SkibareAndPoker

2005-10-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY NIGHT, POKER NIGHT!

Yep, once again Wednesday night is upon us, and around here that means poker night. We usually have between 9-14 players in our weekly game. $20 buy-in No-Limit Hold-em tournament. If we don't go to 2 tables only 1st and 2nd place payout. If we go to a second table we pay 3rd place also. Fun game, lots of consumption of the adult beverage type. I hope I don't have a repeat of last weeks all-in preflop with pocket AA getting run down by the other guy's pocket 77. We shall see, but considering you should only see AA once every 220 hands I am not "scheduled" to see them tonight.

Played on Pokerstars last night in a $1 MTT. Was doing well in the 2nd hour, but was tired as hell and not really into it. So I proceeded, semi-on-purpose, to make some bad calls when on a draw, which I didn't end up making. Getting a little low on chips, and decided to call the table chip leader's check, all-in raise, when I KNEW I was beat just to end the game for me. Had it been a bigger tourney buy-in wise, I'm am 100% sure my attitude would have been different.

Wish everyone luck and will hopefully have time (while at work of course) to do a tournament write-up tomorrow.

2005-10-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 6358673

2005-09-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog.

Well, I guess I need to start blogging once again. Thanks to AlCantHang announcing the Pokerstars Blogger tournament with a large package for the winner! This means I need to update and keep on blogging. What a side benefit to being a blogger, although not on a regular basis lately.

Have played well, as well as played poorly lately. I was totally broke one night so I decided to search for a free tournament on Party. Found one starting shortly after I began my search. It’s been a while back so some of the details are kinda fuzzy, specifically how many frequent player points it cost me to enter. But I do know this, it started with 1296 players (late night so not as many as usual for this size tourney), and I ended up getting 6th place for a profit of $75. WOOHOO! I played a great, solid game. I would have to say one of the best I have played. When I made it to the final table I unfortunately didn’t have a huge chipstack but was able to hang on and make 6th. Now if I could just qualify for the “big-one” on Sunday and play this well I would be a happy camper.

Last Wednesday at our weekly game, I was exercising my “Patience #1 Grasshopper…Patience!” mantra when I looked at my cards and found pocket Aces. I thought WOOHOO. Being in first position and knowing how the table had been playing I limped in, expecting someone to raise. As expected, there was a raise and two callers to follow so when it got back around to me I raised it a significant amount. It goes around the table and one of the other players goes all-in, and I’m thinking WOOHOO. Next player contemplates calling (whom we later discovered had KQc). Well, I seriously considered folding, NOT, and called the all-in. The other player showed pocket 77. I said outloud, “don’t worry, he’s going to suck-out on me”. Board came out with 3 clubs by the turn and the person who folded would have had a flush. I had the Ace of clubs and was praying for another club. RIVER, the FREAKING 7d. No club for me and the other guy makes trip 777. I was severely crippled in chips now and was eventually the first person knocked out of the tournament. I have to admit I was tilting a little bit and could have waited for a stronger hand to play, but it was not to be.

2005-06-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Night, Poker Night!

Last night at our weekly poker tournament started out well. Even after several Coor’s Light in the 90 degree heat of the garage, which gradually went down to 83, I exercised great patience in waiting for a hand. First hand I became involved in I had an open straight draw with KJo. Rainbow flop, and turn helped to alleviate the worry of a flush. Turn brought a Q, river brought the A, so I now had the nut straight. Brother-in-law made a large bet into me, and I said “all-in”, thinking that we may be splitting the pot. Well, brother in-law didn’t slow down to really look at the board and think about what I may have and called me with his top two pair, Aces and Queens. Showed my nut straight and more than doubled up, and knocked the brother-in-law out of the tournament. I say more than doubled up since we had a couple players that called pre-flop, flop, and turn bets before folding.

I continued to play well and finally got down to the final 3 with a healthy chip stack. Then the stupidity sets in and I loose a large percentage of my stack at an ill-timed bluff. Still healthy in chips but not as healthy as before. But a few hands later I had to outdo myself and bluffed all-in, and therefore all-out of the tournament at the wrong time. Patience #1 Grasshopper….Patience! I need to keep reciting this over, and over, and over.

Well, after I got knocked out in 3rd, I immediately went inside and jumped on Party for a quick game. I kept reciting the “patience” mantra while playing and did an excellent job of it. Played a $10 SNG single table tournament. The first hand I get involved in after folding for quite a while, I double up and take a player out. Details are kinda fuzzy on the hand at this point since many beers had been consumed by this time, but I made a K high flush by the turn to beat other players flopped 2 pair. The next hand I get involved in I had JcJd, with a flop of Js3d2d. I don’t want to let anyone draw to the flush for cheap and by the time betting was complete, one player with a smaller stack than mine was all-in, and the other folded. I called the all-in, having started with T$1690, and only having to pay T$570 when all the betting was complete. Turn was a Qh, and river was 5h. For a board of Js3d2dQh5h, no flushes possible. So what does the all-in genius have, why Ad 4s of course, for the 4-out suckout straight-draw. Oh well, I’ve been sucked out on before and I’m sure this won’t be the last time, that’s poker. I guess he also thought his Ace was an out if he flopped one, but nope, I had that angle covered unless he went runner runner.

I played the rest of the game pretty damn smart for a drunk and ended up taking second. Would write a little more about it but work beckons.
Good luck at the tables.

2005-06-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Bloggers rule in Vegas!

After reading several of the blogs about the meeting in Vegas I became quite jealous that I did not attend. Hopefully the wifey and I will be able to make it to the next one, as I am 100% sure there will be a next one. I feel I need to start blogging again to be a “credible” blogger at the next get together. I know I don’t have any readers anymore (which means I lost one person, two max), but hopefully I can get regular with this blogging thing.

Haven’t blogged in a while since I was in quite the poker slump. I know, I know, “variance”. Well let me tell you variance is a true bitch, sometimes a bigger bitch than the Hilton Sisters can be. It’s not that I was losing a monumental amount of money, more just like letting it slowly bleed away in small doses. The biggest problem was I felt that no matter what I did I couldn’t win. I also noticed when the bankroll was low, I would play tooooo timid, not push the small edges, and definitely never bet enough to push someone off of their weak draw, which they always seemed to hit on the river.

Things are definitely turning around. I won a couple weeks ago in the “Jerry the Neighbor Guy Weekly Wednesday Tournament.” Our weekly tournament usually has anywhere from 8-15 people for a $20 buy-in. Winner take all, but usually a deal is struck and second may get his buy-in or twice his buy-in back.

The wifey and I took a little trip to a card room in Ebro, Florida. The nicest card room I have been in, but that’s not saying a lot since I haven’t been in a lot of card rooms. A friend whom has been in tons of card rooms agrees with my assessment though. They only have $1-2 limit hold-em due to Florida law, and it not being an Indian casino. These games can be quite loose. The wifey and I lost quite a bit the first time we went there, the next time not as much, and the third we more than doubled our money. It helped to read Small Stakes Hold’em. The downside of that cardroom is that you have to pay for your drinks, unlike Biloxi and Gulfport. I was quite happy with the third trip…buying drinks all night with the chips in front of you, and then cashing out for more than double your buy-in is quite satisfying.

Last Tuesday I went with a friend to Ebro again. Wifey couldn’t make it ie. No babysitter. We started playing at 4pm, played a 120 person tournament at 6:30pm and got knocked out within seconds of each other, and finally ended up at a table with a true maniac. He would cap it every round if possible with any two cards. He would bet, and everyone was so intent on trying to bust him they kept calling or raising. He went from one rack plus, with about $100 +/- dollars to about $380 in very short order. After a while I was down about $200 for the night, this being at about 10 p.m. which truly sucked. I had one more C-note in my pocket and almost didn’t tap into it when I went to the felt. Well, I got $40 more dollars in chips and waited for my shots. I didn’t just sit there and fold, fold, fold, waiting for premium starting hands. Helllll NO. They were getting cracked too often. The cards I played most were connected, and not necessarily suited when I had position. It was expensive to see the flop, $8, but if you hit it would be a monster since anywhere from 4-8 people would be along for the ride. It was truly insane, and if Maniac had any piece of the board or any draw, and I do mean any draw, he would raise it. Well it didn’t take long on this crazy table to make back my money for the night. I ended up taking quite a bit of the Maniacs money to end up almost even for the entire day. My friend took a chunk of money from the Maniac too. One old-timer sitting at the table to my left was totally steaming. No matter what he had, the maniac would draw out on him. I kinda felt sorry for him as many times as he bought in. I even took some of his money when he made the wheel on the flop and I caught higher straight on the turn. Can you say “re-buy”?

The long and short of it, playing at several different tables that day, and ending up at the maniac table last, really sunk home some key points in Small Stakes Hold’em (SSH). I felt like I made improvements by leaps and bounds in my post flop play with the maniac at the table. And utilized the “raise, raise, raise” with your strong hands and really strong draws. You do lose some when you miss, but by God, the pots were huge when you hit, which more than make up for the misses. When you do into some of the draws knowing you are going to hit “X” percent of the time it is easier to take when you do miss.

TELLS. I have really started to pick up and catch some tells on people. At the same time, the friend above whom has played in many large tournaments and placed in several, has basically been a coach for me. I have gotten a lot better at picking up some tells. Of course I have read Caro’s book and seen the video, but it has helped me to discuss them with someone else. He also watches me close to see if I am giving anything away. During the tournament he was completely surprised by the strength of my hands when we had to turn them over. Basically, I hadn’t given him any tells at all, and he even leaned over to the dealer and said “Look at my buddy trying to bluff at this pot.”
Boy, that’s a confidence boost when an experienced tournament player can’t pick up a tell on you. When I first met him, and found out we were darn near neighbors, I was giving him all kind of tells. When he started coaching me, the tells went away. He told me what tells he was catching on me, and of course I fixed them post haste.

Well, figure it’s time to go read a few more blogs, just to kill work productivity one post at a time.

2005-04-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

Steaming TILT, and the KK assault!

Steamrolled a $24 sng qualifier to the $250K Sunday Guaranteed at Party. Started off well in the tournament and was up over TC2100 early in the tournament. Then I get KK in late position and raise the initial raiser. He re-raises, and this should have been my first clue that I was up against AA. Well, being the dumbass I can be, and being married to my hand I put him all in. Of course he has AA and even spikes an Ace on the flop, takes the pot and I am now down to TC7xx (700+change), but still in the tournament. I get KK again a few hands later. Call a raiser of course. See the Jack high flop, initial raiser bets a good amount and I push, not wanting him to draw out an ace if he has AJ. Of course he doesn't have AJ, he has JJ, and I'm praying for a King. No king for me and I am out of the tournament #1620.

Analysis: First hand I should have seen the warning signs and not pushed pre-flop. After seeing the ace on the flop I would have been able to get away from the hand and still been quite healthy in chips. Patience #1 grasshopper...PATIENCE! Second KK's, don't know if I could have gotten away from it, but could have just called his flop bet and then go from there. You can't win a tournament if you're not in it anymore. If he had bet enough to put me all-in on the flop or river, I'm still not sure I could have laid the kings down. But I still would have been in the tournament if I had gotten away from the first KK vs. AA earlier. Oh well.

After I busted out, I was steaming and played a couple SNG's, of course I had no patience and busted out quickly, and quite stupidly I might add. The smartest thing I did all day was shut the damn computer off and stop bleeding money away on tilt.

Patience #1 grasshopper...PATIENCE!

2005-03-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

Big Poker Weekend

Played a lot of poker this weekend. I have not posted in a while due to being pissed off about losing a HUGE post I typed in. New tactic so that won’t happen again, write it in a word document, copy then paste onto my blog. That way is something screws up during posting I will still have it on Word and can try again. Have done this before, but for whatever reason didn’t the last time and it really cost me.

