The Bowl Championship Series: What a Bunch of Bulls#$%

Last night we got the BCS Championship game. People are buzzing about what a great game we saw, with the game coming down to a last second chip shot field goal to win the game for Auburn, 22-19. Wow. What drama. This was amazing!

Bulls#$%. That game had an over of 74. They scored just over half of that. There were 3 INTs thrown in the first quarter. And they were not amazing INTs; they were horrible throws. The scoring picked up in the 2nd quarter, with 27 points in that quarter. That's more like it, right? Well, 3 points were scored in the 3rd, and 11 points in the 4th. Wow. What an offensive explosion!!!! Amazing playing!!!!

Do I blame the players or coaches? Possibly. Were the defenses amazing? Not really. I blame the lack of production by two of the highest scoring teams in the regular season to the 12th man. Rust! These two teams had 37 days off between their last game and this title game. 37 f#$%ing days. How good would you be at your job if you went to training classes for over a month. You were technically working and learning new things, but when you step back in your chair to start back up at your job, you would be rusty. You would be trying to find out what was going on while you were out. You would be getting a feel of any new systems put into place while you were gone. And you would be flustered when people started calling you asking for updates of things you were still trying to find out about on your own.

Try doing all of that with 275 pound beasts running after you trying to beat you into submission.

37 days is a joke. I understand wanting to have your biggest game on its own night. But the last BCS game before this title game was played 7 days earlier. You are not the Super Bowl. You do not need that much lead in for this game. Especially since the match-up was announced over 5 weeks earlier. Do your press earlier. What - ESPN is not going to cover your presser just because another BCS game is happening later that day? Whatever. The game should have been played the day after the Sugar Bowl. That cuts out a week.

And who says the BCS games have to start on New Years Day? They have already f#$%ed with the tradition of these games so much with the BCS system, why not move up the games some? Why can't the national title game be on New Years Day, and the other BCS games the days leading up to it? Having the National Title game on New Years day cuts out 10 days of waiting, making the wait 27 days. I still think that is too long, but I think that is as good as you can get for this situation.

If you must keep the system where the National Title game is a week after the last BCS game, then it should be moved to a 4+1 model (or 5+1 model). This situation would also fix the situation we have with TCU having an undefeated season and not having a shot to play for the title. Under the 4+1 system, you eliminate two deadweight BCS teams invited to play, and you play the 4 BCS games. Then at the end of those games, the Top 2 BCS teams would play for the title. Also, this model would require that certain limitations be placed on what teams can play in the BCS games, such as conference champions with horrible records and/or BCS rankings would lose their automatic qualification unless their record and/or ranking was at a certain level. This would also allow original traditions for the bowls could be restored (i.e. this year, Oregon would have played Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl). In this situation, you still get all of the games, and the rust that may have been built up over the 27 day delay can be worked out in those games, and then in the Title Game a week later the two teams can be playing at an optimal level.

But as you already know, this would never happen. Why? Because the BCS school presidents are making a s#$%load of money using this system. And when it comes time to renew the BCS contract, they will tweak it in any way that makes them the most money. And the masses who watch college football will continue to watch it, and the schools will continue to get rich off of it. And until the consumers actually revolt against the system, the system will continue to move forward as is. Too many people are too wrapped up into their teams to ever boycott watching them in an effort to make the experience better down the road.

I am not so much in favor for a tournament. I am neither for it or against it. I just know that the chances of it happening are so remote that I am not even wasting brain power to even think about it. And I am not one of these people that think that non-BCS teams deserve anything under this system. The NCAA sold their soul for the BCS system, and therefore it is almost like the non-BCS teams are just the annoying guy at the door of a party trying to get in, and being told by the bouncer to go to the back of the line. You are not invited - stop crying. Boise State had a chance to go to a BCS conference to prove their worth, and they decided to take an easier road in another non-BCS conference. TCU went the other way, and they went to a BCS conference. I absolutely respect what TCU did (albeit, going to the Big East was not an amazingly strong move), and I hope it benefits them down the road. But non-BCS teams, stop b@#$%ing about not having a legit chance at a BCS title. Non-BCS says it all - you don't get a chance until you become part of a BCS conference. Work on getting your conference part of the BCS, or go to one. And shut your mouth.

All that being said, I can't wait for next fall!

Todd's Blog Post About Music: Part I (The Formative Years)

OK. Enough emotional stuff. Time for me to write about something that evokes other emotions. And that is music.

I am not a music afficianado by any stretch. I don't listen to free-form jazz, and I don't think someone who uses a drill bit on a guitar string on college radio is music. I like all kinds of music. I used to say I hated country music, but as time goes by a VERY select FEW country artists intrigue me. Maybe even just one: Johnny Cash is one country musician I have grown to appreciate. "At Folsom Prison" is an amazing album.

My musical tastes as to what I liked the most at any one given time have changed dramatically over the years. I grew up during the infancy of MTV. Back when that stood for Music Television. Even before that I liked music. When I was very young, one of my favorite things was my 45 of "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees. I wore that single out. I also remember having a single of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" by The Police. See - even when I was young I had diverse taste.

I remember for my 10th birthday getting "1984" by Van Halen for my birthday. One of those moments where you are wondering what the parent was thinking letting their child give that as a present to another 10 year old. I mean, we all know that "Jump" was a MTV classic video, and harmless enough. But the cover of the album, a cupid smoking a cigarette, kind of puts you in awkward spots when dealing with fairly conservative parents. But surprisingly, my parents never really objected to me playing the album, which included every parents favorite anthem for their 10 year old son, "Hot For Teacher."

I don't think my parents were quite as conservative as they let on, at least not when they first started our family, as I learned when I was older that my favorite song when I was too young to remember was "Feel Like Making Love" by Bad Company. Why was this my favorite song? Maybe because my parents owned the Bad Company album "Straight Shooter" on cassette (which at that time was almost like cutting edge technology). I later in life inherited that cassette, and I ended up wearing it out. "Shooting Star" ended up being my favorite track of that album. So I guess my love for rock music really was embedded in me by my parents, which I just find absolutely hilarious this day and age.

