Learn to speak Dutch to piss off Harrahs

I see that Al received an interesting email from the fine people at Full Tilt Poker concerning the use of the term World Series of Poker. Harrahs is hell bent on protecting the use of the phrase. To an extent, I cannot blame them.

To an extent. The NFL does the same thing in protecting the term Super Bowl. I am sure we could find a number of of instances where someone is acting like you are kicking a baby by using their precious terms.

Thus, I have decided to begin speaking Dutch. Thanks to this handy dandy translator, I now will now refer to anything to do with that card event in Vegas from June to August the World Series van Poker! Go get a trademark on that one Harrahs!

I am checking the schedule here to see when I will hit the tables next. I should be able to play the Wheatie tonight. But the Mookie tomorrow looks to be a no go. I am heading to the Indians/Angels game because, well, it is there. And it is baseball. It is not the first time the Indians will call a Milwaukee stadium home. Only this time, it will not be a movie.

Last longer tilt

I went on some serious tilt last night during the RiverChasers tournament. I had a nice drunken rant going on in the chat all because of it. Now that I think about it the next day, it was rather ridiculous. Even though I came in 3rd last night and helped my meager FTP bankroll, the tilting is still in my mind.

I went on tilt shortly after getting in a last longer bet. The amount was nominal, the buy-in. We were basically even in chips (he had 30 more?) around 3300 or so. Within 5 minutes I would dump half of my stack and look pretty bad. But here is where the tilt comes in. My foe in the last longer bet went on auto-fold.

WTF?

My initial reaction was "He is going to win a last longer by folding and waiting for me to screw up? That is bullshit!" As I raged on like a madman, someone pointed out a simple thought. Maybe something came up and they had to log off. My beer boggled mind skipped over what was probably the obvious answer. So I was able to get an email address and send them a message asking what happened. And told them to pay up! If they had an emergency, I am willing to drop the bet. I don't want to win like that just like I didn't want to lose like that.

I think was set me on tilt was the concept that someone could win a last longer bet by not playing. It feels like an insult. They are saying you will beat yourself. That they can win not by beating your with their skill, but by watching you implode. Kinda like having a Matusow meltdown.

I ask this question. Should someone be able to win a last longer bet by simply not playing? I feel that they shouldn't because the spirit of the bet to play to win. But as the bet implies, who ever last longer win. Doesn't state how you last longer, just that you last longer.

Anyways, I guess that is what happens when you go from work to bar to poker game. The stupidest thing can set your beer soaked brain on tilt.

I am happy with 3rd

Not content, but happy with my 3rd place finish in the RiverChasers tournament tonight. I say the cops outside my house was a distraction.

More tomorrow.

After screwing myself, a final table ain't bad

I made a good run in the Mookie last night. Unlike a token frenzy tournament earlier where I had a brain fart and went out on the bubble (instead of folding A Q and trying to limp into a token I pushed into the all in stack and got outflopped), I made the money going out in 9th.

Not the way I wanted it to end but I cannot complain. I played terrible in the middle of the tournament and shouldn't have been around that long. I was raising with good hands, but folding to re-raises. I might have well just put a target on my face and handed out arrows. I don't know if I was playing a very loose image or not, but I sure didn't make any adjustments. It took a suckout for me to get in a position to make the final table.

Some of the play last night was highly questionable. Or maybe I should say, some of the justification for shitty play was highly questionable. I don't care if you put lipstick on a pig and call it pretty, calling a raise and re-raise with A rag is a stupid play. But doing so will send Al on some major tilt.

Congrats to Miami Don on his back to back wins.

See you at the RiverChasers tonight.

Vegas

I have my flight and room booked for the WPBT Summer Classic. Looking at a long stay of 5 days. I really need to get away from the workplace and relax. I have a room booked at the Rio. The rate I got was cheaper than the Orleans. Even with cabbing it to and fro, I will still be better off. Plus, I am sure I have a much better room than what I would get at the big O.

I didn't play that much poker this weekend. When I did, I got taken down by inferior hands and inferior plays by inferior players. Apparently calling a re-raise with A 3 suited, thus committing all of your chips, is the way to win your tournament.

I don't think I will be playing the Wheatie tonight. I may be going to the Brewers game instead so no title defense.

Don't know how many of the Battle of the Blogger tournaments I will be playing. With them at Full Tilt, it will be tough. My bankroll took a hit last month and it is quite thin. Most of my time there will be playing token games just to get in these events. While the token games are usually easy, being taken down by A 3 suited can dampen one's spirits.

But the plan as of now is to hit the Mookie on Wednesday. I should try to save some face and get my name on the scoreboard.

Dead Money

A couple weeks back, I had received an email asking if I was interested in reading a book and giving it a review. It wasn't your ordinary poker book, but a bit of a mystery novel with poker as the theme. Seeing as I hadn't read a good book as of late, I jumped at the opportunity.

To me, the easiest way I can tell if I like a book is how fast I read it. If I quit doing other things to finish the book because it is good. Five hours after picking it up, I had finished Dead Money: A No Limit Poker Novel by Rudy Stegemoeller.

I found the story quite engaging. The characters were believable and more importantly, likable. The story centers around Mark Newcomb, a poker player who goes off to play in a tournament. He soon finds himself involved in a murder case when he stumbles on the dead body of a famous player. Other players are soon involved and even though someone has been killed, the tournament must go on.

What we get is a mix of poker and solving a murder case. As much as our hero Mark Newcomb tries not to be involved, he keeps getting sucked back in.

There are a couple of things I enjoyed about the book. The style itself reminded me of a series of novels I read by Harlan Coben and the Myron Bolitar character. These guys are not detectives but smart enough to notice little things that help them stay out of trouble (for the most part).

I also liked the approach taken in Dead Money. You get the thought process of our lead character. From how he interacts with the characters to how he plays poker. Like how he spends time in the casino until early in the morning and gets barely enough sleep for the tournament. It reminded me of the blogger gatherings in Vegas. I even started picture some of the other characters as bloggers or famous poker players. It had me wondering which players in real life had their counterpart in the book.

You get some poker play in the book, but not too much and yet not too little. Plus, it is all realistic. Though I don't know if I would lay down A J suited when I flop a flush draw and get re-raised early in tournament. Beyond that, there is some angle shooting, a-hole players, and push monkeys.

Next time you are heading to Vegas, I would easily recommend reading the book. It will certainly make the plane ride go faster.

Don't forget to read Pauly's updates on the EPT in Monte Carlo. He live stuff is here and as well as his personal thoughts here and here. I am liking the brunette in the Poker News videos as well. Nice!

Also, you can keep yourself updated on the PokerStars players via the hard working Otis at the PStars blog. Unfortunately there are no odds of him locking himself on the balcony this year. The wager has been taken off the board.

Before I knew it,

I won the Wheatie. And if Blogger wasn't being such a bitch, I would show it.

Maybe tomorrow. Right now I need finish the Razz freeroll Al had set up.

It always feels good to win a tournament, but for me, it seems like it has been a long time. After bubbling in the iPod, bubbling in Al's Euro tournament on Sunday, and making the final table and finishing two out of the money at Sunday HORSE, it was time I broke through and took one down.

It makes makes me a two-time WWdN winner. I also took down the last longer bet (obviously) with Biggestron, Zeem, Columbo and rico, making it the biggest Wheatie win EVER!

I don't bore you with details, but it helps to flop a full house with the Hiltons and get paid off. Then to deliver a crushing blow by slow playing A A heads up.

Hopefully I can get some kind of streak going.

I have no idea how the Razz tournament finished. I had to be up early to meet with my boss this morning and didn't feel like staying up an extra hour or so to win $20. I will have to check it out to see where I finished.

Summer Classic time is coming

Falstaff has an update on the WPBT Summer Classic set for June 6-11th. I am pretty sure I will be making my way out there for the festivities, though I may not be staying at the Orleans. I can get a free room at the Rio (for Thursday and Sunday) and may take advantage of it seeing how the cost would be the same as staying at the Orleans, but with a nicer room. Plus, with people playing in the WSOP, it could give them a place to crash if needed. I don't think it is too far from the Orleans to begin with.

At least that is what I am thinking right about now. All I need is for airfare to get cheap and I will be booked.


After work yesterday, I headed to a bar to kill some time before meeting with my boss. As I drank my beer, I tried to figure out who the people were at the bar. To my right were 4 ladies and a guy of various ages. I put them on being teachers. On the other side were some people that work for the same company as I do, but are in a different division. To my left was a couple drinking margaritas. Across from me was a tall guy.

The tall guy was by himself, enjoying a smoke. Then he answered the phone and ordered some drinks. He got a bottle of beer and a half strawberry/half regular blended margarita. Ah, he would have company.

When I saw the chick he was with, I had one simple reaction. Ouch, my eyes! I then took a second glance and it hit me. This girl looked like someone I knew. I racked my brain until I figured it out.

It looked like F-Train but with a wig. Now, I am not trying to rip on the F-Train. Not by any means. But this girl was a dead ringer for him, but with a blonde wig. Same nose, chin, eyes and forehead. I tried to take a picture on my phone but the glare from the windows kept messing it up. Plus, I think the big guy was hearing the camera noise from the phone as he shot me a look as I tried to nonchalantly take a picture.

