The Motor City and a Deeeeeep Run

Detroit is the city. Actually I’m in Auburn Hills but not nearly as many people have heard of Auburn Hills so I’ll stick to Detroit. Anyway, I’m here for TS training so that I know and understand the all the things involved with being a vendor for Chrysler. Fun Times.

This time of year making the trip from the western suburbs of Chicago to Detroit can be crazy with the lake effect snow and all so me and the person I came here with made the decision to fly. Hell, I’m not paying for it so why not. My flight was for 5:00 Sunday afternoon and even though we had some snow and some more was on the way I figured everything would be OK because the roads were fine. Well just in case I though it smart to go to the airline’s website and see if the flight was delayed or anything. It was canceled. And all other flights were canceled to Detroit except for one that was leaving in 3 hours. So I ended up making the drive. I made great time and got there about the same time I would have landed.

Being away from the family sucks big time. I’ve made numerous calls home to say good morning and good night but It would be better to be with them. The only thing I’ve done is play poker, watch TV and sleep. At least poker has been good.

I made a Omaha hl final table yesterday but didn’t make it far. I was sitting in 5th place when I had a nut low draw, nut flush draw, and straight draw and got all my chips in the middle. I blanked and got knocked out.

I also did this last night.


I stayed alive and eventually got to here.


My luckbox skills were in rare form as I hit a 4 flush when I got my chips in bad to get heads up.


2nd was the best I could do. I was very lucky from the last 30 players on. JT vs A5 good on a steal attempt to double me up. A8 was good vs AQ on another steal atempt. 77 vs 88 is gold for me as I spike a 7 on the flop. KQ vs. 99 on the final table but me in 3rd with 7 left.

I guess all the bitching about bad beats and bad luck doesn't matter ecause it does even out in the long run.

Two Final Tables at the Mookie

I hand a nice run in the Mookie last night. This is who and the order of my starting table.

love_elf
pokerenthusiast
Drizztdj
hacker59
a104l9
BuddyDank
DonkeyPuncher74
jjok
a104l9 calls 145

My first big hand happened early when hacker59 pushed over the top of my AK suited raise. He had a smaller stack after just losing some chips so I called figuring for at worst a coin flip but more then likely I would have a dominate ace. He flips over 1010 but I flop top pair and end up with a boat. I also dropped the hammer on love_elf when she went for a SB steal. I won another nice pot when DonkeyPuncher74 raised my BB. He had done this a few times and I was ready to come back at him with my QT suited. The flop was 23A and I check. He makes a continuation bet and I wait a little before re-raising a little more then the minimum trying to show value. He folds and I win with nothing.

For the next hour I stayed about even until the blinds started getting bigger when I get T7 on the button. I had not played anything for a long time and just wanted some blinds so I figured a raise would take it down. Papi Justify calls. Now he had been very aggressive all night and I know he will take a stab with nothing. I’m hoping to catch a flop or that my image will pay me off. He has me covered. The flop is 4T5 rainbow and he leads out for 600. I push and he folds. A great flop for me there but I probably make that move anyway unless the flop comes big. That hand puts me back over 300 chips and I’m ready to start fighting. I steal a blind just before finding 99 in my hand. DonkeyPuncher goes all-in and I call his short stack knowing I’ll still have a workable stack if I lose and that he could push with any two cards. He has JT and hits a 10 on the flop but I catch a 9 on the turn to knock him out and move me to 5000 chips.

After a long wait I get the hand I’ve been waiting for. AA in the SB. The first 4 quickly flod and I’m worried that I will get no action but Zeem answers the call with a 4x raise. Chuckdnb pushes over the top of Zeem and I push to isolate with Zeem getting out of the way. Chucked held 88 but my aces held and I move into the chip lead overall. Then I get nothing for a while but make the final table.

One player is gone and I get 88 from middle position and raise it to 1500 and Maudie calls from the BB. The flop is 456 and I’m fairly happy. I make a pot size bet and she pushes. The question is did she catch part of the flop or does she have trips. She had trip 5’s and I’m done in 8th. I may have over played my 8s here because I was committed to the pot if she pushes. If I bet 2/3 of the pot I could have folded but I’m not sure if I would have. A small mistake by me and well play by here.

I also made the final table in the 2nd chance turbo Razz event but got knocked out in 7th. I made a bad call on two different hands that put me in a go position with no room for error. It was fun and Turbo Razz is the nutz.

A HORSE by Any Other Name is Still a HORSE

4th hand of the tournament I lose a big chunk of chips when I held QQ. UTG had aces and the button caught trip 10’s on the river. The sad thing is that I thought the one guy might have had aces and I raised him anyway. A stupid play that cost me a lot of chips.

I lost ground in Omaha hl and then Razz comes in. First hand I get 2JA and I complete with 2 limpers in front. This may be questionable but I figured they were not strong or they would have raised. I get a 4 on 4th street and take the pot when they all fold with high cards. I lose some back when my 64A3 only improves to a 9 and my opponent hits an 8 to put me down to 700 chips.

