Skipped Vegas. Apparently Have Zero Interest in Playing Poker These Days.

I had my bags packed ready to go to Vegas last Friday to catch some main event atmosphere. I was gonna try one satellite to get in. But on my way I had friends wanting to go and telling me we could stay here n there for free and bla bla bla. So I wait. Then I agree to wait till the next morning. Then they bail. Then I play in a friendly home game and get reminded why I havent played poker in a month. I have been sitting at a coffee shop making other plans for how to not work in a cubicle and still make bank. But I do want to play some tournaments. So anyway I didnt go. And I wanted to buy a piece of the Monkey a while back. Lucky for him I guess. Im a cooler. I guess my next thing will be the AZ state tournament in August. So anyway I am rooting for the Poker Monkey. His blog is in my list and on gcp and its the one of the most entertaining poker blogs out there.

Down Swing. Vegas Soon.

Craptastic. I just got back from Baton Rouge and started off the week with a $700 loss. Dude the $1/$2 pot limit omaha game at the Tiger Den is ridiculous. You better come with $2000 minimum and be ready to sling some chips. I went and said hello and got a massage but I told them if I sat I would run $400 up to $1000 and quit and they really wouldnt like the hit n run. Plus Im just not an omaha player. I dont even think Im much of a no limit player really. Too conservative for the current landscape. Anyway I heard there was $17k on the table last week for the PLO game. Sickness. I only played once in Baton Rouge. I dumped $200 at the Belle inthe 4/8/12 half n half game. What a great game though. All old drunk brothas who love to chase and call light. I heard there's a $1/$2 no limit at Hollywood but I didnt get to check it out. I guess they are trying to lick the jar until Pinnacle opens soon. I hear it going to be really nice and suck up all the players. I have run 3 sessions in a row without catching many hands. But the good news is Im taking my losses like a champ and not tilting into the pit. I have been off the pit for over a month. Even though Im way up for 2011 and well up for 2012 I just hate the feeling of losing at slots. I wanna be a pro grinder and thats just bad business long term. I had good run and wanna quit while I'm ahead. The World Series is coming up in Vegas and I'm definitely going to catch that action. I will try to satelite into something with a bracelete and play some nightlies.

Listen to the Voice

Doh. Longtime no post. My bad. So I went on the worst run. I went to Vegas to hang with a ton of friends there for an event. Not poker players. Have a blast on Friday night the Sat I decide to play the 20/40 at the Bellagio. The game was so good and the rake was $4 less an hour than my regular place. I'm playin a couple hours and up almost a buyin. I get the thought: I should cash out and go have fun. If I listened to that voice all the time I would be rich. Well I dont leave and shortly after get Aces. I get them cracked on the river in a heads up pot. It pisses me off. 15 hours later Im down 2.5 buyins. All my friends had a blast and I fuckin hate life. I get rest at my room and go back. 15 hrs later Im down another buyin. Two days of coolers, riversn and being pissed off and playing overly aggressive. One pot I lost I raised and bet and raised all the way to the river with KK. The river comes a 4 of clubs putting 4 clubs out. Do I lose to a flush? No. This guy hung in with pocket 4s and no club. I went bullistic. I surprised I didnt get a warning for the way I slammed my chair as I stormed off cussing. Another pot I raise with a suited King in middle position. Get like 4 callers. I flop a flush. There is a ton of action and the hand is 2 and 3 bet on all streets except the river when the board puts the 3rd 7 out. Any air has a house now and Im pissed. The funny thing is the guy who flatted my raise with 9,5 of my suit flopped the straight flush when I flopped the freaking 2nd nut flush. So whatever. I go back to AZ and nothing changes. By the end of the week Im down like 7 buyins. So I took a break. I think the whole deal was caused by karma. I decided to go to Vegas instead of helping my friend drive to San Diego to see his daughter like I knew I was suppossed to do. There's that voice I ignore again. So for the last month I have only played maybe 4 times and only when all the stars align and Im in a super great freaking mood. Not pressuring myself to get in hours. Hopefully the stars will start aligning more often so I can get some more wins going. The last time I played was sweet. I won a half kill pot by calling a river bet with Queen high after the bluffer ran out the only guy with a hand. Nothing feels better than dragging a $400 pot calling pretty confidently with Queen high.

