Bodoggy

Played quite a bit of poker on Saturday. Mainly freerolls, but also a nice overlay at Bodog for only $8. It was a $7500 guarantee. When I first saw it, only 200 were registered with 20 minutes to go. Heck, this is the reason why I opened an account at Bodog. I had to play this one. 336 start. Top 36 will get paid with first place a nice $1875.

I make it to the final table which means I am catching a nice return on my investment. At least $127. Whoo hoo!
Chip up nicely with the Hiltons. I raise it up from UTG. Loose guy in the middle pushes all in with 8 8. I don't mind as his chips come my way.

6 6 gets me a bit more with a raggy flop. 9 9 gets me some blinds. Table is on the tight side right now. I try to steal some blinds with any ace but one guy finally cracks back. With 7 left, I am sitting at 3rd with 46k. Tournament leader has 142k, second at 60k. It is anyones game at this point. The tourney leader is the only one I am concerned about. I played with him at an earlier table and he knew what he was doing. That would help me later on.

In the big blind I have K Q. Any little raise I will call. TL jacks it up from UTG. I know he has me beat. He shows A Q. He shows all his hands which has been great. Next hand, I have A J in the small blind and call the loose guy who pushed. His K 10 gets nowhere while I fill a wheel. I am now at 67k with only 5 of us left. That means at least $450 for me.

I try to knock a guy out on my left who is short stacked but can't fill the open ended straight. Damn. I get those chips back with a pair of 3s. I play a A 8 suited aggressively but get called by the short stack with A 9 suited. Two hearts hit the board- good for me- but his 9 is out there. No hearts come but an 8 hits the river to rub it in. He moves ahead of me. Shit.

Next I get 8 8 in the SB and raise it up. He pushes. Having played with him at a couple others tables, I am comfortable knowing he has just high cards. Sure enough, K 10 and I double up. I then give it back to him with 9 9 against his A K. K on the flop does it.

I am sitting at the bottom now with 54k. The two knuckleheads at the table just won't lose. They keep catching cards just as they are about to go out. With blinds at 6000/12000, there is little room to move about for me.

Then they come. 10 10 in the small blind. The tourney leaded raises to 35k. I have to push. He thinks and calls showing A J off. No help and suddenly I am in the lead with 133k.

We finally get to 4 when two good players battle. One is short stacked and in the BB. Q J takes down A 6 with a rivered Q. This puts me at $600, my highest won dollar amount in a tourney.

I would really give up my lead defending blinds, trying to steal others. Messy. Had to buckle down and play some good poker. I get A J suited on the button. Knucklehead raises. I push all in. He shows K 10. People are loving their K 10 today. I move back into contention.

I knock out the pain in the arse on my left with A 9 hearts. He pushed with K Q off. 9 on the flop was all I needed. Up to winning $800!!! Sitting at 189k and in the lead as well.

The only player I was concerned about begins to beat us both silly. Aggressive raises and re-raises, we can't do anything to stop him. He is also catching some damn good hands. However, he just can't knock either of us out. I push back on a A 4 but run into A K. 4 on the flop gives me a double up though. I give it back with A 7 against A J. Damn.

I think I am going to hit 2nd when the others do battle. A 3 goes up against A K. He hits his 3 on the flop but the K comes on the river. So close.

Well, this story doesn't end on a high note. I was done in 3rd. With A 10 I raised it all in. Ran into the Hilton Sisters. Flop comes good K J 10, so there is some hope that his set gets me a straight. But it doesn't come along and I am done. Win $832.49 to be exact. My best so far. Can't complain about that $8 investment.

Hopefully this is an omen for my Vegas trip. Less than a week out now. Can't wait to meet some good people and play poker.

Cleared the bonus but lost at Party

Yep, I admit it. I have lost money at Party Poker. Cleared the May bonus in 3 days and lost $21 in the process playing 1/2. Guess I should clarify that I only had a bonus of $50 and technically was up $29 after receving the bonus but I was a loser at the tables.

It was a case of 4 losing sessions over 6 hours. Never a big loss, usually 10-15 bucks. A good final session lifted me up to where I was. I have tried to study how I played these games. Was I looser than normal? Did I play really stupid? I don't think so. I played some hands too loose like one where I called with A 10 suited on a flop that contained just one of my suit but didn't help me at all. I called 2 bets by accident. I thought it was just one and with overcards called. I exclaimed "Shit!" upon doing so. Like a true Party Poker player I runner runnered the flush. All on accident.

I do recall 3 hands that pissed me off. Each were quite similiar. Small stack (less than $5) raises pre-flop and gets 4 callers. They bet out the flop and re-raise until they are all in. In these hands I had the best hand pre and post flop. They would catch their needed A or K on the river, usually showing K or A rag offsuit. Yep, each time taking a $15-$20 pot that was going to be mine across the table to some moron. With those 3 hands, I eke out a small profit.

But I did learn something. I will play more at Party in my patent style. Iggy is right. However, I think I may reload at Noble for their big reload bonus. The fish swim there too. I had one really bad day the other night. I made up for it on one hand yesterday.

I went to the 2/4 game to check it out. I was playing with the house's money so I would put a toe in the water to see how it was. There were only 6 at the table. I watched a couple hands to get a feel for the action. Looks like everyone wanted to play every hand. As you know, that is good and bad. Good as you will make a good chunk of change. Bad because some chump will play their 8 3 suited and river the 8 for 2 pair to crack your aces.

However, it was me that would do the cracking last night. I was up a couple of bucks when the Hilton Sisters came for a visit. I said hello Paris with a re-raise and hello Nicki with a cap call. All 5 are in the pot. Every hand and every bet for this table. Flop comes 8 high, rainbow. I bet out and the original bettor raises again. Only one folds, the other two call when he re-raises again. I just call the raise as I know I must be behind. Turn is Mama Hilton (?) Queen of Diamonds. Nice. It does put two diamonds on the board now, but there is no straight possibility. I go for the check raise. Damn, no re-raise here. River is a rag, but a diamond. I cringe thinking one of these guys kept jamming with A K diamonds and hit their hand now. I bet out and they both call. There is a moment as my cards are shown. Theirs hit the muck and $92 comes my way. May be the biggest cash pot I have ever won. Not quite sure as I never keep track of that.

Felt good to have the Hiltons put a smile on my face. Now I know why Pauly likes them so.

I love Vegas

If you have never heard Dean Martin sing "I Love Las Vegas", you are missing out on a great tune. I know the time for Vegas is drawing nigh (where did that fancy talk come from?) when Deano voice sings in my head. I subconsciously fire it up on the pc when playing cards. Then I go back and play it again, and again, and again. Then I listen to Frank and Sammy sing a killer version of "Mack the Knife". Yep, I tend to listen to some Rat Pack, not a lot, to feed the monkey bouncing around inside me, jonesing for touchdown at McCarren. One week and I will be there. And I am planning for a trip in August. Who wants to go then as well?

I am a bit surprised about the reaction I receive from many of my friends when I tell them what I am doing out there this time. There are the usual questions. What are you going to do? Going to Vegas to play in a poker tournament. I am surprised I have received no reaction on that. Doesn't even faze them.

Who you going with? No one. Going to meet a bunch of people I have never met out there to play poker, drink and gamble til I drop. No response. I would think that someone along the way would say something to the likes of "How do you know who these people are? Will you recognize them? What if they are jagoffs?" The answer to those questions is easy. I don't. Some, maybe. They could be, but I highly doubt it.

I went to Vegas by myself in December and enjoyed it. I had no one dragging me down, forcing me to leave a good game. Not that I will always go by myself but that won't every hold me back. Now I have a chance to go "meet" new people. One can feel they know someone just by reading their blogs. You can get a feel for who they are. Heck, you already know their interests, so I don't think hanging with someone I have never met in person will be an issue.

At Up For Poker, they ran a series of questions about who you want to toss back a drink with and talk poker, writing, tacos, etc. I won't go through the whole list but will paraphrase a bit.

I am looking forward to shooting the shit with and tilting glasses with Al. That should be quite a time. I also want to drink with the Human Head and Bob. I like their perspectives on things. Somewhat like mind but different enough to talk and more importantly, learn new things.

There are a handful of others such as BG, Dr. Pauly and Iggy. I separate them from the group only because I really respect the writing/work they do on their blogs. They are daily reads because of the talent they have and how one can relate to what they do. I know they may be hounded by others and well, I don't want to be the drunk idiot that tries the approach of acting like a long lost friend that they have known forever and make an idiot of myself. I recall a post BG and Pauly had about people acting like they are part of the group that rang with me. They had good points in it that I agree with. The majority of these people don't know me from the next guy shuffling chips at a table so I will just keep it cool. I guess somewhere along the line shit will just happen so I am simply not gonna sweat it.

There are others I would like to yap with of course. One would have to be Grubby. If you don't read his blog, you are missing out. Where else can you live a vicariously through a Vegas resident? Great stuff. I wouldn't mind talking with Hank about working for an online poker company. Music with Badblood would be good, as he may turn me on to some bands I may like. I know somewhere over the 5 day period I will probably have Linda dealing to me over at the Bellagio. I also look for an opportunity to talk with Felicia. She can't be as bad as she lets up to. Hell, I like people that can be blunt.

Best of all, I will meet some people I either read in passing or not at all. That may be the best part. The way I see it, anyone who can think up a thought such as storming a casino's poker room with 100 people on a Saturday night can't be bad. They must have watched too many Batman TV shows as a kid to come up with this. Pure evil genius that could only have been inspired by the Joker.

Other things that will happen:
Playing 6/12 at the Mirage. Just may be my favorite game in Vegas.
Maybe an Omaha 8 game with Al. I like Omaha but I just am not that good at it, yet.
Pai Gow at TI. 8 hours of drinking Makers and ginger ale. Must remember to eat this time.
Drinking Cabo Wabo at the after party.
Checking out the Wynn.
Playing some nickel slots to amuse myself with the bonus games.
The nightly tourney at Mandalay.

I have no set schedule which is cool. I figure by 7ish I will be checked in at the Imperial Palace and ready to go. Those who would like to meet up and enjoy a cold one, let me know. Send me an email at StB31@hotmail.com

I just have to go through a torturous 7 days now. This rant looks like crap but so be it. I am going to Vegas so I don't care.

