The "Honest" Player

Almost Like Old Times

2009-11-19T21:28:00.004-06:00

A couple weeks ago I was able to put in a pretty long session at Harrah's with Davey and for the most part it was pretty fun. Didn't get out there till pretty late and it took forever to park but I finally sat down around 10:00 in a really bad game but luckily it broke fairly early and I was moved to a game that much better. I didn't really do anything great but I was able to book a win which is always nice. Never really had any interesting hands except when I straddled and and had 4,6 and flopped open ended with 6 ppl in the hand. I bet it and hit it on the turn and broke the guy next to me who was pretty unlucky and flopped a set. Of course the guy at the other end of the table "knew" what I had, well he said it was either a straight or a flush.....no shit huh, not to much else beats a set.

I was fortunate enough to be dealt 12 pocket pair in one night and connect for ZERO flops. I guess I wasn't trying hard enough, at least that's what Davey told me. Never really had any big hands either. I got the pleasure of playing with a local by the name of Melvin. Melvin is prolly one of the funniest ppl I've played cards with and he's not trying to be funny. He constantly falls asleep at the table and just brutally honest with people. He's been known to tell people they should stay b/c they play so bad he's guaranteed to win. He'll also call complete strangers sweetheart and just create this very weird vibe for the tourist but we all know it's a joke. There was Russian kid at the table and when he asked where the kid was from and he said Russia, Melvin let us know that "Russians are fuckin crazy, you can't trust them at all....they're more nuts than China-men"...needless to say he's not very P.C.

The night ended pretty early in the morning around the 5am mark and it was pretty fun to get to play hang out with Davey and play some cards in a cash game....no tellin how long it had been, maybe since Vegas.

Last Thursday on whim I headed to Harrah's and put together a pretty good night for only about 4 hours of play. I wanted to play 2/5 and they had 3 games but one was shorthanded and I was not interested in that and the other two were pretty bad game. So I sat in a 1/2 game that was awful for the first 30 minutes and then it got really good. We didn't have a pot with less than $150 for about a 20 minute span. Right when the game was getting open I straddled and it got opened to $15 UTG and then it got raised to $30 (game was open and pretty weak, which is always nice). Guy calls the $30 and I look down at 4,4 and there's no way I'm folding to that weak ass reraise and I figure lucky number 13 on the pocket pair could be it for me. The original raiser just calls and there's a 4 in the window and I bet right out and called and raised. Get the guy to put all his chips in and the drought was over on pocket pair.

Never really did anything after that but I did pick off the same guys bluff 3 times and never had a hand better than 3rd pair when I called river bets. Guy wasn't too happy with my calls. I was also the target too, which was weird. I was racking up and when a guy sitting two to my left saw this he was pissed and said he's leaving if I'm leaving since I was taking so much money off the table. Kinda caught me off guard with that comment, I don't usually hear that. I asked him what he meant and said that since I'm the only one that had him covered he wanted to get in a hand with me so I could double him up. So I then unracked my chips and told him that sounds like plan, I'll give him 30 minutes to snap me. Unfortunately I was never able to get in a hand with him but it did make me wish it was a weekend b/c I would have prolly stayed as late as this guy wanted to play. It wasn't like he was even an above average player.

I did get to play with a little red headed chick who was drunk as hell and weighed about 95lbs. She was pounded Budweiser's and dropping f-bombs every other word. Definitely making fun of the guy who was wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket on the other end of the table. When she busted she got up from the table and said to me "fuck this game, these guys are bunch of bitches...I'm going play black jack" It was pretty funny and entertaining.

I had fun and look forward to playing soon again, not sure when. I know Harrah's is coming up in a couple weeks so I'll definitely be there for that and hoping to do some damage in the tourneys. Hopefully it gets a better turn out than the IP got, which I think it will.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

A.D.D.

2009-11-07T20:56:00.003-06:00

Not sure why I haven't written anything in a while, I think I have found other things to do on the Internet rather than typing, I attempted to write and even had like 3 drafts that I could never complete. I have been pretty busy lately although I have played some poker in the last couple months. I made it out to the Beau back in September and played one event and made it past the dinner break but took some really crappy beats (don't we all??). I had Eskimo Clark at my table in the tourney and he was well, pretty bad. I three bet him 4 times and he never played back at me and a couple other players picked up on this and did the same to him, but he would just chip up b/c other ppl would just give him chips when they would get it all in on a 8 high flop and they held 99 and Eskimo had AA or some shit like that. Stuff like that doesn't usually happen to me. On two occasions I got the tightest player on the table to put all their chips in for a HUGE pot with slim hands and get bailed out by the deck. I raise w/ KQ and flop a Q and bet it out and get raised all in for more than half my stack which was double avg. and I call and the guy has AK for nothing until the turn and an Ace hits...Raise with J9 and flop two pair and get the other super tight player to check raise me all in with his one pair and he makes trips on the turn. It was pretty brutal but typical with tournament poker, I think.

I have mixed in some cash games and played pretty well for the most part. Made some trips to Harrah's and the Beau. I'm not sure what it is but I finally feel like I'm back to the way I used to play by making the bets and raises whenever I feel as though I can move ppl off a hand or even value bet weak hands b/c I know exactly how weak the other guy is...poker is a lot more fun when you're seeing almost everything coming at you.

Played at the imperial palace this past weekend and the tournaments were pretty bad for me on the Halloween weekend with no momentum going at all. Busted in the 3rd level of a tourney when I raised with Kc9c and flopped the second nuts and of course the one really bad player at the table flopped the nuts. I prolly wouldn't fold the hand no matter who it was against but it was impossible against this guy.

Played some cash game at the IP and it was really nice. The poker room was great. No problems with the dealers, the chairs were comfortable, the game was better than average. And one thing that was REALLY nice was that I didn't have to pay time rake. It was a regular drop and it makes the game sooooooooo much better. In the time rake games you often lose players on the push and with this rake the games stayed full and ppl just kept saying "I should leave" but they would never actually leave till they busted of course. I just wish the IP would have better action on a regular basis but I was told they only have maybe 4-6 games going on normal weekend so that means I will have continue to pay rake for the better games, but oh well...not a whole lot can be done about that.

I did go back to the IP and play a $200 tourney on Wednesday and finished around 17 or 18. It was pretty frustrating (which I guess it always is unless of course I win). I actually played pretty much mistake free. I lost one really huge pot when the chip avg was 12k and I had 27k and I lost just over 17k on the hand when I got it AIPF with my AA vs. AJ and three clubs on the flop and one on the turn and his jack high flush was good. That was really tough to take. I maintained and although I told the guy with a straight face "well played." I built my stack back up and got moved to a table that was nuts. A guy sitting with about 80k when the avg was 20k and another guy get moved to my table who had about 55k. This was the typical that you find on the coast. Very proud of his SEC team with a hat, t-shirt, and card protector (oh yea, the mullet too)....LSU being this guy's team of choice. Well he shows off right away how he gathered this mountain of chips buy moving all in preflop after someone made a standard raise. And he showed his KK and stated what else but "how else ya gonna play 'em, that Ace always comes." Well about 20 minutes later he was the one praying for that ace to come. In a three way AIPF hand where the guy with 80k and our LSU fan find a way to get it all in after another player moves in with a half the avg stack. First guy had KK, the chip leader had QQ and the last guy to put his chips in the pot was our beloved LSU guy who had duh da duah....A,10!!! (and you know that shit was suited!..lol) Well that shit blew my mind and he did not hit an Ace and found a way to lose over 50k in chips on one hand without a pair.

Well my bust out hand came in a battle of the blinds when I look down at AA and it gets folded all the way to the small blind of course. To my surprise and delight he raises and I move all in and he has to call. He has AK and the dealer didn't slow play me at all putting two kings on the flop and that was it for me. It just sucks b/c I wasn't dealt any big hands all tourney and the two times I had aces I found a way to get as much money in the pot as possible and I lost. I never called a river a bet and lost and I never got called on the river and lost. I'd say that's something to be proud of most of the time. But it's tournament poker and ya gotta get lucky and this wasn't one of those times for me so I'll dwell for a bit and then be back the next chance I get to my dreams of winning a tournament crushed when I get a little unlucky. But until I stop having fun playing I will just keep trying I guess.

I did get to go to grandma Harrah's house this past Friday night with Davey and that was kinda fun. Guess I'll try to get back in the swing of the blog thing and write about that in a few days.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Deep Run With Anticipation

2009-08-20T09:29:00.003-05:00

Haven't played live in a while mainly due to having other plans on the weekend and working some long hours and not really wanting to go play during the week. However a couple weeks ago I played the 35k gtd on Full Tilt with about 2100 players I managed to finish 32nd. Don't remember to many details and not like it would be all that interesting. I attempted to play some FTOPS satellites and didn't do to well in any of those.

The Beau is fast approaching and I'm ready to play a live tourney considering I haven't played a live tournament since Vegas back in June. Although I'm ready to play I'm a little bummed since I've seen the structure. The "Deep Stack" tourney sounds good and looks intriguing when you see the words "deep stack" next to the tourney info but then looking at the structure is kind of a downer. Not sure why they went to 30 minutes levels, that's just not a good thing. I would prefer to have 5k in chips and 50 minutes levels rather than 10k and 30 minutes. On top of such short levels it's not like they have automatic shufflers, so barring the competence level of the dealer it could make for some even quicker levels as far as hands dealt.

It just seems like every time a tournament director does something right they find a way to make me scratch my head. The Venetian without a doubt puts the best product out there as far as value for the money BUT the payout structure is horrible...I'm just not sure how they could look at that and say "yea bottom money is a $40 profit, that's sounds good." For the longest Harrah's found ways to screw up tournaments and this past May I think they finally got everything right...but who knows if that will be the same in 2010. And the Beau, they are so close. They treat the players great, the room is nice, the casino itself is just pleasant to walk in to. They make a "deep stack" event and everyone is hoping it will be like the Venetian and they go and cut a bunch of levels and make them 30 minutes. They do have something that looks really interesting and something I have never heard of. Event #2 is a very creative tournament idea. Day one is Saturday and Sunday is also a day one, so if ppl bust on Saturday they can show back up on Sunday and play then and day two is Monday. This should create a nice prize pool. I'm definitely playing on the Sunday b/c my Fantasy Football draft is on the Saturday. Not sure if I'm gonna play the Friday event #1 event.

Watching ESPN right now and Plexico Burress got two years for being a dumb ass and shooting himself. That's kinda retarded considering that he could have gotten off with like 2 months, community service and a couple years probation. Guess it's just the whole celebrity athlete thing where they're told they never do anything wrong their entire life and then the real world happens. Also a bad week b/c Brett Favre is back, I really don't like that guy and I hope he has the worst year of his career. I long for the day when he is forgotten and I don't have to watch sportscenter and here his name. Oh well, I'm ready for football season and the Beau.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Hit and Run

2009-07-28T23:07:00.004-05:00

Woke up Sunday morning and wasn't sure what I was going to do. CC was headed to brunch in the Quarter with the girls and I was contemplating driving to the Beau to play their Sunday tourney. I decided not to b/c I always end up leaving there a lot less enthused than when I got there. It's just so hard to play consistent in those things. I decided to drop in Grandma Harrah's house Sunday afternoon since I have heard that the games are actually pretty good on Sunday's. Well I get there and I'm like 4th or 5th on the list for the 2/5 game and there's only two 1/2 games. Well one of the 1/2 games looks pretty good. Three ppl on the table with over 1k and another two with over $500. I know I swore off that game but with that money on the table I'm sure it's playing bigger than usual.

I sit down with $500 and told myself I was not limping into in any pots unless from the button or the blinds. I think I raised 3 of the first 5 hands dealt to me. For as much money that was on the table there wasn't a whole lot of gambling in the short time I was at the table. I made a straight with 5,3 to win a nice pot and then had a hand that I love. I have 9d,10d and make it $15 to go and get three callers. Flop came jack high with one diamond and I was thinking about all the cards that could hit the turn for me to make a really nice draw. (I know that playing for the redraw isn't the best approach but sometimes ya gotta be an optimist...or wishful thinker). I bet $45 on the flop with my "redraw-draw" and get two callers. The turn is the Queen of diamonds and the redraw-draw got there..giving the best possible card in the deck. I check and guy bets $50 and I raise to $165 and he calls. River card is the jack of diamonds...I thought this would a great card to get paid off on since it paired the flops high card and I wasn't at all concerned about the guy being full. I bet $180 and he thinks waaaaay to long and folds showing his flopped two pair and the jack on the river counterfeited him. Still a nice little pot. A few minutes later they call me for my seat on the 2/5 game.

I move games and the game was a lot of old guys but a very easy game to maneuver and know exactly where I was in hands at all times. I end up playing in that game for about 40 minutes until CC showed up and after picking up a few bucks in that game too I racked up and left with her for a nice little win after about and hour and a half of play on the day. After cashing out we walked through the casino trying to find the best slot machine to play. I don't even know when was the last time I put money in a machine or anything other than the rake drop at a casino, but one of our friends gave us like $80 in free play coupons on the slots and they expire at the end of July. So we found the $1 slot game Monte Carlo (I think?). We started playing and after about 30 minutes we were like $150 winner and took our free roll profit and got out of there.

It was nice to do a little hit and run...I don't think I have ever done that but I think I'm entitled to it considering the hours I've put in at that place. Not sure what's gonna happen this coming weekend. Not gonna play Friday b/c I'm heading to Houma and Saturday is White Linen in the warehouse district so I know I'm not playing that night. Sunday is still a possibility and Davey and I tossed around the idea of heading to the Beau for the tournament but I'm not sure how likely that is as of right now.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Joe Cool and a Bubble

2009-07-23T21:41:00.007-05:00

Decided to venture off to Harrah's last Friday and I was not disappointed by everything that happened. First thing is as I'm pulling into the garage to park I see a sign on the parking ticket machine that says "special event parking"...I'm not even sure what exactly was going on but then I see that the fee is $30 and if you lose your ticket it's $100!! It wasn't always that expensive for a lost ticket but I guess Harrah's is falling on tough times or just like to screw ppl whenever they get the chance. There's also something about diamond and seven star free parking and now I'm wondering if they stopped giving free parking for 30 minutes of play...this is Harrah's so nothing would shock me. Well I find a place to park relatively quick and get out my car to head to the elevator and then I stop b/c I can't find my parking ticket to get validated and I momentarily panic. Go back to my jeep and pull everything out of my pockets, check the usual spots where I put the ticket and NOTHING...now I'm trying to figure out a way to not pay $100 for parking. I check one last place and sure enough it was there and I avoided the first shitty beat of the night.

Walk to the poker room and they have two 2/5 games and like 243 1/2 games going. I hang out at the desk of the poker room for 5 minutes before anyone acknowledges me and asks what game I'd like...poker room is nuts and they have two floor ppl. Well I'm on the list and like 12th or so and it's 9pm. To my surprise there isn't a game on every table. I find a spot to chill and sweat the 5/10/20 game and then they start to move around like they are opening a new table and they did...of course it was a 4/8 game. Well Matt and Joe show up so at least I have someone to talk to while waiting. After about an hour and a half on the list I finally get in the game and the game I got sent to didn't appear to be the better of the two mainly b/c the avg. age was around 68 years old. Well that was earlier in the night and when I got there the complexion of the game had somewhat changed. I was undecided on my buy-in before I sat down since they upped it to 1k. Well I wish I would have sat down with the full amount. I get my chips and sit down the dealer asks if I'd like to post but I'm UTG so I'll just wait...well then Harrah's version of "Joe Cool" tells me to straddle, so with my chips still in the rack I throw in $10. "Joe Cool" is actually a guy named LT...if you've ever played there you know who I'm talking about, always has a hat, sunglasses, and button up shirt. Doesn't say a whole lot and NEVER, I mean NEVER takes off his glasses, not sure if the guy even has eyes. Well he encourages my straddle and the douche on my left does the dumbest thing in the world (he's a regular who is pretty sure of himself for some reason) and makes it $20 blind raise...not sure what the point of that is? Well it gets to LT on the button and after a few limp for $20 he pops it to $100 and the guy on my right calls the $100 and of course I look down at QQ without even having my chips straight. I make it $400 total and LT calls w/out thinking and we see the flop heads up. I move in on the flop and he calls and mucks on the river. I more than double my money on the first hand. So much for playing small pots.

The night would slow down but the game didn't. It was wide open and raises ranged from $20 to $60 and action was given on almost all hands dealt. It played well and I think I might have won like 8 pots total on the night and was a pretty nice winner. The game stayed really good till I left. I got to play with Tex who made an appearance but I didn't get a chance to talk with him, he was on the other side of the table and all we got to do was shoot the occasional glance with a WOW expression on our faces from the shit that was being shown down.

Last night I decided I wanted to play something online but had no idea what it was going to be. I pulled up Full Tilt and they had a tourney that was double stack, non-turbo, and was in late registration. It seemed like a winner to me so I signed up and then I realized it was 6-handed which I was glad to see. I've done pretty well in 6-max online tourneys and this was no different. Had about 750 players and I played pretty well. Made quad aces on the third hand and then didn't see a pocket pair above nines for the next 3 hours. I had fun playing and did a lot of three betting and tried to play aggressive throughout. With about 40 players left I got into the top 5 in chips and stayed there till 10 handed. We played 7 handed for quite a while and had a lot swings. I ended up busting 7th and bubbled the final table. It would have been nice to win it but it was still fun to run deep. That was the first tourney I had played live or online since Vegas. I'm getting pretty excited to play some tourneys when the Beau starts up in September. Not sure if I'm gonna head to Harrah's this weekend, guess I'll just see what happens.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Vegas...part 3

2009-07-10T23:30:00.004-05:00

I've been back from Vegas for a while but just haven't finished posting about it mainly b/c I haven't really wanted to sit down and type and the fact I haven't played since I've been back might have something to do with that too. I played a late night session at the Bellagio that was somewhat interesting. It took forever to get into a game and when I finally did it was at a very entertaining table....I only wish I would have been winning b/c it would have been even more fun. I sit down at the table and start playing and I'm in the two seat and there is an open seat in the 4 and the floor guy comes and puts a little piece of paper with a name on it and it says Bubbles. I'm not sure what to expect to here, possibly a stripper?!? Well about 20 or so minutes go by and the seat is still empty and someone at the table asks the floor guy about it since we could have had another player. The floor guy tells him that Bubble's walks with a cane and doesn't move to fast. The stripper thought just got a little more interesting. Well it turns out to be about a 6ft tall 300 pound 60+ year old Italian guy that sounds like he just got off the set of a Sopranos filming. He sits down at the table and just starts working the room. He was rude, definitely politically incorrect (referring to the 10 seat as china-men), dropping f'bombs...and most importantly he was fucking hilarious. I couldn't help but like this guy. He asked me where I was from and when I told him I live in New Orleans he said he's got a friend that owns a restaurant there. For whatever reason he wasn't giving me a hard time but the rest of the table I couldn't say the same. He let me off the hook about 4 times when he out drew me and told me to fold when I prolly would have paid him off and he showed me winners every time. It was one of those nights for me. He was also hammered, taking shots of Jack Daniels every time the cocktail waitress came around.

A couple things were really funny. I wasn't sure if this guy was big time or just full of shit but every dealer knew him and every floor guy and few of the guys playing in the big games gave him a hello while walking to the cage. Well it turns out he has some big role with a restaurant in Caesars Palace. Rao's is rated one of the best Italian restaurants in the United States and is pretty tough to get a reservation there. Well now I know this guy isn't full of shit and one of the funnier moments of the night came when Johnny Chan walked near our table and was standing about 10 feet away and Bubble's said "hey Johnny" and Chan replied with a "Hi Bubbles" and then Bubble's asked "how's your son"...Johnny said "he's doing fine Bubbles"...Bubbles then said "that's good news" and then before Johnny Chan can even turn his back Bubbles says...in a not so discrete voice "fucking prick" and I about spit my drink all over the table. Chan didn't acknowledge the comment and the dealer just smirked and said "he's the second biggest one next to Sammy"

I thought that shit was pretty funny. Later a guy tried to cut between the tables to run over and pretend to be friends with Prahlad Friedman who had just won about a 30k pot on the table next to us and while he was passing between the tables he stepped on Bubbles foot and Bubbles didn't hesitate to call the guy out on it and pretty much demanded the guy come back and apologize which the guy did about a dozen times. One last interesting thing about Italian restaurant guy from New York City is that he asked me if I saw The Hangover. I told him I did and then he asked if I remember then end when they showed the picture and the one with Wayne Newton in it....I did remember it and he was actually in the picture, When I got back home I pulled up the movie on project free TV and fast forwarded to the end and sure enough he was not full of shit, he was sitting next to Wayne Newton in the picture...that was pretty cool.

The session didn't go to well and I lost a couple hundred but it was mainly just boring b/c I know I woulda had a blast if I would have been winning, but oh well it happens. The last day there I didn't know where I was going to play and Davey and I decided on the Bellagio once again, mainly b/c he was determined the beat the 5/10 game there. I sat in a 2/5 game and got a pretty nice gift from the poker gods and had AA vs. KK and nearly got a double up but I had the guy covered by a few. It was nice and Davey was up from his game and asked if I wanted to get out of there and go catch the Wayne Brady show at the Venetian. Saw that I was a winner and said sure. That was a good call. The show was funny as hell and worth going see. It's an improv show and in a small theater so that made it cool. Best way to describe it is as a PG-13/R rated version of the tv show "who's line is it anyway?"

The Vegas trip was fun and I wish I was still there or could have stayed longer but it is what it is and I had fun. I did discover a few things that annoy me while I'm playing and most of it is just things that have become poker cliche' stuff. I'll be a sourpuss (whatever that means) another time. I haven't played since I've been back and haven't really had the itch but I heard the jackpot at Harrah's is still growing so I may have to head there and play next weekend.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

continued....(part 2)

2009-06-21T21:07:00.005-05:00

Left off busting 46th out of 660 players in the first tourney of the trip at the Venetian. I was pretty exhausted after a long day on the Thursday with the travel and like 13 hours of play. Davey and I played the $550 on Friday and I played terrible. Just pressed to much and never really hit a comfort zone. I did do certain things ok but had one guy at the table who was just getting run over with the deck and he was pissing me off. I folded a hand where later on I thought I may have laid down the best hand. Guy at our table had chipped up to like 60k in first 2 levels. I then saw this guy run two very bad bluffs and make a really loose all in call on the turn with like A,Q high. After I saw that shit I had a mission to abuse this guy and I never do shit like that. I then raised this guys blind every time I had the chance. I reraised him about three times with nothing. He even asked me once if I had something against him and I told he was the best player on the table and I think that comment confused him. Anyway it was my mission for this guy to lose his chips and he did. The shitty part was that I played for about 6 and half hours and finished about 300 out of 630.

I then hung out for a while and took a shower and ate some supper and then tried to find a good 2/5 game at the Venetian. I prefer to play with someone I know at the table and it was either Davey or Joe and the average age of Davey's game was about 72 and Joe's game looked better. Joe was getting run over with the deck and did really well that night. I made some big hands too and played well and lost one really shitty pot. One of the bigger pots came when I had JJ in the cutoff and and someone opened it for $35 in the 10 seat...I was in the two. I just called and the 5 seat and the 9 seat called. The 9 was pretty active and not a very good player but I think he was convinced he was. Flop came 10 high two diamonds and the 9 seat bet out $100 and the PFR folded and I called and the 5 seat called. The turn was the Queen of diamonds and it went checked through. River was a blank and 5 seat checked and the 9 seat bet out $280. Now this is where I had to put things together. I was positive no one had the flush b/c both players were smart enough to bet that out if they did. I wasn't sure if the queen beat me but I knew I had the 9 seat beat and my only concern was the 5. I took a while but when I noticed that the 5 seat was really concerned with the 9 seat and trying to get a read on him when it was my turn to act that kinda triggered that he might have been weak and was contemplating a thin call against that player. If he had a big hand he would have been more concerned with me and hoping I'd put money in the pot but with his focus being on the other player then I knew he couldn't call if I did. I called the $280 and he folded and the 9 seat very sheepishly turned over 66 and my JJ was good for a nice little pot. I managed to win some pots but still had to make some big decisions. The table was active so it was good have a draw b/c a lot of hands were getting paid off.

