Hump-Day Ramblings
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
At least it is Wednesday and not Monday all over again, I can be thankful for that. Except for the fact that lately at my job, it has been Monday all day every day. I need a vacation in the worst way, but that is not going to happen, because with my softball trip in May and Okie-Vegas in June, I am forced to save as much vacation time as possible between now and then.
I'll be taking 7 days off in May for my Annual Softball vacation to the great state of Kansas. I spend a few days in Andover(Wichita), a few days in Topeka and then a few days in Great Bend. It's not so much about Kansas as it is about the other 11 guys that I will be hanging out, er, hung over with the entire time.
I'll then follow that up with three days off in June for Okie-Vegas. Let me just say how much I am looking forward to this get-together. I'm sick that Kipper is not going to be able to make the trip, but the show, indeed, must go on. I plan on taking Wednesday the 7th through Sunday the 11th off work and will be available all day Wednesday and Sunday to run people back and forth to the airport. That is, if anybody decides to come to this shindig.
I'm very excited to get to sling some real chips and have a few cold beers with my virtual buddies, as well as Maudie and DuggleBogey, assuming Duggle is still in town. Anybody that is just hearing about the get-together is more than welcome to attend. Watch for announcements in the coming months or shoot me an e-mail if you are interested in attending. I would love to have as many bloggers as possible.
The plan includes binge-pokering, binge-drinking and possibly, a day at the lake to recover before a No-Limit Hold Em Tournament on Saturday night and a world-class, country-style, Oklahoma breakfast laid out by MrsGCox25 on Sunday morning. Let me know if you are interested and I will e-mail you more information regarding hotels, casinos, etc.
____
Bowling last night was fair to partly cloudy. 217-202-223 for a 642 series and yet again, missing my average and shooting only 7 ten pins last night. Trauma: That is exactly my first move every time. Up first and then back if that doesn't work. That's one of the first things my Dad taught me when I became able to hit the pocket consistently. Unfortuantely, that hasn't worked for crap this year. In the past, I've had good success with that move, but for some reason, this year it hasn't helped my carry. The good news is that it isn't just me that can't carry. The entire league has a problem with the ten pin, so there may be more to it than just the line I'm playing. I know I'm tired of shooting the damn things. Thanks for the comments, too, I always appreciate a little bowling talk.
____
I had just enough time to clear 50 more hands toward my VPP bonus at Hollywood Poker. I completely broke even, finishing down .15 cents, but getting closer to releasing my bonus. The 1/2 and 2/4 tables seem to be much tighter than the .50/1 Limit tables for some reason. I have been buying in short for $50 and just waiting patiently for good hands and playing them pretty hard. So far, I've barely been called down or played back at. When I've raised with solid hands, even if I get a caller, a continuation bet nearly always takes it down. Makes me stop and think, how often could I get away with a total bluff in late position on these guys. They definitely appear to be better players than the lower limits and I guess that makes sense.
The bonus seems to be clearing at approximately 785 times the pace I was clearing at .25/.50 and .50/1. I don't know if you get more than one point per raked hand, but every hand at 2/4 gets raked enough to count, for sure. I just have to really watch the cards I play and the position that I'm in at the table, because with only $50 in front of you, it can go away really, really fast at 2/4.
_____
Thanks for all the responses yesterday to my post about possible collusion. I think we are all on the same page when it comes to checking a dry side pot. I certainly have no problem with it and have done it many times, but I do have a problem talking about it at the table or in the chat box during the hand.
Collusion is something that I'm sure occurs more than we think in the on-line game. My friends and I are regularly playing at the same table while in the middle of a voice-chat conference on IM at the same time. This does not mean we collude, because that is certainly not the case. Just Monday night, TripJax, Jordan and I all made the final table of a two-table SNG on Stars and we were chatting the entire time on IM. Who do you think busted me out of the tourney? TripJax. If we were colluding, that would not have been the case. We play it straight up and the way that we do it, it seems more like playing together at a table, live. Our talk is mainly centered around talking shit to one another when we play one of these. It is very competetive and it makes for a much more enjoyable tournament, as far as I'm concerned. Each one us knows and fully understands that, if possible, we are all playing to win and if that means busting the other guy out of the tournament, then so be it. After all, if I have to lose, I would rather lose to one of them than another donkey at the table. I play to win, though, every single time and so does everybody that I chat with on a regular basis.
That is my take on the collusion question. Like everyone that commented, I do not think checking down a side pot when someone is all in is collusion, I think that is part of good, solid tournament strategy. However, talking about it during the hand is very poor etiquette and borders on collusion, in my opinion.
Nuff said.
Have a good one and check raise somebody all-in tonight.
G
posted by GaryC @ 5:51 AM,
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Interesting Situation On Party
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
If you are not into hand history, tourney recap type posts, just skip this one over. If you are, feel free to read, enjoy and/or comment.
I like to call this "Revenge Against The Luckbox!"
So, I'm playing a single table SNG at Party last night and after about 5 hands, we are down to 6 people. Okay, it was a few more hands than that, but I know for a fact that I hadn't seen a flop other than the big blind yet and four people were already gone. I'm in MP with 9-9 and limp in. LP moves all in for just about $200 more. Big blind just calls and I decide to call also. Flop comes out K-5-6 rainbow. Big blind fires $200 immediately and I fold my 9's, cussing the BB for betting at a dry side pot. After I fold the cards turn over and the LP guy has J-J. Guess what Mr. LuckBox had - Q-4 off-suit. Turn is a 3 and river is a 2 and said donkey makes a runner-runner straight to oust the LP. I wanted to ream him but simply typed in the chat box NH. He replied quickly with TY, like he really thought I meant it. I filed this away and about 20 hands later, this happened.
I'm in the Big Blind with K-K. Luckbox (MP) limps and a LP moves over the top for around $300 more. At this point, Luckbox and I are the chip leaders with +/- 2500 chips. He does have me covered though. I simply call the all-in, as does the Luckbox, which I fully expected. The flop comes K-2-5 and I check. He fires a pot-sized bet and I immediately move over the top of him and he calls. He had K-2, hits nothing to help him and is crippled, going out the very next hand.
The lesson here? I think you can take a couple of lessons from this particular situation.
The first lesson I got from this is to pay attention to players' betting patterns, styles, cards at showdown, etc. Had I not been involved in a hand with this guy earlier and saw what he showed down, I would have fired at that pot immediately and might not have gotten paid off. He probably would have called anyway with his two pair, but you never know. Okay, that donkey would have called, but a better player might have at least had a chance to get away from it. Watch the players you are playing against and watch the cards they show down. Watch how they bet and pay particular attention to how much they bet when they have a solid hand and how much they bet when they aren't particularly strong. It can be as simple as a minimum bet when they only have a piece to a pot sized bet when they are holding a monster.
The second lesson that I take from this particular scenario is to NOT fire a bet at a dry side pot when someone is all-in, unless you are holding the stone cold nuts. That is what I have always done, in fact, I have checked down the stone cold nuts with someone that is all-in, if I think the other player is a solid player. The first time they try to take a side pot from me when I am strong, I will punish them, but I usually give them the benefit of the doubt.
Interestingly, later in that same tournament, with three left and one guy all in, both I and the other opponent call with much larger stacks. The other guy immediately types "check it down" in the chat box. I replied with "STFU" and promptly fire out a pot sized bet with TPTK. I don't really think checking it down is collusion to bust the other player, but I do think talking about it during the hand is at least poor sportsmanship, if not collusion. I'm not interested in colluding or having any site accuse me of collusion, so I don't think that is proper etiquette for the chat box.
That opponent went on to berate me for a while and I ended up muting his chat before I said something that I would have regretted. He ended up sucking out on me and winning the SNG, but I didn't hang around long enough to hear any more of his insults.
I'd be interested in anybody's take on this subject and whether or not they think discussing it during a hand is indeed collusion. Let me know your thoughts.
G
posted by GaryC @ 10:55 AM,
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First Read of the Day???
