Sunday, September 30, 2007

Royal Flush

PokerStars Game #12364541434: Tournament #61820741, 50FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2007/09/30 - 19:17:53 (ET)Table '61820741 184' 9-max Seat #1 is the buttonSeat 1: tilteration (3970 in chips) Seat 2: slacker9494 (11605 in chips) Seat 3: irongirl01 (2525 in chips) Seat 4: twanderson20 (13708 in chips) Seat 6: Debbie1955 (3810 in chips) Seat 7: sugarchuck (7686 in chips) Seat 8: bareneck (18075 in chips) Seat 9: geoczech (575 in chips) is sitting outslacker9494: posts small blind 75irongirl01: posts big blind 150*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to irongirl01 [Jd Ah]twanderson20: raises 300 to 450Debbie1955: folds sugarchuck: folds PHUCDOYLE is connected bareneck: calls 450geoczech: folds tilteration: folds slacker9494: folds irongirl01: calls 300*** FLOP *** [Ad 9s Qd]irongirl01: bets 450twanderson20: folds bareneck: raises 1050 to 1500irongirl01: raises 575 to 2075 and is all-inbareneck: calls 575*** TURN *** [Ad 9s Qd] [Kd]*** RIVER *** [Ad 9s Qd Kd] [Td]*** SHOW DOWN ***irongirl01: shows [Jd Ah] (a Royal Flush)bareneck: shows [9d 9h] (a flush, Ace high)irongirl01 collected 5575 from pot*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 5575 Rake 0 Board [Ad 9s Qd Kd Td]Seat 1: tilteration (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

WCOOP Main Event Pokerstars

No Im not playing the buy-in is a little steep for me!!! . I decided to play Poker Player roulette and pull up Jordan Morgan's table (ImSoLuckyO)... Not only do I get Jordan but I get Roothlus (Adam Levy) and Zangbezan24 (Sorel Mizzi) and LURPED (Marcus Gonsalves) at the same table. Wow talk about loaded guns.

Other Top Names I see so far.. Shaniac (Shane Schleger) , KidPoker (Daniel Negreanu), RugDoctor (David Williams), ThorLaden (My friend Fred's stepson aka Steve Weinstein), Lady Maverick (Vanessa Rousso), Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer (Fossilman) who gets a big congrats on his WCOOP Pot Limit Omaha win. And of course Gigabet (Darrel Dicken), EmptySeat88 (Scott Fischman), No Mercy (Isabelle Mercier), Katja Thater and RainKhan (Hevad Khan), and Rizen (Eric Lynch).

This should go long into the night. Amazing turnout with the buy-in at $2500 + $100 and the Aruba Poker Classic set to get underway tomorrow and the US Poker Championship at the Taj Mahal beginning its run. Talk at the tables is are you going to Foxwoods or WPT Niagara, are you in the states??? no Im playing from Europe and staying here till such and such (think that was Sorel) ? Some railbirds are catching the action from their laptops in the airports . Its kind of fun to eavesdrop.


20000 starting chips with 30 minute blinds. This is an online poker players wet dream.


Gigli award to Samuel032 2998th (AA vs KK perhaps)?

Dario Minieri has hit the Rail: 2981 of 2998

Poker for me has gone something like this today:

Pokerstars $100000 guarantee..... Dude raises to $450 (3x bb) I reraise with JJ to $900 dude reraises me. I move all in for my remaining $1500 or so and get called by TT. Do I double up. Of course not.....He hits a set on the flop and IGO.

Pokerstars $5k guarantee..... Deciding to play really tight because yesterdays tourney which I cashed in was aggro and my stack see-sawed early on....I limp against the bb with 69os. Check.. Flop comes 66K (two diamonds).... I bet the pot dude reraised me.. I dont think he has a 6 with a better kicker. No he has slowplayed pocket aces and rivers an Ace... IGO. Deepstack $11 buyin on stars. I can not win a hand for the life of me and my dominating hands are getting beat by weaker hands. (FULL TILT POKER DEJA VU) . IG is at 0-3 on stars today. Combine that with the Ultimate Bet $5.50 Online forum challenge donkfest and I am having a "fun" day. I should have gone and played live SIGH.

I just got an email about a big stack poker tourney with a prime rib dinner in January. In September there was a tourney with a clam bake. Do we know how to roll here in NY or what?. Trent hit up the Empire Poker League Cardroom again this Thursday and went home up about 2-3 buyins (not sure if he bought in for $200 or $300) but per Lex or Mike he cashed out over $900/

Football picks suck so far although Snake's Cowboys have pulled thru for me once again. I think that is the only early game I won. MiamiDon was right upset city with the dogs all at home this week. My late picks look a little better.

Random thought would anyone be interested in a Upstate NY blogger gathering say in August next year? There could be a Thursday nite tourney at the Albany Poker League headquarters as well as Sunday (for you cash gamers I can send you to the ESPL headquarters)... Friday could be a trip to the Racetrack/Racino etc and a nice dinner out in SPA city. Saturday could be a Steak/Lobster/Clambake and tourney at either Krauses or Lanthiers Grove hosted by me. I could always run it/overlap it at the same time as the Empire State Poker Classic up at TROCK. Families (wives and children) could make a go of this as the Great Escape and Water Park is about an hour north of here.

Ray Rahme (2007 WSOP 3rd place finisher) is out 2968th..... Daniel Negreanu 65160 and the bigstack one hour into the tourney.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Colorado Buffs PWN the Oklahoma Sooners

SHIP IT!!!!!!!!!

Oklahoma was favored by 21 (and ranked 3rd or 4th in the country depending on poll used). CU was at home ( homecoming weekend). With 2 seconds left Kevin Eberhart kicked the game winning field goal. He's not Mason Crosby by a long shot but he got the job done when it counted today. I leapt off the couch in a victory jig. Today I didnt pull my hamstring (as I did once before in a upset of Nebraska when I tangled with the handles of my pocketbook).

Woot Woot

I cashed in the 5k Pokerstars guarantee pretty much doubling my buyin. I think I called an all in with AK with about 11k left which was half the average stack at the time (in other words I didnt push first). Was up against Pocket 44's. DQB for the 4's. 264th out of 2188.