The shittiest hand I had was at the end of the session. I told myself I was leaving on my big blind or on the hour which ever came first. Well I look down at QQ with about 6 hands to go or 15 minutes. Guy opens for $35 in the 10 seat and I just call. (I'm getting sick just typing this). Well I call and the guy behind me calls. Flop comes Q,9,8 and PFR checks and I bet $90 and the guy behind me folds and the PFR calls. Turn is a 5 and he leads out for $180 and I call. I don't think he flopped the nuts and I can't really put him on 6,7. Maybe I'm just a pussy too by just calling. River is a brick and I don't fill up. He bets out $300 and I just look at him and roll my eyes and think to myself how shitty this is that I am just calling this bet on the river with top set. I call and he shows his 6,7 for the straight. So after losing $600 on one hand I rack up and leave. Pretty gross that I lost that pot. It was gonna be a great end of a shitty day as far as the tourney but instead I still turned a really nice profit but it would have been nice to rack up another $600.

I went to bed kinda sick but still up on the trip and free rolling on tourneys. I woke up early on Saturday and went register for the noon $550. That tourney didn't go so well either. Had about 460 players and finished around 240. That tourney was brutal. Thursday I played well and ran deep, Friday I played bad and didn't fare so well and Saturday I ran monsters into monsters. On three occasions I ran top two pair into a set and still had chips at the end of each hand. Never gave a double up with any of those hands so I was losing the minimum for the most part. The best part of the tourney was sitting by the rail and seeing all the fine ass women walking by. I got to see the ppl going to the pool and the later the same girls going to the club. Not sure which outfits I like better. That was about my only entertainment other than the show the dealers were putting on by the cards they were dealing me. Oh well, I played three tourneys on the trip and cashed in one. I'll take one cash out of every three tourneys.

Busted fairly early and Davey didn't fare too well in the tournaments either...wish I would have made last longer bets with him. We watched some college baseball in the sports book and then my phone rang and it was Jacob and he asked what we were up to and said he'd be there in 15 minutes. He decided last minute to come out to Vegas. We all chilled for a while and then went to Venetian to check things out. I eventually got in a game and it was terrible and I decided to get up even and go back to the Mirage and join Davey in a weak 2/5 game. It was pretty easy going and then the game started to break and it was must move and I lost $100 in that shitty game on the last hand when someone didn't believe me and called my $30 preflop with 10,3 and flopped a full house on a 3,3,10 board and of course I turn an Ace. Oh well it happens.

While I was at the Venetian I sat next to the same guy two nights in a row in a cash game, his name was Mike something. He was a nice guy but VERY MUCH A DOUCHE BAG!...he was about 42 years old and just talked like he knew everything about everything involving poker and the especially every poker room in Vegas. We were talking for a good bit but about stuff other than poker which I MUCH prefer. Talked about cars, he has one that he turned into a drag racing car and I grew up around classics. He was also a college basketball player at Long Beach St. and played with some NBA players. Those were good conversations but then he felt it necessary to tell us about shit we didn't care about and no one at the table was really paying attention. He told us that you can use your player comp money for any restaurant in the casino and massages. That's not bad information but of course he started the story by saying "name drop poker room director' asked me and a couple other players some things that could be better and "I" told him that we would like to use our comp stuff for different things...blah blah blah. So he listened to what I had to say and I was able to get that changed." As soon as I hear people talking about shit like that they automatically go into the douche bag category. I don't know why people want to take credit for stuff like that. He's the same guy that wants to talk to every freaking floor guy that walks by and feels it's his duty to be the one to greet every dealer by first name and let it be known that he IS A LOCAL AND PLAYS HERES A LOT!!!...wtf is the deal with people being "that guy", if you know the dealer...a simple what's up is good and anyone with a half of clue can tell weather this dealer things you're douche or actually wants to talk to you. Oh well, didn't know that rant was coming but just one of the annoying things about poker for me.

I'm done writing and almost done with the Vegas stuff. Sunday and Monday were kinda interesting and I'll get to that later. Also have a rant or two about shit that annoys me at the table that happened in the next two sessions I played.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Back From Vegas (part 1)

2009-06-16T22:07:00.004-05:00

It's time to re-enter the real world. Got back from Vegas Tuesday afternoon and did a whole lot of nothing. Thought about writing a blog, thought about doing some laundry, thought about hanging by the pool and found myself lounging on the couch watching college baseball instead. The trip was OK at best and I had intentions of posting while I was in Vegas but the Mirage made that a little difficult by not offering free Wi-Fi. It's 2009 and I can get free Wi-Fi at a Best Western but not at the freaking Mirage. They wanted to charge $15 for 24 hours of use and considering all of about 5-6 hours a day are actually spent in the room I opted not to pay for internet and didn't feel like bringing my computer across the street to the Venetian just to type.

I don't really feel like recapping the whole trip right now...mainly due to the fact that I want to continue with the theme of my day and be lazy. I did play everyday for 5 straight days which is something I haven't done in a REALLY REALLY long time. Had some good things and some bad.

After landing we went to the hotel to check in and then walked across the street to play the $330 deep stack event at the Venetian. Those guys really get it over there and it was the place that got most of my time on this trip. The tourney started off OK and I was able to get the table talking and it had a home game feel to it which was nice. I played well and withstood two tough beats. I minded my own business and was winning a lot of the pots that I was playing. Took a big hit when I raised with KhQh and flopped a Q, turned an opened ended straight flush draw and the other player moved in on me and I called with 19k (12k starting stack) and he had AQ and I hit a K on the river to give him the straight and my draw meant nothing. Lost about 7k on the hand was back to where I started. Chipped up again and made a really big bluff on a young Swedish player when I check called a flop with nothing and then it went checked on the turn and then I made a bet that would have crippled him if he was wrong. I normally would never play a hand that way but the board allowed me to make the bluff on the river without getting called when it paired...I also think he messed up when he started talking to me and he basically convinced himself he was beat. Ended up losing a pot that really hurt to him later.

Made another big bluff in a situation where I had to totally trust myself on the way I thought this guy played. He was pretty ABC and he just wanted to make good decisions and not go broke. I used that not going broke thing to my advantage. I had a really good table image and everyone got along which is good. Nothing worse than sitting at a table for 5+ hours with ppl who are mean. Either shut up or be nice. Well we saw a flop like 5 ways (100/200) and I was on the button with two cards that I honestly don't remember. Flop came 9,9,3 and it went checked to me and I bet 625 and get check raised by the bb to 2200. Now this is where I just completely trusted myself that I could get this guy to lay down a 9 in this spot. I took my time like I always do and came back over the top for 5k more and he was beside himself. He had no idea what to do and was squirming in his chair and started talking about how he hates this b/c he's in the blind and he has to be beat and this is just bad luck...he commented on how confident I looked. And he was right, once he told me it was bad luck I was as confident as though I had flopped the nuts. No way he was calling. He folds face up (I hate the face up fold, especially in this spot). He showed his 9,5 like he just made the biggest lay down in the world or as though I was gonna show him he made the right or wrong decision. Fuck that shit, I'm not showing my hand one way or another. Just bad for a player like him to show that he's gonna fold big hands like that, he got abused by like 3 players after he made that lay down...he was getting reraised every time he made a bet it seemed like.

The bad hand with the Swedish player when I had about 46k and he had about 21k. Blinds were 300/600/50 and I was in the BB with 88. Two ppl limped and Swedish guy raised from the button to 1250 which I knew he was going to do b/c he was pretty active with limpers in the pot. The two guys who limped were really weak and I often raised pots when those guys limped b/c they provided almost no resistance. SB folds and then I come over the top of him and raise to 2600 and he calls. Flop comes 9,7,6 rainbow and not a bad flop for 88. I lead out for 2200 to almost induce a raise and he cooperates and makes it 2500 more and then I set him in and he contemplated for a little while and called with Jd,9d. Lucky for him to flop top pair like that considering how the hand played and I was a little shocked he called but I'm pretty sure the bluff had a lot to do with it and he was frustrated. Well I turn the straight with the 10d of diamonds and he makes the flush on the river to win a big pot and take a chunk of my stack. Even though I was reraising him I still played the hand rather weak but if I would have had aces I would have played it the same way and got him to put all his chips in the pot. I just didn't think he had anything but he was going to try to win it with aggression. Oh well, not really sure if there is anything I could have done differently.

That was how my day went. I would chip up and then lose a pot in a crappy way. Didn't get flustered and just maintained. The good thing was that both hands came when we were within 3 minutes of a break. I also went 0-3 with QQ on the day and never saw a river or a turn card with them when the board had under cards. I was involved in a hand where I had QQ and the other two ppl in the pot had AA and KK and they got it all in on the flop and I didn't see the flop. Called a raise from the guy on the my right who was UTG and two other ppl called. Flop came 10 high he lead for a pot size bet and I just didn't think I could be good. I folded and one other guy called. PFR had KK and the other guy had A,K and flopped a flush draw and put it all in and hit an A on the river to take a massive pot late in the tourney. I did get to actually see the pain of the bubble boy (or girl in this situation). Playing hand for hand and she opens with a standard 3 times the big blind raise with an above avg. stack and got reraised all in by one of 2 ppl who had her covered at the table. He had KK she had AA and he made a flush. It was brutal to actually have to see and to make it worse there was 3 other ppl all in at the time on different tables and all of them held up and she busted all alone just outside the money instead of having a really nice stack.

Withstanding all that shit and a field of 660 players in the tourney I managed to pick spots wisely and never really had to gamble. The one thing that I thought I did extremely well was playing from the blind. I even started chants of "defense" when ppl raised my blind. If my blind was raised and it was heads up, I prolly took about 80% of those flops and won well over 50% of them (position heads up can be over rated IMO) I finished 46th in the tourney with an unimpressive cash but nonetheless it was a great way to start off the trip. It was looooooooooong day getting two extra hours when we got to there and playing from noon till 1:15am. I plan on posting more parts of my trip in the next couple days but I guess that depends on how much I feel like writing about poker after all the time I spent playing the last week.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

A Week Away

2009-06-04T08:38:00.003-05:00

My heart starts pumping just thinking about it and I'm definitely ready. Just one week before Davey and I head to Vegas. It's hard to not get excited and start thinking about all things that "might be" while on this trip. Already starting to get things planned out and getting off the plane and going straight to the Venetian to play the noon event there. The fields have been really nice and in the first two $300 events first place was over 50k. The game plan is set and now the time is approaching to show up and play. I always have mixed emotions when playing tourneys during an event. Of course I'm confident and I expect to play well but I'm a realist to the extreme and all the positive thinking is put in perspective that there is a lot better chance to not win or go deep in a tourney than there is to take one down. A couple positives is that I played well during the circuit in NOLA and the last time I went to Vegas for CC's birthday I won a daily tourney. Telling myself everyday that I'm gonna play well and good things will happen isn't going to do a whole lot for me if I'm not focused and ready to play. Well I'm both as of today and now the clock won't move fast enough.

I saw yesterday that Jacob cashed in the Stimulus 1k event. I'm sure it was one of those mixed emotions things. He put in a mini-marathon and had a min-cash but if I would have been the guy that bubbled that thing I would have prolly thrown up. Not gonna do a whole lot till Vegas. Serving in a wedding this Saturday and then CC is headed off to Europe on Monday for 3 weeks. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are prolly gonna take forever. Good luck to anyone headed out to Vegas.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Conspiracy Theory

2009-05-25T09:45:00.013-05:00

I made it out to Harrah's Friday night but I didn't get lucky and hit the bad beat. I headed there about 8:45 or so and gave Joe a call to put me on the 2/5 list. When I got there it was perfect, they had two 2/5 games going and they opened a third as I was walking in and William the floor guy pointed me to table #2. This was a must move game which I'm not a fan of at all but the upside (if there was any) is that at least I'm on the bottom of the move list so when I have to move it may at least give a couple hours in the game. Well the first hand I got a chance to play was when I had jacks UTG and had $5 in b/c I thought I was the BB. Oh well I just kept it in there and then looked at my cards after the guy next to me made it $20. Well a few ppl call and this is an easy chance to pick up $100 if I repop and everyone folds. I make it $80 total and get two callers (not really what I was hoping for). Flop came 7,4,4 and the flop was harmless but I was more worried about being behind preflop. Not sure if it was the right play or not but I was just lost and checked the flop. PFR checked and the position guy bet $100. I almost had him locked in on a mid pair. Only thing that made sense. I was contemplating my action and the PFR grabbed $100 when it was barely my turn to act. After what seemed like forever I folded my JJ on a 7,4,4 board after I limp-reraised. They eventually get it all in and the guy in position flopped sevens full and the PFR called all his money off with A,Q. Kinda got lucky with that one.

The game then proceeded to get nuts. People in the main games were trying to get into our game and action was really good. I was relatively card dead and just wasn't connecting on flops. I bled away about $200 never really doing anything and this wasn't a game that I wanted to be short in so I added $300 more and was in for $800 total. Then something kinda weird happened at the table. I'm in the two (on a 9 handed table) and a guy comes into the one seat and is just slurring and seeming really drunk but a nice drunk. He starts with the whole "I never play in a casino and it's been a long time since I played so don't let me do anything stupid...just tell me if I do something wrong." Now sometimes these are guys are sincere, sometimes it's sarcasm b/c they think they are really good at poker and it's there clever way of saying coming into a game, and sometimes it just comes off really shady. Well this is one of those times that it comes off really shady, it was almost as though the guy wanted me to know this and was just volunteering a lot of "I'm a bad player information" Well it was a must move game and about 5 minutes later a seat opened up and another guy came to the table he was in the 7 seat and had a mardi gras bead around his neck and was drinking pina calodas (a real manly drink) and he was slurring and being drunk too. So between the drunk guy on my right and the one in the 7 seat and Henry (rich old guy) in the 9 this game is getting better. Well the whole table is talkative, everyone is talking to everyone...no shyness at all.

Something just isn't right the more I watch things progress. I start talking to the guy on my left who is a regular and we've played at the same table plenty times. I tell him that I'm not sure about these "drunk guys" that just got to the table. He's not sure what I mean and I just say, I doubt they are smart enough to pull it off but I kinda got this feeling they might being doing the whole drunk guy routine and are attempting to play together. He doesn't really buy it and I wasn't really trying to sell it...I was just making an observation that I wanted another player to pay attention to in case he picked up on something I missed. The more things go the more these two never really play a hand against each other and when they did we never saw a showdown and they never talked although they engaged everyone else in conversation while in a hand, they show up to the table similar times, they both have that thick Baton Rouge accent. (I'm not saying collusion, but I'm just saying). I eventually get moved to the main game before I could really put anything together.....(are they cheating, to be continued later this blog..)

The main game was very nice to me. I sit in the 10 seat and Bo, a regular is in the 9 and it was nice to have someone to bullshit with at the table. Well nothing really exciting happens and I pick up a few small pots and I have about $450 in front of me when the first big hand shows up and something that hasn't happened in a loooooong time happened. I have 55 in position and it's a $20 to go with 4 players. I flop a set with straight cards all over the place. It checks to me and I bet $50 and get called in one spot. The turn card is a 3 and it puts a gut shot draw getting there so I'm not too concerned about it. She checks and I bet $85 and she calls. River is another 3 and she leads for $100. Well I don't do too much Hollywood and she shows me how much she has left and I say all in and she calls. I hit gin on the river b/c she was opened ended on the flop with 3,4 and hit running three's. Only card that can hit to make her go broke.

About 10 minutes later I get a full double up in a limped pot. Flop comes A,3,6 and the BB leads for $25 which is the pot and it's a rainbow board and I have the nut draw. I call as well as the button. Turn card is a 7! Check to me and I bet $65 and the button raises me to $165 (that's such a good feeling..just thought I'd rub it in for y'all). The BB folds and now it's back to me and the question of what to do here? Now I've got about $685 in front of me and I need to figure out how to get it all in the pot. This is my thought process (I think it's the best plan of action):

-if I call it's gonna be a lot harder to get that in on the river b/c I can't just move all in and expect to get called, he could lay down a set if he doesn't fill up with that large of a bet. If I bet $xxx I have to hope he raises me. The best idea I had was to raise for value on the turn where he has to call the river. Well while I'm contemplating on how to play the nuts I can't see how much he has and I don't want to ask so I just kinda stare in his direction and he happily shows me that he's about $1k behind...this was good information b/c to me he's not scared at all. I then say raise and put the $100 more in the pot and whisper to the dealer to pull in the bets before I put out my raise. I make it $200 more and leaving about $285 and he thinks for about 5 seconds and says "all in". I call and praying the board doesn't pair and it doesn't and he slaps his hand down with his two pair and I drag a really nice pot. I'm a little biased but I think that was a good way to play the hand b/c $585 is a lot of money to put in the river with top two pair.

After that I was on cruise control and never really encountered trouble...at least for a few hours. My table breaks and of course table two (the must move that I was on) became a main game like 15 minutes after I got up. Gotta love Harrah's. I got moved from the game that I was now on the list to get back in...weird, huh? Anyway, I hang out and just bull shit with some people and a seat opens up. It was the 7 seat that drunk guy #2 was sitting in. Well what do you know, both guys got up from the table w/in 5 minutes of each other and it wasn't on or near a push and not even in their BB or button. After they leave and I sit down I couldn't help but say something to the table and ask if anyone thought they might have been trying to play together. The guy in the three seat perks up and says "no shit" and says they got here together and left w/in 10 minutes of each other and then says something that is pretty interesting. Apparently everyone noticed that they talked to everyone at the table except each other well right before they got up the guy in the 7 seat got in an argument with the guy in the 3. The argument came up when the 3 seat and the 1 seat got into it. Kinda weird that all of a sudden he was standing up for a guy who he never talked to at the table. We all kinda dismissed it but it was something to think about b/c I know people try to do it but I'm pretty sure more times than not it doesn't happen successfully. On top of that they really didn't take that much money off the table. (enough of the conspiracy theories)

When I moved back to that game I leaked off some money with a lot pocket pairs that never connected and one memorable hand where I folded QQ preflop and 33 won the hand without ever seeing a flop. This game was deep and one person had less than $1200 in front of him and that about $600 total (not exactly short). Guy with "short stack" opens for $15 in early position and 2 callers and I make it $60 total. Henry in the 9 seat repops it to $160. Now if you've ever played with this rich old man you know he's got a wiiiiiide range hands to that with...any pocket pair. Get back to the original PFR he ships it! Now it's back to me and I don't know how the hell I can do anything here except fold and as I'm pitching in my cards the dealer extends her hand out and cards hit her hand and expose my QQ. Henry is flustered by this and says "if those cards are exposed then I can't call" and folds his QQ face up. The other guy shows his 33 and wins the pot. No doubt Henry's logic is nonexistent but apparently if he was behind preflop then two outs is enough to call $500.

On the whole it was interesting night and nice a little win. Went to the Beau Sunday for the 10k gtd with Davey and that was about boring as it could be be. I finished in the neighborhood of 28 or so with a field of 70+. Was beyond card dead for the whole thing and my table was big hand after big hand. Reid even asked what the hell was going at my table b/c he kept hearin "all in." So with all that going on I had almost no chance to steal pots and then I couldn't find a spot to get all in b/c every pot was opened and I was card dead. It was a slow death and eventually got in heads up with A,2 against K,J and he made a full house of course. I'm ready to play some more and I'm gonna try to pick a week night to go and then I'll be at the Beau next weekend for my friend's bachelor party weekend.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

A Night of Almost and Back to Normal

2009-05-21T08:32:00.002-05:00

I was ready to play some more and after eating some supper decided to go to Harrah's to catch a little of the final table and play some 2/5. I wish I would have just stayed home and watched the weird dude on American Idol. I'm pretty happy I'm not addicted to any television shows. The last show I was addicted to and never missed a new episode was the Sopranos. It was a sad day when that show ended....how can a mob show/movie end without the boss dying? It was the whole reason for the crappy Godfather III movie.

Anyway, I showed up to Harrah's and walked into the theatre and the winner was taking photos with alligator head and all that good stuff. No clue who the winner was or if he was a player or not. I walked over to the poker room and was somewhat surprised. By all means it wasn't packed like it had been but they still had like five 1/2 games and about 7 limit games going too. Even had a list of interest for 2/5 PLO. Had one 5/10 and one 2/5 game going. I put my name on the list for the 2/5 and I was 6th on the list and after about 20 minutes they had 10 ppl on the list. After about 40 minutes the list was 12 and I was still 6th on the list. HMMMMMMMMMM maybe we should get another table going?? But no, the circuit is gone and now things are back to normal over there. Two dealers on break instead of one and a list of 12 players and no new game. I told myself I was going to watch the first half of the Cavs/Magic game and leave if i didn't get in....kept holding on that they would open a new table. Finally 9:15 rolled around and I had no interest in getting in a game that late and it looked like they had no intent to open a new table. I left without ever playing after being on the list for more than an hour and half. But I was proud of myself for not sitting in the 1/2 game.

I also got a text from Gene that the bad beat jackpot should have been hit on the 3/6 table but instead someone won like a $14 pot. Apparently someone started the hand with like $5 (beautiful!) and they would have hit the jackpot with quads over quads but they didn't have the $20 minimum in the pot!...HAHAHA How brutal would that be? No sir you and the table do not get to share the 138k b/c you're playing a game made for retards. Maybe it'll get hit the next time I'm playing.

Maybe this Friday I'll have a chance to hit it unless of course I'm on the list for 2 hours and decide to go home instead. Davey and I might be headed to the Beau for the 10k gtd. on Sunday. That's still up in the air but I wouldn't mind going play.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Pizza Makes Me Smarter?

2009-05-19T10:07:00.010-05:00

The circuit is over for pretty much everyone now and it was nice to see so many ppl I know do well this go around. I'm guessing with the improved structures it helped out that better players made deeper runs more consistently. As far as my circuit, the most disappointing part was not being able to play more than one tournament. The upside was that I finished 5th in the one that I played. While the circuit was in town I did have some clarity about my own game and now I'm looking forward to playing some more soon. I have bitched about the 1/2 game and how I just can't beat it so I decided that I wasn't going to play it anymore. I got to Harrah's Saturday morning to play a satellite and then hopefully play the $500 at noon. Well I run like a crippled person in those things. I played one Friday night and got three handed and flopped two pair from the BB and the SB moved in on the flop and he had bottom pair. Don't worry, he got diamond diamond to make a flush. I was so damn sick by this, I just can't even remember when was the last time I got bailed out like that. The one Saturday morning didn't go well either. We see a flop in a raised pot like 5 handed and I flop bottom two pair. A ton action and I folded on the river when I could be nothing. Flush got there, four card straight, and all I could beat was one pair.

Well Friday night after I was done playing I ran into Bill who had just finished day one of the Friday $340 and eventually finished 12th. and I also hung out while Jacob was still in the PLO Rebuy tourney. They broke and me, him and Tim went back to Jacob's and I got stuck in the elevator. That was a shitty feeling. He was pretty freaked out as well as myself when the elevator wouldn't move and the door wouldn't open. Eventually the door opened and I was able to just take the stairs. The pizza was pretty damn good, I'd recommend ppl to try Pie if you get the chance. While we were hanging out eating pizza and bullshitting about just random stuff like sports betting and crazy poker rumors a light went off that it was stupid for me to be trying to beat that 1/2 game. We were talking about when a game plays deep you can play snug and tight and just wait for good hands and when you do make a move it's easier to get away with when everyone has $500+. Well now I was ready to play the 2/5 game and be comfortable in the game that built my bankroll.

After my satellite Saturday morning I went to the poker room and their was an open seat on a 2/5 game and the game didn't look crazy. Seemed like a good spot to get my feet wet again and not be thrown in the deep end right away. Well I sat down with $500 and just felt comfortable right away. Well then I had some bad luck and was just card dead and called some raises and missed and before I knew it was I was down like $250 and was about to put another $200 on the table (and I wish I would have). The pot got raised to like $20 and we saw the flop 4 ways and I flopped a flush with 4c5c on and Ace high board. Well I made the right bets the whole way was able to get a full double up through a guy who made two pair on the end. I was up after that hand and never went below my buy in after that. I played for at least 8 hours b/w getting up to go check on Bill and Jacob's day two and snagging a free buffet with Joe B. Yea you read that right, we had free buffets. The food was actually descent but that could be the fact that it was actually free and not the $30 or so they rob ppl of at full price. Well I was happy to turn a profit and the game had spells of being really bad and then really good. I don't know why locals do that shit when the circuit is going on. There was 3 locals on the table and they had a good bit of money on the table and then all of a sudden we get two new players who wanted a table change. Well they get to the table at the same time and start complaining about how tight the game is. Well genius, you saw the three of us at the table and you and your buddy got a table change and took the places of the ppl who were losing.

