GCox25

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On A Heater, It's About Time
Thursday, January 31, 2008

"Quickly I will talk about the new Tuesday night Skill Series tournaments. There have only been six of these so far, but I think already a very noticeable trend has emerged. These games are mostly limit (with the one pot-limit holdem tournament just this week), and more than anything else, it's almost the exact opposite of the discussion I just had about the MATH above. In limit tournament, the key is not so much aggression as it is tightness, and the one thing we are seeing so far in general in those tournaments is that the guys who know how to play tight, tight poker in the earlygoing are the ones who are consistently succeeding. So here I am talking about players like Zeem, who has played more than enough limit poker in his day to understand exactly what I mean about playing tight early. Miami Don is another guy who has been successful in the Skill games so far because he's been playing some very tight poker as he likes to do, especially early on. We all remember Gary Cox winning not one but two Razz tournaments over the past few weeks, playing his usual tightass style for the most part. And before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, I will remind you all again that "tight" is not an insult -- in fact, in this context, it is nothing short of high praise. Tight is right in limit poker tournaments."

-Hoyazo


Thanks Hoy, I do take that as a compliment and I agree completely, tight is right in Limit poker tournaments. My recent heater has included a 1st place in Limit Razz, a 3-way chop in Limit Razz, 2 deep cashes, including a final table, in the nightly $11 HORSE tournament on Stars last week and last night's win in Limit O8b.

You will kindly take notice that it did not say in the Mookie, in the MATH or in any NLHE event lately. That is the main drawback of my "style" if you will. My tightness allows me to be competitive in the Limit events, becasue there is so much more time to be patient and wait for great starting hands. NLHE? Mih, not so much. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that if I am going to be competitive in the Mookie or the MATH, and I have been competitive in these at times, it will all come down to the starting cards.

Whenever I get good starting cards, I am competitive. Whenever I get cold-decked for an hour or so, IGHN. It's really no great mystery and Hoy's description above of my tightass style just simply puts it in perspective, at least for me. Most of the folks in the Mookie are either bloggers or readers of blogs. Whether or not they pay an ounce of attention to any action at the table, they know of me and my reputation as Tighty Whitey. I don't have a problem with that in the least. Heck, I want that respect at the tables, unfortunately, sooner or later, you have to have a hand in a certain spot and too often of late, the hands have eluded me in NLHE.

Limit on the other hand has been an amazing ride these last three weeks or so. It's been a heater the likes of which I haven't experienced since the early days when I was grinding out SNG's on a regular basis. I understand a few things about Limit that alot of my opponents just don't seem to get. It really appears like they are saying "aah, it's just ONE more bet, I call" alot. I very seldom chase past the flop and I very seldom enter a pot without raising in. I am sure this sounds like very typical G-Cox strategy and very repetitive of the things I say right here on a regular basis, but you would be amazed at the number of people at my table that will watch me make fold after fold after fold and then keep calling me when I check-raise their ass or three bet the turn.

"If you know you are beat, fold!" - Jordan

There are many subtle differences between NL and Limit poker and the majority of the players out there trying to play in these Limit tournaments simply do not get it. I won't bore you with the standards of position, starting hand selection and/or pot odds, because you all know about that and most know it far better than I. A player with even a basic knowledge of these things should be able to make a killing in the Limit tournaments simlpy because of all the dead money around the table.

I have certainly had my share of luck and good cards along the way during this good run of variance also. I don't and would not ever claim to know more than the next guy when it comes to Limit, but I am not a newcomer to Limit and I do think I know as much about it as most of the typical opponents in a random MTT, no matter which variant. I actually asked a guy at the table last week during the Razz portion of a HORSE tourney "have you ever played Razz before." His answer was no. Hah, really?

The tourney last night was a microcosm of my play of late. Float for the first hour, stealing a pot here or there. Win a huge pot somewhere in the 2nd hour to chip up nicely and then pick my spots to steal and re-raise people out of pots until it gets down to crunch time. At the money bubble, I try to ratchet it up another level and really be aggressive. There are always a bunch of short-stacks that want to creep into 18th for that $13.50 payday and $2.50 profit that they will give up pots fairly easily at that time. Every act of aggression lately, at least in Limit, has either been met with no resistance or I've had a hand at the right time.

I had an average stack with 27 people left in the tournament and in the space of 3 hands, the last being a flopped boat against the chip leader who paid me off with capped streets the whole way, I was the chipleader from about 16 players on. I briefly lost the chip lead when I was heads up with my last opponent after he runner-runnered me on consecutive hands, but I fought back, stole where I could steal and battled back into contention. It was a marathon heads up match and I finally was able to finish him off for the win.