Wow, guys, I am honored that anyone would read this tripe that I continue to pound out day after day, let alone first of the day. Thank you all very much. This blogging thing is something that I truly enjoy and, aside from the occasional real work that gets in the way, is something that I look forward to every morning when I head out to "work." It has become a bit of an escape for me while I bide my time and put in my forty+ hours a week. I would like to be better at it and am continuing to try and improve my writing in hopes of providing some new content that might attract even more loyal readers. Suffice it to say, I am almost as hooked on blogging as I am on playing poker right now. They are running neck and neck in the favorite past-time race right now. Bowling is almost a distant memory and something that gets in my way of playing poker two nights a week.
______
Speaking of bowling, I haven't given an update in a while, so I thought I would share my recent experiences at the lanes. I am still bowling very well and have become a master at picking up the ten pin lately. In the last three weeks I've bowled, I've left a total of 34 ten pins and spared 33 of them. One of my teammates said that I was sure getting good at that ten pin spare and my reply was if you shot 10-12 every night at the bowling alley, you would get pretty good at them also.
For those of you who don't know, the ten pin is the pin on the back row, farthest to the right. It is located right beside the gutter. I am right handed and throw a semi-large hook when I bowl, but that doesn't work very well when trying to spare a ten pin. If you throw a hook at it, it has to be thrown absolutely perfect or it's a miss. I move all the way to the left of the approach and throw a straight ball, hard and fast, over the center arrow and have become quite adept at making it. 33 out of 34 is about 15% higher than any other conversion rate for me in the past few years. I would like to quit leaving them, but the way the lanes are set up right now, everybody is leaving them alot.
When I talk about how the lanes are set up right now, what I mean is they are particularly easy to play. I have a wide path in which to throw the ball that it will still reach the pocket. The problem is that if I don't hit exactly where I want to hit, it often leaves a ten pin, rather than carrying a strike. I tend to "spray" the ball out a little wide of my target. This causes the ball to react harder and hook later, which causes the six pin to wrap around the ten and leave it standing. I know this is a little technical for you guys that hang your heels off the edge of the approach and fire it down there hard and straight, but I thought it was worthwhile. Basically, if I could hit where I was aiming every time, I wouldn't leave as many ten pins. But, if I could hit where I was aiming every time, I would probably be trying the pro bowlers tour as well. Unfortunately, I'm not that good.
I am considering bowling in some Senior events once I reach 50, should they still be going on then. That's just ten short years away and if I continue to bowl like I am presently, I am going to give a few of their tournaments a shot. The averages are both right at 220 still, so I've still been throwing the ball pretty well. I just need to be a little more accurate to shoot the high scores.
______
Poker, finally, a poker update.
I continued on with my Hollywood Poker grinding last night. I have to collect 300 raked hands there to receive my VPP bonus. That bonus is the two Harrington On Hold Em books. At the advice of Twitch, I chose those over Super System, because a) I trust Twitch's advice on the subject and b) Harrington really impressed me during the 2003 and 2004 WSOP. It's all about survival baby!
I know they are aimed more at the tournament strategy than the cash game and that's okay. The biggest score I've ever made was in a MTT and I really want to start taking a few shots at some larger tournaments. Obviously, I can't just buy my way in to the larger ones, but if there are cheaper satellites to gain entry, that is an avenue I want to pursue. I have alot of plans for my bankroll and I need to get back to building it instead of destroying it, like I've done for the last two months.
Speaking of bankroll, don't tell anybody, but it has creeped back over $1000 finally. After dipping as low as $620 at one point, some patient play, some good cards and a little bonus whoring has brought it back to within $300 of its' highest point, lately. I certainly don't want to risk pissing off the poker gods, so do me a favor and keep that to yourself.
Hollywood Poker is a skin of PokerRoom and shares players on their network with several other sites. When I originally did the PSO promo at PokerRoom, I was not very impressed with their site, their players or their raked hands structure. Since joining Hollywood, I have changed my mind a bit about the site. Their software is functional and seems to be quick enough. I haven't had any problems at all with disconnects or bad connections. Their avatars are a little different than PokerRoom's and can be a bit boring, but functional, nonetheless. I love being the big-boobed blond in the 7 seat, whenever I get the chance. I can't help but think the other guys at the table look at that avatar and think that I can't play poker just because of it.
I've also realized that in order to clear the raked hands faster, you have to move up in limits. I only deposited $100 and making the move up to 1/2 Limit is not something I jumped into lightly. I played a few days at .25/.50 and .50/1 before making the jump and had a little success. Last night, I took $50 and sat down at a 1/2 full table to see how many hands I could clear in a night. I played for about an hour and a half and cleared approximately 75 hands toward the bonuses and promos. I also cashed out up a cool $21 bucks. No huge damage done to anyone else's stack, but at the limits I'm used to playing, being that far ahead after clearing that many hands in one session is a big-time bonus for me.
I also placed 2nd in a SNG on Party and doubled my buy-in at a .50/1 table on Pacific all the while clearing hands at Hollywood. For some reason, two-tabling the site that I'm still trying to clear bonuses on just doesn't make sense to me. First, I don't have a large enough bankroll to justify two tables of 1/2 and second, if I have a major decision to make, I don't mind being timed out at Party or Pacific, because I want my focus to be at Hollywood, until the bonuses are collected. Maybe I should just get over it and try to clear the hands as fast as I can by two-tabling there, but I'm just not comfortable yet putting that much of my bankroll in play at one site. Any thoughts here would be appreciated from you guys that have cleared bonuses in a night before. I've never been able to clear bonuses that fast, probably because of the lack of bankroll and the lack of guts to put all the bankroll in play.
I played in an 18-person, two-table SNG with Jordan and TripJax on PokerStars right before heading to bed. Now, normally when we play these things Jordan is the first one to be ousted, but last night, it was me. We all three made the final table, but I was severely short-stacked and had to push every time I played a pot. I ended up pushing with an open-ended straight draw that didn't make. I went to bed right after that, but hopefully you can read about a big win for our heroes on their blogs. I have to say that TripJax was his normal, tight-aggressive self and we both witnessed the new and improved version of Tournament-Jordan and it was impressive. Nice job, guys.
______
Bowling alley tonight and maybe a little poker when I get home. For those of you who hadn't noticed, the Shootout tournaments on Party Poker have been missing for the last several days. As of 8:30 last night, they were back on the web-site and I will probably be playing in that one at least once this week, maybe tonight.
May you all have "show tunes going off in your head" and someone raising into you.
G
posted by GaryC @ 5:40 AM,
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Belated Giving of Thanks
Monday, November 28, 2005
Things that should have been posted last week that I am truly thankful for:
-My wife, the most loving and understanding best friend a normal guy could ever hope to have.
-My daughters, both good kids who try to do the right thing, most of the time. I could not ask for more from either one of you.
-My Mom and Mother-In-Law, both seem to understand me better now than they ever have. Thanks for being you and letting me be me.
-My extended family, who have always loved me for who I am, even when that wasn't a particularly great guy.
-Jordan, who has become a great friend and without his help, this blogging journey might have never taken flight. Thanks for taking me under your wing and helping out.
-TripJax, who has also become a great friend to me in the last few months and without whom, I would still just have a generic blog template. Thanks for all your help buddy, I absolutely love the new look.
-DNasty, Kipper and SteelerJosh, for joining us in the first SNG Challenge and becoming a group that I could immediately identify with and enjoy hanging out with. And in the same vein, Will-Wonka for fitting right in with us during the 1st HU Challenge.
-All the other bloggers and friends that I have made along the way in this little undertaking. The vete-rans who have accepted me into their group and the new-bies, like me, who have become quite a tight-knit, on-line family of our own. I've enjoyed the ride thus far and look forward to all the future adventures.
I'm also very thankful for the health of all of my family and extended family and hope for more of the same in the future. May you all have as much to be thankful for as I do. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for hanging out with me.
G
posted by GaryC @ 10:46 AM,
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Alarm Clock...
....ting-a-ling, ringing in my head. -Mark Chessnutt (It Sure Is Monday)
*****Edit***** - Please go by Davee's blog and check out the picture that he posted of me dropping the hammer on the Bad Beat Jackpot table at Party. I would have posted it myself, but, you know, I'm e-tarded like that. Thanks Dave.
Is there anything worse than Monday after a four day holiday weekend? Right now, I can't think of it if there is. Possibly an after-work meeting scheduled for that same Monday evening, but I will let you know more about that after tonight.
