Brickin The Nutz

It is Friday and I am looking at a long drive home tonight. The weather man says 4-6 inches of snow so I think I'll get home 45 minutes later than normal. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Being Friday, I'll be playing tonight. I'm looking at Razz, PLO and maybe a random hold'em tourney for the night so look me up and we can chat.

I started a new blog called Brickin The Nutz. It will be dedicated to Razz for the most part and will also have a few guest bloggers throwing their Razz ideals out there for the world to see. Check it out if you have a chance.

That's it for today...have a great weekend.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I have a couple things after a nice holiday vacation.

The Good

I made three final tables last night on a night I wasn’t even going to play. We got home from up north about 8:15 and so after getting the van emptied I was ready to play. I signed up for my favorite Razz tourney and for both the Mookie and the Dookie. After a couple hours of play I was on the final table of each event. . In the Mookie I chipped up early playing more hands than normal and got a big double up when in the SB. I had 66 and limped and the BB re-popped it. He had done that a couple of times so I pushed figuring he would fold his steal. He calls with AK but my 66 held. I won another big hand with JJ over TT and took the chip lead with QQ over 88. In the Dookie I really just played solid hands as I wasn’t focused on it and moved into 3rd and stayed there much of the tourney.

The Bad

I got a text message from work on Wednesday while I was ice fishing. The production manager was fired and so I will get to do some of the stuff that he use to do. More stuff on my plate.

The Ugly

Razz was Razz as I had chasers suck out and pay me off and I eventually went out 7th or 8th vs. a big stack with 2 pair showing with one of them being 9s and I was drawing to an 8 and missed. In the Mookie I went card dead and tried to make some moves. I ran AK into TT and lost to miss the money by a spot or two. In the Dookie I got all in like this

Fuel55 shows [As Jd Kd 5d]
mookie99 shows [6d Ah 5h 8s]
pokerenthusiast shows [Qh Ks 3c Ad]

Best high and low pre-flop is no good as fuel continued to dominate the Dookie.

So there you have it…The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Nebraska....errr...Omaha

I played a little last night. Started with a $5 Rebuy and had a slightly below average stack after the first break. As we got closer to the money I was short but had equity. I turned up the aggression and stole blinds to chip up a little. I eventually ran in to A4 with my K8. I never really got anything going as I missed a bunch of flops and as in scranmble mode for much of the tourney. A bit later I donked out of a knockout tourney when I over played AK and lost a coin flip when I didn't need to do it.

Eventually I hoped into the Razz 2K and made a nice run. With a nice stack I triple bricked with A234 to end with a 9 and lost to an 8. That hurt because a few hands later I got involved in a hand with Jim Mcmanus and would have busted him if I hadn't been short the 3500 chips I had a few minutes earlier. Winning the pro bounty would have been but I really wanted the t-shirt. He busted out on the next hand. Anyway, I missed the cash by a couple spots but played as well as I have in a while.

I took a break and signed up for the deepstack PLO tourney at 9:45. I have final tabled this a few times and I really like the deep stack structure. SLB and I had been chatting and I got him to join me for some fun. Anyway, a few hours later and we were both sitting on the final table.


I hit a big hand against him near the final table bubble but he battled back and was knocked out in 8th. I battled hard and picked my spots and eventually got heads up. In the end I ended here.


It was a lot of fun but I wanted the win. I got very lucky vs. the big stack near the final table bubble when myKKxx beat AAxx when I hit a runner-runner straight.

Have a great holiday.

X-Mas KORD Winner

Again, I fail to reclaim my title of KORD as SLB159 takes the title. He outlasted a field of 13 players to take down his first win in this event. He beat out Margari789 in a very good heads up duel that saw SLB give up the big chip lead only to see him fight back and win the event. Margari789 made it to heads up without, I believe, getting one knockout in the tourney. Bayne earned the last cash spot by playing his usual solid game. Bayne also one the $10 bounty for knocking out Surflexus.

I want to say thanks to everyone who came out and played. I think I will keep the format the same because I kind of like the whole knockout thing. We had a couple of unknown players, including Margari789, get into the mix tonight like smurfberry, alex j beeson and elgorde which were all nice additions to the field. And with the ATL connection hitting the tourney, Georgia was well represented.

As for me, I bubbled again. That is two in a row. Anyway, the results for the year based on top 10 finishes are below.


I don’t know what this means other that I’m really good at missing the prize. Congratulations to the money winners this year and we’ll see you next year at the monthly KORD.

We have a Winner and the X-Mas KORD

We have A winner. I watched the whole tourney with all three screens up(what a loser I am) and saw some good play, some bad play, some tiltish play and some suckouts. There were coolers and commenters. There were card racks and card deadness. Weak/tight play and agro pushers. In the end we saw one tight aggressive player vs. another tight aggressive player. Funny how good solid play comes to the top. Congrates to Jeci on winning the trip.

Reading through some of the predictions I saw that few people felt huntsvegas had much of a chance. I don't really know him but have blogged a little bit about him when he and surf went to Tunica and so I had a little interest just because of those circumstances. He led the way through much of this tourney and accumulated chips through out. He got crippled after a calling a push at one point and came back to take the lead. Well played and an unlucky cooler at the end.

Just a reminder that the X-Mas KORD is tonight at 8:30 central time. It is a knockout tourney and should be a lot of fun as Razz is such a skill game. Surf put a bounty on his own head and I will throw A little extra to the winner as well as posting a banner in the winners honor. The password is pokere and only cost $7.70($2 bounty on each player) on Full Tilt.

Have a great weekend.

Its Chistmas KORD

Wow...the end of the audit season. I really only have two out side audits a year but they come about a month apart. This last one was much easier because we on make one product that falls under the scope and it is made for one customer. Easy peasy.


I also want to remind everyone that the Christmas KORD will be on Friday night at 8:30 central time. The cost is $7 + .70 and there is a $2 bounty on each players' head. The password is pokere so jump on to Full Tilt Friday night and play. I forgot to do it money added so instead I will be sending the winner $10 just because I am nice. Also, there will be a $10 bounty on the head of Surflexus as he is the current KORD and he felt so good about being a donkey razz player that he placed it upon him self. So think about it...Win the tourney and you get a nice little payday plus you will knock out a few players at $2 a pop, you knock out surf and you get another $10. Just they way you want to start a weekend.

I played a little poker last night as I tried to push aside the remaining audit tilt I was feeling. I started with...fuck, I don't remember what I started with but I didn't cash. Anyway, I played the $3 turbo because of the skill it takes to play that and didn't cash and also played the $5 razz and missed the money by a spot or two. What a stupid friggin game. Anyway, I started the Dookie, limit hold'em...turbo. What the hell is turbo limit hold'em? I can see no redeeming value to the game. So with that said I cashed and ended the night up $5. I am so skilled.

One of the fun hands I was involved in was semi early in Razz. A little hand history but some explanation to go with it.

Seat 1: giantfishy (1,450)
Seat 2: YoungGuns73 (3,176)
Seat 4: pokerenthusiast (2,361)
Seat 5: waryur (1,852)
Seat 6: pokerjulien (1,956)
Seat 7: posmoss (1,380)
Seat 8: davedutch (2,738)
giantfishy antes 15
YoungGuns73 antes 15
pokerenthusiast antes 15
waryur antes 15
pokerjulien antes 15
posmoss antes 15
davedutch antes 15
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to giantfishy [6d]
Dealt to YoungGuns73 [8h]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Ad 5d] [4s]
Dealt to waryur [Kd]
Dealt to pokerjulien [Ts]
Dealt to posmoss [3h]
Dealt to davedutch [5h]
waryur is high with [Kd]
waryur brings in for 25
pokerjulien folds
posmoss completes it to 80
davedutch raises to 160
giantfishy folds
YoungGuns73 folds
pokerenthusiast calls 160
waryur folds
posmoss raises to 240
davedutch raises to 320
pokerenthusiast calls 160
posmoss calls 80

One of the things I like to do is keep in control of the pot size. Most of the time I wont reraise unless I'm trying to isolate someone or someone calls with a high card up. In this case I had to opponents driving up the price. I have the nut draw possibility just like they do. This really isn't the time to be capping the bet because nobody has a made hand.

*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Ad 5d 4s] [2c]
Dealt to posmoss [3h] [7h]
Dealt to davedutch [5h] [3d]
pokerenthusiast checks
posmoss bets 80
davedutch raises to 160
pokerenthusiast calls 160
posmoss raises to 240
davedutch raises to 320
pokerenthusiast calls 160
posmoss calls 80

We all hit good cards here and my two opponents proceed to get as much money into the pot as they can. Without having a made hand this is questionable but the one player is now short on chips and has to call everything down. At this point I am going to chase to the river because of the amount of chips in the pot. This is the draw back to throwing all that money into the middle early as players get priced in to chase.

