Wow Two Long Session in 3 days

Well I finally played a coupla long stretches of poker. I went to the Love Shack Saturday night about 11pm and left about 4am. Lost my first stack with QQ against a flopped set. I bet my over pair on the flop and got 2 callers. Well I guess I shoulda realized there werent many draws out there but hell these guys stack of with top/top all the time. In fact when I shoved allin on the turn which was about a pot sized bet it wasnt the tight one who called it was the other guy. So I rebuy and lose that down some and put another hundred on that. I was playing too many pots but I was picking up quite a few and probably breaking even on marginal hands. Then I hit 2 sets against the same dude and got back even. The one I remember was when I smooth called behind a raise and a few callers with QQ and hit it. I didnt feel like pushing my QQ there like I normally would. It worked out. He bet the flop and I smooth called. Then he insta checked the turn and I said "so I guess you're done" and bet $40 and he pushed in behind me and said "good read". I call and dont say nothing because he was just being funny not an asshole. So I got even and then eventually the game broke and I was down $65. I would return on Monday night.

I show up at the Monday night game about 11pm. They were running 2 tables. I sat at the must move and it was prety nitty. I dont remeber what happened but I lost. I do remember re-raising preflop with JJ against the only loose guy and getting called. The flop came 8 high but he checked to me in a way I didnt like. Seemed to animated like he wanted me to think he missed. I checked. He checked again and I bet the turn and he moved in for like 100 more. I mucked my pair which was still higher than the board. He showed me QQ. Phew. Coulda went bad quick. After I moved to the main table I tightened up a little. I remember going broke when I called $7 with a Ace 2 suited and the flop was Ace,2,3 all spades. UTG bets $6 into this $30 pot and the crazy guy who gets lucky goes all in for $60. I think crazy guy has a spade and Im worried about the UTG but I call. UTG goes all in. Im beat I guess but I call another $100. UTG has the flopped flush. Crazy has King of spades. I dont hit and crazy guy wins when the spade hits the river. UTG got my extra which probably mad him $30 net. It was a fun game. A guy who won an ESPN televised circuit main event showed up to play. I had never knowing played with him but he looked familiar. Of course I had seen the televised tournament though. All of a sudden every pot was big and he was usually in it somehow and he didnt wn any of them. I think he was stuck like 1200 in a half hour. But he wasnt the only one losing. People were calling $200 river shoves with a pair. Also I think we saw about 6 four of a kinds that nite. I had KK once and woulda lost a lot to a guy who flopped a set and river quads but the Ace hit the window and the turn and I didnt bet any street or call his value river bet. I gave him credit for a nine. Just one though. Most of my pots were me winning preflop with a raise or reraise or me winning with a continuation bet. I won a decent pot when I hit a set once. Actually I called with 4,2 after limping to a straddle and hit two deuces on the flop. I check called the flop and check raised the turn. There were 2 flush draws so I figured I better push the turn. He didnt have either draw or he woulda called. I had a lucky hand where I raised with 87 and hit a 7 on the flop and my bet got called but I hit a 7 on the turn too and got called. Unfortunately another Jack hit the river and I decided to check call but he never bet his top pair of Kings. My last hand I limped with Aces and a guy raised it to $12 and 3 callers and I made it $45. He called plus two more. I hated it. I bet $85 on the flop and they all surrendered after putting me through some stalling torture. That put me up about $15 and the way these pots were going that was one hand. I decided to leave since I had no profit on the table and way more than I wanted to risk. Plus it was 4am and I had to work in 3 hours. I had fun. I gambled a little and made some tricky plays. Feels good to be playing again.