Well I got up from the table and left Harrah's to go hang out with CC who I hadn't seen in a few days and on the way home I saw something that completely freaked me out. As I'm exiting I-10 to Airline Hwy I see this huge tornado! Not sure how anyone can ever be prepared to see that. Well it looked like it was right there and I was hoping that it was on the Lake which it was but apparently it did come onto land for a few minutes. It was pretty impressive but still not something that makes it easy to go home and hope a tornado doesn't come.

Well I wanted to go back to play some more Saturday night and the plan was if I woke up at any point in the middle of the night then I was going to Harrah's and play. Well I didn't wake up till Sunday morning so needless to say I never made it back. I'm definitely ready to go play some more in the 2/5 game. So many things make that game better and IMO, easier. For example, I put about $80 in the pot on a draw that missed. Now if $40-60 is put in the pot for a draw in the 1/2 game and missed it takes a lot more hands to get that back. In the 2/5 game I missed the draw and then the next hand I picked up a limped pot and added $25 to my stack. Three hands later I raised to $20 and got two callers. C-bet the flop and with the blinds and limper that folded I picked $50 profit on the hand and the $80 lost on the draw was wiped away. Makes it a lot easier when you pick up limped pots in the 2/5 compared to the 1/2. I also did something that I haven't done outside of a tournament in a while and that's firing (sorry for the poker cliche') a three barrel bluff. I just knew the PFR was weak and raised on the flop with a gutshot draw only and he called, He check called the turn. And when he check the river I knew he couldn't call. It felt so good to fire that bluff with 5 high and know that he wouldn't call. The game just plays so much better with more money on the table and I've always done better when the stakes are deep. I'm ready to go play some more and get on an over due rush.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Seriously Getting Old

2009-05-15T11:18:00.003-05:00

So in my attempt to play cash games sessions in order to save some money on buy ins in the tournaments my results have not been successful. I have played 3 cash sessions since last Friday and only booked one winner. That winner being last Friday and a small one. I played Wednesday night and just get my ass handed to me by the shuffle master. I was in for 1.25 buy ins and just couldn't beat the deck. I've tried to play this 1/2 bullshit game so many different ways and I'm coming to conclusion that I just can not beat this game. I consistently beat 2/5 games for years and then beat 5/10 games and then got bored with poker altogether and just stopped playing a while. Since playing on a regular basis again I have still not fully adjusted to this game, or maybe I'm just not having very good luck...I'd like to think it's the luck thing and the hands I'm losing with would imply bad luck but it's also pretty difficult to believe that I'm always unlucky. Wednesday night the game I was in was soft and I approached it with full intention of opening a lot of pots with any two cards and staying involved and not allowing the table to just limp fest and who ever hits the flop wins. I DEFINITELY DON'T RUN THAT WELL!

I have tried to stay positive and I think I have been doing a pretty good job with that. I think you have to when playing tournaments considering you can't reload. But in the cash games it's just getting retarded. It is absolutely impossible to win without hitting draws. And when you can't hit those hidden hands with so much implied odds it's completely frustrating. Wednesday and Thursday night on 5 that's F-I-V-E..one, two, three, four, 5th! times I actually called the flop either floating or with a one draw and picking up an additional 8+ outs on the turn and completely missing every single one of them in a situation where no doubt the other guy would have put as much money in the pot as possible. The biggest pots won are usually the ones where you come from behind. I battled my ass off Wednesday night and the only reason I was treading water was b/c I was making plays. Whenever I did make a strong hand I managed to lose. I folded two pair when the flush gets there and I was beat and then a little while I have top two and and the flush gets there but ppl can't have the flush every single time....XXXXXXXXXXX wrong answer, they most certainly can and those chances are greatly improved when I'm sitting across the table from them. I straddle and raise with QQ and a guy flops a straight with two clubs. Turn is the Q of clubs (of course) and the river is the fourth club....talk about never having a chance to win that hand....poker gods were laughing about that one while it was going on.

I flop two pair from the SB with 2,5 in an unraised pot and get A,Q to put all of their money in the pot ($200+) with one card to come on an Ace high board and of course the board pairs 4's and he wins...did I mention that I also picked up a flush draw on the turn to go with my two pair! It just seems like every time I get up a couple hundred or battle back to even there's always a big pot that someone gets bailed out on. This shit is just getting really old and I'm tired of bitching about it and I'd just like to run like a normal person for a little while. I don't need to get run over by the deck but I'd be thrilled if I could hit my flush or striaght just 20% ofthe time. Overall I've seen some really bad players just winning pot after pot and not acknowledge the fact that they are getting smacked in the face with the deck. Hell I'd love to say that I couldn't lose hands if I tried or that I misplayed hands and still won.

I'm not the only one that's feeling frustrated, I'm sure they have a lot ppl out there that are experiencing the same thing....problem is that most of those people prolly play bad anyway. I actually got involved in one of the dumbest conversations I've ever had at the poker table last night and it caused me to leave while I was stuck a little bit when I could have stayed and prolly got back even. Now I almost never and I mean NEVER engage in strategy conversation or proper play conversation when the table is having an open discussion and giving all their expert post game commentary but last night I fell victim and couldn't keep my mouth shut and had to let this guy know how dumb he was. Guy opens for $25 and I call and girl behind me calls and then then utg (douche bag) calls leaving himself with $50 left. Flop came A high and I check, girl bets $30, douche bag folds and the other guy raises all in and the girl calls. Of course they both have AK and the douche bag had A,8 and would have got there on the turn but instead he put 1/3 of stack in with A,8 suited..flopped an ace and folded. Starts bitching b/c he would have won and then starts talking about his pot odds to call preflop. I got tired of hearing of him and asked if had any idea what pot odds actually means (good gawd that was a bad decision). I basically had to give him and the table an entire lesson why he played the hand like an idiot....you know what, I'm not talking about this anymore...I'm getting annoyed just thinking about how retarded this guy was, I'm pretty sure he needs velcro shoes and and helmet to function daily.

I basically came to the conclusion that I can not beat that game b/c the people have zero clue about the concept of the game. Bad players are supposed to be easy to beat but maybe they are just a little too bad. Maybe I fare better against the player that can actually make sense of situations and has a clue.

Davey had a tough run last night. I'm pretty disgusted just talking about it but I'm sure he won't post about it b/c it's pretty gross. He played the 1k and played well. Withstood some beats and then had some upswings...I'm not sure how many ppl were left but I think about 5o or so and he got one guy all in preflop and and the other person shipped it on him on the flop and he called. Well he had the best hand until the person who moved in on the flop hit a gut shot to make a wheel. He would have had a more than double the average stack. Well he nursed his stack caused by that bad beat for what seemed like a couple hours. Just maintaining enough to where he wasn't forced to move all in. Well he finally had his chance to get back healthy when when he moved in with A,J and some one actually folded 6,6 preflop and then he got called by Ah,6h. Flop came A high and he was dodging one of the two sixes left in the deck and would have been back to around 50k with blinds 600/1200. Well of course it came heart on the turn and heart on the river he was busted with under 50 players left. That is absolutely sick. The gut shot to cripple and then runner runner heart to bust him. I'm not sure how to avoid these situations but if we ever figured it out it would be tough to lose. It's just impossible to win when those hands aren't holding up. It stirs the debate of what's the point to get it in good, it doesn't really solve anything or make me feel any better. I'd rather say I got lucky and smile that someone else got the misery that I've dealt with routinely.

Anyway, I'm done with the venting...hopefully this post was therapeutic for me and all the negative shit is out of my system and I can go play with a clear head. I do feel better now that I'm done with "poor me post"...Congrats to Bill for a chop in the second chance the other night. I'm going win that 9pm tourney tonight. Hopefully I get it in bad with someone who thinks the poker gods are against them and I drill them with my "bad play". Good luck to everyone headed out there this weekend. I really am in a great mood now that I'm done with this.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

A 5th Place Finish

2009-05-12T08:47:00.008-05:00

So we started back day two of Event #6 with 18 players and I was pretty comfortable with my stack and chances to make the final table. I had great table draws for the entire tournament with never having anyone at the table with a massive stack and always having one of the larger stacks at my table throughout the tournament. When play resumed I picked up right where I left off and was lucky that my table was made up of all people that I had played with on day one. I never really got played back at and I never got called with marginal hands. Heard a lot from the other players when they folded to my raises that they were gonna let me have it and pick a better spot. My image was pretty close to the vest which allowed me to do a number of things such as raising utg with any two cards or three betting and getting virtually no resistance with that. Although ppl saw me as only playing good hands I made it clear that my BB was not to be a target and I defended it a good bit with the exception of maybe two players b/c these guys weren't raising with anything other than top 5 hands.

With about 14 players left I took a pretty big dent when I opened with AcQc utg+1 and one of the two super tight players moves in and it cost less than a complete reraise and I KNOW I'm behind. I call and he has AK and I actually turn a flush draw and whiff. I don't get flustered and just know that I will be able to accumulate unless our table gets wide open for some reason but I know that's not gonna happened. I make a raise or two and win a couple and lose a couple blinds and then one of the most important hands of my tourney came up while I was in the BB. The guy who was in the 9 seat and wasn't really that great of a player but was able to maintain his chip stack for the most part but I definitely had him on a wide range of raising hands ESPECIALLY from the button (he was "that guy"when he was on the button). Well he raises to 13k when the blinds were 3k/6k and I look down at 6,3 of hearts and start contemplating the situation. With him having a wide range I figured it was time to gamble and with 62k to start the hand I call with full intention of making a play at the pot NO MATTER WHAT FLOPS. There is a certain point in tourneys where you're not just taking flops but have to go into every hand with full intention of doing whatever it takes to win the pot. I call the raise and the flop comes 5,7,8 two clubs. I don't like moving all in b/c although it may be complete b.s. I just feel that ppl are more inclined to call thin when someone moves all in rather than making a bet. I bet 24k and he sets me all in and I call. He has Ac,Qc and I'm open ended with two live cards. Turn is a 6 and river a 3 and I double through. And like I have my own P.R. guy at the table the 8 seat tells the guy who just lost "I thought everyone realized by now not to mess with his blind"...I thought it was a little out of line but nonetheless was to the point and I didn't mind.

I had to hear this guy cry about me calling him with 6,3 preflop for a while. Some people just don't get it at all. It didn't matter what I had and he just couldn't comprehend that I wasn't folding any hand there. I don't know where the thought came from like it's against the rules to call with "not good" hands...ppl are just so scared to play after the flop if they don't hit their hand....these are the same guys that would never have the balls to call with Ace high on the river. I eventually went with "I'm sorry sir, I just play really bad...and if you'd like to provide me with a list of hands that is acceptable to call your raises with I'd be happy keep that in mind"....he kinda smirked and we moved on. It was nice b/c I eventually busted him when we were at the final table and he had JJ and I called his AIPF with AK. It even felt better to hit the Ace on the turn.

I lost a shitty hand to the eventual winner and doubled him up. This guy was a good player and he pretty much just had situations where the cards played themselves. I was utg with 88 and completely got lazy and didn't realize the blinds had gone up to 6k,12k and I made a minraise. The SB (who came to the final table with over 230k was not good....he just hemorrhaged like 100k limping and calling)...well he called my minraise and the BB moved all in. The pot was huge and I had moved all in over the top and the BB had 99 vs. my 88 and he held up and never really looked back after that. I made a comeback after that when I doubled after getting it in bad with A,5 vs. A,Q and hit a 5. The eventual winner picked up some good hands in key spots including busting a fellow GCP'er when Kai overplayed his A,10 and the other guy had 10,10 and it held. Kai was pretty disgusted with himself for playing it that fast. I eventually got it all in when the button raised with rags and I had 55. I moved in and he was somewhat embarrassed about his hand but he was in great shape. He had j,7 and the flop came paired over my fives and then turn gave him a gut shot. I was dodging half the deck and he hit his gut shot and I was out in 5th.

It was a good run and I had a great time but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that I didn't win. I stayed relatively emotionless throughout the tourney which is tough and I've always said that I refuse to blind away in a tourney and stayed true to that and tried to pick my spots. Before the final table I only called one river bet and lost. Was only all in three times in the entire tourney and twice at the final table and obviously I only lost one of those. It would have been nice to get a ring, but it was nice to hear congratulations and have friends out there sweating me. Davey was also running pretty well in the nooner and me being on the stage and he being on the floor I could keep an eye on his table while I was at mine. He had a tough end to his night but he did cash so that's at least a positive. And it meant some more money won by some Houma boys as we've had a strong showing thus far. Not sure when I'm gonna play again. Might go play some cash game tonight or Wednesday and then prolly play the $500 on Saturday.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Down to 18

2009-05-11T09:15:00.002-05:00

The plan worked out pretty well Sunday and I hung out with CC, got some sun and was ready to play the $340 Event #6. It a was pretty uneventful start and by the first break I was down to 3400 in chips and got at as low as 2700 and didn't sweat it at all. Had some bad luck but managed to stay afloat and pick some spots. With about 50+ players I was stuck around the 34k chip mark and then started to assert myself more and chipped up fairly well. We played with 32 ppl for what seemed like forever and when we made it to 27 ppl and redrew seats, it was very little doubt I was gonna cash at that point. Never really got any action on any big pairs I had the whole night. I only called one river bet and lost (the first level) and I was only all in for my tourney life once as well (4th level). We played to the money and I'm sitting on 75k in chips. I'm ready to play and we'll just have to see what happens from here.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Do They Really Listen?

2009-05-10T09:32:00.015-05:00

I must say I'm pretty pumped about the circuit right now. They had a huge turn out for the first event and some ppl I know ran deep...which always makes me a little more excited about going play for some reason. Some Houma guys did well in event one. Three top 20 finishes and one final table. Congrats to Jacob on his 9th place finish.

I was pretty pissed Friday. I was stuck at work and it seemed like EVERYONE I know was playing event #1. It definitely didn't help when I was traded texts with what seemed like 20 different ppl at the same time for updates while I was at work. I had a wedding party for one of my friends on Saturday afternoon so I knew playing Saturday was out of the question and I had some stuff to do Saturday morning in preparation for the party. Well the plan was to go ride by Harrah's when I got off of work if Davey had some chips and just go bull shit with him and take a look at the action. Well Davey busted before I got off of work and I came home to pack up and there was no way I was gonna head to Houma without going ride by Grandma's Harrah's house first. I get there it took 40 freaking minutes to park and I only went around the garage twice. After I parked it was great walking in there. Ran into a bunch of people I haven't' seen in a while and the poker room was packed. Had lists for every game and it almost looked like old times when the circuit would come to NOLA. The action seemed good but it's still not the same. There has definitely been a lack of big games at Harrah's over the last year or so. I think their might have been only two 5/10 games where it seems like there would be 5+ of those when the circuit used to come. Can't even remember when was the last time I saw a 10/25 game going. But nonetheless it was nice to see the room filled and lists with 20+ ppl on it.

I went walk around the tourney area and had my name on the list to play and after about 30 minutes of wait I got called and took my seat. Harrah's has all of a sudden seemed to slightly pull their head of their ass and lend a piece of it's ear to the players for the first time in maybe FOREVER! They did this a while back and stopped taking money out of your stack for the rake if you're not at the table. You get prorated if you leave on the push and come back. That's really cool, the Beau just takes it no matter what (but they're still the class of the Coast by all means). Harrah's has improved the structures and has everyone in a good mood about that. They also changed their buy in rules for the cash tables. On the 1/2 and 2/5 games it was capped or half the biggest stack. I've always felt if you're gonna cap a game then a person should be able to buy-in for at least the size of the biggest stack. Well low and behold they have changed this rule and now you can buy-in for the same as the big stack in the 1/2 and 2/5 games. Now if they change the straddle in the 1/2 to $5 instead of $4 that would be cool too. Well I sat in a game and it was a pretty good game with NO RISK at all. Had a couple interesting hands at the table. A guy in the 5 seat was pretty much a douche bag and he definitely slow rolled a guy and I gave him shit about that for pretty much the whole the time I was at the table. Board was 9 high and paired on the flop and it went checked. The turn was a back door club draw and he bet and got raised and called. The river was the 10 of clubs and he bet and a guy went all in behind for like $30 more and contemplated for a full minute. Now I thought he hit the river when he bet it considering he was playing scared but when he took that long to call that small raise when the pot had about $160 in it I was confused. Well he called and showed 10's full!! The other guy actually thought he won based on how long it took to get called and when he realized the guy took that long to call win a full house he was pretty pissed. I let a "WOW" and asked if was serious about taking that long? He said "I HAVE FOLDED FOR LESS IN BIGGER POTS, HE MIGHT HAVE HAD QUADS"....now this jerk off had over $600 in front of him and really took that long to call with the second nuts.

Well I had some fun him for a while and with the rest of the table for that matter. I made some hands but never won any big pots. Biggest pot of the night for me was when I flopped second pair on a 3 club board with 5,6 in a raised pot 3 handed. The flop went checked and the turn gave me opened ended. I thought I could take it down with a bet and was pretty sure if I got called on the turn that a river bet would take it down too if no club came...didn't think anyone was strong enough to call.....I put out $30 on the turn and it went call, call (oops). river card was my 5 and I made two pair with 3 clubs on board and four card straight. I was about 104384% sure I had the best hand but the key was to bet enough to get called here. I decided on $60 and the PFR folded and the kid who looked like he has never shaved contemplates with his $75 in front of him. I ask if he's gonna make me put the extra $15 in to pay him off and he says "yes" and turns over his q,10 for top pair. Sorry kid...no good but you can pick up a juice box on your way out...thanks for playing.

Well I called it a night at about 10pm and very very reluctantly left and headed to Houma. Saturday was a good day and got to hang out with some friends and gave the groom his gift from the groomsmen which was a pretty kick ass gift if you ask me. We got him a 42" LCD Samsung TV. He was pretty surprised and never expected to get that as his gift. After a long day of bar-b-q'in and hangin out in the sun I made it back to NOLA late Saturday night and wanted to rest before heading to Harrah's Sunday. Plan is to hang out and get some sun and enjoy the afternoon with CC and then go play the $300 at 5pm.

Watching Kill Bill right now and this is a bad ass movie. Much like all of Tarantino's movies. He actually has a war moving coming out in the fall named "Glorious Bastards" with Brad Pitt. It looks really cool. I really wish he would make a movie with Michael Madsen and John Travolta named the "vega brothers"...in Reservoir Dogs, Madsen's character is Vic Vega and Travolta is Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction. Tarantino never said they were brothers but it's a pretty cool coincidence and would most likely be a kick ass movie. Well I'm going to chill and get ready to go play later. Good luck to anyone playing the noon event.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

I Definitely Crossed the Line This Time

2009-04-27T16:24:00.005-05:00

After a loooooong weekend I feel like I could use a nap. Had a lot going for my first weekend in quite a while of not having anything to do...not sure if that makes sense. After what seems like an entirely too busy past couple months my girlfriend a.k.a. CC and I had very little calendar obligations this past weekend. Only thing that had to be done was traveling to the NorthShore for one her client's crawfish boil. Friday while just hanging out at the house and contemplating logging onto Stars or some other form of entertainment I suddenly got the itch to head to Harrah's and play some poker. Figured with Jazz Fest weekend, the Hornets playoff game, and the Zurich Classic going on it could be a good weekend. This is also a good time of the year to run into bachelor party ppl who dominate their home game in Ohio. Saturday was the draft and the Hornets game and I heard something on the radio this morning that was pretty interesting. Apparently the NFL draft dominated the NBA playoffs in TV ratings. Guess that's proof NFL is king. It was a pretty good weekend to be a sports fan and have a tv. Draft, bball playoffs, the Red Sox SWEEPING the Yankees (I HATE THE YANKEES!), Talladega Race (I'm not a big nascar fan but I know this race always has a ton of crashes and I'm not sure why else anyone would watch). Might have had some soccer on tv too...we'll have to hope Bill provides us with some insight to that!..haha

I was ok with the Saints draft. Really happy they didn't take Beanie Wells even though Malcom Jenkins isn't as fast as people thought he was. Mel Kiper rated the Saints draft as a "C" and I think that's fair for the most part. The Hornets squeaked out a win Saturday afternoon after trying to lose the game and still have yet to score more than 95 points in a game this series.

Saturday evening went eat at Tommy's on Tchoupitoulous with some friends and that was ok. I've eaten there a few times and I think I'm done with this restaurant. The food is somewhat mediocre and the service is ok for the most part. If you do find yourself going eat there I'd recommend just doing just doing drinks and ordering this $50 appetizer they have that has bunch of different food. This was pretty damn good but I barely ate half my main course. Our waiter wasn't exactly trying to win a big tip. We had five people so by default he was going to get an ok tip b/c we had some split bills. I am definitely one of those people that tip on service...I could careless you work for tips and I'm supposed to tip x% based off of what "they" say. I will no tip if the server is deserving and I'll tip 50% without thinking twice if the service is there. Me and CC showed up late and met the other three people who were enjoying a bottle of wine and hanging out and the waiter came and said hi and brought us menus and didn't ask if we wanted a glass for wine or anything else to drink. I then asked him for a glass of Makers Mark and he said ok and showed up 15 minutes later with it like he just saved the day or something. I had to ask for another drink (WHICH I HATE!)...you're a waiter, you serve people..you brought them the drink you see the glass is now empty you know they can't just go fix it themselves and being someone who wants to provide great service you should notice that person might want something else to drink??? So I asked for my second drink. Well after the meal he brought the check and my bill was like $55 or something and I was paying cash. I gave him $80 and when he finally made it back with the receipts for people to sign he asked if I needed change...no dude, I tipped you $25 on my $55 bill b/c the service was awesome. First of all that's just rude on his part, bring back the change and the person will leave you what they want to leave...I'm pretty sure that's the way they've been doing this tipping thing since forever. I tell him yes I need change and he brings me back the $20 bill I gave him and whatever else was the change. Now normally I would hit him with the dumb ass tax and only tip the $5. Someone tells you they need change I would bring them back maybe a $10 and 10 $1's or something like that or 10 and two 5's. Well on the third time he brought me back two tens. Gawd I hate dumb waiter/waitresses, but then again when you bring people their food for a living obviously you're not the brightest person walking among us.

I went to the Zurich Classic Sunday afternoon with some friends and that was enjoyable. The weather was great, the sights were great, and ran into some people I haven't seen in a while. Wasn't really feeling up for going because I was really looking forward to being lazy Sunday but it ended up being a good day. After that was over I felt like reading a book and after watching David Grey's two part interview on Cardplayer about "the big game" and talking about the corporation vs. Andy Beal it got me really interested in reading Michael Craig's book The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King. Rode over to Borders Books and bought it and also bought a book that gets donated to one of the boys and girls shelters in the city (guess the cashier caught me at a good time and I felt like doing something nice). It's a pretty easy read and I've been wanted to read it for a while so I'll prolly knock that out over the next week or so.

Well I did manage to get some poker in as I mentioned earlier. Decided to venture off to Harrah's around 8:30 or so and expected to see a lot of action and I wasn't disappointed. Walked up to the poker room and they had about six 1/2 games and three 2/5 games but no 5/10 or 10/25 games. Not sure if they have been running these at all lately. Well as I walked around the room trying to find the best 1/2 game with the most money on the table I couldn't find one that looked really good and eventually all the open seats were locked up and now I was on the list and got called for a brand new game which I was not thrilled about. I put my name on the move list after I found a game that had good amount of money on the table. While waiting I ran into Joe B. and Matt and apparently Joe dresses Matt now due to the awesome plaid shirt Matt was wearing, wasn't quite as stylish as Joe's 1994 Tommy Hilfiger oxford but he was at least trying. The plan was to play 1/2 a while and then jump in the 2/5 game after picking up 3 or $400. Nice plan!

