Some Random Rants...

Well since mid February I have been running fairly descent but definitely not getting smoked in the head with the deck. Pretty much just standard and not making a lot of mistakes but since Saturday I have just been bitch slapped in every tourney I've played. Saturday was the tourney at the Beau which I felt even though I was unlucky I still felt ok about the way I played. Well Sunday was a totally different day! I had plans of hangin out and playing tourneys on PokerStars all day, well for the most part I did do that. Problem was that I played way more tournaments than I wanted to b/c I kept busting out. On the whole day I played 4 tournaments and 5 sngs. I managed to only lose $3 on the day that was impressive in it self. Busted from the first sng when I found AA with KK. Then played a tourney and was minding my own business and not really playing a lot of pots. I raised with 10c8c and got one caller, flopped a 10 and flush draw and bet and got called. Turn brought and 8!...I bet got raised, I three bet and we got it all in and I made my flush on the river b/c of course the board paired and he had 10's full!..I love busting like that! I then play another sng and on the second hand i have QQ and find KK and I'm done for that. Play the 6 max tourney and make it to the first break and then come back and lose half my stack with an all in preflop with my AK vs. A9 (he of course made a straight)..then I bust with 99 vs. 10,10. I then played two sngs and won one and finished second (finally something positive). That was short lived as I proceed to not even stand a chance in the next tournaments I played.

Decide to shrug it off and be happy that I kinda free rolled on the day. Sunday was the first time I've understood how ppl break their computers. That was first time the laptop almost went flying across the room with retarded beats I was taking. I can handle losing my chips on a bad bluff or a big call from someone but these are situations that I'm not/can't fold or get away from. I didn't play Monday night. I started reading Josh Hamilton's book....he's the guy who went nuts in the home run derby this past year...he was also the number draft pick out of high school in '99 and got 3.96 million signing bonus with Tampa Bay and then found himself doing a ton of drugs and blowing almost all his money. He was able to turn his life around and now he's in the majors again....pretty mind blowing story...pretty easy read too, I'm almost done with the book.

Tuesday I attempted to play. Played a sng and busted pretty quick. Davey was gonna buy some action on me in the $55 6-max but I declined and went run some errands with the girl and take a break from online and get ready to battle Wednesday night. Boy that was short lived too!...I played a sng waiting for the 6-max to start at 8:15 and the sng went just like I thought it would, TERRIBLE! I limp with A,10d and the big blind minraises...that's pretty dumb and I just couldn't see him doing that with anything good so I three bet and he minraises that and I move in and he snap calls 1200 more with KhQh. Flop is nothing, he turns a flush draw and you know how this one ends and I'm done. Play the 6-max and catch JJ four times in 20 minutes and 0-4 with it. One time I actually flopped a set on the button and it went, bet..raise, all-in for more than what I had. One guy had 8,9 for low end of straight, other guy QUEEN, QUEEN...for top set and the other guy had AK for the nuts....can't believe I actually folded that...oh yea, remember this is 6-handed!...this is kinda shit that makes you wonder about online poker. I then have Ad,9d and call a raise from the BB and the flop is q,j,10 two diamonds. I check-call an average bet and the turn brings an A to go with my straight and flush draw. The river is the jack of diamonds...he can't be full..XXXXXX, wrong answer..he most definitely is full. I bet and he raises all in and I call, drag your pot A,J. I then move all in for 500 with 9d,7d and get called by A,J and flop open ended and of course I miss the draw and I'm done.

I know this is a lot of bitching but not much else to do, I'd love to be saying how great I'm doing and how I cash in every tournament but that just ain't happening. The plan is to get back to battle Thursday night. Was watching American Idol, which I've basically concluded is the TV version of crack. Good gawd what kinda shit is Paula Abdaul on??..that bitch is tanked and I think if she ever actually completes a sentence I may fall out my chair. My stepbrother lives in LA and is an actor...he's also a magician which can appear lame but he does a lot of the David Blain stuff that he does walking around and all...I know they have a name for magic done right in front of ppl but I can't think of it.....anyway, he was hired to do that at a party in LA and he had an encounter with Ms. Abdaul where she was amazed by the magic and hanging on him and every other guy that talked to her...she could barely talk and almost couldn't stand up and was just an absolute idiot from what I gather. Anyway, that's my six degrees of separation for her.

After reading the Shannon Shorr blog and Shaniac's response I think I side more with Shaniac. I get what SS was saying but come on, give me a break. Poker is an industry..just like football, baseball, basketball, golf, etc... The people in charge want to brand their sport/competition. Poker is treated no different when the bottom line is profit, tv ratings, and any other thing that draws non-poker industries to the game. Lets just not be naive about where we all stand in the poker world. I know that thinking your better than people and being better than others are two different things and that SS has proved that he doesn't just think it, he's been consistent but has done nothing to let ppl know he's around and doing well. People can't stand Hellmuth but even though he's a prick he kinda gets "it" as far as making himself bigger than he is. Even if he didn't have 11 bracelets no doubt he'd still be a polarizing figure in the poker world with people having strong opinions on both sides. It's the "Tiger Effect" in golf...which is probably the best sport to use to compare poker. It's individual based, these guys have to hustle to get sponsorships to help with travel and on top of marketing themselves for additional income...they then have to perform consistently. Poker has some parallels with this, they have the elite players that always cause a draw and guys make a good living just with sponsorships and aren't forced to play every tournament stop. The proof they belong in the celebrity or showcase type tournaments is because we all know them by Daniel, Doyle, Barry, Jennifer, or Durrrr or Jesus. These are the ones that have elevated their status not only through play but the occasional smart business decision. The key thing is that the HeadsUp Poker Championship is NOT about recognizing who had the best year. It's about will I tune in to see Russo vs. Seed or two guys that have a good year? No one said this has to be fair, it's just gotta move the rating needle and put people in the audience and get BMW to pay for commercial spots. I understand both arguments but I just don't fully understand how SS could be disappointed by not being selected. If they're willing to put Don Cheadle and Orel Hershiser in this field of 64 obviously it's not about merit. All in all it would be cool if he got to play in it one year but I don't think this would be that year based on what the tournament is really all about.

I'm listening to Colin Cowherd (which is best sports talk show on the radio) and he's talking about Travis Henry...this guy has NINE KIDS!! He has to pay over 100k in child support a year and is complaining that it's too much money...he also just got about 7million two years ago and said he has ONLY spent about 200k on jewelry "which ain't a whole lot"(actual Travis Henry quote) He says he only has 3 cars. He claims that he has a big heart and takes care of a lot people but never really could get a grasp of that whole saving thing....what a freaking idiot. Some people are just impressively dumb and Mr. Henry...you are one of those people. Well I'm done with this little rant. Not sure if I'm gonna have poker going on this weekend, gonna play some Thursday night online...Friday I'm gonna be boiling some crawfish and Saturday I'm undecided if I'm going to the casino for some cash or some online tourneys. Hopefully the next few days go a lot better than the last couple. I was kinda all over the place on this one but that's what happens when I day dream.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.