Ever get one of those sessions...

where you get total crap for cards? I mean, absolute crap!

I just had one. Played 54 minutes. In that time span, I raised exactly 0 times. Limped in 4 times with suited connectors or a suited ace and won one pot from the BB when I flopped two pair with Q 7o.

What a waste of time. Amazing how bad these cards were. Maybe I was being way too tight, but I don't think so.

Hopefully this means I get hit silly by the deck the next time.

A good run

Made a good run in EasyCure's tournament to Hammer Out Cancer last night. Finished 7th and barely made back some money. Beside winning it (of course!), I was hoping to make enough money where I would donate some money to the cause after getting my entry back. Instead, I barely got my entry back for 7th. The classy Dr. Pauly did donate half of what he won for coming in 2nd. The good doctor. One very charitable dude.

Must also give props to Frankl for winning. Nice job! Beside congratulating him for his victory, check out the half nekkid women. You know you will be adding it to your favorites now.

Finally, thank Biggestron for all the WPBT POY work he does. I have clawed back to the top of the leaderboard. Lucky for me the year ends after the DADI event on the 24th. The trophy is all locked up in my greedy little paws!

Wait, you mean it goes for all of 2006? Uh..yeah, I knew that.

I was quite happy with my play last night. I took my time with playing some hands instead of rushing in to satisfy my action jones. I chipped up a bit just to give it all back with some loose calls. I had my aces cracked the first two times they arrived. I feel lucky that I was up against small stacks only at the time. Aces continue to be just what they are. A 33% favorite. It wasn't until the 3rd time they arrived that they help up. That got me into the game and help propel me to the final table. A fourth time didn't hurt either.

If only my A Ko would have held up on BG's A 10. I would have been in position to win. With about 9300 left and blinds 500/1000, I just raised pot from the button. My thought was that if I pushed, it would look like a strong hand (my thinking at least). I decided to just raise pot to make it look like a steal, hoping I would be called by a weak ace. It appeared to work as BG pushed. I liked seeing A 10, but not liking went away with the flopped 10. Oh well.

I found myself replaying the hand in my head. If I push, will I get called. Yes, I am pretty sure he would have called. I would have called from the BB too in that position. Thus it wouldn't have really mattered. I do think that pushing was the right way to go now. A Ko is strong but it needs help to win.

As always, it was a good time playing. This tournies are more competitive that most I see. The skill set is always on the rise. If you don't bring your A game, you won't be around for long.

Not happy

I am going to focus on playing some more tournaments instead of ring games. Just part of my indecisive nature right now. Doesn't help that I am getting knocked around a bit in the ring games.
I made the money in the Full Tilt 5k yesterday. But I wasn't happy. 14 was ok, but I played rather crappily. Two hands in particular pissed me off. One where I raised with K J off (yeah, I know) UTG and was re-raised. I knew I was so beat and was going to fold. But then I thought "let's see a flop" and made the call. It totally misses me and I fold. But I put 4000 in for what?

In another hand I set my bluff up and didn't execute. From the big blind, I called a min-raise. Flop came with 2 diamonds. I checked and called the min bet. Another diamond on the turn. I bet out, bluffing the flush. I bet 3/4 of the pot. He thinks and calls. River is a blank. Instead of firing away, I checked. He checked behind and showed two pair. I don't think he would have called a bet there. I was so pissed at myself. I set up the bluff and didn't execute.

Today I played better but got sucked out on. What is with all the limp-call the big raise with a small pair shit going on? Makes no sense. Some schmuck cracked my Hiltons with his pair of 3s when he flopped a set. I had kept an eye on the guy for over an hour and knew how to play him. He was in practically every hand and folded to raises. But how do you call with a pair of 3s?

I think this has convinced me that there is no such thing as table image online. I have watched people play maybe 1 hand every half hour. Each time they have monsters. But people are calling their bets and sucking out. Amazing how bad it can be. It is brutal to watch.

Quite strange. To play bad and make some money. To play much better and get knocked out by a clown. Man, do I hate this game!

Come play EasyCure's Hammer out Cancer tourney tomorrow at Full Tilt. It is for a great cause!

Bad donkey, bad

I don't know why I tried the WWdN tonight. I wasn't in the right frame of mind. I tried to hit the PokerSavvy freeroll but those bastards never sent me the password and I didn't realize it until 10 minutes before it started.

I basically donked my chips away trying to be too aggressive. Not good.

I haven't played much poker lately. Just busy with other things and taking it easy. I know the bug will bite soon enough and I will dive back in. I just need to get in the right frame of mind.

I bought a copy of the new Richard Marcus book, Dirty Poker. If it is anything like American Roulette, I will be happy. It does have an interesting start. It basically infers that Jennifer Tilly's win at the WSOP was fixed. That she paid off the table so she could win to boost her career.

When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all!

CHAMPIONS!!!

Slapped back down

I tried to move up to the 5/10 game. After a couple of sessions with results that were not favorable, I backed down. I took some big beats, made some overly aggressive plays and flat out didn't do well. I found myself losing a big pot early and having to work to make up the losses. I was playing from behind too many times.

I will go back once I get my game in order. I need to move some money to take on the game properly. I am confident I can do well. I just need to be in the right frame of mind.

I have also dabbled a little into NL ring as well. This is definately my weakest area, yet the area that is so profitable right now. I have read many a trip report that tells of the soft tables in Vegas. A little online play can only help to make that transition to live come July. The way I see it, I can afford to lose a buy in or two, but I rather be ready for the game.

Some WPBT POY coming up soon. Check out Easy Cure's Hammer out Cancer Tournament on Full Tilt. That is on April 16. Come play for a great cause. If I make the final table, I will donate half of whatever I win. So feel free to dump some chips to me. :)

They all lie!

I am Batman!

Wait, did I get this wrong?

Collection

I muddled through the field yesterday. As I muddled, I wasn't happy with my play. For the first 2 hours, I played rather crappily. The only reason I was still alive was because of the 5000 starting stack.

Iggy set up it. A deep stack starting at 8pm with 30 minute levels. If you have a good game, you will do well if you can sidestep the bad beats. Patience could be paid off. Plus, the little guy is probably figuring it is the best way to train his players for the WSOP.

Yes, I said his players. With the enthusiam and zeal he had on this project, I see this as Iggy's Army. He probably would get as much satisfaction of seeing one of us bloggers win an event this year as the person winning.

So I was dancing through the tables, dodging minefield like my internet connection (went down twice) and the players around me. It started with CJ on my left. Not what you would like to see. Huntsvegas, an eventual winner, was just to his left. Then Bobby Bracelet shows up on my right. Not what I wanted to see.

Later I would have Maigrey on my right and Wonka two spots over. Every time I put a blind out there I knew I may have to fight to keep the thieves away. Thankfully I got a couple good hands to send a message but that would only last for the time being.

As I had said before, I wasn't too happy with my play early on. I was too loose. Making some flop calls with just bottom pair, hoping I would get lucky. It was just shit poker I was playing. CJ did put a great move disguising his A A on one hand. It was that hand that would send me into a funk and give chips away like Halloween candy.

So I had to tighten up. I set an immediate goal to get back over the starting stack. I felt one hand could do it. That hand came in the form of K K. I looked at it and drooled a bit. This was my hand. With an aggressive short stack on my right, I was already counting his chips as being mine. What I didn't expect was the UTG limper, Shep, to come along for the ride as well. My kings held up and I was in much better shape. Like I was reborn.

I continued to chip up until I was in 11th place. I felt good now feeling I could make a serious run at it again. After the 3rd break, I made a steal attempt that backfired. With J 10 I made my move from the button. But the BB raised it. I called hoping to catch a piece of the flop. J 10 x. Nice. My oppoent bet out. I raised wanting to just take it down. But he reraised. Hmm...what does he have. I was confident he didn't have a set. With that flop and the re-raise preflop, I put him on A J. I pushed. He called with A 10. Not quite what I expected to pop it in with second pair. But of course an A spiked the turn and I was crippled.

I folded a couple more hands when the Hilton Sisters came to visit. I thought this would be nice. I figured I could get the short stack to my left's chips at the very least. I raised it 3.5xs the blind and was immediatley re-raised all in by the short stack. But the next player took a timeout to think about what he would do. He then re-raised. ??? It folded back around to me. I wasn't necessarily committed here but felt a need to get back into it. I pushed my remaining chips and was called by ... 10 10? This baffled me. Why would you re-raise with just 10s? He was putting out a third of his chips for what may be a small advantage at best over just A high? Not a good play in my mind. But of course he would spike a 10 on the turn to win the pot and send me out.

Each time I got my chips in with the best hand but was drawn out on. Nothing you can do when the poker gods are not on your side. Oh well.

Congrat to Huntsvegas and Lucko for winning their seats.

I also had another thought. Since Iggy kicked in some cash to get another seat last night, the least we can do is take a collection to pay his buy-ins in the rest of the tournies. A nice gesture to pay back his efforts and work to make these happen. Let me know your thoughts. It would cost you just a buck or two.

Plans

I am finishing up my plans for the WPBT Summer Classic. April has the info. I haven't book a room quite yet.

I received some mail from the Rio yesterday offering me a good rate on rooms during this time. Some day I will stay there but I don't know if it will be this time around. I would like to stay at the Hooters Hotel if I could. Rate is around 90 a night when split between two people. Who wants to stay at Hooters?

The Castle is a decent enough place and may be the choice. The poker room is always a good time too. Something tells me that their rate will get even better as summer draws near. I may go ahead and book it and then keep an eye on the rate. When it drops I would just have to give them a quick call and I know they will give me the best rate. That is one good reason to stay there. They do treat their guests well.

