The greatest metal band you never heard

From the sordid streets of Hollywood, 4 brash and not too bright young men came together to form the greatest metal band you never heard.
-Steel Panther, Behind the Music

And again, the legend grows. What started with BadBlood at the Hard Rock Hotel has progressed into the must see show of the WPBT. Steel Panther at the Green Valley Ranch on Friday night. Click the link above to view the story of Steel Panther.

Then watch the video. Hopefully you won't shit your dick off.



Join the entourage Friday and head over to GVR. If you don't like the show you can always hit up the poker room. Word is it is soft.

Turkey Cup 2009

I was mediocre in Pauly's Turkey Cup yesterday. Finished 39 in a field of 80 something. To an extent I feel I did ok considering that my pc froze up about 15 minutes into the game. It took my at least another 15 to get things shut down and back up. I returned just in time to see Derek go down in flames and Pauly egging him on to harass me from the rail. Man I love those McGrupps!

I busted when I got too frisky with A 9o. Yeah, you read that right. I call a standard raise from the BB. Flop was A 3 4. I went for the check raise and lost to A Qs. I have thought about this play for a bit now and still feel it was the way to go. I was seeing some loose play from the table and a lot of people making moves with A rag. I was willing to bet that my opponent didn't have an ace there and that my kicker would be good enough. I could have folded with 2600 behind and blinds at 75/150 but a double puts me into contention for the long haul and I felt it was time to go yard or go to bed. I guess the bed beckoned louder.

I played some more SnGs over the weekend to bad results. Those buyins were balanced by cash game winnings. I am trying to find my tourney game. I am playing either too tight or too loose and not getting too far. Now that PokerStars has added $2000 to the Up for Poker last longer bet, I need to figure out where this game of mine is at.

The dipping-my-toe-back-in-the-poker-waters-before-Vegas post

Got back into the game somewhat on Saturday. I like to call it the 3 week boot camp. Play some tourneys and ring games in anticipation for Vegas. Learn enough back to handle the MGM 1/2 games and not embarrass myself in the tournament or so I hope.

I tried to figure out what level of NL ring game would be most like the MGM small game. I even stayed smart and figured I shouldn't dump a lot if I went on tilt. I had a PLO8 game up for that. I settled on .10/.25. It seemed like a nice shake the rust off level and losing $25 bucks wasn't going to have any effect on me.

I found myself doing a little chasing early without hitting. I could feel the flow coming back. The intuitions on what people may have and whether I had the right odds to go for it. In the end it came down to one hand. A A vs. K K. No K hit the board and I doubled up. It got me to thinking about whether I would have pushed to a re-raise like my opponent did with K K. I think I would rather see a flop there because I didn't have any read on the guy. It then made me chuckle when I thought of people that say how much they hate A A.

I donked my way out of a 54 player SnG at 16 when I thought the guy on my left was being a bully. I completed from the SB with A 5 and then called his push. I had seen him do it before with two face cards and figured he was doing it again. He had 7 7 instead and even though I drew more outs on a flop of 2 3 6, I could hit any of them and was done. It left me wondering if the 54 player SnGs are that aggressive nowadays.

I will have to get some more time in this week. Hopefully I will remember to sign up and play in Pauly's Turkey Bowl on Thursday. I would link it up but Blogger is not working with me today.

Team Wheelchair is born

If I hadn't been on that Twitter thing I probably wouldn't have seen The Challenge. CJ actually posted to Up for Poker the traditional last longer bet. Later Captain Drizz would put out some feelers about getting together. Reverend Al chimed locked it up and proposed the team name in honor of Drizz.


And thus Team Wheelchair was born.


I am sure you can find us at the bar talking strategy before the tournament. And by talking strategy I mean doing shots and other assorted beverages. You can find us by our logo.

Go Team Wheelchair!!!!

For the background on the wheelchair story, check out my other blog.

I tried to add to the mantle

I am disappointed. I had a chance to add another trophy to the mantle by becoming the Skittles Champion of Green Bay. But I came up short, running a lesser two pair. I was so close to dominating the Candy Poker Tour. Now I need to regroup.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What are those Cackalacky boys up to?

I am won't be able to listen to a bit later today but I can't wait. To say this should be interesting is an understatement.

