Poker Stars Deep Stack $11 NLHE 12/30/2007

I had a few goals for the day. First and foremost was to play patient positional poker. Something that has been missing from my play. I told Katitude in girly chat that some family health issues with my mother and father have left me stressed and distracted and somewhat frazzled. I had plans on going up to Turning Stone for New Years Eve, unfortunately my mom's back is not cooperating with her and I spent Saturday driving her to Urgent Care and tomorrow AM I will be taking her to her primary care doctor. More then likely she will have to undergo the knife something shes been putting off. Coupled with more snow on the horizon for Upstate NY and not being a drinker/partier I will spend New Year's eve on the Virtual Felt or watching DVDs. Its amateur nite anyway.

So I unregistered from the donkfest known as the Sunday 100k on Pokerstars laden with 20000 donks most of whom satellited in. Did I mention I was one? I used the T$ for the Deep stacker at noon. Last week saw my AA get cracked by KK flopping a set in the Sunday deep stacker. When I got knocked out on the umpteenth suckout in as many tourneys, sngs etc I unregistered from all tourneys I had signed up, typed an "I'M DONE" to Snake5970 who was also in the tourney and headed out to finish my Christmas shopping. I didn't even see him get sucked out on right before the money I was that pissed. Did I mention Ive been Tilty? Not Tilly, Tilty!!

Much to my wondering eyes out of 1866 runners, Weak_player gets seated at my table!!! Now Weak_Player doesn't blog much anymore with the new baby. But I did see lots of cute baby pictures of Madeline and we chatted it up in the girly chat before he took a hit with the IG against a bigger pair. Thanks to Katitude and Weak for both checking on my progress!!! It was great to catch-up with Aaron as I haven't chatted with him since the June blogger gathering. And of course Kat and I were able to catch-up too.

And lo and behold I was able to grind my way to 93rd of 1866. I finally ran AJ from the cutoff into the SB's AA. Oh well. I made no real mistakes all tourney. I did get outkicked on one hand and lost a good chunk SB vs BB me with K6 and the bb woke up with KT or KJ. And I lost another good sized pot when I hit top pair with JTc hitting a Jack with two clubs on board. I lost that hand to trip 8's when my flush failed to fill. And there may have been one other pot that knocked me down but not out. And I had at least two split pots. AK vs AK and all the money wound up in the middle but I was the aggressor throughout the hand, and AT into AT with me once again repopping on the flop. I worked hard on playing from position and for the most part my EP laydowns were the correct moves. I folded 66 in late position to the UTG's preflop raise when I was a shortie. I'm tourney savvy enough now to know I want to be first into the pot with a hand like that.

So 7 hours of poker didn't leave me rolling in the dough but it was a confidence booster and I was able to clear my head and focus. Of course since my mother was doped up and sleeping at her house it made it very easy to play as I was uninterrupted by phone calls!!!

HIgh Stakes Heads Up Alert

No not for IG, although I did manage to take down a $5.50 NL SNG on pokerstars Friday afternoon. I've been on such a bad run on-line lately, that its the first SNG I've outright won in about two months. First it felt good to get to heads-up and I managed to stay patient. I started as a 3.5 to 1 dog and managed to trap well. Two hands got me the lead. I had 82os and hit a boat (two pair on the flop, boat on the turn) vs my opponents flopped set of ducks. MY opponent then decided to slow play or min raise KK. I called with Q8 which gave me an OESD (I think the flop was 9T Ace, and I hit the Str8 on the turn or river with a 7. When I pushed in on the river, The dude asked If I had hit the Ace. I said no. He asked if I hit a set. I said no and replied did you, he said no I have KK? Clock wound down to 2 seconds and I got the call. VNH my opponent typed and he chuckled and said " at least I dont lie. That got me a nice lead where i whittled away at the rest of his chips. He came back a bit and, Finally last hand all in AQ me vs AJ and for once I hit and held. WOOT...... Slumpbuster.....

