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Duh

post from Hella Hold'em on 04 April 2006 11:47:00 PM. © Hella Hold'em

Champ of Poker am I.

And I am a freaking comedic genius.

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http://hellaholdem.blogspot.com/2006/04/duh.html

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Re: Your Last Post

post from The Obituarium on 04 April 2006 09:40:00 PM. © The Obituarium

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http://obituarium.blogspot.com/2006/04/re-your-last-post.html

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Fast and Loose

post from High on Poker on 04 April 2006 06:38:00 PM. © High on Poker

I have to admit, I played a fast and loose game yesterday, constantly winning and losing chips. Most of the time, I stayed about even with my starting stack of 5000. But I was constantly betting and bluffing and re-raise bluffing. In one hand, I called a bet by Drizz preflop with 9To or some other crap cards. It may've been J2o. He was fairly shortstacked, as was I, but I had him covered by 1k or so. I was in the SB and he was in the BB. I decided to flat call, and he raised about 3x the blinds. I called with the intention of stealing later. The flop was inconsequential really. I think it was 8Q8. I checked, he made a continuation bet, and I reraised about half of my stack. He laid it down and I showed (I can't help myself).

Why, Jordan, why? Why take a chance like that in a tournament? Well, the fact that I was sending a blogger to the WSOP meant that no matter what I felt like a winner. Gay, I know, but I wouldn't even play a $33 event (except for the upcoming $30 DADI event for a WSOP Seat) if it weren't for the fact that I would be sending a blogger to the WSOP (thanks, by the way, Iggy).

The other thing is the game's format. With deep stacks, I am confident in my ability to mix it up. If I lose some chips, it's not a problem, because I am also confident in my skills as a shortstack. I joke that "I'm dangerous on a shortstack" but I mean it. It's not that I'm so great. I just feel like I have a knack for it. I don't get scared and tighten up too much. I don't get overly aggressive and stupid. I'm more patient and more focused and more ready to take any opportunities that arise.

The other thing about gambling it up is that it will get you action. There was one hand where I bluffed and/or showed down crap and/or bet preflop to take down a hand for the nth time in a row. The very next hand I was dealt AA. For this table, a preflop raise would win the hand, but when I bet, I got a player to call. Or maybe I called him. I don't recall really. The point is, when the Q high flop came out, I re-raised all-in and got a crying call from a player that should never have called my overbet. Why? Because I looked like a loose crazy fucktard. And for that, my friends, I am proud.

There are a lot of different ways to do well in this poker game. Tight IS right. I know this from the Rio SNGs over at Noble (check em out!). But in some games, you can take advantage of a loose image. You can set up players by controlling their perception of you.

Limping into a hand with Kd5d in early position is not an optimal play if you are playing tight or if you are trying to fold into the money. BUT it can be a very profitable play if you are willing to take a chance. The bottom line is that players don't expect you to be playing those hands, so when they hit, you will get paid off (especially if they think you are a bluffing, raising fool). The cost analysis might suggest that you fold preflop, but if someone were to raise in late position, I only lose 200 or so out of 11k. It's a drop in the bucket. If someone raises from the blinds, its different. I still have position AND I have a deceptive hand. GCox could never put me on Kd5d there. Okay, well maybe GCox could, because he knows me, but most players won't.

I guess that is my little diatribe on a differing style of play not really seen yesterday (with exceptions). I wish I could give more details, but it really comes down to feeling the table. I played with the lights out and the headphones in. No TV. Wifey Kim was asleep (what an angel; cute side story, she woke up in the middle of the night and asked how I was doing. It was after I lost and she was half-asleep anyway. This morning, as soon as she woke up, she asked me how I did. I guess thats what happens when you go to bed next to your manly, handsome husband playing poker with bloggers for a WSOP seat). I felt the table out, and I had a sort of sixth sense about most of my plays, raising with 2s3s from EP/MP, and junk like that.

One last thing: I had the most fun last night. Playing with bloggers is an absolute joy. Thanks everyone.

