Go Kansas and Going to the Store on Friday

No poker last night as I had a meeting at church and then watched b-ball. Ohio State came back from 17 down at half time and won the game against Tennessee. I give them credit for a great comeback but Bruce Pearl blew this game. With a 17 point lead at half time you should not loose. Tennessee kept firing up off balanced 3-point shots and bricking them and he didn’t get them back under control until it was to late. He did put some full court pressure on them after Oden got his 4 foul and it seemed to spark the team but then he took it off.

Kansas is still my road to glory in Mookie’s bracket pool. If North Carolina and Kansas make it to the finals I’m in the money and if Kansas wins I win. I’m still in a tie for third but some of the players above me took hits last night so I’m on my way. They few other brackets that have Kansas winning are behind me in the standings.

Well it is Friday, which means poker at my house. The problem is that it won’t start until late if it starts at all. We have to go get cleats for Softball Enthusiast and Speedy Enthusiast (notice I’ve been using the names trip) and that involves a trip to the sporting goods store. Now I love going to the store with the family because everyone always finds what they want right away so we’re in and out in no time at all. So maybe if I’m lucky this will only take a few hours.

That’s it for now so have a great weekend on the felt.

The Donkey Enthusiast

I guess you could say I played the Mookie events last night but I’m not sure it was me. It may have been The Donkey Enthusiast who looks a lot like me. I think I sat down ready to play but when I lost my connection for about 10 minutes I went on money in tourney and I can’t play tilt. I was 10 minutes before Razz and I made the choice of switching to my lap top. When I tried to log on got the never ending searching for site message. The real problem was that I was getting ready for razz, had money in the Mookie and the 2nd chance. $22 bucks out there that I can’t play with was pissing me off. I eventually got on and made a nice run in razz but my Mookie was short lived. I had no focus and I would have just left other then I like the company. I ended up pushing my hammer into pocket 6s that tripped up on the flop. By the time the 2nd chance came around I had calmed down and caught a great card vs. jeciimd when I had an straight draw, flush draw, and could also catch one of 2 queens to win the pot. I made a pot size bet on the turn and he pushed with trip jacks. I got my straight on the river to take most of his chips. I knew I had a lot of outs and it turned out to be 16. So it was a suck out but not a big one.

We got down to 4 players and I catch trip queens on the flop and check raise hoy all-in. I also held the nut flush draw and he held a straight and straight flush draw and gets it to knock me out on the bubble. One good river deserves another.

I really have to make the choice of not playing when I don’t feel on my game. The –ev isn’t good and I am trying to eliminate the mistakes I made when my bankroll took a dive late last year. I’m almost back to the level I was 5 months ago and with some sound play I’ll get there.

Softball and Basketball and Poker, Oh My

What can I say. The ass-hats that are my daughter's coaches said basically what I thought. I don’t mind because we did agree to play with their team and you must do what the coach says. You don’t have to like it. She’ll still get time on the mound but more then likely she’ll be used out in the field or as a catcher because she can.

They are using a challenge system for playing positions so realistically she could try for any position on the team and be rated first. I like the idea in that it encourages competitiveness but it may also cause animosity among the players.

Softball Enthusiast asked me what positions she should compete for and I said all of them that you like. The plan is for catcher, pitcher, 3rd base and short stop. In my biased opinion she stands a good chance of being the top rated player at any position she plays but like I said…I’m biased.

One problem I see is that the coaches talk about each of the kids having an infield and outfield position. How does that work if you are using a challenge system for positions? Generally speaking, Each position will have a depth chart so that as players are used for other spots, a position is filled by the next one on the depth chart. In essence, if you don’t challenge for an outfield position then you will not make the depth chart. And how do you create any amount of equity in playing time if you base your decisions on the chart. These are 11 and 12 year old kids that need playing time to improve. You also have to look at the fact that even though they are children, they know who the better players are. Sure, there are some playing that may give it up in a year or two but some of these girls take it seriously. The serious girls are learning to trust in their coaches and sending mixed signals will only confuse them.

