Check It: GCox25 | OkieVegas | TripJax | Jordan

 



Manitowoc, WI
Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Well, it is incredibly cold here in Wisconsin. The temperature is not really that cold, but damn, the wind chill whipping off of Lake Michigan is freaking cold! I am already looking forward to flying out of here on Thursday and getting back home.

Maybe it is just the change of the time back from daylight savings to regular, but it is night time up here entirely too early. I flew into Green Bay from Chicago yesterday at 5 pm and by the time I picked up my luggage and got my rental car, it was pitch black outside. I gave early and was in bed by 9 pm after one unsuccesful run at my $24 token. I plan on a few more shots tonight, computer connection permitting.

I also plan on playing the Mookie tomorrow night if my connection holds up, you should too. See you there.

G

posted by GaryC @ 4:41 PM, ,




Donktacular!!!!
Thursday, October 26, 2006

That word, in a nutshell, describes my entirely craptastic play last night in the Mookie. I folded for a few orbits, then played two hands and IGHN. I was not the smiling donkey last night, I was just the donkey.

I completely overplayed A-Q and then pushed with A-10 sooooooted and a micro-stack. It dawned on me shortly after busting out that I really did not want to play last night. Ha, I wish I had realized that about 5:00 pm, I could have spent that money at the bar. Oh well, what are you going to do?

I wanted to send a shout out to another blogger today, as well. IlliniFan, who you will find added to the lengthy blogroll at the right now, sat down beside me at a PLO table last night on Full Tilt for a while, well, really just long enough for me to donk off $10 there too.

When he sat down, he asked in the chat, GCox, are you the blogger? I answered in the affirmative and he said something like, wow, it’s not often I get to play with somebody famous. I think I pissed in my pants, I was laughing so hard. I am really famous at my house in Oklahoma City and in a few basements with internet access across the country. Still, I appreciate the notice and, or course, I do like the attention. Thanks again, IlliniFan, I will see you again on Full Tilt.

My daughter has open house at school tonight and I have to get my truck loaded down to head to the lake after work on Friday evening, so poker may take a back seat tonight. I do plan on playing a few token SNG’s on Full Tilt, but it will probably be a little later than normal for me. Hit me up on the girlie IM chat thingy if you are interested in joining me.

Until tonight, good luck at the tables.

G

posted by GaryC @ 5:12 PM, ,




Mookie and some random hands
Wednesday, October 25, 2006



<-- Please join us tonight and help us reach the plateau that is 80 contestants. Al is going to make good on his threats unless we make it to 80 participants. Besides, what else could you possibly have to do that is more fun than this tournament.

Okay, I have a question for anybody that feels like answering. I know what I think of my play in the Big Game the other night, specifically the hand that I went out on, but I want to know what you think and what you would have done.

Here is the set-up:
We are down to 7 players and 5 spots are paid (handsomely, I might add, but not life-changing money). Lucko is bullying the table at will with his huge stack of chips and has already eliminated one player at the final table. The hand in question, I believe I was the button, but I might have been the small blind. Regardless, Lucko makes his standard large raise pre-flop and Kajagugu, acting just in front of me has already pushed his 4K stack into the middle. At this point, I had around 8.5K or 9K in chips and have A-K of diamonds in my hand. Obviously, I pushed all-in thinking that I might get Lucko out and be heads up with Kajagugu (who would have beaten me, but that is beside the point) Lucko makes the call with 9-9 and the fact that my push put no dent in his chip stack at all. Kaja flops a Jack and triples up and Luckos 9-9 holds up against me and I am out in 7th place.

After much consternation, I think I play that pretty much the same way every single time in this instance. My question to you is this: Do you raise all-in there or just call or fold to the push? Inquiring minds want to know?

I’m certainly not desperate there, but sooner or later I am going to have to make a stand against Lucko. If I had folded, I would have still had around 9K in chips and certainly could have picked another spot OR folded for a while and let things play out a little while longer. Knowing exactly what I know now (their holdings, the flop AND the results) folding there would have been my best option, but, MINUS the things we know now, who plays it like I did and who folds?

__

Here is a YOU DECIDE type of post from a .10/.25 NL cash game last night:

I am on the button with A-K off-suit. I raise it up, making it 1.25 to go and get one caller.

The flop is K-5-9 rainbow. The caller leads out for .25 and I pop it up to 2.50 to go and he flat calls.

The turn is the 3 of Clubs, completing the rainbow and again, the caller leads out .25, which, I again, pop up to 4.00. Again, he simply flat calls.

The river is a Jack, I believe and this guy leads out another .25 and this time, I just call, don’t ask me why.(mainly because I feared a flopped set at this point) He flips up K-3 off suit and rakes a pretty nice pot off of me.

Is there any way to put these donkeys on a hand when they will cold call a 4X the big blind bet pre-flop with K-3 off-suit? Now, I know these were small stakes, but he also put in another 10X the big blind after the flop with just top pair, shitty kicker. It never ceases to amaze me when I see this type of hand shown down at the low limit tables. Perhaps, I should take my own advice and move up in limits, but with my experience at the next two levels, the play is generally just as bad, albeit more aggressive.


This is pretty much standard fare lately at the tables I have been playing on at both Full Tilt and PokerStars. I raise with a premium hand, get called by somebody, flop TPTK or better and then get outdrawn on the turn or the river. It has made me a bit gun-shy and that, of course, affects how you (I) play later in the game. Already being a player that is very light on aggression, these types of hands tend to make me crawl back into my weak-tight calling station mode. That, in turn, leads to smaller pots and less profit.

As an aside, after the hand above was played, the same player flat called 2.50 (10X the big blind) pre-flop when I held Q-Q. I flopped a Queen and checked it to him, letting him feel like he was taking the lead in the hand and then stacked him when he called my check-raise after the turn. This time he showed down A-3 off-suit.

I guess the only way to play with these types of players is to keep up the aggression and then hit a huge hand and let them think you missed the flop again, because after they have sucked out on you once, they are playing any time you make a raise, no matter what their cards are.

__

Here is a situation that happened yet again last week in one of my SNG’s. We are down to four players, on the bubble and I have the second highest stack. One of the short stacks moves all in and I call with 9-9. The big blind, who is also the big stack at the table also calls and the three of us see a flop of 9-9-A.

Now, ordinarily I would bet out in this situation, disregarding the unspoken check-it-down philosophy, but this situation was different. I am sitting in the small blind with a few less chips than the big blind, so I am thinking how I can get the most value out of this monster.

I check it to him and fires a min. bet, just as I had suspected he would. I used up most of my time and just smooth called his raise, moving my arrow directly back to the check button and clicking check the instant the King hit the board on the turn. He hesitates for a minute and throws out a 3X the big blind bet which I again hesitate like I am in the tank and finally, just smooth call.