I did not want to get my fat ass out of bed this morning when the alarm went off. After four days of sleeping as late as I wanted, staying up as late as I wanted and playing as much poker as I wanted, work seemed like a distant memory. And yet, here I sit in my little monkey cubicle, pounding away at what little work I have and my newest obsession, blogging away the 8+ hours of my work day.
I had a profitable four day weekend on the poker front. With bonuses and SNG profit, I ran my roll up almost $200 for the four days and I'm sitting at just under $1000 for the total bankroll. A much needed upswing after two months of continual losses. I've played solid poker and caught some good cards along the way. Except for a couple of suck-outs last night in SNG's the profit could have been even better, but I am not going to complain. I faded most of the two-outers the entire four days, so all in all, it was an excellent weekend of poker.
Okie-Vegas
I haven't heard back from anybody about changing the dates, due to Kipper's circumstances, so at this point, the dates will remain the same. The main reason I set them as far in advance as I did, was so everyone could make their plans in advance and as many as wanted to come, could make it. I feel bad that Kip will miss it, but after thinking about it long and hard over the weekend, I don't feel like I can change them. So, June 7th through 11th will remain the dates for Okie-Vegas. I'm sorry, Kip, I wish I could do something and I hope that there is still a way you can make it, but I feel like I need to leave the dates the same for the majority of people planning on attending. Let me know if you can make it or if you have any other suggestions.
I want to send a special thank you out to my buddy that sent me and my family the nice Thanksgiving e-card. The wife, daughters and I really enjoyed it and appreciate the sentiment. Thanks again.
By the way, if you happen to be driving around OKC, watch out for the 16 year old blonde that looks like me in a green, four door Saturn. She is officially on the streets. Happy Birthday again, Alex.
This is going to have to be a short post this morning as apparently everybody needs parts this morning. I will try to post something else this afternoon, maybe.
Have as good a Monday as you can possibly have.
G
posted by GaryC @ 6:06 AM,
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Post Holiday ReCap
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Wow. That's all I can say is Wow!
I ate like I haven't eaten in more than three years Thursday afternoon. I was in a turkey coma from about 2:00 pm on Thursday afternoon until some time Saturday afternoon. Whoo, it feels good to eat like that. I'll be back to normal hopefully some time tomorrow and back to my salads for lunch and dropping the 10 pounds I put on this week. Still feels damn good though.
I've been playing a bit this weekend and it has been a very solid run for the most part. I am up about $150 for the weekend and headed back toward the numbers that I had two months ago, before the downswing hit. I am thrilled to be catching some cards again and thrilled to be playing solid poker again.
I played in Pauly's tournament yesterday and flamed out in 14th place, just five short of the coveted final table. Again, I played very tight and solid poker,well, other than the ridiculous double-up suck-out that I laid on somebody with the Hammer! I figured there was no better hand to go bust with at a table full of bloggers, but I spiked a 7 on the river to double up.
I'll be doing some chip-slinging this afternoon and this evening. Come and find me.
G
posted by GaryC @ 11:51 AM,
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Pre-Holiday Flavor
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
I began my first promotion through VegasPokerpPro last night. After a few successes and finishing up the promo at Caribbean Sun in the positive, I moved a little money around and downloaded Hollywood Poker.
I won't say that I'm disappointed, because I already had an idea that it was a skin of PokerRoom, but last night, I figured out that it is definitely a skin of Poker Room. I didn't pull up PokerRoom to compare the room names, but I am pretty sure they are using the exact same players and I know the software is the same. Oh well, I was able to make it through the promo at PokerRoom, so I will finish this one up as well, I hope.
I decided on the Poker books/DVD's for my gift choice this time. I figure since I'm too lazy to get off my ass and go buy a book, Harrington on Holdem I and II need to be delivered to my house in order for me to read them. I've heard good things about both of his books and I do like his style of play. I never answered Jordan's questionairre, but the question about which pro plays the most like my style(or vice versa) I would have certainly picked Dan Harrington.
There won't be much poker for me until probably Saturday this week, but once I get home, watch out. I will be playing SNG's and burning through the promo at Hollywood. Look me up once the weekend gets here.
_____
The big Thanksgiving soiree at my Mom's house begins tonight for us. I will be running to the bank immediately after work and then home to pack. Pack, you ask? Yeah, my little family packs like we're going on a "fortnight" holiday any time we go any where. In actuality, we'll be there two days, but it will take an hour or so to pack everything tonight.
Sample list:
1-Karaoke gear-we started this tradition last year and will be singing with the entire family after stuffing ourselves to the gills with turkey, etc.
2-Food-this list grows every year as my Mom has found out just how good a cook my wife is. I ordered a smoked ham from a guy at work and my wife will be making the following casseroles: Broccoli/cheese, corn, potato and green bean. They are huge hits with the entire family. We do love to eat.
3-Clothes-like I said, we pack for a long getaway, just in case we have to stay longer. What can I say, it is all women at my house and they pack like women.
4-Family-me, wifey, daughter #1, daughter #2 and mother-in-law. This will require two vehicles since my truck will be loaded down with equipment.
If any of you have ever driven on the Turner Turnpike, you will agree when I say that this is by far the worst stretch of highway to drive on in Oklahoma this particular evening. The only time that is worse than pre-Thanksgiving is right around Christmas and we will be making the exact same trip then.
I need to send a very special Happy Birthday wish out to my oldest daughter, Alex, today. She turns the so-important 16 years old this morning at 10:34 AM. She was born in Glendale, California 16 years ago today after 36 hours of labor and finally, an emergency c-section. It was actually on Thanksgiving morning in 1989 and my ex-wife and I were certainly glad to get it over with after being at the hospital almost two full days. Happy Birthday sweetheart, you are growing up entirely too fast.
Finally, I want to send everyone best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving season. Enjoy your family, enjoy the food and enjoy your time off. I hope you eat too much and fall into a turkey-induced coma tomorrow, I know I will.
Have a good one.
G
posted by GaryC @ 5:24 AM,
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Two Years Ago...
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
....this very week.
It happened out of the blue. I was at my Mom's for Thanksgiving, like I am every year, and had retired to the couch in a near-coma induced by the intake of mass quantities of turkey. I stretched out on the couch and during a time-out in the football game, I clicked over to ESPN for a second. What the? These guys are playing poker.
It turns out it was a continuous, all-day, all-weekend long rebroadcast of the 2003 WSOP Main Event. Moneymaker. Now, I had always played poker in home games and with my roommates in college, etc. But, I had never even seen Hold Em, let alone played it. I was instantly hooked. I watched it all day and all night long that first day. No more football, it was all about the poker.
Not long after that, a friend turned me on to Ultimate Bet. I set up an account there and at Party Poker for play money, but with my spotty dial-up connection, I was constantly timing out and disconnecting. (I told you I was an e-tard) We finally got high speed internet access about a year and a half ago.
By this time, there were home games popping up all around town and a bunch of my friends and I were playing at least two times a week. I started out on a great rush and was almost always in the money. After a while though, my friends seemed to close the gap and they either got a whole bunch smarter or I got a whole bunch dumber. In actuality, they were learning what I had learned from the get go and I had ceased learning.(Kind of like the spot I'm in right now with my on-line game)
One Saturday night, after busting out of a live tournament before the final table, I drove home, intent on talking my wife into letting me deposit some real money on Ultimate Bet. I can still recall the conversation. You want to what? Directly out of our bank account? Is it secure? After convincing her that Neteller was indeed secure, I went about making a $50 deposit. Two phone calls and probably 30 minutes later, I had $50 sitting in my Ultimate Bet account, just waiting to go to work.
I decided on a $5 + .50 SNG to start out with. I had been playing alot of the NL ring games for play chips and doing well, so don't ask me why I chose a tourney. I busted out in 9th place in my first one. Not good at all. I went to bed that night not knowing exactly how addicted I was at that point.
When I got up the next morning, amazingly enough, there were still players on UB and I could join another game immediately. I got me a big cup of coffee and logged back in and joined another SNG. Funny thing happend, I won the fooking thing. I was so excited I nearly pissed my pants. I was jumping around the room and running in to tell my wife of my accomplishments. She was surprised to see that my $50 investment now stood at $64.00.
Even funnier, I immediately sat down for another SNG and won that one also. Two in a row and I was on a roll, or so I thought. I continued to play on a regular basis and suddenly, those home games weren't so important when I could run home and immediately get into a new SNG.
