2000 Hands Down. I Think Im Gonna Be OK :P

Dude I was just doing some tourney results checking and holy shit. Congrats to Wild Bill and GeneD for the great showing at the IP in Biloxi!!!! And Shack reg Frank who keeps pop'n out big finishes all year.

Well I've played a good bit of $20/$40 Fixed Limit now but not as much as I wanted to. I would say I have played about 2000 hands so far and broke even. I had my nice starting streak and then ran into a wall and then went on another streak. When I filter my results for $20/$40 its funny because I have 5 wins in a row then 5 losses in a row and then 7 wins in a row. My losses are bigger than my wins unfortunately. I havent really had a typically big win yet. I really feel like I am just getting comfortable with the game and the stakes. I have also been reading whatever material I can find like Johnnie Chan's Limit Cash game book and the Limit sections of Super System. There seem to be more calling stations and tricky bluffers in these games than balanced players so its definitely a good game. I left a game today because it was more tricky players and it was short handed and since I had somewhere to go in a couple hours I decided not to risk such a swing prone couple hours. I would hate to lose a few pots and then be late to my thing or not even go because Im determined to win back to even. That kind o f thinking sometimes gets you even or up but being in the chase your loss mode also drops my level of play often into full steam tilt. I look around at the terrible players who are getting lucky with 9,7 offsuit and think that it should be me this time. That's the kind of thinking I have avoided these last 7 sessions.

Some peoples in my circle are puzzled by this desire to play limit. They dont like not being able to protect their hands. I actually prefer it. Im so sick of trying to protect my big hands and get out flopped by J,7 suited or getting gutshot. NL is so much about traps and bluffs and to tell you the truth thats really not my strong suit. I have trouble with really aggressive players. They are usually better at reading me than I am them which is why they play such aggressive styles. My strong suit is patience. When I was playing online my VPIP/PFR was always good but I was always struggling to get my aggression factor up. In Limit I actually like the players who would rather bluff than check out. Usually I am playing passive against these guys which only encourages them to attempt moves. Often I have to pay off real hands but I feel like its a good strategy against them. By me looking like I dont want to play a big pot I make more than if I take the lead back from them. They are fairly used to these grumpy old men playing back at them and then getting to decide what to do. Maybe I will change my tune one day. I am pretty new to the game. It may take them sometime to exploit me back. But at this point I like having the ability to control the pot size. Strangely enough I dont seem to have the same attitude in tournaments. I think I have done well in tournaments overall. Now by tournaments I mean the 200 dollar nightlies. I dont play the bigger buyins. I have played in two $500 buyins and done nothing special but its really not enough to mention. Of course NL tournaments are totally different than cash games. The blinds going up really hurts the call to trap play since less people see the flop plus the no reload factor. They dont run many $200 tournaments here. They have a daily $60 which is full of landmines. Whatever. I have way enough on plate trying to grind out a win rate at this new Limit stake.

Moved Up. Yikes.

Ahhhhh. My first losing session in a week. How I have missed the sweet stinch of defeat. I moved up to the 20/40 Limit game last week and won 5 in a row. No big wins but solid grinder wins. I didnt want to say anything to anyone until the streak was over. I didnt even call my poker advisor who I talked to right before moving up. Superstitous. I played shitty today. I caught nothing and chased with marginal hands and I paid people off on the river. It was bound to happen I guess. I need to take a break tomorrow and evaluate my play. I know Im not playing optimally but I had been playing well above average for the table. Not today though. I can see about 10 bad moves today. Mostly calling raises in the big blind. Its so damn tempting to get in for a discount and hope to flop big but I spew when I flop a piece. I missed a bet on the river in a half kill pot too by playing to timid with pair of aces with a good kicker. I have also cost myself by playing too tricky on 4th street a couple times. I think about once every session I have had to take a break and refocus after I loosened up preflop because I lost a pot. Overtime these leaks are going to kill me if I dont do something about them. I feel comfortable in the game though and see great potential for my regular game. And when ready there' a 40/80 game to move up to. It was getting so ridiculous in the 2/3 spread game and the 8/16 Limit game. I was losing my shit racking up and quitting and slamming my chair in because yet another pot was taken by a gutshot. That isnt happening in the 20/40. I think most of the money to be made is the old men who got sick of the same thing. I think they dont mind losing to hands that make sense. Maybe I will have a different perspective in a couple weeks though. Maybe Im running good and will eventually run average and bad and run my bankroll into oblivion. I heard them spreading a 10/20 spread limit game today. Maybe that will soften up the 3/5 game because right now it just looks tough. I can say without doubt that I can look at the age, race, gender, and clothing style of a table and have a good idea if its tough or not. See stereotypes make life easier! 

Down Month

Well hell. I dont want to go into all the poker I have played in the last month. I have felt very good about my game and very bad about poker in general. I have been very comfortable at the table and always feel like Im in the top 2 best players at the table but I havent had a card rush since July and have pretty much just been shit out on constantly. I always feel so lame saying it though. Nobody wants to hear it. They always think its a losers excuse. Sometimes I feel that way too. The last time I played I flopped broadway with Q,10 and got allin against 2 players and lost. The thing that sucks is I raised with Q,10 of clubs and AK smooth called which brought in A7 of hearts who ended up winning the hand. If AK reraises I either fold or play and either win a big pot or give up my $10. But instead he wants to see the flop with a couple more people apparently and we both get screwed. I rebought after going to lunch and calming down and when I came back I played a hand where I bluffed off like $200. I raised and called a 3 bet with pocket 2s against a pretty predictable player. The flop came K high and he only bet out like 40% of the pot after I checked to him. I read it as weak but didnt raise. He made the same bet on the turn and I knew he was scared then. I raised him from $25 to $70. He called. I put him in on the river for his last $80 and he called. He showed Queens. He said he didnt think I had a King because I didnt bet the flop. I guess I polarized my hand to either a set or a bluff by waiting until the turn to raise. I really think he thought he was beat and called anyway. He said screw it cause he was rebuying anyway. I guess I shouldve shoved the turn rather than trying to look like I wanted value. I couldve raised the flop big. I dont know. This hand is bothering me. I dont bluff like that alot and I have played a lot with this guy and he usually lays down to shit like that. Oh well.

Im hoping to make it to Baton Rouge soon and look forward to playing at the Tiger Den.

I Remember It Like It Was Interesting.....

