Ive bitten the bullet and decided to use one of my $24 tokens for the first event which is deep stacked NLHE. I had two tokens in the hole and earned another today to replenish the one I'm using tonite. Its only an $8.80 investment to play against some mighty fine bloggers/poker players and to see where I'm at. I feel I'm capable of holding my own, having cashed in the Last Mookie I played and I have several cashes in the WWDN.
I finished #2 in two tourneys yesterday. Coupled with the token I earned today Im playing well.
The cards are in the air. It shuffle up and deal time.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
APL Season Ender Top 10 tourney-Congrats Snake5970
Last nite was the finale for the top ten. First prize was $800 and tenth place was $70. We were all guaranteed at least a minimal cash. The bottom 17 had their own two table tourney with a smaller prize pool. Bruce and Patti (Bruce's wife and league substitute) prepared a nice pre tourney buffet for us before action got under way. I thought about live blogging the top ten tourney but then decided against it to concentrate on the game.
Our starting chip stacks were based on the points we had earned throughout the twenty week season. That put me on the shortstack (not by much), but about a 3000 chip dawg to league leader Steve. Karen and Doug both started with close to the same number of chips as I.
Thursday nite I had played heads-up against the Shamster for AcesCracked. I was able to take the victory down in about thirty minutes. I had Sham down early and he played back at me. Snake was on the rail and in my ear and for a minute or two I wondered who's side he was on offering me the following encouragement.... "he's coming back" as my 3:1 chip advantage dwindled back towards my starting chip count. This didnt happen just once but on a couple of occasions. In return I cussed a blue streak back into his ear which got a "What's with the swearing!!???!!" Which got me to admit what should have been obvious...."I have my period, Okay!!!" Yes I was feeling rather restless, irritable and slightly impatient and discontented. "Ah, so that was what the 72os was all about last nite." he replied." I of course just giggle and say "Yup!" On Wednesday nite, with 11 left in a $5.50 90 person Deep Stack SNG on Full Tilt, I went from 2nd in chips with about 22k to out in 11th, in the course of about 4 hands. Shorthanded I missed with AK, missed with K9 donating chips back to the dude I had doubled up off of to move into the two spot. So, like any good blogger on a bad or good day I pushed all in with 72os. Out I went.
So Friday nite I was actually calm and cool as a cucumber pre-tourney and I had absolutely no pre-tourney jitters and the hormones werent raging.. Vindication and redemption were really what I was looking for. I had a game plan and I had some targets. Lucky me, I have Al on my immediate right (hes rather tight) , Doug on my immediate left and when I'm on the button Ray/Snake is my BB. Our starting seats are:
1. Steve (PokerBratz) on the button the league leader, bowling phenom (hes been on FoxSports!!)
2. Tracey (aka Pinky)
3. Lex (aka BigTai)
4. Al (WD40)
5. Lori (Irongirl01, better known as IG or Tilly)
6. Doug
7. Ray (snake5970, Fearless Ray to the APLers-league runner-up)
8. Zoe
9 Eric
10 Karen
I am not sure if this was prophetic or not but Mike came over with the bracelet that the winner of our tourney would win to show to me, Ray and I think Al or Lex. I picked it up out of the box and put it around Rays wrist. And as much as I wanted to win the tourney myself, if I were setting the morning line on who I felt would win I would have the odds on Ray as the favorite. I've seen him improve tremendously over the last 3 months as I have improved. Plus I had railed him thru a bunch of FTOPS sats this past week and some of the guarantees on-line which he went deep in and had some nominal cashes. He even made it into the Poker After Dark finale. He had chopped his monday nite game with his brother after he knocked out his league sub Joe aka Cocky aka Smellydigits. A big win was only around the corner and live play is where he really excels.
Somewhere during the first hour, I noticed Ray had gotten really quiet, in fact I saw what looked like TILT. Although he is a table captain who likes to keep things moving he's usually relaxed and easy going and chatty. I leaned over to ask him what was up as Doug was out of his seat for the umpteenth time to smoke a butt. He told me what was going on, but we were still playing so I told him to breathe and flipped him my buddha cardcapper and told him to rub his belly. We were close to break and on break I grabbed him away from the table and let him vent. What was going on had'nt gotten to the point of irritating me yet but I understood his frustration. I told him not to let it effect his tourney.
Eric was the first to hit the rail. He got involved with Al who had acquired a nice stack mostly off Steve I believe. Al made a call that for most of us would have been simple which left him shaken and the chip leader. He left Eric with 1 black $100 chip. Steve went out next. I then tangled with Tracey on a call that I had to go with my read on. I raised with AQos.. Everyone folded but Tracey in the BB who called my raise. The board came something like 679. I checked she bet. I put her on a draw and called. the turn came something like a 2. I checked she bet $600 I called . I either bet the river or check called another $600. I had put her on a str8 draw and was partially right she was on a str8 and flush draw and my AQ high was enough to take her K8os. That got me well over my starting chip stack and left Tracey short. She was next to go then Doug and then Zoe took out Karen. And then there were 5.
With the blinds getting up there at 1000/2000, Lex who was short, started making the all in moves. Everyone was beating me to the punch. I thought about calling him with KJh from the BB with him on the button. I went into the tank but folded. He showed me an Ace so I have to believe I was dominated to either a made hand or it was a race. I wasnt ready to commit. I got dealt a few medium pockets 55 and 66 and folded from EP. Ray was on a tear and now had about the same number of chips as Al. On two circuits I looked down to AK and JJ two hands in a row in the SB and on the button. I was able to get Ray to fold his BB to me when I moved in with Big Slick from the SB, and when I raised of the button to about $4200 leaving me pot committed with the fishhooks I got no bites. I had horrible hands in the BB and couldnt play back at Al even when he only limped against me from the SB. There isn't much you can do with 83os and 24os when the flop misses you completely and your opponent rarely bluffs.
Finally down to my last 3000 chips and the shortstack I move all in with the hand I call the Snake. It was a diamond suited Snake . Ray looked at me and called. The flop came k7x I believe. Zoe was also in the pot. Ray bet her out of the hand and flipped pocket 7's for a set. There was one diamond on the flop, one on the turn but the miracle flush didnt arrive and I went out in 5th for $200 . Ray leaned over said a couple words to me and i just smiled and said.. "You know what I say.... the person who knocks me out goes on to win"... I moved my seat from the table to just behind him, to sweat him.
That left Ray as chipleader and Zoe and Lex and Al (who had gotten short with most of the chips going to Ray on a bluff by Ray) The hand of the evening three people all in. Zoe with AJ, Lex and AL: AK and AQ... The turn or river brought a Jack and Zoe was now heads-up with Ray and the chip leader.
I stood up from the table and almost didn't want to watch. Now I know how Phil Gordon felt when he was sweating Rafe Furst. Im lucky in that I got to see Ray's card's whereas Phil was in the stands. It was a clinic and everything he has taught me just recently about heads-up play. It took all of 6 hands for about 50,000 or so of Zoe's chips to wind up in Rays hands. She only won one hand in 5. The final hand she pushed all-in. He had Q8os... I knew he would make the call. I would make the same call now and had just done so in a tourney on FTP where I went on to finish 3rd. I believe Zoe held K7os and when the board hit an 8 and there was no king for Zoe, Ray was the Season #2 final tourney champ to the tune of $800 and Bracelet winner. Bill, Zoe's dad and hubby of leaguemate Juddy took down the other tourney over runner-up Steve and Mike aka the commish finished 3rd.