When the river Jack hit, I decided to lead out with a pot-sized bet, which basically committed us both to the hand. He raised all-in over the top of me and the rest, as they say, was history. Bubble boy was still out, but with three spots paying, I was in prime position to take it down with nearly 80% of the chips in play. The former chip leader told me NH and went out two hands later. The other short stack at the table also told me well played before being dispatched a little while later.

While I am happy to do the check-it-down thing more often than not, when I have an aggressive player in the hand with me, I like to be able to disguise my hand as much as possible and when you flop a monster in that situation, it just makes it all that much easier. You may be wondering so I will tell you, the chip leader flipped up A-rag in the hand when I made DQB!

Just another example of the stellar play I see on a nightly basis at the $10 level SNG’s. It is almost universal and across the board, not just at one site, but at all sites. It seems that everybody can afford to just blow $10 in these things. At least that is the way it appears for most of them and the $20 tournaments are not much better, in terms of competition.

__

I am going to be out of town all next week for a Parts Training Seminar in beautiful Manitowoc, Wisconsin. I fly up there on Monday afternoon and fly back home on Thursday evening. I am taking the lap top and hoping to get in some pokery goodness at the hotel in the evenings, but that will have to be wait and see. We are gone to the lake this weekend for Karaoke on Saturday night, so after Thursday evening, I will be away until Sunday night, which I will probably have to spend packing for my trip. This is going to make it tough sledding to try and win that token for the Big Game, currently scheduled for November 5th, if I am not mistaken. I also need to get busy and win my token for DADI X-Fight The Power. If you have not heard, it will be a short-handed NLHE tournament on Full Tilt with a $24 + 2 buy-in. So, get busy and win those tokens everybody, we would love to have a nice turnout for this one, insuring a nice prize pool.

That's all I got, come join us tonight!

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:22 PM, ,




Redneck Woman And Redneck Dealers
Tuesday, October 24, 2006

The wife and I went out to Firelake Grand Casino last night in Shawnee, Oklahoma, about 30 miles or so east of Oklahoma City. One of the perks of her job as an insurance salesperson is that we get invited to a lot of events that ordinarily we would not be able to attend. Last night was no exception. Oh, we would gladly travel the 30 miles to do a little negative EV gabooling, but we would be traveling in the other direction, given the choice.

First impression of the new casino: For an Oklahoma Indian Casino, it is pretty damn nice. They have most all of the table games set up, a billion slot machines and noise makers and a very nice, probably 30 table poker room set upstairs, away from the main casino floor. I did not have time to get on a list and join a game last night, due to the concert, but it looked like it would not take long at all to get on a table, if you wanted to play ½ NL or 3/6 Limit. The opposition looked like the typical fare for an Oklahoma Poker Room, as well, ranging from fairly drunk teenagers, who watch the WSOP on ESPN to grandmothers to farmers. There always seems to be an eclectic mix of players at every table here in No Fold Em country.

The concert was fantastic. I know that all of you who stop by here on a regular basis are not country music fans, but, being from Oklahoma, it is sort of a requirement here and I have no problem filling that requirement. Gretchen Wilson looked great, sang great and the band played great. She sang all of her hits from the radio and even threw in two classic rock songs from Heart and Led Zeppelin, Barracuda and Black Dog. It is pretty obvious to anybody paying close attention that all the members of a country band generally wish they were playing in a rock and roll band. They really let it loose during the two rock songs and did a very good job covering both songs. Of course, her encore was the infamous Redneck Woman and was met with the standard, drunken, hillbilly wahoos from the overzealous audience of around 2000 people. The room was fairly small, but plenty large enough for the audience and we could see everything just fine, standing in the back by the beer stand.

I have always heard, when in Vegas and playing blackjack, that if you are winning and your dealer gets tapped out, get up and change tables if the new dealer is Asian or Philipino. Now, I have nothing against Asians or Phillipinos, in fact, I have done quite well in Vegas playing blackjack with Asian dealers, but I learned a little something about blackjack in Oklahoma last night. When you are sitting at a nice table, winning a few hands, staring a very pretty, young female dealer and she gets tapped out and the person replacing her looks like he could be in Jeff Foxworthy’s next video on CMT, you might want to think about changing tables. Either that or you just might be a redneck!

That is all I have for today, I had a great time last night donating my $150 to the very worthy cause of the Pottawottamie Nation, but I will be back to try and win it back, that is for sure.

___

My thoughts on the blogger/slowplaying issue.

I actually have no thoughts regarding the situation that arose during the blogger Big Game, because after I busted a few hands earlier, I did not stay around to watch the final 6. After reading all the accounts by all the parties involved, I am satisfied with Luckos reasoning and do not feel like anything wrong was done. I can see the questions that were raised, but the explanations given suffice for me, at least.

This brings up another subject altogether. After reading Jordans post today regarding his feelings toward the big game, I feel I am in agreement with him completely. That was, by far, the most intense blogger tournament I have every played (with the possible exception of the WSOP seat tourney when I came in 3rd). I took it seriously, as well, and did not partake in any libations while the tourney was going. I wanted to, but I also wanted to play my best and sometimes, drinking and poker do not mix well.

I also read Joannes post today about her attitude toward the tournament and playing with friends on a regular basis. Agreeing that we are all a bit sick and twisted goes without saying, but playing to bust even your friends in these tournaments should also go without saying, as well. If I thought for a second that someone was soft-playing me, I would not be a party to it. I consider TripJax and Jordan two of my closest friends right now and I have never even met Jordan. Although we come from two completely different worlds and are nearly a generation apart in age, I have no doubt that if he lived in Oklahoma or I lived in NYC, we would be fast friends. I have had TripJax in my home here in OKC and the thoughts I have about Jordan were proven just as correct with Trip. I had no doubts about that either.

The thing about playing with our friends on a regular basis is this, we all know that someone is going to win and someone is going to lose, that is a fact every single time we enter a blogger tournament. I consider many of the people that we play with and against on a regular basis to my friends, even though, for the most part, I have not met the great majority of them. But, I have taken chips from them at one time or another and they have all taken chips from me at one time or another.

With two tables left in the Big Game, I found myself at table two, positioned directly between TripJax, on my right and the Devils Advocate of Poker Bloggers on my left. At this point, I knew that one or possibly all of us were going to end the evening disappointed, possibly at the hands of one of the other Drawing Donkeys. My thoughts were proven true not too much later when Jordan raised under the gun with 3-3. It folded around to me and, with a short stack, I made a stand with my A-8. I thought for a split second that maybe Jordan would get away from his hand. He did not and I drew out on him. That was that. Of course, I felt bad about it, but I would have made that stand in that situation against anybody else in the tournament. The fact that it was Jordan made me feel a bit worse about it, but he understands it is part of the game, as do TripJax and myself.

