MMA

Not much to talk about from the RC tournament last night. I felt like I did well considering how poorly I have played as of late. No, 28 out of 75 is nothing to be happy about, but I didn't like a total moron. Not totally that is. I did make some loose calls early but then hunkered down to play seriously. It felt like I was pretty card dead a good portion of the time. That may lead to my feeling disappointed by the finish.

I will have to try and get my PokerStars software issue corrected this weekend. I am not sure Pauly's Saturday afternoon game is on for sure- I assume it is though he will be working- but if it is I want to get in. I will have to get on the ball early to ensure I get it fixed on time.

Otherwise it may end up being a MMA weekend. Saturday night's debut of Elite XC on CBS will be interesting. Hell with Kimbo Slice, I want to see Smith and Lawler bang it out. Should be an epic fight. Then on Sunday, Faber vs. Pulver is on. I like Faber. The kid is a monster. Not to take anything away from Little Evil but the only way Faber loses if somehow he hasn't taken this fight seriously, and I highly doubt that. It will be a great fight.

One week...

A week until I break free from the North. Summer has not arrived so the heat of Vegas will feel pretty damn good. I will have to go find all those warm weather clothes. I may have given them away when I was buried under 3 feet of snow a couple of months back.

Looks to be a very loose trip this time around. Not much is planned which is a good thing. I do have to pay off a bet to Falstaff so that is on the schedule. Hell, I can't even remember the name of the damn school that beat the Wisconsin Badgers. Like anyone does.

I can't get too drunk during in the sunlight hours on Friday. I believe I am joining Chilly at the Hoffbrau House for dinner. I can taste the Dunkelweiss already. Plus it is fun to say. Dunkelweiss.

I believe that is what on the books for now. Not sure if I will play in the Binions tourney or any other with a buy in above $100. Not unless I am playing well, which is something I haven't done for a couple of months. Plus the last time I played a tournament at Binions I was dealt shitty cards for 3 hours before going busto. Not something I want to have happen again.

Maybe I can make some coin at the cash tables and do the Miami Don procedure. I wonder what how successful you can be if you put Blood's, procedure in the loop before playing. One comes 'round full circle that way.

If it is a two beer walk from the IP to the MGM, how many beers will it take to walk from Hooter's to the IP. I am thinking that two block difference is at least another beer.

Pstars flopped on me

Pokerstars has stopped working for me. I tried to fire it up to play in Pauly's Saturday tournament but was greeted with an error telling me to download and reinstall. Not a problem I thought. I had time to do so and still register.

Or so I thought. For whatever reason, my security system would not let me open the download. I tried some tricks like changing the extension but those didn't work.

Anyone else have this issue? I am thinking I may have to drop the force field, install, and go full power again. It should be easier though. Any help is greatly appreciated.

If Tuesday was an appearance, then Thursday was a donation

It was ugly last night. I was ugly last night.

The RC game chewed me up and spat me out. I played terrible. Absolutely terrible. Calling down weakly knowing I was beat. Betting out on crappy flops hoping a continuation bet would work just to fold. Not making continuation bets. I feel like I forecasted every play, basically telling people what I had.

Vegas is less than 2 weeks away. I probably should play a bit more to get the rust off but I am not that interested in spending time in front of the pc right now. I need a good home game or to hit up some of the live tournaments that are tossed around the area. Something to get me interested again.

Otherwise it could be a lot of Pai Gow come June. Not that that is a bad thing.

It was an appearance

That is about how I sum up my time in the Skillz event last night. Played for about 50 minutes, made a really stupid call, and finished my beer.

My call was beyond stupid. I was going to make a play for the low, knowing I didn't have the nut low, hoping my opponent had just caught his flush. It should be an easy fold, move onto the next hand and get those chips back. But I hit the call button and felt like a complete jackass for making such a dumb click.

On a brighter note, the Stanley Cup is finally here. Hey Pittsburgh, welcome to Detroit!

Pic from DetroitHockey.Net

Dealer's choice

The weekend at Change 100's living room* (Bong Rec Area) was a good time. A good amount of beer was consumed around the campfire in between sporadic rainfall. The chilly weather did take a toll on Saturday night though making it quite miserable.

