Back to the Tables

We’ll we returned from our trip in time to make it to the Good Friday service at church. There is nothing like the anniversary of the crucifixion to cheer me up. Anyway, after we got the kids in bed I hit the tables by playing a .05/.10 NL full ring games. My original investment of $10 was increased early when I hit top pair on the flop and ended with quads. My only regret was that my opponent only had $2 with his pocket aces. I hit quads again later when my pocket 4s were met by pocket 4s and an ace high flop. I check/called the first two bets before coming back over the top on the river. He was another short stack but put me up to $16 when this hand happened.

An early position short stack raises it to .40 with the button, SB, and the BB (me) calling. I held QT and wanted to see the flop. The flop is QT5 and the fireworks start. EP goes all-in for .80. Late position goes all-in for $2.20. The SB raises it all-in to $3.40. I have to put $3.40 to win between 8-9 bucks with top two pair. I call only to see the river 6 giving the SB the winning set of sixes. The other two players each held AQ. After the hand the SB says “ there was to much money in there for me to fold.” What ever, nice play sir. He eventually gave it all back to everyone else but me.

I did cash in a $3+.30 MTT on Stars but got knocked out before the big money. I don’t think I could have done much better as I was card dead most of the night. I did give away a large % of my stack right before the bubble on a stupid play. I had an average chip stack when I get dealt J9 suited from the SB. It’s folded to me and I raise it to 600 (blinds are at 100/200) and BB calls. The flop is J high and I bet 800. I have him out chipped by about 800 at this point and a call will leave him at 1600. He calls after much debate. The turn is x and I bet half his stack with the intention of calling but giving him a chance to lay it down with chips left. He uses up his time bank before calling. The river is x and I’m not sure what to do. He wont fold if I bet but will he bet if I check? I check as does he. I lose to his JT. At least I cashed but that would have been a good pot for me. Anyway, he still got knocked out before I did but not by much.

That’s about it for poker.
We have practice tonight, Wednesday, Thursday, Three times on Saturday, and then our first tourney. We’ll see how we look as it isn’t an open tournament and should be able to compete.

Florida Trip Report

Well after a short respite I’m back. I know that everyone is jumping out of their seats waiting for a trip report so I’ll do the best I can.

Thursday the 6th.

After a grueling day of work that saw me inundated with last minute issues, we packed the van for the first leg of our trip. Of course no trip is complete with out an “oops, I forgot my swimming suit” or any other number of things. In all we returned home for the swimsuit, my hat, and some gogurt for the kids. We officially hit the road at 5:58, 2 minutes ahead of schedule. Dinner consisted of various food items from Culver’s. The kids watched Space Balls and Short Circuit. We arrived in Paducah Kentucky at 12:03, 42 minutes ahead of map quest.

Friday the 7th.

We have a breakfast of biscuits and gravy at the hotel. We hit the road around 8:00 and head for Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum. We get there around noon, which is now 1:00. They had an interesting assortment of old railcars and other memorabilia but it was a letdown for most of us. The highlight was riding a train to an area that has a turn-about and coming back to the station. The real excitement was seeing all of this stuff through the eyes of my son. He was in 4-year old heaven. So we continue on to Douglas Georgia by going through Atlanta during rush hour. It wasn’t a great time to be going through but it wasn’t like driving in Chicago traffic. Anyway, we at a Shoney’s and got to my friends house around 9:00. It was the first time I saw his new house and now realize how expensive it is to live in the Chicago suburbs. He bought his house for $105,000 but it would easily get $250,000 where I live.

Saturday the 8th.

We slept in because my friend was doing a live remote for the radio station he works for and we wanted to see him in action. When we arrived at the remote we saw tons of racecars so we hade to check them out with my son. Anyway, we at lunch at a Huddle House and hit the road about 1:00. We saw numerous signs for strip joints but I didn’t think I could talk my wife into stopping so I didn’t bring it up. One of them even said couples welcome but I think the kids would have felt bad about being locked in the car. When we arrived in Apollo Beach at my mother we found the house empty so we took a tour of the town. 5 minutes later we were back and so was my mom. We hit the beach for the sunset and had burgers on the grill.

Sunday the 9th.

Went to the pool and waited for my nephew to arrive. He flew into Tampa Bay and stayed there at the same time. We also checked out a new beach because the one by my mother’s house was lame. We had dinner at the original beach and threw bread to the flocks of birds.

Monday the 10th.