I ran my original $50 up to about $300 playing strictly SNG's. I then got in over my head and started playing the occasional $10 SNG and even a $20 SNG on occasion. Pretty soon, my account had dwindled down to not even enough for the $1 variety SNG's. What's a hooked, degenerate gambler to do? Re-Load!
I slapped another $50 on-line and went about building the bankroll again. This time, after having read blogs and various other strategy sites on the internet, I decided to figure out how to collect bonuses. I had about $50 bonus sitting on UB because of the deposits, but I didn't know how to collect it. Ring game.
I took my lumps but somehow collected all my $50 bonus money and my account sat at around $75.(Read: -25.00 overall) About this time, I read about Party Poker, probably on Iggy's blog and fired up another $50 and went to work at Party. That lasted all of a week. Although, my overall stats at Party say that I am finishing in the money in nearly 40% of the SNG's played, I continued to lose ground. Pretty soon, I was bust there also.
Back to Ultimate Bet and back to my old faithful SNG's. I built my bankroll up to around $400 playing strictly SNG's and I decided I was going to take a few shots at MTT's. These went mostly by the wayside for a couple of weeks, but in June of this year, right after starting this humble blog, I did it. That $920 prize propelled me over the $1000 mark and I was hooked from that second on. When I showed my wife my account numbers, she was floored.
I withdrew some of the money to help out with things around the house. I financed my vacation last May out of my on-line money and things were rolling along nicely. Right about this time, I discovered what bonus-whoring really was and set about to make as much money and receive as many free gifts as possible. Hell, I'm going to be playing poker on-line anyway, I might as well get something for my efforts, right?
That is where I am today, still whoring as often as possible, with entirely too many web-sites on my computer, too many passwords and codes that I no longer use in my way. But you know what? I still love it as much today as I did that Sunday morning a year and a half ago when I won my first SNG. Every night when I log on to play, I have the same open-eyed, lustful stare at that computer, just knowing it could happen to me someday. Moneymaker got into the WSOP through a $40 qualifier, right?
You never know.
G
posted by GaryC @ 11:36 AM,
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Live Play Is Rigged Too!
(Tongue is firmly implanted in cheek)
I played in a live re-buy tourney last night with 12 guys that I have played alot of poker with in the past. They all know my betting patterns and I know all of their betting patterns, so it comes down to who wants to gamble or who catches cards, normally. Last night was no exception.
I made it to the first hour break (cut-off for add-ons) with about T1600. We started with T1500 and I had played one pot to the river (and won) at this point. I went ahead and took the add-on so I would have some ammunition, just in case I caught a hand. Lo and behold, first hand out of the break, I look down at A-K suited under the gun.
The blinds are at 40-80 and I make it 280 to go. There were five guys at my table and the first three muck immediately when I announce raise. The small blind, we'll call him.....Fucking Levi, pauses, looks at me and mentions, "You've only played one hand so far, right?" That is correct, sir. Call. BB folds and the flop is K-6-6. He fires 200 and, of course, I raise him all in. He isnta-calls with.....K.........6......and.......IGHN. First hand after the break, I get myself busted, because my ultra-loose image cannot get somebody off of K-6. They weren't suited either. I swear, live play is rigged!
The busted part is really my fault, because Fucking Levi would have checked that to me with just a piece of the flop and I should have known when he bet that he caught at least the 6. Oh well, I wasn't planning on playing last night at all and I got out there without my tin foil hat, so I was pretty much screwed from the get-go.
_____
I got home and played a Maui SNG with Jordan and Aussie Dave. I forgot how fast the blinds raise in those things, almost like a Turbo. I won a nice pot early and just sat back and before I knew it, I was the short stack and the blinds were killing me. Dave was the only one that made the money for the home team and, of course, Jordan was the first one out. LOL.
Dave and I played for a while on the Party 2/4 Bad Beat Jackpot tables and were both able to book solid wins. I think he was stepping down from 5/10 to play with me and I appreciate it Dave. It's always nice to play poker with someone that you can talk to about reads, hands, etc. We don't collude by any means, but discuss strategy, other players' tendencies, etc. Good playing with you Dave.
He also witnessed and caught a screen shot of me dropping the hammer on an unsuspecting table at Party. If I can figure out how to get that up, I plan on posting that shot soon.
_____
Does anybody know what is up with Party's Shootout Tournaments? I played in a few of these and had a little success, but for the last week, they have not been available on the web-site? WTF? They bring in a new format, get me hooked on them and then pull the rug out from under my feet? If anyone has seen some kind of announcement or knows what is going on with these, please let me know.
_____
The wife has advised me that this coming Friday evening, we will be joining some friends for a "friendly" home game. Now, Chip and Debbie have been our friends for a long time and we have played millions of games with and against them. Softball, golf, darts, poker, spades, hearts, etc. Chip does not know the meaning of the word "friendly," which is one of the reasons we get along as well as we do.
The man pitched competitive slow pitch softball until he was 53, for God's sake. When he plays, he plays to win, which is not unlike myself, so I expect a full blown war at the kitchen table this Friday evening. The other couple was present the last time we did this and if I remember right, he was a pretty aggressive player as well. He and Chip both fell into my catch and trap strategy the last time, but if I know them, they will be on to that strategy this time.
I'm leaving for my Mom's right after work on Wednesday night and will be coming home some time Friday morning. I might be able to play for a little while Friday afternoon, but I will be out this Friday night. I do plan on joining Dr. Pauly's tournament on PokerStars this Saturday at noon. I had a blast playing with and getting to know some of the veteran bloggers out there last week and I actually played some good poker as well.
Saturday evening, I plan on plotting a course using TripJax's strategy of winning my own private SNG to afford entry into a bigger tournament, that I wouldn't normally play. The first and only time we did that so far, we both won a SNG and bought into the 40K guaranteed tourney on Party. It worked out well and I like the plan, it is just a matter of winning that SNG so we are basically freerolling into the 40K. If you are up for that tourney, let me know some time on Saturday.
I have added a new blogger to my links on the right and would like to welcome PokerSweetHome to the community. Thanks for the comments, buddy, I do appreciate it. Go by and check out his blog and make him feel welcome.
I've got a lot to get done tonight and tomorrow, but I plan on playing at least a 2 or 3 table SNG tonight after bowling. If you'd like to join, IM me around 10:30.
Later,
G
posted by GaryC @ 5:27 AM,
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Weekend of the Bubble Boy
Monday, November 21, 2005
First things first, let me say thank you to Mourn and SirF for their comments on my last post. I really appreciate your thoughts and you sharing them with me.
_______
Now, on to other, less impressive things. The Rest Of The World now leads the Challenge by a dominating 3-0 margin after LittleAcornMan's outstanding performance yesterday in the 18-man SNG on PokerStars. We had 7 confirmed bloggers yesterday and one additional guest appearance once again by Grupper, for a total of 8 out of the 18 total players. Thanks to everybody for playing and also, thanks to Chris from Cracked Aces for stopping by and joining in the chat room with us.
Here's a list of the competitors:
GCox25, yours truly.
Chipper, Chipper's Poker World.
Meek, Meek's Poker Bankroll
Zagga, LittleAcornMan.
Davee, Aussie Dave.
Veneno, YoSoyVeneno.
Grupper, ?????.
TripJax, Poker In Arrears.
Out of the 18 players in the SNG, here's your blogging final table.
GCox25
Veneno
Aussie Dave
TripJax
LittleAcornMan
Grupper was the bubble boy to the final table and from what I could see, dealt with a cold deck for the longest time at the 2nd table. Still, a good showing. Meek was the first blogger down, but went out like a professional blogger, moving all his chips in with, what else? The Hammer!
Chipper went out next and Grupper followed after that, setting up the final table. Aussie Dave flopped quads, beeeeetches, twice in this tournament but it was not enough as he followed TripJax to the rail shortly after Trip was blinded down to nothingness with a cold deck.
Wih 5 people left, the challenge was still up in the air with myself and Veneno representing the US and LittleAcornMan still the chip leader for the Rest Of The World. I was able to double up twice off of JonTheMute and I would like to send a special thank you out to him for keeping me around as long as he did. Also, I feel it is warranted, Jon, you need to do something about that avatar, brother. After a long period of cold cards, I was the next to go out leaving Veneno and LittleAcornMan to battle it out.