Note to self

Do not rest your eyes between hands in a tournament. You may just fall asleep and get blinded out.

Ugly Tuesday

Tuesday was an ugly night of play. Bubbled in a 2 table SnG. Went out 40 spots out of the money on the 19k guaranteed after some clown called my push with just A J, and dropped a buy-in at an O8 table where dude kept hitting everything sending me spinning off on the tilt-a-whirl.

Frustration doesn't cover it. I skipped the Mookie last night because of it. I may skip the RiverChasers and CC tonight as well. Or not. Must find where my mind is at. Except for the O8 tilting, I don't think my plays in the tournaments were wrong.

Should have stayed away

With the onset of March Madness, I decided to take some time away to go hang out with friend, drink beer, and watch the games. I figured a couple days away from the game would leave me refreshed and ready to come back focused.

Wow, was I wrong. It felt like every possible suckout that I could incur, I did incur. It was brutal. Get good hands in triple draw and have someone catch 2 on the last draw to just beat me. Again and again.

So I figured I would switch it up and play some Razz. I might as well have dropped a bowling ball on my groin. Suddenly good hands became bad as brick after brick hit me.

Hopefully I have gotten all the bad plays out of the way and tomorrow will be a much, much better day.

About the only good thing I did was read a good book. More on that later.

Role of a big stack in a satellite

I found myself in the enviable role of the big stack very early in the Token Frenzy tonight on Full Tilt. Within the first half hour, I had over 7500, more than 2500 than the next stack. Getting quads, flopping a couple sets, and putting pressure on small stacks can do it for you.

But then I was thinking...how should one play the big stack in a satellite? In this case, 36 spots would get a token. At 7500, I will easily win a token if I stay put.

But is staying put the right plan?

By staying put, I mean folding everything. Got A A? Fold, no need to play. You have basically won the prize, why bother to get in conflicts.

Or do you let the table you are at dictate your action? If small stacks are present, do you try to knock them out, thus helping out others?

Do you just play great starting hands? Big pairs so you have the best odds going in.

I don't think there is any correct way to play the big stack. Sure the most conservative method of walking away is the safest, but is it the best?

I decided that I was only going to play the best hands, and then in position, as long as there were a bunch of shorties at the table.

The strategy worked well, especially when the deck hit me silly. But then I found myself moved to a table where the small stacks were suddenly 2500. Bigger stacks at 4500, 6000 were at the table as well. Suddenly I found myself being ultra-conservative.

But other stacks weren't. They wanted to play a lot of pots and knock people out. I saw calls of raises with K 10o, or 7 9s. I was amazed by the amount of gamble people had when they didn't need to. Like one big stack pushing all in on a re-raise with 4 4 against a medium stack with A K. Made no sense.

Would anyone gamble like that when they don't need to?

Bubble

No Ipod for you!

Yep, played for a couple hours and hit the Ipod bubble in the pokeronamac tourney. My K K was cracked by A Q. So I got like $2.75 instead.

At least I played pretty well throught the tournament, but could have done better at the final table. I was steaming a bit and tried to play too many hands. Limp, call, fold. Not a winning strategy.

It does have me prepared to wage a war on the bracelet races. I will have to start playing some of them now that I have collected some tokens.

Thanks again to the pokeronamac gang for hosting the tournament.

Jacked off

Damn them Jacks. Within minutes, I was out of both the Riverchasers and CC's tournaments when a J hit the board. One made me groan. The other pissed me off.

I had raised in EP with 5 5. Table was tight, it was early, and I wanted to see some flops. So I called the re-raise. Presto! I flop my set. I decide to check-raise my opponent. Hmm...he calls. I check the turn even though now a back door flush is possible. At this point, I am confident my set is still good, but I am thinking about how I can maximize the pot. My opponent checks as well. River is the J of spades. No way did he hit a flush. I push (about 3/4 of the pot I believe). He thinks and takes his time before calling and showing pocket Jacks. Ugh!

I don't know if a turn bet would have won the hand for me or not, but that is the risk with trying to get as much out of your opponent as you can. You may just be giving them the maximum.

Over in the Riverchasers side, I was the victim of a donkey play. I had already doubled up to about 3800 and had only 2 people at the table that were good players. With 9 9, I called the pot raise from my right. The flop came 3 3 2. I liked it. Hell, I loved it. I saw another pot size bet come out. I felt I had the best hand and knew this donk would pay me off if I raised. So I popped it. Hard. All in to get him off the hand. He took his time and let the lights go all the way down before calling. He showed A J.

WTF?

Putting in all of your chips with nothing? I hate going up against A J. It always beats me. Sure enough, a J hit the turn. Nice suckout.

Just like that I was out. I was tempted to berate the player but decided not too. Well, more like I was really pissed and just shut my pc off.

This morning I was still steaming a bit. But then it hit me. I hadn't had a brutal beat in a while. Nothing I can do when I play it right. If I had just raised pot, there is no way he is folding. They simply do not fold those hands in the RC tournaments.

Just have to wait until the next one to get my revenge.

Bad run

Been on a bad run lately. Some of it bad cards, some of it tilting.

I thought a couple days away would help but it didn't. Whether it be triple draw or hold em, I was on the short end too many times.

Maybe I can turn in around in the Wheatie tonight.

Update: Scored a token in a Token Frenzy. Was breezing along until I made a move on a short stack with A Qs. He had little choice but to call for 300 more in the BB. But his J 8 flopped a pair and I couldn't improve. Suddenly I was short and it wasn't looking good with the blinds coming along.

Of course, the blinds bump up to 600/1200/200. I have 2300. There are some short stacks that are going to be all in before I get the blinds in 3 hands. But if they win their hands, I am in trouble. Just as the BB is about to hit, I am moved to a new table! 1 hand later the bubble bursts and I have a token.

I will take that as a win. Heck, I need what I can get.

Another update: Made the money and promptly went out in 9th place. Wasn't paying attention and pushed with K 10o. If I had known I was in fact, re-raising someone, then I wouldn't have done it.

Oh well, can't complain. I did make the money which is some consolation.

DQB

I ended up playing quite a bit of poker last night. I balanced some TD with HE to basically come up a couple dollars up.

Meanwhile, I took advantage of a token frenzy tournament that Hoy mentioned yesterday. Getting the token wasn't as tough as remembering it was a Turbo. I chipped up early and was willing to sit on the sideline. But I got greedy with pocket 9s and suddenly found myself on the outside looking in. Sure there were plenty of players left and I was never in dire straits but it is easier to be in the middle of the pack and only play monsters that scrambling trying to survive the bubble.

Plus with so many players not understanding the concept of a satellite, having that cushion is needed. Cannot tell you how many times I saw a big stack getting involved with A rag or K 9 off and bullying people around. For the most part, if I have a stack in the sat, I am sitting back, letting others do all the banging. Until I have a monster or I know of weak players that I can knock out.

So with 36 players getting tokens, I promptly went out in 36th place. At the same time, I went on a nice TD run erasing the hole I was in for a nice profit.

If only I had done better in CC's tourney. We started with basically 6 at a table. Bayne had to bludgeon me with his quad kings to more than cripple me. Well played. I had you tagged for A K and a set. Man, was I off thinking my rivered straight was good.

I did notice a trend when I play triple draw. After jumping up to a nice win, I tend to give it all back and then some. I end up playing looser than I normally would. Toss in one card draws that just don't get there or some clown pulling 4, 3 and 2 to make a 7 and I see all profit gone and me fighting to get back to where I started. I think that is one goal for the weekend. To not play so many hands and try to draw out because I see other people hit.

Best thing is I am still loving the game.

Too busy drinking to play

I was too busy drinking to play in the Mookie last night. I did see Maudie going all Godzilla on everyone. She finished strongly in fourth, just about pulling it off.

Iggy is back in his old digs. I won't do a smooch fest like Hoy but I don't feel like kissing a lot of midget ass (just kidding Hoy). I must admit I am jealous of the little guy. He is going to the UFC fights this weekend. About the closest I get to a UFC fight is two morons arguing over a cribbage game at the bar.

Pauly is still working hard in L.A. I found something he wrote to be quite interesting. In his Day 4 recap, he mentions this about play Bill Edler:

Edler has a reputation of being one of the nicest guys on the tournament
circuit. He's a patient player with solid fundamentals. He admits that his
biggest leak is that he has issues with mathematics. Edler is meticulous about
keeping his stacks in a specific order and size, and can often seen trading
chips with other players to maintain a uniformity of chip stacks and colors.

I started wondering if it would be wrong to tilt the guy based on that knowledge. Either get the table to not trade chips or even better, if you know he is most likely to just call a bet, bet some strange offbeat number. Instead of say 30,000, bet 30375, try to get him to break down his even stacks. Once, he does, you make all your stacks even and then comment about how sloppy his chips look.

Sadly, it appears Chilly is leaving the ring. His farewell post is out. I hope he continues to read and comment. He has some of the best comments out there.

Hopefully I can get out and play CC's tournament tonight. You know where and when.

Another Tuesday

Not much to talk about from last night. Went out 18th in the WWdN. Felt the cards weren't really coming to me. Thus, I was not shocked when my K K went down to A K. I had the feeling of dread hit when I saw the A in my opponent's hand. I knew I was going to lose that hand. Such is the game. But I felt I played well. There was one hand I should have been a tad more aggressive with but I don't think it would have mattered in the outcome.