Last nite I got squadoosh for cards ( I think the only pair I got was 44 during 3+ hours of play) in the APL season opener but I did manage to final table for 8th of 22 which is a better start then last year. We've shortened the blind rounds to 20 minutes and introduced an ante to speed things up. We are down league players. Alot more folks didnt return then previously thought. Snake and I agree, Its going to be a long season ( neither he nor Lex nor Silo, Snakes bro final tabled with me). I had to table captain the people not paying attention, who wouldnt shut up and who were getting pie-eyed and who dont announce their actions. And no its not the new young guns who are good players, its the folks who are in Season #3 in the league. I had to get up from the table and take some deep breathes early on. Next week the IPOD will be brought out for sure.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Guilty Pleasures and Random Musings

I've played all of about 1 hour of online poker all week and haven't missed it at all. That was in a Poker Analysis Razz tourney that I would have killed if it had been Seven-Card Stud High. A frustrating nite because of the donkeys who stay in with their door card over a 9, take one off and stay in when the next card is a K Q J or T. I want to scream at them much as you do when someone doesn't play proper blackjack strategy.

Ray told me Monday nite that he and Lex debated my exit hand in the big game and how bad they felt for me. Lex felt I should have folded the KK there. Especially with a UTG raise and the UTG +1 all in. Sure if I lay down the KK in the SB I still have 29k chips (I was not the shortest stack) but there is still no guarantee I bottom cash. As it was I went out two off the money as they paid 14 not 13. Ray and I concur that I was playing for top three where the big money was and he felt I made the right move with the KK. There was no way I was putting Brandon on AA there. What Lex and Ray didn't know is that Brandon a few hands earlier had gambled with his big stack and called an all in after his pre-flop raise with JT.. The all-in dude had AK and Brandon sucked out a straight. I knew he was capable of raising with much looser starting hand requirements then what you normally see UTG. And that is what makes an aggressive player with a big stack dangerous in the late stages of a tourney when they wake up with a monster. As it was, Ray told me he himself was taken out by Brandon after Brandon had gotten moved from an early table we shared.

So my week has been filled with TV show debuts; Private Practice, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, Big Shots (kind of a Sex in the City for alpha males). I missed Dirty Sexy Money because I opted for the second to the last episode of Top Chef. I also caught America's Next Top Model. Any other good shows out there? I caught a bit of Dancing with the Stars on Monday nite but will get more into it when it gets down to the real fancy footwork.

There are also some really good movies I need to see. Into the Wild based on the fabulous John Krakauer book, Rendition: with Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, In the Valley of Elah, and The Kingdom: with Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner. Astin looked over the Woodstock Film Festival slate for me, and made some good suggestions. I just realized I'm away two of those days and possibly three so I may not be able to make any of them. I will be in NYC at the theatre one of those days.

I left work at 4:00 yesterday to get my teeth cleaned and checked. This is going to sound nuts but I love having my teeth cleaned because they feel so nice and clean after they are scaled and polished. . I have pretty healthy teeth... Look mom no cavities since 1997 and only one crown in my mouth and no root canals either. I do have lots of old fillings but knock on wood no problems.

The other thing besides clean teeth I love is a fabulous pedicure. Miriam my gal did an awesome job last Friday with a bright Candy Apple Red OPI polish(might as well celebrate apple-picking season hear in upstate NY). I also love someone else to wash my hair. I think it feels cleaner. I found out my gal Linden left where I go around the corner from my house and hasn't hooked up a new gig yet. I just found her after years of my old stylist and I loved the color jobs she did on my hair. She's willing to come to my house until she gets set up somewhere. Fortunately, I'm not quite due yet for a recolor, but I will be in a few weeks (like 2-3).

So after I got my teeth cleaned, I was in a fabulous mood because my weekend had started. I stopped at the market for a salad at Price Chopper's salad bar and then picked up a Starbucks Iced Raspberry Mocha (non-fat with whipped cream :)!!! as well as a delish, yummo White Pizza Margherita (with fresh garlic, basil, fresh tomato, and mozzarella) from LaBella's. The pizza smelled so good I couldnt even wait till my shows started. I wound up skipping the salad and having three slices.

No work today for IG. I paid my mortgage at my main bank, mailed my Gas and electric and Homeowners Assn bills, deposited my Star Refund into my slush fund/poker account at my other bank. Filled the car up with gas for my trip up to Fort Edward for poker tonite. I tried on a pair of jeans that make my legs look long and my butt awesome at Kohls. Even though they were on sale for $29.99 from $48 I didnt buy them because I had a coupon at home for an additional 15% off. I'm gonna dig out the coupon and then go back to get them on my way out. I do definitely need to lose about ten pounds in my tummy because I have a little untoned Buddha Belly going on.

For my final random musing, I was catching a sportscenter clip on Randy Moss and how he is fitting in or not fitting in with the Patriots. I had Randy Moss as one of my Fantasy Wide Receivers when he was at Minnesota, along with Chris Carter and Marvin Harrison. He is one talented player but sometimes left us fans wondering if he was giving his all and of course the media questioned his desire and work ethic. Anyway, this is not a rant on that it is a comment on what a gifted athlete he truly is. I saw Tom Brady throw a long pass downfield and it almost looked like the safety or cornerback on the opposing team was about to intercept until, Randy accelerated into another gear from what seemed like out of nowhere and flew past the defender to make an effortless (or so it seemed) catch. World class track speed is a thing of beauty, world class track speed while catching a ball in pads is magnificent. I was like WOW! WOW! WOW.

Oh yeah, I may need a new refrigerator. My fridge came with the condo (I bought three years ago in June 2004) left behind by the former owners. It appears relatively new but it doesnt seem to be keeping food as cold as it should in the main compartment (freezer is fine). Anything I should be checking and are they worth repairing (of course I will ask the guys tonite)? I could do without having to buy a new fridge now especially since I can only covet a Sub-Zero.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Oh the Horror of the Bubble

The APL Big game was as billed a big game with 130 players ponying up $150 + $15 to go up against the areas best. This will be a short recap as Im mentally drained and exhausted.

