End of the Night Post and I'm on a Roll

Surf made it past the 2nd break before getting busted out in 40th out of about 140. It was folded to him in the sb and he raised with A9 and the bb called. The flop was T9x and he pushed and was called. BB had AT. He'll be playing tomorrow in a $550 event.


As for me I made it to the Final table bubble in the token razz tourney. I got sucked out on back to back hand to kock me out but I'm happy with the way I played. I also final tabled a Horse tourney ending up in 6th place for a small cash. I'm not sure if it is from softball being over or what but I'm on a roll.

That's it for tonight. I'll update tomorrow night after I get back from the lake and a day of fishing.

More Tunica part 3

Surf is sitting at the tournament tables as I write. This morning he played two more sngs and won another so he has now spent a total of $255 and has made $1250 towards buy-ins. Not bad for a tight/aggressive donkey. To repeat, he has buy-ins for two $550 events and but another $150 in his pocket.

His buddy Huntsvegas has not faired as well and was leaving for home when I talked to Surf around 11:15. I think he had lost in every game he had played and had dropped over 1K for sure. Surf offered to give him one of the buy-ins but he turned it down because of his bad run. I would do the same because it can be hard enough playing with my own money let alone someone else’s money.

********************Edit******************

Surf bombed out quick today. He raised it up with a couple of limpers in front trying to isolate while holding KJ of hearts. The big blind and the limpers called. An all low flop with 2 hearts and it is checked to him and he bets to thin the field and there is two callers. The turn is a brick and the first player pushes as well as the second player. He was getting better than 5-1 on his money so he called. First player had AA and the second player had Ax of hearts. He was done.

He is playing the $200 second chance event in a little bit so I will update when I find out.

*********************Edit*******************

He has made it past the first break with a little more than he started with. If you know Surf then you know he is in great shape and I expect him to make a run before it is over.

I'll be playing a Razz tourney as well as a Horse tourney so if you want to stop by and say hello feel free to do so.

Live From Tunica

I talked to surf this afternoon as he was drive to Tunica. Nothing exciting to say other than he is ready to go deep. I'm expecting to get a call from him later tonight so I'll post anything I here. As for Friday I'll post what I know when I get home from work and I'll update later if he has some news. I will not be posting Saturday until after I get home from the lake so don't expect anything before 10 pm. Otherwise I'll post as I get info for the rest of the weekend.

*****************Edit******************

I just got another call from Surf. He played a SNG for $65 and won his ticket for event #2 in Tunica. When he got heads up with his opponent he offered a save of sorts by giving the guy $150 and keeping the $550 entry fee for tomorrows event. He held a 4-1 chiplead at the time. Not bad for the second best player in his family.

He’ll be calling me during breaks tomorrow so I’ll try and give updates as they come along. It’s hard to do it from work now but I’ll do my best. My guess is I’ll have an update around 4:30 central time tomorrow otherwise it will be after 6 o’clock. Tune in tomorrow for more breaking news of surf and his attempt at poker greatness.

Surf is Going to Tunica and Loving Omaha HL

Surf will be on his way to Tunica at noon on Thursday. Remember to come here for up dates on his meteoric rise to the top of the poker world.

It was Mookie night but I never signed up. I was playing a couple of other tourneys and doing well so I made the decision to skip it and work at something a little more + ev. I started an Omaha hl PL tourney at 7:45 and since I was chipping up, I added the $3 turbo to keep me distracted. In the end I cashed in the turbo going out around 80th of the 600 or so runners. Not the greatest of jobs but that’s ok. The Omaha tourney was better.

I played a nice tight aggressive game and moved up the ladder. That is until we got 8 from the money and I missed a double draw. Short stacked I held on to the bottom spot and moved into the money in my 3rd straight Omaha hl tourney. I looked for spots and doubled up and after an eternity I made the final table. There were some very solid players at the table and as the short stack I had work to do. I doubled up and waited around until we got to 6 players. I called a raise from the table donk and flopped a good low draw and the 2nd nut flush draw. I pushed not caring if he calls or folds. He called and neither draw came in. That would have put me into 2nd place but oh well. It may have been a questionable play but with the blinds so high I needed to make a move and with both draws I think it is right.

So now that I’ve taken 1st, 14th and 6th in 3 straight Omaha hl tourneys, I’ll probably take a shot at a bigger one and see how I do.

