Taking a Look at My Game

Looking at my result as of late I see a weird thing. Over the last month, I have a negative return on my $10 sngs but a 48% return on my $20s. My sample size for both is small because I haven’t been playing as many sngs but it shows how variance can influence short term results. Now I knew that I was unlucky playing the $10 games but I didn’t realize the extent of the junk kicking I was taking. Overall, my historical return is around 40% for sngs but what a mess that run of bad luck was. I dropped over $100 in a span of 15 sngs playing the $10 level.

Last night was a a nice night in that I cashed in 3 of 4 $20 sngs and won a $75 token for the Blogger Big Game. The importance of the evening was not the results but a minor revelation I had after a suck-out I put on another player. I held AK on a board showing AJ10 and made a ¾ pot bet. My opponent pushes and I’m screwed. I know that I’m behind and prepare to fold when I did the stupidest thing. I called and my opponent shows AJ. The revelation I got after a Queen hit the board is that I was giving up on the game because of my misfortune. I knew I had a superior starting hand and got unlucky so instead of folding I gave it up only to get lucky. I had lost some focus and the ability to throw away a big hand. I eventually cash in that game and used this new found skill to finish the night without a loss during the rest of my play.

What I don’t understand is why I can play good poker for a long time and then fall back into donkey play. What do I have to do to maintain the level of focus needed to take my game to the next level? Winning the Mookie a few weeks ago charged me up and let me know that I can compete at a high level of play. But I think that in my own way I let the victory sway my thinking and feel that I will always make the right play, even if it is the wrong play.

The token race was nice and the triple up early was nice to. Pocket queens hit trips with an ace on the flop and two players paid me off. From that point on I stayed un involved unless I had a monster and made it easily into the top 5. I did have an interesting situation that saw me get pocket queens in consecutive hands and then get pocket aces on consecutive. What are the odds of this?

I’ve been playing at FT for about a month and a half. In that time I’ve never put the time in to qualify for any of the free rolls that they offer for loyal customers. Now at this point I can’t qualify for the November free rolls but I’m going to go for the Bronze level next month. The only problem is that my trip to Japan is going to get in the way. So basically, I will have to earn 50 points a day 20 of the 22 days I’ll be able to play. That comes to 4 $20 sngs a day if my math is correct. That is a commitment but doable.

Another Weekend of Futility

Another weekend of futility as I dropped a chunk of theoretical money. It was theoretical because I played with tokens for the most part.

I had built up my token count and decided to play some token tourneys. It started with the satellite for the 250,000 on FT. The events to come were a premonition of things to come for the night. As I approached the bubble and the ticket for the quarter million guarantee, my big pocket pairs in consecutive hands were called by AK or AQ and saw ace high flops. Of course I had queens when the other guy had AK and kings when he had AQ. Thank you for playing and have a nice day.

The 30,000 went well until I got kings again. As I sat with a better then average stack I made a standard 3x raise and get one caller from the SB. The flop is KQ6 and the SB checks. I make a continuation bet trying to build the pot and he pushes all in. I call and he shows KJ. Running cards end my happiness. Two hands later I flop top two pair and get all my money in to lose to runner, runner again.

Time for a token race and my only win for the night. I got short stacked early and held on with some good luck to win. Nothing all that great just a moral victory.

I also played a $75 token race and got knocked out when my Queens lost to AK when my opponent called my river push and hit his ace.

I drop another token playing Omaha H/L just short of the money when my second nut flush lost to the nut. In my defense, there were 5 clubs on the board and three in my hand. I really didn’t think that one player would be holding 2 out of the last 5 clubs let alone Ax of that suit.

So that was my Friday night. In retrospect, I made solid decisions so I’m not really complaining. I know that I will be ahead in the long run.

Saturday was an SNG night and it continued to go bad. Unlucky would be a term that I could use to describe the night. I won’t go into the details but it was frustrating.

I finally turned it around a little while playing some cash games on Sunday morning. Nothing spectacular but positive numbers are always good. I also cashed in my only SNG so good things happen to those who wait I guess.

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Later on I’m going to show some of the results that I track. I don’t know how significant they are but I would be interested in knowing what you think.

Have a great day.

I Hate When This Happens

Frustration and aggravation are a couple of words that would describe my feelings as I lost my connection last night. I was playing a Razz tournament with JJ last night when all of a sudden nothing. I give a call to my ISP and they confirm the outage and inform me not to expect it to be fixed for 4-6 hours. Thank you and have a nice day. I did have a brief period that it came back on but only for about 2 minutes. When I woke up this morning I found out I ended in 12th place.

I played a token race with worldpoker05 and won another one. That’s 4 for my last 5 in this donkey laden affair. It is truly incredible the way some of these players play these things. Weak aces pushing all-in and KQ calling big raises. Fuel55 made a comment about this the other night and I totally agree. But I guess I want these people to play this way because it is +ev for me in the long run.

Anyway, on the bubble, I was sitting ok when I see pocket 5s in late position so I pushed figuring for the steal. The small blind called with aces but a 5 on the flop saved the day. It wasn’t the smartest move but I took it. Is guess I should have looked at the stacks and made my decision based off that but I only wanted the blinds. And at this point in these tourneys I should have expected to get called by a strong hand.

It’s Friday so I will be playing tonight. I’m looking at the 20,000 and the $26 qualifier for the 250,000. Both of these should be fun and can turn a small investment into a nice cash making enterprise. Right now my average cost per token is around $15 so it is a nice way to play the higher level tourneys at someone else’s expense. I’ll probably play a token race for a $75 token for the next big game, so if you want to contact me for one of these on the chat box, feel free to do so. In the end I plan on spending 7 or 8 hours playing tonight.

That’s all for now so have a nice day.

Hammer Suckout?

Well, I got knocked out in 11th in The Mookie last night. It was truly a good game for me in that I chipped up throughout the event until I got the opportunity to double up. I was in late position at got dealt pocket kings so I can over the top of a bigger stacks raise. I win and I near the top of the leader board. But that was the beginning of my demise. I went completely card dead and found myself sitting on the BB with a raise in front of me. Blinds were 300/600 with an ante and my M was less then three. The suited hammer hit my hand so I raised all-in and got sucked out on by pocket 10s.

I really didn’t have much for cards. I made a few steals and came over the top when I felt weakness. Threw away a nice pocket pair after a raise and a re-raise in front of me. In the end I let the hammer make my decision for me. I would have made the final table even with the short stack but making the money would have been hard.

The Mookie token race was terrible for me. I didn’t play any hands for about 4 orbits when I get dealt AQ in late position. I raise and the BB comes over the top. I think about the hands he must have and fold. He shows pocket kings. The next time around I stole his blind with 7,4. Anyway, I stayed tight until I see pocket 7’s in the BB. It’s checked around to the cutoff who raises 4x. I see this as a semi steal with a weak ace so I push and get called by A6. I’m good as gold…not. His three outer hit on the river end sent me home.

