poker room the ideal spot to work his muse. He asked the waitress for a pen and paper so he could get the magic going. I couldn't help but notice that once he was done that there was little on the paper. Actually, it looked like a shopping list.

Cheating

Someone added a comment to yesterday's entry about some other cheating that was going on at the final table on Saturday night. I wish they would have given more details. It is hard to recall everything you see and do during one of the tourneys. Writing these up can be a bitch as you recall things later on and try to add them in later. Half the time I don't because people have already read the story.

So I sat here racking my brain trying to recall the final table and the flow of play. Play was really tight. The only thing I can think of is that the two guys on the opposite end may have been colluding as they never were in a pot together (or at least while I was there). One guy bet only once and the other folded quickly. He didn't even say how much he was raising and the cards were mucked. Could whiney guy have been cheating? He may have been desperate to go to Vegas. But I didn't notice much from him. I can't recall anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

One thing I forgot was the guy who got the early boot. Happened at a table close to us. A couple minutes into the game, they asked him for an ID. I thought he was being carded and was old enough to be in a bar. Turns out he was trying to play for a friend. I wonder who tipped them off?

I guess most people still do not understand how the game should be played. Yes, it is a free tournament, but that does not mean that normal tournament rules and procedures should be ignored. Jason and Wes do a good job of running this night after night and they at least listen to try and make things better. I give them credit as doing this is not necessarily easy. It is not just going and setting up tables and counting chips into a bag. They cannot be all over the room monitoring every little thing that happens. That is why certain procedures need to be followed. It isn't too much to ask someone to flop all 3 cards at once instead of turning them over one at a time. It can give someone an advantage, no matter how small. Plus, it is easier if everyone deals the cards the same. Mistakes can and will happen, but following correct procedures limits them.

If someone is cheating, it is the players at the tables that need to say something. A string bet needs to be pointed out. If the player doesn't like it, too bad. Is it that tough to announce raise and say how much or just stack your bet in front of you and then push the chips out? No! This stuff wouldn't fly in a casino and there is a reason for it. Someone acting out of turn on purpose should have that pointed out. Yes, sometimes you get confused on whose turn to act it may be but when you do it more than once, you should be penalized. If you are all in, you do need to push your chips forward. Yes, that is a rule. You cannot waive your hands to indicate and do nothing. What if someone did not hear you and pushes in? There bet may have been because they though everyone folded to them (this actually busted out a pro at the World Series this year). Same with one show all show. The one all show all rule is there to prevent collusion and make sure everyone is getting the same information.

I am still a bit pissed at the Cheater but also at myself for not realizing what had happened quick enough to react and point it out. Man I wish I would have grabbed for the cards or something, but that can be a big no-no as well as you have no right to look at someone's cards that have been mucked (unless there is a called river bet, then technically any one can ask to look at it).
Hey, we all like the game of poker. Playing by rules and procedures make it more enjoyable. And once again, for crying out loud, it is a free tournament. How pitiful of a person are you that you need to cheat at a free tournament? You aren't out any money. If you feel the need to win at any cost, then go to a playground and play six year old kids at basketball or something where you know you can push them around.

Badger Poker...The winner and new champion?

After 10 weeks of betting, checking, mucking, raising, watching bad beats and stupid plays, the big one was upon us. This is a long report so go get some coffee, a beer, or whatever your beverage of choice is. There is satellite coverage, a description of the dumpy bar, the guy with the Don King haircut, and the cheaters among other things. Go ahead, get the drink I can wait.

The scene is Bar Milwaukee, one of the biggest dumps I have been in in a long time. Think of the worst college bar you ever were in. Now place that in downtown Milwaukee and subtract all good liquor. That is Bar. This place shouldn't even be called a bar. They have no barstools. The liquor supply behind the bar looked like someone shopped the discount cart at the liquor store. When someone orders Baileys and they don't have it, that is a sign. No Kaluha either. I believe they had beer and whatever they could mix with Coke or Red Bull. Why anyone would come into this dive is a shock to me. Well, at the end there were some hot chicks out on the dance floor (they may have been stuck to it). They also ran a special for 15 bucks you got all the beer and subs you could eat for 3 hours. Problem was that they didn't tell anyone about the time restriction and they gave you the sandwich one sliver at a time. C'mon, this a group of guys. Guys don't eat slivers of food. Give us hunks. I passed as I figured the beer lines probably haven't been cleaned since...maybe when Frederick Miller opened his brewery?