I get in the bad game for a few minutes and raise 4 of the first 6 hands and quickly realize it's gonna be hard to get this game jump started. I see more money on table seven and get a table change. Get moved and just really hit stride right when I sat down. No one seemed to be all that aggressive or skilled. Some pretty novice players and one guy who I've played with a few times and he plays snug and always manages to lose all his chips with hands you just don't' expect him to turn over. I'm not even sure how I won most of my money but I was up pretty quickly and continued to play pretty well. But as I've learned, it doesn't matter how well one plays...it's really hard to be the shufflemaster. I straddle and get A,10 and about 5 ppl limp and I let it live and we saw the flop. A,10,9...not bad for a straddle, or anytime for that matter. I bet out $20 and get minraised to $40 by a guy who only bets when he has a good hand. I decided to mess with him just to see how he would react to the play and reraise to $60. This confused like half the table b/c they couldn't understand why I didn't have to make it $80 (AND I'M NOT JOKING!)...He was somewhat thrown off and just called. I checked when the board paired nines and he followed along with that and I was pretty sure I didn't like this card. River was not and Ace or 10 which I thought I needed to win and I checked. He bet $40 and I knew I had to call and showed me his 9,10. Nice hand sir, not a whole lot I can do there. I then played AK like a fag and lost a relatively big pot and all my profit when I raised on the flop and some other guy shipped it with Qs,7s and made his flush on the river.

I knew that guy wasn't going anywhere with money in front of him...He was there to play and thought he was really good. He also gave congratulated himself on pots, think I saw a mini fist pump once on a $50 pot...yea, he was that guy. He was an over weight bald guy that was mid 50's with a silk Hawaiian style shirt that he thought we be a good idea to not button all the way or wear an undershirt. And don't forget about the pinky ring and man bracelet. Well I eventually got some money from him and double through when I hit my 10,8 gutshot. I then had one of my more memorable hands I've played and completely took advantage of the rule and a dumb player.

(Man this post is getting long)

Here's the hand. I'm dealt 9,7o and from the hi-jack after 4 ppl limp I make it $15 to go and get two callers (button and mp). Flop comes 9,5,3 and check to me and I bet $35 and get called by the button and the other guy folds. This is where it got interesting. Turn card paired the 5 and I start to cut out some chips and kinda try to stall to see what this guy is thinking (chances are he isn't thinking anything!) Well I don't know what he has but I think I might have the best hand. I cut out $65 and push it forward and then the guy says "I'm all in" for like $250 total. Now usually this is where I'd lean back in my chair and start to talk to him BUT I still haven't made my bet and with the chips in my hand I try to grab all them but I left $10 out there and pulled back the $55. Well this guy starts to scream that I can't do that and some other player starts agreeing (and we all know what I think of dumbasses who aren't in the hand talking about the ruling that doesn't affect them). Well the guy is telling me I crossed the line and that's my bet and other people start to point out that I crossed the line, and I tell the dealer to just call the floor because I never released all the $65. She knew the floor was going to rule in my favor but we called them over and I only lost $10 on the turn. I was really happy with myself for thinking quick and not releasing my chips when he acted prematurely. I found it humorous and the other guy was totally flustered. He even made the comment a few minutes later about no hard feelings man. I looked at him dead serious and told him "I'm not really worried if you have hard feelings about it anyway, It's not like I did anything wrong." Well I showed him a bluff about 15 minutes later and he got up from the table completely flustered.

The night was fun. I never did make it to the 2/5 game I was dead even at 3:30am and moved to another game when my table broke. I told myself I was going to play 30 more minutes and win some money. I sat down and picked up a little profit and called it a night at 4am. Joe and Matt were still grinding it out. I had fun and I look forward to playing this coming weekend, not sure if it's gonna be Friday or Saturday. Hopefully Bill quits dragging his feet and gets us some gear before the circuit starts so I have something to wear at final tables.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Winning and Apprehension

2009-04-16T08:50:00.004-05:00

I didn't make it out to the Beau last weekend. Mainly due to being busy and dealing with the holiday. I was one of those fortunate ones who got to work on Good Friday. I love hearing friends and family ask "you really have to work?"...Like I'm lying to them b/c it's fun or something. Well that ruined any plans of going play the $300 noon and didn't really feel like going play the second chance and pretty much decided right there that I wasn't gonna play at all that weekend. Ended up going to Houma Saturday night and hang out with some friends and drink some beer and make fun of each other. Sunday was Easter and frankly I would have been thrilled if it wasn't a holiday weekend. Way too much of a production to lose a day of my weekend. Anyway, I have been able to play online and I have found some really nice success lately on stars playing mtt sngs. Mainly 18 or 27 players. These are really nice and take about hour and half and for some reason seem to be pretty easy to navigate. I have finished 3rd or better in a majority of the ones I have played. Probably cashing in 6 out of the last 10 and then cashing in 6-handed 3k gtd last night as well. These sngs have been pretty enjoyable and it's nice that people don't end up with 5 times the starting stack 4 minutes into the tournament.

That's about all I have going on as far as poker. The NBA playoffs are starting soon and after watching the Hornets last game against the Spurs I get the feeling they were trying to lock up the seven seed. I have never seen them, much less any NBA team miss that many free throws at the end of a game. Pedja completely wiffed on an inbound pass which just looked awkward. Can't say that I'm disappointed about them being the seventh seed b/c I don't wanna see them play the Lakers until the conference finals. It'll be interesting and hopefully Chandler will be back 100% and they can make a run in the 8 month marathon called the NBA playoffs. I'm really looking forward to watching my team play every 12th day. Just heard some interesting news while listening to ESPN radio that Keven Garnett may be out for the entire post season.

The NFL draft is approaching and as a life long Saints fan this is a very nervous time for all us due to the history of decisions....Chris Naeole, Donte' Stallworth, Danny Wuerffel, Robert Meachem, Antonio Pittman, oh yeah...that one year back in '99 when after the fifth pick in the draft the Saints were no longer involved b/c they got hall of famer Ricky Williams...not to mention they traded away a 7th round pick for Olindo Mare (A KICKER) b/c that late in the draft you can't find quality players. Well except for that Marques Colston guy who should have won rookie of the year. But the kicker was a solid pick up...HA HA HA. Well lets just hope that the special ed. group doesn't show up to do the drafting for the Saints this year. I think I might throw up if they draft Beanie Wells, this guy couldn't stay healthy in college and couldn't even dominate that juggernaut of a conference that he played in...The Lil' 10.

Speaking of the draft...am I the only one that can't stand listening to Todd McShay on ESPN? McShay is like a stepbrother that constantly tries to compete for attention from the parents by always having a different opinion to seem smart just in case he's right. Well Mel Kiper is making me nervous b/c he has the Saints drafting a running back and I just hope he totally f'd up that projection. ESPN just reported some great news for Sunday night football and me...John Madden is now retired and I don't have to listen to him butcher the English language while trying to enjoy a football game.

Most likely not gonna be any poker going on this weekend as I'm headed to Shreveport for the weekend to hang out with some friends...highly doubtful I will make it go one of Bossier City's fine casinos but I can't rule it out completely due to the fact that Bill told me he's headed up there this weekend for a non poker related trip and he may try to go play. Just have to play that by ear I guess. Looking forward to playing some more online mtt sngs over the next couple weeks and somewhat looking forward to playing in the upcoming circuit event Harrahs but I'm still not putting a lot of faith in them for the structures until I show up and see the structure sheet. I wouldn't be surprised if they changed it mid tourney b/c it was gonna last more than 3 hours. A lot more negativity in this post than I thought but when talking about the Saints draft it's hard to stay positive. Like many places New Olreans sports fans are just naturally glass half empty fans due to listening to our fathers and grand fathers curse the Saints even when they pick up 7 yards on first down by saying "I'm sure they're gonna run ball up the middle the next two plays and punt"...hard to shake a life time of those types of comments. This year the Who Dat Nation will have pleanty to cheer about when the Saints are Super Bowl Bound.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Nice Pair Ma'am

2009-04-07T10:21:00.003-05:00

Attempted to play some poker this past weekend at the Beau and that didn't exactly work out as planned. I woke up early Saturday morning and got my game face on and waiting for Ruttley to show up and we made our way to the coast to play in a satellite and then parlay that into a 30k win in the $500 event. Well that didn't work out how I had envisioned it. We got there and went chill with Davey and Joe B. for a little while and then went play in the same satellite. Well it started out ok and then I lost half my chips on a hand where the board came 10 high and I held 99 and rather than calling a small flop bet from the PFR I put in a raise and he called and then moved in on the turn and I was forced to fold. Battled back and some ppl got busted and we were 5 handed and a guy open shoved for 300 less than me and then Ruttley moved all in for less and of course I look down at QQ. I thought about folding for like all of 2 seconds and then put it all in. Of course Ruttley had KK and the other guy had A,10 and the KK held up. I was crippled and moved in with J,10 and got called by the blinds. Guy in the SB really pissed me off too. He was a total douche bag equipped with his "Stone Cold" Steve Austin shirt, blue jean shorts, white tennis shoes, crown royal hat, and the sweetest pair of 7/11 sunglasses I've ever seen! Well this jerk off makes the comment "I hope he knows what he is supposed to do down there b/c I'm not gonna bet".....I threw on the brakes and started to tell him how messed up this was and that even though it's understood that the check down will happen it's still collusion if you state your intentions. If he would have been the one to win the hand then I would have made somewhat of a scene just to prove a point even though I know I would have prolly been ruled against. Anyhow, Ruttley won a buy in for the $500 tourney and I went get torched downstairs in the cash game.

Sat in a game that was pretty weak and and was never really in any harm. I couldn't keep any momentum despite the unimpressive play at the table. I pretty much stayed about 30-40% above my buy in. Picked off a few bluffs, called the same old guy down with 3rd pair three times. The game was good, the table was fun and I was chatting most of the time. It was pretty frustrating b/c it seemed like every time I won a pot I was forced to draw on the very next hand and wipe away profit. I had my biggest profit when I flopped top pair Q with a King kicker and the board double paired queens and sixes. Of course I lost over $300 on the hand b/c the other guy had Q,9 for a better full house. That was brutal and I got up from the game after that and went cash out my few chips, luckily the guy didn't put me all in...that's a really tough fold and not a good long term fold.

Went sweat Davey who was battling his ass off in the $500 tourney and had to deal with some unfun swings. Ruttley and I played the second chance and I started off playing pretty well and able to more than double my chip stack by the first break. Very little danger except for the annoying guy sitting on my left. He was "that guy" who talked about how loose he was and how no one can put him on a hand. He was just advertising how good he was, needless to say it took as long as me untangling my headphone wires to put the iPod on and not listen to his greatness. What blows my mind about this is how people at the table acknowledge this guy and tell him "Man, I can't put you on a hand"....well I check called him down once and then he pretty much stopped playing pots with me. One crazy incident was when it sounded like a guy was choking or something and then he fell out of his chair and the tournaments stopped and they were yelling for a doctor. It was pretty insane b/c no one knew what was going on, didn't know if it was a heart attack or stroke or seizure. I'm still not positive what happened but I think the guy ended up cashing in the $500 tourney and never returned after whatever happened, hopefully he's doing great now.

The second chance was frustrating b/c keeping with my tradition of online tourneys of taking one big beat after accumulating chips I was unable to recover. I got moved tables and the big stack on the table opened and got called and I rereaised him from the BB with AK and he folded and the other person called. Now I played with this lady from the start and she was pretty unoriginal and ABC. I knew she had a small pair, well actually she had big pair but those were on her chest and she was letting them hang out and they had that biker chick quality to them. Ron White discusses this...how every guy wants to see them, even if it means you roll them back up and put em away after we're all grossed out. Well it wasn't that gross but you get the point. Anyway, she hit her two outer and after I knew she hit the flop I still bet and was forced to double her up. If she misses the flop I win the pot with a CB. I asked her how much more I would have had to raise to get her to fold 55 and she said she thought I was bluffing b/c I had my hand on the side of my face and took a while to bet....HAHAHA. Now she's making body reads after I had sat directly across from her for two hours and did the same thing every time and if you've ever played a tourney with me, I'm pretty standard with taking my time and keeping my hand either on my face or over my mouth. Anyway, Davey brought up a very valid point when I said I have no idea how much I had to raise to make her fold and he said "she's a woman and has pair, usually not going anywhere." Very similar to old guys who call with every pair and ready to muck as soon as they miss the flop.

It was a rather unsuccessful trip but I definitely realized that I had more fun playin the tourney than playin the cash game. I was just so much more tuned in and I'm not gonna say I tried harder but it just seems like I can create my own luck a little bit more in tournaments and in cash games I'm just trying to be patient and then I just get smoked on one hand and can't force myself to stay in there and battle b/c I get disgusted. In the tournament I have to stay there and I can't just pull out more chips. For whatever it's worth I'm ready to play some more and prolly gonna make a trip out to the coast this weekend...either to play the second chance Friday night or the $300 Saturday.

As far as the vibe at the Beau right now it's just not the field sizes and action like it used to be. And is it just me or is every guy under the age of 24 just a complete dork with no personality? Some sounds at tournaments just never change but then again some do...it's not like I'm an old man but it just seems like 4 years ago more people talked about betting on sports rather than dropping every poker clique they can possibly gather in one sentence. I know I used let people have it at the table but I could at least carry a conversation about anything and it wasn't usually poker related. Just never understood the fascination with talking about poker while playing poker and the conversation not helping your own game but rather just trying to show how smart you think you are....If I'm ever engaged in a "poker conversation" at the table it's because I think you're intelligent and I'm only speaking to the guy sitting next to me in a low voice and not talking across the table. I quickly learned that post game at the table is just dumb but nowadays it just seems like Vince Van Patten opened a school for people to analyze play and make the world a dumber place, maybe he has youtube videos and ppl watch these so they tell me that they had "weapons of mass destruction" or a "real wired pair." And when did it become the norm to state that "I just started playing this game"...followed by a wink and smirk. Good job sir, now I KNOW you're not really that good but you do think highly of yourself and I'll be glad to boost your ego for my pure entertainment. I'm sure I could keep going about this type of stuff but I'm just tired of typing right now.

Hopefully I'll be at the Beau this weekend make it a profitable trip too. Good luck to everyone headed out there and please don't be that douche bag at the table.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Confusion on a Ruling

2009-03-30T15:14:00.006-05:00

Well I know most people at this point have torn their bracket up moved on past the NCAA tourney unless of course you were one those people that picked UNC. Well Memphis got bounced and that eliminated me from my pool and a chance at cash, although in my other bracket challenge that I was head to head with SouthPawRounder our championship game was yesterday with UNC/OU b/c our final four and champion was the same except for him having OU and me UNC so now I have a free lunch when I get to Vegas in June. Saturday I boiled some crawfish and some friends over and after we were done eating and with a good bit of beer in us we decided we needed to go bowling. That was pretty fun and entertaining, bowling is definitely one of those things done better when drunk. Sunday was a weird day for me, I woke up and the weather was great and I definitely didn't wanna spend the day at home doing nothing. Being the good Catholic kid I am I woke up and went to Mass and then got some really sad news about a friend that I ride with in a carnival krewe. I received a text message saying that Bubba Dove was in automobile accident and was died on the scene. Just really unsettling news b/c he was a nice guy and was fun to hang out with the few months out of the year we had Mardi Gras parties. After a bunch of phone calls and texts messages from friends and the news kind of settled down I decided I really wanted to play live and NOT at Harrahs.

I hopped in the car and headed to the coast for some cash game action and a potential appearance in the $200 second chance tourney at 7pm. Well I got there and around 3:30 and went upstairs to see what was going on and ran into a few people I hadn't seen in a while and then went sit down and flopped the nuts on the first hand I played and broke a guy. After that I just pretty much maintained and was bouncing the idea back and forth if I wanted to play the second chance or not. While I was cashing out I ran into Jacob and he and I shot the shit for a while and went upstairs to sweat Clint at the final table from event 1. He and I ran into a bunch of familiar faces and talked to Reid for a few minutes while he was waiting for his dinner break to end. I opted to not play in the second chance for a couple reasons: one was that with about 10 minutes before 7 they only had like 30 players and two; was that I didn't know if I felt like driving back after that late after I won. My cash session wasn't that much to brag about but it was a win and got me really wanted to go play this week! I'm making plans and I'm pretty sure I'm going play cash Wednesday evening and I'm going play the Saturday tourney which should have a really big turn out.

One thing that had me confused was two rulings by the floor at the Beau, one was on my table and the other was on the 4/8 game next to us. I know they had a dealer that used to blog on GCP as well as a Tourney Director but I'm not sure if they check the site anymore. Well this is the situation and ruling on the 4/8 game:
The blinds are $1 and $2 in the game and a player wanted to straddle. The dealer didn't know how much the player had to straddle for b/c the bet is $8. (I'm still confused kinda). Anyway the dealer didn't know if the player should have to straddle for $4 or $8. The floor ruled the player should straddle for $4 and everyone has to call $8 to enter the pot. So based on this ruling the player who straddled can fold for $4 even if no one raises. This would make the straddle the dumbest play in the history of poker and makes the ruling one of the weirdest I've ever heard before. Please let me know if you know the proper ruling.

The second was in my cash game and once again I'm not sure if I agree with the ruling. This hand involves the 7 seat (playerA), 8 seat (PlayerB), and 3 seat (playerC), button is on the 4 seat:
After the flop: PlayerA checks, PlayerB bets $40, PlayerC calls as well as playerA.
Turn: PlayerA checks, PlayerB bets $100, PlayerC moves all-in for $130 toal PlayerA then attempts to raise to $200. The dealer tells him he can not raise that amount and pulls the raise back. This is the part that ANNOYS THE HELL OUT OF ME!! douchebag in the two seats starts talking to the guys next to him and they start questioning the dealer WHEN THEY ARE NOT INVOLVED IN THE HAND! (bit of advice, if you're not in the hand and it's not a pot/money issue then keep your mouth shut!) Regardless if I know I'm right or someone is wrong I refuse to make statements or anything that will affect someones money...it's the same as talking in a hand when you're not heads up. If the player has doubts he ask for a ruling not the dip shit who wears his sunglasses and hoodie and analyzing everyone's hand and watches entirely too much tv poker. Anyway, the floor is called and the floor rules that playerA can make it $200 b/c playerC did not make a full raise and all playerA is raising the original $100 bet. PlayerA put the $100 extra and PlayerB called. The river went check-check and PlayerA won the hand.
So my question is: Did the floor make the correct ruling? I can see how it would be the correct ruling and I could see an argument against $200 not being enough to count as a raise. And I could definitely see this being ruled differently in different poker rooms.

Well the plan is to head to the Beau Wednesday after work and win at least my buyin for Saturday's tourney. I really wish I had more time and could get away to play more tourneys the next two weeks. I might try to play a second chance or something the following week. Well good luck and safe travels to everyone heading to the Beau.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Appropriate...

2009-03-23T08:22:00.003-05:00

I have a slogan or motto or whatever you wanna call it for PokerStars:

"PokerStars: making retarded people feel like a genius since 2001"

Multi-tabled two tourneys Sunday night and made it 30 from the money and keeping with the theme of usual...only one guy on the table had me covered. I reraise the cutoff with 10,10 and the big stack calls from the button and the flop is 8,8,8...I go bust and he had 10,8.

I cashed in the 6 handed tourney and took a crappy beat when i had about 24k in chips but the other guy had no choice but to move in and I got unlucky after flopping a set of queens. I then saw Stars put that motto to work a little while later. Button min raises to 2k, (sb is sitting out) and I move in for 14k more and he thinks about it forever and calls my A,Q with A,10....he had about 21k to start the hand. Flop is Q,J,8...9 on the turn and I was done. I aslo cashed in a tourney Saturday night when I couldn't fall asleep. So atleast I had some positive this weekend.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Obsession and Hooters

2009-03-20T09:04:00.002-05:00

I guess the two things in the title can go hand and hand. I did what most guys with a pair do around this time of year and filled out my bracket and got ready to wonder if this was the year that I go perfect in the picks b/c after all, it looked pretty good once I was done. Well that dream ended when I pulled out my bracket to highlight the Texas A&M game and then to my complete surprise actually had BYU picked. No idea why I woulda done that and no clue that I actually did. I guess the upside to my mediocre 11-5 day was that all of my sweet 16 teams survived Thursday, but it's not looking for my side bet with SouthPawRounder. In the past before we head out to Vegas we usually end up having some type of competition where the loser has to buy lunch at the American Cafe in NY,NY Casino. Luckily for him this isn't a poker competition. Last time it was bowling and he didn't stand a chance, but this year he's got a pretty good lead going 15-1 on day one and the really shitty part is that our bracket's are pretty similar with the exception of the first round games that he managed to pick better than me.

It wasn't the easiest thing to stay focused at work except for being locked in on any and all scoring updates about the tourney. I guess it would be a lot cooler if my boss was a big sports fan but he's just pretty much a Saints fan. Not sure who listens to espn radio but I'm tuned in from 8-5 and anytime I get in my car. Colin Cowherd was going off about how brackets just make things better in life and how we become obsessed with picking winners in that format and said he could do a tournament of cereals and people would go nuts over that. Well he did and ppl did...they ranked 32 cereals and seeded them and people logged in to vote on the cereal with upsets and all. Frosted Flakes was the strong favorite and been steam rolling the other cereals. It was pretty interesting how many ppl actually voted on it and pretty funny at the same time.

Haven't played much poker this week, been trying to calm down before I break my computer. Before going to Hooters last night I multi-tabled some heads up sngs and won all 3 so that was nice. I have been playing on Full Tilt and PokerStars and I definitely think Stars is just a much better site, the tournament lobby is super easy to navigate compared to FTP and the game just moves so much faster on Stars. However it just feels like on Stars I'm playing against the software and not the other players. I don't know when I was actually a 4 to1 favorite with AA vs. KK. Last tourney I played was the $11 30k gtd and I was double the average with 12 away from the money and utg with KK and make a raise and get reraised from the cutoff and then I move in and of course he calls and has AA. It's getting completely ridiculous how many times I've ran into that. I was completely healthy and making the money was a given and then I was just staring at my computer screen with a blank face b/c I couldn't believe that I ran into that situation again!...all bullshit aside, in the 3 hours of play I witnessed KK vs. QQ 4 times at the same table!...I don't care that millions of hands are dealt out, that just insane to see that. But anyway, I don't mind playing heads up on full tilt but I just think things move way to slow in the tournaments. Well after my little victory in the sngs I headed to Hooters with two of my friends. We've been friends for a long time and been making Thursday night Hooters trips for a few months now. Wild Bill joined us to watch some basketball, talk about the new gcp logo that one of my friends who was there last night is helping design, and we shared some beers. Well we didn't really share our beers as much as we shared some pitchers of beer.

Not sure if any poker is gonna be played this weekend but I kind of have the itch to play somewhere. I know I'll prolly play online at some point over the weekend but been rattling around the idea of Harrah's. I really wish they would get a clue over there and do a weekend tourney. It doesn't haven't to be every weekend, but just do it like every other weekend...just something. If they did it at 11am on Saturday I don't think it could hurt anything and it would get people in the room early. After looking at the tournament schedule of events for the Harrah's circuit I'm really really really hoping they don't screw us over on the structures b/c they have some interesting tourneys with mixed events and a 6-handed event and a pot limit hold em event too. We'll just have to wait and see if Grandma Harrah's is gonna come through this time.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Some Random Rants...

2009-03-12T09:43:00.005-05:00

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.