CONGRATULATIONS R. P.
Postscript.. The Mojo is still working for Snake5970.. With an investment of $200 in last nites UB $109 rebuy he finished #2 for a nice cash of over $5k. I had told him after his APL win that this was going to be his break-out year and I love being right!!
Our starting chip stacks were based on the points we had earned throughout the twenty week season. That put me on the shortstack (not by much), but about a 3000 chip dawg to league leader Steve. Karen and Doug both started with close to the same number of chips as I.
Thursday nite I had played heads-up against the Shamster for AcesCracked. I was able to take the victory down in about thirty minutes. I had Sham down early and he played back at me. Snake was on the rail and in my ear and for a minute or two I wondered who's side he was on offering me the following encouragement.... "he's coming back" as my 3:1 chip advantage dwindled back towards my starting chip count. This didnt happen just once but on a couple of occasions. In return I cussed a blue streak back into his ear which got a "What's with the swearing!!???!!" Which got me to admit what should have been obvious...."I have my period, Okay!!!" Yes I was feeling rather restless, irritable and slightly impatient and discontented. "Ah, so that was what the 72os was all about last nite." he replied." I of course just giggle and say "Yup!" On Wednesday nite, with 11 left in a $5.50 90 person Deep Stack SNG on Full Tilt, I went from 2nd in chips with about 22k to out in 11th, in the course of about 4 hands. Shorthanded I missed with AK, missed with K9 donating chips back to the dude I had doubled up off of to move into the two spot. So, like any good blogger on a bad or good day I pushed all in with 72os. Out I went.
So Friday nite I was actually calm and cool as a cucumber pre-tourney and I had absolutely no pre-tourney jitters and the hormones werent raging.. Vindication and redemption were really what I was looking for. I had a game plan and I had some targets. Lucky me, I have Al on my immediate right (hes rather tight) , Doug on my immediate left and when I'm on the button Ray/Snake is my BB. Our starting seats are:
1. Steve (PokerBratz) on the button the league leader, bowling phenom (hes been on FoxSports!!)
2. Tracey (aka Pinky)
3. Lex (aka BigTai)
4. Al (WD40)
5. Lori (Irongirl01, better known as IG or Tilly)
6. Doug
7. Ray (snake5970, Fearless Ray to the APLers-league runner-up)
8. Zoe
9 Eric
10 Karen
I am not sure if this was prophetic or not but Mike came over with the bracelet that the winner of our tourney would win to show to me, Ray and I think Al or Lex. I picked it up out of the box and put it around Rays wrist. And as much as I wanted to win the tourney myself, if I were setting the morning line on who I felt would win I would have the odds on Ray as the favorite. I've seen him improve tremendously over the last 3 months as I have improved. Plus I had railed him thru a bunch of FTOPS sats this past week and some of the guarantees on-line which he went deep in and had some nominal cashes. He even made it into the Poker After Dark finale. He had chopped his monday nite game with his brother after he knocked out his league sub Joe aka Cocky aka Smellydigits. A big win was only around the corner and live play is where he really excels.
Somewhere during the first hour, I noticed Ray had gotten really quiet, in fact I saw what looked like TILT. Although he is a table captain who likes to keep things moving he's usually relaxed and easy going and chatty. I leaned over to ask him what was up as Doug was out of his seat for the umpteenth time to smoke a butt. He told me what was going on, but we were still playing so I told him to breathe and flipped him my buddha cardcapper and told him to rub his belly. We were close to break and on break I grabbed him away from the table and let him vent. What was going on had'nt gotten to the point of irritating me yet but I understood his frustration. I told him not to let it effect his tourney.
Eric was the first to hit the rail. He got involved with Al who had acquired a nice stack mostly off Steve I believe. Al made a call that for most of us would have been simple which left him shaken and the chip leader. He left Eric with 1 black $100 chip. Steve went out next. I then tangled with Tracey on a call that I had to go with my read on. I raised with AQos.. Everyone folded but Tracey in the BB who called my raise. The board came something like 679. I checked she bet. I put her on a draw and called. the turn came something like a 2. I checked she bet $600 I called . I either bet the river or check called another $600. I had put her on a str8 draw and was partially right she was on a str8 and flush draw and my AQ high was enough to take her K8os. That got me well over my starting chip stack and left Tracey short. She was next to go then Doug and then Zoe took out Karen. And then there were 5.
With the blinds getting up there at 1000/2000, Lex who was short, started making the all in moves. Everyone was beating me to the punch. I thought about calling him with KJh from the BB with him on the button. I went into the tank but folded. He showed me an Ace so I have to believe I was dominated to either a made hand or it was a race. I wasnt ready to commit. I got dealt a few medium pockets 55 and 66 and folded from EP. Ray was on a tear and now had about the same number of chips as Al. On two circuits I looked down to AK and JJ two hands in a row in the SB and on the button. I was able to get Ray to fold his BB to me when I moved in with Big Slick from the SB, and when I raised of the button to about $4200 leaving me pot committed with the fishhooks I got no bites. I had horrible hands in the BB and couldnt play back at Al even when he only limped against me from the SB. There isn't much you can do with 83os and 24os when the flop misses you completely and your opponent rarely bluffs.
Finally down to my last 3000 chips and the shortstack I move all in with the hand I call the Snake. It was a diamond suited Snake . Ray looked at me and called. The flop came k7x I believe. Zoe was also in the pot. Ray bet her out of the hand and flipped pocket 7's for a set. There was one diamond on the flop, one on the turn but the miracle flush didnt arrive and I went out in 5th for $200 . Ray leaned over said a couple words to me and i just smiled and said.. "You know what I say.... the person who knocks me out goes on to win"... I moved my seat from the table to just behind him, to sweat him.
That left Ray as chipleader and Zoe and Lex and Al (who had gotten short with most of the chips going to Ray on a bluff by Ray) The hand of the evening three people all in. Zoe with AJ, Lex and AL: AK and AQ... The turn or river brought a Jack and Zoe was now heads-up with Ray and the chip leader.
I stood up from the table and almost didn't want to watch. Now I know how Phil Gordon felt when he was sweating Rafe Furst. Im lucky in that I got to see Ray's card's whereas Phil was in the stands. It was a clinic and everything he has taught me just recently about heads-up play. It took all of 6 hands for about 50,000 or so of Zoe's chips to wind up in Rays hands. She only won one hand in 5. The final hand she pushed all-in. He had Q8os... I knew he would make the call. I would make the same call now and had just done so in a tourney on FTP where I went on to finish 3rd. I believe Zoe held K7os and when the board hit an 8 and there was no king for Zoe, Ray was the Season #2 final tourney champ to the tune of $800 and Bracelet winner. Bill, Zoe's dad and hubby of leaguemate Juddy took down the other tourney over runner-up Steve and Mike aka the commish finished 3rd.
CONGRATULATIONS R. P.