Anyway not the reason for my post. The real reason is at 2:30 PM on pokerstars:

Dario Minieri, Adam Junglen, VietCutie (aka the poker pixie Anna Wroblewski), Barry Greenstein, GBmantis, Daniel Alaei (steamraise on pokerstars) and others are playing a winner take all $5000 + $200 Freeze-out. Max 20 entrants

Then Barry and Dario are registered at 16:45 for a high stakes show down $10000 + $300 max 16 entrants.

Not to mention the Sunday Million this week is the quarterly $1050 buy-in currently standing at 457 registered.

As for IG, I did manage to play just weak-tight enough yet, dominate a $2.20 satellite to the Sunday 100k on stars!!!

I was not one of the chosen ones who was given the chance on Full Tilt to demo out echecks. Snake5970 was, which I find funny since he recently has only played on Full Tilt when we've swapped funds around and his balance was under $2 and has been for months. He really prefers Stars to Full Tilt as thats where two of his three WSOP Main Event seats were won and he likes the shoot-out structure Stars offers. Me I have a ton of FPPs on Full Tilt and played pretty much more on Full Tilt (all you bloggers fault) then on stars and was basically sent to the back of the bus by Full Tilt on this. I should get my pants in a whirl and scream bloody hell. So now he is fully reloaded on Full Tilt and ready for WSOP bracelet races and IG is well a bottom feeder :)

Colorado plays the Independence Bowl tonite at 8 PM on ESPN. Go BUFFS GO!!!! I see former Colorado Head Coach Rick Neuheisel is back at the helm of his Alma Mater UCLA after a stint as the Baltimore Ravens Offensive Coordinator. He was a "successful" recruiter at CU and I imagine will do the same for UCLA. Hopefully he'll put the problems that dogged him at CU and Washington (which left my Buffs in a state of shambles and on two years of NCAA probation) behind him and show some maturity. Everyone deserves a second chance right?

Stop Stop Stop Dont Do IT....

--Overheard in Target:

Older dude talking to 30 something son.

Older dude: Do you think she would wear something like this? (Looking at some kind of creme colored knit sweater coatish thing with a belt)

30 Something Male: UM yes.

Older Dude: How about this one? Takes one off rack that would fit a very large woman

30 Something Male: No that's to big.

Older Dude: Are you sure?

30 Something Male: OMG yes

Note to males rushing around trying to buy last minute presents for loved ones. If you don't know your gals taste in clothes don't buy her clothing. I for one hate Turtlenecks and anything cowlish looking. I have a giraffe neck and I don't want it to look any longer then it is. Besides with my ample chest and swimmers shoulders that style makes me look like a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys. For the record I am a fan of Macys/Bloomingdales INC line. Lots of V necks that accentuate the decolletage and give me my nice granola girl vibe. With a nice pair of jeans and my 3inch knee high Bandolino boots (sorry Change100 I just cant do 4 inches in heels yet). It makes my 5'5" slightly zoftig frame look tres chic and slim.

If you are going to buy clothing go small. It can always be exchanged. If you buy too big the first thing that is going to come into your gals head is: Does he really think I'm that Fawking Huge? Do I need to go on diet? The whole holiday will be shot to hell and you wont get laid because your gal will be thinking about her upcoming New Years Resolution to lose that ten lbs she put on over the last year (even if it is evenly distributed). She wont be thinking of Cosmo's sex Secrets or the Nerve.com's position of the day. Cold showers and rubbing one out, are what will be in store for your boys and company as you ring in the New Year.

Shoes, handbags, perfume and gift certificates for pedicures, manicures, facials are always appreciated. Sexy lingerie is acceptable too if your gal has a playful side but no to a robe or pajamas or slippers for Goodness sakes. That's about as much thought as a tie for your guy. My motto is I reserve the mundane undies for that time of the month and when I am 100% positive I will not be around the male gender. Otherwise its the Vicky's secret sexy lingerie and thongs. VPL is just in bad taste (that is visible panty line). I believe when you wear the sexy lingerie you just feel sexy and not like your grandma. And Ladies never be afraid your bum is too big to wear a thong, V string etc. Your guy isn't going to give too shits when hes behind you getting it on. Your butt actually looks smaller too. Who'd a thunk it.