A Night at the Beau

2009-03-08T14:30:00.005-05:00

I wasn't planning on the making the trip but a little bit of arm twisting by southpawrounder and we were off to the coast Friday evening. We got there around 7ish and we wanted to eat before we starting playing so being the good Catholic boys we are we couldn't eat meat and ventured across the street to the Waffel House where I got some "pre-meat chicken"....which are eggs. This was our first of two WH experiences on the weekend. With very little debate SPR and I agreed that WH is prolly the state restaurant of Mississippi. It's impossible to drive more than 10 miles without seeing a WH sign of some type. After the meal we went to the poker room and were seated right away at different tables. I bought into the 1/2 game for $300 and the game was kinda weird. When I first got there I was in the one seat and a regular named Tom was in the two with a young guy in the three and an ornery old baster in the 4, there was also a lady in the 9 who was in EVERY POT. Well the guy in the two was one of these guys who was very sure of himself and just knows that it's not luck when he makes hands. Well I don't have a problem catering to these types of guys ego's b/c it can be quite amusing. And of course he talked to every dealer like he knew them and picked on every cocktail waitress and was "that guy" who has his wife sitting behind him while he plays and she's just as clueless as can be. He's showing her every hand and she's just thinking that her hubby is the best darn card player this side the Mississippi River. Well as he's just running over the table and playing almost every hand b/c he will eventually make the nuts on the river I start to make some conversation with him and his wife if for anything that maybe it might prevent him from running me down. Well I make my first raise and feel the wrath of Tom and his running good ability. I make it $14 with AcJc and he calls as well as a couple others. Flop is A,3,6 and I bet $45 and makes it $100 right behind me. I contemplate and wait for him to start talking as he does in every hand he plays. I feel like if I can just get him talking a little bit he will let me know that he's very strong or just seeing if I'm full of shit. He says to me, "I got lucky...You don't wanna call" thanks for the info and I fold and shows me A,3 for two pair. Now I'm pumped b/c I haven't played live in a while and the first time I raise and make top pair I get smoked. Now the goal is to not go into a shell and get gun shy.

I then finally make a hand to build some confidence and was never under my buyin after this pot. Grumpy old man in the 4 raises and I call with about 4 others and flop a set of tens on an Ace high board. I bet right into the raiser and he calls with another guy. I set the old guy in on the river and he folds to save his $50 and I won a nice pot. I then witnessed some of the most retarded hands I've ever seen. Tom in the two seat decided he was going to put on a show and had about $600 in cash $1200 in chips in front of him and of course they were all in stacks of $50....Ok guys, lets have some chip stacking 101. Whenever you see a guy with stacks of $50 chips, he's not a good player and usually a guy who plays too many hands and when he has a lot of money in front of him is very self conscious of this...the good thing is that he will hemorrhage. Well the bad thing about this guy is when he's running good he thinks he's superman and will run you down. Well I watched Tom make every hand he wanted to. A couple that just blew my mind went down like this. He raised to $20 and got reraised to $50. Guy who reraised bet the flop, turn, and river with $50 on every street and got called except on the river when the back door heart draw got there and the board double paired...Tom raised him $50 more and the guy called. Tom promptly turned over his FLUSH and the other guy mucked. Now that's balls when you minraise on the double paired board and get called and still know you're good!...maybe this guy knows something I don't know? Then the other hand of amazement was when someone made it $15 and reraised to $50 and got called by two ppl and flopped a set of 4's and snapped someone. I jokingly told him he needed to teach me how to do that and he said with a straight face and 100% serious that when you have played as much poker as has and play as often as he does then you just know when to make raises like that. Point taken sir, are those triple strap velcro shoes you have on?? So I then was curious and decided to be amused and keep egging him on while his wife said there so proud that her husband was mentoring a younger man in the game her husband was so finely skilled at.

Eventually he left and gave back about $500 and got up with around $1200 profit off the $200 he bought in for. I on the other hand grinded away and got my stack up to almost about 1k and then took some uneventful swings that and turned an ok profit. SPR moved games and played most of the night sitting next to me and had more hands to play than I think anyone would want. He worked his ass off to lose $30. We finished our little marathon and went for round 2 at the WH...this time just for early morning snack before finally getting some rest. Hung out with Wild Bill for a while and we all decided to play the tourney Saturday morning and this wasn't exactly the most fun I've ever had playing a tournament. I get to my table and the tourney starts and I think there was almost 90 players and in the level and a half we played before my table was broke we never played more than 8 handed and we busted 4 ppl off. That's pretty impressive. The hand before we all get moved I picked up a nice pot and was somewhere near 11k in chips. The very first hand at the next table I flop and opened ended straight draw and a flush draw and don't improve and end up giving some old guy about $2400....o well, not a lot I can do about that hand. The next hand I played was about 9 hands later and I was on the button with QQ and it folded around to me and I made it $350 (blinds 50/100) and the SB and BB both call. Flop was 5,7,8 and the SB checks and the BB just moves all in for over 7k and now I'm flustered. This guy wasn't a complete moron. I couldn't really talk to him too much b/c there was a guy behind me. The ONLY thing that made sense was that he had a pair and a draw. If he had a set or two pair or anything he would have tried to trap me, if not then this was a hell of a play with a ton of reward if he had a set or two pair or a straight. Well I eventually come to the fact that he's not strong and just wants me to fold, well I call knowing that I'm prolly against a draw and before he turns his cards over he asks me if I have Jacks and turn over my QQ and he then pats himself on the back b/c he knew I had a hand like JJ or QQ...well no fucking shit!...what else would I call u with right there..AK, pocket 2's??...I'm pretty sure if I had a set I woulda snap called. Well he shows his 6,7 and now it's time to pray I can hold up. Well a 10 on the turn and then a 9 on the river and congratulations for getting it all in with your pair and a draw. I couldn't hold my tongue on this one after he kept telling everyone he knew I had a big pair. I asked how he knew I had a pocket pair when I raised and he said he just knew. So from me putting $350 in the pot from the button after it was folded to me he knew I had a big pair...his response was that he said I had JJ or QQ...whatever dude, I'm pretty sure anyone with a half of brain would have guessed I had a big pair after I called a 7k bet into a 1k pot. Anyway, I wasn't out and had about $700 and now it was time to get lucky and pick the right spots. I find a way to hang in there and double up and get some chips and make it to the break with over 5k in chips. Well the first hand back I have KK and end up having to fold after I get outflopped. After losing a hugh pot early I managed to last and bust out with about 38 players left when I ran my 55 into AA. It was disappointing and I was one double up away from giving myself at least a fighting chance. The guy who got lucky early actually came shake my hand when I busted and told me he would have never made that move against me if he knew I was that solid of a player....haha, thanks for the compliment but at I would have rather you make the move and my hand just hold up.

Davey didn't fare very well and had a nice little stack until the first level ended and never won a pot after the first level. Bill didn't last too long either, I wish I woulda made a last longer bet with them. I made it back to NOLA and went to the Hornets game with the girl and watched Chris Paul just take over the game when he feels like it. The guy is sick, the refs were terrible and that's the only reason Oak.City hung around. How gay is the name "Thunder"...not sure who sold them on that as their mascot but it sucks. It was an ok weekend as poker goes even though I didn't cash in the tourney. As I write this I'm playing the 4k gtd. 6max. Hopefully this turns out ok for me.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Theory Proving Strong

2009-03-01T17:43:00.003-06:00

Well after my last post on Tuesday I played a couple tournaments on Stars. Decided to lay low and not do anything on Mardi Gras except enjoy my day off, the nice weather, and play some tourneys. Woke up pretty early b/c the girl and her friends rode in the Krewe of Argus in Metairie and I went drop them off at the beginning of the route. Well once I got back I decided to see what PokerStars had to offer and signed up the $5 10k gtd. I continued to use the limited distraction game plan and put the iPod on and turned the tv down and had the parades on in the background. Well it started off pretty good and I was accumlating chips from the start. Made a flush on the first hand after flopping a pair and a heart draw...raising on the flop and hitting it on the turn to win a pretty good pot and then won the next two hands after that. Busted a guy w/ AK who rerasised me preflop and then decided to overplay the hell out of 66 on a King high board. Needless to say it was nice to get chips early and I was able dictate all action at my table for the first 3 hours of the tournament. I was moved tables and there was one guy who had the same amount as me and we had about double of any player at the table with around 25k or so. He was pretty weak and I had reraised him several times preflop and he folded everytime....I knew this could turn out to pay off HUGE for me.

Well after about 4.5 hours we were approaching the bubble around 270 players or so and I was in full mode to pick up some unwanted chips from bottom money feeders. It really blows my mind the ppl who tighten up so much in online mtt when the buy in like so little, but hey..maybe it makes these guys feel good about themselves. Anyhow, I'm not there to cash for $9 and be happy with those results. Well with about 285 players left I just get beat down. Get two pair counterfieted twice. Flop top pair and get a short stack all in and he hits his two pair on the turn and I go from twice the table avg. to right about even with everyone. Well the big stack who I was having a little fun with is now all alone at the table with biggest stack but I didn't let up. I raised a pot and he reraised (i guess he was making his stand) and I shipped it with AK and folded....I was really shocked by that fold and I was actually begging for a call. With a double up I could have still be able to take advantage of tight bubble play. Well the big stack finally got his revenge in the form PokerStars software. I open up a pot (which has been a trend for me..haha) and he repops me this time. Well I decide to just call and "let him make his stand".....well the flop comes jack high and I bet half my stack which is an overbet. He ships it and I call, congratulations you found my KK with your AA. UGH!!!!!!!!!.....He actually had the nerve to pop off in the chat box about setting me up!...give me an f'in break, people like this guy should be punched in the neck. I'm sure he's 'that guy' who wears his texas hold'em playa shirt and all. I actually asked him if he was serious and said "yea, i've been letting u reraise the whole time just to get all your chips at once"....give this guy a fucking helmet and some velcro shoes..de da de!

Anyway, I was happy that I played well....can't really do anything about other ppl's good luck. I then played 3 sngs and won two and finished 3rd in the other. Later that evening I played in the $2.20...2k gtd. Continued to use the iPod and started off the way I have been. I was able to play exactly how I wanted to and accumulated chips. I put myself in good situations and had southpawrounder sweating my $2 run. We were talking on IM and picking each other's brains about online play. He has more experience than me and quite a few cashes I'm definitely open to his opinions and advice about online mtt. Well he would occassionally tell me to slow down and make comments about how many hands I was playing but it was working and I have become fairly comfortable with that style. I ended up running pretty deep and had some sick swings with about 60 players left. Eventually I busted with AJ vs. AQ where there was no real escaping from that. I finished 44th for an astounding $8.49!!!!

I've been happy with my results in the last two weeks of online (which is pretty much when I actually made my first deposit). I know they're some things that I'm struggling to understand with online play and somethings that I have found easier to exploit online rather than live. I'm also moving up the pocketfives.com leader board in the Houma area. I've actually passed up Gene in the rankings who was sitting at number 10 for quite some time. Now I have Ruttley in my sites and look to do something about LT.Dan.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.

A 'Little' Grind

2009-02-24T08:58:00.002-06:00

I haven't be able to get to Grandma Harrah's house lately or any other casino for that matter, but I have had the itch to play a lot. Well there's really only one option and that's online. I haven't been the biggest fan of online mainly b/c I just can't seem to take it serious and find myself playing on the internet or watching tv or killing a bug that got in the house, just some type of distraction that doesn't allow me to pay attention like I should. Well I finally decided to do something about that to help me stay focused b/c if I am gonna start buying into online tournaments then I have to give myself a real shot. Well two Saturday's ago I was in Houma with nothing to do during the day. The girl and I went to Houma to enjoy some Mardi Gras parties and hang out with friends. Got there Friday night and went to the Hercules parade where I was one of the only one of my friends that didn't ride this year...that sucked. Well Saturday all my friends were hung over during the day and didn't feel like doing anything, the girl ended up going to the jewelry show in NOLA with her mom. My parents were out and about and I had nothing to do except watch college basketball on a rainy day. Well aside from the fact that I've never really had any success playing online I wasn't going to start buying into $50+ tourneys. So I signed up for a like $2 tourney and tried to get prepared to take it serious. I was chillin in the living room with the tv on and decided to put my headphones on and listen to the iPod and put the tv on mute with just the basketball game on in the background like in the casino where you only pay attention when you look up and not when you hear the commentators or crowd.

For right about 3 hours I played solid. Dictated the action on the table, got called down on almost every big hand I had. Didn't catch great cards but I wasn't card dead by any means. I was able to create my own luck in a few instances. I know the poker played can't be all that great at the micro level but the level of play isn't really great in 1k buy in tourneys either (at least live). Everything was going according to planned and I was not being distracted. Then all of a sudden I knew I was about to lose all my chips. My phone for some reason does not work worth a crap in Houma. I didn't get a phone call or a text message for about 4 hours and then all of a sudden I got 3 voicemails and a dozen texts all at the same time. Apparently at&t was helping me not be distracted or something. Well once all the phone calls and texts were taken care of I was in the money and double the average chip stack. Well friends were trying to get in touch with me to make plans for the night and the girl was almost back at my dad's house from NOLA and then all of a sudden my dad and them walk in the door and I knew it was all over right there! Everyone was back at the house and it was getting late early and we were going to the parade. I pretty much tried to win the tourney with 200 players left....that's actually a pretty difficult thing to do.

I was happy with the way I played and bummed that I kinda "had to" lose my chips. After all I wasn't in town to sit in front the computer and play a micro tournament. I was just happy that the game plan seemed to work. The next step was to test the limited distraction theory as soon as possible. Got home Sunday evening and was instant messaging Davey and Ruttley and they were playing the $11 5k gtd. Davey transferred me the money for a 60%-40% split and we all 3 joined the tourney. I was playing well and chipped up to a good stack relative to the blinds and rest of my table. There was two guys on my table who had absolutely NO respect for my raises and it became somewhat of their mission to bust me or just catch me speeding. Well that never happened, I busted one of them and the other got extremely lucky against me and I double him up when he called me down with bottom pair and then made a 4 card straight on the river to smoke my set of kings. After that I started to give him shit about calling me down and the very next hand I flop a set with 99 and double right back up and erase that set of kings hand. Then the guy who got lucky really wanted to be my friend which doesn't really bother me when ppl want friendly conversation, I then proceeded to abuse his blinds for the remainder of the time we were at the same table. I eventually busted when I misplayed a hand and got really short and didn't really have a chance to recover from that....here's the situation. I raise with 8,9 and get called from a limper. Heads up to the flop and I have position. Flop is 10,9,3 and it gets checked to me and I bet (I think blinds were somewhere around 200/400 ante?) It was a standard raise and I had about 10k. CB about 1000 and get called. I wasn't exactly trying to play a huge pot here but I did have second pair and there was a good chance I was good. He calls and the turn is a 7 and this is where I really messed up! He checks and I bet 1600 and he minraises me..SHIT!...I have to call b/c the pot is just to much to fold that there. I brick on the river and he bets and I fold. I was so annoyed b/c I SHOULD have checked the turn. I bet the flop with second pair and picked up a draw on the turn. If I just check and take the free card with my new draw I do a couple things. I'm not over extending myself with second pair and it's not like I HAVE TO win that hand, and it also lets me control pot size. It wasn't a crucial point, it was just me playing and being a little open with raises and doing what I had been doing the whole tournament. On top of that, if I check the turn and miss on the river and I would be completely willing to call a normal sized bet with my second pair. I just don't see the benefit in my betting the turn, especially when I'm not that strong. I don't have to win every hand I play. Anyway, that hand pretty much did me in and I busted not that long after about 50 away from the money. Davey and Ruttley on the other hand both cashed.

I played 180 player sng during the week and made the final table on that with the limited distraction theory proving to work fairly well. Sunday night I was hanging out and made plans to play a couple tourneys on the micro level. the 2k gtd, the 2500gtd. and 3k gtd. Well I played whichever one started first and Davey decided to play as well. We both ran pretty deep and Davey was in the top 5 chips for quite a while with about 200 left. He ran into some monsters and I'm not sure where he busted. I was cruising and got around avg. and then above and took a really crappy beat when I flopped a set after I raised and bet the flop. Guy called and picked up a flush draw on the turn and hit it on the river to put me on life support. I then went on a sick run and won about 7 out of the next 10 pots and was back over a 100k with the average at 80k. I then ran my A,Q on a queen high flop into AA from the guy who was 3rd chips overall. I didn't go broke but wasn't able to really recover from that...I think I finished 55th or right around there. Not a whole lot of money for as long as I played but none the less it's always fun to run deep in tournaments.

I plan to continue to play tournaments online and prolly keep battling on the micro and eventually win a few hundred bucks and start playing in the low level tourneys. I've been able to maintain my little online bank roll with the few cashes in mtt and winning some buy in money in some sngs. It's been fun and has me really wanting to play tournaments more and more. I'm pretty pumped too b/c I'm headed to Vegas in June and the WSOP and the Venetian Deep Stacks will be going on. I plan on pretty much just playing tournaments when I head out there.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

The Whole on Holes

2009-02-11T10:27:00.009-06:00

I've been procrastinating for the most part and haven't sat down to write what I've been thinking about for the last couple weeks. Well I stated that I somewhat had a moment of clarity on what may have been my problem in tournament style poker that isn't just due to rust. To put things bluntly I've been playing like a bitch. Just over thinking and playing scared and not committing to a strategy. Ever since I've been playing I have had a style of play that made me comfortable at the table. From sitting around a kitchen table w/ friends for $20 buy-in sngs to playing in bar room tourneys and playing in $500+ buyin tourneys I've managed to find success for all. Well lately I can't seem to get out of the rut I put myself in b/c I don't take the approach I need to in order to win. I just couldn't figure out exactly what I was doing wrong but I knew I was doing a whole lot of it! It wasn't just strictly in tournament poker, it was also affecting my cash game play which is something that I've almost never had a problem with. Well while watching the 'dead money' final table and talking to Davey and Ruttley I told them that I've just been playing bad and making decisions that just don't make sense and I know I have been playing scared.

They're different ways of playing scared and it's not just playing tight or not making a move. The worst kind of playing scared is having a plan and attempting it and then vacating it once resistance is met. That was my problem, I couldn't stick to my game plan and my adjustments weren't exactly good ones. Throughout the time I've been playing this game I have altered my style of play and been successful, every time I have changed my style it has basically been due to my game and skills evolving and developing a comfort level with each style. From sitting around the kitchen table and just learning I was extremely tight and no originality in my game whatsoever, but the style worked b/c my friends were playing every freaking hand dealt to them and I quickly realized that was not the correct approach and it worked out for me. As I learned my weak tight style changed to more of a protective style where I over raised with big hands and made weak flop bets with monsters and most of my opponents were not seasoned players so it was successful. Naturally that evolved into playing those hands better and knowing pot size and how much I should bet relative to the pot which eventually got me interested in knowing the odds and percentages of hands. This allowed me to better know what the other guys cards might be. Sooner or later I was able to play more position and apply more pressure. So over the years I've been able to adjust my style to fit my comfort and skill level. Being able to play my way through these stages naturally gives me a way to classify people I play against and I'm pretty sure this is where that over used term "switching gears" comes from. In order to switch gears you first must have had these gears.

Well I found myself playing a style that allowed me to be aggressive by raising more and forcing action through me and playing a lot of hands. This can be dangerous but I was comfortable with it. I would occasionally change it up and play "Gus" style and limp all day and just try to take as many flops as possible and taking advantage of position and weak players. I've used the small ball approach and haven't been too great with that simply b/c most of the tournaments I play are not very deep stacked and that style is geared more towards deeper stacks and longer levels. Anyway, I've said all these styles of play and how I've progressed and where am I now. I'm clearly not on my best game but I do have one advantage over myself that I didn't have when I was playing my best and that's just simply time. With the risk of sounding like an old man, I'm older and every time I play it just adds to the amount of hands I've seen it should make me smarter and sharper but we know that's always the case for some (myself included......well prolly not myself included..haha).

Anyway, back to Davey and I's conversation. I told him I had a huge hole in my game he agreed and it clicked. We discussed what he was seeing and what I was thinking. The agreement came based on me playing scared. I was trying to do too many things and justifying my bad play. I was making lay downs b/c I felt I was a good enough player to hedge the chip loss by simply being a better player. The problem is that I was leaving myself short and not allowing myself to play the style that best fits my preferred style of play. There was a point where I felt like I as wide open at the table (tournaments) and raising a lot and trying to win every hand dealt and Davey and I talked about it and he helped calm me down on that..this time he was telling reassuring what I thought and that is that I'm a better off being loose than tight (of course within reason). Well I had a grasp of what slowing down meant and I was still winning. It wasn't exactly going to stop me from raising and stop me from being aggressive but just tone it down. I was at a point where I could raise enough to draw attention and give off the more aggressive than I really am look and that was my comfort zone. I didn't mind people plotting in their 'helmet protected' head of how they were gonna snap me off. I've also been able to bounce back and forth with the limp a lot method and manage to stay under the radar that way. Basically the conversation came down to me realizing that people have been exploiting my timid play lately. I have not had the opportunity to play a whole lately so when I have been playing I've been playing a little tighter than normal and not b/c the table is wide open and I need to lay back but b/c I'm just happy to be playing and don't wanna bust out early b/c my chances to play have been limited. This was causing me to limp call raises b/c I didn't wanna voluntarily risk my chips with a raise. This was making me bet the flop, get called, and then check fold on the turn b/c I was scared to play a big pot. I was only trying to win the small ones and stay low key at the table, but the problem is that the pots where I didn't take it down right away I was losing more than I should and not picking up enough small pots to justify my play. I was too willing to fold and save a few chips instead of making the aggressive play and putting the decision on my opponent. It's important to remember that I need chips to splash around with and play my most affective style of poker and when I back my own self down in a corner and basically take chips out of my own stack b/c I'm a pussy, it makes it really difficult and almost impossible to recover from that. I refuse to be blinded out of a tournament, been there done that and those days are long gone! If you blind out of a tournament then you should have won a bigger pot or lost a bigger pot somewhere else in the tournament.

I kept thinking to myself that I need to open up more and have action go through me more. I've been pretty good at becoming friends with the weak players and letting them know that I'm a better player than them and they need to chill out when playing hands against me. (as arrogant as that sounds I know I'm not the only one that knows exactly what I mean...so be careful when people are trying to make friends with you, they may just think you're a weak player). I've also been able to be the villain or make someone the villain. This isn't like a big plan I have when I'm at the table to do this, I'm not thinking about it but it just kinda happens.

Anyway, I'm glad I was able to figure out what my issues were and since this I was able to play two cash sessions in which I decided to be more of the aggressor and open pots instead of limp calling and it turned into two wins and has me feeling good about playing. I've also been messing around on pokerstars the last couple weeks and playing some multi-table sngs and some mtt...nothing with any big buy-ins are anything but just something to get me straight and knock some rust off. Also tried to do some fun things and force myself to play hands by playing in the micro level cash games and playing every single hand. Weather it was a raise or a limp, I had to put money in preflop every hand but I could fold to raises that were greater than 4x's. It was interesting and I actually was winner after playing about 6 sessions like that. I also played some 6 handed tourneys which I really enjoy b/c tight play just gets steam rolled in those things. Could be my favorite type of tourney to play. On the whole I'm glad I was able to shed some light on what I was doing wrong and now I've definitely got the itch to play some tournaments and I'm looking at making a trip out to Vegas in June.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Last Chance...More Like NO Chance

2009-01-19T14:34:00.006-06:00

So I attempted to play the last chance "dead money" table Friday night to win a seat in the WSOP main event. Well that plan didn't work out as I hoped it would. It was an all or none situation and I was all about the 'none' part of that. I only really played two hands and I played them TERRIBLE!!!!! They had 10 people and the structure was great with a lot of chips. We started off and everything was going as normal. I was card dead and people played terrible. There was some people from all over. A guy from Mass., a guy from Delaware, someone from Virginia, Texas. So needless to say I wasn't familiar with the other guys. They had one guy from Austin who was solid and for some reason people just wanted to give him a lot of chips for no apparent reason. Now aside from the fact that I played two hands really bad it just made me really flustered early on the way the first two guys busted. The guy from Austin..Rob, was forcing people out of their comfort zone and in return those people were losing big pots to him with bad calls....it didn't hurt that Rob was getting run over with the deck early on. There was one hand that just blew my mind.

The board was 10,J,7,8,J....I think that's what it was, I know Rob had Q,9 straight and the other guy made trips on the river. Rob moved all in on the turn in the dark (I think this is a bad play, but when you're playing against bad players I guess it doesn't matter). He moved in before the river card and he already had his straight, the board paired on the river and the guy went into the tank about if he should call or fold. How the hell do you make this call with out a full house blows my mind. Yes the guy has been playing a little open but if you've ever played the game then you realize who a good player is and who a bad one is, Rob was a good player. Well by going all in usually you would ONLY get called if you're beat, or if someone just doesn't want their chips anymore. He called after deliberating and showed his trips like he thought he was good. Another guy donated his chips but I don't remember the specifics on the hand other than it was bad. I think what really got me flustered was that these guys came from all over the place to play in this one table and completely wasted their time and money. I basically had chip envy and there was nothing I could do about it.