Almost Another Final Table

I went deep in an Omaha HL limit tourney ending the night in 14th place. Not bad but I took a big hit when my trips lost out to a bout on the river. I was top6 at the time so wining that hand would have been huge. I also got all my chips in the middle with 3 callers with a set that ended up getting split 4 ways. I would have doubled up to top 8 if I hit. It was a fun game but a little dissapointing.

I also played a little 1/2 Razz cash for some fun. I made about half a buy-in to make back a small loss from my sng play so over all I ended the evening about even.

Don't forget to play te Mookie on Wednesday night. It starts at 9:00 central and the password is vegas1 as it is every time. I think the Dookie is Stud h/l so the donkeys should be out for that game.

And finally, good news came the other day when I found out my friend doesn't have cancer. I'm so happy for the family I can't really put it into words.

The Power is On and Semi Live From Tunica

We finally got the power back up and running at work around 7 pm last night. Com ed came by in the afternoon but couldn't give us a time table to when we would be up and running so we went with a contingencey plan that involved a 5 hour trip to a partner company to do some production and come back home in time to start work this morning. So the boss and I, as well as two production workers set out and got a call around 1 1/2 hours into the trip so we turned around and went back home. It was nice to be home instead of driving all night and being expected to work all day today.

I watched a little bit of the hoy last night. The donkemant was fun to watch and I think that I need to start playing it. It's just hard for me to add another night of tourneys to my regularly scheduled life. Maybe I'll jump into one of these but It is kind of hard on my family if I play to much.

I'm sitting on a token so I'm trying to find a tourney I want to play. I'm thinking about Razz or Horse because the firlds are a little smaller and most players suck at these games. I'd play hold'em but the amount of time it takes to play a bigger event is a little long for me unless the family is out for the night. We'll see what happens.

One last thing...Surf and Huntsvegas will be going to Tunica ans I have been asked to post some updates while they are there. So if you have a piece of their action or just want to know how they have done, stay tuned in later this week to find out how well thay do.

I Can Win Sometimes

I played almost 4 hours of donkey poker last night and all I got for it was an MTT win. That’s right, I won a tourney. I even have proof.

I was sitting around watching some stupid movie last night and jumped on to see what was starting and saw Omaha hl. I’ve done ok with the game so I pulled it up and waited for the start time to arrive. The I realized it was NL Omaha hl. I realized this with time to spare but I figured I’d donk it up and got waffles to play it with me. He lasted for a while but could handle the donk plays that came from every direction. My strategy was to stay on the sidelines unless I had a strong hand and then play it super aggressive. It worked as I maintain a smallish stack for much of the tourney. I took a big hit when I pushed with a double flush draw and the nut low draw but can up empty. I had 800 chips left with average at 5600 and came back strong. I pushed a few hands in a row and got lucky to get me out of danger. I stayed low and maintained my stack as the bubble approached and hit a couple of big hands to move into the top ten. When I hit the final table I was in 6th and waited for a few to bust. The I attacked the medium stacks and built up until someone finally played back at me. This time I had a hand and moved into 2nd. IWhen I got into a hand I bet in such a way to show I was committed to the pot and the weakness of my opponents came out. I eventually took the chip lead with about 160K to 80K and 70K. I didn’t let anyone limp and I re-raised half of their stack over and over again. When I knocked out the 3rd place guy I held 4-1 lead and eventually took him out when he got tired of me pushing him around.

It was a nice score and long overdue.

I was going to recap my midnight madness run but this win over shadowed it so I’m done with that.

Softball E had her first practice with her new team on Sunday. They are going to kick some butt…mark my word. They best part is that SE is no longer the star on the team. There are a couple of girls, including her, that can fill that role on the team and that is a good thing. It should help her bring up her game. During batting practice she hit one to the fence that would have been out is she had lifted the ball a little. Anyway, the skill level on this team is much higher than her old team. And the team speed is much higher.

That’s it for today…have a great day.

It's Been a Long Time, Been a Long Time, Been a Long Lonely Lonely Lonely Lonely Time.