We went to the new beach and looked for shells while my nephew scoped the high school girls. We also walked about ¼ mile into the bay on a sand bar. Later that night we watched the Devil Rays lose to the Orioles at Tropicana Field. My nephew wasn’t feeling good so he left early with M, mom, and step-dad. The rest of us stayed for the whole game and returned about midnight. The only problem was that the front gate was closed and nobody was answering our phone calls to open the gate. My wife decided to hope the fence and walk the to blocks to let us in our selves. After a few minutes she comes running back and says that the house is empty. After calling my sister we come to find out that they took my nephew to the hospital because of his stomach pain. He ended up with a flu bug and a bland diet for the next couple days. When we returned, my mom was checking messages and realized she left the message for us on her home phone. I only regret not taking a picture of my wife climbing the fence. She caught a shoelace on the top and couldn’t get it off. I hade to untie here shoe to get her loose.


Tuesday the 11th.

We went to see the Manatees but were disappointed as they had already gone for the season. We had lunch at Beef O’Brady’s and went to a nice beach off of the Gulf of Mexico.

Wednesday the 12th.

Busch Gardens. We hit all the roller coasters and ate much over-priced food. It was the best day of the trip because we are all big fans of any roller coaster and my 4-year old son was just tall enough to take his first ride on one. The Scorpion is a smaller ride that has one loop near the beginning. He was wide-eyed and giddy as we snaked through the line anticipating our turn. As we approached our seats, the attendant re-measured B and confirmed that the top of his head is exactly 42 inches, thus letting him on the ride. As we accelerated into the loop I looked at his face. It was full of fear and exhilaration as we climbed into his first ever loop. The pure joy exuding from his persona was all I needed to realize that he’d be OK. When it was all over he was ready to go again.

Thursday and Friday the 13th and 14th.

Drive, drive, drive.

One of the best things we experienced on our trip was seeing an eagle dive into a pond to catch a fish. It was a thrilling event to say the least. We also had the pleasure of seeing a different part of the country. Driving through the middle of no-place Georgia and seeing old shacks from well before my grand parents time made me realize how well I have it now.

In the end, the kids did OK during the long hours of driving and kept themselves entertained for the most part. I think we will make the trip again around Christmas time but will fly instead.

Picture Dump

Cool colors in the sky a few hours before a storm came in. Tampa Bay.

A picture at sunset with the storm rolling in.


Remembering the day of share-croping and slavery. This shack is in the middle of what used to be a forrest. They strip the land and replant trees to harvest again in years to come.
Another Picture at sunset.

















A lot of driving but we arrived in time to see the sunset. The kids had the joy of seeing many trailers in the middle of noplace. There were many old shacks that had to be at least one hundred years old. Reminders of a time in our history when things were not plesant for everyone.

No poker at all.

We did get lucky and miss all the tornados in Tennessee and Georgia. Mother Nature's rath aborbs more distruction in the mid south. My mother called us, frantic that we were caught in the malstrom but relived we were safe.

My son B loved the train museum in Chattanooga, but it was a let down for me. I was looking for a bigger exibit.

Thats it for now. Ball game tomorrow.

One for the Road

I dropped a good portion of my tourney winnings playing at the NL cash tables last night. I couldn’t catch a flop all night and saw my big pocket pairs go down in flames all night. Jacks lost twice and queens were a nightmare. The best hands I had were out of the blinds when I convinced my opposition I had something when there was a ragged flop. I ended up dropping 2 buy-ins when it was all said and done.

I don’t think I’ll be playing any poker for the next week as we traverse across the southeastern countryside of our great country. There is a chance I’ll get a late night session while staying at my mother’s house but I have serious doubts. My hands are already shaking from withdrawal.

The good news for the trip is that we have a whole slate of new movies to distract the kids from each other. As we all know long trips with children can lead to anxiety and anger so the 15 or so movies we acquired should help alleviate the tension.

A definitive plus with this trip will be seeing my buddy Paul. We stood up for each other in our respective nuptials and always start our conversation where we left off, even if we haven’t talked for a few months. I miss hanging around with him as we have been friends for many years and have carried each other through many trials and tribulations.

I’m getting mushy in my old age.

Anyway I’ll try to post while I’m gone but otherwise will give a trip report in about a week. I don’t know any bloggers so no guest posts. Good luck on the felt and read you in a week.

Stupid Stuff

My 4-year-old son is already a sports fanatic. If there is a game on TV he wants to watch it. This includes loading up any of my EA Sports games and having the computer play against it’s self. Is this strange? Has his logic been skewed by my insatiable thirst for the lazy boy, a cold beverage, and the remote control. I know that I’m a great influence.