*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Ad 5d 4s 2c] [3c]
Dealt to posmoss [3h 7h] [9c]
Dealt to davedutch [5h 3d] [9d]
pokerenthusiast bets 160
posmoss raises to 320
davedutch raises to 480
pokerenthusiast raises to 640
posmoss calls 320
davedutch calls 160

I have the nut and I have not had to force a bet yet. Check calling to this point looks to be me sitting on an 8 or a 7 when I have the nut. I bet out here because I know the shortie will reraise.

*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Ad 5d 4s 2c 3c] [6s]
Dealt to posmoss [3h 7h 9c] [Td]
Dealt to davedutch [5h 3d 9d] [Th]
pokerenthusiast bets 160
posmoss calls 85, and is all in
davedutch calls 160

I don't like this card because it gives my hand more merit. They now know they are behind and check call my bet. I needed davedutch to catch the 6.

*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Ad 5d 4s 2c 3c 6s] [2h]
pokerenthusiast bets 160
davedutch calls 160
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pokerenthusiast shows [5d 2h 4s 2c 3c 6s Ad] 5,4,3,2,A
davedutch shows [5s 2d 5h 3d 9d Th As] 9,5,3,2,A
pokerenthusiast wins the side pot (470) with 5,4,3,2,A
posmoss mucks
pokerenthusiast wins the main pot (4,225)

davedutch called me down because of the large amount of chips in the pot. He knew he was beat and gave me 320 extra chips because he helped make the pot so big early. Control the size of the pot. He could have gotten away if he doesn't cap it.

Good luck to everyone playing to night for the TOC and the trip to Aussieland.

At Home and on the Tables

Busy, busy, busy is all I can say. I have an audit on Wednesday so I probably won't have time to write much. I do have a couple of things to write about so let us get started.

First off, we bought my son a couple of floor hockey sticks because kids should be able to play with weapons. Anyway, we were playing in the basement and I was kicking his 6 year-old butt when the puck went into the corner. Now when I played hockey I always enjoyed the physical nature of the game so when he slashed me across the shin I brought the butt end of the stick into his forehead. As he grabbed his face in pain I gave him a hip check and proceeded to hit a wrist shot into the corner of the net to take a 19-0 lead. The little punk kept crying so the game was declared a forfeit and I skated to the bench as the trainer(mom) came to check him out. This was just a decoy as he slide the puck to his forehand and scored to ruin the shutout. I was so pissed I cross checked him into the foosball table. Little one-legged men flew everywhere as his 48 pound body slammed into the corner of the table. He got his goal but I got my revenge. (This is fabrication of the truth and in no way be considered real. He actually kicked my ass by dropping down to one knee and flipping me over onto my back as he slashed me across the chest. Little bastard)

We did play down stairs and I did hit him above the eye with the butt end of the stick but he shook it off and continued to play. No blood, no stitches and no bumps. Maybe I'll get him onto a floor hockey team at the YMCA.

Most of the drama that has happened over the last few weeks has died down. We had a talk with Speedy E about some of the things that happened and the repercussions of her actions. She has been going through a testing phase and had failed the test. I think she is trying to get back to a passing grade but she still has to be careful about what she does. I remind her of our discussion when she gets close to the edge and for now it is working.

Softball E is being taught new pitches which is a good sign. Her mechanics are in check and thus she can add more to her skill set. But we also found out she might need glasses. She has trouble seeing certain things and after her trip to the eye doctor, we will know more.

Now I have a poker situation. you are 6 players from the money with a slightly below average stack. You will money for sure if you fold your hand on the big blind. An early position player limps to 400 and the big stack raises to 1000. He has shown some good hands but has been hit in the face by the deck. It is folded to you in the BB and you see 9T of hearts. if you fold you have 6700 chips. If you call you have 6100. What do you do?



I called and so did the limper. About 3400 in the pot. The flop comes 8h7h4c. What do you do?



Lets go over the action to this point. Pre-flop I called for a few reasons. I was getting a good price with sooted connectors and I knew the limper would call giving me better odds. I put the player on a premium hand but the implied odds were to good this late. I can still fold if the flop misses me and get to the money. I have already doubled through the big stack twice so I know he has trouble throwing away a good starting hand. I also know that he could have a respect for me because I showed the better hand each time. When the flop comes I look at my outs and see that any heart gives me the flush, I have two over-cards, and I have six other outs on the straight draw. If both players hold cards like AK,AQ,KQ or AJ then I have 21 outs to a better hand. Big stack doesn't have a medium pair...he would have raised much bigger or limped. original limper could have a pocket pair but he over valued them so I think he would have raised with a pocket pair. The only draw back here is if someone has two hearts with one being bigger than mine. I still have 12 outs if my range of hands is correct which gives me about a 50% chance of taking the lead. When all is said and done I have a few choices in my action, being first to act. I can check call, check fold, bet call, bet fold or push. I can't fold here because I have way to many outs, unless I just want to cash. Check calling might be an option but and bet will commit me to the pot(I left out check raise because anyone who bet would be committed to the pot). Any bet would commit me to the pot for the most part so I took what I though was about a coin flip and pushed with all my outs. If the limped has Ax suited he isn't getting odds to call and the big stack will only call with a big pocket pair and I am ahead of that based on the number of outs I have. Well, the limper had A5 of hearts killing some of my outs and the big stack had KK. so I had 8 outs and had to avoid the rest of the hearts. The KK was in a terrible position even though he had the best hand. In the end I got the odds for the play but it didn't come through and the KK won. I looked at this as a chance to gain a ton of chips even though I'm taking a chance at not cashing. Was this a good move or a bad move. I think I make 2.5 times my buy-in if I fold the hand and play for the cash. I had a chance at the final table and the bigger money it has if I hit the hand. I think I played it the right way. If the dude doesn't have A5 hearts then he folds and thus the big stack has to make a call vs. a guy who has double through him twice already. I only need this to win 1/3 of the time to be the right play and I think it will work at a higher rate.

That's all for today...have a great day.

The Winter Classic

I wasn't lucky enough to be able to go to the Winter Classic. Instead I spent the weekend watching it rain and freeze on the windows of my car.

I don't have much to write about. I'm sitting in the clean room waiting for part of a test to finsh but to lazy to take off all the clothing that helps keep it clean. I have 10 more minutes to go for the test to finish so instead of leaving the room and coming back, I sit here and write.

Last night I got home ready for a nice evening at home. We made breakfast for dinner with sausage, eggs and a nice hashbrown mixed with pepperss and onions. A little hot stuff to help it out and I was ready to go. Then I remembered I had a meeting in 20 minutes. Problem was that the meeting was 25 minutes away. I flew out of the house with an unfinished plate of food sitting on the table.

I eventually got home 3 hours later and sat down to write an e-mail that had to go out and when I was done it was time to go to bed. An evening full of excitement.

I did talk to surf for a couple of minutes as he and his wife tailgated the Falcons game last night. What a way to spend the night. I guess that would work very well because you would have to drink a lot to want to sit through one of their games. I got home in time from my meeting to watch the end of the ass kicking they took. At least an insurance guy quit his job to become their quarterback.

That is it for today. Have a great day.

Coming Back From the Dead

It was a strange weekend with all the bloggers gone. I sat around with almost nobody to rail and felt deep pitted envy as people congregated at the WPBT Winter Weekend.

So Friday night I went and watched a R&B band play at a venue not to far from the house. they rocked pretty good but don't ask me the name of there group...I don't remember. Anyway, we got home without incident and I called it a night. I may have played a little but I don't remember playing.

Saturday I drove Speedy and Mrs. PE to the train station for their overnight trip to Chicago. My son really wanted to go and even packed a bag but in the end relented and stayed with me. From there we headed to pitching practice followed by a trip to the YMCA to sign my son up for basketball. He is such a little sports fanatic. Anyway, after some lunch and a trip to the movie store, I was home with my two remaining kids for the night.

My son through on his movie, something about hot wheels I think, and Softball E. went upstairs to hide like teenagers do so I fired up the laptop for a bit. I jumped onto Ultimate Bet to see what I had left there and saw a whole $5.65. I had withdrawn most of my bankroll from there months ago but left $50 to donk around with when I didn't feel like paying attention. So I jumped into a $5.50 PLO tourney for the last of my roll and what do you know...I ended up in 2nd place. It was a fun tourney in that the players liked to limp into pots and would fold most everything. this worked out well after the blinds got high and I moved into the top 10. As the tourney came to a close I picked my spots and had an even stack with my opponent when we got heads-up. This guy liked to limp so I raised a lot and after a while he got sick of it and pushed back with his QJ77. I had AAQJ but couldn't take it down as he spiked a set. It was all over a few hands later.