It is Saturday morning and I went to bed about 4 hours ago. I had no intentions of staying up that late but sometimes things happen that are out of your control. I played the Midnight Madness last night for the first time in 9 or 10 months and I played well, got lucky, and played bad all in the same tourney. I think there was almost 2000 runners last night and I ended up getting knocked out in around 30th place. I’m going to try and recap the tourney a little later but right now I’m to tired to break it down. Thanks has to go out to surf who also played this and helped keep me focus and patient during much of the event. Also, thanks goes to JJ for wishing me good luck and watching for the last hour or so.

TTFN.

Name That Band.

I Can Still Play Limit and to Much Rain

I can’t believe all the friggin rain we’ve had here in northern Illinois. We’ve had rain every day for at least a week and all the rivers are ready to over flow if they haven’t already. This afternoon we had a huge storm that knocked down trees and had the roads flooded with oil slicked water. The power went out at work and we scrambled to get the clean room working after the power came back on. In the end I left work with only partial power and hope that full power will return during the night so we can actually make product tomorrow.


I played a little limit hold’em tonight. I haven’t done that in a long time and sometimes I wonder why. Limit was the game that got me started way back when I had a $5 bankroll that I earned by filling out a survey. I play .02/.04 limit for a long time before switching to jackpot sngs on Noble poker. I could go back to grinding limit but it is a grind that I really don’t get excited about. Maybe I’ll try it for a little while.

One of the guys who signed up through me made a deposit so I’ll soon be on my way to financial freedom. We’ll see how it goes but I’m hoping he has all the success he can find. I watched him play for a while and he saw 70% of the flops so I’m hoping he has disposable income and keeps reloading.

That’s it for tonight. Have a great Friday.

My Neteller

I say why worry about .57. I was smart enough to move my money before the money was frozen.

I was asked to evaluate players for one of the local teams. So I'll be helping out and determining who is good enough to play and who isn't. My guess is that they won't have enough players because most players have already been to tryouts. The ones that are left are the ones that are left. I feel bad for the coach because we are friends and she got screwed like I did...You see, she was the coach that I was asked to replace. The world turns in strange ways. This is also the coach that cut SE from the 14U team last year because she was a 12 year old. I don't hold a gruge...well I do but I also forgive.

Does Poker Really Mean Anything to Us?

I got a token but that’s about it. I got hit by runner runner again to get knocked out of one tourney and had a big pocket pair run into quads after the flop. It was a good night overall because I was still in positive numbers but I was frustrated by what could have been. Went fairly deep in razz but didn’t cash. None of my bad luck really means anything.

I’ve talked about my old boss here many times before. He is a good friend and I will do just about anything for him and his family. Today I went into the restaurant for lunch as his wife was just getting off the phone. After she gets off the phone she informs me that she has a mass in her lung and has to have a CT scan to identify it better. I didn’t know what to say as I sat there and wondered why bad things happen to good people. Anyway, Say prayers for Nan because she needs them right now. They have 7 kids living at home and they need all the support they can get. After we know more I may run a charity tourney with a portion of the entry fee going to the family. Maybe a $5 + 5 or something.
To add to their misery, their daughter is having surgery next week. I guess they need a little more adversity to test their faith.

Not much more to say other than sometimes poker doesn’t mean much.

Stay Focused Idiot

Frustration and aggravation is what I felt as my KK was cracked when my opponent hit the straight on a board of 44352. I would have rather had him hit an ace on the flop. Anyway, I have to be satisfied that people will push into me with their weak aces. I ran bad tonight and I stopped playing because I hit a limit.

It’s going to be harder to post during the day from now on. Big brother is watching. I’ll probably just post before I got to bed from now on. I guess my productivity will increase at work now.

I had my first sign up to Full Tilt on Sunday. I’ve had the affiliate program going for a while but most of the people who read me already play there. I got a second sign up today so at this rate I’ll have 366 a year from now. Keep it coming guys and gals. Anyway, If I ever got enough players signed up I would give them a free roll or something to show my thanks.

My official flight to Japan day is September 29th. I’ll be spending a week at various places for no apparent reason other than to make sure they can do what they say they can do. I have three vendors to see on a week long trip unless my numbers are wrong. I did tell one of the guys in Japan that they have to take me out and karaoke so it won’t be a complete loss of time. I also found out that my boss’s parents live about 10 blocks from the hotel so I may go chew them out for having a son that lived.