The very first cassette I ever owned, which I got at the same time as my very first boombox, was "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" by Duran Duran. And thus began my pop phase of my youth. Granted, I still liked rock, but I absolutely loved Duran Duran and all of the music from the videos of the MTV days. I remember staying up one night to see the premiere of "The Reflex" on MTV. All of Duran Duran's videos seemed so interesting. "Rio". "Hungry Like the Wolf". "Save a Prayer". "New Moon on Monday". "Union of the Snake". None of them ever made sense to the song they were singing, and yet you could not get enough of them. Back then, a music video's debut was an event, and no one delivered quite like Duran Duran.

And then in the mid-80's (and I cannot believe how long ago that was), the event that went on to shape my high school years happened (that will be my next music blog post). When "Licensed to Ill" came out, The Beastie Boys had already released "Fight for Your Right to Party" as a single, and it was blowing up on MTV. I loved that song. I guess I was just about at the age where I was beginning to rebel a little bit before big time rebellion in my teenage years. I was in middle school, and when that album was released, I was sick as a dog. But I was not about to let a little flu keep me from that album, so I had my parents drive me to Turtles Records (for those of you old enough to remember, Turtles absolutely rocked when it came to music. Absolutely my favorite record store chain from back in the day). I bought the cassette and layed in bed and listened to song after song of music I had never really heard before. I had listened to just a little Run D.M.C. before this, but I fell in love with "Paul Revere", "Brass Monkey", "The New Style", etc. And with that one purchase, the seed of love for hip-hop was planted.

And on my next blog post, I will explain how my love for hip-hop went way overboard in high school, and how a purchase of a cassette as a joke, right after I graduated high school, turned me into the dude you are all getting to know today. Until then, have a great day.

Too Tired To Cry

Have you ever been too tired to cry? You have the feeling that you are about to bawl, and for some reason you just never do it. And the only thing you can think as to why you are not letting it out is that you are so tired, you just physically don't have it in you?

I feel like that today. And I could cry over many different things. My wife got through her surgery fine. But she is in a lot of pain. I just had someone who has been out on maternity leave come back to work this week, and all of the responsibilities that I had taken on in her absence are about to be passed back to her. At the same time, I have been informed that within the next couple of months three major projects will be starting up that I will be responsible for managing. I physically hurt, but know that it is nothing in comparison to what my wife is going through. It is things like this that I am talking about.

I can FEEL the tears in my eyes. I really just wish I would break down and just let the emotions all out. But I just can't. It is not about being tough for my wife right now. She is upstairs resting and I am downstairs working. So I could have this little outburst of emotion all by myself, and not worry my wife while she is recovering from surgery that her husband, who is responsible for taking care of her right now, is having a nervous breakdown. But the tears just won't come. And the only thing I can think of is that I am so tired I physically cannot cry. I have no medical basis to base this on - I just know that I really wish I could cry right now, because I think I would feel so much better.

I am a crier. Maybe that makes me less of a man, but I do. I cry at sentimental stuff all of the time. I cannot watch those "Make a Wish" segments on ESPN about some child who is very sick without losing it. Anything that deals with children and something bad happening to them just takes me to a very emotional place. So I tear up a lot. I don't usually bawl, but I do tear up, and usually a tear or two will roll down my face. So why I am having this problem now is beyond me. My luck: when I want to cry, I can't. Go figure.

Maybe it is the husband in my sub-conscious that is not letting me right now. That at any minute my wife could come downstairs and see me like this and get worried. I remember when she was pregnant with our first child, and she had to go on bed-rest two months before her due date. I was at work and she called me very emotional with worry, because her doctor had told her how serious her preeclampsia was. I remember like it was yesterday (and this was well over 9 years ago) keeping her calm over the phone. And then after hanging up with her having one of the most tearful conversations with my mom on the phone, because it broke my heart to hear my wife so worried. The same thing happened after I had spoken with my friend @CounselorGA the day his sister passed away. I tried to keep it together the best I could for him over the phone, but after I got off the phone with him I lost it. I remember that day too very vividly, and it was one of those days I was grateful to have an office door to shut, because I was not able to function there for awhile. I did not know his sister very well, as she was much older than us and not around much when I had met him in middle school. But the hurt I could hear in his voice when he told me what had happened was so intense, and he was such a good friend, that there was no way you could not have been emotional at that point. I am usually really good about keeping it together in front of the people that need me to be their support at the time they need the support. But when I am away, I usually have to let it go, or I start to lose my own mind.

I don't plan for my posts on this blog to be all about sadness, but the past two days have been a real roller coaster for me, and I am glad to have this outlet to vent, because if I did not have at least this avenue to let some things out, I very well may lose my mind. I actually feel better just typing the words, but I am really hoping that in the very near future I will feel good enough to have a good cry to finish off the job and get back to my old self. Plus, you guys need to see my insane side anyway. Just ask @CounselorGA - he'll tell ya. I am slightly less insane than he is. :)

Don't Call It A Comeback

Seriously. Don't call it a comeback. I had to really be here to be able to comeback. As you can see from my last post, it has been almost 3 years since my last post. Back then I had dreams of gradually winning enough money playing small stakes poker to being able to go to Vegas and play in one World Series of Poker event, and somehow coming back with something to show for it. As it always does, mainly because I am a bad poker player, it never panned out and I just gave up on the poker blog.

Then my good friend John started a new blog the other day, and it moved me. I am by no means a good writer at all. Far from it. But I usually have a million things on my mind, and nowhere to really outlet those thoughts. I work from home, so I don't interact face-to-face with people very much. When I talk to someone from work, it is about work. I have my family, but there are some things you can't talk about around the children, and there are some things that your spouse is not very interested in talking about. And even other times, there are things you want to talk about with other people for various opinions. I abandoned Facebook a long time ago, and there is only so much you can say in 140 words or less. So here I am. I am back.

My wife has no idea I am doing this blog at all. She hates social networking and everyone knowing our business. She does not want me to post pics of the kids on the web, and she has never been to Facebook or Twitter, and just does not have a use for it. I basically quit Facebook because she was really concerned about privacy. And to be quite honest, Facebook had lost its luster a long time ago. I was intrigued by Twitter because it was so simple, so I switched and have really enjoyed it. All that said, she probably would not be thrilled about what I am about to post, but for my own sake I need to do it.