I'm all about good kitchenware and knives but not all women are. Some women don't think any thought goes into housewares. But if your gal loves to spend time in the kitchen then I for one think those types of gifts are appreciated. I like nice sauces and condiments for finishing off my dishes. And if your gal loves sports how about tickets for two to a game with a dinner. Time spent with your guy or gal is really the best gift you can give.

I of course should have posted this about three weeks ago but better late then never. If you avoid the slippery slope of clothing all together your Christmas will be Merry, cheery and bright. You will avoid THE LOOK. Anyone who has ever opened something they didn't want knows exactly what I am talking about. The look of oh gee thank you with a roll of the eyes and the sigh that isn't exhaled.

And my second belated, long over-due post is up on the Phish and music Blog. If you dig music of any kind check out the recent postings. It is way more then just Phish. I promise you there is something for everyone there.

Blogger Agita

I am not even going to begin to comment about the blog posts and comments I read yesterday. Okay maybe a little. All of them have valid points, the poker related ones at least. The ones that dont aren't Poker related. And became down right mean-spirited.

I dont base my like or dislike of someone based on what someone else tells me someone else has said or done. I base it on my personal experience with the person. That being said understand Why I may choose to cultivate or continue a friendship albeit one based purely on a mutual interest in poker with people you may have a bone to pick with now, in the past or in the future. This applies to all the major players in the brou-ha-ha that has erupted. Dont expect me to take sides. For Criminey's sake Im a Libra and can see both sides of situations.

Im going to share with you words of wisdom cultivated a long time ago and which I dont think any of us will truly master:

RESTRAINT OF TONGUE AND PEN

Or the short version: If you havent got something nice to say, say nothing at all.

Its a silly game of cards people, Not a quest for world domination.

Congrats to all the BBT Deucers & Belated Foxwoods Trip Report

Congrats to Fuel55 and Julius Goat for writing their way in. Clearly they were my two favorites. Fuel visualized a winning performance and his nice score live in Vancouver showed that if you think it, feel it, believe it, things come to fruition. To Astin congrats on your win last night. Officially, you are off the schneid. No one can call you a bridesmaid now and I think you played pretty darn consistent throughout the entire BBT. You may have a horseshoe up your butt but winning one of these is alot more then getting good cards as you well know. Congrats to Chad for his seat too. Chad has helped me alot with my game since I've come to know him. Unfortunately, neither he nor Don have been able to help me avoid the riverbeats.

And what about little ole IG? I missed the first couple events as I had to reload back onto Full Tilt after my two plus month self-imposed exile. I performed way better in BBT II then I did overall in I but I still fell short of the ultimate prize a TOC seat. On at least 5 occasions I got my money in with the best hand and lost to 2 and three outers on either the turn or river. Had any of those hands held up I would have been a dominating chip leader and hopefully could have ridden a wave to a seat. Chad, Julius Goat, AlCantHang, Astin, MiamiDon, LJ, Mookie, Snake all witnessed the unbelievable drubbings I took. Chad coined my the Queen of the riverbeatings.

I mentioned to Don last nite in chat that in perspective, I dont play half as many games as alot of you folks. If I played five to eight tourneys a day instead of maybe 4-5 a week Id probably see myself at a lot more final tables and it wouldnt seem like Im always going down to the felt with the best hand and getting the shit kicked out of me. As it is the big scores are spaced further apart since I just dont play as much. My primary goal in life is to make sure all my bills are paid and I put away money for my retirement (positive EV). I dont have as much expendable income as I used too since overtime dried up.

Back at the end of October interspersed with concerts and taking my dad in for his hernia surgery Snake and I traipsed off to Foxwoods during the World Poker Finals. Both of us had high expectations for ourselves. Originally he was going to partially stake me. Then we decided to just swap action in each other. I went to bat first on Saturday AM. We had played our live league Friday nite. Rather then drive to Foxwoods after our game from up his way which would have been a four hour drive in rain we opted to stay at Casa IG and get up at 4:50 AM and make the trek in the morning. We made it to Foxwoods in about three hours flat even with the rain and fog on the Mass Pike. We dropped our bags off at the Two Trees Inn as we couldnt check in till later and then took the shuttle over to the Poker Room to register.