“Press release” from bloggers Falstaff and Special K

Gambling Tales Podcast is now available. Join Falstaff (John Hartness) and Special K (Curtis Krumel) as we take you through the best in lies and legends about gambling today and through the ages. . Show #001 with Badblood and the origins of gambling is available immediately. New shows are scheduled to appear every two weeks. Guests scheduled to appear in future shows include Dr. Pauly, Lee Jones, Dr. David Schwartz (UNLV – Roll the Bones)


The podcast is available at http://www.gtpodcast.com


RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GamblingTalesPodcast


Available on iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=339814710.

It will be searchable on iTunes by the weekend.


Email address for Questions, Comments, and Suggestions: gtpodcast@live.com

Close to perfect sports weekend.

It is Monday so of course I am tired. Sleep was elusive once again last night. Besides drinking beer and watching some bad football during the day, I did get to enjoy a very satisfying Dallas Cowboys victory last night. If only the Badgers had won on the ice Saturday night, I would be clutching Drizz's mobneys, gettign ready to taunt his varmint hockey team. But it wasn't to be.

I have tried to put my finger on what made the game feel so good. What it a win against a tough team on their home field, a place the Cowboys have been knocked around consistently? Was it Tony Romo winning a big game? Was it the defense coming up big by stuffing McNabb for no gain on 4th and inches. Was it unknown receiver Kevin Ogletree making two big plays on screen passes? Was it Marion Barber and the offensive line delivering the needed yardage to close the game out with over four and a half minutes left on the clock?

It was a little bit of it all. Sure the Cowboys didn’t look perfect but they didn’t need to. They just needed to play their game, prevent the big play, and not get down on themselves. They kept the crowd out of it. The Philadelphia fans seemed shellshocked and quiet for chunks of the game. I know they felt the Eagles were going to unload at some point. When they scored the go ahead touchdown to start the third quarter they probably thought the game was over.

But the Cowboys defense thought otherwise.

A big interception and soon the game was tied. A last grab for an ankle by rookie linebacker Victor Butler prevented McNabb from gaining at least 20 yards and whipping the crowd into a total frenzy. Then the running back said he the game was done. Coach Phillips challenged the offensive line to go win the game. Barber told the D thanks for the job and go to the locker room.

Yes the victory feels good and makes for a tired Monday to be bearable. But that is only the halfway point of the season. The Packers getting embarrassed in Tampa makes the game at Lambeau that much tougher. The Cowboys will need to keep their heads clear and not get ahead of themselves. They need to continue to play well.

After all, December games have not been cancelled.

Damn varmints on ice

Thanks for the advice on the mac vs pc purchase. I will be going the mac route and now need to decide whether to keep it simple with a macbook or go for a bigger screen on a macbook pro.

Anyone have advice on where to buy? The Apple store may seem like the easy route but I have seen some other sites that offer discounts on what appears to be the same machine. Do people usually buy their mac straight from Apple?

Drizz: You and your dirty varmints on ice are going down this weekend! It is on!

Do I get a Mac?

It has been a couple weeks since I last played some poker. Work and other responsibilities have been getting in the way. When I have had some time I just haven't been interested in playing. When I have been interested I have arm wrestled with my pc to keep the game flowing. Too many times I have been playing 2-3 tables where I try to play some music just to have the system go into total lockdown mode. It pisses me off when it happens and I can only think how it perturbs the others at the table.

The pc is around 10 years old. I have tried to clean it up the best I can (read: best I know how) but think it is time to put it out to pasture. Especially now that the monitor seems to be breaking down as well going into a yellow screen mode. Seriously, how can I play poker and watch porn if the screen goes yellow?

So do I make the big jump to a Mac? I am leaning that way. Would rather spend the extra dollars and have something that I can rely on. People I know with Macs rarely have anything bad to say. But pcs are so much cheaper. Word is Windows 7 is much better and reliable.

Do I go laptop vs. desktop? Laptops are convenient but I get more with the desktop. Considering the iPhone is like a little laptop makes me lean to a basic iMac.

One thing I have considered is how easily I can play poker on a Mac. According to PokeronaMac.com, Full Tilt and Poker Stars have access but Bodog does not. It is enough to keep me going while plugging in the pc elsewhere when needed.

Given the option, what would you smart people do? Mac vs. pc? Lap vs. desk?

Maybe it was the Badugi

I was killing time on Saturday before going to the bar to watch the Badger football game. I had logged in to PokerStars to play some 2-7 Triple Draw. As I plodded along shaking off the rust, I started to play a little bit of Badugi as well. I stuck to the play money game to get a sense of what was going on.