I ran two tables of Triple Draw before playing the tournament. On one table, I could do no wrong, hitting good hands early and getting paid off. On the other, I had a sucker all lined up, but couldn't take advantage. Each time he would suck out on me. Call two bets and draw 3 0r 4. Was usually drawing two on the last pull as well. But my 7 6 5 would go down to 7 6 4. When that happened twice and two big pots slid away from me, I knew it was time to leave that table.

Ever have that happen? You play well, but you are always catching second best hand. Like the table is cursed.

At least I was able to peg 3 more players to sit down and play TD with. Nice to really enjoy playing the game- even with the frustrating moments- and make some money.

Omaha suckage

I played all of 7 hands in the WPBT event last night. Made one of the mistakes people tell you to avoid in Omaha. I pushed with the dumb ass end of a straight. Thus, I was the first one out.

It wasn't a good weekend of poker. Did ok playing TD, went deep in a tournament but didn't cash. I am thinking of hunkering down and playing more tournaments, getting back into that groove. Only problem there is I have to be in to work early and the best tournaments would be finishing around midnight to 1 am, leaving me with 4-5 hours of sleep.

Maybe that is a bridge I should learn to cross once I get there.

Get your undies out of a bunch

We all take bad beats along the way. It is not unusual to read about how someone made a bad play and got lucky to knock you out of a tournament, or cripple you. We can bitch about the donkey catching his two outer or hitting runner runner flush. But is it right to critique them on their own blog?

I don't think so. Especially when you have never met the person, even read their blog or have a clue they exist.

Seems bayne was on serious tilt after I wielded the mighty Hammer on him in CC's tourney Thursday night. He felt the need to insult my play on his blog and twice on my own comments. His original thought was "May I be 1st to suggest you would be better off spending your poker dollars with the purchase of lottery tickets." Wow, quite witty. Very original.

That was brought on by the aforementioned hammer dropping. Quick recap: Bayne raises in EP to 200 (25/50). In the SB, I re-raise to 650 with the Hammer. He calls. On the flop, 6d 5d, 10h, I push for 705. He calls with a Q high flush draw. I hit runner runner for the straight.

Bayne called it "a ridiculous pre-flop re-raise and an even lamer post flop push". Ridiculous pre-flop re-raise? I have the Hammer. What, you think I should be folding? Only a wuss tosses it away in a blogger tournament. The re-raise is the proper play. I can push you off the hand and take it down right there. A re-raise should signify strength, especially one that is out of position. Yes, it is a very loose aggressive play. But I am hoping to win pre-flop. And it is the Hammer!

You just called. Thanks! You just told me you do not have a big hand. Thus, that flop looks even better. If you caught your set, fine, IGHN. If not, I can take it down there again. Because I have the Hammer, I am betting at the friendly flop now. Lamer post flop push? Not quite.

The thing that amazed me though is your call. You have been re-raised pre-flop and then are calling a bet that is more than half of your stack. With Queen high. Queen fuggin high and a draw. Somehow only you and Phil Hellmuth make the call and even brag about it being a great read.

So I hit runner runner for the straight. Get your undies out of a bunch. It is not a shameful thing to be beaten by the Hammer. You do know that folding is an option, don't you?

But you weren't done yet. You said you had "Pot odds on my pre-flop call were good if just against 2 overs and I would be left with enough chips to still play if I lost." Sure 600 left is nice. 1350 is better. I gambled. You gambled. You lost. Again, you had Q high and a draw. Nothing stellar. You then say you cashed. Round of applause for Bayne! Good for you. Means nothing to me, but I guess it strokes your ego to brag about it.

You also had this gem "I adjusted play to exploit loose image. You continued loose play with loose image". Oh really. From the 30-40 minutes we were at the table, you were able to judge me as the loose player. Furthermore, you must have stalked me at another table to say that I continued to play loose. Not quite. I played aggressively, but not loose. Well, except for one more Hammer push. Other than that, you really have no clue how I was playing.

But it was this line that I loved the most. It shows you have no clue that one should play the Hammer as if it were aces. Quote "If you looked as far back in my blog you will see I overplayed a Hammer in Hoy as well but there several differences" So you played it once and decided you didn't have the stones to play it again because apparently you didn't win with it. That explains a lot. How does one OVERPLAY the Hammer, especially if they are betting out? Again, you raised, got re-raised and then called an all in bet. With Queen high! Ever think your call may be the worse of the two plays?

Get your undies out of a bunch. It was just one hand in the many thousands you will play.

Just like the Mighty Thor

I headed out to the bar right after work yesterday. Bosses were in town and I was forced to go have a drink after work with them. Ok, maybe not "forced". And yeah, I was at the bar an hour before they arrived but I had to kill some time. Bars work for me.


A couple hours of pouring some Leinie's Big Butt Bock into my belly provided the fuel I needed to play the RiverChasers and CC tournaments last night. Made decent runs in both before I lost focus and donked myself out.

I was playing steady on the RiverChasers side. But I got a little too greedy stealing blinds. Table was tight so the time seemed right. Unfortunately for me, I ran my A 4 suited into a real hand and was done somewhere around 19.


Over on CC's side, I was a Hammer playing fool. Caught it a number of times and wielded it just as the Mighty Thor would. Beside taking pots down preflop, I continued to play it aggressively post flop. In one sick play, the Hammer stood tall after going runner runner for the straight.
Edit: Bayne has the hand history posted. Seems to still have a lump from where the Hammer hit him on the head.

It worked so well that I tried again. In EP I raised 4xs the blind but got re-raised. Who dare re-raise on a Hammer play? Of course I called another grand and was up against K K. No problem. Flop the OESD, but didn't fill. What happened? My Hammer!! Soon I would get outplayed by Pauly, get short stacked and be done. But I had fun.

Funny how that was the only poker I had played all week. That will change this weekend, especially if we get hit with the snow storm that they are expecting. Could be a Saturday/Sunday of nothing but tournaments. Just need to walk the block to the liquor store to get the necessary survival supplies.

I needs an Ipod

Mac Poker

Once again the fine people at PokeronaMac are putting together a tourney. Jump on in for an Ipod if you are one of those (like me) that don't own one already. Heck, even if you do, get another if you got the chops. At the very least, check them out.

Knocked back down

I took a hit this weekend. Tried to play 5/10 triple draw and got my ass handed to me. It really was two big hands. One where my 7 6 lost to the nuts and another where my made 8 6 lost on the third draw to 7 6. In the end, I lost a chunk of what I had on Stars.

In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have been taking a shot at a higher table. It was Friday night after I got back from the bar. My rule is to not play cash games after drinking. I lose too much when I do it. I stick to SnGs.

Well, this time I didn't follow my own set rules and paid the price. Funny how I did well in one SnG taking second, but then got crushed when my K K got cracked by K Q. They hit their flush on the turn. Ouch!

After the beating on Friday night, I basically stayed away on Saturday. On Sunday morning I played a rock of a 3/6 HE table (what rock garden?) that was boring. There were some fishy players but the pots weren't getting any size to them. Thus, it was boring. I booked a small profit before making a stab at a super sat for the FTOPs. Yeah, that went no where when someone slow played K K against my steal attempt.

Little card slinging this week. Going away for work for a couple days. That should be just enough to charge the batteries. Plus I figure I can read the Omaha book I have on the plane. Maybe there will be some O8 in my future again.

What rock garden?

With all that is happening in the online poker world, players are bemoaning many different ideas on how things are going to be different. One that pops up a lot is "the games are going to be like rock gardens, with the same people trading money back and forth."

When I read this, I think how short sighted people are. Apparently they think the poker market has been tapped out. That either there are no new players left in the world or just Americans suck at the games and with them gone, so is the "easy" money.

Simply put, that hasn't been my experience. Though I am a recreational player- maybe playing 2 hours, 4-5 nights a week, I keep seeing all kinds of not so good players in the 3/6 limit games on Stars. I have not seen the game get any tougher on that level, though maybe it is on higher levels or no limit.

What I have seen is more European players at the tables. And Asians are sprouting up as well. This gives credence to some of the moves by the poker sites to pull out of the US. I own shares of Cryptologic. They moved their headquarter from Canada to Ireland last year. One major reason was to get closer to their player base in Europe. The other was to establish partnerships in China. They said that is where the true growth was going to come from. Even though it is early in the game, that appears to be what is happening.

Thus, I am not worrying about any rock gardens any time soon.

Here is another thought. Why not play another game? Back in December, I started playing Triple Draw. Working off of just the basics and picking the brain of Garth at times, I have attained enough of the game to be profitable so far at 3/6. Here is a garden with rich soil, very few rocks. Players are willing to chase to the last draw just about all the time. Or they will draw one and stay pat on a 10 for the last two draws. Or call down with a J low. Some think they can bully you by betting all the time. I love check raising these guys. Usually an 8 is good enough to win against them. A 7 is pure gold. There is money to be made for patient players.

Playing TD alongside HE keeps me going right now. Plus it is easier to rack up VPP points on Stars or clear applicable bonuses.