Played with the wifey and the in-laws on Friday night. No-limit ring game style. I was catching cards, which helped, and could limp in to see a flop rather cheaply. One hand I had 69s, limped in. Flop gave me an open-ended straight draw rainbow. I bet and was called by everyone. Turn gave me the straight 3-4-5-6-7. So I bet large. Father in-law (FIL) was the only caller now. River was a beautiful 8. Still no flush possible on the board and no pairs, so I now have the nuts. I go all-in, kinda surprised when the FIL calls me after thinking about it for a while. While he was thinking the wife said, “Sure would be nice to have 6-9 right now.” After he calls he turns up A6s for the smaller straight, and I show him my nut straight. He later said he thought it would be a split pot. Well, rather than buy-in (once again, since he had to before after not catching cards) I gave him $40 worth of chips. This worked out great for me since earlier in the day he had bought dust covers for my car at $40. These covers are installed behind your wheel and keep the brake dust from building up on your wheels. Common thing you see on Ford Explorers and Expeditions, and I have one of each.

Saturday night I couldn’t sleep and got up to jump on Party. Started with $94, and played some $1/2 Bad Beat Jackpot. Not really the bankroll for it but WTF, if I hit the BBJP I would be golden. Started doing quite well. Made enough profit to open another table, and then another. One great hand that helped the bankroll was KJo. I happened to be in the BB and the time and there was one raise in front of me, with (I think) 4 other players who called the raise. So, pot odds were right and I called the raise to see what the flop would bring. Flop was 9TQ rainbow! Jackpot. I checked and expected the first raiser to bet, which he did. He had a couple callers and I just called it the first time, courting disaster of course. Turn was a harmless 4, don’t remember the suit. I checked it again and of course the raiser bet it. Now I start the raising. So now there is a raising war, with a couple people dropping along the way. River brought a J, which is a scare card for me if the initial raiser has AK. I check, he bets, and I just call it now, no sense in throwing good money after bad if I am beat now. Initial raiser shows QQ for a flopped top set and my hand is good. Pot = $112. Gotta love that.

Another nice hand occurred a little while later. I’m in early position and catch AA, and limp with the plan to re-raise if anyone raises it. It gets called around with no raise. Several players now so I know the strength of my hand has decreased with multiple players, that is until the flop of AKx. Top set, K kicker. I’m happy with my hand now. I check, other player bets, and I call the bet. Slowplaying once again and hope I don’t let someone draw to the better hand. Turn is a beautiful K, so now I am Aces full of Kings, and the only hand I really have to worry about is pocket Kings. I thought that was highly unlikely since no-one raised it preflop, or after the flop. So now the raising war begins. I win the hand for a nice $80ish profit.

I was playing a variety of starting hands, looking at the flop, and laying it down if I didn’t hit. My bankroll may have been larger had I played a little tighter, but overall I was happy with my play and some of the laydowns I made. Started with $94, and finally went to bed at 0630 Sunday morning with $354. Not a bad night!

I did jump on for a couple hours on Sunday and ran it up to $425. So overall, a great weekend of poker for me. I just hope it continues during our weekly Wednesday Night Poker Club tournament at Jerry the Neighbor Guys house.

2005-03-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

Damnit, had a huge post for today and lost it all when I tried to spell check. Son of a bitch! I am not going to type it all again. SHIT SHIT SHIT. I am pissed.

2005-02-18T06:57:00.000-08:00

WNPT - Wednesday Night Poker Tournament

We had the largest turnout at our Wednesday Night Poker Tournament that we have ever had. Total of 15 players for the $20 buy-in, winner take all. We also have a $3 multi-week tournament pool going, which sadly I am sucking near the bottom of total points. The tournament is a winner take all, which occassionally the top two players will cut a deal at the end. It always depends on who the last two are and their chip stacks in relation to each other. During the tournament I only won a couple pots and never amassed a big chip stack. Blinds go up every hour and also each time someone gets knocked out. This blind structure has ended our tournaments that go until 2-4AM, which used to be a regular occurance when we first started this weekly tournament.

With the blinds rising, my chip stack getting smaller, I was finally close to 10xBB chip stack. Time to make a move. I get AKo near the button, nice! Flop is Kxx rainbow, sorry, can't remember the other two cards. Several people around the table call a small bet from an early player, it gets to me and I'm not going to mess around with this so I go all-in. Everyone folds around the table, and I would have been happy to pick up the pot at this point, and finally gets to the last player still in. He thinks for a long time, so I know he at least has a king and I'm hoping for a bad kicker, two pair or trips and I don't believe he would have to think about calling my all in for that long. So the longer he thought, the better I like my hand. Finally he decides to call and flips up Kc6c. Excellent, he's got kicker problems. I flip my cards up and he sees the trouble he is in. Turn brings another 6 for him, and now I'm in deep shit. To add insult to injury the river is another 6, for runner-runner boat for him, and an exit out of the game for me since he had me covered in chips. That's poker.

I don't think I would have played it any other way, with the blinds eating away at my stack the way they were. Just got out-drawn on.

After the game I went home, next door actually which is very nice after a couple of beers, and played on Party for a while. By the way, my couple of beers are in a 64 ounce insulated drinking mug, so roughly 5x12 ounce beers each time I fill it up out of the kegerator http://www.beveragefactory.com/refrigerators/beer.shtml which by the way is saving A LOT of money. The initial cost is high but the kegerator pays for itself quickly. We have 3 regular players in our tournament that bought them at the same time. The host of the tournament actually drinks free, not only at the tournament but at all times. People donate $5 per tournament night to drink from the kegerator. This covers the cost of the next keg, saves players money since they don't have to bring premium priced store-bought beer, and has the added benefit of not filling up a trash can full of empty bottles and cans.

So if you drink a lot of beer, or host a regular tournament where a large quantitie of beer is consumed...GET A KEGERATOR, you WON'T be sorry.

Back to the original story. Did much better on line and was actually up $60 for the night before I quit.

2005-02-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

QUARTER MILLION GUARANTEE ADVENTURE

What an adventure in poker this past weekend was. Did something I haven't done in a long time (mainly due to lack of success and impatience), I entered a $9+1 satellite for an entry into the Party Poker Quarter Million Guarantee Tournament. Played smart, kept reading my "Patience #1 Grasshopper....Patience" post it note on my computer screen. I didn't really get involved in many hands early on. There were 264 entries (if my memory serves me correctly) and an entry was paid for every 10 entries. Started to catch some cards finally and building my stack. Would hover for a while, be patient, and wait for the cards and get another bump to my chip total. Finally came to crunch time, action slowed drastically as we had to wait for all tables to complete their hands. I had enough of a stack to go into auto-fold mode, but still kept an eye on the cards. I only played the "ultra-premium" cards at that point and my stack kept growing without much of a challenge. Everyone was in the "I don't want to go out on the bubble" mode. Finally, someone busted out on the bubble and I won an entry!!!!!!!!! Patience #1 grasshopper (plus good enough cards at the right time)....patience=success.

The big game was on Sunday, total prize pool was a whopping $376,400 with 1882 entrants, with a straight buy-in of $200+15 if you didn't win an entry in a satellite. First place was $79,044, second was $39,898. I start out playing as smart and as patient as I could. Had to make a couple major laydowns, one with top pair but 4 to a flush on the board and I didn't have one of the flush cards in my hand. My starting chip stack of 1500TC slowly dwindled down to 980TC. Finally after 1+26 hours I pick up JJ and raise it to 3xbb. I only get one caller. Caller has over 7000TC and was one of the chip leaders on the table. Board comes up with Txx rainbow, Ten being the highes card on the board. Caller raises me enough to be all-in, I think this may be a "big stack play" because I thought he would have reraised pre-flop with a big pair to see where he was at. I figure nows the time and call....dumb, dumb, dumb. I would have essentially been left with the "chip and a chair" but at least I would have still been in the tournament if I had folded. My pair of jacks ran into a pair of TENS, yep, he had a set of tens on the flop and I am done.

So I outlasted about 800 other people, went out 1068th, and 1067 people did better that I did. Lesson learned. I WILL BE BACK!

2005-02-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

Good Night of Poker

Had a pretty good night of poker last night. Finished 2nd (no money) in the Jerry the Neighbor Guys weekly tournament. Had 9 players last night. Was trying to play the "modified hammer" which is 72s and bluff a guy off the pot. I didn't bluff hard enough. He called me down with a pair of 9's, even though the board had two overcards on it. Couldn't believe he would call me down like that even after I bet pretty hard. I must have given a tell somehow, I will definitely have to work on it, or next time pull the trigger and go all-in if I think he does not have a stellar hand.

I picked up some chips when I had T9 in the BB. Flop was Jc8d2d . I bet and was called in two places. I really liked the turn card 7c. I bet and was called by only one person. Really praying that the 3rd flush card didn't hit on the river. Lucky me, 3h on the river and no flush possibility. I was golden with the nut straight. I checked, thinking the other player would bet. He bet a good amount (damn I need to take a notepad and record some details to make this a little more interesting). I then went all-in over the top of him. He went into the tank, thought about it for a while, and finally folded his top two pair face up and said he was afraid I had the T9. Well, lapse of judgment for a second, and I showed him the nut straight. I was hoping to use this later if I had to go all-in on a pure bluff, which did happen later in the night. So, I guess it paid off to show the hand this time, something I normally don't do.

Later against the same player I get KK UTG. I bet 3xBB and he raises it. Everyone folds around to me and I decide not to mess around and go ahead and push all-in. He thinks for a long time once again and finally calls me, hoping I had AK or AK. He flips over his 88 and I show him my Kings. He gets some help on the board when a possible striaght shows up at the turn. Fortunately he did not make it and my Kings are good. I had 6450 TC (tournament chips) that were not in the pot already. When all was said and done, I left him with only 50 TC, talk about a short stack. He did make it through a few orbits and actually quadroopled (sp?) up before finally going out.

When we get to heads up we are pretty close in chips. I lost a lot of chips when John made a straight (small end) when I had top pair and the straight draw. I didn't make my straight on the river and called his bet (I wish he would have went all-in, I would have folded and saved at least some chips). That was the biggest hit to my chips and I never really recovered after that. We did battle it out for a while and I went AI with 55, he immediately called with 77, I get no help and the tournament is over.

I should have taken the deal we discussed earlier, it was to quit then and I get my buy-in back. I still had about 1/3 of all the chips in play and didn't want to just quit then when I could still possibly beat him. He wouldn't take the deal for second place getting their buy-in back if we played it til the end. Oh well.

And now for the post tournament play on Party. This was an awesome hand (for me anyway).

***** Hand History for Game 1568301619 *****30/60 TourneyTexasHTGameTable (NL) (Tournament 9430673) - Thu Feb 10 02:02:45 EST 2005Table PPM IV Supers Qualifier 723011 (Real Money) --
Seat 10 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10
Seat 1: skitrade (630)
Seat 2: mezoning (990)
Seat 3: attytess (590)
Seat 4: Thebigdogbob (670)
Seat 5: warby (1185)
Seat 6: thepenguin (720)
Seat 7: ChiSteel39 (1425)
Seat 8: TailBoom (135)
Seat 9: Johnny_Flash (885)
Seat 10: rareform1 (770)
skitrade posts small blind (15)
mezoning posts big blind (30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to rareform1 [ Qc, Js ]
attytess calls (30)Thebigdogbob folds.warby calls (30)thepenguin folds.ChiSteel39 calls (30)TailBoom calls (30)Johnny_Flash calls (30)rareform1 calls (30)skitrade calls (15)mezoning raises (30) to 60attytess calls (30)warby calls (30)ChiSteel39 calls (30)TailBoom calls (30)Johnny_Flash calls (30)rareform1 calls (30)skitrade calls (30)

** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ts, 9c, 7s ]
skitrade bets (570)skitrade is all-In.mezoning calls (570)attytess folds.warby calls (570)ChiSteel39 folds.TailBoom folds.Johnny_Flash folds.rareform1 raises (710) to 710rareform1 is all-In.mezoning calls (140)warby calls (140)
I called this with my straight draw, knowing I was going out, or have a huge chip lead. Thought the other players may have big pairs, top two pair, or a flush draw. Sometimes you have to be willing to die in a tournament and I decided this might be the time.