Blogging is a Cooler

GDammit. I should never post happy. I go play today and totally suck. I constantly went against my better judgement. Of course I did flop a boat in a capped pot and got 2 outtered and flopped top two with AK with a diamomd flush draw out there and lose to hearts. I was steamed but really it was just a bad decision day. My last hand I raised and got one call from a total assclown who I have played plenty with. This dude is a beauty. About 50 years old, half a head of longish hair, slicked straight back (a poor man's Pat Riley look), sporting the last members only jacket, always raising and going all the way with no pair.  Classic picture of a degenerate loser. Of course Im raising with J10 but thats not usual for me. He called with Q6 which is very normal for him. The flop is Q82. I bet, he raises, I call. The turn is another 8. I check raise him. He calls. I miss the gutshot and bet anyway. He calls. Im actually not upset for two reasons: I got up and left instead of continueing to play bad, and I played it so bad that I doubt this dude will ever lay down against me again. If wouldve had anything other than a pure bluff there, I wouldve had him crushed with a better Q or over pair or an 8. What else can chkrz the turn there? So I think it was very good but expensive advertising. I shoulda known not to go play after I got a suicidal/drunk/save me/fuck you for not saving me call from someone I care about but cant do anything for last night. Plus me n my gf broke up 2 days ago. Hey at least my kid didnt cooler me today!

2012 is Lookin Swell

F'n Tigers. Way to not show up for a game that if you win you could be considered one of the greatest teams of all time. I guess I should exclude the defense from my dissapointment but the offense and the coaching staff should all be flogged. I hope Lee told Les to go f himself after the game. I honestly wonder if the fix was in. I remember one play where Jefferson was sacked where the two offensive line men were staring at one defender and they both turned inside as he b-lined for Jefferson. Same guy who already had 2 false starts. Just sayin.

Poker is going well. It's limit so it never goes overly well but Im happy. Most hands go to show down and the trick is not putting yourself in a call down situation where you are likely dominated. Im definitely happy with my play in the no showdown hands. Thats really a big advantage when you can steal some. I think my advantage is patience preflop and knowing when and who to barrell bluff. There are enough tards limping in with weak aces that you can probably beat the time rake just by only playing good aces and pairs. There are also enough players who are too fucking creative for their own good. Like raising on the turn with middle pair to "see where they are at". Do it on the half priced flop if you must. I think you lose more over time popping the turn and getting repopped or called by a normal strength hand than the times you run out people who are over playing big over cards or are totally bluffing. The flop is where to figure out the hand or to 3 and 4 bet to keep the lead and represent big over pairs n such. Most of these players over use the flop raises though. Some of then do this and basically turn their big hands face up and lose value on the big bet streaks. Others over use it to see if they are up against a missed AK. I just see a lot of obvious tendencies in this game that are very exploitable. Funny thing is a lot of the worst offenders play in the higher stakes games. Maybe its like trying to apply middle stakes moves in the low limit games. I just hope this game doesnt turn to shit when the snowbirds go back north. Ooooo spring training is starting soon a I bet its gonna be nice action. People come here in droves to watch their teams practice and scrimege other teams. As if baseball isnt boring enough. I hope its like the year long bowling thing that fueled the best games at the Belle of Baton Rouge.

The monthly bounty tournament is Saturday. $235 entry and $100 per knockout. I like it. I can break even or make a couple hundo way before the money bubble. People call some seriously thin draws if they have a bounty shot too. It will probably work against me Saturday just because Im talking about it. Whatever. I havent played a tournament since November and I miss it. I miss no limit. Hell I enjoy the spread limit games when I sit in them waiting for my table assuming I get some hands. One thing about limit is you get to see a lot more flops. People can never put 6 times the big blind in to run you out. Of course thats why many people hate it too. Ok goodnight. Im gonna watch Anchorman for the 1027th time.

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! 

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).

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.

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.

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).

Smart Move and PLO

Heard I missed the dream game last night. All the maniacs at the table. I was so looking forward to playing too. I didnt. I made a very wise decision. See I got in a spat with my girl and I also had to read my son the riot act. It seems like Mondays are tough to make it through without some disturbing event to put me on life tilt. I cant even count how many times Ive made it to the Monday game totally upset about something and really loving the fact that poker takes my mind of whatever it is. The problem is that I play too many hands on those nights. I cant just sit n fold and stew in my life tilt. So typically I go broke and think about how I had a feeling I should sit it out. So Im sure I wouldve dumped $500 last night and Im glad I skipped it.