Questions.

Otis has written something that had me thinking (man, do I have a headache now!). I had actually asked myself two of these questions earlier today when someone made the comment about why I was still working and not playing poker for a living. To me the answer was quite easy. Then I read what Otis had to say. I decided to answer the questions he had posed.

1) I'm playing because I have more fun playing poker than playing any other game? Answer: Yes. I truly enjoy playing poker. I like the strategy involved, especially in tournament play.

2) I'm playing because I want to challenge myself and actually believe I am good at something? Answer: Yes. I think a lot of people don't realize how challenging poker can be. There is a definate discipline and skill level that needs to be built. A skill that can transgress to other activities in life.

3) I'm playing because I think I have the potential to eventually win life-changing money? Answer: Maybe. I think I could do well against a pro field but only on my best day. Best part of this is that I do not have a definitive answer. I am still learning. I realize I will always be learning. I know where I am at right now, and that level is below those on TV. Or at least that is my perception. I could be wrong. But on good day, yeah, I think I could play well enough to make some serious coin in a tournament.

4) I'm playing because I want to play professionally? Answer: No interest in being a pro at all. A good example is that I have no interest in winning a seat into the Main Event at the WSOP. It is scheduled for two weeks. I do not know if I could get that kind of time away from work.

5) I'm playing because I can't afford not to play? Answer: Not even sure what Otis meant by this. If it is that the games are easy money, I would say, kinda yes. Do I need to play? Nope.

6) I'm playing because I'm addicted to action? Answer: No. Beer maybe, but not gambling.

I am a firm believer in introspection. Not only in poker but in life. One of the worst things you can do is fool yourself. By knowing what, why, where and how you are doing, you can succeed.

WPBT POY Event 2- Fat Stacks!

When the WPBT POY event started, I wasn't paying much attention. I was finishing up a satellite tourney on FTP for a chance to play for a WPT seat. I was doing ok, having made the final table. Only two entries would be awarded and money to the top 5. I bubbled out. I let my aggression get in the way with some steals that got caught. Of course I saw the little stack get lucky and double up so I wouldn't even get a consolation prize. Oh well. I really want to focus on these satellites. I would love to win a WPT entry. But next time I am not playing a $6 buy-in. I rather token my way into a higher event and capture a slot when they give more than two seats out.

But now it was time to focus on the main event.

My stack was getting kicked around. Though we started with 3000, I was losing them fast. I lost a big chunk when I called a raise with A J and saw the A high flop. The initial raisor bet it out and I raised. I hated the response- all in! Damn! I folded as it was way too early to go out with a J kicker.

I was down to 1300 when I was able to double up with 8 8. Then doubled again with Q Q. At first I was just happy to be back above the staring stack size. It felt like a new beginning.

And a new beginning it was. At the end of the 2nd break I was in 1st, having just cracked the Hilton Sisters with A J. I went on a nice run, combining aggression with patience, and just a bit of luck.

I then had some fun when the Rooster (why weren't you playing?) showed up in chat looking for me. I guess he didn't know my screen name. Maybe he was just playing along but it was funny. Said some nice things about me. Like how I could cash in beer bottles to pay off debts.

Playing a big stack can be weird at times. You can afford to take extra risks. To an extent, it feels like a responsibility. On behalf of others, you need to use that stack to knock out the short stacks. Like when I had 7 7 hold up on Q J when small stack pushed. With extra chips I can afford to lose, I can make the call easily. But if I was short stacked myself, I may fold it because it could mean being knocked out or crippled.

But wielding the big stack has it's advantages, especially when you start stealing. I knocked out Joe Speaker when he pushed with 9 9 against my Q Q. Granted that his only move but I had stolen a couple blinds just before the Hiltons visited.

Then I went card dead. I stole some blinds but that was far and few between with the low cards I was getting. This would be the one question I would like to throw out to the pros. What do you do when you have a big stack and go card dead? Sit back and watch others catch up, or keep firing away and hope you get away with it?

At the final table, I had a nice lead and wanted to protect it to the money. Which isn't hard when you are card dead. 5 3, J 6, 10 4, A 2, Q 3, 10 3, 3 9, K 4, 10 8, K 3. Those are my actual 10 hands at the beginning of the final table. It was driving me nuts. Then when I try to play a hand, K 10, I just about run into aces but wisely laid down. Yikes!

I run a nice bluff and steal when I bet an A high flop with crap. A couple hands later 10 10 looks like gold. But BadBlood raises UTG. Hmm...I have to pop it back and am glad he folds. He is playing really tough at this final table. I don't want to tangle with him on his terms.

My cards aren't improving much either. If I want to get back in, I need to play some good post flop poker. I did when I called a raise from the button with 7 6s (apologies that I do not have your site to link. Send it and I will update). Flop was A 6 3 and I bet it out hoping he was just on a steal. He was and I took it down.

But on the next hand, the same thing was going down. Same guy raised but this time I had K Qs. So I re-raised hoping he was playing a big ace. He just called my raise; no re-raise. Flop was K J x. I like this flop and bet half the pot. Now he pushed. Ruh roh! My gut told me I was behind. I felt there was a good chance he was playing K J. But then again, I may be good. I thought I would go with my initial reaction that he had just an A, maybe A J. I called. Oops. He had A A and I was done. Very well concealed play there.

Blood would go on to win it. Fantastic job! I knew I didn't want to have to battle with him for a reason.

I am happy with the run I made. In retrospect I am not too happy with how I went out, but I fell to a good play. I should have gone with my gut instinct. I felt I had a good read on some of the players at the final table. A check at the end would have save my chips and I wouldn't have been committed to the pot. That is poker though. One bad move and you can be done.

Now I need to scout some others spots out. I got out of my token slump and am collecting them again. I will begin to play more of the $75 SnG token tables, but wish they would have more events out there for the bigger tokens. The times don't work well for me.

Overall Sunday was a good day at the tables too. In clearing the rest of the small Paradise bonus, I walked away up 30 bb for an hour of play at the 5/10 tables. For once all the big pots came my way. It is nice to have over $250 come your way instead of some clown hitting their gut shot straight on the river.

Movin on up

I kicked it up a notch on the limit game by moving up to 5/10. After the blogger satellite on Paradise, I decided to use the deposit there to focus on my limit game and reinforce some fundamentals.

My early results are mixed. I am up slightly. I noticed that the play isn't necessarily tougher because the limits are higher than I have been playing. People are still calling down with bottom pair, or chasing the gutshot, and calling 3 bets pre flop with 8 9 offsuit. The one challenge I see is deciding on making the value bet on the end and risk the check raise or calling the guy who suddenly bets the river and just tossing chips in meekly.

I then may work on developing NL ring game skills. I have tried in the past but the crushing blow of a suckout has always forced me to stop. But I feel I need to give it another go as this truly seems to be where the money is. Especially when playing live.

Felicia has an excellent post up about playing tournaments and NL ring games. She hits the nail on the head. You may hit in a tourney but you still need the money to get in. And you need to play where the best money is.

I believe that is 5 in a row

Crack!

That is the sound of me with A A in SnGs. Especially when it is early. The last 5 straight have been cracked. 3 of those by mid pairs.

Am I wrong to think it is beyond moronic to limp in, then call a big raise or re-raise with a pair of 8s? Is this the backlash that is happening in online poker. Because too many morons try the limp re-raise to portray A A that they never think they may be running into A A?

Plus, why would you piss away so many chips early on? Not the spot to try and get lucky.

I guess that is why I keep coming back. The streak has got to come to an end and then it will get profitable. Yet, you will never hear me say I hate pocket aces. I am glad they are holding up in the MTTs.

I am stunned more every day when I see some stellar plays. I had a guy put 80% of his chips into a pot with 10 7s. Yes, he tried to limp at first but then called my raise. I had A 10 and was making a play on the pot from the BB. What is the saying? You need a better hand to call a raise with than make a raise with. Yet this guy who thought his hand was worth a limp suddenly thinks it is even better for him to put 900 more in. Of course he won. But I was sitting there shaking my head. My play was aggressive but it is usually profitable.

Has anyone tried the Party WSOP freerolls? I "played" two this weekend. Yes, played is a loose term here. It was push-monkey poker. Some clown would keep going all in, get lucky, and then bully the table. No skill involved. I didn't feel like waiting 2 hours for a chance to play poker and make it to the top 50. I would try to signup and skip the first hour but they may take my seat away.

But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

Big congrats to Gracie for winning the first satellite last night. She played damn good and deserved to win. Well done!

I cannot be totally disappointed with how I did last night. I felt my game was on last night. At times I was in the zone making some good calls and what may have been good laydowns. Twice I folded Q Q when my bet on a flop with an overcard was re-raised. Other times I made a call with 10 10 and an overcard on the board to take down some good pots.

Those 10s were pretty damn good to me last night. I used them to re-raise F-Train on more than one occasion. They treated me very well. Except once. And then my outlook and survival looked bleak. I was doing good until my 10 10 ran into A K. I remember watching this happen to Iggy early on and was surprised by the play that was made. Then Iggy pushed after a raise and the call came very quickly. Instantaneously quick and Ig's A Qs was up against 10s. I was shocked that someone would call that fast with just pocket 10s.

I didn't make the call quickly like that but had to think about it. I was sure I was not up against an overpair. My reasoning for calling was he had A rag and I just had to avoid an A. Well it didn't happen and I went from being in the top 5 to the bottom quickly. It also didn't help that I didn't play a hand or steal for the next 45 minutes. Totally. Card. Dead.

I was quite frustrated that I just about made a move with A 3o. But stayed patient. I got back on the horse with a steal when I finally got something to play. The steals helped not only in getting some chips but in getting some confidence back. I was dead last when we got down to 20 people.