We have played a ton of poker together on-line, while hashing it out over the girlie-IM chat thingy. We know each others games well and we know how to exploit each other. I know for a fact that after I have folded 15 straight hands in a SNG and I finally throw in a raise, neither of them are going to call unless they have a monster. I also know that when either of them raises UTG, they probably have a very big hand, but conversely, when either of them raises OTB, well, that could be any two cards in the deck. I have tried to incorporate as much of their game into my own as possible because I not only genuinely like them, but because I have witnessed their success at this game. I think each of them has also added a sprinkling of my strategy to their own as well, albeit, neither of them could ever possibly play as tight as I do.

Regardless of our feelings toward each other, when we join one of these blogger tournaments, all bets are off. They know that, I know that and everybody involved should know that by now. I am in it to win it baby, every single time and if one of my buddies busts me, I will tell them exactly what Jordan told me Sunday night: Take those chips and take it down, good luck!

___

Blogs

I started reading blogs a few years back and have had my own blog for about a year and a half now. I used to spend my days at work, perusing every single poker blog out there. At first, I just clicked links on everybody elses blog and went on to the next one. Then, when I had a decent sized blogroll of my own, I started with my blog (to check for comments) and then would click, in order, right down all the blogs that I had linked up, sometimes numerous times a day.

Well, it did not take the internet Nazis here at my work to figure out that I had some free time on my hands and put the kibosh on my surfing ability. I just happen to be very good at my job and very fast at what it is that I do, allowing me more spare time than the average cubicle monkey. I have no real technical ability when it comes to computers, other than point the mouse and click very quickly. I have an IT guy to handle the sort of code writing, ad linking stuff that I do not fully understand, not to mention designing my template.

After about 4 or 5 months of inability to read while at work, my IT guy buzzes me one night on the girlie IM chat thingy and mentions that he might have a way for me to read at work again. Enter Google reader. He sets me up and boom! I am right back to being able to read at work again. Very nice and very much appreciated, bro.

This brings me to my predicament and the short answer to the long story I have so gracefully crept into to this point. I click on my google reader this afternoon and it says, your reading list has no unread items. Come on people, it is up to you to keep me entertained until 4:30 CST every week day, so get to it. I am bored and tired and a bit hung over from the concert last night, so for gods sake, give me a hand.

That is all I got for today, have a good one and remember the Mookie is tomorrow night.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:17 PM, ,




Big Game Recap
Monday, October 23, 2006

Having scoured the web for others takes on the Big Game last night, I have now tried unsuccessfully to get my thoughts down on paper three times. And, taking a cue from Kat with the song lyrics, here I go again on my own…..

There is nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of making a final table in a big event. Now, I know there were only 38 players last night in the Big Game, but I would venture a guess that there are no fields of 38 anywhere on the internet that are any tougher than the field Lucko had to wade through last night to collect the big prize. Congrats to him on the win.

There is also nothing quite like the complete feeling of failure when you are booted from this type of event. Unfortunately, when it comes to coming close and playing well and almost making it, I am the proverbial all-time leader in coulda, shoulda, woulda. I played my normal weak/tight game last night and with the sizes of the starting stacks, was able to more than hold my own through the first two and a half hours of the tournament. My first table was a murderers row and I was more than happy to move after 20 or so hands, but found that every table was virtually the same. Every player at every player was more than capable of winning this thing and only good, solid play and the help of some good starting hands was going to keep me around for any length of time. Fortunately, I got some good starting hands and was able to steal enough to stay at or just ahead of an average stack for most of the first two hours. In fact, I felt no pressure at all from the increasing blinds until we were down to 12 or so players left. That is when Jordan raised pre-flop with 3-3 and I decided to make a stand with A-8 in the big blind. I thought for a second that Jordan might lay his hand down but going over the numbers in my head, he made the correct play and called my all-in and was statistically ahead when the cards flipped over. By the time the turn came, I had more outs with a double belly buster straight draw, but the Ace on the river sealed the deal. I felt bad, as usual, doubling up off of and crippling a friend of mine, but this is poker and he knows that. Just the same, I still felt bad.

So, after a while longer, I arrived at the final table with a medium stack of around 10K. I was still not feeling a lot of M pressure yet, but was trying to play my game. Luckily, Lucko had a huge stack and was wielding it at every opportunity, so that made my folding seem a bit more right…….until, with only 7 players left and Kajagugu already all-in for half my stack, I decided to push and try to isolate Kajagugu. Lucko, who had raised pre-flop called along with 9-9 and it held up against my A-K sooted. Kajagugu won the main pot when his A-J found a Jack on the flop and I was out in 7th place.

Complete and utter devastation, to spend 3 and a half hours working at something and have it all gone with the turning of 5 cards. Now, I do not question my play here, because I feel like I made the right play and would do it again tomorrow when faced with the exact same set of variables. I felt like I was ahead when Kajagugu pushed and I was right, unfortunately, that wide range of hands I was putting Lucko on at the time was not quite as wide as I would have hoped. I expect him to call with any pocket pair, but I was sure hoping this was one of those times he did not have a pocket pair. Unfortunately, the size of my stack was no deterrent for him to call and isolation was out of the question. I understand this and applaud his play, as well as the push by Kajagugu, I push with those cards and his stack there every single time also. I wish I could tell you that I got beat out by a donkey, but that is just not the case as I think we all played our hands about as well as could be expected. I probably could have folded A-K there and taken my chances with the rising blinds, but I was trying to get a bit deeper than just 5th and I paid for it. It is a move I make tomorrow and the next day, every single time, in that exact situation.

Well played to everybody and congratulation to all who made the money. Condolences to Kat, sorry baby, I know how you feel, I have been there before many times. I think you (and Kajagugu) were there the last time I bubbled. (freeroll at Poker.com for a nice payday) I also want to say well played to Iakaris, as he was at my table almost the entire time and kept the pressure on me throughout the tournament. Well played, sir, and just so you know, you made at least two very good laydowns.

Sorry, I am too pressed for time to link everybody, but if you do not know the links by now, shame on you anyway.

I am off for perhaps some live poker tonight or perhaps some –EV gambooling at Oklahomas newest casino, FireLake Casino, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. I hope to have a nice write up for you tomorrow. Until then, may all your cards be live and may all your pots be monsters AND if show tunes are going off in your head, you need a new I-Pod.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:14 PM, ,




A little pimpage on a Thursday evening
Thursday, October 19, 2006


I am leaving for a little golf outing at Noon tomorrow, but I would be remiss if I did not leave you with the banners for two upcoming tournaments:

MiamiDon has arranged a blogger BIG GAME for this Sunday evening on Full Tilt. While the buy-in is considerably more than any other blogger event, there are numerous ways to win tokens that can be used for the entry fees to this event. Believe me when I tell you, the token SNGs are filled with fish. I won my token on my very first try, you should too. Good luck and join us on Sunday evening.