Read The Full Article:
http://highonpoker.blogspot.com/2006/04/fast-and-loose.html

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I am the Chump

post from BadBlood on Poker on 04 April 2006 05:05:00 PM. © BadBlood on Poker

Ok fools, here it is.

I am not the Poker Champ.  I am 100% guilty of falling for this extended prank, and you know what?  I am disappointed.

Here?s why:

I was hoping to set up a UFC-style match between myself and Poker Champ at the December blogging gathering.  And now that can?t happen.

I was busy intensifying my training, cutting back calories, getting fucking RIPPED!!!  And now it?s all for not.  I was cycling through my iPod to determine a proper entrance music selection.  And now, who the hell cares?  Nobody.  Because Poker Champ is not real.

Seriously, who wouldn?t have bought a ticket to see Blood vs. Champ?  I have absolutely zero training in mixed martial arts, but so what.  I gotta figure that with him hitting the heavy bag after a few bad beats, he may have actually had the upper hand.  We?re both nearly the same age, but still, how hard can he possibly hit?

Damn you bastards.  Damn you straight to hell.

And for the record, I?m with Axeman ? he thinks it?s Daddy.

Read The Full Article:
http://badbloodonpoker.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_badbloodonpoker_archive.html#11441
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Scottish Poker Championships

post from Poker Room - CelebPoker.com on 04 April 2006 03:27:00 PM. © Poker Room - CelebPoker.com

CelebPoker are sending players to the prestigious Scottish Poker Championships taking place 1st and 2nd of July 2006. $5 satellites will run every day at 14:30, 20:30 and 01:30 GMT. Winners of the daily satellites will win entry into the weekly $38 final at 20:30 GMT to compete for a $350 seat in the monthly online finals. The event will be held at the Maybury Casino in Edinburgh, Scotland, from the 1st & 2nd of July. The prize package is a $3,250 package including £1,000 + $50 entry to the No Limit ?Double Chance? freeze out & $1,250 accommodation/travel money! Playing Free Internet Poker is always an option as well on CelebPoker.Play Poker CelebPoker.com is an exciting online poker room that is quickly becoming the favorite for many players. CelebPoker's realistic and player-friendly software offers a wide range of tournament and ring game play, including sit 'n' go tournaments offering prizes as high as $100,000.

Read The Full Article:
http://celebpokerclub.blogspot.com/2006/04/scottish-poker-championships.html

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Struggle

post from The Obituarium on 04 April 2006 02:55:00 PM. © The Obituarium

I was pleasently surprised last night when I logged on 45 minutes after the start of the WPBT satellite. When my table popped up, I saw Nerd and doubleas, and as my nuts made a beeline for my abdomen I noticed their chip stacks hovering around 5K. "Crap," I thought. "I've been blinded down for almost an hour and I've got these geniuses stacked and licking their chops." Then my chip stack popped up and "Whaaaaaaaaaa?"

Deep stack? Half-hour levels? Giddyup.

And then...It's gonna be a long night. It was, though I bombed out retardedly in the third hour. Congrats to lucko and Wes for the seats and, as always, undying gratitude to Iggy for his hard work and philanthropy in setting thest things up.

I wish the point of this post was the play. But it's not. When I went out, I was hit with that all-too-familiar-lately feeling of loss, an instant sucker punch that says to me, "Well, that was fun, but remember real life?"

Poker has become an escape from all that ails me these days. The problem of late is that I've had so many ~~horrific bad beats~~ statistically improbable circumstances that the "escape" has become every bit as frustrating and unrewarding as everything else in my life. And yes, the attitude I've employed at the tables has contributed to some less-than stellar-play.

**********************

I know people who can affect a sunny disposition regardless of their state of mind, or heart. I am not one of those. The truth of the matter is that I'm in a dangerous place right now. I recognize it, but am unable to reverse it. My motivation is gone. I am weak, broken.

I have a hundred conversations in my head every day, chastising myself, attacking X, trying to reason it all out. It's not a nice place to live. So I spend my evenings trying to quiet the voices, with poker, with beer, with silly conversations with my friends. It works, temprorarily. But then the game ends, bedtime comes, and I'm back at Square One.