By the time stud hits I’m down to around 600 and I’m down to 500 quickly. With 473 left in my stack I get AA8 in stud and get my chips in the middle. I hit a boat to beat a 6 card flush to chip me up to 1043. I lose a little in high low with a flush draw and a good low draw that doesn’t hit to put me back at 718.

We finally get back to Hold’em and I have around 650 chips left. The blinds say that I try to get them all in when I make a move so I tried. In the BB I get 6J suited and call a middle position raise getting good odds. I flop a flush draw and decide that I will call anything at this point. Middle position guy min-raises and I call with the SB. A heart on the turn gives me the flush so I check hoping that they will put their money in. It’s checked around the river puts a straight draw on the board. The small blind raises and I push reraise. The middle guy folds and the SB calls. His JJ was no good and I move up to around 1500 chips. I fold to the end of the first hour to be just under starting stack.

It didn’t take long to lose some of the chips I had left. I get dealt JAJK double suited and raise it to eliminate some of the field. 4 of us see the flop and I end up having to fold on the river when my trip jacks see a flush draw. I’m now down to 900 chips and have to make a move. That’s when Razz hits again.

Razz my baby doll honey bunch come to me and put me back up near the top please. First hand I get 452 and complete it to 120 and all fold. 978 chips in my stack at this point. 4 hands later I complete with 522 and all fold. I have 1098 in chips. In the end she didn’t help much and I get to stud with 938 chips.

After numerous folds and no cards I’m sitting on 488 after stud is over. Time to pick a hand and go.

The 3rd hand of stud hl comes and I have JJQ and I complete to 200. I have 198 back and raise after 4th street. My jacks hold up for the high and I’m back to 901. A few hands later I get 9QQ and reraise eventually getting my chips all-in. I split and double to almost 1900 chips.

The next round of limit was uneventful until I looked at 77 UTG and raised it to 500 with one caller the flop came ace high so I bet hoping to push my opponent off and it worked. The next hand I get JQ suited on the SB and see a cheap flop. The flop comes 3J8 and I check raise the BB and get called. The turn is a 10 and I raise he calls. The river is a 4 but gives a flush draw and I bet he fold. I may have been behind here but the flush cards may have scared him away. I now have 3600 chips just in time for Omaha hl.

First hand I lose some chips to a shorty that hit and split the big pot. Down to 2200. The next hand I get A34A suited in clubs and raise with one caller. The flop is 1083 and I bet with my AA, he calls. The turn is an Ace and I bet he calls and the river is a K with a bet and call. I take down a big pot to move to 4700 chips. From this point I fold the blinds until Razz.

Come on my baby…help me out. I need you now. This part of the tourney gets tight as many players will not play marginal hands so steals can build your stack. Second hand and A23 takes the pot uncontested. I want action. Next hand I get 56A and call a raise. She pairs and I bet the on the 2 and take it down. Up to 5600 now. 5JA takes another pot when I catch a 2, 4, and 3 by 6th street. Up to 7700 chips. I made a mistake calling with 834 and not being aggressive after the flop. My opponent looked to have a better hand so I checked it down and he caught on 7th street to beat me. It wasn’t a big lose but I felt he may have folded if I bet aggressively. I win another pot with 374 to take the antes and end razz collecting a big pot with a made 7 on 6th street vs. a made 8 on 7th. I’m at 12,000 chips. Not long before I was on the felt. Razz I love you again.

My big hand was getting 101010 in stud and hitting a boat with two others going to 7th street with me. I moved to 23,400 and the chip leader. I lost a few and won a few to get back to hold’em with 22,300. I won a nice hand with 1010 and moved up to 25,500.

In Omaha I lost a few and made some more and moved to 30K plus before dropping to 27K when my lady Razz came back. But she is fickle and gave me no love. When stud started I was down to 20K and looking to get some back. I lost a big hand when I held 10s behind and folded on 5th to pressure. He showed trip 6s. two hands later I get Aces behind and I get one caller who is showing a 3. He reraises me with a jack on 4th street and we get our chips in the middle. He had trip 3s from the get go so I was drawing to two outs from the start. I go home.

It was a good game but I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get further. I made a good laydown just before the end but I didn’t make the one I needed.

Full Tilt, The PPA, and Work

I’m preparing for the quarterly Management Review that will tale place on Friday. I’m almost done with my part of it but I am waiting for others to give me the information they are required to present. I need to put it all into a presentation so that it looks good for the external auditors that will be back in the fall. Fun times.

One of my co-workers will be giving his two weeks notices later today. This is the guy I went to Japan with and have work closely with from the beginning of my employment here. He will be missed and I’m sure I will have to carry some of the load. This will be the second person to leave so far this year and it is making things harder. I had to pick up part of the first person’s work load and really don’t need anymore crap to do. Hopefully I’ll have something else in the near future so I can jump ship with the rest of them. I actually like my job but they don’t seem to be interested in replacing the people that leave. And I don’t want this to interfere with my poker.

And I got this letter yesterday.