To me, the choice is simple. Keep bitching and moaning about the fishing hole being dried up, or pick your line up and go where the fish still bite.

A disturbing trend

I didn't do well in the WWdN tonight. Finished 32 out of 53, going out just after the first break.

I was very slow on playing the first two hands after the break as I was trying to make a drink. I had some cherry/lime water that I wanted to try with brandy. I kept running to the pc to make my play. Once I got the drink made and sat down, I lost a huge pot crippling me. Next hand, I was out as someone hit their 2 outer.

It was then I noticed this trend. I tend to go bust just after making a drink. Not from drinking a lot but from getting a new cocktail.

WTF? That is disturbing.

I may have to track this and figure out how to stop the trend from reoccurring.

But all was not lost on the night. I found one of the worst TD players sitting at a 2/4 table. He had 312 in front of him when I joined the waiting list. By the time I got a seat, he still had 280. Before I was done, he had busted. I only got $53 of it but I ain't complaining. Especially since I found another bad player on the 3/6 table that was good for another $49 in a short time span.

Drowned at the river by a HORSE

I may a decent run in the Riverchasers HORSE tournament yesterday. I think it was 32 runners in the beginning. I ended up 6th, two spots out of the money.

Not too shabby, but I knew that my flush in O8 was no good. With a small stack, I had to take the chance with a bet and ran into the nut flush.

I did find it amusing how many people were bitching about other player's game. Yes, there were some pretty horrible plays being made, but I don't think it is right to complain and berate someone for it (Yes Derek, I said it. Sore losers are allowed to!). But that is what happened. I believe I was told I sucked after I busted someone out. His proof was a hand he wasn't even involved in.

Here is the scene. We are in the H round with about 15 players left. I have A 8 diamonds UTG. My cards have sucked and I am mid range in chips. I believe blind are either 400/800 or 600/1200. So I raised UTG hoping that I can portray a strong hand and capture the blinds. But the BB calls. Flop is K Q J, rainbow. My opponent bets out. I have the straight draw and decide to just call. Turn is a rag. My opponent bets again. I put him on at least a king, probably two pair, but I need to see where I truly am. I decide to show strength and raise. After all, I raised UTG. With 3 face cards on the board, I can make him think I have flopped a set. It appears to work as he goes into the tank. He calls. The river is a nice 10 giving me the nuts. I bet and he calls. Yes, I got very lucky on the river. If he had re-raised me on the turn, I would have had to fold as my chip count would have taken a serious blow. I also check or fold on the river to any bet if I missed.

I can understand why the guy called me a terrible player with that move. Without knowing the thought process of your opponent, many moves can look awful unless you understand why they are making such a bet, or what their desired result is. My bet was intended to scream that I had a set. Instead I hit one of my outs for a straight. But I do believe it got my opponent to thinking. Don't think he would have folded to a river bet if I had missed, but it confused him. And isn't that what we are sometimes looking for when playing poker, deception?

72

I finished in 72 place in tonights Hammer Event.

I am quite proud of that distinction.

Feel like I should get some reward. Instead I was the victim of a poor play by my opponent. Such is poker.

Happy Hammer Day

It was one of those mixed nights of poker yesterday. I had a table of 2/4 TD running alongside the 3/6 HE. I was yo-yo-ing in the TD game while not getting any good cards in the HE game.


Then the slide occurred. Some donk hit a runner runner straight on me with his A 6 to beat my A K. I knew I had him until the river but he hit his card. From there it went down hill. About the only hands I seemed to win were the "what-the-hell-I-will-defend-my-blinds-with-this-cuz-it-is-suited" hands. But I trugdged on.


The TD game dried up and then I was down to the the HE game. I was getting bored with that though. So I jumped into a 2/4 HORSE game and did quite well.

After an hour and a half, I was done 3/4 of my buy in playing hold em and called it quits. I wasn't getting any where and the table was breaking. Thankfully I did quite well playing HORSE. Add that to the small win in TD and I was only down a couple bucks on the night.



Funny how that has been happening to me lately. I haven't had many big wins or losses lately. Either small losses or moderate wins. Nothing big.


Thus I wasn't sure whether I would play the WWdN last night. I was pretty much against it, but decided to hop in at the last minute. Long story short, I finished 2nd. I felt pretty good about my play too. I didn't donk it up early (well, not totally) and I avoided a "I don't feel like playing anymore" attitude towards the end. I stayed focus and worked towards making some money.

Not that I played perfect poker either. I had some suckouts along the way.

Maybe I was destined to do well. On the very first hand, I had the Hammer UTG. I raised and saw a flop with the BB. There was a 7 on the board so I bet it out and then called the raise. The 7 on the turn looked great. But I made a mistake when I pushed. I thought I could get something out of it but my opponent folded. But a Hammer start must be good, right?

I continued to chip up. I felt my reads were pretty good, but not perfect. I got lucky on one hand where I had flopped top pair and a gutshot straight. With two hearts on the board, I figured my opponent was on the flush draw when he raised the flop bet. The A on the turn didn't scare me and I bet it out again. When I got re-raised though I went into the tank. I still had him on the flush draw. But I wasn't taking into consideration that A. I made the call with the thought that I could still chip back up, but also, I thought my hand was good. Man, was I wrong. Oh, he was on the flush draw, but with the A of hearts. Bad call. But I spiked a 6 on the river for the straight. Having been on the bad end of those beats many a time, I don't blame him for being upset.

As the game continued, I kept the pressure on my opponents. It was when we were down to 2 tables that I believe I played my best poker. I had brdweb (sorry man, don't have a link for you, please supply) and wwonka on my left so I know I have to play well. I also have to be aggressive. If I get involved with either of them, I can quickly go from being a front runner to being out of the tournament.

I chip up nicely on a bluff and later on a hefty re-raise with K K. Soon I would be at the final table. I was avoiding any big confrontations with the bigger stacks. I was attacking the small ones when I could. I had Maigrey stealing my blinds like there was no tomorrow but there was little I could do. Each time I had crap. Sure she may have had crap too, but I had really crappy crap. I just hoped there would be a time where I had something and could play back. Later I would with A A, but not until I managed to survive that far.

I went on a little run with small pairs. After taking the blinds for a couple hands, someone pushed back on my 3 3. They had 4 4 and suddenly I was the short stack at the table. On the bubble. So of course I pushed with the Hammer on the very next hand. It is a nice rush you get when pushing with the Hammer on the bubble.

When it got heads up, I found my opponent to be on the aggressive side, raising 5xs the BB. I figured I could stay about even until I found a big hand. A Q looked big and I popped him back on his raise. All the money when in and I was up against 7 7. Flop was K J x giving me more outs, but none would hit.

As I said, I was happy with how I played. Hopefully it is something I can build on.

Tonight I will be playing Al's Hammer event. How can anyone miss this? While you are playing, make sure you raise a toast to the Father of the Hammer, Grubby.

Grinding weekend

I managed to grind out a nice little profit this weekend. Two tabling triple draw along side hold em worked out well. But I need to make sure I don't dig myself into a hole first.

Each time I stared up, I found myself dropping a quarter to a third of my starting count within the first orbit. Whether it was I wasn't hitting my draws or that hands weren't holding up, putting yourself in a hole right away sucks. Yet, I have noticed I do this again and again. It gets me some action later but it isn't like losing right away in my intention.

I should be thankful I found some very aggressive players. In both TD and HE, I would get paid off when I had the nuts. Each time these hands would propel me from being stuck to small profits that I could build off of into nice sessions.

I did enjoy the 2/4 TD tables where there were a couple people raising aggressively and then staying pat on a 9. I found I could reverse the tables on them. I tightened up and showed down a couple good hands. Then I turned their own game on them, raising and staying pat on 9 or 8, hands I normally wouldn't stay on with better players. I was getting people to fold hands quickly. Of course those were balanced by have 5 4 3 2 and bricking 3 times.

Al posted an update on the Neteller situation. Shouldn't the government be working to get U.S. citizens their money back? I have kissed that cash goodbye. Unfortunately for others, they are stuck quite a bit more. I hope the ending is much better for them.

Sportsbook isn't worth it

Like many others, I received a disc from Sportsbook.com announcing their new poker room. Apparently if you had an account at Paradise Poker, you received a disc. They were offering any where from $10 to $100 free, no deposit required. All you had to do was load the software, establish an account, and enter the code from your mail.

Easier said than done. Everything loaded ok, but I had some minor issues opening the account. It didn't want to take any info. Once I got it to work, I tried entering the code for the cash. I waited and waited, but the server wasn't working.

So I tried again the next night. This time it worked, but it didn't tell me how much I had been rewarded. Neither the poker account nor the sportsbook showed a balance. WTF?

On the third night, I logged in just to see if something had been updated. I hadn't received any notification email of any money being put in the account. Thus I was surprised to see $20. Well, better than nothing I thought. I figured I would try and bump that up for a MTT SnG. I found a $5 table and signed up. Nothing happened. Then the tournament started without me. Ok, guess I didn't get registered in time. Let's try again.

The second time I did get a confirmation saying I was registered in the tournament. But once again, it started without me. Huh? I check the tournament lobby for my name. Nope, wasn't there. It said I was in, but it won't let me play. Ah screw it.