I ended at a small profit on the TD game when my mind started wandering. The Badugi game was kinda fun but worthless as everyone stayed in and kept drawing down no matter how bad their hands were. Just what I expected for play money.

Before I would log off I had to slide over to check the lines on Sunday's games. There were two games I was interested in. I took a look at the line for the Panthers/Redskins game first. Carolina was giving 3.5. Looked good as I expected the Deadskins to get trounced.

I then stared at the other game. I looked and felt strong about it but in the end couldn't pull the trigger.

Dallas Cowboys -8.5 vs the Kansas City Chiefs.

I wanted to take the Chiefs and the points. But went against the core of my beliefs. I logged out instead of placing any bets. Like many others, I don't bet on my own team no matter how tempting it may seem.

See, in the end the odds are against you. No, not any kind of gambling odds. Odds of staying sane. Let's think about the outcomes, of which only one is good.

1. I take the Cowboys and they lose outright. I am pissed off that they lost to the Chiefs and out the money I put on them.
2. I take the Cowboys and they win, but don't cover. Happiness is offset by the hole in the bankroll.
3. Take the Chiefs and hope they cover. The only spot that is a true winner. Cowboys win and cover netting me a profit in the head, heart, and wallet.

1 of 3 chances leads to pure joy. Not worth it.

I felt the Cowboys would have problems in K.C. It was this nugget that started it. The visiting team had never won in this series. Not once. Now granted they don't square off against each other too often but that led to nugget number two. K.C. is the type of team that gives the Cowboys trouble. It doesn't matter what their record it. They give the 'Boys problems. Same with the Detroit Lions. I am glad the Cowboys are not playing the Lions this year because once again the Lions would give them fits. Cincinnati does it to Dallas as well.

Nugget #3 has more sanity to it. Injuries. WR1, RB2, and SS were all out. RB1 was still not 100% and C was iffy. Too many holes to fill after a rough loss. Thus I felt the Chiefs and the points looked good.

Oh and I forgot. Someone needs to tell the Dallas Cowboys that the fourth quarter is like the other 3. It lasts for 15 minutes. Not 13. Hopefully the defense can figure that out on the bye week.

Instead Cowboys fans are left with a small sense of relief. But that relief isn't good. This win feels like a loss. And with just 16 attempts at feeling good on a Monday (or Tuesday or Friday) it hurts to not get that good day after when you should.

Sabbatical

I have been on a bit of a poker sabbatical. Things are busy at work with quarter end and I haven't had the time to sit down and play. Of course that doesn't mean I haven't ended my degenerate ways.

The NFL has been good to me. Won a pool the other day which means I am freerolling for the year. The Bucs and Colts covered for me today. All I need is a certain team to come through today and I can rest easy.

Who knows, I may then play some poker.

Testing 1 2 3

Just downloaded the new BlogPress app for Blogger and seeing how well it works. Like the fact the keyboard changes when you turn the phone. So far so good.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Old school game music

No poker, just video I found amusing. I know of people that will play the actual music from the Super Mario game at bars so when I saw this I thought it was funny as well.



Especially after seeing this gem a year ago.

Gone fishin'

I had some nice time away from the tables last week. Did the "unplugged" thing and went halfway across the state to go camping. While out there, I also did some fishing, something I hadn't done for about 20 years. Best thing was I really enjoyed it. Though the fishing wasn't very bountiful, I found the lake to be the perfect place to relax and soak in the peacefulness of a morning fog burning off as the sun rose.

It took me a couple days to decide to log back in to play some cards. I thought of taking some time off but I then recalled a comment Drizz had left last week about the streaks he has had in PLO8. I thought about the comment while I was camping. Someone much better at the game had been through wilder swings than I have. It has been a rough couple of weeks but the weeks prior to that were pretty damn good.

After thinking about the downswing I am on, I began to think about why it was happening. Was it bad cards or bad play? Am I the victim of a bad playing nit who got lucky or am I the nit playing bad and just not catching? I think too many times poker players want to blame another player for "getting lucky" instead of realizing they played poorly. There were a number of times where I played poorly, like last week when I thought I could kill a bottle of brandy and play PLO8 at the same time. 3 buyins later I gave up and focused on the brandy. I failed at that too and only drank just under half of it.

But beyond that I don't think I played that bad. I was changing up my game and playing a bit looser when the table got tight and tighter when it got loose. I played good hands that had 4 cards working together. I folded when I didn't have a great draw. I didn't chase too often. Yeah, I did some chasing but not much.

