tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85996275153276873582024-02-21T06:34:18.522-05:00Green Fish!<i>An adventure in donkery, one hand at a time.</i>1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.comBlogger283125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-58419391338925070822019-06-10T00:22:00.001-04:002019-06-10T00:22:12.185-04:00Viva Las Vegas Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ahh, feel much better today. Big bowl of chicken noodle soup laced with copious amounts of black pepper took the sore throat away and loosened up the sinuses!<br />
<br />
I got over to the Rio at 9:30am, a full 90 minutes before start time. I wasn't nervous or anxious or anything, I was just ready to play some poker. Walked to the pit to see if I could get some hands of Ultimate Texas Hold'em in, but the table was full (freaking degens!) so I settled on buying a WSOP 50th water bottle, and a large Life Water to store in it.<br />
Sat in front of the closed Brasilia doors until a friendly guy asked if he could join me. So we started to chat and he told me how he was a part-time nurse from Chicago, he flew in the day before and this was his first WSOP in a few years because he had been volunteering in Africa during the summer and while he didn't think he would enjoy it at first, he fell in love with it.<br />
So yeah, didn't really have much a story to share with him on that front but he seemed nice enough and he told me he was a veteran as well. Eventually I wished him good luck as I headed off for a last second RR visit.<br />
<br />
About 10:45am Brasilia's doors opened and in poured all those in the HORSE 1500 as well as I think a few other events. It was freezing.... Was about to find blue table 413 easy enough and sat at seat #5. I was the first to the table and was greeted by the dealer Joe, and older gentleman who also seemed very nice. Slowly but surely some of the other players showed up to the table. We had a short table for a LONG time after the event started, but here are the first 8 to sit.<br />
Seat 1: The Swede. He would become my nemesis and friend by the end of the day, get into a little more detail later on<br />
Seat 2: Rules and Table Boss. Did not take long for this guy to become the ire of the dealers and players at the table.<br />
Seat 3: A guy who looked like the spitting image of Joe Maddon (manager of the baseball Chicago Cubs) Def more on this guy later.<br />
Seat 4: Guy wearing a "Politically Incorrect" shirt. Not much else to say<br />
Seat 5: Your hero, started out wearing headphones, ended up putting them away before the end of the first level.<br />
Seat 6: Showed up mid-level 1, def from Texas<br />
Seat 7: Showed up before level 1 to check in, then left until Level 3<br />
Seat 8: Seat was empty until at some point in Level 2, also filled by clearly a Texan guy<br />
<br />
So that was the original 8, but we played with a table of 5 for a bit. Levels were 60 mins, break every 2 levels, and game would rotate every 8 hands played.<br />
For some ungodly reason WSOP started the tournament off in Razz. I hadn't actually played a live hand of Razz in basically 10 years, and a solid 8 since I played in a cash online game. But Razz is easy, man. Straightforward you might even say. The cards showing tell you if you should bet, raise, or even call.<br />
I won the first hand without even getting to 6th street. Just like 10 years ago, win the very first hand of the tournament.<br />
Nothing else notable except, Joe our dealer, seemed easy to be confused and made a few mistakes. Seat 2, pointed every single one out, initiated a floor call, and was generally being a dick (although, he had valid reasons I guess). Dealer change mercifully came, and Joe moved on to the next table. Unfortunately, the next dealer was only marginally better. Joe had warned the next dealer about Seat 2 in a joking manner, but yeah she got the full brunt of Seat 2 as well.<br />
The next notable hand for me came on the very first hand of Hold'em, pocket JJ UTG, and I raised. Picked up a caller in Seat 2. Flop was a big beautiful J on a J high flop. Bet the rest of the way, Seat 2 called all the way down and I showed my set for the win. Being up, fairly early was a good way to start.<br />
My stack was up and down for most of the first few levels. The dealers didn't really get better until about the 4th one, which is when Seat 3 and Seat 6 showed up and we were a mostly full table except for the missing seat 7, and the unoccupied seat 8.<br />
Eventually Seat 8 found a home and not too longer after that...someone with a ticket for our table Seat 1 showed up. This put the dealer into a panic as the Swede was there for a long time, did they read his ticket wrong? Turns out NOPE. Someone was given an occupied seat. Swede got to stay, lady with duplicate seat was taken away by floor to get a new seat.<br />
<br />
Next notable hand I hand is where I won Razz with a 10-9. I guess its not THAT bad, but its still a 10-9.<br />
At some point during level 3, seat 4, had gotten down low enough to be all-in. He wasn't playing great so it wasn't shocking, but he did win a few pots all-in to get him back up...for awhile and then he was busted, just as I was texting Liss "it takes real dedication to get knocked out this early".<br />
<br />
This bust out would turn out to be huge for me during 4th level...as another strongly accented Texan man sat next to me and was very friendly with Seat 3. Seat 8 also knew him and was chatting him up. At some point, when he mentioned he busted out of the deuce to seven tourney earlier today and said he wrote the book on it and he can't use his tricks on anyone anymore I found out that sitting next to me was none other than Larry Wright.<br />
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Honestly, I had never heard of him before this, but obviously I quick google searched his name (nailing the spelling of his last name by the way!) and was immediately like "oh shit". Then following this revelation, I learned Seat 3 was also none other than Barry Shulman.<br />
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Now HIM, I did know. But I guess I never saw him with a beard before (and he totally looks like Joe Maddon!). I put 2 and 2 together when he was mentioning his wife and son and the bracelets they won. I had been involved in a few pots with him and even sucked out in Stud Hi with 2 pair on the river...before I knew who he was. (This picture was taken at my table, table boss is to his left, "politically incorrect" still to his right).<br />
<br />
Well anyway, Larry was a talkative guy and the table started waking up when he arrived. Not long after he joined, I got involved in a few stud 8 hands with him and he was getting in my head. Telling me what I had (was I really so fucking obvious or was it just stud? Probably Yes to both) and folding.<br />
We got around to hold'em again and Larry did his thing UTG by raising. I look down to see KK and call. Larry says, and I quote (will never forget this as long as I live) "Quick call there huh?". I'm not the only caller, 2 more people follow suit.<br />
Flop comes J high, 2 spades. Larry bets, I raise. Folds to Larry. Turns to me and says "did you just raise me?" In my bravest voice I could muster while trying not to give any info away, I said "yes sir I did". He calls. Turn is a blank, he checks, I bet, he calls. River is a K. He checks, I bet, he calls. He says "turn up your set" and I turn up the KK. Whole table is kinda shocked. Seat 2 says "well thats the set you thought he had, but not the cards you expected".<br />
Im taking this as a win. I was pretty sure by the turn call he had AA, and I was checking the river until the K came. He told Barry he had AA and regretted not playing back to me on the Flop and Turn. Seat 2 again interjects and says "there's no way he was folding". I'm pretty sure that was NOT a compliment, but I just raked in the chips and thanked my lucky stars.<br />
<br />
At some point they high carded to see who would get moved from our table, and the winner was the sleepy seat 7 who really hadn't done anything since he showed up. Eventually Seat 7 was replaced with an annoying NJ kid who was super negative, guess he had some beats before getting moved.<br />
<br />
So I'm slowly chipping up, but the table talk got really, uh, interesting? It turns out Larry, Seat 6, Seat 8, and even Seat 2 all live in Texas.<br />
- Larry brought up "the killings on the Texas border the national media isn't talking about". When pressed on what he meant he would only say "cartel".<br />
- The Texans, minus seat 2 discussed hunting various animals. Including, but not limited to, hunting animals from helicopters.<br />
- Specifically the topic of Javelinas were brought up and discussed. Especially the fact you can hunt them in various parts of Texas without a permit because there are so many of them. (Sidenote, AZ has these as well in the Phoenix area). Somehow this lead to discussion of which animals the various Texans liked to eat, and finally to the discussion of Javelina blood tasting disgusting.<br />
NJ dude had never heard of this animal and didn't think it was anything to be afraid of, so Larry and Seat 8 (with an assist from me!) tried to explain how ornery these things were and how they liked to ram you with their tusks. NJ was not impressed.<br />
- At some point in time it was made evident that NJ didn't know who Larry or Barry were. Barry offered up a "Im in the business". NJ needed clarification that it meant poker. So for most of the day, until 15 mins of the last level, he had no idea who Barry was. When he found out, that he was the owner of Cardplayer magazine (in addition to his other accomplishments) he excitedly blurted out that he had won some tournament when he was a kid where Barry signed his one of his books, made it out to his name, and mailed it to him. Barry took it all in stride, the whole while looking like he had no idea what this kid was talking about.<br />
<br />
Back to the poker, the next notable hand I had was in Stud Hi where I had the bring in showing a 2, and I had a 2 underneath. I called a completed bet from seat along with 2 others. 4th street was a 2, so I bet. Only Seat 2 called again. This happened again on 4th, 5th and 6th street. I hadn't paired up another card yet so my naked 3 of a kind was in danger. Then 7th street brought the 4th deuce. I bet, he called, and I turned up my Quad deuces. BIG fucking pot.Catapulted me up the stack count.<br />
Fire alarms then went off, and...nobody moved or did anything. The floor was calling out information for another event while the fire alarms were going off, so I guess it was NOT an emergency. Not long after that, it was dinner break. I put my chip count into "My Stack" when I looked at the chip leader board, this is what I saw:<br />
<br />
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Holy shit, I was in 4th? I waited a bit and checked the PokerNews website chip count, and yup, there I was again in 4th.<br />
My 75 mins of dinner included:<br />
- Driving from the Rio to the Linq<br />
- Walking from the farthest ass backwards part of the parking lot to In N Out to get a burger, fries, and drink<br />
- Walking back to my car<br />
- Driving back to the Rio and getting a semi-decent parking spot.<br />
- Eating quickly in 15 minutes so I still had time to walk back to the table. <br />
<br />
When we got back, there were 4 levels left. It didn't start off great, fell down to 23kish, then got back up to 33kish after the last break. That's when the wheels fell off... Deck went cold and all of my draws never materialized. Slowly was chipping down until I was hugging the 20k border. Between those last 4 levels, Larry got busted. Seat 2 was all-in but survived and started chipping up (with my help of course). NJ finally figured out how to play Razz and became super aggressive in all hands, but it also helped he was hitting as well.<br />
Seat 8 busted, Seat 6 busted. Seat 8's replacement busted. Seat 4's replacement busted. Im watching the clock slowly move and my chip stack just getting eviscerated.<br />
<br />
We get down to under 20ish minutes remaining and I made the dumbest mistake I have ever made in a major poker tournament, and probably in my poker career...<br />
I can tell you why I did what I did, but it doesn't excuse it. Game is Stud. Im showing an A with a 3, 7 underneath. Seat 8 is the bring in, Seat 1 limps, everyone folds to me. I decide Im going to raise and rep AA. I do, bring in folds, Seat 1 calls.<br />