Postscript.. The Mojo is still working for Snake5970.. With an investment of $200 in last nites UB $109 rebuy he finished #2 for a nice cash of over $5k. I had told him after his APL win that this was going to be his break-out year and I love being right!!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Game Over: State Delivers Blow to Online Gambling
I just got this emailed to me in the ATLARGE mailing list. WTEN just happens to be my local news. Prior to me getting the email, Snake had called me to ask if I had heard anything about this. He heard about this thru a co-worker who also plays online (mostly freerolls) who told him another friend couldnt log into some poker room. Twas news to me as I have been able to log into all my sites as has he (Full Tilt, Pokerstars and Absolute for me this week).
Im beginning to think I should start using my sisters address in Connecticut or set up a PO Box in Vermont (which is a hop, skip and jump away).
Any other NYers running into problems? And is anyone having problems leaving comments on my blog since I updated to new blogger? The shamster is having problems with not getting word verification.
Im beginning to think I should start using my sisters address in Connecticut or set up a PO Box in Vermont (which is a hop, skip and jump away).
Any other NYers running into problems? And is anyone having problems leaving comments on my blog since I updated to new blogger? The shamster is having problems with not getting word verification.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Next Bad Beat on Cancer Tourney
Card Room: Full Tilt Poker
Date and time: Feb 10th at 9pm EST
Tourney Name: Bad Beat on CancerBuy-in: $5+$5
Password: badbeat
Rafe Furst, Andy Bloch and Phil Gordon have all joined in this tourney. Shamanalinx knocked Rafe out of one of the events. We wont mention what Phil Gordon did to him at the Final table though.
Date and time: Feb 10th at 9pm EST
Tourney Name: Bad Beat on CancerBuy-in: $5+$5
Password: badbeat
Rafe Furst, Andy Bloch and Phil Gordon have all joined in this tourney. Shamanalinx knocked Rafe out of one of the events. We wont mention what Phil Gordon did to him at the Final table though.
Gavin Smith vs Joe Sebok-Mechanical Bull Riding
http://www.rawvegas.tv/propsandflops/propbets/
This is a crazy site. Definitely better then Rosie vs Donald Trump.
This is a crazy site. Definitely better then Rosie vs Donald Trump.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
TILT is a 4 letter word...............
My week started off with a nice dinner and some good poker play (a couple SNG wins in a row) in the middle of an ice storm and spiraled down into a personal TILT festivus.
The day after MLK day is our busiest day of the year for calls in our call center. Why they just dont give us the day as a floater and open up is beyond me. Who wants a day off in the middle of January? MLK may have had a dream, but my vision is one of soaking up sunshine on the beach in warm weather, watching my flowers grow and barbecuing up some Good Eats. We have no paid holidays until Memorial Day in May. My personal goal every year is to try to work the winter and spring straight thru without a day off so I can have a week or two for Vegas and then take every Friday off for the rest of the year or close.
So I head into work early on Tuesday or so I think. I stop to get gas at the gas station, mail a bill at the post office and as I pull out I notice my car is sluggish. In fact it is so sluggish it wont go over 40 miles per hour (V6 Hyundai Santa Fe). I realize this while driving southbound on the Northway (an oxymoron if there ever was one) in the middle of rush hour traffic. I pop on my hazards and am half in the right/slowpoke lane and half in the breakdown lane. Does that stop peeps from running up my ass. Nope... Hazards mean nothing to the short bus drivers of the Capital District. A trucker runs up my ass then pulls alongside and honks. I flip him the bird because its pretty damn clear I cant go any faster. Finally Im able to limp my car into the Mobil station at exit 6. Do you think the people who barely speak English can understand my request for a phone book? of course not.. I truck outside to the pay phone to call Triple A (remember I dont own a cellphone yet) , then work to say I'm gonna be late on the busiest day of the year and then the dealership to say.. "Hey, I'm on my way..... drop everything for me because you gotta fix my car..." Fortunately, as lame as the commericals for Fuccillo Automotive are they are able to accomodate Milady the Most Honourable Lori Ann the Implacable.
Did I mention that before all this with the car took place, my beloved feline Bailey who is the most curious cat in the world and who knows how to make mischief gets himself stuck in the handles of a plastic shopping bag? I find out when I get home that nite that I failed to pull the whole bag off him when he went tearing thru the condo on his third lap thru the house breaking one of his food bowls during the ensuing melee ( it shot right up into the air). Poor cat spent the whole day shaking under my bed. I freed him of the bag stuck around his leg when I got home.
So back to the SUV.. Its almost time to have the timing belt done and it does need a tuneup. I decide that while its in there, I should do that since I wont be driving much once I start working from home. Plus I tend to procrastinate (if its not broke dont fix it)... The service dudes are able to complete the spark plug change (which involves taking something off the engine cuz the damn things are encased) and the timing belt, but the car is still sluggish... DUH.... They are unable to pinpoint the exact nature of the problem and decide to keep it overnight. No biggie they come thru with a loaner... a nice new 2007 Santa Fe. I like it but it is really too big (I sit even higher in that then in my 2003). After careful consideration I ruled out trading in my 03 for a new model and you can bet after putting $900+ into the car I'm going to get my monies worth out of those repairs...
I had emailed Snake my tail of woe on the car and Baboo . About 8 or so the phone rings and its him pretending to be from the ASPCA, of course I start laughing hysterically because Im practically laying on the floor trying to coax Bailey out from under the bed. I figure Baboo will come out when he is hungry. Snake needs me to pinch hit for him in his Poker in the Dark satellite while he goes out to pick up his daughter. I manage to almost double his chips before I hand back off to him. We tag team our way to an 11th place finish (his prior best finish was 10th in these 360 person donkfests) , discussing how to play the hands he has and putting his opponents on hands. It is so much easier to do this from the position as railbird then when playing. And... for about the 4th time in a couple of weeks, its becoming clear to me that Snake is going to be in need of glasses very soon. When he asks why the pot just got shipped to one dude I state he had JJ (hole cards) on a board of 23T82.. jj22 beats Tens and eights (what the other dude was holding) He says.. No the guy had a set of tens.. I say "Sweetie, I hate to tell you this but are going to need reading glasses soon or its gonna be an an expensive mistake one of these days". I pass on the WWDN.. the cat issues and car issues make me not want to think much.
Wednesday I got the guys from Time Warner and Verizon coming to install the business lines. They have given me a pretty big window 8-5 Pm... Im hoping they come late so I dont have to go into work. Of course not.. Verizon is there first by 8:30 AM which is an hour before I start work at 9:30 AM.. Time Warner calls me about 1/2 hour later during Verizon dudes gig and is on his way. Fortunately they are not falling all over each other even though they are working in the same place. I was an easy install. TW dude says I could have gone to Queensbury first and done you on my way back when I tell him I now will have to go into work... Im into work by 11:45 AM. I leave 1/2 hour early to get the car. I dont think they ever figured out what was wrong with it. The transmission tested out fine. Im wondering if it was some bad gas that got put in the car coupled with a frozen line or something. Car malady of unknown origin.
I pass on the Mookie as Im pinch hitting again for Snake in one of the FTP guarantees. I didnt have much to work with and my cards were bad. We go out before the $$$ close but no C I G A R. His bro stops by to chat thinking its Snake. Im on the phone with Snake during all this and finally we tell SILO its me.