They did battle for a good while and Veneno finally went out in 3rd place overall after a fine showing and some very aggressive play. LittleAcornMan went on to finish 2nd in the tourney and secure a third consecutive victory for the Rest Of The World. Nice finish Veneno and LittleAcornMan. Congratulations to the Rest Of The World (basically, LittleAcornMan and Aussie Dave) on the win. I will be recruiting more US players in the future to try and combat their obviously superior skills with a total numbers advantage. Great job again.
______
I played in the Saturdays With Pauly blogger event on Saturday afternoon on PokerStars also. Talk about a wild time. I really enjoyed playing with all the other bloggers and actually was able to make a pretty decent showing this time.
I was stuck at the "TV table" for most of the tourney with a lineup consisting of, among others:
Joe Speaker
BG
Pauly
Maudie
Life'sAGrind
BadBlood
SoxLover-can't find a link, let me know.
I didn't know some of the other bloggers at our table, but it was a tough table and they were all good players. I didn't write down any specific hands, but I remember Joe Speaker and I doing battle a couple of times. Fortunately for me, I had the goods every time and to his credit, he made a couple of very good, albeit, very tough lay downs. I know for a fact one of the times he held pocket Kings to my big slick and an Ace high flop. I also want to note that I appreciate the fact that he told me "those Okie-Vegas players are aggressive." Maudie was a big stack about this time and giving the entire table "what-for." Thanks Joe, much appreciated.
I ended up bubbling out in 10th place when I had to move with the short stack and pocket 4's against Trauma's Hilton sisters. Congratulations to all the final table players. A job well done. Go see Pauly's site for the final table and also, congrats to CJ who won it all and apparently is on a great rush right now, winning another tourney later in the day on Pacific.
_______
So, it was a great weekend of poker, despite two bubble boy finishes. Next Monday morning, stay tuned for either "Revenge of the Bubble Boy" or "The Bubble Boy Returns." I'm voting for the Revenge title, but you just never know.
Thanks for stopping by and look for me this weekend on the tables. I will be out of town to my Mom's from Wednesday night until at least Friday night, probably Saturday morning, but I hope to make it home in time to join Saturday's with Dr. Pauly again this weekend.
Have a great week.
G
posted by GaryC @ 5:46 AM,
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Limit thoughts from a limit rookie
Friday, November 18, 2005
Reading Scurvy's post yesterday got me to thinking about a few things in my game and a few things that Will-Wonka posted about a few weeks back. He posted his winning hands and the hands that he lost the most with playing Limit Hold Em.
The two losingest hands were K-J and K-Q, if I remember correctly.
What a coincidence. I don't have any statistical information to back up my thoughts,(cause I'm e-tarded like that) but reading some thoughts of others lately, it occurred to me that those are not very strong hands in a 6 max Limit game. Good, solid hands, but not hands to be calling pre-flop raises with, especially to a solid player.
I fall into the same trap as others with them, probably just as often. After folding an endless sea of J-3's and 9-2's, you look down to find two beautiful face cards finally. What to do, what to do? You haven't played or won a hand in 3 orbits and suddenly, you are faced with a raise and a re-raise. The prudent thing to do here is to fold meekly and wait for a better spot, but can I make myself do that? Usually not, unfortunately, and it reflects in my recent downswing.
Here's an example from last night.
I'm on the button with K-Q off-suit. I haven't played a hand in a while and I call a raise from MP. Big Blind re-raises and now I've thrown two additional bets into the pot before the flop.
Flop is K-clubs, J-clubs, Q-spades. Now, that flop hit me pretty hard, but by the time it gets to me, there are two bets out there. I decided that I was ahead of the BB and re-raise and we cap it and head to the turn.
Turn is 10-hearts. This is certainly not a good card for me, but I think my pot odds dictate at least a call. Thankfully, that card slowed down MP and we all call one bet and head to the river, with me praying for another King to hit the board.
River is 9-clubs. Now, any Ace beats me from the turn, so I was fishing and pocket clubs now has the nuts(assuming nobody has Q-10 of clubs). I fold meekly and the two go to war. The Big Blind shows down A-A for the straight and the MP raiser shows down 10-3-clubs for the flush and drags a huge pot.
I'm not even going to go into what the A-A guy said, but suffice it to say, it was very entertaining until the fish that won the hand left the table.
The question that I have to ask myself here is "Why am I in this hand to begin with?" I cold-called two raises pre-flop with an unsuited K-Q, catch a nice chunk of the flop and spew off three more big blinds looking for a miracle four-outer.
My read was pretty good pre-flop on the others' hands. I felt like BB had a big pocket pair, but when that flop came out, I felt like it missed him. I then put him on A-A from then on.
The MP was a loose player and I knew he could be raising with any two cards from MP. When the BB re-raised pre-flop and he didn't cap it, that just confirmed my read on him. After the flop, I felt like I was ahead and if it went blank-blank, I was taking it down, which was true.
Obviously, heading to the river, I knew I had to catch a four-outer to win this hand. This is just stupid poker on my part, in my opinion. In the future, I will be watching my hand selection very closely and monitoring how often I am sucked into cold-calling pre-flop raises with marginal hands.
Questions for readers and players more experienced than I?????
A) Is the pre-flop call too loose?
Obviously, after the BB raised, I hated my hand, but as often is the case, I felt compelled to call one more bet to see a flop.(like the fly-fishing donkey I am)
B) Assuming my reads were good, am I right to raise after the flop?
C) Is the pot giving me the right odds to call one bet after the turn? (again assuming that my reads were right and I needed a four-outer to take the hand down)
D) Should I be writing an on-line blog about bowling instead of poker?
These are just the thoughts of others that I am expounding upon and I want to thank Will-Wonka and Scurvy for their recent posts. Any time a post makes you stop and consider things about your own game, it is a damn good post. As soon as the above hand was over, I had this post written in my head.
Stay away from cold-calling with K-Q or K-J.
G
I have to add a joke that my wife just forwarded to me. Give me a second, I have to clean off my computer screen.
Okay, I'm laying in bed watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" with my wife. Suddenly, the urge hits and I turn to her and ask "Do you wanna have sex, honey?"
She answers "no" politely.
I fire back "is that your final answer?"
"yes" she says, never wavering from the TV screen.
"I'd like to phone a friend" I say.
That's the last thing I remember.
For information on the US/UK Challenge III, see the previous post.....
down.......
there.
l
l
v
posted by GaryC @ 10:36 AM,
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Sunday 4 pm EST...
... 3 pm CST ........ 9 pm UK time ........ 8 am (Monday morning) Australian time.
PokerStars
US/UK Challenge Part III
I will be opening a chat room up on AOL and Yahoo approximately 30 minutes prior to when we will start. If you are interested in playing, leave me a comment with your IM name and I will add you to the list or contact me on Sunday. (GCoxy25 on both)
We will try to time it as close to 4 pm EST as possible and depending on the number of players will be joining either an 18 person SNG or 27 person SNG.
Buy-in - $5 + 1
NON-turbo
They fill up fast so be sure to be on-line a few minutes before start time so we can get it coordinated. Below is a small list of those that have expressed interest or have played in the past. Also, check LittleAcornMan and the Edge's blogs for updates.
LittleAcornMan
The Edge
Juice
TripJax
Veneno
SirFWalgman
AussieDave
GCox25
Waldi???
Drizz
HighOnPoker
Twitch
Chipper
Rosie???
DNasty
The UK boys are going to have to start recruiting, because obviously, our recruiting has paid off huge. The US side will be well represented, as we were last time, and looking for revenge, as we are now 0-2 in these matches. AussieDave is allowed to play for the UK by default, since he is getting up early the next morning to join us.
Remember, this is open to readers and bloggers alike and the more we have, the more fun it will be. If need be, we could move up to a 45 person SNG to accomodate more people. Just be sure to get me your IM information before 4:00 EST on Sunday so we can time the start.
Good luck to all and if you can't play, I'm sure the chat box and IM room will be just as entertaining if you'd like to railbird it.