Over the course of 4th and 5th street... I forgot what game we were on. Seat 1 bet 4th and 5th and I just called, making a low on 5th. On 6th I got a second A. Seat 1 checks, I bet, he calls. 7th was a blank but Im just thinking how we are chopping this pot. He bets, I call confused why he would bet.<br />
He flips up a straight, I flip up my low...dealer informs me this is Stud Hi. NJ and new seat 6 have a good old time laughing at my mistake. Seat 6 makes a comment about "how hes done that before but not this late in a tournament!"<br />
Seat 1, The Swede who I clashed with in a bunch of hands and gotten the best of him in almost every hand was super apologetic to me, I told him straight up, nothing to be sorry about I made the mistake and I owned it.<br />
It was very dumb. And I went from an easy Day 2 glide to a "hey I have 5k chips left with under 10 minutes to go."<br />
At around 5 minutes remaining, floor announces 5 hands left. Dealer said he had already cut the deck so 5 hands starts after the current hand. I look down to see K(7,7). NJ is the bring in and wants to know if he can raise as the bring in because he hadnt seen anyone do this and wasnt sure it was allowed. Dealer says he can so he completes to 1k. folds around to me, I raise to 2k figuring just bust me right before the end so I dont have to do Day 2 for nothing (pretty dejected by this point). Surprisingly, NJ folds and says "I just wanted to see if it would work". OK.<br />
Next hand I look down at AAx, The Swede completes, folds to me and I raise. Swede re-raises, I cap. At this point more than half my stack is in. So we get it all in on 4th street. I show my AA, he shows JJ and I proceed to nail A,10,10 for a boat. That puts me just over 16k. After a few antes, the end finally comes and I made Day 2 with stack of 16k.<br />
<br />
I was elated to make Day 2, even though I was just trying to end it a few hands earlier. I bagged up and ended up walking out with The Swede and we chatted the whole way out the Rio. He again apologized for my dumb hand and I again said he did nothing wrong. We talked about where he was from (outside Stockholm) and I was from Phoenix. He said his friend moved to Phoenix to test car equipment that helps cars stay cool in extreme heat.<br />
We parted ways and I headed back to the Linq tired, but in good spirits. I survived 12+ hours of poker which is a new personal best. I was in a tough spot because of the blinds and antes, but not out by any means.<br />
<br />
Next day, i woke up later, got in a good Harrah's buffet for breakfast and headed over an hour before the noon start time to check out what was going on.I ended up railbirding Allen Cunningham in Day 3 of the Big Fofty <br />
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Also as I was walking in, The Swede found me again and we chatted for the better of the hour till the event started.<br />
I learned all about how in Sweden the government controls the casinos. That there are "poker clubs" but the rules are strict about owning one, and if you own one you can't play in it. They are not allowed to sell drinks or food. And he said the worst part is, while the poker clubs are legal, the application process requires a sizable fee and that its well known that applications get rejected because the fee needs to be paid every time you apply.<br />
I also found out about how most Swedish people go to Estonia for poker. And that a popular tournament game in Sweden is "5 Card Draw" but its waaaaay more complex.<br />
My understanding based on his explanation is:<br />
- There are 3 blinds<br />
- If the blinds dont raise, nobody else can raise either<br />
- If there is a check round, the cards get mucked and the hand is restarted.<br />
I have no idea if any of that is accurate, and Im leaving off way more that he told me about the game but it sounds rough.<br />
<br />
Anyway, its finally 15 of and we sit down at our Day 2 seats. The only name I kinda sorta recognized was Jimmy Fricke, who was on my immediate right. No idea what he looked like. Turns he is Gobboboy, which is why the dude looked familiar to me but I could not place him.<br />
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Not really much to tell about Day 2. They started us off in Razz again...which is not great since the ante was 200, bring in was 1k, limits were 2k/4k.<br />
<br />
I ended up playing 3 hands in total, 2 in razz.<br />
<br />
First hand I had 8 (3,5) and I bricked 4th and 5th<br />
Second hand I was the bring in with a J but an A2 under. I was drawing to a good 8, and my opponent had 2 pair showing, but made a 6 on the river which crippled me down to 6ish k.<br />
Game changed to Stud Hi, seat 4 was the bring in, seat 6 completed, I look down to see KK, but Gobbo also had a K showing before he folded. I decided to raise, seat 6 called.<br />
We ended up getting me all in on 5th and I was ahead of his 7s. River for him was a J which gave him a straight and I was railed...22 mins in to Day 2 lol.<br />
<br />
I had fun, would have loved to cash but luck was not with me for the last 3 rounds I played. Def gives me something to look forward to.<br />
<br />
Thursday night we went to downtown Vegas which I had never been to before and collected a $1 chip from each casino for my collection.<br />
Had the Flamingo buffet, then started the trek home. I got REALLY REALLY tired on the drive home but hung it out, not after being home for an hour my throat started hurting bad...the WSOP plague, begun it had!<br />
<br />
Back to normal poker posts, thanks for reading<br />
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1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-79195686830964437482019-06-08T21:47:00.004-04:002019-06-08T21:47:55.522-04:00Viva Las Vegas Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Finally getting around to the trip report, but a little piece of Vegas came with me. WSOP Plague (AKA Con Plague) has hit me pretty pretty hard. And if there is anything I can say positive about MTG, poker players are much more disgusting in general. Next time I am loading up on vitamins and Purell for sure.<br />
<br />
Thanks to that big win at VQ the week before, I was on a freeroll. Decided to bring $2500 total, $1500 for event and $1k for cash to gamble with. <br />
We left for Vegas early Monday AM, ended up getting in right around 1pm PDT and headed directly to the streaming final table of the $50k High Roller event. After the other events mini-break was over, we basically had the whole rail to ourselves. I didn't know any of the guys remaining, but Liss and her friend decided to root for Ben from the UK.<br />
When the table took a break to chip up, I decided to head to registration to register for the $1500 HORSE event.<br />
I was wearing a MTG shirt, so naturally while waiting in line, a guy in a Phillies hat decided to stop and chat about MTG cards he had as a kid and tell me he started playing in 96. This eventually turned into a chat about the Philly region and then about bad beat jackpots at the Parx casino. Then he started giving me quizzes (?) on what to do betting wise in various situations. I distracted him long apparently until 2 guys behind us struck up a convo with him. Eventually he left, and the guys behind me asked me if I knew him. Nodded in the negative and the one dude advises he is a "talker" and got sat at a table 6 times during a tournament over the span of 3 days with him and he would not stop talking. No idea why I needed to know this.<br />
As we got closer to the front the dudes behind me and the old lady in front of me decided to bet on the over/under of 15 minutes until we reached the window. Lady wanted to know the stakes, and the dudes were content with something non-monetary but she wanted to bet a buy in to an event, the guys declined.<br />
Also during this time, one of the dudes behind me telling a bad beat story stated this beautiful quote which I am forever going to use going forward: "You know how sometimes your reads are off, but sometimes they are dead on?"<br />
Yes, yes I do.<br />
<br />
After I registered we walked to the souvenir shop to get a t shirt when I realized the teller never gave my DL back. This sent me into stress mode trying to navigate a very long registration line again without pissing everyone off. Eventually one lady put her "closed" sign up and started doing some counting so I took the opportunity to ask if could locate my DL. She did, and crisis was averted.<br />
<br />
Then we checked into our hotel and I decided to take the night to drink and gamble on some table games. The gambling didn't go so well and was down $500ish after just a few hours, but i did meet another MTG guy at the Paigow table and we chatted up about MTG for a bit. Turns out he plays standard and Commander and I correctly surmised he was from Minnesota (you'l NEVER guess how). After that it was time to get some sleep.<br />
<br />
The next day, we decided to go see all the casinos on the strip we had never seen previously. Collected a bunch of $1 chips from various casinos and did somegambling, ending up the day at a net change of $0. Had a late (10pmish) burger at Wahlburgers, and said hello to their mother for them (joke!). We got back to the hotel and I stayed up just reading and watching some TV. I wanted to make sure I tired myself out completely so I could get a great night's sleep.<br />
<br />
Slept ok, still woke up with the sunrise around 6am. Got some breakfast at Harrah's then headed over to the Rio about 9:30ish.<br />
<br />
To be continued...</div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-69233790603046970982019-06-03T02:21:00.005-04:002019-06-03T02:21:54.467-04:00Twas the Night Before Vegas...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Been awhile, and we will get to that in just a moment, but wanted to give a rundown of where we are at right now.<br />
<br />
As of now my plan is to arrive in Vegas around noonish tomorrow (6/3), head directly to the Rio, buy into Event #14, and check out the final table of the $50k Highroller event. That starts at noon, so most likely will miss a little bit of that.<br />
<br />
I'm calm, and I had to compare this to my last foray into the WSOP, I would say I feel less confident than I did 10 years ago, this is due to a few reasons, including the fact that I was looking to plan a NL event and I had been playing mostly NL events (cash and tourneys) pretty much most days leading up the event. This time, I'm looking to play HORSE, which I've only been able to play limit hold'em (albeit a LOT of limit hold'em), and done bad at O8. I haven't played Stud Hi in many many years (probably 3-4 if I had to guess, maybe more?) and I have never played Stud8 or Razz live sans for a cash game in 09 that I don't really remember.<br />
That being said, I don't feel nervous or anxious or, well, really much of anything. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely excited about this week, but I also don't have any reservations about thinking that making Day 2 will mean a lot to me, and then we will go from there and see what develops.<br />
<br />
Alright, so lets now discuss the last 3 weeks....<br />
<br />
Whence we left off, I had just booked a win playing O8. Tuesday I was back at VQ playing 3/6 Hold'em. We never really did get started and was down most of the night. Towards the end we got up 70ish bucks, only to give most of it back and end the night $3 up.<br />
This is the last bit o' good news I will have poker wise for at least a week.<br />
<br />
Went back the next night and couldn't do anything. I jumped between 3/6 and 4/8 games to find a groove and it wasn't there.Down $126 <br />
<br />
Went back again Thursday and ended up losing $115 in poker, thought it would be a bright idea to try and win it back at Blackjack....and I gave up $130 more.<br />
<br />
Saturday came and it was back to Talking Stick for more O8. It went fine at first, but then, a few hours in the DOOM SWITCH was turned fully to on. Nothing I did would ever give me the nut high or nut low hand, and anytime I showed down a hand it was always second best.<br />
Finished that session $300 down.<br />
So, in the span of 5 days and 4 poker sessions I was down almost $700. That's a pretty big blow to the $1000 up through the middle of May.<br />
<br />
Back to VQ the following Monday for splash posts and again gave back an additional $106.<br />