Then got I lucky with my 8 8 holding up. That gave me the boost I needed. I then got luckier when I just completed from the SB with K 7. I called EasyCure's flop bet when I had an OESD. A beautiful 5 on the turn filled my straight. My thought was how to maximize the play. To push or slow play. I figure pushing would look like an overpair play and that he had more than on e pair. He showed two pair and was crippled. Sorry Easy. Though it seems otherwise, I am not out to get you.

Suddenly after that rush, I went from being in last to 2nd. From just over 2000 to 33,000. Those 10s came back to help me again when I re-raised a steal attempt. I was sitting pretty going into the final table.

Our chip leader, the Poker Gnome, was killing the final table. He was a one man wrecking crew, continually raising and pulling some sick beats. I was somewhat content to let him do the work. But I didn't want him to pull away. I was keeping one eye on his stack to make sure when I got heads up with him that I wasn't at that big of a disadvantage.

Maybe I was thinking too far ahead. We got down to 3. Gracie had let the Gnome do the work as well, but she was just behind me. She took a lead when I tried a steal with Q J but she re-raised me. Next hand, I intended to get those chips backs.

My initial reaction when I saw my cards was a sign. K K. My eyes lit up and I smiled a bit. But then I had a bad thought. It was the kind of hand that you can dump a bunch of chips with. Little did I know that thought was right. I re-raised Gracie's bet. I was shocked to see her push there. Easy call for me as I felt I had the best hand. I have no problem getting all in with K K here. If I am against aces, so be it. I was surprised to see she had 5 5. I was sad to see a 5 hit the flop.

I was done.

That's poker.

I live by the mantra that I cannot be unhappy if I get a bad beat. They happen. The only control you have is to make the right move. Get you chips in when you have the best hand. I did. It just wasn't to be. It hurts to play all those hours and go out on a suckout. Next time, maybe the odds will hold up and I win the hand.

That is the best thing. There is a next time.

WPBT Satellite- So close!

I came so close. If not for a suckout of epic proportions, I may have won. But my K K fell to 5 5 and Presto, I was out! But I had a good run considering. More to come tomorrow.

Smoker

Played in a smoker again last night. 45 people ponied up $50 to go for a shot at 800. The setting once again was St. Florians, the place I had cashed in the other time I had played. Knowing how bad the level of play was going to be, I couldn't miss this one.

It was also good to see Tiger's Hat again (no, you will not have your name changed here).

I will never claim to be a world class poker player. I am a student of the game, playing online and live, reading books, blogs and some forums. There are many avenues the poker enthusiast can drive down to improve their game. It amazes me how some people will shell out 50 bucks and be pretty much clueless about the simplest of poker strategies.

My first table was encouraging. I had played with 3 of the players before and knew them to be weak loose. The others I would take in slowly and garner an opinion as play went on. Off the top, I figured only 2 of the players would be a concern. Santa Claus down on the end with his "Hold Em" hat and card protector seemed rather loose at first but he clamped down hard after losing a couple of hands and got quite aggressive. The other was Fu Manchu, an Asian player who seemed to know what he was doing. Then again, he pulled out sunglasses and was listening to a pink iPod. The others looked like they were simply here hoping to get lucky.

The tone of the table was set early. Tight play. Everyone was folding to a regular 3xs raise of the blinds. When a flop was seen, a continuation bet took it down. My assessment was that everyone was playing A rag. So when I got K Qs, I popped it and got a caller. On the 7 high flop I bet 3/4 of the pot and won. Next hand, I did the same with A K, bet a 10 high flop and took it down. With A Q I popped it hard with 3 limpers once and took it down preflop.

That felt like the highlight of my early action. My cards were far from fantastic all night. In fact, the biggest pot I won was from the SB. Two limpers are in and I look down at K 3s. I complete for just 50 more knowing the BB isn't going to raise unless he has a monster. Flop gave me two of my suit. I bet half the pot and was min-raised by a weak player. The turn gave me my flush. I checked and called his all in bet. He showed A 7 (he was playing second pair) and was drawing dead. That got me a $10 bounty. Sweet!

But that would be the last and only big pot I would win. Except for stealing blinds, I never started with any strong hands. In fact, A Ks was the best hand I saw all night. No big pairs (I believe 6s were the only pocket pair I had all night), A Q twice and A J once. That was it.

Yet, because I could find spots to steal blinds or defend my blinds, I managed to stay at the status quo and made the final table. There I was a short stack and had to find a way to get to 8th place to get my money back. It felt like it wouldn't be too hard either because the final tables here are extremely tight. Usually there are 3, maybe 4 big stacks and 2 medium stacks and the rest that cannot survive two orbits. Everyone is scared to play, even the big stacks.

That is the only problem with this tournament. The guys running it do a fantastic job with the early rounds, giving you lots of play. However, they run into a time limit where they need to be out of the church by 11 or midnight and then the blinds go up rapidly. They should really consider putting in antes to speed up the action.

At the final table, I was one of those that could survive 2 orbits. I drew the 8 seat so the blinds wouldn't be around for a while. I folded continuously until the BB came and the SB pushed all in. With only 700 to call and getting 3 to 1, I called blind. My 9 4 wouldn't improve and Santa Claus survived. I then made a mistake here. I posted the small blind of 500 and had only 2000 behind. I should have pushed with any hand here but couldn't when I saw 5 2. The blinds were going up and I would only be able to call here. Granted if I go out in 10th I get nothing but if I want to make some money I need chips.

Instead I folded and waited once again for the blinds to come around. When I saw A 7s, if felt like gold, easily the best hand I had seen in an hour. I pushed my last 2000 in and went up again two players. The board paired up deuces and treys and my A kicker was good. I survived for now.

I ended up going down when I had the BB again and this time pushed with my small stack. We were down to 9 at this point and the guys running the tourney had decided to give 9th a free entry into the next event. Being happy with a freeroll, I pushed blindly when the action came around. My lone opponent had a small stack and had pushed with 8 8. I turned up my cards to see 9 7. Ugh. Only one overcard. The flop though gave me a 9 and I was in business. The turn was a rag and the river a 9. But there were 4 spades on the board. My opponent's 8 was a spade. Done in 9th.

At least I collected a bounty in the fray. I still am amazed at how poorly the play can be. Beyond players making dumb calls or bad bluffs, time and time again I saw the mistake of min-raising. A good example was a min raise from MP that the BB thought about before calling. The flop was 2 5 10, two hearts. BB checks and the MP makes a min bet. It is called. The turn is a heart. Again, BB checks and the MP puts him all in. BB thinks and then calls showing 5 2 suited. MP has A K, no heart and the BB takes the pot down. If the MP had raised anything but the minimum pre-flop, he wouldn't have dumped 2/3 of his stack across the table.
That is why I keep going to this event. There are a lot of players who will limp and then automatically call any raise. I am thankful they will never pick up a book.

SnG suckage

Though I had some success in MTTs lately, my SnG run has been brutally ugly. I had been running well but just have gone into the tank lately watching a $300 profit dwindle to just $50.

I have been looking through the notes trying to figure out what is happening. I am trying to not fool myself into thinking I have just been the victim of bad luck. I have taken some beats but who doesn't?

One thing I may have noticed is a hole in my game. It is possible to overplay A A preflop? I had my aces cracked 3 times when I got all my money in preflop. Each time they flopped the set and I was down early. The action was usually the same. Either I opened the action with a hefty raise, got re-raised and then I would push. Or I would re-raise them and call the all in bet.

Now I can see calling with the latter. But when I am opening the action, I am beginning to think I should be just calling the re-raise. That way I can protect myself if the flop is ugly, say all one suit or all paint. Plus, it could disguise the strength of my hand.

In the meantime, I am going to start playing some more ring games and get the basics down again. I may make a run at the WSOP qualifiers on Full Tilt.

Just some thoughts on how I have been getting smacked around. How are you playing your aces?

And why are there only 18 people signed up to play the first WPBT satellite this Sunday? This isn't a time to wait. Go to Paradise and put your name in!

Being the glutton for punishment, after I wrote this I opened a SnG on Paradise and took it down. Maybe reflection works.

Don't ask me how this happened

If someone would have told me that I would win the first WPBT-POY event, a Pot Limit Omaha event, I would have told them they were crazy. I can barely play Omaha, much less pot limit.

So when I woke up, I grabbed the only book I own that mentions Pot Limit Omaha and read it. The book is by one of everybody's favorite players, Phil Hellmuth. Yes, I read the Pot Limit Omaha section of Play Poker Like the Pros and won a tournament.

I even taunted Drizz about this on his blog.

Thanks to everyone for cheering me on at the end. And thanks to Biggestron for setting it all up.

Monday morning update:
I woke up late because the storm that rumbled through Milwaukee knocked the power out around midnight. Funny how the power soon went out after I won an Omaha event. I wonder if it is getting cold in Hell?

I am still amazed that I won this event. Seriously. Omaha? Pot Limit Omaha? Like others I have donked around in the play games learning the basics, tossing chips around to see flops. But I never played Pot Limit Omaha before. I "practised" by playing a ring game Sunday morning (had K K x x double suited beat by A A x x and then against the same guy my A A x x double suited was cracked by his K K x x). I then played a $5 SnG to get a feel for tournament mode.
That after reading around 30 pages of Phil Hellmuth's book.

I don't have much details to pass along either. I know when it got down to 4, I was barely in 3rd place. At 3, I was out chipped by 3 to 1 by both of my opponents. I got lucky when I sucked out a flush and moved into second.