At some point during this tourney I opened a $3 knockout on Full Tilt. To make a long story short I went deep in it also with another 2nd place finish. This one hurt the same as the other one as we got it all in with each of us holding top pair but I had the better kicker but he caught his kicker and I went home. Still, 2 for 2 final tables is always nice.

after this we had dinner and watch a movie. At some point I fired up the $3 rebuy and made another nice run but missed the final table. In this one I was chip leader for much of the middle stages as a super donkey kept paying me off.he would then chip back up vs, other players and pay me off again. I eventually had to bust him but he helped me out a lot. My down fall was trying a resteal and ending up in a coin flip that lost. I had targeted the big stack and made my movie knowing he wouldn't fold. He woke up with JJ vs. my KQ and I couldn't catch up. I could have folded to a final 2 table finish but I really thought I was ahead considering his 60% flop seen numbers. You have to win a coin flip to go deep.

The rest of the weekend was spent picking up the wife and kid and going to a christmas gathering with friends. I even did most of the stuff on my honey do list so I have that going for me.

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Riverchasers

I played the Riverchasers last night and did well early. It started with KQ in the big blind when I called a late position raise. This raise could be an early steal but more than likely any ace, any two face cards or some kind of connecters. The flop comes Q72 and I bet 180 into a pot of 225. My opponent come back over the top to 750 and I tank. I ask my self if this is him representing TPTK or maybe a flush draw with the 2 clubs on the board? He could have a pocket pair. I re-raise to 1500 and he eventually folds. This was a good start to the tourney. I probably fold if he pushes.

The next nice hand I get is 69 in the BB. The flop comes Q99 and I check raise my opponents raisefrom240 to 400 inducing a call. I don't want to see another Q though. The turn is a 3 and I make a pot size bet and he folds. The biggest hand of the day was getting a free look from the BB with 53 off suit. In a blind vs. blind hand I flopped an OESDwith the flop of 468 2 spades. The SB bets out and I call getting the right odds. The turn is a 7 giving me the straight but putting a flush draw on the board. The SB pushes 1500 into the pot and I think a bit. He could push with the flush but can I get away from it. I will still have chips left and I can stack him if he doesn't. It costs me 1500 to win 2100 and I think I am ahead at this point. I'm more worried about a higher straight than the flush but I make the call and he has top 2 pair and I hold up.

I lost my first big pot when I completed from the SB with QT suited. The flop is T46 and I bet out and the BB pushed. I should have folded but I couldn't pull the trigger and he showed AT. Down to 2400 chips at this point and I go into aggressive mode. I started picking random hands to raise with and eventually got a call when I held KJ suited but by a QJ and I double up to 5.5K. A couple of hands later the cut off raise while I am sitting on the buttona and I push with KQ figuring this to be a big stack steal. It isn't often that you are actually stealing with AA and even though I flopped a K, I was done.

We'll thats it for this week. I have one other post to put up either today or tomorrow but after that I'm done writing until Monday...unless I change my mind. And to all you bloggers in Vegas...Have a great time.

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The Truth and the Mookie

Sometimes playing a solid games works and other times it doesn't. Last night was one of those nights when my game was working well.

I started off with a very solid table in the Mookie and stayed uninvolved early like I normally do. I like the idea of showing tightness against players that I know pay attention. Anyway, The first hand I played was 55 from early position. I raised to 90 and got two callers and saw a flop of 732 with two diamonds. I think this is a fine flop for me figuring that anyone who called would do so with high cards. I bet 210 into the pot and the next player raised it to 750. The other player folded the action to me. Now this send out some warning signs but it could easily be someone testing my continuation bet with AK or a flush draw. I take my time and re-raise it to 1410. This gives me the option to fold without killing me but also shows that I'm not messing around. My opponent use must of his time bank before calling. Now I'm thinking I may be in trouble...but wouldn't he push if he thought he was ahead...I did have half of my stack in the middle. He is on the flush draw is my guess. So the turn comes with a 7 and I tank a bit as first to act. I have about 1500 left with the board showing a pair of 7s and a 2. I had put him on a flush draw and his actions to this point indicate that I am ahead. I don't want to see the river but how do I bet him off the hand? I make a bet off 777 into the 3K plus pot and he lays it down after much deliberation. Now at 4.5K I didn't play another hand for 30 minutes.

I won a few small pots with raises but lost a bit when I lost QJ vs KJ. The flop was JAA and it checked around. On the turn I slow called a bet with intentions of check raising on the river and it set up as planned. My opponent made a min-raise and I re-raised 4x his bet to look like I wanted a call. I think it would be hard make this call with anything but an ace but he did and I'm at 4K. I then hit back to back hands vs. the same play a bit later when I raised his limp, causing him to fold followed by getting TT and raising his BB. He pushed and I had solid odds to call getting better than 3-1 and he flips over K9. My hand holds up and I'm at 6.1K.

My stack fluctuated a bit for a while but I maintain it with a few steals when I get dealt 88 in middle position. I raise it to 1600 and my opponent pushes. I know this player, as we all do, and I know he could do this with a number of different cards. If I call and lose I am down to 200. I look at the situation and realize we are getting deep and that both of us need some chips. He has made plays like this in the past and realize that with his range of hands I have to call. I figured him for a low pair and hoped it was lower than mine. He could have a bigger pair but it costs me 3200 to win 7100 or about 2.2-1. I only need to win 29% of the time to be a winning hand over the long haul so I call. He has 55 and I am happy. What more could I ask for? I made a read and was right and have my opponent on the ropes. A 5 flops and I'm crippled.

It was a tough call for me and I got penalized for making the right decision but I'm fine with that. It would have been nice to be sitting with around an 11K chip stack but that is life. 2 hands later with a short stack I get quads.

That's 2 Mookies in a row that I was on my game and got nothing for it. I made my own mistakes last week but it sucks when I make the right call and get treated like waffles for it.

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

The truth shall set you free. Speedy now realizes this as I broke her stubborn spirit with her confession last night. Final punishment was delivered in segments that were related to her mistakes.

No T.V. for a week for using my phone without permission. This was not that big an issue but she has to know that she has to ask first.

For calling her boy friend while being grounded from the phone she got phone privileges taken away until Christmas. We would let her have 5-1- minutes once a day during the last phone grounding but this is none at all.

For lying we took away the computer until Christmas. This will be hard for her but she will get use to it. She will be able to use it for school if she ha to use it.

We also took away playing outside in the snow until this weekend. This really isn't much of a punishment because it covers only a couple of days but it is something she likes to do and I'm still upset over everything.

She can earn the right to go to Chicago on Saturday if she behaves. Yes dad can still be forgiving. Stay tuned for the next episode of "Almost Certain Death"

Almost Certain Death

Speedy Enthusiast almost died last night. It near demise wasn’t caused by the snow storm or an unfortunate accident. It was caused by something that we can all avoid but sometimes fail to understand. She lied.

I forgot my phone yesterday morning. It was on the charger and in my rush to get to work I left it. I thought about it a few minutes after I left home but I went many years without a cell so I figured I could last a day. Now let us move to 6 pm last night.

I arrived home with all the lights on but nobody in the house. I walked towards the kitchen I saw my phone and went over to get it. It was on, which I thought was strange. I had turned it off when I put it on the charger but maybe I forgot this time. It says I have a few messages so are put it to my ear and hit delete as the information I’m hearing has already been taken care of or doesn’t require an action…Until the last one. “why have you been calling my phone and hanging up? Please stop or call the right number.” I saved the message.

I don’t really understand what has happened at this point so I look at the numbers that have been stored on the phone and realize that ther are a bunch of number that don’t have the names attached to it. The problem here is that anyone ho has my number has been stored and thus a name will show up if someone calls. I look to see when the calls were made and see that Speedy was the only one home at the times indicated on the phone. The real kicker here as that she was grounded from using the phone because of things she had done a few weeks earlier. Now I’m pissed.

When she gets home I sit her down and tell her she has one chance to give me the right answer to the two questions I have. Why did you turn on my phone and why did you make eight phone calls. She failed both questions.

I noticed that the one number on the phone was that of her boy friend. She insisted she didn’t call him. I explained that I had no reason to call him and that the call was made while she was home. I even showed her how I can tell if the call was incoming or out going. She still insisted she didn’t call. I am not happy. I give her another chance buy saying that she cannot go on her girl scout trip to Chicago, with her mom the girl scout leader, unless she answers correctly. She failed. She will not being going to Chicago but mom will.

Around this time, Mrs. PE was check messages on our regular phone. There was a message from her boy friends saying that he was sorry for missing her call and that his mom didn’t tell him right away about the call. She says that she didn’t call.

Maybe this is all circumstantial evidence but it points in one direction. We sit down again and I explain that either she was lying or that her boy friend and his mother were lying. She says she isn’t lying so I say that I’m going to call her boy friends mom and explain that they can no long talk because he is lying to about my daughter and that she must be a bad mother for lying for her son. Speedy didn’t back down. She still insists she didn’t lie. I called the mother and told her that Megan was grounded and could not talk to her boyfriend until I said it was OK. I’m not sure how long that will be.