I'm running away, pure and simple. Doing the exact same thing X did. I'm not addressing my problems. They're too big, too painful, too insurmountable. I've clung to these daily diversions in lieu of addressing life issues. And I hate myself for it.

I have too much time on my hands and no impetus to fill it with proactive works. I'm floating, wrapped in self-pity, convincing myself that my needs don't matter. Nothing matters now. All that talk of being a better man and the measure of a person being how they react to their suffering...gone. I don't fucking care.

************************

This is not a new place for me. I've been here before, though this is worse. Last time, it was better than two years before I pulled myself out, two years where I dug myself even deeper, burying my sense of self-worth. I sit here night after night KNOWING I can't do that again. Knowing hasn't helped me reverse the slide.

Back then, what finally began my ascension was a small triumph, a seemingly innocuous step forward that provided the foundation for everything else. It wasn't a random event, but it changed my outlook enough to give me a little strength, to stop flogging myself for all my failures, to stop replaying the past.

The past is my enemy. In it, I see so much that was good, perfect even, and it taunts me with those images of my happiness, now blackened forever. I also see the seeds of my current plight, feel them for the first time as they took root, expolding into the secrets that overwhelmed love and reason. I'm assaulted by these images in my every waking moment. I don't summon them. They are uninvited. I want only for them to disappear.

This is natural, people tell me. You need time to mourn, they say, to work it out. I know. But I'm wasting that time, prolonging the healing process. And sometimes, I can't fucking cope.

**************************

AJ and X returned from Sweden on Sunday night. It had been nearly two weeks since I'd seen my boy and when he saw me, he skipped over and held me tight for long minutes. There it is. I can feel my heart again. He doesn't know it, but he's my redemption. His embrace, his laugh, will save me, return me to myself. But I need to set about deserving that love. Right now.

Read The Full Article:
http://obituarium.blogspot.com/2006/04/struggle.html

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G-Vegas

post from Quest of a Closet Poker Player on 04 April 2006 02:45:00 PM. © Quest of a Closet Poker Player

I moved to G-Vegas (Greenville, SC) in the fall of '87 and left in the summer of '91 after our wedding. My wife's family still lives there, so I visit regularly. I lived in a one-bedroom apartment in an older building called the Davenport on Washington and Church. It was the end of the textile industry in the Carolinas and the hint of rebirth of the G-Vegas downtown. At the time, there was a small section of Main Street that was nice with a big Hyatt and my favorite restaurant downtown called Ristorante Bergamo. Most of the downtown was littered with Disco clothing and Army/Navy stores. G-Vegas was a big town then with not much to do except to go out and try to pick up chicks. I wasn't very good at it as I smelled of sulfuric acid and textile dye most of the time, as well as was in a fairly desparate state working every waking hour.

I was on a meal plan at Monterrey's Mexican (or might as well have been--eating there up to four times a week). The best it ever got was one waiter who would see me, bring me my Coke, chips, and salsa, not ask for my order but just bring me beef fajitas/no sour cream/no guacamole/all beans/no rice/extra order of flour tortillas. I was losing about two pounds per week, but this type of food consumption would serve me well in my quest to double my weight. My other favorite places to eat were Frodo's Pizza, Krispy Kreme, any meat and three place (serving three different meat dishes and ten sides, you choose your meat and three sides), The Peddler (where they brought meat to your table, then you told them to stop at some point indicating the thickness of your steak; sort of a wheel of fortune approach to dining).

We went to the Greenville Zoo today. The first time I went, they had an elephant chained to a wall. And I don't mean that figuratively. Today, there was I guess the same elephant roaming in a nice little habitat. Got to see howler monkeys, which seem like a no-brainer when it comes to zoo populating. What a racket! The only time they shut up was when I got to them. I also knocked over a four-year-old girl with her mother right there (my only chance of not being arrested). She was doing some sort of Ice Capades death-spiral spin, and the more I moved away from her the faster she spun at me.