That’s enough softball because it is working me up.

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I’m sitting in a tie for 4th place in Mookie’s March Madness tournament Bracket pool. The killer for me was picking Texas to go deeper then out in the second round. My potential points are not as big as some of the remaining players but if Kansas wins I’m pretty sure I’ll take it down as none of the players above me have them winning it. I can almost assure a cash if they make it to the finals. I can also end up way out of the money if my picks don’t come in.

And speaking of Mookie, the Mookie is tonight at 9:00 central and the 2nd chance, PL HA, starts at 10:30 so come out and have some fun. I’m looking forward to how I can get knocked out this week as an 80-20 favorite. There is also the added incentive to knock out Mookie for a free buy-in next week. Also, Al has put up a month of Mookie events if you can knock out fuel with 55.

Did I Sell My Soul?

Yes, I pimped my self out yesterday and I feel dirty. Using the tools that I have available to make a little cash, selling the one thing that I had that was pure...my poker blog. The lord knows that there was nothing else pure about me. However, is it wrong to do what I did? Is writing a review for a small cash payment a bad thing? Let us take a look.

All of us play poker in an attempt to make money. I know I’ve talked about being competitive and all that but our success can be derived from our wins and losses. Moreover, our wins or losses amount to a monetary value so in essence we play poker to make money.

Many of you reading this blog have a blog you call your own and chronicle events in your life. I for one use my blog to talk about some of my family life as well as my successes and failures on the virtual felt. Others of you use your blog as a form of releasing life’s frustration and only have poker as a common thread with the community. Some use there blog as a way to show their greatness while others bring a humor that lightens our hearts. None of these are nobler then another and thus we are all equal in reasoning. Some don’t write as well as others but we fulfill our needs through our writing.

In my case, I saw a way to gain a little fun money at the expense of same space on my blog. Many of us have banners on different parts of our blogs, I just chose to a different avenue this time. Believe me, I make a little of nothing on my banner advertisements. Anyway, before I agreed to do the review I checked the site out and made the decision to do it based on a couple of things. First, was this a site that I found to be offensive? That was not the case. Secondly, is there a practical use for the site? I found that there were some uses for the site.

Based on the criteria above I felt it was ok to do a review. If the answers would have to my questions would have unacceptable then I would have turned it down. I think taling a small payment for a review is perfectly fine because we’ve all done reviews of some sort without payment so why not get a little.

Besides, maybe I’ll use some of this money to get me to a WPBT event.

UK Online Casinos

This is a paid review for UK Online Casinos

Most of us look around for one site that covers many of our needs…UK Online Casinos seems to do the trick for the on-line gambler in us.

When I first checked out the site, I notice many useful links for existing players as well as someone new to the on-line casino game. If you’re looking for a new poker room then there are plenty of option for you to choose from as well as a list of bonus offers. If sports betting is more your speed then checkout the list of bookmakers they have provided for your needs. They also provide links for casinos if table games are more to your liking.

Another useful tool I found was a set of links for land based facilities. You can use this to investigate places to play before making a trip across the pond or just to find a neighborhood card room.

One thing many new on-line players fear is the safety of the money they put into a site. Never fear with UK Online Casinos because they have links dedicated to the regulators of the industry as well as various watchdog group that make sure everything is done by the book.

So if you’re in the market for a multi faceted web site to cover your on-line needs, checkout, UK Online Casinos and see if they fit the bill.

Poker And Softball...A Good Mix

I really like playing poker. The challenge of taking other players’ chips while a whole table of players is trying to take yours is both a game I guess that is part of the beauty of the game. It is one against all and the winner gets the big piece of the pie.