If anything, I wonder if I played too cautiously. This became evident over the last week and was personified tonight. With hand of A, A, 3 4, I raised from the button. There were 3 players seeing the flop. It came 2, 8, 8. I checked to me and I bet half the pot. Only the small blind called. I didn't like that. I instantly knew I was behind to trips. But the turn was an A. Sweet. I bet just under the size of the pot and was just called again. River was a 6. I bet pot and was instantly raised all in. I was shocked. First thought was the guy slow played quads. I took my time and began to think about my bad luck. I even typed in "quads?" and "I can't fold this". I knew there was no way I could, or was going to, fold this hand. Then I realized I had a very strong low and called. I scooped the pot as he had a lower boat and no low.

I was then berated by another player who wasn't involved in the hand. He said I slowrolled the guy. I thought for a bit and realized that yes, it did appear that I did inadvertently slowroll the guy. Didn't mean to but I did.

Once again I am thinking I am up against quads? I need to get that out of my mind. In the end I doubled up at one table and was up 50% at the other. Hopefully it is the start of an upswing.

PLO8 pain

There are times I wonder why I play PLO8. The kicks to the nads seem more painful than a suckout in hold em. Sure the nits will pay off more but it doesn't make the bruises less painful.

FOQin' insane

I think I may have an affliction. It is shameful to even admit this but it did happen for a couple seconds on Monday during a PLO8 game. I may have FOQ. Fear of Quads.

The game is 6 handed .25/.50 PLO8. I call from mid position with A 4 4 J, with the A and J being spades. The SB calls and the BB goes for the min-raise. I call along but the SB drops. Usually preflop raises in this game are a big signal. If he raised pot it would scream AA or KK. But the min raise tells me he has small wheel type cards. I would raise with that as well.

The flop is 3 3 4.

Bingo, bango, bongo! He checks and I decide what to do. I want to bet. I am not slow playing this. Last time I flopped a boat and slow played someone rivered a higher boat on me. With just 4s full it could happen again. But I also consider his min-raise and what I thought it meant. Wheel type cards. He will call anything I bet. I can build a pot or take down a small one. I bet pot.

I expected a call. But instead he raised. Huh? He raised? Not only did raise but he raised pot. Usually they raise this early with the mortal nuts. That is when it happened. I stopped and said aloud "Great! He flopped quads on me. Damn it!"

A second or two after saying that, I felt pretty damn foolish. Am I going to play this game fearing everyone is flopping quads on me? Hell, that is a stupid thing to think. If I am going to fold every time the board pairs and I have a boat then I might as well take my money out, delete the software, and never play cards again.

A calmer presence took over. I thought for a second and raised pot. If he has it, he has it, but now I don't think he has it. He wouldn't have raised if he had it. He may let one more card fall to guarantee the trap. I think he is drawing and I hope he will commit the rest of his stack to draw at half the pot.

All the money goes in and he shows a great low draw. He has a ton of outs for the low pot and would need runner runner to take the high. The 9 on the turn guarantees me the high and the face card on the river shoves a big pot in my direction doubling me up.

I was happy but also very disappointed. How could I be insane enough to think the guy flopped quads on me? A couple bad beats has me living in fear of more bad beats. Not a way to play the game. Good news is I think I have shrugged it off.

Anyone watching the Beavis and Butthead poker show otherwise known at 2 months, 2 million? A bunch of geeky poker players go to Vegas with the goal of making $2 million in 2 months. Take 4 dorks, put them in a house, allow them to use every poker cliche in the world, and act immature because they think they are someone because they have money and call it a TV show. They probably are damn good poker players, much better than I. But social skills and a better vision of life are more valuable than any of the bank rolls these clowns may have.

4 card bingo

Omaha is a challenging game. It can test your limits. It will challenge your patience. It will make you mad. Watching nuts hands on the flop become weaker and weaker at the turn and river hit can take you to the brink of poker sanity.

That is why some call it 4 card bingo. Flopped a straight? Don't matter. The guy chasing the low just hit and you split the pot. Or the board pairs up and they have a full house and scoop the entire thing. Slow play? Don't be an idiot.

My weekend was an interesting one on the tables. I ended up losing about a buyin. That came from running a boat into quads. But I did have fun. I just wish I could have taken the bingo players for more money.