Later on I played 2 token races and had my KK busted again. Good day for that hand. I eventually one a token on the other one to put me on two of these. So far I’ve been running OK in these but I need to increase my rate a little. I’ve grabbed a token in just under half of these so far but I think I should do a little better.

Have a Great Day.

Time Moves by Slowly

It is amazing how tired you get when you have to sit through a day of training. As the instructor described menu options and other such non-essential crap, I found myself wandering into sleepy mode. I had to fight and claw my way back into consensus on more then one occasion. When we finally got to learning how to program this new wonder machine I woke up and like I had missed nothing. Additionally, I get to continue this wonderful time today and tomorrow as I walk down the path of greater knowledge.

After the training, I got home in time to hold soccer practice for M’s team and continued on to a meeting that didn’t get over until almost 10:00. Other then soccer, it was a long tedious day that will continue today and tomorrow. My saving grace will be playing The Mookie.

Have a great day.

Pimping

If you do anything on Wednesday do this.















It’s a great time for all and you can also get into the 2nd chance tourney 1 ½ hours after this one starts.

Nothing else today. I have training all day and a meeting tonight. Have a great day.

A Weekend of Pokery Fun

A weekend of pokery fun is absolutely the truth. Friday night was a blast hanging out and donking chips around. I doubled up Ski when he hit trip 4’s after I raised with a pocket pair and he called with 4,2. I have to say I didn’t see that coming. Overall the poker was good for me. I tripled up in the 25 nl game and did well in my sngs to see a nice return on the weekend.

Tournament play was bad. I didn’t get very deep in any of them and dropped about $80 playing them. My game was Ok but the well time coin flip was very good for my opponent. It seemed that when I had the pocket pair that the over-cards hit and when I had over-cards the pairs held up.

Token play went well except when I tried for a $75 token. My A10 was now good for 10,7 when my opponent called my push for 30% of his stack. I looked him up on shark scope afterwards and saw his negative ROI and understand why he made the decision he made. It was the only chance I had for a $75 token so no big game for me.

The $26 tokens were good to me for the most part. I just couldn’t win anything with them. I’m thinking that I’ll build these up a little and take a few shots at some razz and horse events. I like the games and I also think they help your game overall.

I’ve finally made the conversion to $20 +2 sngs. I had been to conservative and not willing to move up to this level over the last month or so. I don’t have very many of these yet but I’m doing well so far. Kat railed me while I won one on Friday night. The guy was a complete donk and let me erase a 3-1 chip lead before I gave it back. I then repeated my come back 2 more times before I put him away. I tilted him when I showed to bluffs in a row and then caught a hand. Weak passive is not the way to play me that’s for sure.

I also won one of these same events after being knocked down to 200 chips with 7 players left. I stayed a afloat and got lucky one time when I pushed my short stack hoping for a double up. My A7 beat pocket 6s and it was go time. The chip leader became a passive folder waiting on second place and let me and the other casher run over him. We knocked him out and It was long before heads-up play saw me win the game. That was probably the biggest comeback I’ve ever had thanks to the tight bubble play.

I’ve noticed that the play at this level isn’t all that good. Sure there are some good players but the game doesn’t get interesting until the final 5 players. Then the game becomes tight, making selective aggression a necessity. The ability to raise with any two cards seems to make the difference between success and failure.

**********************

Last Friday I asked a couple of questions that I would like to comment on. I’ll start with the first.

Does the significance of a person bankroll mean anything at all?


The only significance I see is that I want to play people playing above their bankroll. A person playing within their bankroll will play more relaxed as well as play there normal game. A person playing up will tend to play weaker and more passively, allowing me to take advantage. Now frequent re-loaders don’t fall into this category but they must be re-loading for a reason.

Does the level of play that someone enjoys accurately reflect their ability?

This is a tougher question in that many players play higher then they should. I think that time should be spent at a given level regardless of the success one has there. I think that many a player has moved up to quickly because of a short term run without being sure they are a winning player at that level. I don’t know what the magic number is but a pre determined amount of time should be played before advancing to ensure that you are a winning player at a given level. While this discussion is fine and dandy, what about perceptible skill.

I think we can make assumptions as to the ability of our opponent based on the level of play but it isn’t all encompassing. Conservative players may have tighter bankroll restrictions then the average player. I try to maintain 30 but-ins for a given level but some one else may maintain 50. I guess I’m saying that making an assumption based on the level of play may come back and bit you in the butt. In general, the lower the level the worse the play but not in all cases. And then there is the fact that we were playing at that level at one time. Most players are trying to learn the game and get better and will get better just like most of us did.

I don’t know what the reasoning was for all of this is other then it might help me maintain focus. I’m not sure.

Questions I Have for You

I have a question or two for anyone who wishes to respond.

Does the significance of a person bankroll mean anything at all?

Does the level of play that someone enjoys accurately reflect their ability?

I have a response for this but since I have a meeting to run in an hour and thus have no time right now, I will wait until later today or Monday to post.

It's Friday which means a night of fun at the tables. I have to make a decision to grind some SNGs to replenish the bankroll a bit or play some tourneys. I figure I can spend one more Friday on a tournament run before I will have to spend time grinding. If only I could hit a final table on a bigger tourney then I would feel better.

Have a good one.

******************

update

Thank you Ski for pointing out my strength, spelling. They were not spelling errors. They were gramatical errors.

The Density of Lead

Last night was an attempt at futility. With the effort we put forth playing this game we love, frustration and aggravation often jumps to the forefront of your game and thus causes a drop in focus. This happen last night in the Mookies.

I chipped up early by taking some small pots with random hands that are of no consequence for the most part. Not because they were unimportant but because I didn’t get paid off for the good ones. I had High pocket pairs numerous times in the first hour and only got paid when I came over the top of dnasty after he tried a position steal. My tight image was respected so I should have become more involved to disguise my big hands. Anyway, one of my bigger hands early was calling Jordan’s UTG raise with pocket 4s. I had a good stack and knew he could be raising with any combination of hands. The flop came 9 high and I checked knowing he would make a continuation bet. When it came, I made the decision that I needed to find his hand so I raised 3 times his bet. He eventually folded and my chip stack grew some more. A short time later I raised from middle position with 6s and the BB pushed. He had a short stack and I was getting about 2.5 -1 to call so I did. My hand held up and I move into the top ten, maybe the top 5.

At the first break I’m sitting in a great spot and ready to continue. This is about the spot where the wheels start to come off. I don’t play a hand for about 4 orbits when I get KJ in middle position. I’m at around 3400 chips and I make it 360 to go. A late position player goes all-in over the top and I have to lay it down. I little late the button raises my blind and I call just to show I will call steal attempts. My thinking was that I have a chip stack and I felt I could out play my opponent after the flop. Stupid idea and I give away more chips. A few hands later I get pocket 4s in the SB and call an early position raise. The flop is 10 high and my opponent bets the pot. I know he hasn’t hit the flop so I re-raise with my fours. I was right, he didn’t the flop. He had pocket jacks and I’m going home.