I don’t really understand why she can’t admit she was wrong. I’ve explained that the she gets in far less trouble by telling the truth. Did I like the fact she used my phone without me knowing it? No I don’t but there are a lot of worse things a kid could do. I would have added a week to her sentence and it would have been over. Now she gets nothing. No T.V., computer, phone, no trip to Chicago, no dance this Friday, no reading unless it is for school, no riding the bus home and waiting for mom to get home and no freedom. She is done. I can not tolerate lying and will not let it go. This is not a white lie, this is blatant disrespect and insubordination. It is also stealing in that she took something that didn’t belong to her and used it without permission. I am a surly bastard right now.

As the Director of Softball

Not much to say today about poker.

I have almost finished stage one of the action plan that I feel in needed to move the softball part of the organization in the right direction. One of the first things I did was lo make a list of things that are solid with the program as it sits. I then looked at the areas that need help and made a list called Things We Know.

Things that we know:

We have a transition league that seems to be successful.
We have a minor league that seems to be successful.
We have a major league that seems to be successful.
We have a junior travel league that struggles to put a competitive team on the field.
We have a 12U travel team.
We had 5 area girls try out for a proposed 14U travel team.
There are about 22 area girls playing 14U travel for surrounding area teams.
We had no 10U travel team last year and have none planned for 2008.

From this point I looked at other established programs to see what they had done in the past, both good and bad, to see if I could speed up the learning process for the administrator of our league. I found some great information on the web and realized that many of these solid organizations have had the same issues that we are seeing and thus we can try and learn from their experiences.

I have also come up with a plan to field semi-travel teams that are made up of in-house all-stars for each age group that doesn't already have a travel team. They would play in one or two tourneys only but it will give them a chance to experience some of the benefits of playing travel ball. Additionally, it will give some of the parents a chance to see what playing ball is really like and to give hopefully a nudge to one of these parents to become a coach for the next batch of young ladies who want to play travel ball.

I have also looked at how we coach the kids and hope to create a guide book for coaches to follow. We already have a book that shows drills for all aspects of the game but I think giving the volunteer coaches a structured method of coaching these kids will help focus the group as a whole. My experience has shown that if you structure the practices so that that kids know what is coming next, they are better prepared to maintain focus and thus will improve more efficiently. In the end, what we want is to give the girls a chance to improve their skills and to have fun.

As a coach for both travel ball and in-house teams, I only look for three things to happen. Number one is that the kids have fun. This really goes without saying because we are not trying to develope world class players. That is for the private club teams to do. Number two is putting in the effort. All I can ask from the kids is to play hard and stay focused. They don't have to be slaves to the game but their parents have paid money for them to play so I think they should put in the effort. The last thing I look for is improvement. I don't think I've had one player that didn't improve while I coached them. This isn't that amazing but I think I get more out of having a player who had no clue at the beginning of the year turn into some what of a player than a good player who just got a little better. It is really fun watching the kids gain confidence during the season.

Typical Overall

Sometimes the weekends are good while other times they are bad. With the winter weather coming in I wasn’t sure how last weekend would end up but I guess it was ok overall.

Friday night I arrived home from work and loaded everyone into the car for the holiday under the stars event that my town puts on every year. It is semi boring but the kids have a good time and it takes place down town so we can head into a couple of the bars and have a warming drink if needed. Anyway, it sounded like the added a few things by putting things in the town square so we parked at the middle school and took the shuttle to our destination. There was a tent for arts and crafts and other similar things as well as cookies and hot chocolate but it was at least 100 people deep and the tent was packed so we didn’t stop. There was also an ice skating rink…er…and area that had plywood with water frozen on it where the kids could rent skates and go ice skating. That was a joke so the last thing was the Santa line. It was the longest line ever so instead of waiting we made the decision to head down town, a few blocks away, and see what there was to do down there. The place was a ghost town and all of the businesses were closed except the bars and the one place there is to eat. At this point I am very disappointed because a hot drink with a shot of random alcohol was what I needed on the cold blowing night. In the end we headed back to the shuttle, jumped into the van and went and got some hot chocolate and/or various flavored coffees at the coffee shop down the road. By the time we got home the donkament had started so I didn’t even have that to settle into for the night.

I did have a conference invitation sitting on my screen when I got back and I chatted with random bloggers playing various games of skill on Full Tilt. Eventually, GCox, Numbono, IT, Surf, HOP, and I got a last longer bet going on the $5 Razz tourney. In the end Surf took down the last longer and ended the tourney in 3rd place for a nice little prize. The evening ended for me on the Razz cash table where I ended up almost 3 buy-ins with the great skills I posses.

Saturday I put up some outside Christmas stuff in the sleet and snow but I refused to put the lights on the gutters. The ladder was no place to be with ice growing everywhere and we instead started putting up all the inside stuff. We got much of it done and only had 4,271 fights as we tired of the chore. The evening ended with me playing a little but having a great time as IT, Surf, NB and I had a last shorter bet going for the $1 Fergie on Full Tilt. The first one out wins $5 from the other players unless he is the very last overall and then it is $10. I get dealt T5 UTG and push. One player calls me with 44 but I hit a T on the flop. Praying for a 4 I realize the guy needs one more diamond on the river to hit a flush and he does to knock me out. Everyone else is still alive and I take it down. I missed the last spot overall by 1 place. Still, I made money so all is good.

Sunday was normal and with the weather improving a little I put up the lights on the gutters before heading to a friends house to watch some football. When the game was over I headed to a softball meeting to get voted into the Director of Softball position and then went to the bar for a couple of drinks to end the evening. By the time I got home it was almost 10 and so I sat down, watched a little T.V. and crashed like a rock around midnight. Pretty much a typical weekend with a couple of drinks added.

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I Saw Mookie on T.V.

I was watching t.v. last night and I saw Mookie in a Movie. Not sure if it is the right Mookie though.


What can I say, I got as lucky as I could and still didn’t cash in the Mookie. I bubbled the stupid thing after being 2nd in chips late and during the horrendously long bubble period.

I spun my wheels early with little or nothing for cards until the deck hit me in the face. In a battle of the blinds vs. Joe Speaker, I limped from the sb with 53 and saw a flop of 55K. Now I have to check this and hope he has a K and bets it out but he checks. The turn is a 2 and I check again in hopes he’ll take a stab but he checks again. I hit the quad 5s on the river and make a pot size bet and he fold what he said was 74. So quads don’t pay. The next hand I limp from the button with QT of hearts after a limper and four of us see a flop of QKK. It checks around and the turn shows a 3rd K. Hoy makes a 2/3 bet and I slow call figuring I am ahead but really want to see what he does on the river. He checks the 5 on the river and I take the smallish pot after he folds to my bet.

At this point, I had my starting stack back but start to bleed a little with missed flops and blinds. Then I have the first of my luck box hands. I’m dealt JJ UTG and limp. Hoy is the SB and had just doubled to 1380 chips and I felt he might raise if he had a little something so I was ready to check raise him back…or anyone else for that matter. It folds to him and he bumps it to 320. I tank for a bit and make it 880 and he pushes. I have to call and he shows KK. The flop gave me quads and he ended another Mookie with a bad beat. In reality, even if I only call pre-flop I will probably still stack him with his kings. Unlucky for him. From there I had a re-steals with AK and made a huge semi bluff with 52 suited in clubs. The flop was 7s 4c 3h and I’m sitting with a great chance to double up. I check, wanting a cheap turn card, and have to call a 450 bet from Joe Speaker. I figure I have 8 outs so I have odds to call. The turn is the Qc so I check. Joe fires 1K into the 1500 chip pot and I come over the top with my 15 outs and he folds. This was very big for me.

At this point I stagnated. I think I folded 20 hands in a row and I lost about 25% of the chips I had acquired. People had been raising my blinds because I wasn’t defending so when I get AT in the BB. This isn’t a great hand but I felt oppressed for some reason and re-popped a bet and committing my self to the pot with a weakfish hand. He had QQ but I hit an ace to suckout big time.

Sitting at just under 10K I held my ground until I tried a re-steal and had to let it go and got knocked down to 5K. A little later I made a move with A9 and got called by AQ only to see me hit a straight and move back to 10K. I then doubled an orbit later when I catch aces that hold up. Now at 17K, I have a great chance to go deep and we are already deep. I hit TT and knocked out Kat and her AK to move to 30K but that was the beginning of the end. I maintained my stack for much of the rest of my time but lost some when I took a stab at a pot. The battle at the bubble was crazy. It lasted for ever and I took another shot with KQ suited. It was folded to me and I raise to 4800 and sellthekids pushes. I figured this may be a pocket pair of the medium size but I eventually folded because I didn’t want the coin flip. I then get nothing until it is folded to me in the SB and I push with A2 suited and get called by 99. I hit trip 2s but my opponent hits the 4 flush to knock me out on the bubble. Looking back, I was lucky to get this far but I think I should have taken my chances with the KQ hand.