Bad Combos

Well crap. I basically bubbled out of the Monday night tournament. I got short stacked and went into all in mode and of course Im pushin all-in with 5 big blinds on the button with no limpers and holding Q2 suited. Of course I get called by Q10. Q10 was my demise earlier to when I raised from the small blind with KQ and Johnny Chan pushed all-in from the big blind. I folded and he shows me Q10. FML. Then I played cash. I have nothing to say about that. Basically folded or limped or called a bet and never hit a flop. Was brutally boring. Thank God the Saints game was on. Had 10s once and took down the limps. I was in the middle of my only shennanigans raise with 10,8 suited when my used to be wife started texting me and like an idiot I read them and forgot how to play poker. I went broke flopping top pair against a set. I shoulda only lost $40 and not $120 but when a very solid player reraised me as I was texting I just through my remaining $75 in. I blame the texting. Whatever. I was also starving because the fucking cook was still in the tournament and I was about to pass out from hunger. So then i start the drive home and I dont even care about the poker Im just all fucked about the girl. Death, broken marriages and poker is a bad combo. And sucking at poker in general aint all that profitable either.

Distractions Needed

I played in a tournament last Monday. The only hand I remember that was sick was I got QQ in late position and there was a tight UTG limper so I was a little worried about getting reraised but I raised it up pretty good and he just called along with a couple more. The flop was jack high and uncoordinated. Everyone checked to me and I made a healthy bet. I got called by the UTG limper. What would he just call with? A set? A draw? 10s? The turn was a K. He goes all in. This guy is usually the bet it when you have it type but apparently he is trying some new shit because after I folded he showed an outside straight draw that didnt hit. I was thinking that had I had either of the other two hands I couldve had I probably would have called him. He gives me the "I thought you had AJ and could call after the King hit". Right. I wouldnt have played it so strong preflop had I had AJ knowing I was going to get 3 or 4 callers anyway and with a tight UTG limper in there. Any way I was steamed up after that but I didnt get jiggy with any pots. I did pull a lot of preflop All-in steals to stay alive. I went out because I raised from the small blind with K8 suited into a big blind whose chips are always there for the stealing. But he pushed back at me and i had to lay it down. He had AA. I thought it was Queens or better for sure. I went out the next hand going all in with 44 and running into a big blind with 99. I wish I would have just sat on my chips and waited for the chop. Got fifth place and as soon as I went out they chopped it even. I got my entry fee back. It was nice to play for a long time though. The Sofa King needs some distractions. My Dad had passed the Friday before that and it was good to go get away from it. No one knew. I was going to skip tonight but damn I need another distraction so bad. Wife shit going on. Looking forward to the Saints game tonight too. Been playing some online. I won an 18 person $10 SnG and I have been doing well at $20 head up. Im back up close to $400. Im sure I will run like a pinto before long and lose my mind and drop back down to $100. I made a comeback from a 2800 to 200 chip deficit yesterday. To get that low I ran a bluff early in the game on the flop with a check raise and I bet the river big and the guy called me with 66 when 3 big cards were on the board. I was floored. We were still in the first level of blinds so I was able to give up the trash hands and managed to double up a couple times. Once I had chips I was able to play his tendencies. He had some really bad bet sizing tells and as you can tell he was a calling station too. So I just kept the pots small so I could hit hands and get him to call me down. So anyway I hope to have good news about tonight. Maybe I will even play some cash game even though I am about a month away from actually having any cash on hand. Sometimes you just gotta gamble for your sanity's sake.