When we got heads up, I took a lead that was short lived. I then made one big call that gave me a big lead. I don't recall exactly what I had, or exactly what the board showed (I think it was 7 Q 6 6 8)but the river gave me a 10 high straight. There was no flush potential on the board but the two 6s out there didn't make me comfortable. I bet out the river and my opponent, SpiderK, suddenly bet the pot, which would be me all in. He had me covered by just over 300 chips so it was do or die. I liked my hand, but wasn't sure if he hit the boat or not. I called TIME and thought about the betting pattern. I came to two conclusions. First, if he had hit the boat, I don't think he would have checked the turn. Second, if I call and I am correct, I will be taking this tourney down.

I called and I believe he showed two pair. My first thought was Wow! That was a monster pot, the game deciding pot. It was a bold bet. You have to give credit to someone who can make a big bet like that. Great game SpiderK!

Thanks again to everyone with their support at the end. Go check out the WPBT POY leader board. Have to pimp it while I am on top!

I thought I had turned the corner...

...but I guess not. In the last two SnGs I played I went out in 10th. Both times, my aces got cracked. One by Q Q, the other by A 9 suited. With the Queens, we were all in preflop. On the A 9, I raised 5xs the blinds, bet 75% of the pot on the flop and pushed on the turn. Guy called all the way and hit.

With the flush, I doubt it would have mattered if I pushed on the flop. He still would have called. Worse was the full house I had to fold to the guy earlier. I flopped trip 6s. I tried to slow play but that went out the door when an A hit the turn. So much for being ahead.

Pouring over my notes to see what I am doing wrong. I am trying not to let ego get involved but so far it looks like bad luck.

Maybe I should hit more multis for a bit...

Gotta try to get it going

Was playing in the WWdN tourney on Stars yesterday. Over the last couple of weeks I have been playing this game filled with bloggers and readers. For some reason I never took them seriously. Don't know exactly why, but I found myself making dumb plays, trying to bluff too much, and not doing my best. This time around, I was set on making it deep.

And I did.

In fact, I spent a good portion of the second hour in the top ten. Only the final table would pay, with first receiving $255. Not too shabby for only 10 bucks.

Basically I played pretty tight for the first hour before loosening up a bit in the second. I found my reads to be pretty good. A couple of times I was re-raised pre flop with some not so strong hands like A J or K J and laid them down. In one case I was terribly behind when one person called and another re-raised. The caller had Kings while the raiser had Jacks. No ace would have hit so I would have been crippled.

I also began to notice a hole in my game, or at least what I perceive to be a hole. There are some hands that I should be calling a raise with that I am not. Or at least that is my thinking. I will need to do some research to find out what others would do.

When the final table started, I was sitting in 4th place with 11000 chips. I was in a good spot and was figuring out how to win this thing. The problem was the chip leader had over 40k. The short stacks would have to play push poker. I just needed to catch a couple good hands. At least I had some experience playing with 3 of the other players so I knew what to expect from them.

The huge stack was bullying the table too. I wasn't getting any cards either so I didn't have to worry too much about her. In fact, I wasn't getting any hands to play. If I had something decent, I was folding to another raise. Man, it sucked. For a while, it seemed the only pot I would drag would if it folded around to me in the BB. But then the short stacks started dropping out. Then one player apparently just gave up.

Before I knew it, it was me, the huge chip leader, and the disconnected. The chip leader was gracious enough to allow us to blind the other player out. Thanks Villainess. When it was heads up, I was outchipped by about 4-1. To say I had my work cut out for me is an understatement. With blinds at 600-1200 and about 30k in chips, I had some room to work with and be patient. If I caught a monster, I would play it hard.

Funny though, I was chipping up not with monsters, but with tiny pairs. I would see a flop for the cost of one more bet and flop bottom pair. Somehow, they kept holding up. I worked my way up to over 50k. I kept doing it until I did get my monster. A K off. Flopped a K and slowplayed the flop. I pushed on the turn and suddenly I was the big leader. Except for going quickly for the death blow, I held on to those chips. Then with 8 9 suited in the BB, I got lucky and flopped two pair to end it.

It is a good feeling to win tournaments. But this one meant something. As I said before, I wasn't too happy with the way I had been playing these. I really wanted to take one of these down. It wasn't as much as the money as it was having a great showing in front of my peers. To win this was big. Hopefully I can keep it going.

Thanks to everyone who stayed around to watch. Sorry for the crap image I put up. Maybe I should work on those paint shop skills.

O fer

As in 0 for the last 6. As in stinking up the joint. No better than 6th place in any of them.

Ouch!

Maybe I am playing too tight. My notes are getting extremely repetitive. No cards. Flops not hitting me. Getting bad beats. No, I won't go into detail about how my A A was cracked by K 5 suited when he called my all-in bet preflop. Heck, I cannot even win a token in extremely loose FTP qualifers.

It seems I have nothing more but a list of excuses. But I have given back a chunk of what I had won over the last couple of weeks. That just plain sucks. I have thought of taking a couple of days off but to an extent, I have. I haven't played every day.

I think part of it right now is definately mental. I feel like staying away because I cannot win to save my life. But to get over the hump, you need to play.

I think I will test the waters some more. The way I see it, I am due for a nice run. Hopefully it comes sooner than later.

What am I doing?

That is what I was asking myself tonight. My game is all over the map. I am getting too streaky with the downside lasting longer than the upside.

I am finishing just out of the money too many times lately and frankly, it is pissing me off. I am getting sick of watching people make stupid plays and get paid off. I think that is because I see that and make the same damn move but do not get paid.

But I am seeing what my holes are. Not paying attention; reading too much in the beginning stages of tournaments. Trying to pick up a lot of small pots early. Running bluffs against bad players. These are correctable.

I am hoping that I am at the low point of the coaster ride again. Hopefully I can go on a nice little run soon and have some more fun.

What are you doing here?

You should be off reading Dr. Pauly. Click on the banner because I am too lazy to put in the link.

I have been going through the ups and downs of tournament poker lately. Had some really bad beats. No, I won't talk about them. I am holding to the old adage that if you get all your chips in with the best hand, that is the best you can do.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.

This pro/am tourney going in Hollyweird seems pretty interesting. Wil Wheaton is doing well. I can't be the only one that noticed he has been running well lately. It would be nice to see him take one down.

I would like to play one of these events. Yeah, we all would but I would for a different reason. The Tilt Factor. For starters, I would wear a Bush/Cheney t-shirt. That would get the Hollywood crowd in an uproar. Oh, they would begin to hate me with a passion.

Second, I would stay quiet. I would only toss out little barbs in response to comments. Avoid confrontation. Heck, I would be there to have fun. And get polluted. I would be drinking beer from beginning to end.

I think that would be the winning strategy. The shirt alone would irritate this crowd. Even better would be the minority that would come up to you and silently agree with you.

Just another way to play the psychological side of poker.

SnGs- how some beats are killing me

Did pretty well over the last 10 SnGs. Monied in 6 of 10. 2 first, 3 second, 1 third. Not shabby.

Better yet, in each I have gotten my chips in with the best of them. That is all you can ask for. But the cards aren't always going to hit the board in your favor. I have had runner runner again and again to beat me. I can handle that.

The one beat that always sucks is when your pocket pair is defeated by someone playing A x. I don't mean be defeated by a pair of aces. I mean when the board double pairs and you lose by the A kicker. That is a swift gift to the family jewels.

The next 10 are under way and you can tell I am not off to a good start. The last one was the beat by the A. I felt good about the game too until my K K was cracked by Q Q. The guy even said I probably had A A or K K but he called my re-raise of his re-raise anyways. I had chips after that and was making a run until by pocket deuces were cracked by the A kicker.

Guess, I will go back to Full Tilt for a bit and win some tokens. That always makes me feel better.

Full Tilt 60k guarantee

Played the Full Tilt 60k guarantee. There were 457 players including Erick Lindgren, Layne Flack and Quiet Lion. I noticed something different right away when they started us with 2000 in chips. I am hoping to make some money today.

In the 2nd hand I am dealt A Qs in the SB. I raise to 100. BB makes it 300. Flop comes 3 4 6, two clubs. I bet 300 and get pushed all in. WTF? I hope this isn't how this is going to be as I fold.

Next I get 6 6 and raise it up to get one caller. I bet the Q high flop and get raised another 300. I call. On the turn, my opponent pushed. I fold. I have given up 1500 in chips already. Not the way I want to start. Maybe I should have made the “Fuck it” call and tossed my chips in. But that isn’t how I want to go out.

BB comes around and I get dealt A 10. UTG had min raised. Smells like A A. One caller and me see a flop of 8 7 5, 2 diamonds. My A is a diamond. Surpringly it checks around. The turn is a diamond, the 4. Checks around again. River is the 6 of diamonds. I have the nut flush but not the nuts. UTG checks. The other player bets the pot. I push with just 120 more, figuring I would see my opponent turn over the straight flush. Instead, he just has the K. I am back to 1000.

Now I plan to play extra tight. Fold K Qs to a raise. I watch a player call bets down on an A high flop just to hit their set of 9s on the river. Person betting never bet high enough to protect their pair of aces. I find this encouraging.

I get Q Q soon enough. UTG limped so I raised it to 250. It fold around to the limper. He calls. Flop looks good to me 2 7 8, two diamonds. He pushes. I kinda expected that. I call and see A K diamonds. Great. Of course it is the Q of diamonds that hits on the turn and I am done in 374. Just had absolutely nothing going for me today. No luck. Oh well, there is next time, I guess.

In honor of THE live blogging Man...

Dr. Pauly is working his ass off in LA. For us poker players, he not only reports what is going on in the tournament, he gives us insight into the scene behind the scenes.