My wife is having surgery later this afternoon. It is supposed to be a very simple surgery for a non-critical problem she is having, but this problem did land us in the emergency room last Friday, and I know it is bothering her. It is an outpatient procedure, but will require her to be put under anesthesia. I know in my heart of hearts that nothing bad is going to happen. I guess I have heard too many horror stories of how seemingly simple surgeries have turned into disasters, and not enough of the overwhelmingly more stories of how everything turned out just fine. But I love my wife more than I could ever express in words, and I guess the husband in me is worried sick about something happening to her. But the husband I am cannot show this fear at all, as I just want to be the rock she needs me to be right now. I know she is worried too, even though she is not showing it. So for her, I will never let her know what I am feeling right now, for her sake. But for my sake, I needed to outlet this now. Thank God for the internet!

For those of you who happen upon this blog, don't bother reading the older posts unless you just absolutely like to bore yourself with stories from a poker junkie. I am not sure I will even go back and look at them, but I have left them here to remind myself what I was, and to show myself what I have become. I have a lot left to do around this big rock of ours, and I will blog more about my ambitions and thoughts on the world in future posts. But for now, I am signing off so I can go be the best husband I can be for my wife today. Have a great day everyone.

First Week of March, Not So Much

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2204537

This is typical of what I have experienced the past couple of days. The guy who won this hand had been playing this motherfucking trash the whole way. He was up and down the whole tourney (was all-in for 900 chips earlier with 93 and flop comes 993). Anyway, I just need to dodge a 3, J, Q or K on the river and I more than quadruple up. But I knew this was going to happen. Too many guys to dodge, but psychologically it hurts worse to lose AA versus 43 to a total donk. He literally said he plays like that because FTP rewards bad play. What a fuck.

Steak

Last Week of February is Mine!!!!

I cannot remember the last time I won a tourney online. Not a qualifier tourney; satellite tourney; or single table SNG. I am talking about a MTT. Oh yes I can - I did it exactly one year ago, when I won the 2nd Razz Guarantee I had ever won within a 5 day span. Since then, I have come close, but had never won anything too big.

Today, I am back in the winners circle. I am busy with work today (that was the crazy part, as I got a bunch of agreements processed and out the door while I was playing the beginning of the tourney). I am not going into a lot of detail now - will save that for a later post. It was a 90 man SNG Knockout tourney. I lost track of exactly how many bounties I collected, but I think it was a total of 13 @ $4 a pop. Plus I got the first place money of $576. Biggest cash I have had in a long time. After I had posted yesterday, the poker gods decided to humble me a bit, and I took a big hit to my bankroll, ending up about $160 down for the day. So needless to say, this win was a huge pick-me-up.

As I said, when I get some more time, I will post more specifics and any interesting hands that came up.

Steak

Razzing an Opponent

I have been just taking things very easy on FTP recently. Slowly building my bankroll on there. So far - so good. I have gotten my roll back to almost $300 on a $50 deposit playing micro limit games and SNGs, and I have started stockpiling $26 tokens for my next trip to NJ for business. Needless to say, evenings in West Orange, NJ mainly consist of me eating room service, drinking Dew and playing FTP. I want at least 5 tokens ready to go so I can play the nightly Razz tourney every night (08:15PM). After that I will start stockpiling tokens for the nightly PLO tourney (09:15PM). And then I will try for 5 more for the nightly Limit Hold 'Em tourney (07:15PM). I try not to start any big tournaments later than the 9:15 while I am gone, simply because I have to be in the office early each morning and I don't want to be up until 4:15 playing the HORSE or O8OB guarantees, as they tend to last a long time. I have to sit through many meetings during these trips, and the last thing I want is to fall asleep in the middle of one. Funny story for another time about a bid defense meeting I flew to London to attend - I will have to remember to share that later.

Anyway, last night I had already had a pretty good day, and then I got online again that night and started playing $1/$2 Heads-Up Razz. This guy was really bad. And then this hand happened:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2161807

Now call me jaded, but I just thought the entire way the hand played out (plus a previous hand two hands earlier where the same thing played out and my 9 lo beat his 10 lo) it was obvious all the way down that I needed to stay, and by the end I was pot committed. Especially considering what I was putting him on. Since I play these low-level Razz games alot, it just seemed second nature to me. Well, this set off a chat session which went as follows over the next 17 hands:

b1j23: lol
b1j23: what a idiot
JZs72ndProblem: funny
JZs72ndProblem: so obvious
b1j23: u stay broke dont u?
JZs72ndProblem: no - fish like you keep me fed good
b1j23: yea i can tell by way u play
JZs72ndProblem: play all of the time - more than welcome to take it back whenever you feel like you can
b1j23: im here every day only seen u a few times
JZs72ndProblem: i play almost every day too - but I play everything
JZs72ndProblem: not just razz
b1j23: wana up da limit?

This is every good player's dream. A complete fish who thinks he knows what he is doing when he has minimal knowledge of the game he is playing asks to raise the stakes while he is tilting. It actually feels a little dirty. The convo continues:

JZs72ndProblem: 3-6?
b1j23: 510
JZs72ndProblem: waiting

I had signed up for a $5/$10 HU table as fast as I could, and he did not dissappoint me. Let's just say his demeanor changed just a bit after a few hands at $5/$10. Here are all of the hands of this session (all 14 of them - minus the hands that did not get past 3rd street, which pokerhand.org will not let you upload).