On Friday night, the cards were pulled out for some dealer's choice. With more people, a little hold 'em tournament might be organized but with just 5 of us, tossing chips around with whatever game the dealer chose was a better idea. Stakes are only a nickel so one can easily donk around and have some fun.

That is how I usually approach these games. I am going to have some fun, lose a buy in and then go back to the fire and focus on drinking and shooting the shit. The games don't change much when it is dealers choice. You have all probably played them in one form or another but with different names. There is Dimestore (5s and 10s wild), Baseball (3s and 9s wild, buy a card with a 4), Black Mariah (low spade in the hole gets half the pot, if the Q of spades comes out, re-ante and deal again), 5 card draw, deuces wild, Stud, and Guts. It always seems one game stays a bit more popular after a big pot ($6!) and gets played again and again as the players chase to win it all back.

Basic poker skills go out the window in these games. People will chase cards to the end (it is only a nickel or dime to call, pots odds are in your favor) or will play crap from the beginning hoping to catch wild cards. I may be the only one that will fold bad hands at the beginning knowing I need to catch well just to make a winnable hand.

It is the games with wild cards that drive me nuts. Full houses and straight flushes go down in flames to 5 of a kind hands. That always irks me. There is no 5 of a kind. Some will always say there is with wild cards but that is bull.

I feel like I have an advantage in these games, especially in the Stud games. I don't think anyone is counting cards, noticing how many of their suit is out there. I caught two flushes just be counting. Then again I screwed up thinking I caught a straight when I had not. If it wasn't for two nice Black Mariah hands, I would have been out of the game and at the fire early instead of banking a $2.75 win!

Vegas, here I come!

*No, I did not literally spend a weekend in Change's living room. I used her comment from the previous post as I thought it was hilarious. Speaking of which, her latest post on poker movies is excellent. This paragraph says it all:

Poker movies (and scripted TV shows) have failed because every single one
post-Rounders has been poorly written. Plain and simple. They haven't failed to
ignite because the general public doesn't "get" poker or because the writers and
directors involved don't understand poker or because the subject matter isn't
commercial enough. They've failed because their stories and characters weren't
original or compelling. They suffered from one-dimensional characters, cliched
conflicts and cheesy dialogue.

21 days until it begins

21 days.

21 days until Vegas. Or so I have been told. It isn't like I need a vacation as much as I want one. Work has been rough and will only get rougher. Thankfully I have activities scheduled out to alleviate the stress when it builds up.

This weekend I will escape the city to do some camping. The Bong Rec area is my destination. Many beers will be consumed around the fire. Kinda like Vegas. That is my segue to get back on topic.

Looking forward to seeing some old faces this year. A bit disappointed that others won't be around. Looks like Chilly and Easycure will be there. Sadly Derek and Iggy won't. Always good to shoot the shit with Falstaff and catch up with all the crew working at the Series. Yeah, no links here as blogger is not loading properly.

Now I am wondering...who exactly is going the first weekend? For those going the second week, we cannot be held liable if there is a liquor shortage. Buy some vacation insurance to protect yourselves.

Wii Tilt

I haven't played much poker lately. That thing called life has been keeping me busy. Whether it has been work, yard work, home repair, or other engagements, I haven't had much time to play cards as of late. Thus I was looking forward to playing the Skills game last night. The Skills game is by far my favorite event as it satisfies my poker ADD.

Things were good during the first hour. I was up a little at the break but more importantly I was being patient. I may not have been focused as I kept an eye on ebay as I played but I was satisfied with my game.

It was in the second session that I lost it. I began chasing cards, gunning for lows in the Stud 8 portion. Like a bad Razz game, I got had 4 solid to the low just to brick up. Soon, I lost interest and donked my way out in the O8 portion. I was way overmatched by the players at the table that cared more and were playing much better poker than I was.

I think it all started earlier in the day. I have been quite busy at work, something that does not look to end anytime soon. During breaks, I have been looking at picking up a Wii. Though I have had video game addiction in the past, I knew times were different and I wouldn't be staying up to 4 in the morning playing some game.