But back to poker. I got talked into playing the satellite by my friend Cor. I was under the impression that you could possibly get some extra chips for the big event but that wasn't to be. I got my chips and walked into the back room. Best part of Bar may be the back room. No the rooms sucks like the rest of the bar but they have doors that go out to the Riverwalk. Doors were open and a nice breeze was coming in. But so were the flies. I think some fly had a deal where for 15 bucks they could annoy poker players for 3 hours. I get called to the back of the room by J as they wanted me to start at their table. I thought something suspicious may be up and asked it there was a bounty on my head. At the table were J and his wife. Twins fan and his lady. The Marlboro brothers. E the Drunk Guy (first debuted at Lava), Chimney and Raiders fan. Drunk starts out hot and begins to pileup chips. I am slowly kicking them out. Twins fan takes down a huge pot (tripled up) when he flopped top two pair and they held up two lesser pairs. J's wife had the Hilton Sisters knocked down twice. Funny thing was how people dropped out quickly. Both of the Marlboro brothers went out early. It was funny how Drunk was able to tilt on Marlboro one. He kept taking pots off of him and showing just one card. When he showed a 3 on one, Marlboro one went semi-ballistic. He had 6 6. For at least the next 10 hands, all he talked about was that 3. Too funny. Twins fan's lady went out when her K K was taken out by J's deuces when he rivered the 2. Twins fan went out on a nasty beat when his pocker rockets were taken out by K J. I dealt it. Flop came with A Q. As I dealt the turn, I commented on how only a 10 would beat him (can't recall who him was, maybe J?). Of course, the 10 came out and Twins fan was not too happy.
I finally got on track in winning a few pots. I bluffed Drunk out of one. He had given his chips back out and I made a bet that would have set him in. I was confident he didn't have anything but I only had a draw. I fired the second bullet and he folded giving me a nice stack. I was able to use that stack against J. Had A Q hearts and flopped the flush. Check it to him and he bet 5000. I gave the reluctant call. Turn was another heart and I pushed all in for my last 3000 or so. He mucked. Others were coming to our table. Chimney was still there. Had a good hand against him. I was small, he big. I called blindly. He looked at me and said he would do the same. Flop came and I bet blindly. My goal here was simply to make him look at his cards first. It worked as he folded. I think he showed like 6 4. I turned my cards and had 7 3. Had the better hand and took down the tiny pot.
Before I knew it, I was the only original there. The Badgers were playing (Bar did not have a TV with a good view. The one they had, had a shitty reception) and I hadn't eaten. So I stepped it up a notch and got a little more aggressive. Found out that there was no incentive for me to win the sat. No extra chips so I had some fun. Found a beautiful 7 2 off in early position and pushed all in. I think everyone realized I had the Hammer and they folded. I showed it and it got a nice response. I lost a good size pot to the nerdy stoner. He was pretty aggressive and playing weird shit. He raised and called a reraise with K 5 suited. He ended up winning that pot too. We battled back and forth a bit. Apparently we were down to 11 and I saw K Q spades. With just 6 at out table, I pushed so I could go eat. "Pat" called (I tag him Pat because of the SNL character. I couldn't tell if this was a guy or chick) with "what the fuck" comment. He had K J. A J hit and I was done in 11. Finally, I can eat.

Went to Goolsbys and had a good burger with lots of bacon and saw most of the second half of the Badgers game. The appetizer basket had some kind of deep fried mac and cheese thingy. Strange. Mac and cheese deserves better.