To sum it up nicely, I was bummed. Really bummed. Not about losing, not about my self-critique on where I could be playing better, but really that I had been doing so well building up the bank for WSOP and I just completely curbed stopped in a little over a week.<br />
I woke up on Tuesday in a funk, even Liss could sense it and talked to me about. Felt good just verbalizing my frustrations and she even convinced me to go back that night and give it another shot.<br />
This night was important, I got sat at a brand new 4/8 game, and not long into the game I got my AK, flopped K beat by a K6 that called a preflop raise plus bets all the way to the river with K6, for a rivered 2 pair.<br />
I gave myself an internal pep talk saying this is not going to get out of control tonight, play better, play SMARTER.<br />
Few hands later we wake up with 109dd in the hijack. The button straddled to 8 already and I had seen him blindly bump his straddles previously so I knew this was going to be at least a 3 bet hand. But if I wasn't going to make a stand with 2 suited connectors in LP, I didn't know when I ever would. Everything happened as expected, bunch of people called, button raised his straddle...and then the SB raised. Bunch of calls in front of me and I know the button straddler who loves action and big pots is going to bump it again, so I raise still on the believe that I want to play a big pot with multiple people holding suited connectors in LP. Button caps raises at 5 bets, everyone calls. So preflop, that's 5 people who put $20 in each.<br />
<br />
FLOP: <b>Qs-Js-8c</b><br />
<br />
Well ok, we flopped the nuts on a very dangerous and drawy board. SB leads out, I raise, SB raises, I re-raise and cap betting at 4 bets a piece. 5 headed to the turn, another $80 in the pot.<br />
<b> </b><br />
Turn: <b>7d</b><br />
<br />
Still got the nuts, SB again leads out, I again raise and show my 1 chip behind to the SB in the hopes she'll just raise and put me all in. Doesn't happen and 3 of us head to the river. Another $36 in the pot.<br />
<b> </b><br />
River:<b>2h</b><br />
<br />
We did it! We faded all the flush draws and AK/A10/K10/K9 draws! SB AGAIN leads out and I toss my 1 chip, other guy folds.I show the nuts, SB shows...... AsAc ???<br />
I was expecting a set or 2 pair, did not expect the same color bullets.<br />
SB gets mad that I cracked the AA (she gets $100) but every time I think about her line of play in the hand, none of it (outside pre-flop, and leading bet on the flop) makes any sense. Why lead every street when you are being raised/re-raised?<br />
Anyway, that 1 hand starts the session off in pretty grand style and we end the night after 5 hours up $341.<br />
I felt great, it essentially wiped away the O8 loss and some of the previous week's destruction.<br />
<br />
I take a few days break, and on Saturday I head back again to Talking Stick to try my hand at O8. This session went much better than the DOOM SWITCH a week before, but it was pretty rocky the whole way through. I was up $70ish at one point but it was pretty much mostly down the rest of the session.<br />
There was a weird spot in a hand where I feel like an opponent was upset I bet my hand wrong, but I'm not sure how looking back on what happened.<br />
<br />
I had 8x7xXxXx on the button and it was unraised.<br />
<br />
Flop comes: <b>9x6x5x</b><br />
<br />
Guy beats out, and old guy to his right just calls. I raise, they both call<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Turn is a blank</b><br />
<br />
<b> </b>I bet, both call<br />
<br />
<b>River was a 3x so a low could be made but my straight is still nut hand</b><br />
<br />
Guy leads out, old guy calls. Its at this point I think both of these guys are chasing with A2 for nut low, I still have the nut hand, so I raise. Both call. I flip up nut high...he flips up nut high...old guy flips up 24 for second nut low. So we both get quartered.<br />
He says to me "I was hoping you had A2". I said I figure you both were going for low, not high. He says and kinda gives me a face "I wouldn't lead there with A2". I know nothing bout this dude, he came to the table recently and hadn't played any pots, so I had no idea what he would bet out on.<br />
It made me rethink, should I have just called there? I keep coming up with I feel like I played the hand right, but I'm not so sure.<br />
We end this at a loss of $62 but still feel pretty luck its only that amount.<br />
<br />
Then finally last Tuesday more LHE at VQ. only to book another $59 loss. It would have been worse, but we won a raffle that gave us $100.<br />
<br />
So that's all the poker I played between the last post and now....but I did something pretty great 2 days later!<br />
<br />
Liss' friend who is tripping up to Vegas with us came in on Thursday. We decided to show her VQ and play a little BINGO. While waiting for BINGO to start, I wandered over to the "Big Texas Hold'em table" to see if I could play a few hands. It was full. Crap. Wandered over to BJ and took a seat in the middle. Looked like the shoe was almost down so I told the dealer I would wait. The shoe ended up taking a little longer than I thought it would, and I noticed back at the Hold'em table someone was just getting up, so I headed over quickly and grabbed the seat.<br />
Second hand in, I get Jc10c.<br />
Flop is AcAs3s<br />
Checked my nothing hand<br />
Turn is Kc, River is Qc.<br />
What I saw "hey, I hit a straight, hopefully the dealer doesn't have a boat"<br />
Dealer flips over her cards to show, I have no fucking clue because I then in that instant realized I had a Royal Flush. And I didnt freak out, but I did say "Oh my god...I have the royal" which caused everyone to look at me. She turned the hands of the 2 people to my left up and then revealed my Jc10c for the Royal!<br />
<br />
Took a bit, but the final total payout was $2,735. Just the kind of shot a bankroll needs right before the WSOP. So I'm freerolling this week, which to some extent, has made me feel less stressed because no matter what happens, I'll still have a bankroll over $5500 when I get home (this is my buyin and assuming I lose $1k in cash in Vegas).<br />
<br />
So yup, some real shitty luck followed by some amazing luck. Lets hope that luck keeps on running through Event #14.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading!<br />
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-64573490096076739272019-05-14T00:39:00.002-04:002019-05-14T00:39:15.908-04:00"One Week" - Barenaked Ladies & Now For Something Completely different. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So we're changing things up a little bit. I decided to bore you less times a week, but now blog posts have MORE action packed reading (YMMV). You are welcome faceless Internet people!<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So if I had not explained before, let me take a step back and give you some background.<br />
This whole thing, all of the poker talk, the poker posts, the poker blogs have been leading to ONE thing.... I am playing in World Series of Poker Event #14 $1500 H.O.R.S.E. on Wednesday June 5th.<br />
This will be the first WSOP event I have played in exactly 10 years, to the month.<br />
And for those who might be wondering "what is HORSE?" well it is:<br />
<b>H</b>old'em (limit)<br />
<b>O</b>maha Hi/Low<br />
<b>R</b>azz<br />
<b>S</b>tud<br />
Stud <b>E</b>ight (Hi/Low)<br />
This is a game I used to play A LOT online prior to Black Friday, and I played $6/$12 cash game HORSE at the Venetian my first trip to Vegas in 09. I liked it because you really have to know a mediocre level of strategy in EACH of the 5 types of poker to really be successful.<br />
<br />
So that leads us back to Saturday May 4th. I went to Talking Stick, because I have been playing TONS of limit Hold'em but I haven't really played much Omaha Hi/Low in awhile (Razz is a fairly easy and straightforward game, plus no one offers it as a cash game, and both Studs are hard to find out here. It was abundant at Foxwoods).<br />
<br />
I was going into this day planning on losing $100 more, so it was mainly a day to get back into the grove of reps playing O8 again. I tried to keep notes as the beginning as you can see, but with 08 its just too much. Entire hands change based on a single card (even more so than Hold'em) so up and down is a constant issue with this game. ultimately i was down almost $100, got back up like $30 bucks, then ended up losing $151.<br />
My major issues for this session was card selection, and folding when I know I have no good draws and I'm beat.<br />
Disappointed, but not unexpected with my lack of O8 playing in many many years.<br />
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This was a disappointing night overall, even though I did walk away with $97 profit. It should have been $100+ more.<br />
<br />
Notable hands:<br />
Me: <b>QQ</b><br />
Raise pre-flop and get a ton of callers.<br />
Flop is <b>Qx-10x-Xx</b><br />
Guy to my right bets out, I raise, 1 guy calls, the bettor calls. Turn is blank, River is blank, only guy who called me all the way was the guy to my right. I showed set of Queens, he mucked a set of 10s. (+$130)<br />
16 minutes later...<br />
Me: <b>QQ</b><br />
Before it gets to me, there is a raise and a re-raise, so I keep it going and re-raise again. Original raiser caps the betting<br />
<b>Flop: Qx-Xx-Xx</b><br />
We did it again ya'll. Held through the turn and river to push us to up +$216 for the session almost 2 hours in.<br />
<b> </b><br />
Then began a looong slow sinking to only $50 up. Gradually that was replaced by a slow but steady climb back up.<br />
<br />
Next big hand...<br />
Raised with AJcc flopped an A, bet the whole way, river was a Jack to make 2 pair and take a decent sized pot. 11 minutes later, raise pre-flop with KK bet the whole way and it holds on showdown which gets us to the highest point up ($222) of the day around 8:30. At this point is almost 4 hours in, and I really should have walked, because I immediately got way too splashy and did a dumb thing like bet my AJ on the river when a third spade hit thinking Id scare someone who had a K in their hand but not a boat (KKx on flop) out of calling. Yeah, that didn't happen and I took a decent sized hit.<br />
Finally left an hour later with only $97 to show for it.<br />
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<br />
<br />
The Thursday session was legit crazy. I was down $78 relatively early (mostly due to bad luck like this:<br />
Me: <b>AxQx</b><br />
<b>FLOP: Ax-Ax-Xx</b><br />
<b> </b>Guy first to act bets, I just call<br />
<b>Turn: Xx</b><br />
Guy bets again. Pretty sure with this bet he also has an Ace, so I want to find out how good it is. I raise, he just calls. I'm fairly certain I'm ahead here.<br />
<b> River: 2x</b><br />
There is no way I could know this a bad card for me. He checks, I bet again, he raises (but did it kinda shady when it looked like he just called but the stack he put out was bigger than my bet) so I know im only getting raised by a boat of some kind here, but I call it down anyway. He had A2 of course.<br />
So that was the early hit.<br />
BUT. This was a splash pot bonus night with the Dbacks game on, so I was able to scratch my way back into it.<br />
The first good hand I had was with J9 and I flopped the nut straight. Held all the way to the river betting the whole way. That got me up to only $3 down.<br />
The next hand I won was a splash pot. This is where they toss $50 in the pot and basically everyone limps in with any 2 cards to see who gets lucky. I had my always lucky hand 57. Flop netted me a 7, and I decide to call the flop bet because why the heck not. Turn was a 7. My A2 nemesis bet and I raised. He muttered how he knew I had a 7 but ended up calling me the whole way anyway. Made almost $100.<br />
Later on had pocket 8s, flopped an 8. Raised the flop, bet the turn and got raised by a made straight. River paired the board so I raised after he bet and took it down for another $50ish bucks.<br />
The next splash pot I had Q3o and ended up chopping it at the end with Q2o. good for another $60. It was on a downward spiral from there. Including a big loss when my turned 2 pair actually made some one's straight. But then good old AQ netted me another $80ish pot when I outkicked opponents A10. Left after 5 hours with a $146 profit.<br />