Went for a 3 hour session during the day today. I had my head screwed on straight. I wasnt worried about being down or up but rather trying to make good decisions. Good thing because I didnt drag a pot till I was down like $350. I picked up AQ of clubs my second hand and cbet a missed flop and then got bet into on the turn. I gave up. I played a lot of hands that were interesting to me. I made a few mistakes too. I raised a $6 straddle to $17 and the small blind, big blind and straddle all called. The flop was 9,8,2. I bet out $50 after 3 checks. I get called by the small blind and the other two fold. Then on the turn a six comes and the small blind open shoves. I only had $112 left and I was extremely confused by this guys smooth call with two players still to act and the flush and straight draws being out there. I figured if he had a made hand on the flop he would want to shut out the draws and then I figured if he hit his draw on the turn he wouldnt open shove even though it wouldve been the right play but this guy seemed like the type to check the nuts. I called. He had pocket Aces. I along with everyone else were simply baffled by how he played them. Oh well. I bought more chips. In fact I had to see the chip runner like 4 times in the first hour. After an hour and a half Im in the game for $600 with only $170 left on the table. I had one hand where I limped UTG with KK and the small made it $15 and big blind called and I made it $50 to go. He called. Big blind folded. Both my Kings are red. The flop comes all spades with an Ace. The guy bets out like $100. I just fold in disgust. I got pissy and called a raise with J5 of hearts from a tight old fuck who raised in early position. I flop a 5 on a low board. He bets out smallish so I call thinking he will check his AK on the turn. Well he bets smallish again on the turn. I just call now because fuck it. I river a J. He checks to me and I make him pay $40 more for his pocket Queens. Nice read self. I just see so many old dudes bet weak when they are weak. Any way that was the first pot I won with any meat in it. I coulda won a nice pot on the button but the flush hits the river and with 3 players to act behind the small blind bets out $60 into this $150 pot. I bet top pair on the button on the flop and got 3 calls. I checked behind on the turn. The guys shows us his bluff. Wow. He Showed another bluff a short while later. And I know he was betting anytime he couldnt win. He was a young too smart to fold kid. He came from another table with about $600. A while later Im in the BB with 77. This aggro bluffer kid limps UTG and about 4 more people come in. The flop is 9,3,2. I bet out like $15. He calls. the turn is a 6. I bet out $25. He pops it to $75. I just know he is floating me to bluff. I has raised me off two pots already. I took a good look at him. I got no feeling about his comfort level. But I know he doesnt have an over pair. He could have a 9 but I dont think he would raise there. There are 2 clubs out so he could have a flush draw but I didnt think so because I think he wouldve raised the flop with any flush or open str8 draw. Im just sure he is floating. I call and when another 3 hits the river I check and insta call his $90 river bet. He had Ace,4. Ship it you play happy fuck. Then I needled him a bit about having air and he explained his thinking and I explained that I knew what he was thinking and then he said in a pissy way "congratulations" and I said really happily "thanks". Its fun to go with your read even when its the torture chamber as long as you are right. My day was getting better now. This poor guy next to me got rivered 3 times in allin pots. Poker is hell. I end up winning a nice pot on my second to last hand before I had to go get my kid from school. Another bet happy kid ran his trip queens into my Queens full of Jacks. He folded the river to a $150 bet. The pot was about $300 and there was a one card straight I was hoping he had hit. Oh well. He thought a loooong time about calling me with just a Q and two Qs on the board. I shoulda bet $100. So I come close to losing $600 in my return and only lose $6. I walked feeling like I won ya know. Back tomorrow. The day game seems pretty sweet. A good mix of old retired dudes and young student maniacs. Basically the unemployed by choice.

Old Dude Hell. (Old People Love the Desert)

Not much to report. I havent played in over a week. The last time I played I told this old man in my most serious angry voice that he was a fucking idiot. Not because of his play but his fucking drunk old mouth. His play was horrible too but he kept shitting out on people and then rubbing it in. He didnt shit out on me though. He was ahead when the money went in. In the 2/3 game he pops it from the button to $40. Ridiculous over raise. He had been doing it for the last hour. The last time he did it he ended up all in preflop with the small blind who had picked up KK. He had A8 and made a straight. And then got drunker and talked nonstop to the guy he just felted spitting all the while. The kid eventually moved to a new seat and gave up the great postion in favor of not getting spit in his eye. When he popped it to $40 on me, I woke up with KK. We were both deep stacked and I was very sure I would get it in on a non-Ace flop. I just called knowing he would cbet the flop. Well he did but only for $40. I had a small oh shit alarm go off in my head because I would think if he missed he wouldve made it $100. I dismissed my alarm and raised him and he raised me allin and I called. He flopped a set with his pocket 8s. Good for him. I rebuy and pray for another shot at him. It was way later when he decided to start talking about how he had all the money and how all we play are Aces and Kings and then bragged about how I had to rebuy with my KK or something like that and then I called him a fucking idiot in the most serious voice with a dead eyed fuck you stare. Later when he busted a girl who had QQ with his J6 after all the money went in preflop and then he sorta taunted her the kid next to him just told him he was being rude to her. Well he got all offended and then had the floor called and then the floor came and he asked for the floor manager. I found it really amusing since basically the drunk old man with all the money is gonna cry to the floor about how we called him rude after he was clearly rude to nearly everyone. The floor manager knew him by name and Im sure he has to talk him down from being upset every time he plays there. He was on the 20/40 limit list and i really thought about switching games once he got called over. I really hoped this old dude would punch me at the table when I told him what I thought about him. I would've hit a sweet lawsuit jackpot there. I ended up leaving later after this different fuckin old ass clown mucked a bad beat jackpot. I, another guy and the old dude had limped in and the big blind pushes in for $25. I call with like Jack high, the other guy calls, and the old dude mucks A,10. BB had QQ and the board comes 3 Aces and no card higher than ten. It was so fucking depressing I just left. I decided to take a poker vacation and do some book studying. I said I was going to read this Ed Miller book I have twice before i go back but I havent even got through it once and Im dying to go play. I think I will go play after I finish it and just try to read it again in the mean time. Ive got a lot of good mp3 poker stuff to listen to also that my buddy in Panama dropboxed me. I wish I knew a good coach for live low stakes here in Phoenix. I really want to improve my game and I think books and coaches are great tools. Even if it just reminds me to pay attention and not play friendly fit or fold poker.

Back from Vegas and Getting the Typical AZ Treatment

Check out my pic above of the crazy people who repell from the top of the Stratosphere.

Well after my big 4th I went out 100th out of 860 in the $350 Deepstack at the Venetian. 20 out of the money. After that I learned how to play Pai Gow and had some fun for a couple days. I was driving back to Phoenix when the 2 mile high dust storm plowed the city (so I missed it). The day after I got back I played my tournament rush in the CAZ $140 nightly and never got a single hand. I pushed A10 hard cause it looked like the nutz. Actually I raised UTG and this chick didnt see my raise and limped in so she couldnt pull back the bet so she called the raise. How lucky am I. I flopped top pair and she flopped open ended. We got me all in and she turned the flush. Wake up bitch!!!!! I played a $50 tournament the other night and the blinds went up so damn fast that I was having to play all in steals within 4 rounds. My last hand I pushed in with 9,6 and lucky me the big blind called with K9. My cash games have been typical. Slowly losing while never ever having a high pair to play. I keep waiting for the curse of CAZ to be over but it just keeps coming. The Wild Horse Pass curse isnt much better because over there I get constantly 2 and 3 outtered on the river but at least Im in hands. Ive had a couple winning sessions and my loses have been around one buyin even when I played a 16 hour session in which I was very active. In fact I was 3 for three with 10,2 and each time I played them a different way. Once I over raised preflop and took it. Another time I limped and took it. And the third time I 3 bet the UTG internet star to take it. Of course I showed every one. I snapped off the same kid when he raised preflop from the button and triple barrelled an Ace high borad with his K,10 while I had pocket nines. I went with my read but by the river I felt the heat. He bet $45 into the river and the pot was over $100. I wouldve felt like $55 wouldve been a better amount. The $45 seemed pretty valueish. But I thought his body language was uncomfortable or maybe I just wanted to think that. I love crushing the kids who think they are so fucking smart. I actually tried a lot of stuff that session I dont normally mess with and I think it worked well. If I would have had average luck card wise that night I think I wouldve had a decent win. I was in a nice zone. Im watching the 7th season of HSP and watching Phil Galfond destroy the table with his crazy bluffs only to donk it off to Jonny Chan with a terrible hero call. The internet God may be one of those too smart to flod kids.

Day 1 in Vegas Get a 4th Place in the Nightly

Drove out to Vegas last week for the WSOP. Not that I was hyped up to play any events. I just wanted to play some small tournaments and see all the WSOP hub bub. I did have a little inclination to play the last $1000 event until I ran into one of my Baton Rouge friends who is a dealer in the WSOP and he told me how bad the structure was and encouraged me to play the Deep Stacks at the Venetian. So any way I drive out there with the plan of parking in the Flamingo. Thats the plan. No other. Play a lot and take car baths. I did have a small hope that my friends Elvis and Lindsey would let me crash on their floor some. Elvis had offered some floor space back in Baton Rouge a month ago. I dont know why I didnt just Priceline a cheap room somewhere. The second to last time I came to Vegas I had no place to stay either. I was there 4 days and got 7 hours sleep in the middle of the trip after renting a bed from a friend who was there for a wedding. For some reaon I just like being alone in Vegas with nothing but a backpack. I think its funny that I look like a street person who isnt worth robbing but really Im walking around with a nice wad of cash.