DADI X-Fight The Power
My buddy Jordan has really got the banner-making down to an art these days, as evidenced to the right. The next installment of the Donkeys Always Draw Invitational will be our tenth tournament of its kind and we have upped the ante, so to speak. Taking a cue from MiamiDon with his buy-in for the BIG GAME this Sunday evening, we have decided that the entry fee for the next DADI will be $24+2, which, as you should already know by now, can be earned with a token for much less money than that. DADI X will be on Thursday evening, November 16th at 9:00 pm EST and it will be a 6 Max, shorthanded specialists game of NLHE. Short handed is not my strong suit, but, if I can win me a token (and I know that I can) I will be there with the big smiling donkey ready to sling chips.



I played in the Mookie last night, which, by the way, my boy, TripJax, took down for the second time. I had a few big hands early on, but as usual in these things, I did not get much action. My style of play has pretty much dictated that the only time I will get any action from these players is when I am behind pre-flop. It seems everybody knows what a tight-box I am. Oh well, what is a guy to do? I did steal once with A-6 sooted last night. I ended up being taken out when my beautiful hammer, he of the two pair on the turn, was sucked out on by 10-10, when the set hit on the river. What do you expect? Some people just do not understand the power of the hammer. I think I am one of those who does not understand, LOLOLOL. It was fun, as usual, and my tables featured some damn stiff competition all night long. I started with CJ and DoubleAs and before long, I ran into HuntsVegas, AlCantHang, Smokkee and JJok.(sorry yall, too lazy to link everybody) I am probably leaving a few people out, but it is not intentional, you see, I had me a little something to drink last night whilst playing and I tend to forget a few things when I am drinking. Forgive me.


The first installment of my PARLAY picks of the week:

I am not much of a sports gambler, but I do parlay a few football teams every week and I think I have a winner for you this week. Take these picks for what they are worth, remember, I do not even play a professional handicapper on TV, so these are just the random thoughts of a wannabe gambler.

My three teamer looks like this:

Oklahoma -14 Now, before you call me a homer, I freely admit to being a homer, BUT, I also NEVER play the Sooners on my parlay cards and I am playing them this week. Did the Sooners not just lose one of the best running backs in the country? Yes, they did, but they have ample replacements in store for the Buffaloes. In fact, My basis for this pick has very little at all to do with the Sooners and everything in the world to do with exactly how BAD Colorado is this year. Exclude the Texas Tech game and they are headed for a winless Big 12 season this year. Oklahoma is at home and I expect this one to be over early. Oklahoma 49 Colorado 10.

Michigan -14 In the BIG HOUSE, no further explanation needed. Michigan 31 Iowa 3.

Texas -7 I hardly ever find myself betting on the Texas Longhorns because of my deep rooted hatred for everything Burnt Orange, but they are a near lock this week. Too much speed and athleticism on defense and just enough offense on the road in Lincoln. Texas 31 Nebraska 14.

There you have it. I will also throw in a Pro pick for you, albeit on the Monday Night Game this week. Take Dallas and give the 4. The Giants are reeling and T.O. is starting to simmer. I sense a blow out in this one. Dallas 35 New York 10.

I am in no way trying to convince anybody to wager on professional sporting events or to convey that I know any more than anybody else about betting on sports. Take is with a grain of salt.

Last post until at least Sunday night, but probably Monday evening. Have a good weekend and I will see you at the BIG GAME!

Thanks for stopping by.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:47 PM, ,




It's That Time
Wednesday, October 18, 2006



If you have not already signed up, please, go straight to Full Tilt and sign up now for the MOOKIE!

I have really been in the mood to play lately, but have not had the time necessary to sustain any momentum that I have picked up in the last few days. I have had a few small hit and run sessions, but have not been able to sit down for an extended period of time and grind away at some real profits. I hope to make up for that tonight. With a limited on-line bankroll of late, I have been grinding away at the $25 6-Max NL tables in hopes of getting on a nice run and making some headway toward building the roll up to a comfortable level, as well as clearing away my bonus that is sitting at Full Tilt.

I had a bit of money left on Pacific Poker and, although I have heard and read that they were banning US players, I have still been able to log on there and join a table with no problems. I am not sure if withdrawing (should I ever reach that point) will be a problem, but it is such a miniscule amount, at least now, that waiting for a check would not kill me. I, like everybody else, have all of my money at PokerStars and Full Tilt right now and will continue to donk my money off in the CAP NL games on Tilt, the $22 SNGs on Stars and the various blogger tournaments that are happening on an almost nightly basis.

I am very much looking forward to the BIG GAME this Sunday night. I am going to do my best to not let the amount of the buy-in affect my play and I am sure that the deep stacks will do nothing but help my game and allow me to be as patient as I feel is necessary to be successful. The only other time I played in a deep stack tournament was last spring when I finished 3rd in Iggys event that awarded two $1500 WSOP seats to 1st and 2nd place. I stayed very patient the entire time, despite being somewhat short-stacked for a long while in the tournament, including being the short stack of 9 players at the final table. I waited and got my money in with the best of it and nearly won myself a seat in the WSOP. I think the deep stacks fit my game very well and, although I am well aware of the toughness this field will possess, I am still looking forward to matching wits and slinging chips with them. After all, if you can beat a blogger field, you could win the WSOP, right?

I am taking off at Noon Friday from work and heading out on a golfing weekend with the guys. There will be many beers consumed, many lost golf balls, many shots of whiskey and I am sure, plenty of hangovers on Saturday and Sunday morning, this weekend. I plan on getting home early enough on Sunday to get a nap in before the BIG GAME, so I am good and rested and ready to play.

__

Here is an interesting hand from last night. Interesting, in that I am not sure there is one single thing I would have/could have done differently to keep from getting stacked. Remember, this is a 6 Max table and it is a CAP game at Full Tilt.

I raise in MP with 8-8 and get one caller from the big blind. He had played a lot of hands since I sat down and was up $50 or $60 at that table.
The flop comes 8-9-9 and he immediately moves all-in. I do not hesitate for a second and hit call faster than you can say, suck me out on the river! He turns up A-9 and I am dominant, right? Wrong! The turn is a 2 and the river is also a 2 and his full house is bigger than mine. Ugh! After replaying the hand in my mind, this is one of those times when you have to say “That is poker” and move on to the next hand, in my opinion. Had he re-raised me pre-flop, I might have thought about letting my 8-8 go, but realistically, in a 6 handed game, anything short of all-in and I am going to see a flop in this situation. I did not get outplayed or outflopped, I simply lost a hand where I was a statistical favorite and that happens every night to even the best players. The good thing about the situation was the CAP, it certainly saved me at least a buy-in in this instance. I stayed at the table and eventually fought my way back to even before calling it a night.

Not such a long time ago, this situation would have sent me over the edge and logging off for the night would have been the only thing that could have saved my bankroll further depreciation, but, as I get older and wiser and learn to deal with the beats in a better way, my bankroll has learned to say thank you. I certainly was not happy with the beat, but I dealt with it in a way that I am sure I could not have done two months ago. Maybe this old dog is learning a few new tricks.