Thursday is a three Ipuprofen day... I register for the AcesCracked preseason opener on FTP.. Passing on the Poker Analysis Buyin league game. Pstars hasnt been showing me any love lately. In fact Im almost thinking of going on a sng minimarathon to either donk off or work up my remaining funds there (sitting at about $160)... Ive been having much more success on FTP with the tokens and SNGS (because that damn bonus finally expired). The blogger tourneys have largely moved over to FTP except Wil's WWDN. I also pull back my money parked in Neteller... As of today (1/20/07) the transaction I did on 1/17/07 is pending.
AcesCracked puts me and Snake mano a womano..... He flushes me with a baby flush down to 300 chips I rally back. He dings me again.. I rally again (Sham is on the rail having sat it out to play Poker Analysis on Pstars) Silo is also railing us..... Finally Im snakebitten..... the mortal blow... I raise him He reraises I call. I'm holding BIG SLICK .. Board hits a King. I fire He reraises me.. I type okay lets gamble ALL-IN.. I had him totally dominated.. He flushes me again... IG vs Snake online heads-up play now stands at 2-1. Ill get him next time.
Friday nite is APL final week 20. I have a 10 point lead on Silo/Rich.. Doug Karen and I are all 8-9-10 closely spaced... I have had a horrible 2nd half of the live league. I feel an impending sense of doom. Ive so much as said to Ray that I will not be in the top ten tourney where all the $$ is. Maybe its a self fullfilling prophesy but everything that can go wrong has. The big improvement Ive had online has not carried over to live play. Ive put my money in with the best hand and been outdrawn too many times to count it seems. Im cursed. Its as if the poker gods are saying to me... save your money IG, you are wasting time and money. Ever get the feeling your not meant to win the big one? Sometimes in moments of self doubt that is the message that comes thru to me.
Tonite is no different. I manage to have about 1500 more chips then Karen who Im ahead of. Doug has just lost half his stack. Ray is shorter then me as are a few others. Ray sitting across from me, manages to split on one or two orbits even gaining chips when he sees his BB multiway with no raises in front. Karen rivers a flush on her table to keep her alive and triple her up. Ray had gone over to watch the results of the hand and reported back. I just look at him and shake my head cuz I know when I need to catch a break its not going to come. I lay down AJd to league Leaders Steve-O's raise to $1200 which pot committed me preflop had I called. I decide to wait either thru the blinds or be first in. Finally i look down to A9h. Im EP and am first to move. Everyone lays down except Steve in the bb. I knew Ray in the SB would.. Him finishing another place higher insured his 2nd place finish in the league over Edawg. Steve calls with 36d as its only costing him a couple hundred more. He fully expected to double me up. But in his words.. Youre gonna either love me for doubling you or hate me. Of course he hits diamonds and out I go.. .
I leave the table to get my coat. I hand two more poker books to Ray who tries to get me to stay. I just looked at him and state the obvious. I just have to get away from this place and state if i dont finish in the top ten I might not even play the donk fest of the bottom feeders tourney. After I get home and feed Bailey (free of the bag and his bad day) I play a sng on Full Tilt after I cool off a bit. bad move. I dont do horrendously bad but Im too frazzled to play my A game or aggressively. The wind is out of my sails.
The phone rings about 45 minutes after I get home. "You made it barely".. Ray says. There is no sigh of relief on my end of the phone. His brother had not.. He's playing Omaha hi in a cash game, which is not a game he plays really at all. He asks me for a few quick tips. Which I rattle off (although omaha 8 is my better game of the two Omahas)... He had a nice little session from what he told me today...
Top ten tourney next week. My place is insured. Me, Ray, Lex, (all who have played AcesCracked) Eric and Steve (best buddies), Tracy (Edwags gal), Karen and Doug Al and Zoe.. I was once as high as 3rd in the standings. I finished tenth.. Next week is a new battle and I can play small ball against the weak/tight players. Take position away from the LAGS by moving in from time to time ala Kill Phil style. And match wits with Lex and Ray the two most gifted when it comes to reading the board and calculating pot odds. I respect them all and fear no one. Well just have to see if I can hold myself up to the bar i have set.
The day after MLK day is our busiest day of the year for calls in our call center. Why they just dont give us the day as a floater and open up is beyond me. Who wants a day off in the middle of January? MLK may have had a dream, but my vision is one of soaking up sunshine on the beach in warm weather, watching my flowers grow and barbecuing up some Good Eats. We have no paid holidays until Memorial Day in May. My personal goal every year is to try to work the winter and spring straight thru without a day off so I can have a week or two for Vegas and then take every Friday off for the rest of the year or close.
So I head into work early on Tuesday or so I think. I stop to get gas at the gas station, mail a bill at the post office and as I pull out I notice my car is sluggish. In fact it is so sluggish it wont go over 40 miles per hour (V6 Hyundai Santa Fe). I realize this while driving southbound on the Northway (an oxymoron if there ever was one) in the middle of rush hour traffic. I pop on my hazards and am half in the right/slowpoke lane and half in the breakdown lane. Does that stop peeps from running up my ass. Nope... Hazards mean nothing to the short bus drivers of the Capital District. A trucker runs up my ass then pulls alongside and honks. I flip him the bird because its pretty damn clear I cant go any faster. Finally Im able to limp my car into the Mobil station at exit 6. Do you think the people who barely speak English can understand my request for a phone book? of course not.. I truck outside to the pay phone to call Triple A (remember I dont own a cellphone yet) , then work to say I'm gonna be late on the busiest day of the year and then the dealership to say.. "Hey, I'm on my way..... drop everything for me because you gotta fix my car..." Fortunately, as lame as the commericals for Fuccillo Automotive are they are able to accomodate Milady the Most Honourable Lori Ann the Implacable.
Did I mention that before all this with the car took place, my beloved feline Bailey who is the most curious cat in the world and who knows how to make mischief gets himself stuck in the handles of a plastic shopping bag? I find out when I get home that nite that I failed to pull the whole bag off him when he went tearing thru the condo on his third lap thru the house breaking one of his food bowls during the ensuing melee ( it shot right up into the air). Poor cat spent the whole day shaking under my bed. I freed him of the bag stuck around his leg when I got home.
So back to the SUV.. Its almost time to have the timing belt done and it does need a tuneup. I decide that while its in there, I should do that since I wont be driving much once I start working from home. Plus I tend to procrastinate (if its not broke dont fix it)... The service dudes are able to complete the spark plug change (which involves taking something off the engine cuz the damn things are encased) and the timing belt, but the car is still sluggish... DUH.... They are unable to pinpoint the exact nature of the problem and decide to keep it overnight. No biggie they come thru with a loaner... a nice new 2007 Santa Fe. I like it but it is really too big (I sit even higher in that then in my 2003). After careful consideration I ruled out trading in my 03 for a new model and you can bet after putting $900+ into the car I'm going to get my monies worth out of those repairs...