I show up and immediately buy into a $125 satellite for the $1k. Super turbo SnG but I really felt shitty when I busted out just because the players some how managed to make all the wrong moves. Really the worst poker I've have ever been privy to. People with 6 big blinds limping in with KK in late position with limpers already in the pot. I never got any cards and went out like 6th.

Then I buy into the $185 6pm WSOP nightly. I have cashed in like 6 out of the last 7 nightlies Ive played but that really never makes me feel great about my chances going into the tournaments. I start with 10k in chips. The field is only 270ish. By the time we get to 125 players I have swung between 5k and 12k. Im sitting on 5k when Elvis comes over to see my stack. I pick up AA. Finally a monster. I double up. Then I get moved to another table. I catch a big pair or AK or something and win a pot with a big reraise preflop. So sitting on 15k now and I pick up KK in the small blind as Elvis comes to sweat me again. I really wanted him to stay if that was the luck he was bringing me. A couple people limp for like $800 and this really cute girl raises to like 3k. I reraise all in for like 12k more. All fold to her and she tanks. She is really taking forever and looking me all like she needs to get a read. I really want her to fold AQ so Im very much looking comfy as hell. She calls. Ok here we go. She turns over 98 of hearts. Huh? Thanks for the free chips honey. She went on monkey tilt after that and was out in a few hands. I go on a good preflop run catching big pairs and big cards in late position in unopened pots. I get my stack up to 70k. Then we break the table. I get to my new table and its has a good many wanna be stars. There are two types of players outside of ABC players these days. The old guys who are too dumb to fold and the young kids who are too smart to fold. The old guys litter my cash games and river me often but I love them. They tell you exactly what they have by their bet sizes. The young guys litter the tournaments and make move after move. I just trap them and hope their shenanigans dont get lucky on me. There was this star child (ipod, hoodie, hat, shades, scruffy little side burns and a face that doesnt do well in prison)who early in the tournament was raising constantly and calling reraises with anything and he had run his stack up huge. He liked to talk about his play and the reasons he was doing things. Where was he now? No where. As the blinds got bigger his moves worked less and eventually he torpedoed himself. Well this new table has some hyper aggro players that will always be pushing the margins way too much. Unfortunately I dont catch cards and I lose about 40% of my stack over the next few hours. Unfortunately trapping only works if you get cards so its not a very good strategy all the time. But patience usually pays off. I do make a few blind steals and get respect because I never play a hand. Eventually I make the money bubble with like 20 bb. I basically played super tight folding a ton of AJ and KQ to raises. I play sort of a Kill Phill strategy with some position steals mixed in. We got down to two table and I made some progress mostly from raising with AA and getting reraised by this supper loose aggressive chubby kid with a backwards hat and a New York accent who apparently thinks 77 is a three bet kinda hand against the tightest player at the table. After that I really dont remember what happened but I chipped up to like 270k. Then I get AJ in early position and raise to 30k. Blinds are like 5k/10k at this point. I have been folding these in early position all day. Most of these players havent seen that and chubby guy gives me a call and maybe one other. The flop comes like JJ10. I check. Mr NY bets about the pot. Other guy folds. I move in. He insta calls with pocket 8s. Really? Thanks again dude. Now Im one of the big stacks with like 8 players left. The rest of the tournament is lame. Blinds eat me up as I catch no playable hands. We get down to 4 handed and one of the two constant raisers in the SB open shoves into me in the BB. I have 88. This guy has been doing this with a super wide range. I call myself allin. I was hoping for a naked Ace or an under pair but he has K,10. Yes El Diablo as Monkey would say. That's really the bottom of his range there but unfortunately it plays well against my hand. I lose my first coin flip of the day and go out in 4th. The payout is $3300. I tip the dealers $100 and clear about $3k. Looking back Im super dissapointed about the coin flip and Im pretty upset that my cards were so dead that I didnt get a chance to use my stack. Maybe I shouldve bluffed a few more times but the big stacks were so active that I think I played it right.

So my Nightly Tournament success at these WSOP events continues. I like my strategy. I play super tight and super aggressive preflop. I play pretty aggressive in late position against the right blinds and antes. I usually dont have a big stack until after the money bubble when the chips start flying. Sometimes Im one of the people who barely make the bubble with chips and I go out pretty quick. And sometimes I move up or even make the chop. Maybe one day I will win one of these damn things.

Special thanks to Elvis for letting me come in at 8:30am an crash for a couple hours until the $350 Deep Stack at the Venetian. Oh and fyi if anyone is playing with Elvis just push in. He flopped like 5 sets in the cash game and never won a hand. Sick.

Bye Bye BR for a While

My last poker night in Baton Rouge was at the Love Shack game thats no longer at the Love Shack. Its called the Tiger Den due to the LSU decor overkill which is really cool. I was kinda bummed that a lot of the people I wanted to see were in Vegas for the WSOP. So not only didnt I get to see them but the game was small. Well I guess thats not true. They were playing PLO when I got there and the maniacs were ridiculously deep stacked. Bob was sittin with like $1500 and GP was up a few buyins (for the moment). I sit with a measley $200. I fold for like 45 minutes. I never see a hand i want to raise or call a raise with. I finally see AA and one suited four. I limp. GP makes it $15 and gets 4 calls before it gets to me. I pot it for like $80 more. I get 4 calls. FML. I get out flopped by Bob who probably made $800 on the hand. So I fold along and see some flops and eventually put $200 in my stack. Well eventually I get Aces with one suited. This time I play it different. I limp to GP and he makes it 15 and gets callers and I just call. Flop is A,4,5. I get it all in against 2,3 and a flush drawing GP. I run it twice with GP but it doesnt matter cause the one timer won the top and scooped it. So that was it. I played about 3 hands and dumped it all. I shoulda rebought but I didnt feel like it. I went and played 4/8 limit and had a little fun. Pretty uneventful. Of course while write this Im sitting in the $350 tourney at the Venetian. Woot woot. Stay tuned.

Pissin People Off and Getting Pissed Myself in Baton Rouge

I've been playing a shit ton at the Belle and the Shop. Im way up in the 2/5 game at the Belle but moderately down in the 4/8 limit game. I play limit when I dont feel like thinking too much. Maybe there's a corelation? Im down at the Shop too. Ive lost a couple hundy in the PLO and half n half. Ive busted out of all tournaments and I dropped $200 in the only strictly NLH game i played over there. That was a depressing game. I would flop the nut flush, play it shitty and never get there. My last hand I went All in with QJ against my buddy in the BB who raised it to $25 without looking at his cards. I only had like $40 total. He flips over A9 and then flops an Ace. I decided to leave since I couldn't beat a blind hand.

I had an interesting scenario come up when playing a big pot with a close friend. This is a friend who I had outside of poker but we do play small games all the time. Any Im the one who got him to start coming to the bigger game in Denham. Anyway the situation is that I raised big preflop and we both flopped big hands. I bet, he raised, I reraised, he called, then I shoved the turn. He called eventually and I felted him and he left. He texted me after upset that I didnt check it out after the flop. He claims he would have soft played me. I dont remember us ever soft playing and frankly I never soft play anyone. I see other people do it and I dont mind but then again I think I would rather people not do that. I think some people feel like its unfair to the other players who had put money in and then folded. I had actually played a pot the night before with a mutual friend who we play in the same small game with and I popped him for a big bet on the river after my air bluff turned into the nut straight on the river. He folded after thinking long. He asked me at the crawfish boil the next morning what I had and never seemed to suggest I shoulda soft played him and my buddy who I felted was there and he didnt seem to think I shouldnt have put the screws to him. Maybe he was just mad because the pot was so big and it sent him home when I busted him. I did feel bad it was him but I still dont think I shoulda played different. I didnt have the nuts and I played the hand super standard so he really could have assumed I wouldnt be bluffing him and he coulda laid his hand down. If he woulda hit his kicker on the river (which btw I agreed to run twice) I would have probably bitched at him a little for thinking I was trying bluff him big and for then sucking out on me. Oh well. I guess when we all play above our financial well being we tend to get a bit emotional when we lose.