I went to bat at 10AM after not sleeping much the night before. 214 woman ponied up $600 each. Originally this was supposed to be a Ladies Professional Poker Assn ranking event and Im not sure if it was as it was never mentioned. That was the reason for the bigger buy-in. Numbers were way down compared to the Spring event which was a $300 buyin and had over 600 Ladies. I opted to go with my sunglasses which are prescription bifocals rather then my contacts since I wasn't sure my eyes would or could stay open. Snake said he'd stay and rail me until I took down my first pot. I took down my first pot on the second hand when I called a min raise and a call with KQs and Cbetted the flop with nothing after it was checked to me. Snake headed off to the WPT poker room and I got down to business. I soon had worked my way up to a nice healthy stack. My table was largely passive and when I reraised on the flop turn or river in position it was largely folded to me. I probably played a few too many hands trying to see cheap flops with connectors and of course when I open raised to $550 with AKos and got three callers I wound up giving back a little of my stack.

Snake came and checked in on me from time to time. I was cellphone less at the time so he had to make the trek from the WPT poker room to the Great Cedars ballroom where the WPF events were being held. He is a true Sherpa. I was more then holding my own and when the antes kicked in I was able to move with them (what I failed to do at the spring event) but was below average stack most of the time and just couldnt get the calls I needed on my strong hands. I would open push with AJ fold, then Id limp and try the check raise and it would be fold fold fold. I did get lucky on one hand before the dinner break when I doubled up on an all in and that kept me alive. There was a three hour wait for $1/$2 tables in the poker room so Snake opted for some SNGs. He was down two buyins when we reconnected at dinner. I couldnt find him in the sea of humanity of the WPT pokerroom which was busier then Grand Central station on a Saturday night after two passes. Turns out he was up in Skylight where I was seated in the Spring. I grabbed a sandwich and hunkered down outside the Ballroom as they locked it off for the dinner break. He found me shortly after and was not at all surprised I was still alive. We went to dinner with about 45left. Twenty were to pay.

Snake said goodbye again a few hands in, off to play another SNG. It seemed like it took an eternity for us to lose players as we started getting closer to the money spots. My table broke and I got moved to a table with some big stacks. I failed to get action on my AA when I just did a standard 3X raise. I took down a huge pot when I called a minraise with three others in the hand out of the BB with 45c when i was pretty short. The flop came two fours but the flop was suited so I had to bet it. Fold FOld Fold FOld. UGh. I knocked out two people from the BB when the other ladies couldnt even post the antes and blinds in full and it folded around to me. This got me my blinds back, the antes and their scraps. That is how passive this game was. Finally I could wait no longer. I forgot my exit hand but I think I ran KJ on a jam into a bigger hand like AK or something. Out 33rd.

No walk of shame I played as best as I could without real premium cards. I just never got that one key double up hand I needed late in the game. When I raised with AA one gal who had been chip leader and had taken a drubbing folded AK or AQ face up with a "I cant play this now," she was playing scared. I headed back to the WPT room. Snake looked up and saw me coming down the stairs he was for sure I had hit pay dirt by now. He told me later he kept looking for me to appear and when I didnt show he would breathe a sigh of relief. He had just chopped a SNG for first.

Both of us were starved so we headed back to the hotel and got ready for a late dinner. It was Breeders Cup weekend and Snake is a horseplayer plus it was World Series Weekend and Football would be on tomorrow. He had his exotic wagers picked but he had decided not to hit the Racebook. Had he done so two of his exactas would have paid off handsomely. We wound up just having dinner in the Two Trees Inn restaurant. They were getting ready to close so literally we had most of the dining room to ourselves and it was a belated birthday dinner for me. On our way to dinner we both started cracking up because someone was doing major bong hits and the hallway reeked of weed. When we rounded the corner the hotel security who already had smelled it looked at us and teased us about being the cause of the smoke since we were laughing.