Creating Main Pot with $2760 with skitradeCreating Side Pot 1 with $420 with rareform1
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 3d ]
mezoning bets (220)mezoning is all-In.
warby calls (220)
** Dealing River ** : [ 8d ]
Creating Side Pot 2 with $440 with mezoning
** Summary **Main Pot: 2760 Side Pot 1: 420 Side Pot 2: 440

Board: [ Ts 9c 7s 3d 8d ]

skitrade balance 0, lost 630 [ 9s 7c ] [ two pairs, nines and sevens -- Ts,9s,9c,7c,7s ]
mezoning balance 0, lost 990 [ Ac Kc ] [ high card ace -- Ac,Kc,Ts,9c,8d ]
attytess balance 530, lost 60 (folded)
Thebigdogbob balance 670, didn't bet (folded)
warby balance 635, bet 990, collected 440, lost -550 [ Td 7d ] [ two pairs, tens and sevens -- Td,Ts,9c,7d,7s ]
thepenguin balance 720, didn't bet (folded)
ChiSteel39 balance 1365, lost 60 (folded)
TailBoom balance 75, lost 60 (folded)
Johnny_Flash balance 825, lost 60 (folded)
rareform1 balance 3180, bet 770, collected 3180, net +2410 [ Qc Js ] [ a straight, eight to queen -- Qc,Js,Ts,9c,8d ]
Well, I was almost right on all accounts. The exception being that there was no big pair on the board and there was no one drawing to the flush.

I then proceeded to play tighter than a virgin, not taking any serious chances and folding a whold heck of a lot.

And I HATE IT when they fold when I get this hand:

***** Hand History for Game 1568396309 *****300/600 TourneyTexasHTGameTable
Seat 3: attytess (830)
Seat 4: Thebigdogbob (1490)
Seat 10: rareform1 (5680)
Thebigdogbob posts small blind (150)
rareform1 posts big blind (300)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to rareform1 [ Kd, Kh ]
attytess folds.
Thebigdogbob folds.** Summary **Main Pot: 450attytess balance 830, didn't bet (folded)Thebigdogbob balance 1340, lost 150 (folded) rareform1 balance 5830, bet 300, collected 450, net +150

Damnit.

Then the dumbest play I made ie. DON'T get married to a hand and think someone is bluffing all the time:
***** Hand History for Game 1568401818 *****400/800
Thebigdogbob (3180)
Seat 10: rareform1 (4820)
Thebigdogbob posts small blind (200)
rareform1 posts big blind (400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to rareform1 [ 6h, 7h ]
Thebigdogbob calls (200)
rareform1 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 3s, Jh, 7d ]
rareform1 bets (400)
Thebigdogbob raises (2780) to 2780Thebigdogbob is all-In.
rareform1 calls (2380)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 9s ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Qs ]
Creating Main Pot with $6360 with Thebigdogbob
** Summary **Main Pot: 6360 Board: [ 3s Jh 7d 9s Qs ]
Thebigdogbob balance 6360, bet 3180, collected 6360, net +3180 [ Jd 5c ] [ a pair of jacks -- Qs,Jd,Jh,9s,7d ]
rareform1 balance 1640, lost 3180 [ 6h 7h ] [ a pair of sevens -- Qs,Jh,9s,7h,7d ]

***** Hand History for Game 1568406982 *****400/800
Seat 4: Thebigdogbob (6160)
Seat 10: rareform1 (1840)
rareform1 posts small blind (200)
Thebigdogbob posts big blind (400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to rareform1 [ Kd, Td ]
rareform1 calls (200)
Thebigdogbob checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7d, Ks, 5c ]
Thebigdogbob checks.
rareform1 bets (400)
Thebigdogbob calls (400)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Qh ]
Thebigdogbob checks.
rareform1 bets (400)
Thebigdogbob calls (400)
** Dealing River ** : [ 9s ]
Thebigdogbob checks.
rareform1 bets (640)rareform1 is all-In.
Thebigdogbob calls (640)
Creating Main Pot with $3680 with rareform1
** Summary **Main Pot: 3680 Board: [ 7d Ks 5c Qh 9s ]
Thebigdogbob balance 8000, bet 1840, collected 3680, net +1840 [ 8d 6c ] [ a straight, five to nine -- 9s,8d,7d,6c,5c ]
rareform1 balance 0, lost 1840 [ Kd Td ] [ a pair of kings -- Kd,Ks,Qh,Td,9s ]

Nice river to do me and and I don't advance!
Did get $34 added to my account but I really wanted the win, duh.

In other news, was playing 2/4 Bad Beat Jackpot during most of the game and quit UP $140 at the end of the night.

Not a bad night overall. Just wish I would have advanced.

2005-01-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

No Longer a Virgin!

Well I finally played for the first time in a B&M (Brick and Mortar) cardroom. As a totally awesome birthday present from my wife and the rest of the family I was given $440 cash to buy-in to my first “big” tournament in Canterbury, which is south of Minneapolis. The tournament was on Sunday, 9 Jan 05, a day after my birthday. The big “4-0” on case you were wondering. The original plan was to play in a smaller tournament earlier in the week but the weather was not cooperating.

Of course there was the birthday party the night before, which my sister organized, and many beers were consumed. This made for a rough start the morning of the tournament since we had a two hour drive to get there. So up at 6:30, out the door at 7:10, and the wife, my sister and I were on our way.

Arrived at Canterbury at about 9:30 for the 1100 tournament start time. No problem with getting into the tournament since the buy-in was $400+40, and according to management many of their bigger players whom would normally play the tournament were out of town at “major” tournaments. So with time to kill, what’s a guy to do but play cards? Got immediate seating at a 2/4 limit game. I have to hand it to the dealers, they were very helpful and courteous, and didn’t give me a hard time what-so-ever when I asked a question, or tried to raise when I couldn’t yet (remember this is my first trip to a B&M). Sat down with $100 in chips and was very glad to get up from the table with $140 when it was time to start the tournament.

I gave my wife the $140 in chips and said to give $2/4 a try. She is a good poker player but this was also her first time in a B&M. She lasted from 1100 until about 3pm and finally lost it all. Time for a little more coaching at home. I do have to say, she lost some big pots with good hands. One that I actually witnessed she had AJs, board J5XJX, so with trips and A kicker, she gets beat by someone with J5. I walked in on the tail end of the hand so I don’t know how all the betting went down. Another HUGE pot she lost, she had the highest full-house on the board, Queens over Jacks, of course the guy who kept calling/raising had QUAD JACKS. Ouch that hurt. I told her that everyone will lose money in that situation, just be glad she wasn’t playing no-limit and pushed all-in.

On to the tournament. Started with 35 people. First hand I get involved with I had AJo on the button, blinds are still low, and got in for the price of the BB. One raise in front of me, I call, after the flop of JXX (jack high and two cards I don’t remember). Player ahead of me bets, I call. Turn another blank. He checks, I bet, he calls. (Sorry I didn’t take a notepad now to record the details better, sorry.) River another low card, no straight or flush on the board, he checks, I throw a pretty good bet out but not huge since it was still early in the tournament and I didn’t want to risk too many chips. Other guy calls, we flip our cards up and bam AJ vs. AJ for a split pot. I have to tell you, for the first hand I got involved in, in my first B&M tournament, my heart was pounding. I was definitely disappointed that I didn’t win the hand, but at the same time glad I didn’t lose it.

I finally saw my first pair when I was 1 off the button. Chip leader raises it, another person re-raise, so I throw my small pair of 3s in the muck. Glad I did, would have made a set but would have been spanked by a larger boat that finally won the pot.

Slowly getting blinded down, played a few hands that I had to fold, and get the second pair I have seen all day, once again 3s. I am OTB and get to see it for the price of the BB. I get my set on the flop, push all-in and cross my fingers. I get one caller, he has AA gets no help and I double up. Woo-hoo.

First break and down to 21 players, I now have an even 10,000 in tournament chips (TC) out of the 140,000 in play. Chip leader by far is sitting to my immediate left now, he has totally dominated and called down people with the weirdest starting hands, and keeps beating them. So I know I have to be verrrry careful. Finally get another pair, two red 9’s this time. Get my set on the flop. Flop has 2 clubs, one of which is the 9. I bet large, but don’t push (which is maybe what I should have done, hind sight bla-bla-bla), chip leader is the only one to call me. Turn is a low club, scary with the 3 to a flush on the board now. I bet the same amount, chip leader calls. Hoping the board pairs with another club but it does not….but a damn club did come on the river. Now four to a flush on the board and I don’t even have one. No straight possible. I check, chip-leader bets enough to put me all-in and all-out of the tournament if I call, so I laid down my set of nines. Now my chip stack is hurting, but I felt I made a good laydown at that point.

Survived for a while longer and now have 3900 TC. OTB I get AKo, BB raises to 1000 and everyone folds around to me so I push. SB folds, BB thinks for a little bit and then calls. He has me covered in chips but not by much. We turn our cards up, he has AQs vs. my AKo. I felt good until the flop gave him a Queen. I don’t catch one of the remaining 3 kings and I am done. Out 13th out of 35.

What an awesome experience, glad I had it, just wish I would have done better.
Sidenote: Almost had a fight break out at the second table I was at. One player was giving a guy with headphones on a heard time because he was taking so long to react because he couldn’t hear what was going on. Headphone guy also happened to be the chip-leader (CL) previously mentioned who kept knocking everyone out. I think he put everyone at the table (except me, I found it kind of humorous that he was getting under everyone’s skin so bad) on tilt. Headphone guy (CL) knocked another player out and he was pissed, a different person at the table defended the headphone guy, and here we go. Words were flying, the knocked out player said “let’s take this outside”, the other guy got up and started to go towards the door with him. Of course management jumped in between the two and it took several long minutes before we could resume play. Wasn’t quite like it was on the premier of “TILT” but could have been had they not been on the far ends of the table (seat 1 vs. seat 7).

2004-12-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

AND THE BEATS KEEP COMING!!!

Not a good week for me in poker. Wednesday, flop top two pair fairly early in the tournament. Kept betting, one caller, put him on a flush draw. He would not stop calling my bets and bam, on the river his flush card comes. I check, he bets, and like a dumb-ass I call, and he wins with the King high flush to my top two pair JJQQ. Couldn't believe he was risking that many chips on his draw, but that's poker, and I'm still a dumb-ass for calling his last bet. Severely but a hurt on my chipstack for the tournament. Blinded down for a while, get KK, flop has a king. Go all in, with my trip Kings, of course there is a flush draw on the board, get a caller and he gets his flush on the turn. Nothing pairs the board and I am out of the tournament after only playing a couple hands. SUCKORAMA!