So after a nice run through February culminating in a second place finish and a nice payday in a 600 player hold’em tourney I was looking to see if I could keep the run going. Before Friday night I hadn’t played s many tourney this month but until this week had some success. I final tabled a pair of Horse tourneys, made a couple of deep runs in Omaha finishing 12th and 11th and made a couple of nice runs in Hold’em. Then Wednesday hit me hard. It started with PLO and ended with PLO with suck out attacks from every direction. I dropped a good chunk before it was done with no return and it continued Friday as fonkey after fonkey made terrible calls that cost me chips. Nevertheless, I knew I was making good decisions so I kept pushing on.

I fired up a tourney on UB with 200 players give or take and decided to continue playing my game as I always do. I understand that variance will turn back for me and I just have to be ready. Around the same time I played my Razz tourney that I love so much. Now these smaller tourneys have been my savior in a sense. I seem to excel with the smaller fields and thus my bankroll has seen the benefit. In the end I went deep in both.

Well I am the self-proclaimed Razz King so I’ll start there. There isn’t a lot to say other than I played tight and chipped up early. I went card dead for just about an hour then hit some hands to chip me up. As the bubble approached I made a mistake with a made 9vs another made 9. I had 9875A and he showed 986Q on 6th street. I missed after trying to raise him off and dropped way down. When the bubble broke I was involved in a hand the saw me with 543 and after hitting a 2 on 4th I did all I could to get my short stack in the middle. But I bricked the rest of the way and ended up with a small cash. I’m happy with most of my play in this but it’s hard to do well in these if you don’t catch some low cards late.

So my UB tourney is progressing. The structure there is such that you can wait for some hands and let the donkeys pay you off. Tonight was no different. I stayed tight and got paid with my good hands. My first big hand was winning a coin flip vs. a shorter stack. I held AK and out flopped his 66 to move up the ladder. As we moved into the last 30 players I had a small run of cards that got me into the top 10.

With 25 players left I have around 11K and find QQ in late position with blinds at 200/400. Two limpers, one being a guy I have a great read on, are in an and I raise it to 2700. The blinds fold and the limpers call. This is a big pot but the flop comes K42. This isn’t what I want. The limpers check so I look at my options. Checking is out as I was the pre-flop raiser and have represented strength. I have been very tight so I thought my best option was to give a value bet 2950 into an 8700 chip pot. This can be looked at as weakness or strength. This late in a tourney most players push or fold so I wanted confusion to take center stage. The first limper folded while the second limper waited. This is a guy I sat with for over an hour and have a good idea of his hand. I had him on a medium pair. He had pushed all night with AK, AQ and even AJ while I know he would re-raise with AA, KK or QQ. His stack was slightly bigger then mine but he still called 25% of his stack with something. My final read was 9s, 10, or jacks. When he pushed all-in I had to decide if my thoughts were correct. I looked back at hands I had played with him and I remembered him pushing a guy in a similar situation and showing an under pair. But would he do this so close to the bubble. He knows that I’m playing tight and that I can throw away a hand. He might push with a king but he wouldn’t call with KQ or KJ and he would have raised with AK. I call and he shows JJ and I become 2nd chip leader. He proceeded to chastise me in the chat box but I didn’t feel then need to make him a better player.



The bubble burst and I tried to keep my stack near the top. My tight image was strong so I took blinds as I needed them and when we go to the final table I was sitting solidly in 6th place.



I stayed tight and chipped up a little as players started to drop and was sitting in third with 7 players left. The blinds are getting big so steals are now worth the trouble and a big stack can buy pots. Then we get down to 3.



I made a big play on the small stack when he raised from the small blind and I cold called with Q4. The flop missed me by a mile K72 but I figured him for a steal when he bet into me. I hesitated and came over the top and took a huge pot of 30K. Now with a stack a little smaller then the chip leader I changed gears and started taking charge of the table. I raised and re raised 4 hands in a row. Then I get pocket Aces. I raised like the previous 4 hands and the big stack re-raised me a little over min. I pushed and he called with A7 and I’m the huge chip leader. I have 4 times the other two combined and within 10 hands it is over.



It’s nice to play the game and be rewarded for making the right decisions.