I played very well: tight and aggressive and I mixed up my bets and playing style and trapped extremely well and I got paid off. I will say I wasnt reading as well as I usually do live. And Im not sure if my sinus problems of the week impacted my thinking. Sometimes I felt like I was on auto pilot. I mentioned to Snake I needed a second wind and wished I could have him step in as a pinch hitter. He looked at me, smiled and said..you are playing great you played in the WSOP, you can take it down.

And I tried. I was never a big stack but I stayed ahead of the blinds and was average stacked most of the time. 13 paid but the real money was top 5. After 8 hours of poker I was a little below average 15-16 left and I was in the small blind with KK. Big stack raised to 20k UTG($2500/$5000 blinds no ante). Dude moved all in to his left for about 59k. I put him on AK.. I didnt really consider the big stack as a threat, he could be raising with anything and had been on a roll. I Pushed in and got insta called. Sure enough the bigstack (brandon) had AA and the other dude did indeed have AK. No case K for IG and IGN short of the cash after playing my heart out. The bottom cash of $265 for places 10-13 wasnt what I was after. Had I doubled thru both dudes I would have had over $100,000 and in good position to take home the big cash.

Tournament poker is grueling. My expectations were high and Im going to be carrying this with me for a few weeks Im sure. I mean I know I will run Kings into Aces a gazillion more times in my poker career but to get that close to the brass ring only to have it snatched away really hurts. But I played to win and have no regrets over misplayed hands etc.

I did win the last longer over Trent, Ray and Lex pocketing $60. Thanks to Ray and Lex (who scored some nice cash game $$$ at Rays expense with two boats over sets) for railing me thru to the bittersweet end.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Albany Poker League Big Game

Post time is 1 PM!! Ray (Snake5970) with Lex (BigTai) and Trent (LGKeeper) in another vehicle will soon be ringing me up when they hit exit 8A of the Northway. I'm meeting them at Salty's (a great seafood pub down the street from my house) where we will then embark to the Albany Club.

-IPOD - check (with Phil and Friends 10000 Lakes Festival Show newly downloaded) and fully charged.

-Buddha Card Capper= Check

-Starbucks Iced Venti Raspbery Mocha - Check

-Diet Pepsi and Bottled Water - Check

-Receipts for Mine and Lex's and Rays deposit - Check as well as cash for the rest of my buy-in and some side action if needed

-Football Picks - Check (gotta keep up on my selections)

-Deck of Cards - Check (possible Chinese Poker if Snake and I go busto)

=Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide with notes - Check

Spending a day playing cards and, watching football, with three of my favorite guys -Priceless. The only thing that would beat this is having it in Vegas with some of my favorite bloggers present too!!

As an aside did anyone catch Gus Hanson speaking into a little hand-held recorder during this weeks broadcast of the WSOP for his notes. I taped most of the show as I was Blaggher Bodogging but did catch this clip as did Ray/Snake.. I want me one of those bad boys.

First prize today is over $5000 as they opened it up to 20 more players. Top ten should be paying. All four of us have live tourney cashes of over $1000. Hopefully one of us will hit the cash tonite.

And Colorado beat Miami Ohio 42-0 yesterday... Woot Woot

Monday, September 17, 2007

Playing Hookie from work kind of sort of

Most of you know I work from home so its kind of hard to call in sick from home. In fact its kind of lame. However, since I do customer service and must be attached to my headset at all times and have to be perky and I just can't say.... Sorry, hold please while I go run to the bathroom to puke/poo or whatever sometimes you just have to take a day off.

I woke up this morning with a massive sinus headache that hurt to open my eyes and was rewarded with a bloody nose as well as itchy eyes. Friday nite I knew I was going to be getting every womans monthly 'friend' as my boobs hurt and I swear they were swollen like grapefruits. I was right, and today Im being rewarded with nausea and cramps that sometims double me over to the fetal position and Im running to the bathroom constantly. Ive taken 600 mgs of ibuprofen, and a claritin and my head is feeling better right now although Im stuffy. Im not a squeemish person but getting a bloody nose isnt fun. I always think its something more serious.

My football picks sucked big this week. I accidently picked Tenn over Indy in Rob's league but did make the correct selection in Hoy's league. Friday nite I had originally picked Tampa Bay over New Orleans and then after seeing that Tampa Bay sucks against NO's division Saturday AM I changed my mind. Always go with your gut feeling. If I can eke out tonites game I should wind up 8-8 but should really be 9-7 had it not been for the mispick.

I mentioned that Friday nite we had the invasion of the young internet players/young guns. I lost count of how many new faces which includes a set of twin brothers. There must be at least 6-7 new faces. Trent (because of his work schedule), Darren (Dmoney) and Al and Joyce wont be back this season. I made it down to the last two tables but could get nothing going. I took a nice pot off Snake/Ray with pocket tens. (In the last three live tourneys Ive played the first pocket pairs Ive been dealt in each are pocket tens). I then somehow lost a chip or two when I think I threw a $1000 chip or two in when I mucked my cards. I should have had about 7000 and was done to like 4500 and I only lost one pot. Oh well my fault if I did do it since for some reason I never brought my card capper out. I wont do that again.

Zoe who was at my table was uncharacteristically first out. She got tied to her QQ and lost to a set of snowmen. Had I limped UTG with my 79s and chased my straight, I would have hit it and stacked them both. Rich aka Silo (Ray's bro) went out from another table then Ray from mine. They went and got a drink and then Snake came back to sweat me. I had raised with A8 only to get re-raised by AQ and let it go. Ugh. Missed draws. I just could get nothing going all night. One hand I got dealt A5s the flop came down all black. I had mucked preflop and I saw Ray just look at me and walk away. He thought I would have flopped a flush. As it was and I had to look twice there were two spades and a club and my flush never would have come thru. His reply was boy I think I really do need glasses. Finally I busted when I pushed all in with about 2700 with QQ and got two callers Pocket 88's and AK called me and the AK hit two pair (one of the twins) and IGH there. That nite QQ's were not kind to people.

