Human Achievement Hour 2010

At 8:30 tonight, turn on your lights, stereo, and celebrate Human Achievement Hour. The myth of man made global warming us unraveling before us. It is time to get behind everything man has accomplished. Why live your life in the dark when you can go online and play poker? If you are not in the mood for chip slinging, why not take that hour to turn on the lights and do a bulb inspection. Celebrate what the human race has accomplished!

I'll be watching the Wisconsin Badger hockey team in game 2 of the men's NCAA hockey tournament.

Have we got a video?

I usually don't watch videos of poker games on the internet. Seeing footage of hand histories is not something I am usually interested in. I surprised myself when I was enthralled by Pauly's post Videos: OMGClayAiken Beats the Piss Out of Isildur1. I think it was two things that had me wasting time at work, catching the ire of my boss. First it highlighted some PLO play and second, it was like a tutorial on how to play crazy aggressive players.

I continue to play a lot of PLO8 online. Having a bonus to clear on Full Tilt I find the PLO8 tables, including the one on Rush Poker, to be the ticket to collecting that extra loot. In the past I would avoid the table that was averaging any pot over $15. That meant a bunch of push monkeys and I didn't want to lose a stack on tilting chasing a low and getting quartered or sucked out on.

But then something clicked in my head after watching some of these maniacs play. There was more method to the madness than playing their cards. I have seen people raise every single pot in position and show down some crap cards. Even if they get called they will bet pot on the flop unless the board is easy trouble (nut flops). They get lots of people to fold and collect these small pots. Sometimes they get lucky and hit the ugly flop and collect a huge pot.

But there is one constant to these players. They quickly stack up before spewing it all back. They can be trapped. They are also susceptible to the bluff. Check raise one of them on the flop and they will usually fold. Of course you have to be prepared for them to pot it right back. And be prepared to rebuy when that suckout occurs or you don't hit 40 outs you had.

Playing these aggros takes the game to a different plateau. It forced me to adjust my game. Watching the OMGClayAiken video only confirmed what I thinking. I may have just changed my mind on those videos.

For Anna

Lifted from Bloody P who copied from Al. Show up and help raise some money for a good cause.

This post was originally posted over at Poker From The Rail on Full Tilt Poker. Big thanks go to AlCantHang for making all of this happen. He is truly one of the good guys.
For Anna
So, there’s this really cool 7th grade kid that I know that goes to my kids school. Her name is Anna.A year ago, she was busy being…well…a kid. She was on the junior high basketball team and on the track team. She was a good student and was full of life, laughter, and a ton of potential. She was very popular, but kind to everyone. My 8 year old daughter adored her.Fast forward to today. She’s now lying in a bed at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, being fed from a tube.What happened?Anna was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. It’s a terrible, debilitating disease that can be best described as this: her damaged heart does not effectively pump her blood anymore. She was recently transplanted with a temporary device to assist her heart pump blood.Now, this is the part of this post where I’m supposed to make you cry. I’m supposed to wring enough tears from your eyes to get you open up your wallet and get you to sign up for the charity tournament I’ve set up to help Anna’s family raise money to help offset their mounting medical bills. I’m supposed to talk about how Anna is in constant, agonizing pain. How a week and a half ago she suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left half of her body. How she has been so weak that she can’t even feed herself, let alone try to stand up and take a step across her hospital room. How at age twelve, she’s endured more surgeries and medical procedures than most people will have to endure in a lifetime.I could go into greater detail on all of the above, because it’s all horribly sad and all horribly true. But I won’t, because here’s the bottom line:If Anna doesn’t find a new heart, she will die.For someone so young and once so full of life to now be facing death is incomprehensible to me.I look at my own kids differently now, knowing that I don’t know (and can’t control) what the future holds for them, and one day it could be one of them lying in a cold, sterile hospital bed praying for a heart to be donated in order to live. And that’s why I’m holding this tournament for Anna and her family.I implore you to sign up for the “Anna Benefit Tournament” on March 15th at 22:00 ET. It’s a $5 + $5 tournament under the “Private” tab here on Full Tilt. Password is “ForAnna”. Every dollar of the “+5” will go directly to Anna and her family.For more information, please visit Anna’s Caring Bridge page here:http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/annaschmidt
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and hopefully I’ll see you at my table on Monday night.