I had an interesting had I'd like to throw out here too. Im at the 2/5 NL game at the Belle. Its the wee hours and the game is on the verge of dying. We are 5 or 6 handed. I make it $15 to go in the cutoff with AK. The button calls and then the big blind who is a crafty local reg makes it $40 total. I hollywood a little like Im trying decide if I wanna see a flop. Im really just deciding if I wanna raise. I think raising is probably the play if I had a read that this guy 3 bets a wide range in a short game. I didnt. He hadnt really been raising too much. He seem to over raise every now and then to pick up the limps. But I did know him to be a thinking player so I could just assume queens or better. So I decide to call. If I spike then I play it. I only had like 60 big blinds so if he crushes me then oh well. The flop is K,10, both are spades and random 4. He leads out for $60. I raise $100 on top leaving my self $125. He calls. This is the interesting part of the hand. He just calls. Why? The turn is a blank. He checks, I ship the rest, he calls. He has Q,J of spades. Open ended Royal flush draw. The river blanks. He asks me if I woulda called an open all in. I think yes because why would he open shove a better hand than mine? Anyway how didnt we get it in on the flop is the question. I woulda shipped it if I were him. But I think he played it better than I woulda. He knows he has to hit. He assumes I cant fold for $125 more. So why not just call. That way if he misses then maybe his smooth call will spook me and maybe I dont ship the turn and he gets a chance to save it if he can see the river for free. Im sure there are plenty of people who would figure out some hand to be scared of and would check behind on the turn. Never under estimate the bad play capability of thee other palyers. Plus Im not a reg so he could count on me to make mistakes kinda like when I didnt 4 bet him preflop with AK. :)

Ok well Im off to the Monday night tournament tonight. Im $150 down for this trip. Hope I can come up a lot tonight.

Frikin Belle of BR is a Circus of Idiots

Holy f!#%ing shit. I sit down at the shit hole Belle of Baton Rouge to the 4/8 limit game. I see one flop and fold on my second hand. On my 3rd hand im utg with 99. I raise. Its the one position I like to raise with any strong hand other than AA or KK. I gets raised and then the little old asian lady in the sb reraises. I call. Flop is 984 rainbow. I bet 4 an it gets raised twice and I cap it. The turn is a 7. Now J,10 is the nuts. Little asian lady bets out. I raise. Other player folds. She calls. The river is a 10 making any J or 6 good. She bets out. I call. She flips A,J. WTF. FML. I ask her what fucking game she is playing and she she just smiles like she isnt sure if I ordered noodles or rice. The waitress asks me if I want a drink as Im getting up and I tell her get these mother fuckers a drink. I take my remaining $36 to the cage. In all honesty she probably saved me $36 by pissing me off enough to leave. Then I get in my car to leave and this car is behind me and wont move and another car is waiting the other way for my spot and I basically have to back out as if Im going to hit her car since laying on my horn didnt do the trick. That is the worst parking garage ever built. Some fucking 4/8 player must have designed it for a meal comp. Probably the same idiot who designed the elevators. Or maybe it was the idiot driving the golf cart full of people who just dumped their social security or welfare checks who almost ran over me because she doesnt think driving to side where people arent walking is a good idea. What a collection of fucking tards. Hurry up Pinnacle and dont hire anyone from the Belle except Dana, Terry, and Jack (the poker dealers).

Be Careful What You Wish For

Im looking through the results for the New Orleans WSOP Circuit event and seeing a lot of Love Shackers. Most impressive is Lindsey's 1st place in the Ladies NLH event. Congrats!!! Looks like the Capt chopped one 2 ways also. I will see you guys in a couple weeks.

I had a couple of good sessions and then wiped out all my profit in one hand after a long 3rd session. I was trying to get in a big pot with this guy all night. He had done some really erratic shit all night. All in river bluff/show. 3 barreling pots but only betting like $10 into the $100 pot each time. He had played so bad I actually semi-scolded a lady who was giving him advice on how to play flush draws in the future. He had doubled me up earlier by calling my all in on the turn with his flush draw. He felted me later with some river suck out. I dont remember it now but it was pretty nasty. I think I had two pair and he rivered 2 pair. He actually was doing that a lot. He dumped at first but was on a rush and was probably up $800. So I rebought for $300 (the max). I made some progress. I was sitting with $450 in play which was even for the session. I had moved right behind him to get position on him. But this hand im in the SB so out of position with pocket 4s. I flop bottom set of 4s on a A,8,4 board. The only players are me and the guy Im gunning for. I bet. He calls. The turn is a 2 and it makes a flush possible. I bet. He calls. The river pairs Aces on the board. I bet $60 into about about an $90 pot. He min raises me. I debate on just calling to play it real safe but I think this guy is gonna dump here with a flush or even just trip Aces. I reraise $100 more. He pushes in. Fuck. I have $200 left. Fuck it. Call. He shows the nuts. A8. FML.

I played the $60 tournament again a couple weeks ago. I went out 24th. They were paying 15 spots. I never had a good stack. Played most of the time with 15 big blinds on average. This old man get chastising me and this other guy for shoving preflop even though we only had 10 to 15 big blinds. I guess we are supposed to raise 3 big blinds and then fold to the reraise. I snapped back at him once and the other guy chimed in. Probably dumb to engage him but whatever. My last hand I was moved to a new table (I had been moved about 5 times and it sucked). I shoved on the button with K4 and was called by the BB who had pocket 3s. I was ok with that until I missed and was sent packing. Oh well.

I played a few hours of 8/16 Limit today. Swung wildly and eventually cashed out for $210 profit. I got river fucked plenty and only river fucked someone maybe twice. It was a really soft game especially since the majority of players were Asians. Asians tend to be a lot wilder in my experience than this crew was. Playing aggressive was actually profitable for me in this game but like most limit games really to make good money you have to make good hands and dont be a pay off wizard.

Even Steven

I played Thursday and Friday. Thursday morning I played 2/3 spread. I doubled up some old guy after I flopped top pair of Jacks with a big 9 kicker. I bet the flop and he called. When the turn gave me a flush draw I bet it again and he moved in. It wasnt much more. I missed and he had AJ. A lot of these old dudes dont raise preflop with their big aces. Shortly after I called a $10 raise on accident on the button. I thought the guy in the cut off raised as he had done often so I called. Then I see the raise came from an earlier position. I may have called anyway with my Q10 but still I have to admit I called because I had position on who I thought was the raiser and assumed I had a good hand vs his cut off raising range. Anywhoo I flopped top 2 pair and every one checked to me. I checked. Dangerous I realize but I didnt think I could get any action if I made a reasonable bet. The turn was a blank and the first guy bets out $15 into the $45 pot. The original raiser calls, the guy in the cut off folds and I raise it $40 more. The guy who was in the blinds calls and the original raiser folds. A king hits the river and he leads out all in. I call assuming I could be crushed but I played a half buyin so I could avoid big river mistakes so my stack to pot ratio was way low. Probably was a $50 call. The guy had a whopping Q8. What a dipshit. As it turns out the original raiser had K10 and would have rivered me. That hand put me up $60 and I decided to buy into the $65 11am tournament. I didnt last long. I raised with AK of hearts and got 4 calls and the flop was 2,3,5 with two hearts. I cbet and a guy I had covered went all-in. It was 2000ish more. I had 1000 already in the pot. The total pot was about 2700 so I was getting the right odds with just the flush draw plus I had a guy shot and two overs. Unfortunately he had a set so the King on the river didnt help me. I played my short stack for a while making about 3 successful all-in moves until the last one which was the only one I got any action on. Oh well. I didnt hate the way I played. I left. Later that day I went to the Wild Horse Pass casino and played the 1/2 $100 spread limit. Nothing interesting happened and I broke even again.