Last night played a ring game at home with family and friends. I could NOT win a hand! Or so it seemed. I did win a couple small pots. Other times got drawn out on. I think I only rebought about 4-5 times. Get AQ, flop QT8, bet, get brother-in-law as a caller. He has been a lucky bastard all night. Turn is a 6. I bet, he puts me all in, and being to drunk to realize the straight possiblity staring me in the face I call. Of course he has the straight and TPTK (top pair top kicker) is no good. Re-buy time again. (At this point I'm to drunk/stupid to just quit while I'm way behind). The rest of the night was the same. No good cards, everyone else playing any two cards and hitting with them. Another memorable hand was brother-in-law once again playing ATC (any two cards) with 62o. Of course he fills up the boat on the river and gets more damn money out of my ass. Unbelievable bad night of poker for me!

I will wait out this downturn, and sincerely enjoy the upturn...if it ever happens.

2004-12-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Not a good poker night.

Overall I sucked last night. Played in the WNPC (Wednesday Night Poker Club) weekly tournament held at "Jerry the neighbor guy's" house. Started with 9 players.

One memorable hand (details are kinda sketchy, alcohol was involved) involved me and a guy named Ricky. I'm dealt AQ and raise it. Had some callers, along with Ricky. FLOP: KQ7 rainbow (at least I think it was an 8), I bet, Ricky raises, others fold, I call. TURN: 6. I bet pretty big, Ricky calls. RIVER: X. I check, Ricky bets huge but not all in. If I call and lose I will be severely damaged in chips but not unrecoverably so, so I decide to call. I WON with the pair of Q's. Ricky was chasing a straight, didn't make it, and tried to bluff me off the pot. Pretty risky play by me, but something told me he didn't have a King, QQ, or AA. So I raked a huge pot.

Another memorable hand: Down to 5 players and get TT on the button. Blinds are pretty large at this point so I only call the blind. First card on the flop is my beautiful TEN. I think the flop was T94. It gets checked around. Turn is an X, no flush possible on the board now. Chuck, player under the gun goes all-in, everyone folds around to me and I call. I have him covered in chips. We show our hands, he has ATo. River is no help to him and my trip T's win and knock him out. Had to laugh because I have knocked him out a couple times now, whereas he knocked me out about 3 times in a row during our tournaments. Of course I was not happy with that at all, but buckled down, played smarter, played more patiently, and folded when I knew I was probably beat. After I "buckled down" I won 2 tournaments in a row. First had 14 players, $20 buy-in, winner takes all. That's $280 for a $260 profit. The next week was 11 players, for a nice profit of $200. Gotta love it.

Back to last night. Down to 3 I have the chip lead but only barely, as will be determined by this hand. Blinds are something like 600/1200TC (Tournament Chips). I'm on the button and get K8 clubs. Decide to see the flop and call the BB. SB folds. BB Checks.
Flop AcTcX, so I now have the nut flush draw. Jason goes all-in, which he is known to do with nothing at all. All I have is the nut flush draw going for me, but I decided to take the chance and put me in a HUGE chip lead and knock out Jason all at once. Well, the best laid plans...didn't work. I call his all in, we flip the cards and he has an A, for a pair. I get no help on the turn and river and he gets all but $150 of what I had in front of me. Boy that sucks! Oh well, didn't buckle down and wait for a better opportunity. I wasn't really in the desparate mode yet. Lesson learned. Execute and buckle-down better next time, and WON'T go all-in and risk my tournament life on a draw. (Well, that's the plan now, but you know how plans can change.)

Jason went on to win the tournament, the first time he has won it in the many months he has played in the WNPC weekly tournament.

Well, guess what. That plan didn't work. Went home and jumped on Party Poker. Got in a $10+1 single table SNG. Got down on chips early when I couldn't call an all-in, had a good hand but not good enough to call an all in. Here's how this hand went.
Me, in the SB dealt Ah3h. Call the rest (25) to complete the BB
5 players still in.
FLOP: Ad9hTh
So now I have top pair and the nut flush DRAW again!
I bet 50, player 2 folds, player 3 calls 50, player 4 raises to 100, player 5 folds.
I push all-in with my remaining 490,
player 3 folds,
player 4 calls.
Turn/River: 8s Qd

Player 4 has AT and wins it with 2 pair and I am gone.
Oh-well, the best laid plans...at least I did have top pair and nut flush draw this time, rather than just the nut flush draw only.

That's pretty much how my entire night went, thus depleting my small bankroll that was left at Party.

BTW, yes, alcohol was involved, but I have done quite well when alcohol was involved before. So it was a combination of lack of patience (the biggest problem) and not catching the cards I needed when I need them.

THAT's POKER!

2004-11-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

BUSTED

$30+3 Tournament at Party last night. Here's how the hand went down. Felt I was ahead when I pushed all-in, and was, but got rivered. That's poker

***** Hand History for Game 1183778769 *****roosky: I know150/300 TourneyTexasHTGameTable (NL) (Tournament 7217234)
- Mon Nov 15 23:29:25 EST 2004Table Multi-Table(131127) Table 29 (Real Money)
-- Seat 10 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10
Seat 1: quas342 (2625)
Seat 2: AJ699 (3551)
Seat 3: SocialD805 (6049)
Seat 4: roosky (5085)
Seat 5: REDARTYTIUQE (1121)
Seat 6: TomCrowne (2725)
Seat 7: rareform1 (2232)
Seat 8: mctessm (1037)
Seat 9: rcase_kc (2180)
Seat 10: YouChaseUpay (1886)
quas342 posts small blind (75)
AJ699 posts big blind (150)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to rareform1 [ Jh, Js ]
roosky: just a jokeSocialD805 folds
.roosky folds.
REDARTYTIUQE folds.
TomCrowne folds.
rareform1 calls (150)
mctessm folds.
YouChaseUpay: skr8rcase_kc raises (300) to 300
YouChaseUpay folds.
quas342 folds.
AJ699 calls (150)
rareform1 calls (150)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5h, 6h, 3h ]
AJ699 checks.rareform1 bets (150)
rcase_kc folds.AJ699 calls (150)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4c ]AJ699 checks.
rareform1 bets (1782)rareform1 is all-In.
AJ699 calls (1782)
** Dealing River ** : [ 6d ]
Creating Main Pot with $4839 with rareform1
** Summary **Main Pot: 4839
Board: [ 5h 6h 3h 4c 6d ]
quas342 balance 2550, lost 75 (folded)
AJ699 balance 6158, bet 2232, collected 4839, net +2607 [ As 6c ] [ three of a kind, sixes -- As,6c,6h,6d,5h ]
SocialD805 balance 6049, didn't bet (folded)
roosky balance 5085, didn't bet (folded)
REDARTYTIUQE balance 1121, didn't bet (folded)
TomCrowne balance 2725, didn't bet (folded)
rareform1 balance 0, lost 2232 [ Jh Js ] [ two pairs, jacks and sixes -- Jh,Js,6h,6d,5h ]
mctessm balance 1037, didn't bet (folded)
rcase_kc balance 1880, lost 300 (folded)
YouChaseUpay balance 1886, didn't bet (folded)

In other news: WON the "Jerry The Neighbor Guy" weekly Wednesday tournament again last Wednesday. That makes 3 time within the last 5 weeks. A nice little $220 bump to the bankroll, of which I gave the wife $100 for a trip she was leaving on.

The bad news: Bankroll at party=<$1
Oh well

2004-11-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

Moderate Success

Played a little on Party last night. Won a $10 SNG to begin with which was a nice start. Joined a $30 multi-table tournament. Didn't play any hands in the first 45 minutes, although I did match BB when I was SB a few times and had to fold when the board didn't hit. Then the following happened.

30/60 TourneyTexasHTGameTable (NL) (Tournament 6922214) -
Tue Nov 02 22:45:12 EST 2004Table Multi-Table(122514) Table 78 (Real Money) --
Seat 10 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10
Seat 1: rareform1 (870)
Seat 2: AntelopePie (1595)
Seat 3: YoungJova (1920)
Seat 4: MARKBEARD9 (930)
Seat 5: kmanSLO (1160)
Seat 6: tbm36 (2720)
Seat 7: NitrousJunki (1455)
Seat 8: filletnspray (865)
Seat 9: too_gq_4u_20 (1795)
Seat 10: orca_ (620)
rareform1 posts small blind (15)
AntelopePie posts big blind (30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to rareform1 [ Ks, Qd ]
YoungJova folds.MARKBEARD9 folds.
kmanSLO folds.tbm36 folds.
NitrousJunki folds.filletnspray calls (30)
too_gq_4u_20 calls (30)orca_ folds.
rareform1 calls (15)
AntelopePie checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Kd, 2c, Qs ]
Top two pair here so I am feeling pretty good now.
rareform1 checks.
AntelopePie bets (30)
filletnspray calls (30)
too_gq_4u_20 raises (200) to 200
rareform1 calls (200)
Gladly make this call, really only fearing a set.
AntelopePie folds.filletnspray folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Th ]
Kind of a scary turn card and worried about someone who limped with AJ. Fortunately no flush draw is out there.
rareform1 checks.
too_gq_4u_20 bets (1565)
With such a large overbet, I felt he was trying to take the pot down right here, if he had the made straight or a set I felt he would keep trying to milk the chips from me. Thought he may have AK, AQ, or AA, and I think I'm ahead at this point, so I go ahead and call, putting my tournament life at stake.
too_gq_4u_20 is all-In.rareform1 calls (640)
rareform1 is all-In.** Dealing River ** : [ Ad ]
Creating Main Pot with $1860 with rareform1
Creating Side Pot 1 with $925 with too_gq_4u_20
** Summary **Main Pot: 1860 Side Pot 1: 925Board: [ Kd 2c Qs Th Ad ]
rareform1 balance 0, lost 870 [ Ks Qd ] [ two pairs, kings and queens -- Ad,Ks,Kd,Qd,Qs ]AntelopePie balance 1535, lost 60 (folded)
YoungJova balance 1920, didn't bet (folded)
MARKBEARD9 balance 930, didn't bet (folded)
kmanSLO balance 1160, didn't bet (folded)
tbm36 balance 2720, didn't bet (folded)
NitrousJunki balance 1455, didn't bet (folded)
filletnspray balance 805, lost 60 (folded)
too_gq_4u_20 balance 2785, bet 1795, collected 2785, net +990 [ As Kc ] [ two pairs, aces and kings -- As,Ad,Kc,Kd,Qs ]
orca_ balance 620, didn't bet (folded)
The good news is I actually had put him on the hand he had, and I was ahead before the river like I thought. The bad news was he spiked the ACE on the river and I'm out of the tournament to a higher 2 pair. THAT'S POKER. I would have been in pretty good shape had anything else fell with the exception of the J.

In other news, played in a single table PPM IV Super Sub Qualifier for $7 and won. Went on to play the ($26 I think) Sub Qualifier and got knocked out in third place. No money, no nothing. Oh well.

2004-10-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

Extra Incentive

Peer pressure, gotta bow to it. I found a link to this blog on Felicia Lee's blog (25 Oct Foxwoods report) but it's not on the current page. Well, I guess I will have to blog some more to get back in the good graces and back on the regular list. I'm pretty psyched about being linked on more than one site, so I will make every effort to blog more. Promise! I will also try to make it somewhat interesting (no promise).

If you haven't picked up CARO'S BOOK OF POKER TELLS, do so. I read it all the way through when I first bought it. Did so with a yellow highlighter in hand. Just started re-reading it in preparation for "Jerry the neighbor guy's weekly Wednesday NLHE tournament." I feel I have actually gotten better at picking up on tell's people at the table are doing. One good one allowed me to call another players all-in and put him out last Wed. I had top pair, ace kicker. Board pairs on the turn, I bet, he calls, he goes all in on the river when a blank falls. Risky call as I would have devistated my chip stack, but a couple tells (I won't say what they were just on the off chance he may read this) made me call. Well he had a pair of fours for two pair, I had higher two pair and put him out.