Time for Some Changes

With the coming of the new year many of my responsibilities will be changing. One of the things I had on my plate was being church moderator at the congregation that I belong. It wasn't a hard position but required that I keep up on many things and run the monthly meeting that involved all the members of the church council. In all, I have spent the last four years as either the moderator or the vice-moderator in a church that has been in semi-flux. I am glad it is coming to an end but I enjoyed being involved.

So, with all this time coming available to me in the near future, I need something to fill up the time slot that will be open starting January 1st, 2008. But what can I do? I could spend more time playing poker but I don't think that is a good idea since I already spend to much time doing that. I could join a committee or ministry at church and continue to show my support but I really need a year away. I could apply for the open Director of Softball position with the local baseball/softball organization in an effort improve the haphazard way that softball is being run presently. Now that sounds like a good idea.

Originally, the organization was created to give every child the chance to play baseball/softball in a safe environment and to help develope the their skills through the use of volunteer coaches. This isn't really any different than any other town in america so what they started was not special. But, as it moved along through time, it started to change. The need for travel teams was created by over zealous parents, not unlike me, and the birth of youth travel ball came to life. The only real problem with this is that nepotism manifests over time and you end up with a group of friends running the show who dictate in their self-righteous beliefs. In the end you end up with splintered groups who don't communicate and animosities begin to poison true growth. This is kind of what has happened except that softball has been the red-headed step-child. They have tried to adopt softball into the family but by alienating some of the people who wanted to make it better. That is where I come in.

I feel strongly that I have as much right to complain about how the organization was run in the past as anyone. But, instead of complaining, I will try and make the improvements that are needed to help create a feeling of family within the organization as well as the community. Sounds like I'm running for mayor. Anyway, I think that my stepping up to the plate and taking on the challenge will help some of the people who have lost trust in the system to begin to regain some of what has been lost in the past by splintered groups.

I through my name in the hat a few days ago. I know that people are aware of my experience with the game and I have had open discussions with board members of the organization over the last couple of months. The weren't happy that I took my daughter to another town to play but in the end I was justified when there were not enough girls to field a team. In reality there are enough to field two teams but they are all playing for other teams in the area. In all there are 19 girls playing 14U travel ball from our town but we don't have a team. There was also 6 or 7 other girls came to tryouts for the town team so in all there are 26 kids who want to play travel ball.

There is also the problem with trying to get a 10U team restarted. There was a team for one year but it was dropped because nobody wanted to run the team. I know there are plenty of girls who would like to play and I see the same thing happening again next year when many of the 12U girls have to move up to 14U. It would be terrible if this died out because nobody wanted to put in a little effort.

Last night I got a call from the organization president that they will be voting on my appointment for the Director of Softball position on Sunday night. I think we have a long way to go and we need to start now if we plan on having multiple levels of play for the girls for next season. With only a 12U team on the board, I have work to do.

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

Didn't play much last night but did win a Razz SNG and went deep in a rebuy tourney on full tilt. I went completely card dead with 35K chips and the stack average at 22K. I was willing to steal but couldn't get in on the action as the bets were flying like crazy. When I was down to 22K it was folded to me on the button with K3 suited. The BB was in for 2K and had 8K behind. I saw this as a good chance to steal but I could be in trouble. Either way I needed some chips and figured I'd take a shot. He called with A2 and I was down to about 11K. I wasn't long after that I got knocked out on a less than memorable hand. Still, I made to the almost the top 5% and could have folded for another buy-in or two but I'm starting to like my game again. The killer was getting my aces cracked which actually cost me 10K at the time. When I doubled through the big stack a little later it actually could have given me 45K at the time I had 22K. What could have been.

The Frustrated Blogger

The excitement that is Thanksgiving is over and as we move into the season of advent I can't help but wonder how I'm going to pay for Christmas this year. It wasn't so bad when the kids were younger. We could get them lots a small presents that didn't cost much but now that two of them are older, that little trick doesn't work like it did before. I'm thinking of giving "get out of jail free cards" to the older two because it would be free for the most part and would allow them to do something wrong without any repercussion. Lord Knows I would have liked that when I was younger but I don't think it is the right thing for them at this time. I'll save those for when the get a bit older. In the end I think we will get by like we always do, that is MR. and Mrs. PE getting very little so the kids get what they want.

I'm still frustrated by my recent run in poker. I did final table the tourney the other night but variance is frustrating me right now as I continue to get beat by three outers and running cards. I fine example could be found in the 2K razz last night as I had great starting cards. Here is what I'm talking about.

[4d 6s] [7s]
First hand and all fold to my bet.
[5s 7s 2c 4h Ah] [6h]
4th hand and I'm off to a good start
[7c 2d 3s] [Qd]
2 Other players are in the hand and have hands that appear to be ahead so I fold
[6h 2c 3h Ad Th Kd] [Qh]
Dude made an 8 on 7th street but had a made King on 6th
6h 5d 7s Jh] [9c]
In vs. 2 players and had to fold at this point
[Ah 6d 3h 7c 2h 6h] [Js]
I lose with this when my opponent hits a 6 on 7th street
[3d 5d] [Ac]
This was no good vs. a jack and a king.
[6h 2h 7h 4h] [8c]
And finally, this hand lost to a when my opponent hit either a 2, 3, or 4 on 7th street

The frustrating part of this is that I could have been a chip leader if 3 of these hands hold up. The story of my life right now.

I did cash in the Sunday NLO h/l tourney that Full Tilt runs. This is the same tourney I won a few months ago and I felt mostly on my game. I had an ill timed play when me and another player tripled up the shorty on the bubble and split the remaining pot when a flush hit on the river killing my straight and only giving me the low. If I win that hand I would have final tabled for sure. Anyway, I also bubbled in the PLO deepstack so but got crippled when my AAKJ double sooted was no match for 7238. How a guy can call off all his chips with a hand like that just floors me. He hit running 8s on the turn and the river to kill me.

Well thats enough about the crap I've been going through. I'll try to keep my sob stories to a minimum in the future.

I Love Thanksgiving

It is Friday, the day after thanksgiving, and I am wondering what I had to be thankful for other than my family and a few random other things.

1) I am thankful for the friends who showed up late because they were having a fight. The wife said she couldn’t come because she couldn’t be around him and so he stayed home. Their kids threatened to stay home because their dad stayed home. What a wonderful start to the day.

2) I am thankful for my sister-in-law who drank a bottle of wine by her self and alienating the rest of the people at our gathering by talking non-stop about things that mean nothing to anyone. Her incessant babble and total disregard for everyone else was a joy to be around.

3) I am thankful for my two nephews who broke things, threw things and caused havoc while their mother tried to drink her self into a stupor. I feel sorry for these kids as they have no parental guidance but are raised by T.V. and X-BOX.

4) I am truly thankful for my sister and brother-in-law who put up with this crap and even moved name tags so that they wouldn’t have to sit next to the drunkard. Of course she saw that her name was moved and moved it back because she wanted to be able to annoy people during the meal.

5) I am thankful for my dad who sat silently watching football as all of this took place around him.

6) I am thankful for my wife who is a wonderful person and should not be subjected to inconsiderate family members.

7) I am thankful for my children who tried to keep things under control in their own way.

When everyone finally left, other than our friends, I needed an escape. I was on Thanksgiving tilt and found a spot in the front of the computer and played some random internet games to recharge my mood. I eventually fired up Full Tilt to see if there where any other losers like me looking to play poker on a holiday.

There were many so I fired up a $3 re-buy because I needed to see if I could continue the bankroll slide I’ve been going through over the last week or so. It didn’t start off well with a myriad of below average cards and a table of idiots who thought A8 was the nuts. I eventually got to the first break with a slightly below average chip stack after taking the add-on. Fast forward a while and I get into the money with an ok stack but in survival mode. A big hand later and I’m on the final table and eventually get knocked in 5th place.

I also bubbled another tourney when I could have folded to the cash but needed chips to get deep.

So have a great Friday if you’re not working or it sucks to be you if you are.

Surf...The New KORD and the Next LORD Event

As I said, Surf is the new KORD but I won't be naming the next one after him. Instead, I will be hosting The PE X-Mas KORD. It will take place on the 21st of December and will feature a $7 buy-in. Why the $7 buy-in you ask? I asked for this to be a bounty tournament and requested a $2 bounty on each player. I also requested 2000 starting chips just for a change of pace so I also moved up the starting time to 8:30 central time. With the money added overlay, I'm hoping to make this the best KORD tournament yet.