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And finally to last Saturday. We journeyed back to Talking Stick to play more Omaha Hi/Low. I was armed with the knowledge of my loss last week and I was determined to make much better hand selection this time.<br />
We had some success early, then it started to tank a bit. I don't remember any specific winning hands until THE hand.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Our Hand: <b>Jd-9d-9h-10x</b><br />
Limped flop (as it usually is).<br />
<b>Flop: 9s-10d-Xx</b><br />
Checks to me, I bet. 2 callers<br />
<b>Turn: Qd</b><br />
I feel like Im still ok, but obviously very vulnerable to a KJ or even J8, both possible hands.<br />
I bet, 2 callers.<br />
<b>Flop: Kd</b><br />
Alright, so you all see what I have right? Well. I am 100% tunnel vision on my set of 9s getting flushed away. It checks to me and I check<b>.</b><br />
I announce my set of 9s, flip up my cards to ACTUALLY LOOK AT MY FREAKING cards, and say "oh I guess I have a King high straight flush". No low possibility so I scoop the pot and look like an idiot. <b> </b><br />
The dealer when she leaves chuckling says "Now remember, always bet your straight flushes on the river".<br />
Anyway, I was up at most $120, and when I got down to about $50 up, I wanted to leave to maintain a winning session and I did!<br />
<br /><b></b>
The overall winning week pushed out Net Winnings since Mid-April to $937. Thats almost 2/3rd of the way to the $1500 target I was aiming for with my WSOP buyin!<br />
<br /><b></b>
This week I will be playing: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday all at VQ followed by another Saturday trip to Talking Stick for Omaha.<br />
<br /><b></b>
Thanks for reading!<br /><b></b><br />
<br /><b></b>
<br />
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</div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-43235246580709887862019-05-02T09:29:00.002-04:002019-05-02T09:29:54.577-04:00This Is What A Poker Grind Truly Looks Like<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Wow, what a fraking night.We signed up for both 4/8 and 3/6 because I just wanted to play and the 4/8 ended up firing first.<br />
<br />
When I first started playing at the local casino last year, 4/8 is what I mostly played, and did pretty well at, until I went on a pretty sick losing streak. This includes one night dropping 600+ which I didn't really think was possible at low limits.I took a major hit in my bankroll and it slowed me down from playing poker for a bit.<br />
My problem, as I have come to realize, is I was trying to play 4/8 LHE like they play 4/8 LHE at Foxwoods. At Foxwoods, its a step up from the wildly donktastic 2/5 "anything goes" game, but mostly now its just regular grinders. Its why I failed to beat that game too, I didn't recognize how important hand selection is, at that game.<br />
4/8, as well as 5/10 & 6/12 here locally is basically Foxwoods 2/4 with more money. Its VERY aggressive, and if you git the right table on the right day, every hand on every street has capped betting and you really don't know what might win. I have heard people mention over and over they either "want to win big or lose big".<br />
So my mistake, as was really evident now, is that even though I have a tighter hand selection than most of the people here, I was still playing too many hands, and in terrible position.<br />
This also is a good time to bring in the topic of "table selection". Normally, say at a Foxwoods, you can change tables if the table style is not where you want to be at. VQ has anywhere between 1-4 tables going at a time so its not really always an option. When your choices are "play or not play", well you tend to want to play.<br />
Which brings me to about 2 weeks ago. While waiting forever for a 3/6 game to fire, I jumped in a 4/8 game. The style of play was mostly tight/passive but there 1-2 people who were aggressive and raising. I ended up making 200+ before giving about half back. The lady to my left even commented how she wished could be as disciplined as me. I told her "losing a bunch tends to make you reassess your game".<br />
<br />
So yesterday was a similar scenario. I threw my name up on both lists, 4/8 gets called and the table that sits is older so it seems like it will be an easy table to run over a bit.<br />
(Looks at poker session chart) So yeah, about that. It was fine at first, the very first hand I had AJo in late position, EP raises and I call. We end up checking to the river and he shows AK. I got involved with the same guy not too much later and he beat me again. It was a fairly quick drop to the first rebuy. Within an hour, I needed to buy back in for $100, and it didnt get much better from there.<br />
I took a big L from the crazy player that sat down. She was down a buyin already then switched seats. Then this hand happened:<br />
<br />
Our Hand: AQo<br />
<br />
Pre-flop action was a straddle, and 4 raises (20 bucks to see the flop)<br />
<br />
<b>FLOP: Qx-4-x-4x</b><br />
<br />
Bet in front of me, CL calls, I raise, call and CL calls<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>TURN: Jx</b><br />
Still feeling ok here. Checks to me, I lead out, call call<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>River: 8x</b><br />
Checks to me and I just check. I show my hand first for Qs and 4s with A kicker, first guy folds and I think Im in the clear when CL turns over her hand late and shows 10-9 for the rivered straight.<br />
This is the kind of poker you see at the crazy action 4/8 tables here. Why did she call 20 bucks in EP with 10-9? Why did she call 2 bets on the Flop with NO DRAW? Turn bet I cant fault her for calling, but still none of that playstyle makes sense and thats what happens all the time.<br />
<br />
Not too much later, I get involved in another pot with her where I made 2 pair on the turn, another made 2 pair on the river, but CL made a set with my 2nd pair card. Down a buyin and a half after not even 90 minutes of play.<br />
I end up buying in again for another $100 not too long after that.<br />
<br />
I finally win my first hand when AQ flops a Q and holds up through the river for a smallish pot.<br />
The first biggish pot I won not much later played out like this:<br />
<br />
Our Hand: 8c-8s<br />
<br />
<b>Flop: 8h-6h-2d</b><br />
<br />
Someone bets, 2 calls, and I raise. I hadn't really shown much aggression, strength our anything over the course of my stay so I really wanted this to look like a flush draw raise. 3 callers.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Turn: Ax</b><br />
<br />
Checks to me, I bet, 1 caller<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>River: 2x</b><br />
<br />
Checks to me again, I bet, get called, show my boat for a decent size win. That is the good thing about 4/8 is is that a mediocre 20-30ish pot at 3/6 turns into a 50ish+ pot at 4/8<br />
<br />
Won 2 more smallish pots while draining the bankroll. Then I take another nice pot with 2 pair from Big Lick (6,9). Won a hand with KJ when I flopped a J. Another when my A8cc flopped an A and held up through the River.<br />
Got scared off by a new aggressive guy while holding 10-10 on a J-9-8-x board and he ended up winning with high card A(AQ).<br />
Next hand with the mighty 10-4 sooted I flopped a flop of 10-10-x and added more to my stack.<br />
<br />
The last big hand of the night, I made a mistake and I'll walk you through it, but ended up being a HUGE pot for me.<br />
<br />
Our Hand: As-4s<br />
<br />
Raise pre-flop which we smooth call because we are the button<br />
<br />
<b>FLOP: 9c-2c-8s</b><br />
<br />
Bet in front of us and 2 callers, and HERE is where I make my mistake. I think I have A2ss. So I'm calling here to catch an A/2 to see if I can win with 2 pair.<br />
<br />
<b>Turn: Xs</b><br />
<br />
Well now I have to stay right? Theres a bunch in the pot and I have a pair of 2s with a nut flush draw.<br />
Bet, call, and I call again.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>River: Xs</b><br />
<br />
And naturally I hit the A high flush. I remember there was a weird straight flush possibility but i was just going to smooth call a re-raise. Checks to me, I bet, get both callers. Win with my A high flush, to complete the trek from $193 down at one point to now $63 up.<br />
<br />
Ended up giving some back before taking off at 10:30, but just winning something felt like a major accomplishment when I wasnt getting any cards and the rivers were not going my way.<br />
<br />
Until next time, thanks for reading!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-56362451571033577142019-04-29T18:02:00.002-04:002019-04-29T18:03:58.879-04:00Mini-Session<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Didn't plan on it initially, but ended up the poker room Sunday afternoon for a few hours before GoT.<br />
<br />
It was generally uneventful, I was up a tiny bit early and then the deck went cold after that. Later, I got up to over $50 down when I hit a miracle 1 outer (post hand, someone mentioned they tossed a 10). That was the only really interesting hand of the day.<br />
<br />
Our Hand: <b>10s10c</b><br />
<br />
<b>FLOP: 3x-3x-5x</b><br />
<br />
I check, then a bet and a call in front of me. Could the aggressor have a 3? Possibly, but im not folding 10s here in this spot.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>TURN: 4x</b><br />
<br />
<b> </b>Not the greatest of turn cards, but I really dont think A-2 was leading the betting on the flop. I still Im either WAY ahead here or the aggressor has the 3 and I'm way behind.<br />
Check, bet, call, call<br />
<br />
<b>Turn: 10d</b><br />
<br />
And just like that, second nuts, and while Im sure no one thinks the 10 is a scare card or changed the outcome of the hand, I do think this has a very likely chance of being a check round if I dont act first. I could be wrong here too though. The aggressor has bet the whole way through, and the other caller has just smooth called the whole way. If he had the 3, he would have raised before now.<br />
This was a pretty tough decision, and it possibly could have cost me an extra $12 or more dollars... but I lead out. Only thing raising me here is quads and a worse full house.<br />
Both players end up calling. Aggressor doesnt show, other caller and same color AA for cracked Aces ($100 bonus). So at least we were both happy.<br />
Behind the whole way and hit a 1 outer, sometimes the best advice is just "be lucky".<br />
Left $50 down for the first losing session in the last 5.<br />
<br />
Speaking of advice, if anyone reading has any questions about playing poker in a casino or any other questions you were curious about and never asked, let me know! I'll answer in my next blog posts.<br />
<br /></div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-39993894400356123962019-04-27T03:43:00.000-04:002019-04-27T20:40:43.986-04:00What the heck is a Green Fish anyway? AND A Rollercoaster of a Night<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br>
Wow, my actual first poker post to my poker blog in almost 8 years. Never thought I'd be updating this thing again, and yet, here we are.<br>
<br>
Before we get too far into the up and down session we had, I just wanted to take a few sentences to answer "Why is this called the Green Fish blog?".<br>
Back before Black Friday (4/15/11) Online Poker was doing pretty ok for the most part, however, a necessity then and probably even more so now, were Online Poker Tools. Essentially a HUD, but for Full Tilt, Pokerstars, etc. If you watch online poker streamers today, you will undoubtedly see really fancy HUDs that they use.<br>
The main reasons for these HUDs are pretty straightforward<br>
They used data-mined Hand Histories from bunches and bunches of players across poker sites to come up with stats. These stats could tell you amazing things like "How many times does this player 3-bet preflop?" or "Whats the VPIP$ (Voluntarily Put Into Pot)for this player?"<br>
You can see how useful this would be if you are in a NL cash game or a NL tournament against a player you don't know.<br>
<br>
Poker Edge specifically (as Im sure other software does, but PR is the one I'm familiar with) would make things even easier. They came up with a group of icons to label each player with using common poker nomenclature. I'll let the PE website explain:<br>
<i>One very cute and useful feature of poker-edge is that it attaches an icon next to each player at your table. This tells
you instantly what type of player you are playing with.