Back in the room we watched the Red Sox dominate but we fell asleep before the end of the game. Neither of us bothered to set the alarm. His tourney the $600 shoot-out started at 10AM the next day. When we both woke up at about 8:30 we both scrambled to get ready. I threw my contacts into my bag and we raced over to get him seated. Breakfast would have to wait. All Snake had to do was finish top three at his table of ten (or 9) and he moved on to the finals at 4 PM. Depending on how well he did we were either staying another nite or heading home. It was dicey at times but Snake made a major reraise steal to secure enough chips 4 handed that his place in the finals was assured. We went and had lunch at Hard Rock it was my treat this time since it was his day. We hung out at Hard Rock and watched the games, listened to tunes and chatted. We then headed back over and the Ladies event final table was underway. A local gal from the card club I play tourneys at wound up taking it down to the tune of just about $36k.

As Snake and I are walking to his table for the finals Im walking along side another dude who looks really familiar but whom I cant place. I read the back of his jacket which strikes me as music related (not a band name though). Damn I cant place him. Im seated right behind Snake who is in the one or two seat. The dude who I cant place is seated at the next table in the 8. Snake looks back at me and says IG......Points..... SULLY ERNA..Of course Im pissed I couldnt figure it out and Snake pwned me on that one.. Now we all know I am not a metal person. Im a jam bander but I do know Sully is the lead of GodSmack, but I recognized him from his appearance and cash in this years Main Event. We also saw Bernard Lee, Raj Patel etc etc. The big dawgs were heading into town.

A pair of misplayed Kings sealed an early exit for Snake about level III of the final. He placed well in the field about 113th or so out of 600 plus with 40 some paying but was disappointed in himself. We drove back to Clifton Park, checked the Breeders Cup results on my computer, the football scores for my picks and watched the Red Sox win the World Series in a sweep. I immediately wanted to head back for another tourney fix. It was also pretty amazing that an Alpha Male and Alpha Female who compete with each other at everything (mostly in fun) could get along without getting annoyed with each other at some point during the weekend. It was a great belated birthday weekend.

That was my long awaited trip report. I learned alot watching the Ladies final table on what not to do if you want to win a major tourney. Like overplay pocket dueces (all-in) multiway (should have been folded). Leslie the gal from my local tourney room, who won the Ladies event played pretty patient poker and was rewarded. She had actually just been out to Vegas during the Casaer's Poker Classic and had been involved in a 4 way chop to the tune of $5k or so there. She plays 4 times a week in the local tourneys that are run and has been playing a lot longer then I.

So that is my belated Foxwoods trip report. In a few months the Spring Event will be held (like 3) and we are less then 6 months away from the start of the 2008 WSOP.

And with that I bid you Goodnite

Give Me Five.... Im Still Alive

Yes BamBam I'm still alive and A OK. I missed the Winter Blogger gathering but am enjoying reading the trip reports. I'm heading out the door in a few to play my live league where I slipped to third place on an early exit.. Make that Hellmuthian exit and a MiamiDon tirade. IG was not Ms Congeniality last week. IG was kick over the table pissed off. Snake even mentioned I was on bad behavior.

First I get seated with Stormin Norman who Ive griped about before. I actually don't really mind playing Norm now that I'm used to him and he has actually grown on me. I loathed him at first and found his attention annoying. Hes actually an okay old guy compared to a few other cretins who show up once in a full moon. I was also rewarded with a player I will call Donkey Dave. Not only did Dave hold up the game chewing on pizza (piece after piece after piece) and not paying attention the action in front of me. He got up when it was his turn to deal. After he stuffed his face with pizza he asked if he could go smoke. Zoe said you should wait till the deal passes you. Nope he gets up on his BB. I had the deal and I insta folded him with a bellow of "I'm not fawking around, I'm running this hand" Josh muttered "I hope he doesn't come back!!" and I ditto'd it. Yes he was a noob but, I repeatedly had to say you can raise, fold or call. We had to tell him what the blinds were, what the chip demonination was (even though its on the chips) and then he commmitted the ultimate of sins. He string raised with "I see your $200 and I raise you.....$XXXX". At that point Linda Blair in the Exorcist emerged and my head rotated three times as I hissed.... "that's a string bet you can't call the bet and then reach back for more chips". Karen who was involved in the hand thanked me for saving her $$$. I don't think anyone else had the cajones to say it at my table.