I wasn’t that upset with the play except that I could have easily thrown the hand away. I felt he was making a continuation bet with AK or AQ. His bet didn’t allow me the opportunity to find information without committing my self to the pot. Well played. The real problem was the chips I leaked earlier in the tournament. If I don’t drop 1000 chips or so during the last couple of orbits, then I can make the raise and dump my hand when the pressure comes. I would have been a short stack but still could have made a move. I didn’t look at chip conservation. I was only looking at accumulation.

The 2nd chance event was a lot of fun and saw me get knocked out on the bubble. I got very lucky with a short stack and then got lucky on the next hand to knock out two players. I was also unlucky when my AQ lost to Sur’s QJ but that really doesn’t matter. My big mistake here was the same as the previous game. I came over the top of Surf. And he pushed. This time I laid it down but I was in big trouble. I stole a blind but never recovered and got knocked out with an unremarkable hand. I did have some goodness in that I repeatedly punished the SB to my right who kept trying to limp into the pot. I think I pushed him 4 or 5 times in a row, for the limp.

Overall it was a fun night at the Mookie and I really enjoyed playing with my blogging brethren.

Random Tilt

Wow, did I go on tilt last night.

The only good part is that I made money.

I’ve written in the past about my oldest daughter and tat she was trying out for the 14U travel team as a 12 year old. Lets just say that she didn’t make the team because she was 12. The coach, a friend of mine said he made the decision to cut her because she would have knocked off a player that wouldn’t have a team to play for. But isn’t it the idea to have the best players you can have? Well, it is true that she would be moving up an age group so after a night of reflection and a little pick-me-up from 23skidoo, I realize that it is probably for the best. She can stay at her age group and gain confidence instead of moving up and being an average player.

I started to play some NL 6-max but shortly realized that I was going to give away the house if I continued to play. I played one more orbit and bluffed a guy of his hand when he made a week river bet and I come over the top with a large raise. It was purely a tilt bet so I quickly got off the table up about a dollar.

Later last night I played a freeroll just to play and burn off some steam. I was lucky enough to get sucked out on after flopping two pair and losing to a rivered straight. I bet the guy $5 that I would last longer but he wouldn’t take the bet. I was painful as he slowly leaked his chips to every other player on the table. It was a freeroll so who cares.

Tonight is the Mookie and I should be there. Worldpoker05 is on his way to Vegas as I write so he won’t be defending hid title.

Have a great day.

Growing Through Life

As I grew up there were many defining moments as well as significant people that influenced what I am today. The molding process that I went through created both the admirable attributes and produced less desirable qualities that I live with today. But there was always a constant in my life, a person that was there for me whether I asked or just needed support. Dad.

My dad grew up in a farming community in northern Illinois. He was the oldest of six siblings and there for had most of the responsibilities. He was up at 5:00 every morning, milking the cows and doing all those other thing a farm boy had to do back in the 1940s and 1950s. As a mater of fact, he actually had to walk 5 miles to school over the fields and through the snow, both ways.

My father was a good athlete. He played 4-H softball in the summer and even threw a perfect game at one point during his career. But summer ball was the only thing that he was allowed to play. The spring and the fall were times of planting and harvesting and he had to work the fields. When he was a senior in high school, he asked my grandfather if he could run on the cross country. He had never been involved in any school sports up to that point and had been asked by the coach to join the team half way through the season. He got the OK and ended up going down state.

He was in the military just after Korea and before Vietnam. He also met my mother while he was stationed at some place in the Midwest. I just don’t remember where. Anyway, after the Army, my parents got married and moved into the farm house across the street from my grandparents so he could help on the farm. Eventually he took a job with a local company and became foreman of the molding department. In the early 60s, the company moved some of its operations to Aurora, Illinois and he was in charge of setting up the production facility so he moved the family to the town I grew up in.

When I was born in 1967, I was adopted into his family. The love my parents and sister has showed me throughout my life has always been unconditional and is ever present. But this isn’t really about the rest of my family. This is about me dad.

As I grew up, he was always there to play catch with me when he got home from work. I remember vividly his attempts to teach me to catch the ball and not be afraid of getting hurt. When I got a little older and I wanted to play soccer, he was there coming to the games and kicking the ball with me in the back yard. He even built a goal in the backyard so I could practice at home. By 7th and 8th grade, I was playing sports year round and even multiple sports at the same time but, always seemed to make it to my games.

In the early 80s my parents got divorced. This is not uncommon and I had many friends who were in similar situations. It was hard on my dad. I know he felt that he let us down, my sister and I, but we al know that it is some thing that happens between people some times. Anyway, I noticed a change in him even though he still would come to any event that I was involved in.

My father was the one who taught me how to play cards. After the divorce he spent time feeling sorry for himself, sitting in a bar, and playing in the card games in the back room. I spent many hours watching his game and learning how to play the games of euchre, and rap poker. Eventually, as a high school kid, I started to play in some of these games when they needed another player. My father would bankroll me and allow me to keep anything I won. See as I had no job at the time, I used this as a way to make some spending money. At the time I didn’t understand the ramifications of his actions but instead, just enjoyed being with him.

A few years later my dad got remarried and found the peace he needed. He was again able to take care of a family and feel that people needed him. The only problem was that the drinking continued and became a major part of his life. His work ethic never faltered but alcohol had found a way into his every day life.

In 1995, my step mother died. She was in her mid forties, ten years younger then my dad, and a great influence on my father. I had been married for a couple of years and lived only two blocks from her and my father.

Is it strange that I lived so close to my father just like he lived close to his father so many years before? I don’t know if there is a connection but I do find it interesting.

In 1996, my second child was born. Of course times were hard and when it was time for my annual trip to the ISC World Tournament, I didn’t have the funds to go. After discussing this unfortunate event with my father, I found an envelope in my ball bag with enough money to enjoy the trip. I later asked about paying him back and he claimed ignorance.

My father has never remarried. He became content with his life and came to understand that he is an important part of his family’s future. I know that if I need some help with a project or just want to get some thing off my chest that he’s there. In the end, I hope that I can take what I’ve learned from my father and use it to be there for my children as they grow through life.

Let's Put a Bad Beat on Cancer

Last night was the Put A Bad Beat On Cancer charity event and many of us bloggers made a good showing in the event. I recall see change100, Pauly, Hoyazo, Kat, Slb, Iak, Maudie, Joanne1111, Mookie and others that I’m failing to remember right now. It was for a good cause and a lot of fun.


I started the first 20-30 minutes of the tourney sitting in my car and or getting the kids ready for bed. When I finally sit down, I get pocket queens from UTG. I make a standard 3x raise and a short stack pushes all-in from middle position. I call and my hand holds up. I slowly chipped up when I got involved in a hand with Hoyazo. With blinds at 50/100 he makes a call from the button, SB folds and I raise to 500 with J7 suited. Not a great hand but I wanted to see where he was at and let him know that limping on me wouldn’t fly. He makes a slow call. The flop comes 9 high and I check to the smooth caller. I was preparing to pull a check raise but something happened. He put in a pot size bet after a delay. This was in fact a great bet because we had even stacks. If I raise him I’m committed to the pot. He can throw away the hand if I push or if he has a hand he can bust me. I smaller bet of 2/3 of the pot would have allowed me to test him while still allowing me to get away from the hand. I wasn’t willing to go down with J high so I dropped it. Good bet Hoy. I put him on a pocket pair and maybe hit trips.