</i><br>
<i>
</i><i>A tight-aggressive-aggressive (TAA) player is depicted as a shark
(AA means aggressive preflop & aggressive postflop);
a tight-passive-passive (TPP) player as a mouse; a
loose-aggressive-aggressive (LAA), i.e. a maniac, as a Tasmanian devil,
etc. </i><br>
<i>Red fish, green fish and blue fish are various fish with different degrees of fishiness. Other player avatars are
a telephone, a shark or an eagle.</i><br>
<br>
Now, there are more colored "fishes"| today then there used to be, but when I used the software essentially a "Green Fish" was just a terrible player<i> </i>who spewed money. Pretty much me, especially when I started out playing and blogging. So, that's how Green Fish! was born.<br>
<br><i></i>
Now that that's out of the way, I am super duper excited to show you this neat App I downloaded and used at tonight's game!<br>
It's called "Poker Bankroll Tracker" and you are never going to believe what it does! But one of the neat features I discovered and will be definitely using going forward is the "Live Session" tab. Literally starts an open session as you are playing. You just provide some simple data (stakes, buy-in) and then throughout the session it charts it. At the end when you click "finish session" it gives you some pretty neat output. So without further ado, here's tonight's session and I will get into the nitty gritty of each peak and valley. Noting here that I tried to maintain an update of the session each time I either won or lost a hand at showdown. Hands were i limp/folded the flop I did not update each time. I still think this is an accurate representation of the night overall however.<br>
<br>
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So we got seated at a 3/6 LHE game at 5:16pm and I bought in for $100. As you can also see on this graph, I went on a heater almost immediately. Everything was drawing great and hands like AKo (i even raised by accident with this hand) flopped a K and held on to win.<br>
So within the first hour, I'm up about 180.<br>
Then you see the mountain starting to turn into a slow and downward slope... This is where I'm going to pick up the detail on tonight.<br>
<br>
So as you can see, for a few hours we ended hanging around between $50 - $85 up. This period of time was basically playing a bunch of draws that didn't work out and then winning a few smallish pots here and there to keep me afloat.<br>
About halfway into the session tonight, Seat 2 (we are Seat 8 for this part, until I move) left and was replaced by a guy I'll call "Tatted Texan". He bought in for more than $150 which at a 3/6 LHE table is a little excessive. I also caught him saying to his neighbors that he doesn't normally play limit, and that he is a NLHE cash guy.<br>
This catches my ear because as someone who played a lot of NLHE cash previously, I know this means hes going to be in way too many hands because its just so easy to see a flop for $3.<br>
<br>
TT doesn't disappoint and probably played at his first 10 hands in a row (probably more), but the difference here is he was winning them all mostly. He would either show down the best hand or bet everyone else off of the hand. He seemed like a cocky ahole, which the table up to that point had been pretty friendly and predictable. This makes my competitive juices kick in and try to outflop, outplay, and out last this dude. You can see that pretty clearly in that nice long red line from $50 up to $14 down.<br>
<br>
I'm getting shellacked. None of my hands are hitting, and I'm calling with draws that are pretty low in terms of hitting.<br>
This is when seat 7 decides to leave. I feel like I have to change up my juju so I take his seat as soon as he departs.<br>
The new seat is a loud, annoying, probably drunk dude who wont SHUT UP and complaining about everything from the NBA playoff game on, to how slow the people providing chips are, to how slow the waitstaff is.<br>
TT gets offended because he thinks this guy is talking under his breath about how TT is playing (I didnt hear anything, but no way was I getting involved in that mess) so he starts loudly saying his thoughts out loud...but Seat 8 seemed pretty oblivious of everything.<br>
Anyway, not long after I switch seats, I wake up with JJ on the button. TT raises, a few people call, and I just smooth call.<br>
<b>Flop: J-9-x</b><br>
Perfect flop, no real draws except weird straight draws, so im feeling ok here. TT bets out, 2 people call, and I call.<br>
<b>Turn: X</b><br>
Another blank so I'm still feeling fine. TT leads out again, a few people call, and i decide to raise. Seat 9 calls and TT calls.<br>
<b>River: J</b><br>
So yeah. Poker is real easy. No idea what TT puts me on, but he LEADS OUT the betting again. I again raise, and all other callers drop off except TT.<br>
Flip up my quad Jacks for a monster pot PLUS the $50 bonus for making quads with a pocket pair.<br>
See that reallllly big green line from $-14 to $+100? Yeah, that was the Quad Jacks.<br>
TT says nice hand and we chat a little about the hand. He had KK.<br>
<br>
Ended up taking a smaller pot not to much long after with 2 pair A9. And lose a flopped two pair (A5) to a K on the turn and Seat 1 holding AK.<br>
<br>
The next biggish jump on the graph is a hand I absolutely played horribly from the turn on, and I really should be up another 150 or so.<br>
<br>
The Diamondbacks game just ended so they announced over the speakers that their "Aces Cracked promo is back on". (Almost 24/7 if you have AA in either red or black and it gets beat by someone, you win $100). I look down to see AA but not the same color, so im kinda bummed.<br>
Anyway, im in late position again and TT raises preflop. Since non-same color Aces are very vulnerable, I re-raise. When it gets back to him, TT re-raises again, and I cap the betting (3rd raise). We bring 2 callers along so its about $48 in the pot already.<br>
<b>Flop: A-K-x</b> with the A and K being diamonds.<br>
I like this flop, but knowing how unlucky I can be I do worry about gutshot straight draws plus the diamond draw.<br>
TT is first to act and he bets, call, I raise, call, TT re-raises, fold, I cap, fold. TT calls and says "do you want to go all in cause I will"<br>
I respond "maybe lets see what happens on the turn".<br>
(Side note, in limit at VQ, if you are heads up on the river, you can keep re-raising each other as much as you would like, so technically we could do this).<br>
<b>Turn: x of diamonds </b><br>
TT bets, and this is where I fuck up. If this were a NL game, I would have shoved on the flop after he re-raises me. Thats a super easy decision. But here, with this guy who has been on fire and playing every hand for the most part, I totally could see him having jank cards but a flush.<br>
<u>So I just call.</u><br>
TT then says "ok guess we aren't going all in then"<br>
<b>River: X (blank)</b><br>
<b> </b>The river card wasn't going to factor into the decision that was for sure. I was either beat with a flush, or I was crushing TT. There was no in-between on this hand.<br>
TT leads out again. I, the immensely big ass chicken who has been hurt many times before, just call.<br>
He flips over pocket Kings for a set of Kings, and I say "Trip Aces" and flip mine up.<br>
He can't believe I got him again. Then the whole table groans, because if the turn or river had been the 4th King I would have 5k, TT would have won 2.5k and the table would have gotten a share of the bad beat jackpot.<br>
Alas, I settle for being up over $200 again. The drunk annoying guy next to me was cheering me on for winning which pissed TT off so they had words until the drunk guy finally left and we all (including dealer) said thank you to TT for getting him to leave.<br>
<br><b></b>
Nothing too much happened after that, I won another pot where I had AQ and people didnt believe on an AAx flop I had it.<br>
TT turned out to be a pretty cool dude and told me he was from Fort Worth and he played $5/$10 NL usually at his local casino.<br>
Me, knowing the area and that Texas doesn't have any casinos I know of asked if he played at the Winstar (Oklahoma). He looked shocked and said "yeah, but not many people out here know what that is. Its huge" I told him when I drove across country we made a pitstop there and it was huge and beautiful but I didnt get a chance to see the poker room. He said it was huge, and when I asked approx how many tables he said probably 100 (smaller than Foxwoods, but whatever).<br>
<br><b></b>
Anyway, TT continued doing his thing and winning, by the time I left he was still up a good amount even after the 2 chunks I took out of him. And that was it. That's how this session was a profit of $210.<br>
Again this proves if you are going to grind it out, you really do have to grind it out even if you get up a lot early and piss it away. Don't let it affect your play. I just need to freaking keep raising with the nuts so I can make a little more money.<br>
<br><b></b>
Thanks for reading, until next time!<br><b></b><br>
<b> </b><br>
<br></div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-28401798007111050542019-04-25T13:42:00.004-04:002019-04-25T15:58:05.264-04:00Poker Blogging, 10 Years After My First WSOP Event<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="_5pbx userContent _3ds9 _3576" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_2p">
<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"type":104,"tn":"*N"}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/pokertalk?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="_5afx"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz">#</span><span class="_58cm">PokerTalk</span></span></a> <br /> Fair Warning, this is a long poker post. <br /> It stretches from tonight's session to random musings about a having a local poker room plus my origins in poker.<br />
So its a TL;DR post, and i apologize if this shows up on your feed and
you really couldn't care less. I felt like unloading random crap on my
mind<br />
<br />
Alright, still here? Ok cool.<br />
<br />
So I don't think many
people know how I got into poker (and probably far less care). My
origins date back to 10th grade and playing 5 card draw in biology for
quarters.<br /> That turned into home games at classmates houses where we
played 5 card draw, and "Anaconda" and a 7 card stud variant where cards
are passed left and right. I did occasionally ok at these games but the
most anybody was winning was like 20-40 bucks max. The last of these
games was at my bud's house where we quickly realized the other 2 people
playing were colluding. We ended up eventually taking all our money
back and all of theirs.<br />
<br /> That's probably the last time I played
"poker" until I went to Mohegan and Foxwoods sometime late in 2003.
Moneymakering of poker was in full effect and the poker rooms were
crowded. (Side note: Mohegan Sun closed their poker room between
2004-2009 for some reason or another. If a Foxwoods dealer is to be
believed, they closed due to the poker manager being involved in an
illicit drug dealing ring and were avoiding a lawsuit. I never verified
that, so take that for what you will).<br /> At Mohegan I played 3/6 LHE (limit) since it was the lowest they offered at the time. And Foxwoods I played 2/4 LHE.<br />
I still remember my first actual 2/4 session and how dumb I was. I
ended up losing money, and I was cashing out one of the younger, but
slightly older than me women I had been playing with said, "hey was this
your first time?" I said yeah. She said that I should really read up on
playing Texas Hold'em before playing again. So yeah, I was terrible.
But I did what she said and bought a bunch of poker books on how to
play. Never saw her again, but she really was helpful without being a
jerk and I always appreciated that.<br />
<br />
Between 2004 - 2010, I played
A LOT of poker. Well, as much as I could when I was able to get out to
Foxwoods. I wasn't really lucky at 2/4 LHE, but when I was introduced
to, and started playing 1/2 NL I started doing much better. 2004 was a
pretty big year as I had started playing tournaments as well. The Big
Foxwoods November event (which was associated with the World Poker Tour,
WPT, and may still be) I managed to turn a $25 buy-in to a $1000ish
buy-in to a 3rd level event which paid out 10k seats to the big event.