Anyway, I’m going there with the new guy so he’ll be doing the training I went through last year and I get to sit through meetings with people I can’t communicate with very well. I’m not sure who has the better deal. One good thing is that they are going to put us up in a nice hotel with internet…something I only had for one day last time.

Ooops...I Knew That

I did a little pimping over the weekend. I try to do that so my seven readers don’t have to sift through the myriad of information in order to find out what is going on with me.

I played a little over the weekend but not a lot. I dumped some money in a couple of tourneys and made some back in sngs and ended the weekend with a little less than I started with.

I had a moment of clarity yesterday as I realized that idiots don’t fold. They don’t realize that you’ve folded 25 straight hands and think you are full of crap when you raise after a long hiatus. I had a guy say in the chat, after he busted me with his 9T vs. my AK, “I thought you were full of crap. Now he was the big stack but it was for over half his stack and is there a spot that you can envision calling half your stack with 9T off suit? I had literally not played a hand for 4 orbits short handed and my stack was such that I could have folded my small blind. In reality, I over bet for value because I knew this ass monkey would call and I just got hit by variance. But wow, some guys are really bad players. I did hit quad aces during one game but I forgot to take a screen shot so you’ll have to take my word on it.

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

I had an inkling a couple of weeks ago that something was going on at home. I found a list of names sitting out and I asked my daughter what it was and she said it was nothing. It was a list of friends that I haven’t to much lately and so in my mind I saw surprise party. I turned 40 a month ago and it would make sense that they would do it later after the anniversary of my birth. I had put it out of my mind for the most part until Saturday when I was out doing errands. I got a call from Mrs. PE to head over to a friends house and help him reconnect his surround sound system. When I got done I headed home and she called me frantic that I had forgot to help him with a ceiling fan. I was almost home so I continued to my residence intent on dropping off some things before I headed back to work on the fan. My wife and mother stopped me in the driveway and tried to turn me around where I stood. I just wanted to take the stuff inside but they were insistent. I actually got a little upset…well, a lot upset by the situation. Anyway, I got back in the car and headed back to my friends when it dawned on me what was going on. In the end, I arrived home later to a household of friends and a night of consumption. It was a great time and I thank Mrs. PE for all the time and effort…even if I did figure it out.

Bodog Tourney for Bloggers and Friends

Bodog is pleased to announce it’s first ever Poker Blogger Tournament with added prize money courtesy of Bodog.

As a poker blogger, I am delighted to extend this invitation to you to play in this tournament, taking place starting on August 28, 2007.

Bodog is adding a total of $125 in bonus money to the tournament. If you are one of the last 5 players to be eliminated prior to being paid out by the standard payout structure, you will get your buy-in returned by way of a $10 bonus. If you finish 2nd in the tournament you will receive a $25 bonus. And if you finish first, Bodog will give you a $50 bonus.

This is a limited invitation-only tournament so the field will be comprised only of other bloggers and their readers. It’s Bodog’s way of saying thank you for acknowledging your contribution to the great game of poker.

The tournament will run weekly on Tuesday evenings and will require a password for entry that all invited bloggers can promote within their community.

Details of tournament:


Start date: Tuesday August 28, 2007
Tournament Name: “Online Poker Blogger Tournament” at Bodog
Entry Password: bodogblogger
Buy-in + fee: $10 + $1
Payout: Standard Bodog payout structure
Bonuses:

T$50 bonus paid to 1st place finisher.
T$25 bonus paid to 2nd place finisher.
T$10 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


Bodog has committed to run this tournament every Tuesday through October 2nd. If participation warrant’s it, we’ll be able to keep it running and possibly increase the prizes and/or turn this into a poker league with an ongoing leader board!

If you haven’t played at the Bodog Poker Room before, please download and install the free software client at:
http://www.bodog.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.

Sometimes Things are Good

Yesterday was a bitch. I had a long day at work that started with preparation for an all day meeting I was running and culminated with a headache that kicked my butt. Things got better after I arrived home for the night. I took some pain medication and took a little nap and I felt all better.

I jumped into a cheap tourney and spun my wheels with card deadness. And it continued with another tourney that saw a guy call of all my chips when he had a draw with the river coming. He hit and I was done. Around this time my favorite Razz tourney was getting started and a few hours later I was on the final table bubble. I got involved in a hand when I had a 6 high after 4th street vs. the 9 of my opponent. We got our chips in the middle but I bricked and he eliminated me in 10th. I went after this hand hard because I was ahead and wanted him to commit his chips when he was behind. Even after I bricked I still had a draw that had him dominated but it didn’t happen. I would have been in 2nd place if I hit.