A little later we got involved again when he called from the SB and I checked from the BB. I’m looking at J6 and the flop comes 66x. He checks and I check. I’m hoping he catches a part of the flop. The turn is x and he bets the pot. Now the question is if I should smooth call or come back over the top with a min raise. I chose the smooth call in hopes that he catches another part of the flop. The river is x and I bet about 60% of the pot. He made the good lay-down and I take the pot. He may have called the min raise after the turn but I think I should have given him a better reason to call the river with a 1/3 pot bet. If he had a good piece of the board I may have gotten a call.

From that point on I kept my head above water until the bubble approached. I was very card dead when I wanted cards and had to push from position with junk a few time to stay alive. A hand that limited my ability to go deeper was calling a short stack when I had odds right at the bubble. I had just doubled up from the BB when I get an average hand. I raise in hopes that he’ll fold and he calls with 2 suited under cards. He hits a straight to stay alive. Those chips I lost eliminated any fold equity I had and I got eliminated in 16th place a little later by change100. I’ll take the small cash but I wanted more.

***********************

I also went deep in an MTT on Friday night. I eventually got knocked out in 18th place after a little luck got me so deep. I played a very solid game for the whole tourney and got lucky when my JJ beat AA when the guy slow rolled his aces. I also sucked out when my QQ beat KK. The gods eventually go back at me when my pocket 10s were no good vs. 89 suited when I got knocked out. Good times.

***********************

I had a blast chatting in the girly box with bunch of other bloggers Friday night. I had hooked up with Slb and he got a whole group of us together for some IM craziness. I eventually spent a long time chatting up 23skidoo while we played a SNG. Good times.

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The girls’ softball seasons have officially come to an end. M won both of her games and L split a doubleheader. M made an outstanding catch in her first game and L threw a 4 inning no hitter, striking out 9 batters. It was a great day for both kids on the ball field.

M has decided to change her focus into soccer. I think it’s a great idea as she is very fast and loves to play the game. It will also give her the ability to stand out more which is something that her personality needs.

L is waiting to find out if she made the 14U travel team. If she makes it she will be moving up an age group, being that she will be considered a 12 year old next year. She has lots of potential and my feeling is that she will make the team.

That’s all for now. Have a good day.

From My Fine Friends at Noble Poker

Dear Poker Enthusiast,


In light of the new reality about to come into force in the USA with the
“Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act”, NoblePoker has regretfully decided
to stop accepting new real-money players from the USA.

As you are probably aware NoblePoker, is part of the Empire Online group
(www.ep.com) and as a public limited company we respect the decision of the
United States Congress and will abide by its ruling.

What this means for you as a member of our poker room is that you will be unable
to place any more bets or make any new deposits, however, you will of course be
able to cash-out any money still in your account, in any way you choose.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank-you for choosing to play at
NoblePoker, we appreciate your patronage and we look forward to welcoming you
back at our tables, under better circumstances in a brighter future.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the above, please do not
hesitate to contact us at support@noblepoker.com.


Yours sincerely,
Edward Spencer
Manager
Noble Poker
"The odds are in your favor"
http://www.noblepoker.com

***********************************

Thank you very much and have a nice day.

I had .75 in my account but I will ask them to send me a check. It will cost them more then that to send it. I will be redeeming my player points tonight for a cheap hat or some other crap.

Random Madness from the Poker Enthusiast

First Read this from change100.

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I had a hit for skinomax movies. I’m not really sure how a search engine finds my site with that search but it does happen. I wonder what would happen if I wrote about golden showers.

No poker last night. My time was spent working on homework with M from just after supper until her bed time. In fact, she got up early to finish some extra credit work she didn’t get to last night. The amazing thing that I’ve noticed is the amount of work that she is bring home from school. I don’t remember having this much homework when I was her age but then again I probably just didn’t do it. I was the king of getting by with the minimum.

At around 10:00 I jumped on Full Tilt to see if anyone was around and ended up railing worldpoker05 while he played 3 sngs. He’s been on a good run in these and has the right game plan to continue his success. I also saw Iak running over a table in a token race and did a little chatting. I guess this show how screwed up in the head I am if I just go on and watch.

Tonight will be the long night as I play the 20,000 and the midnight madness. I’m sure I’ll throw in a few other events as I donk off my bankroll throughout the night. I’m really hoping I bring my A game with me tonight because I’m tired of the almosts and not quites. A concerted effort will be made to go deep and not to just survive.

Don’t forget the Bad Beat On Cancer tourney that is coming up. It’s for a good cause and is a deep stack tourney. It should be a lot of fun.

See you on the virtual felt.

My Old Boss and The Mookie

My reign as the Mookie champion came to an abrupt end just short of the first break. And of coarse my run of JJ being not OK continued as I raised with this twice in middle position only to see an Ace high flop or an Ace King flop. After chipping up a little I get Q7 in the SB vs. Maudie in the BB. I make the call and see a flop of 788. I think I’m good here but with my short stack I’m thinking a check raise is right. Maudie raises as expect and I come over the top 3x of her raise. I want a call because I’m pretty sure I’m ahead and will to take a chance to get more chips. The turn is a queen giving me two pair, queens and 8s, 7 kicker. I put the last 365 chips in the pot and she call with Q10. The queen counterfeited my hand and I’m done. I guess I could have pushed all in after the flop and taken the hand there but I needed the double-up. I question the call In that she couldn’t have thought she was ahead and the loss would have put a big dent in her stack. Oh well, that’s life.

One other thing. No “Bears Rule” after the knockout so no bounty.

The eventual winner was worldpoker05. If none of you are familiar with this guy it is because it is his first blogger tourney ever. In fact, he isn’t a blogger at all. He is my old boss. He was a luck box as he approached the final table. With an extremely small M, he pushed from UTG with KQ and got called by lifesagrind’s pocket Aces. He hit two pair for the win. A few orbits later, maybe on the final table he pushes again with J10 suited and is called by lifesagrind who holds KQ. He sucks out again and then triples up at the breake when he catches pocket aces vs KK and AQ to take the chip lead. From that point on he tightened up and let some of the shorter stacks get knocked out. When there were only three left he got all in with phlyersphan’s KK. He rivered a straight and held a huge chip lead to the remaining player. From that point on it was only a matter of time before he put his opponent away.

Now I highlighted the donkey luck-box card catching he received but he did play a tight game for the most part. He was near the top for much of the tourney before going card dead just before the final table. Good game buddy and see you next week at the Mookie.

************

I also played in a $5+.50 at the same time last night and got knocked out just short of the money. I didn’t catch much here either and also saw pockets jacks kick my butt. I’m really starting to think that these should be folded pre flop.

After the Mookie I jumped on a $10 SNG to kill some time. My luck continued to be bad as good cards were poison and I get knocked out on the bubble. A frustrating night for sure.