I had thought of sending an email off to Dr. Pauly to "interview" him. But then I realized he would be either too busy writing some more or catching his hour of sleep.

So I went to the next best source of Pauly. His brother, Derek. A fine writer in his own right. I posted Derek 3 questions on Pauly. He was gracious enough to answer. Go read D and Dr. Pauly already.

Now to the interview. I tried to come up with 3 good questions for Derek to answer about his brother. After 14 hours of beer, this is the best I could do:

1. Does Pauly never really sleep? Pauly is one of the few people who sleeps less than me. I usually get 4 maybe 5 hours of sleep a night max. Pauly gets even less sleep than that. He's a man on a mission. I feel like a sloth in comparison. He's a true insomniac whereas i'm just a fucking amatuer. Who needs sleep when there's so much booze and weed to consume.

2. How many strippers can he juggle at once? i must say that i've never been to a strip club with the good doctor. pretty weird huh? he says that his face seats 4 comfortably but grubby tells me that pauly's just being modest and that he can actually handle 5 strippers at once! i'm not too impressed though. now 6 strippers at once would be something to hoot and holler about. yawn.

3. Does he steal your stash when you are not looking? LOL!!! good question Stb. i like your thought process! He used to steal from my stash in the dark days of yester-year but ever since the poker boom in 2003 . . . our roles have been reversed. I find myself stealing from his stash more and more these days. the best part about that is that the good doctor is always on the road these days so my access to his large stash is unlimited. sorry pauly!! REFILL and REBUY!!!!

Bonus question: Will he pass out at the Boathouse this year? As Rodney Dangerfield once said . . . "I don't know how to fall asleep . . . I only know how to pass out." Though I will say this about Dr. Pauly . . . . he never passes out in public!

On a mission

Right now I am sitting back and drinking. I have a mission to complete. Plus it is cold outside. Let's see if I can win some money tonight. At the least, I will be reading what is going on at the LA Poker Classic. You should too. Go read Dr. Pauly!

I came in 2nd in a SnG. My opponent got lucky twice by having a bigger pocket pair than mine. I don't hit my outs and I end up just marginally richer.

Currently I am in the middle of a satellite to a $60k guarantee on Full Tilt. Doing good. 37 players were entered. There is one player though that has me close to tilting. Guy always calls my preflop raise. Always. No matter what. He then calls me down and usually hits something on the river.

Makes me feel like Rodney Dangerfield. No respect!

With 12 left, I am in 1st place. Top 4 go on to the next level. I am stealing when the opportunity is right.

Antes just kicked in. Time to kick it up a notch on the steal factor, especially with still just 6 at a table. After what seems like forever, we are at the final table. Currently I am in second. Need to keep my status. Time to play tight.

Just pulled off one of my favorite moves. 4 people limp to me in the big blind. I pop it the size of the pot and watch each one reluctantly fold. Of course it doesn't hurt to have A Ks. But I like to do that with any good calling hand. With all those limpers, you know they have marginal hands at best. The UTG guy is the only one who scares me as I have been burned by the limp re-raise with A A move many times.

Patience pays off when A A comes around. On the button, it folds to me. I raise it pot just to make it look like a button steal. BB calls. Nice. I then make a small bet on a 4 4 2 flop hoping to keep him along but he folds. Still, the pot was nice and puts me over 10k in chips.

Just about got into it with the chip leader. He limped in the cutoff. From the SB I made it 2k to go. BB folded but my opponent called. With a flop of J 6 7, I bet half the pot. He took his time before folding. My guess is he is playing any ace right now. 7 left and I am back on top.

I basically hold my own for a couple orbits. We are at 5 now and there are two stubborn short stacks hanging around. Funny part is one of them is a former chip leader who totally blew a hand and got crippled.

Well it is over. I took matter into my own hands and took out the last small stack. My A K held up over his A Q when I hit my K on the flop. He had a chance with a Q on the turn but the K on the river said I was playing for a piece of 60 grand on Sunday!

LA Poker Classic

No, I am not there. But it feels like I am there. How?

I read Dr. Pauly to get my live blogging updates. You should too!

Go read Dr. Pauly now!

No smoker

I didn't play in the church game on Friday night. Got drunk instead. But for some stupid reason I did sign up to play in a "fund raiser" game at the bar that would benefit the softball teams. Benefit the softball teams is about all it was good for.

The structure and payout of the tournament was absolutely terrible. The level of play was crappy with luck being more of a factor than skill. I did ok but made two terrible moves that knocked me out.

With about 36 people playing, for some reason they had 6 tables of 6, instead of 4 tables of 9. None of this was explained on the signup sheets either which ticked me off. I believe we started with a total of 1200 in chips. Blinds started at 25/50 and would double every half hour. But with 6 at a table, they came around quickly. Plus, it was a rebuy tournament as well, another fact omitted to us. Personally, I hate rebuy tournies as they give the morons more a chance to get lucky. This rebuy was even worse in my opinion. They allowed rebuys for the first hour and a half, which only got you an extra 1000. By the end of the rebuy period, blinds were at 200/400. Why would you rebuy at that level?

They never did consolidate to one large table. They kept the going at 5 or 6 all the way through. With blinds at 400/800, I made the first of my bad moves. The guy on my right liked to raise with total crap. If he was going all in or making a 3xs raise, he had nothing. Knowing that, I made a call with A 8 suited. What I didn't know was my friend Jodi (who would end up in 2nd- CONGRATS AGAIN!), had only 200 more left behind the 1200 raise. If I had realized that, I wouldn't have called. I knew I had him beat, but I wasn't sure I would be ahead of her when she quickly called. Sure enough, her A J suited held up.

A couple of hands later, I made another move on the same guy out of the big blind with K 10. with 25% of my stack in as the BB, I went all in over his raise. UTG had limped and I figured I may take it down right there. But the UTG looked and decided to call. He flopped a set of deuces and took down the pot and knocking me out. How the hell do you limp with deuces, and then call a raise and re-raise? I really shouldn't have played the hand to begin with. I should have folded and wait another round.

But in the end it really wasn't worth it. I believe second play paid $150 or $190 or something like that. First I think was $350. With the final table being paid, they pocketed a portion the buyins and basically all the rebuys, which I know there was a number of. At my table alone, there 9. I am willing to bet they kept more than what they paid out.

Now, I don't mind them making money for their softball teams, but I would like to know exactly how much the teams are making. It just seemed like there was a lot of basic information withheld about what was going on. If you had told me it was a short handed tournament and a rebuy, I may have not played. At the very least, I would have gone in with a different strategy.

Smoker?

I may be attending another poker game at a church tonight. There is a smoker at St. Ritas tonight. Hopefully the same grade of player will show up and keep it easy. My plan is to hit if we have no snow.

From what I hear the food and drink is kept on the cheap there. It may be Milwaukee's Best on tap. Ugh! I will have to get a bit of a buzz going before going out I guess.

It is noon in my part of the world and I think that is a good time to leave work. I am bored. I am better off getting in a SnG or two after I shovel some snow.

Hopefully I will have a good story for you tomorrow.

Ugly

If I would post a picture of me on this site, it would have to be with my arms extended outward, with my hands up. That way, I can easily take my ass as it is handed to me.

The last 10 SnG tables have been UGLY. After winning the first, I then finished out of the money on the next 8. I finished in 3rd to end the losing streak.

I don't feel I necessarily played that bad. I did play one pretty damn stupid. But for the most part, I may have just played too tight. Time and again I went out 4th or 5th. Got short stacked and just couldn't recover. Yeah, there were some suckouts but that is only an excuse.

Yet I am still encouraged. The number of mind boggling plays I have seen is phenomonal. The concept of the weak kicker is very foreign to many players still. So is chasing the gutshot straight. Thus I still feel the experiment will be very profitable.

I need to tweak my game. I think I am playing the SnGs more like a MTT. I need to loosen up a bit and collect chips faster, especially when the price is right.

Expect nothing

Bill Rini has put forth a "challenge". He has asked people to blog on a central theme. Thinking it is a good idea, I decided to pop forth my own entry. Think the game show Password when you read this:

The theme is: Expect nothing from a hand. Play each street based on the information at hand.

Bill speaks of how various people play aces. I liked that. Thus, I will go on a slight tangent. A K. Big Slick. It is a strong starting hand, especially when suited. It will give you TPTK, nut straights or flushes. People love this hand.

Some love it too much. They play it like they have A A or K K. They feel they are entitled to the pot and cry when all rags hit the flop. Time and time again they just can let the hand go. Soon they are broke and busted out of the tournament.

A K is nothing more than a drawing hand. A strong drawing hand. But the majority of the time it needs help and won't stand on its own like a pocket pair will. You really need to read the board and more importantly, the actions of your opponents.

A hand I played last night in the WWdN tournament is a good example. I am in MP and have A Ko. I raise 3xs the blinds. I believe only BadBlood called in the BB. Flop comes all undercards. Damn, totally missed me. I bet out around half the pot. Blood calls. Hmm...I do not like that. Turn is another rag. I bet around a third of the pot. I have a bad feeling I am either slightly ahead or way behind, though it is possible he is about to lay the Hammer on me. Blood raises. I have really no decision. I have to fold. I will still have some chips left so I muck the hand. Turns out Blood had flopped a set of 5s. I was waaaay behind.

Yet, so many people would have not only called, hoping to draw a card on the river. They will not even recognize the call on the flop tells them they are in trouble. They may even try to push their opponent off their hand and go all in.

I think I took the best approach. Raise pre-flop, make a continuation bet on the flop, and a turn bet. My turn bet could have been higher but it didn't matter. The only way I was going to win the hand was to keep firing. The mistake would have been to try and check it down.