Limit poker is a boring, grind it out game and most certainly not a game that will be enjoyed by the young, action-junkie, NLHE players around the world. You have to have the proper mindset and be very disciplined to sit there for hours on end, playing the correct cards, making notes on your opponents and reading situations. Yes indeed it's pretty boring most of the time, but my boredom ended as soon as we got down to about two tables last night and it didn't come back until I got to work this morning.

I feel like I am playing real good poker lately, I'm trusting my reads and even better still, I am acting on those reads better than at any time I can remember. I still get burned from time to time, but I am focusing more on decisions and making the correct one time and again, instead of focusing on trying to outplay people.

--

Fatty McLardAss Update:

Original weight - 245 lbs.

Current weight - 229 lbs.

-16 lbs so far and I can really tell a difference in a lot of areas. I already feel better about myself and I feel better in general. I no longer fear that heart attack when the wife asks me to take out the garbage. I've stalled a bit, only losing 3 lbs. this week, but that was typical at this point the last time around, as well. I couldn't seem to drop that consistent 5 lbs. per week, like I had done throughout the diet up to that point. That's where I am right now and I am still shooting for the goal weight of 200 lbs. Lots of work left to do, but I am getting more used to salad every day.

--

Riverchasers tonight, I might be there. If so, I'll be the button-mashing, lottery playing donkey yelling Bingo! at the top of my lungs.

Until next time, I fold.

G



P.S. I'm rolling again tonight, it's early, but off to a good start:

****False alarm, out in the 40's. Ran two pair into rolled up 2's. Doh!****

posted by GaryC @ 3:46 PM, ,

Final Table!!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

PokerStars Tournament #75574439, Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
135 players
Total Prize Pool: $1350.00
Tournament started - 2008/01/30 - 20:30:00 (ET)
Dear GCox25,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $388.13 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 233.63 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/

Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

posted by GaryC @ 9:07 PM, ,

So Far So Good

posted by GaryC @ 8:37 PM, ,

Mookie And A Hand

The biggest blogger tourney of the week. You should be there and you should also join the AssHatFrat Crew on BuddyDank/MiamiDon/Instant Tragedy Radio. Good times for sure. I'll be there.

--

A Hand? What the hell? Is this a poker blog or what??

I tilted a bit on Monday night after busting out of the MATH. I'm not proud of it, but I was proud of the way I handled it for a change. First off, I like Vinny and I consider us to be friends, so spewing, cursing or throwing a tantrum was out of the question. Secondly, I played the hand perfectly, got exactly what I wanted out of it and simply lost the hand. You can't hope to do more can you? Of course, I did lose the hand and of course, it pissed me off, so, after busting not alot of hands later, I logged off and had another beer. Good decision by me.

Here's the situation, pretty early in the second hour of the tournament and I am a little above the 3K starting stack. I have A-K and I think I was on the button, but I could have been one of the blinds, heh, you know me and hand histories. Anyway, Vinny open-raised before me and it folded to me and I used nearly all my time up, debating on how to play the hand.

Fold Big Slick? That really wasn't an option at the 6-max table, although I've certainly folded it before to aggression before me. I consider Vinny a very aggressive player and an open-raise at a 6-max table for him is a pretty wide range of hands, so I considered my re-raise carefully. While I wouldn't consider him incredibly loose, I do consider him ALOT looser than me.

Call his raise? This was definitely not an option for me in this particular hand. I don't play many hands to begin with and in a 6-max tournament, I feel like I have to play my big hands very aggressively, even at the risk of settling for a fold from my opponent.

Re-raise? This is what I ultimately settled on and I made it a pot-sized re-raise on purpose. First off, if Vinny smooth-called here and I got an all under flop that missed me, I would still be able to get away from the hand with at least part of my stack. If he folded, well, I collected a small pot, which I will never argue with. Lastly, and I considered this while taking my time with the re-raise, if he shoves, I honestly think my A-K is ahead here or, at worst, a coin flip.

Now, it turned out that Vinny did shove after my re-raise and I went with my read and made the call.

A-J Clubs and he flopped a flush draw that made on the turn and I was crippled. Just for good measure he knocked me out when his 7-7 found a 2-outer on the river to beat my two pair. To be fair, I didn't have very many chips and the last call was an easy call with 7-7.

Not much I would or could have done differently on the first hand though, I don't think. I would be interested in your opinions of the hand and whether or not, in my shoes, you make that call. Again, we were over an hour into the tournament and the blinds and antes are starting to get up there a bit. Also, it was a 6-Max tournament and I think that has some bearing on the play of this particular hand, as well.

Thanks for reading and until next time, I fold.

G

posted by GaryC @ 4:52 PM, ,

It's Really Quite Simple
Monday, January 28, 2008

--When you are at the final table and someone suggests a chop, if you don't want to agree to it, don't agree to it.