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L had her game Saturday night and was a monster. Now she had a great game last week with base hits and a triple but wow. On her first at bat she took an 0-2 pitch deep to right field for a home run. It went 200 feet in the air which is the equivalent to homerun distance for most high school fields. Not bad for a 7th grader. Anyway She hit another shot over the right fielders head next time up and also hade a base hit to end up 3-4 on the night. She also struck out 2 of the three batters she faced.

The discouraging thing that is happening with her is that she probably wont pitch much. She is so strong out in the field and as a catcher that she will only pitch round robin games according to the head coach. I made the point that if she is throwing well that you wont need a strong fielding team but I understand his reasoning…I just don’t agree with it. Anyway, she’ll get plenty of pitching in the local league she is playing in so the head coach can continue to try and teach his daughter to pitch. Besides, none of the girls can catcher her anyway.

It's Friday and Razz

Tonight is Friday night if you were not aware. What that means at my house is pizza, pop and poker or the 3 Ps. Family must come first so Enthusiast Wife and I will order a couple of pizzas and hang out with the kids for a while and maybe watch a family movie. Eventually, at some point, I will fire up the poker machine for a night of frustration or elation depending on the poker gods. No this isn’t every Friday night but it is many of them. There was a time that you wouldn’t find me anywhere near home on a Friday but those times have gone. Now we either stay home or have a required function to attend. Some may think this is a boring life but it is what I have and I find no problem with it.

I’m hoping that the variance I’ve seen over the last few days will turn around. I’ll just try to continue making good decisions and let the cards fall as they will. Maybe a return to HORSE and RAZZ will get me back on track.

I read a good post here about Razz strategy and think that most of what I read is accurate and is similar to how I play. I think to put a complete set of rules for all situations is impossible but if you need help with your Razz game then read it and you will be blessed. One point I would challenge is that you may want to call a bet after 4th street when you have a draw that is better then your opponents holdings. Even a raise on 5th may be in order when you are drawing to the nut or near nut when you are behind. If your opponent has a made 8 on 5th and you hold A246Q to his xx875 you are behind but any 3 or 5 probably shuts the door and an 8 or 7 may put you in the lead. And if he didn’t complete but just limped then you have to put him on a less then premium hand thus making you stronger. In this case a 3 or 5 will win the hand short of your opponent hitting the wheel so you are drawing to 7 cards that should give you the win plus any 7 or 8 will put you ahead if he bricks. That is in essence 6 more outs for 13 total. Now depending on what cards were thrown away at the beginning you have to subtract outs so lets say there were three outs on the board. Now you have 10 outs to catch a winning hand. There are 38 unknown cards left so you have about a 26% chance of hitting your card twice or 52% total. He still needs to hit a card lower then his 7 that doesn’t pair him up. That leaves him6 or 7 outs that may not may not be good anyway if I hit a 5 or a 3. He actually has about a 35% chance of improving over two street and will lose over half the time even if he does. In this case it is the wrong play to fold on 5th as I am behind but have will improve to win almost half the time and will get paid off every time when I win. If you add the fact that he may be playing a high card in the hole then calling on 5th is a positive play.

I don’t know if this made any sense but I understand my demented logic. It is demented because to play Razz you have to be a lunatic.

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Softball Enthusiast has another game on Saturday night so we will be enjoying another evening of ball. I’m looking forward to seeing if the girls make any adjustments after their first game.

That’s it for now…have a great weekend.

Bad Beats are a Part of Life

This isn’t really a bad beat post but it is a list of my night. I’ve been reading the various blogs out there and many of them have one thing going for them...their good hands didn’t hold up. It seems to go in streaks and it can be hard to deal with as you repeatedly get your money in with the best only to lose. So I’m gonna take a small shot at explaining my night and that I don’t care about the beats because we all go through it.

I’m top 5 in a PLO tourney and the game is moving along well. I hit trips on the flop and get a shorty in and he hits running spades for a flush. The end of my game saw me flop the nut straight and lose to a runner runner full house. So this is a great start to my day.