The Dr. Pauly freeroll

I was in good spirits for the Dr. Pauly freeroll being held at Noble Poker. I spent the time between the tournament and work drinking beer and eating wings. Hey, every athlete needs a regimen. I have my own.

Shocker how I am sitting at the same starting table as Dr. Pauly. Third time in a roll how this has happened. Things started well. On the first hand A J paid off a little bit. A J would earn me some chips to get the night going a couple of times. But the big hand would be the Hilton Sisters cracking some Cowboys. That chipped me up well. Or at least for the time being. Soon after that I would have my own Cowboys knocked down by Big Slick.

The only hand that I misplayed early on was a pair of 9s. I raised it up just to have Dr. Pauly push all in. I thought about it. Thought some more and decided I would call. Just as I clicked on the call button, I got timed out. That sucked. As it turned out, Pauly had just A J. The other caller has A K. I would have ended up with a straight. Damn.

I then bleed some chips with 8 8 on a J high flop. EP pushes. I think and doubt he has A J or K J. Wrong. He has A J and I don't see the miracle set. I am just above where we started having given away half of my stack.

I then attempt to bluff my way in the big blind by playing 8 9 off. Flop came A high and it was checked to me. I bet half the pot and was called. I fired the 2nd and 3rd bullet but was raised all in on the river. All I managed to do there was give half my stack away again. But I tried. You have to fire the 3rd bullet.

I hastily push with K Q off UTG later. I am glad that no one calls me down. I show hoping to induce some action later. Why? I don't know. I already have made some bad moves. If that ain't inducing action what will?

I go out soon in 89th place. I have 7 8 suited in the small blind and call. Flop comes 9 10 J. Sweet. Or so I thought. I push. I get called by the BB right away. Everyone else folds. He shows 8 Q for the higher straight. Just like that, I am done. No way out of that one.

But it was fun. I pushed with a strong hand so I can't complain. I will get it done next time.

Freeroll marathon- Take 3

Just for making a deposit at Noble, they give you an entry into a $1000 freeroll. I wasn't able to make it last week and they were gracious enough to let me play this past Saturday. I have found the tourneys at Noble to be pretty damn loose so far so I thought I had a good chance to make some money. First place paid $250. Not bad. With 502 people entered, I hunkered down to play some poker.

502 people started. Of the 10 at the table, only 3 of us were present at first. Instead of avoiding each other, one guy decided he was going to play every hand and make big bets to push people off hands take down the pots. Personally, I think that is a stupid strategy because someone will get a hand and knock you out. What really sucked was when someone else showed up and decided to employ the same strategy. Man, do I want some cards!

I watch the others play every hand for a while. It is a bit frustrating watching them hit their crappy hands. There are 3 calling stations calling bets without odds. That is encouraging though. Just tells me to overbet a monster and I will collect. I just need the monster.

I finally get one by limping with 7 8. Flop comes 6 9 10, rainbow. Jackpot! I bet 3/4 of the pot. Of course the guy on my left calls. So does another. I bet 400 on the turn when a 3 shows up. He calls. I push all in on the river for my last 310. He folds. But I bump up nicely.

I think I have another chance to bump again when I flop at open ended straight draw. One of the calling stations won't go away though. I fold on the river when I don't fill the straight. But just a couple of hands later I would take out one of the aggressive guys. With A J clubs on the button, I pop the pot to 300. One takes the bait and pushes on the A high flop. He shows A 3 off. See ya! Now I need to get rid of the guy on my left. If I do that the stacks of all the sitouts are mine.

For the next 20 minutes I watch the guy on my left get and redistribute chips. He has others playing too hard to hit him. They stay in thinking he has nothing, even though they have nothing as well, trying to draw out and paying off his bottom pair. It is rather silly. You aren't going to bluff this guy. He isn't that smart. Funnier still, is guy on the left will fold to any all in bet, no matter the size. Saw him do it 4 times.

Like many others that have read Dan Harrington's book, I got some useful information out of there that helped me win a nice pot. I was in the big blind (100/200) with 9 3 clubs. Of course the guy on my left limped in but the one of the other live ones raised to 400. There is one other caller and it comes around to me. Knowing the doofus on my left will call, I have pot odds to call as well. Flop comes all rags but with a 3. Every street gets checked around and my small pair wins a 1700 pot.

I give it back when I raise with Big Slick. Doofus on my left calls. Flop is all low cards 5 6 8. I bet half the pot and he calls. Hmm...turn is an 8. I check as does he. River is rag and I check. He bets out the min. I call to see his 7s.

Next hand, I get A Q and jack it up gain. Doofus is there too. Flop is all rags. I push trying to take it right there. He calls and shows A A. Fuck! This S.O.B had more than his share of big pairs and takes me out. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe it. Oh well.

Poker Mountain officially gave up on their freerolls. They cannot get their software to work. Big surprise there. Don't see why they don't pack it in. When I check at 5pm on a Saturday, there were at total of 6 people playing real money games. Could it be any worse?

Freeroll marathon- Take 2. Er..maybe not

I was set to put up with the Poker Morgue Mountain crappy MTT software. I had dinner, had my beer, and had some patience. Turns out I would need none of it.

The tournaments were scrapped. The problem that occurred last night wasn't fixed. Did they alert anyone of this?

NO.

I log in to see the listings are gone. Totally gone. Much like PM will soon be.

So I go to Noble to continue to work off the bonus. Just a couple more days and that will be completed. If I get it done by the weekend I may even make another deposit to gain the 60% bonus. Hey, I am still a small player and need to build the bankroll.

So I play for a couple of hours before curiousity gets the better of me. I look at the tourneys and see a $2500 guarantee starting in 40 minutes. Interesting. Only 50 had signed up. I figure that maybe 100 tops will be in making a great overlay.

102 sign up and we are off. However, I miss one important aspect of this tournament. It is a rebuy. Shit! I hate rebuys. And I would really hate this one. Stupid bets, huge raises, all ins left and right. Ugly. Rebuy after play K 8 suited. Yeah, that was a great play.

I play stupid at the beginning thinking I can see some flops by limping. Dumb as someone is constantly pushing. I don't know why because they usually have a mid pair at best and will not be bluffing anyone.

I basically lose just about half my stack trying to limp and acting like a calling station. All this time I am just waiting for some decent cards as I watch one guy push on crap so many times. He probably rebought at least 7 times. Another has bought 5 times, and a third at least 4. They will need to reach 7th place to recoup their entries. Highly doubtful. Meanwhile the chip leader at the table has yet to rebuy.

So I bleed away half the stack and say WTF and push with K Q. I am up against 3 others. Great! Flop comes out 10 J J, two spades. One person has A J. I start hoping for the straight. The turn is a 6 of spades, the river a Q- of spades! I hit the runner runner flush and am back in the game. Of course, they are rebuying.

I push up the standings when I push with 10 10. I have 2 callers, one with A K. K hits the flop and I am ready to turn the pc off. The river comes with a black 10 and I crank up to 3rd. Now I am waiting for the rebuy period to end. That should end the nonsense.

At the break, I am in 6th spot, only because 3 others added on. I don't understand why at that point. Especially the guy who has already made 10 buyins at this time. There are 65 people left and the last 2 tables pay.

I am curious to see if the action at the table changes. It does for a bit except for Mr. 10 buy-in. He start pushing on flops again.

I don't do much until I get A J in EP. This hand kills me. I want to limp but don't really like the idea. I bet 750 (100/200). There is a fold and then a smaller stack pushes for a total of 2000. Two more over a guy pushes for another 3000 for 5115 total. WTF? I can't call with this. I would call the short stack but not the big stack. Short shows A A while the BS shows K Q off. K Q off??? Flop J J 4. DAMN! I would have ended up with a boat and a nice lead. Oh well. I know I shouldn't call that big stack. Stupid move on his part.

But that is how things are. All in pre flop a lot. 5000? Move all in. So what if the BB is only 200. A lot of times when they are called, they only have an A at best. Time to adjust as they move me to a new table. Oh wait, same thing going on here. A big stack is kinda bullying the small ones but doesn't need to push with any pair. He does so with 6 6 and runs into K K. But the guy with K J fills the straight cracking the cowboys.

Meanwhile I am getting blinded down as I get nothing to play. A couple orbits go by and I haven't played a hand. I try to defend the blinds but never hit the flop. Blinds come around again and I get some chips by betting at a flop of A A J with just a Q high. Got lucky at the tournament leader has been put to my right and he doesn't want to beat on me.

I see at this time that there are 27 left. My place? 21. Call me the bubble boy at this point. I am not concerned though. The table (as are most of the players in the tourney) are a bunch of action junkies. I watch some raise and then re-raise all in with just 8 8. I could see the raise but why push when you can see a flop?

I could sit and make the money but what fun is that? I get A K clubs and raise it up to 3000. The aggressive guy on my left pushes for another 1300. It folds back around and I call. He shows A 7 diamonds. Two diamonds on the flop and the last on the turn and I am crippled. Maybe I should have pushed preflop but I don't think it would have mattered.

Blinds come and I am forced to play the classic J 2 off suit. Great! Of course the assmunch that had the A 7 plays and knocks me out. I am out in 25th. Don't feel I played bad but it just takes one beat to knock you down and out.

Freeroll marathon- Take 1

Software doesn't seem much better on Poker Mountain. People are complaining right away about the software and their connectivity. It doesn't look smooth. The cards come out rather choppily. 500 are signed up but maybe 380 are playing. Only the top ten will split the $500 pool. Seeing how I have played a lot of limit lately, I figure on using these to prime me for the Vegas tournament.

I play slow and tight with only the big hands to start off. A K early on gets me a small pot as does A Q. I watch the table as a couple players want to be in every hand. There is only one that concerns me and they will show their cards.

A Q gets me some more chips as some guy decides to call my 5x BB bet with A 9 off. Strange how he kept calling my bets on down. I see that TJ Cloutier is playing and doing well. Daniel Negreanu is nowhere in site. I guess he doesn't want anything to do with "his" online place to play. The guy on my left has given up. He says that his connection isn't responding. I give him credit for not screwing up the table. Hey, this is just a freeroll.