Likewise, Blood played the hand well too. I like his turn raise. Some would just call hoping to get more out of their opponent. But the extra card could make his set vulnerable.

With A K, you cannot expect to win. The flop will determine where you are going. You need to determine where you are and whether you can push someone off their hand.

SnG update

I finished the first 10 SnGs of the experiment. Results are OK. Not fantastic but not terrible. I netted $130. That consisted of playing at PokerStars and PokerRoom in either $10 or $20 tables. Where I played depended on the wait and how I was feeling on my game. More specifically I finished first twice, second one, and third 3 times. My worst finish was 6th.

Seems weird but my two wins were the last two I played. One for $10, the other for $20. After having a mixed Sunday, I had taken Monday off and was unsure of my game. So I hit PStars for the 10 spot. The table was very weak. Though I felt like I was easily the best player at the table, I wasn't chipping up that much. I hit a high spot of 2700 before I bled out some chips to 2 slow players. They didn't get much off of me, but the pre-raise flop and continuation bet put a hurting on me. So much that when I made a great call with 10s vs 9s and got sucked out on the river, I was down to 466. With 4 left, I focused on the game, feeling confident that I was the best player and would at the minimum take 2nd.

So I went on a tear. I got lucky with a triple up when a pair of Jacks was good to take the main pot. Then I kept pushing on my passive opponents until I got up into second. When we went heads up, my opponent had a 5 to 1 lead on me. Instead of keeping the pressure on me, he let me see too many flops. Of course, I did get lucky when he pushed with A K and I happened to have A A. From there, I put the pressure on him until all the chips came my way.

Just before the PStars tourney game ended, I fired up PokerRoom and jumped into a $20 game there. I had to keep the rush going. When you feel you game is on high, you need to sit and play. I chipped up early and got a double when someone pushed with top pair weak kicker. A flopped straight in the BB a bit later helped as well.

But I think the key at this table was being in charge. I kept raising with good hands in the blinds and being the first to the pot. I had a nice lead when we got to 4. One guy then got on a bit of a rush himself. But A Q saved me again when the flop came A high. He bet into me and I check-raised back. I pushed on the turn to cripple him. I kept the pressure on the small stack, though I let them back into the game with a stupid call. But I was determined not to drop this one like the other person had dropped one to me. 4 hands later it was over and I was the victor.

If only I had done better in the Wil Wheaton Penner invitational. I did not play good there at all.

I will get back on the horse tomorrow. My focus will be soley on the $20 tables now. Depending on the success of the next 10, I will be looking forward to moving up to the $30s.

Not much to talk about

Work took over last week. I didn't play much poker at all. Thus there has been little to talk about.

I have started playing various SnGs to get back in the groove. Results have been a bit mixed so far. I will have more to say when I get 10.

I did manage to finally watch the Phil Gordan DVD I received at the Winter Classic. You know the one that has the banner at the top every day. Bill Rini had hooked us up with a free copy and did a review back in July.

I really liked the approach they took with the video. As Bill said, it entertains and gives instruction. Phil gives some good advice but he also tells you exactly what is going through his mind.

Literally.

You know how it is. You have a flop and you bet it out hoping the other play will fold. As you wait you think "fold fold fold fold fold". Phil actually says that. He "speaks" on the good flops and bad flops that hit him. He even calls a guy jerk.

I thought by doing this, going through the exact process even though it seems like filler, I could relate to exactly what he was thinking. He explanations on various topics helps an intermediate player like myself. I would be shocked if others couldn't pick something out of it.

I anticipate having some sort of early report on the SnG project mid week. Until then, go read Dr. Pauly or the Spaceman do their reports from the big tournaments.

Focus

I haven't played much poker over the last couple of days. Been busy with other things and lacked any real interest in hunkering down. You know how it is, if your mind isn't in the game, your money won't be in your roll much longer. What little poker I did play was at the Razz tables where I eked out small gains in short sessions.

I am still wrestling with focus. Do I want to focus on tournament play or get my ring game back in shape? What is the goal, to play better poker or to build the bankroll higher? Yeah, better poker will lead to the higher bankroll. But you can get a higher bankroll by playing tournaments instead of grinding it out on the ring games.

Thus to get some focus back, I am looking at doing two things. I am going back to my roots. When I started tracking what I was doing a year ago, I had deposited $100 to play just SnGs. I did well with it and worked to over $5k by the end of the year when I expanded to other games. Lately, another blogger (my apologies to whoever thought this up. Let me know who you are and I will give you credit) wrote about managing money so they could enter a WSOP event come summertime. They talked about playing SnGs and separating a portion of their winnings out towards that goal. I have decided to follow the path.

I figure to still play MTT as well, but will begin to work in more cash SnGs along the way. I am going to start with $10 tables first, with the goal of working up to the $20s. I have always had success at the $10 level, but not quite as much at $20. I figure I will play at least 5 of the smaller entry before hopping up to the higher level. I will post results after 10 are done. This time I will actually record results rather than just watching a bankroll level.

What I haven't decided is where to play yet. It is between PokerStars and PokerRoom. Difference is playing a 9 or 10 person table. PStars seems softer so I am leaning that way.

The goal is to earn enough to enter a nice sized tournament. If I stay focused, I am confident I can get there.

And over the cliff!

On Sunday afternoon, it dawn on me that I was in the poker zone. My tournament play was feeling spot on. I had made 3 final tables in a row, getting cash in 1 and an entry to a bigger buy-in in another. I had won 2 other SnGs. I felt I was playing great.

Even a suckout in a Sunday morning SnG that sent me out in 9th couldn't dampen my spirits. I came right back to win a buy-in into a $200k guaranteed tourney on PokerRoom.

But at the end of the first hour, it came crashing down. I chased a flush (had 6 to 1 odds) that didn't hit. It hurt. But on the next hand I chased again with Q 10 suited, another hand I despise, and gave up more chips. From there I was blinded off.

At that moment, I felt like I fell over a cliff. The rush was gone.

Last night I felt the sting a bit more. A tremendous kick to the jewels was delivered when I flopped a full house. All bets were in on the river and I lost to the higher fullhouse.

I then made my decision to not play ring games at Full Tilt. For whatever reason, I just cannot win. The beats come again and again for me there. Now, I know that it just seems that way as we always remember the beats more than the big pots we drag in, but my PokerTracker stats back it up.

I love the tournaments no matter what others say about the structure being atrocious. The play is pretty damn soft and winning tokens to play the nightly guarantees is easy. I wish they would introduce higher token games than the $69+6. Having just one of those late night doesn't work for an early morning working guy like me.

I did hear a funny comment from a friend of mine that also plays on Full Tilt. From along the lines of "online poker is rigged", he swears up and down that if you buy into a tournament with a token you will not win. No matter what. The site doesn't want tokens winners to win the tourneys because they don't make any money that way. Though I tried to point out they made their money on the token paying SnGs, he wasn't hearing it. Nothing you can say to change their minds.

Noble gave me $20 to lure me back. I have started to play some low blinds NL there to strengthen that portion of my game. I have been donking a bit taking it up to $55 but back down to $26. I am hoping to go on a nice rush like BadBlood did and cash something decent out. Or I will just toss it into a guaranteed tourney there though they are rather weak.

Any which way, I need to find my way out of the short funk I fell into. I feel one of the FTP tournies calling my name tonight.

Card cemetery

I didn't really know where I was going. I found the church ok and parked two blocks away. It appeared to be a typical south side Polish neighborhood. I followed some old dudes figuring they knew where they were going.

The Smoker was going on inside the adjoining school's gymnasium. A Smoker is the term church's use for a social gathering where you play cards. Typically a bunch of old men are sitting at tables playing cards and smoking bad cigars. There are all kinds of games going on around the room. Sheepshead, cribbage, euchre, stud. You find what you want to play ask to sit on in. For $9 at the door, I was allowed in and access to all the beer I wanted. There would be food later too.

I headed towards the corner where they were signing people up for the Hold Em tournament. I signed in at #40. It was believed they would cut it off at 64. Interest was high and they started up with 80. Not too bad.

I was excited to be playing in a local tourney again. I hadn't played one probably since the Badger Poker days. Maybe I should drop in on one of those again.

I took my seat assignment at Table 5, seat 4. I scanned the table to make a quick assessment of what I might be up against. The guy my left was the spitting image of Frank Costanza. Each time I looked at him I wanted to yell Serenity Now or Hoochie Mama! He was a nice guy though so I kept it to myself. Next was hyper active guy. Had the look that he kinda knew what he was doing but isn't as good as he thinks he is. The librarian was next. He always looked aloof and could be read like a book. An old guy was on his right who was a total calling station, next was total dead money guy, and then Bradley Center.

Bradley Center was a young guy chain smoking his Camels. He was one of those who acted like he knew what he was doing, throwing out the names of hands, and making chip movements like he would bet and stuff. Basically he looked like everything he learned about poker was from watching it on TV. The only thing he lacked was the sunglasses. But he quite proud of his gig working at the Bradley Center (Milwaukee's hockey/basketball arena) stocking the suites. He was happy he didn't have to do much and got paid $11 to do so.

Next to BC was an older guy who was pretty aggressive. A non descript guy next to him and finally on my immediate right was an older lady.

I got a great impression on how this game was going to go on the first hand. 6 people in the hand. Whoooooooo Party Poker! The librarian ended up winning with two pair, aces and queens. Oh, the aces were pocket rockets! He limped in from the button with 3 others with A A. He then made agonizing calls on each street. It wasn't an act either. Oh boy! I watched this go for a bit. Rarely any preflop raises at the table. So when I got A Q a couple of hands in, I immediately popped it to 175 (25/50). Frank Costanza called as did the lady who had limped under the gun. Flop was all rags. I made my continuation bet and took down the pot.