First Four Hands: I fold on 3rd the first two hands (including one bring-in by him when we both had Q's showing, but I had QJ buried as well); then he folds after bringing-it the next two hands. I am now up $1.50

Hand 5:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165548
(Profit $7.00; Total rake $0.50)

Hand 6 I take on 3rd (Profit $9.50; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 7:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165574
(Profit $12.00; Total rake = $0.50)

Hand 8 he takes (his next to last last pot of the session) when I bring it in and fold. (Profit $9.50; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 9 he folds when I bring it in. (Profit $10.50; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 10:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165595
(Profit $13.00; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 11 he wins when I bring it in. (Profit $10.50; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 12 (the smackdown starts):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165617
I actually screw up 6th street here, but at the same time I like to keep him guessing. A check would look fishy, and I think the same result occurs here. Plus, now he has no hole card information for me. Little did I know the match was going to be over 2 hands later.
(Profit $31.00; Total Rake $1.00)

Hand 13 (the humiliation):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165992
Is there anything better than someone calling you all the way down with a K9K showing? Absolutely nothing better than having the nuts on the end and still getting called. What a rush.
(Profit $68.00; Total Rake $1.50)

Hand 14 (the smackdown abruptly ends):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2166026
Just a fitting way to end this guy's day. And mine as well. Ship It.
Final Tally:
- Profit = $98.00
- Rake = $2.00 (not a bad ratio)

14 hands (I take the pot in 10 of those, and the four he took never went past 3rd). Life was very good that evening. And I will be looking for this guy again!!! You should too.

Steak

Patience is a Virtue (or How I Mucked into a Good Cash in Razz)

***Warning - LONG ASS POST***

OK - I did not win a seat into the $322 buy-in Razz tourney tonight. I played in a $26 buy-in satellite earlier in the afternoon to try and get in. There were 25 players, and I was 3rd in chips coming to the final table (but very far behind 1st and 2nd). The top 4 paid, with 1st getting the $322 seat (and 2nd getting $138, 3rd $83, and 4th $55). Since my last post, I had run into some really bad hands playing other tourneys/cash games. So I was down a little for the day coming into this tourney. I really wanted to cash just so that I would be not down very much for the day.

It was a shaky final table for me to start with. The very first hand I have a deuce showing with a K4 buried. Dude with a 7 calls my completion. The whole intention is to take this down on 4th or 5th when he catches bad. Unfortunately, I catch a K and he catches a Q. I know that if I bet I get called, so I check and he checks. I then pair my deuce as well, ensuring the best hand I can make is a K lo. The other guy catches a 5 and bets into me. I release the hand. Not a great start. Down to 3650.

I fold 6 straight hands on 3rd after that (2 of which I was the bring-in). We lost a player in the meantime, so now we are 7-handed, and 3 away from the money. Then this hand came up:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2105901

There is some history behind this hand. On a previous table, I had tangled (as did many others) with this guy many times. He was notorious for calling with high cards showing when people completed, whether he was the only one left in the pot or not. And then he would proceed to catch perfect cards while you would catch paint and then pair up cards, making it impossible to stay in hands. Luckily, I knew when to get out of the way, while others chased him down to the end, and he would miracuously have made his hand on 6th, and sometimes even improved it even more on 7th. It was gross. So I knew that if the cards came just right, I could nail this guy. And boy did I ever. You may say I was lucky to catch my card on 7th because he made a 6th on 7th. The way I see it, I had my 6 on 6th (not as good as his), so I don't feel too bad about rivering the wheel when he rivered a 6. We both got lucky, but I was already there, and had him in a good spot going to the river. I will say that I am impressed that he actually gave me credit for possibly having him beat with a better 6 and just calling the river bet. His 6 was very well disguised, and he could have easily put me on a much worse hand that I was bluffing with. But it felt good to drag a pot. Up to 6100.

A few hands later, this came up:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2105957

Two hands prior to this I got involved by calling my nemesis on the wheel hand above when he was all-in on 3rd for about 650. Another player also called. I caught bad, and he caught good and bet into me and the dry sidepot. Like an idiot, I called and gave him a sidepot to shoot for. When I bricked on 5th, I folded this time, but not before I lost about 20% of my stack on the hand. Then this hand came up, and I get caught up in trying to eliminate a player, and go to far, this time losing another 35% or so of my stack. Now I am the short stack at the table with 6 players left. The limits are starting to get higher, and I am in deep shit.

I get all the way down to 1535 with the limits at 500/1000 with a 100 ante and a 150 bring-in. Luckily, I catch a break and collect the antes and bring-in on the second hand of this level (the first level after the 2nd break). I then proceed to catch crap hand after crap hand, and considering I only had 2185 to start this run, you cannot have too many hands like that before you are anted out of the tourney. But I knew if I played these hands, I would get bounced, because no one was going to fold to me unless everyone had face cards and I had a baby. So in succession, here are the next _ hands I had that I folded on 3rd:

J7[7] (with a 2,3, and 5 showing)
JT[5] (with a complete ahead of me from a 7)
Q2[3] (with a complete ahead of me from the chip leader)

I am going to stop for a second right here. I think this was where I cashed. I could have easily shipped in my chips here with 2 babies in the hole. I know I am getting called no matter what by at least the chip leader. Problem was that there were still two others to act behind me - an Ace and a 7. If I raise, and I get called by one of those two, I am pretty sure I will be up against 2 opponents, holding a Q in my hand, and at least one of them with 3 good cards, and possibly both. I decide to wait and take my chances with a better hand, and if something does not come soon then I push with ATC (any 3 cards).

K8[4] (first to act with a 2,5 and 7 left to act)
TQ[3] (chip leader with a 2 completes ahead of me)
47[9] (normally, this is the spot; except I am the bring in, and I am up against an A,2,3,6 and 8 with a complete ahead of me)

Now I am down to 1435. It is now time to rock. Luckily, the next hand affords me the opportunity to do just that:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106061

Once I put the first chips in, there was no turning back no matter what I caught. It just so happens that I get called by the only player at the table with less chips than me (after getting involved with speculative hands in the 6 hands I just showed you above) and the chip leder. I hit good on the river, and somehow come out of that hand with over double my stack going in and down a player. Back up to 3741.

Then I rely on patience again. I proceed to fold 17 hands in a row on 3rd.