See you later,

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:17 PM, ,




Randomness Indeed
Tuesday, October 17, 2006


I don't have the time or the energy to post anything meaningful or worthwhile, so I will instead post two reminders for upcoming tourneys, I seem to be pretty good at that.

First, the Mookie, tomorrow evening on Full Tilt. Please come and join us for the fun, so Al will post some good pictures again. We need 80 to make that happen.





Also, this Sunday, MiamiDon is hosting the Blogger Big Game on Full Tilt. It is a large buy-in with many opportunities to win tokens to this event. I have seen many of the examples discussed on various blogs and they are correct, the play in the token sng's is horrendous. Get in and get yours now.

I would humbly suggest the $11 + 1 one-table sng, where the winner gets the token and 2nd gets the leftover money. I won the first one I tried and am already registered for Sunday night. See you there!


In lieu of actually posting something intelligent, entertaining or funny today, I thought I would regale you with pictures of #16 at Sugar Creek Canyon Golf Course.

I will be staring this beauty down around 5 pm on Friday afternoon, so, if you are not at happy hour yet when that time arrives, ha ha, it sucks to be you!

Of course, I will give my normal 3 or 4 ball donation to the pond there in front of the green, so it won't all be perfect.

Have a good week and join us for some blogger fun on Full Tilt.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:04 PM, ,




Rainy Day Weekend
Monday, October 16, 2006

What a boring weekend around here! Happily boring, however, as I had nothing planned and wanted to do as little as possible and that is exactly what I did. I have been under the weather for about the last week and I wanted to spend as little time outside the house as humanly possible this weekend. So, after our karaoke show on Friday night, we stumbled in the house around 2:30 am on Friday night/Saturday morning and I spent the rest of the weekend in shorts and a sweatshirt and left the house for a total of 5 seconds to retrieve the newspaper on Sunday morning. It was glorious.

I stayed home and worked on my newest karaoke project for a good long while on both days. Finally, after more than three weeks, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am just hoping that it is not a train headed my way. I might be able to finish the project in the next two weeks, which would leave only the updating of the books and securing a backup hard drive to my list of projects before we can begin using our new machine for real. That should happen at the end of October or the first two weeks in November and we are certainly looking forward to it.

Saturday, I watched my beloved Sooners hold on to defeat the Iowa State Cyclones. Of course, with the win came the bad news that Adrian Peterson had broken his collar bone on his last touchdown. Horrible news for the Sooner Nation, but I can see the possibility of a bright spot in the future. We were not going to win the Big 12 this year anyway, so I would suggest that the good news from this situation is the possibility that Peterson might return for his senior season. I know the prospect is dim and there is a ton of money to be made by leaving early for the NFL, but this injury at least raises the possibility that he would return, so he could break the all time rushing record at OU. Of course, he could surprise us all and play the last two or three games of the year with the injury and break the record anyway. Add in the fact that our best linebacker got arrested early Sunday morning after the game and you have somber times in SoonerLand. Is it basketball season yet? Something tells me that we will be looking forward to Spring Football very soon after the start of our basketball season around here, as well.

Sunday brought a soaking all-day rain across the Sooner State and yet another day spent doing as little as possible indoors. Having been sick for the past week, I spent all weekend loading up on Benadryl and Ibuprofen in hopes of kicking the bug that I had and it seems to have worked a bit. I feel much better today than the past few days and I got to do nothing but watch football all day Sunday, either from my spot on the couch, working on my CDs or from the comfort of our king sized bed in the bedroom. It is a tough life, but somebody has to do it.

I did sneak in a bit of cash game play on Saturday night and was able to add a small amount to my roll when I caught a couple of bluffers representing more than they had. Here is a tip for you, do NOT push all-in with a busted flush draw when I have called you all the way to the river. Yes, it was a scary board, but I value my sets, partner. I did not play as much as I would have liked, due to working nearly all weekend, but I plan on playing a bit tonight and Wednesday for sure this week. I am out of town this weekend, but will be arriving home some time on Sunday to ready myself for the Big Game on Sunday night. The challenge for me will be to maintain my focus and play my game despite the fact that the buy-in is the highest I have ever played in an on-line tournament. Now granted, I won my buy-in for this tourney in a $12 satellite, but still, the amount of the buy-in is much higher than I play on a regular basis and a bit intimidating regardless of how I won my way into it. I must start off this tournament in the same manner I would start a $10 + 1 tournament and play it the same way throughout. It will be a challenge, but one that I am very much looking forward to.

I mentioned being out of town this weekend. My bowling buddies and I are making our annual trip down to my lake trailer for a weekend of golf, beer and men! No women allowed. We are taking off at Noon on Friday and playing here! Then, we will head down to the lake and party at the bar on Friday night and get up on Saturday and play here! We normally head home pretty early on Sunday, so I will be home in time for a nice little nap, insuring that I am ready to play in the BIG GAME on Sunday evening. I hope everyone is able to win their tokens in time for the tournament, it should be a very good time.

Talk to you tomorrow,

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:14 PM, ,




Firday the 13th
Friday, October 13, 2006

Funny, I got home from work and fired up a little on-line poker for PLAY(wink wink) money and guess what?

Nobody busted down the basement door in my Mom's house, er, nobody came knocking on my door, trying to arrest me.

I am interested to see how this all plays out, but for now, just like the Devil's Advocate of Poker Bloggers, make mine poker!

G

P.S. J, can you throw my bail, if need be?

posted by GaryC @ 3:27 PM, ,




The BIG Game!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Just so you know, there is a BIG game planned for one week from Sunday. If you are a blogger, or, I suppose, a veteran reader of blogs, you are probably welcome to join in!

MiamiDon has developed a fine, deep stack tournament and we should all find out who the best player is in this format. I, for one, love the idea of being able to play a few SPECULATIVE hands in the early going without worrying about becoming short-stacked with one bad read.

I can assure you this one will be fun times, guaranteed! And, the best thing about it is this: You can win your way into it by playing satellite or TOKEN sngs on Full Tilt and, if you don't already know, they are pure gold, brothers and sisters. Pure gold, like Iggy's Bonus Code Iggy on Party Poker, damnit! Pure gold, like JoeSpeaker's A-J sooted, pure fucking gold. I played a single table 11 + 1 and won a $75 token on the very first try, so get in there man, get in there!

You have to absolutely love getting down to three handed and having solid notes on both the other donkeys, er, players. Oh yeah, AND having 9K to their 2K respectively!Pure.Fucking.Gold!

___

Why is Big Slick such a bastard of a hand?

I would venture a guess, that of all the hands that get me (and most other amateurs for that matter) in trouble, Big Slick has to be at the top of what could be a very long list. The discussions about losing hands has been hashed and re-hashed over and over again and I believe the conclusions say that K-Q and K-J are the two hands that lose the most, at least where cash games are concerned. A-K is probably not too far behind those two hands.