I did play tonight. I show up to the game and they are playing pot liimit omaha. I typically dont play omaha and wouldve declined come had I known. Of course I dont just leave. I buy in short for $100. I get lucky and quickly get up $170. I would basically fluctuate between being up $50 to $200 all night. We did play half n half and strangely I did way better at omaha. I flopped top set against a made straight and got all in and rivered quads. I flopped a straight flush once and got paid by a river boat. I flopped a boat in a raised pot. I was in the small blind so I was out of position. I smooth called the flop and bet out on the turn when the flush hit. The original raiser would make a crying fold. I dont really know how I could play it better. I cant check cause the flush will have him check behind and if he was betting the flush draw then he will be raising. I hope that he can at least call hoping Im just representing. I had just got caught bluffing the hand before. I tried to look just like I did the hand before but to no avail. Oh well. When it was all said n done I won $200. I didnt play terrible but I did make a few rookie calls and was no where near aggressive enough. I enjoyed the game. Most of the play is post flop and I think thats pretty fun and sick. Im sure it was the all time tiddily winks game of omaha donkeys ever but how are we supposed to learn anyway.

Choppy Chop Chop at Nawlins Nightly

Sofa King chops. Especially if I was wanting to chop earlier when I was in a worse position. I played the nightly Saturday in the New Orleans Bayou Classic. When got to 15 from 120 the average stack was 10 big blinds and we could chop for 5th place moolah. I was all for it. But there were a few hold outs who had 30 Big Blinds. Ive never been at such an evenly spread chip distribution with 15 to go. I had about 40k and blinds were 2k/4k with a 400 ante. So we played on. I have AK in BB and the kid who was raising and stealing a lot raised it to 10k which compared to my blind is a small raise. I decide to just call and hope to hit and check raise him. I do hit and Ace and he does bet and I check raise and he moves in. I gladly call expecting to see AQ but he only had A2. So now I got like 85k. And thats around the time we draw for the final table, sit and get a good look at stacks and blinds and decide for an even chop. A coupla short stacks but not worth nit picking. So sweet thats my 5th nightly in a row to make the money going back to last Bayou classic and including the IP last month. I sure wish I could cash in an actual circuit event soon.

Got Bob'd

Bout to go play poker. Last Monday night was the fucking worst shit. I got Bob'd like 5 times. First Bob knocks me out the tournament. Then he felts me twice and Justin once with 8 high all three times. This was all in the first 45 minutes of the cash game. He just kept calling raises with 8 high and flopping trips or 2 pair. He made Quad 7's the first damn tikme against my AA. I had just lost a pot with two pair of 9s n 8s to the straight (dude had 7,5) so i decide to call a small raise with 7,5. If you cant beat em, join em right? Well I flop bottom 2 pair. Im pretty tilted after running into like 3 coolers so I reraise Bob all-in. Well Bob had top 2. I left. I have never lost $550 in a 1/2 game that fast in my life.

I played for 20 min at Harrahs Sat night. I was there with a group goin out for a buddies bday. We were all just hanging out at the bar in the poker room so i sat at this open seat about 8 feet from my friends. I put $100 on the table and told my girl I was gonna play for 20 minutes. I flopped open ended in my first coupla hands. I bet the flop and the turn and still had 2 riders. Luckily I made the nutz on the river and got my all-in called by a guy who was riding with second pair and my straight card gave hime two pair. No respect. I guess i wouldnt have given much respect to the dude who only sat down cause he was at the bar 10 feet away with his friends. My last hand was a doozy. I was small blind with pockets 10s. I know its my last hand so Im not gonna get crazy. I was happy that my double up covered my slot losses so far. Well a few limp and the button raises. Im probably ahead most times but i decided to just set mine. The flop is all 5s. It checks all the way. I probably wouldve folded to a big bet but once he checked and then a 6 hits Im betting. I get my chips to put em out but the dealer skipped me and had the table check around. She claimed that since she called for the action that my bet wouldnt play. I argued and my friend who sat argued too but she didnt see it. She seemed to be claiming that I had hid my cards and was only betting cause I saw the check around. I had her call the floor. She sure seemed like she wanted me to be wrong which I dont get cause I tipped her a red chip on my only pot. Then the next dealer came up and he took her side. Then the floor came up and she whispered to him and then took her side. Then I explained to him exactly what happened and he quickly took my side. Funny thing is the button ends up calling anyway. Now Im a little scared he has a big pair but Im not folding. I shoulda checked the river to him so he could bet if he didnt have it cause if he calls my bet which put his last $50 in then I probably beat. Oh well. He folds and I rack up. I never even had to pay a time rake. I made $190 and was happy to have paid for the outting. Ive never had to call the floor that I can recall but frokm what Ive seen the dealers are usually right. Im glad to be 1 for 1.

