The Mookie and my self junk kicking

Yeah, I pretty kicked myself in the junk in the Mookie. Played way too loose and aggressive early. That made for a short night.

I don't understand why I get into that groove in the Mookie. It isn't my game. I can get aggressive later in the mid or late rounds, but going crazy in the beginning has never worked for me. You would think I would have learned by now.

So I thought about it and figured these are the factors that led to my early exit:

• I just suck in the Mookie tournament. Again, see above.


• Maybe I was traumatized that the new Helloween CD wasn't going to be delivered as expected on Tuesday. I needs my pumpkin power!


• Was it the beer curse? Once again, I went out as soon as I opened a new beer. The Sprecher was fantastic, but it didn't help my poker game.

I have a shot at redemption tonight in the RiverChasers tourney. Maybe I should go straight to the bar from work and get in shape for the game.

2nd banana

I finished second in the Monkey tournament last night. I think I may have found my niche in the poker world. Small tournaments with bloggers. If the number of entries gets over 25, I am screwed.

The money won basically covered what I dropped at the NL cash table. It was one of those annoying nights where pots never built up when you had monsters and your good hands got sucked out on the river. The guy who pushed because he was freerolling with his straight and hit his flush on the river to take the whole pot instead of half is just a kick in the gut. But can you fold that straight? I couldn't.

I also made one bad play in the Monkey that bothered me later. It bothered me because it kinda screwed over another player. With 4 left, I am dealt 8 3 in the small blind. Big blind has 800 behind after posting the 400 BB. I have over 5k. I bet enough to force the small stack in. And lose mightily. I wasn't going to let a stack on life support take a walk. But is this an instance in which I should have? Immediately I thought so. With that pot, he suddenly was a factor again and would soon take out the person in 3rd. If I had let it walk, he would have still been in a bad spot.

So do you go for the knockout, or realize you have shit cards and let someone else do it?

Congrats to Spock on the win!

Strike a KORD

I left work and went straight to the bar. I figured a change of pace was necessary as I had to work late on a Friday. So the plan was to get a buzz and get home in time for Kat's donkament. Even though the beer and food were free, I got my butt off the bar stool and went home. If I stayed, I would have been there much later and would have needed a ride.

The donkament was interesting to say the least. Lots of crazy action before the rebuy period ended. I really screwed the pooch in this one. I got off to a great start, luckboxing out of the gate and was soon up over 10k. But I donkied it all away and stumbled into the second hour. There I survived just long enough for Poker Enthusiast's Razz tourney, the KORD Classic, to begin.

And what do you know...



Maybe that is the secret to winning at Razz. Be drunk. On Sprecher. Lord knows I made some really bad plays in the Razz tourney. Bluffing when it looked like the best I had was a J. Yep, I did that. But I was able to get the few remaining sober brain cells to rally and pull off a win. I have no clue how I overcame JL as he had a decent chip lead on me. Must have been more luckboxing. I do recall trading the lead a couple of times. Guess sometimes the drunk guy does indeed win a "world class" event.

Can't wait for the BB2 Razz event!!!

Part duh

With the Blogger Battle Part Deux coming up, I figured I should shake some rust off and play some poker. At some point I will learn only to play when focused. I had two SnGs going and lost interest about 30 minutes into each. I had been doing well but then proceeded to donk on out. Guess that means I am ripe for the picking in the oncoming series.

We'll see what happens over the next couple of weeks. My goal is to get focused enough to win my way into the Big Game. With the stuff I have to do around the house, that may be an issue. But where there's a will, there's a way.

Looking for some poker news? Dan at Pokerati is covering teh Abolute scandal going on. Haven't seen anyone else mentioning this story yet. Looks kinda ugly from my viewpoint.

Update: Drizz mentioned their was site with all the info. Found it. Could we have guessed Absolute Poker Cheats?

The IP comes over the top

Well, I thought I would only be able to get 2 free nights at the Rio and that it would be my stay. But the Imperial Palace came over the top with a totally free weekend. And some free booze and food. Not too shabby!