[Jh 3c] [6c]
[5c Tc] [Kc]
[3c Qc] [8h]
[Qc 7d] [Td]
[4s Jh] [3c]
[Qd Ks] [7h]
[6c 3c] [9c]
[6c Kd] [4h]
[3c 4d] [Jc]
[6h Jd] [Qc]
[Kd 3h] [9h]
[4h 8d] [6h] - this one may look funny. Here is the link for that hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106603 I am short stacked and have an 8-6. The up-cards for the rest of the table were: A,2,3,J. I don't know why, but something did not feel right about this one. The Ace belonged to the other short stack, and I was trying to out live that stack to cash. As you can see, as what usually happens when I have good cards, is that I was supposed to have gotten the T on 4th street. I would probably be out of the tourney if I stayed in here. Sometimes it is all about your gut reaction and not what would normally be a clear-cut decision. Anyway, the folding continued.

[Jc 4s] [Qd]
[Kc 5h] [Tc]
[4h Qs] [6h] (with an A,2,5 up top)
[Kh Qd] [7c]
[7s Td] [Js]

You just have to remember that the chip leaders were so up in points that I would never be able to bluff a hand. And as you can see, in 15 of these 17 hands, I had at least one broadway card (and sometimes 2). I already explained my rationale for the one of the other two hands, and the only other hand had a 9 in it, and it was my up card. I know at some point I probably should have thrown caution to the wind and gone for it. But I truly believe that I would have been trying to suck out, as I very much did not have the best hand in just about everyone of these situations, and there was another stack at the table that was below or near my level in just about all of these hands. They were playing erratically enough that I thought they would flame themselves out during this stretch. Turns out they were a lot luckier than I was at catching hands during this 17 hands stretch, and no one busted the bubble.

So I decide to make my move:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106712

Why here and not the last time I had 3 cards to an 8? Look at the up cards for everyone else. Only one good card showing. I knew I had a very good shot at either taking this down (if the Ace had two face cards buried), or at least being heads-up to try and double. That is exactly what happened. It was not pretty in the end, but the hand held up. I am right back where I started, plus now I have built a reputation that I am tight. I fold the next 4 hands, and within that stretch one of the short stacks busts, and my patience pays off and I cash.

Now, cashing is nice. But I wanted the seat. So play continues. Two hands later this hand occurs:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106745

I am the short stack again, and with the limits as high as they are now, every hand is pretty much an all-in hand once you complete. Unless you catch horrible and give up on 4th, you are committing yourself to show the hand down if you catch good on 5th. That is exactly what happened here. I had decided, especially since I was in the money, that I was going with this hand no matter what I caught. And I did, and it paid off. Again, it was not pretty, but it got the job done. Now I have some chips, and I am not a big pushover anymore. I am thinking how do I get in contention to win.

Two hands later the chip leader picks off another one, and we are 3-handed. 3 hands later the chip leader picks off the other short stack. So it is heads-up time. I am severely short-stacked. I have just under 9K and he has just under 29K. I did not give up, but this hand came up after several hands of back and forth:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106783

First time I had been impatient in quite some time, and you see where it got me. Granted, it was not like he had a great hand either, and I had to make a move eventually if I wanted a chance to win. I took it, and it bit me. Oh well. A few hands later I was out, and 2nd place prize money was mine.

Why this long story? Well - you really have to be patient to do good in tournaments. Blind aggression or giving up because you think you have no other choice but to try and suck out to survive are usually recipes for disaster. Smart patience - learning to read situations, and know when it does not make sense to get mixed up in a multi-way pot when you are short stacked, are essential to making it deep. I hope this little trail down my path on this tourney helps some of you when you find yourself in certain situations. Don't always make the obvious, by-the-book play. Think what you move might cause in terms of reactions, analyze that against what is best to grow your stack, and then proceed accordingly on a hand-by-hand basis.

Steak

Finally!

The past few days have been a roller coaster for me poker wise. Friday night I played at Hummer Geoff's in a strictly Stud 8OB tourney. While I am playing the best NLHE I have ever played, I still like playing other games. Admiteddly, S8OB is not my best game. I tend to play it better than straight up Stud, but still not my best game in the HORSE rotation. It showed early and late. I played very bad and, of course, had crazy hands call me, with miracle hands befall others (try rivering Jacks full only knowing you were probably up against Queens full, finding out she fourth streeted Quads). Anyway, I recovered after losing half of my large starting stack, only to run it up to over quadruple the original starting stack by the time we got 7 handed (we only had 12 to start with). Then the blinds got huge (after 6 hours of play we were still 7 handed). I lost top pair to relative short stacks rivering 2 pair over and over again. Nut 6 lows counterfeited by wheels. I had a fall from grace of mammoth proportions, and ended losing when on 7th street I missed gaining my second pair for my Aces (and also missing my lo draw when I was 4-to-a-6 lo, the person who was shorter than me all-in caught her second pair on 7th, and then the big stack who called us both hit his second pair as well. Out I go in 7th when I had approximately 40% of the chips in play when we were 7 handed. I played bad, did not read people good at the end, and ended up on the rail after playing for hours with nothing to show for it except experience (which is usually a good byproduct).

So, after that I played a little online. I pretty much have just been holding steady. I win a little playing cash, or I win a token seat. I then play in a FTOPS qualifier and lose. I did make it into the $120 KO FTOPS on Sunday afternoon through a $11+ qualifier. I knocked out enough people in the tourney to more than pay for the tourney, so the FTOPs was truly a freeroll. Of course - what happens? 3 hands into the tourney I get AA, and I get raised and re-re-raised all-in by 99. Flop brings a 9, and I am done just like that. Yippee.

So, after all the craziness, I head over to Dave's for the usual Tuesday night tourney with the regular crew. 19 of us showed up for this $25 buy-in event. I play like I did last time I played with the guys. Aggressive in position. I picked out the guys who were playing passive, and took many hands down on the flop when they checked it to me. Granted, I did not play rags nearly as much as I did two weeks ago at Dave's place. I toned down the aggression just a bit, mainly because many of the gys noticed it. So I could not be too predictable already. But when the times were right, I made moves.