Every player (myself included) plays the hand very differently and unfortunately, I do not see a lot of people playing it well.(Marxst1 being the notable exception from last nights Mookie) I like to limp with it as often as possible or perhaps even call a pre-flop raise with it in order to disguise my hand to my opponents. But, lately it seems like everybody is raising with medium to small pocket pairs and flopping a set while I continue to flop TPTK. I guess the alternative here is to re-raise with it, but in that instance, I have found myself completely whiffing on the flop and having to proceed too cautiously to do anybody any real damage.

Last night, while playing my satellite to the Big Game, I called two all-ins from small stacks with A-K sooted. Both times, I was able to outflop their smaller pair and take them out of the game. However, in a tournament later in the evening, I, as usual, over-valued my A-K pre-flop and found myself pot committed for the rest of my chips before seeing a flop. Of course, I whiffed on that flop and lost a race to 9-9. Again, I look like the donkey.

I have almost come to the conclusion that you have to play A-K just like you would play A-A or K-K but that you had better be a damn good post flop player if you do not take down the blinds with your raise. Post flop can be a very dangerous time for a hand like A-K, especially if you completely miss the flop. I would be interested to hear any of your thoughts regarding how to play this troublesome hand, because I am getting tired of busting out of tournaments while holding it.


Here is another sample hand from last night. I was sitting at a .25/.50 NL CAP table on Full Tilt. (Which I highly recommend if you are like me and prefer limiting the exposure to your bankroll) I have A-K in the big blind and raise only the small blind, who had called. My raise was to $2.00, which was 4X the BB. He calls and the flop comes out 4, 6, 7. He checks and I fire a pot-sized bet of $4.00, which he insta-calls.(Alarms are going off right now in my head when it should have been show tunes!) The turn is a K and I feel like I have just stolen this pot back from him, when he moves all in for $9.00. (stacks were much higher, but the betting is CAPPED at $15 per hand) I pause now, because I THINK the turn just gave me the hand. Did he call my pre-flop raise with K-little and make two pair? I finally call because the suspense of what he called my raise with was killing me. Of course, he proudly flips up 5-8 off-suit and rakes a near $30 pot from me. Here is my question for you cash game players out there: Can I honestly put him on that hand or am I destined to go broke there?

I really do not have a huge problem with somebody playing that hand here, especially at the 6-Max tables. Lord knows I do a little speculating with not-so-premium hands at those tables, as well. But, is there any way I can lay my hand down in that situation? I know the answer to this question and it is a resounding HELL NO, at least for me. I have probably lost more pots with TPTK than in any other scenario, so I do not see me being able to get away from it here either. Should I be able to lay it down in this situation AND how can I play the hand differently in the future to insure that I do not get stacked with what I perceive to be a strong hand? Any and all comments are welcome and as always, thanks for stopping by.

G

posted by GaryC @ 6:39 PM, ,




My Hero


I need to send out some mad props to my main IT guy, TripJax. Just so you know, he is the worlds best grandpa in this pic. I am the drunken oaf in the doo-rag, he is just drunken Lewey.

We played a few tournaments together on Monday night and he mentioned on the girlie-chat thing that he might have come up with a way for me to start reading blogs again whilst at work. As you know, I have been surf-patrolled to death at work since about 9 months ago and my languishing blog here, as well as my ability to keep up with all that happens in our blogosphere, have been pushed to the back burner for a while now.

I tried to get in the swing of things and stay caught up by reading as soon as I get home from work, but I always seem to hear a big fish jumping and splashing in the background and never devote the time that it would take to really STAY CAUGHT UP. I used to visit a ton of blogs on a daily basis, some many times on the same day and I even posted more than once on several occasions, if the mood struck me. Since they installed the nazi-patrol at work, the reading has come to a grinding halt and I know that my blog and my relationships through this blog have suffered because of it.

Enter my hero! TripJax, with his dynamic use of Google Reader. Now, I know many of you are smart enough that you probably already use this function with a high degree of success. Lets just say that for me, not very much success before yesterday. But, yesterday brought a detailed e-mail from my buddy, with step by step instructions of how to NOT fuck anything up. I set up my account and he ran with it, getting me access to all the blogs that I so enjoyed reading just a few months ago. Not only did he get my account set up and start me on the right track, but he took the time to set up my personal account like I would want it set up, were I not the biggest E-tard on the planet.

Many, many thanks buddy. If I can ever return the favor, well, it will probably have to be karaoke- or beer-related, but I will be happy to try. Thanks again.


Quick Bowling Update

My Tuesday night mens bowling team has gotten off to an extremely slow start, going 15-21 over the first 9 weeks. We really do not have any aspirations of winning the league anymore, we just like to get together and drink beer sans women on a weekly basis. Personally, I am off to a bit of a slow start as well, although the last two weeks have been better and I have raised my average to around 210. As per usual, the 10 pin is the main culprit as I have not thrown the ball bad at all, just been a bit unlucky. I would compare the goddamn 10 pin to that old bitch, VARIANCE, in our little game of poker. Just when you think you have it all figured out and have run up 4 or 5 strikes in a row, you throw a beauty, love it as soon as it hits the lane and BAM, a fucking 10 pin. I miss that sonofabitch about 50 percent of the time after that type of example. Here is a tip for you: If you are ever at the bowling alley with me and I leave a 10 pin, followed by a loud expletive, immediately try to take bets on me making or missing the 10 pin, because most of the time, I miss it after cursing loudly.


I plan on joining the Mookie as usual tonight, but I have been sicker than a dog the last two nights. I tend to get sick this time of year almost every year. We are just starting to see much cooler temperatures and in the morning, when I head off to work, there is definitely a nip in the air. Gawd, I am getting old too, Drizz! I know exactly where you are coming from, although let me be the first to forewarn you, it does not get any better. At least it has not gotten any better for me yet and just so you know, 40 is a real mother-fucker.

Have a good hump day everybody and please, when I raise tonight, let me have it, I swear I am not stealing.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:27 PM, ,




Just Like The Old Days
Tuesday, October 10, 2006

What a fun night last night!

It seemed like old times last evening as Jordan, TripJax and later, DNasty, joined up for some low limit tourney goodness. Of course, I was the donkey and was out of them all early, but luckily, I was playing 20 +2 SNGs at Stars in the background and making back the scratch I was throwing away at Tilt. I even got to play the role of bitter ass-hat last night when we had a three way all-in with a King high board. I, of course, had A-K and my opponents held K-Q and K-8 soooooted. Of course, he hit his 8 on the river and I was gone. I hung around a bit and abused him like the dumb ass that I am. When I finally started to get over it, I left that table and started up a cash game.