Pimping the Mookie

Play the Mookie tonight.








And look at this great banner he created. The picture is of Darrin Zakk, One of the greatest fastpitch pitchers of all time. Back in , I believe, 1996 he went 10-0 during the ISC World Tournament, stricking out 170 something batters in 80 or so innings. He could throw the ball in the upper 80's and had pin point control. He could make the ball move in just about any direction without giving away his pitches. I had the pleasure of facing him a few times but didn't have much luck. In fact I'm still trying to put a ball in play off of him.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

At the end of the day the other day my boss called me into the office. That in itself is not that big of a deal being that I work for him and have to walk in the direction he leads me. What struck me as weird was the way he did it. He closed the door after we entered the room. Anyway, he starts to go into detail about an ongoing project the company has been working on and what influence I should have on it. As he continued, I was bewildered. Not because of the expectation he had for me but because we had already had a similar conversation. That when it happened.

We want you to go to Japan for training.

So I’m leaving, on a jet plane, to the land of the rising sun. I will be spending all of my waking hours, while in Japan, learning more about the business and the processes involved, from the mother company. I’ll be spending one week in November with a fellow employee learning the ropes. For the most part we will have a guide with us at all times, keeping us on schedule, and determining where we go.

Last week I went and applied for a passport. It had never been a priority before but now a necessity. It was fairly painless but did cost me $200 to get the expedited service. I will be reimbursed.

When I informed my wife of my impending departure she was a little apprehensive. She didn’t like me going half way around the world without her so I asked if she could go with. The answer was yes but that I would have no free time with her and that my days would not be eight hours long. Basically, I go to work in the morning and come home after dinner with the people in charge of me. That doesn’t sound too bad except that dinner doesn’t end until the highest ranking person decides it is over. It isn’t unheard of to have this meal last many hours and thus no time with my wife if she goes.

Regardless of all of this, I’m going to Japan. As much as I would like for her to come with me I think the financial aspects of the trip are more then we can swing right now. Between the flight, hotel and spending money it would cost us at least $2000 for her to come with. Six months ago this would be a no brainer but not now. A summer of unemployment has depleted some of our resources.

I’m excited to be going. A far away land that has a different culture and different customs will be a great experience. I doubt if I would have gone there on my own so I will take everything I can from this adventure over the ocean. I will land in Tokyo about one day after I leave and on the return trip, I will get back at the same time I left. I’m sure my internal clock will be a mess but it will be worth the tribulation.

Full Tilt Utopia

Back as a teenage enthusiast I can remember writing about my personal utopia. It was a make-believe world that had all of the good things in my life with out the drawbacks or adversity. I think we are seeing a poker utopia forming for one of the remaining contenders. That would be Full Tilt.

With many of the online poker rooms running for cover, Full Tilt is in the enviable position of scooping up the plethora of American players. This will see and abundance of new players ready to fill their bottom line with the rake that is generated. The reload bonus they just instituted is a sure fire sign that that want to take the business from all of the poker/casino sites out there and thus move into their own utopia.

In many ways I can’t blame places like Party Poker for their decisions. Besides poker, they also have casinos that hinder their ability to stay in the poker market. Being that casino games for the most part cannot be considered games of skill but rather games of chance, the gamble part of the recent bill leaves them open to liability. Now poker is a game of skill, and being so gives any site an avenue to argue that point and justify business as usual but with an attached casino the money that can pass from casino to poker room leaves party on the outside looking in.

Full Tilt on the other hand is a poker room and thus can fight the battle to remain open to Americans. By sticking with the idea that it presents a game of skill rather then a game of chance it has the foundation to withstand a long siege upon its operations. And with the influx of new payers that will be generated with its generous reload and first time bonuses, they will have the additional revenue needed to remain viable for the unforeseen future.

So what do we have here? We have a company that was doing well and that left them self in a position to be a market leader in a 6 billion dollar a year industry. They may still have a fight with Poker Stars but their vision has left them the chance to build the world they wanted.

*******************

I played a few hours last night. I played a 5+.50 and got close to the money but didn’t the cards at the right time to get me over the hump. I think I played a little too tight overall and limited my ability to make a move.

I also played the 20,000 on Full Tilt and lasted well into the second hour until I raised with QQ. I had two limpers and the BB in front of me so I made an 8x raise trying to take the pot. I get one caller. The flop comes KK3 and it is checked to me. Now I can take a free card or try to win it here. The only problem is that and bet will leave me pot committed. I bet and he pushes with his K5. Nice hand.

The real donkey move I made was folding the nut strait when I miss read the board. There is no excuse for this and I don’t deserve to have success when I do some thing stupid like that. Lack of focus is the demise of my future.

*******************

San Diego was fun I guess. I went to old town for dinner on Saturday and sat through an 8 hour seminar on Sunday before hitting a steakhouse Sunday night. My flight left at 6:30 Monday morning so I didn’t get to enjoy much of the area. I think it would be a great place to visit when I had more time.

*******************

No poker tonight but I will play in the Mookie on Wednesday to defend my title. I’ll put an $11 bounty on my head to that player if they types “Bears Rule” after they knock me out.

Put a Bad Beat on Cancer

Do this. It's for a great cause and you get to play with some of your favorite bloggers.

If you can't be there sign up and donate the money. I'm sure you can write it off on your taxes.

It's not against the law to play.

Full Tilt 9000

Friday nights have become a ritualistic time for me lately. I’ll log in shortly before the Midnight Madness and register followed by the 5+.50 that starts an hour later. I will end up finding JJOK and we will chat as we prepare for the suck out that will eventually knock us out. Good times.

Last Friday was no different as we railed each other as the tourney moved along. As the end of the first hour approached, I decided to buy into the 5+.50 but also joined in the fun of the 9000 guaranteed. I was sitting on a short stack in the MM but was playing a sound tight game so I figured I could still make a move but wanted to keep my options open with the other tourneys.

About 20 minutes into the 5+.50 I get dealt pocket aces and make a standard 3x raise. I get one caller. The flop comes A10x and I check reraise my opponent and put him all-in He calls with KJ and knocks me out when the queen hits. The best part of this was that it didn’t even phase me. I shrugged it off and moved on.

Mean while, in the Midnight Madness, I double up with queens and move back to an average chip stack. One hand later I’m dealt KK with 2 limpers and I raise 7x with one caller. I hit a king on the flop and make a ½ pot bet trying to change up. The caller pushes and I insta call. He flopped a top pair but ended up hitting runner runner to catch a straight.

While this is going on JJOK is moving up the leader board and in position to make a move. I watched as he had the same fate as a player hits runner runner for a flush when he had flopped top set.