So then I try to log out and now it won't let me. I get a message saying I have registered for one or more SnGs. Please unregister before signing out. I click on the "My tournament registration" button on the main screen and it come up blank. WTF? Still the software will not let me leave. Now it is beginning to piss me off.

So I try their live help. More like dead help. It take a couple minutes for someone to respond. I explain the situation to "Graham". It takes me another couple minutes to acknowledge I am out there. He then gives instruction pertaining to clearing out my browsers cache. I begin to wonder why that would have an effect on the poker software, but do it anyway. Of course nothing changed. I ask Graham why I would use the browser to make a change in their software. No response. Nice.

Finally after a couple minutes, Graham is back on saying they will have to look at it and will email me with notes on what they have found out.

So basically, the Sportsbook poker room is dead to me. I took the $20 and put in on the Colts in the Super Bowl. When I win I will see how many times I can double it up until I can either withdraw or lose it. One thing I do know, I won't be playing any poker on their site.

Miniature HORSE

Played some HORSE tonight. Maigrey let me know a $5 HORSE tourney was about to start on Full Tilt so I figured it would get me some good practice at small price. It would also help me exercise some patience; a discipline of mine that has been lacking when playing poker lately.

During the first session, I took my time, playing only the hands I liked. Sound simple enough, huh? To be more specific, I was watching all the raising going on early in hands. If my hand was ok to see a flop but not strong, I would wait. If I tried to see a flop cheaply just to see it raised twice behind me, I would fold instead of calling like the other 4 people in the pot would do. When I had a hand, I hit it hard. With 5 people in the pot, it was easy to trap people between bettors.

By playing such a simple strategy, I found myself leading at the first break with 5512. A straight in Stud hi/lo got me a scoop and vaulted me to the top. Now the trick was to continue to be patient and let the players fall aside. Only 15 of 74 were eliminated in the first round. This was far from over.

I got sloppy in the second session by playing too many O8 hands. But I clamped it back down. I got a full house in stud to push me back to the top but then lost a huge pot with another full house in Stud hi/lo. That one hurt. Just about put me on tilt. On the next hand I found myself all in with 5678x and with two cards to come, both flush and straight draws. I was shocked when my 8 low was good for half the pot.

Then the Mookie started and I had to balance the two of them. It wasn't hard at first. I was card dead in the HORSE tourney and the Mook was still in the feel out stage. Thus I played exactly one hold em hand during the rotation. Raised with A 5 on the button and got the blinds. That made it easier to listen to Waffle rant on about basically nothing.

Then O8 hit and I went down fast. Nut draws that just did not hit. Again and again. Probably shouldn't have been chasing but if I hit any of those pots, I am in a great spot. Ironically at the second break of the HORSE tourney, I am in last place. First to worst.

Meanwhile at the Mook, I bluffed at a decent size pot to get above 2000. Then stole the blinds with the big lick. Then missed an OESD and was right back where I started. I don't mind that too much as I am confident I can usually build right back up. Afterall, it isn't a huge drop to begin with.

Meanwhile, I go for it in Razz and manage to get a full house! Ain't that a kick in the ass! Done at 20. Four out of the money which would have earned me a whole nickel.

Back at the Mook, I was finally getting a read on the table when I got moved. I had just slow played A A and A K to get up to 2500. I folded and folded til I got A A in the SB. There were 3 limper so I popped it to 500 (50/100). Get one caller. Flop is J high. He pushes. Of course I instacalled. He shows K J. Huh? Turn is a 9 but he spikes a K on the river. Mother F&@$#&!!!!

Uh...yeah...sure

Wow!

I don't know quite what to make of this comment. Helluva spam job. I was laughing wondering what the hell set this person off. Is there something in the water at Los Medanos Community College? Then I saw the place was just outside of San Francisco. Ok, that explains quite a bit.

I found quite of bit of the comment funny. Hilarious in fact.

But then this clown crossed the line and pissed me off. I quote:

"Beer is a corruptor and a dumping ground 4 men"

He didn't say that. Tell me he didn't just say that.

That sir, is fighting words! Don't, and I repeat, don't insult beer like that!

WPBT- A new season

A new season of the WPBT player series started tonight. With some good success last year, I was hoping to somehow make a good run at it again this year. Though my play sucked throughout the weekend, I still had to play no matter how bad I was running.

I had an interesting table to start. There were more names that I did not recognize compared to those I did. Hoyazo, Fuel55, and Irongirl have played in a number of the other tournies. But who were these other people? bayne_s, Papi Justify, Patchmaster, ThePokerRules, and BuddyDank. No clue. That would make play just that much more interesting to start I guess.

I take a quick lead with the first hand. I get 9 9 UTG and I raise it up. Get one caller. Flop is 10 10 3. I like that and bet. Turn is a 10. I bet again and get called. I am fearing J J at this point but feel it isn't likely. The river is a 6. I play it safe and check. It is checked behind me as well. My 9s are good. Turns out he had 8 8. Yeah, probably should have tossed a value bet on the river but I didn't want to go out on the first hand.

Later I would try to jam the JackHammer though but the A on the flop was good. I made a continuation bet but the call told me Irongirl had one so I knew it was check time. Sure enough, A Q. Surprised she never did bet at the pot. Time for me to slow down a bit.

I get big slick a couple hands later. Guy on my right raises and I decide to just call. Flop isn't good though. Q Q 6, two spades. I toss it when he makes a continuation bet of 300.

But I chip up nicely against Fuel. With A Q in the small blind, I just call his bet. Flop is A A K. I go with a check raise on his continuation bet. He may have the case A but I am certain he does not have A K for the boat. I bet the turn when a 3 hits. When an 8 comes on the river, I am hoping he didn't get lucky and catch on his A. I bet about a third of the pot. My Q is good over his 5!

Tens are next but no action. With K J suited, I raise it up because the table is feeling a bit tight. I do get a caller though from the BB. Flop is A K x. Ugh. It gets worse when he bets out. But it doesn't seem right. I raise him, figuring he may have a K or a small kicker for his ace. Thankfully he folds right away.

I then dump half of my chips. I raised with K Q. There is a re-raise. I think a bit and call. Flop is K high. My opponent bets 900 into a 1300 pot. I feel he may have J J or Q Q. A K is a possibility but I don't think so. So I re-raise to put him all in. He shows A A. Ah..forgot that possibility. I take a hit. Lose some more when I call the maniac raiser on my right with J 10 clubs. Flop gives me an open ended straight and a flush draw. I just call his bet. Should have raised. I fold when a 4 of hearts his the turn and he pushes. Damn I hate it when I misplay a hand.

I finally get a chance to eliminate the guy on my right. I call his push of 415 with A J. Turns out he has A J as well. But suited. Of course, he gets the flush. This is getting worse by the minute.

After the break, I realize I am at the bottom. I figure I should kick it up a notch. Raise with A $ suited and get the blinds. Try again with 8 8. But this time Otis calls. Damn. But then the chip leader bumps it to 1200. Those 8s are pretty tiny now. I drop 420 chips that I cannot afford to really lose. I am now in push mode.

Suddenly I get a good spot. I have A Q suited in the BB. The button goes for a steal. Biggestron calls from the SB. I push all in for my remaining 1510. The button folds, but Big calls and shows....A J! No! I hate that hand. It always beats me. Always. Flop comes K Q J. Looks good so far. Turn is a heart giving me a flush draw as well. But the river spikes a J and I am out.

Gone at 42. Not totally happy with how I played. Should not have called that re-raise with K Q early on. That hurt. Smarter play would most likely still have me in the game. Oh well, there is always next time.

PokerStage: A Not Very Modest Proposal

Falstaff has a great idea.
From Midnight on February 8th (EST) through Midnight on Sunday February 11 (PST), do not play any internet poker.

The companies that stand to benefit the most aren't really doing much to help in our plight. If they see the revenue drop, it should open their eyes. Join the boycott!

PokerStage: A Not Very Modest Proposal

Better

I had some fun in the WWdN last night. Made the final table, but went out in 9th. I made a bad play but am not overly upset with it. Took a chance putting my money in when I knew I was behind and going to be called and it didn't pay off.

Wondering if anyone else would play it the same way. I believe I was in 7th at the time with only 5 places paying off. Chip count was around 4.8k or so, blinds 100/200/25. UTG+2, I have 10 10. I raise to 750. MP re-raises to 2400.

I thought for a while. My gut told me I was behind to a bigger pair, but because he was a bigger stack, he may have been making a play at it. It was only the 4th or 5th hand at the final table and I had no read on his style of play. My decision was simple. Do I want to gamble. If I call, I am basically committed. I would have about 1700 left and would be playing push poker. With the payout limited, I also realized I need to make a move to ensure I would cash.

In the end, I decided to gamble and called. Flop was K Q J. Not quite the flop I wanted to see. I now know I am behind to a set, two pair at the very least, but I highly doubt it. With 1700 behind, I figure I have to push and get lucky to catch 1 of 8 outs and fill the straight. My opponent calls showing K K. I don't catch and go home.

For once I wasn't unhappy about this play. I don't like getting in when I am behind. This time though, I knew I was behind and was willing to gamble. Curious to know if anyone else would have gambled here or just folded to the pre-flop re-raise.