Good Trip to the IP in Biloxi

I drove straight to the IP after work Friday.  Seemed kinda dumb to hauling ass to a little short stack turbo tournament. Last time i drove to Biloxi for the $350 i think i got AJ once and that was really exciting. I really figured I would bust out and play cash all night. I didnt have a place to stay but I figured I would get offers to crash if I needed it. I did. Thanks yall even though I stuck to my original plan of playing until sunrise and driving back. I had a good time in the tournament. Started at a very interesting table with two girls who the house had bought seats for. A nice touch putting dead money hot chicks in the game. I started out ok. Won a lot of little pots with bets. Then I raise with KQ and a limper calls out of position. He had a sweet mullet so I shoulda known what was going to happen. I whiffed and cbet and he pushed all in and I was getting the right odds to chase my pair assuming he didnt have a set. He didnt but I missed and was chopped down to half of the 3000 starting chips (thats with the extra 1000 for the $5 dealer toke). More to come shortly...

Meta Game (metaphysical that is)

Ok no excuses. Whatever. Im in the midst of a bad run. Ive made it worse by playing bad at times too. Inevitable I guess. I play for 4 hours and will be down a buyin and will be lookin to play another buyin to break even. The last time I played I did ok for losing a buyin. Just never had the ATMs at the table give me a big pot. In fact my favorite ATM who I beat in 80% of the pots took a bigger one off me to make up for all the small ones. People like that should never be allowed to have AA. I had AK on a king high ragged flop. FML. Im really starting to believe that my attitude makes my luck. You ever notice how the people who bitch about runnin bad tend to run bad? I think Im that way. Ive experimented with some mystical type stuff like reality creation or karmic manifestations but its so much work. Ive had good results though. Tipping every dealer before they deal has had good results. I bet most people just see it as a leak. I dont have enuff data. Theres this energy level thing done by this Abraham Hicks lady who believes in the Law of Attraction and when I do it I get big pairs a lot. But the reality is that im naturally negative and pesimistic and its too hard to play long sessions and not be your natural self. I think we saw Mike Matusow experimenting with this stuff last time he got in the top 30 of the WSOP. I think he would agree with positive results. Not very logical but whatever. I hope I get to play poker some this weekend. I wish the Belle had a 1/2 game. I think I will play the Sunday morning tournament. Hope to see you there.

Return to the Felt and the Computer

I just walked in to the Love Shack game and got blasted by my only reader. Apparently me talkin about a coupla hands ever now and then and whining about being card dead isnt gonna cut it. I have played a few times in the last few weeks and I played a $350 in Biloxi a few weeks ago but Im not gonna rehash any of it. Mostly I have been outta town visiting my son in Phoenix and having life shit pop up on poker night. I will say that last Friday I hosted a .25/.50 game at my house with just friends and the buyins were around $40 and we managed to get about $700 on the table. Unfortunately I had $400 in the game. I was on full tilt lookin to play big pots. I was down about $240 when I made a hero call with a pocket pair against AK playin it strong cept for a weak turn bet. His river bet was pot sized and I stuck it in. Maybe I fold if Im not stuck and pissed. After that I started big bluffing and then after that started getting my hands paid off. I ended up winning $40.

So I just kamakazied my way outta the $40 tourny. I was down to 4 big blinds and 2 people go all-in so I ask Chris if there were cash seats open to which he says a few so I call with 9,3 suited. If I win Im in it and if I lose Im in a good cash game. I lose and there were no open seats. Fuck me.

So now Im sitting here waiting. I guess I will just whine a little. So Biloxi sucked. Everytime I get pumped for a biggish tournament I get my feelings hurt by the poker gods. I pretty much blinded out of that fucker. I have never been so fucking card dead. I had pocket 10s once and 66 once. I never had any good Ace or King. Endless procession of J4off. I would be up so much this year if I never left Baton Rouge. Everytime I go to Nawlins or Biloxi it costs me half my roll. I never win at poker and if my girl is with me I dump to the slots too.

Congrats to my friend Linsey (who is always winning regular and womens tournaments) for chopping that tourney I played and also to Dave and Frank the night before. Oh and Devin too. 