Yesterday my wife says that our daughters are becoming me. They come home from school and immediately look for a snack and wrestle each other for the remote. Even though M is 2 years younger I think she’ll taken L best 2 out of three falls every day of the week. She is wiry strong and doesn’t give up. Anyway, I view this as a compliment as my children see me and want to be like me. Now I have to stop being lazy and get off my ass while I still have time to influence their future behavior.

So with my trip to Florida rushing in a break-neck speed, the lovely wife reminds me that the kids would like to see a ball game while we are down there. Now being somewhat of a fan, I had already looked into seeing a Braves game during the drive south. The only problem was that their game times didn’t align well with our travel schedule so I let it go. But wait. Isn’t there a semi-pro team in Tampa Bay? You know, the Devil Rays. To make a boring story short, I have tickets for the Devil Rays home opener on Monday. Section 149 rows JJ. I would find it hard to believe I could get 8 seats together for any other home opener in the country this close to game time. Each of us will even get a free mug and a chance to win more prizes.

For the most part this trip will be our first vacation as a family that didn’t revolve around me playing ball. We’ve been all around North America but only because of softball. Look at the places. Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Victory British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Las Cruces New Mexico, College Station Texas (go Aggies), and many others. We even scheduled our trip to Disney World to coincide with the AAU World Series. I’m not sure how I’ll react driving across the country without having my equipment bag getting in the way. At least I’ll have a high quality baseball game to easy my withdrawal.

I’m working on a project for work that is taking up a major chunk of my time. It is a result of inadequate communication between the production manager, engineering, and I. It also involves ignorance on my part. So basically I have to reinvent the hardware assembly line process for the purpose of assuring quality. In a nutshell I’m taking every product we create hardware boxes for and taking the paper system and converting it to an electronic system. I figure it will take about two months to see it to completion if everything goes well. I meet with the boss the Tuesday after I get back to promote my idea. I guess I’ll take work with me on the trip. If I only had a laptop!

Since the beginning of this blog I have written a few stories about my life as I experienced it. I will continue to do this from time to time as a way to freely express these things that have influenced me. This is not always a poker blog. It is about life and poker. Please feel free to express your feelings on both.

When I started this post I was thinking of writing an uber-post that would take hours to load from the shear magnitude of mind-altering inconsequential dribble it contained. But as I move along I realize that I don’t have the eloquence of the good Dr. or the fluidity of Joe Speaker. How can I compete with their prose? I also lack knowledge of the game itself and thus feel unable to post quality articles on theory and/or new ideas. So I just ramble.

Who is the Poker Champ?

My first attempt into live blogging wasn’t very fun. Trying to express the situation with detail while staying focused is hard to do. I don’t think I did it.

We are driving to Paducah, KY Thursday night. In the morning we will travel to Chattanooga, TN to see the train museum and continue on to Douglas, Georgia to stay with a friend Friday night. Then we will arrive at Apollo Beach, FL some time Saturday afternoon. We will then hit the beach and burn our albino skin in such a way that I will be mistaken for a lobster or any other bright red object. Good times for all.

With my luck I’ll step on a fire ant and be engulfed by a brooding mass of the pain inducing insects. This happened on my trip to College Station but not to me. One of my teammates set his equipment bag on an anthill and they swarmed like killer bees. I really enjoyed the little red welts that grew on his legs. They made me laugh at his misfortune.

I almost got kicked out of a game one time for describing the length of my penis to an umpire. He said the ball bounced up and hit me in the crotch during a bunt attempt and I told him my groinal region is big but not that big and that it didn’t hit me. He wasn’t amused.

Along those same line I tried to get kicked out of a game at the ISCII Tournament of Champions a couple of years ago. I want to see if this idiot umpire would toss me if I didn’t swear. I made mention of his bad officiating and he glared at me with a look of disdain. I expressed concern for his sex life considering whatever sexual orientation he had and wondered out loud if his mother had apologized for what she had done. He wouldn’t throw me out. I walked back to the dugout dejected and alone. After the game the shortstop from the other team wanted my autograph. I charged him $5.

One of the girls on L's team is named Rhiannon. You think her parents like Fleetwood Mac?

I wanted 1,000 words and I got it.

A Recap of Last Night

It was an exciting night at the tables as I played a .50+.20 with 3 re-buys and an add-on. There was a total of 70 players with a 110 buy-ins and add-ons and 15 places paying.