Dear pokerenthusiast,

You should be outraged.

You should be outraged that the U.S. government is infringing on your personal rights and telling you how to use your hard-earned money. You should be outraged by the fact that a minority of legislators passed the UIGEA, which impacts your ability to play the great game of poker on the Internet. They did this by slipping the language into a completely unrelated port security bill that went to the floor just minutes before Congress took its break for the mid-term elections. The bill passed without any Congressional debate or opportunity for you to object.

Although many legal scholars would argue that online poker should not be affected by the UIGEA, we believe the law's lack of clarity can only harm the game unless an express exemption is granted under the UIGEA. You should be outraged that, in a rush to passage, poker did not receive the objective review it deserves, and did not already get this express exemption while lotteries, horse racing, and fantasy sports were all given free passes. We demand that Congress address this grievous oversight now.


The PPA's primary goal for 2007 is to get an express exemption for online poker from the UIGEA and we want to ensure that the PPA's message is heard loud and clear by Capitol Hill. By mobilizing 1 million online poker players to join the PPA they will listen, because a million voices can't be ignored! Sign up for any PPA membership before Monday, March 5th and we'll enter you in a PPA Freeroll tournament where you can win one of 18 personalized Full Tilt Poker jerseys like the ones our pros wear.
Step up and make a donation to the PPA before Monday, March 5th and you'll be eligible for a cash bonus of up to $1,000.

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/poker-players-alliance/?emenc=A4EE60B8

If you're already a PPA member, you can earn your special, one-time only bonus by upgrading to a higher membership level by Monday, March 5th, ..... To join now and receive your bonus, please select your option from the following...I didn't put the bonus structure here
Outrage is good, but outrage without action is useless. Stand up for your rights and help protect the great American game of poker by joining the PPA today.

Sincerely,

Full Tilt Poker

I have enough trouble clearing a bonus so I will not upgrade but for many of you this could be good.

Poker and Me

Back in October I won the Mookie. It was a highlight for me as I realized I could play with all you poker bloggers out there. It also put my bankroll at an all time high. I was ready to take down the online poker world and now had some money to do it with. But then some thing funny happened. I went on a cooler.

The rest of October saw me in 26 tourneys with 2 cashes. November saw me play 29 tourneys with 2 cashes. December up until the 27th saw me play 24 tourneys and 3 cashes. That’s 8.9 % for those of you who don’t know how to figure that out. I had been historically at 17% with a random final table thrown in so this run almost crippled me. The worst part was that I started to chase the loses and would buy into bigger events knowing I had the game to do well but continued to be smacked in the face.

December 28th arrived and a refocusing of my game ensued. I went back to playing smaller events and walked right into a Razz final table. I ended December 1 of 7 but with the final table came the new realization that this could happen again and that I wasn’t just lucky.

January saw 40 tourneys and 9 cashes along with 3 final tables. But was this just variance just evening out? A ten week cooler has to come back around in your favor at some point but I wasn’t sure. February to this point has seen me play 20 tourneys with 8 cashes and 6 final tables in three disciplines, NL Hold’em, HORSE, and RAZZ.

In my analysis of the phenomenon I see a few possibilities. The first is that variance has come back to even out over the long haul and that this string of good finishes will normalize back to the level of six months ago. This theory may have some truth to it but it does have flaws. I will get back to it. The second hypothesis is that I’ve truly improved my game such that I can sustain this level of play over the long run. It might be true but I will get back to it. And finally, getting back to tournaments with fields that are consistently under 500 players has gotten me back to the size field that best fits my game. Though I’ve had some success with bigger fields, these smaller sized tourneys require less long term focus then some of the bigger ones.

I think all three of these things play into each other to give an overall picture of how I am doing. Variance kicked my but for a two month period and had to swing back if my game had not changed. That will account for some of what is going on. I also see signs that my game has improved. I’m reading my opponents better and I will make decisions now that I couldn’t make in the past. And field size does improve a player’s chance of going deep. The land mines are still there but just not as many of them to avoid.

So playing better at a level that fits my style and getting a little help from the god of variance has helped me so far this year. I’m in the positive for tourneys for the year and work at continuing the trend. I have cut down my play a little to let me focus on the ones I am playing and staying away from shot taking for the most part.

I had around $1200 in my bankroll back in October and hit a low of $70 just after Christmas. The trend is moving up as I’m now back to $300 right now and ready to keep on climbing. I doubt if I will reload if I bust so I have to make a go of it.

I posted a while ago that I didn’t know if I wanted to keep playing.

I love poker.

Not Much of a Weekend

I didn’t really play this weekend. Sure I fired up FT one numerous occasions to check on various bloggers but for the most part stayed off the tables. The on play I saw was firing up two sngs on Saturday when the wife and kids were out. 10 minutes later I got a call from my wife’s biological brother (yes my wife was also adopted and was contacted my members of her biological family) and we are now going to meet him in 15 minutes for dinner at a local pizza place. Ultra aggressive mode starts and I chip up huge with the passive plays from my opponents. The problem is that I know someone will catch a hand and they did and I get bounced in both. It was a lot of pushing and reraising and if I had more time I could have slowed down and taken both of the sngs but nope….I had to go.