Friday I played 2/3 $300 spread limit for only a few hours. I bought in half stack for $150. Most of the other players were under $200. It was a passive table full of limpers. Mostly old dudes. I never caught any hands. I double up though when I flopped top pair with one of my blind hands and the turned two pair. I assume he had two pair also the way he reacted to my hand. Then I proceeded to bleed of chips through the blinds and occasionally a late position limp with a mediocre hand. When people did raise they were getting two callers so I didnt want to try to pop it with nothing to steal. I eventually put a short stack allin preflop with my AK vs his AQ. I lost on the river. I raised AK two more times and didnt even see a flop because these geniuses limp shove with their AA and then always show it. I had gone from $285 to about $60. I had somewhere to go so I was looking get it in. I wouldve rebought if I didnt have somewhere to be. I straddled on what I thought was my last hand and picked up the pot by shoving with my A4. I showed the 4. So I played another round. I played all the way back around to UTG and pulled AK of hearts. I decided to pull a limp shove. I limped and someone made a small raise to $8 and about 3 callers behind him so I shove and act like Im saying fuck it. Everyone folds to the big blind who calls. I think he called because I had showed that 4 the round before. He had KQ and I held up. It broke me dead even and i cashed out. So two days, two casinos, two cash games and a tournament and Im dead even. Considering the cards I had Im ok with that.

Read More Poker

I havent played in a while. Im taking time to do some poker studying while my life is in major transition. I dont think its good to play when your life is upside down. I sold my house and finally got to Phoenix with my stuff. My place looked like a storage unit last week and still does to some degree. I also asked my sons mom to switch times with me so I could have him on school days and she could get him on weekends. Thats a big change from 2 nights to 5 nights. Puts a little cramp in my playing time but its going to be a better situation for him I think since she has a new baby and he is still hyper pissed at her for moving him out here in general. Im thinking when I go back I will play during the school hours. Most people think thats not the optimum time but I think its pretty good. No rounders get up at 7am to play but plenty of passive old men get up to play then. Rich old dudes from Scottsdale. They are horrible. Im guessing my most profitable hours so far have been after the morning crew starts filtering in. Maybe my only profitable hours so far. They do still piss me off though. I have left CAZ wanting to choke some white haired bastards out for making some terrible calls and hitting.

I have been reading Ed Millers Small Stakes Holdem. Its a very solid book. It really helps you understand the many things one needs to take into consideration when making poker decisions. For us recreational nits, its a tall order ask us to push the thinner advantages. But if Im gonna make the jump to playing fulltime I realize Im going to have to push a lot harder and smarter. Plus probably see a lot of online pros trying to play live and they are gonna be bringin aggression. I assumed at some point online play would get some kind of action taken against it. Why else would Party Poker have pulled out way back when. Those guys specialize in not going to jail while riding the edge of legal. I hope everyone gets there bankrolls back but I imagine the solution is going to have to be pretty creative on the poker sites part since the money transfer is the illegal part.

I got me a 42" LCD and some cable but damn if I dont get GSN. Im gonna have to special order it just to get HSP. What a bitch. I have been making up for my not watching NBA this season by watching all the playoff games on my new sweet widescreen.

Well thats it for now. I plan on playing Thursday during the day. I will let ya know how it goes. Also Friday night and Sat. Probably play a tournament too. Weeee.

Poker Soul Crushed

My poker soul is dead. I cant take the suck outs anymore. Not for my whole stack. I honestly dont think Im cut out for NL. Actually I think God has put the hoodoo on my game. One can not run as bad as me without divine intervention. Constant 2 and 3 outters after Im committed to the pot lets me know that Im being told something. But in all sincerity I admit I am not a great NL player. My game is waiting for people to make big mistakes. I grind and until I cam to AZ made a decent but small profit. But the next level of play Im not at. My use of fold equity is so bad. Thats another way of saying that I play scared. Im going to play the 8/16 Limit game with a kill button and Im going to play some tournaments. I have always done well in tournaments so maybe this will be the way and also anyone with a half a brain has an edge in limit. There's so many people willing to put in bad money with little hope to improve their hands. Also I dont tilt in limit and I dont go home agonizing about this play or that play or this card or that card. Its gradual and way less stressful. I can loose a few hundred in a limit game and I dont beat myself up on the way home and replay the hands as I try to fall asleep but I cant because the hands have me restless. Im coming back to BR in a couple days so when I come back here in a couple weeks I will have to make some decisions on what I want to do with my time. I have some ideas other than poker but I will still play. I know there's a winning formula for meeven if I drift back into a hobby player.

Trying a New Casino

Well apparently the Love Shack is moving its game to the Shop. Sucks I didnt get to play a last session there. At least now we can cuss more. I said I was going to try a different casino but I had to give the lovely CAZ one more shot. I played about 5 premium hands for raises and reraises (all made by me) and cbet 4 out of those five. I lost every pot and basically doubled up 3 short stacks with nothing but the cbet. In two dealers I was down $430. Then my baby's momma called me and I had to go give my boy a stern talkin to and do homework with him. Then I went to find the other casino. Theytold me Gila Lakes and I punched the address into the GPS but ended up in the middle of an industrial zone in the desert. Apparently Gila Lakes is 3 casinos and none of them are at the address listed. I got some vague directions from the casino operator and then I asked a nice old couple at the light how to get to I-10 to Tuscon. They werent too sure either but told me which direction they thought it was. I would run into them again in 10 minutes at the casino parking garage. We had a good laugh. Buncha lost tourists we are, looking for the money hole in the desert.

So I made to Wild Horse Pass Casino. I signed up for a players card and they gave me $10 in free slot money. I quit slots but if it aint my money it dont count. I ran their $10 up to a $50 profitand cashed out. I took that as a sign of changing luck. After getting on a list for a 1/2 game with a $2 min bet and $100 max bet I called my girlfriend. As I was talking to her I realized I wasnt on a list but rather an Interest list. I went up to the counter and they actually had immediate seating for the game I came there to play. Its confusing how they present these spread limit games to you but it was still a 1/2 game but the min bet was $5 and the max was $250. So there was no limping in. It plays really nice. I really like that structure. Keeps some of the trash out and also seemed to get people open raising for higher. So $15 seemed to be a standard raise which got action. So my plan would be to play premium hands for big pots given the opening mistake of a 7.5 big blind raise with a wide range of hands. Honestly I dont remember much about the play. I came out $470 up which covered my earlier loss at CAZ. The game was pretty loose passive. So tight agressive should clean up in that game over time assuming that was a typical table.