There is No Karma

Ok still out of action but I have been playing some HU SnGs online. I lost two games in a row last night that made me very upset with God. I was playing the first one and I made a move that didnt work out so I was down to a 2000 to 1000 chip deficit. I had Q9 and flopped open ended str8 draw. The guy bet 120 into me. Im never folding here. I can call and peel one of and fold the turn but thats so weak. He had raised preflop but he had done that with a wide range of hands so I cant really put him on a big hand. So far its just a standard continuation bet. So I raise. I figure I have a good amount of fold equity and if he shoves I have a decent amount of outs. Well I make it 400 more and he shoves and I call another 500ish. Pretty standard heads up stuff I think. Well I hit my draw. Happens. Well I get the fucking crying pussy routine from the other guy where he wants to talk about how terrible I am and how if Im gonna shove with when Im 30% to win I should just shove preflop every hand and blah blah blah. So just proceed to call him a crying pussy and tell him to stop sucking his Moms tits etc... Then the suckouts start. Every time after that i get him allin he is dominated and he wins. And every time he talks about how its justice. He wins that game because he makes a flush against my KK after all the money went in preflop. I end up playing him again. I make the right moves and he gets down to 300 in chips. Then he doubles up with A10 vs my AJ, then again with QJ vs my AK. He hits everything he needs and beats me again. I wouldnt even have noticed if he hadnt been yapping the whole time. Its not the odds or the suckouts that pissed me off. That shit happens all the time. But how could the powers that control the universe allow such a whiney bitch to be lucky. Seriously. It makes me feel sorry for those saps who believe in Karma because obviously there is no such thing. Anyway the dude name is LawManAA on full tilt and he is a whiney ass Phil Helmuth type who is pretty passive and stupid. If you play him and he gets lucky on you too then just assume he is sucking some ones dick at Full Tilt and has been awarded the boom switch and move on to the next player.

Still in Gambling Limbo

Still in action purgatory. No recreation. I have played a coupla random SnGs and even an hour of 3/6 limit at Harrahs but nothing interesting to speak of. My mind is mush from life stress anyway. I do remeber one hand where I had AQ in the big blind and flop comes Ace, 7, 4 and I check called $3 with about 5 people still in the hand and then a 3 hits and I check fold. Then they start the raising and reraising and it becomes the biggest pot of the night with a 3 way show down. The river had come a Queen which woulda gave me two pair which was ver obviously no good. Anyway the hands that went the distance were a set of 4s, 65 for the nuts and ....drum roll.....AQ. I didnt tell the guy that I spent $6 total on that hand while he dumped another $50 in the pot but it woulda been fun to. Obviously i didnt win if my best hand to speak of was a fold after $6 invested. I wish I had a few hundred to get in a No Limit game with just because I know I would be able to shut the world out for a little while. I wonder if that sounds healthy or sick. Dont most people use hobbies to do that? I guess people do drugs for the same reason though. Maybe its just the destructive vs. not destructive. If I were to play when I couldnt afford it just to zone out then I guess thats unhealthy. Of coarse I could do it knowing that it was dumb but that wouldnt mean I didnt have a choice. I guess thats the biggest problem. People who cant make a choice to quit until they are under the jail and really have no choice. I have won 2 outta 4 weeks in my office college football pickem pool. Im still not in the overall lead though cause my bad weeks are too bad. My fantasy leagues are above average but I think its gonna go south soon. I dont have anyone who is killing it this year and I havent played the strong teams yet. Oh well thats the update. I know it sucks but I dont want to just shut my blog down. I do plan on playing poker regularly again soon.

Russian Poker Bride

Lemme see I went to the Belle on last last Friday night and played 4/8 limit. Thats right. I decided to let $100 bucks ride on the donkey olympics. I wont be able to do that very often for now until I get my finances back to manageable. The best part about it was the hot Russian girl in the half shirt with her nice chesticles on display. She was very flirty and winning so she was having a good time. Her boyfriend was there to start with but when he left she decided to take a cab later. Being the cynical bastard I decided she was a mail order bride and really didnt give a shit about her dopey ass boyfriend. I was losing but I told Terry that I had sat and lost at tables full of people I downright despised so why would ever think of getting up just because I was losing at limit holdem. The Russian girl flirted some tourist into sitting next to her and playing even though he didnt know how to play. Well up to that point she was running like Ivan Drago before Rocky came to Russia but guess who had some beginners luck and was hitting on her to her annoyance. She got what she deserved. I went broke and headed home. I dont know when I will be able to play cash again. I dont even think I can justify playing in the $40 tournament tonight. I probably will play but I still cant justify it. I played last week but I was not really focused. I played loose passive and eventually my stack shrank to the all-in point and I moved in for 8 big blinds with AK and got called by QJ. I knew I couldnt fade two live cards.