_____
I finally cleared my PSO promotion at Caribbean Sun last night and ended up +$80 for the venture, as well as the 6000 PSO points that I will be awarded. Another profitable venture on the bonus whoring circuit. I would suggest depositing enough to play at least 1/2 Limit from the start, because it clears much faster at that limit, if you can handle the swings. One other note, the players at 1/2 are as bad or worse than the players at the lower limits.
My next venture will probably be at Hollywood Poker via VegasPokerPro. If you haven't looked at VPP yet feel free to use my link or Jordan's link on his blog and help two brothas out. If you already have, thank you very much.
_____
I also managed to sneak in another 18 person SNG on PokerStars. I am really digging the set-up of these things so far. I am playing the non-turbo variety and the structure allows for plenty of time to actually play poker. I finished 4th last night and recovered my entry fee, but took a three-out suck-out from the short stack or I would have finished much higher. Eh, that's poker, right?
I joined this one with Jordan and he took an ugly beat on the river after getting all his money in with a set of sixes. His opponent had alot of outs with a flush draw and overcards and caught one of two Queens left to bounce Jordan. Tough beat J and again, I would have played it exactly the same way.
Surflexus joined us in Yahoo Voice Chat last night and railbirded our tourney. He finally got himself a headset and I think would agree that it is nice to actually hear the voices of the people that you read and IM on a day to day basis. I forgot to mention this yesterday, but Kipper also got himself a headset. We talked Wednesday night and were going along fine until Jordan invited us into a conference room and Kipper turned into Chewbacca from Star Wars. I think the issue was with his Yahoo connection though, because it worked fine earlier and on AOL.
_____
Finally, if you play any Limit Hold Em at all, you would be doing yourself and your bankroll a favor by reading Scurvy's post from yesterday at Sounds of a Suckout. He takes you through a hand from start to finish, including his thoughts and his opponents thoughts on every street. It is an article regarding defending a vulnerable hand and is well worth the read. Good stuff, Scurvy.
That's all I got for this morning, remember to get back with me via the comments section if you are interested in joining us Sunday on PokerStars. Have a good weekend and remember, sets are golden!
G
Addendum: Please join me in welcoming a friend of Surflexus, ChipperDH, to the blogging community. Go by and make him feel welcome.
ChipperDH, I will give you the option of being ChipperDH or Chipper II because we already have a Chipper. You can choose and let me know.
Welcome to the community.
posted by GaryC @ 5:58 AM,
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US/UK Challenge - Part Trois???
Thursday, November 17, 2005
I don't have a clue if that's right or not, but it looked good, so I'm going with it.
Chipper came up with an excellent idea for the challenge this Sunday, if anyone is interested.
Sunday - 4 pm EST - 3 pm CST - 9 pm across the pond time - 8 am-Monday morning in Australia, right Dave?)
PokerStars - $5 + 1 entry fee - 18 person or 27(or even 45) person SNG.
-If we time it right, we could all get into the same tourney.
-Cheap buy-in for all involved.
-Excellent structure if we choose a non-turbo game.(plenty of time to play poker, not race)
-Excellent payout for minimal entry fee, assuming you make the money.
-Other monkeys/donkeys/lemurs at the tables to donate to our cause.(and to be shown the virtues of dropping the hammer!)
We could basically make it a last longer bet and the side with the highest placers/most placers/longest lasters would be declared champeeeeeeeen!
Let me know what you think of Chipper's idea. I think it's a winner. Also, leave me a comment if you are interested in joining us and haven't done so in the past. The more the merrier, as far as I'm concerned.
G
posted by GaryC @ 10:16 AM,
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3rd Times A Charm
TripJax and I have found us a nice little tourney set-up at Poker Stars. 18-person SNG's. It's a two table set-up and the turbo's cost $6 + .50 and the non-turbo's cost $5 + .50. First place in the non-turbo variety pays $36.00. How do I know this?
GCox25,
Congratulations. You finished 1st in the tournament and your real money account has been credited with $36.00. Thanks for playing.
Of course, it took three times but like the title says, the third time is a charm. In fact, both TripJax and myself bombed out early in the first two we tried (the turbo variety) last night. Once Jordan joined us, we decided on a non-turbo (because we're tight like that and wanted to save a buck) and the three of us went to work.
I doubled up early when my Kings held up against an aggressive pair of Jacks and coasted to the final table. Jordan was bumped early, due to a suck-out, but TripJax and I managed to make it to the final 8 or so. Trip was a bit short-stacked but doubled up quickly and hung around. Before we knew it, we were heads up for the title.
I got some great cards and was able to keep the pressure on Trip, due to my stack size. Pocket 7's were his demise and I was fortunate to win it. I really enjoy playing these tournies with fellow bloggers, but when we both make the money, that is icing on the cake. Nice job, Trip. I also want to say thanks to Twitch and Veneno for railbirding the final table.
Work is overloading my ass right now, so this is going to be short.
Regarding Steve Danneman(sp): It seems I may have been a little harsh on him yesterday, according to comments from both DuggleBogey and TripJax. My apologies. I will wait until I've seen the entire WSOP before making a final judgment on him. I just thought that was a bush league move and that is the only episode I've gotten to see with him in it. (not including the final table at the bowling alley with no sound)
Matasow and Hellmuth are still asses and my opinion of them and their antics will not change.
I'm snowed under, have a good day.
G
posted by GaryC @ 5:59 AM,
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My Play Currently And Other Random Thoughts
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
I wanted to write a second post today about my play last night and as of late.
I got home and fired up Pacific Poker and immediately sat at a 6 max 1/2 Limit table. The table was full and was made up of three LARGE stacks (all well over $300) but it was obvious by their play that they had money to burn through, because their play was atrocious.
I got caught early in a set over set and lost a chunk of my $40 buy-in, then the table began to break. I am not a huge fan of playing heads up with someone at a Limit table, but I was stuck about $15 and he had it in front of him, so I continued on.
What happened next was simply amazing. I ran completely over the monkey. I didn't draw, but I pushed him hard when I felt like I had an advantage and pretty soon, he was broke. Another guy joined the table just before I busted the first guy, but he bought in for only $20. After my original HU competitor left, I proceeded to do the exact same thing to this guy. I folded to obvious strong hands and nailed him with my good hands. 15 or 20 hands later, he was bust and my bankroll had been given a much-needed boost.
Now, I don't think for a minute that I was any better player last night than I have been for the last two months, or for the last year and a half, for that matter. But, something clicked last night for me and all of my reads were spot on. I didn't get run over by the deck or catch any miracle two-outers, I simply pushed hard when I thought I was ahead and without fail, I was indeed ahead.
I've had plenty of times that I was the guy that got involved in a pissing contest with another player and lost my entire stack to them, so it was nice to come out on the winning side for a change.
My play has evolved a bit while riding out the current downswing that I've been in. I've been watching players closer and trying to figure out exactly what it is that drives their (and my) decision making in a hand. I've never, ever been very aggressive at the tables, but recently, if I sense any weakness at all, I pounce. This often costs me a few bets along the way, because the monkeys at my limits often will not lay down third pair, but I feel like, in the long run, the aggression that I'm learning will only help my game.
As an example, last night I defended my big blind to the small blinds' raise with J-4 of clubs. The flop contained two hearts and he led out. I called quickly and when a heart hit the turn, he checked it to me. I immediately fired out a bet and he folded. A month ago, I'm probably not even in this hand, but for some reason last night, I knew when they were stealing and when they held the goods.
_______
As I read DoubleAs post yesterday, it got me to thinking about where I was a year ago and where I am headed with this poker habit I have developed. I certainly want to be a winning player and I would love to be able to supplement my income by playing poker for a few hours a night. Obviously, in the last couple of months, neither of those things have happened for me, even though I've spent a lot of time at the tables.
I feel like I've reached a plateau in my poker skills and am teetering up there between falling back and taking the next step. I'm hoping the reading that I am about to begin will be enough of a shove in the right direction to start back up the slope.
If you have never read DoubleAs strategy posts, good god man, where have you been? Dig through his archives and make a day of it, because they are an aboslute gold mine coming from a man that started where we all started, at the low limits and advanced, albeit much faster than most, up to some of the biggest games on the net. His book will be out next year and I cannot wait to buy it, because I know it will be filled with information that can only help my game.