--When you are at the final table and someone suggests a chop and you are agreeable to said chop, go ahead and chop it up.

What is beyond me is how people can have a problem with players chopping a tournament when it doesn't even involve them. For the record, I chop nearly every time someone suggests it, especially my friends, but that probably just makes me a donkey.

Until next time, God forbid somebody suggest a chop tonight in the MATH.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:09 PM, ,

Razz Rocks? Really??
Friday, January 25, 2008

So, apparently this Razz thing isn't so bad after all.

I even got quoted in Peaker's blog:

"I hate Razz."
"I really HATE Razz."
"I really, really hate this game."— G-Cox

I really wish I could hate something that netted me two fairly nice scores in a row.
Alas, I love Razz, and it only got me this last night: - PokerPeaker

posted by GaryC @ 3:23 PM, ,

Grandpas
Wednesday, January 23, 2008

When I was a young boy, I spent a great amount of time at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. My parents would drop me off there on the way to work and I would spend the day with my Grandma. When I got to school age, I caught the bus from their house and took the bus home to their house, where my parents would come after work, eat dinner and then we would go home to our house.

I had a very special and very close relationship with both my Grandma and Grandpa. I have no problem admitting here that I am and always will be a Mama's Boy. My Grandma was one of the main reasons for that.

But what I want to focus on today was my relationship with my Grandpa.

Herman Ray Cox, or just plain Ray, as everybody who knew him called him, was a slight, little man. He didn't put out an imposing persona unless you knew him and knew him well. He was 5'5" tall and weighed 140 pounds dripping wet, from the time he graduated high school until the day he died. He very seldom raised his voice, although he was most assuredly not afraid of raising a switch or a tree limb to your ass if you deserved it.

He wore a no-nonsense flat-top haircut, as did his son, my Dad, and his grandson, me. Where the size in my family comes from is a matter of debate, but with my Grandpa's size documented above, my Dad measuring up at 5'10" and me at 6'4", we were always an odd mutt and jeff group. We spent countless hours together, the three of us, fishing, camping and working in my Grandpa's garden.

Rat-killin' or just piddlin' around is the way my Grandpa would describe it. I spent endless days at their house just piddlin' around with my Grandpa and looking back on those days now, they were some of the best times of my life. Life was much simpler then. We only had three TV channels, no internet, no super WalMart and my home town only had one stop light.

Grandpa Ray grew up in the depression era in Western Arkansas and moved from there to Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl years with his family. When I say that my Dad grew up to be a hard man, well, he didn't have shit on Grandpa Ray. Grandpa was as hard as they come. He worked two jobs to make ends meet and he saved every penny possible to give his family the opportunities that he was never afforded while growing up.

He farmed, not just a small, backyard farm, but probably a 2 acre farm behind his house, growing all the vegatables possible to help feed his family. He owned a "filling" station, as it was called in those days, that his brother-in-law ran during the day and he and his sons ran at night and on weekends. He did all that and still managed to work 50 or so hours a week as an airplane mechanic in Tulsa, driving approximately 40 miles both ways every single day for most of that time.

He was a man small in stature, but great in personality. He commanded respect, not by his size or the tone of his voice, but by his demeanor and everything else about him. Other than my Dad, I've yet to meet a man that I revered any more than my Grandpa Ray and he's been gone nearly 16 years now. It just seems like yesterday.

My Grandpa was a very religious man, as well. I don't remember my Grandma going with him to church, but I do remember him going every single Sunday. He would come by our house after Sunday dinner, which was usually roast or meat loaf by the way, and pick me up to head off to a "singin" somewhere. We drove all over every backroad in the state of Oklahoma to find the churches that were having Sunday dinner and all day events at their church. Back then, it seemed we drove for hours and hours on end, then sang for a few hours and drove back home, nearly always getting there after dark. Those are memories that you can't put a price on and will always be special to me.

While my Dad never missed a sporting event that I was involved in, my Grandpa never seemed to have the time to come and watch. I'm sure he was around some times, but I can't honestly remember one time that I saw him in the crowd at one of my games. Of course, after getting the low down from my Dad, he would ride me about the same shortcomings or mistakes that my Dad had already gotten on me about. That's kind of an inherited trait in my family, it seems.

Grandpa was a teaser, a joker and most of all, a tickler. He would pick and pick at the youngest kids around, sometimes to the point of tears. He wasn't trying to be mean, it's just the way he was. I often regret that he didn't get to be around my daughters more when they were growing up. Alex was just about 4 when he died and Casey wasn't even a twinkle in my eye yet. My girls have fabulous Grandmas and Grandpas and one fabulous Great-Grandma, but I can't help but think they would have been better people just for having known my Grandpa Ray and Grandma Arah.