For me, personally, the CAP games at Full Tilt have been very kind. Maybe it is the safety net that is there by capping the betting at $15 per hand, but I really feel comfortable at these tables. Add in the fact that they are 6 handed and it is even more of a minor miracle that I feel comfortable here. The 6 Max makes me play a few more speculative hands that I would not normally play at a full table or in a tournament. It brings the A-x sooted and the K-10 sooted hands in occasionally for a raise, if the time and position are right. Under normal circumstances, I am a top ten hand raiser, but playing these 6 Max tables forces me to open up my hand selection and play more hands, simply because the blinds will eat you up if you fold, fold, fold.

It is a difficult process, changing up a strategy that has worked pretty well for me in the past, but a necessary process, I think, in order to become a better player. And, oh by the way, I do WANT to become a better player. Since I have started playing the $20 tournaments a bit more often, I have noticed that down toward the end, with 4 or 5 players left, the play gets amazingly better. It is not World Championship quality or anything like that, but compared to the first few hands of a $5 SNG, the players around the bubble at the bigger tourneys are generally much better players and seem to actually give a guy a little credit for a hand occasionally.

I noticed last night at Full Tilt, while playing with TripJax at my table, a fellow make what I considered at the time to be a very fine laydown. I had raised in EP with A-A and he had called from the small blind. When the flop came out A-x-x, he checked and I measured out a stinky, smallish bet, trying to induce him to call or raise, thinking I had missed the flop. He almost instantly mucked his hand and I commented to Trip that I was pretty impressed by that play. In fact, I tagged him with a note saying SOLID. Doh! Of course, he went out a few hands later re-raising all-in with Q-7 off-suit. Okay, so he was not as solid as I thought.

All in all last night, I broke exactly even, minus around 7 bucks at Pacific on a suckout, so it was a good night. I really enjoyed the chat on the Girlie-IM thing and hanging out with my buddies again. It has been too long and we have to do it a bit more often.



I had this passed onto me this morning via e-mail and I got so much out of reading it, I thought I would share it here:



I thought this was interesting. We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA. This was published July 4th, 2006. Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "C"ntarea Americii, meaning Ode To America") in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei "The Daily Event or "News of the Day". ~An Ode to America. Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs. Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, or the secret service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearb to gape about. Instead the Am ericans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand. After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing:"God Bless America!" I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion. Only freedom can work such miracles.
-Cornel Nistorescu

Having already been through the Oklahoma City bombing back in ’95, I had a rather unique view when the planes hit the twin towers in New York City. I do not want to say that I was more prepared or better equipped to deal with what took place, but I had been there and done that, if you know what I mean. I have mentioned before that I was in Pennsylvania at a training school for work when the planes slammed into the twin towers. It was surreal, to say the least, but as I said before, I had seen this before, albeit under a bit different circumstances. Terrorists are still terrorists, but the faces and the names on the NYC bunch made it a bit easier to understand. It was still a bitter pill to swallow, but at least it was not one of our own.

That first night back at the hotel, after watching non-stop coverage all day long, we hit the bar and continued watching the coverage from Ground Zero. I understand how personal it is for the people of New York City that live nearby, worked nearby or had relatives in or around that area when it happened. The Oklahoma City bombing was about as personal to me as anything that has ever happened in my life. Short of losing loved ones, it has had the biggest amount of impact on me, as well.

As I read the article above, I remember back to when the firefighters came from everywhere to our Ground Zero here in downtown Oklahoma City. I remembered how you could not even think about driving downtown during that time, because of the traffic, the news crews and the workers flocking to the area. We had rescuers come in from all over the country, just as New York City did when the towers fell and it was truly an amazing thing to witness.

My one story from that time is this:
My wife and I were running karaoke on Saturday nights at a small hotel bar, not 8 miles from the bombing site. We showed up that Saturday night not knowing what to expect. It was a bit slow, but pretty soon our regular singers started showing up and we had a pretty good crowd. Not too long into the night, a group of men came down from their rooms and joined us in the bar. They did not make a scene but sat quietly on the other side of the bar, clapping for the singers and enjoying a cold beer and some food. Pretty soon, my wife started over to chat with them as she is wont to do at our show. She found out that they had just arrived back from the site of the bombing and they were firefighters from Louisiana. After a short announcement from her, the entire bar stood, faced the men and applauded louder than I have ever heard at a karaoke show.

When I looked over at the men, every single one of them had tears in their eyes and their hats in their hands. It was the most moving show of emotion and support I have ever witnessed and I was proud to be from Oklahoma that night. After a quick run through the bar, we took up a collection and paid for everything the men had eaten or drank that evening. They were more than appreciative, awestruck would be a better description and they soon left us for their rooms. They had to leave early in order to get up the next day and head back down to the bombing site to dig and search for possible survivors.

I was never more proud to be an American than I was that night. My wife and I went home from the bar with smiles on our faces and a warmth in our heart that is hard to come by in this cruel world.

God Bless America indeed!

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:00 PM, ,




Business As Usual
Monday, October 09, 2006

After doing some more research this weekend and listening to my fellow, degenerate bloggers, I have pretty much come to the conclusion that it will be Standard Operating Procedure around here, at least for the time being. I am a bit concerned that the money I currently have on-line could go away at the drop of a hat, but it appears Full Tilt and Stars are not too worried about our wonderful government, so, at least for now, I am not going to be too concerned about it either. The hit would be a medium-sized hit to my wallet, for sure, but it is a risk that I am willing to take right now. I have consolidated my funds to just the two sites named above for the time being and plan on continuing to play only there for now.

I had a busy weekend around the house and, of course, did not do much of anything all at the same time. We ran karaoke on Friday night until around 1:30 am and then I got up at 6:30 am and rolled my ass to work the next morning. I got off work at noon and headed home to sit back and watch my beloved Oklahoma Sooners choke one off to Will-Wonkas Texas Longhorns. I certainly did not feel like they were extremely overmatched, as they were last year, but it all came down to Quarterback play and Texas had the best of that, for sure. As usual, the Sooners got jobbed by the replay officials a time or two, but we are used to that and they did not really affect the outcome of the game this time. Congratulations, Will, your boys deserved it again this year. During the second quarter, I fired up the charcoaler and tried to keep an eye on the game. After a tremendous effort in the second quarter, my Sooners had the lead at half-time and we had some perfectly prepared medium rare steaks to feast on at the half. My wife also prepared some delicious lobster tail, so needless to say, I was ready for a nap instead of the start of the second half. That, combined with our lame effort, produced a horrible hour and a half, following the intermission. The Sooners need to find themselves a quarterback for next year and the years after or we will see that type of game for the next four years, because the quarterback for Texas looked extremely solid, as freshman seldom do.