It was fun talking to him again. We had been getting together with them on a regular basis but life got in the way a little. He and his family only live ½ an hour away I we like them a lot so maybe we’ll start getting together again.

L had a birthday slumber party last night and if you remember this post from last year then you can sympathize. It really wasn’t that bad because the basement became their home for the night and other then intermittent loud noises they were well behaved.

I have an ultra busy week ahead of me and will be heading to Detroit next week so I may not have any poker goodness to distribute to the masses of people who flock to this corner of the blogging universe.

I would like to say way to go to all the bloggers who had success during FTOP this last week and instead of listing them all, just check out this blog links to the right and have a look around.

Sickness and Playing Poker

My throat is raw but the drugs in my system have reduced the fever so that I can work coherently today. Yesterday was a day of lost focus and meandering thoughts that were time eaters. That must mean it is a good time to play poker.

I bubbled off a final table on UB with a 70% favorite but a short stack. The brutal part of the tourney happened late in the first hour. I had chipped up early when my KK beat out QQ and JJ for a triple up and I bought a few pots to put my at 6000 plus chips when I see 1010 in late position. A middle position guy raised it up and I called wanting to see a flop. Q10Q is what I see so I’m good to any hand except pocket queens. He makes a pot size bet and I min raise to get some more in the pot. He pushed and I call. He has AQ and he needs the case queen or to pair the turn card or his ace to win. 7 outs on the river and he hits an ace. A few hands later I get KK and raise with one caller. The flop is K77 and he pushes. I call and see his quads. Just before the break I get AA and get it all-in pre flop vs. JJ and lose to a flopped J. I’m now down to 780 chips. I went super aggressive until I had a starting stack back and then waited for hands. They cam at the right times and I moved up the field. I never fully regained the chip stack I hand % wise but did get back to 17000 or so. Near the bubble one bad hand on a steal attempt took away a large chunk of my stack before I was forced to push or fold. That was my game.

I also cashed in a couple of other tourneys but nothing really big.

And this wouldn’t be one of my bragging posts if I didn’t talk about RAZZ. I final tabled my biatch again in classic style. I stayed very tight and one a few big pots with big hands. I ended up 7th when my made 8 lost out on 7th to a 7. His down cards were good and he did have to make the call because he would have been all but out with a fold.

I have a busy weekend ahead of me so probably no poker. I’m thinking about a breakdown of my results so far this year so look for that in the near future.

I Spent Valentines Day Playing Poker With My Wife's OK

I continue to be bothered by the sickness that has been jumping through the family. My fever is sitting around 102 right now with the delirium helping me to lose focus from time to time. Must be a great time to play a cheap tourney on UB.

It was Valentines Day yesterday so Enthusiast wife and I did our normal thing. She got me a small bag of candy and I got her a huge coffee cup for her morning pick me up. After 14 years of marriage we don’t have to get all crazy with mush and lovey dovey showy affection. In the end I had freedom to play poker last night.

I started off with a HORSE tourney FT. It was a $5 donk fest that run every evening and it went well. I chipped up early with AA and AK that each held up. Omaha was uneventful for the most part and Razz did nothing for me. The stud part of Horse got me going when I won a nice pot and then launched into the tournament lead when I scooped a huge pot with the wheel in HL. I lost some chips when I put a short stack all-in when I held AQ but he hit a 4 and doubled up. So at the end of the first hour I had more then double the starting stack.

The second hour saw me chip up in Razz and then some more in stud only to give it back in HL. I hit a nice pot with KQ in hold’em before giving some back on a flush draw while Omaha treated me like a red-headed step child. At the end of the second hour I was down to 2200 chips and needing a hand.

Razz is my mistress and she was there for me. I doubled early when I hit a 7 and a guy with an 8 chased me down. When we hit the final table I was the short stack but sitting within a few thousand of the leader. I went card dead for a while but caught Aces in stud HL and scooped a big pot. I ended up taking 6th when my pocket 9s got beat in a race vs. AK.













I also went deep in the Daily Double A by taking 27th place for a nice run. I could have held on for a few spots but got caught on a steal. I held QJ suited on the SB and it was folded to me. I pushed and the BB called for 90% of his stack with the all powerful A5. I got two of my suite on the flop but couldn’t get the third to end my night. I got very lucky at one point when I thought a big stack was stealing and I pushed over the top from the BB. I had AJ suited and he had QQ but I spiked an ace to stay alive. At the time I was the short stack of the tourney so it was go time. He gave me crap but he eventually got knocked out making a similar move.

So overall, three tourneys and two cashes and a final table. I’ll take it.

Just Life

I’ve been trying to get hold of my dad for a few days. I call his house and get a busy signal each and every time I call. So yesterday my sister calls me and says she is having the same problem and asks if I’ll run over to his place. No problem. The wind is blowing snow all over the place and I have an hour + drive home anyway but I’ll be glad to drive way out of my way to check on him. Now I really have no issue with going over there because I am worried about him but the time just sucks.