So mark it down on your calendar and join in on the fun.

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A New Kord

We have a new KORD taking control of the Razz world and he is a the right guy for the position. Surflexus out lasted 12 other players to earn a title that he should probably hold. JudeSalem battled hard for a 2nd place finish with Huntsvegas taking the last money spot. I was the bubble breaker with some great skills getting me there when not once but twice having my opponent hit 3 pair to keep me alive late at the final table. The clincher in my bubble result was bricking in 2 straight hands when the bets were getting huge.

Thanks to everyone who came out and played.

Looking at Bodog

I have been watching the results of the weekly Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament and realize I’ve been missing the boat. The have been giving away money to many of the finishers even if they are not in a money position. In fact, the 5 last players to miss the money get $11 in tourney chips for a free enter into the next week’s event or they can be used to enter any other bodog event.

Here are the details for their tourney.

Bodog invites Poker Bloggers to play in it‚s Poker Blogger Tournament with a total of $600 in bonus money.

If you are 1 of the 5 money bubblers, you‚ll have your $11 buy-in refunded and if you finish in the top 5 you will win an entry for Bodog‚s Sunday $100K Guaranteed tournament.

This tournament runs weekly on Tuesday evenings and requires a password for entry that Bloggers can promote within their community.

Tournament Details
• Dates: Tuesdays
• Tournament Name: „Online Poker Blogger Tournament‰ at Bodog
• Entry Password: bodogblogger
• Buy-in + fee: $10 + $1
• Starting Chips: 3000 (Double Stack)
• Payout: Standard Bodog payout structure
• Bonuses:
o T$109 bonus paid to the top 5 finishers.
o T$11 bonus paid to the 5 players that are eliminated prior to payouts.
 These bonuses will be awarded within 24hrs of the tournament completion.
 T$ = Tournament Credits. These can be used as a buy in to almost all scheduled tournaments at Bodog and have a ratio to cash of 1:1.
 T$ can also be combined with cash to buy in to tournaments.
• Day of week: Tuesdays
• Start time: 8:35pm ET

If you haven‚t played at the Bodog Poker Room before, please download and install the free software client at:
http://www.bodoglife.com/poker/download-poker.jsp

If you‚re not yet a Bodog member, sign up for your FREE account by clicking the „Join Now‰ button in the Poker Room client.

Don’t miss out on this great overlay.

Play the KORD Tonight and Other Stuff

Ok folks…It is Friday so come out and play the KORD tonight. It can be found in the private tournament section on Full Tilt and it kicks off at 9:15 central time. This version is called NightRanger’s Revenge as he won the last one of these a month ago. The password is pokere and the cost is a minuscule $5+.50. I have even thrown in a little extra because I can so I hope to see you there. As Last time I will put up a little banner to show the winner.

Wednesday night I was having connection problems and kept having lag issue while playing. So, yesterday morning I wake up and realize that the phone is out and I have no internet. I have Mrs. PE call Comcast figuring they will have every thing all better by the time I got home last night. Nothing was fixed so placed another call and they will now be coming some time between noon and 4:00. Nice time window. Anyway, everything seems to be working today so now I have to call them back and cancel so they don’t have to make an unnecessary trip.

Last night I had a ton of things to do. I went to parent/teacher conferences for two of the kids and then had to go to a meeting at church. Luckily we didn’t have a quorum so the meeting was done quickly. Anyway, when I got home I grabbed a bite to eat and opened my laptop to do some stuff. I knew we didn’t have internet but a funny thing happened. I checked the available networks and saw that one of my neighbors doesn’t have his network locked. Is it stealing if I jump onto his network if I want to go surf the net?

Finally, don’t forget to play the Kat’s Donkament at 8:00 central. It is a $1 rebuy that gets about 25 players and will have a prize pool into the $200 + range before it is over. Go to Full Tilt and play this tourney to get your fill of rebuy madness. The password is donkarama.

I Felt Like Hell in a Hand-Basket...Friday is the KORD

Yesterday was a day from hell. It was audit time and I always stress out over these things even though I’ve been through it a million times. Anyway, we got through with no issues and I realized on the way home that these stupid audits knock the crap out of me. But I felt refreshed and ready to go.

When I got home I had dinner and sat down in my chair to watch a little TV. The walls came tumbling down as I could hardly keep my eyes open and eventually took a power nap. When I returned from my comatose state I fired up the laptop to see what was going on and made the decision to play the nightly Razz tourney I play all the time. The deck hit me in the face early as I chipped up and held the tournament lead at the first break by about 2K chips. The 2nd hour was much worse as I got little to play with and didn’t get involved in many hands. As the bubble approached I was 10 of 13 and bricking every good starting hand. But then I had three cards under an 8 with a limper holding a 10 up so I complete and the Q who brought in calls as well as the 10. Now this is a great chance for me to maybe even triple up with 2 super donks calling with hands that have to be behind. At this point I have 4K chips left and when the 4th street comes and I’m ahead, I re-raise the donk who bet with his 10 and get called by both players. Now one guy had a Q and the other has a T. I have a 9 but I am ahead and I know I have to bet when I’m ahead. Next card gives me the made 9 and I bet out…the queen puts me in and the 10 folds. Super donk is drawing to a 9 but my hand holds up and I move up to 13K. I hang around trying to find pots to win and made the final table ending the night in 4th place.

Best part about making that final table was that I had no intentions of playing last night. It was a little win and some rebuilding of the PE poker machine.

I also played the dookie but turbo razz is the nutz and I guess I didn’t have mine…but jusdealem did. Well played.

Don’t forget to come out and play the KORD on Friday.

The Next KORD and Other Stuff

This Friday at 9:15 central time will the next installment of the KORD. I have again added a little money to the prize pool because I'm not very smart so come and get it. The password is pokere and the event will be on Full Tilt. All are welcome but I will be trying hard to get my title back. I will put a new banner up proclaiming the new KORD if anyone can knock off Night Ranger.

Not much to say today. I played no poker last night and maintain that I will be away from the tables until Friday.

I spent last night trying to figure out how to block access to a web site the girls go to all the time. It isn’t a bad web site but one of the girls signed onto the other girl’s account and took her mythical money to buy stuff for her virtual room. I ended up putting it as a restricted site which my oldest can change if she wants to. I will give them access back in a couple of but they have been spending to much time playing the game…almost as much time as I had been spending playing poker. Addiction is a bad thing so I expect them to start going into withdraw very soon.

This part of the reason I’m taking some time away from the tables. I have been spending to much time playing a stupid game. And it is only a game. Sure I make a little money at it but does it really improve anything in my life? It probably causes more problems than it solves.

My FTOPS...See Last Post

So it is the 3rd hour of the FTOPS Razz event, 10:28 local time and I had just hit a nice hand to put me at 6730 and slightly above average in chips. This was the beginning of the end for me. It didn’t rally happen right away but it accumulated over time first into a snowball and ending in an avalanche of frustration and loathing.

At 10:40 I lost a playable hand after raising and then getting re-raised. I paired the board and had to throw away the hand. Then I run into this vs. a guy who probably had a made Queen. [Ad 5c 6s 6h 8s Ac] [Kd]. I lost the minimum on this hand but it knocked me down to 5370 chips. Down to 4330 but still sitting ok, I am waiting for my good cards to hold up a little better and ready to take advantage of the loose play at my table. But this starts to happen.

10:53 [Tc Ks] [Kh] Bring in
10:53 [4d Qs] [Kc] Bring in
10:54 [2c 4c] [5h] turned into this [2c 4c 5h Jh] turned into this [2c 4c 5h Jh] [2d]
10:57 [8h 4h 5c] [5s]
11:00 [3c 2h] [Jc] Bring in
11:01 [Ac 4h] [Js] Bring in
11:01 [8d As] [Jd] Bring in
11:02 [8h 2h] [Qc] Bring in
11:03 [4h 9s] [9d] Bring in

At this point I’m down to 2675 and not feeling very happy.

11:03 [6d Ac] [Ad]

I have played a very tight game to this point and it is folded to me so I take a stab at the pot with one low cards behind me. He calls with an 8 up. Next card I get a 10 and he gets a J so I bet out with what looks like a better hand. My mistake here is that the guy in the hand has a ton of chips. Anyway, I then hit a 7 and he hits a 5 and olds to my bet. I got lucky here but my image helped me. Back to 3675.

11:04 [Kh 3d] [Qd] Bring in
11:05 [Qs 3h] [Qc] Bring in
11:06 [Th 7h] [Kc] Bring in

11:07 [5s 9c] [2h] I call the big stack again here because he has been raising any low card up and stealing at will. I could be behind but I have my image and I think I’m probably ahead. I hit this: [5s 9c 2h] [5c] and end up having to run when I brick the next card. Down to 2525

11:10 [Jc 2h] [Qc] Bring in
11:11 [5c Td] [9h] Bring in
11:12 [7s 4c] [Qc] Bring in
11:12 [Ah Jh] [Jd] Bring in
11:13 [7s Ac] [5c] I go down with a made ten that was drawing to a 7 vs. a made 8 that had a J before 7th street.