I have also used the TELLS book to try and mix up what I have been doing as tells. Playing fast when strong sometimes, and playing slow when strong sometimes. It seems to be working as I placed 2nd out of 9 this past Wed and won the last two weeks previous to that.

Get the book, read it through a couple times, you will be surprised what you start to pick up on at the table.

2004-10-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

SECOND!

At the "Jerry-the-neighbor-guy's Tournament" Wednesday night it was obvious everyone was out to get me since I had won the last two weeks in a row. Well, playing smart, being patient, and playing well after the flop served me well, unfortunately I only made it to second place. With 9 players I was pretty happy with the finish since I still score points in a 14 week side-tournament we have going. So I stay in the lead!

One memorable hand, I was big blind and look down to find pocket aces for the first time that night. Player to my right, Chuck, had just said I was "a lucky fucker" on the previous hand. He went all-in. Having 2 raisers before him I pushed and went all-in too, hoping the other two would fold, fortunately they did. He had pocket tens and couldn't believe it when I showed him my Aces. He got no help and was busted out of the tournament. Boy was he mad. I was really happy to have my aces stand up, it would have been a major dent in my chips had he sucked out on me.

2004-10-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

BANK ROLL: The Big FAT ZERO

Haven't blogged in a long time, but will try to get back to it since I actually saw another link (the second I have found) to my blog from a fellow blogger. (Was that a run-on sentence? Who cares?)

Was doing well on Party, playing smart, then got really smashed playing one night, blew the bankroll, rebought (3x$50) and lost all of that too. Boy, some of the advice I have read about not playing drunk may be right after all. But, I will keep trying to prove that advice wrong!!!

I did do quite well at some games, utilizing the IGSTERs technique, fold,fold,fold then spank some ass with a good hand. Highlights:

Last 2 weekly home-game tournaments at "Jerry the neighbor guy's" (winner take all), I have won. Two weeks ago there were 14 players ($20 buy-in) for a nice profit, I'm sure you can do the math. Last week was 10 players, won that one too, unfortunately I was in for $40 since my wife played too. Nice to get all my money back plus some profit.

On Party: Played a $6+? super qualifier for St. Marteen trip. Won that single table SNG, which qualified me for the $24+? super qualifier (if it's called that). Won that one too, which qualified me for the actual $200 tournament. Limited to 80 players, 4 people win place for the St Marteen trip/tournament/spending money. Was doing great, at average or above average chips for most of the tournament. One of the biggest loss was holding onto 77 for too long, not flopping a set, and failing to fold. Forget exactly how much that cost me in chips but was a big chunk. Actually got knocked out in 14th place........could have been better had I followed rule #1: "Patience #1 grasshopper....PATIENCE!" Better luck next time.

2004-08-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

QUADs Galore!

Played a lot yesterday, both on-line and homegame. Saw QUADs twice whild on-line. First time, I almost double up (opponent didn't call when I went all-in after the river). This was in a tournament. So now I'm sitting pretty in this tournament. A while later with pocket JJ, Flop come J6x, excellent, top set. Opponent bet, I bet. Turn is another 6. Now I'm Jacks full of sixes. I check, opponent bets, I call. River is an x, lower than J. I check, opponent bets, I go all-in, opponent calls. wooohoo. Until the chips go to the opponent. He had pocket 66 for quads. Oh well, you can't worry about quads when you have the top possible boat. Lord knows how many times someone will try to scare you out of a pot when you have the nuts, but in my case the second nuts. Oh well, go from good position in the tournament to out in one hand.

The next time I saw quads was in the home game, able to make a little money off the in-laws. I actually had quads twice while playing with them. That makes 4 times I saw quads yesterday, too bad only three of them were when I was holding them.

Friday a week ago, entered a $50 buy-in, 20 person mini-tourny at party. Had just enough Coor's Light and previous luck that night to go for such a buy-in. Well, amazingly enough I won the whole damn thing, $400 added to my bankroll. Simply amazing.

2004-07-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

I Guess The Last Post Worked!!!

I don't know if writing about it got it out of my system but, I had a totally kick-ass Sunday. Playing at Party on a 1/2 Limit table made a profit of appox $62. Entered a $20+2 NLHE tournament, 1178 people entered. Played solid poker and waited for others to make mistakes. One such mistake that is a vivid memory (well, some details are fuzzy at this point): I was BB with K7o, table folds around to SB who calls, I check. 7x7 flops, SB goes all-in on what I felt was an attempt to steal the blinds. Bad mistake, he was also smaller stacked, I called. He gets no further help on the turn and flop and my trip 777's bust him out of the tournament and I increase my stack. Was a rather large stack for a while, not chip leader of course, but slowly blead that away. Got down towards the money, just stuck to the game plan and played solid/smart poker. Breathe, breathe, breathe, as a sigh of relief when I make it into the money with a fairly good stack. Kept on chugging along, trying to play smart. Don't remember exactly what busted me out of the tournament, but I made it to 20th place. My best tournament ever! Payoff was $164 (net profit $142). Add in a single-table SnG for $100 win ($78 profit) and now I am up about $271 for the day!

Side note from the multi-tourny, I only had AA one time the entire tournament!!!!!!!! Simply amazing.

Family gets home, friends come over, drunken chicken cooking on the grill, and guess what happens next......yep, a poker game broke out. Played NLHE round table (not-tournament) style so everyone could re-buy, leave, go get another beer, or whatever, whenever they wanted to. Ended up winning another $20 at that table before finally calling it a night. Overall, the best day I have had playing poker. Measly winnings by some people's standards, but huge by mine, especially considering how much I have re-bought on Party. Don't need a divorce so I won't put a total amount here just in case my wife actually reads this (LOL, just kidding honey, it's not that much, really......)

2004-07-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

It's Been Said:

I've read at other blogsites that a person that is not posting regularly is probably not happy with his poker lately. I can say that is my case for sure. No bankroll, just re-buy, re-buy, re-buy. Oh the humanity. I have been lacking in patience lately, and when I haven't been lacking in patience I get outdrawn. Like having trip queens busted on the river by a flush during a SnG. Queen was highest card on the flop, with 2 spades. WADB catches his much needed spade on the river. Oh well, that's poker. Sometimes poker really sucks. But once again, revert to the biggest problem of mine, patience!

Did do well at last weeks "Jerry-the-neighbor-guy" tournament. Ended up chopping with the other guy left. It was getting late and had the propensity to go much longer. That night I was patient and it paid off. Didn't get cards for the longest time and finally started a strong run that put me in the chip lead. Could have went way ahead about 2 hands into the tournament when I flopped a nut straight. Bets around the table, then a pair flopped the board on the river. Now I am very worried about the boat being out there. Jerrytheneighborguy goes all-in. I think, and think, knowing he is known for going all in with nothing, but also knowing he is capable of having the much feared boat (he has spanked me before doing this). Finally, I mucked my hand, everyone couldn't believe I mucked AFTER he showed that he had gone all-in with nothing. Hey, they weren't in my shoes and I didn't want to be out of the tournament on hand 2.

Also did well in a multi-tournament on poker. Was drinking Coor's Light (which influenced my decision to start this late night tournament). Did well and was about TC8000 when it got close to the money. Of course the speed of the tournament was at the pace of an arthritic snail as we waited for other tables to finish their hands. Finally made it to the money (pay started at 70th place), and it was time for me to go to bed. Went all-in on a marginal hand, lost, and was out 68th and in the money. If I would have won and doubled-up I'm sure I would have reconsidered going to bed. Work really sucked the next day with only about 2 hours of sleep to go on. Oh well, that's poker.

Have to work this weekend, the wife will be at our lake place, so maybe I can get a lot of good poker in. Hope it will give me a good reason to post next week, or maybe even the weekend. We will see.

2004-06-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

Tactic is working!

Long time no post, but had a spell where I couldn't get any poker playing in. Glad to announce the tactic described in the previous post is working. Did screw up over the weekend though, trying out the new multi-SNG's at Party. Wasted entirely too much money doing this when my patience was not up to par. Check out IGGY's post for 13 Jun. Has a great rundown about the new things at Party. One of the interesting things pointed out is: The variance is also going to be higher because only the top 1/6 rather than
top 1/3 spots pay, so you'll need more bankroll than for the
single-table SnGs. So I may just stick with the single table SnG's until my patience is where it needs to be.

Fortunately, using the "new tactic" I started on one table (.5/1) last night with $15. By the time I quit I had $105 +/-2. What a great aid to the bankroll. Also played several single table SnG's ($10+1), 1st-1, 2nd-1, 3rd-2, out-on-the-bubble=1. So overall it was a very profitable night for me. It also helped (though not much money-wise) that I got QUAD's TWICE exactly 15 hands apart. First was Quad 2's, next was quad 6's, for a net profit of $10.75.

Another profitable hand: Pocket 3's, board 3KJ, two other people betting and calling. Bet my set right along with them. Turn-K, got my boat, bet right along with them. Total net profit $19.25. Fortunate for me someone didn't have a bigger boat.

Good luck at the tables!

2004-06-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

NEW TACTIC

I've accidently discovered a new tactic that seems to work for me. Sitting at Party .5/1 NL (25 max buy in) I only start with $15. I have discovered, for whatever reason, that if I start with $25 I play too loose and end up busting out on questionable plays. Going in with just $15 I play more like I should, tight/aggressive, waiting for good starting hands with a good kicker. Had a good weekend and was able to pay for several SnG's with profits from the .5/1 tables. Even ventured into a couple $20 SnG for the first time and made it to the money all but 1 time. What a deal. I felt as though I may have turned the corner and will soon be able to stop reloading my insufficient bankroll on Party.

Last night was different than the weekend, got stupid again an went down about $30 total for 2 different .5/1 tables (after a rebuy of course). Wasn't catching cards and basically was just there for the spanking and donating money to other people's accounts. Tonight is the neighbors tournament, and if I can get a "kitchen pass" from the "supreme domestic commander" (the wife), I intend to play tonight. We shall see.

Iggy is up and blogging like the champ he is again, be sure to check him out. He is my first stop in the blogging world. Also, AlCantHang has an excellent bad beat story, almost like this one:

This weekend was at my typcial .5/1 table. Had K3o in the BB. Hey, free flop, great. Flop comes 3KK. Flopped the boat, holy cow. So i make a small bet, expecting everyone to fold. Two other players raise, re-raise, how cool is that! So right along I go. Turn X, more betting, finally getting 3 of us all in. I'm thinking one other player has the lower end of the boat now and is betting it out with pocket 33. One of the other players types a message about expecting a split pot, which is what I was kind of expecting, at least between me and another player. Well, river is an A, one of the players (not the one that typed the message about split pot) was holding AA, to make Aces full of kings, and no split-pot. Unbelievable he bet that much money on the draw with 2 pair. There must have been between 50-60 in the pot by that point which would have been a nice haul had I won, considering I started with my normal 15 at the table. Oh well, that's poker.

2004-05-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

FINALLY WON AGAIN

Played in the next door neighbors tournament last night for the 1000th time, ok maybe only 20th time and finally won again. My wife was able to join us for the first time ever and got short stacked. She went all in with AKo, had 3 callers, didn't improve and was out to a small pair. Was down to 3 players out of 7 that started, this tournament is a winner take all. Big stack took out the other player whom has won this tournament several times. Big stack Carl is the same person I won against the last time I won this tournament. He had me way outstacked so I needed some chips. Flop was a pair and I paired the third card giving me 2-pair, do or die time...all-in. He had a higher pocket pair JJ and I thought I was doomed. Fortunately, the only card that could save me came on the river, yooohooo. Doubled up by the river. Well, I went on a streak then and continued to build my stack. We went on for a couple hours battling it out. I had him outchipped at the time when the board flopped 48A all clubs. He didn't even look at his cards again and called "all-in" I had AQ spades in the hole. I thought and thought, considering the fact I would still have some chips left if I called. Finally (I don't know why but I didn't think he had clubs) I called his all-in. We flipped our cards over and he had AT no clubs. I was ahead! Turn and river failed to give him a Ten and I won. Scary call to say the least, I would have been severely decimated in chip count and it would have been a long battle back if he had won that hand. Felt great to finally win again, ironic that it was against the same player I beat the last time I won.