Now with only the 9000 going on in my life I’m due some karma. The suckout gods have had there fun and were ready to sleep. I stayed very tight as I couldn’t catch a flop and didn’t want to risk to much with the crazies running rampant. I finally got the double up I needed when a push monkey who was running over the table came over the top of my AQ suited. I called after some deliberation and was aghast to see JJ. The only thing I had going for me is that JJ has been my demise as of late but only when I hold it. Life turned around for me when a beautiful queen hit on the turn and but me in the top twenty. I stayed tight for the next 45 minutes as I was completely card dead until I get Aces. I win the blinds and the go on another 30 minute run of crap. As go time is nearing I start to catch some cards and move past the bubble in good shape. As we move closer and my M is around 4 I catch 88 UTG. I push and get called by the button and the BB. I have them both out chipped but I’m very worried when the BB flips over pocket 10s. When the hand is over I’m down to 2800 chips and get put on the BB of a new table. I see A10 and push with one limper and the BB. I hit a ten and it hold to put me back to where I was. Next hand I catch A7. Its folded to me in the SB and I push. BB calls with J8 put my cards hold up. Next hand I catch 9s and push again and win the blind. Two hands later I win the blinds again. I went from almost out to top 10 in 5 hands.

At this point JJOK is in my corner helping me stay focused. I want to final table this for sure and I’m in a great spot to do it. The only problem is that the cards run away from me except for when someone else has made a big raise in front of me. With the chip stack I had, I wasn’t ready for a coin flip and maintained my composure with JJ’s help. As we got down to the final 2 I had the ability to buy a few blinds and keep my head above water. At one point a big stack made a min raise UTG. I look at pocket 9s for the whole time before I fold. I wanted to push but the min raise smelled funny. Anyway, the cutoff pushes and takes the pot. That gained me a few more spots until we had 14 left. My M is 4 and I see A10 under the gun. I push and get called by AK and I’m done. This was the only hand that I got my money in that I was a big dog. I had a coin flip that I won but this was my only big mistake. Should have let it go because I would have been on the final table within one orbit even if I fold. I can only imagine earning a higher payday because I lost self control. This being said, the reason I pushed with A10 was to win the blinds but in retrospect the only hands that would call me are the ones that would be ahead of me. It was a dumb play that may have cost me hundreds of dollars. Oh well, Live and learn.

JJOK was a soothing presence in the background as I moved up through this tourney. He railbirded me for at least an hour even though he wasn’t playing anymore. Thanks man.

I did get to play a little $25 NL with Kat, Joanne( have to find your link), and JJ but I didn't really do much. Hoy even said hi as I took his spot on the table. I eventually jumped off the table because the tournys were getting in the way.

Full Tilt Friday Night

I played the 9,000 on Fult Tilt tonight and just missed the final table. I donked myself into 14th place when I pushed with A10 in early position. Stupid move that cost me mucho money.




More when I get back from San Diego

Some Poker Ideas

As I prepared for trip to San Diego this weekend I decided to move my funds back into Neteller. My thinking here is that any funds I already have there will not be subject of the laws that will come into being after Bush signs the bill. Kind of like a grandfather clause. What that basically means is that I will not be playing while on the west coast.

No poker last night. It was a combination of getting home late from work (8:00) and wanting to spend time with the family before I leave Saturday. Tonight should be different because I will have some time after I put the kids to be so maybe the Midnight Madness on Full Tilt is in store.

*******************

Do any of you have issues with giving away your bankroll when the funds get low? You know, like the $20 you have some place and you go looking for a double up because you will just make a deposit if you lose. I’ve done this a few times instead of just reloading and have given it away more times then building back up. I figure I’ve dropped a few hundred doing this over time. Anyway just curious if others have done similar things.

Overall, I’m still staying a winning player. I’m not a big winner but I have built my bankroll from $5 up to a high of about $1000 before dropping back down during my unemployment era. I’m confident that being back at work will prove to be the motivation I needed to play smartly.

I’ve seen some mention about tracking tournament results to see if they are a long term profitable play. I’ve just started tracking my results and saw my return in the negative until my win Wednesday night. Now I understand that with only maybe 20 entries I don’t have enough data to prove anything but two final tables cashes in two days completely eliminated past ineptitude and increased my ROI by leaps and bounds.

Looking back on these tourneys that I’ve played I find that I have cash in about 25% of them. I could increase this number with a more conservative approach but I think my overall return would drop if I played that way on a consistent basis. Looking further shows that regardless of the quality off your play, avoiding landmines may be just as important to your success. In the end, quality of play over the short term isn’t always seen by the results you achieve.

******************

I’ve had a few comments about my heads-up play vs. dnasty so I would like to explain how I play this specific situation. I want you to make the decision. Either by calling my raise or by deciding to raise me. Every thing from that point has a response intended for you to make a mistake. The key is to place the pressure on the opponent. If you watched the match with dnasty, you noticed that I raised pre flop a lot. I also called or check as well as fold in the same situations. I want to change my attack, and it is an attack, so that you question your reading ability. I will raise with any two cards. I will call with any two cards. I will fold almost any two cards depending on how I’m trying to attack you. By changing attacks you put a seed of doubt in your opponent and hopefully you can get them to commit when they have the worst hand. You also get them to call down instead of raising when they have the goods. In the end, your almost never very far behind and are ahead 50% of the time. Remember this when you play heads up and it should help.

One more thing on heads up. Playing as many SNGs as I do has helped my heads-up and short table game more then you can imagine. It teaches you how to play with the short stack as well as the large stack and will give you some of the tools to improve your heads up game. Try to put in a session every now and then and keep track of how you finish. Try different things and see how they work in various situations. Eventually you will gain experience at a short table without having to final table large MTTs

A Night at The Mookie

It was a great night for me last night as I took down the Mookie. The funny thing about it all is that I wouldn’t have done it without the help of my wife.

I chipped up early after raising pre-flop a few time when I get pocket jacks in an early position. I do a standard 3x raise only to get reraised by jcr47. At this time my wife starts to get on my case for not putting my clothes away or something and continues to berate me for other selfish acts that I frequently employee, you know, like playing poker. Any way I come back over the top to truly find out where I’m at and jcr47 pushes all-in. I think for quite awhile and end up calling his push even though I thought I was behind. Family tilt had set in and I figured I’d go be the good husband if I got knocked out. My jacks were no good to pocket kings until I flopped a set and put on a really bad beat. It sucks when a good player gets hit like that but I’m not giving the chips back. Anyway, that’s the first time my jacks have won a hand pre-flop in the last six times I’ve gotten them. And I had to come from behind to do it.

Anyway, I stayed tight most of the night and got respect for my raises. I made a play at slb at one point and he pushed back making me through away my marginal hand. He dropped the hammer which would have beat me anyway so I figure it was a good laydown. As we got further into the tourney I won a race vs. surfkiller when I pushed with pocket 4s and out raced his A9 suited. I bought some blinds and came over the top a few times and continued to chip up at a slow crawl. I did make a bad decision at one point when I thought summer_babe was making a play on me. She had raised my blinds a few time in a row so I re-raised. She pushed and I was getting 3-1 on my money so I called with some thing like K10. Her 9’s held up. I eventually got to the final table with these players.