I had emailed Snake my tail of woe on the car and Baboo . About 8 or so the phone rings and its him pretending to be from the ASPCA, of course I start laughing hysterically because Im practically laying on the floor trying to coax Bailey out from under the bed. I figure Baboo will come out when he is hungry. Snake needs me to pinch hit for him in his Poker in the Dark satellite while he goes out to pick up his daughter. I manage to almost double his chips before I hand back off to him. We tag team our way to an 11th place finish (his prior best finish was 10th in these 360 person donkfests) , discussing how to play the hands he has and putting his opponents on hands. It is so much easier to do this from the position as railbird then when playing. And... for about the 4th time in a couple of weeks, its becoming clear to me that Snake is going to be in need of glasses very soon. When he asks why the pot just got shipped to one dude I state he had JJ (hole cards) on a board of 23T82.. jj22 beats Tens and eights (what the other dude was holding) He says.. No the guy had a set of tens.. I say "Sweetie, I hate to tell you this but are going to need reading glasses soon or its gonna be an an expensive mistake one of these days". I pass on the WWDN.. the cat issues and car issues make me not want to think much.
Wednesday I got the guys from Time Warner and Verizon coming to install the business lines. They have given me a pretty big window 8-5 Pm... Im hoping they come late so I dont have to go into work. Of course not.. Verizon is there first by 8:30 AM which is an hour before I start work at 9:30 AM.. Time Warner calls me about 1/2 hour later during Verizon dudes gig and is on his way. Fortunately they are not falling all over each other even though they are working in the same place. I was an easy install. TW dude says I could have gone to Queensbury first and done you on my way back when I tell him I now will have to go into work... Im into work by 11:45 AM. I leave 1/2 hour early to get the car. I dont think they ever figured out what was wrong with it. The transmission tested out fine. Im wondering if it was some bad gas that got put in the car coupled with a frozen line or something. Car malady of unknown origin.
I pass on the Mookie as Im pinch hitting again for Snake in one of the FTP guarantees. I didnt have much to work with and my cards were bad. We go out before the $$$ close but no C I G A R. His bro stops by to chat thinking its Snake. Im on the phone with Snake during all this and finally we tell SILO its me.
Thursday is a three Ipuprofen day... I register for the AcesCracked preseason opener on FTP.. Passing on the Poker Analysis Buyin league game. Pstars hasnt been showing me any love lately. In fact Im almost thinking of going on a sng minimarathon to either donk off or work up my remaining funds there (sitting at about $160)... Ive been having much more success on FTP with the tokens and SNGS (because that damn bonus finally expired). The blogger tourneys have largely moved over to FTP except Wil's WWDN. I also pull back my money parked in Neteller... As of today (1/20/07) the transaction I did on 1/17/07 is pending.
AcesCracked puts me and Snake mano a womano..... He flushes me with a baby flush down to 300 chips I rally back. He dings me again.. I rally again (Sham is on the rail having sat it out to play Poker Analysis on Pstars) Silo is also railing us..... Finally Im snakebitten..... the mortal blow... I raise him He reraises I call. I'm holding BIG SLICK .. Board hits a King. I fire He reraises me.. I type okay lets gamble ALL-IN.. I had him totally dominated.. He flushes me again... IG vs Snake online heads-up play now stands at 2-1. Ill get him next time.
Friday nite is APL final week 20. I have a 10 point lead on Silo/Rich.. Doug Karen and I are all 8-9-10 closely spaced... I have had a horrible 2nd half of the live league. I feel an impending sense of doom. Ive so much as said to Ray that I will not be in the top ten tourney where all the $$ is. Maybe its a self fullfilling prophesy but everything that can go wrong has. The big improvement Ive had online has not carried over to live play. Ive put my money in with the best hand and been outdrawn too many times to count it seems. Im cursed. Its as if the poker gods are saying to me... save your money IG, you are wasting time and money. Ever get the feeling your not meant to win the big one? Sometimes in moments of self doubt that is the message that comes thru to me.
Tonite is no different. I manage to have about 1500 more chips then Karen who Im ahead of. Doug has just lost half his stack. Ray is shorter then me as are a few others. Ray sitting across from me, manages to split on one or two orbits even gaining chips when he sees his BB multiway with no raises in front. Karen rivers a flush on her table to keep her alive and triple her up. Ray had gone over to watch the results of the hand and reported back. I just look at him and shake my head cuz I know when I need to catch a break its not going to come. I lay down AJd to league Leaders Steve-O's raise to $1200 which pot committed me preflop had I called. I decide to wait either thru the blinds or be first in. Finally i look down to A9h. Im EP and am first to move. Everyone lays down except Steve in the bb. I knew Ray in the SB would.. Him finishing another place higher insured his 2nd place finish in the league over Edawg. Steve calls with 36d as its only costing him a couple hundred more. He fully expected to double me up. But in his words.. Youre gonna either love me for doubling you or hate me. Of course he hits diamonds and out I go.. .
I leave the table to get my coat. I hand two more poker books to Ray who tries to get me to stay. I just looked at him and state the obvious. I just have to get away from this place and state if i dont finish in the top ten I might not even play the donk fest of the bottom feeders tourney. After I get home and feed Bailey (free of the bag and his bad day) I play a sng on Full Tilt after I cool off a bit. bad move. I dont do horrendously bad but Im too frazzled to play my A game or aggressively. The wind is out of my sails.
The phone rings about 45 minutes after I get home. "You made it barely".. Ray says. There is no sigh of relief on my end of the phone. His brother had not.. He's playing Omaha hi in a cash game, which is not a game he plays really at all. He asks me for a few quick tips. Which I rattle off (although omaha 8 is my better game of the two Omahas)... He had a nice little session from what he told me today...
Top ten tourney next week. My place is insured. Me, Ray, Lex, (all who have played AcesCracked) Eric and Steve (best buddies), Tracy (Edwags gal), Karen and Doug Al and Zoe.. I was once as high as 3rd in the standings. I finished tenth.. Next week is a new battle and I can play small ball against the weak/tight players. Take position away from the LAGS by moving in from time to time ala Kill Phil style. And match wits with Lex and Ray the two most gifted when it comes to reading the board and calculating pot odds. I respect them all and fear no one. Well just have to see if I can hold myself up to the bar i have set.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
Ship It Posh Spice... Real Royalty here...
Methinks me likes Milady!!!
With props to my girl Katitude
 | My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Milady the Most Honourable Lori Ann the Implacable of Featherstonehaugh St Fanshaw Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title |
| My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Empress Ig the Liminal of Wallop upon Deane Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title |
With props to my girl Katitude
Poker Week in Review
I'm pounding this out on a day off from work for MLK day. We are in the midst of an Upstate NY ice storm. I am roasting a small beef tenderloin, which I put a beautiful sear on. Oh yeah, I'm also making garlic mashed potatoes. Sounds good doesnt it? Yes, IG is multi-talented and my goal is to cook more in 2007. But more about my 2007 goals in another post. Why make New Years Resolutions? I believe in starting my day over at any time and that goes for my year too!
After my successful weekend last week, the momentum continued when I jumped into a 90 person sng on Full Tilt and finished 3rd last Monday nite. Only problem was it was $1.25 buyin. It was a blast though as my live league mates came by to cheer me on. First Trent (LGkeeper on FTP), who works three 12 hour days largely over the weekend. He kept me company till bed-time called. Then Eric and Tracy popped up until the munchies called and they went to get wings!! Not sure if Edawg was burning one down at the time for munchies to kick in but the wings sure sounded good.