The traffic wasn’t too bad and I made good time driving through the blizzard like conditions with idiots on the road. As I pull into his driveway I can see it has been shoveled so I’m sure he is OK but there is no answer at the door. I have a key but I know that he has to be down at the club.

I see his van and they let me into the AMVETS via the intercom system and there he is…sitting at the end of the bar. I don’t go there very often. The stench of stale cigarette smoke and old people who have given up on life fills the room with an appalling aura. No my father doesn’t fit into this category but for the most part this not a stereo typical remark. The average age of the people in the room is some place north of 65 and they go there to forget how they treated their families and brag about the glories of days past.

Dad and I sit together and talk about things that are going on in our lives. As a matter of fact I need to give him $1 for the bad beat I talked to him about. Anyway, a cold beverage with dad is always a good thing. The worry I felt when I could contact him was replaced with the joy of just talking about anything that came along.

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

The Enthusiast wife is under the weather. She contracted the sickness that enveloped M last week and is trying to fight through it now. I now have a slight fever and my throat is like sand paper. I don’t know if it was caused by sickness or the smoke filled room I spent so much time in last night.

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

It is Wednesday which means the Mookie but there is no Mookie tonight. I may play a little tonight but being Valentines Day, I may keep off the tables. If I play I’m going to play some NL cash games and maybe some RAZZ tourney action.

Let it Snow

It wasn’t a terrible drive this morning but it was slow and slippery. The forecast says it will continue to snow all day so I’m sure the drive home will really suck.

So with the wintry weather coming, I left the house 30 minutes early to make sure I had plenty of time to make it to work. It only took a little over an hour for the 23 mile drive so I was very happy with the commute. That is until I tried to open the front door to the building. You see, last week when it was really cold, we had a pipe burst. The water ran out the front door and settled between the pavers by the front door. Now if you understand what freezing and thawing does you will know that the bricks moved and thus the door doesn’t open more than a foot. A great start to the morning.

The other day I thought playing a stud SNG would be a great way to work on my stud game. In theory I was probably right but OMG. That had to be one of the worst experiences in my poker life. That game is more suited for cash games in my opinion. And the quality of play was terrible, including mine. It’s one thing to play this in a HORSE tourney but another to do it all the time.

And finally, Doyle didn’t get arrested yesterday. That is terrible news because we all know the kind of menace a man his age can be. I’m sure there are many of us much more deserving of hand cuffs then him.

Air Hockey, Poker and Ball

I put together the airhockey table on Saturday so the basement id basically done. But what a chore that was. These tables are heavy and trying to get it into the basement sucked big time.

I played a little poker on Friday night and made a final table in Razz again. I bad thing was that the field was smaller than I had ever seen. The good part was that the number of paid spots wwas smaller so the payout was better. Most nights this event pays 16 spots but only paid 8. One more player and 16 make the money.

I also went kind of deep in another event but got stupid near the bubble. I had a stack to get me through to the money and was trying to chip up. I tried a steal and eneded up calling a re-raise when I held A9. He held the golden A3 suited and knocked me out when a 3 hit on the turn.

I also played so NL cash games and had success. I was card dead o0n both tables for the first hour and then stacked a guy when my QQ improved to trips and he hit TPTK. I had a few other samll wins to keep me around starting stack for most of the night. It was a great table as 6 players VPIPs at 35% or higher. with 2 obove 50%. The chips flew back and forth until someone ran out and was replaced by a rock. It's great being able to see this information right in front of you instead of keeping track on paper. When it turned into a rock garden I got off and moved to another table.

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

I pitched bunting pratice for the girls on Saturday. It was fun to throw hard and not worry about a shot back up the middle. Anyway, these kids are doing so much better then last year. Now granted, 5 of the girls are in there 2nd year of travel ball but most of the others are not far behind. Some of the basic tools are being refined while the experienced players are being challenged with new and deeper drills. There is no question in my mind that this team will get to a championship game at some point this season.

Sunday came and the pitchers had the chance to throw together for the first time. Three of the girls, my daughter included look much better then last year with one of the girls moving up into the 3rd spot in the pitching rotation. She may even be ablt to move into second with the way she throws strike after strike. SHe throws a little slower then the two others but throws hard enough if the defense plays well. L and the other girl did well with L throwing a little harder and equally well throwing strikes. If she can get her change up over the plate she will have a great year.

Fry Day is Here

Not much to say today. It’s one of those days that makes you weary because of the never ending list of things that needs to be done is growing faster then you can complete it.

I played soccer again last night after my time off from an injured thumb. We had another goal keeper there so I played in the field and had a blast. During my first shift I blocked a shot that deflected off my thumb that made me say %$^#&%. But eventually the pain subsided and I am suffering no ill affects today. When the game started I had flashbacks of my injury because we were playing the same team. Visions of the pummeling I took in the net raced across my mind like the reruns on the history channel of the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. We ended up losing the game but it was well played and we had plenty of chances to take control. Our downfall was some loose defense and bad passes across the middle of the field.