Well it didn't take long and I made an early departure. Leading up to this satellite I have been trying to figure out how exactly I need to play and been trying to go back and forth with limp and small ball or aggression and establishing action through me. Well in the midst of this dilemma I have played some really bad poker and basically developed a HUGH hole in my game that was never there. (at least not to this magnitude). Well my stupidity came when the blinds were 100/200/25. I was dealt As6s in the small blind and I thought it was folded to me in the blind with Rob (who eventually won) in the BB. I raised to $575 and Rob called and the cut off called, I didn't realize he had cards but it didn't really matter. I would have still raised anyway. Well the flop cam 9 high with two spades. I lead out for $1225 and get one caller. Now here is where I made my first mistake of the hand. The turn card paired the board and instead of moving all in on the turn for $4500, I bet $2200. Rob called and the river card was of course NOT a spade...it doubled paired the board with 99 and 44. I couldn't find the balls to fire out on the river and I checked and Rob set me in and I thought about it and eventually folded saving myself just over $2000 in chips. It woulda been a chopped pot. Now I know I played the hand horrible and I knew it as it was going on but I just couldn't pull the trigger on what I knew was the right play. I know a few things played into this.

One thing that was a factor was just the rust. I haven't been playing a lot, although I have put in two live sessions and two single table satellites in the past 19 days. A lot more playing than I did in the two months prior. The other thing that helped me make my decision wasn't exactly a good thing. Now with the blind levels being long and having a lot of chips I justified that lay down to myself by telling myself that although I should have put it all in, I can make this fold here and save some chips and even though I'm short stacked...I'm still a better player than almost everyone else. Well that logic got me short stacked and flustered and eventually lead to me beating myself up mentally and losing my chips without knowing what my cards were. It was actually kinda funny and I'm usually good for one of these a tournament.

Well after I lost the big pot b/c I played my flush draw so retarded I was dealt 33 and moved in and didn't get called. Then a little while I get dealt 9d,7d and it's limped around and I'm in the high jack. Well I limp and we take the flop 5 handed. Flop came King high two diamonds. It checked around to me and I shipped it with my flush draw. Well one guy folded and then I got a call and everyone else folded. The guy who called showed K,Q and I stated that I'm on a draw and turned over my 9d, 7 of HEARTS!....yep, misread my hand and thought I had a flush draw..I was just as shocked as everyone else when I saw my cards...hahaha, O well and I bet you can guess what happened. If I would have actually had a flush draw, I would have gotten there on the river. All I could do was laugh about it, o well...I was a dumb ass and fell right in line with the way the first 2 guys busted.

Saturday was the Final Table for the Dead Money satellite and my boy Derek a.k.a. Public (b/c he went to public school) was playing in it and I went down to Parc St. Charles to root him on and lend a helping hand if that was at all possible considering how well I had been playing recently. Well I hung out for a good while and watched him play very solid, he never did anything dumb and never really lost a hand while I was there. He's pretty "ABC poker" but as long as you don't get dumb or cold decked you can last a while with that style. Well eventually Davey and Ruttley showed up and we hung out for a while and watched some of the final table and then we headed over to Grandma Harrah's house. It was fun walking into Harrah's with those two, it had been a long time since we were at the casino together. It was pretty funny b/c when we walked in the door the lady asked me and Ruttley for our ID's and not Davey. I asked her if I looked under 21 and she said no but they have to ID up to 35 years old....haha, that's right, she thought Davey was 34 or 35. Ruttley and I called them out on it and we got a pretty good laugh at Davey's expense.

I sat down at a 1/2 game that had just opened and it happened to have two of the guys from out of town that traveled to NOLA to play in the satellite. Well the game was pretty tame, they had the two guys from out of town that were fairly weak, two guys from Texas on a bachelor party sporting brooks brother's shirts...nuff said. Two middle aged guys on business. A local older woman and another local. All in all it was definitely an easy table to maneuver and provided the chance to pick up some money. The only downside to the session was I knew I was not gonna be able to play for a very long time. I usually hate sitting down with a strict time limit but it was my birthday weekend and the girl and I were going eat some crawfish so I wasn't upset about the situation. I was able to with stand a few crappy hands and make a couple and pick up $100 in the hour and half that I played. Prior to going to Harrah's I was doing a lot of thinking about how I've been playing and right before going Harrah's I was speaking with Davey and he confirmed exactly what I was thinking and it definitely made me anxious to play. Well my intention was to talk about what Davey and I discussed and go into detail why we were thinking the same thing but this is getting long and I don't feel like writing anymore today considering it's my birthday. Guess I'll get to that later this week. I'm planning on playing sometime this week, till then.

Keep It Real Homies.

Get RollED Tide

2009-01-09T20:50:00.013-06:00

Well apparently me being added to GCP happened on Friday. I was surprised to pull up the site and scroll down and see my "Honest Abe" poker chip on the page. Hopefully everyone will be entertained and learn something or hopefully I learn something...anyway, In case you don't know..I'm a smartass and dumb people annoy me and I'm not nearly as pissed off or angry as I may seem, it's just my sense of humor (a lot like the late George Carlin or Lewis Black)...hopefully I can bring a point of view that makes you think about the game of poker in a different way.

Well previously I stated that I enjoyed a quick session before going watch Bama get smoked (which was great!)...I hate bama, and dislike Saban even more. I'm NOT a die hard LSU fan and I didn't like him when he was in Baton Rouge. I've been to tons of LSU games and I know tiger fans can be complete asses but that was the first time I've ever been a part another teams home game with no real cheering interest. If Utah won then it would make it fun and if bama won then I'd get a win in my college bowl challenge. Well it took all of 2 minutes in the stands of being surrounded by crimson and hounds tooth (the gay Bear Bryant hat pattern) to realize that I was now a UTAH fan! I swear I heard "roll tide" once every 30 seconds leading up to kickoff. Well as soon as Utah put up the first points they were still cheering and then Utah scored again and they started to die off and by this point I decided to just randomly yell "roll tide" when bama had nothing to cheer about and people looked at me a little confused b/c they couldn't tell why I was cheering. The dome was about 75% bama and 15% Utah and the rest was dressed in Purple and Gold. And those people quickly became Utah fans. When it went to 21-0 I stood up and took a picture of the Bama fans and the look on their faces was freaking priceless!! I did get to see a fight between a redneck in overalls and a guy in a suit...both were bama fans, truly some classy people. The game was fun and it was dead quiet leaving the dome except for the noise of khaki pants and white shirted alabama frat boys repeatedly saying "i can't believe we lost to Utah, i can't believe we lost to fucking Utah"...followed by a "dude" and then repeated again...it was really weird to leave the dome in silence and be in a good mood, usually it's quiet and I'm pissed b/c Jason David found a way to get burned in the fourth quarter and give up the game winning touchdown. This was a much more preferred exit. I did however get to play some poker and that took place before the game.

My buddy Hunter game through with the tickets and I jetted out of work about 1:00 and met him at his house and then we ventured downtown. He's a med student so we bypassed paying $20 or $30 in a parking lot (Harrahs garages were full) and parked in the health and sciences lot. We hopped in a cab and got a "hometown discount"....just a little f.y.i. for everyone, if you ever take a cap in the downtown area during a heavy tourist weekend....be sure to let the cabby know where you're from and make friends...we got charged $2 a piece and tipped $10 and made our way to the poker room. Their was a short list for the 1/2 game and I got a chance to catch up with Gina...one of the few dealers that I really like over there, she's cool and usually gives you a heads up on what tables or live and which ones to stay away from...that's really cool to have dealers tip you off on that. Well I got seated at table 8 and it was horrible, no one wanted to talk and it was dead. I almost NEVER drink at the table but since I was about to go pay $9 for a jack and seven in the dome might as well take advantage of the cocktail service (that's the big event prices...kinda shitty how they do that, increase every price by $2 from what they normally are...once again got a home town discount, it was $12 for a double shot..but if you're able to give the bar tender a heads up that you're a local that double shot becomes regular price!). I got a table change to go sit at the same table with Hunter and didn't waste any time to start chatting with the table and ragging on the Bama fans. There was a guy sitting next to me that had and LSU shirt with an Alabama hat, I'm not a big LSU fan but I am a hugh college football fan doing that kinda shit is sacrilegious.

Well the table started to liven up and I got in there making a few raises and trying to get some action started as well working on my 4th jack&7. Well I had one significant hand that occurred when I had about $180ish in front of me (in for $200). I look down at 77 in the bb and it's limped around till the cut off thinks it's a good idea to make it $8 and we see the flop 5 ways for $8 (and I'm excited b/c no one repopped it and now we have an ok pot to work with). The flop is 5,7s,3s and I bet out $16 (thinking it was $20, it was prolly an affect of the j&7). I get called right behind me from a guy that definitely thought I was a lot more open than I was. Then I get raised by the one seat who is a good player (a local). He makes it's $60 total back to me. Now I'll have around $110 or so left, if i just call and the pot would be around $180. I know how I played the hand b/c I was there....out of curiosity, how would y'all have played the hand???

That was the most exciting hand I played. Other than that I was fairly card dead but it was ok b/c I was working on a nice buzz for game time and the table was friendly and talkative. There was a bama fan sitting to my left and he had his wife with him sitting behind, what the hell are these guys thinking?...what the hell are the women thinking, I mean seriously..you actually got to go to the Sugar Bowl and watch your team play and now you're gonna bring your wife in the casino and have her sit behind you while you play bad unoriginal poker!...these guys annoy the crap out of me. How much do you think that shit would cost a guy..."hey honey lets go to New Orleans and watch a football game, and while we're there I'm gonna go to Harrahs and have you sit behind me for 4 hours while I bitch about how these guys play 7,8 off for $10 and take all my money." I actually asked this guy why he's making his wife sit there while he plays instead of going enjoy the nice weather and the great bars before his teams' big game.....his response was, "she doesn't mind, she likes poker"...and she agreed...that's just retarded. If you like it so much grab $75 and go sit in a 3/6 game while your husband plays bad poker. If you're gonna have a girl sit behind you (which is completely lame) then at least make sure she's hot! If I EVER, I mean EVER attempted to do that with my girlfriend...I better make sure win an extra $400-$500 so I can buy her a new purse or some shit. Not worth it guys, I actually went to Vegas with my girlfriend last summer for HER birthday and I didn't play one session. Then one day she said she was going shopping and I decided to find a daily. Went play and won that bitch!..which was not like winning at all..considering I won a poker tournament on her birthday trip which meant she basically won a poker tournament. The moral of this story is play poker when you're on your time and don't be the douche who has his wife/girlfriend sit behind him.

Now I did play a few other hands. Raised a few times and CB to win a few. Was dealt 33 and a guy made it $10 and I called from out of position (b/c where else would I get a playable hand?). Flop came 10,9,2 and I checked and he bet $10. At this point I like his chances to get called down the whole way. Turn was a Q, and I was kinda nervous but I knew I was checking no matter what came out. He bet $15 and now I know I'm good and I'm praying the board pairs so it's an easy call. Well like clock work the 9 comes on the river and I check knowing that's the only way to get more money. He obliges and bets $30 and I call and save him the embarrassment by simply saying "I got a pocket pair and you don't have to show us your two big cards"...he folded with a confused smirk and I gave him a "roll tide"......hopefully his wife learned something from watching those few minutes of poker...haha

Well anyway, I put together a good little session and had a nice little buzz and a great time at the game. I can't wait to get back there and play some more. I'm really excited about Saturday, we have a little satellite at Davey's house and have a nice little cast of playas to battle this out with great blind structure and lots of chips. 10 people and it might take all of 7 hours to play this one. Should be fun, challenging, filled with solid play...I'm sure they'll have some memorable hands that I'll post about in the coming days....let me know how you would play the set of 7's and hopefully I'll find out if I messed it up or played perfectly.
Keep It Real Homies.

Deader Money

2009-01-04T17:58:00.002-06:00

Hello my friend(s)...it's been a while mainly due to not playing, matter of fact completely due to not playing. Didn't play for a few months and just been working and pretty much blew whatever little bank roll I was working on over the holidays. Christmas is nice but sure does run ya broke. I had a good one, was pretty busy but bought my last gift Christmas Eve around 2:00. The new years was rather uneventful. Started out with plans to stay in the city and maybe go meet my brother and sister and hang out with some friends in the area but they left town and the girl and I decided to venture to Houma and bring in the new year with some friends from there. Not a whole lot to brag about. Watched the guy jump at Paris, Las Vegas...is it wrong for me to have wished for something cooler to happen than the guy slice his hand open?? I wasn't hoping for any bodily harm or death or anything but if you were watching the ESPN coverage and saw all the computer graphics of if he hit the ramp to late or gased it too much and it showed him getting crushed by the bike or landing on his neck. Which I think is messed up more than me wishing for something interesting to happen. All in all that was the prolly the most excitement I had new years eve. Hopefully yours was better.

Well now on to some poker, kinda. Thanks to Gene and Bill for arranging a dead money satillite in Houma at Dinger's place. It wasn't too great for me and they only had 10 players which was nice b/c I only had to beat 9 people. Well it could've been some of the most boring poker I have ever played. I was obviously rusty and timid and hit NO groove whatsoever. Got caught up in one hand early and that pretty much ended any chance of doing anything b/c naturally I went card dead after losing a quarter of my chips chasing a flush. I played the hand pretty badly and I knew it as I was playing the hand but of course I couldn't control myself and momentarily justified the play. It was against Gene and I had 10c8c and flopped a flush draw in a $250 to go pot 4 ways at 50/100 and Gene bet out on an Ace high flop and I called $600 thinking that Gene had less left than what he did and we went heads up to the turn and I missed on the turn and he moved in for about $1300 which put $3500 and I called knowing that if I missed I would be 1k less than the starting stack but figured it was a good chance to be able to put pressure if I got lucky on the hand or I still had chips to play with if I missed. Well I shoulda folded on the flop and been done with it b/c of course I missed and never got anything going after that. Went into a shell and played HORRIBLE. I knew I was playing scared but it was almost as though I forgot how to get in there and make a play. The action wasn't out of control but I kept telling myself I was gonna open up after I won a good sized pot or caught a couple raising hands w/in a 15 minute span. Well neither happened and I was forced to nurse a short stack and pick spots to reraise certain players preflop and take down pots. It worked and kept me treading water but I was never comfortable.

I did however get to see Summerral and that's always interesting b/c he's fun to mess with and it's pretty easy to get into his head but always in good fun. I also got to witness Davey play a lot a hands and not win any of them. He had that night where you look down at your cards and say to yourself "do I really have to put in chips again?" Personally I wish I woulda had that problem b/c after not playing for a while I would have enjoyed being involved in a lot of pots. And I play better than Davey so I would have prolly won more of those pots...haha (it's been a while since I got to take a cheap shot on here)...but he really did run some big hands into some bigger hands and managed to survive and not get totally flustered by it. I on the other hand had very little opportunities to do that. I didn't have much to work with after the hand with Gene and a few people got knocked out and I think blinds were 200/400 when the next hand came up. I was in the BB and it was opened for 1k and one caller and I look down at JJ and I'm really not sure what to do here...my first thought when I it was to reraise no matter what but based on the person who raised and the person who called I had a feeling it would be really difficult to push one of them away and damn near impossible to make both of fold. I decide to reraise 2600 more and leave myself with about 2500. That was horrible raise and I have no idea why I did it...based on the other two people I think I should have called or moved in. I wasn't exactly splashing around a lot and "SHOULD" have had enough credit to only do that with a big hand but not all of these guys notice that stuff or even care. Well both call and the flop came A,K,x and I pretty much shut it down and check as well as both behind me. The turn was Q and just getting a bit retarded. I check and then it's bet call. River is another A and a bet and call and there was a straight for the winner and three aces for second place. That was maybe the only excitement I had. I continue to hang in there thinking that the cards have to eventually level out and it wouldn't be a bad time to start when we're 5 handed.

Well I moved in a couple times and picked up some uncontested pots but never got a good hand to get a double up or anything. I busted on a hand that I was somewhat slowrolled by the dealer. I was in the blind and it was limped all the way around and we take the flop 5 handed and I have 8c,6c and flop is K high two clubs. This is as good of a time as any. I move all in for not a whole lot but enough to push out marginal hands. Well Dinger calls, and if I had to put money on anyone calling it woulda been him. He had K,9 for top pair and he was also the dealer. He turns the card up and looks at it before he puts it on the table and gives a big sigh and an "awh man" and I'm thinking that there's no freaking way I got lucky. I don't run that good!....well he tables the card and it was a 6!..to give me a pair, he was flustered by the 5 outs that I picked up. Well I missed on the river and that was all she wrote. I know Dinger did not realize that what he did was kinda shitty for me, it was harmless and I was done. The guy Dave that won played pretty well, he was definitely catching some hands which will make anyone play with more confidence. He did however use his stack accordingly and make position raises and didn't get called down to often. He was a benefactor of Davey's second best hands. Weather he was actually picking up better hands or outflopping Davey it definitely seemed as though the board made it virtually impossible for Davey to play a hand down to the river.

This post is pretty delayed considering the table was played a few weeks back but I started it and never finished it b/c of lack of time with the holiday madness. Congrats to Matt for his 1st place finish last weekend and Davey for his 3rd place in the 70k gtd. the other night. Not sure if I'll be able to make a trip out to the Beau over the next couple weeks, I will have to just wait and see. I did however get to play the day of the Sugar Bowl. My friend Hunter and I went to the game and made a quick stop in at grandma's house and picked up a couple dollars before watching the Tide get rolled! (i'm not a die hard LSU but I do dislike Saban, even when he was in Baton Rouge). I know Bill was waiting for me to start posting again before he added me to GCP so I'm not sure when that will happen. I finally had something to write about and I also have my sugar bowl session and maybe some more poker next weekend. Good luck to anyone going to the Beau.
Till next time,
Keep it real homies.

Friends=Win?

2008-10-30T21:24:00.002-05:00

In my last post I stated that I had some thoughts that might have helped contribute to my win. After talking to a few people and thinking about it some more I think there may be some truth to it. I had a winning a session and at the beginning of that session I got a chance to sit next to a Harrah's friend that I hadn't talked to in a while and we were able to just shoot the proverbial shit and kill some time between hands. This was a hugh relief of some sorts and not an opportunity I have had in a long time. It has been a while since I got to play with people I consider a friend and it relaxed me at the table. In the midst of me still struggling with consistency I started to think back to the days when I was running good and playing a lot and the one recurring thought was the steady appearance of a friend at the table or near by. I'm not sure what it is about having a friend at the table or at least in the poker room with you but apparently it can cause some good.

I'm sure we've heard the cliche' that confidence breeds success....I'm fairly certain that the opposite of those words are true too. Well maybe there is a lot of truth in that...a cliche' becomes a cliche' because there is usually some truth involved. I haven't had that friend to travel to the poker room and put in a 10 hour session with or sit down at the same table and battle. I've been putting in time at the table by myself with my own thoughts and nothing to break the monotony. Only giving myself the chance to dwell on being card dead or the shitty beats I've taken. When I'm winning I'm thinking about the current hand being played out and how I would play it against each person at the table. Problem is that winning hasn't been a big part of my card playing life lately and the negativity is always creeping into my mind. I try to stop myself and stay focused and remain positive and then I get dealt AK and raise and totally miss the flop and start thinking like the douche bags at the table about "how I can't ever hit the flop with this hand"....In the past the thought was that it was just another hand the dealer will give me a new one shortly. It's not that I'm a pessimist or optimists...I pride myself on being a realist, it's a trait that I've had since I was a little kid. Always been able to see the next logical outcome oppose to trying to convince myself that the positive would happen or completely assume the worst was gonna happen. Realist is often misconstrued with pessimist but if you have any common sense and don't think with blinders on then you can obviously distinguish the difference (I needa stop using cliches).

I'm not quite sure why I play better with someone at the table or when I travel to play with someone but I do have some ideas. I'm a pretty competitive person...I've used to flip board games, throw cards, break controllers, crack helmets, snap golf clubs (in fact I have no 3 iron in my bag b/c it's in the water on hole 7 at Ellendale), when my friend and I used to coach a 13 yr old travel baseball team it wasn't uncommon for me to get into it with the umpire. With that being said, I'm sure you can tell I don't handle losing very well..I think it's because I never did it very often..haha. Whenever I started playing poker it wasn't any different and I used to tell people how bad they were and it got to the point where my friends didn't enjoy playing with me...I think it was because I won all the time. I have always worn my emotions on my sleeve (damn it, I used another cliche') I've learned to control myself at the table and not blow up on my competition, it took sometime to harness those actions but I basically learned that you shouldn't berate someone for being dumb b/c why would you want them to start thinking and trying to play better??...This really became clear when I used to deal a pretty big game in Houma and I'd see really shitty beats and there was one guy in the game who imo was obviously the best player and he'd just take it in stride and complement the guy on the hand, not drag it on, take out some money to reload and keep playing his game without pressing...just understanding that it's a swing and maintain thinking about the long term. I know I'm not quite there yet, I still pop off on occasion but I've definitely gotten better. But maybe the out bursts at the table allowed me to vent and move on. Maybe I didn't dwell on the beats b/c I spoke my mind and moved on and now I'm holding it in. Regardless, I'm not gonna go back to that b/c we all saw how classless Mr. Hellmuth looked on TV and I personally give anyone the right to kick my ass on the spot if ever do anything like that....and if anyone ever did that shit to me I'm not sure I'd kick their ass but I guarantee I'll get the first punch in.

When I first started playing tournaments in bar rooms or with people I didn't really know I played better b/c I had something to prove. I wanted to win but I didn't make a lot of mistakes b/c I was locked in. We used to do last longer bets and that was always fun because it gives a bragging right and nothing is more fun than taking money from your friend because you out performed them. That worked for tournaments but the cash side of it is totally different. When sitting at the table with a friend I know they had a confidence level for me and they expected me to win as I did for them. With that expectation looming things seem clearer because for me, I didn't want to look like an idiot in front or my friend..weather it be a really close friend or a friend at Harrahs. Everyone has an ego and some people need their ego fed different ways. Some need to feel smart, some need to feel tough, some people need others to like them...I need people to respect the way I do things. When I used to walk into Harrahs poker room and approach the table and see someone say something to another player about me I knew I had their respect and now I didn't wanna do anything to make myself look dumb. Now when I walk into Harrah's not as many people recognize me and the ones that do, just ask where I've been....that's fine and it's not like I NEED acknowledgment, but that was my edge..it kept me focused. When I ran into Ryan a couple weeks ago it gave that me the other kind of confidence b/c we used to play all the time together and experience those shitty beats and big wins and it didn't allow me to press when I lost.

Some people feel the complete opposite and can't stand being at the same table as friends because they don't wanna snap their friend. That's prolly another thing with me...if you're one of my friends and you're at the table, you're prolly not an idiot b/c "almost" all my friends who play poker are better than average players and I have to be fully alert to what their doing in the hand. Not saying that I'm not focused in a hand all the time but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't paying a little more attention if one of my boys is in the hand with me. I'm not sure if anyone cares about any of this or if it pertains to anyone else's thoughts but it is something that has been rattling around in my head and I decided to post those thoughts. I guess in the end it boils down to finding what works in order to be confident at the table. I've made mistakes with friends at the table and I've made great plays without friends there. This post could be total b.s. and have no merit at all or maybe it's Davey and Ruttley's fault that I'm not winning like I used to win. They stopped playing and then I started losing and not being as interested and now I can't get traction again...haha..anyway, I'll keep grinding away and keep looking forward and just try to have fun with it and I'm sure good things will happen.

Aside from this I'm pretty bummed I won't be able to participate in the IP Poker Tourneys due to insufficient poker funds. With all the fall and winter poker tournaments in progress and on the brink it's pretty frustrating not to be able to play. My new goal is make sure I'm ready to go for January for the wpt event at the Beau, the Main Event is right around my birthday. Maybe I need to find one of those backer people or maybe I'll try that lottery thing this Saturday...that would prolly help too. Anyway, good luck to all who are traveling to the coast. Keep It Real Homies.