I decided that I am going to have fun with the league and not take it so seriously or tighten up like I did last season trying to make the top ten. Last season I fell from 3rd to 10th over the last ten weeks. That means I am going to become a stealing machine from the Hijack, Cutoff and Button with ATC especially once the antes kick in (a new addition to our league this year) and I will invoke the KOD rule on my BB. If I get raised by the same person three times in a row, on the third time it will be all in. I will employ this strategy Week 1 and it will probably backfire amongst the league calling stations. However, I can terrorize a few folks I'm sure.

I noticed a blog comment from the Glens Falls Civic Center which I thought was so cool and impressed me. They got a google alert and someone posted that the Phil show wasnt sold out. Apparently they didnt get an alert or maybe hadnt gotten to it yet, on the next post where I scored Floor seats . Since Ill be in NYC with my mom, for CURTAINS with David Hyde Pierce on my birthday 10/13/07 (planned in late May) and playing poker on 10/12/2007 and perhaps 10/14/07, the concert on 10/20/07 will keep the party going. Snake/Ray who has never ever ever seen the Dead or any of the boys' bands will be accompanying me and he'll get to see me in my element. I mean the Dead were a huge part of my life for most of my twenties and still are. Whats even better is we can walk to the concert from his house.

And Congratulations go out to Annette_15 for winning WSOPE. Great call by Pauly on her taking the whole thing down. Man, you just cant say what an achievement that is for someone of her age. Its scary how good that gal is. This may just be one of the greatest "sports" successes in history. Look out Phil Hellmuth and your 11 bracelets she cant even get started in the States yet for another couple of years.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

IG's Football Picks - Week 2

Sunday Games

CAR>
TEN>
NO>
STL>
PIT>
NYG>
JAX>
CIN >
DAL >
MIN >
SEA>
CHI>
BAL>
DEN>
NE> >

Monday game> > PHI> > POINTS - 35

Before I make my picks I check out the Sagarin Rankings, and what the elite EPSN 9 pick, I read Miami Don's overview, check out the injury reports and recap in USA today and watch lots and lots of Football shows. Yes, I take my football seriously.

I went contrary to MiamiDon on Detroit vs Minnesota. Historically, the Vikes own Detroit. Historically the Vikes have bent me over and screwed me a gazillion times whenever I bet on them. The Motor City may have some of the best paid factory workers in the country thanks to the Automakers, but the Lions dont put any money into their team. And what has John Kitna ever done?. A journeyman QB who is prone to giving the ball away. He picked Detroit by +10. Im picking straight up and Say Vikes in this Black and Blue division match-up.

For the second straight week I have gone with Dallas (shout-out to Snake's Cowboy's), this week I picked the Eagles (shout out to Hoyazo) and I hemmed and hawed over the Bolts vs the Pats. In the end. I went with majority rule and picked the Pats at home over the Bolts. But, I would love to see Smokkee's Bolts come thru.

I was so excited to see that CU would be on ESPN last nite vs Florida State. Both teams are unranked. Colorado is still rebuilding and the play last nite shows they have a long way to go. I dozed off sometime after midnite and woke up about 1 AM with most of the 4th quarter still to play. We avoided the shut-out but lost 16-6. I think the commentator cursed the Buffs when he said.. 'This young colorado team is playing well". Two missed field goals (no Mason Crosby any longer), poorly thrown passes by the coaches QB son (nepotism at its finest) and just a lot of room to improve. But I will say this, there is probably no more beautiful place to play football in the country on a Saturday nite then Folsom Field.

My football fashion faux pas award goes to the University of Kentucky. Those piercing bright blue uniforms made me think of a team of Smurfs on the field. What were they thinking? Absolutely the most heinous uniform I have seen.

Ill write more later about my poker escapades of the weekend later (there hasnt been much play). I had a fun Friday nite both before and after poker (lots of new blood in the league), a relaxing Saturday, scored my Phil Lesh and Friends tickets for October 20th at the Glens Falls Civic Center (floor seats even though I missed the DeadNet mail order). Target was having a great deal on TV series DVDs, so I picked up Season 1 of Rescue Me and Season II of Entourage ($19.99 each). They were out of Weeds and I really wanted that one and Season II of Grey's Anatomy. I got a better price then on Amazon. I just love Target!!

Mac and Cheese and Meatloaf up next. Tourney on Bodog later on. And Im looking foward to 4 day work weeks for the next 4 weeks (Fridays off). I also discovered what the culprit is as too what has knocked one of my planters off the balcony and broken limbs off my Dahlias and its not a squirrel. Its a big Blue Jay. I need to build myself some rail planters 8 inches wide that are heavy enough so that they wont be susceptible to wind and varmints!!

Friday, September 14, 2007

Conspiracy Theory

I just read LJ's post.. She hit quads 4x in 2 hours on Full Tilt and had 4 of a kind once. The odds of that happening to one person in that time span??? You math wizards figure it out. I'm an Accountant by training but rely on a calculater and my fingers to add subtract multiply and divide.

When I played on full tilt, I complained about being dealt the same hand two and three times in a row on the same table. Or the same hand at the same exact time on two different tables down to the suits. Its like there is only one giant deck of cards in the sky being dealt same to all tables.

Why so many action hands? I havent even watched too much poker on Full Tilt because I dont want negative Karma to invade my now positive mental attitude. And I dont want to be a mush for anyone still playing their. Normally in poker you may have a multiway pot preflop but by the river its usually heads up. On Full Tilt I notice alot of time its three way action all the way to the river. I saw a set losing to a flush losing to the boat. Dude stacked two people and you guessed it he was the big stack. I just chuckled and thanked my stars it wasnt me.

Im still running TT into QQ, and JJ into AA, or AT shorthanded into AJ on Bodog and Pokerstars. And Ive lost those hands as it should be. But those beats seem normal. The beats still happen but they are logical and rational and usually heads-up.

Im off to play live tonite. We have a pre-season meeting and tourney for Adirondack Poker League to test out a new blind structure and starting stack size. Snake seems to think more chips but has no idea about the blind levels (used to be 25 minutes). We have a new location for the time being (not Lex's garage) that can accomodate up to 50 players per the Commish.