I ended the night play a couple of sngs and had the pleasure of cracking AA with my 66 when we were in the money of the first one. I eventually took that one down and placed 2nd in the other one to end the night in positive numbers.

I was doing some searching for poker information on the net and I came across this site. It has all kinds of information on the state of US poker. It has information on deposit methods and the legislation that will influence the future of the game we love to play. I was truly amazed at some of the things I read and plan on following the situation through this site.

That’s it for today. Have a great weekend.

Looking for a New Place to Play?

As a poker player, I’m always looking to find a good game and a place to play. Additionally, I like to play some of the table games that a casino may have. So, in my mind, if I could find an online casino that covered all of my needs I would consider 888 to do the job. They have many of the games that I like to play including many varieties of slot games. Roulette, Craps and Caribbean Poker are just and example of the fun you can have while playing on line.

The poker player can play online poker and enjoy many different varieties of the game including cash games and tournaments. And, if you want to try online blackjack this may be the place for you.

So, if you are looking for an online casino, give 888 a try.


This was a paid review.

Three Cheers and a Little Pokery Fun

Well we made it. The waiting is over. We were informed today that she made the team. No more worry and no more tryouts for another year. She got the call today and they are looking at her to be the number one pitcher. Funny how things change when the coach’s daughter isn’t the main influence on pitching time. Now we just have to find some sponsorship so we don’t have to come up with a crap load of money. Anyone wishing to sponsor a team for a few hundred can contact me. They are a non profit organization so you can write it off on your taxes. I can’t believe I’m looking for softball sponsors on my poker blog. Anyway, big ups go to my daughter.

On the poker front, I played the Mookie last night and got a little going early when I turned a flush. I gave some back over time but came out swinging a little later just trying to maintain my stack. Then card deadness set in and with all the action I could hardly get a raise in. I eventually went out when I tried to push someone, I can’t remember who, in their blind while I held J8 sooted. They called with pocket 3s and sent me to the rail in 29th place when my over cards didn’t hit. Congrates goes to surf who took it down vs. hoy in a heads up battle.

The good new is that I played Razz again. I had the best run of starting cards I’ve ever had and if some of them would have caught I could have gone really deep. I did make a nice run and made a final table but I was short stacked and had to make a tough lay down on the final table bubble. I was ahead but with 87652 and with his draw I was at best a coin flip. It may have been a bad fold but I did make the final table.

I played golf today for the first time in 4 years. I played a lot of golf at one time but family got in the way and I had to give something up. So, yesterday I found my clubs, all covered in rust and neglect. I took a few balls into the back yard and checked my chip and lob game and found it was still intact. All in all I was happy with the way I played but I had a few terrible shots today. If it wasn’t for a few flop shots and a couple of chip and runs I would have been about worthless.

That’s it for now…Have a good one.

Waiting...Waiting...Waiting and The Mooooookie

The anticipation of a phone call can drive you insane. I was hoping to get a phone call tonight regarding Softball E’s tryouts over the weekend. I know that she made the team but it’s never official until it’s official. The best will be having her face her old team later this fall. Her new team will be playing a fall schedule and two of the games will be against her old team. The girls are afraid of her and I want her to shove the ball down their throat. I guess I’m still pissed at the friggin coach.

I tried to repeat my Razz success but it can up way short. The hands that held on Friday got chased down tonight. That’s ok because I played well and read my hands well. I made up for it all playing SNGs for a bit and ended up over all.

Tomorrow is Wednesday which means the Mookie on Full Tilt.

Tournament: The Mookie
When: Wednesday. 9pm CT
Game: NLHE Deepstack
Buyin: $10+1
Password: vegas1

I’m in for Vegas in December. Yes, Mrs. PE and I will be making the trip to the state that brought you the Comstock Load. I’m not sure of any of the arrangements but I will be making the trip. I’m looking at the 6th through the 10th and expect to have a great time.

That’s it for tonight. Have a great Wednesday.

Razz is Still My Friend and a Weekend of Tryouts

It was a crazy weekend in the PE’s world. I’ll try to keep it segregated into sections as well as possible but I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed so give me a little room for error.