Well Friday is here so that implies poker playing on my part but tonight may be an exception. I have a little work to do when I get home so I will only play if I can get done. Hopefully I’ll be playing the donkey game of Razz at some point but we shall see. I think I’ll stay focused and only play 2 or 3 tourneys. This seems to make a difference in how deep I go but we shall see.

My daughter turned 13 the other day. That means 3 years and she can drive which will bring a whole different meaning to family tilt. No she is probably mature enough to drive now but we all know that kids lose some sanity between the age 13 and some point in their early 20s. Then the sanity starts to return and they can actually become intelligent.

Well have a good weekend everyone. TTFN

Hammer Day News and A Deeeeep Run in HORSE

Well it was Hammer Day after all and it was the hammer being sucked out on that virtually crippled me.

I had a tough table to start with and it only got tougher as more bloggers replaced the non-bloggers. At one point I think every player at the table was a blogger. I dropped the hammer at one point when a player raised from early position and I came over the top. All folded and I showed the suited hammer. Shortly after that I doubled with KK in a similar situation where I came over the top of an early raise with a slightly bigger then min-raise. The flop was 445 and being first to act I thought an over bet for value would work and it did. He called my push with 33 and I’m sitting good. I got no cards for the next 30 minutes until the return of the hammer. I re-raised a short stack because I could and I called his push. His aces sucked out. A short time later I pushed an early raiser with my 66 and he called with JJ and I was done. It was fun to drop the hammer and not take the event so serious. I know I could have made a deeper run considering I was in the top 30 when I dropped the second hammer but who cares.

All this time I was playing in a HORSE MTT and making a good run. I eventually got here.














I didn't have a big stack but I was sitting with some chip equity. After 20 minutes of play we still had the same amount of players. My chip stack hasn't really changed.














We finally lost one and I chipped up a little.














Eventually I had to make a move and I got all my money in with 2 pair. He had a draw that didn't hit doubling me to a new level.














With new chips in my hands we moved along until we got here.














We had a great time fighting for position but eventually takeitdown81 and baronebrood slipped on the ice and I got heads up with 8888KUSH.















The hand above was won by me and gave me a 4 to 1 chip lead. But then stud came along and I ran into his KK behind 2 hands in a row while I held JJ and 1010 behind. It was a short time later that I eventually got finished off with some forgetable hand.














It was a nice run. Man I wanted 1st.

Hammerday Live Post

I'm gonna try to live blog todays event and play a horse MTT at the same time so stick with me.

8:00 An we're off. I have dugglebogey, love-elf and miamidon as bloggers at my table. SMTL to start.

8:07 waiting for the first hammer drop.

8:13 take a pot when I raise with AJ. Notice I said raise with AJ.

8:16 Kat got knocked out early.

8:23 buddydank is at the table.

8:27 double with KK vs 22. I reraised and pushed when the flop came low and got called. Overbet for value. Weak_player is at the table.

The table is almost filled with bloggers at this point.

8:35 sitting in 6th place in horse with 48 left.

8:37 dropped hammer Jeciimd is at the table.

8:40 4th in horse. Dugglebogey is gone with his 66 vs buddy's 77.

8:44 new table with vinnay and smokkee

8:49 2nd in horse

8:55 hammer got sucked out on by AA


I'm out. I pushed a raiser with 66. He held JJ.

The Hammerday Poker Event and Self Appraisals

Play in this tonight if you have a chance. It will be a good time but I can't play.

What a day. We had a nice snow storm dump around 5 inches of fluffy fun everywhere so the commute home was a blast. There is nothing like driving home with a bunch of idiots on the road trying to put you in the ditch. Anyway, the boss came by around 2:00 and gave us all permission to go home for some reason. I stayed late and was the second to last to leave.

I bought a snow blower back in December because I’m fat. It was the best investment I’ve ever made based on the 5 minutes of time it took to clear my driveway. I should have done it years ago when, at my old house, I had a 100 foot driveway. We took turns shoveling that huge driveway and even with both my wife and I it would take well over and hour with a small snowfall. Live and learn I guess.

So after dinner I get a call from the HR guy at my work place. This is a strange thing because I can’t understand why he’d call me at home when I had just left there a couple of hours earlier. Crap, here we go again. Time to look for a new job or some other shit. Maybe Waffles and I can play $10 Razz tourneys everyday for a $2 profit. But as it turned out I needed to have my self appraisal ready for today.

I spend the next few hours answering silly questions about how I see myself doing my job. It wasn’t really that hard but I think that some of the questions are stupid. For example…

9. Adherence to Policy - The extent to which an employee follows safety and conduct rules, other regulations and adheres to company policies.

Now this is a standard question with responses being outstanding, very good, good and so on. How can you do an outstanding job of following the rules? You either follow them or you don’t. Good is the standard answer for doing your job requirements so anything better then good is self aggrandizing. Anyway, I got through that and fell asleep a little later. Great times.