So no more worry about storing bags or money being spent on taxis. Only worry is for time to fly so it is December already! And to confirm Metal Skool is playing the Hard Rock.

Ask and ye shall receive

No sooner than I complain about not finding a good rate on a good room do the good people at the Rio offer me free lodging. Even if I have to pay for Saturday night (around $120), I will be better off paying for cabs to get to the strip. Only issue will be storing my bags on Sunday during the football games. Leaving them at the Rio would be a bit of pain at the end of the night when I have to get to the airport.

I just hope they have rooms available when I call later today.

How about some football. My beloved Dallas Cowboys play host to the New England Patriots in a big game of unbeatens. You know it is a big game when it gets a nickname right away. The Duel in Dallas. Cute.

Sports gambler/poker player Don quickly said to take the Pats and lay the points. And back up the truck! Ok, he didn't say that but he quickly jumped on taking the Patriots. I don't that is such a great idea. The Patriots are the better team. Yes, you read that right. I said the Patriots are the better team. But they may not be on Sunday.

Here is why the Cowboys can win:

• The Patriots defense is not impenetrable. The Cleveland Browns put up 353 yards of offense on them. If it wasn't for turnovers, the Browns would have put more points on the board. They had it 1st and goal on their opening drive before the interception came. Pats fans were sweating that one.
• Phillips defense stacks up well against the Pat's offense. From the Dallas Morning News:

But Brady has not performed particularly well against the Phillips 3-4. A
look at Brady's games against the Chargers the last two seasons:
San Diego 41, Patriots 17 (Oct. 2, 2005) -- Brady completed 19
or 32 passes for 224 yards with one TD and one INT in a blowout that snapped the Patriots' 21-game home winning streak. New England had only two first downs in
the second half.
Patriots 24, Chargers 21 (Jan. 7, 2007) -- Brady struggled
most of the playoff game, completing 27 of 51 passes and getting picked off
three times. But he made enough plays to win, passing for 280 yards and three
TDs. Marlon McCree's interception probably would have sealed the win for San
Diego, but the Patriots got new life by forcing a fumble on the return. Brady
took advantage by throwing a TD pass and setting up the game-winning field goal
with a deep ball to Reche Caldwell on the next possession.

• The crowd. Don't under estimate the fans in Dallas when there is a big game. Sure they may not get all riled up when the Cardinals or Rams come to town. But when the game is big, they will be loud. They got into the Colts game last year and it showed. The Cowboys fans will be ready for Sunday and you will hear them.
• No way in hell does Romo have another game like he did on Monday night. Though he played poorly, his teammates- especially the defense- took up the slack and kept them in the game. The defense has steadily gotten better this year and will be up for the challenge.

The Patriots win by simply playing their game. If Moss catches more than one deep ball, it is over. Moss has consistently hurt the Cowboys. This year I am hoping it is different.

The Cowboys can win this weekend and it should be a good game. Whether I will be playing the PokerStars blogger game as I watch has yet to be determined.

Early out again

I don't know why I play the Mookie. I never do any good in it. Usually gone within the first half hour.

Last night was no different. I played loose and passive to begin with, chasing flushes and straights that didn't hit. I did have one "smart" play where I hit my straight on the turn but knew I was screwed when the river paired the board. Sure enough, the full house took the pot.

I went out when my A Ko was outdrawn by a limper/call a pot size raise person who proceeded to hit two pair on the flop with A 10. Again, I knew I was behind but called the all in bet with just 640 behind because I didn't care at that point. I figured if it was a night that would see me continually outdrawn than why play? I made my donation to the pool and did a quick walk of shame away from the pc.

It looks like the rodeo is taking over Las Vegas. Been trying to find a reasonable rate on rooms for the WPBT event and am running into the wall. The good ole' IP wants to charge $159 for Friday and Saturday. I thought they were kidding at first, but she was serious. I found a better rate online but still, that much for the IP?