I never gained a huge amount of chips, and was mid-to-low stack by the time we got to the final table. I waited for the right moments, and I took my shots. After the blinds got to the point I had to, I started shoving. I got Geraci to call an all-in with A-rag (he had the chips to absorb a loss) against my KQ. K on the river, and I am back in business. I kept my stack steady, then doubled up through another chip stack again. Now I am holding over 20K in chips and was right in the middle of the pack with about 6 to go. Then Kevin and I mixed it up in a hand where the flop was 666. I checked and Kevin checked. The turn was a T. I bet a decent amount. Kevin goes over the top of me all-in. He has me barely covered at this point. I did not even care if he had a 6 or TT; I was getting my chips in at that point. I insta-called him, and he turns over Tx. He needs a 2-outer to win, and it does not come. I double up again, and now I am a force at the table. We are soon 5 handed. Then 4 handed. Then Tony takes out Ted, and I am in the money. Finally! It had been awhile. Not long after we get 3 handed, I look down at 99. I raise. Jason re-raises. Jason has been re-raising me all night with monster hands (twice with AA), and I had gotten away from those hands relatively unscathed. I just felt he was trying to use that rep to scare me off a legit hand. I go all-in and he shows me how wrong I am. He calls and flips his KK over. But then after the turn there are 3 spades on the board and I am the only one with a spade. Of curse, it did not matter when the 9-ball dropped on the river. Barry was pissed, and rightfully so. But I have been screwed like that so many times online and live that I am actually starting to get a little numb to it at this point. It happens.

So I am heads up with Geraci, and I have a huge chip lead (about 3:1) over him. ANd I just attack. I think I raised 80% of the hands I played. I called a bet on the river with 3rd pair knowing I am good. And I finish him off when he goes all-in on a Queen high board, and I just happen to have a Q in my hand. He was bluffing, and I win the tourney. It has been way too long for that, and it felt good.

Since then I have still been keeping the same even kiel on FTP. I just beat a guy heads-up in PLO - absolutely pwned the guy. It was sweet. My main goal is get into the Razz FTOPS for tonight. Work may suffer a little bit today because of it. Oh well. Happy Valentines Day to myself.

Steak

The Pru Fiasco

OK - I played a couple of Saturday nights ago at my good friend Pru's (We will refer to him as Pru as to not out my friend and possibly hurt his professional reputation).

Anyway, I like Pru's tourneys. They are usually short handed, good blind structure, and a good amount of play. And you get 2 hours to rebuy. Works for me.

So, I get there late because I am running all over the house trying to find something for one of the kids. The life of a guy who likes to play poker and has a family to care for as well. What are you going to do?

Anyway, I get to the table about 15 minutes or so into the match. The seating assignments are as follows (in relation to my seat, going clockwise):

(1) Chip - pretty good player who thinks he is even better than he really is. I have played with him a couple of times, and he won one of those tourneys and final tabled the other. I finished 3rd in both of those tourneys and cashed as well. The first tourney was a large one. It was played in a shootout format, where you had to finish in the top 2 of your table to advance to the final table. The first one, he made the final table as the overwhelming chip leader, after busting two players on the last hand and actually accumulating his entire table's chips to bring to the final table. He was the first one out at the final table. I actually got a bad beat where I flopped broadway in 3-way action and got outdrawn on a runner-runner flush. Oh well. The second tourney was smaller, and chip was playing good that night and catching cards. So he knows what he is doing. And when I got there, he already had about 60% more chips that what we started with, and I was down about two orbits worth of blinds, so he had done some damage early already.

(2) Simon - very solid player, and pretty tight. It is really hard to pry chips away from Simon once he gets a hold of them, so the best course of action with him is to try and not tangle with him too much. He has won Pru's tourneys in the past, so he is a threat.

(3) Pru - host, and he wins this tourney about every other time he has it. He plays random cards all of the time, and up until tonight he was known as "seven-deuce", mainly because of the many times he has busted me with that very hand. I am pretty sure that there has been pocket Aces versus 7-2 at least once where he flopped two pair on me and I never improved. But this helps him get paid off when he has the goods, and he works his magic very well. Obviously, a big time threat.

(4) Greg - probably the weakest player at the table, but very capable of winning (as he has in the past). He sometimes plays bad hands thinking they may be good (A-rag, K-rag). But it is fairly easy to get him off a non-monster hand depending on the texture on the board.

What is so great about this setup is that by far the most aggressive of the players at the table is usually Pru. While Chip is good, he likes to limp a lot and rarely re-raises. He does a lot of min-raising as well. So I am in good position here. Especially now that I am pretty much converting to an aggressive style myself.

Of course, I get my obligatory bad hand out of the way early. I don't remember specifics, except that Chip calls one of my early raises when I have something like A9 suited, and the flop comes something like Q97, and I bet, Chip min-raises me, and I put him on a bluff and was wrong (flips over something like Q8 off). I rebuy, and then go on a tear.

Well, not before Pru got me again. His new new nickname is now QJ. That is because Pru called a pretty decent sized flop bet with QJ when the flop was ATx. I, of course, hold KT. The turn is a K, I am feeling really good about my hand, and get Pru all-in with his nut-straight. Back down to about $12. Yippee.

But I did not change my approach. I was pretty damn aggressive throughout the match. I work my stack all the way up to $60 (which is $10 more than what we started with plus my rebuy - which totaled $50). The blinds we still only $0.50/$1.00, so I had plenty of play. Greg ended up rebuying, only to get knocked out when Chip calls an all-in with K-8 and runner, runners a straight (Greg had something like AT). So we are four handed, and Pru and I get tangled up again. This time, I get him all-in pre-flop when he was short-stacked again when I held KK. He had an Ace with a low kicker, and for once an Ace stayed in the deck and I win with KK versus an Ace. Now we are 3-handed and I am in good shape.

Then I go on a spiral of dismal proportions. I get cooler after cooler. I get up against Chip with Top pair Queen kicker only to be beat by his Top Pair King kicker. Or I hit Two Pair only to have someone hit their inconspicous trips. I finally go broke when I get all-in with a decent Ace versus K8, only for Chip to spike an 8 on the river. It was painful - but when does finishing on the bubble not hurt? It especially hurt because I rebought and still finished on the bubble.