Grandpa Ray was the only Grandpa I ever knew. My Mom's Dad died 7 or so years before I was born, but from some of the stories I've heard of him, he and I would have gotten along famously. There have been alot of good athletes on my Mom's side of the family and that is a direct result of my Grandpa Burl. All accounts showed him to be a fantastic athlete and his son and me and my cousins certainly owe a bit of our ability to him.

Grandpa Burl is also the man responsible for introducing my Mom and Dad to each other. He knew my Grandpa Ray and had met my Dad at the "filling" station where he "traded" in those days. He had also watched my Dad rodeo and play baseball and told him that he had a daughter that he thought he should meet. The rest was history as they were married on Christmas Eve, just a little over a month after their first date.

I am sorry that I never got to meet my Grandpa Burl and I miss my Grandpa Ray as much today as the day he died. These were men that grew up in a different time but still carried themselves like real men, the kind of men that I hope I am on my way to becoming.

Thanks for reading.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:14 PM, ,

Skillz? I have none.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Apparently, I should have laid this down in a Limit Skillz tournament. Anybody else lay it down?

posted by GaryC @ 7:34 PM, ,

The Post In Which I Discuss The Inevitable
Monday, January 21, 2008

I've turned into a 2-3 time a week poster of late and while I do not foresee this blog ever going away completely or me giving up playing poker completely, things have most definitely changed for me over the last 6-8 months. Different things are becoming increasingly important to me and are beginning to cut into the time which I used to devote to poker and to writing on these virtual pages.

I enjoy this resource to let out any particular spewage that comes to mind on a semi-regular basis, but to be honest, my poker input is nothing much worth reading and probably unwanted by the masses, at best. My take on a particular hand will always be the tightest, safest route and everybody already knows what action or reaction I would have taken from past experience with me.

Since the passing of the Illegal Internet Gambling Act and the increasing difficulties of moving money around to the various poker sites, I have pretty much been restricted to Stars and Full Tilt, mainly because of the ability to transfer money between various friends via these sites and PayPal. While these two sites are more than enough to keep a poker junkie occupied, the pain in the ass ACT has tempered my desire a bit.

I would love to play in the BoDonkey every week, for example, but have tried - unsuccesfully - to deposit onto Bodog and to be quite honest, if it's too big a pain in the ass, I'm not going to waste my time. I have most definitely become one of those guys that won't put the time and effort forth required to handle the job if I don't feel like the ends justify the means. When I was younger, that didn't matter to me too much, but as I've aged, aw, the hell with it, it's just too much trouble.

With the early easy use of Neteller and the speed with which money could be moved on and off-line, I got spoiled. You see, if I was lucky enough to hit a big score, I could withdraw it to Neteller and have it in my bank in 4-5 days and I did just that several times. But now, we are reduced to the newer companies, which I have not even bothered looking into, or requesting a paper check, which I'm told could take 2-3 weeks to arrive. Too much of a pain in the ass = a waste of time that I am not willing to undertake, at this point.

It has certainly also taken away some of my desire to play too. I still WANT to play poker on at least a semi-regular basis, but as I've gotten older, there are other things also vying for my time. Things that are just as interesting to me as playing poker, at this point, and quite honestly, things I'm enjoying more than poker right now.

I haven't wasted nearly as much time at Guitar Hero as I assumed I would when I first tried it. Perhaps it is another factor to be directly related to my age, but the original zing wore off rather quickly for me, plus, I've never been a huge fan of that style of music to begin with, so when it gets past the songs that I know and I have to start playing songs that I've never even heard, well, that part kinda sucked for me too. Never even made it off of easy, but I was getting better at it. I still my play occasionally with my daughter or if my wife ever picks it up, but it certainly won't be interfering with any large proportion of my time.

I'm not a huge believer in New Years' Resolutions, hence, the lack thereof on these pages....ever! I don't really ever feel like I need to change things, personally, just for the sake of change. I can take a hint when my body says, hey fatass, it's time to lose weight, but as far as quitting/cutting back/changing just because it's the first of the year, I say bah. I'm one of those guys, like my Dad, that subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" theory in life. I am sure that I miss out on a few things because of it, but it works for me.

I guess this long-winded diatribe must come to an end, as I have real-life work beckoning. I suppose this is just a long way to explain that, while I've lost some of my stride at the poker tables and right here on this blog, I do not plan on going away any time soon. I have far too many friends to keep up with and far too many times that I just have to re-raise when I get Aces to just up and go away. I'll see you here and out there on the virtual tables soon, just not as often as in the past.

--

Fatty McLardAss Update:

Original Weight: 245 lbs.

Current Weight: 232 lbs.

-13 lbs. so far and working pretty hard to get down to my goal of 200 this year.