On-line I'm still the fish, playing too many hands, not stopping when I am ahead etc...But I will continue to read, study, read IGGY of course and exercise rule #1: "Patience #1 grasshopper...PATIENCE!" I'm getting there, just not as quickly as I would like to.

2004-05-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Cold Busted

That's what I get for playing probably 90% of the flops last night in a rushed session. Everything I played was questionable to begin with, and then definitely not playable after the flop. I was trying to get in a quick session before everyone came home and it was time to unload the groceries. Well, about an hour later, and -$19 later, I have not money in my Party account. Perfect timing, the wife's pulling in the driveway now with the groceries.

Bottom line: DO NOT sit down and play a rushed session unless you can be like IGGY, fold, fold, fold, then maybe play a hand. I was too impatient and my bankroll quickly reflected that fact. Time to make a deposit and play some tonight possibly.

Here's a great post that includes 2 of my favorite activities, poker and drinking, it's a great read.

Dead Money=AlCantHang

I definitely like his idea of getting some babes to ski naked, but so far we haven't accomplished that at the lake. Have no fear, I will not give up on this endeavor though. Unfortunately, yours truly has the most time skiing naked on the lake, came close one time to being busted by a sheriff's deputy, thankfully he didn't notice or plain didn't care and left us alone.

Good luck on the tables.

2004-05-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

Adjust-Fire! Adjust-Fire!

That's what you have to do sometimes, as I found out in a ring game held at home this weekend. Started off playing kinda loose to see flops and just have some fun playing hands. Calling when I knew I shouldn't, not folding when I knew I should, which is kinda funny considering how those two thoughts kinda go together. Anyway, we start off with 2000TC, which cost you $10. Buy-in, cash-out, sit-out anytime (unless the blinds are on their way to your seat). This works out well, as I was attending to the grill and the kids, 1-mine plus 2 visitors. To cash out someone just total up their TC's (tournament chips, even though it's not a tournament so-to-speak) and multiply by .005. It helps to have a calculator handy. New person to the table didn't have the word "fold" in his vocabulary, and unfortunately for me was catching some hands. Eventually I busted out and did a rebuy for another $10. Now I started playing a little smarter, and folding when I should. Made use of the fact the "fold is not in my vocabulary" player and started getting some of my chips back, unfortunately the game broke up before I could bankrupt him. He did have a lot of chips from my in-laws too, so he was a winner for the night. After all was said and done, my buy/rebuy=$20, total win=$31, for a net +$11. Not bad for a drunken pokerfest, just wish it could have went on longer so I could have made more.

One thing of note during this home game was that everyone would continue betting to the river with anything they paired on the board. I had AJs in hand, an A85 rainbow on the board. Everyone kept betting like maniacs so I folded, thinking I may be against trips (most likely) or another pair of Aces with a better kicker. No straight or flush on the board. The winner of the pot actually had a pair of 8's to win the pot, the other player was betting the pair of 2's. Oh the insanity. Needless to say, I didn't fold top pair the rest of the night and it paid of (most of the time). Like I said at the beginning of this post "Adjust-Fire!"

Earlier in the day, before the arrival of the guests above, I was playing on PartyPoker and wasn't catching anything. I mean absolutely nothing. Tried to make it work but ended up bleeding away about $50 in the bankroll. Was glad to have guests arrive so I could log-off and stop the bleeding losses. I checked my poker-tracker and found that for the 2+ hour session I DID NOT EVER get AA, KK, QQ, and only 1-AKo. Talk about cold cards! And this was playing 1 ring game and a couple SnG's. Ouch, no wonder the bankroll took a hit. I'm hoping that will change when I log on tonight.

Good luck, and see you at the tables.
I don't know if I have anyone that has actually stumbled upon this blog site, so if you have, drop me a line, tips, likes, etc...will be appreciated.
email me at: rareform1@aol.com
Put something in the subject line about Blogging or SkiBareAndPoker so I don't delete it believing it is a spam on how to enlarge my penis (although I probably shouldn't be deleting those messages if they actually work. Like I always say: It may be the size of a tic-tac, but it can go like a sewing-machine when necessary.

2004-04-25T06:09:00.000-07:00

NEAR MISS

Played on a 7+1 Super Satellite on Party yesterday which would have given me a seat to the 64 Million Dollar Tournament satellite. Win the 7+1, go on and win the 64 table and you are entered in the Million Dollar Tournament. Nailed it, at least on the first table. Won the 7+1 table so I went on to play the 64 table and hopefully qualify for the Million Dollar Tournament. Ended up busting out on the bubble. That's right, ended up me and another player heads up for the top prize. I started out with a big chip lead, but as often happens, ended up going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Finally had 77, not really strong with multiple players but OK heads up. Realize now I should have made a smaller bet rather than all-in. Blinds were pretty hefty at the time, don't recall exactly how much, so if my all-in coulda taken the blinds I would have been happy. Well, opponent had JJ, so he's ahead bigtime. Of course I don't get my 7 and out I go, 2nd place and no seat to the Million $ tourny. Rule #1: "Patience #1 Grasshoper...PATIENCE!" is working well for me now, that it, when I adhere to it. I still bone it up once in a while and don't lay down when I should, but hey, that's poker.

2004-04-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

Great, and Not So Great

Had a good night, for me anyway, on Party last night. For the first time ever I won 2 consecutive SnG's. Unfortunately they were only on the 5+1 tables. Can't affort to play higher stakes tables until I start doing this consistently. Also played in a super weekday qualifier, built a nice stack and subsequently blew it on a bad decision to bet more rather than call and lost a large chunk. Person I was against didn't have the nuts but I didn't even have the second nuts. Oh well, refer to rule #1 and repeat after me..."Patience #1 Grasshopper...PATIENCE!" That is what got me the nice sized stack to begin with. I shouldn't have pushed a marginal hand as hard as I did.

I also played some 1/2 tables. First one I sat down at my plan was to play only premium starting hands, but (not applying rule #1) that plan ended the first time the "Costa-Rican Dealer" spit the cards out around the table. Bottom line, didn't take long to lose $25.

Got off the 1/2 table to play the SnG's previously mentioned. Recouped the losses with the wins I had. Eventually sat down at the 1/2 tables again and promised myself to apply rule #1. Did much better and ended up in the black this time before I finally decided to go to bed. I ended up in the black for the entire night, playing for 4 hours. This is a good thing for me since I am used to being in the red. Maybe, just maybe, I can stay out of the water and in the boat.

Just a quick update and here comes the boss-man so have to at least act like I'm working. See you at the tables.

2004-04-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

What a week!

What a week I have had playing poker, and now for the high/low-lights:

Wednesday nights regularly scheduled "Jerry the neighbor guy" poker tournament ($20/person entry, winner takes all) was rescheduled for Thursday due to his birthday on Wednesday and the necessity of keeping your girlfriend happy on your birthday. So, we played Thursday (damnit, forgot to tape Survivor) with 5 people. Very first hand: I fold, two other players start betting hard at each other. Forget the suits but K,7,X on the board. Raise/re-raise. Two players still in the pot, one on each side of me. Well eventually these guys go all in against each other (sorry, so long ago I don't remember if it was before or after the turn, memory kinda cloudy due to many Coor's Lights). Turn is a T, River is a blank. Well Crazy Carl, who bets wild and you can never really tell if he has a hand or not, has 2-pair KK77. Lance catches the T on the turn, which definitely helped his pocket TT's. Crazy Carl goes down in flames to the set of tens, first hand of the tournament, setting a new tournament record for the earliest anyone has gone out, and hell, it wasn't even 7pm yet. So what's a guy to do?...hang out and drink with the boys for a while...so that's exactly what Crazy Carl does. If he had left right after losing his wife would have been suspicious, like CCarl stated: (Wife asking) "Honey, why are you home so early, your girlfriend not show up?"

Game goes on for a while longer and now "Jerry the neighbor guy (JTNG)" (from "The Cable Guy" movie fame) who is now the player to my left goes at it with John, across the table from me. I had long ago folded. Forget the cards on this hand, read Coor's Light memory loss, but they go all-in at each other. JTNG wins and John (the golfer) is knocked out. So there I sit in the middle of 2 guys that have doubled-up. I did get kinda short stacked, but nothing too life threatening. Played tight and only played premium hands, blinds still low so I got to see a lot of flops. Smart play, at least I like to think so, and good cards and I slowly built my stack up. Finally, the great hand I have been patiently waiting for, go all-in against JTNG, I double up and take most of his chips, sincerely pissing off the girlfriend. Eventually JTNG gives up all his chips and is out of the tournament. So now I have a huge stack, Lance is still alive and VERY dangerous with the size stack he has. We go back and forth for a while and Lance gets a lot of chips from me, and I get a few back from him.

THE HAND
The blinds were only 200/400 now. I am BB and Lance calls. I have 2d,3d in my hand. I check. Flop: Ad, 4d, Js so now I have the straight flush draw. I make a good size bet, Lance calls (as I find out later he has paired with the Jack). The poker gods whispered in my ear that the 5d was on the way, and sure enough the turn was 5d making my STRAIGHT FLUSH. Well, I almost fell the F out of my chair but tried my hardest not to show any reaction. I made a bet like I was trying to steal the pot, which was a good sized pot for a steal now. Lance says "All-In". Bells, whistles, fireworks, foghorns, and 72 naked virgins dancing in my bed (too bad I'm married), going off in my head. (Little history here: I have had my ass spanked at JTNG's tournaments for months on end, winning only once before when Crazy Carl and I were the last 2 left. I have placed 2nd in many of these but not won.) I immediately say call and throw my cards down showing him the STRAIGHT FLUSH. I win and take home the $100!!!! Of course I gave up half of the win to my wife the next day at the lake. What a hand, and what a great time to have it. Hopefully the poker gods will smile favorably upon me the next tournament I play at JTNG's.

PartyPoker, had to rebuy....grrrrrr. Finally, had a great Sunday afternoon, turning $25 into $140 before leaving the 1/2 table. I was in the zone, knew when to fold them, and knew when I was good to go. Of course, I had to jump back into the water with the rest of the fish (of course this was after multiple Coor's Lights) and squander away all my hard earned winnings late on Sunday night. Someone please remind me not to play drunk and tired. Tired being the worst of it, considering my little angel woke me up after just a few hours sleep Sunday morning. My own fault though, I was the one up playing poker almost all night Saturday night (which happened to be another good night for me) while she was sleeping.

Please, step away from the bank, it's muddy, slippery, and you just may slip back into the water with the rest of the fish if you're not careful. Ask me, I know!

2004-04-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Guess what? I forgot to make the sign!

That's right, I'm a dumbass fish still, a rather large one at this point. After my short time of success I have really went into the dumpster behind McD's. I have been impatient to the nth degree and the number of times I have had to put money into my Party account is proof of that. Some of it is not my fault, like getting sucked out on the river and beat by a straight when I have trip-9s (which also happened to be the highest card on the board). Oh well, beats happen and their only bad when they happen to you. The rest of the sucky play is all my fault and impatience...See rule #1: "Patience #1 grasshopper....PATIENCE!" Repeat it 100 times before during and after playing. Maybe it will finally sink thru my thick head. As a rule IGGY does not usually talk about his own playing on his blog, but THANK YOU IGGY for finally talking a little more about your play. I will try to emulate you and your play. I know (some of them) my faults and am working on fixing them. With IGGY's discussion I have renewed motivation to work on them harder.