I take down some more pots but nothing really big. I am watching the two ATC players yo yo up and down with their chips. One hits the miracle straight after playing 7 9 offsuit. That really pissed another off. Don't know why as they pushed with A 9 off.

The table seems to now be pretty passive as the two knuckleheads have been knocked out. Plus, I have players to the right and left of me that aren't here. I will be able to steal blinds without even trying.

Just after an hour a message pops up saying the tournament will be ended. They have a problem with the software that they need to fix. At least they have a message informing us that it will be halted. Now message are coming every couple of minutes. Looks like they will add $2 to the pool for every player left. Now they say they will shut down and be back in 5 minutes. I'll be damned if it doesn't go down in the middle of a hand. Just shuts down. Good to see they have their act together.

I'll call this the first break. I am sitting just about 2100 and have higher than an average stack. Not too bad. Pretty much where I usually am at.

Ten minutes go by and I log back in. Nothing really happens. Ten minutes later there are a whopping 50 people that have logged back in. Hmm...maybe the message was that they were going to give everyone $2, possibly an equal share of the prize pool. I decide to give it another 15 and call it a night. Last thing I am going to do is wait around waiting for a crappy site to come back up for a freeroll.

Besides, I will be playing it again tomorrow. Yeah, I never learn.

March of the Poker Bloggers

Inspired while listening to Anthrax, I offer up for approval those heading to Vegas in June, the March of the Poker Bloggers. Who out there is familiar with Anthrax's version of Friggin in the Riggin? Ok, I see Al and Badblood with their hands up. Not too good. Maybe Al can put it up on his site. I apologize to anyone who feels left out. UPDATE. Al has added a link to the tune (THANKS!!!) in the comments section. Go mosh out!!!

March of the Poker Bloggers

There was a bunch of bloggers
Who like to drink their lagers
When playing seven two offsuit
They piss off all the donkers

They’ve traveled cross the nations
Poker paid vacations
We love the schism that they make
They’re here for the duration

Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer,
That’s what you supposed to do!

The blogfather is Ignatious
His drinking is hellacious
A pint of Guiness for this here dwarf
Will make him very gracious

Dr. Pauly likes his strippers
Like Phish they make him chipper
No drugs needed here for
Him to bust his zipper

Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer,
That’s what you supposed to do!

You know his name is Al
And SoCo is his pal
He’ll share his booze with everyone
Just to boost morale

And what would be a list
With out BG the columnist
Don’t mess with his condiments
Or he just may get pissed

Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer,
That’s what you supposed to do!

Otis is the PokerStar
That travels near and far
To find out where he is now
Go to the closest bar

CJ is the one
Who started all this fun
Show him you appreciation
With a gooey Cinnebon

Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer,
That’s what you supposed to do!

And then there is Badblood
The poker table making stud
It’s good to see him drink Heineken
Instead of that swill Bud

He is the Poker Grub
A deal he can’t snub
Club Paradise at two for one
For strippers he can rub

Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer,
That’s what you supposed to do!

Joe Speaker and ABVidale
We hope that they will prevail
With all us drunks watching them
From just beyond the rail

He claims he is a hunk
With twice confirmed junk
Is Bobby Bracelet the real deal
Or is it a bunch of bunk

I hope it's not true what's been said
about the Human Head
His scotch don't come on the rocks
but with H2O instead?

A fool and his money
are such a funny thing to see
Watching Don King play poker
Looking like a big donkey

Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer,
That’s what you supposed to do!

Just don’t give us a hassle
Or else we may just wrassle
After slamming the Hammer down
When we storm the Castle

Just like drinking gin
You’ll know just where we been
After we crown a new champion
At the Aladdin

Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer
Laying down the Hammer,
That’s what you supposed to do!

An email from the dead

I have cleared just over half the bonus at Noble. There was a healthy number of players on last night to keep 3 tables going at the 1/2 level. Unfortunately for me, it was a losing session. For some reason whenever I 3 table, I always have a very poor performance at one table. I did well at 2 of them but the 3rd sucked me dry. Is there a lack of focus involved?

I know I didn't play my best poker either. Calling down at times I knew I was beat. This is becoming a tough one for me. With the crappy play going on, it is hard not to call down even though there are 3 of the same suit out there. Half the time they will have the flush, half the time they won't. This is a terrible habit to be developing but it has been profitable. But if you continue to pay people off, you will lost a lot more than you will win.

For instance I got A A cracked by 4 4 when there were 4 diamonds on the board and he had the fifth. Then surprisingly my A A stood up to 6 6 when there were 4 clubs on the board. Guess I have to lean on the instinct and focus on the notes I have on the players.

I played the 2/4 table for one orbit. I wanted to get a feel for the level of play and see if I may be ready for it. It was just an orbit as I wanted to catch a show on TV. It was an interesting ramming jamming game. Not too surprising for it to get at least raised, if not capped preflop. The cards some of these guys were playing kinda shocked me too. At one showdown, two pair won (K 10) beating out K 6, and Q Q. The fact that K 6 saw a flop calling 4 bets was funny. Then he flopped two pair. He rammed and jammed the pot up just to lose on the river 10. What the Q Q was doing in there until the end I will never know.

I had money in the pot in 4 hands. Two were in the blinds when I had 7 4 off and 9 3 suited. Needless to say I didn't call. I did raise with A K off which got capped. Flop came Q high. I called a bet to see the turn which was a J. This time I didn't call the two bets to see a river that would not have helped me. I did win a pot with J 10 in mid position. Ended up getting all in when the J hit the flop. With a Q on the turn, I check raised to see where I really was (yeah, not the best move) mainly because I saw this guy call down with K 6 off. River was a rag and my jacks beat his pocket 3s. Yep. Pocket 3s. He raised preflop, bet the flop, re-raised with 4 overcards with just 3s. Maybe he was determined to bluff me out or something. I simply thought my jacks were probably the best hand.

For now I will continue to grind out at the 1/2 with an occasional shot at the 2/4. Since I am playing with their money, how can I not give it a whirl?

I was quite surprised to see I had an email from Poker Morgue Mountain. Seems they have risen from the dead and are looking to re-introduce themselves. They are having a number of freerolls over the coming nights to try and prove them multi table tournaments will not crash. Being unable to pass on a freeroll, you know where I will for the next couple of night. If I cash in any of them, I will probably pull the money right out. I don't see them being around much longer. I log in usually every other day to see how many people are playing on their site. Rarely is there more than 10 people playing a real money table. You cannot and will not survive like that. My guess is that PM had to hit up their investors to get the cash for the freerolls. Granted it is only a prize pool of $500 or $1000 for any of them but they sure aren't making that on rake.

Read about the crazies

The internet is a nice thing. Without the internet we couldn't get instant access to news, play poker, communicate with others around the globe, or see free porn.

Of course we also get to be entertained by the whack jobs out there. Check this one out over at 2 Hole Cards. A thread about whether online poker is rigged. I give Nick credit for trying to debate with the 2 lunatics who insist they are being cheated. If you read some of the hand histories, I would summarize them as being bad players or simply, idiots. Especially the guy who says he has a masters degree but probably couldn't find some countries on a map.

Played a minimal amount of poker this weekend. Played well in limit at Noble (how can you not?) but need to get my tourney game back in shape before Vegas. Missed the WPBT game last night. Congrats to Joe Speaker for his victory. 19 days until the railbirding begins!

Missing the point on Noble?

After satellite number 3 was over, I noticed a number of bloggers bashing Noble Poker. Cruddy avatars, sound effects that were stupid, not seeing cards, etc. were being tossed around as to why Noble is a bad site.

I am not going to argue about those things. They may not be the best but I ask you, what is? The game play seems to be the same as other sites, maybe not as smooth as you are use to at say Stars, but much better than a place like Poker Morgue Mountain.

But have you sat down and played the ring games there? You think that Party is an aquarium? This may be be the freakin' hatchery! The level of play is atrocious. Players will chase down their nut flush every single time. They will call the last bet thinking that maybe their A high is good. This will try to bluff at you when they aren't close to the nuts.

I ran over two tables for a period of an hour yesterday. One table even broke up after I smacked them around for 15 minutes straight. The 1/2 tables are gold for the person building a bankroll.

Only problem I see is the same problem you get when you go fishing. The suckouts will be brutal. One guy capped with 2 3 hearts yesterday and got lucky enough to catch a 6 high straight by the turn. Same bastard had his Hilton Sisters crack my aces. But all he managed to do was get his money back from me. Too many more times he called down with second pair.

I will not keep a sizable bankroll there, but I may continue to play at Noble for bonuses. They have just enough players where you can play 2-3 tables. The graphics may not be the best but don't worry about that. Your opponents aren't the best either. Isn't that what makes the game good?

WPBT- Shot number 3

I poured my Leinenkugel Big Butt Dopplebock, taking in the aroma of the beer. I took a sip. Smooth. Hopefully my poker play in satellite number 3 for a seat at Event #2 would be as smooth. I know I would have fun, but I wanted victory kind of fun.

I looked around at the starting table. Rather formidable. Dr Pauly is there once again. G-Rob of Up for Poker fame. Maudie, Peacecorn and Gamecock are the others I recognize.

A couple hands in I raise it up from EP with 2 2. It seemed like everyone called. So much for thinning the field. I fold on the flop. Same thing happens with 9 9. I call the bet but fold on the flop. Time for another beer. I may be too sober.

K J suited gets me a nice pot when 4 see a flop come K high and 2 clubs. I bet it out and they all fold but one. I know he is on a flush draw right away. I bet just over half the pot on the turn. He raises. I have to push. Shows A 3 clubs and doesn't fill on the river. Nice.

I give 350 back when I try to drop the hammer. But Gamecock throws it all in and I have to fold. I get moved to a new table just after I successfully drop the hammer.

There I see Iggy and Badblood. I was hoping to get a chance to play with these two at some point over one of these tournaments. Best thing so far is my raises get a bit of respect. I am not raising on crap but some good hands. I sit at 2320 at the break after A A gets me some more chips. 55 of the starting 81 are still in.