A sportcasters view of the EPT heist

So, you call this place G-Vegas, huh?

G-Vegas. Anyone who is in the know knows what G-Vegas is. If not then you have been missing out on some of the better poker post of the past years. But I always wondered if it truly lived up to its name.

Like a call up to the big leagues, I made my plans when I got the invite to Mastodon Weekend. It was my chance to see if G-Vegas was truly the Vegas of the east.

Gambling- No way this place can have Vegas in its name if there isn't some gambling going on. There was a poker tournament held by, as Pauly called him, the Mayer. Held in a beautiful restaurant with a bar right near by and ladies serving cocktails. But that wouldn't be all. The game du jour was Big Deuce, a frustrating game that would have you cursing within 3 hands. Add in some NLHE and PLO and sure there was gambling. And that was just during the pokering. These degenerates live for the prop bet. Whether it be Drizz donning a purple ladies shirt for $40 or BG gobbling down 13 jalapenos for $20, there were prop bets being slung around. Score this as a YES for G-Vegas.

Booze- Plenty of booze around this town. In fact, each place seemed to have a good selection of beers. None of these bars that just had the mass produced Miller, Bud, or Coors only. No place that considered Blue Moon to be their only craft beer. The Barley Room had 72 beers on tap. 72! Each time we went into a new place there was at least 5 beers that caught my eye. Place after place was like this. Amazing. Plus they had SoCo. Score this as a YES for G-Vegas.

Friends- Brad estimated 30 degenerates from around the country were coming into town. People from Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Columbia, St. Louis, and Toronto to just name a couple. Do I need to say how great it was to see everyone again? I always know how great it is when I begin to already miss everyone in the last couple of hours before it is over. That was the feeling late Saturday night. Score this as a YES for G-Vegas.

Dive bar- I don't know how to describe the affinity people have for the Geisha Bar at the IP. There is something about that dumpy little bar in that dumpy casino that just feels like home. Is it the sometimes surly bartenders? No. I think it was because it was close to your hotel room and you could always pour yourself into the elevator and get up to the room. I think it is like that old pair of shoes that you still have. You use to wear them either when out playing sport or walking about. They then became a work around the house shoe. Now they are green because you use them to cut the grass. But it is still comfortable. That is the Geisha Bar. That comfortable shoe that has the strange smell. Or maybe it is the hookers. The comparable G-Vegas bar would have to be Connollys. Connollys Irish Pub was the comfortable shoe. The amenities were nothing to brag about. On Friday we walk in and some guy is on stage playing guitar singing away with a bongo player crouched down to his right. Yes, that is right. A friggin' bongo player! Good service and another good beer selection made this place good. Score this as a YES for G-Vegas.

Hookers- I know what you are thinking. You saw that I mentioned the hookers at the Geisha Bar but stopped there. I know what you are thinking now. Did Connollys have hookers? Let me start by saying I was amazed by the beautiful women I saw in G-Vegas. Cheap Trick says it correctly. Southern Girls you got nothing to lose. It makes me wonder what a G-Vegas hooker would look like because I did not see any hookers at Connollys. I think that normally would be marked a YES but hooker watching is a spectator sport for this crew. Score this as a NO for G-Vegas.

Dry air- This isn't a good thing. I don't know about many of you but after 2 days in Vegas I can feel my skin drying out. My lips are chapped. My nasal passages are messed up and I feel like drinking a gallon of water. That is how I felt in G-Vegas as well. Two days and I using the skin lotion in the hotel. Score this as a YES for G-Vegas.

Good food- Ribs, steak, chicken club, sushi, bacon waffles. All were great. About the only thing that sucked were some wings that didn't agree with me. I think they tried to kill me. I only wished I could have ate at the Waffle House or maybe Beef O'Bradys. Beef O'Bradys. Say it. It screams goodness doesn't it? Score this as a YES for G-Vegas even though Sharkeys tried to kill me

So there you have it. The scorecard screams that G-Vegas lives up to its name. Now I try have to wait 359 days until Mastodon Weekend comes around again. Believe me, if you get the call, answer the phone.

Yesterday I thought a nagging foot injury had healed. Hurting again today. Turns out it was all the alcohol consumed during Mastodon Weekend. Booze does indeed numb the pain.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's not just another game

"So, what are you doing this Friday?"
"I think I am going to get together with some friends and drink and play some poker."
"Oh yeah, who you playing with?"
"Let's see...BadBlood, Otis, Chilly, Drizz, Al, Iggy, Special K, John, BG, the Bracelet and the Doc among others. You know, the usual gang. Oh yeah, and her."