I believed I also succeeded in setting an image for myself with that play as well. Tight and solid. Each time I entered a pot with a raise, I got respect and started to chip up. I used this to my advantage too. With the flow of the game and my image established, I loosened up. And suited paint was played with an opening bet. I ran into trouble only once when the old calling station hit his straight on the river (J K 10 9 on board) and I was trying to buy a pot with A 9.

My favorite early hand involved dead money guy and hyper active dude. Dead money made a min raise UTG. If any betting was happening, it was min bets and raises. No understanding of pot odds to how to bet going on. Hyper called and they see a flop of A 9 9. Hyper active immediately pushes all in. Pot was about 300 and he bet 1100. Makes sense. Dead money thinks and calls showing A K. I laughed when hyper showed 7 9 suited for trips. It held up and dead money had one green chip left. He then laments to the old calling station that he had no choice. He had to call there. Two others chime in that it was the right move. I laughed some more at that. I knew hyper active dude had the 9. It was like the Full Tilt commercial. There were bells and whistles going off all over the place. Laying A K down was such a easy play there. It is way too early to make that stupid call.

Just before the break for food, I chipped up nicely in one hand with Costanza. Blinds were up to 100/200. With J 10, I went in for steal. I made a 3 1/2xs raise. Costanza called on the button and the blinds went away. Flop came Q J 7. I bet out 700, but suddenly Costanza raised me 500 more (yeah, it was the size of my bet but I wasn't going to argue). The raise knocked me back. Huh? Am I running into trouble here? I called. Turn is a 10. As much as I like the card, I hate it too. I check. Costanza bets 500. And I go right into the tank! I took probably a minute and a half before I made my move. I looked at him and tried to figure out what he was playing. The range of hands he could have was small to me. Did he flop a set of 7s? He would call the preflop bet with that. Did he have Q J? I think so. If so, I am dominated. I ruled out A K, even though he would have just smooth called the raise, but I don't think he would have raised on the flop for a 4 outer. I finally put him on K Q and called. If he then bet the river, I would have to consider pushing or folding. River was a rag. I checked as did Frank. He showed Q 3 suited and took a good pot. Whew!

We then had a break for food. I headed in to take a piss. I found the restroom to be interesting. I chuckled at the door that read "Boys". The little sinks were cute too. I then went into the cafeteria to grab some chow. They had mashed potatoes, German potato salad and green beans in the front. After that, it was sausage central. There was Polish sausage. Slovenian sausage, and Croatian sausage, both mild and hot. There was chicken too, but I didn't care. The sausage was damn good. These old ladies can cook. It was probably made by members of the parish. Kudos to them!

After eating, I lost that hand to the calling station which set me back a bit. I then tried to make a move on one of the new guys at the table. With J 10 suited, I raised it up again. I got called by the new in the BB. Flop was 8 Q x. He bet out. Ok. I bet, he called. Turn was another 8. This time he bet out. Is he holding an 8? His bet was 500, too small for the pot. I had a good feeling here and called. River was a 9. I hit my gutshot. He checked and I pushed. He called with A Q. I doubled up and was happy.

During that first hour, we kept having people get knocked out. Bradley Center lasted about a half hour when he tried to bluff the hyper active guy. Hyper knocked 3 people out collecting $20 bounties on them. I collected none. I knocked people out after the bounties were gone. Old aggressive dude was gone in about 20 minutes as was the lady on my right. And it was all on very poor play. There were chasing or drawing dead each time.

They then broke down our table. I knew the game was about to change when I sat across from my friend Brian. I know he plays and I expected to see some aggression at the table. That is exactly what I saw. There were some younger guys here. The Miller man had some chips but looked like was about to fall asleep. The old guy was a non factor. Marquette had some big stacks and was trying to control the table. Acme hat was quiet and would show himself to be a push monkey. The chick at the table was really tight. She had a tomboy look and a nice rack. She liked to play these tourneys and was having a good time. Much better than the boyfriend who sweated her and just wanted to go home.

I watched the action for a bit until I jumped in with 10 10 in MP. It folded to Marquette who went through all stages of anguish before slamming his chips in the middle. All the time he was fretting, I thought about what he might have. Any big pair was out. A K too. Maybe A Q or A J or A 10. I finally settled with A x. Flop was K Q 10, two diamonds. He quickly pushed. I waited 2 seconds before calling. I was confident I had him here. His slamming of the chips was all I needed to see. As I tossed my 10s up, I asked to see A J, the nuts. Instead he showed 7 5 suited. Before the turn was shown, he was already stacking chips to move to me. That was a big double through for me. It put me around 10,000 and a comfortable spot with around 20 left. An old guy with glasses was moved in. He claimed to be new at this but his play said otherwise. He was aggressive and made bigger bets. He and I went to battle on some small pots and talked a bit between hands.

One interesting hand did come up. I am pretty sure I was right, though not 100%. Blinds are 200/400. I was in the SB. Glasses limped UTG. Next guy to act was a short stack. He goes all in for 600 total. It folds around to me. I have crap and toss the cards. The BB calls the 200. Now UTG wants to raise. I said he couldn't raise, because the bet that was made was half a bet. It had to be full bet for him to be allowed to re-raise. Of course, no one agreed. They call the tourney guys over and we explain the situation. They say he can. I tell them I am pretty sure they are wrong, but hey, I am not even involved in the hand so what does it matter to me? Now UTG goes and raises all in, which is called by the BB. He then shows 2 2! WTF? Amazingly, it held up. But can anyone tell me who is right here? I believe that any opening bet had to be full raise in order for any other raises behind to occur. I think I will go post this question over at Poker Works. Hopefully, Linda or someone else in the biz can give me the correct ruling.

I won a couple more small pots before we moved to two tables. Most of the table I was at moved as well. At this table I was able to drop the Hammer. Well, ok, I didn't really "drop" it. I caught it in the BB and saw the flop for free. Flop gave me an OESD. I checked as did the limper. Turn was a rag. I went to make a move and bet 2/3 of his stack. Amazing he just called. River was a 4 giving me my straight. I pushed and he showed top pair. I threw my cards down, announcing Hammer Time! and dragged the pot. I smiled as I saw the shocked looks from around the table.

I would win just one more big pot at this table. I was up against the spectacled man with the deuces. I had raised it up in MP with K Js. He called from the BB. Flop was A high. I bet out and he called. Turn was a rag. I bet out again. He grabbed a stack of chips and played with them in his hand. He set them down and picked up his cards. As he played with the cards, he flashed one to me. A deuce. There was a 2 on the board. He was calling with bottom pair? He called. I fire again on the river when a rag hit. He folded. At this point, I had somewhere around 30,000 I believe which put in the top 3 overall. With 12 of us left, I was going to make money. My friend even commented I could fold to the money. Yeah, but I wanted to wield that stack to get more.

When we got down to 11, they decided to consolidate to the final table. Ten would pay. I looked around and saw 3 tiny stacks. Blinds are 1000/2000 at this point. I was in seat 11 so I was right behind the button so I didn't need to play until a couple people were knocked out. The tiny stacks played so tight. In fact, 2 of them basically blinded themselves out. One guy posted the small blind and have just 1000 behind. He folded instead of calling and having a chance to triple up. Finally the chick showed some balls and moved her 3000 only to be knocked out on the bubble. I just couldn't believe those guys played like total wimps. They got their money back though so who is to question it.

Now my friend had pointed out I could just fold into the money. That is what happened. I didn't have to play a hand for a while. But I wanted to play. I just never caught any cards. It was a total card cemetery for me at this final table. The best I saw was A 5. In EP. Q 10 in late position looked good but there was a big raise in front of me. Otherwise I had total crap. Plus it seemed the blinds were going up whenever they felt like raising them. And they ran out of beer. Could it get any worse?

People were dropping like flies. The worst player at the table was also sucking out big time! He would raise with ATC, call down with absolutely nothing but catch on the river, and just suck out again and again. It was ugly.

And all this time I have nothing. The first time the blinds come to me they were suddenly 3000/6000. It hadn't even been a full orbit. I had to fold to a big raise in each blind with crap. The next time they come around they are 5000/10000. We are down to 4 now and I haven't played single hand at this final table. I am blinded out in the SB. I manage to double up with K high, but then the suckout artist hits his gutshot straight on the next hand to knock me out in 4th. I would have had 3rd but the short stack got lucky 3 hands earlier.

Fourth place got me $250 so I am not complaining. I just cannot believe how card dead I was. I don't think I was playing super tight either. When the action was to me, I had bad cards. If I had an A, I was either in EP or there was action ahead of me. I was somewhat content to let them knock the others out and push me up the money ladder, but I wanted to be able to fight too. That never happened.

I did witness some very soft poker all night. When the guys paid me and said "See you at the next one", I quickly assured them I would be. I would say that half the field was bad. The other half maybe has 10 good players while the other had a clue on just how to survive.

There is another tournament next week that I have contingent plans to hit. Should be just as juicy.

Another final table...

but no cash.

I played a qualifier for the Full Tilt $200k on Saturday. Was kicking some ass too. Was the leader after the first hour. Never went below 3rd in the second hour. But couldn't hit anything in the 3rd and went out at 9th.

Top two got into the tourney and down to 5th paid cash.

I did spend some time at the first table with factgirl. We talked a bit about how great the WPBT tourney in Vegas was last month. It seems so long until the next one this summer. And as much as the Imperial Palace seemed to be one big clusterfuck, they did a great job of hosting our tournament. Setting up a ballroom to play in, giving us an open bar, etc. They even had press releases for the game. It was a blast.