SurfKiller
Slb159
dnasty13
fastpitch27
Iakaris
hoyazo
surflexus
ToddCommish
GCox25

My final table play was very tight at first. With 8 players leftToddCommish went all-in for around 3000 chips. I was in the BB and called with KT. I needed to defend my blind and would have had chips left so I made the call figuring at worst it was a coin flip. It was but I hit the turn and knocked him out. This was really one of the three key hands I won and it put me in a much stronger position.
I sat back and waited for opportunities at this point and did have the privilege of dropping the hammer on slb159. He had raised me a couple of times and knew he would drop unless he had a monster. My tight image was still working.

With 4 players left I flopped the nut straight from the SB. I check and dnasty raised 1000. Hoyazo went all-in and I reraised all-in in hopes of a triple up. Dnasty folded and hoyazo’s top pair was no good.

When we got down to 3 players I opened up my game a lot. I was the short stack and needed to gain chips so I increased my pre-flop raising. I slowly chipped up over time and at one point, all three of us were within a few thousand of each other. Eventually, dnasty knocked out slb159 and we’re heads up. He held a 2-1 chip lead so I needed to work hard.

I started with pressure and continued with pressure. If I felt any weakness, I raised and chipped up to even. Dnasty then turned it around for a while but I continued to push any edge I felt I had. We stayed even for a long time when I’m dealt 53. He raises 3x and I call. I hit a 5 on the flop and check. He puts out a nice continuation bet and I pop it. He folds. I figured him for a big ace and with a low flop I was going to find out where I stood.

A few hands later I made a standard 3x raise with AJ. He re-raises me so I make it 16,000 to stay. He calls. If he had a pair or a really big ace I think he would have pushed so I have him on a strong king or a medium ace. A rag flop hits the board and we get it all-in the middle. He flips over A8 and my J holds up for the win.

******************

I was very lucky early when I sucked out on jrc47. Most of my coin flips held up and the ones that didn’t hold up were not crippling. Thanks Mookie. I’ll try to defend with honor.

One thing I like to say is that all of you are great players. The pressure that virtually everyone continued to put on me made me raise my game. I knew coming in that success at this tourney is a hard thing to come by and now I know why. I felt like a flyweight fighting a heavyweight all night. Thanks for the great time and challenging me in so many different ways.

Winning the Mookie

Here is a picture of my results.


















I got very lucky early and won a race late.

more tomorrow.

My Mom lived There, Omaha

One of the things I do is look at site meter to see where my readers come from and what search criteria is used to find my site. With this in mind, I get a lot of hits originating from The Poker Chronicles as well as a few other places. My search engine wars seem to indicate that my blooms taxonomy post and my shark scope post call many of my readers. Last night someone was searching for oral massage and found my site. Now I made mention of this topic last week in a post about the history of myself but I can’t imagine how many other web sites this person searched before finding mine.

******************

I played a little Omaha hl last night. Noble has a $1000 guaranteed $5 re-buy at 8:15 central that I like to play. The field is small (75-90 player) and there is almost always an overlay of about $100. Most nights I’ll sit back and wait for my opportunities and push my strong holdings because the tables are very loose and you will get paid. Also, in general, I’ll drop $5 for the add-on for a total buy-in of $10.50. The top 10 spots pay.

I got involved early on a few hands that didn’t materialize but finally hit just before the add-on when my AAQ2 hit the nut low on the flop as well as the nut flush. Two players pushed in front of me as well as two behind and I go from around 1350 chips to just less than 7000. I eventually end up with 7900 after the add-on break.

This is about the time I go card dead. Now I know its Omaha hl but it is possible to get crap cards for and extended period of time. I stayed alive as we moved to the higher blind levels by making pot size bets and forcing players to fold. As we hit the second break, I have about the same chip stack with 18 players left.

I continue to push the medium stacks when I can and get extremely lucky with 12 players left when I push on another small stack and somehow pull off a split when I held crap. As the bubble burst, I pushed with AK23 and hit the low with two callers and moved into 8th. The final table was a mixture of no cards and luck as I stayed at or near the bottom. I held at most 12,000 chips with two stacks in the 70,000 range as well as two in the 40,000 range. I moved up a spot when one of the medium stacks went to war with a big stack and lost when the low didn’t come in. I made a couple of plays but got quartered when my tied with the nut low and lost the high to a higher straight. With blinds at 2000/4000 I have 3700 and on the big blind. I have no idea what happened other than when the hand was over I had 2286 chips left. At this point I have no chance to win in my eyes so when a shorty in front of me gets his chips all-in and is raised by another stack I folded trying to move up a spot. In the end two players were knocked out on the hand and I moved up two spots for double the return. I ended up getting knocked out the next hand in 6th place and a nice return on my investment.

The killer part of this tourney was the two hands that saw me flop top sets each time and lose to a straight and a flush. If either of these hit, my stack is sitting at the 20,000 range instead of the 2,000 range at the end of the tourney and I could have made a run. I guess I should have pushed with almost anything when it got late but I was trying to maximize my payoff.

With this small stack is it better to earn a higher spot or go down in a blaze of glory.

Anyway, this is the third time I’ve played this tourney and the second time I made the final table. My other attempt saw me knocked out in 13th when I misread my opponents chip stack by missing a zero at the end of it. I thought I had him out chipped and raised to put him all-in. Then he came back over the top to put my in. I was pot committed with two pair and lost. So overall I’ve success in this tourney and I hope to continue with this trend.

**********************

I watched my old boss run over a table while he played a SNG. The deck hit him in the face and the monkeys kept thinking he was on a bluff. It’s always a good time when the cards run like that.

After he won, we jumped onto a HORSE SNG just to kill time. He had never played one so we played the $1 Full Tilt version so he could learn. I got knocked out early, partly because I was concentrating on my Omaha tourney and partly because a calling station called me down in razz with her made queen. My down cards were A3 with a 4 up. I proceeded to get three pair when an A and a 3 come on 4th and 5th street as well as a 4 on 7th. Now the highest card I held was an 8 on the board and yet I still got called down to the end. Oh well. Anyway, I eventually got knocked out when the same player calls me to the river and hits a queen, making my pocket jacks no good. My boss ended up running over the table despite never having played Razz or Omaha before. I gave him some pointers about starting hands and he took it from there.

I probably won’t play tonight but I am signed up for an Omaha free roll on Friday. The pot is only $300 but it is free and I’ll take anything I can get.

Sun Poker is Jumping Ship

The Poker Enthusiast,

I'm not sure if you're aware of the recent developments in US online
gaming industry. In short, the US government has passed a law
that would prohibit banks, credit card companies, and other
financial institutions from processing gambling funds. This
controversial act was attached to a popular and completely
unrelated bill regarding Port Security (HR4954) early Saturday morning.
In this way, the act was passed because representatives were more
concerned with the major bill being made law and knew only in the
final minutes of the attachment.

It does NOT make it illegal for US citizens to play online, however
drastically affects your ability to enjoy your favorite poker and
casino games by making it difficult to send and receive your
deposits and winnings.

In light of these events, our software and ECash provider for
SunPoker.com, CryptoLogic and ECashDirect, have made the
decision to no longer service US registered accounts.

Consequently, all accounts with US based addresses will no longer
be able to play in the casino or poker room as of 12PM EST today
October 3rd.