I don't honestly think I will be able to maintain my weight at 200, but I do think if I work hard enough at it, that I can lose that 45 lbs. and I definitely plan to try. If I were to get down to 200 it would open up a whole new world to me as far as clothes go. No more 2X-Large and having to scour the racks, like all the other lard-asses. While I probably won't ever be less than an X-Large kind of guy, I would feel much, much better if I could achieve this goal.

--

Things I'd like to see:

After reading Hoy's "I Think" list a few days ago, I had a few thoughts of my own, however, I can only wish:

-I wish Sean's Dad a speedy and complete recovery and many more years with his family.

-I wish I had an unlimited supply of money, especially now that camo hunting gear is on sale at Academy for 50% off.

-I wish my Mom lived closer and could enjoy time at the lake with us on a more regular basis.

-I wish my Dad was still alive and could enjoy the outdoors with me as I've never experienced such fun and could only imagine he would be enjoying the hell out of it, as well.

-I wish the powers that be would pull our troops out of that godforesaken mess over there and bring them all home to their families.

-I wish alot of my invisible internet friends lived closer so we could get together on a more regular basis.

-I wish my daughters weren't growing up so fast and that I weren't getting so old.

-I wish I could figure out a way to open up my poker game a bit and learn to take a few chances on occasion, but every time I do, it seems to blow up in my face and I find myself reverting right back to "Tighty Whitie."

-I wish some of the tournaments started at a bit earlier hour, so they didn't finish so late if you happen to make it deep. That's hard on an old man the next day at work.

-I wish I had high speed wireless internet access at the lake and was able to encompass all my hobbies at the same place.

-I wish all my friends that actually wanted to make it to Okie-Vegas this summer were able to make it, but I already know that isn't going to be the case and that makes me sad.

And finally....

-I wish I had the desire to play in every bloggament on every night of the week. After working for over a year to get my bankroll to a level where I could easily afford them, the high school humor and asshatedness week after week have sucked the desire out of me. Jokes are fine, folks, but mean-spiritedness has no place in our group. I think there are more that agree with me than don't on that.

Until next time, I fold.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:10 PM, ,

I Gotz Some Skillz
Wednesday, January 16, 2008

First off, you did read that right, if you checked out my post from very early this morning. I did, in fact, win the Blogger Skill Game (that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one, who you calling a moron?) last night on Full Tilt. Thanks to all the railbirds and friends for the encouragement, it means alot.

Deepstack Limit Razz-how do I loathe thee?

I wasn't planning on playing last night when I got home, but I got my chores done in time and had an awfukkit moment and sat down and registered. I thought I played pretty well for the most part, albeit awfully tight during the early rounds. I got absolutely no traction until near the end with probably two tables left. I went on an awesome heater at the final table and, quite simply, caught cards like they were going out of style. There was no "outplaying" anybody, it was just a card catching tournament at that point and I was the lucky recipient last night. Well played to everybody that made the final table.

I think next time we should play TURBO NO-LIMIT RAZZ with 100 starting chips. Same.exact.result. without wasting 4 hours of our lives. Result = he who catches cards, wins, he who brick-brick-bricks GHN.

I also managed to cash in a Limit Holdem Tourney on Stars, while playing simultaneous final tables. I ended up going out in 3rd for a near-$200 payday in what amounted to a big SNG, with only 45 runners. I had the chip lead two different times at the final table of this one, but simply couldn't make anybody lay down a draw. (or miss their draw, for that matter) It was interesting early on in this tournament, I lost three hands in rapid succession where I got drawn out on and I typed in the chat-box:

"The buy-in was $22, right?"

I didn't get any response, but at least I noticed a bit of difference in the way most of them played against me. I must have flopped 7 or 8 sets over the course of this tournament and got paid off on every one of them. That right there is a ticket to the final table.

posted by GaryC @ 3:55 PM, ,

Skillz?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

posted by GaryC @ 10:23 PM, ,

Happy Happy Birthday Baby
Monday, January 14, 2008

First off, I would like to send out my Happiest Birthday wishes possible to my lovely wife MrsGCox25. She is travelling today, so I am hoping she gets the chance to surf by this little spot on the web and sees my post.

Happy Birthday baby, I love you more than words on this page could ever say.

--

Input

Okay, this portion of the post is going to be dedicated to the Riverchasers PLO8b tournament from last Thursday or as I like to call it "the tournament where GCox25 proves he knows nothing about PLO8b."

I don't have the hand history handy because I am an e-tard but here is the set-up:

I have limped, called and folded my way down to around 2300 chips from the starting stack of 3000 with a variety of semi-playable hands, including two that I would have made the nuts on the river, if I'd had the wherewithal to call the shove on the turn, so I am obviously frustrated.

The blinds are at 25/50, I think, and I look down at A-A-9-4 with s00ted diamonds to the Ace.