At quarter to six, Cor and I went back to Dump Milwaukee. As we walked in, they were announcing the players, asking them to come and get their chips and seat assignments. I really liked the assignment part. Better chance for fair tables. Plus, I was hoping to avoid any of the two time winners as they would have 20000 to start compared to everyone's 10000. Fate would place two 20s at my table. Crap! I just hoped they didn't know how to use them (one did, one didn't). Old guy with 20 was on my left and smoked like a brush fire. There was the BoSox fan who had a huge melon. I am glad he kept the hat on because earlier I saw the large cranium of his and it scared me. Next was the Cheater. I will clarify this in a bit, but the guy cheated and he basically admitted it without admitting it. Others at the table included J (again?!?), the Cheater's son, the Black Widow was on my right, another girl who is a decent player was on the end and the aggressive 20 stack.
Over the first session I didn't get much to play. I played A 8 in one pot and flopped the A. I mucked when old big stack on my left raised my bet. I didn't trust my kicker and didn't feel the need to put a lot of chips out there. Folded another hand after the flop though I had top pair. Flop came K J 10. 4 players were in and Cheater was betting. I thought the a-hole had flopped the straight or at least someone was drawing to it. Cheater won with a pair of jacks as no one filled their straight.
Let me set up the Cheater story here. As I said before, his son was at the same table as he. His boy was bleeding off some chips. He lost a big chunk (over 5000 I believe) on one hand where he was forced to fold J J after the all in bet on the flop. He sulked for a couple of hands after that but he should have been happy. Aggressive 20 had pushed and the girl called with A A and easily won. A couple hands later, Agg 20 bet preflop, Cheater called and Son of Cheater called blind with his last 1200 or so. Flop came and was checked by both. Turn was checked by both. Cheater then bet the river. Agg 20 folded. Son of Cheater turned his cards over and had just K high. I even said "King high". Cheater looked at his kid, paused and mucked the cards without turning them over. He mumbled he had nothing. I was a bit stunned. Something didn't seem right. The cards were collected and play went on. But I knew something was wrong and I kept an eye on Cheater. I knew he folded just so he wouldn't knock his kid out of the tourney. I was a bit pissed because nothing was said at the time (I know I should have said something right away but was stunned by the fold that I was thinking right). I noticed Cheater had also gotten quiet and was looking at this boy with a "I gave you some chips and kept you in" look. He knew he cheated. I was pissed at the break and mentioned something to the director but didn't give details. I kept my eye on Cheater after the break. He was feeling guilty too. He admitted he cheated a number of hands later. He announced to the table that he "misread" his son's hand. He thought he had a pair of kings and he mucked. He then brought it up again and was talking to me. He knew I was on to him. I told him he was told king high and that he paused. I told him he cheated. I didn't want to look at the guy. Son of Cheater had spoken with his cheating dad during the break and was trying to tell J it was an honest mistake. Yeah right. Hopefully, I would get a chance to knock the bastard out. I was happy when Son of Cheater was knocked out.

I got some cards in the second session and went on a bit of a tear. I had 6700 going in and played K 9 from mid position. I made my set of 9s on the flop and bet it out. Everyone folded and I took down a small pot. I was just happy to finally win one. I caught A J after that and went at it with Old guy with 20. Flop came with a J but also a K. I bet it out again and he called. Turn was no help. I checked. He checked. River didn't help and I tried to get away from it and checked. I thought he had the K but he didn't and I took down a good pot. I followed up with another nice pot after that when my pre flop raise was called by one guy. I think I had Q Q and won after the flop. I took another small pot and before I knew it, I was at about 24k. Not bad as it would get me along. After J got knocked out, an aggressive guy took his spot. I had played against him before so I knew a bit of what to expect. A one time player was moved to my right and some young dude across from me. Once in the big blind, Agg 20 moved all in for 14k. I looked down and saw Big Slick. I counted my chips out and would have had about 6k left. I did not have a good read on him yet and didn't feel like taking a chance here. I figured he had a pair minimum, but how high was it? I mucked it. Lost a few chips on a couple hands when the flop didn't hit me. I was down to around 14k when I saw J J. The aggressive guy had raised to 6000 (blinds were at 1000/2000). I reraised all in hoping my fish hooks could hold up. He called with 6 6 and I doubled up.