Then Snake5970 popped in after his live game. The multi-faceted Ray didnt fare to well in his weekly live Monday nite tourney but never one to miss a beat he recouped his buy-in and then some at Pitch-Plus.. Note to self Pai Gow instead of Chinese Poker and UNO at our next multi-game challenge.
At the end I had Ray, Steve-O (our current APL league leader)and Eric and Tracey on the rail. When Eric or Steve commented on the payout being so low, I remembered the purpose I was doing the $1.25 buy-in. It was to try out the new style cheaply and continue the momentum in a MTT format. It worked. Of course having pocket 22's hold up against A3 when you river a set helps. My gutsy call of the evening (and I went into the time bank to contemplate this call)... With Q8 in the hole at the final table, I called the post-flop all-in of a push-monkey at my table. We had been tangling since i had gotten moved to the table where all the chipleaders were. I slowly decimated his stack. I had an idea that my 8 was good with a board of k8x and i was right. He flipped pocket 66's I believe and I felted him.
I got home on Tuesday to find an email from Snake that the 2007 WSOP was released. He had called Harrahs's the week before and they had said the schedule was to be released Monday. A day late but who cares. Its out there now with a nice mix of mixed games.
Tuesday nite I played the Poker Analysis Freeroll league game on Doyle's Room. It was an early out as I tried to bluff someone continuously who was on my left who I should know better then to try and get fancy on. The leagues good LAG player made an earlier exit then I tangling with the same person. Just as well, it had been a long day on the phones.
Wednesday nite after another 9 long hours and three Ibuprofen, I played the Poker Analysis $5.50 buy-in league game on Pstars. Snake had given up the computer for the evening to his youngest at-home daughter and railed me via phone. 1 1/2 hours later I managed a one off the bubble finish. As I broadcasted my play by play to Snake (possibly in preparation for some 2007 WSOP podcasting) his comments were "FOLD, FOLD, FOLD'.... "My God you are Card Dead", and a couple of "Are you Crazy?" when I wanted to raise with some non-premium hands. After I hung up with him it was close to Mookie time. I opted to pass which was just as well. My dad called right before 10 PM EST and it was another 1/2 with him on the phone.... Yes I talked non-stop for almost all my waking hours on Wednesday.
Thursday: Nine busy busy hours on the phones again and another 3 Ibuprofen. I got home only to have my mother call me or I called her to find out some test results she had had done. The AcesCracked pre-season league game on FTP wasnt listed and I didnt get registered for Pokerstars (which was set-up in a hurry by Penn. Snake had emailed me to tell me his good news. He Satellited into the FTP $750,000 Guarantee on 1/21/2007. I wound up getting into Al Cant Hang's Riverchasers tourney on FTP that started at 9:30 PM. I went pretty deep only to bust out before the cash. SIGH.
Friday nite. My weekly nightmare known as the Adirondack Poker League. After making 6 of ten final tables and 4 cashes the first half of our twenty week season, I find myself in a downward spiral and resenting about 4 of the league players. This week proves no different after taking down a few early pots using my small ball tactics and channeling my inner Negreanu I get into a pot with my nemesis who I would like to kick in the junk. I raise from EP with AA to $300 no callers except for numb nuts... The flop comes JJ6. Numbnuts checks. I bet out (note I didnt push like I did against Keith a few weeks prior) I fire and he comes over the top. I call only to lay down on the river when he reraises me again. That decimates my stack but I had to lay them down I needed an okay finish to stay in the top ten. He could have had QQ or KK but the fact is my early out would have been catostrophic for my league standing and spot in the top ten tourney where the $$$ is. Numbnuts aint in it and has no chance at it. I wind up mustering a mediocre finish when I run AQ into AK. When I flip my AQ to Bruce's AK I am out of the seat and into my coat without even looking.
It is the walk of shame over to Ray who is sitting at the bar (an early out for him) to tell him I'm out of there. I think he thought I was going to cry (Homicide was going thru my mind actually) and he did his best to calm me down. What a clusterfuck this was turning out to be. I left my little Buddha card capper on the table, misplaced my purse (left it on some chair). Ray bought me a drink amd I forgot to take the little paper end off the straw. I was that rattled. I threw a brat attack and told him in my best 5 year old voice "I dont care if I make the top ten tourney, I hate these people". "Dont say that.. you do care" 'No, I dont. And of course he is right, I really do care. But how many times when I need to catch a break am I gonna run AQ into AK?? Alot it seems if I play cards for the rest of my life. There is no arguing with a stubborn Irish-hot headed Italian girl unless you are a stubborn Irishmen yourself. "Doug went out before you, so all is not lost, you'll probably only drop a spot"..."My brother has more to lose then you do". Rich sitting in 11th bounced shortly after me and he needed a strong finish to move into the top ten.
And I am not the only one fed up with some of my league mates. Phil who got a late start as he was out of commission for the first few weeks of the season, had sat this week out with a sub. He was getting tired of flush chasers and river catchers. He showed up to watch and to play the ponies. "Oh a Grey horse!!!"" he announces. I look at him in disbelief. That is a girly thing to say and to do..... Bet a horse because of its color? Another Grey horse and another comes out. I look at him wide eyed and say Trifecta. No instead Ray and Phil exacta box the greys with another horse. They come in 1-2-3... Elmer the bartender and a former APLer tells Ray that the exacta will only pay off $18 or so. "I watch horses run all day he announces (we are at an OTB)". Ray says it should pay $30 at the odds the two horses went off at. "How much you want to bet?" and Elmer pulls out his tip money. Ray sneers and says "Put that away... thats nothing". Now, the evening is getting fun and I havent seen this much testosterone flowing since a couple of triathletes got into a whos is bigger contest with their uber-tri bikes. They settle on $1... When the payoff is announced and Ray is practically right on the nose. I look at Elmer and squeal "Pay the Man". When you live in horse country and spend a lot of your 20's playing the ponies you know what the payout will be when the horses who come in are going off at say odds of say 8:5 and 9.5 to 5.
Its before 9 PM, another early out and a 45 minute drive home. I look at Ray and with a grin and a wink say.... Im off to win a token!! Screw these donkeys, Im going to win me a WSOP seat this year. "Now your talkin, I'll look you up later on-line."
When I get home its out of my Tilly top and Cargo pants and into my yoga pants. The buddha had found his way back into his box, I had found my purse. I won a token and I finished on the bubble in an Omaha hi lo SNG at the same time. One Fish.. Two Fish.. Red Fish.. Blue Fish... Donkey Fish....Go Fish...........ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....
After my successful weekend last week, the momentum continued when I jumped into a 90 person sng on Full Tilt and finished 3rd last Monday nite. Only problem was it was $1.25 buyin. It was a blast though as my live league mates came by to cheer me on. First Trent (LGkeeper on FTP), who works three 12 hour days largely over the weekend. He kept me company till bed-time called. Then Eric and Tracy popped up until the munchies called and they went to get wings!! Not sure if Edawg was burning one down at the time for munchies to kick in but the wings sure sounded good.