I simply limp into the pot with 3 or 4 other players (seemingly because I am tricky and trappy all in the same breath, but more realistically because I don't know the first thing about Pot Limit Anything. It is raised somewhere (probably a pot raise) and everybody calls.

I already know I'm going to mess the details of this hand up, but you should have the general idea.

The flop is Q-J-x with two diamonds. Not the worst flop for me as I have the nut flush draw, an over-pair and re-draws to a decent low, at this point, at least 11 outs twice right? I bet the pot and am called by one player. This bet leaves me with +/- 1300 behind, so with the size of the pot, the size of my remaining stack and the draws I am looking at, I am feeling fairly committed to this pot.

The turn is the Ace of spades.

Now, I have top set and the nut flush re-draw, that may or may not be the nuts, depending on the river or 13 outs, right? Now I REALLY feel committed to this pot and I shove my last 1300 or so chips into the middle and am insta-called by the other player. He shows Kd-Qd-10s-x and the nut straight and my outs go from 13 down to 11.

I brick the river and IGHN. I wasn't crushed by the hand, but the more I thought about it afterward, the more I came to the conclusion I could have done things differently along the way to stay alive. Maybe not, I am hoping for some comments from the O8b players out there to give me some insight.

Let me say clearly here that I am not questioning the player or his hand in the slightest. I am looking for constructive criticism of the way the hand played out for me and what I could have done differently, if anything, to avoid going broke here.

I also realize full well that raising pre-flop would have been my best course of action here, but again, like I said above, I have not played many Pot Limit tournaments and to be honest, a pot raise was the norm for this table and would not have run off anybody, as evidenced by the raise from LP and the 4 calls pre-flop.

If any of you Pot Limit Omaha 8b players out there see a different approach to this hand or something that I could have/should have done differently in this spot, please feel free to leave it in the comments.

--

Fatty McLardass Update:

Original weight - 245
Current weight after two weeks - 237
Total -8 lbs so far.

It is starting to take hold and I can already see and feel the results. It is amazing how well this diet works for me. I can almost count on about 5 pounds a week, so long as I remain "carb-free." Like I have said several times on this blog, it does not work for everybody, but for the people that can get around the side effects and stay pretty true to the diet, the weight will come off.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, I fold.

G

posted by GaryC @ 4:27 PM, ,

Mookie and More Okie-Vegas News
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

First things first, the Mookie is on Full Tilt tonight. You should already be aware of this, but just in case, the banner is on the left.
9:00 pm CST (That's 10:00 pm for you East Coasters)


$10 + 1 Buy-In

Password: vegas1











Should be some hilarity tonight, as well, as the banner above will indicate. MiamiDonInstantTragedy radio?? Good stuff, see you there.

--


I want everybody to have a blast and for it to be as affordable as possible for all involved. I know the plane tickets aren't cheap and I want everybody that wants to make the trip to be able to afford everything. However, there is going to come a point, probably this year, that we have to start thinking about hotel/motel rooms. As we get closer, I will need to come up with a number and figure out exactly how many folks are going to have to get rooms and how many folks are going to be able to stay at my house. (both in the city and at the lake) Please don't book a room in OKC until we have spoken and I have a better idea of the number. I will hook you up with the closest/cheapest/ritziest rooms in OKC, whatever your preference, after I've determined that we need to go that route.

The lake will be the least problem, as I can sleep 10-12 fairly drunkly comfortable and I can borrow my good friend's trailer down their and sleep another 5 or 6. There is also a small, cinder block walled motel with 8 rooms that go for about $30 a night between the bar and the trailer. It ain't much, but it's usually clean and the A/C works. Of course, down there, we might end up asleep in the yard or out on the porch, which I haven't taken into account at all.


So, long winded story short, if you are a definite I'm-gonna-be-there come hell or high water, let me know. If you are a I-want-to-come but a few things have to go my way for it to happen, let me know. If you have attended in the past and are a definite can't-make-it-this-year, let me know. Basically, if you have an interest in attending, keep me informed of your status, so I will have some idea what to expect.

I would love to have to set up 3 or 4 tables and have ALL bloggers for the tournament at my house on Saturday. I just need to have some idea about what and/or how many to expect.

Here's an interest list, as I know, thus far. If I leave you off the list or if you would like to be added to the interest list, drop me a comment or an email and I will add your name.