Bout to Cut Somebody

I been playing long sessions at Casino Arizona. Ive seen some of the worst poker ever. Mostly by the old timers who show up starting at 6am. I've decided that they have to be the luckiest assholes in the world. How else could they play every morning and never quit? They should all lose $500 a session. Im running like Schlep Rock though. I left the casino yesterday morning after basically just losing my shit and cussing out the old donkey that just stacked my AK with his K9 and while I was at it I cussed out the old fuck that decided to play me heads up for a healthy raise with his 8,4 vs my AA. I lost the min against the 8,4 but the money was already committed against Mr. K9 and the idiot who decided to draw at his flush against us both with very little left to go in on the river if he hit. As I watched him stack up $800 and realizing that wouldve brought me back to the middle I wanted to fucking cut the mother fucker. Anyway I took my $97 off the table before I did something to get banned. Earlier that morning I saw a dude who I seriously think was mentally ill or maybe had Assbergers pull $2000 of the table. He called my all-in preflop for $65 with 5,4 offsuit and flopped trip 4s. I saw him drag an $800 pot after calling a big flop bet with nothing to match his K2 of spades which he raised with preflop to 7 times the BB and proceed to runner runner the flush. This fuck couldnt miss. He went all in on every draw and won everytime. When he was putting his chips into his 4 racks he said he usually loses. Ya think? I think I'm going to go try a new casino just to get the bad juju off me. I hear theres a wild 1/2 game with a $5 bring in at a casino closer to my apartment. I will be back in Baton Rouge in a couple weeks and cant wait to see the various crews and splash around at the love shack.

Casino Arizona

Oi vey. Im in Phoenix so I went to the Casino Arizona. Wow. The nicest poker room I've ever been to. The poker room was huge. They had as many table if not more than Harrrahs. I played 2/3 Spread limit with a $300 max bet and max buyin. I dont think you can buy up to the largest stack or half the largest stack which is the only thing I didnt like. There was plenty of weak players and the room was packed. I think this place may extend my poker vacation. See I havent worked in a month. I havent had an alarm set in a month. The longer I can keep that up the better. Im in Phoenix for a good while. I plan to try and make money with my career trade too but I also want to see if I can step my game up to consistently make poker money. That way I can travel home to BR when I want to and wont have to fill out an RFTO form which always makes me feel like a loser. It took me a while to adjust to the new levels and I went card dead too so Im starting out in the hole but I got it together the last 4 hours and made a come back. I also felt really comfortable with my reads which for the most part turned out correct. If I didnt get pissed and chase an extremely expensive flush draw I would be doing ok. Ive probably played 600 hands so far and not one pair of pocket aces yet. Once I get my own place and get a better schedule I will get into more specific hand play. I miss my home crew at the Love Shack. I hope I can play some Love Shack poker soon.

Got Dicked in the Omaha Nutz

I got destroyed Monday night. Mostly my fault. I made a big bet into a multiway raised pot with a open end straight draw. I got reraised allin by a Jack high flush draw. I called. It wasnt a smart call. The Jack high held up. The cash game started as straight Omaha. I did ok. I got up like $400. Once again I broke Bob when he didnt hit any outs. Of course he cant miss forever and later he would double through me. I went to the felt when I flopped the nut flush draw in a raised pot. The flop put out a possible straight and a couple people checked to me and the original raiser was to act behind me. I was hoping he had AA. Nope. He had a big ole pair of 9s with which he poted preflop. So lucky for me he flopped top set and called figuring he was behind. Well once Bob was getting 2 to 1 he called too. I didnt improve and the set of nines held up on a board where its really hard not to have a straight. I have no clue what Bob was drawing to. Probably a worse flush. At some point we had started to play half n half and I think I played every pot if I had any playable hand. I rebought for $400 and was just playing passive fit or fold poker. My last hand I flopped a set and put about $90 in by the time the river made a straight possible and the out of position floater bets $100 into me. I shoulda called but I didnt. I definitely got bluffed. I cashed out immediately. I knew if I stayed I would lose that $300 and maybe another $800 after that. I had planned to play till morning but ended up leaving at 12:30am. Oh well. At least I didnt try a desperate run at recooping my $500 loss. I went home and did some review and reading and had to admit that Im still not playhing optimal omaha and need to study a lot more. If I follow through with that then maybe that ass whipping will end up being profittable. I should have some posts soon from playing in Phoenix AZ. I understand they dont have NL but have a $250 max bet spread limit game. Shouldnt play too different and may actually be better for me because I get too conservative when I get up a lot because I dont want a big stack maniac putting me to an $700 decision.

Everyones Playin Omaha

I played Sunday night and Monday night. Both games were mostly Omaha. Sunday night I hit the Shop game. I bought in for $240 in PLO $1/$2. I was on life tilt due to relationship stuff. Anyway I sit in the Omaha game and we are 6 handed and the button straddle is on. That shrinks my buyin a bit but I role with it. Because Im on life tilt Im more willing to push the chips around and I think I was playing better Omaha than I had ever played. Of course at the same time Im playing terrible too but aggression even misguided is better than passivity in freakin Omaha. I lost some and bought up. I had $420 in the game and about $280 on the table. Then as luck would have it a guy comes to the game who plays hyper aggressive and he sits on my direct left. Thats a pretty shitty spot to be in but since we all know each other I just take my turn with the worst spot on the table and dont look to move around. Actually there werent any acual seats to move into but if I was at a casino I would insta called for the seat change button. My buddy Matt was on fire and was taking the aggressive players stacks left n right. I bet he was up $2000 in an hour. Fortunately he wasnt running great against me and we kept getting it in and chopping every pot. I eventually went to the felt and rebought for $300. I started running better and the aggressive player eventually calmed down a little. Hand wise I had a couple to report. One, I flopped an outside straight flush/royal flush draw and bet pot. Got a call. The turn is and Ace giving me the nut straight and the check caller open bets the pot. I reraise the pot and we get it all in. He has the nuts too but no flush draw. We ran the river twice. I flushed the first and we quartered the pot. If anyone is reading this I wonder if I should have run it twice trying to win 3/4 of it or should I just freeroll for the whole pot with one card. I guess it doesnt matter over time. My biggest hand of the night I was in the cut off with KK and something else I dont remember but it was probably a 10 and a 9 and probably suited with a K or both. So I have Mr. Aggressive straddling the button and everyone knows he is gonna raise so they are limping to call a pot bet for sure or maybe raise. Im limping to reraise. He raises, everyone calls to me and I pot it. Well unexpectedly I got 3 callers and probably only lost one player. Maybe nobody folded actually. The flop is K high rainbow and the guy who was running real good had lost about half his monster stack at this point but has me well covered opens for a pot sized bet which is more than I actually have so I call. Luckily no one else calls. We had chopped everyone up to that point and I elected to only run it once. I was willing to gamble on the of chance he had a small striaght draw but I was pretty sure he had a set. I kinda got told that most people either run it twice always or never but I told em I didnt really give a fuck. I run it twice when I feel like it. I dont like people thinking Im gonna definitely run it twice because I think they can be more aggressive with me. Well he didnt care because he had two pairs. It was a good bet since the pot was so big and I didnt have that much left. He is unlucky I had the top set really. That pot pretty much brought me back to somewhere around even and thats where I ended up. Phew.