I didn’t do a lot in the first hour other then chip up to around 2800. No significant hands to speak of. I took the add-on as I was only a little above average and wanted to get aggressive. I was a good move as I doubled up early with a flopped boat after calling a raise with 9T suited. From this point on I made it a point to put pressure on the smaller stacks and re-raise in position to steal pots after the flop. This worked well as I chipped up to around 13,000. As we approached the bubble, the small stacks got aggressive just in time for me to go on a rush and knock 4 out inside an orbit. When we get to the bubble, dealt QsJs and raise it to 6000 to buy off the limpers and blinds. Loose player in late position calls and has 12,000 left. I get a great flop of AsKsTc and check. Loose player goes all-in and I’m sitting good as my strait improves to the nut flush and his J9 is a loser. 35,000 chips and I start buying blinds from the medium stacks as they look to make the final table. 51,000 chips.

At the final table I lost a hand early after I raise and a player goes all-in. I was getting 4/1 on my money so it was any easy call. Hand #9 I get AT in the big blind and raise the limpers to 6000. Late position calls and SB calls. Flop is 3T5 and SB goes all-in for 8500 and we both call. Turn is x. River is a 5. Late position has pocket 4’s and SB has K5 for trips. How do you call half you money with K5. I don’t know but it worked. I’m at 32,000.

I win blinds with A9 and KJ when I’m dealt AJ under the gun. I was in the middle of doing my live report and folded without knowing it. The BB had pocket queens and hit quads on the turn with an ace on the board. Good fold. AK wins blind and then I lose a race with JJ vs. AQ. I’m down to28,000. 4 players left and I get AJ and come over the top all-in and get called by AT. I win and move to 40,000 with tree players left. I hit trips on the flop and get all-in with the chip leader and win to put me at 80,000. Next hand I get 82 on the BB and check as all three of us see a flop. The flop is 872 with 2 spades and small blind bets. I call (mistake) and other player fold. The turn is x and SB bets and I raise all-in and get called. He has 2 spades and hits his flush on the river. I’m the shorty now and get KhQh in for a raise with one caller. Flop is Jh8hTc and I push, he calls with an 87. No heart, king, or queen arrives and I’m done.

A little luck on my second to last hand and I have 85% of the chips in play. Both players were very beatable as their tendencies were easy to read but it wasn’t to be.

In the end it was only a $9 payday but it goes a long in the confidence department. I know that I can win one of these if I keep playing the game like I did tonight.

Other random crap….

I’m leaving for Florida on Thursday night and will try to post while I’m gone. For the 4-5 readers I have (I’ve gained one since the other day) please stay tuned for more useless information.

I will post on Thursday.

M’s in house 10u team is looking like it should be pretty good. They did well in all the drills put them through and most don’t have any major flaws we need to fix.

L’s in house 12u team is a different story. We have 11 players with 2 of them never playing the game before. We also have to develop a pitcher as a player may only pitch 3 innings in any given game per league rules. L will do fine for her three innings but I haven’t found the answer for the rest of the game. At least the other 9 players on the team are solid so we can hide the weak links.

The Cubs play in about an hour and the Sox play in about 2 ½. We’ll see if the Sox can bounce back from the crap they presented yesterday.

Playing at Noble Poker

I'm on a final table with about 28% of the chips, 10 players left.

11:52- fold 86

11:54-raise jT in late position,call all-in for a little more and lose.

11:55 fold84

11:56 fold 94

11:57 fold 63 and 92

I have 44000, next player has 23000

blinds at 750/1500

11:59 fold 74

12:00 AT bb and raise to 6000 2 callers one allin 2 callers hits trips I lose.
The guy who hit trips called my 6000 bet with K5 and floped a 5 then hit another 5 on the river. My ten no goot.

12:02 fold A4 to a raise.

12:03 fold T8

12:05 fold A8 to raise

12:06 fold T7

1 player down 9 left.
3 players at 30000+
1 at 23000
5 at 13000 or less
shorty has 7425
blinds at 1000/2000

12:12 fold 97 off suit

12:13 fold Q3
player down

12:15 fold QJ and 94

12:16 Q4 BB check fold

12:17 fold 85 from sb to a raise
player down

12:18 raise A9 frum button and get blinds

12:18 fold 56

12:20 fold K4

12:20 raise KJ winn blinds

12:21 fold AJ because I'm typing
Player gone

12:22 AK spades raise and win blinds

12:23 fold 24
player down

12:23fold 75

12:24 raise 44 and knock one out

12:25 fold 93

12:25 raise KQ hearts and call allin I lose

12:26 all in and win

three players now

12:29 allin and win chip leader

I lose chip lead as my two pair go down at the river to a flush

I'm done as a push with flush draw and lose.

good times for 3rd place.