Mind you all this went down after Snake5970 had read over some of our league rules as a reminder before the nights action began. There had been flagrant violations of One player to a hand. People were inducing others to make calls..... "You have to call based on pot odds". If your too fucking clueless to figure that out yourself you shouldn't be helped by someone else at the table. "Ill check it down if you do" when someone was all in and there was multi way action. We all know implicit collusion goes on when a shortie is all in you just cant state it at the table.

Anyway... Blinds at $75/$150... Two limpers. I raise to $800 with QQ. And get the big stack Juddy (any pair or paint looks good) and Donkey Dave with a statement of its only chips right? Right then I knew this was going to be bad. Flop came all babies with two spades. I push in my last $2000 and Dave calls with K9spades. Of course the King hits and I explode. I grab my stuff and fly over to Snake's table where Steve who inflicted a bad beat on me two weeks prior asks me what had happened and I roar... "I just got stacked by a fucking Noob Donkey and dont want to talk about it." Yes the man was about ten feet away but I could have cared less.

I bid a hasty retreat and came home and fired up the donkament and a Bounty SNG. Snake rang me up after his exit and some time spent donking it up at the cash game and asked if I was okay to be playing after what had happened. For some reason he was able to calm me down and get my mind off what had transpired a few hours prior. When I donked off my huge stack in the donkament shortly after the break I could have cared less.

Forget the Fedora, the IPOD, the low cut blouse, Im a gal on a mission tonite.

And if you havent read it yet head over to MiamiDon's blog and read his recent post titled: The Slumpbuster.

Weekend Update

Just a quick late Sunday Post while on the second break from the Full Tilt 24k where I am holding my own at T8845 and I haven't seen a pocket pair bigger then the IG (99 for those of you under a rock) which I folded to a reraise. I made a huge call with AK vs AT or AJ on a board of AQQ which was after another KOD call on my big blind where the dude bluffed off all his chips to me. He raised out of the sb with A5os to $600 I called with Q9 as It was only $400 and I wasn't going to let him bully me as he had been donking it up big time. Sure enough I hit top pair. I fire He reraises all in. I figured him for Ace rag with no piece of board and I was right.

I did move back into first place for the APL with final table 8 of ten tourneys. I'm at 300 points halfway thru... 200 more with 15 tourneys left gets me the coveted 10k in starting chips in the final which I plan on being in!! Snake backslid this week. After wounding a deer (#4) and chasing it around in brush and cold on Friday he looked like he was about to fall asleep at the table.

We did have some fun this weekend. He did my football picks and is at 10-4 with Pittsburgh and New England his final two picks. I played the Sunday Million for him and finished 1193/6881 with 1080 paying. After hunting Friday and helping his best friend on his Xmas tree farm Saturday and Sunday I got my shot at my first Sunday million. I doubled up within the first hour and then I took a beating on this hand: I look down to KK in the BB.... There is a min-raise and a call and a raise to $3600. I have them all covered. I figure isolate at least one of these players, and I wasn't worried about AA. I figured someone or two had AK and that most of the aces were out.. Sure enough the min raise and caller fold like cheap tents, when I put everyone all in. I get the call from the re-raiser and he does in fact have AK... GOOT Flop, GOOT turn. River is the gut wrenching, kicked in the junk, bent over and fawked up the bum Ace. I did manage to scratch my way back all the way to a respectable finish but once again a heart breaking river card for me.

Made the money in the 24k guarantee without a monster pair and a few timely steals. I'm pretty short now and folding my BB to a three way all in. I just folded my KT sb to an all in and a call and im toast soon. All in open shove AJ against Lynette Chan in the BB who calls with T2 and doubles me up!!! Back in a little business.