During the original HU Challenge with other bloggers, I was lucky enough to play against DoubleAs heads up and even luckier to beat him. It was only a $5 match and, I'm sure, just a little relaxing good time for him, but a highlight for me nonetheless. One night during the challenge, we logged on and fired up the chat and he implored us to come and join his cash table at UB. We're all thinking, yeah right, what Limit is he playing? Lo and behold, he was on a .01/.02 Crazy Pineapple table and we all had a rocking good time, blowing off steam and wagering pennies. Those were good times and remind me that some of us donkeys that take this thing so seriously, should just chill out every once in a while. I know chilling out would do me some good right about now. Thanks for the posts and the good times, DoubleAs, they are a boon for us "low limit grinders" and continue to help my game. I can't wait for the book.
______
Another shout out, if you will, for Dr. Pauly at Tao Of Poker. If you have free time at work, and I know you do if you are reading this, there is no reason for you to not keep up with the latest tournies that he is live-blogging. Great stuff, Pauly, and a great way to kill work place productivity. My little cube-monkey existence is always better when you are live-blogging a poker tourney. Keep up the good work.
______
I also want to send a shout out to our good buddy, Will-Wonka. He's had a little storm induced computer trouble at home, but is about to get that solved. Welcome back brother, you were missed.
______
My Take On The Main Event
What is it with all the jopkers and being on television? I haven't been able to sit down and watch any of the broadcasts all the way through, because of bowling league, but I have caught snippets here and there. Does everyone involved have to act like a complete jackass? Is it that hard to get on ESPN if you just play good, solid poker?
Mike "the mouth" Matasow
First, let me say that I respect his ability to no end and I'm not defending Sheik, or whatever his name is. But, must you be such a jackass all the time? Couldn't you just sit there, be courteous and still play balls-out, world-class poker? I love his game, but I can't help but think that if I were playing at a table with him, we would end up rolling around on the ground flailing away at one another.
Phil Hellmuth
Is he that addicted to the spotlight that he has to make a huge scene about everything? Damn, Phil, I know you are a world-class player. God knows that anyone who has ever seen any poker at all on TV, knows that you are a world-class player. Shut the fuck up and play cards. The first time he asked me "What's my name?" at the poker table would be the first time I call him a jackass to his face. I wish the old man would have slow-played him with the pocket Aces and busted his ass right there. Another player that I could see either taking a swing at me or catching a punch with his mouth.
"I didn't catch your name" on the phone.
Okay, you are at the ESPN "feature" table at the Main Event. You just put a bold move on Howard Lederer and relieved him of some of his chips. What should you do? I know, let's run off from the table and call your buddies and tell them what a genius you are, hehehehehe. Douchebag. I'm sure Howard appreciates seeing that on the replays.
I'm not even going to comment on Tiffany Williamson because I haven't seen any of the episodes featuring her. From what I've heard, she was incredibly lucky to get where she was and incredibly stupid with some of her calls. More to come once I've seen the re-runs.
_______
One completely random quote from the GCox25 household:
MrsGCox25: "Honey, is that you cussing in there?"
Me: "No dear, it must be the television."
_______
Have a good hump-day and watch out for the slow-playing jopkers tonight.
G
posted by GaryC @ 11:05 AM,
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Pokery Goodness Abounds
Grinded my way to a positive night for a change last night. I only played for a couple of hours after bowling, but came away with $59.08 in profit. I played on Pacific, Party and Caribbean Sun. Thanks to all the contributors.
_______
I bowled last night too. 216, 226, 203 for a 645 series, still 15 pins under my average. My average has settled in at 220 on Tuesday and Thursday night. I knew 230 was too high and am happy where it's at. I am unhappy with the amount of 10 pins I've been shooting lately. 14 last Thursday and 11 again last night. I've tried everything I know to do, short of throwing a house ball 97 mph straight down the middle. That might be my next option.
_______
I played a 5 + .50 SNG on Ultimate Bet when I got home from work Monday night. Imagine that, heeding my own advice. That's a novel idea.
First hand:
I am under the gun and look down at American Airlines. I raise it up to 90, which I believe is 9x the big blind at this point. By the time it's through the big blind, I have 5 callers! 5! Now, I'm thinking there is no way in hell my Aces are holding up.
Flop comes J, x, x - rainbow.
The big blind fires $100 at the $500 pot and I raise it up to $250. Fold, Fold, Fold, Fold, and just a call from the big blind.
Turn is my beautiful A making my set and the big blind fires $20 into an almost $900 pot. I'm trying to think how I can extract the most from this situation and I just call the $20 after using up most of my time.
River is a 10 and the big blind fires around $700 at the pot. I immediately go all-in and he insta-calls with J-10 sooted for two pair. I get the huge double up and before he leaves the table he types into the chat box, "I thought that was what you had." Really? Well, if you thought that was what I had, how in the hell could you call any of those bets, since you were behind on every street? Pure genius, it absolutely slays me sometimes.
I went on to bubble out of the tourney holding guess what??? American Airlines again. The monkey that called me down did have a pair of 10's on the flop and a flush draw on the turn, which she promptly called all-in with and hit runner, runner heart to double up and cripple me. Another fine call indeed. I went out shortly thereafter.
______
DuggleBogey says "Gotta love Pacific Poker." Absolutely, positively the fishiest site on the planet. Yes, it has numerous strikes against it:
1. You can only play one table at a time.
2. Their chat is a royal pain in the ass.
3. Their software is outdated and very cumbersome.
But, if you can get past all of that and play a 2nd table at an alternate site, there is unlimited amounts of money to be made. In my MTT on Monday night, I doubled up twice in the second hour and did not show down another hand until I was ousted in 18th somewhere in the 4th hour. I was somewhere in the middle of the pack from the time there were 120 left until about 30 were left and never risked all my chips.
It bears repeating, if you can put up with crappy software, playing only one table and horrid chat, you can make money at this site. I love it for that reason only and will be spending a good portion of my time there in the near future.
______
After receiving some sage advice from someone who has been there and done that, I will not be participating in the prop player program at Caribbean Sun. I respect his advice and will stick to my PSO promotion clearing at the levels I feel comfortable with and not pursuing other avenues to donk off money. Thanks for the e-mail, buddy, I appreciate it.
______
Tonight will be filled with even more pokery goodness for me. I'm looking forward to getting home and grinding away at Caribbean Sun. I am also going to be on the lookout for a tournament to join, hopefully with as much overlay as the 15K had on Monday night.
I'm also going to be playing at least one SNG tonight, in an effort to get back on track with those, as well as some Omaha 8b, which I've been neglecting. Drizz, any advice of yours would definitely be appreciated. I'll IM you sometime tonight and thanks for the offer.
I mentioned it here first, so tonight I will be going by Borders to pick up my copy of Super System II. I'm not a huge fan of reading, but it has become apparent to me in the last two months, that I need to be doing something to help me get over this hump.
I appreciate all of you that have heard my whining and bitching for the last two months and I hope reading some strategy advice will have a positive effect on my game.
Keep grinding away, because I will.
G
posted by GaryC @ 5:28 AM,
,
The two battling voices....
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
.........inside my head. Can you imagine? Can I heed their advice? Which one is right?
"You do need to listen to that voice in your head sometimes." - TripJax
-Why is it that I continue to post certain strategies/insight and continue to ignore them in my own game?
I am well aware that I need to concentrate on SNG's more in the future, but regardless of how much sense it makes, I find myself sitting at a ring game more often than not. It is high time that I started to pay a little more attention to things that I actually know something about and stop with the endless chasing of bonii and promotions.
-Why is it that I post about Omaha 8b being a money maker for me and vowing to get back to playing it more often, yet I've played it once in the past week?
I feel like Omaha 8b is a strength of mine and the play can be extremely poor at the levels that I frequent. I also continue to ignore this game in pursuit of other, flashier games such as Limit HE and NL Hold Em.
-Why is it that time after time, I have to be shown that these low limit monkeys did call a raise pre-flop with 5-8 in their hand?
I guess this one will baffle me until the end of time or end of bankroll, whichever comes first. Yes, I raised preflop with my J-J. Yes, said fish has dutifully called all raises and bets to the river where he has now check-raised me. WTF? No, I don't believe you have 5-8 for the runner, runner straight. Okay, here's another big bet for you Doyle. Nice play.