At the start of the event Mike Sexton walked around and I got to meet,
talk to, and shake his hand. That was a pretty big deal to me. <br /> Ended up finishing in 20th place out of 160ish, and missed a 10k seats by 4 spots.<br />
And so I played on and off online and live, and being much more
successful online. I actually turned a free $25 to The Gaming Club Poker
Room, into winning $660 on a freeroll. I turned that into $1400 and
cashed some out to pay some debts. I was freaking hooked man.<br />
<br />
2009 was really the next big poker event for me. I had become a part of a
poker blogging community (and still talk to many of these people
today). The community had a member who worked for Full Tilt Poker and
was able to snag a sweet deal for what was called the "Tournament of
Champions". It was 3 - 4 various tournaments a week that paid out cash
as well a TOC seat to the winner of the event. The TOC seat was an entry
to the end of season actual TOC event which awarded a 10k Main Event
entry to the winner.<br /> This tournament also had player of the month
awards for March, April, and May which paid out a $2500 package to the
winner of each month who accumulated the most points through the various
tournaments of that month.<br /> Long story short, I won a $2500 package
and did not do well in the TOC main event. BUT I was able to plan my
trip to Vegas and enter Event #51 $1500 NL. <br />
So this is the part
of the movie where the twist comes in. I was probably playing my best
poker I have ever played. I was feeling it. I was pretty accurately able
to assess what my opponents had and play them accordingly. While I
never really played anything higher than 1/2 NL because I was a chicken
(although I did play 2/5 once during this Vegas trip) in tournaments I
was doing awesome. I took 1330 as my biggest tournament cash during this
time leading up to Vegas. I took my biggest live cash game pot of $1080
during this same time. I was freaking on fire, man.<br />
<br /> So I play my event. This is as I remember it from my poker blog because its been 10 years:<br />
Seat 1: Think I remember his name was Jason, dude had an identical twin
who was also a poker player, thought he said "Craig". Felt like I
should know this guy but I couldn't place him. Played extremely well and
became the table leader early on.<br /> Seat 2: Danish guy, reminded me of the lead singer for the Presidents of the United States of America (PUSA).<br />
Seat 3: Thought he might have been a Scandi internet pro. Stereotypical
large headphones, bed head, weird face etc etc. Played pretty well but
someone asked him if he was Scandi and told us he was Danish.<br /> Seat
4: Another guy I felt like I should have recognized. Bald head, grey
hoodie and sunglasses. Didnt talk at the table at all.<br /> Seat 5: Young kid. Nothing much on him at all, didnt get involved in too many pots.<br />
Seat 6: Angry Aussie. Cleary he was Australian, you could tell by his
accent and the huge bowie knife he used as a card top...I kid. But he
seemed pissed off for some reason and it didn't get much better for him
playing poker.<br /> Seat 7: Your Hero. Sporting my Ron Burgundy "I'm Kind
of a Big Deal" t-shirt and listening to techno, I was ready and in the
zone.<br /> Seat 8: Disheveled Southerner. From the way he talked about
the tournament circuit, this dude, I guess, must have been a pro.
Although he was always slouched in his chair (think like getting a
permanent massage) and bore a striking resemblance to Jay Cutler.<br />
Seat 9: Best I can describe this guy was a Native America guy with a
white hoodie, shades, and a huge square band-aid on his left cheek.<br /> Seat 10: Typical bald poker player with shades. Is he staring right at me OR is he staring right through me? <br />
Listened to "Sultans of Swing" as I had planned until the fated moment
where the legendary words "Shuffle up and deal" were uttered. I was
locked and loaded baby!<br />
First hand I am in the SB and it folds
around to Angry Aussie on the button. He raises 3x BB and I peek to find
A-Ko. Not one to play coy, I reraise him 3x his bet. BB folds and
grumbling and mumbling the Angry Aussie folds. I win my very first hand I
have ever played in the WSOP, not a bad start!<br /> Table was pretty tight considering it was a donkament, and I had fairly good reads on most of the active people.<br />
I folded until it got around to me in UTG, and I looked down to find
6-6. I limped and it folded around to MP who raised it 3x BB (raises
were anywhere from 2.5 to 4x the BB). Folded back round to me and I just
called. Flop came 3-4-5 rainbow and I checked. MP bet a little more
than half the pot and XR him right here thinking it was just a standard
continuation bet. It bothered me a little when he called. Turn was a 9. I
figure I am probably good here and even if I'm not I have straight
outs, so I put a pot size bet in here on the turn. MP thinks about it
for awhile then mucks 10-10 face up. I was feeling good, baby.<br /> I
counted my stack and somehow came up with 8900 the first count, but
realized I really had 6900 (nice). Which was still good 30 mins in.
Pretty much the rest of the level I spewed chips on suited connectors
that never came in.<br />
When the 2nd level started I was in the 5500
range and I continued to spew. The only hand I remember from this level
is I had 8-9o on the button, identical twin raised from UTG+1 and I
called. Flop was not favorable, as it was A-K-Q.<br /> Twin c-bet this
flop but I wanted to see if I could incite a fold so I re-raised him the
standard 3x his bet. He thought and thought, looked me up and down and
eventually re-raised me so I had to let it go, at that point I fell my
closest back to the starting stack with 4900.<br /> The break came right
after I scooped a big pot with A-K on a K high flop. Got called all the
way to the river by Danish headphones and he mucked.<br />
During this time there was a weird hand I was involved in with Angry Aussie and NA guy.<br />
Native American guy was the BB, Angry Aussie limped, I limped from the
button, and NA guy checked. Same thing happened on the flop.... or did
it?<br />
I must've been distracted for a second because I had no idea
what was going on. This is what I know: There was a bet in front of NA
guy, he was claiming he was not given the option to check or bet and the
dealer had thought it was a check round, Angry Aussie was vehemently
sure that the dealer never brought in NA's Big Blind and it was not a
bet. Normally not a big deal but the dealer had burned and turned.<br />
The floor was called and the dealer was explaining to the floor the
situation but Aussie kept interrupting and saying the dealer was wrong.
The Floor says in the dickest tone I've ever heard a floor boss say,
"Mike (the dealer) is a world class dealer, he dealt the final table of
the Main Event last year and is one of the highest rated dealers on my
staff. Now who do you think I'm going to listen to in this case you or
Mike?" Naturally that set Aussie off even further. They removed the 10
that had been dealt and restarted action from the flop. This time NA
checked, which kinda pissed me off a lil I wont lie for wasting my time,
and Aussie bet. I folded, NA called. The new turn was a 9, and Aussie
bet again with NA calling. They both checked the river and NA wound up
up winning with a pair of 9s. Aussie showed a 10 that would have won him
the pot had the original turn played.<br /> I bet you would not be surprised to know who got busted from our table first, cursing and mumbling the whole way.<br />
The second person out was baldy shades who I bluffed with my sixes, he
couldn't get anything going and finally just shoved with nothing and got
bounced.<br /> The break came and I checked in with home base on the
stats, PokerNews was reporting that Identical twin at my table had 12k. I
had around 5500.<br />
Got to see Men the Master rush past me when the
break came and Liss filled me in on the rest of the pros that were
spotted playing in that event.<br />
Before play resumed they did the
bracelet ceremony redux playing the correct version of "God Save the
Queen" instead of the Sex Pistols version. At the time I had no idea why
they were apologizing and re-playing the national anthem. Then they
presented the bracelet to the Iranian guy who won in a touching tribute
to his homeland.<br />
Back to play, 2 new guys joined the table to
replace those who got bounced. I won another hand early in the round,
although I cant recall specifics to get my chip count back up over the
7500 threshold.<br /> To wrap this up, about halfway through level 3 the following hand occurred:<br />
UTG+1 & 2 limp, folds around to me in the SB and I see A-Qo. I raise 3x BB to 450. UTG1 folds UTG2 calls.<br />
My read on UTG2 is weak player, he made a horrible laydown 2 hands
earlier against young Danish dude when for the umpteenth time he pushed
all-in as a short stack.<br /> Flop is Ax-5x-8x<br /> Flop is a good flop
for me with no possible draws of any kind. Since im OOP I throw a
half-pot bet of 600 out there. UTG2 quickly raises to 2500.<br /> The
raise confuses me because I don't think hes that strong to limp UTG2
twice. If he had a set here would he raise me that much? Would he limp
A-K twice? I decide he has to have A-10/A-J. And after a pause, I push
all-in.<br /> Dude starts tanking hard, mumbling "what did I get myself
into? You don't have two pair. You raised pre-flop and bet 600 on the
flop...."<br /> At this point I know my read was absolutely right, A-10 or
A-J. I almost started to say "your a-j is no good here" but i stopped
myself.<br /> After 5 mins of agonizing deliberation he calls and flips up A-J.<br />
Anyway, so the river was a Jack and my heart dropped out of my chest. I
sat motionless realizing that my WSOP had ended on a 3 outer. Well not
ended, I still had 500 in chips but I was done, mentally was fried.<br />
Finally busted 2 hands later when I ran my 10-9ss into 10-10.<br />
I got to take the walk of shame for my first and possibly last time. On
my way towards the cab area at the font of the casino I passed by Chris
Ferguson again and waved.<br />
This screwed me up real good mentally.
I still played various tournaments through 2009 and 2010, but I was not
anywhere near the level I had been at. Eventually I quit playing
altogether except for a monthly home game I was hosting. It was dark
times.<br />
Then I met most of the people I call friends now playing
Magic between 2013 - 2018 and occasionally going with a few people to
play cash games at Foxwoods/Mohegan. Then I moved out here and had a
poker room 12 mins from my doorstep. Granted, its a small poker room,
but all the dealers know me and the waitresses know me. There is
something to be said about being a regular in a poker room. Its nice.