Bustout Poker.

In the bullpen

The warm up continues. Played both NLHM and PLO8 last night. Played too conservatively in both. Though I ended up just under a buy in in NLHE, I felt like I could have made more. I didn't make river bets/raises when I was pretty damn sure I had the best hand. Better to walk away with a profit that nothing.

Why can't I always flop a straight flush?

I have come to the realization that I don't necessarily play poker to make money. I play because I enjoy the game. I want to win and make money but that isn't usually my first motive when I sit down to play. I want to have a good time first, win second, and not lose a lot third.

I think that is why I have played more Omaha Hi Lo over the past year. I did lose a couple hundred learning the game playing at stakes I wasn't ready for. But I have begun to recoup those losses as I play. I do enjoy the game quite a bit more than hold em. But lately I find myself playing the two card game again.

I am a creature of habit. When Vegas is on the horizon I sit down and play NL Holdem more to shake the rust off. That is what I did yesterday on PokerStars. With the of the 40 Billionth had out there I thought I would play and take a shot of a nice bonus. I knew the bonus was going to happen as I logged in way too early and there were still 200 million hands to go. But play I did.

I was playing .25/.50 only as my bankroll is on low on PStars. I had two tables up. First hand I get in the BB is 3 5 diamonds. 3 callers and the SB completes. I check to see a flop of A 2 4, all diamonds. Holy Macaroni! I had to blink a couple of times to make sure one of them wasn't a heart. My eyesight was fine. Sure enough I had flopped a straight flush. Damn this game is easy! I made a min bet to see what would happen. At these stakes I know people are folding if they have face card and a diamond. Maybe someone else flopped a flush as well. I get raised by a player in MP. Sweet! The board pairs up the 4 on the turn. Not sure if that helps or hurts me. I check hoping some flopped a set and just improved. MP bets out again. This time I raise him back just a bit over the size of his bet. I feel pretty good that I won't scare him away. I don't as he come over the top. Just about a double on the first hand. So easy is this game.

I would go on to post a small profit on the other table as well. I am sure I made some mistakes as I played. But the goal is to be confident by March. I don't want to be the Mastodon they others are trying to take down.

Truckin

Pauly's latest issue of Truckin' is out. I don't have time for poker lately. But I will make some time to read Truckin'. I mean, there is a story about vampires. Vampires people!

February 2010, Vol. 9, Issue 2
Welcome back to the latest issue of Truckin'. I'm very hyper-excited about the second issue of 2010 which marks the return of Tenzin McGrupp. Remember that hack? We'll he's back with a speedy-story about a road trip out West. The Texas boys are anchoring the issue as per usual. Milton T. Burton shared a vampire story and Johnny Hughes is digging deep into the past and whipped up glimpse into his beatnik days. Michael Friedman channeled his inner dialogue for us this month. Ah, and I have a piece of L.A. fiction for you inspired by Raymond Carver and Thomas Pynchon.

1. Lymie Malibu by Paul McGuireShe was too whacked out to remember any lines and flubbed more and more auditions that we were both surprised when her commercial agent keeps sending her out. Kaya was the quintessential cocaine tragedy, yet somehow, she kept getting callbacks... More

2. From Beatniks to Hippies. The Early Sixties. A Memoir. by Johnny HughesThere was a tremendous amount of hustling other folk's dates, and it would rage all night. Eddie drank this syrupy Richard's Wild Irish wine. Yuck. The linoleum floor in his kitchen looked like a crime scene from the wine stains... More

3. Fangs by Milton T. BurtonHalfway through her second glass of wine, he was there beside her, a small snifter of brandy in his hand. Startled, she blurted out the first thing that popped into her mind. "You can drink?"... More

4. Thinking Out Loud by Michael FriedmanEventually my need to ask eternal questions led me to the conclusion that the only way to get out of purgatory was to flow with life instead of trying to isolate my many momentary lapses of reason on a regular basis... More

5. China Rider by Tenzin McGruppI told my nephew that his teachers and parents were lying to him and trying to turn him into a soulless zombie. He believes me. He's a good kid. He knows what's up. He knows the system is full of shit... More

My 3 hand WBCOOP tourament

I saw a total of 3 hands in Pokerstar's WBCOOP yesterday. 3 hands that consisted of 7 6o, 9 2o, and 4 4. K J > 4 4.