Friday night started out like crap. I jumped onto the poker machine around 8:00 and signed up for the $3 turbo to get things started. A short time in, like the first 10 hands, I find KK in the big blind. There are two limpers when the button puts in a nice raise and it is folded to me. I re-pop it to 900 hoping to take it down or get heads up with the button. But one of the limpers pushes and the button calls. I have to call and to my joy the limper holds AK and the button has 77. An ace hits and I get knocked out early.

Bad beats happen so I take a step back and play a SNG and marvel at guys calling bets with over cards and counter fitting my flopped two pair with runner runner joy. So with my spirits high I made the decision to play the Razz MTT that was just getting ready to go.

Now if you’ve read me in the past you’ll know I’ve had some good luck with Razz because of my donkey like skills so I figured playing with the donkeys would be good. I started out slow and steady by only getting involved with good hands and letting the skilled players pay me off. It worked well and at one point I was the chip leader. Then like every other game I had to work through some card dead times and before I knew it I was back to an average stack. The bubble broke with me sitting back in 6th place and I worked to maintain my position as the final table approached. When we were down to 8 I stayed patient and moved up in spots by letting others bust. I was down to 1800 chips and cards dead when I went on an epic run and within 6 hands I was the chip leader. I kept the pressure on and when we got to heads up I held a 2-1 chip lead. A few hands in I was dealt the A23 and caught a 5 on 5th street. My opponent held a 9 and I made the decision to get as many chips in the middle as possible with a fabulous draw. I then hit 2 queens and a king to give away my chips. Now with even stacks I was card dead and with the levels at 1500/3000 this is not the time to run out of luck. I had to throw away a bunch of hands and made some calls that bricked and then I was behind. The killer was the guy calling me down with a 10 when I had 3 low cards up. They had paired twice but I kept the pressure on and I hit another low number. On the last card I hit my 3rd pair and bet out at his at best made 10 and he called. I was out the next hand.

I’ll take the 2nd place and my 3rd final table of the week and 4th this month.

Saturday was a day of tryouts and driving. Softball E. did well at both tryouts as she attempted to move on to a new team. At the first one she threw very well and hit the ball like crazy. She threw all strikes, including her change ups and she hit line drives into the screen protecting the pitcher. It was a huge success with only one problem. They only had 2 spots and they wanted a catcher and a utility player. If I had to rate her vs. all the other players trying out I’d say she was top 5 but not top 2.

In her other tryout she rocked them and there is no doubt in my mind that she’ll make the team. She hit the guy feeding the pitching machine 4 times with line drives and had another session of throwing strikes.

After getting home I cleaned up and headed to a show featuring a Led Zeppelin tribute band with my wife. We had a great time and strolled in around 2 am.

Sunday we went back to one of the tryouts and started over again. As SE started her workout one of the coaches said to me “I was going to call you and tell you it wasn’t necessary to come back today”. That’s code for we have a spot on our team. We are now very happy. We won’t know for sure until Wednesday but I know it is in the bag.

So it was a great weekend at the house and I even get to play golf on Thursday and get paid for it. What more can I ask for.

Can You Drill it Out

The pain in my head doesn’t seem to want to go away. I just have to remember that it feels better when it stops hurting.

I play a little yesterday but didn’t do well. The one tourney I was doing well was I lost a big chunk of my stack when I raised from the SB with AJ and the BB called. The flop missed and I made a continuation bet and when the turn missed I fired another bullet and he called. The river gave me a jack but I wasn’t happy so I went into check call mode. He bet and I called and paid off his pocket aces. I had no idea he had those by the way he played. I wasn’t on life support but I now had a shortish stack. My nemesis was knocked out a little later and so at least I outlasted him. Anyway, Whe n my M got smaller I ramped up the aggression and chipped up a little. I ended my night when I oushed over a limper while holding AQ. He held JJ but I caught a queen on the flop…he caught a jack and I was done.

It was frustrating all night as players called with over cards and hit or they were given they’re 3 outer to put me in my place. I was even counterfeited twice when I flopped 2 pair. So I guess I made some good plays overall and was rewarded with pain. Maybe I am a masochist.

The big softball tryout weekend is upon us so we will be driving a bit as we look for the golden egg.