Been having no luck with any of the Harrahs properties either. They have offers for the month of December but not that weekend. The cheap rooms are again at the north end of the strip at the Sahara and Stratosphere. The amount paid on taxis and monorails may not be worth it to stay up there.

No Bodog, but Vegas

Well, I did get the Bodog software to work last night. But I couldn't make a deposit. It wouldn't accept either of the debit cards I had and I wasn't about to use a regular credit card. No Bodonkey for me last night.

I do have 8 tournament dollars there and will have to parlay that into something bigger. Too bad I can't use those in a SnG. That sucks.

Looks like I will be booking a flight to Vegas later this morning for December. Falstaff has the details over at PokerStage. I will be in just before noon on Thursday the 6th and taking the redeye home after the football games on Sunday.

The best news is Metal Skool should be performing that Thursday night at the Hard Rock. Badblood, have you booked your flight yet? Any and all poker metalheads have to hit up this show. Believe me, you will not be disappointed!

I am also interested in checking out the Hoffbrau house for some good beer drinking. Anyone interested in doing so either Friday or Saturday (after the tournament), please let me know.

I probably should play some poker in the meantime. Or at the very least, some Pai Gow.

Bondonkey

I see Smokkee is sponsoring a Tuesday night Bodonkey with a nice overlay. If I can get Bodog to work, I plan on playing. Only problem is I have no funds on Bodog. Anyone out there that can swap some Full Tilt for Bodog? It would be greatly appreciated. Drop me an email at stb31@hotmail.com so we can work out the details.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 8786670

Hey, an actual poker post!

I played some last night. Riverchasers. Ended up 20 out of 44. Not bad but not good. I didn't care for the way I went out. After starting out tight, then loose, then tight again, I managed to get myself back into the game with a stack that wouldn't force me to make unnecessary moves, but allow me to find the best spots.

At least that is what I was thinking.

I raised with K Qo in the cutoff or button. I get re-raised by the player on my left. Kat calls. Now, I should realize that I am behind at least one and probably both. Why I am calling the re-raise? Because I ain't that bright.

Flop comes K high. Hey, I got lucky. I am hoping that someone is playing Q Q. Kat is first to act and moves all in. My gut reaction is she does not have A K. I think she has Q Q or J J and is trying to push us off. With about 5300 behind and the other player having me covered, can I really just call her bet of 3200(around that)?

I believe I need to raise here to force the other guy out and simply pray he does not have A K, K K, or A A. So I did and was insta-called by A A.

In hindsight, the best move was to fold preflop. It is not because of the end result. It is I should have realized I was behind both of them. But I did have fun so that counts for something.

So Pokerstars is having the blogger tourney again. On the 14th. During one of the biggest early matchups of the NFL season, the Patriots and Cowboys. That is poor planning by those Europeans. Not sure if I will be playing or not.

Been looking into room for Vegas in December. Falstaff has all the details. Someone had mentioned Harrahs had some good rates and to check it out. I did and found the opposite. If you have a good number of points with them, you can get free rooms but unfortunately, not that weekend. Couldn't find a cheap room in the middle of the strip beside the IP. I was saddened to see Hooters was booked up. Even the Excalibur was on the expensive side. Hopefully I will get an offer in the mail that will comp me a bed for at least part of the weekend. I rather spend my money on booze and gambling than a place to crash.

You lookin' for debauchery?

You are in the wrong place. But don't worry, you can read Key West stories over here. And I haven't begun to cover the Adopt a Key West Stripper program yet.

I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop
I will not leave myself logged into Blogger.com on Al's laptop

Live Blogging the Key West cash game

Everyone is huddled around the kitchen table at the southern resort we know as AlCantHang Key West. As Gracie feeds me pretzels, the game goes on.

Drizz goes for the quick bully move on Pauly's straddle, raising it to 7xs the blinds (25/50). Pauly doesn't like it and folds on the flop.

Derek makes the raise and 4 people see the flop. Pauly wins with his pair of jacks.