Life Tilt and Staking People Who Cant Read the Board

So its been a long time. Who cares. I have been on life tilt. The Sofa King is single for the first time in 17 years. I know you probably think its because Im a degenerate poker player and thats ok if you think that. I will not be explaining it here. Why no poker tales? I havent been playing because the finances are in the red because I just lost an income and bills wont even go down $100. I have been playing a little online but Im sure you dont want to hear about every single little $10 SnG I play. I have been winning though. Im not playing a lot though. I did enter a 45 person $10 tournament last week. It paid 6. I busted out 7th. Typical. My last hand I pushed with 55 and got called by J f'ing 10. I was the chip leader with 16 players left and then I went dead. I flopped a flush draw that I put some money in with that never got there. I stole some blinds but it didnt make up for the times when I raised the blinds and got defended.

Anyway I returned to the Monday night game last night but only to play the tournament. It was only 9 players because of the holiday and players being in Biloxi for the big WPT dealio. I seriously dont have the funds to play cash or $200 dollar tournaments. I burned through my remaining $400 of poker money in the last 2 weeks. Even putting $40 up for poker was a dumb move but screw it. In the first coupla levels I got KK in the big blind 3 times and won everytime. I raised the first two times because there were multiple limpers. I got called by 2 players the first time and got all in against a flush draw on the flop and doubled up. I took the pot preflop the second time. I smooth called once when it was going to be heads up. It was almost a min raise. The flop comes Jack high and I check. I expected him to bet. He checked. The turn is another Jack. I bet now and get raised. I dont think he has a Jack but I think he may have a set and thats why no flop bet. I also think that I havent shown any real strength and he is probably putting me on representing the Jack. I decide to call. The river pairs a 7 and I check. He bets but its a total value bet. Its confusing. Im scared of AA but why wouldnt he bet the flop? If he had bottom set then he may have just gotten counterfetted. If he back doored a flush would he bet a double paired board? The only thing I was thinking was he decided to play AA tricky and doesnt put me on the J or the 7. Maybe he puts me on 99s. I would. I call and he was bluffing. If he had bet more I probably would have mucked. Thats why the old value bet bluff sometimes sucks I guess. Anyway the rest of the hands were mostly preflop raise and take it down. I did flop top top and got all in against an open ended str8 flush draw and held up.

Oh I did play some 3/6 at Harrahs this weekend. I was in New Orleans for a party and I told a friend of mine I would stake her up to $60 for PaiGau. But the table was full so she wanted to play poker. So I played first to show her what to do. I thought she knew what hands were what etc.. Well when she was ready I took my moster $10 profit and "sold" her $60 in chips and took a seat behind her. Talk about a wild ride. She folded mostly but then she went to the river with Queen high once and called the river with no pair. ???? Uh oh. Then she hit a gutshot straight on the river and folded to one bet. When the hand was over I in my best Richard Pryor pitched voice "What the fuck you folded a straight woman?!!!?!?!?!?" I dont really remember how but we made it through 3 dealers with $60 bucks just folding a lot. It got down to 4 players because it was like 6 am by now. How could you leave that table ever??? She decided to play 10,9 suited and I was happy. I wanted her to hurry up and go broke. We talked about cashing out and playing PaiGau at $30 but she apparently caught the poker bug. At one point she says how cool she feels and I look around at the 3 fat old dudes she is playing poker with and start laughing my ass off. Any way she flops top two and smooth calls the flop. Lets just say that she probably woulda folded at some point during this hand even after she caught the second nut boat on the river but something made her realize she could fold this hand. I cant say what. Just something. She didnt even raise the river. So sad. She coulda won a huge pot against another full house. I convinced her to cash out and play something she knew how to play. She made $6 bucks. I let her keep it. I even gave her the $10 in chips I had forgot to cash out since she had paid $50 total for parking because she thought the valet was free to players. She didnt play anything else. Phew.