Fun at the Mookie and a Little Life Tilt

I went on a bit of life tilt yesterday after Softball E’s coach called and said she didn’t make next years team. He explained that he thought it was in her best interest to find another team to play for that can give her more innings to pitch because he can’t give them to her. He also said that he thinks she had the most ability of the pitchers on last years team. I asked him if there were any other reasons for this decision and he said he didn’t think she would get regular playing time a other positions. So she went from being the short stop and leading hitter on the team to not being good enough to play.?

Like I said, major life tilt insued. But after I thought about it a while I realized that she wasn’t going to play for that team anyway. SE and I had already made up our minds that she was going for the Northern Illinois Thunder and or the Aurora Raiders and would play for either of these teams before her old team. She actually got the news first and I heard her say “yes” when he said she didn’t make the team so I think all will be well. I know she told her former teammates that she was trying out for these other teams an since two of the girls belong to the coaches there was no way the coaches didn’t know. I’m sure they realized that she was moving on and made a preemptive decision in there own best interest.

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Had a solid night last night by cashing in a few sngs and going very deep in the Mookie and cashing in the Dookie. The Mookie was crazy. I threw away QQ after a raise and a re raise happened in front of me. It turned out to be the right decision as one player held KK and the other held AK. A little later I threw away AA post flop after a KKx flop. I smelled over bet for value on the straight push so I folded. This knocked me down to 2100 chips and losing ground fast. I had been playing tight the button a big raise. This player had been playing a loose game so I re-bumped it and he pushed with his big stack. I was getting better then 3-1 to call with only 2 hands dominating me so I called with my AK sooted as he turns over QQ. I hit the donkey flush and moved to 4500 chips.

Later I found JJ in middle position and raised to 800 after 2 limper. One player pushed for 500 more with QJ and hit a queen on the river to take part of my stack. A few hands later the aggressive guy over bets in front of me and I see TT. I push and he calls with AK but my tens hold to put me at over 6K. I lost a few chips back when I raised pre-flop and was called my continuation bet didn’t work and I had to dump my hand. I chipped up a little and hit pay dirt when I found QQ and doubled up.

When we hit the final table I was sitting in 5th play and doing well. Then one of the worst runs of card deadness hit. I tried to maintain my stack but slowly lost ground. I was still sitting with a solid stack when we got to the bubble when I raised from the button with QT. The BB called and the flop hit with a Q so I pushed. But he held a Q and a K and flopped a boat and turned quads.

Still a good game overall and a little unlucky at the end.

I could go into my Dookie cash but being that it was turbo HORSE I won’t. To much luckbox action in that game.

Anyway, I’m over my tilt and ready for anything.

Barry Bonds...Is he the Greatest?

Let’s start with something near and dear to my heart. I was watching as Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run last night and I found it a moving experience. Most of us will never be in a position of greatness like he was last night and I honor his achievement. Many will say it is a tainted record but I see it differently. Any advantage he used is no different than what others have done in the past. If you remember, in the 80’s there was a situation where many major league ball players got in trouble for using speeders to stay up during the long grind of a 162 game season. How is this any different than what Barry has been accused of? They used artificial means to maintain or improve the quality of their game. And take a guy like Gaylord Perry. He admitted to doctoring baseball to get more movement and thus make it harder for batters to achieve success. He is a hall of fame player.


I am in no way saying that I agree with what Barry is accused of doing but I think it is hypocritical to place standards on a man who has done nothing different than other players have done in the past. If it wasn’t for the fact that he approached and eventually broke the most hallowed record in sports this wouldn’t be an issue.

Years ago, when I was still playing ball, players from my team had a discussion on who the greatest players at each position is. One guy mentioned Barry Bonds as the greatest left fielder. This was 8 years ago. There were arguments from almost everybody but it was, in my honest opinion, a foreshadowing of things to come. I think there is no question that Babe Ruth was the best of all time but I think that it could be said that Bonds is the best of his era. 7 MVP awards speak for it self.

That’s enough on this issue unless someone has a comment.

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Mrs. PE had her .. birthday yesterday so we went out for a nice dinner and she got a free margarita to go with it. We had a cake back at home that was made by the kids and we opened presents before sitting down and watching a movie. Not an exciting night but a celebration none the less.