I think Im going to take this Sunday off from live poker at the club, watch football, play the juicy tourneys on Bodog with the nice overlays that Smokkee has been pimping to me. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy dreary day and since I have a gazillion cookbooks I'm going to undertake a challenge ala America's Test Kitchen/Top Chef. This week Comfort Food. Im going to work on a really good Meatloaf with gravy perhaps and Mac & Cheese recipe. I may start with a recipe and tweak it IG style. My inspiration was a food network challenge and there were some outstanding Mac and Cheese recipes.

I also would like to try to score tickets to at least one of the Phil and Friends shows that are coming my way. He's at the Glens Falls Civic Center 10/20/07 but I heard it might be sold-out. I know mail order is closed. The night before which is APL league nite he's at Mohegan Sun and then onto Syracuse on 10/21/2007 (a stones throw from TROCK). So much to do so little time.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

A Change Will do you good

I've been playing well since my live cash on Sunday and self-imposed exile from Full Tilt

Monday nite a small buy-in league game for Poker Analysis on a small site called Jungle Poker. I had won about $12.50 in a freeroll there and had used $5.50 for one buyin game and decided i might as well spend most of the rest of what I had left. Its not a site I see myself playing on regularly. Heck there was only 843 people on the site. Anyway, long story short I managed to steal my way into contention then get some hands and made it to heads-up play.

I was outchipped going into heads up whittled away at Raz took the lead and then the break came and my momentum and cards went south. Before the break I just couldn't get him to bite when I had a big hand and he folded to most of my bets including my bluffs. OH well, I played very well. I now have like $30 on the site as I won $25 or so on my $5.50 buyin.

I also finished in 3rd and in the money in a $3.40 turbo sng Omaha8 10 person sng on stars.. I'm three for three cashes in my last attempts there.

I will confess to gigli-ing out first of 226 in a freeroll on Intertops. I raised with a Q8h thinking I was at a table of sitouts. ButI got a call. The flop was only one non-heart I think, and it went runner runner hearts too. . And being all in on the turn, I of course ran into someone with the Ah. OOPS it was a freeroll. Anyway, Intertops is a Micro-gaming site with no restriction on any of the US states. They are running Monday night football freerolls thru the 2007 season. Free money is free money. I used to love to play on Royal Vegas and Bet365 until the UIGEA made us unloved.

I wasn't going to play tonite. Instead, I was going to watch the WSOP broadcast on ESPN. But, I remembered the Bodog blogger tourney and the T315 credits I have and decided to join Smokkee over on the Dog for some blaggher hijinks. Especially since I am a Full Tilt refuge. I managed to bubble and finish 4th but played very well. I got playable cards, no wicked beats. I ran TT into lightning36's QQ 4way. He had position. I raised to $700 he re-raised. I thought about it and actually said omg he probably has JJ or QQ but hoped it was AJ or AT or QJ.. Nope I pushed all in and he called and I went to the rail. I should have laid it down as I still would have been in third place but only down $700. I did pull off some pretty good bluffs/semi bluffs. The FTP strategy guide has gotten me thinking that I have to call a certain amount of times you are re-raised. Sometimes you have to let them go but sometimes you have to call and then play after the flop. I still am so much better at reading people and putting people on hands live.

I finished up my main football league at 13-3 splitting the Monday nite games. Not a bad start to 2007. Winner took home $150. I expect to cash at least once this year.

I haven't been a big TV watcher since I took up poker. Yes Ive heard of a VCR but that and my DVD were not hooked up after I had to bring in the TV for repair in January. Snake hooked me all back up in May. A few weeks back he came down to watch the Days 1A/1B WSOP coverage (he lives about 40 minutes north of me) . It wasn't his day one but figured we would see him in the stands behind Hachem. Yes indeed you can see his shadow in the opening clip when they zoom in on Joe H. Then you can see him multiple times in the stands behind Hachem depending on the angle.

Anyway, I will confess to being DVD/VCR/TV remote challenged. I told Snake he would have to operate the VCR and do the recording and I would man the barbecue and grill steak (which I did perfectly and showed off my knife skills!!) . You see I didn't realize new VCRs remembered the TV channels and actually recorded the TV channel you are watching. My old VCR which lasted about twenty years, you had to change the input as it would record a station you weren't watching or some such thing and I had never realized that this no longer applied. Now I am a girl who can hook up anything with a PC (i had to set myself up for working at home) , deworm herself of a virus, burn Cd's, download onto her ipod, etc but when it comes to using a DVD or VCR i flunk. But now I am good since Snake got me all straightened out and didn't even tease me too much about being totally inept with the stuff.

So i got my Entertainment Weekly and the new TV guide which has recaps of all the fall shows and I'm looking forward to a new season of Grey's anatomy, Ugly Betty, the new Grey's spin-off and a bunch of other shows. I'm excited because I can record lots of lots of stuff. And did you realize that Survivor China will have a poker player on it?? Am I scooping any of you Survivor loyalists? JOHN ROBERT BELLANDE will be on this season along with some wrestling chick.

Big thinks to Smokkee for hosting the blaggher gathering over on the DOG. Ill be back. Hell I have enough tourney credits to play like 27 weeks!!!

Monday, September 10, 2007

Early Week 1 Football update

Imagine my joy when I went 12-2 in my Thursday/Sunday games just losing Carolina/St Louis and the Tenn/Jax game. Only two other people in my league were at 12-2 (edited) One had both of todays games opposite of me and the other had one pick same and one different. So literally, I'm jumping out of my shoes. But of course the wind was let out of my sails as there is a dude 13-1 (he had Tennessee to win) and we both have the same Monday nite picks. FAWK!!! So with a stellar week I cant even win on points and will wind up in second or third.

Sorry to you eagles fans who suffered the Green Bay loss (Hoyazo) I actually picked Green Bay by error but in retrospect it was a good decision I did with home field advantage, a good defense and Mason Crosby's leg. Perhaps the off season problems of Andy Reid's boys and McNabb's recovery from his ACL surgery are effecting the Eagles. I missed the final minutes as I had to leave for the club for my tourney but when I walked in the games were on as well as the early game recaps.