Forgot to mention Pauly's travels yesterday. Well worth reading.

Not much

Played some poker over the weekend but not too much. The usual: Triple Draw, some Hold Em, some SnGs. Overall the weekend was profitable by $150. Not huge, but compared to the last couple of days, much needed.

Spent more time just relaxing and taking a break. I also envied reading of some of the trips others just took.

Iggy went to Mexico.
BadBlood went to Tunica with the UpForPoker gang.
Maudie and Gracie were in Tunica as well.

All the while, I was shoveling snow in Milwaukee. Yeah, I am a tad jealous.

Go read about their adventures or I will blog about shoveling.

Daily Double Pay Out

Played my first Full Tilt Daily Double last night. Though I usually do not like two tabling tournaments, this did not seem to be a problem.

However, when I had 3 tables going, adding in the Mookie and a TD SnG, I found that a bit annoying. In one spot I tried to fold a hand on FTP and ended up raising on the TD game. That pretty much put me in the crapper there.

But I did good. Finished in the money in both Daily Doubles. In A finished 72 out of 1083 (?) and in B, I finished finished 123 of 950ish.

By finishing in the money in both tournaments, I got a bonus of $16.86! Add that on to the 8 bucks I made by finishing in the money and I am rolling in the dough! I will probably give it another whirl sometime next week as it felt good to play a tournament in a serious manner once again.

The whole Neteller taking a dump on us Americans had people ticked off in the chat box yesterday. Yeah, it is going to suck trying to get money if you need to. I don't think moving money to someone else to deposit is such a good idea. It could be possible for the feds to go after them for doing the same thing Neteller was doing. Just something to consider.

Bad draws

In case you are not keeping up to date with Pauly and the Aussie Millions, go check out the video. They look like they are going to call some professional wrestling for us. I could have sworn they would be go up to the ring for the next match.

I also can't help but try to find some of this James Boag's that he keeps talking about. I have to try this brew.

I had a horrible weekend at the TD tables. I may have made some loose plays, but overall I couldn't make a draw to save my life. Knowing people would stay in, I changed my betting patterns and slowed down, sped up, tried to get people to fold. Instead they would draw two and beat my 8 6. I would start with 2 3 4 5 and proceed to either pair up, draw a face, or complete a straight.

All along watching people stay pat with a 10.

Now, I don't proclaim to be a good TD player, but I think I understand the basics and can play better than most of the people at the table. There are times you know you are good until that last draw. The cards just go against you.

On the other hand, I am running well at the limit tables (3/6).

I will have to look at what this really means over the next couple of days. Until then, I think I will take a good luck at the Daily Double over at Full Tilt. Interesting concept I must say.

Also, I think that listening to something I have seen described as "German Folk Metal" and "Viking Metal" can help one play better. In Extremo. Sure I don't have a clue what they are singing unless I look it up, but the music rocks. The song Spielmannsfluch is pretty good. Especially when the bag pipes kick in.

Smoker, Take 3

About an hour into the smoker, I was pretty much disgusted with myself.

I have a good feel for how the tournament runs. Most players are loose and passive. They are willing to call down with bottom pair, not bet the nuts, and generally not have a clue on realizing they are way behind. They have no clue about pot odds, or being committed when short stacked. A good player should make the money every time they play as long as they elude the bad beat. They can control the table with strong hands and big bets.

But I wasn't doing much of anything but folding. My cards were pretty damn bad. If I had something I could possibly play, it was in early position and a raise wasn't going to keep people out of the pot. Thus going maniac wasn't a smart option.

Thus, I played the waiting game. My plans of being active early were gone. Instead I needed to catch one hand and make it pay off.

That would take a while. Close to 2 hours into the night to be exact. I would get A K in the BB. There were 2 limpers and the SB in the pot. With the option, I pushed all in, about 5 times the blinds. Everyone folded. Though I was happy to finally win a hand, I wonder if I should have see a flop to maximize the hand.

That would sit in my mind for a while as I would post blinds and bleed them off for another 30 minutes until I would get a decent hand. Then with K Js, I would someone quintuple up when I flopped the nut straight. Somehow the board did not pair up and no one connected for the flush. I would be back in the game. Just a bit later, I would double up with 10 10.

The structure at this tournament is weird. It is suppose to be 30 minutes levels early on. You get a good amount of play for the first 3 hours. But once they get down to the last 2 tables, the blinds seem to go up on a whim. Plus they are doubling. It ends up being a crapshoot at the end. Before you know it, blinds are going 2000/4000 and the chip leader has maybe 10xs the blinds.

At the end, anyone with ice water in their veins can push every hand and scoop up the blinds. I didn't make the final table but I was willing to try it. Most people fold just hoping to move up one more spot.

Considering how the night went, I should have been content getting my buy in back. But yet I was disgusted by folding so much. -

Smoker, Take 2

I developed quite a strategy last night. I am thinking with some practise, I could write a book. With the way the tournament was unfolding, making the money was a distant possibility. As long as I stayed disciplined to my strategy, it would happen.

I call it Table Changing Your Way to the Final Table.

My cards were beyond sucking. I folded for close to 2 hours before I won a hand. Seeing that I was going to be short, I knew I would have to find a spot and push.

With the blinds coming, I felt screwed. But then the TD threw some cards down.

Table change!

I drew my spot, table 7, seat 5. I sat down on the button. Sweet! I get another round. With the suckage of the cards hitting a new high, I folded for an orbit. Blinds were hitting me again.

But wait, the TD walks up again and throw cards down again. Yes!

I draw table 6, seat 8. Hmm...I notice the pattern here. I started table 8 and keep getting moved. Don't need to be a rocket scientist to know this table will be broken next.

I sit down ON THE BUTTON AGAIN! Yes! Short stack gets a free orbit!

I realized that if I get drawing the next sequenced table and moved in on the button, I could make the money and the final table! A strategy no sane person had ever thought of. Sure, people can fold their way to the money, but I was going to table change my way to a payday.

Alas, that got screwed up when I was moved to table 2, skipping 3,4, and 5 completely. It will take another day and another tournament to perfect a strategy that can take over the poker world in 2007.

Smoker, Take 1

7:00: Cards are in the air.
7:40: Food. Polish, Slovenian, and Hot Croatian sausages. With sauerkraut and green beans.
8:45: Table change.
8:55: I win my first pot. With A Ko in the BB (100/200), I move all in on 3 limpers. No one calls.
9:00: Table change.
9:10: Table change.
9:20: I win my second pot. Blinds are 200/400, I have 1000 left. UTG+2, I see K J diamonds and decide now is as good as any time to push. Worse comes to worse, I can sit back and drink beer. Flop the nut straight. Just need to avoid the flush potential. Then need to avoid the full house. Straight holds up and suddenly I have 4900. I notice 2 hands later that I was shortchanged a black chip on the pot.
9:25: I steal the blinds! Hey, I finally had a chance to do so and one can destroy this tournament by stealing at this stage.
9:40 Push with 10 10. Loose guy in big blind calls with K J. I double up and now can make a move to the final table.
9:45: Win six pack of beer.
10:00: Win third pot. With A Q in the BB, I call the short stack's push for another 1500. He has 8 8. A hits the turn, Q on the river. "I hope I never see you again" he says as he leaves the table. Had played with this guy at two other tables. Every time I dealt, he had a good hand cracked and lost big pots. Collect $10 bounty.
10:25: I lose a big pot, crippling me. Blinds are 1000/2000. Friend of mine pushes from MP. I have A Q in the BB. I know him pretty well and figure he has just an A, nothing big. I call leave just 1000 behind. Sure enough, he has A J. I immediately tell him I will lose this pot. A J always beats my A Q. Yep, J on the flop. Not a shock.
10:30: I am out in 13th place. I was all in by posting the SB. Don't look at my cards as two other guys battle it out. One guy gets a straight from the BB with 4 2. Guy is a prick, too serious. I turn over K 6. Two pair. I get my buy in back.

3 1/2 hours, get buy in back and "donation" to church back in form of a bounty. Also win 6 pack of Lite. I am ahead for live play in 2007.

A step away from poker to settle a score

"License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations.
Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in
this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're
like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior
firepower and superior intelligence. And that's all she wrote."

Time for the NCAA Men's Hockey Champions to rise to the occasion. Beating the Gophers this weekend will be sweet. I hope Drizz has enough Captains to console himself this weekend.

Badger Badger Badger.

Wisconsin Badgers 2
Minnesota Gophers 1
Badgers win!!!

I am not the only one

I noticed Chilly isn't happy with the guy either. I am talking about the guy who does the voice overs for NBC's Poker After Dark. While I like the action- showing every single hand may be boring to some but I love it- the guy should just shut up. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to hire the class valedictorian from Norm Chad's School of Poker Broadcasting?

Was Phil Gordon not available?

A proud moment

I was beaming with pride early in the WWdN tonight.

On back to back hands, I dropped the hammer. One doesn't get too many opportunities in life to do so thus I place it on the trophy shelf with the other accomplishments. And no, there are no pics. I am not Hoy.

Of course, things would go sour later. I went from just over 3k to 190 in two hands when I first ran Q Q into A A, and then the very next hand, J J vs A A. Cruel part was on the hand with the Hiltons, I flopped a set. But the rockets flopped one as well.