One of the better parts is running into Kevin, someone I met at Badger Poker(interestingly enough using the moniker I had referred to him as, Tigers Hat). He seems to be running well, though not in this tournament. He was done at roughly the 45 minute mark when his A A got cracked by 4 7 off. Ouch! Apparently he is kicking ass over at PokerRoom.

I get A A on the second hand after the break. I bet it out and it folds around. Reminds me of yesterday. I get Q Q and lose half of my stack to K K. The blinds knock me down to 860. I need to get some chips back and quick. But with blinds at 50/100, I do have some time.

I push with A K and get the blinds. But greed takes over. With A 10 suited, I call Bloods all in bet. I figure he may be playing the Jack Hammer (J 4) or the hammer. He has 10 10 taking away some outs. I don't see the A and I am crippled.

At that point, blinds go up and I am forced all in. My K 5 doesn't improve and I am out in 50th. It sucks that I didn't play my best game. Calling with A 10 suited??? I deserved to lose that pot. At least Blood took my chips and put in to good use. I big congrats goes out to the Pirate. He ended up winning it all and will be playing at the WSOP. Nice job!

In 3 weeks I will be on a plane heading out to Vegas. I have never really railbirded before but I am sure it will be a blast.

C'mon and play a free roll! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Played in the Las Vegas Vegas freeroll last night. It was a warm up for the WSOP satellite tonight. Both are over at Noble Poker. I hadn't played any of the tournaments at Noble so it was worth seeing how it would work.

I was seated with the infamous DrPauly on my right. Go read his latest trip report. Good stuff.

My hour was very uneventful. Got 10 10 a number of hands in but didn't see a flop. Defended some blinds, blah, blah, blah. I was ready to contact live support to see if they could get us some drinks but I don't think they would have liked that.

I did bluff at a good pot with 10 7 off in the small blind. Only me and the BB saw the flop of Q 7 3. I bet out my mid pair and was called. Turn was an A. I bet it out to see where I am. Roughly a pot sized bet. He calls. But I am not sold he has anything. So I push on the river and he folds. Whew!

I get lucky when I raise it up in mid position with A J suited. I have learned not to play this hand too aggressively. Too many people play it like it is A K. I like to think I understand the hand as a good position play but then again, what do I know? I raise it and get called by my immediate left. Flop comes 4 5 2. I push all in. I figure maybe he has an ace. He calls and shows 6 6. Either he had a great read on me or was willing to gamble. I catch my J on the river for the big suckout.

I then bleed away half of my chips as I try to steal some pots. I avoid the guy slow playing his A A but he still gets some chips off of me. I get a feeling of "Screw it!" coming over me and just about push all in with Q 7. But instead wait one hand later when I get K Q suited. I give a standard pre flop raise and get called by the big stack in the big blind. Flop comes 8 9 J. All diamonds. All the wrong suit. I push anyways. Unless he has a diamond, he really can't call this. He doesn't and I get some chips back.

I push a pot when we both had a king high straight and are each holding K J. Second time in the tourney this has happened with me. At the break, I am sitting with 2710 which probably put me in the middle of the pack of about 86 left.

I get A A on the third hand. I raise it up with one caller. I bet half the pot on a J high flop but he won't bite. I then get moved. Damn, I liked that table. I get put with one of the biggest stacks in the tourney. They have 3xs my chips. And they are trying to bully.

I donate chips on a tilt play by another person at the table. He just lost a big pot and pushed all in pre flop. I had A 10 and figured he had no pair so I called. He shows K 9. Hits his 9 on the turn. I hate when people play crap and get lucky but what can you do. That is poker.

New table. Seem to be weeding out the sit outs now. I give half my chips away on another pathetic steal attempt. In the BB I see the free flop of 4 4 2. I bet out and get called and the re-raised. My Q 7 looks pathetic here so I am out. With just over 1000 left, I have no choice but to push with any decent looking hand. I need a double up soon.

With A 9 diamonds in late position, I make my move. I get called by the BB with K Q. 10 9 J on flop and I am done. That was painless.

Other thoughts about Noble
There are some interesting hands that I have seen at Noble that I haven't seen elsewhere. Like lots of quads. Got beat by them again yesterday. It seems like every session, I lose my nut flush to quads, or my full house goes down. Thankfully, I have noticed betting patterns and I am not dropping a lot of cash on them. I also have quite a bit of success with 10 10. Flopping sets or filling straights. Even with over cards on the board, they seem to hold up. I guess it doesn't hurt to have such bad players chasing their flushes all the time. In one instance yesterday, one of the biggest fishes I have ever seen, was at my table. I was about to fold my 10 10 to him when the board was showing 9 J K 5 4. I had raised preflop and he just called. I bet the flop and he raised. I checked the turn and called his bet. I checked the river and was about to fold to his bet. Then I reviewed the notes again. Besides having a good pot out there, I realized that this clown may not have the J or K. There is a good chance he had a failed flush or straight draw so I have to call. Sure enough, he missed his gut shot straight. That was worth pumping up the pot on. If he bets preflop he may be able bluff it away. But he has no clue what his table image is. Beautiful stuff.

Limit

I currently am playing some limit over at Noble Poker. Doing a little bit of bonus whoring, plus that is where the next WPBT satellite is being held. The way I see it, at the very least, by catching the bonus, that alone pays my satellite entry. I have no complaints with that.

I am playing a mix of .5/1 and 1/2. I know the 1/2 game is better and will collect the bonus much faster but sometimes the swing of the bad beats came take the wind out of your sails.

For example, I played both games Saturday morning and had a nice little profit. Enough to make up for the drunken poker session late Friday. But when I played two tables of 1/2 in the afternoon, I ran into some of the worst beats in a long time. Specifically when 8 5 off beat my set and 3 5 suited stuck around calling capped betting rounds pre and post flop, and two more big bets on the turn to suck out his flush.

I lost 100 in about an hour. It isn't much but it was the principal. You want those suckers to stick around for the suckout because the majority of the time they will not hit. But it gets frustrating when the clown stays in with second or third pair, and hits his card on the river. I would be lying if I didn't admit that it affects my game. What then happens is that I play a hand like J J or 9 9 pretty soft, limping and calling instead of betting and taking control. I know you cannot play winning poker if you play passive all the time.

I would say the level of play at Noble is rather bad, which is good. On Sunday, I made up the loss I had on Saturday afternoon. I started on .5/1 and then moved up to the 1/2 again. There were at least 5 players that I watched who played any two cards. They were going to call any bet up to the river no matter what. I knew it was my job to make them pay for every little pair or draw they held. And I did.

I took down a nice $60 pot when the rounds were capped three times. My 9 9 didn't feel that good when I saw all the raising going on. When the flop came 8 10 7, I didn't mind it as much. When the J hit the turn, I was elated. Even more when everyone kept tossing chips in and I had the nuts (yeah someone could have Q 9, but with all the raising, it is doubtful even with all the idiots that were seated). I thought I was screwed when the river produced a Q. Now A K would take it down. But it check around to me. There is a nice pot out there. If you have A K, why wouldn't you bet it? When it came to me, I was about to check it as well, but the voice inside screamed "Bet it! Value bet at the minimum". Though I thought someone would be cute and check raise it, I realized that the betting pattern had changed enough that no on up front that had led the betting could have A K now. I bet it out and was called down. My straight was good.

I have yet to play any of the tournies at Noble. There doesn't appear to be much SnG action. I tried to sign up for freeroll on Saturday but it filled up within 7 minutes. That isn't too surprising as it was limited to 500 people, but at the time, there was supposedly only 350 on the site. WTF?

I must say that is it better than Poker Morgue Mountain. I am glad I pulled my funds out of there. I would be surprised if they don't shut down soon. I checked in there a couple of times over the weekend. Each time (it was about 4 and during the middle of the day), there was only 28 people logged in. Not a single one was playing for real money. Plus their tourney information is still about the Bellagio even over a month ago. Doesn't look like Daniel Negreanu or TJ Cloutier can save this one from going down.

Unfortunately, playing the tournies at BoDog haven't been as kind to me. I have made some playing the SnGs but am doing nothing at the multis. I think I know what I am doing wrong too. I may be too aggressive. There are a lot of bad players at BoDog. You cannot bluff them. You can't make plays on them. They will call you bullying bet with second or third pair even though it looks like you are representing the flush. You better have the best hand or you will lose.

I haven't had those hands. I have made it deep but keep finishing just out of the money. I think it is a matter of time but I will do some good there. Just need to keep plugging. What I don't like it the structure of the tournaments. You get 1000 chips but the blinds start at 5/10. Too low for my taste. If you bet out the pot a couple of times, you put yourself in a bad spot if you lose. Plus, you will not effectively weed out the drawing heads preflop with a raise to just 30 or 40.

The other part that isn't good on the SnGs, are the blinds will go up after every 10 hands played. It effectively makes it a crapshoot at the end. Hands are being folded quickly and the blinds climb fast. Actually, this isn't all bad. I have played very aggressive late in the SnGs and pushed people around. Even without a big stack. Too many people are extremely passive at the end of the SnGs. Great time to steal.

The blinds go up every 12 minutes (I believe) in the multis. That isn't as bad. But with the low blinds, I need to work on my patience and stay willing to fold the crap hands. For some reason, I haven't been able to do that. I think part of the reason is that I will have a good hand broken early on, putting me on the short stack, and trying to fight my way back up, instead of just playing the waiting game for a good hand. That is correctable, so I am not concerned. I still like the overlay they have on most tourneys so I will continue to play them.

With less than a month to Vegas, and the The World Poker Bloggers Tour Aladdin Casino Classic coming up, I feel pretty good about my game. I feel even better knowing I will be in Vegas!

Respecting your opponents

I realized yesterday that I have been giving some players way too much credit lately. Well, this didn't quite happen yesterday but it has been coming around for the last couple of weeks. A lot of great players say that poker is not playing just your hand, it is playing your opponents hand as well. Trying to really figure out what not only they have, but how will they play it as well.