I worked for about 10 solid hours this weekend downloading music into my new karaoke machine, as well. I know that probably does not mean much to most of you, but I am so excited about this piece of equipment that I cannot quit talking about it. I absolutely cannot wait to get it finished and take it out to an actual show. After watching football, feeding on red meat and drinking about ten or so ice cold beers, I sat down Saturday evening to play some poker. Finally, some uninterrupted poker time for yours truly. Saturday nights, when I get the chance, have historically, for me at least, been very productive nights. I do not know whether most of the players are drunk or that maybe I just turn into super-poker-guy on Saturday evenings, but I seldom post losing sessions on Saturday evenings. About forty five minutes into this session, it was quite apparent that I was in no mood to play poker. Usually, I can sit and fold with the best of them, waiting for the opportunity to present itself to play, but on Saturday night, after folding for a while, I logged off and hit the sack. I guess the good thing to come from this is that I am finally starting to realize when I should not be playing and doing the correct thing by logging off and going to bed. There have been many times in the past where I would have stayed after it and made poor decisions by continuing to play, regardless of my mood. Maybe you can teach and old dog new tricks after all?

I am looking forward to playing some this week, hell, I might even join the Hoyazo tonight. Do not hold me to that, but maybe, just maybe. Also, look for a forthcoming announcement regarding DADI 10 at a blogspot near you.

Have a good week and thanks for stopping by.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:01 PM, ,




What next?
Thursday, October 05, 2006

So, for the unitiated, what exactly is our next play? Can somebody tell me what's going to happen, when it is going to happen and what our options are going to be?

Thanks,

G

posted by GaryC @ 7:28 PM, ,




Ow-lay Imit-lay Rinder-ghey!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006

I really had a nice write-up today, but when I got home and read it over again, I decided bleck!

Yes, Drizz, I have been reading and unfortunately, all that I've read makes me want to puke too. I don't know what it is about this government of ours, but they always seem to have the wants and needs of a select, few people as their primary objectives. I honestly don't know what I will do if the ban indeed happens. I've got several options around here to play live, but that certainly doesn't beat playing in your underwear and not having to drive home after 34 beers. It will be a huge dilemna indeed!

We might as well make the most of it while we can. I'll be playing on Ull-Fay Ilt-tay Oker-pay tonight if anybody wants to join me. I'll see you at the Ookie-may tournament tonight.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:37 PM, ,




SNG Statistics
Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Well, I finally finished up 100 SNGs last night and true to my word, I went out with a $50 + 5 and ended up bubbling out of it in fourth place. The comments left on this blog were just about spot on. There was very little difference in the competition up until there were five players left. With five players left, however, the play tightened up considerably and unfortunately, I was not able to pick up that big hand when I needed it the most. I went out with A-J against A-5 when a 5 hit on the turn. He also had a flush draw after the flop, so I was all but done. Still, I think with just a little bit of luck, I could have made the money in that one and with a bit of practice, I could certainly compete with the players at that level. Of course, a bit more bankroll would make that an easier proposition for me, as well, but that will come in due time. For now, I think I will be sticking to the short handed cash games and the $20 + 2 SNGs.

Here are the final statistics:

In The Money 57 of 100 57%

1st 21
2nd 14
3rd 22

Entry fees $786.50
$$$ Won $1,192.00

Return On Investment 51.5%

I am very pleased with the overall numbers. I think I could have and probably should have reached the 60% level in the money, but I can certainly live with 57%. The ROI number rose considerably toward the end as I started playing much higher level SNGs and making more money than the $5 and $10 variety.

I finished strongly with 16 of my final 20 SNGs in the money. Couple that with the fact that I was also playing mainly $20 tournaments and my money numbers rose rather quickly.

I am also very pleased with the distribution of the finishes. In the past, I have always had a problem with bubble finishes and 3rd place finishes severely outweighing the 1st and 2nd place finishes. The total number of tournaments that I bubbled out in 4th place was a grand total of 10. They certainly would have made a huge impact on my overall numbers, but I am very pleased that my 1st and 2nd place finishes total more than my 3rd and 4th place finishes.

I think my game overall has taken a more aggressive turn, figuring out that folding to the money is not as lucrative as chipping up and trying to win the thing. I know I have a ton of room for improvement on the aggressive side of my game, but I also think I am making progress toward being more aggressive all the time. Playing the weekly tournaments with bloggers helps me in this respect as well.

Where do we go from here? I am going to be playing a lot of 6 Max NL games on PokerShare simply because of the inordinately high number of complete donkeys on that site. I have consistently made money there since I finished my PSO bonus and will probably keep money there just for their juicy cash games.

I also have a little bit of scratch on Pacific Poker right now that I am trying to build up into a playable stack there. I am playing their smaller NL games right now and am on the right track. It is just a matter of staying patient and playing smart.

As far as SNGs, I will still be playing these on occasion, just not as many as I have been playing the last several months. I will probably still take my shot at a $20 +2 every so often, as well, because if I proved anything to myself during this challenge, it is that I am as good as most of the guys and girls at that level. I have nothing to fear from their ability, just the psychological effect toward my bankroll to get over. I can beat that level and I plan on doing it in the future.

That is about all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Oh, and by the way, sign up for the Mookie tomorrow night at Full Tilt. You will find out exactly how much game you have in this tournament, I promise.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:05 PM, ,




Not Much Poker Here
Monday, October 02, 2006

No poker at all for me this weekend. My Mom decided to pay us a visit and stayed until Sunday afternoon, so I was busy with her all weekend. This left no time at all for playing poker and I am definitely feeling the withdrawals this morning.

I have a ton of stuff to do around the house tonight also, but I do plan on making time to sneak in my last three SNG’s and hopefully having some sort of write up with the final statistics tomorrow. The challenge has been harder than I imagined to complete, mostly due to my limited time schedule over the last few weeks. I still want to sit down and play every night, but wanting and getting are two different things. I have been able to play, at most, two nights a week lately due to a combination of things that are keeping me busier than anticipated.

I am certainly looking forward to the cooler fall weather and even for winter to finally arrive. Once the cooler weather gets here, the yard work will cease and it will be time for my favorite indoor activity (okay, second favorite indoor activity) to take a more active role in my night life. I also have more bankroll building in front of me if I want to finance next years vacation come May. I have been able to do this every year since I started and I expect this year to be no exception. I just have to put in the hours and play my solid game in order to get back to the steady progress upward that I am accustomed to seeing on a nightly basis.

Lately, a combination of things has prevented me from seeing any significant upward surge. Whether it be lack of playing time, variance or fishy play by me, I have been on an up and down see-saw since about February, following the worst two or three months of my on line poker career. My plan is to stay patient, stay within my bankroll and build that profit slowly and steadily in the coming winter months and again, pay for my vacation next year out of poker winnings.

I also have big plans for the coming year on the blogger front. I plan on several things actually:

1-I plan to attend one of the Vegas gatherings, if at all possible, next year.
2-I plan to put on Okie-Vegas again some time next summer.
3-I plan on attending the Bash at the Boathouse next year, as well.

Those are pretty lofty goals for a Low Limit Grinder, but I really want to make them happen. In order for them to happen, it will require a significant jump in bankroll, but I am starting right now and I see no reason I cannot make them happen.

Wish me luck and thanks for reading.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:34 PM, ,