It is Wednesday so play the Mookie on Full Tilt. The password is vegas1 and the tourney is filled with donkeys of various skills. It’s also a deep stack event so you get the extra play that more chips allows you experience.

Thanks for the comments from Shelly and Trip. I know it was the right thing to do because I’m so full if integrity. Maybe I’m full of something else.

Anyway, have a great day and maybe I’ll see you on the virtual felt.

A Letter From Full Tilt and Some of My Game

Hello Pokerenthusiast,
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Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support, and we appreciate your patience in this matter.

I have reviewed the chat logs for this particular tournament and do notice that player alexsundiego is out of line with his chat. I have issued alexsundiego a stern warning at this time, and should they commit such a chat violation again, I will not only revoke their chat but they will also forfeit any winnings they gain from the tournament.

We appreciate it very much that you brought this to our attention and wish you the best of luck on our tables.

Regards,
Ian
Full Tilt Poker Support

This guy was talking about his hand during much of this tourney and I felt he was out of line. I don’t mind players calling and checking down a short stack but discussing his cards in the chat is to much. Maybe I’m crying a little but he did it on three separate occasions including the hand that knocked me out in 3rd. After dry the tears from my eye I asked FT to look into the issue and they did. Its really the idea that you shouldn’t talk about your hand while the hand is in progress. Yes I’m being a cry baby.

I played a little last night. I stuck to some low level Razz and made a little by playing semi-tight. I called with position a few times and won a few hands when the board hit me and missed my opponent. I only got sucked out on one time but it cost me a chunk as he chased to the end and caught his hand. He did have 7 outs so it wasn’t to horrible I guess.

I was looking at my MTT numbers over multiple site and realized that I play the same every where. I’m cashing in 22-24% of the tourneys I play and have been final tabling 8-10%. I would like the final table number to be a little higher but I think it is a good number. The I also think that the cash percentage is a little to high. I’d like to lower it a bit to improve my final table percentage. I think 16% cashes and a final table of 11-13% would get me a better overall return.

I also realize that I need to play higher stacks to make any real money so I need to buckle down and hit some numbers so I can move up. I feel back on my game so I’m expecting to hit a nice one soon. We’ll see what happens.

MTT Strategy and My Trip West

I was going to write an uber post about my MTT strategy but then I read this one and it did the job for me. I follow a lot of the strategy that surf wrote down with maybe a little more tightness in the beginning stages. I also had a good discussion with him on the girly chat about playing non-typical hands in position against players that can double you up. I guess I should say non-typical for me. Anyway, I think he hits it on the head so instead of rewriting something that is spot on, I’ll just link it up and give him credit for the idea.

I played a couple of tourneys over the weekend and was knocked out near the bubble in each event. I had a read on one player and felt that I could make him lay a hand down but failed to pull the trigger with my 84 suited. I still had a nice stack so I let it go but I think I should have made the play in retrospect. I had been very active early on but tightened up for about 4 orbits before this opportunity. I would have had live cards unless he had a big pair and he was in a steal position. Next time I make the play and go deep. In the other tourney, I pushed with a smallish stack, from the SB, into the BB. I held K4 suited buy was just trying to but the pot. He called with K6 for 40% of his stack and busted me. I don’t mind this play but I think I would have trouble calling with his hand.

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My crazy trip to New Mexico and LA ended at 7:00 am Saturday morning as I walked through the back door of my home. I got about an hour of sleep before the kids came and woke me up for the day.

Softball E. made it through the first weekend of tryouts and is ready to go for the next group. I’m really hoping she makes one of these other teams because I don’t like the coaching ideals the two coaches on her current team have. We’ll see what happens.

Mrs. PE turns .. years old tomorrow so we will have a great time celebrating the anniversary of her birth.

Have a great day.

Time Moves Slow Sometimes

I’m sitting in the Albuquerque Airport waiting for my delayed flight. I actually got here on time last night but I can’t say the same for two others who were going to meet us here. The had to make an emergency landing in Lubbock Texas because an engine was over heating. One of the guys fell asleep during the flight and woke up to flashing lights and emergency vehicles. Not the way I would like to be woken up.

Tonight I’ll try to play some poker by playing a MTT or two. It is also Mookie night so maybe I’ll play put with flying to the LA area and the time delay it will be hard to do.

That’s about it for today. Have a great day.