This has affected my play over the last month or so quite a bit. At first I was quite wary of those limping in from first position, especially mid to late in tourneys. It seemed every time I raised it up with Q Q or J J or A K, I found myself running into A A. So I started to fold those hands quite a bit. Of course, it wasn't an automatic fold decision. Other factors such as my stack size,their stack size, blinds, place in the tournament, etc. would be taken into consideration.

Then I started taking notes on plays they had already made. I noticed that maybe I was giving some people too much credit for the plays they were making. Yeah, I could run into the guy trying to limp on his A A UTG once in a while but too many times with was some joker playing something like A 6 off suit with a big stack that was would push to intimidate or buy the pot. Or is was a desperate short stack that was committed.

This has earned me a lot of pots and saving me many chips on other occasions. Early in a tournament I can lay down some goods hands as I get some info. I think that is why I have done pretty well, as I watch too many numbskulls failing to see that they are not only behind, but are drawing dead. It becomes one of my favorite parts of the game- watching morons bust out on really dumb plays.

So I played the $5 multi last night. Finished 24th, netting a whole 8 bones. I should start to look at my stats from these tournies because for 2 hours, I believe I may have won a total of 4 pots that I saw a flop on. And then I may have seen the flop on only 5 other hands that didn't involve the blinds. That is the kind of cards I got all night. My best hand was Q Q. Then 9 9, 8 8, 7 7. I did get A Q twice. Seriously, that was it. Nothing bigger than that.

How I managed to hit 24th perplexed me at first. But I stopped giving too many people too much credit for having real hands, especially in the mid rounds. I had K 7 get me back into the game when I pushed my last 800 in when a 7 hit the flop. Guy who limped with A K got mad as his chips came my way. Hey, if you raise it up on the button instead of slow playing it, I am out of there. I did get lucky once. On the same player too. I tripled up with 10 6 in the BB on a flop of 6 6 Q. SB bet out and I pushed all in. It was a sizable pot at the time. I figured the chances of all these limpers having the case 6 is rare. Plus, only a couple hands could beat me. Q Q (which would have been raised up) or A,K,Q, or J 6 would beat me. Only hand that made sense was A 6 and if someone limped on that, they deserve to lose. Well, everyone folded to the button who then pushed as well. He had me easily covered. He showed A 6. Turn was a 10 to fill the house and I jumped up into contention.

My Q Q got me over 13k but that would be it. I pushed with K Q in late position and 2 limpers. I thought I could take down the pot with the all in bet. But UTG had A A and I was done. Right away I thought I should have bided my time. If no one tries to limp, then it is a good play. But with the limpes, I should have known I was most likely behind already.

Oh well. Chalk another up to experience.

Waiting for the train wreck

No, not the way I played poker last night. I am talking about one "professional" (a term that must be used extremely loosely in this case) and his website. I am glad to know I am not the only one reading, morbidly fascinated, by this walking blunder, waiting for the train wreck to happen. Anyone who uses "cool" or "chill" as often as he does, does not have all the cards in the deck. Though he looks to be at the bottom of his game and doesn't have money to buy in to any tourneys, that doesn't seem to stop him from raving on.

Go read for yourself.

You can thank me later. Or curse me when you become addicted. Maybe I will set up a pool for when he goes off the deep end. My bet is the second day of the WSOP main event, when he gets knocked out. I suggest wearing body armor if you are a railbird when it goes down.

Forgot

to give a shout to the winner ABVidale. Nice job!

WPBT satellite night take 2- Drunken poker

I kinda rushed home to play in the WPBT satellite for a chair in Event #2 at the WSOP. Earlier in the day, I enjoyed the Brewers demolishing the Reds at Miller Park. Needless to say, if you know me, I also drank a fair share of hoppy beverages during the game. Afterwards, I popped into a couple taverns to enjoy some more beer. My friends gave me a strange look when I took off at quarter to 6 to get home to play some poker.

I did pretty well to my reckoning. I got on a nice rush late and won 5 hands in a row to pop myself up to 2nd place. With 11 left, I liked my chances.

I drop a lot on A 8 off defending my blinds. A flop of all diamonds doesn't help as it give me a low flush draw. I call a bet on the flop. I bet out when he checks the turn. 2000 isn't good enough and he calls. I check the river as well and lose to A Q.

That isn't so bad but the chip leader in on my right and he is pretty damn good. We hit the final table and I am in 5th. I try to steal with J 10 hearts but run into a pair of 8s. With only 400 more to call I have to do it. Flop gives trips and I stumble backwards again to 8th.

I have some 9s hold up and double through. I get some blinds with A K and kick up to 3rd place. That is where I get 10s and run into A K. The ace hits the flop and I get knocked down again. I get A A on the next hand and call the all in by the chip leader. He has 6 5 suited. Flop hits the 6. Turn is a 6 and I am gone.

Nothing you can do when you are all in with a great hand. I received no help when I needed it most. For the best recap, go check out Dr. Pauly.

Updates

I have updated some links on the side. I added the pages that I check out on a daily basis. There is a good mix of stuff over there. Some damn good writers, good strategy, and other stories of people like myself who are learning and enjoy playing the game. I will be adding more later so I hope I don't offend anyone at this point by leaving them off.

P-Stars play

Thanks for some recs. That was appreciated. I did check out Bodog and will probably throw some money in there to play there tournaments. I did check out the site and it may have what I am looking for in the tourney area. And if the games are soft, all the better!

I also played the $10 tourney on Poker Stars last night. I don't know what the words were to describe it. Interesting. Amazing. Surprising.

First off, 1273 people signed up for it. Wow! I am not used to seeing that unless it is a buck entry or a freeroll. First place was over $1200. Sweet. To make the money, you needed to come in at least 135 and would get $30. Not bad. The level of play? Pretty bad at times.
From my experiences in freerolls, I wasn't too concerned about not making the money. I can play tight and wait for hands. As long as I don't suffer from a bad beat, I am ok.

My table was pretty decent. There were some loose players that wanted to see flops. You could raise the blind up from 10 to 150 and you were going to get 4 callers. Not truly what I wanted to have but if they didn't catch any piece of the flop, they were gone. I dumped some chips on exactly that. With A K suited I jacked it up to 150 and 4 of us saw a flop that came all rags, and all hearts. I checked it and some guy moved all in with A K hearts. No big deal there. I would chips up with 10 10 when I hit a set on the flop. I bet out half the pot, knowing I would get called. Sure enough, someone moved all in and I called. He showed his open ended straight draw. That became meaniningless when a 5 paired the board giving me a safe boat.

I played A K aggressively next bluffing my way on a 10 high flop. It took the second bullet but I took it down. From there, I hardly played a hand for the next 20 minutes. Didn't catch much. I was a bit amazed that people were dropping like flies. 30 minutes in and half the field was gone. I don't know why but I assumed that was just a low limit tourney or a freeroll experience where people move on anything. Guess not.

I got booted around 600. Got dealt K K in the small blind. I moved it up to 350, knowing the BB would not fold. I have seen him call everytime he had money in, so I am going to get all I can out of this. Flop comes 9 high. I bet the pot and he calls. Not a surprise. Turn is a J. I push basically because it is a pot size bet and I think I should be good here. He insta calls and shows J 9 off. See ya. I don't think I could have done anything else here except push on the flop or pre-flop. Even then it wouldn't have mattered. He wasn't going to fold.

Funny how this game can smack you around. I feel I played pretty good, though maybe a tad tighter than I should. The thought of making some money in that tournament is very appealing. I know I will enter it again. Right now though, I will deposit some into Bodog and check that out.

I don't know if I will play tonight. I got 2 books to read. On the advice of many better bloggers, I got Dan Harrington's book on tournament poker and Sklanky's Theory of Poker. Must reads that I need to get some time to, well, read. That is kind of tough though. Whenever I start reading, I end up wanting to play. If worse comes to worse, I will read on the plane to Vegas in June.

Rollercoaster poker

Went back to the $5 multi at PokerRoom. As much as I would like to play higher, and will, I thought I shouldn't necessarily be moving up quite yet. I got to thinking about how tournament entries are like limits in ring games. As you get better, you should move up. However, winning one of these tournaments does not necessarily mean I am killing this game. I have cashed in 5 of 7 that I have played, but that was only 2 final tables. Plus, the time is right on this tourney with a start at 5:30. This will get at least 300 people involved which makes for a decent payout and some cash back in 40th position. The $10 tourneys at PokerRoom never seem to attract 200 entrants and pay only the final table. Other tournaments seem to start later which means I may be up until 1am which doesn't make me spring fresh for my job. I will have to scout around. Until then, the $5 should do me good.

Played on the tight side at first. But made nice bets when my reads were feeling good. I have started taking more notes and tagging everyone. That info is pretty valuable, even early on. For example, my first big pot is won with 8 8. I limped in UTG+2. I should have raised it up but I knew that I would be raised by at least one other and if the flop totally missed me, I didn't want to get crippled. I had already lost 700 of my starting 1500 on missed flops. 5 others tried to limp in but the BB wasn't having any of that. He pushed. UTG called but only after some hesitation. I knew the BB didn't have much for him to push. The hesitancy by UTG told me he had an ace at best, no pair. I called even though it would put me all in. I was confident I was ahead and was hoping their cards would nullify each others. What I didn't like was another limper going for the ride as well. BB had K 9, UTG and the other caller had A Q. Cards all came low and suddenly I am up over 3600.

I build it up nicely to 9700. My notes continue to pay off as I watch one guy with a nice big stack play too many hands. I get paid off by him when I raise my J J up to his min raise. I jump it 5xs the BB. I was a bit surprised when he pushed. I thought WTF and had to call. He showed 6 6 and I jumped up again to 16000.

Then disaster struck. With 9 10 suited, I called a min raise from the small blind. BB folded and MP and I saw this flop.

J 10 6. I bet out my second pair to see where I might be. I am called. Turn 9. I bet it out again, 2500, feeling he may have a jack or a higher pair. I think my 2 pair are good here. He raises me? I call. River 4. I put out a small feeler bet and am shocked that he pushes. I quickly call. He turns over K Q for a straight. Huh? I beat myself up for not seeing the straight possibility on the board.