A couple hands later they broke us up and I was moved to the main table. It was set up on a stage under some crude lighting. Up there was Bucksman, hockey guy, a whiny guy that isn't that good, Agg 20 was moved up to my left and the Cheater was sent up there too. I went up there with roughly 30k in chips. I caught an amazing string of hands. In 3 consecutive hands, I got A Q, A Q and then A J. Oh, I lost all 3. In the first one, I raised it up (blinds were 2000/4000 now) to 12k and got the limper to push all in. He showed K K. Flop gave him the set. As if that wasn't bad enough, the river gave him quads. I lost only 9400 on it (yeah, only a third of my stack). Next hand I see the A Q and groan. This time I only raise to 8000. The Agg 20 guy goes all in. Guy next to him calls and Bucksman calls as well. Agg 20 had J J. Other guy had like Q J. Bucksman had A K and flopped AK and filled up his boat on the turn. He suddenly was the huge stack. Me? I just kissed more chips away. Now I get A J and limp in just to fold on the flop when hockey guy makes the big bet. I have lost 20k in chips quickly. More people are added to the table including Twins fan and his lady who are both really short stacked. I look down and see Q 10 of clubs. I believe antes have been added at this point so I want to take a chance to capture the blinds as well as the ante. I pushed my 9400 in from mid position. Everyone folds to Cheater in the big blind. He thinks for a while and calls. Damn, I don't want to get knocked out by him. He shows Q 10 diamonds. Flop comes with 2 clubs and the third on the turn and I have doubled up. Blinds are moving up again and I realize I am not going to be able to handle them at the 5000/10000 level. Under the gun, I see Q 10 diamonds and think what the hell? I push my 18500. Twins fan calls quickly. Shit! The next guy calls as well. And a big stack goes in too. I think I am screwed. Everyone turns their cards over. Twins fan has 7 7. The other guy 9 9, and the big stack A J. Flop doesn't hit anyone. Nor does the turn. A 10 hits the river for me to take it all down. I am now around the 45k mark. Just as I get down stacking my chips, a small stack goes all in. Darkman goes over the top and all in for like 37500. I am in the big blind so I haven't looked at my cards yet. As he puts all those chips out, I think what am I going to do if I get A A? I have to call. Sure as shit, I see I have A A. I ask how much he has and realize I have him covered. I call and the oohs and aahhs go out. He shows A K. He slumps when he sees my AA. Flop destroys me. K K x. I feel the air rush out of my body. That hand kills me. I am not sure how much I have left, but I need to shrug the beat off. More people get moved to our table, including the Ultimate Fish and the notorious slow player. Fish is doing what he does, playing all pots over and over. I pushed from UTG with A J and tripled up when slow player moved all in wth J 9 and fish had a ragged A. J hit the flop and I took it down. I can't recall how I got more chips. We are down to 12 and only 5 at our table. There are 7 at the other table and 2 very low stacks. Looked like someone is going out but they don't. The place is getting crowded with the night life so they decide to move us to the back room. As I go into the other room, Cor calls me. I tell them they are setting up the final table in the back and we are on break. I notice I have about 100k. Not a bad spot. He is coming back down to watch the end.

We set up the final table with 12 people. We are crowded around. Thankfully, two guys go out right away. One of them was one of the Marlboro brothers, the other I don't recall. Blinds were still at 5000/10000 with the 1000 ante for a while. That was good, as the flow of play was good at this level. The real final table has Bucksman with a healthy stack, possibly chip leader, another aggessive guy who I have played with before with a big stack as well. Two other guys I am not familiar with are there. The whiny guy from my previous table ( he was really into this game. Every hand he won was greeted with hollering and fist pumps. He would throw his cards across the table, etc. He whined that he hadn't been on a vacation in 2 years and he needed one. I thought he was going to cry if he lost a hand). A real short stack with another guy I had played with and Darkman on my right. I got a pair of 3s and raised it up to no callers to take down the blinds. But then I run cold. I get enough good hands to play to collect the blinds and antes but only once per orbit. I call a raise with K 10 to see a flop with whiny guy. Flop gets me nothing and I fold to his all in bet. I am pretty sure he had nothing but didn't want to risk it. I watched a short stack get ante'd out. Never saw that before. I even mentioned it to him that his hands must have really sucked to get ante'd out. He thought I was picking on him. Table has gotten really tight and they push blinds to 10000/20000 and 5000 antes. I am still hovering around the 100k mark. I get A 7 and push to no callers. I swear I get Q 8 for like 3 hands in a row. I also am tempted to push with the Hammer again but don't. Blinds are coming to me and I see A K under the gun and push my 50k in. It folds around to the big blind, Darkman, who calls. I can't help but think again how his A K beat me and that fate won't reward me in kind. He shows 10 10. Nothing on the board helps me and I am done in 6th place.