I Beat 1/2........atleast this time

2008-10-20T09:09:00.003-05:00

Showed up to grandma Harrahs house fairly confident and taking into account all the advice and perspectives I recieved from the last blog and realized all of you are pretty much idiots!....just joking, I appreciate the opinions and tried to run with some of the ideas. Well I did discover one thing. 1/2 is better when u win your first hand. First things first, a few issues with the way they run things at Harrahs. For the most part I like all the floor people and they do a good job but they do fluster me a little bit with the way they start games over there. I'm on the list and they have 10 people and I hear an announcement of a new table starting on 14 and my name is called. I was the last name on the list and I get to the table and Gretchen comes over and asks me to go the game on table 8 b/c someone was gonna come to this game. Great!...I'm not a fan of new games and I could buy into the other game for $300. Well I go get my chips and sit down and pay my $2 rake and take a hand utg. I limp with KQ and miss the flop. Next hand, well there wasn't a next hand. I get another tap on the shoulder and apparently the guy who moved to the new game wanted back in to his old game b/c the new one didn't have enough players to get started. So now i'm off the table and after one hand and down $4, two for the rake and two for the limp. Gretchen apologizes numerous times and I tell her it's ok and they are gonna get the new game started when a few more people get there. Well it didn't take long and we got started 9 handed and a 10th showed up shortley. I do appreciate the way she handled it and I got a $2 rake for an hour and a half. (that's about the only way to beat the rake). I just don't get how they do things sometimes. They always open games right before the push and it always causes players to get annoyed and games to get short. I've seen games start and the old game broke and now those players were drawing to get into the new game. That just doesn't make sense!...I understand you want games going and the players like that but use a little common sense. Let the push happen, see how many seats open, and if the games are still full then open the new game. They did the same thing later on. This time they messed up by starting a 2/5. They opened a 1/2 table and then 20 minutes later they opened a 2/5 table and of course this killed two of the 1/2 tables, and ultimately lead to me getting up from the table b/c too many people got up from my table. Now the people I left were playing short and the newly opened 1/2 game was short also. I know they filled up but I just don't get the logic in that...open the 2/5 table and then fill your 1/2 games and open another one if needed. Doesn't seem that complicated but what do I know??....now onto some poker.

I picked up some chips early with Q,10....Someone opened for $10 and we took the flop 5 handed and the flop Q,J,10 (I flopped the coners, god that's gay matt!)...I flopped top/bottom and it checked to me and I bet $22 and got called by the preflop raiser. Wasn't at all concerned by AK, this guy wouldn't have been able to control himself if he flopped the nuts. Turn was a brick and I bet $45 and he thought about it and folded. I'm guessing AJ, some pair and gutshot...not much though. That was a nice a little pot and helped me get into the swing of things. Stayed relatively quiet for a little while but it was ok, I got to catch up with a Harrahs friend that haven't seen in a while. Ryan Ferrell, he's a good player and had some good runs in some $500 and $1000 buy in tourneys. His brother Payne ran well in some tourneys during the Harrahs circuit a while back. Anyway, it got me thinking about my play at the table and how relaxed I was while he was sitting there next to me. I wasn't getting a ton of hands dealt to me but I wasn't focused on being card dead. I was just observing the table and making mental notes and enjoying conversation with someone that actually had something intelligent to say. I eventually moved games to table 8 b/c there was more money on the table and the game was better. I sat down in the 6 seat (which I HATE!...i can't stand sitting in the middle of the table) Everyone was pretty quiet and not a whole lot of chatter going on and made it kinda boring. I start engaging a couple people in conversation and they weren't too into it so i just sat back and played. I think the guy on my left took a bath in Miller Lite and he was prolly the most quiet on the whole table. Guess that's better than an obnoxious drunk.

My first encounter with the drunk guy. I'm in middle postition and dealt 10,8 and I limp along with a bunch of other people and we see the flop 6 ways. Flop is Q,10,3....just an ugly flop with no flush draw and everyone checks. Turn is and 8!..I decide to make somewhat of an over bet when it gets checked to me, with only the drunk guy and one other person behind me. I bet $20 and drunk guy calls and everyone else folded. J,9 is the only real hand and a back door flush draw showed up. River card was 2 and I was confident about my hand, but wasn't sure what to bet and then I decided on $46 and the drunk guy started cutting out chips like he was gonna raise and I told him, "don't do that, lets just call and see who has the best hand"....The dealer laughed and said "now he's gonna raise more"....I wasn't too happy about the comment but the guy was really into counting his chips, I think the $46 confused him and he more than likely never heard the dealer. Well he min-raised me...shit! Had NO clue what to put him on with that raise. I try to talk to him again and he just stares at me which made me kinda awkard b/c he's sitting directly on my left. Well I'm not folding for a min-raise so I call and say two pair and he stairs at the board and says "that's good"....so that was a nice pot and I still have no idea what he had.

The second encounter with the drunk guy was in a heads up pot. I made it $13 with 9,7 and he calls and everyone else folds. Flop was 10,7,3 and I bet $15 and he calls. Turn card was an Ace and I decide I'm not playing a big pot and if he makes a big bet after I check then he will prolly win. Not sure if that's the best thought process but I don't see the point in losing a big pot with third pair. I check and then he checks. Now i'm guessing he has 8,9 and I just gave a free card. He was drunk, but definitely NOT overly agressive. River card was a 3 and I am almost positve I had the best hand, unless he had 99 or something like that. I check the river and he bets $35 and that seem reasonable enough. I called and he just sat there and waited for me. Normally I would wait till the bettor turns their cards over but didn't see the point here b/c I pretty much knew what he had. I turn over my 7 and he mucks and chuggs the other half of his beer. He never said a word, it was kinda creepy. Well I had a seat change and a player gets up from the two and I decide I'm gonna take the seat. I make the move and the first hand I'm dealt is 99 in the big blind and I call $10 more and we take the flop 5 handed. Flop is K,9,6....Well I bet out for $25 and the guy thinks about it and folds (I think it was a bad fold if he really had what he said, he claimed 7,8......if you're gonna call a raise and flop that draw, u better call one bet..esp. since no flush draw...o well, I'm glad he folded). Preflop raiser folded and drunk guy calls, then it gets to a little asian guy in the 10 who is a regular and buys in for like $100 at a time but isn't a terrible player. Well the 10 seat raises all in for $80 total. I'm interested in keeping the drunk guy in the hand and I just call. The drunk guy then ships it!...for like $150 or so back to me and I call. Turn card is 10, river is an 8 and I'm just certain there is no way I'm winning. I turn over my set and drunk guy turns over K,9 for two pair and the 10 seat doesn't show and mucks. NICE!...Nice flop, scarey board and I drag a good pot. That was a nice win and 3 for 3 against the drunk guy.

The fourth encounter with drunk guy wasn't as profitable. I'm in the small blind and utg makes its $6 and pretty much everyone calls. I put my $5 in the pot with my 7,4 and the flop comes: Q,8,5 and all eight people check. Turn is:6!!....I make my straight and bet out $20, get one caller and the drunk guy makes it $60. He has going bust and reloaded for $500 and has about $400 to start the hand. I think about it, decide to call as well as the other guy. River card pairs the board 8 and I check looking to call a reasonable bet. Well drunk guy decides reasonable is ALL-IN and moves in for his $320 or so and I'm in a situation that I don't like and pretty much know that I'm prolly not gonna make this call. I can't really talk to him to much because there is another player in the hand and although a lot of players engage conversation whenever they want, I on the other hand usually don't do to much talking unless I'm heads up. On top of that, the drunk guy isn't very talkative anyway. Well I start contemplating that it's prolly out the question that he's full but 9,7 is a real possibility and three 8's is a strong possible holding also. I don't sac up and make the call and the other guy folds as well and I never found out what he had. I'm not sure if it was the right read, but I think it was the right play. I don't fold to many straights, espcially to a drunk guy. A few things went into my decision, weather they are right or wrong these were the things that lead me to folding. I've been playing with him for a few hours and picked him off a couple times and everytime he never made a big over bet. Small raises and bets were his bluff attempts, this time he raised me on the turn and shoved over $300 on the river. Definitely not his usual play. That didn't make sense to me and that was probably the main reason. Another reason was that I was deep in my session and only playing for another 40 minutes or so...that may not be a good excuse but I wasn't interested in playing that big of a pot b/c if I lost it would have wiped out almost all profit. I just haven't strung together any wins and I think it was more important for my mental state and potential bank roll to book an ok win and be happy. After reflecting on my decision I am 100% ok with the way the hand played out. It wasn't the first and won't be the last time that folded a winner......well a possible winner in this case.

I'm feeling more confident when I sit down at the table and I'm really ready to start playing again on a consistant basis. Problem is, it's hard to find the consistant available time. I used to be able to go play no matter what, weather I was going on 4 hours of sleep or have taken a few days off. Didn't matter, I could get in my car and drive to Harrahs and be ready to go when I sat at the table. I've realized now that I have to my head right and really wanna be there. I might have the time, but if I don't feel like it's the ONLY thing I wanna do then it's probably not the best idea for me to go play. I have some thoughts about some things that contributed to my win and not getting frustrated with long strings of bad cards. Till then.
Keep It Real Homies.

Tired of the Minor Leagues

2008-09-26T14:39:00.008-05:00

If you've been reading my blog....i think that narrows it down to Davey.....then you know that i've been playing 1/2 in my cash games sessions and well, it hasn't been too much fun for me. When I was rolling and winning I was a fixture in the mid level games. Strictly playing 2/5 and occasionally bouncing in and out of the 5/10 when the action was good. Well I've tried to adjust my game to play 1/2 and it has NOT been an easy transition. I'm fairly certain that i'm a break even player on the 1/2 level. I've been giving it a lot of thought, and trying to determine why I can't consistantly beat the 1/2 game. The game should be easier , I think. Over the last couple months I have been struggling to turn more than a $200 profit in any 1/2 session and it's not b/c there isn't money on the table. I started to make a list of reasons that I feel are keeping me from turning a consistant profit (if you think i'm wrong, or agree, or want to elaborate, or give advice..PLEASE do so). Now I'm playing 1/2 becuase at the moment I am no where near the proper bankroll requirements to play 2/5 on a regular basis (which is 20 buy-ins, atleast the rule i've heard and try to honor, a buy-in for me in 2/5 is $500...therefore 10k bankroll). Now when I used to play 2/5 as my regular game I was very cautious of my bankroll and wouldn't play tournaments greater than a 2/5 cash game buy-in if I fell below my minimum bankroll requirement.

I used to have HUGH mental block with the 1/2 games and couldn't take them serious...at all! The only time I would sit in a 1/2 game was if the 2/5 game was locked up and they had atleast 4 people w/ over $500 infront of them. When the card club was open in Houma they would occasionally have a 1/2 game and I would sit down and just play wide open, didn't have a value for money in that game simply b/c...how do u fold two and three gappers when people make it $10 and how much do u raise with a good hand, I couldn't find that comfort zone and didn't really wanna find it b/c never thought I'd have to play 1/2. If we were following the circuit somewhere, 1/2 was the game we played if were gonna get drunk at the table and cut up. I very rarely drink at the table, pretty much never. Not because I think it affects me, just that when I start drinking I like to go do things and not sit a table with a bunch of guys who take themselves way to serious. With all that being said, I think I have over come the mental part of playing 1/2 and now I am just concentrating what I think I need to do in order to be a winning player. I am still struggling with making the proper bet and I think that is my biggest obstacle. The 2/5 just played so much different b/c people were a lot deeper, I was much more comfortable playing cash games deepstacked rather than short. I know that may seem like a no brainer, but some people don't know how they are supposed to play with $2500 infront of them. And play totally different with $300 infront of them. Not necessarily better or worse, but different. I've seen loose players go into a shell when they get up 1k or more, simply b/c they don't wanna lose it and get way to protective. I felt and still do feel as though I'm a better player when the stacks are deep b/c in my opinion people are easier to read. Now the complete opposite is true in the 1/2 game. I am no where near as confident and not as many players are as protective of $200 or less infront of them. They will move all-in or call $150 preflop with AK as where they would never call $150 preflop with AK in 2/5 if they had $400 infront of them. Just a different mentality which makes the 1/2 game play much more like a quasi limit game rather than a no limit game.

I understand there is nothing I can do about the buy-in so just assume I sit down with $200 everytime I play 1/2. One thing that has been KILLING me is that I can't seem to stay up when I actually get up. The last session I played I got up $60 in the first 20 or so minutes and before I knew it I was back to my buy-in. Davey and I were once told by a friend of ours dad who plays in some really big games and a hell of a tournament player (would prolly be on tv if he was 30 years younger, no bullshit!)...anyway, he said that rule he uses in cash games is to try to stay even during the session and if you do that you will make good decisions and be consistant. Well when I first heard that a few years ago I wasn't really sure what he meant, and then I went on the most sick run of winning sessions I've ever had. They guy knows what he's talking about. Staying even doesn't mean "try to keep you buyin infront of you" but rather when you do win a descent pot adjust to that level, and stay even with that. If you're playing 1/2 and pick up $15, well $200 is still your even and use the easy money to see cheap flops and then tighten back up if u fall close to your buy in. If you scoop a nice pot (around 20% of your initial buy-in) then adjust and try to maintain even on that. I think I explained that ok enough. Well for some reason, I have no idea why I can't seem to keep my profit infront of me. Aside from the shitty beats, it seems like I'm always hemorrhaging and I'm not sure why. The last session that I played and broke even, I swear I won about $600 b/c the times I'd be up $150 and then back down and then up. Maybe I haven't been playing with the "stay even" mentality.

A really really big thing that I feel I have gotten better at is giving my opponents the proper about of respect for their hands. Because 1/2 plays different, it's often difficult to always know where you're at preflop (atleast for me). Guys make $5 to go w/ aces and the same guy makes it $15 with 88. Just not always easy for me to narrow down the starting hands preflop. One good thing is that I'm so comfortable playing after the flop that i'm usually able to know where i'm at post flop. The problem is that I usually know i'm behind b/c we saw the flop 14 ways. One big problem with the 1/2 game and the no ipod rule is that you have to hear 9 people give your their best mike sexton explanation of why people do what they do and how I shoulda played my hand different b/c they knew exactly what the other guy had. Helmets should be standard issue at the 1/2 table. There is no clear way to know what people have, but I almost feel as though I'm helpless against some of these guys preflop. It almost feels as though reraising may be a better play preflop b/c most of these people would let you know what they have. Hand from the other day: guy makes its $10 and it's the first hand he raises in over 2 hours and sirens are going off in my head. Well I look down at JJ and just not sure where i'm at so I decide to play them like pocket 4's and jsut call. Flop is 9 high, now what the hell do I do. He bets $20 and I call and two other people call. Turn is a 3 and he bets $40 and I actually fold. I can't believe I folded there but I did!...one guy calls and on the river the guy bets $50 and the other guy folds and he shows AA. I'm lucky it only costed $30 but I think when he made it $10 if I minraise he will be so overcome w/ stupidity that he will prolly push back to like $60 or $100 and I fold and he's proud of himself as he shows AA..but then again, I don't get the chance to get lucky on the flop. I save money, but could cost myself money. If you play this game, you know people are scared to play postflop. So should I start to reraise more preflop or just continue to trust myself after the flop?

Another problem I'm having is right speed of the game. I'm having a difficult time "switching gears" as they say....whoever they might be. They're times that I know I should open up my game when the game is playing tight and start raising a little more and stimulating some action. This is something that I used to be able to do and stay under the radar. To be able to make some raises and make a few a moves but stay tight enough to appear to just be running good and once the game opens up again, just settle back down and pick my spots. Something Davey and I have always been good at is building a stack and never really appearing to play a lot of hands simply by picking up pots no one wants. It's not always easy, but it was definitely a strong point of my game. I have never, and I mean never been a fan of putting all my money in the pot. Just something I don't like doing. I'm starting to think that this is a main reason I'm not doing well in the 1/2 game. Since it is short stacked poker I think you have to a little more open to put all your money in the pot. I'm not saying look to get it all in there, but maybe not afraid to make that move more often. I have noticed that picking up limped pots don't add quickly in 1/2, it doesn't even beat the rake. In 2/5 on the other hand, picking five and six way limped pots really start to add up. I think the problem with opening up and raising is that with $200 infront of you, if you make $12 and get two callers and miss the flop and have to continuation bet....I think the proper bet should be atleast $20 and if you don't lose everyone, it's really hard to fire another shot on the turn so you concede or make a $45 bet and get raised and now your stack is almost cut in half and now what. I've been playing really tight and pretty much just hoping to hit a flop and pick up a pot and then open my game up with that newly aquired money. But then this goes against my "stay even philosphy" which has paid nice dividends in the past. I wonder if half the idiots I play against ever give a quarter of this much thought?

This post is already getting long and I'm not sure if I've covered everything I wanted to cover. I have stated some of the problems and issues I'm battling on the 1/2 game and it would be great if I can overcome these struggles and get a bankroll to just leave the 1/2 game alone and play in a game I prefer to play. But till then, I have to figure out a method of play that allows me to make some money in the 1/2 game. If I figure out a way to beat this game it would make me a much better player and allow me to bounce around the different buy-in levels and still be profitable b/c after all that's what it's all about. Any criticisms, advice, or opinions would be helpful. And if I agree then that's cool, and I think you're dumb I'lll send you a helmet.
Keep It Real Homies.

A Brutal Win

2008-09-18T08:58:00.005-05:00

Good News is that I booked a WIN!....crappy part is that i had to survive some brutal hands. I got there early monday and got into a 1/2 game for $200 and the game was good. It wasn't crazy and wasn't tame, it was actually just a good game w/ solid action and average players (well sorta). Just to give an overview of the table, i'm in the one seat. An absolute moran in the two seat, a regular in the 3 (good player). Four seat was a nice guy that didn't mind to get in there and go broke w/ one pair. There to gamble but had a clue about the game. 6 seat was an asian dude who was in every pot but not really aggressive. That's about the only important stuff to know about the make up of the table. It started rather routinely, i was card dead and action was all around me. I stayed patient and never really got involved and had about $120 infront of me when the first hand came up. I have 77 in a $12 to go pot three handed. The flop is 7,5,2!!....i finally hit a set in a raised pot! The three seat was the preflop raiser and I bet $20 into him and he raised to $55 and the six seat called. This is where I sometimes struggle, I know the 3 has an overpair and there is no reasonable guess as to what the six seat has. If I go all in I know i'm getting called by the three seat but do i want to call and let the six seat put more money in the pot? I elect to Raise $65 more and the 3 seat moves in and the six seat folds and I tell the 3 i have top set and then a queen on the turn and i'm praying that's not him, and then an Ace on the river and he says "of course" which means he had KK. The six seat said he wasn't calling any more bets unless he hit his hand. He said he AK and called $55 w/ zip!

That was really nice to hit that hand. Felt like it had been forever since I hit a hand like that. Two hands later I pick QQ and make it $13 and get 4 callers and take it down on the flop with a $45 bet. I'm pretty much minding my own business and not really playing to many hands b/c after all, I'm still running really cold. The next time I get involved I have AdKd and mp makes it $15 and I call right behind him and the button and the small blind call. Flop is Ax,10x,8d and it checks to me and I bet $40 and get THREE callers....now i'm praying for something on the turn to make me more confident, maybe a diamond or something. Well the Turn is a Jack and this time the small blind bets $30. The preflop raiser calls and I'm not sure where the hell I'm at in the hand. I'm so confused and not sure what to do. Everything in the world is telling me to fold but how do u fold with that much money in the pot? I call and we continue our family journey to the river w/ all 4 of us still in there. River is, a King....sweet, I make two pair on a four card straight board. Small blind checks, preflop raiser bets $100, I fold, button calls and the small blind is disgusted and folds. Chop Chop, preflop raiser had QQ and button had Q,9 and hit his gutshot on the turn and had to chop on the river. That hand sucked but i guess it could always be worse.

Now the crappy part of the session really starts. Just to give you an idea of what I was up against. The two seat was wearing a sleeveless saints t-shirt w/ a longsleeve shirt under it and he was proud of his shirt and bragged about it a few times, had somewhat of a pencil line beard and constantly talked at the table and no one ever talked back to him. He tried to be friends w/ the asian guy in the six seat and he barely understood english and just kept looking at him like he was weird. He constantly said "baby" to everyone and was convinced he was a good player. Told us he won 1k the day before and he tried to hit on every cocktail waitress and chip runner. Pretty much just a douche bag. Infact one funny line was when he was in a hand w/ the asian guy who went by "John" (i always find that interesting, b/c i'm pretty sure his name isn't translated into john)...anyway, he's in a hand w/ Asian John and he says to john "you scare me baby, should i fold baby...u scare me baby"....well Asian John says in reply "you scare me...you've been calling me baby for two hours now"....it was really funny timing and w/ the broken english made it even funnier. Now comes what costed me over and $800 swing to the upside!

I've got around $200 or so infront of me after a few missed flops and draws but I'm feeling ok about it for the most part. I get dealt j,9 and call $10 from the cutoff and take the flop seven handed. Flop: 10,8,7!...flopped the nuts and not in the mood to slow play a hand that can only be caught up to. Guy leads out for $10 for some dumb reason and it folds to me and I make it $50 and the guy on my left calls and everyone else folds. With 100 draws out there i'm hoping he just has a 10 b/c he will definitely call w/ top pair. I've already seen him pay off A,Q w/ his A,5 on more than one occasion. With that being said I just really want two blanks more than ever. Well not exactly gonna happen. Turn is another 10, now this isn't a very good card but it pretty much ensures me to double up unless of course he gets bailed out b/c I know he didn't flop two pair. I bet $85 knowing that he's not going anywhere if he does have a ten and of course he calls. So I'm fading the board double pairing or him hitting his shitty kicker. Well I forgot to cheer against the third option and that's the Third TEN coming out!...and like clock work the F#*$)@! ten hits the river and I am about to throw up. I just take a deep breath and check and he doesn't do anything for a good 5 seconds and now i'm thinking he missed his flush draw or something. Well I turn my hand up and show my straight after he knocks the table and then he throws his cards towards the muck and I'm momentarily happy and Melvin (the dealer) doesn't grab right away and all of sudden he grabs his cards back and flips them over to show 10,5 for his quads!....WTF!!....Now there is no reason for Melvin to have grabbed his cards before he took them back b/c only a second had passed. But what the hell was this guy thinking, he didn't even bet and then folded his hand and then realized he had four of a kind?...I'm still clueless as to what that was about. Well now I'm flustered and can't believe I flopped the nuts and was a 92% favorite on the flop against his 10,5 and it comes running tens. Honestly don't know if i've ever been drawn out on in a worst way. Well I don't even have time to reload and the next hand is dealt out and it's straddled and I have like $60-$70 infront of me and of course I look down at AA...that's just when u know you're running good. You get out drawn from what would have been sure double up and instead of having $400 infront of me I have around $60. I just call the $4 knowing that I'm not going anywhere anyway. and someone pops it to $12 and I make it $35 total and get 3 callers. The Flop is A,Q,10 and a guy bets out $30 and I move all in and then it gets raised behind me to $100 total and the other guy folds and before I can even think I know what it is, and he shows K,J!...Turn comes off and it's a Queen and I win the hand. Can u believe that shit? What an insane swing that costed me. The K,J guy had over $400 infront of him and I woulda doubled through on back to back hands. He told me wouldn't have folded his straight and I believe him. If my straight holds up and then the AA hand I woulda had over $800 infront of me but instead i'm no where near that. I know you're not supposed to think like that but when it happens on back to back hands its hard to not think about it. Even better, about 10 minutes later the 3 seat makes it $25 and one person calls and I fold, just not even wanting to throw away $25 of my $150 stack w/ 22 and of course K,2,Q on the flop and he had Aces. If i've got $800 infront of me I play that hand quite possibly take his $400 infront of him.

Anyway, I usually don't dwell like that...but when you're not running good it's hard to not think about what might have been. The upside is that I didn't go broke w/ j,9 and then the AA hand put me near even and now I just needed to gather myself and play like i just sat down. I pick up a few pots and Flop a set of nines and win a nice pot and get up a few bucks. Yea, that's right...I flopped 3 SETS!...That was nice to do that, made a few straights and felt like I wasn't totally helpless out there. All in all it was really nice to book a win. I'm ready to play some more and might head out there Thursday.
Keep It Real Homies.