The first grown-up poker I ever played was with shift workers. We'd play two or three card guts, as well as Dr. Pepper (2's, 4's and 10's wild). Guts is a pot matching game, and I won alot from my employees but then had to schedule them for overtime to get them to pay me back. There was no such thing as poker books or theory, just gambling and winging it.

I don't know if I love it here or anything. I used to think I had a great relationship with my in-laws, but that's soured significantly over the last year. They let their displeasure be known regarding my parenting skills and/or general worth. Suffice it to say I've tried to avoid interacting with them too much in the last twelve months, so this trip is not something I necessarily was planning or looking forward to.

I told my wife about a year ago that I thought I couldn't name the least weird person I know. I mean, who is the least weird person you know? I think almost everyone is weird to one degree or another, it's just degrees of weirdness. And the complication in my life is not only being weird but also the fact that it takes us alot longer to reach adulthood now than it used to. My dad's generation became men at 20 or 25. Mine? Well, we still play video games, online poker. Maybe we never become adults now, I don't know.

Trying to practice my NLHE skills for BadBlood's highway robbery, donking off more of my chips on Stars. Just flopped top two pair with JTo, check-raising a bettor and original raiser only to be called by the flush draw. Great. Should you watch the table when you are playing NLHE? I'm always multi-tasking while I play, so I never really pay attention to table image and what people raise with and other stuff like that. You better not try any double moves on me as I won't catch any of them.

Got to play a bit of Party here in the coffee shop in TR (north of G-Vegas). Down a sweet $600, which is always a great way to start the month. $15/30, with a ton of action. I raised in late position with QTs, got capped by two others, flopped my Q then turned my T only to be up against QQ (ouch). Got flushed out of another pot on the river, JJ hit a great flop of AKQ, JJ vs. QQ on undercards, blah, blah, blah, poker hands, blah, blah, blah. The best part of it all is that it looks like I may have closed my China deal that I though I had last week then lost (all in a span of about two hours and three emails), but now it looks like a go. I'm hoping to get a bit unstuck here, but it looks like I got malfunctionized on Party (where I can't get to the table that I'm at). Had just re-raised with JJ, and won the pot (pre-flop). My goal for April has been to be up for the month, so it's probably healthy to be down already (fuzzy math maybe). I've given up trying to get back to the table. It sucks when you find such a good table of re-raisers and loose players, you've invested already, then you can't have a chance to make it back. That is a bad thing, unless I was going to lose more, then it's a good thing.

By the way, this is tomorrow's (Wednesday's) post today, as I try to post once a day during the week, but I'm not sure if I'll find internet access. The boys and I will be riding horses of all things, which should be a great joy. I can't lift my arms over my head due to my biennial workout yesterday. I think I look pretty buff today, though, so I've got that going for me. Take care, and thanks for dropping by.

Read The Full Article:
http://ccexplore.blogspot.com/2006/04/g-vegas.html

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You Decide #31

This You Decide guest stars TripJax and GCox!

Here's the setup. You are playing in a Satellite to the WSOP with a group of strong players. You have 11,000 in chips, and are the second or third shortstack at the table. Blinds are 100/200 with a 25 ante (or maybe 50). Only two players will win seats to the WSOP in this 93 person tournament, and there are currently about 25 players left. The table is tight.

You are in early position (UTG+1) and decide to limp with Kd5d. This, in and of itself, might be an error, and that is the first question. However, this, to me, isn't the crucial question, because I'm assuming 9 times out of 10, you are going to fold here.

Everyone folds to the small blind, GCox, who has about 16,000. He raises from 200 to 600. TripJax, in the big blind, has 25,000, and calls. I decide to call, reasoning that there was a decent amount of money in the pot and I was in position.

The flop is A 2 3 with two diamonds. I have a flush draw and an inside straight draw (if a 4 comes). GCox is first to act, and bets 600-1000. Trip decides to re-raise to somewhere between 3000 and 5000. I have a decision to make. I push all in. GCox folds begrudgingly, and Trip calls with AJ.