BUT - despite this I know that the way I played was correct. One of these days I will not get sucked out on nearly as much in the same tourney. I will also suck out on someone else as well in that same tournament. And I will win again. I had gotten burned out on NLHE last year, and I focused my attention away from the game for awhile. Well, I think the time away has helped, because I feel like I am playing better than ever. We shall see if my feeling translates to cashes soon.

Steak

Men "The Master Slowroller" Nguyen

For those who have not seen this or heard about this, check this out.



Holy Shit. This happend in Tunica at the World Poker Open a couple of weeks ago.

Good poker player - Master Prick.

Steak

Back to the Tables

Well, after the Tunica debacle, I needed some time off. So I did not play live with the guys for over two weeks, which is a long time for me.

So last night I decided to play at Dave's Bungalow with the regular crew. I was 30 minutes late (as usual) thanks to a missing library book of my son's due today at his school. So I am already coming in after missing a couple of laps around the table.

Now, concerning playing poker, I had already decided that I am changing my style. I have done enough reading and watching on TV to know that an aggressive style is how you win poker tournaments. You may end up going home early a lot more often, but you put yourself in a much better place to win by playing aggressively. I am not playing any two cards (ATC), but I will be playing a much broader range of hands when I am in position, hoping to take down a pot or two here and there I would have normally had no shot at.

So the second hand I see last night in middle position is Q7d. The player to my right limps in for 50, I decide to bump it up to 200. I get min-re-raised to 400(technically, I guess it is not a min-re-raise, but it was pretty close to that) by a player who is liable to do that with ATC, and he always seems to be tangled up in pots I am involved with. The big blind and the guy sitting on my right (who has hardly ever not called a pre-flop raise/re-raise in a pot he has limped in on) joins in on the fun. The pot now has about 1250 in it. I am the biggest of all the stacks left, with about 7900 going into the hand.

The flop comes Q7x rainbow (some other low card, possibly a 4). The BB checks, the player to my right checks, and I fire 700 into the pot (between half and 2/3 the pot). The min-raiser does it again, bumping it up to 1400. The BB folds, and then the guy to my right says "Let's do this". At this point, I know at least on of them has a Q with a good kicker. The thing I needed to figure out was did either of them have a set. I knew the guy to my right didn't - he would have shipped his whole stack in at that point. The other guy could have had that, but I truly thought he had something like JJ and was trying to figure out where he was. You see, I usually play really tight. I do occasionally bluff, so he easily could have min-raised me there thinking that if I did not have a Q that I would then give the hand up, while he risked the minimum to get that information now, and not later when the bets would be much more expensive. So then I turned my attention to the other guy - who now I really was thinking was holding a Q. I was now thinking he had AQ or KQ. As much as I would have liked to have just called, I did not want either player to have a chance to outdraw me to a better 2 pair, or hit a set. I never like to go farther in a hand with more than one person, so I decided I was going to make the guy who I had position on pay to see that next card. I re-raise and pop it an additional 3000. This virtually pot-commits me to the pot, but it does so for everyone else. I had them covered, so if I was pot-committed, they were going to be as well. I don't mind getting re-popped for all-in here at this point, nor do I care too much if I get two folds. The pot is already a nice size, but if I get called I have top 2. If one of them has a set, more power to them.

The original raiser thinks for a long time. OK - no set there, so the longer he waits the more I want him to call now. Eventually he throws it away. The other guy then sits and thinks. OK - my read was right and he did not have a set. So now I am thinking that since we are heads up, please let him shove. He then finally folds. The original re-raiser said he had KQ. The other guy said he had AQ and thought I had a set. I showed them the Q7, and the table just exploded. Not because the other guys just got bluffed - I had the best hand. But because they could not believe I played that hand. I strategically showed my cards all night. And I got people playing at me with garbage hands when I held good starting cards simply because I was able to change my perception at the table.

I ran my stack up to almost 40K, and then a couple of guys hit some hands against me (JJ got beat by AQ). One of the bigger hits I took at the final table came when The Shadow accidentally went all-in because he did not see my 3X the BB raise and cards (he thought he was in the hand by himself). I was pretty much pot-committed, especially when he legitimately thought he was going all-in against noone else - he really just meant to buy the blinds. I call - with QJ. He flips over 78d. Wouldn't you know it - he flops a flush. Uggghhhh. Situation sound familiar?

I ran my stack back up to about $35K - lost another race against a short stack. Then finally got all-in with a stack of about 24K with the blinds 1K/2K when a stack ahead of me raised to 6K. I look down at 77 and push. He insta calls with AK off. Turn is an Ace. Game over. Out in 7th out of 22 and no money, although I picked up 3 bounties, so I did not lose too much money at all playing. I hit some hands, and then I had other hands go against me. I rarely got someone all-in with the worst hand. And here is the kicker - I made it as far as I did, and ran my stack up as far as I did, without ever catching a hand better than trips. No sets. No straights. No flushes. No boats. I played for almost 5 hours. This style of play allows you to get chips without having super strong hands. Of course, this style can make you go broke quick as well. It was a mixed bag for me - I played for a long time and still did not cash, which actually sucks (long time to play for no result). But you have to think that some nights the stars will align. I will run the stack up, and I will also hit some good hands that will pay me off even more. A few more chips in certain spots would have allowed me to completely run over the table instead of just somewhat bullying the table. It will happen, and I am going to get better at this style over time. I may pay a little bit early on learning this way, but in the long run this is how I am going to make my final tables at WSOP Circuit Events and other games. It was the most fun I have had playing poker in a long time.

Tunica, Screw You!

Well, I am not going to sit here and moan about my bad beats, even though I had a lot of them. I played some bad hands as well, and that hurt me too. I have learned one thing:

(1) Fuck NLHE cash games. I am sure that is where the big money is at. I fucking hate them, though. Spend an entire day playing at a table, slowly building your stack (and rebuilding your stack), only to have one hell of a fluke wipe you out. Not my cup of tea. More on this later

(2) This trip only confirmed to me that I love Omaha Eight or Better. Yes, I bombed out of the O8 tourney I played. But that was all to do about the cards and not the play. I have never had an experience like that. I never (and I am not exaggerating here) had an A2 that gave me a nut lo where I was not quartered. I understand that at times you should expect that someone else will have A2 as well at a full table. But every single time? That is definitely a statistical anomoly. I just love the way the game flows and plays, even when it does not go well. I cannot say that about NLHE.