I was a bit disappointed to not win it. I lost some big pots but kept fighting back so I was happy with my play. Twice I chipped up when I needed to. Got some good breaks (Q 10 was good to me twice with miracle boards). I played well in general. Maybe I shouldn't have played the K 10 but felt it was right. There were some good players in the end. I left after I got knocked out so I don't know who won. I hope Bucksman pulled it off. Maybe I should have stayed until the end because I would have bet that whiny guy cried when he got knocked out.

Oh yeah, before I forget, I think I saw the funniest hair of all time. A kid that worked for Dump Milwaukee had a Don King hairdo. I busted out laughing when I saw him the first time. All the hair in front of his head was going straight up ala Don King. The back looked like a scruffy growing out mohawk. Too fucking funny! Saw him a couple other times and couldn't help but laugh. Also laughed at the end about Drunk. He thought I didn't like him because he cheered on his friend Germ at Lava. Not true. I would cheer on a friend too. Drunk is funny and a good dude. I can't believe he yelled out across a room "That girl likes it up the butt!" about someone's girlfriend. I did get a collapsible lawn chair for 6th place. I think it must be a Lite chair but am not sure. Overall, it was a good day of poker albeit a long one. Maybe I will take it down next time. Hey, I think I am due.

Badger Poker...Outkicked

I bet most people that play in the Badger Poker Series do not understand the value of a kicker. Yeah, they see the A or K and start getting their chips in eagerly. When they get called down at the river, they show their A 3 and lose when the other guy shows his A J and wins because of the kicker. They will moan about the bad beat (which it isn't). They will never realize that they probably shouldn't have been in that hand to begin with. And that is why I like playing in the Badger and have done well (if I say so myself).
I got outkicked last night. And no I didn't have A 3. I had A Q. But I will get to that later. Everyone crowded into the basement at Rock Bottom for the last night there. I sat down at an interesting table. Initially there was only one person there I had played with there, but then Bucksman sat down to give us 8. Just after we started, everyone's favorite player, Bagman, came in. We still have 2 open spots at my table. I watched Bagman come over, see me and turn away to check another table. Oh how I hoped he would take the seat to my right, but he didn't. He took the far chair. Bummer. He was quiet for the first couple of hands too. On my left was an aggressive mellow guy with a State visor. The guy who eventually sat to my right was pretty loose and didn't last long. One spot over was a rather solid player. The only guy worth noticing was the smoker on the other side of the table next to Bagman.
State visor got off to a hell of a start. He raised up the first hand and kept firing chips. Did the same with the second hand. Took both down uncontested. On the second hand, he showed 8 8. On the third hand, he was at it again, winning with 10 10. He claimed his first hand was actually 9 9. Not a bad start. Me? I didn't play any of the first 12 hands. Got nothing to play, and didn't have a chance to defend my blinds. Around the table, Bucksman is down about a third. Bagman is bleeding chips (like always). The smoker on the far side has collected up a tidy sum. He slowplayed A K by limping in and calling on down. Loose guy to my right is distributing chips to the guy on his right. Basically, the chips are flowing downhill. I finally get a chance when I see K J hearts. I raise up to 1500 from the big blind. Loose guy on my right is all in for his last 300. I get one bleeder to call. Flop comes Q J x. I bet out 1500 and get raised all in. I call his last 1200 and he flips over Q Q. Ouch. Bigger ouch when the case Q hits on the river. Minor setback there.