I fail to hit anything on the turn and river and IGHN. GCox had AK, and consequently would have won, but he feared the two re-raises (rightly, I would suggest).

So, what do you all think. I want you to keep in mind a few things. (a) I thought GCox AND Trip were going to call me. (b) Only the top 2 spots paid out of the entire tournament.

Personally, I liked the play, and I think I would do it again, but I want to know what you think, because its definitely one of those suspect plays.

Enjoy!

Read The Full Article:
http://highonpoker.blogspot.com/2006/04/you-decide-31.html

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I've Re-Created a Monster

Oy. I should never have written about Glenn and his table chatter during my recent posts. Why? Because writing about it made him take it up again.

We went to the Riverside last night for some low limit fun. Glenn couldn't keep his mouth shut for a minute. This is the same guy who doesn't speak ten words during a typical day. For whatever reason, he feels compelled to chatter non-stop in a cardroom.

So an off-duty dealer sits down to Glenn's left. Glenn open-raises with jacks. The dealer calls two cold. After the hand is over, a LPP is found to have A6o for top pair of aces. The dealer has queens. Glenn starts asking him why he didn't make it three bets. Glenn is telling him that if he'd have made it three bets, the LPP wouldn't have called three cold with A6o and the queens would have had a better chance to win. Glenn starts telling him how making it three bets with queens would have upped his win percentage significantly.

You'd think this guy was giving Glenn a blowjob or something, the way Glenn is talking to him!

They're playing against each other! The dealer is passive, loose and giving away lots of money. And here is Glenn, with his non-stop chatter teaching him about three-betting and pot odds.

WAY TO GO, GLENN!

Yeah, that is my motto, too...Go to the cardroom and educate everyone at the table and tell the guy on my left how better to beat me...

Felicia :)

Read The Full Article:
http://felicialee.blogspot.com/2006/04/ive-re-created-monster.html

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Staying Power

Congratulations to the two winners from last night?s WSOP satellite, Lucko21 and myradiohead.  I logged onto Stars this morning to check the results.  What caught my eye was the finish time, 4:10AM EST.  That?s an assload of poker right there.

Part of me wishes I had played, but the other part of me realizes that if I went deep in that tournament, my Tuesday would be shot to hell.  I was at the G-Vegas Big Game? donking off buy-in after buy-in.  When I was into the game for about $600, I thought I might have been better off just taking the night off from poker.

But that?s heresy.

We were 6-handed most of the night, yet that didn?t stop the pots from being huge.  Thankfully I won half of the only $1000+ pot of the night with the second nut full house in NLO8.  I had to call an all-in for about $300, and let me tell you, second nuts doesn?t seem so great when you?re facing that move from a check-raiser.

One scooped pot later and I?m back to positive for the evening.  The swings are crazy at that game, and that?s part of the reason it?s looking for more players.  I was just happy to turn things around from a big losing session to a minor positive one.

****

That?s really the name of the game, being able to play your best under adverse conditions.  Whether you?re losing to suck outs or losing because you?re simply playing poorly, you have to be able to maintain focus.

A player-to-remain-nameless has some trouble doing that.  There have been times when after losing a sizeable amount of cash, he?s had the wherewithal to just get up and leave.  He knows that he can?t turn things around for whatever reason, and understands that the best decision right then and there is to stop playing.

I almost left last night.  But I?m too stubborn and perhaps a bit too proud to get up from a game while it?s still going on.  I wasn?t really even on any form of tilt, but I did realize I was playing rather poorly.

And just like I?m sure last night?s tournament winners had to do, I buckled down and re-focused on the game at hand.  Home games in G-Vegas usually last between 4 and 5 hours.  Some players lose focus and their game deteriorates over the course of that time.  I like to think my game holds steady.  If I can keep my play level up while others tend to weaken as the night wears on, then my edge increases the longer we go.

And that?s why I stay and play.

Read The Full Article:
http://badbloodonpoker.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_badbloodonpoker_archive.html#11441
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