I’ve thought about saying something like swimsuit models or Anna Benson to try to get more hits but I wouldn’t do that. Maybe something like A-Rod and Yankee baseball could get a few more hits.

Poker Office and Adjusting Your Game

I made a few adjustments to the categories for classifying players. The level for tightness was too large and I also made some adjustments to flag super tight players. I have never used any poker tracking software before so this is kind of fun. I can see some holes in my game, though they are not glaring holes, I should be able to plug them. The funny thing is that some of my issues will be taken advantage of by good players while other issues cause problems with less skilled players. I should have been using this much sooner.

And what am I using. It is PokerOffice. It works similar to other products and is customizable. If you don’t currently use any tracking software then I would suggest using this one. You can load hand histories into the database or use the live tracking function to start when you open a new table. It will also allow you to data mine other table even if you are not playing to gather information on future players you may face. Another added function is that you can evaluate your game at different buy-ins. This is a good tool for improving your game.

You can click on the link above and start using PokerOffice today.

The Bears Suckfest, Poker and More Poker

Friggin Bears. Run the ball morons. It’s a downpour and the wind is blowing 20 miles an hour. Rex doesn’t have to do the same things that Colt’s quarterback does.

Donkeypuncher summed it up. That’s all I have to say about it for now.

Played like an idiot for the most part Friday night. I did go deep in a $5 MTT for a small cash but I donked it up in another tourney. I also played about 2 dozen sngs with limited success.

The sngs were the same as ever. I haven’t played many of these for a while so it was kind of fun to grind them. And other then getting all my money in as a favorite 7 straight times only to lose was frustrating. You know the story. Play pocket Aces vs. QJ and watch him hit runner runner for a straight. ButKarma came back later on to see me get my money in ahead, get behind on the turn and resuck on the river. I also hit runner runner to win another hand.

The $5 MTT was a nice grind. I never hand a really big stack and was never in any real trouble. I won a hand with 99 for a nice early pot before losing some on a steal attempt. I doubled up when I called a re raise while holding AK. The flop have me the nut flush draw, the wheel straight and straight flush draw and two over cards. I push and he calls with JJ and I spike the King of diamonds on the river to scoop with the flush. I had 18 outs twice so I think this is a good move. Anyway, I gained some more vs. a small stack when my KK held vs. AJ. Chipped up some more with AT suited when I came over the top of a weak turn bet. I held nothing but my read was that the small blind had a small piece of the flop and that I could represent a better hand. I won a pot with 34 suited when I flopped a pair of 3s. It was checked by all to the river when I hit trips and I reraised a steal attempt to take the pot. With the blinds at 150/300 I won a checked down pot while holding J6 after the SB, holding KQ never raised the pot prefolp. After getting blinded down some more I took at pot with 55. I finally double again when my KQ beat the all powerful K7 held by a big stack. I held my ground with some small pots until…..I don’t remember the last hand other than I was short stacked and pushed with two cards and lost. If I remember correctly the big stack called with any two and I was ahead like 60-40 and got out flopped. Still a nice run.

I’ve been looking at my game as compared to a few players whose games I am amiliar with. Now they all have the same tag as I do but I found a couple of spots that could make the difference between making deep runs on occasion and making regular runs at bigger money.

Player 1 is someone we all know as a good player. He has made some nice runs and continues to have success.

Player 2 is a solid player who has some success but has a tendancy fizzle out by giving away chips after getting a nice chips stack.

Player 3 is another solid player who from what I know has had some success.

Now I have been to final tables with each of these guys at some point and do have a good understanding of how they play. A few thing stand out.

Player 2 plays many more hands then 1 and 3. I have seen this when playing with him. When he hits a hand early his VPIP will go up in relationship to his stack. He likes to test but sometimes can't get away from a hand.

The difference I saw between 1 and 3 was 1st in raises and the ability to slow play a hand. Player one will do each in the right situation but player 33 has not shown that he will do it.

Now I understand that this is a small sample of information but these are also the reads I had before tracking.

Now how do I compare?

I don't see enough flops and I don't come in enough as the first raiser. These are one in the same in that I'm losing out on some blind steals that would increase my chip stack and get me through the bad beats. And though my aggresstion is consistant it coul maybe stand to move up. I'm not sure on that one but I will keep it in the back of my mind.

The proof is in the pudding. Many times I get to much respect for my hands and lose out on raises because I play to tight. I'm not sure I can change any of this. We shall see

Kitten Cannon

Klick this link to play.

636 is my best so far.

751

Kitten Cannon

Duh Bears and Pokery Fun

It is colder than a witch’s tit. It’s too bad the Super Bowl isn’t being played in Chicago because the Bears would have a big advantage. I think the high for Sunday is going to be 8 degrees or some thing like that. Anyway, the cat was waiting by the door to go out this morning so I open it up. She sticks her head outside, looks around and high tails it back into the house. To cold for kitty.