Like Foxwoods was my home poker room, but outside of a few individuals
and maybe a few dealers, nobody knew who I was.<br />
<br />
<br />
So back to tonight.<br />
<br />
After 5 hours of poker play, I broker even. But there is a great lesson
in this. I was down a lot fairly early. When you aren't hitting your
cards and all your draws end up dead ends its frustrating. I finally
looked down to see two black Aces. They get cracked which gets me $100
and im basically back up to starting amount. Then I whittled that away,
and bought in for another $100. That started to whittle away too. Seat
changes, table changes, nothing was working. And then, just like that, I
flop the nut straight and get to re-raise with 4 callers on the flop. I
bet the rest of the way when no 3rd heart or card paired and I walked
away with a big pot. 2 more big pots with made flushes and I was
slightly over what I bought in for. I ended up up $1 when the table
finally broke and gave that to the dealer.<br /> So yeah, breaking even was pretty nice tonight.<br />
Until next time!</div>
</div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-14541047783195667652011-07-03T00:57:00.001-04:002015-10-06T17:03:58.137-04:00Where the heck ya been, and meeting pro poker players in odd places<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Its been awhile again since I blogged, with online poker going by the wayside (meaning the demise of any planned BBT6 even t that may have been) kinda puts a damper on the whole blogging thing. Add in that I have been walking the fine of depression over my employment and wa-la, going into hibernation.<br />
<br />
<br />I think I've talked on here before after my love a card game called "Magic: The Gathering", played paper Magic since 1994 (June 14th, 1994 to be exact, yes its sick I still remember the first day I bought cards) and was one of the original players on MTG:Online. My success mirrors my poker success, mostly mediocre. I didn't learn till 2004 when David Williams went heads up against Raymer (who is from Minot, ND coincidentally) and the coverage talked about how David was on the Magic Pro Tour. After that, it got out that more than just a few poker players had started their careers off playing Magic.<br />
The only reason I bring this up is because I was playing one of the many sealed deck tourneys and i notice someone named "DutchBoyd". I hadn't heard he ever played, and like someone i played last night named "AngelPagan" it could have been someone who was a fan? Turns out it was really him, and I ending up shooting him a message wishing him well at the WSOP. Responded back almost immediately saying "thanks bud! :)" Kinda neat for someone who doesnt see many celebs often.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-21537118290734052522011-05-03T18:50:00.000-04:002015-10-06T17:04:22.131-04:00If I Can't Win Then.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you havent heard the <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/news/story?id=6470691">news</a>, Annie Duke has gone and started a Pro Poker League. Taking a queue from the PGA, there are performance requirements needed to be considered to receive a card, and it seems the cards are tiered in 2,3, and 5 year segments.<br />
<br />
I feel conflicted on this, on one hand it seems like some of the name pros got tired of the "luck" factor and they are taking their deck and going home with it.<br />
As someone who started playing right before the Moneymaker boom, it feels like a slap in the face, these name PROS were ok with the poker schlubs when it meant exposure on TV and living a lifestyle akin to a rockstar with fans, but since its made their ability to win the elite tournaments harder due to thousands upon thousands of entrants in these contests, they decide to make an elite club that only those they deem worthy to enter be included.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, I do like the idea of having a pro league that rewards the consistently best players in the game with bragging rights. It gives that poker player who is trying to be the best something to strive for.<br />
<br />
Im curious what most of the BBT bloggers think, I would assume the more accomplished bloggers would be in favor of this league and the more casual players would think its childish and selfish.<br />
<br />
Thoughts?</div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-25346811593174047172011-05-01T23:51:00.000-04:002015-10-06T17:04:32.139-04:00Back In The Saddle Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So <a href="http://heffmike.blogspot.com/">THIS GUY</a> went ahead and did an APB for Bloggers to get together like old times and "play" a BBT tournament.<br />
<br />
While it might have only been a fake money tournament, I think most bloggers will agree that it really did have that "BBT" feel to it...maybe even more so with all the side bets going on behind the scenes.<br />
<br />
I ended up finishing 5th out of 30, and I left feeling that Id like to see more of these tournament with a point system and maybe an "escrow" person holding on to some sort of prize?<br />
<br />
Oh and someone went and shot that man Osama Bin Ladin, I guess thats some big news huh? </div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-7969682376635134682011-03-11T02:07:00.001-05:002015-10-06T17:05:31.487-04:00The Honey Badger Doesn't Give A Shit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Long time since I last posted and sooo much has happened.<br />
<br />
Poker:<br />
<br />
- Haven't played too much except for the monthly home games. I have been turning a profit, last month being the highest in recent memory with +$190. Have another home game coming up this Saturday actually.<br />
<br />
- March 22nd 2010, my bday last year, is still the last time I played live poker in the casino. I'm back to that "is it fear or do you just not want to play?" thing again. It must be at least a tiny bit of fear since the last time I got up from a table I was -$700 after an hour... Ive been spending my time when I go playing PaiGow or Blackjack. For the year so far I'm -$50 with about 20+ hours of playing time.<br />
<br />
-BBT6! Al posted a tweet earlier this week hinting at a 6th installation of every one's favorite online poker blogger series. I don't have anything on Full Tilt right now, but the official announcement may make me change my tune. Also might get me blogging a little more frequently.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Hopefully see you on the real or virtual tables soon!<br />
<br />
P.S. If you want to laugh pretty hard check out the youtube video that the title of the post is paying homage to:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4r7wHMg5Yjg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-13830276387184345972010-11-05T02:37:00.000-04:002015-10-06T17:07:00.676-04:00Escaping and Home Game Time Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For some reason I always get the motivation to write as I'm doing my insomniac thing at 2am in the morning, well I guess I shouldn't be that surprised since around this time of night I always wrote my best last minute reports in college.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In addition to my org chart fiasco at work, constant rumors swirl about various undertakings that are alleging to be happening. Allegedly 11/10/10 a big re-org resulting in layoffs of 4% of the workforce will be announced, so yeah its just a little stressful to say the least.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So when I come home I try distance myself as much as I can from that "other world" and get involved in the xbox (Fallout: New Vegas), or playing some HORSE on Stars, or what I've been doing lately is getting back to playing Magic: The Gathering Online. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you've never played MTG, its easy to just dismiss it as some weird D&D stuff which isn't entirely inaccurate, but more than that, its a game that lets you customize your experience to be an extension of your own personality. There are 5 colors essentially to choose from: Red (direct damage, aggressive creatures), Green (powerful creatures, life gaining), White (flying creatures, defense), Blue (spells, card denial), and Black (discard, undead creatures). Yeah the "black" color got the game banned from my grade school because 2 of the cards had pentagrams on them and they don't go over well in Catholic school...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, you can start to see why more than a handful of poker players started out playing MTG. MTG, in my opinion, is more strategic than poker. Not only do you have to play your opponent's cards (usually in a head's up setting, but not always), but you have to craft a 60 card deck that is fluid. And by fluid meaning you cant sit and rely on just one combo to come up, since it may never come, you have to craft a deck that has multiple card combos, and then combos on top of that which might not have even been planned in the first place. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And that's just one facet of MTG, they have drafts where 8 people buy three booster packs (15 cards) and pick a card a pass until all 3 boosters have been depleted. So you have to build a deck based on no prior knowledge of what cards you are going to get plus be aware of what other people seem to be picking.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That's why I love it, not just because i can play a Goblin or make you discard half your deck, its the strategy and personalization that makes me keep coming back.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now on to poker, my monthly home game is this Saturday. Looks like we'll have a decent turnout (6-7 people) I just need to get back to winning ways. I'm on a 5 month snide of no wins.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Its good to escape, now I just need to kick the insomnia.</div>
</div>
1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-19841259849695781802010-10-29T01:49:00.000-04:002010-10-29T01:49:01.217-04:00Another Day, Another DollarIts funny, I wrote that last post at 2am in the morning on a stream of consciousness, so it ended up looking Hoy-esque. Id like to thank <a href="http://sirfwalgman.blogspot.com/">Waffles</a> for sharing his thoughts, and I agree, the only truly way to enjoy working is when you are working by your own rules and not by anyone elses. I also received many suggestions and points of views from the blogger sphere, and I am truly humbled by the response I received and the support you provided. Its makes me truly proud to be a part of a community like this.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>My move now is to let my new boss do some digging into my concerns and hopefully by November 9th when we meet for our first one on one I can finally get some answers. If not, I will talk to HR and see if theres any assistance they can provide. CT Labor department is another option also, although I'm not sure how deep they delve into these kind of disputes. </div><div>But one last time, thank you to all who reached out to me, its truly appreciated. And i will update as soon as i get new info.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Moving on to something else, since this is a poker/gambling blog I should talk some about that.</div><div><br />
</div><div>As I stated in my comeback post, not too much poker has been played since March. There are a few reasons for that including blowing 75% of my stake at a NL cash game on my 30th birthday, the medication I went on in March limits those "cravings" to gamble, and most importantly, I am sucking terribly at poker. </div><div>This "sucking" is very much different than the variance I have experienced over the years, this funk seems to be a mixture of overconfidence or pride and a side of carelessness. Right now, I don't think I could cut it at a casino cash game, I'd be dead money just biding my time.<br />
The only online poker I play is either HORSE or Stud 8, and that's because those allow me to just be tight and profit off the weaker players, but even still I make bonehead plays or have become increasingly unlucky.<br />
<br />
It got to the point earlier this year (right around BBT5) where I actually hated poker. In my mind the game was no longer about skill and strategy, just dumb luck. Every coin-flip, every dog hand, and every dominant hand I lost. At first I thought it was just variance catching up to me after a very profitable 09 and a 12 month streak of at list one tourney win at my own home game to where I was lucky to finish 2nd out of a 5 person game.<br />
<br />
I'm slowly trying to get myself back into NL, and actually be somewhat competitive, but its not easy by any means. The game has changed so much, and everyone you play is somewhat educated now.<br />
<br />
Hopefully you, dear readers, are fairing better than I.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading!<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-89417403199675916572010-10-21T21:25:00.000-04:002010-10-21T21:25:24.386-04:00Welcome BackWell hello there blogger-verse,<br />
<br />
Been awhile since I last connected with you and not much has changed but I have made a resolution to post more frequently and hopefully rekindle some of those friendships that may have gone by the wayside.<br />
<br />
SO what have I been up to? Well I haven't played too much poker live or online, lately been playing some HORSE on Stars and have had my regularly monthly game with a stop at JLBSox's home game when he has it. I've been playing so terrible at NLHE, cant figure out why that is.<br />
<br />
Sports: Phillies right now are leading 3-2 in Game 5 of the NLCS which they are down 3-1.<br />
KC Chiefs are 3-2, got out of the gate 3-0 and lost their last two. Still leading the division though.<br />
<br />
Alright just a quick hit and run for now, i have a Hoy-esque post on my thoughts about the NFL coming up, as well as possible attempt to get back into poker regularly.<br />
<br />