In the Mookie I get involved in a hand where I hold pocket 10s. I’m in the BB and the cutoff raises to 150, the button calls and so do I. The flop is 985 with two diamonds and I check with intentions of coming over the top of the cutoff or button continuation bet that I know will come. The button makes a 600 chip bet into the 500 chip pot. This screams of I don’t want a caller or a flush draw to stay around so I raise it to 1200. The chat’s “damn it” because he knows he is behind but pushes anyway. He has A9 and has 5 outs and I get knocked out when he hits his Ace. No love.

I play another PLO tourney right after getting knocked out of the Mookie. I’ve chipped up some and get involved with a shorty while holding AA T6 double suited. I raise the pot pre-flop and the shorty pushes with 98QJ and two hearts. The flop is 4x4h5x, turn 6h, river Qh. And I lose to a runner runner again. I chip back up with my huge skills. Before this hand. I raise with KKJ4 and get called by one player. I flop trip kings and bet out all-in and get called by two pair Aces and Kings with three diamond. Runner runner diamonds end my game.

The Mookie 2nd chance was also PLO and I played two hands. In the first I get Qd 9d Qs Ah and raise it up. And lose on the river to a straight. My last hand I hold 9d Ks 9h Ah and flop trip 9s but my opponent hits a straight on the river to knock me out.

It was a great night of poker.

Business and Riverchaser's

I had a business trip yesterday that involved a 3 hour trip each way with my boss and two other guys. We make the trek to just north of Milwaukee to the customer’s plant and our contact said he didn’t know we were coming. We made the plans last week but somehow he forgot. We ended up calling on another customer and got some swag so it wasn’t a total loss but it was disappointing.

I got home at my regular time ready to cook some steaks on the grill. Now for most of my life I’ve been a charcoal kind of guy but with a family of five that is always on the run I have converted to the gas grill. So I fire up the grill and get the meat all ready to go but I have a problem…the gas is out. This isn’t an issue because I have two tanks and can make the change over in no time at all. But I know the other tank is empty and I’m not going down to the gas station to exchange a tank for $20 when I can get it filled for8 or 9 at the FS in town. So steaks were enjoyed but out of the oven.

So with a day on the road I had blogs to read so I jumped on the computer and checked bloglines for some good reading material. I read a few thing when I happened to find that Al is running a freeroll HORSE tourney for the Riverchasers so I jump on for some free fun and a chance for part of the $100 prize pool.

I had Bobby Bracelet sitting to my left a few spots but nobody else I recognized. I donked off a few chips durng the first few rounds and got some back in Razz. Stud hit me in the face with some great hands and by the end of the first break I had 5500 chips.

On the second hand after the break I was dealt AAJJ and hit a J on the flop. The board paired giving me the high boat to scoop a 2900 chip pot. I also won a nice hand in Razz but basically held my own to this point. My lucky hand of the night saw me with pocket 10s in a raised pot with two other players and being last to act. The flop is 78Q and the BB bets and UTG raises. UTG had raised preflop but I want to see if he is strong so I 3-bet and the BB caps. I figure I’m behind and I will drop the hand unless I get a good card and I did. Another 10 came on the turn. The BB bets and UTG calls. I raise and they both call. The river is a jack giving many straight possibilities and it is checked around giving me the win. The BB had a queen and UTG had pocket kings. So now I’m at 14K and in 2nd overall. I end the 2nd hour near the top and ready for my Razz game to push me up.

Razz gave me no love as I didn’t get one playable hand. We are near the money and in stud when I get jacks and queens on 4th street during stud. I’m ready for the hand that puts me at the top except I run into trip aces from the beginning and I’m crippled. I doubled on the next hand with three diamonds that turned into two pair to get me back to 6000. At the bubble I get 578 suited in Stud hl and complete the bet with 2 callers, one being alcanthang. I catch a 4 so I now have a good low going as well as a backdoor flush and a gut shot straight chance so I call Al’s bet. 5th street is the 10 of my suit so I raise al’s bet all-in and catch a six for the straight and the low vs. his kings. The virtual end of my night happened when I tried a steal with A10 and got re-raised Bobby BI who was short so we got it all-in. He had AK and I’m down again. I doubled back up but ended up out in Omaha and finished 17th.