It would appear the market rate for a Wii is around $310-325 total, including shipping, for a new game console with Wii Sports. That is my target. If I can get one cheaper, great, if not, no big deal. I am not in a rush to get the system. Yet.

It was during the end of an auction that I felt like I was heads up with an unknown opponent. I was winning the auction with a price of $276, a price that was very good. But as the minutes counted down, I had that sinking feeling that some bastard was going to steal this unit from me.

It was as if I had pushed all in with A Q on a loose opponent, knowing he would call me with any Ace rag. I have been there many a time before. Getting all in with A Q against A J, knowing I was going to lose the hand. That a J would hit the board.

The same thing happened on ebay. I refreshed the screen with 5 seconds left to see that J had hit the board. Someone sniped the unit from under me, paying $286. I was slow to react and the auction was over. I went on a TuffFish rampage in my mind, spewing all kinds of cusswords at the person who won the auction. I felt better even though I walked away from the table empty handed.

4 card bingo with Pauly

Actually, that would be 4 card bingo with Change as Pauly was not around.

I felt like Rodney Dangerfield today. No respect for any bets. Raise and 5 people would see a flop. Make a bet and everyone calls. Ugly.

Got knocked out early when I flopped a straight. Money is all in and I need to avoid the flush. Of course, that did not happen.

Guess I go to the bar early to watch hockey.

New game in town

Saw this game hanging in a sex shop in Soho, just pass the church where the lesbian couple that had just been married were taking photos.

I should have bought it as real life is preventing me from playing poker again. Got home just after the Razz game started up. That bit. And because I was gone this weekend, I didn't have time to find a way to fund the Bodog account.

Maybe I can make it to the RiverChasers event.

I have an idea for the bloggers getting together in Vegas next month. With the Binions and Venetian events going on, I was wondering if there was any interest in satellites to these smaller buy in tournaments. Running tournaments with $30 entrance fees can get a couple people entered. Leave any indications of interest in the comments.

Degeneration NYC

It was about 5 am, Sunday morning. GMoney had just crashed. The Rooster had put on some pancrase on the TV after opening a huge bottle of Belgian white beer. Iggy and I started watching the action, trying to figure out the rules (at least I was trying to figure out the rules, Iggy may know them).

As we watch the wrestlers bitch slap each other, I noticed the Rooster was fighting his own fight. He was on the couch, sitting on the edge, wobbling back and forth. He bobbed to the left and then to the right. Like a boxer that had been knocked around the head, he was on dream street. Only it wasn't lefts and rights that did the damage. It was the assortment of beers he had been drinking for the last 12 plus hours that worked him over. He had gone the 12 rounds and was still upright.

I looked and Iggy and nodded towards Rooster. Being the good guys we are, we told the Rooster to get some sleep and we would call it a night. We got him a pillow and blanket, turned off the TV and let him sleep we placed a bet on which way he would fall. Iggy had the right, I had the left. Like a buoy on the water, the Rooster moved back and forth with the flow of the tides. Then suddenly he made a deep move to left. I thought I had a winner. Both Iggy and I are cheering him on to fall, but in very hushed tones. We didn't want to wake him until the bet had been won.

Suddenly he righted himself and kinda opened his eyes. Within seconds they were closed again. The wobbly Rooster was back in the ring and the bet was on. This time though, he started moving forward. As I said, Iggy had the right, I had the left, but what happened if he fell forward, or back? The prop was amended as Iggy had him falling back as I got the forward action. I also agreed to clean up any blood should he bust his head open.

The Rooster hung on for a couple of minutes before he woke up again. He may have sensed something as he grabbed the remote and uttered "Go to bed fuckers!". He turned off the TV and was done.

Official ruling: No contest.

All kidding aside, I would like to thank the Rooster for his hospitality, for giving me a place to crash, showing me some cool bars, and just for being a friend. Thanks man, I had an excellent weekend and an awesome time. Same to Pauly and Derek for showing us the city and for all the shenanigans that went on.