After the break, I again don't get much and decide to change gears and raise up with A 8. With blinds in the 300/600 range, I bump it to 1500 and get State Visor to call. Flop comes A 6 3 with 2 clubs. I bet 2500 and he bumps me all in. I think for a bit. I am pretty sure he has the A, but have seen him play any A. He also may have a small pair. Considering I haven't gotten any great cards, I call my last 2200. He turns over A 6, two pair. Ugh! Turn is a little help as it is a club. River is an 8 and somehow I survive. State Visor congratulates me as I tell him I got lucky. Suddenly, I am back over 10k. Once again, I raise it up from the small blind a couple of hands later with Q Q. There were 5 limpers ahead of me so I took it up to 3500. Everyone folds. Bagman hems and haws before tossing them (I knew he wasn't playing). I do get one caller who took about a minute to make his mind up. Flop comes K 10 3, all spades. After taking his time, I figure he may have an A tops, but most likely a mid pair. I bet 2500 and he quickly folds. I am suddenly around the 18k mark after some quick hands.
We have a couple guys fall out. Bagman goes out whining when his A J is beat by J J. Funny how he then proceeds to tell anyone who would listen his bad beat story. Dipwad, it wasn't a bad beat. He had you beaten all the way. One guy goes all in blind and quads up with K K. Nice blind call.
I stayed around for a couple more hands until I saw A Q clubs. I raised up and had just a caller as the 2 limpers folded. I seemed to be in a nice spot of being able to raise only after everyone had put chips into the pot. The limpers were not going to see any cheap flops tonight. Flop came 8 8 2, no clubs. I bet 2500 and he calls. Turn is an A. I decide to take the pot down now and push all in. He quickly calls. I ask if he has the 8. He doesn't. He has A K, again. Slow played it again. I get no help and am out, again. I remember than he slow played that A K earlier but it is too late. I should have checked the turn to see strength as I am pretty confident he wasn't going to push all in, but may have made a decent bet. I had roughly 12k in chips that I tossed away from being too aggressive.
In the end, I blame my friend C. I was talking to him when I got that A Q because I had noticed he was gone. 15 minutes ago he had 30k and now he was done. He said he flopped two sets and lost both hands. So I figure his bad luck came through the phone and infected me. That is my story and I am sticking to it.
I don't know if I will play at Gametime tonight. I need to check in on a tenant. I could wait until the weekend but I believe on getting it done right away. Maybe I can take care of it after work and still squeeze in some poker. At the very least, I want to see if people will still be complaining about having to buy the bottle water. I don't think I had mentioned this last week but I found it to be hilarious. A lot of people drink water at these events. When they do, the bars don't make much money. How do you earn when this is happening? Force them to buy the water, which Gametime did. I thought it was brilliant. Others didn't. The capitalist in me was smiling.