Of course, I went out to J J when I pushed with A 8 on the short side. Oh well.

I think I may be playing in a smoker on Friday. Haven't done that in a while so it should be a good time. At the very least, I will have some great food and lots of cold beer.

Stuck, unstuck, and stuck again

Triple draw is like that hot girl you know at the bar. She flirts with you, makes you feel good, and you buy her drinks. The conversation goes well and you think you are going to score. Then some ass walks in, gets her attention and she is gone. Out the door. You are left with half of the money you had and wondering if your game sucks.

You see her the next day and go through the whole routine again. This time, however, some ass doesn't come in, you spend more time with her and get a number. You think you know her. You think it is a sure thing, that you will see her again tomorrow and you will be a winner.

But tomorrow comes and she walks in with another guy. You try to move in and buy some drinks, but she is cold. You get no where and are left scratching your head again.

I felt that way playing TD on Saturday. I was playing 2/4 and 3/6. My notes show me doing very well at 2/4. 3/6 is a slightly different story. Good session followed by bad session. I made a bit on the 2/4 table after being stuck. 3/6 had me bouncing all over the place. It was tougher because the cards I were getting stunk. Lots of paint. I felt I was in a virtual Louvre. I would get myself in a bad spot when I wouldn't hit a good draw after raising and leading out. Of course some guy would keep drawing and catch. It was frustrating but I wasn't allowing it to tilt me.

I thought I would make it all back and then some when an extremely aggressive player sat down. Raised pretty much every hand, even when drawing 4. Even on the hands where he wasn't the aggressor, he would bet as soon as he smelled weakness as the bettor stopped. Funny thing though, he kept making hands. Draw 4, then 1, stand pat. Show a 7 and win. Show an 8 and win. Win with 22. Again and again.

I tried to play my game. I thought I had him caught. Raised it pre flop, drew 1 and stayed on an 8 6. He kept drawing two all the way to last draw. Drew two cards, raised my bet and showed 7 6.

After swearing up a storm, I logged out. I was down about $80 at that point after being unstuck for the same amount a half hour earlier. I thought about how I had played and was content. Didn't make any loose stupid calls or draws. Just didn't get some good cards for orbits at at time. That is how that game goes.

But how can someone keep drawing two to the end? Seems like suicide. Or maybe it just seems that I don't hit.

Now the grub has been caught

Eastside meets Westside downtown.
No time, no line, the walls fall down.

Can't you feel it coming? EMPIRE!

-Queensryche

I see Grubby is the latest to be snared by Pokerworks. The empire gets bigger. Good to see another great writer getting his due.

I took my first bad TD session yesterday. I say bad because it wasn't me donking off. It was me losing to just slightly better hands. 86 losing to 85. 76 losing to 75. At least I was ramming and jamming to the end. I think the hand that killed me the most was both me and my opponent drawing one all the way to the end. We both checked the river (is is a river in TD?), and my 98 lost to his 97. I doubt he was drawing to a 9 so we likely both caught the 9 on the last card.

The bright side is I am not making a lot bad decisions like I was. More selective on starting hands, and I believe more importantly, when to bet when still drawing. While I am in no position to call some players bad at this game, I can spot those that are terrible. That I like.

Does being a maniac at first help?

I have noticed a trend in my play over the last couple of months. I play more hands, call down more bets, and pay off more players in the first orbit of a game. Not sure why I do it (eager to play maybe?), but I usually find myself in a hole after a couple of hands. I can usually fight back to cut the loss or turn a profit but it would be much nicer to not bury myself to begin with.

There is one benefit. People think you are an idiot. Yeah, some of you think I am an idiot anyway, but it is better when the people at the table think I don't have a clue what I am doing. Thus when I have a monster, they won't give me any credit for it and pay me off. That is how I usually get paid back.

Oh, it also doesn't hurt that big hands have held up. I thought I was sunk when I make it 3 bets to go from the BB with A A. UTG+2 capped it and 3 of us saw a flop come Q high. I thought I was in trouble but bet it out to see what would happen. No raises. Hmmm. Turn was a 3. Bet again and it is just called by both players. River is a K. No straight possibility. No flush. I don't like that K though. I had one of them on K K. I ruled out Q Q so that card didn't matter, but was pretty sure someone held on to hit the river jackpot. I checked. Check. Check. I was up against 10 10 and 7 7. Capped with 7 7 and called it down hoping to hit a 2 outer.

Yep, it is easy to come back when you get paid off.

Played a good amount of TD last night. Started at 1/2 while playing some short handed Omaha hi/lo. Moved up to 2/4 and 3/6 when the table broke. The pace in the 3/6 game was quite faster. Lots of raising going on compared to the 2/4 game where I am more comfortable. Unfortunately, what I made on TD covered my Omaha losses. I really stunk it up there last night.

I think the best part of playing poker over the last 2 weeks is that I have had some fun. Playing very little in December helped to build my interest again. I also think that instead of developing a game plan- something I did last year but never stuck with- is out. I am going with the flow and will play whatever interests me. For now it is TD. Who knows what it might be next.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Interesting things happening in the poker blog world. Linda over at PokerWorks is taking her cues from the business world and acquiring herself some of the best talent on the web. Table Tango has always been one of the best reads on poker and now the rest of the site just got even better.

Starting off the year in their new homes are:
Amy
Joe Speaker
Change 100
Maudie

Congrats on the new digs and gigs.

I wonder if the boys at UpForPoker will start playing Monopoly and sign up some talent? I wonder if I will play a bit more and actually talk about it.

I did play some triple draw over the weekend. Donked off chips to Maigrey like a madman at times. It wasn't until Sunday morning that I realized the leak in my game. Too aggressive early with non-pat hands. I was overly aggressive in one session and was stuck $80 in 10 minutes. having the second nut lose to the nuts hurt, but I was betting out and not making my hands. I changed gears, slowed down and did much better turning a nice profit over the next half hour.

There is more TD on the horizon as I enjoy the change of pace from hold em. But my poker ADD will sprout again soon and I will move on to the next game of the day. If I had half a brain, I would realize that I play more HORSE. The games change as much as my interest in each does so that would seem the perfect spot.

We will see how that works.

How long will it take to clear this bonus?

The following is a paid advertisement

With the number of sites that accept American players diminished, the bonus offers seem to be going away as well. PokerStars just offered an end of the year bonus of 25%. I moved some money over to take advantage of it. I also began to wonder how long it might take me to clear it.

Well, the people at Compatible Poker have a a tool that will help. Compatible Poker is a site targeting Mac and Linus systems. They have a comprehensive list of all sites that are currently offering games for the non-Windows player. They even have a Java listing for those who don't want to download software.

But it is their bonus calculator that I liked. It will tell you how many hours you can expect it to take to clear the bonus. If I 2 table the 3/6 at PStars, it will take me about 10 hours. If I switch to no limit- which I have been dabbling in lately to little success- it will take just a tad longer. You can enter any poker room, the stakes and how many tables you will be playing to determine how many hours of play you will need to clear that bonus.

With pages showing which sites are still accepting U.S. players and payment methods, Compatible Poker is more than just info on where to play with a Mac.

Tilted by the river

Things were going well in the Riverchasers tournament last night. I was either 1st or 2nd at the break and felt like I was in control of the table. The cocktails were going down well (Captain and Coke was the potent potable of choice last night) and I was enjoying myself.

Then the break ended, Omaha began, and I got nailed on the river twice in a short span to lost 60% of my chips. From there I lost it. Started playing hands I shouldn't, trying to draw out, and bluffing it all away. Of course I would brick up in Razz to send my butt to the rail.

Sigh.

I had played pretty well too. I dominated the Stud rounds (both regular and hi/lo) at the table. Got cards up the wazoo and made people pay for their draws. I did play some of those hands poorly though. Could have collected bigger pots by taking the chance to let some catch up but I wanted to just win pots and get chips, no matter how small those pots were.

In retrospect I don't think there was much I could have done in the end. Beside not tilting of course. The river beats happen. I should have tightened up when I was moved to the low part of the pack instead of trying to push myself back into contention. Live and learn.

PSA

I know that the DonkeyPuncher has mentioned this tournament already. I was asked to pass it along as well. Being that I am such a giving guy, I couldn't say no. If you have the cash and want to invade Chicago for poker, here is an opporunity for you to make some big bucks.

WIN a $10,000 Seat to the World Poker Tour Championships!

IT'S BACK!!!
Join us on Thursday, January 25, 2007 at the River East Art Center for our new
and improved Majestic Star Casinos Charity Poker Championship to benefit
Children's Oncology Services, Inc.

Last year, we welcomed 250 poker
players, over 75 spectators, and plenty of volunteers. Most importantly, we
raised over $65,000 for children with cancer.

This year, Children's
Oncology Services, Inc.'s partnership with The Majestic Star Casinos will ensure
that the tournament is bigger and better than ever! Majestic Star dealers are
joining us to deal at all 35 tables and providing the ULTIMATE grand prize- a
$10,000 seat to the World Poker Tour Foxwoods Poker Classic on April 1, 2007.
Once again, Dan Bernstein from WSCR AM 670 The Score will give the play by play
as 350 players battle it out to see who will be the champion of this year's
Charity Poker Championship.