Monday night was steak night at the Love Shack. Man thems good steaks. The tournament was very uneventful for me. I was never up much and got shortstacked and went into allin mode which didnt work out so well when I lost a coin flip against Bob. The cash game started as holdem only. Bought in for $180. I had me a pair of 10s on the button and raised a few limpers to $14 and got 2 calls. The flop was 8 high and I bet. I got called. I put the guy on pocket 7s and was thinking he just wanted to check to see if I had AK. Well the turn is a damn 7. He checks to me and I check behind with the intention of making a crying call. He bet the river and I called. He had flopped top set. I wasnt too happy but I was glad I didnt get too beat up. I got him back later after I had moved to his right and I bet the flop with second pair and the turn with third pair and check called him on the river. I had put him on a draw and when he over bet the river I looked at him and said exasperatedly "You already did this to me once tonight!". However I think he wouldve raised me on the turn since the draw was there unless he had the draw himself. I made a semi-crying call but I was right about the draw and won a nice pot with 3rd pair of 6s I think. At some point had to put another $100 in to buy up.Fuuny how I don't remember the little $20 calls I make that end up felting. I only remember the good hands and the bad beats. Oh well. I don't want to act like I play so good so let's just say I'm sure the hands I don't mention I played like a gimp. At another point we started to play half n half. Mr. Aggressive showed up from Sunday night and as luck would have it he sat on my direct right. I felt very good about that. Also Bob was in the game and he is a big pot builder in PLO. We played about 5 hours. Eventually we just played Omaha. While we were still playing holdem I limped with 7,4 of diamonds and the flop was 777. I check called two streets and led out on the river and got called by a pocket pair. Love them sizzlin 7's. My big hand came when I called the $5 straddle with 7,8,9,10 double suited. The flop was 9,7,4 rainbow. I bet out and got raised by Bob. The call was $160 and I had about $400 left. Bob started trying to bait me into calling. He was saying shit like "I know you. You're not calling." and acting like he was ready to through his cards in and drag it. I knew he wanted me to call or repop it. I couldnt see folding there but I knew he had a set. I was hoping it wasnt the nines cause then my outs were way less. I decided to just call. Bob only runs it once. If he would run iut twice we couldve got it all in there. The 6 hits the turn giving me the nuts and I check. Bob gos allin and I call. I guess I really shouldve led the bet but it was gonna work out the same but maybe he wouldve folded and I wouldnt have had to sweat the river. The board doesnt pair and I pull a pot over $1000. Bob left not so happy. He was already pissed about a hand where he had AA in holdem and couldnt get a caller for $7 measily bucks on the flop is a multi way raised pot. Bob gets his AA paid quite often since you can never put him on em. I pretty much just hovered around that amount for the rest of the night and won $700-ish. Since that was my first day of officially being jobless I thought it was a great start to my poker vacation. Also it was my first day of my new life experiment of having no alarm clocks set. Livin the dream. At least for a month or so.

Omaha is Scary

Ok cut me some slack. Im trying to sell my house that I've neglected for 8 years. I figured I would live there forever so I played poker rather than painting. I guess thats why poker addicts make shitty home owners, husbands, parents, and employees. We neglect everything. I have played a lot of poker since me last post. Ive played the Monday tourney twice since. I chopped top two the week after winning it outright. Then last Monday I got bounced in 12th after get 1 outtered on the river when all the money went in on the flop. It sucked. I called a raiase from the button with AK from the tightest player ever raising early. I couldve folded easily since he had Queens or better for sure. The flop is an Ace and he open shoves. I call. He had KK. 93% of the time he is gonna check fold there. Unfortunately he got his annual wild hair and pushed. He hit the case K in the river. Oh well fuck it. No trifecta for Sofa King.

Ive played 3 cash session since last post. I think Im bout even but I dont really remember. I can only think of about 4 hands that really mattered from all that. I do remember playing poorly overall. Im so stressed about my house that I think I pressed a little to hard. I tend to play loose when Im stressed. At least I think I played agressive rather than passive which is probably why I broke even. I did however play pretty passive in the Omaha game. I hate putting $20 to $40 preflop in Omaha in a 1/2 PLO when Im sitting with $200 even if I have AAKK double suited. The only big hand I won I potted the turn for $100 with the nut straight and got two called who were drawing. I wanted to fold for $40 more on the river when the flush hit. I called anyway. Turns out I faded like 24 outs and won the pot. I think I need to stay away from Omaha unless Im gonna buyh in for at least $700 and be willing and able to make pot sized bluffs ocassionally.

Marathon Monday Night Tournament

So about that Monday night tournament. I told you that it was a first for me in the history of the Monday night tournament (well except for when it was 120 people playing at Big Mike's bar). Notorious open shover of the first hand RB showed up after a long long long hiatus so in the spirit of the return to the felt decided to ............. show up late and miss a few hands. Thats not the first time for that. I had to play one half of a league basketball game. I told them to let me play the first half and I would leave for the second. I didnt open shove and I didnt lose on the first hand which incidentally did also happen to me at Big Mike's once and it was to RB who was making his triumphant return. Ahh the circle of poker life. Actually a guy I played basketball with for years before we ever played tournament poker got second place in this very tournament. And the circle continues. I was really very active in this tournament. I made some good hands and I made some good bluffs. Unfortunately I also made some bad bluffs and made the second best hand quite a few times. I remember once after I had chipped up and had about 40% of the chips with 2 tables still playing I boldly asked what 1st was paying. It took less than 10 minutes to go down to about 20 big blinds for that peak. To get that chip stack I basically coolered Jack almost back to back and he still wasnt out. He musta had 50% in play before that. I think I also slow played AA against UTG raiser the nut ball of all tournament players who we shall call the White Rick Ross. The WRR hung in there a long time and even asked what first was paying a coupla times when I was short and he was stacked. So we got down to 6 and the chop talk started from the short stacks. I never said no but I knew it wasnt gonna happen. I doubled up a short stack and got down to 15k when blinds were 500/1000. I opened with 4s for 3500 and got a caller from the blind. The flop is an Ace and I get checked to. I bet another 5000 effectively risking my tournament and the other guy went into the tank. God please dont call. He folded and I showed like an idiot but it did ssend him on tilt and he was out soon. Now I really cant remember much after that. We talked about chopping at 4 handed when everyone was pretty even but there was a hold out. The same guy who won it last week. When we got down to three I tightened up a lot. The dealer gave me a wtf look at one point but I knew I was going to get heads up. The two guys left were gonna clash for sure. We talked about a save but decided to just keep playing. One of them raised every pot basically untill the other finally caught a hand. I had raised a few times in there but only with good hands. So I end up heads up with the non-chopper. This guy will definitely call with marginal hands and push back against raises real light. The last time we played heads up he demolished me. Well this one didnt start off too good. He had way more chips. About 70% of them I think. I was down to 21k in the 6k big blind and he pushed. I had 15k left in my stack and had 8,4. I figured I was live and if I folded I would have to push and gauranteed to get called the next round. I thought a while and opted to push the next hand. I picked up a K and pushed. I got called by an Ace. 30k in the pot and a King hits in the door and holds up. I think I push all-in again with a small pair and he folds. We get allin again and I have an Ace I think and he has Q4 suited. He atually called the allin with that and I win. I dont think he had to call there. I think he wouldve had about 40% of the chips left. Now Im chip leader. At some point he pushes and I call with an Ace. He flops a pair but I river an Ace and its over. 1st payed $400. The thing that had never happened was wining that tournament straight up with no save. I had only played the whole thing out one other time and it was against the same guy. It was 11:45 at that point and I didnt see getting to play cash since I would only really be able to play for 45 minutes (justifiably since I do have a job the next morning). Not that Ive never played until i had to go or be late to work. That really makes for a miserable Tuesday though.

Big Timer Now Biotchez

So Im on the front page of GPC now (Gulf Coast Poker Dot Net). I hoped that one day I would be the worst player with a featured blog and finally its happened. Thanks Yalls.

Lotsa poker to talk about. I almost played 3 days in a row last week once. Im such a degenerate. I havent played no slots or table games though. Goin back to last last Sunday (thats 2 Sundays ago). I played the ole Half n Half game at the Shop. Not much to say. I was the only one folding Omaha hands preflop. I hit some hands and won some money. $260 I think. I had a funny hand where I told the dealer he flashed both the 1 seats cards and then lost a medium pot to the one seat. LOL. I thought he had Ace,4 but he had Ace,2. and flopped the wheel. JJ is thinking about flashing me his cards on purpose from now on.

On to last last Monday. I busted out of the tournament 2 from the money. I started off hot and went dead halfway through. Probably lost most of my chips to James aka Fat Jesus aka the Leprechaun. Off course he is gonna call a raise with 10 high offsuit and call me down with his pair of 10s. Then I played cash. I raised from the BB with AJ of clubs and the UTG limper called and basically anounced he had a bad hand. I flop second pair and a flush draw. I bet, he calls, I bet turn, He calls. Now I check the river to wien his range and induce a bluff. He bets quick. I call. I lose. He had K9 and had flopped top pair. Crapfest. I eventually leave down about $100. My girl was upset about a family squabble so I went to hang out with her.