Until then, see ya soon!1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-81094770261033816332010-06-06T15:59:00.000-04:002010-06-06T15:59:15.370-04:00Fee Times A Mady!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPpwncvHM92bT5TVZt4Rx_lRWyPbwqbfy3KKfZwQCoHWKW5zXKk6mBOEHk-4gkj9h58HbvciaanGw6uUG9CMGuc1jLDezDVK2oO1W80lwZPsHextXfs6lRNm9pxJr52Mks6uGYEo4yf15/s1600/royal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPpwncvHM92bT5TVZt4Rx_lRWyPbwqbfy3KKfZwQCoHWKW5zXKk6mBOEHk-4gkj9h58HbvciaanGw6uUG9CMGuc1jLDezDVK2oO1W80lwZPsHextXfs6lRNm9pxJr52Mks6uGYEo4yf15/s320/royal.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Third online royal since 2003, first on Full Tilt, 2nd Clubs Royal.1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-88064699467264283112010-06-06T12:34:00.000-04:002010-06-06T12:34:55.259-04:00Around the HornSporadic posting due to lack of poker or anything interesting going on, but I'll try to touch on a bunch of different things.<br />
<br />
First, Poker: Had my monthly home game last night. Best hand I got all night (4 tournies) was A-Kdd, highest pair I had was 9s. Ending up winning the 3rd game, didnt cash in the other 3.Up 20 for the night.<br />
<br />
Flyers push the Stanley Cup Finals to a best of 3 when they tied up the series 2-2 on Friday. Philly has at times looked brilliant, especially the 4th goal in game 3. They still are playing sloppy and maybe just a tad cocky, which is leading to turnovers and scoring chances for the Hawks. <br />
<br />
After Roy's perfect game, the Phillies proceeded to get swept by the Braves. It looks like they might have gotten back on track with back to back wins over the Padres. <br />
<br />
First wedding, last week, was boring as all heck due to me not really knowing anyone. My bro's is this Friday so that one should be a lot better.1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-37948925379979246582010-05-30T12:00:00.000-04:002010-05-30T12:00:25.140-04:00Puuuuuuuurfecto!Roy Halladay continues to impress as he throws the first perfect game for the Phillies since Jim Bunning in 1964, and the first no-hitter since Kevin Millwood on the '03 team. <br />
Kudos to you sir, and I am glad you are proving me wrong over and over again this season. <br />
<br />
In other Phillies news, the offense needs to get its rear in motion, it seems like since Rollins second game back from his first DL stint (and has since returned to it) the offense cant get it together. Maybe the ole swtcherooney of the lineup is in order. <br />
My non-professional suggestion would be Victorino, Polanco, Werth, Howard, Utley, Ibanez, Ruiz, Castro. Basically just switching up Utley and Werth ad maybe switching the 6 through 8th hitters in some fashion. <br />
<br />
Flyers gave up the first game of the Finals with Leighton being pulled. Im not sure how I feel about it because Niemi didnt get yanked, but Boucher did play spectacularly considering he hasnt played since Game 5 of the Bruins series. Hopefully they can come back, play a little less sloppy and win this thing. <br />
<br />
Its an exciting time to be a Philly sports fan, even if I dont follow the Eagles or Sixers.1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-74663906377026089862010-05-23T20:01:00.001-04:002010-05-23T20:41:12.823-04:00General Malaise and IndifferenceDescribes my feelings toward poker of all forms right now, just dont excited about the game like i use to. I could say the same about video games too, just not feeling the silly pastimes that made me who I am.<br />
I think one of the things that has really bugged me specifically about poker is the people who have hit a certain level of success and now look down or outright mock those who are not as successful or time committed as them. <br />
When I started playing poker there were a few reasons:<br />
1. I wanted to win money<br />
2. Poker is a fun, social game when you a have a decent group of people.<br />
3. I liked the aspect of being able to go toe to toe with a doctor, or a lawyer, or some snot-nosed kid and trying to outthink them. <br />
<br />
While I still want to win money, that aspect has trumped all other reasons, and once that happens its no longer a fun little hobby or side-venture...its a job. And you know what? I already have one job and Im not that fond of it as it is, and so Ive been playing poker less and less. <br />
<br />
I didnt play the mookie last Wednesday, but I did notice Lightning36's post that explained his reasons why he did what he did, and if you have seen it he got pretty much lit up in the comments. That is just head-scratching to me. He didnt have to post his reasons for his play and he explained himself very well but there are people out there who made comments as if Lightning is some idiot who doesnt have a clue what hes doing, and I think thats pretty shameful. <br />
If you think hes a fish then why are you tapping the glass? <br />
If you think he has faulty logic, but offer no advice or you offer some advice with a side of admonishment without recognizing the pyschological thought process he put into it as being a rational decision that a sane person would make during the course of a tournament then I think you may just be a poker snob. <br />
<br />
Lets refer to this era of poker as the "2 PLUS 2" or Hellmuthian age. <br />
<br />
So anyway what have I been doing? <br />
<br />
Enjoying the Flyers miraculous playoff run that hopefully includes a Stanley Cup appearance and win. <br />
<br />
Watching lots of baseball, purchased MLB.tv so I can watch every Phillies that I can this year, haven't been able to do that since 2001. <br />
<br />
Trying to survive work, lately just seems more stressful between customers who have taken too much of the crazy juice then calling us up or could be the soon to be seperation of bank and insurance operations with us offering an IPO.<br />
<br />
Busy next couple weeks, friend's wedding this week with a trip to Foxwoods. Home game the week after, and then my Bro's wedding the week after that. <br />
<br />
So good luck to the TOC winners, hope you use that 10k well and win the ME.1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-70102354032316811012010-05-18T23:40:00.000-04:002010-05-18T23:40:28.561-04:00Workin My Way Back to MyselfIt has definately been more of a grind this year than the previous 2 years for me. 5 weeks in, and the best I could muster so far was one cash and 0 final tables. That will hopefully be fixed soon.<br />
<br />
<br />
Mookie tomorrow night at 10pm EST pw: vegas 1, lets try to get that player count up over 100 again!1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-40867300105469577072010-04-27T08:31:00.000-04:002010-04-27T08:31:51.936-04:00Finally crack the money boardIt took 5 BBT events (4 played) but I finally cracked the money board with a 14th place finish last night in the Poker From the Rail series. <br />
<br />
Got in good position when IT jammed the turn on me after I flopped the nuts and somehow I faded quads and a paired board to double up. <br />
Little later on in a weird hand, I held Qs-Jx on a As-Ks-10s-X-10 board. Vinnay checked the river and I bet pot approx 1800. Vinnay, then shoved for another 2k more to put me at my tourney life. I replayed the hand in my head and the action didn't make sense to me, so praying I didnt just run into a boat I called and he showed ducks. <br />
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I chipped up to a high point of about 18k and everything else was downhill from there, costliest mistake was raising 10-10 from EP, shorty pushes in on me (which i was hoping for) and then another shorty Astin pushed over the top of him. I figured Astin's range was still pretty wide here as he only had about 5k in chips, and I had in the neighborhood of 12-13k. So I called, shorty flips up 9-9, Astin has K-K and flops a set. <br />
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The rest of the time was spent scratching for the money bubble which I eventuall hit and was ousted when my A-9 couldnt catch against Hoy's J-J.<br />
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"We Can Build On This!" - Herm Edwards1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-6767239197175901932010-04-25T19:51:00.003-04:002010-04-25T21:15:30.037-04:002/3 in busting before first breakI havent been playing live or online well lately. Usually my night ends with me shoving into some kind of made hand already, and I kick myself for being too aggressive (STAG). <br />
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Tonight I lose 1/3rd of my stack figuring I will let Schuabs hang himself with an underpair or weak K on a K high flop, and I let him see a river which gives him trips to beat my TPTK.<br />
<br />
Then the below hand occurs which stands as the reason I have stopped playing almost all forms of poker:<br />
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Full Tilt p0ker Game #20358123589: BBT5 Invitational Event #2 (155898195), Table 3 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:38:04 ET - 2010/04/25<br />
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<br />
bayne_s posts the small blind of 30<br />
TexansBaby posts the big blind of 60<br />
The button is in seat #4<br />
<br />
*** HOLE CARDS ***<br />
<br />
USAF_Trevor has 15 seconds left to act<br />
USAF_Trevor raises to 135<br />
1Queens Up1 calls 135<br />
*** FLOP *** [As 2c 2d]<br />
USAF_Trevor bets 120<br />
<br />
1Queens Up1 raises to 360 <br />
USAF_Trevor raises to 3,001, and is all in<br />
1Queens Up1 calls 1,345, and is all in (gonna have to show me the nutz here buddy)<br />
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USAF_Trevor shows [<strong>5d Ad</strong>]<br />
1Queens Up1 shows [Jh Ah]<br />
<br />
*** TURN *** [As 2c 2d] [<strong>5s</strong>] ighskjfdfhlkjefhklegfhilewgfulaegfeagaeghfahlfgahgfaslgflewgflkewagfwlk<br />
*** RIVER *** [As 2c 2d 5s] [9c]<br />
USAF_Trevor shows two pair, Aces and Fives<br />
1Queens Up1 shows two pair, Aces and Twos<br />
USAF_Trevor wins the pot (3,770) with two pair, Aces and Fives1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-871100259250634992010-04-21T23:38:00.001-04:002010-04-21T23:39:36.699-04:00BBT5 Take 2 - The BuddyMookieDankLasted longer than the first time around. Chip count high was 4200. Actually got a mix of decent hands and outstanding flops, just could not get any action on strong hands and got loads of action on my weaker ones. <br />
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Ended up pushing 4-4 on a 6-3-2 flop and top 5 stack thought and called jam with 10-6hh. GG me.<br />
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Did get some good news, Al setup me to be entered into Sunday Invitiaional. My bankroll thanks him very much! Need to start cashing in these things...dont have 3 months like last time...1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-1244801427098855912010-04-19T22:39:00.000-04:002010-04-19T22:39:14.654-04:00Poker From The Rail: Probably Safest Place For Me To BeStarted my BBT5 off with Chad at my table, 27 minutes later I finished it off by shoving my 3k stack into JuliusGoat's set turned quads. <br />
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If I keep that performance up, I will absolutely not make it through the entire series. Wish I knew where Ive gone wrong...<br />
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From March to Vegas in 09 I was playing some of the best poker of my life, and since then I cant figure out how to get out of my own way. <br />
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Lately Ive been noticing the fish at the table is me...1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8599627515327687358.post-53906417358456566052010-04-18T18:02:00.002-04:002010-04-22T00:31:58.486-04:00BBT 5 and looking back on BBT4 & Vegas TripFirst let me give you the scoop on the upcoming events:<br />
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<em>Tournament: Poker From the Rail </em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>When: Monday, April 19th through May 24th starting at 22:00ET</em><br />
<em>Game: Deepstack NLHE</em><br />
<em>Buyin: $24+2 (or token)*</em><br />
<em>Password: 2010WSOP</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Tournament: The Mookie</em><br />
<em>When: Wednesday, April 21st through May 26th starting at 22:00ET</em><br />
<em>Game: Deepstack NLHE</em><br />
<em>Buyin: $10+1*</em><br />
<em>Password: vegas1</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>*Winner also receives ToC entry</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Tournament: Battle of the Blogger Tournaments Invitational</em><br />
<em>When: Sunday, April 18th through May 23rd starting at 19:00ET</em><br />
<em>Game: Deepstack NLHE</em><br />
<em>Buyin: Restricted freeroll**</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>**$2,000 Prizepool + 1st and 2nd place receive ToC entry</em><br />
<br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Tournament: Blogger Battle Royale</em><br />
<em>When: Sunday, June 6th starting at 14:00ET</em><br />
<em>Game: Deepstack NLHE</em><br />
<em>Buyin: Freeroll for BBT participating bloggers</em> <br />
<br />
So as the BBT5 is set to start in less than 90 minutes with the first of the invitational series of tournaments, your BBT4 overall leaderboard champ and player of the month for March is sitting on the sideline waiting for his crack at winning one of those 10k seat prizes. <br />
<br />
I think most of us were surprised when Al tweeted just a week ago that he had secured 40k in prizes for a BBT5 after he successfully had convinced the entire blogger community BBT was done for good, but here we are about to duke it out once again!<br />
<br />
For myself, I didnt have any WSOP plans this year unless some promotions happened within the household, or I got lucky with some Full Tilt tournies. <br />
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Vegas was great, got to meet a bunch of fellow bloggers like SmallBoatDrinks, TuscaloosaJohn, LJ, and even Al himself. For my bankroll it was another story, won't repost any of it but if curious go back through my July posts. <br />
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So good luck to all those participants and maybe a blogger can win a WSOP event this year!1Queens Up1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04490951894074243952noreply@blogger.com1