So even though I got nothing out of the tournament last night, I feel good about my game. I also played the cheap ($4) SnG during the first hour, coming in 1st and winning the $26 token (I now have 3 of those stored up). All in a warmup for tonight's church game. I figure there will be around 30-40 people in this. Last one I played saw me as the bubble boy when I got rivered by an a-hole with a poor call. This time will be different. I intend to play a bit more aggressively, especially if I can chip up early. There should be bounties ($10) on the first 15 people or so, so I intend to make my buy in back there. Hopefully enough cards come my way to do so. If not, well, you can find me by the beer tap the rest of the night.

Not bad, but could have been better

PokerStars Tournament #17845159,
No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
180 players
Dear S.t.B, You finished the tournament in 7th place.
A $126.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

A ton of suckouts occurred in this game. I mean there were some real brutal beats. I was one of the victims at the final table when I called the all in raise from the really loose player. I had A Q. Him? 10 9. I hit my A on the flop but there is a 10 as well. He catches the two outer on the river. Oh well. Snakes on a plane.

I was happy with my play. I had doubled up in the first hour, mainly taking advantage of a loose player. Chipped up further in the second hour when I pushed against another loose guy with A Ks and he called with the most overplayed hand in online poker. A 10.

Beyond that I played aggressive poker, raising in position, putting out feeler bets, bullying weak players. I was doing well into I ran into A A at the final table. That led to the aforementioned hand and I was done in 7th.

I was shocked at how bad some of the people were too. I hadn't seen poker played this poorly in a long time. Guess I will have to come back tomorrow. It feels like a good warm up for Friday's festivities.

On a side note, has anyone played in the Ultimate Bet Poker Challenge tourneys at all? The small buy in that play for a spot at a TV SnG. I was going to pop some money over there but I had trouble logging in. That was 4 hours ago and I still haven't received my new password. I wonder if they closed my account because I had signed up with PokerShare?

Fancy play

The poker weekend was interesting. I couldn’t money in SnGs or tourneys to save my life. It was only 5 of them. In 4 of 5, I got my chips in with the best hand only to be sucked out on. It happens.

On Sunday, I somehow finished 2nd in a 2 tabler after starting the final table as the small stack. I then made up the rest of my losses playing 3/6. So the weekend was a push.

I did notice some interesting plays that are happening more frequently. It seems like the check-raise is the most popular move in low limit hold em. Everyone and their grandmother are constantly check-raising. In my opin, check raising in limit hold em is giving money away. There are only a couple of instances where I will check raise, but I bet the majority of the time when I have a hand. I want to build a pot. But if my hand is concealed well- say I flop trip 3s or 4s with an ace on the board- I will let the intial raiser go at it when I am 99% sure they will bet it. But a lot of people will raise pre-flop, watch the A or K hit and check, just hoping you will think they missed their flop. So it may get them one extra small bet? Stupid in my mind. Most players will call your bet anyways. Why try to give one away? Plus, you may just be trapping yourself.

The other funny move I saw a couple times was in tournament play. UTG limps. Someone else raises. UTG then re-raises all in and shows a medium pair or A K at best. I saw this play 3 times. Granted I know they are trying to represent A A or K K, but what they do not understand is that I have been watching them for the last 30 minutes. Your play has been crappy. For you to make this move doesn’t make sense. You have gained any respect from me to make me fold. Furthermore, why do you want to commit with hands that aren’t big favorites?

People trying to play fancy at low limits is amusing. They act like they are at the final table of the WSOP when there are 200 people left in a tournament. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are wearing sunglasses as they play as well.

I may be playing in a church tourney this Friday. From the email I received, it shoudn't be too big. Levels look to be good too. If you are in the Milwaukee area, drop me an email at StB31@hotmail if you are interested in playing. I will shoot you the details.

Did that really just happen?

I think we have all seen it happen at the virtual felt during SnGs or MTTs. Some guy is playing a lot of hands and hitting, usually on the river. No I am not talking about the Luckbox. I mean that play that will play any suited or any connector, calling all bets, hoping to hit their gutshot, which they usually do on the river. It drives me mad when I see it.

Or the lucky player who gets those guys chasing each hand that they don't hit and he is accumulating chips like he is stocking his bomb shelter. You watch dumb call after dumb call wondering why those morons don't make those moves against you.

It finally happened for me yesterday in a 2 table SnG on Stars. I was flabbergasted when they showed their cards at the end of the hand. Of course, I would end up bubbling when my A K got beat by A J (always seems to happen to me) but this isn't a bad beat story.

This is a did that really just happen story.

I am dealt A Q in the BB. MP limps as does the small blind. Blinds were 15/30. I pop it to 120. They both call. Flop is 10 K Q rainbow. SB bets 120. We both call. I think it is a weak bet that allows me a good chance to draw to the straight or A. If he had A K, he would have raised pre-flop.

The turn is a J. Boo yah! I have made my straight. There are two clubs on the board so a backdoor flush is possible. SB bets out only 120 again. I figure he may have an A as well now. But to find out I pop it up to 600. They both call. Huh? Great, I am up againt 2 others aces and the pot is going to get chopped.

River is the 8 of hearts. Nice. I have the nuts, but figure I am going to see a chop. This time the SB checks. I push all in hoping that one of these players is a total idiot and calls with crap. The MP instacalls me. Damn, there is the other ace. But the SB thinks a bit and then calls.

MP showed K 9 for the dummy end of the straight. Weird. Was willing to put in all those chips with the possibility of the ace high being out there. I would have folded or made a move on the turn. Then again, I wouldn't have been playing K 9 offsuit to that raise pre-flop.

SB turns over....K J? Way to read a board! How does anyone think that K J is good when you have been raised after you made two pair?

I was quite shocked when I saw those hands. Well, shocked and happy. Yes people, the poker boom is over and their is no more money to be made here.

If he was as smart as he says he was....

he would have kept his mouth shut.

I have said before that I don't chat much. The majority of it is stupid trash talking that doesn't make any sense. There is only so much "you suck" and "nice catch idiot" that you can read.

Of course, if someone says that to me, I may just walk onto the dance floor and chat them up. If I can get them aiming for me, that will mean more dollars on my side.

I had this working on Full Tilt tonight. One guy got mad at me because his flopped pair of aces didn't hold up. It was a 6 max 3/6 table. I had opened from the cutoff with a raise holding K Q clubs. Only the BB called. Flop was J high. BB checked. I made the continuation bet. He raised and I called. I watched the guy for a while and he like to buy pots. Turn was a 10. I called his bet with my OESD. River was a A. I raised his bet and he called to show 2 pair. He then proceeded to call me an idiot for calling his turn bet. I was over 5.5 to 1 to call. If I hit, I get more. Plus it was possible I had the best hand at the turn (which I did).

Next guy started on me when I made it 3 bets to go in the 3 seat with A Qo. I hit my Q on the flop to beat his 9 9. He berated me for 3 betting with A Qo. I asked why he didn't cap the flop if his hand was so good, or ever bet out. He claimed he was 80% sure he was ahead. Again, I didn't know what I was doing. That I got lucky and couldn't play for shit. I told him I could prove I was smarter than he. I told him I was taking his money and leaving. I pocket $80 in about 15 minutes and left the table. (Note: This move was inspired by the Poker Geek)

Talking shit about a player isn't going to get you anywhere. Seeing that I was up, the best way to piss this guy off further was to leave. I know he won't learn the lesson and I sure hope he doesn't. He is on my list. He was quite a bad player and I will search him out.

Did I play these hands wrong?

Another quarter, another year, another set of goals

2005 was one interesting year for me and this hobby. I had some successes, made some money and made a lot of great friends. There were easily more highlights than low spots.

Highlights

• Winning my first multi table
• Cashing for some big dollars ($2000, $1300, & $800)
• Final table showing in the WPBT Aladdin Classic
• All the great people I met

There really aren't any true low spots to mention. They consist of many little items like not staying focuses in some tournaments like a Party Million. Ring games during November and December where I just couldn't win consistently. Not winning a seat in a big tournament.

That last one is interesting to me. I would like to win my way into a major tournament, whether it be WSOP or WPT. I came close in June when I won 2k and tried to get into Event #2 at the WSOP. But the lines were huge by the time I was going to sign up and decided not to bother. But in the end, I realized that this goal wasn't achieved because I didn't try. I didn't put my effort into playing tournaments that would get me there. I did some Party satellites but sucked in them. In other spots, I simply didn't want to fork out some big bucks. In the end, you cannot win what you do not set out to accomplish if you aren't in the game.

So now I have a plan. Now I need to execute said plan. I have chosen 2 sites that I wish to win my seat through, Full Tilt and Poker Stars. On Full Tilt I have a platform I like and a company that is great. In Stars, there are simply more opportunities. Either way, each site knows how to treat their people well.

Second part of the plan is to play the damn tournaments. I will need to set aside a portion of money to play just these tournaments. I am not quite sure how much. I will continue to play the guaranteed money tournaments on FTP and will use the 20 tablers on Stars to "train" if you will. Any money won in these will be used to take the next step.

Other goals for the year are to step up to 10/20 on the limit tables and develop a solid NL ring game. The main thing I see holding me back is time. I may not have time to play as much as I might like to achieve these goals. I realize that poker is just a hobby. I have no dreams (delusions?) of going pro. That can work for others, but that just isn't me. I am content with playing when time allows and just trying to play the best I can.

I can't help but feel that 2005 will be a springboard for 2006. Hell, I have already won with the people I have met. Now it is a matter of trying to improve and become better.