1-Katitude-already booked her flight, I assume that means she's interested.
2-Surflexus-George is coming in for the entire week and his wife will be joining us in the middle of the week some time, presumably to win the tournament on Saturday or at least outlast George.
3-23Skiddoo-Brian, another Hotlantan, is already working on flights, I'm told.
4.Gracie-Miss Gracie has already mentioned that she will be trying to work it in again this year. I hope so, my wife's cats loved her.
5.AlCantHang-see above.
6.SpecialK-Curtis has indicated several times and in the comments to the original announcement of his interest.
7.MiamiDon-Don IMed me last night durning the Skillz Game to let me know he would be trying to make the trip.
8.Instant Tragedy-Sean has also informed me that he will be trying to make it again this year.
9.BuddyDank-perhaps BuddyDankRadio (if he quits betting on the Steelers) from GCox's house during the Mookie that Wednesday night?
10.Yestbay1-Dave could easily make the drive up to OKC again this year and has said as much.
11.TripJax-my wing man from both of the other get-togethers. He needs to be here again this year. otherwise we will be looking for another Drunken Lewey award winner.
12.SteelerJosh/DNasty-The Detroit crew has mentioned their interest as well. Hopefully they can make it work.
13.Shamanalix-if the dates work, Sham could be there this year.
14.CK-BWoP-could the Asian Jew make an appearance in the heartland? Stay tuned.

Wow, that's quite a list already, if you include myself, Miss Maudie and perhaps, OoSsUuu754, it becomes even more daunting for me. Last year's attendees that I haven't heard from yet include F-Train and Jordan at HighOnPoker, although the dates don't look good for him right now, I'm still hoping he can make it happen.

It looks to me like we will have a record turnout again this year and I promise to do my best to keep you entertained or, at the very least, lubed up while you are here. Again, the dates are July 9th - 13th. We will probably be going to the lake either Thursday night or Friday morning depending on arrivals and times. Also, I will be off the entire week, following the 4th of July holiday, the previous Friday, so if you want to come in earlier than Wednesday night, bring it. Let me know if you are interested as soon as possible.

Until next time, I put in for a week's vacation, July 7th - 11th.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:47 PM, ,

Is It Friday Yet?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008

I'm off to the woods for some more hunting action this weekend and, as is typical for me these days, I'm getting my ass handed to me at every turn and working through the longest days humanly possible. Make it stop!

--

Skill game tonight, I'll be there, will you?

--

Is anybody else the slightest bit curious what Chad's numbers are going to tell us if Waffles ever gets off his ass long enough to build the bloggerdb.com? I am very curious to see his stats and am pretty sure I will be in the top 5 at least of the "tightest bloggers" if not numero uno.

I also know full well that his stats will show I am a losing poker player in these blogger events and I'm alright with that. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be able to beat my chest and claim to be a winning player in these things, but I already know the answers to those questions. Too Tight = Once in a blue moon final tables. I can live with that.

My style, if you want to call it a style, has always been patterned after "Action" Dan Harrington, at least the Dan Harrington of the 2003 WSOP when he folded and stayed out of the way and coasted to 3rd place. We all know that wasn't his typical or normal style now, but then, it appeared to me that he was nut-peddling and trying to move up the ladder. I kind of took that approach and ran with it.

I have since tried to develop different variations upon that style, mostly to little or no success. I've tried opening up my range of starting hands - LOSER. I've tried becoming the LAG pre-flop - LOSER. I've also tried to be more aware of position and trying to put pressure on people when I have position on them - LOSER. I always migrate back to the style that I have won with in the past and have come to accept that I might only win or go deep "every once in a while" in these events because of it.

Obviously, there are alot of players in these blogger events that are "more skilled" than I and that is part of what draws me to these games. I really want to play with Chad and MiamiDon and Hoy, because I want to match wits with them. I very seldom come out on the winning side of these little battles, but every time that I do, I feel a great sense of satisfaction. Not that I ever really out-play any of them, but that the part-time, recreational donkey can get the best of what I consider very good players on at least a semi-regular basis.(perhaps once-in-a-blue-moon)

Most of that has to do with me catching cards and I fully realize that, as well. However, it takes a certain degree of skill, combined with a certain degree of luck, to get paid off in these tournaments by the better players. They have thousands and thousands of hands on me and their statistics tell them that when I re-raise, I have a hand 98% of the time, so playing my big hands and disguising this from them to elicit a call takes some skill and some luck, depending on how you look at it.

Most of these players know that they can re-raise me with air on most occasions and pick up the pot. For those times that I have a hand, getting any more of their money at that point becomes the challenge. I like challenges and as long as I have money on-line, I will keep playing the blonkaments on a near-nightly basis, because in the end, it comes down to the personal challenge for me.

I'm not a full time player and at this point, probably will never be any more than I am right now: a recreational donkey-calling station that enjoys the friendships I've made through this blog and enjoys the competitive aspect of matching wits with players that I know are better than me. I'm not saying this to downgrade my level of ability, but moreso to admit that there are differences with the better players out there.

They study more, they play more hands and they use every available tool at their disposal on a nightly basis. Me? I lube up with a few Keystone Lights, enter the tournament in the right frame of mind and fold for a couple of hours. That's how I roll and I am fine with it.