Still Card Dead and Hurricane Fatigue

2008-09-13T15:04:00.005-05:00

Since the last time I haven't had any luck with process of the helmet law. I played one cash session last Monday (I think?)....anyway, it didn't go very well. Sat down at a newly opened 1/2 table and was ready to go. Table was average and they had one guy who had to reload in the first 20 minutes which is a really good thing. That's the worst part of the time rake, no matter how the game is going the casino is gonna get their $120 per hour off the table. I used to struggle with the concept of the time rake for quite a while. The time rake is the biggest joke and the people of Harrah's actually told players it was better for them once they made the switch to it. Like that casino would ever do anything in the best of interests of it's players! Harrah's has been my home court for the last 3 and half years and not once have I ever gotten a free thing from there, not saying that I need free stuff but it would be cool if you could get a free meal once and a while. I'm lucky if I make it to the Beau once every three months but in all the trips I've made there I think I paid for food once! It's nice to play at a place that recognizes poker players (or atleast morons who sit at poker tables).

Back to the session. Sat down with the max buy in at the time $200 and proceeded to win ONE hand. Now I have been cold decked for a while and can't ever seem to get things going lately but it's almost getting comical. In over three hours the biggest starting hands I had was AQ(2), AJ(1), 88,22...that was it, so needless to say it was hard to get into a rythm due to not having any sort of consistency of "ok" hands. I'm not super tight and I don't have a problem getting in there with marginal hands but when you know you haven't been running well it's doesn't make it any easier to call raises so I think it's in my best interest to somewhat tighten up and play big hands when I get them (duhh) and restrict my play of marginal or one and two gappers...only playing those from position. Not sure if this is the best approach but you only have $200 infront of you it's kinda hard to just go wild and play every connecting hand and every suited ace from any position. In the past I have used this approach while playing through a cold deck and been able to ride out the slump with minimal bankroll damage.

I start out and don't have anything and I mean ANYTHING to play in the first 3o minutes and it was so awesome b/c I didn't even get to play my blinds b/c the straddle was on by the guys on my left and it got raised almost everytime for an hour straight. I love when I can't play my blinds or defend them are anything, I just like sitting there and contributing my blinds for everyone else to win...it makes me feel like I'm bringing happiness to someone's chip stack without them even knowing it. Well the first hand of false hope (meaning i thought i had a chance but we all know that ain't happening) I'm in the cut off w/ 6h,3h and the big blind makes its $10 straight. I love this move, it's not quite as good as the $5 straight from the big blind, but it is close! What makes morons think this is a good idea? Six other people limp in and you make $10 to go just praying that someone makes its $35 so you can tell the guy next to you "my hand ain't that good" as you fold k,7 suited. Anyway, no one repops it and we take a flop 5 handed b/c one idiot thought $8 more was a little too steep?!?! (two people at this table need a helmet) Flop comes 4x,5h,10x and of course the preflop idiot..I mean raiser checks and the 8 seat bets $15, the 10 seat calls and I shoulda raised but unfortunately I have the "you have't been running well" thought going through my head....so I call and we take the turn 3 handed. The turn is the Qh and this is a great card...well it is a great card to force me to put money in the pot. Checks to me and I bet $55 and the flop bettor folds and the 10 seat goes all in for $12 more and I call. River is of course a blank and he turns over his A,10 and drags the pot. Now that I've lost $90 or so on that hand I'm feeling disgusted and of course thinking to myself "what the hell did I do to deserve to run this bad?"...I honestly don't know if I have ever missed this many draws are waited this long for someone to run a set into my bigger set, or just making hands in general. I firmly believe that the biggest pots you win are from the hands you come from behind on b/c for one thing: you know you're beat and the other is that you know exactly how big your implied odds are.

So after I stop feeling sorry myself for a few minutes I get dealt my winner!...Oh yea, it's a monster. I get dealt A,Q and call a $12 raise and take the flop heads up. A,9,7 and I bet into the raiser $20 and he raises me (you guessed it) $20 more. I put the rest of my money in the pot knowing he's about to turn over AK and says, "well I have to call". Of course you have to call it's like $40 more and there is already almost $100 in the pot you moron! He sheepishly turns over A,6 and I know i'm drawing dead. Turn is..............................6!!!..followed by "I had a feeling I was gonna make two pair"....well the problem came on the river when he made three pair, a 7 on the river and finally some justice w/ the resuck out. Once again I was almost done in by a guy who "had a feeling"...I just don't get it and I don't think I ever will.

So after the double up I'm feeling a little better and hoping this is the time I turn it around and put in a descent session and pick up a few hundred bucks and regain some confidence. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.......wrong answer. I proceed to pick up my only pocket pairs in the best/worst situations. Both times I called a small $10 raise and both times someone reraised to $20 more and everyone called and of course I missed the flop...so right there goes $60 on two hands and I'm starting to notice how short my stack is and that I need some hands and I lost some of my limp money b/c the two pocket pair hands. Well nothing went my way after that. I have 10,8 for a limp and the flop comes 10 high and I bet $12 into a $12 pot and get two callers. I'm not shocked by it and I don't mind it either. The turn is a K and apparently my two opponents were on King draws. It goes, $20 bet, raise to $50 and of course I have to fold. The turn bettor calls and the river is x and it goes check bet $100, call...the winner is K,J and loser is K,6.......I just don't get it, I know i'm running bad but how the hell am I supposed to put a win streak together when I get called by K,J and K,6 on a ten high board and they BOTH hit the card to put me in third place.

It didn't take too long for me lose the rest of my money. I have As,10s and the guy on my left who is the button makes it $12 and we take the flop 3 handed. Qs,Js,8x!!!.....sweet, Don't know when was the last time I smoked a flop like that...problem is, smoking the flop doesn't pay out for shit!. First guy bets $25 and I know I should raise but then again I know I'm not going anywhere and I know I'm a favorite at this point. My reasoning behind just calling was that if the preflop raiser makes the raise and the flop bettor calls then I move in....I will get called by both and get a true triple up oppose to me making the flop raise and the preflop raiser rerasing and the flop bettor folding and I lose the money that he woulda put in otherwise. I think all that makes sense, if you don't agree let me know. Well SUCCESS!....the preflop raiser raises and the flop bettor calls and I put all my money in and both call. Turn is a total brick and the preflop raiser bets the other guy out the hand and the river is a Q and he asked me if I hit the queen and I tell him no and he shows KK. Why couldn't I have the queen and play bad and get bailed out on the river. Instead I get all my money in as a 57% favorite agaist the KK and bust off the table.

It's easy to sense myself sounding as though I'm whinning about the way I'm running but if I don't feel sorry myself, NO ONE will!...hahaha
It's not fun writing about how I can't seem to get an "ok" run of cards and string together some winning sessions but until some breaks go my way that's all I have to write about. I'm confident things will level themselves out and all will be ok but I'm getting a little tired of waiting.

Is anyone else tired of these damn hurricanes!?!....well I'm sitting a hotel room in Arkansas and it SUCKS. My girlfriend is serving in a wedding and she has been gone all day and I had a big day of chilling in hotel room and sweating college football and seeing how much damage Ike did. Well that isn't going like I planned. Apprently the news stations in Arkansas are obsessed with weather that "might" produce a tornado. I dont' get it at all. I know tornados are really serious and that we need to be informed is something is gonna form but give me a freaking break!...I had it on the Notre Dame game and they were rolling and then Michigan gets the ball and throws deep to the endzone and the guy lays out and then............a freaking guy in a suit comes on the tv an tells me that there is weather that could produce a tornado and the game has not been back on since. Just reporting on weather and not even cool pictures or video, just satellite images and dumb people talking. The only station that is being considerate is the CBS affiliate...they only report the weather during commercials and keep a satellite in the corner of the screen but the game is the main thing....the other yankee ass stations have the games in the small box and you can't hear the commentators. I guess enough SEC fans have been calling in and bitching. The guy on the NBC station is getting mad because people are calling b/c the ND/MICH game isn't on tv. Well on top of not being able to watch all the games I want to see I can't watch the USC/Ohio State game tonight b/c the wedding is at 7pm....honestly, don't people pick up a freaking football schedule before they plan shit like a wedding???....I question a groom's ability to have a "man card" when they allow stuff like this to happen. With all that being said, I'm gonna freak out if I look out my window and see a big ass tornado coming at me...that's the kinda shit that would ruin someone's day.
Keep it real homies.

Tourney and Helmets

2008-08-28T08:58:00.010-05:00

Have you ever played the Harrahs weekly....its a great tournament, with solid players, and run really well....by great i mean very average at best, by solid players i mean dumb asses and run really well i mean dealers who can't handle simple math....other than that stuff, it's a great tournament. A whopping 57 players showed up and i played just bad enough to make it to around 24 or so. Got there about 5 minutes into the first level and sat in the 3 seat directly across from Bill. Like most times, I felt ready to play and thought I actually was gonna final table (hahahaha). Wishful thinking, but none the less it was my thought. As i'm getting to the table and surveying the area to see who I will most likely be donating my chips to for them to blow at a later time I witness a bet, all in, and call on a board of.....Kc,10c,Qd, 9h, Qc..and the winner is?? you guessed it....AJ, which was called by K,10..just another case of 3pair not holding up.(by the way, flop went checked, turned bet and call, and got it all in on the river). This is a great table for me, i have been cold decked for about 3 months now and I just know there is a good chance I will be run down with anything.

Well it ended up being a pleasant surprise that my table wasn't as crazy as the first hand i witnessed. It was fairly calm with mostly standard raises and no one was really creative. So I don't waste anytime and start limping away trying to take as many flops as possible with hands that I would normally raise with. This allowed me to stay involved, not draw attention to myself by raising a lot and maintain an average chip stack for a level and a half which i had no problem with. The first hand of any significance came up on the second level. MP opens for $150, one guy calls and I call from the cut off with 86o (one of my favorites). Flop comes 10,2,4..MONEY!...preflop raiser checks, other guy bets $250, and of course I call, and preflop raiser folds his AQ in disgust. Turn is a 9 and now I'm in business picking up the gutshot. Guy bets $250, I raise with the outs i just picked up to $600 total and he quickly folds and it felt good to know exactly where i was at and where the other guy was (by the way, that was the K,10 guy...wasn't sure about raising him at first b/c the K,10 hand i witnessed, but he proved to not be as loose as that hand portrayed..he just called with what he "thought" was a good hand and we all know most people shouldn't think at a poker table without supervision b/c most are idiots).

Moving along, Darrell (aka DaRock) shows up to the table and he was definitely trying to hurt people as he always does...this time the person was me. Blinds were still 50/100 with the first hand came up. 10 seat opens from early position for $250 (he is pretty solid and we've played at the same table numerous times, i actually have respect for his game) I look down and see two red Queens, the old guy on my right calls. For like two seconds I think about reraising but I run through my memory and realize that anytime the guy on my right has put money in the put, weather it be raise or call, he has had an ok hand and I have not seen him limp then fold to raise yet (I'm pretty sure he's not going anywhere if i reraise, plus I'm not crazy about reraising here..i trust myself enough to know where I'm at almost all times). I just call and luckily no one else calls. Flop comes 10 high, two hearts. 10 seat checks, old guy bets $300, and i think about raising but I look and I know the 10 seat is folding. I decide to keep the pot small and just call and play my position. Turn is the third heart and for all intents and purposes, a brick. Old guy checks.....and me, being the pussy I am, just checked also (mainly, I just don't like the way the hand is playing out). River is the fourth heart, I make my flush!..Old guy bets out $400, I very very reluctantly call and he shows me his TWO red kings for a flush and I show him my two red queens and muck. I consider that hand almost a win, I was coolered from almost every way possible and I managed to keep the pot as small as I could and lost the minimum. That was the first hand I survived from Darrell, he tried to get me two more times too.

I get dealt 10,7 in the sb w/ no action preflop. We see the flop 4 handed and it comes 10,8,2 rainbow. I bet $225 and get called by old guy on my right (also the button), turn is a 6 and I pick up more cards but I'm pretty sure I'm good already. I bet $625 and the old guy kinda hesitates and then calls. So now we're praying for no q,j,7...River, a Q (boooooo!)...I check, he bets $600..I tell him "I don't think you'd bluff me, sir....nice hand" He shows me J9 and we move on. (Darrell, didn't do too much on that...it woulda been a lot shittier if he woulda put a seven for two pair vs. straight). O wait up, that did happen two hands later. I have 9,7 in the cut off and old lady in the small blind who plays there all there time (I think its Mrs. Grace, but I'm not positive) decides its time to play. The pot was opened from middle position to $300 and we take the flop three handed. Flop: 10,9,7 Checks to me and I bet $575...old lady calls and preflop raiser folds. Turn is a brick and old lady checks, now I'm not sure what to do. She's got about $2500 or so and I just know from past experiences that she's not folding that hand no matter what! She may have just have the draw (which is good enough for her) or maybe a pair a draw, either way she's not going anywhere. This is one of those situations where it completely depends on my opponent....against a good player I would prolly put a lot of pressure b/c I give them the credit to fold the draw. On the other hand, a "not so good player" I don't give much credit to. I decide to bet for value on the turn b/c I'm certain she's not folding and I won't get any money if she misses and I don't feel like losing $2500 incase she gets lucky. I play like a rookie and bet $500 on the turn (I HATE when people do what I did, bet less on the turn than on the flop...mainly I hate it b/c people are dumb they can't give you the proper answer as to why they did it...I actually had logic) River is of course a Jack and it's four to a straight and she doesn't hesitate to shove all her money in the pot and I fold after about 5 seconds. Nice try Darrell, now get the hell off the table please! (I like Darrell, he's one of the better dealers but brutal things tend to happen at the table when he's dealing)

I definitely lost some chips in those 30 minutes and fell to about 3k and then made a few raises and called a couple and never connected. Had about $3200 and it folded around to the button who was playing fairly well but from some reason he was annoying me just sitting there. Don't know why, but sometimes just the way people sit there and place bets and fucking hollywood every decision. He wasn't getting called down, never showed a hand, chipped up pretty well, and he was the benefactor of the K,10 guy from the first hand I witnessed. Well anyway, aside from the trash-stache he was sporting and the pubs on chin that was supposed to make up some ridiculous attempt to grow a goat-tee he never said anything but I could tell he was convinced he was the best player at the table. Well anyway, folds to him and he raises to $600 and I look down at AJd in the bb and I'm not just calling. I reraise to $1600 and once he doesn't fold after 10 seconds of hollywood I know he's playin and just pray its not AK, AQ...I think he's about to set me in and I just dump my chips in the pot out of turn, well once he didn't commit i just pulled my chips out and stared at him and waited. I have no idea why people deem it a must to sit there and act like they have such big decisions to make...ESPN fucking kills the game, almost ALL and i mean ALL players don't have any thoughts going through thier mind other than the simple math of how much they have to put in the pot. If these jerkoffs were good enough to get a tell on me then they're gonna take my money anyway but I'm not sure what this guy was trying to prove. He's got 12k in chips and a pair in his hand he won't just hurry up and set me in, finally he says all in and I tell him "what took so long with those nines"...well I was wrong, he had TENS...seriously, wtf....u take a full minute to make up your mind to put some one all in when u know you're not folding!...and as good as this guy was, he wasn't good enough to just call right there and save the money if he got out flopped. Well and Ace on the flop and I hold up and get a well timed double up right before the antes kick in. I go to the break w/ around 7k or so and I'm not feeling too bad about it b/c hopefully I can open up my game when we get back.

Well the blinds are 100/200/25 and now it's time to open up a little bit more. First hand back and I decide to buy some ante chips and raise with J3clubs and smoke the flop. 2,4,9 one club...sweet, This board has redraw written all over it and one guy checks and I bet $775 and both fold and I take it down. I pick an ok pot with 5,3 clubs....Guy raises from mp to $500, old guy on my right calls and I call from the hi-jack. Flop comes 8,4,7 one club and preflop raiser bets $600 and old guy folds and I'm not folding my hand there so I call. Turn is a 2!..now I'm double gutted and I'm pretty sure I can win the hand no matter what now. He checks, I bet $1200 and he instafolds. I'm starting to get confident and highfiving myself on the inside and then the poker gods bitch slap me and remind me that I'm not that good. I'm utg and look down at JJ and they're so many ways to play these hands but this time i decide to open there b/c after all I can pick up the dead money in blinds and antes if no one calls. Lady in mp thinks about it and calls and then it gets to Bill who ships it and I know I'm beat so I just shoot him a smurk and fold and then the lady in mp calls and of course she has KK (wtf, how bad do people play?...she had like $1500 to start the hand and just called my raise. I'm not saying women can't play, they do have some...they're a hell of lot more guys that play worse, simply b/c they're more guys that play. Women often play with the biggest chip on their shoulder b/c they feel they don't get any respect. We'll get into that topic at a later date). Anyway, back to the hand...incase you're a semi-tard and didn't know, Bill has AA and of course I woulda hit a jack on the turn. It's all good, a rather small loss, I'm over it.

This is the hand that did me in. I'm playing ok and have a good vibe going, haven't gotten caught doing anything, only showed strong hands and flying relatively under the radar but still building my chips. I look down at A,7 spades in the sb and it's a limp fest. 5 of the 9 people at the table limp in and I complete. Flop comes 10s,9s,6x. Gut shot and flush draw and I'm first to act, I like my hand and have a good table image so I bet out (blinds 200/400/50). I bet $975 and get called by the one seat (no longer over confident trash-stache, instead "coonass oil field worker"). No big deal, I don't mind the call at all...infact, I kinda got the impression he's on the same draw. Turn card pairs the board with a 9 and I'm not slowing down here. I bet $2025 and he gives me the "that seems like a lot of money but I've come this far so I'm not gonna fold look"....you know the look, you hate the look but you don't mind it b/c you know you're ahead. I'm almost 98% certain he has the same draw as me. Could be a really nice pot if we both make the flush b/c I'm certain he will raise me when I bet the river. River is a Queen and he just kinda shrugs like, this isn't what i was looking for but o well. Well I knew he wasn't strong the whole way and I couldn't just check. Thinking he might have had a pair and a straight draw, maybe a pair and flush draw. So I come up with the courage to bet $4200 and he says "ok, I'll give ya call"...Nice hand sir. I say to him, "good no spade for you" and he proceeds to tell me that he was "trying for the jack of spades to fill his Q,8 spades"....are u freaking serious, I love how idiots "try" for cards at the table. Like he really thought, this might be the time the jack of spades comes off and he would finally hit that straight flush he's been trying so hard for. These people are retards and should be required to wear a helmet at all times. Not just any helmet but certain helmets depending on how dumb you are. Maybe a catchers helmet for the first level b/c you can contribute to the world. The second level maybe a bike helmet b/c we all know you're not too sharp but we really shouldn't run the risk of it falling off your head so you're not confused w/ a normal person. The third level we give you a football helmet and mouth piece so we don't have to hear you talk and make everyone else dumber. Maybe we can have stickers to put on them, like the Ohio State Buckeye stickers or something. Every time you say or do something useful we can give you a sticker and every time you say something dumb we take a sticker away, once you're helmet if covered then you go to the next size down and try to feel that one up and once all your helmets are covered then you no longer have to wear one. But you would have to wear a pin on your shirt or a have a medal like recovering alcoholics so that we all know that you're a recovering idiot and you're never really cured of the disease. I don't' know if this would actually work, but its just a thought.

Back to poker, I lost that hand and wasn't too upset. It happens and I moved on and tried to find a spot to get my chips in good and had more than 3 times the bb and enough to give fold equity. Shoved once and didn't get called so that was nice. In the bb w/ 33 and folded around to my oil field buddy who called and I shipped and he thought about it and said "I'll give ya a call"....i know you will sir. I turn over 33 and ask if he has a pair and says no. So that's fine, we're racing....well not exactly, he only had one over...he shows 9h,2h. Good luck w/ that sir. He misses everything and I make a spade flush to double through. Once again he tells me that he was "trying" for hearts (I had to remove another sticker from his helmet for that comment before we moved on to the next hand). I made it to the next break and came back to 4k in chips with 500/1k/100 and saw a King in my hand and shoved. Another guy ships for 400 less and my oil field buddy gives another call. I have K,7 other guy has A,5 and my buddy had KJ. So that sucks. Flop is all bricks, turn pairs the board w/ the 10d and I'm the only one with a diamond so now I have 9 outs for the flush and my seven is also good and if i hit a K, my buddy and I chop b/c there's a queen on board. River doesn't help and I'm busted with around 24 players left.

I know this was a little long, but if you think I misplayed something terribly just let me know. Or if you agree with my play or helmet theory that's cool too.
Keep it real homies.

Hello!

2008-08-21T16:44:00.004-05:00

This first post won't have too much analysis in it, but that's ok. This blog was created for a couple reasons but mainly to keep myself and whoever may read this entertained. As for my poker credentials, well honestly I don't really have any but once again..that's ok. I have been playing for right about 5 years but i'd only say that about 3 1/2 actually count. Like most people I started when that moneymaker guy got ran over with the deck and espn decided to make him a star, much like they can do with anyone (damn tv poker, that shit will prolly come up a lot). I used to be one that often blew up at the table and let people know how bad they are why they should allow me to take to their money, since they obviously didn't want it b/c they continued to lose on a regular basis.

I first started playing $5 and $10 sng with anywhere from 10-20 friends and quickly realized that no one knew what the hell they were doing and that it was always the same couple of us that outlasted all my dumb friends. It was a revelation, well not exactly but i figured if my dumb friends wouldn't mind losing $20 or $30 every weekend when we played then i'm sure they're a ton of people out there that has more money to lose and quite possibly dumber too!

I ventured off to vegas the first time in May of '05 and pretty much got hooked there. Cut my teeth in no limit cash game action at the fast paced poker heaven known as the IMPERIAL PALACE! This shit hole was great, i bought in for $200 and people gave me money and I barely knew what i was doing (but of course i knew it all at the time!). After that trip i pretty much had the itch to play as often and as much as possible. The next step was "the rat's nest," a really classy joint that my friends and I made a nice chunk of change beating up bikers and other white trash as well as meeting some interesting people that are still friends today. The rat's nest used to run tourney's 4 days a week and Davey and I used to snap those off like it wasn't a challenge. Ruttley and Matt even won a couple i think (so u know how soft the action was!). That's pretty much when the addiction started and we were playing 8 days a week where ever we could get a game. Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday were rat's nest; Tuesdays were becks in raceland, wednesday was belini's in thibodaux and saturday's were where ever we could get a home game. We pretty much tapped those places till Grandma Harrah's reopened Friday February 17, 2006.

Life was good...we had game every night with virtually no risk and Davey and I started taking the game really serious and learning a lot of shit to where we couldn't even sit down with friends and play for $10 (mainly b/c we were so fucking good) but truly b/c we wanted to get good enough to know that we could play with anyone. We started traveling to tunica and vegas and the coast once it reopened. The awesome government of Louisiana cut out bar room games so we did the next best thing and someone opened a card room in lil ole houma.

The card room in Houma was ridiculous, mainly b/c the people that played there just didn't like money..or if they did, they had a fucked up way of showing it. The room was nice but having a game everynight with the same people quickly started to drain these people that didn't have the money to lose like they were losing it. The club lasted for about 7 months I think.

After the club shut down I started playing less and less. It wasn't really a running bad thing, but more of a starting to get burned out type thing. It felt like it was a job and not something that I wanted to do for fun. Took some time off and enjoyed only playing occasionally. Even invested my money b/c I started to play that little. Started to get the itch to rebuild my bank roll and start playing again around Christmas '07. It hasn't gone as planned mainly due to not having the time and combined with a cold deck made it hard to get going. I've been battling along and trying to play through the down swing and waiting for some breaks to go my way. Until those start to happen you'll get to read a lot about how bad people play and how they play GREAT against me.

Hopefully this blog will be entertaining as well helpful to myself and whoever reads it. I know I mentioned a couple people in this entry, mainly Davey and even gave Rutt and Matt a shot. Whenever I don't have much to post about I'll prolly just reminisce and give some interesting player bios and some dumb stories/hands that helped make me the fine world class player I am. Keep it real homies.