Hit and Run

I had a hit and run session last night that was a nice addition to my account. It was a .02/.04 NL table and I sat down on the button. I folded for almost two orbits when I get 7h5h in the BB. There are 4 limpers when a late/middle position min raises to .08 with 6 callers including me. The flop is K96 with a heart. The raiser makes a min bet and all call. Turn is a 6 and raiser bets .16. This player had been many every pots without getting called down and his .16 bet seemed week so I pop it to .64 and all fold except the original raiser who calls. I put him on A9 at this point. I am behind but he is afraid. The river is x and I make a $1.50 bet into a $2 pot and he fold. Seven high wins. My attack on him forced him to slow down his attempts at stealing pots. A little later I get pocket kings in the cutoff and raise it to .60 as everyone has limped to this point and get one callers. A jack high flop and I call a .32 bet. The turn is x and raise his .32 bet to $1 and get a call. River pairs the J and he checks. I feel this is a trap as he may have been betting his jack so I check. He shows AK. Two good pots to this point. Right before I stop for the night I get KK again, this time from the small blind. The player on the button has been a real donator by pushing bluffs and slow playing big hands so I had a good read on his play. There are 5 limpers when the cutoff raises it to .20. The button calls and I re-raise to $1 all for except for the button who calls. T75 flop and I bet half the pot. The button goes all-in for $3 more and I call. He had pocket 2”s and I’m happy. When al was said and done I turned a $5 buy-in into $13 in about 40 minutes of play. It was a good session.

The Cubs started out the season with a 16 run effort vs. the Reds even with the poor pitching of Carlos Zambrano. Today Glennden Rusch is on the hill for the Cubbies.







The future of the Cubs middle infield?








I read some good stuff out in blogdom today. If you have time, checkout the links on the right and see what people are writing.

Crap

I had this whole post written when I lost my connection. I saved part of it but lost some.

Isn’t it crazy how we can be attacked by our own emotions while playing a game! Just a week ago I was spewing loads of trash about needing a new cup to protect my nuts. Questioning my playing ability vs. the lemmings of the world. Now I feel great because I’ve had a few good sessions at the micro level. I’m not God but I play one on the felt. The real issue is if I can stay focused after I get back in a comfort zone. At this point I just want to get back to the $60 mark. Right now I’m sitting at around $30 and looking to continue my prosperous ways.

Looking at my play I think that an area of concern is card selection. I need to open up more in late position and tighten up early. My play from the blinds has been ultra-crap as I’ve been completing bets and calling raises without regard to the other players at the table. The real adjustment I need to make is to raise/fold some of these situations. A raise or a re-raise can disguise my holdings and force the other players to respect my position.

I have this for those three or four people who read my blog. I will be in Apollo Beach, Florida from the April 9th thru the 12th. I’m just curious if there are any bloggers down there and if there might be a game I could attend. I believe Gracie is someplace down there but I’m not sure of anyone else.

Here is the summary of what I lost.

Go Cubs, Sox, and anyone playing the Cards.

Baseball is spring to me.

The girls had fun at the tourney and learned a lot also.

Insert picture here

Insert picture here.

A coach yelled at a girl for not hustling and I reminded the girls that we wont yell if they hustle.

There was much more detail then this but I'm not doing it over.

A Weekend Post?

It is a rare chance that I write on the weekend so you are lucky.

I playes a walkes threw a 6 player sng this morning for an easy win and a net gain of $6. Another passive table that allowed me to push people off pots. I had the right combination of good cards at the right time and the ability to drop a hand when I needed to. I did have a hand where I had AK suited when the player before me made a min raise and I folded. This player had not raised a pot all game so I felt I was behind. He showed pocket A's.

During my sng, I also play some $2 NL with some success as I almost tripled my buy-in. I made a good read with top two pair when a flush draw hit on the river. The other play had been cheeck calling my bets on the flop and turn and checked again on the river. I didn't bet and he shows the flush. Nice hand sir. I also gave away a $3 + pot on the river when I folded the best hand. The river paired the board and a caller came out betting so I fold my TPTK. Nice bet sir.

Anyway, I need to wake the kids as we are leaving for a ball tourney in about an hour or so good luck on the felt today.