Ive never publicly declared my love for any team. I lived with a die-hard Minnesota Viking Fan for 8 years and still have a sweatshirt and love the old days of John Randle, Chis Carter, Jake Reed and Randy Moss when he was a rookie . Ive loved the Steelers as a little girl and then again when Kordell Stewart was there , the Broncos (when I lived in Colorado before Elway). Ive been to Jets games. I live in an area where there is an even mix of Bills, Jets, Giants and Patriots fans as I'm three hours to Foxboro, three to the Meadowlands and about 5 to Buffalo.

I guess I'm just a fan of the game in general.

Perfect Sunday..... Football and Poker

Sunday, September 09, 2007

At Da Club and into the money

My second appearance, and its into the money I rolled. $65 buyin (gets you a nice Italian dinner with salad and drinks and covers expenses) with $50 to the prize pool. I finished 5th of about 59 for $165 which covers my big game tourney there in two weeks $165 buyin. Or, I freeroll next week and have $100 towards the big game.

They always pay 10 deep with 6th thru 10th getting their buyins back. As the weather gets colder numbers increase. We opted to also pay 11th this week. There is a good reason for that: On the money bubble the tourney goes hand for hand. That impressed me. One of the organizers also took over the final table deal freeing us up to play and concentrate. I was the last woman standing although two others made the final table too. One Asian lady played every hand, picked her cards up off the table and made the most fonkettish calls known to mankind. She spewed her chips at the final table when she called an all- in with her K6 on K high board and ran into either KK or AA. One of my final tablemates clued me in on her play and I must say she had several players on tilt. I wasnt so sure some of it wasnt an act.

I had an early almost double up when I hit top and bottom pair (84os for me) out of the BB vs the small SB on a flop of 846. The small blind had A6os (only middle pair) and a straight draw on the turn and she moved all in. I called and no Ace sent her packing. This was after hitting a set of 77's (I limped then called a raise to $600) and getting maximum pay off on the set, and after my pocket tt held on a board of JJ44x and I correctly put my opponent on almost his exact hand. I figured him overcards and AQ and he had KQ.

My most beautiful hand was hitting a set with KK on the flop. Betting out first to act and getting a call. On the turn DQB baby. Quad Kings... I check my opponent fires I smooth call... River As for a possible flush which hit my opponent. I check he moves in.. Instacall by me and I send him just about out with all but about $2k chips.

I knocked another lady out when i reraised an early raiser with AA. Got an all in from a shorty in the blind. SHe had KK. My aces held as the early raiser folded KJ. Another reason why KJ UTG at a full handed table is not a strong hand. I laid it down about 3 times preflop under the gun full handed mid tourney and never would have hit with it and would have been at risks for a good chunk of my stacks from players left to act. I made a couple of good preflop laydowns (one with AQ out of the BB) .

I doubled up 5-way out of the SB at the final table when I called the buttons all in steal with AT and he had Q6os... The big stack in the big blind hemmed and hawed and mucked ATd face up. OMG outs gone but my hand held. Unfortunately my raise to $6000 with A7h on the button got a call from the BB. (blinds $1000/$2000). I hit bottom pair with two hearts and I smooth called the dudes bet on the flop. River gave me a gutshot too. I smooth called again and of course my flush and straight miss spectularly when the river is a black two and I lose half my newly acquired chips.

Right now Lex, Trent, Ray and I are going to be hitting the other APL up for the big game. I cant wait. Should be a fun day.

I know its in my head

Since I left FTP Ive played three tourneys and cashed in two.


Friday nite
lst one I recouped my $6.00 buyin on Cake (short of the .60 entry fee) when I earned to bountys in a head hunter. I final tabled finished 8th with 4 paying. My demise was my own fault: with blinds escalating and me in about 4th, I reraise with AK and get reraised back all in and call to run into Aces. Nothing major but at least I broke even and played well throughout the tourney short of the last hand.

Next one. I'm playing tight in a Poker Analysis freeroll league game on AP. I double up when a woman I call all-in XXXX. pushes with her pocket 66's. I know she does this with any pocket pair (three years playing against her and she is predictable and hasn't learned). I have JJ make the call hit a set double up. Rob from the rich, rob from the poor. Move into 3rd, then second. Then get stacked on a horrendous beat. I call a big raise with QQ. Hit a set. Bet the pot hard. My opponent with no pot odds and AK hits broadway on the river for the suckout (we are all in on the turn) and apologizes for being a donkey. Yes the suckouts are bad on AP too but no money at stake. Since it was a freeroll I pushed all in with my remaining chips shortly thereafter in the points for the league, short of the cash and called it a night. I played extremely well, but of course Ive played these folks for close to three years and I know their moves extremely well.

Saturday:

Pokerstars $5000 guarantee with 2066 entrants with 396 paying. I finish in the money (not much but I doubled my buy-in just about) finishing 226th or so with no real cards to work with. I had a major suckout when I ran JJ into QQ and stacked the QQ's doubling up kind of early. No action on the KK's I had twice early on. AQ vs AQ for a chopped pot late in the tourney. One huge bluff that paid off when I floated with AJ on a board of 662. Only other pairs I had were Small pairs (22 and 33 and 44) I folded preflop when there were raises and reraised in front of me. One lovely laydown : I fold 44 preflop and its AA vs 77 with the 7's hitting a set. I stole with 88 all in late on one of the money bubbles. I had 23os about 6 times. Another lovely hand I raise in the 5 seat with QTos hit two queens on the flop (I got a call from a shortstack on the button or in the blinds). Check the flop, call my opponents all in (they had AA or KK) and hit a ten on the turn for the boat and for once no suck-out.

That was all the poker I played yesterday as after I finished up I ran out to PetSmart for kitty treats (tuna flakes for Bailey which is like Kitty crack) and cat food. Then to Starbucks for a latte and to Walmart for batteries as my cordless mouse batteries were critical. Its pretty funny i get this icon that looks like two nuclear warheads when the batteries are going.