If you hadn't figured it out yet, I am a math genius! (-EV)+(-EV)=(-EVsquared). Genius, indeed!
There are certainly times when I'm playing poker that is assuredly -EV for me to be logged on. Any time immediately following one of these types of suckouts is extremely -EV. In fact, that might be the worst time ever for me. I should have the ability to log off right there and take a break. Lord knows I've given that advice right here on this blog, but how can I do that and still punish that fish by winning back my money? I can't and it often leads to spewing off more money to him in the pursuit.
The voices in my head are often conflicting in their opinions. For example:
Voice 1: He did not play 5-7 against my raise.
Voice 2(and normally the ignored, smarter voice): Dude, you're playing .25/.50 Limit, he did too call your raise with 5-7. I bet they're soooooted though.
Voice 1: No way, I'm calling that re-raise.
Voice 2: Okay, jackass, but don't say I didn't warn you.
I have to start listening to Voice 2 more often. That little fucker has been right most of the time lately.
Example 2:
Voice 1: That's a blind steal, I know it, he's on a steal.
Voice 2: Uh, dude, that guy hasn't raised a pot the entire tourney. He is not on a steal.
Voice 1: I have A-x, I'm defending.
Voice 2: Okay genius.
Flop is A-K-x.
Voice 1: Ha, see there, I'm betting this hand.
Voice 2: Not a good idea unless you are willing to play it for all your chips.
Voice 1: Whatever, pot!
Voice 2: Nice, he just put you all in, what now, genius?
Voice 1: I think I have fold equity.
Voice 2: Sure you do. Nice play.
Example 3:
Voice 1: Woo Hoo, American Airlines, ram and jam.
Voice 2: Hey, I agree finally, uh-oh, 5 callers, that can't be good.
Voice 1: They are out after the flop, watch this.
Voice 2: Careful.
Flop: 3,4,5-two spades.
Voice 1: I'm betting it.
Voice 2: Kind of a scary flop, maybe you should slow down a bit.
Voice 1: Nope, not a chance, re-raise, wtf?
Voice 2: Like I said, kind of a scary flop, don't you think?
Turn: 6-spades
Voice 1: Damn chasers just made their flush, but wait, one of my Aces is a spade.
Voice 2: Uh, I don't think you are getting the right odds to call here.
Voice 1: Odds? That pot is enormous, I'm calling. Come on spade.
Voice 2: Okay, but again, don't say I didn't warn you.
River: 3-spades
Voice 1: Yes! Bet it now, homey.
Voice 2: The board paired.
Voice 1: So what? He was on spades and I have the nut flush.
Voice 2: You don't think he could have hit a small set, remember, sets are golden.
Voice 1: No chance, cap.......damn, pocket fours? I never saw that coming.
Voice 2: My thoughts exactly, let's go back to play money.
This is generally not how it happens, but more of an after thought for me. Regardless, when all signs indicate that you are beaten, you have to save that bet or two on the river, right? That's what Limit is all about, isn't it? Getting paid off on your big hands and earning that extra bet, as well as laying down when you don't have the best of it and saving that extra bet.
I'm headed to Borders Wednesday after work and I'm going to buy SuperSystem II. As I've mentioned on this blog, I have never read a poker book and quite honestly, up until the last two months, I didn't feel the need to read. However, it seems obvious to me now that I have a lot of learning to do and I'm ready to start. Doyle, don't fail me now, brother. I can use all the help I can get against the army of sardines.
_____
Have any of you ever played at Caribbean Sun? I'm clearing bonus and PSO promotion there right now and last night, while playing 1/2 Limit, I get a pop-up window from the site that asks if I would like to be a prop player. They are offering me $10 an hour to move up and be a prop player in their 2/4 game. I'm really considering doing this because as you know my hourly rate lately is like <-42.75> anyway, so how could this hurt?
I imagine the players are a little better and it would require a larger chunk of my bankroll to play there, but if I play tight and only play strong hands, could I make this work? Anybody else doing this or been offered this? I'm looking for any feedback/suggestions I can get on this deal, because I might just do it.
_____
Congratulations, you finished 18th out of 643 entrants. Your real money account has been credited with $150.00.
15K guaranteed at Pacific Poker. 643 runners at the start for a $20 + 2 buy-in. Don't ask me why because I don't know why I decided to enter.
After the first break, I picked up a railbirder and he was much needed. I want to send a special thanks out to TripJax who hung out with me all night and to Jordan, who came along toward the end and added his opinion on my hands. Thanks to both of you, I do appreciate it. Also, thank you to Surflexus and DNasty, who came along at some point and wished me good luck. Believe me, I can use all the good luck I can get right now. Thanks again to all of you.
I had impeccable timing all night and made numerous well timed steals without calls. I didn't play a contested pot from the second level on. The final hand had me holding 10-10 in the big blind and on the short stack with 3 callers, so it was an opportunity to quadruple up off of the short stack and I went for it.....and ran into A-A. Oh well, for the biggest part of this tournament, I played my ass off and am proud of that.
______
If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, just wait a few minutes, because it will change. So far this year, we have had an unseasonably warm winter. 70's and 80's for the most part, but this morning I wake up and it's in the 40's, which isn't horribly cold, but the north wind is blowing 943 miles per hour. It is supposed to be down in the 20's tonight for our first freeze of the winter and tomorrow even colder, I suppose, if this wind doesn't lay down a bit.
I'm off to the bowling alley tonight after work, but might try to squeeze in a Shootout at Party when I get home. Come and find me, I'll be the one getting respect for my raises.
G
posted by GaryC @ 5:46 AM,
,
Welcome to Monday
Monday, November 14, 2005
The alarm clock went off at 6:30 this morning and was greeted swiftly with a punch to the snooze button.......4 times. Either I am getting too old to go out and get blasted on Saturday night or I'm going to have to start going in to work at about 10:30 on Monday morning after those wicked benders.
Good times at the lake with good friends. Much whiskey consumed in loving memory of our buddy. Entirely.too.much.whiskey. I have a little blank spot of about 4 hours saturday evening and my liver is on strike this morning as I sit here typing this. Did I really eat an entire pizza when I got home saturday night? Was it any good?
I played a little bit of poker yesterday when I got home, mostly grinding away at my bonus on Caribbean Sun. I got my $50 dollar deposit bonus released yesterday, but still have quite a ways to go before finishing up the PSO promotion. 750 points is alot of points to accumulate there, if you are still trying to shield a miniscule bankroll.
The good news is that I took a short buy-in ($40) to a 1/2 Limit table on Thursday night and again yesterday and both times, ended up doubling my buy-in. I know that isn't very smart, but if I'm going to clear this promotion with PSO, I have got to do something. More good news there, the players apparently suck worse at 1/2 than the players at .35/.70. I continually got called down by middle pair and Ace-littles. The key so far for me has been to find a table with all Europeans. They are definitely willing to gambool and won't give anybody credit for a hand, calling down endlessly with poor hands. I'd like to send a special thank you out to my buddy, Freeman, from Glasgow, who gifted me about $25 dollars yesterday at one table. As a more famous blogger than I likes to say, always play poker with players that suck worse than you.
I played a little Omaha8b with SirF and Veneno and dropped about $10. Could have been a lot worse, because I had the entire stack in the middle at one point, but was able to fight back and win half my buy-in back. I also played a little NL with Jordan and his buddy, Floyd. I ended up dropping about $15 there when I couldn't get away from TPTK and the other guy's A-8 made two pair. I guess I should have seen that coming, but my no limit skills have eroded since I began to play so much limit.
It appears that I have a new mindset at the Limit tables. My normal weak/tight self does not raise alot at these tables, because it never serves the purpose of pushing out weak drawing hands. In the past few days, I have started raising with premium hands in an effort to build a bigger pot. When I hit my flop with one of these premium hands, it definitely pays off with the drawers calling all the way down. Even if I miss my flop, I have taken down some pots lately with continuation bets that I didn't make in the past.
I think it all comes down to seeing over and over again, these bad players showing down complete shit and I have started giving my opponents less and less credit. It has definitely paid off in the short run. We'll have to wait and see if this new, more aggressive G can continue to play this way. I do kind of like the new me, by the way.
That's about all I've got this morning, if you haven't read Jordan's AC trip report yet, GO!
G
posted by GaryC @ 6:18 AM,
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