No I didn't push on the 3rd hand of the tournament. I was delayed at work for 2 hours and got home to see I was still alive but had only 385 behind. And the blinds were coming with levels at 50/100. I would see 3 hands tops as I don't know why I would actually fold in the blinds losing half of my stack in desperate hope of getting a killer hand that would stand up.

Things could be worse in life to have a job that keeps you from playing a freeroll. I am grateful for that situation. Now if only the WBCOOP would start a bit later....

The WBCOOP routine

The PokerStars WBCOOP has started. I wish I could say I have done well but I can't. In fact the first two days were somewhat identical. They went something like this:
1. Get home about 45 minutes after the tournament starts.
2. Sit down to about 1500 in chips, down from the 2000 start. That ain't too bad.
3. Fold the first couple hands and see the break.
4. Have problems with the wireless connection. Log out and back in to get back on.
5. Play hands between connection issues.
6. Double up on a big stack who is trying to bully the table.
7. Go on minor pushmonkey imitation. Push, push, push with good hands and get called by someone who thinks I am trying to bust out.
8. End up busting when I have a good hand but can't hit any of my outs.

88 in the No Limit when 8 8 got outdrawn by A K though I had the OESD on the flop. In PLO I ran K K Q 10 into A A 10 2.

If I recall my calendar for tomorrow, it would appear that I would be showing up about 45 minutes late once again tomorrow. Hopefully the results won't be the same. In fact I would like to get a bit further in so I can have a couple beers during the tournament.

Hmm... maybe I just come home and pop open a beer right away.

Weekend poker

Saturdays with Pauly kick off in just under an hour I look forward to making my donation.

The talk of the town seems to be Full Tilt's Rush poker. I played for about 30 minutes yesterday. Just .05/.10 NLH. I wanted to dip my toe in the water to see what it was all about. I finished with a profit of .72. Good sign.

I don't know if I am sold on it. It may be a good alternative for when you are sitting at a regular ring game and feeling card dead. But with the constant movement you lose the opportunity to read our opponents and take advantage of their weaknesses. Plus I would think that making notes on players would be next to impossible.

Still a very interesting concept.

Also getting ready for PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. The start times do not work well with my work schedule so Monday and Tuesday will be out. I have entered and hope to get online when I get home. Playing with a short stack isn't my strongest skill set but what are you going to do?

Truckin > poker

Life took over and I found myself putting in more hours at work and less at the poker tables. I think the only poker I played was a $10 SnG last night. And I screwed that one up. It was heads up and I was trying to bluff my opponent. I meant to bet 480, but accidentally bet 4800. My opponent pushed and with only 700 behind, I had no choice but to call. One hand later it was over and I had second place money. It sucked only from a standpoint of I knew I could beat this guy.

Pauly has a new edition of Truckin' out. Go and enjoy!

Truckin' -- http://mcgtruckin.blogspot.com

January 2010, Vol. 9, Issue 1

New year. New issue of Truckin'. Let's kick of 2010 with two new faces.

1. Tubes Under Sand by Paul McGuire
The massive and elaborate tunnel system was cluttered with insane Vietnam vets eating black widow spiders, heroin addicts shooting up in the darkness, and methheads cooking up a new batch of Nazi crank... More

2. No Era Mi Intención (I Meant No Harm) by Sean T. Kelly
We weren't the only local wildlife in that town, population 237. Hawks circled overhead hunting for prey. Iguanas scurried aimlessly across the sidewalks heading for the security of the underbrush... More

3. Unpublished by Anonymous
He could look away from the noose he's woven. He could find something else into which he can comfortably slip. He has the power and he's done it before... More

4. Down the Upward Staircase by George Tate
Bebop was one of those guys kind of handicapped in the girl department. He had been shy all his life and never a ladies man. He wasn't strange or picky. He always looked at the girls and when he couldn't go anymore would find his pick in a massage parlor or on his running board... More

5. Dispatches from Miami: The Lot by Paul McGuire
Deviant derelicts crawl out of the shadows and invading the parade of freaks. That's when the inmates eventually take over the asylum... More

Love them Dallas Cowboys! Stomp!