Skiing News: Skied last weekend, barefoot only. Frontwards, backwards, front-one-foot etc. Only a couple good crashes when I got careless, kinda like playing poker. The difference: I just get a little sore from the crashes while skiing, and lose money when I crash playing poker.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. I know I have to! I will be more patient and wait, fold, wait, fold..................then play to win when the poker gods finally smile favorably upon my hand!

2004-04-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

The SIGN is NOT big enough!

My sign with rule #1: "Patience #1 Grasshopper....PATIENCE!" is not big enough. Last night I was playing a super weekday qualifier on Party. Qualifying for the super weekday was for 1-24 places, with 25-27 getting residual cash. Made it until there were 27 players left and got TT after not seeing any playable cards for quite a while. Decided to play them, had T6550 or so left, enough to sit there and do nothing but fold and hopefully not get eaten by the blinds of 750/1500 to make it to qualifying. Well, dumb-ass/no patience/gee these tens look great, decides to play them. Well like I just said, I am a dumb-ass, during the middle of the hand a couple others get knocked out, so I'm real close to making to making the 24. Unfortunately there is no button to get your money back out of the pot and I get the boot by QUAD-2s, which beat the hell out of my two pair, and out of the tournament I go ON THE BUBBLE at 25. Did make 67 (or 69) bucks on the deal, but had to go steam that off on a 1/2 table. So a net loss for the night. Damn-it, when will I learn rule #1 and take it to heart.

The sign will be a lot bigger before I sit down to play tonight.

Interesting article I saw in my local paper first and found online, Google, Yahoo dropping Internet gambling ads and the battle goes on.

Good luck to all, see you tonight on Party. Look for rareform1 and I'll give you some money. Of course any assistance in the way of a bonus would greatly be appreciated since I keep making stupid mistakes and getting my ass handed to me. Note to self...review rule #1.

2004-04-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

Slow Weekend

It was a slow weekend for me on the poker scene, not that I didn't play a lot. Had some good sessions and jumped in with the fish for a couple sessions. Actually was playing in a tournament when the wife got up from a nap and started cleaning house. Felt a little guilty for not helping so called another guys all-in when I felt I was beat. Had AQ in hand and an AQx on the board. Turn showed possibility of a flush. Called the other guys all in, I was either going to double up or be out of the tournament and help with housework. Well, cleaning the kitchen was not as fun as playing poker, but it had to be done. Yep, he had the flush and knocked me out of the tournament. Oh well, kinda knew I was beat, would have surprised me if I wasn't but it would have been a pleasant surprise.

Had quad A's in a 1/2 limit game, felt I was in the lead, kept betting, callers kept coming, the turn gave up an A, bet more, called more, river gives up the 4th A, not as many callers this time but took down a nice pot. Sorry, don't remember exactly how much but I was happy with it.

Couldn't buy a place in most SnG's I played this weekend. Out of about 15 or so SnG's only placed in 2 for the weekend. This is not a good thing for your bankroll. Got beat by the flush a couple times when I should have known better. Took the chance they didn't have it but they did. See rule #1: "Patience #1 grasshopper....Patience!" Don't force the issue, wait for the next hand. Live and learn!

Skiing news: None, didn't ski this weekend, just hung around the house and took it easy. Nice, quiet weekend.

Patience, that's what I'm going to keep saying to myself tonight when I play. I'll let you know if it works.

2004-04-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

In the water, out of the water.

Well Tuesday night was not a great night of poker for me. Jumped back into the water with the rest of the fish and had a losing night. Couldn't place in any of the SnG's I played and lost money at a .5/1 table. Analyzed my playing the next day and realized I had started playing to passively, letting good hands get beat by the turn and river, when I should have bet stronger and taken the pot earlier. One such hand had a set of Jacks, which were also the highest card on the board, even after the turn and river. Didn't bet a lot to try and maximize profit but ended up getting beat on the river by a straight. Had I bet stronger before the turn, this may not have happened. So, back to the way I was playing previously. Still can get beat by the river, but occurs less often. Turned my play around for last night and ended up ahead for the night. Lesson, don't play too passively and bet strong when you have the best hand. It is best to take the pot rather than get run down on the river. There is always the next hand. Rule #1: Patience #1 grasshopper....PATIENCE!. I keep repeating this to myself now and it has paid off.

Another hole in my game has been to call when someone reraises me when I am most likely beat. Yep, definitely a fish move. Bottom line, in a SnG or tournament, don't risk all your chips and get the boot unless you are sure you have the best hand. That being said, sometimes you have to take the risk and gamble a little, just pick your times to gamble carefully. See rule #1.

Some reading I have found helpful to my play is by Bob Ciaffone, a lot of his articles have helped my play quite a bit, I especially like the quizzes he has at the Cardplayer site. Give it a try, I think you will definitely like it. Hopefully IGGY will start posting again soon after his hiatis. I miss his rants and he is always the first post I read.

Playing a homegame tonight, IF the wife gives me a kitchen pass. Hopefully she will be feeling well enough to take care of the little one. Wish me luck, and plug the holes in your game.

2004-03-30T07:09:00.000-08:00

Out of the water and up on the bank.

I may have turned the corner! Emphasis on "may". Last night played in a couple tournaments (5+1) and got 1st and 2nd. I think the main reason is that I have finally followed my own advice: "Patience #1 grasshopper....PATIENCE!" I have made a valient effort to stop trying to make a hand out of nothing, stop chasing so much, especially when the pot-odds are not that strong in my favor. This has helped out immensely. I know what the good pre-flop starting hands are and am working on patiently waiting for them. Sometimes it's difficult to do as my hand involuntarily bets on hands I shouldn't even consider playing, so now I have a ruler on the desk next to my computer to smack the shit out of my disobedient hand when neccessary. Seems to be helping.

Played in a NL super-weekday qualifier last night, close to 500 players entered, busted out on an amazing hand. Had pocket 3's, called big blind. Flop came either 4,3,7 rainbow, (if I recall correctly) giving me the (weak) set. I didn't have a lot of chips left so all-in I go, and several other players were now in the pot too. Would have been a huge pot to take down. Well, was in the lead after the flop even with all the other players in. Then come turn and river 5 and 6, so now I have the straight. Another player also had the straight, which would have been fine with me to split the huge pot at that point (well at least my portion of the main pot since I didn't have enough chips to cover side pots). Well, player next to me had pocket 8's giving him the larger straight, taking down the whole pot and knocking 2 people out at once, myself included. Oh well, there comes a time when you just have to go all-in and gamble a little, unfortunately this time didn't pay off for me. It was awesome to watch though.

Best news, I ended up the night with more money in my account than I started with. It has been a long time since I have done this. Like I said in the beginning, maybe I have turned the corner.

2004-03-29T07:17:00.000-08:00

Success-Failure and Going out on the Bubble.

Well I have had my greatest "near success." Sunday I played in a $10+1 multi-table buy in to qualify for a Million Dollar Tournament on PartyPoker. 289 people entered. Early on I was in big trouble, down from starting TC1000 (tournament chips) to 205. Decided to be patient, patient, and more patient #1 grasshopper. Finally, since blinds were still low and I didn't get blinded out I was able to pick up a good hand and triple-up. More patience and did it again. Finally started to get a respectable stack as I watched the status board and kept seeing others get knocked out. Somewhere around 3-1/2 hours later we are down to 2 tables and miraculously I am still in. Had about TC35,000 at one time but a couple bad bets and I lost a lot of chips. Then lo-and-behold, I make it to the final table.

Pay-out schedule for the tournament:
1-4 Bought into the Million Dollar Tournament
5-7 Leftover money from entries split. ( Believe that 7th got $66, just going from memory)

Players #10, and 9 both get knocked out. Myself and another player keep swapping places on the lowest chip count. Was able to win a hand or 2, thanks to a nice river. Finally get Ad,Kd, and go all in pre-flop as I didn't have a large chip stack. One person calls me, he had a large stack and chips to burn. Other person has JX (don't recall what other "X" card was but it wasn't suited and he didn't have a pair). Well, Flop, Turn, and River yielded no A or K but did give up a J. So I am out! On the bubble, 8th place, losing to a pair of Jacks. No money, no million dollar buy-in, nothing but a huge adrenaline rush to crash off of.

So out of 289 players I was quite happy with getting 8th, though not as happy if I had placed 4th or better. I AM getting better.

There's always next time........................

2004-03-27T06:24:00.000-08:00

Once again: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Wife wasn't home yet when I got home from work so immediately jumped on Party for a SnG (5+1) and a .5/1 table at the same time. Had spent most of the day at work reading articles/instruction written by Bob Ciaffone and saw some holes in my game that needed plugging, mainly not being aggressive enough when neccessary. Well, both tables went great, ended up $23 up on the .5/1 table and 2nd in the SnG. Didn't get first in the SnG because I simply gave up, wife was home with the baby and needed some relief, so yes, outside distractions do have an affect on your game. Final hand was something like T3o, went all in (still having plenty of chips to hang around and play tough had I not had other things to do), and lose to JJ on the board, other player had an A kicker. Enjoyed it immensely and was glad to finally be back in the final 3 again after a long drought at SnG's.

Didn't play for a few hours and when I finally got to play again, after the baby went to bed, was doing fine. Then guess what...baby decides it is not time to stay in bed and gets up. Here we go with distractions again. Hard to play with a baby in your lap needing attention, so here comes the bad. Out early in another SnG and losing at the .5/1 table.

Later, baby back in bed, sign up for a multi-tournament for entirely too much money. Realize it is a limit tourny after it starts, probably didn't catch this fact while registering due to a couple C-Lights and a Guinness. (Speaking of IGGY and Guinness, he hasn't posted since Wednesday, what's up? Oh well, I have done ok in these before so I continue on. Well damnit, baby gets out of bed again, here we go with distractions again. Now I also start to realize I am more tired than I initially thought when I registered for the tournament. Beer+Baby+Tired=Not Good. So what's a guy to do, keep betting on one hand until you have no chips left. Either you're going to double up or be out of the tournament, the outcome of the hand will definitely influence your attitude about the game and dedication to play properly. Don't remember if I had the AA or the KK, but one of them was on the board and one of them was in my hand. Other person kept betting so I did to. Well, my two pair, AAKK easily lost to the other players boat since he was holding one or the other (A or K). Had I not had the Beer+Baby+Tired=Not Good equation in effect I would not have kept betting and would have not went out of the tournament #422 out of 427. Had the other player been bluffing everything would have changed, but I knew I was beat and didn't really care.

So with all that being said we now arrive at (what I hope to start doing on every post) the lesson for the day.
Lesson: When the Beer+Baby+Tired=Not Good equation is in effect, log off and quit, don't waste your time and money. Wait til you are in better shape to play.