Then Snake5970 popped in after his live game. The multi-faceted Ray didnt fare to well in his weekly live Monday nite tourney but never one to miss a beat he recouped his buy-in and then some at Pitch-Plus.. Note to self Pai Gow instead of Chinese Poker and UNO at our next multi-game challenge.
At the end I had Ray, Steve-O (our current APL league leader)and Eric and Tracey on the rail. When Eric or Steve commented on the payout being so low, I remembered the purpose I was doing the $1.25 buy-in. It was to try out the new style cheaply and continue the momentum in a MTT format. It worked. Of course having pocket 22's hold up against A3 when you river a set helps. My gutsy call of the evening (and I went into the time bank to contemplate this call)... With Q8 in the hole at the final table, I called the post-flop all-in of a push-monkey at my table. We had been tangling since i had gotten moved to the table where all the chipleaders were. I slowly decimated his stack. I had an idea that my 8 was good with a board of k8x and i was right. He flipped pocket 66's I believe and I felted him.
I got home on Tuesday to find an email from Snake that the 2007 WSOP was released. He had called Harrahs's the week before and they had said the schedule was to be released Monday. A day late but who cares. Its out there now with a nice mix of mixed games.
Tuesday nite I played the Poker Analysis Freeroll league game on Doyle's Room. It was an early out as I tried to bluff someone continuously who was on my left who I should know better then to try and get fancy on. The leagues good LAG player made an earlier exit then I tangling with the same person. Just as well, it had been a long day on the phones.
Wednesday nite after another 9 long hours and three Ibuprofen, I played the Poker Analysis $5.50 buy-in league game on Pstars. Snake had given up the computer for the evening to his youngest at-home daughter and railed me via phone. 1 1/2 hours later I managed a one off the bubble finish. As I broadcasted my play by play to Snake (possibly in preparation for some 2007 WSOP podcasting) his comments were "FOLD, FOLD, FOLD'.... "My God you are Card Dead", and a couple of "Are you Crazy?" when I wanted to raise with some non-premium hands. After I hung up with him it was close to Mookie time. I opted to pass which was just as well. My dad called right before 10 PM EST and it was another 1/2 with him on the phone.... Yes I talked non-stop for almost all my waking hours on Wednesday.
Thursday: Nine busy busy hours on the phones again and another 3 Ibuprofen. I got home only to have my mother call me or I called her to find out some test results she had had done. The AcesCracked pre-season league game on FTP wasnt listed and I didnt get registered for Pokerstars (which was set-up in a hurry by Penn. Snake had emailed me to tell me his good news. He Satellited into the FTP $750,000 Guarantee on 1/21/2007. I wound up getting into Al Cant Hang's Riverchasers tourney on FTP that started at 9:30 PM. I went pretty deep only to bust out before the cash. SIGH.
Friday nite. My weekly nightmare known as the Adirondack Poker League. After making 6 of ten final tables and 4 cashes the first half of our twenty week season, I find myself in a downward spiral and resenting about 4 of the league players. This week proves no different after taking down a few early pots using my small ball tactics and channeling my inner Negreanu I get into a pot with my nemesis who I would like to kick in the junk. I raise from EP with AA to $300 no callers except for numb nuts... The flop comes JJ6. Numbnuts checks. I bet out (note I didnt push like I did against Keith a few weeks prior) I fire and he comes over the top. I call only to lay down on the river when he reraises me again. That decimates my stack but I had to lay them down I needed an okay finish to stay in the top ten. He could have had QQ or KK but the fact is my early out would have been catostrophic for my league standing and spot in the top ten tourney where the $$$ is. Numbnuts aint in it and has no chance at it. I wind up mustering a mediocre finish when I run AQ into AK. When I flip my AQ to Bruce's AK I am out of the seat and into my coat without even looking.
It is the walk of shame over to Ray who is sitting at the bar (an early out for him) to tell him I'm out of there. I think he thought I was going to cry (Homicide was going thru my mind actually) and he did his best to calm me down. What a clusterfuck this was turning out to be. I left my little Buddha card capper on the table, misplaced my purse (left it on some chair). Ray bought me a drink amd I forgot to take the little paper end off the straw. I was that rattled. I threw a brat attack and told him in my best 5 year old voice "I dont care if I make the top ten tourney, I hate these people". "Dont say that.. you do care" 'No, I dont. And of course he is right, I really do care. But how many times when I need to catch a break am I gonna run AQ into AK?? Alot it seems if I play cards for the rest of my life. There is no arguing with a stubborn Irish-hot headed Italian girl unless you are a stubborn Irishmen yourself. "Doug went out before you, so all is not lost, you'll probably only drop a spot"..."My brother has more to lose then you do". Rich sitting in 11th bounced shortly after me and he needed a strong finish to move into the top ten.
And I am not the only one fed up with some of my league mates. Phil who got a late start as he was out of commission for the first few weeks of the season, had sat this week out with a sub. He was getting tired of flush chasers and river catchers. He showed up to watch and to play the ponies. "Oh a Grey horse!!!"" he announces. I look at him in disbelief. That is a girly thing to say and to do..... Bet a horse because of its color? Another Grey horse and another comes out. I look at him wide eyed and say Trifecta. No instead Ray and Phil exacta box the greys with another horse. They come in 1-2-3... Elmer the bartender and a former APLer tells Ray that the exacta will only pay off $18 or so. "I watch horses run all day he announces (we are at an OTB)". Ray says it should pay $30 at the odds the two horses went off at. "How much you want to bet?" and Elmer pulls out his tip money. Ray sneers and says "Put that away... thats nothing". Now, the evening is getting fun and I havent seen this much testosterone flowing since a couple of triathletes got into a whos is bigger contest with their uber-tri bikes. They settle on $1... When the payoff is announced and Ray is practically right on the nose. I look at Elmer and squeal "Pay the Man". When you live in horse country and spend a lot of your 20's playing the ponies you know what the payout will be when the horses who come in are going off at say odds of say 8:5 and 9.5 to 5.
Its before 9 PM, another early out and a 45 minute drive home. I look at Ray and with a grin and a wink say.... Im off to win a token!! Screw these donkeys, Im going to win me a WSOP seat this year. "Now your talkin, I'll look you up later on-line."
When I get home its out of my Tilly top and Cargo pants and into my yoga pants. The buddha had found his way back into his box, I had found my purse. I won a token and I finished on the bubble in an Omaha hi lo SNG at the same time. One Fish.. Two Fish.. Red Fish.. Blue Fish... Donkey Fish....Go Fish...........ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Cha Cha Changes..........
I won the Poker Analysis league tournament the 7th day into 2007. I also finished 3rd today and had a 2nd yesterday in a league (PWH's-Elite Players Club) I hadn't played since October when the UIGEA turned my world upside down.
I cashed in the 1st Mookie of 2007 finishing 4th!! My first Mookie cash in about ten attempts. It was ugly poker but I'll take it. It caused Fuel55 to query if I ever won with the best hand!! I replied no I lose with them (and Mookie has seen it happen over and over). Fuel55 finally busted my KK with T3 which was payback for the three suckouts I had on him. He exaggerated a little on his blog me thinks and said it was 5 times. At the same time Silo (Snake's bro )scored a nice $1000+ cash with a 5th place finish on FTP in one of the guarantees on a $8.80 token.