For some reason I though CU was off yesterday but got a Football email from the school that we blew a big lead against ASU playing sloppy football. Next week Florida State.

Now to get ready for a Sunday of football and a live poker tourney at the club starting at 5 EST. I realized i made a boo-boo on my picks and went with Green Bay over Philly.. Eeks. But the ace in the hole for GB is Mason Crosby, CU's former placekicker who is deadly from any range. Just maybe McNabb wont be completely recovered from injury. I'm also interested in seeing what Randy Moss will do for the Patriots. Help or Hindrance?

Thursday, September 06, 2007

The greatest sports betting Idea!!


I got an email from The Onion which I cant cut and paste into the blog, so I took a screen shot. Click on it and it will expand so your old eyes can read it!!! I'm not going to go into what the Onion is if you arent familiar with it. SO Check this out. Bet on the person whos going to miss their field goals, fumble the most, break a leg... Got to love it.

Im in the public league as BigEyedFish but you can go head to head with me too. I have big green eyes and Im a Fish and I named this after the Dave Matthews Song. Just think we get to root for the bad beats!!

Misery loves company!!

Here are IGs str8 up picks (I dont have to pick against the spread) for Week I of her football pool (4th year for IG).


> AWAY HOME
>
> Thursday game
>
> IND
>
> Sunday games
>
>WAS
> STL
> NE
> MIN
> JAX
>HOU
> GB
> PIT
> DEN
> SEA
> SD
> DET
> DAL
>
> Monday Games
>
> BAL
>
> SF
> POINTS - 40 (but if both games 75)

Goodbye to Full Tilt Poker

Last nite was the straw that broke the camels back for me and Full Tilt Poker. I transferred the last $21.41 I had there to Snake with a dont send it back to me.

Poker was not enjoyable there and it was making the entire game not fun for me and making me doubt myself. I was afraid to play my game because the eventual suckout would occur. When I opened up and got rolling as usual, I was rewarded with being kicked to the curb. I was dealt the same hand two times in a row 3 times last nite. I saw quads twice in the span of 20 hands (not me).

Why reload on a negative EV site for yourself. Its the only site Ive lost money on consistently. Ill play on Absolute/UB, Bodog, Bugsys, Poker.com and Stars where I still have funds and reload on stars.

Ill buy something cheap with the FPPs I have and then uninstall the site and close the account.

Ill still be blogging but I wont be playing in any of the weekly blogger tourneys. my live leagues are starting and twice weekly tourneys at the club on Thursdays and Sundays should get my live jones in and Ill play online the other nites on the other sites.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Hump Day Update

I decided to save a more creative title for a more creative post. I played a bit of poker over the Holiday Weekend and it was more of this: Take me to the River as the mega favorite and then drown my ass with cement shoes to where I'm sleeping with the fishes. IG = CHUM.

I can recount these lovely hands where deep in tourneys with a nice stack (like in the top ten)but in the mid stages (say 30-40 left in a 90 person sng) I tangle with the slightly bigger stack and have these gems occur. Why do all the big stacks get moved together?

1) I reraise 3x a preflop raiser with AA. He moves all in over the top. I'm a smart gal I know he has KK... And my call signifies one thing AA.. Classic full tilt.. He has Kd there are two diamonds on the flop and it goes runner runner on turn and river and I'm cracked and out instead of chip leader.

or this gem:

2) I limp multi way with AQ (my Achilles heel) and flop Broadway.... Dude bets with top pair being a K. I repop his flop bet. He calls. Turn is a 9, which he now (although I don't know it yet) two pairs and Im still ahead. He moves all in on the turn. I call thinking maybe he has the lower straight or two pair.. River you guessed it 9 and he sinks my battleship.

Or this lovely which of course is a trouble hand and why gappers are dangerous.

I call a min raise with 7T split out of the SB and two pair the flop with a Q also on board.... Everyone checks except me and I Bet 3/4 the pot. One caller but Im pretty sure he doesn't have a Q he may have something Like KT or AT... Turn is another Queen.. He checks and I don't smell a trap. But I bet again and get a call. River is an Ace. I move in.. he calls with Ax and the board plays his AA QQ beats my QQ TT. Probably should have just jammed at the pot on the flop but Im trying to extract value more money. Instead I go broke.

Enough of the bad beat stories. All is good.

I did head down to the Albany "club" Sunday nite for a live tourney. 60+ people as it paid 6 deep that nite. I was told as the weather gets colder the numbers increase. Not a bad turn-out for the Labor Day weekend. $65 gets you food and drinks too. I was shown the back entrance and the back way into the place and welcomed with open arms. Plus one of the organizers took to calling me "SUGAR". Im looking forward to a deep stack tourney there in two weeks $165 buy-in. I played well busting out half way when my AKd with two diamonds failed to improve against a hand I had dominated A9 os.. Bigger stack rivered the 9 on me and IGHN. I plan on going back this weekend since I'm sitting out Atlantic City and the $300 buyin at the Borgata for a number of reasons. Largely we lost overtime at work and I'm belt-tightening a bit on my expenses and I have a nice car insurance bill due as well as my escrow going up and my homeowners association fees going up. The joys of being a home and car owner but those are good things!!

I'm stewing over my first weeks NFL picks. As much as I hate to do it I'm strongly thinking of taking Dallas over the Giants. I can hear Snake snickering now as Dallas is his favorite team. I really like New Orleans for the season but who can dismiss Indy? Fortunately I just have to pick straight up and not against the spread. Im not playing any pure fantasy football this year because I don't have the time to invest like I used too back in 1999-2001 when I avidly played and was one of the season leaders and multi time weekly winners in the league the Schenectady Gazette had.

Like many of my fellow bloggers, I will confess to being a geek. I was one of those smart girls who always had their hand up in the air to answer questions. My teachers either adored me or they feared me. I was voted teachers torment because some of them I just knew I was smarter then and let it be known. One year I got stuck in English class for Juvie delinquents as some strange joke was being played on me. I used to have spit balls shot at me. The first time I uttered the F word was when after one spit ball incident. I looked at the dirty stringy haired English teacher and said: Im not staying in this class with these friggin retards. I walked out and down to the principals office and insisted I be placed with my friends in Mr Sullivan's class where students were interested in literature and learning. Since I was a good little runner and athlete I was accommodated.