It was a fun night and thanks goes to Al for hosting the event.

It Was a Weekend and March Madness Bracket

I have started a bracket pool on espn. If you would like to be involved go to ESPN and create an account. If you are interested you can e-mail me at thepokerenthusiast at comcas.net and I will give you the details. I'm looking at $5 per entry with 5 entries max. The payout will be like a poker tourney so it will be based on the number of entries. You will be ablt to send me the money by transfer on Full Tilt and if you win I will send it back the same way. Send me your screen name and I will give you the group information. I must have the entries by tip off of the first game as well as the money transfered to be elgible. Contact me if you have any questions. Here is a link to the page.

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With all the luck that friends and family have been having as of late my wife went with to another wake on Friday night. That left me in charge of our three kids as well as the two children of the lady that went with her. So what do I do? I fire up the poker machine because they all get along and they are old enough to stay out of most trouble.

The first success I had was in this event.



This isn’t a game I play a lot but I do enjoy it. I made a nice run and again got knocked out when I had great draws to the nuts after the flop.

I also played the daily doubles and had a good shot at cashing in both but came up empty in the A event. The B event is a different story. I chipped up a little early after getting AQ three hands in a row and betting out each time. I also doubled up just before the first break to put me at around T5000. I lost some chips with pocket 6s that complete gave me no chance on the flop that came AK10. The next hand I get queens and A shorter stack of 2100 raises to 350 (blinds are 50/100) and gets called by a huge stack. I raise to twice the pot and the shorty call while the big stack folds. The flop is K35 so I put him in because I won’t fold to a 351 chip bet anyway. He shows A9 with a flush draw but my queens hold and I move up to T9000. I won a few more with pocket kings just before finding QQ again. This time I have to throw them away on a bad flop. I folded for a while until my card rack returns with aces. An early position guy calls and I raise to 720 from middle position and get called buy the same guy. The flop gives me trips but leaves a possible flush draw. I want all of his chips so it gets checked around. A king on the turn looks good to me in that I hope he has hit so I make a3/4 pot bet. He insta pushes and I call to see his AJ and no flush draw. I know have T14000. I again win a big hand with aces and move to T18800. I won a big hand with A8 after the SB limped after everyone else folded. I made a big raise and he called with pocket 2s. I hit and 8 and moved to 24,000. I took a few blinds that put me in around 10th place with around 90 players left. I made a position raise with K10 suited and got called by the BB big stack. The flop hit me with a king put I layed it down to an aggressive play by the big stack. This was a bad decision. He was playing big stack poker and I wilted. A push over the top was the right play and if I get beat so be it. It would have cost him over half his stack to call. My game was just about over. A push monkey raises from the button and I call with KJ. Stupid play by me in that even if he was on a steal I called with a less then stellar hand. Down to 7000 I get K10 and push from the SB and the BB has AK.

Talk about screwing up a good run. In 4 hands I went from sitting great to out. I went away from what was getting me there. Enough said.

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Softball Enthusiast had her first game of the on Saturday night. It was in a field house in Dekalb so the conditions were great. We didn’t keep official score but I think her team won by two. She threw OK after calming down a little and gave up one run in her only inning of work. She did have two strikeouts and gave up no hits but the walks have to stop for here to be successful. Hitting wise she was great. She beat out an infield chopped, hit a nice line drive between 1st and 2nd and hit a stand up triple to deep left center field. 3 for 3 is never a bad thing and she looked very ready to play. Over all the team looked so so mainly because the new girls were not ready for the speed of the game. After about the third inning they all settled down and the play solid. All but one girl had a hit and none of them were scared by the solid pitching from the other team. One thing I know is that these girls will hit regardless of anything else.