In the Muffmoney league game yesterday a participant by the name of Uniquefella who shall now be known as Eunuch-fellow took issue with me raising most pots I entered. Someone mentioned Isnt that what your supposed to do. He had it out for me after that and started talking shit. So I told him if he was going to limp and minimum raise I would make him pay LOL. SLB159 happened to be in the neighborhood and witnessed the whole interchange against me. The dude obviously had penis size issues because he then started in on the two big stacks at the table. Big pro that he is in a $3 buyin he made an amateur of amateur move... He bluffed a dry side pot. I immediately drew it to everyone's attention.
Snake gave me some really constructive criticism after a token SNG fiasco where as co-chip leader with 4000+ chips I tangled with the dude who had me slightly outchipped. Sure I had the dude beat TT to 88, and i hit my set on the flop, but the 9 on the river gave my opponent a straight and no token for IG. Snake rightfully asked me why I didnt just coast to the final table and the token with the 4k chips? DUH, Good point. He then, tore apart some of my hands and really made me think long and hard about my game, especially my betting and lack of aggression post flop if I missed the flop. On Friday night, he handed me WSOP day 2 and told me to pay close attention to Daniel Negreanu. Ive seen it before but only while multi-tasking. I know its a clinic on hand reading skills and post flop play.
Coupled with reading Sklansky and Miller's Theory and Practice of No Limit Holdem its all beginning to become crystal clear. I was playing too much long ball poker, waiting for the big hand to try and double up and folding too often on the flop if I missed. I was giving my opponents too much credit for having hit also. So after re-reading Lucko21's email to me and Fuel55's comment on Smokkee's blog. Ive opened up my starting hands and am working on playing small ball poker. I'm trying to win more small pots and increase my stack gradually, rather then going for the big score and potentially getting outdrawn and losing a coin flip. Criminey, you'd think that an endurance athlete, Errr.... make that former endurance athlete would recognize that a poker tournament is a marathon and not a sprint. Regardless, this change has caused me to really think about my outs, my pot odds and about taking control of a table. Its forcing me to work on my hand reading skills and to work on my post-flop play. Heck I might as well put my Accounting/Finance and Psychology degrees to use!!!
When I was heads-up today against Poker Analysis member Fitchjr, I actually called a minimum raise with 56h and probably had some folks shaking their heads asking if IG had gone mad. In the old days low suited connectors would have been folded. But last weeks MuffMoney league game and my heads-up matches with Snake showed that I can be successful at my new style. My final hand was K6s in the BB. I called his raise and flopped the nut flush with the ace on board . Fitch took a stab at it and I raised him but not all in. He came back over the top all in with only the Js in his hand and I busted him. I trapped about as good as I could have and only made one bad call where I was outstraighted. I floated some hands with AK and AJ with rag flops keeping the pots small so I could get away from them if I had too. I raised on the turn and river more then I ever have. I stayed out of coinflip situations which would have put me at risk for all my chips. In the PA league game I took charge from the beginning and rode the wave to the final table and to the win. I dropped no lower then 5th place at the final table(and was never the short stack) and went into heads-up the chipleader.
And it felt damn good and Natural.
I cashed in the 1st Mookie of 2007 finishing 4th!! My first Mookie cash in about ten attempts. It was ugly poker but I'll take it. It caused Fuel55 to query if I ever won with the best hand!! I replied no I lose with them (and Mookie has seen it happen over and over). Fuel55 finally busted my KK with T3 which was payback for the three suckouts I had on him. He exaggerated a little on his blog me thinks and said it was 5 times. At the same time Silo (Snake's bro )scored a nice $1000+ cash with a 5th place finish on FTP in one of the guarantees on a $8.80 token.
In the Muffmoney league game yesterday a participant by the name of Uniquefella who shall now be known as Eunuch-fellow took issue with me raising most pots I entered. Someone mentioned Isnt that what your supposed to do. He had it out for me after that and started talking shit. So I told him if he was going to limp and minimum raise I would make him pay LOL. SLB159 happened to be in the neighborhood and witnessed the whole interchange against me. The dude obviously had penis size issues because he then started in on the two big stacks at the table. Big pro that he is in a $3 buyin he made an amateur of amateur move... He bluffed a dry side pot. I immediately drew it to everyone's attention.
Snake gave me some really constructive criticism after a token SNG fiasco where as co-chip leader with 4000+ chips I tangled with the dude who had me slightly outchipped. Sure I had the dude beat TT to 88, and i hit my set on the flop, but the 9 on the river gave my opponent a straight and no token for IG. Snake rightfully asked me why I didnt just coast to the final table and the token with the 4k chips? DUH, Good point. He then, tore apart some of my hands and really made me think long and hard about my game, especially my betting and lack of aggression post flop if I missed the flop. On Friday night, he handed me WSOP day 2 and told me to pay close attention to Daniel Negreanu. Ive seen it before but only while multi-tasking. I know its a clinic on hand reading skills and post flop play.
Coupled with reading Sklansky and Miller's Theory and Practice of No Limit Holdem its all beginning to become crystal clear. I was playing too much long ball poker, waiting for the big hand to try and double up and folding too often on the flop if I missed. I was giving my opponents too much credit for having hit also. So after re-reading Lucko21's email to me and Fuel55's comment on Smokkee's blog. Ive opened up my starting hands and am working on playing small ball poker. I'm trying to win more small pots and increase my stack gradually, rather then going for the big score and potentially getting outdrawn and losing a coin flip. Criminey, you'd think that an endurance athlete, Errr.... make that former endurance athlete would recognize that a poker tournament is a marathon and not a sprint. Regardless, this change has caused me to really think about my outs, my pot odds and about taking control of a table. Its forcing me to work on my hand reading skills and to work on my post-flop play. Heck I might as well put my Accounting/Finance and Psychology degrees to use!!!
When I was heads-up today against Poker Analysis member Fitchjr, I actually called a minimum raise with 56h and probably had some folks shaking their heads asking if IG had gone mad. In the old days low suited connectors would have been folded. But last weeks MuffMoney league game and my heads-up matches with Snake showed that I can be successful at my new style. My final hand was K6s in the BB. I called his raise and flopped the nut flush with the ace on board . Fitch took a stab at it and I raised him but not all in. He came back over the top all in with only the Js in his hand and I busted him. I trapped about as good as I could have and only made one bad call where I was outstraighted. I floated some hands with AK and AJ with rag flops keeping the pots small so I could get away from them if I had too. I raised on the turn and river more then I ever have. I stayed out of coinflip situations which would have put me at risk for all my chips. In the PA league game I took charge from the beginning and rode the wave to the final table and to the win. I dropped no lower then 5th place at the final table(and was never the short stack) and went into heads-up the chipleader.
And it felt damn good and Natural.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Trey Arraigned Practically in my Backyard
So my ticket came in Ft Edward. Trey got nailed in Whitehall. Washington County isnt kind to us hippies. Ill be on good behavior driving up and thru Ft Edward tonite as Im soon to be leaving for APL league game #18. It wont be in a black limo though.
Going Phishing
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