Badger Poker...Leaving Las Lava

The final week of the season is upon us. And it is time to say sayonara to the Lava. Can't say I will miss this place as it is pretty damn small. All the tables are pretty much smashed together to fit everyone in. Besides, I never really did well there. Sure I came in second once but I think my overall negative impression of the playing conditions had an affect on my play. Kinda like last night.
Well, I guess I can't blame the Lava for how I did last night. I made two bad plays at the last table that may have cost me. But let's start at the beginning. I liked my first table. Has little Gus Hansen there along with Boston hat. Boston hat is a rather weak player. A nice chip distributor. Brewers hat was there, a tough player that takes chances as was Cowboys fan. There were two 'surf' dudes there. What is a surf dude? These two live in Milwaukee but had that dirty blonde messy hair with all the gel in it, open shirt, talkin like dude look. They were ok players (until the end which I will get to). Some guy with a Homer Simpson hat was there. As play went on I kinda studied him and came to the conclusion that if he wasn't wearing the hat, there is a good chance he actually would look like Homer. There was the Rock 102.1 dj and of course, my favorite guy of all time, the infamous Bagman! Bagman cracks me up week after week. Lately, he has taken to wearing a suit while he plays cards. Last night happen to be the same suit and tie he wore last Wednesday. Not the bad suit and a really ugly tie that he doesn't even tie right, but this one may be his best. I think he is trying to impress someone. Why? Who the hell cares? As long as his play doesn't change. Also last night he was talking about how stupid the Packers were for trading Mike McKenzie. As much as I wanted to, I stayed away from calling him an idiot.
Nothing much happened when the cards started going around. I had a nice pickup early. Bagman raised it to 600 and little Gus called. Saw Big Slick and raised it up to 1600. All folded except for these two. Flop missed me but I bet out and took it down uncontested. I noticed how one of the surf dudes was slow playing a lot of pots. He was taking chips off of little Gus and the Brewers hat. Homer was taking some good pots off the other surf dude and the Cowboys fan. Homer took out Cowboys fan early. At that point, he may have poisoned that spot on the table as anyone who came in to that seat went out rather quickly, and usually to Homer. Of course watching Bagman was the fun point. He likes to play just about any hand. He tosses his chips up like they just don't matter to him. He was also quick to fold any big raise. Bad part was I only had two hands to take some chips off of him. The second hand I took a couple off of him was when I had A J suited and hit the A on the flop. He bet out and I raised and he folded quickly. Another thing about Bagman is that he doesn't understand the rules. He questioned the "one show, all show" rule claiming that it does not exist and he can show whoever he wants/doesn't want his cards. Makes me think I should bring in the rules just for him. Anyways, in one pot, he gets set up by Homer and loses a decent amount of chips. So what does he do next hand? Of course he pushes all in preflop. No one calls him down and he shows K Q. Bagman even had the audacity to question how someone had their chips stacked and where he kept his cards while in a hand. Bagman messed up and tried to blame this guy. There were 5 guys in the hand. Flop came A Q 3. I checked along with Boston hat. First surf dude bet 1200. Bagman declared he was all in. Problem is that two guys hadn't acted. Surf dude didn't quite like that and wanted the muck rule enforced. I went along with it just to tick off Bagman. Thus Bagman was done on the hand and Surf Dude won. Bagman then claimed he couldn't see that the other guy was still in the hand because he kept his cards under his hands and close to the rail. With the chips in the way, he couldn't see the guy was still in the hand. Uh..ok. Bagman got away with another misstep a bit later when he bet out and mucked before Surf Dude acted. SD let him have that one when he folded. I told SD he should have raised him back because he mucked. I would have done just that to send Bagman over the edge. It didn't take long for Bagman to go out. He went on tilt and all in with A 9. Little Gus Hansen turned over A K and Bagman was sacked. Surf Dude number one went soon after. One bad part about that first table was that I didn't get much to play. I left there with about 19000 though. What cards I got, I made count. I misplayed one hand there. With K 4 in the big blind, the flop came K J x. I bet half the pot on the flop and had both surf dudes call. Turn was another J. I checked feeling that one had the J and that my kicker even with the K was not good. River was an A. I bet out now because I knew neither had a J and now I liked my A kicker, but second surf dude had the A. I let take a free ride.
At this point they broke our table and I was moved to a slightly tougher one. There was Twins fan, J, they guy who gets extremely loud when winning a hand, second surf dude among the short table. The big problem with play here was surf dude was done. He played 3 straight poor hands and went out because he didn't want to play anymore. Asshole. He basically gave his chips to one guy. In one of those hands I made a mistake too. I had 8 8. The blinds were 1000/2000. I limped in. Surf dude limped as well but one guy then pushed all in for 10k. I had him covered but folded. I should have called because he did not look confident. I read him for maybe have an A or just two top cards, no pair. He turned over K J and won with the K high (there was an ace on the board but neither guy paired up) beating surf dude's 6 9. A couple hands later I tried to limp in with J 10 and that cost me 4000 when someone else raised to 8000. I had made two mistakes that may have led to my demise. I got blinded down to 5000 and was in the cutoff with A J. My all in only raised it 1000. Two players were in. Though I caught a J on the turn, the big blind had J 8 for two pair and I was done. If I had not limped on the other hands, my 11000 push may have caused him to fold.
One other thing to note at that last table was the loud guy going all in preflop. Apparently he is a poor post flop player. Twice with blinds just 1000/2000 he went all in with about 20k. WTF? I hope to get against him tonight as he doesn't understand the risk he takes. On two of his pushes he had 9 9 and A Q, both beatable hands. He values some mediocre hands a little too highly. Hopefully I can take some chips off of him when he makes that move tonight.