I am such a geek that my head is full of worthless info. At CU we used to have the trivia bowl. I never participated but should have. A former co-worker of mine wanted me to try out for Jeopardy when they came for tryouts in the Albany area. I will confess to being the captain of Hudson High's Answer's Please team my senior year. This contest pitted High schools against each other on a TV show. 4 person to a team. I of course was the only gal that week on the show. We lost but I can remember my correct answer to my bonus question of where is the medulla oblongata located? I gave them the brain and got very good and very specific (Head would have sufficed).

The other day, my fellow work at home co-worker, Kasey types into our daily IM lifeline to another human: Why do old men always say W as in whiskey as our member ids begin with W's to be HIPPAA compliant. So I tell her its probably from there days in the service as Whiskey is what is used for the phonetic NATO alphabet and on the radios to be clear. So I recite the first 6-7 of the letters for her when she asks: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India and say T is Tango and she cracks up and says.. You know that? and I'm like embarrassed and say yes I'm pathetic (Ive also read tons of spy novels like Ludlum). So she suggests I try out for the World Series of Pop Culture next year. Its a good idea as I love pop culture but Im in no ways an expert even though like LJ, I love that stuff. I still think I would make a great Amazing Race contestant.

Back to musing over my picks and maybe to play a few hands of poker. I'm really down to under $50 each on both Stars and Tilt right now so Im going to have to reload and wire some moolah to them as epassporte takes so friggin long. UGH.

And go read Katitude's recent post about how she had the same hand on three different FTP tables at the same time. She didnt even mention that on Friday nite when we were donkeying it up she was dealt JJ three out of 4 hands. Im seriously coming to the conclusion that there is a band of Winged Monkeys running the RNG on full tilt sending me the message.. Save your money IG invest in T-Bills or put the money under your mattress.

Its now time for TOP CHEF!!

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Presto is Gold - with props to Fuel55

PokerStars Game #11821537959: Tournament #59989569, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2007/09/01 - 23:58:25 (ET)
Table '59989569 4' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: DragonBones (5075 in chips)
Seat 2: Johnnina (2455 in chips)
Seat 3: PORK-LA-PIG (2165 in chips)
Seat 4: Lethal04 (2790 in chips)
Seat 5: GIGIAYERS (8900 in chips)
Seat 6: pitbulz (3670 in chips)
Seat 7: abdo59 (5560 in chips)
Seat 8: the limbo (1820 in chips)
Seat 9: irongirl01 (2580 in chips)
irongirl01: posts small blind 100
DragonBones: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to irongirl01 [5h 5d]
Johnnina: folds
PORK-LA-PIG: folds
Lethal04: folds
GIGIAYERS: calls 200
pitbulz: folds
abdo59: folds
the limbo: folds
irongirl01: calls 100
DragonBones: checks
*** FLOP *** [2s Ad 5c]
irongirl01: bets 400
DragonBones: raises 1200 to 1600
GIGIAYERS: folds
irongirl01: raises 780 to 2380 and is all-in
DragonBones: calls 780
DragonBones said, "nh"
*** TURN *** [2s Ad 5c] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [2s Ad 5c Jc] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
irongirl01: shows [5h 5d] (three of a kind, Fives)
DragonBones: shows [As Td] (a pair of Aces)
irongirl01 collected 5360 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5360 | Rake 0
Board [2s Ad 5c Jc Qh]
Seat 1: DragonBones (big blind) showed [As Td] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: Johnnina folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: PORK-LA-PIG folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Lethal04 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: GIGIAYERS folded on the Flop
Seat 6: pitbulz folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: abdo59 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: the limbo (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: irongirl01 (small blind) showed [5h 5d] and won (5360) with three of a kind, Fives

and then this lovely hand two later:

okerStars Game #11821604815: Tournament #59989569, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2007/09/02 - 00:03:24 (ET)
Table '59989569 4' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: DragonBones (2895 in chips)
Seat 2: Johnnina (2230 in chips)
Seat 3: PORK-LA-PIG (2140 in chips)
Seat 4: Lethal04 (2765 in chips)
Seat 5: GIGIAYERS (8675 in chips)
Seat 6: pitbulz (3645 in chips)
Seat 7: abdo59 (5535 in chips)
Seat 8: the limbo (1795 in chips)
Seat 9: irongirl01 (5335 in chips)
DragonBones: posts the ante 25
Johnnina: posts the ante 25
PORK-LA-PIG: posts the ante 25
Lethal04: posts the ante 25
GIGIAYERS: posts the ante 25
pitbulz: posts the ante 25
abdo59: posts the ante 25
the limbo: posts the ante 25
irongirl01: posts the ante 25
Johnnina: posts small blind 100
PORK-LA-PIG: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to irongirl01 [Qc Qh]
Lethal04: folds
GIGIAYERS: folds
pitbulz: raises 400 to 600 (just calling here to leave me with an escape if A or K hits)abdo59: folds
the limbo: folds
irongirl01: calls 600
DragonBones: folds
Johnnina: raises 1605 to 2205 and is all-in (goodie goodie was chipleader and has been spewing and no call from early raiser)PORK-LA-PIG: folds
pitbulz: folds
irongirl01: calls 1605
*** FLOP *** [7h 4d 2d]
*** TURN *** [7h 4d 2d] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [7h 4d 2d Kh] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Johnnina: shows [Ts Tc] (a pair of Tens)
irongirl01: shows [Qc Qh] (a pair of Queens)
irongirl01 collected 5435 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5435 | Rake 0
Board [7h 4d 2d Kh 5h]
Seat 1: DragonBones (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Johnnina (small blind) showed [Ts Tc] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 3: PORK-LA-PIG (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Lethal04 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: GIGIAYERS folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: pitbulz folded before Flop
Seat 7: abdo59 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: the limbo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: irongirl01 showed [Qc Qh] and won (5435) with a pair of Queens