Ftrain has the straddle on. I pop it to 3. Everyone is calling. WTF? 4 7 8, two hearts. Pablo and Ftrain check. I do as well. But Change 100 bets 11. Calls by Maudie and Pauly. Hmm...rather than chase the inside straight, I fold. Well, Pablo did go all in. 5 5 is not presto today! Pable shows the nut straight. Nice flop hippy!

Let's try it again. I raise Drizz's straddle. A J can be painful. Folds around to Drizz who defends the straddle. Nice hammer flop of 7 8 2 makes my bet of 5 seem like it is begging for the call. No call and I drag a pot!

"Straddle raise, reraise. You know I have junk", says Pauly as he goads his brother to call.
"I've heard rumors..." Maudie responds to the delight of the table.
Change 100 pushes....
Drizz calls.
The action is now on Derek. He hasn't even looked at his hand. And he isn't very tempted to call right now. 16.75 is the cost to see the flop. Derek calls dark!!!

flop is all hearts, J 2 6. 8 on th turn, 4th heart on the board gives Drizz the flush as he shows 9 9. Change's aces have been cracked!!! Derek shows Q J. Drizz hangs his head in shame. Until he stacks his chips.

Pauly talks quite a bit smack while playing. He also folds a lot on the flop. Which of course means he will felt me soon.

If you haven't figured it out yet, here is the table.
Gracie is on my immediate left, with Derek on my right. Going clockwise is Change100, Maudie, BG, Pauly, Sweet Sweet Pablo, Ftrain, and Drizz.

So far I have learned you can't really live blog and play poker at the same time. If there are any tells being shown, I sure haven't been able to notice.

Derek is now in Bully mode. And BG and Pauly are determined to smack him down. Flop of Q 4 3 and BG is betting 15. Derek goes over the top for just 8.5 more and BG has to call. K Q by BG takes it down. Rebuy Derek!

I need another drink.

It is official. Sweet sweet Pablo is no more. It is now just Sweet Sweet. Thank Ftrain for that one.

Aces are no good again. This time, Derek is the victim. Pauly flops a straight and busts Changle and his bro. "Whip out them tens" Yes, please ladies, whip out those 10s!

Finally, aces hold up! Sweet sweet shows the red guys

Short game

I think I played all of 2 hands in the RiverChasers tournament last night. I showed up about an hour and 10 minutes after the start. Hey, I was busy enjoying beer at the bar. What do you expect?

I raised with 8 8 in LP to win the blinds.

A couple hands later, I would go over the top of Astin with A Qs. My re-raise was just over a min raise so his call with J J was expected. Though I sucked out an A on the flop, the J on the turn sealed the deal and I was out.

I found myself wondering if that was the best play. I think blinds were 120/240. I believe his raise was a standard 3xs the blinds. My re-raise was to 1800 or so putting me all in. Was pushing all in the best play, or can I put basically half my chips in to see a flop or risk being re-raised by someone else?

If I see a flop with A high, there is no guarantee he folds either, though making a call there with Jacks doesn't seem too bright to me.

Thoughts?

Junk kicking Razz

It happened again and again last night. Have 4 great cards and then brick out the last 3. Man I hate Razz. But just like peanut M&Ms, I can't stop. I took the beats again and again. At least I didn't go on tilt like this other guy. Yeah, that is my excuse for not stopping and I am sticking to it even though it is beyond lame.

I will make the money up on FTrain though. He has a sick prop bet going that says he can gain 17 pounds by the time the WPBT event in December rolls around. Gaining weight sounds easy, but I am going with the Rooster's thoughts on this one. NYC is a walking town and whether he realizes it or not, he will be moving about and not gaining weight.

Plus, I have faith that Dawn will do something if he gets anywhere close. I hear she can be sneaky that way.

I played!

It was just a sit n go. But it was after 5 hours of beer and bourbon so that must count for something. And in a nice drunken fashion, I took it down!

I think I pissed off the guy too because I got lucky with A 5 against his 10 10 to take the chip lead when it was heads up. Once I had the lead, I knew I could outplay him. Sure enough, flopped two pair and he tried to bully me with the big bet. His middle pair was no good and I am $45 richer.