I brought in 14 times in 20 minutes and bricked almost every good starting hand I had. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I was on my A game and got hit in the junk by this masochistic game. I originally thought it was 15 bring ins but in 23 hands but it was only 14. Considering that you should only get it one of eight hands played over time then I really hit a bad run of variance.

I was so pissed off because of the turn of events that I closed everything down within 5 seconds and stared at the wall. At least in Hold’em I could have tried to bluff my way into a stack by using my stack. Oh well…this one of the pitfalls of Razz and I have to learn to deal with it.

I stayed home on Friday. I fully expected to go deep so I had arranged for a vacation day to savor the final table I was sure to achieve. Instead I spent the day trying to burn of the lingering doubts I had from the night before. I played many low buy in tournaments in an attempt to get back into a happy place but it was futile. In the evening I fired up the 2K Razz event because I am into getting kicked when I’m down. I burned out of that but a funny thing happened. I played the Daily Doubles and made a deep run in the B. I went out around 60th…maybe better, when I tried a re-steal with my 87 suited. I pushed into a guy who held maybe 25 % more chips than me figuring he will fold a marginal hand and if he has AK or AQ that I’ll at least have live cards. He held the mighty A8 and when the 8 hit on the flop I knew it was over. No biggie…I needed some chips and took a chance. Mt read was correct other than I didn’t think he would call with a marginal hand.

While this was going on I played the deep stack PLO tourney and at some point into the morning hours I got knocked off the final table when my straight and flush draws lost to top pair.

I got back on the Razz wagon on Saturday and final tabled it so I guess I am back to playing a good solid game again.

Fuck Razz

Weeeeeeee...Razz Rules

Well I did it...I got my seat for the FTOPS Razz event tonight. Total cost for a $322 seat was about $65 so not bad. This took in account the money I won bubbling a seat but getting cash and the cost of buy-ins for token frenzies and the direct buy-in for the one I actually won. I still have a sat to play tonight but I may not be able to play it because my son has a kindergarten thing going on. In fact, I may miss the start of the actual event because I will be busy watching him. Not very good thinking on my part but if he signs with the first group I will be ok.

I also had the pleasure of watching jusdealem take a 3rd place in the nightly $5 Razz tourney on Full Tilt last night. Way to go. I have been doing a little coaching with JDE and I think I can be certain that I have to keep some of my secrets to my self in fear of losing my edge. Maybe I should offer lessons to the Razz donks out there, for a price, and create a legion of KORD followers who will worship the felt I play on. They can be humbled by my presence and manicure my hands so I don't get a hang nail while playing the greatest of games. Maybe they will bring me offerings of food. Anyway, I'm hoping that some of the luckboxery I saw in my favor last night continues and I can make a deep run into blogger immortality with a FTOPS final table.

The tourney was crazy. I won a big hand as the bets were just getting important when I a nut low on 5th street and a guy tried to bet me off the hand when I paired the next two cards. I then stayed away from much of anything for the longest time as players threw chips back and forth and I anted down. As we got closed I was in trouble a few times but got the right hand at the right time to keep me alive. As we got close to the bubble I was almost felted but saved a bet on the river when I knew the guy caught his river card. A little later I made a stand with 800 chips left and sucked out good and then won a few small pots to get me to about 36 of 40 players with 27 getting a seat. The key hand was tripling up when I was 3464 and getting the odds to call. I made an 8 and and moved into 16th with 32 left. I stayed patient and finally got a nice A23 and got heads up. I bricked with a queen but still sat in a winning postion. I eventually got heads up again with the table raiser who raised any low up card. He doubled me up and I crushed from the on. There were many medium and short stacks at the table and I continued to pressure them. I raised any low when it was folded to me and almost every time it was shipped my way. The bubble burst and I was ready to call it a night.

My buddy surf will be trying to win his way into this event tonight by playing in a turbo sat at 5:30 central. Wish him luck as well as the other bloggers out there who are already in.

I forgot to pimp the Mookie yesterday so I'll pimp the riverchasers for tonight. It starts at 8:00 central. Check it out and use the password riverchasers to play.

Getting Better and Being Tagged

Speedy E. made it through her flu or whatever it was so hopefully it stays contained with her. Softball E. was complaining about not feeling well but I think she just wanted to stay home from school. Anyway, they may not have to worry about going to school for a while because the teachers are getting ready to go on strike because they are under paid and the superintendent makes about 250K a year. They funny thing about them going on strike is that they school board has made an offer to raise there pay 18% over the next 3 years and they are saying that it isn't enough. I'll take that in a minute.

Another interesting thing going on in the Chicago land area is an apparent surge in MRSA staph infections. School children from pre-school through high school from around the area have been reported to be catching this very nasty bug. But rest assured that everything is ok because the Chicago Health Department says that people are just becoming more aware of these cases. That the numbers aren't statistically higher than normal.

I was tagged but I just put out a list of 7 things so do I come up with another list or re-post the old one?

1) I hate the sound of my dog and cat licking when I'm trying to go to sleep.

2) I have no problem with people who drive the speed limit but don't go slower.

3) It drives me nuts when people tailgate.

4) Mrs. PE is a great cook and in the almost 15 years we have been married she has only made two things that I didn't like.

5) I almost never get 8 hours of sleep...or 7.

6) I think the best part about Thanksgiving is taking a nap after dinner while watching football.

7) Old western movies like Hang'em High are the nutz.

That is 7 things. No passing it along sorry.

I watched the MATH last night. I liked the 6-handed tables and action that came with it. It makes people play a little more post flop poker with less than premium hands and so I think that this was a nice change.

I Can Still Do Something Sometimes

Being that I want to play in the FTOPS Razz event, I played a lot of Razz over the weekend. It started on Friday night with a super sat. for the FTOPS event and I played a good solid game and won my seat. The quality of play was solid overall with a little bit a donk thrown in. I also played the 2K but didn't get to where I wanted to be. I had chipped up nice in the middle part of the tourney but had some bad luck when I ran my A2347 on 5th street into a player who caught a 6 on 7th street. He had an 8 and got the card he needed. I eventually had to get my cards in with a less than premium hand and got knocked out a ways from the bubble. I also played the $5 tourney that I play so often and went deep. I eventually ended the night in 3rd or 4th place for a nice little cash. During all of this I won a $26.

Saturday I played the 2K again and went deepish. As the bets increased I got into a hand I could have folded but chased it down a bit with a much better draw and bricked. I came back a little but got knocked out when I ran 5324353. Nothing like a boat to kill your game. My opponent made a T low for the win on that hand. Well played. Anyway, I won both a $26 and a $75 token as well as going deep and getting another final table in the $5 Razz tourney. I also ended the night just off the final table in a PLO tourney. So over all it was a nice weekend. I'll be using the token to try and get into the FTOPS Razz on Tuesday and also trying to win a seat in the sat on Thursday. If this doesn't happen then I prolly won't buy-in unless I can get some backing. I might be willing to split with someone or sell off half of my action in 5 or 10 percent chunks.

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Saturday was a normal day for the most part. Baseball E. had his last soccer game and they won to end the season at either 7-0-1 or 7-1-0. I don't remember if they had a loss or a tie. Considering that we only had enough players to field a team, with no subs, for most of the season I think they they did wonderfully. Next up for him may be little kids basketball or winter soccer training. We'll see what happens.

Speedy E. is in the between things right now. She will have some cheerleading things coming up and maybe some running program that has been started. She is a fantastic runner so if this is something she wants to try, we will do it. She also woke up this morning at 4:45 and threw up in the bathroom for the next hour or so. She will be staying home today.

Softball E. started winter practices on Sunday. They will be meeting every Sunday, other than holidays, to work on fundamentals and to get ready for next season. She is also doing her cheerleading so she has a busy schedule. She also went to her first ever pitching lesson on Sunday afternoon. She worked on a couple of mechanical things and I saw an immediate improvement in her form. She was clocked at 48-49 MPH which is maybe a bit slower then I've seen her throw but the coach knows we can get more out of her. At the end of the session I made the comment that I thought we could get another 5 MPH out of her and the coach said that she will be doing that in 4 weeks. She also said that she thinks she can get as much as 15 MPH by the time summer comes around. WOOT is all I can say to that.

That was my weekend with a little bit of movie time thrown in.

The KORD...NightRanger's Revenge

No Mookie But Dookie and Spook

I didn’t get to play the Mookie last night. After an evening of walking around, mooching candy, we headed to Mrs. PE’s parents house to take pictures of the kids in their costumes. By the time we got home and got them into bed it was after 9:00 and thus I missed the start.