I have been knocked down to 1800. Time to push on any high cards. I get lucky when I push with K J suited and get a straight. I push with A2 and split a pot with A 7 with all high cards on he board. At 4000 I push with A 10 and beat out A 7 to get to over 8000. Then pocket rocket come in a most opportune time and I more than double to 19000. Back in the game!

Soon we are in the money which means a minimum of $14.50, a whole 9 dollar net! First is just under $500 so I need to find my way to get there.

I don't start well when A Q doesn't hit a flop and 8 8 has me betting out and being called down by second pair (my own mistake as I bet out the A high flop and didn't follow up with a turn bet. Must fire the second bullet!). The big stack on my right is a problem. I can't seem to win a pot from him and I can't tell if he is bullying.

Sitting just under 7k, I suddenly feel desperate and push with A 6 from EP. I am relieved when it folds around. I push from the small blind when their is a limper and the big stack on my right raises up. I am behind when I see the one caller has A 10 to my A 8. But the board pairs up twice and it is a split. I am alive!

I notice a couple times that when someone is all in, that the other players are not checking down to try and eliminate that person. That is poor poker play for a tournament. Calling in mid position with A rag is killing a number of people as well. Good.

I get lucky in the BB with K 8. Flop comes 10 Q K. I bet it out and get re-raised. I call to see some one playing Q 10. But an 8 hits the turn and I am over 21k.

I hope to steal the blinds with J 10 suited but can't call the all in bet from the small blind. Next hand I get A K and re-raise the min bet. I push and run into A A. Damn!

With 9 9 I put my 1100 in. That isn't even a full call. 4 people see the flop that come K Q 2. NO help. 4 on the turn, 5 on the river. I am out at 20th and get 20 bucks.

I had a roller coaster ride tonight. I was able to find my places, push with a small stack, and get back into contention. That was encouraging. Yes, I got really lucky in a number of spots, but that is poker. Let's see how this one goes later this week.

If anyone knows of a good $10 tournament online, let me know. Any thoughts on moving up are appreciated as well.

I am a bit disappointed. I built up a stack 3 times and to finish at 20th wasn't where I wanted to be.

Congrats

Congrats to Bob for winning the satellite for the $1500 buy in at the WSOP. He played well and made a nice rush at the end. I started on his immediate right at the beginning of the tournament so maybe I had something to do with his victory. Yeah, I didn't make any moves and didn't play as smart as he did. Maybe if I stole more of his blinds or something (or didn't play like an idiot) it would have been me.

Go check his "junk" out.

Blogger tourney

Not much to report here. I played on the stupid side tonight. I started well but got impatient. I had the early chip lead when I bluffed at a pot with A J. Made it look like I had the flush.

I dropped the Hammer as well. I think that was the highlight. I called too much with J 10, not catching a flop. My draws weren't good.

And then it was over. I limp in with K 3 of hearts in the small blind. Flop come K high with 2 hearts. I bet the pot and get raised to 600. Hmm... I call. Turn is not a heart. I push all in. I realize right away that was a dumb move as my kicker sucks and I really need a heart. I am called and way behind. My opponent flopped a set. No heart mean I will be a railbird.

Man, did I play that like an idiot.

But I did clear the bonus at Party Poker. Wow are there some really bad players out there. I won pots with ace high. Ace high! Too many people playing hand after hand and staying in until the end. I knew I could call the last bet because they had nothing. The bad beats were thankfully kept to a minimum. I did see a lot of runner runner flushes. I was gracious enough not to berate anyone for their stupid play. Too many times they were calling 2-3 bets preflop and calling down many more bets in their suckouts. I may now bonus whore somewhere else. Noble Poker has some nice reviews but they apparently do not have enough players to make it worthwhile.

I also played a $30 SnG on Saturday night. That was kinda by accident. I was out drinking all day when I logged on. Had come in 4th in a $10 SnG and I thought I would make it all up and then some. I signed up for the $30 and waited for it to fill up. Suddenly I realized how foolish I was being. I tried to unregister but it was too late. The table lit up and it was on. I hung in pretty well. Made the money coming in second. Sweet.

I think now I will play some of the small buy ins at Full Tilt in hopes of winning something bigger. Wish me luck.

BadBlood plays Poker

My submission for BadBlood.

I thought about sobering up before the tournament started. But decided to just go with it. Saturday had been spent watching the NFL draft, drinking beer and eating wings at Hooters. Kinda like pre-game ritual as of late.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I was tired but excited about the prospects of winning a seat into a WSOP tournament. I had run well, even winning a tournament the prior week. I got out of bed, hung over. Went into the bathroom to pee and shave my tongue. Why the hell did I smoke that Dutch Master cigar? I see my car on the street. I recall not driving home, so that is good.

I look at the clock and see that is is 11 in the morning. Just then the phone rings. It is my partner in crime, Brian. We had run up the bill pretty well at Hooters yesterday. The beer portion was higher than the food portion- a sign of victory. And we always have at least 50 wings when we are there. Brian wanted to go to the Brewers game. He wanted to get in some tailgating before hand. I feel my brain swimming in alcohol still. Somehow I mumbled a “sure, let me take a shower” and hung up the phone.

He shows up 20 minutes later and we are heading to the stadium. As he drives he is telling me about the crazy stuff I was doing last night. Like ordering a pitcher of Guinness. He asks about who this Iggy guy is and how could I drink that much Guinness so fast. He says I was drinking everything in sight. I did shots of SoCo, dedicating them to Al, Heineken saluting BadBlood, and even found some Red Stripe giving shout outs to the “good Dr.”. He told me how he had to stop me from trying to pick up the cardboard cutout chick that was the Miller Lite display. He also said to stay away from that bar, as the owner may not appreciate me hurling on the front steps.

After we parked, he thrusted a beer into my hand and told me to drink up. I did. That hurt at first but hey, hair of the dog always works. The game goes well, or at least what I remember of it. Next thing I know I am logging on for the blogger tournament.

I arrive in Hellmuthian style, 20 minutes late. I have lost some chips to the blinds but am in a respectable place. I notice some familiar names. Human Head, Dr. Pauly, BG. Others I not familiar with. I am sure I make a great impression with my drunk typing.
I must be making an ass out of myself as I try to horn in on the continual side bets between BG and Dr. Pauly.

I play some hands but don’t win a single pot. I don’t deserve to win a pot playing K 4 unsuited or J 7. I am impatient as not a single hand is coming my way. I get visited by the Hilton Sisters and make a silly move by pushing my 1000 all in with blinds just 20/40. It cracks someone’s aces and I being applauded by some. Ok, I am applauding myself for getting lucky. From there, the deck hits me silly. Pocket rockets come by twice in 5 hands. A Q suited flops the flush and I slow play it well. I fill a straight flush with 3 4 suited from the button. It is like I can do no wrong.

I play well, though I am legally still drunk. I get to the final table in second place only to BadBlood. I figure I can wait and just play good cards. That is when I get a call. This chick that has been badgering me about sushi calls and yelling at me about some call I made last night. As I argue with her I decide to try and steal the blinds but make the mistake of moving all in instead of just raising it up. A 2 won a tournament for me before so why not now?

Weeks later I am in Vegas, strutting down Fremont Street. I proudly display the banner of the WPBT on my shirt. I go right on in to the Horseshoe with a beer in my hand to the back looking for the tournament. But the poker room is quite bare. Only 3 tables are in play. I check my watch. No I am on time. Just at the wrong casino. Crap!

I grab a taxi just in time to see the winner of the satellite slam the Hammer down on the table. I buy the bloggers on the rail a round of drinks. They begin to talk about how my flopped set of aces lost out to the Jack Hammer that hit quad 4s. Damn you Blood, damn you!

Gearing up for the satellite in a BIG way

As I mentioned earlier, I was going to play some mutltis to warm up for the WSoP satellite on Sunday. I hopped onto PokerRoom to play the $5 multi in hopes of revving my play up. Little did I know it would be historic night.

340 players started. Not much happened over the first hour. I survived. Didn't have much to play early on. Q Q got busted down when the board was showing one overcard but a flush and straight possibility. Had to lay it down to the river bet. As the cards went bad, I began to wonder if my strategy of playing big multis was right. There would be only 50 in satellite. Would going up against 340 be of any use for a smaller tournament? Well of course I would. Guess I should focus on the game at hand.

As I said, I survived until the first break. I believe I was 90 out of 104. I got lucky as my 10 10 went up against J J and hit my set on the flop. That was the first time I had put all my chips out there. It also propelled me comfortably into the money.

From there I played pretty tight. I even folded J J at one point to a raise and a call. The raise came from UTG so I was skeptical. Too many times I have seen a min raise off of aces or kings. I figured my jacks probably weren't good. What I didn't do was factor in the previous play of the UTG guy. I had taken notes on many players, notes that would pay off nicely later. I should have known that he would only min-raise with an ace. If he had something stronger, his bet would have been higher. I should have flat called there. Flop would come all rags. They checked it to the river (which happened to be a jack). I could have taken down a nice pot there.

Long story short, I made it to the final table. I came into the final table in 9th. Blinds were 1000/2000 I had 22000 so I had some wiggle room. At this point I was focusing on how I could get up to 4th place where the real money paid out. At that point I would figure how I could win it as well. Problem was the chip leader (140k) was on my right and knew how to use a big stack.

I just about double up defending the blinds and playing aggressive with the flops. In the BB, my 3 4 off sees a flop of 2 5 J. I bet out the pot and get called by a big stack. Crap. Turn is a 4. I push and he folds. I had watched him call many a flop bet and fold on the turn. I felt my fours were good.

Next in the small blind I get 9 10 suited. I complete and see the flop with 2 others. 10 high. I make a pot size bet which takes it down. Up to 32000 now.

Two hands later I try to limp in with Q J. BB raises to 9000 and I fold. Flop came Q high. Turn was a Q. I doubt the BB was playing A Q or K Q. I start to think I just missed another good opportunity. Especially when the deck goes cold for awhile.

Like 12 hands awhile. Two sets of blinds gone.

Then it hits me silly. Totally silly. Next four hands are J J J J 10 10 A K. I collect on each (nothing huge but good size bets from the big stack) and suddenly I am at 102000. I have gone from 8th place (last) to second.