Baby steps....

What chicken???*

No, not chicken. The game is HORSE and it is on in London at the WSOP V.europe. Dr. Pauly and change100 are on the scene with the rest of the PokerNews crew.

I must give them credit for the report so far. The stories they have coming back are perfect for a slow moving limit event. German tourists sitting in. Debates between baseball and cricket, football and soccer. Jetlag for the Americans. Seriously, this may be the best way to waste time at work today and tomorrow on Friday.

* I will buy anyone a 6-pack if they can tell me what the title of the post is in reference to. Anyone beside Al and Blood that is. How I will get the sixer to you is a dilemma in its own right but there has to be a way.

Someone should get slapped

I am not sure exactly who should get slapped for what they showed on last night's telecast of the WSOP. It was Day 2 for both shows and we did get to see some interesting hands. Like Scotty Nguyen's quad 9s. Or Daniel Negreanu calling out other people's cards. That was just plain scary.

But, like we see all too often, we get the dickweeds. And that is where the dilemman begins. Who should get slapped, the dickweed who makes the bad play, gets lucky and wins and acts like his dickweed self because he is on the TV table, or the people at ESPN who decide to show this dickweed on their show because they believe it is good TV?

I think Negreanu should have bitch slapped the guy on his right. Dude tries to make a play with K 9s, gets re-raised and then ends up calling the all in with his flush draw that he hits on the river. Sure he was committed on the flop, but calling that bet preflop was stupid. Yelling and cheering for himself after he lucked out gave him the checkmark for being a dickweed. He should be ashamed. Instead he acts like he outplayed one of the better tournament players.

Later he would get cocky when he once again, sucked out a flush on the river. Finally, he would even make some smart ass comment when Danny boy got knocked out.

Now, I am not a huge fan of Negreanu, but I would have paid money to see him call the dickweed out and make him say that last comment louder so he could hear it and then furthermore, lay into him for being such a dickweed. That would have been good TV.

Then someone could slap the people at ESPN who think that is what people want to watch. Makes sense why those dipshits didn't hire Pauly. They didn't want to improve the show.

Maybe the thing that gets me the most is that dickweed used to be a dealer!!! He should know better about how to act at a table.

Why can't we get more stories like Kirk Morrison. Here was a guy who won a bracelet, does well in tournaments but decides to move off to New Zealand. He comes back and sees how the game has changed and how he needs to adapt. Sure they don't want to give his style of play away but I wanted to hear more of what he had to say about how the younger crowd is playing the game preflop and his strategy of seeing more flops. That would have been much better than some dickweed mouthing off.

Thirsty?

What it is on the menu...

Sublimely elegant this toffee toned Bock is rich with a blend of Wisconsin and German barley malts. Over four months of resting in oak Bourbon Barrels gives this beer a wonderfully smooth body that will improve and mellow with age. Should you choose to enjoy this classic today you can expect a treasure of vanilla, oak and caramel notes to be bolstered by hops from France, Slovenia and Germany. Wild Brett yeast sings in harmony to the tune of Bock. 20 degrees Plato OG makes this Bourbon Barrel a masterwork to remember.

-New Glarus Bourbon Barrel Bock

How does that sound?

Followed by....

Named after the cream colored bricks used to build Milwaukee, this amber pale ale with its pronounced hops and hints of citrus is tasty year round.

-Lakefront Cream City Pale Ale

Ok, so the Lakefront Brewery guys really need to work on a better description of their beers.

I shall be heading down to Chicago to meet up with the Donkey Puncher and then invade Wrigley to watch the Milwaukee Brewers beat up on the Chicago Cubs. I can say that only because the Brewers won last night, making today's game a big one. I can't think of how totally insufferable Cub fans would have been today had the Crew lost last night and was facing a sweep. Yost said coming in that they needed to win the series. A sweep would be nice but 2 of 3 is what mattered. Now they have a chance.