I jumped onto an PLO hl table and ground out a buy-in over and hour or so and also played the $26 token race. I got knocked out of the token race late when my TT lost a race vs. 88…wait, that’s not a race. Anyway, I missed out on that but got into the dookie and the spook.

The dookie was a waste of time as I missed every flop and eventually got all my chips on the table trying to better than triple up with KJJ8 double suited. That’s not the best of hands but I took a shot and lost. The Spook was fun. I was on a short stack much of the tourney but did the slow climb. The hand that knocked me out came with 9 or 10 players left and I look down at AT in the BB. It is folded to the SB who calls and an alarm went off. I had come over the top of him a few times when he limped and he folded so something triggered a spider sense. I ignored it and pushed again and calls with his AK and I went home. Stupid me. I actually said out loud “he has a hand” and I made the play anyway. Oh well. I played well to that point but one mistake and I was done.

I’m announcing the next KORD tourney will be on November 16th at 9:15 central time. I will have the banner up later and I still have to request the tourney. It should be up by Friday. The password will be pokere and the buy-in will be $5 + .50.

400, Razz and Pimping

Blog post number 400 today. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee

My Razz skills have been coming up short in tournament play lately. I played the Razz Sat, for FTOPS event #2 last night and chipped up a little early but ran into a wall of bricks that kept falling on my starting hands and left me wondering how varience can run so bad. Examples of my skills are like this.

[Ac 2s 3d Ah] [Jh]
[5d 3d 4d 5c] [3h]
[2c 4d 3h 9c] [Kd]
[6c As 8h] [Qs]
[Ac 8d 5h] [Ts]
[5h 2d 3s 5s] [3d]
[4d 7d 3s Td As Th] [4c] Opponent made a 9 on 7th street
[4c 5d Ad Jc] [Ts]

Now I had a few hands that held up but I kept my stack even with semi steals and from winning 3 hands of notice. The real killer hand was when the guy caught a 9 on 7th street to all but cripple me. I had a nut draw type hand and bricked the last 2 cards. If I win there then I have a great shot but instead I lose about 1000 chips and have to get all my chips in on any above average hand...and then brick. It was frustrating in that I never got the traction I wanted. I did have a nice conversation with spiderjeff. He is leading the FTOPS sat challenge for Razz and gave him an invite to the next KORD tourney in November. We both got knocked out of the Razz sat by the same guy a couple of hands apart and got seated next to each other in the $75 token race a little later. Seemed like a cool guy and I look forward to playing with him again. I also sat at a table with him in the first sat I played in when I got the $115 cash instead of the seat. He may be the true KORD.

Later in the night I played in a half blogger Razz sng with waffles, jusdealem, and surf. This little $1 sng lasted forever but eventually jusdealem took the crown over waffles. I think I owe waffles .77 in a last longer bet because that was all he had left.

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Don't forget to play the mookie, the dookie and the spookie on Full tilt tonight. the mookie (9:00 central) and dookie (10:30 central) use the password of "vegas1" and for the spookie (10:59 central) you need to use "tragedy". I'm not going to paste the pictures because I'm to lazy today.

Just Another Day

Not much of anything today. I had a 2 hour meeting at church last night and then had to come home and do work for said meeting. I may try the Razz Sat. tonight but chances are not all that great for that happening. I have pumkins to carve so unless I get done quick I won't be doing it tonight.

Today I spent part of the morning taking video of the cleanroom and trying to figure out what is causing the particle count to rise by matching up results to the video. So far we have not found anything that looks like a cause so we are going to do a few tests to see if we can make the numbers jump. That probably means I will be walking in circles trying to simulate activity.

A Weekend Donkarama

I played Kat's Donkament on Friday night. I played super crazy and dropped a bunch in an attempt to give away money. After the break I tightened back up and chipped up slowly. As the final table approached I had a smallish stack but enough chips to put pressure on all but maybe two players. I used this some to keep my head above water and I really thought I had a shot. The my daughters comes into the room and asks me to give her a ride to her friend's house. Now the problem here is that I will lose a bunch of chips if I take off so I do the only logical thing. I ramp up the aggression in hopes of a quick double up. I was almost the until I re-raise/pushed astin and ran QT into KK. Win or go home.

After getting back home I jumped into a HORSE tourney and played some cash games. I bubbled the HORSE tourney trying to gain position when I could have folded to the money and I dropped 1 1/2 buy-ins playing cash games. The saving grace for the night was winning a $75 token so I can take another shot at the FTOPS RAZZ event.

Other then that the weekend was pretty layed back. We had soccer on Saturday morning and went to a pumpkin patch in the afternoon. I got home in time to take a shot in the RAZZ sat. and fired up the laptop 10 minutes before the start. I go to sign up and it isn't there. It starts at 7:40...not 8:40. So I watched the baseball game and a movie.

Sunday was a typical day in that w went to church and then watched football. The Bears suck...End of story. No softball because not enough parents wanted to play so it ended up a lazy day at home with a random nap thrown in.

So at some point this week, I'll be taking another shot at the Razz thingy in hopes of regaining my KORD title. I may play a couple more of these token races to build a supply for some other shots at bigger scores.

Just a Bit More

I guess my post went a little too far yesterday. I didn’t mean it to be as harsh as it was because I try to give my experiences in a way that can be used to improve my game as well as anyone who knows less than me about poker. The list of people who know less is small but it is here for them anyway. So, the whole point of yesterdays post was to express that calling there was not the best action in my opinion and it is just my opinion. I think it is a fold or push spot because of the chip stacks involved. I could have been making a play at the initial raise and a push could cause me to fold even with a hand like AJ. A fold is also a solid option in that you conserve chips on a hand that is less than optimal. Calling leaves you with no information and needing a great flop in order to do anything other than a straight bluff. I don’t know…maybe I played it wrong. I’ll take any input anyone wants to give.

It is Friday and thus I will be playing tonight unless something comes up. I heard a rumor at home that a trip to the movie theater might be in the books but it was only a rumor.

I also have my presentation today for the CEO of my company. He flew into the states last weekend and hopped on a plan to Brazil with my boss and arrived back here last night. I’m sure he will be tired and surly so this should be fun.

The weekend will be a little more back to normal in some ways. Baseball E. has a soccer game on Saturday but that is all we have planed for the day. That means doing yard work in the afternoon and maybe an early dinner with me cooking on the grill. Sunday Mrs. PE and I will be playing Softball E's team in a parents/kids game. I'm sure my arm, legs, back and just about every other part of my body will be killing me on Monday morning.

Thats all folks...nothing more to read here...move along and check out some of the great blogs on my blog roll.

Mookie Madness

Wow, what a night. The donkeyness that is the Mookie took off with 112 players and I was ready to make a run. I started of chipping up slowly by winning some small pots and felt good about my game. I got AA early but didn’t get paid so my tight image was keeping people from getting involved. The few times I did get callers they folded to my bets. When I later look down at KK I anticipate a chance to double when there is an over bet in front of me by ck31 who has 2500 chips. I re-raise it to 800 and he calls leaving himself 1700 back. He has now committed 25% of his remaining stack and almost 33% of his pre-flop stack to this hand. The flop is 468 with 2 hearts and I bet out 960 or a little over half of his remaining stack with the knowledge that I will call any push. He pushes and flips over KJ of hearts. We all know a heart is going to come and he takes a big chunk of chips from me. Now I’ve seen ck31 play before and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the skills I saw. Most people will realize that they are behind before the flop after a big re-raise and not risk 1/3 of there stack early in a tournament. I’m glad there are players out there that continue to do things like that because they are the ones who have given me the nice ROI I have for the year. I guess Fuel may be right that some bloggers need to learn to throw away hands. Anyway, I chipped back up with aggression and got back over my starting stack but lost traction. The blinds started to eat me up so when there was a raise at my BB from the button, I pushed with J6 suited figuring the player would fold the 70% of his stack raise I threw out there unless he had a premium hand in which case I would have live cards. He flipped over the powerful A9 but and A on the flop killed me and I went home.

I also played the Dookie and made the final table but missed the cash by a couple spots. I eventually went to the cash tables and won back my buy-ins for the night so I guess it was a night of staying even. I’m beginning to like the 25NL cash tables. The play isn’t very good for the most part and seems to be a good way to win a few bucks when you need it.

Today at work I get to prepare for a meeting with the CEO. I have a 30 minute presentation to work on today but it shouldn’t be that hard to finish up. I’ve also made the decision to find a new job. I saw an opening in the city recreation department that should pay me what I’m making now if I can get the job. It would be running all the programs like soccer and trips to the museum. I know this would be a nice change and would put me in a job that I would really love to do. We’ll see what happens because I know I don’t want to continue working here.