I will never be more than a part-time player at this game, I've come to grips with that now, but when I do play, rest assured, I will be trying to bust you.

And Waffles, hurry up and get that site up so I can check out Chad's numbers on all of us.

--

Fatty McLardass

After dieting my literal ass off almost four years ago and losing nearly 75 pounds, I have settled back into lazy-ass-itis and have begun packing the pounds back on. I got down to a low of 215 a few years back and after realizing I couldn't stay that low, settled in at 220. I was thrilled with my weight loss and, overall, felt more energy, more spring in my step and better about myself than I had in years.

Then, like I am wont to do, I got lazy. I began eating exactly as I had in the past (when I ballooned up to 290 in the first place) and about the only thing keeping me at a semi-reasonable weight was the fact that I wasn't drinking 5 or 6 Mountain Dews a day. I did manage to stick with water and Diet drinks, for the most part.

I don't really feel like I am fat, (although overweight and out of shape would definitely apply) I'm just big-boned. LOL. If I don't nip this in the bud right now, it will spiral out of control and a year from now or two years from now, I will find myself right back at the 290 lbs. I weighed before I dieted the first time. Ain't gonna happen folks. Even though some might not think I "look" fat, I "feel" fat and for me, that is not acceptable and it is definitely time for a change.

I have been back on the diet (and for those that don't know, it is the Atkins diet) for almost a week and can already feel the effects beginning to take place. When you change your diet to zero carbs and lots of meat and cheese, things start happening to your body that, well, let's just say are not normal. It takes some getting used to, but I feel like the benefits outweigh any of the side effects.

I have read about people getting sick from this diet, but nothing has ever happened to me out of the ordinary and I was on it for a little over a year the first time. I plan on trying to lose 35 lbs. this go-round and I really don't think it will take me that long to reach that goal. That would put me back in the 210 range and I will be ecstatic if I am able to reach that weight some time this year.

Having been out in the field hunting and being more physical than I have been in some time, I can feel exactly how out of shape I am, so a workout regimen is probably going to accompany this diet plan in the very near future. I hope to get back in some semblance of shape so walking around in the field doesn't wind me like I just ran 5 100-yard wind sprints.

I will keep you appraised of the results, for now, here's the first week. (remember, it starts slowly)

Starting weight - 245
First week - -3 lbs
Current weight - 242

--

That's all I got, until next time, I prove the old adage "I got no skillz."

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:14 PM, ,

Questions??? - And Answers!!!
Monday, January 07, 2008

July 9th - 13th, 2008

I thought I would post tonight to answer a few questions that arose since my last post announcing the dates for Okie-Vegas 3.

In order:

1) Yes, I had the wrong link to my boy, Instant Tragedy, but have since fixed that mistake. I also received an email from the Tragedy himself, promising his best effort at making the gathering. On a side note, hang in there bro, it will get better, I promise.

2) This wasn't a question, but join me in sending your warmest congratulations to SteelerJosh on the arrival of his first son. Congrats bro, your world, as you knew it, just changed for the better. Congratulations to you and SteelerSteph.

3) SpecialK-No limit on North Carolinians and we don't have any criteria on drinking, although we strongly encourage it, however, you need not drink to have a good time here in Oklahoma.

4) Stb, they do sell all kinds of 3.2% beer in the grocery stores, for stronger than that, we will have to make a trip to the liquor store, a full mile and a quarter from my house.

Everybody is welcome, let that be known. Between now and then, I need to have a head count on, not only interest, but guaranteed, booked, I'm-gonna-be-there's. If you are going to make it, please let me know, so we can make hotel arrangements, if necessary, in plenty of time.

I can probably sleep 10-12 at the lake, but if we get any more than that, we will have to look at renting a few motel rooms. There are 8 cheapo motel rooms between the bar and my trailer that go for around $30 a night, so that shouldn't be a problem, given enough time.

Rooms in the city will be slightly further away and we will need a good idea how many to reserve. Whatever you do, do not book a hotel room in the city until we have an idea of the turnout and the nights. I don't want anybody to waste the money on a hotel room if they might not be necessary, so hold off on that for now, right Skiddoo?

More, you will be flying into Will Rogers (I think they call it World) Airport in Oklahoma City. I am probably going to be taking the entire week off, so you won't have to worry about transportation so long as I know far enough in advance when you will be arriving.

So, there are a few answers for you. Should any more arise, please let me know and I will do my best to answer them.

Until next time, I play the MATH, you should as well.

G

posted by GaryC @ 4:01 PM, ,

Okie-Vegas 3
Saturday, January 05, 2008

posted by GaryC @ 5:23 PM, ,

Diary Of A Hobbyist
Friday, January 04, 2008

posted by GaryC @ 4:16 PM, ,

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