There were two separate occasions when I had an aggro donk at the table. I watched in fascination at they kept raising and/or betting and while showing crap hands. Their chip stacks fluctuated wildly like they were riding a roller coaster as they played. Their method was to raise a hand from late position no matter what they had. If they were in EP it was a limp. See the flop and respond to the action. Bet if it is checked to you, fold or call if you caught a piece of it. It was always bet POT too. No half pot or min bet. The turn either made their hand or they folded. They were going all in or folding on the turn. Two pair? Push!

Watching how people played back at them was very informative. From one guy berating him for playing bad hands to others letting him put his money out there. I tried to let him think he was controlling the action. Call his flop bets as they usually meant he didn't hit. Raise on the turn to extract value (if he had two pair he was going to call) from any trips or better. Push with the nuts on the river even if acting first. He may call with that two pair.

The system worked for him. Well, to an extent. He bought in for $20, ran it up to $60 and went bust. Rebought for another $20 and ran it up to over $100 before losing it. His comments to the haters showed he didn't care about the money. It was all sport. It was about seeing what would happen and just having fun. Hell, I have done that playing 2/4 limit at the IP in early morning session. Raising blind and playing it down without looking at cards.

I found myself thinking about the general style I witnessed. I try not to get too aggressive in a game of draws and re-draws. I had a number of hands go back this weekend trying to protect them. But the aggro method seemed to rule. I think some people figured out that most play is passive on the flop and betting pot to take it down worked out most of the time. Take down several small pots and you build a stack quite quickly.

I will have to adjust my game accordingly. And hopefully I can avoid running into quads again.

Ooooooooohhhhh, what a rush!

Poker players generally feel better when they discover holes in their game. They feel great when they are able to adjust and plug said hole. It is all about the learning process, of improving play to a better level and making money.

Yesterday I discovered a hole in my game. It may not truly be a hole but it is something I hadn't done much of in the past. I had 3 tables of PLO8 running last night on Full Tilt. I lost half a buy-in on two of them within the first 30 minutes. I made some river calls that weren't the best losing to higher flushes. In each case I bought some chips back for leverage. But it was on the one table that I made a change that helped on all 3 tables.

I played the rush.

Yes, it is that simple. I won a nice sized pot and then went on a rampage. It wasn't that I was getting good cards. They were good but they weren't great by PLO8 standards (well mine at least). I have read many a better player talk about how they were making calls on raises with good but not great hands against certain players. They took faith in the rush they were on and milked it for all it was worth. I finally jumped on that bandwagon and went for a ride.

It helped to have an aggro at the table. This guy would raise most hands and follow up with a continuation bet on the flop. I took a nice size pot off of him when he called me down with his flush to my boat. I then started playing back at him when it was just us in the hand. I made some calls with only high hands and started hitting them. I would let him bet out and then pop him on the river. This happened for 5 hands straight and soon I was just about tripled up.

Better yet, it helped me on the other two tables as well. Whereas I was down on each, I started grinding my way back up and soon had broken even. Of course it helped to have a donkey on my left who kept calling me down when I had a nut nut.

Playing the rush seems like such a simple idea. Sure it can get you into trouble as well but it feels good to feel in total control and invincible for a while.

I may take care of my Vegas plans this week. I have a place to stay thanks to Special K. And after reading Kid Dynamite's latest trip report, I feel that these four months will seem like eternity. How do you not wish it was December after reading this?

Seeking time

I haven't had much time to play poker lately. Either work has taken over or there are just many other things to do during summer. I have been trying to take advantage of the time I do have to play. Full Tilt's bonus is a good deal and allows me to multi table the PLO8 games. Results are mixed. I either squeak out little gains or drop a buyin. Once in a while I catch a nice win but for the most part things seem to be Even Steven.

I think I should take the time to get a new pc as well. What I have is about 10 years old and slowing down. There is a good chance that if I click on the "last hand" function on FTP that it may freeze me up for a couple of minutes. Being that I have the brain of a drunken chimp I never remember this until it is too late and I am folded out of a couple hands for being disconnected.

I tried some software to clean things up but it only made my pc slower. Seriously, I am not kidding. I am thinking a cheap laptop may take care of my needs. Any suggestions?

Snooze you lose

So much for a great rate at New York New York. Prices are going mid 80s now. Should have put in a reservation. But there is plenty of time to plan.

Bammer, you may want to check in on the Riviera. Looks like they are going belly up and may not even be open come December.

Update: Guess I should have waited until I got home. Had an email from NYNY showing rates averaging $65 (total bill including taxes) for the weekend. There is one catch though. If you reserve a room and cancel it, you will forfeit your deposit. I will have to think twice and make sure I can get those days off of work.