Players and spectators will be treated to
BBQ from our friends at Sweet Baby Rays, a complimentary full bar and other
treats.

Please visit www.onestepcamp.org for more information
or to register!

WWdN night

Only 40 people were playing on Tuesday night. Guess some late holiday shopping was more important to them.

Cruised through the first hour of the tournament. Chipped up early with A Q when on-thg called out of the BB. On a Q high flop, I made a continuation bet. And was raised. Huh? I called. Turn was a 5. on_thg bet it out this time. Something seemed funny to me so I raised. He folded.

I would soon double up when I hit a set with Q Q. From there I got a bit lucky. 4 2 in the BB hits trip 4s. K 8o flops two pair. Before I knew it, I had moved above 5000.

But then I gave it back against a tight player who didn't believe in using the bet button. I watched as they had some monster hands but never raised preflop. When they rivered quad Queens, I should have known better than to try to run them over. It wasn't until they called down a hand with bottom pair that I learned my lesson.

At the first break, I was at a respectable 6th position with just over 4300.

I chipped up a bit in the beginning of the second session only after moving down. With 6 6 I missed the flop but wanted to see the turn. The turn made the flush possible so I folded to the bet. Next hand against the same tough opponent, I have 4 4 in the BB. I call his button raise to see a K high flop. Sensing he was making a move again, I raised his bet to 1500 and was happy when he folded. Bluffs always feel good.

From there out, I never did see a flop. My raises were getting some respect. Of course it doesn't hurt that the table tightened up a bit. So I picked my spots and continued to steal where it felt appropriate. I wasn't gaining any ground, but I wasn't losing any either.

That was until I let someone hit a runner runner flush and paid them off. Suddenly, my wind was gone and I was sitting with 8 BBs. Not good.

So I needed a chance to double up somewhere. Blinds had moved up to 100/200/25. So I made a move with the best hand I saw- A J. Wil raised it up to 700. I tossed in my last 890. What I don't believe either of us expected was the chip leader to push as well. When he did and Wheaton went into the tank, I thought I was done for sure. Wheaton would make a great call with 10 10 as the chip leader showed A Ko. A beautiful J hit the turn and I tripled up.

Life. I have life.

That made it easy to steal the blinds and antes with 6 6. Then again with 10 10. But then I lost a race and was knocked down again. A 10 lost to Q J. I knew I was ahead when I made the call. But reading doesn't win the hand.

I get lucky one more time. With A 4o, I tried to steal and went all in with my remaining 2300. Chip leader auto called and I knew I was in trouble. Yep. A 10. But the board paired up and we split the pot. 5 5 A K J. Nice.

But I still needed a double to make my tournament matter. With just 10 people left and 5 at a table, it wasn't easy. Blinds are whipping around and I am getting crap. 10 4 is nice when you get a free flop. But an A high flop sucks.

I did make it to the final table. As the bottom rung. Plus I was sandwiched between the two leaders. Ugh! I was happy to get a hand to double with, 10 10. But the chip leader made a quick re-raise on my push. Uh oh, that is not a good sign. J J. IGHN.

I played a good game tonight. If I don't lose the one race, I would have had a lot more room to work with. But I guess it just wasn't to be.

PokerTek

For whatever reason, I felt the need to comment on the PokerTek "party" after the Holiday Classic this past trip. After all, they gave us free beer and swag. But they also gave me an opportunity to take a look at what the buzz was on these machines. Falstaff and Change 100 had seen these in action and I must admit, it did pique my curiosity.

The first thing that caught my attention was the layout. There were 9 of us at the table and we each had plenty of room. The view of the action was much better in the middle than if you were on a corner. The screen you had in front of you was easy to use, once you got down the concept of confirming your action. Checking the cards by "cupping" or touching the top of the video screen is cute. It appeared to me people were overdoing it because I don't think anyone was going to see your cards unless they leaned over to take a look as you touched them.

The play was smooth, like any real card game or online poker. It clearly told you the amount of the bet and how much it was to you to call. It announced all in bets. It even did chip races to when levels had pushed up. That annoyed some people but if the point is to make it as close to a physical card game, then I think it is good.

My opinion on the tables is simple. They were fun. It was like playing online but with a different twist. Having an opportunity to watch people as they played was interesting. I think most people were playing like they were online and were not observing others at the table. But that also could have been because people were drinking all day as well.

Would I play one of these machines in the future? Yes, but it depends on the circumstances. If I had the choice between this and a live game, I would take the live game. There is more going on in the live game than what you would see on the machines.

The flip side though is I think these machines would be great for SnGs or satellites to a live game. The thought of walking up and putting the card in the machine to get the game going is nice and easy.

I could see these machines doing great business in a bar, especially the heads up machine. It could get as much action as the pool table or dart machines.

The PokerTek tables were fun to play. If you come across them in your journeys, I would suggest you take the time to play them.

Vegas

Want to see what else happened in Vegas? Like how someone got a free wheelchair ride? Or how Joe Speaker was hit on by Mark Slaughter at the craps table?

Check out my other blog- While Drinking, I...

Later I will have some thoughts on the PokerTek tables and how the rest of my Holiday Classic tournament went.

It wasn't the beat that had me mad...

...but the comment that was made.

"Great call!"
"Thanks!"

Great call? No, it wasn't. I say it was a really stupid call. Because you won the hand doesn't mean it was a great call.

That is not how my WPBT Holiday Classic ended. That is how I got crippled.

Let's join the action after my table was broken up. I am put right back into the blinds. Yes, I just paid the blinds and was on the button when I was moved right back into the big blind. Thanks TD!

I was getting short with blinds of 400/800 (I believe that is accurate). When I sit down, I notice 3 stacks much bigger than mine. F-Train has a good stack and has been aggressive. Another guy, Vinnie, was slightly higher than F-Trains. I believe -EV was the third person that I had to worry about.

Enough about that. Let's cut to the chase. I need to make a move somewhere. I think I took down maybe two pots in 4 orbits at this table. In MP, I get 8 8. F-Train raises to 2400. Karol is next to act and thinks for a while. She mucks. Fold and it is to me. I waste little time and push in for around 5100. It goes around the bend to someone I don't know. The girl was in her late 20s, early 30s maybe? Anyway, she goes into the tank. A count is done and apparently she had around 3500. She thinks and thinks and finally calls.

I wasn't expecting that. The way the table had been going there weren't many multi player confrontations going on. People were willing to take a stab at the pot and duke it out against one player. So that surprised me a bit. I mean, I was confident I had F-Train beat preflop and made the move to isolate him.

F-Train now goes into the tank. I like that. I know that I have read him right. A something, probably not even a face card. He goes through the odds and talks himself out of making the call. He showed A 10 when he mucked.

My opponent turned over 6 6.

WTF?

You called a raise and re-raise with 6 6? Of course a 6 hit the flop and I was crippled. As it turns out, Karol had folded 8 8 and I had no outs to come back with.

It wasn't the beat that bothered me. It was the person who said "Great call!" I wondered why would anyone make the call there? Sure, she was on the short end. But do you want to jam your money in when you most likely have the worst hand? Get in for any chance to be lucky and triple up? I simply would not put my tournament life on the line in that situation.

The logic isn't there for my little brain I guess.

Yet, someone said "Great call!" I don't want that person in my corner coaching me. "Hey you got your money with just an 18% chance to win. Great call!"

How about "Man, did you get lucky!" or "Nice suckout!"

If Derek would have been around, I could have made a scene just so he could enjoy it.

Are we there yet?

Lots of people doing the happy dance in anticipation of the weekend. Go ahead and move it. Just don't look as gay as Elvis does and you are ok.

HORSE of a different color

Iggy had a interesting link in his latest post. Some guy wanted to know what kind of drugs some player do because he heard that these players believe they play better when high or drunk. Though I think the poster may be one of the biggest goofballs for asking such a stupid question, I think there is a point to it.

I believe I usually play better after I have been drinking. But only in tournament poker. That is one reason why you will see me drinking early and often this weekend at the WPBT event.

It helped this past weekend. I won myself to HORSE SnGs. That is after spending a night at the bars. Ok, it doesn't hurt to get quad Qs twice within 4 hands of Omaha Hi Lo to chip up. But it is lucky to get K K, J J, K K all in row to move from 177 to over 2k and into a spot controlling the table.

There is a certain amount of comfort you get after drinking for a while that lets you be a bit more aggressive and not suffer a serious tilt spell when something goes wrong. It helps to get through the bricks you are sure to receive in Razz. And you make a couple of "Aw, what the hell! All in!" moves that you get lucky and draw out on ( J 10s to be A Ko). Its part of the game.

I also place won a token and got deep in an Omaha Hi Lo tourney but got knocked out when my Jacks over Aces was beat by Aces over Jacks. But overall I had good success playing this weekend.

Which leads me to believe I may not play any ring games this week until I get out to Sin City. In the past, I would have played ring games to hone what little skill I have. This time around, I say screw it. I will play but I don't think there will be much good to suddenly ring it up in anticipation of playing less tournaments. Yes, it may backfire, then again, it could help.

Only 3 days for me now. Not quite sure what I will do upon my arrival, but I think I may head over to the Bellagio and get some play in before Pauly has his shindig.