Your account will however be available for you to log into and
request a withdrawal of your available balance.

All other accounts with non US based addresses will remain
unaffected.

Currently it is unclear as to the longer term ramifications of
these events at CryptoLogic and should the position change, we
will notify you.

In the meantime, we are hoping to make provisions so that you
are able to continue to enjoy playing and enjoy the same levels
of service and bonuses you've come to expect from us. We will
keep you updated.

Thanks for your time, and we do sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause you.
Regards

Adam

Poker Room Manager
http://www.sunpoker.com

PS: We continue to maintain that it is your individual right to be
allowed to play online responsibly in another form you see fit. We
therefore invite you to contact your Congressman (or woman) to
express your dismay as to not only the bill itself, but as to the
underhanded way in which it was passed.


I have $2.50 sitting there and I will withdraw it right away. It was originally $5 but i dropped $2.50 playing some tourney. Free money, I'll take it.

Business Starts at Home

Nothing changed for me last night. When I finally had a chance to play I jumped onto Noble and played a Dirty Dozen SNG. No problems with being locked out and no statement about freezing my account. Anyway, I get JJ in late position and bump it 6x after I see 5 limpers in front of me. The BB and middle position player call. The flop comes 643 and I push seeing that a ¾ bet would put me all-in anyway. The BB folds while the middle position guy calls showing 53 off suit. Nice hand sir. He was a short stack so I wasn’t out but it didn’t me long to be eliminated when my flopped set of 4s lost to a flopped set of 5s.

I moved to a micro level Omaha HL and doubled up as a loose table made it very profitable by chasing with crap cards and giving the low hands a decent payoff even if it was quartered. My last hand of the night saw me with AK23 double suited so I raise it up and get 8 callers. The flop is 458 giving me the nut low and a draw to the nut flush. Then the power goes out and doesn’t return for about 6 hours. I have no idea as to how it ended up but I did double my buy-in before that hand.

The Internet Gambling Prohibition Bill

All the talk right now is about The Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This Bill which was attached to a Bill concerning security of our ports, in essence, will eliminate our ability to deposit money into our favorite poker sites through direct banking channels.

One of things that concerns me is to what extent can I transfer money I already have out there. I believe that existing funds should be usable because they are not being moved from an U.S. financial institution to a non-approved illegal casino/poker site. Money moving from, let’s say, Noble Poker to Neteller and then on to Poker Stars should be OK because these funds didn’t originate from an American bank. What this does do though is change the face of money management for the novice player who may now find it much more difficult to deposit money and thus more likely to avoid making a deposit altogether.

But what about our money? Will we be able to cash out our current bankrolls? Will this be a punishable offence in the eyes of the criminal justice system? Looking at the bill, it seems that only a portion of the original bill is attached and that money flowing to an internet site from a United States bank is what is being prohibited. Funds flowing back from a given site don’t seem to be affected. The government is trying to regulate the financial institutions’ side because regulating all of the on-line players is next to impossible.

What are some of our options? I feel that places like Neteller, Paypal, and Firepro will still be able to continue to do business as they always have. We have the right as Americans to make purchases over seas through a middleman and thus the ability to place funds into a place like Neteller. Neteller, being based in another country doesn’t have to abide by the same laws that we do as Americans and can receive a bank transfer on the basis that it may be for something other then internet gambling. The are not obligated to give information to the U.S. government about fund transfers they have been asked to initiate.

So what do we do now? I’m in the process of moving part of my bankroll back into my checking account. Not because I’m afraid of loosing the money but to fund a possible trip to a card room. I still have a significant amount sitting in the cyber casinos and will continue to do so until this is all worked out and the truth is known. The political backlash from this decision is yet to be seen but I think it will be more then noteworthy.

Friday Night I Crashed Your Party

Friday night was a night that started full of promise and ended in disappointment.

I started the evening by playing some SNGs with my old boss on FT. Nothing to exciting other then I took a first in one and a second in another one while bubbling in an 18 player event.

In the 18 player event, I didn’t have a lot to work with most of the time but had a small rush near the bubble to put my second in chips with 6 players left. As we got down to 5 players I’m still in second place until a double up the shorty when my AQ is no good to his A7. This almost crippled me but I chipped back up with aggressive play when life repeated itself. Now on life support, I push each of the next 3 hands and get back to respectability. I eventually get QQ and push only to lose to the same guy for the third time when his K10 is good. I was just unlucky in this situation and would play it the same every time.

In my victory, we have 4 players left, one being my old boss when I see this AA in the SB. UTG calls and my old boss raises 3.5X. Now I know he has a hand so how do I get all his chips. He will fold to an all-in if he thinks I have him beat but I don’t want the third player in. I min reraise hoping to get heads up or take the pot and all fold. My old boss later told me he had JJ. A bit later my old boss raise all-in as I’m looking at JJ. He still has a nice stack but I’ll still be second in chips if I call and lose so I call. My jacks hold up and I knock him out. At this point I run over the table as the remaining players passively play for second place.

In the third game I couldn’t get started and played with a short stack for almost the whole game. I got cards when I needed them and balls when I had to have them. The key to cashing was sitting on the SB with 1000 chips, blinds at 100/200, and pushing with 93 off suit. The BB blind had around 2000 and waited a long time before folding to my raise. This was the third time in a row I had bought his blinds so I showed the bluff. The next orbit I pushed again and he calls with QJ. My pocket queens hold up and he is all but done. The next hand saw me take 2nd when the chip leader called two all-ins and knock out those players. All in all, that was a lot of work for a $5 SNG.

A little later I jumped onto the Midnight Madness and ran into a wall. I saw AK twice early, both from late position and had to give them up when the board missed and an overly aggressive player pushed me off my hand each time. Tight is right became my mantra and I eventually saw AQ suited and pushed with an M of 4.5. The BB wakes up with QQ and I figure I’m done but an Ace spikes and I more then double up. I sit tight for a while and eventually triple up when I get KK and two callers. A king on the flop and I call two pushers. As we approach the bubble I’m in serious need of chips and I’m rewarded with pocket jacks. The blinds are now serious and my M of around 6 needs help so I push and get called by AJ suited. A jack on the flop and I’m good as gold except for the two diamonds. The turn gives us both a straight draw and the river completes the straight. The only problem was that the river was also a diamond and the end of my tourney. I know that JJok says jacks are OK but I don’t believe him.

I was really frustrated after that beat and jumped on an SNG to calm myself down. It was really early on when I get KK UTG +1. UTG calls and I pop it for 240. All fold back to him and he raises to 500. I don’t put him on anything better then I have because only a fool doesn’t raise with pocket aces so I push. He has aces and I’m done.

I don’t think I would ever slow play aces like he did there but that’s OK. I know I’ll get my money back because that really isn’t the right play to make. He eventually bubbled and didn’t cash.

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I was hoping to play some cards when I go to San Diego this upcoming weekend but I think my itinerary will be full. If I play at all it will only be for maybe three hours and I’m not sure that’s worth the time considering the other things I can do out there. We’ll see what happens.