I don't know if I make a mistake here or not. As it would play out, it would be not, but I believe I would do this again. I lay down Big Slick. UTG raised it. UTG+1 pushes all in. If he goes out, I advance one more spot in the money. That is my rational for laying it down. Turns out UTG had A A. UTG+1 had 4 4 and hit his set. Ugly. The runner with aces goes out on the next hand. Can you say tilt?

I am comfortably in second now and waiting to pick my spot now. Defend the blinds well. That is my mantra as I don't get many good hands.

Down to 6. Darn, no lights or camera. I thought we may be on TV.

The big stack starts to totally bully the table raising 5 hands in a row. That takes my blinds. I fold 5 5 to his raise. Good thing as the flop came all paint.

But I dump 60000 from the BB with 9 10. I see the flop for free that comes 7 3 9. Big stack bets out and I call. Turn is a rag. He bets and I raise to see where I am in the hand. He re-raises me. I didn't expect that. I make what I believe is another error. I call, albeit,reluctantly. River is a K. I feel I am beat and can't call that 20k bet. I am now at 47k.

Next hand is A J and I push. BB folds. Next I get J J. The big stack raises to 25k. I push. He calls and shows A 5 suited. No help and I am back to 122k. What a swing!

But we are still at 6. Someone gets knocked down to being bounced out but bounces back instead. One clown then starts pushing on every hand. I am surprised and then again, I am not. That is his only move. At an earlier table, he never raised a logicial amount of 3 or 4 times. It was always all in. He is pushing 80k when blinds are 3k/6k. That is just plain stupid. And he would pay for it. He finally get knocked out when A J beats his A Q. He was mad about it too. Let's see, if you just raise it up and see a flop that didn't help you, you can fold. Instead, you push with an ok hand.

I am glad to see the numbskull gone. He seemed to be a good guy; on of those who always typed "nh". I pretty much hate that, but he was different. What I also didn't like was the fact it was the big stack that took him out. He is over 300k.

And bullying even more. Except when I get K K. Then he folds. WTF.

We get down to 4 soon and the good money. Big guy has 330k. I have 97k. Next is at 47k and the bottom at 26k. Blinds are whipping around at 4000/8000. For my $5.50 entry fee, the least I will get is 4th, which pays out $136. 3rd at $170. 2nd at 255 with 1st at $425. It will be the most I have ever won in a tournament, eclipsing the $125 mark off of a freeroll.

My strategy is a bit different now. I am waiting for the small stacks to go bust. I can let the bully do his job and just play premium hands. That is how I will try to win this tournament. Try to get heads up with the big guy. If I can I will pick off a short stack. But they aren't pickable. A Q goes down to A K. I take a stab at it twice with marginal hands making big bets to force them to fold. That works poorly and suddenly find myself in 3rd place!

The deck is cold again. I start to bleed away in the blinds. I watch others go all in and hit miracle cards on the river. Where was my miracle card?

I get lucky when the big stack doesn't bet a flop on me (rare for him) and I push with nothing. I breathe the sigh of relief when he folds. I notice his fold is predictable too. He bets quickly but if he pauses, he is going to fold. If he waits a longer amount of time, he will raise.

I so happy to see A K come along. Big guy raises to 25k. I push my 20some thousand in. Big stack calls as does another!! They show K Q and K J. Ace on the flop is all I need. I am up to 77k. That won't last as blinds are now 5000/10000 and flying around fast.

I play Doyles hand out of the BB. Bluff my way to victory on the turn. 10 2 off is quite powerful. I get rid of the last guy with K 10 to his Q 10. We are now heads up!

I am out chipped 355k to 126k. At first I think I can be content with second place. But that changes when my brain starts kicking my skull. I worked my way up here, not try to find a way to win damnit!

So I do. I play good flops aggressively. I don't put all my chips at risk unless I am confident I have the best hand. Two pair on the flop, make him pay to see another card. Flush on the flop? That doens't scare me. I will bet like I have that flush. It works well. I mix in my raises with min raises and 3xs the blind bets. I work my way up and take the chip lead!

We go back and forth a bit. I stick to my strategy and give the lead back for a bit. One hand to be exact. I nail him back down to just under 100k. Now he is pushing a lot. I need the right hand to push back.

That hand would be A 2 off. Yeah, that powerhouse! I raised it up from the small blind. He goes all in. At that point, I felt he didn't have an ace. I felt he didn't have a pocket pair either. My read is two face cards. I call. He shows K J. Offsuit even. A duck on the flop and I am quacking to the bank.

I finally win my first multi!!! 1 out of 340. Out chipped practically 3 to 1 and I fought back to win. Afterwards, I realize there was only one showdown while we heads up. The last one. I had only put my chips, my tournament life, at risk 2 times during the entire night.

I also didn't play the best game I could. Should have seen a flop with those jacks. But I had a nice laydown with Big Slick too. Even still, I am quite proud of the accomplishment. Next goal is to win a bigger first place prize.

Sunday sounds good.

Running better but not great

My results of playing over the weekend weren't much to brag about. Stunk in the freerolls. Looked lousy in the Lucky Dollar. And I won a single SnG.

I was drunk when I did it. Ok, not really drunk but it was a session of poker after coming home from 6 hours at a bar. I think that is a sign.

I did play a multi on Sunday. There was one hand that kinds pissed me off. I hadn't made any real traction in this game but I had a chance. I needed to make the final table to cash. I was sitting with about 2200 when I posted the big blind and got 7 5. Got to see a free flop, thank the heavens. Flop came 4 6 10. I bet out 350 and got called in two places. Turn was a Q. I bet out 400 more. The first guy calls but the second on raises. Hmmm...I call the other 400 as well. I have pot odds to do so. But the other guy now pushes all in. WTF? He is immediately called by the other guy. Huh? I have to fold as I am only on a draw. River is an 8. That would have been my straight. The pusher shows his slow played K K. He lost to Q 4 suited and two pair. Ugh!

I was pissed. If the guy doesn't raise, then the other one doesn't push. And he didn't have to push. Well, I can see why he would. He could have tried to keep me in at the end. Anyways, it set me off. I would have been over 6000 and had a great chance to make that final table. Instead I was soon out in 64th. All the while I couldn't forget about that one hand that could have propelled me upwards. I may have blown it on a bluff later but at least I would have had the opportunity.

After that, I was done and walked away. With some trepidation I played again Monday night. Hopped on a SnG and had the deck hit me silly. Got Q Q followed by J J and then 10 10. Only the 10s cashed for me. On the jacks and queens, someone pushed all in on me on the flopped king. I would chip back up just to bet out on a nice pocket pair and have to fold to the over card. One time I did call when the board went runner runner to fill the flush. I thought my two pair was good and wouldn't have expected the guy in the cut off to be playing 10 6 suited.

But that is what a lot of these knuckleheads were doing. Playing the suited, the connecters and the one gappers like crazy. Once I noted this, I calmed down my play a bit and adjusted to my own level of aggressiveness. Well, I had no choice as I had only 265 chips left.

I doubled up with my 10 10. I bluffed another good pot on the blinds by just betting on a crap flop. I got 5 5 and it help up on A J. Before I knew it, I was back in the game with over 2300. With about 5 left, I now had a chance to play again.

And I did.

I stole more blinds. I avoided the chip leader. I used my notes on the last goofball against him. I slow played some aces to take the chip lead. Things got interesting when we got down to 3. First, the short stack just wouldn't die. He went all in on a number of ace rag hands and always hit the rag. He went from 800 back to over 4000.

As that happened, I was taking apart the chip leader. He begun to raise every hand, no matter what. Unless I had something, I didn't play unless I had the blinds. Then I defended my blinds. I would call him on the flop as well. Then I used a nice play I picked up on the WPT. I was calling the blinds and then raising him on the river. It worked like a charm. I did this to him 3 straight times. You would think he would notice, but nope. That popped me up nicely.

The former short stack had recovered enough to later take out the former chip leader. It would only take me about 10 hands to finish the little guy off. His problem was that he folded too many hands heads up. He got blinded down. Finally, my A K took out his 7 7 and the big comeback was complete.

I plan to play some multis this week to get in shape for the WPBT WSOP $1500 event. It may be unlikely that I will win this tourney considering how I have been playing lately. But when I play well, I know I have a chance. Hopefully I can get my game going by Sunday.

Poker on TV

Iggy got me to thinking when I saw this on his site. The amount of money floating around in poker has already been talked about. Now with players cashing in on sponsorships, it is getting even bigger. Natural evolution of the sport.

The gripe of the players is that they cannot have their sponsor shown on a WPT or Poker Superstars broadcast. But they can have their image used to "support" a rival sponsor in their televised shows. I understand where they are coming from.

Watch NASCAR and see how it is when Jeff Gordon wins the Coca Cola 600. Funny how he drives a Pepsi car instead of a DuPont car for that race. Then they jam Coke bottles all over the roof of the car as he drinks the Pepsi.

But isn't this a case of the players benefiting from the WPT? Would they be getting all the deals if they didn't have the WPT? Doubtful. Second, they do not have to play in the tournament. Sounds like they are being selfish.

But this is America. They have the right to try and make as much as they can. If that is by selling themselves, then so be it. I applaud them.

In the end, I think both side will give in a bit. If not, they will ruin a good thing. Or someone else will come along (Harrahs is already there with their WSOP satellite events) that will give in to the pros and that could hurt the WPT. Howard Lederer acknowledges this. He knows it can be worked out. Last thing the WPT needs is for the pros to leave and become an amateur event.

I think the next evolution of the WPT is to have a poker player friendly version of the show. I would like to be able to choose between views I have. If I want to see the hole cards, I can. If I choose not to, I get a show that doesn't show the cards nor does it have Sexton or Van Patten talking about them. You get the audience version of the game. I would watch that version for a while at least.

You would get a real perspective of the game. It may feel like you are there, playing against the top pros as you think about what they may be holding and how you might play. At the end of the hand, they could then show the winners cards. Play the second version on a sister channel of Travel. Hey, I think it could work.