Now fast forward to Friday night. I meet my buddy down at Harrahs to do something I aint never did before. I staked him. Not just for the night like a sucker but we got an agreed upon bankroll and an agreed upon cashout point. I got there before him and sat. It was a wierd table. The play was pretty tight but everyone was overbetting. I bought in short for $100 and lost it shoving a draw. I actually got called but a bigger draw. Niether of us hit and he won with 9 high. Then I rebought another $100 and eventually got me some pocket Kings. I thnk it went limp then raise to like $35, a call. I shove my $100 and get called by the raiser. I win. So now Im up overall. My buddy shows up and I give him his buy in. This dude is hilarious. He will sit but not play for like 20 minutes while he watches the action. Im sure everyone at the table just wants to bust his ass after that. Anyone with that much audacity deserves a backer right? A little while later I get 66. Someone raises to $13 and about 3 people call. Ok so maybe the game aint so tight. Then the damn small blind min raises to $26. Genius. Everyone calls. I flop a set and the small blind open shoves. Im the only caller and I win. Mr. Small Blind leaves to everyones disappointment. Thats just about the worst possible way to play KK in the history of poker. A little while later I catch AA. The UTG folds and exposes an Ace. Then the next guys goes all in for $40 and gets a caller. I make it $120 hoping to get heads up with shorty. Nope. Call. Now Im praying for a raggeddy no broadway flop. im sure the guy has KQ or something similar. The flop is K,10,6. He checks. I more less go all in by betting $200 and leaving $67 behind. He call. Shit. The Turn is a Queen. He checks. I shove. He calls. Now Im pretty sure by the celebration from the short stack Im behind on that pot. Im really pretty sure Im behind everywhere. The river? A Jack. I win it all with a straight. Weeeeeeeeeeee. That spretty much the story of my night for my part. I win a few more and lose a a few more than that. I went pretty card dead the last two hours but i didnt care. I was sweatin my horse. I end up winning $635. I had an awesome time. There were a lot of friends in the card room that night. A lot of my friends are dealing there now. In fact it was my girl Lindsey who flopped me that set of 6s. Also got to chat with Dana for a good while while I was waiting out the 30 minutes of the most socially inept dealer at Harrahs. I call him the Frog. I alsso had a good time with some cool people at my table. A dude and his girlfriend and an online tournament pro. They were fun to cut up with. It was a wierd table where one half were serious players and the other half were total friggin idiots so there was much makin fun to be had. Now my buddy is going up and then coming back to even all night. I see him stacking chips and I race over there and see him up about $300. Then he comes over and sits after gettting coolered. Then he hits the money hand. Not only did he hit it but he was given it. The guy he beat had flashed his cards. My friend had QJ and he was against K8 with one club he saw and couldnt make out the suit of the other black card. Flop is KQQ. Some money goes in. Then the turn brings a club draw. Now all the money goes in. The river is another club and my boys sphicter went into pin hole mode. No flush though. Just a shitty K8 and a $800 pot. He stood up and looked at me with a big shitty grin and I knew we were up big. He would eventually cash out $500 up. Over half way to the cash out point. I could tell he didnt like winning big and not getting to pocket any of it. I told him we could settle right there and be done with the whole deal but he declined. He called it a night and soon after so did I. I really wanted to sit and smoke a cig and dump $40 into the slots but i didnt. I haven't smoked since Dec 31st either.

Sunday I won the Superbowl bracket with a Steeler victory. The 6th seated Packer busted all other 7 brackets.

Well thats all for now. I will give yall the scoop on the Monday night tournament when I have more time. I will say it is another first in my Love Shack history. Peace.

3 Barreling into Oblivion

Pissed. Starting with my last hand at the Love Shack tonight. Im on the button with a middle pair and I open for $18 against the straddle of $5. I get called by the straddler. The flop is a broadway flop. He checks. I bet 30sih. He reluctantly calls. This player is not someone who is going to put me on a stone cold bluff. He hasnt been sitting long so he hasnt seen me getting out of line in a nitty short handed game. He usually sees me nut peddling in the maniac game. the turn is another 10 and it puts two hearts out. I decide to fire again but first I ask him how much he has. About a $100. I bet $40. He reluctantly calls. i have no real clue about his hand other than he isnt strong but now I figure he is more less committed. The river is a Queen making an Ace a straight. I think he will fold his pair of Jacks now but still pretty much feel like Im probably throwing $60 away. I decide to shove it since i cant win any other way. He calls. He had flopped a gut shot and turned a flush draw. I picked up and cashed out. I was actually pretty pissed. He woulda folded any brick there. I leave down $120 in the cash game. All my loss came in that last hand. Other than that the cash game was pretty uneventful. Again the maniacs were playing Half n Half. I had a couple of other memorable hands. Once I had *#suited and raised the straddle limpers from the buton up to $30 and got 2 callers. One the straddler and the other the UTG limper. The flop is Queen high and the UTG limper bets $20. I would raised him but he only had $50 left. The other hand was me with KQ in the SB and the flop is Queen high. I check/call two streets to the original raiser UTG and shove the river when the flush card comes. He folds. I felt like I played it like a flush draw and think I got to win with the second best.

As for the tourney well I chopped it two ways. The only big hand I remember was when I got to get all in pre-flop against two short stacks when I had AA. I won that and cruised. I stole a good many pots especially right before that when I was trying to chip up or get one of the last cash game seats. I didnt get to crazy earlier because I was watching the damn game. If Auburn won by a TD I won $75 and if they won by less I won $25 and if they lost I lost $75. Im not a huge sports bettor so this was a big thrill for me. I really think Auburn under performed but so did Oregon really. I wonder if Auburn will get to keep this one for the record books or if Cam is gonna lose it for them when more shit comes out.

New Year, New Poker Goals

Got to play poker finally. I've had my son in town so spent all my time with him. I think if you cant put the important relationships in your life ahead of poker then you really need to check urself. I went to the $40 love shack tournament last night. I splashed around and had some fun and didnt last too long. The last few times I played super tight and aggressive and still would get called by J9 for all the money. So screw it. Im gonna play jiggely and either chip up or not. So when I busted out I went to the cash game.

Now sitting down at this cash game I remind myself that last year I played like a loose passive donkey. My goal this year is to play semi-tight aggressive. Im done open limping. That right there will save me $75 per session. My other goal is to stop being scared money and start seeing the chips as chess pieces rather than money. I dont think total disregard for money is the way. I think a little fear is good but not to let it overcome stratgey or fold edges because of variance tolerance. Some other non strategy leaks I wanna bust are missing hands by smoking or gambling in the pit. My goal is to never smoke or stick one more penny in a slot or on a table game. That leak was getting bigger and bigger every trip. Along those lines I ran across a sweet poker table that converts into a craps table and a nice regular dining table. Put it in my side links too. Ok so I bought in semi-short and had the strangest night. I had a lot of good starting hands and hit almost every flop well. I probably drug 10 pots before I lost a pot where I put any money in post flop. On the rare times I open raised and missed and still cbet I won everytime. I didnt cbet everytime though and I even won a pot out of position with no pair that was checked down the whole way. Now thats running good. Unfortunately they opened a half n half game and all the wild boyz went there. I was winning a good amount for the NL game but coulda really donked it off quick in the Omaha game. I know Im weak at Omaha so I didnt play it. When the tables combined later and they all wanted to play half n half so I cashed out with triple my semi-short buyin and went home at midnight. No cigs, no open limps (that I remember), and no slots (of course there were none).