I have all my Bears stuff on today which includes a hat, uniform and a Bears t-shirt. I’m looking forward to spewing out how well they Bears played and how they will repeat next year. Rex will have a great game and go down in history as one of the great Super Bowl quarterbacks. And now back to reality.

Tonight will be a night of pokery fun or that is what I hope. I’m going to Sam’s Club after work to get essentials for this weekend and maybe dinner with the family while we’re out. With luck I’ll be able to play the daily double and then go from there.

I’ve cut back my poker playing. That was a statement of fact. It has nothing to do with anything other then I was playing way too much. When the virtual world starts to interfere with the real world then there is a problem. I don’t think it got to that point but spending 4 or 5 hours a night, 5 or 6 days a week was too much. If I was making a bigger return then that would be OK but I could do much better working a part time job at the hardware store or something. I’m going to cut it back to 2 maybe 3 nights a week and see if I survive. One thing I’ve noticed all ready is that I’m not nearly as tired at the end of the day. Narcolepsy is not going on and I feel healthier. I guess 4-5 hours of sleep a night for weeks straight does have a negative impact. I was hard to do at first in that after the kids went to bed I was ready to fire up the laptop. After a few days I got used to the new flow and now look forward to my next night of playing instead of feeling obligated to playing.

So have a good weekend everyone and make sure you put your money on the Bears. It’s a sure thing.

The Mookies' and Slow Rollers

I still don’t have Word loaded on my computer so I have to work with other media. It’s a pain but I’ll get through it.

I played the Mookie last night and went out around 30th place. I played OK but could have played better. I lost a good chunk of my stack early when I raised with AK from the SB to some limpers. I get one caller and the flop comes 746. I make a pot size continuation bet of 400 and get re-raised to 800. I let it go and he shows pocket 7s for flopped trips. An orbit later I get 77 and push my 690 chips over the top of lightning’s raise and he calls with AJ suited. My 7s hold up and I’m back to 1430. 2 hands later I get dealt pocket aces and call lightning’s all-in push with AK to almost double up an knock him out. I lost more chips when I raised with KQ suited and get re-raised. I call and folded to a crappy flop. I should have dropped the hand preflop. My downfall was limp re-raising and pot committing my self. I held 88 and limped from early position. There was a raise from a big stack and I came way over the top. I didn’t realize that I left myself thin on chips or I would have gone at it differently. I folded to a AKJ flop. I doubled back up when I pushed a raiser with my short stack while holding A9. He held JT and I won. My last hand I held 64 in the BB and called a raise and a call getting almost 4-1. The flop was 776 and I pushed with my almost post size chip stack. The villain who had been killing me all night has AA and I’m done.

The PLO HL tourney was fun and I ended up in 5th, 2 from the money. The highlight was flopping a straight flush on the first hand when the flop showed 678 all spades. I held the 95 of spades and got semi paid as three of us got all our money into the pot before it was over. I held tight but saw some flops. Never got the one hand I needed to make a serious run. With 5 players left I was the short stack but I did have fold equity and used it to chip up a few times. Eventually, I had to take a shot and got knocked out when holding Ac 2h 9s 4c. The flop is 4s 7c 2c and I push with 2 pair. NumbBono held the open ender and hit it.

I won’t go into Razz because it was un eventful.


Last but not least was a $2 tourney I jumped on. I played most of the tourney at one table and made it to 23rd place before getting slow rolled by an ass hat. I was as card dead as ever but took advantage of my 8% flops seen. As we got closer I took blind and got lucky when this happened.

I get K2 both spades and see a free flop from the BB. The flop is 465 with two spades. I check the action and it gets raised by 2/3 by my opponent. This is an easy call her. But do I want to call because I‘m 52% to win. I have 9 outs to the second nut flush plus 3 more cards for a straight. I’m in a coin flip situation. I may also have outs with the king so I might actually be the favorite. I push. He had me covered but I think calling a check raise from the BB with this board for 85% of your stack is a bad move. He calls with 88 and I hit the 3 of spades on the river to double up. He said ”nice suck out” in the chat box. I later doubled with AA and moved into the top 10. I increased my stack when I called a min-raise with A9 of diamonds. The flop is J3A and I check call a pot size bet. The turn brings a 9 and I check re-raise 2/3 pot bet and take it down. I could have min-reraised here but I would have been pot committed anyway so I figured I should push. I may have left money on the table. I lost a big chunk when I got 35 suited in the BB. The flop come TQA with 2 clubs and I check. My opponent makes a 3/4 pot bet and I raise to put him all-in. He calls with AJ and I don’t get the flush. This may have been a questionable move by me but I felt he had a weak ace with his limp. I wasn’t far off and many players will lay that hand down. I cranked up the aggression as we got deeper and my stack was short and stole numerous blinds. I eventually got knocked out with AJ suited. The big stack made a standard raise to 2400 and I pushed. He waits and says “lets race” and flips over pocket aces. I hit a J on the flop but that was it and I’m done. I was hoping instant Karma would get him and give me trips but it didn’t happen. F’n slow rollers suck. So if you see this guy (nosuckoutplease), clean his clock.