Aces, Kings, and especially Queens for all my men!
Michael

2004-03-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

Last evening was good and bad. Played a little on line before going to the next door neighbor's weekly tournament, winner takes all, $20/person entry. Was up enough ($18) to almost cover my entry fee for the tournament, even though Party still had the $18 in my account, where it will stay until it makes me more, or I lose it all. Well, lost a majority of my chips on one of the few hands I played. I had A high flush made, board 8 2 X, making the flush, (forgot what card the X was but my flush was made). Serious betting, end up heads up with one guy who is notorious for throwing chips around and betting wild. Felt strong with my hand even with turn being a 2, did not put him on a boat as he didn't push all-in, just made another bet. I called, river comes up an 8. Uh-oh. Well, guess what he had in his hand, 8 2. He had the boat going both ways so my "nut flush" gets spanked by the boat. Oh well....So down a lot of chips I tighten up considerably. Everyone else was playing pretty tight as well, which is unusual for this table. I attribute a lot of it to the fact we have been doing this tournament for several, possibly 6 or more months now, and everyone is getting better...which is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it. Also, everyone at the table has started to play on-line and improving their game that way also. I like the fact that we are all getting better, makes it a bigger challenge, not as many suck-outs, and still a blast to sit with the buds, drink a beer and play poker. I could see the game was going to last for quite a while and decided to risk it with a pocket pair, go all in, and either double up my short stack or be out. Since I was doing well on Party prior to the tournament I was little anxious to get back to it. A little too anxious as it turns out. My pair was beat by a set and I was out. So off to Party I go.

Was doing well in ring games .5/1 and sucking the hind titty on 5+1 tournaments. The same malady that bit my ass in the neighbors tournament stung again on Party. I can be so stupid, pig-headed, and did I say stupid. Didn't do well in any or the tournaments, so finally bailed out and stuck with the ring games. Was down a little money because of the tourney's but made it up in the ring games.

One tournament had (Ad,Ah), called the 135 bet prior to the flop, 4 people still in the game prior to flop. Flop comes Td, Tc, 9c, one player folds, the other 3 including myself are in for 150 bet. Turn Kh, I check because the warning bells and whistles are going off in my head, one person goes all-in, and miraculously my hand didn't hear all the warning bells and whistles and called the all-in, damn that hand! My two pair (AATT) get spanked by the boat, Kings full of Tens. Yep, the all in had pocket Kings. So, I'm out of this tournament in 9th place...boy do I suck, or is it just stupidity. I believe it to be the latter on occassion.

In attempt to stop my ass from getting spanked for stupid moves, which I deserve to teach me a lesson, I am going to put a sign/post-it note above the screen which will say "Patience #1 grasshopper, Patience!" At the bottom of the screen will be another saying "FOLDING is always an option, use it!"

With these little reminders, hopefully the stupidity won't reign supreme in these small tournaments. They still cost me money and my ass is getting a little sore from the much un-wanted, but deserved, spankings I have been getting.

If you have stumbled across this blog without checking out IGGY's he has a huge new post. I can't imagine anyone coming here first, unless they like stories of the less fortunate, stupid plays I have been making. But hey, it's all about learning and getting better, and I definitely haven't had to mortgage the house yet to keep playing, and I never will.

2004-03-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

Friday night entered a satellite for entry into $200K tournament on Party. Never really had a huge stack but stayed in the game. 1-13th place won you a ticket to the $200K tournament. I was getting short stacked and waiting for something to go all-in with. Well here it came, KK. Push all-in. Board comes up with no other K or A. Only thing that can beat me is pocket AA. Well, person next to me had AA and I bust out at number 19, six away from winning the $200+15 entry into the bigger tournament. Oh well, was the best multi-table tournament placing I have had yet. Tournament started with 310+ people, don't remember exactly since I'm not at home while writing this. Watched the next had after I busted out and of course the Kings I needed showed up on the board, so much for timing.

With the adrenaline from the tournament, continued to play poker ALL NIGHT once again. At one time was up $75 on the .5/1 tables, was doing well standing on the bank with the rest of the fishermen, but a snake jumped up, bit me, I slipped on some mud, fell right back into the water with the rest of the fish, and slowly but surely gave all of my winnings back, ending up down $25.

Spent the rest of the weekend at the lake with no internet connection, fortunately brought along our poker table and chips. Got a family game going. One player, brother-in-laws fiance, kept on catching sets. It seemed no matter what I had she would beat me with a set. Well patience, my wife going to bed and giving me her chips, and with pocket Q's I went all-in when the board flopped nothing. The "set queen's" luck had run out, she called me and I ended up the night +$40. Lucky me.

Home from the lake and on-line again won the first $5+1 SnG I played on Monday night. Stupid moves and bad calls in other games cost me though, so back with the schooling fish I go.

2004-03-19T07:13:00.000-08:00

Well, as IGGY so eloquently speaks of the "Catch and Release Program" for fish, I am FINALLY proud to say I was not a fish last night. Actually quit while I was ahead and didn't stay up all night. Therefore I'm not suffering from "desk-cranial-impactitis" (falling asleep at work and banging your head on the desk). Played on a couple .5/1 tables last night, after a slow start and going down about $13, I corrected the recto-cranial-inversion problem I was having and pulled my head out of my ass, tightened up, and started winning. See previous post about patience, and another thanks goes to IGGY as he instructed me in an email to be patient, wait for the hand, then pounce. Advice heeded, and if I can continue to execute like I'm supposed to I would definitely love to drink a pint (or 4, or 6, or whatever) of GUINNESS with you. I love GUINNESS too but stick mostly to Coor's Light, cost issue mainly.

Interesting article IGGY points out:

NY Times

Check it out.

Best and Worst. Had some excellent hands last night. In a $5+1 SnG I had pocket 10's (Td, Tc) one time, flop came up (Ac, 2c, Th), so I flopped a set. Four of us left checked around. Turn-(As), so now I have the boat, 10's full of aces. I bet 30, get one caller, the others fold. River-(3c). Board now looks like this-( Ac 2c Th As 3c) So now there is a flush possibility on the board also. Well I've got any flush beat (of course), but have to worry the boat with Aces full of something else (2's or 3's), which woulda spanked me. I decided to go all in as I didn't think the caller had Aces unless he was really slow-playing it, which of course worried the hell out of me. He calls with the flush, ace high, king kicker, the nut flush but beaten by the boat. So caller was knocked out of the SnG tournament. Unfortunately, I didn't go on to place in the top 3 of this SnG, squandered my money and busted out later. Of course after that I can hear the voices in my head "Patience #1 grasshopper, patience!" Oh well.

On the .5/1 tables I had another kick ass boat, Kings full with no aces on the board. Fortunately it was a limit table and not a NL table, otherwise I would have lost a lot of money. That's right, busted by quads. Don't remember what the quads were since it doesn't really matter. A little while later I ended up with QUAD ACES, unfortunately I wasn't able to make a lot of money off that hand since the aces on the board scared everyone and caused the betting and raising to a screeching halt. Oh well, once again.

Hopefully the slow ascent from the depths of the Marianas Trench (36,000 feet deep by the way) has begun and will be on the plus side of the money. Fortunately, I didn't go to the bottom of the Trench, just a little ways down. This fish is definitely learning how to swim better, hopefully I will be joining the rest of you fishermen on the bank shortly to help out with the "catch and release program."

Good cards to all!
Michael

2004-03-17T07:20:00.000-08:00

Advice heeded IGGY , I'll try to stick mostly to poker. Last post was a way for me to vent about our dog, made me feel better anyway. So on to poker.

Sat down in a .5/1 game last night at Party and was up $24 within about 12 minutes due to some great cards. This was my first venture away from the single table tournaments (5+1) and super-qualifiers(9+1). Had a couple flushes and straights that held up. Then the well dried up and I called to many hands, saw a school swimming by and unintentionally joined the fish, finally bailed out $13 down since I needed to get some sleep...therefore avoiding the "napping at the desk syndrome" at work the next day. Analyzing my play from the 2 SnGs I played I find that I need patience, patience, patience, and more patience. I can coach/preach "Patience #1 grasshopper" quite well, but like college football (or any sport for that matter) the coach is not the best player on the field. So, if I would listen to myself and heed my own I'm sure I will do better in the long run. In the mean time I plan to continue reading and studying to get better.

I am also going to heed the advice of IGGY once again and load Poker Tracker tonight. Why I haven't done this yet I do not know. Fear of unknown? Possibly. Being stupid? Most likely (The only smart thing I have done is not getting on more expensive tables). Enjoy being a fish? No, not at all. I do know that I am tired of all the swimming, I'm getting waterlogged, and it's time to get out of the water and be the fisherman.

2004-03-16T07:03:00.000-08:00

Well, last night wasn't the greatest for me in playing poker. 0-4 in SnG's, fortunately the cheapest tables on PartyPoker. Seems the flushes were out to get me last night. Had top two pair, went all in before the turn since I was short stacked and only had one caller left at that point. He called me and of course the turn and the river gave him the flush and I was out. Impatience on my part? Maybe a little. Should have played it different? Hind sight is 20/20 (or 50/50 according to an actual quote from a blonde friend of a friend) but I don't think I would play it any different next time, could have hit a the boat and I would be the lucky one. Other player got lucky on the turn and river, and I have been the "lucky" player before. The other time I lost to a flush was just a dumb-ass call I made, not being patient, folding and waiting to see another hand later. Hopefully the God of Luck and God of Patience will smile favorably on me when I play tonight so I can make up for my losses.

Someone recently posted a question on www.wptfan.com something like "Is anyone else consumed by poker and not getting the sleep they should?" Well, I for one am one of those people. I have played all night 3 times in the last week and a half. Two of those nights I had to work the next day. I was fine until I got to work and then the adrenaline dropped off and I was napping at my desk on a regular basis. Not really a good thing! So, I must impose some limits on playing when I have to work the next day. That being said, if I go on a big winning streak I'm sure I will show up at work the next day without going to bed again.

Home Front News:
What kind of a (insert your own string of 15-20 derogatory explicatives here) walks into your front yard and shoots your 8 lb. Poodle/chihuhua mix dog that is 14 years old, half-blind, hard of hearing beloved family pet that would lose a fight with a blade of grass in a strong wind? He wasn't shot from the street as the bullet (or pellet) went straight thru his back and out his stomach. He was halfway between the house and the road when he was shot, therefore the killer had to walk onto my property to commit this horrible crime. He was so old he didn't bark except to come back into the house and only went outside for 10-20 minutes at a time to go the bathroom. Someone is very lucky that I hadn't walked out of the house when they did this! We have a suspect in mind but pinning it on him will be difficult, if not impossible, but wierder things have happened. What worries me is that all the shows on serial killers state that almost every one of them started out by getting their thrills killing small animals. So now I have to worry, do I have a future serial killer in the neighborhood? As for the neighborhood: it's a brand new subdivision 1/3 complete, all new houses and quiet (until this incident). This has devastated my wife since she has had him for 14 years, and tore me up pretty well too. This also helps account for not sleeping well at night, fortunately I can play poker to get my mind off him a little.

Skiing News:
Went skiing last Saturday on Lake Seminole, in Georgia. Water was a little cool when I first got in but got used to it quite quickly. Barefoot suit also helped keep me a little warm. Didn't try to get fancy, just get back on the water and wake up the "barefooting muscles" that haven't been used all winter. Frontwards, one-foots, and a few backwards runs. Didn't push it so I didn't have any bad crashes, which makes it easier to move around the next day since your neck isn't stiff from crashing.
Check out a sight one of our skiing friends (Teresa) put together. I am the one with "Michael" in the pix. (NOT "Mike", Mike is the other guy.) Check it out at www.headpackers.com

Luck to all. Michael

2004-03-15T14:25:00.000-08:00

Creating a new blog to talk mainly about poker and a little about skiing. Mostly barefoot waterskiing which is what I do the most of. Bitten by the poker bug and really enjoy playing it. I feel like I am one of the fish right now that are talked about on other sites, therefore IGGY should love me already. Inspiration to start my own blog comes from IGGY and Lion Tales. They are both links from www.wptfan.com so go check them out if you haven't already. Well, more to follow as the trials and tribulations of poker and barefooting occur. Best of luck to all.