Sooooo I finally got in the cash game. Actually I got on the must move table where the action usually isnt as good. More often than not the big gamblin cash players dont last too long in the tourney. I bought in for $155 and bulled a coupla pots and pretty much stayed between $180 and $150 for the next 4 hours. I moved to the main game pretty quick. Then foldfest. I got a good laugh around 11:30 when I flopped the nut flush after open limping on the button against the two blinds and checked the flop and turn and then pushed all-in for $160 on the river into a $6 pot. The funny thing was that one of them guys had two pair and really thought about calling. I played a coupla pots where I raised and missed and cbet and won the pot. I somehow got up to $250ish. Then I catch AK suited. Mr. 60% PFR made it $10 and I just wanted to isolate him so I 3bet to $30. I get 4 callers including Mr. Big Bet Bluff, Mr. 60% PFR and Bob who announced he was calling just to piss someone off. So theres $150 in the pot. The flop was A,6,2 two spades. I bet like $130 leaving myself $100 behind. Now what fuckin drugs must one be taking to think I can fold to a raise here. Answer: Mr. Big Bet Bluff. He thinks I have QQ. If I do Im still callin. Well he raises and Bob moves all his chips in. I know Bob is flushing. I have not clue with raiser has but Im callin. Well Im up against JJ and the flush draw. My hand holds up. Hiyoooo. Now Im sitting on $800. The reward for my patience and good spot picking.  I didnt sit on my chips and wons some more hands isolating against spewtard. I had AA twice and won a small pot and split a big one. I flopped top set and got all in vs a flush draw and ran it twice. Of coarse I won the first one. No regrets. I prefer the two run. I do think it hurts a little being known as a guy who runs it twice. It invites draws to play really aggressive against you. They maximize fold equity and split a lotta pots where they are behind. Maybe if I ever get a 50 buyin bankroll I will become a one timer. I guess I wont say what I won but it wasnt too much more than after my big triple up hand. I dont feel like a big winner since I dumped my last two poker sessions. I doubt Im even  in my last 3 sessions. However it didnt suck to book a nice win to get my roll back to health.

BTW Mr. 60% PFR you keep being flabbergasted after playing these pots so strong and getting your all in called by 2nd pair. Of coarse under normal circumstances they should fold but for God sake please consider your table image as a factor. Try having a pair every other time at least.

I want to say congrats to Will the Poker Monkey on his big hit in Biloxi. I read his blog and you should too. Probably you do because he links to me and well its way more likely you wandered in here through his site or maybe the Gulf Coast Poker site where he is featured and I have a little link too. I hope I get to play poker with him one day. Ive really had a good time playing against some big gulf coast names this year when they've come slummin in the $1/$2 games. I feel like I dont care who is sitting or what my seat is. I wanna play higher and better and have been holding my own in all the games Ive palyed lately.

Finally Got Pocket Aces

Jeez Im gettin behind.  Let see.... A week and a half ago I played the Monday tournament. About 20 minutes in someone tells me the line up at the cash game. Its the fuckin juiciest possible game imaginable. So I shove all in over two all ins with 7,4. Yeah I spit in the poker gods face. I dumped. Guess what. Totally not worth it. I played like 7 hours before I got in the positive. By the time cards started going my way there was only one crazy player left on the table. So Im sitting in this little 1/2 game with $800 on the table and Im covered by 3 people. Its like 2am by now and Im looking for the door. Then it happened. No big deal just the first time Ive had AA in a cash game in like 2 months. I reraise the raiser who has me covered. I dont wanna play a big pot really. I wanna leave. My buddy who raised first points out my shaking hands and I tell him its cause I got a big hand. He calls my big reraise. I know he is putting me on AA and Im putting him on QQ or KK. I offer to run it out from here and I think he decided maybe I didnt have AA. I really just didnt wanna crush him and then leave. Also I had way too much money on the table. Well the flop is Queen high and he bets into me. Im not real happy bout it. Im sure he would play Queens like this. I call. He bets the turn too. Im figuring I gotta go broke if I call here and he shoves the river. Fuck. The river is another Queen. He checks and I check. I coulda got another $200 outta him but I just wanted to insta leave so I didnt. He had KK. I played another round and split. Got my minimum 3 hours of sleep and off to work. It was a long night. I spent a lot of time outside smoking and trying to talk myself into staying patient. So much money was flying and it was 7 hours before I won a freakin decent pot.