How 'bout them Cowboys!!! When Miami Don and Hoy bet against them, it is as good as Waffles betting against them.

It's back....

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! Bloggers can register for to play for free in the WBCOOP, if you don’t have a PokerStars account you can get your Poker Download here.

Registration code: 444922

I went with the biggest one so I win something right?

Cowboys win!!!!

Wow!

The Dallas Cowboys saved their best performance of the regular season for the last game in a lambasting of the Philadelphia bEagles. They exorcised the demons of last year's debacle by blanking the bEagles in the season finisher en route to capturing the NFC East Division crown.

How 'Bout them Cowboys!!!!

Simply put, they dominated this game. From the opening drive to the last 4th and long, they slammed the ball down the bEagles throat and stopped them cold on offense. They gave a repeat performance of the game in Philly in November. All thoughts of revenge for last year ended in glory as they prevented the bEagles from putting any points on the board.

NFC East Division Champions Dallas Cowboys. That is the way it should be.

But this is the NFL. Victory only lasts one week except for one team. Winning today loses meaning if they can't do it once again. And winning 3 in a row is not a simple feat.

But these Cowboys are different. They have succeeded when everyone says they couldn't. I am looking forward to the game this coming weekend. I think the Cowboys are too.

The tide turns

It wasn't a pretty day for me on the PLO8 tables yesterday. The river was my enemy. Though I got my money in good, the river would toss up that gutshot straight or pair up the board to counterfeit me. The only time it helped me was when I got overly aggressive against a Russian. But that wasn't good enough to get my two buy-ins back.

The Russian was ticking me off. I understood his style of play and wanted to take advantage of it. I knew he wanted to bet people out of pots. I knew he would overplay AA especially when he had no chance at a low. I wanted to get him to commit to a pot and see those virtual chips slide in front of me.

It would only happen once but that was after he took my first buy in. I had two pair with a low draw and knew I was ahead. He just had A A with two face. Just before the river hit I thought it was mine and that he had two outs. I forgot about the other two cards on the board and those being outs. Sure enough a deuce hit to counterfeit me. I yelled a number of expletives in the air and threw a pillow across the room. Just bad luck.

The Russian kept playing the same way. So did I. Looking to trap him. I may have played some hands out of the blinds that I shouldn't have but I really wanted my money back. I would get a piece of it back but give it off to another player that would hit runner runner to fill flush when they were chasing a gutshot straight.

At least I made half of it back in a Sit n Go. That seemed to go on forever but it was fun. Maybe I can sit out the first 30 minutes of those and then come in for the win.

Getting better

This week looks to hold a good amount of poker for me. I have vacation this week. Or holiday for anyone reading from over the pond. Holiday sounds better. More special.

Anyways, my intent is to play a good amount of PLO8 this week. I have a Full Tilt bonus that I would like to clear. I don't intend to fall into bonus whoring mode to clear it. Maybe play a couple of hours as long as I am having fun.

I noticed some aspects of my game this week. My wins are usually minimal. I tend to play .25/.50. Booking a $10 win seems to be about the norm if I don't drop the entire buy in. I won't lie and say it doesn't happen. There are times I go on tilt and chase just to donk it off. But for the most part it is a collection of small wins with an occasional double.

Over the past weekend I feel my PLO8 has gotten better. There are a number of marginal hands that I used to get involved with that I have no problem folding. I also don't mind folding a hand where I don't have any chance to get half. Getting quartered is guaranteed to put my on tilt. This weekend saw me on the good side of the quartering. It was a nice streak that ended today.

This afternoon I played two really aggro tables. Bunch of Scandis at the table that seem to believe that betting pot was the only way to go. It made it easy to trap them and steal big pots from them. I was amazed at how many times they paid me off when I had a wheel or a full house. I think it was because I wasn't potting every street.

Their aggressiveness also made me play smarter. It reminded me of a virtual Table 16. Chips flying and a lot of re-raises. It made me play smarter and more selective in my hands. It stopped me from chasing. I ended up with a double there. I can't wait until tomorrow to take another swing.

Twisted

If only the WPBT was a couple days later, I could have had a live Twisted Christmas. This will have to do.

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and get the pots shipped your way.



As for my Jewish friends, you can still be merry even though you are Hebrew..