Since my game sucks, I am on a 2 day hiatus. Though I think I played well enough the other day, I am still not winning. That sucks.

Bad run

Been on a bad run lately. Don't know quite what it is. I have played a lot of limit lately and am trying to get back into the NL swing of things.

But something just isn't right.

I don't know what it is. Out of the last 6 SnGs I have played, I have come in 3rd just once. Nothing higher. I won't count the 1st and 2nd I won for a friend. That doesn't affect my totals.

I seem to play pretty good in the beginning usually doubling up for a nice lead. But things go down hill from there and I end up in 4th or 5th.

I know this weekend I hardly won any coin tosses. I would try to take the short stack out with A K or even A Q and be up against a smaller pair. Just couldn't hit my card. Of course, that would send me into a tailspin when the exact opposite would occur. My smaller pair would be taken out by the A Q when their card hit.

I know that the only solution is the stay on the bike and ride. That is what I tried last night. Played 3 SnGs. Came in 3rd in the first one. Came in 8th in the 2nd one when my kings ran into aces. Nothing I could do on that one. I thought he had A K at best. Then came in 4th in the last. I got smacked down early in that one running my top pair good kicker. Player stuck around with second pair and caught another on the river. Came back and was in a position to eke some money out but short stacked, K J ran into A A.

On the last table, it was the first time I thought that two players might be working together. Whenever Player 1 got shortstacked, Player 2 always seemed to fold to him. Now, I didn't pay that close attention to it at first, but there was one play at the end that made me suspicious. The big stack (Player 2)was just to the right of the short stack (Player 1). Every once in a while he would tell him to send some chips over. Now that alone doesn't mean anything. But when they aren't really playing against each other, that could mean something. There was one hand in particular that made me think I was getting shafted.

Player 2, the big stack, in the SB just calls. Player 1, raises the minimum to 1600 and has just 900 left. Player 2, should go all in to force him to play. It would cost him 1700 to do so and he would have 4200 left and a healthy lead. Instead, he folded. Now, this guy had raised my big blind for the last 4 rounds and suddenly he can't call another 800 against a short stack in an attempt to knock him out?

No, that isn't an "online poker is rigged" rant. But I know some people will cheat to win. I pity them. They will never understand what winning is truly about and won't have that nice sense of accomplishment.

Jesus has arrived at the table

Played a couple SnGs last night with bad results. That will happen when you play bad poker. I think my NL game is out of whack lately because I have been playing some limit. Trying to draw out only cost you money in NL. You may hit and take in a huge pot but you will lose more in the long haul.

Since my game was pretty crappy and I had two long bouts of getting really bad cards, I decided to play the $1 Razz tourney at Full Tilt. For those you aren't in the know, the object of Razz is to get the worst hand. It is like the opposite of 7 Card Stud. Straights and flushes do not count. I figured I could parlay my bad card streak into something good.

Of course, that doesn't happen. When I play Razz, I get pairs up the wazoo. I can turn a good starting hand like A 2 5 into 3 pair. That happened quite a bit yesterday. I bounced along in the tournament eventually busting out at 21 (out of a starting 121). I had no one to blame for myself as I played one hand way further than I should have. Yeah, I should have tightened up and made the money at 16 and come out a whole 64 cents ahead. But I had a good time.

At one point, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson showed up at the table. I was ahead of him at the time. It is interesting when a pro gets moved to your table. Some people start asking a ton of questions, others just say hi (that would be me), others gun for them. My guess is he had his chat off as he didn't respond. But I did talk with Mr Cant Hang making sure to introduce myself so he didn't think I was some crazy stalker.

Hopefully I will be playing some hold em at a church smoker tonight. Live play again. Could be good.

Why are you Badgering me?

The other day, someone commented about when I would play in Badger Poker again. My answer is quite simple.

I don't know.

There are a number of factors that go into this. By no means am I saying I won't play in one of these events again. But why would I? I can go online and make money playing. That alone sums it up.

Then again, I will give anonymous some credit. Writing about live play is soooooo much better than online play. Seeing people, what they wear, and how they act is good stuff. Too many people act like they are superstar poker players (why do I think of Bagman?). Commenting on their antics is fun. But not profitable.

I did peruse the locations of the current season for BP. I would venture a guess that parking for Longs is atrocious. Don't know where Flappers is exactly but by the address it looks rather residential (as in corner pub) so parking probably sucks there too. Ain't going to Waukesha and my lungs will keep me from the smokehouse that is the Bavarian Inn.

Plus, just from reading the comments at the BP forum, I don't know if I would enjoy it. Too many people cheating, acting like a-holes, and smoking up a storm. It is a free tournament. People take it a little too seriously.

Hmm...then again, those dipshits make for some good writing. As I did in Keshena, I could pull out the Palm and start jotting notes right away and they would not have a clue.

Last play at Poker Mountain.

I pulled everything out of Poker Mountain. Tried to play their tournaments over the weekend but they kept having problems. On Saturday it froze up 45 minutes after the start. It worked on Sunday but I have little trust in their software working.

On Sunday I had an interesting game. I bounced in the beginning before doubling up with A Q when one idiot gets moved to the table and is pushing on every hand. I get lucky when the flop comes 3 6 9. He has A 3. Turn is a 6 and the river an A. My Q kicker wins me the pot.

Later I would take a huge pot with Cowboys. Blinds are 30/60 and UTG goes for a raise to 180. I raise it up to 480 mainly to put him all in. I get 3 callers altogether! Not quite what I expected. I wonder am I in trouble here? Flop comes K high but with 2 spades. I am first to act and push my last 720 in. The two left with chips call. Huh? One has A Q spades. The other has A 10 off. The early pusher had 3s. I jump to 3600 and into the top 7.

But then I start to give chips away. I raise with K Q suited from early position and get re-raised by the min. I call and totally miss the flop. I bet it out and get re-raised again. I have no choice but to fold. Same thing happens with 5 5. Limp in and miss the flop. Bet it and get re-raised. My table image must be for shit now.

I am sitting around 1500 now as the cards are pretty cold. I finally get a hand. Pocket rockets. UTG, a small stack goes all in. Blinds are 150/300. The 60 overbet is nothing. I decide to just limp in, hoping I can trap someone and build a pot. I rarely make a move like this but then again, it was the second time I did it in this tournament. SB completes and the BB checks. Flop comes 9 high. I push and get one caller, the SB, with J 9. No help and I am back to 3800 and 6th spot when I knock someone out with 8 8.

But now the play changes. It seems to be to go all in on any hand. Too many people going all in with huge bets with crap hands, just trying to steal. All they are doing is helping the small stacks survive when they suck out on the river. Happened to me twice and I was getting mad. Some people just do not want to play poker at the high levels and want to get lucky. Yeah, I should have folded the A 10 but he only had J 9.

I get a major boost when two blacks aces show up again. I am able to triple up to over 13000. Suddenly I am in 2nd with 17 left.

I can sit back and wait for a while and play only good hands. We get to the final table and SURPRISE the site goes down and kicks everyone out. No wonder I moved my money out. We are able to get back on only for it to go down again. One option Poker Mountain has is the ability to make deals and split the prize pool. With the instability of the site, you think people would consider it. No, 3 people are not willing to proportionately split it up.

One guy gets knocked out but he gets dealt cards in the next hand. There is no flop. Nothing is happening. We are locked because of a player who is no longer playing is still seated and the software is waiting for him to act. Unbelievable. Then the site goes down again. This time, you cannot connect to the server.

I email them and they finally (after a half hour) reply that the tournament is over and you will win money based on the chip count. So I should have 40 some bucks coming in.

I am fine tuning my play. I had played earlier at PokerRoom paying $5 to play with 491 others. Came in 62nd after I blew chips out the wazoo in the second session. I was disappointed as I was in 11th at the break but played too many hands out of position. This time around, I played a bit tighter and let the better hands do their job. I threw a lot of hands away that I used to play. K 10 off in early position. Low pairs in early position. Hands that if you don't hit the flop you are screwed if you move them off their hands. But I still dump chips in bad bluff scenarios. If you are going to fire the first bullet, you better be prepared to fire the next two.

Overall a good weekend of poker when I played. Hopefully I will get some live play later this week.

Freerolls have been very good to me

Hit the final table once again at PokerRoom. I was in 7th having beaten out 2390 others to get this far and guarantee myself at least $22. Yep. Big stakes.

I didn't necessarily get lucky to be this far. At one spot I did suck out a Q on the river to beat some jacks but I played some solid poker. A few bluffs here, a good read now and then, aggressive play. I felt good, making some bets that I could get away from if it didn't work.

I sure didn't get more than my share of solid starting cards. Kings once. Aces maybe twice. The Hiltons just once. Never big slick suited. Ms Slick suited a couple of times.

I did have one good read. UTG limps and it folds to me in the small blind. I bump it up to 32000, a pot sized bet with A Q spades. BB goes away. UTG thinks and quickly pushes. I didn't expect that. I wonder if he is slow playing aces. No. That isn't it. I then think he has queens or jacks at best. I am confident I have at least overcards. I have him covered so I call and see K Q. Huh? I am shocked he didn't lay it down. Did he think he could bluff? Not a bad spot in hind sight, acting like he may have aces or kings.

But I wasn't going to let him get away with it. I like to take the chance and knock people out, especially when I feel I may have the best hand.

That propelled me into the top ten where I would stay. At the final table I would steal the blinds once. Hit a set with some 4s but get no action. I thought with a K up there he might make a play or think I was stealing.

I watched a knucklehead raise and re-raise with a gut shot and then hit it. Boy did that piss off the victim.

I then get the Hiltons again. It has been min raised ahead of me by the previously mentioned knucklehead and one caller. I bump it up to 150k. It folds back to knucklehead who raises again, pushing me all in. I call and see he has A J off. Not the best play I would say but I am ahead and liking it. Until the window card on the flop is an ace. Shit. There is a 10 as well. When the K hits the turn, I have the straight draw now. I need a Q or J. Nope, a 5 and I finish 7th. I did what I could. Got my money in with the best hand. I finish 7th and get $35 for my efforts.

I am playing a couple of dollar tourney later. Hopefully it is a good poker Saturday.