(3) The O8 cash games were juicy. I only played the 3/6 table with a full kill. For those who don't know how that works, in a limit split pot game, if someone scoops a pot of a certain size or higher in a game with a kill, then the next hand that is played is played at a higher limit. If it is a half kill, then the limits are increased by 50% for the next hand. A full kill means the limits are doubled. In this game, the scooped pot had to be $40 or more (this included the rake and jackpot rake). If this happened, then the next hand was played at 6/12. The person who killed the pot had to put a mandatory $6 out, while the small and big blinds also still had to post their normal 1/3 blinds (unless they were the killer). The action started to the left of the kill. The kill had the option of raising (it basically was a forced straddle). After the flop all the action takes place as normal in terms of position, but the limits of betting were in $6 increments. Turn and River betting were in increments of $12. Asyou can see, this was definitely a game much larger than you typical 3/6 game, but it was so much fun. Almost all of the money I won playing in Tunica was playing this game. I hope that the next time I go (in the very distant future) I will be playing in the 10/20 O8 game. I cannot remember if they had a kill in that game or not.

(4) I will be taking a break from playing live. I plan on spending some time at home doing other things. I will be playing online, but that is not quite as bad as I can break away fairly easily to do stuff around here, while when I am away there is no such luxury. I had my fill of playing live last week, logging in on 24 hour day of playing, and a couple of other 14+ hour days. Very little sleep - lots of coffee - I am glad to be home.

Anyway - I lost what little money I took with me. I lost my last $350 on my last hand (playing $1/$2 NLHE). It was sick. This is the only bad beat story I am going to tell, simply based on how it went down. I played it bad too, which is why my entire stack got in the middle:

I flop a set of 4's on a KJ4 board, re-raise the cutoff who I checked to, and he accidentally calls me. How is that? He misread my raise and put a small amount into the pot thinking he called me, when only called about half my raise. He was told by the floor he had to keep the amount he put into the pot already in the pot. So he just goes ahead and calls. A Ten hits the board. I check and he gets $60 (about half the pot). I think for about 20 seconds and put him on 2 pair (KT or KJ) or top pair with an OESD (KQ) and was willing to gamble that he was not going to hit on the river, or at least make him pay to see it. I shove my stack in (I actually had him covered by a little, but it was a $200+ raise). He insta calls me and flips over Q9. He had raised pre-flop with that hand, which turned out to be my downfall, because I just could not put him on that hand. I had thought he might have had AQ, but it seemed more likely to me based on his demeanor he had a semi-strong hand when he phantom called me on the flop, and not a completely inside-straight drawing hand. Give me limit O8 anyday over NLHE. Next time I will wait for the game I want rather than just hopping into another game because I am impatient.

I am glad to be back home - I will not be travelling to play for awhile (unless I somehow end up with some money to play the Razz tourney at the WSOP). Otherwise, I will be nickel and diming myself online.

Steak

Tunica, Here I Come!

As you might imagine, I have not had much to say. I had been doing really good in cash games lately, then I went to Geoff's one night and dropped two buy-in's playing freaking $1-$3 spread limit mixed. Once again, donk. Maybe not so much me this time - but donking was the theme of the night. I don't even want to talk about it - it was that bad. Let's just say that I had every lower pocket pair hit their sets on me. My sets lost to straights. My straights were flushed. My flushes were boated. Hell, I even had by boat out boated in stud. Sick, sick night.

So I am hoping like hell that was my bad karma being released, because now I am going to play for the big money. Tomorrow afternoon I fly out to Tunica for tournaments and cash game play. Both the WSOP and WPT are out there. I am staying at the GoldStrike, which I am happy about. I usually stay at the Grand when I go, usually because I am concentrating on WSOP Circuit Events. But the Goldstrike is having a good rate for their tournament, and I like the location of the GoldStrike. First, the hotel is attached to the casino (which is not the case for the Grand and the rooms you get for the cheap rate). Plus, there are two casinos in that vicinity (the Horseshoe is right next door), so there is more variety for less travel.

But my first tourney is going to be at the Grand. My intent is to play the Omaha 8/b $300 WSOP Circut Event on Wednesday. I am going to try and satellite into it. And I am also going to be cash gaming it in between. Being the realist I am, I am also planning on playing the $500 WPT NLHE Shootout tourney on Thursday. And depending on how things are going, I will also try and play in a tourney at either the GoldStrike or Grand on Friday. Who knows - I may be a luckbox and make a final table. Amazingly, I have cashed in the two and only $500 Circuit Events I have played in. I will try and keep that streak alive.

I plan on trying to add to the blog during the week to keep up with the progress, but that will all depend on how much free time I have. I am planning on spending almost every waking moment I have playing, and I don't plan on sleeping much. You do the math.

OK - next time I hit this blog it will be to give my first update for my trip.

Steak

Omaha 8/b Is Such a Great Game

When Geoff sent an email that he was having an Omaha 8/b tournament this Friday, I was all over it. I love Geoff's tournaments. Usually some sort of limit game, and usually mixed. I love mixed games, because I play all of the games to a degree. Maybe stud a little less than the others, but I play the crap out of Razz and Omaha 8/b online (as well as Hold 'Em), so I feel pretty confidnet playing it.

What I love about Omaha 8/b tournaments is that the format usually allows for a lot of play at the beginning. You can play pretty loose and portray an image of a wild and crazy player, and then when the tournament gets into the later stages, if you pick your times right, you can win huge pots from those who portray you as loose. In all actuality, you should play even tighter in O8OB than you do in Hold 'Em. It is so easy to get in bad trouble playing mediocre hands in any Omaha game, but especially in O8OB. You always seem to be drawing to something, and it is easy to get caught up in the drawing game. But the one rule I have read and heard from everyone I think knows what they are doing is that if you are drawing to either a high, low, or both, you better be drawing to the nuts. Betting and calling with anything less than the nuts on the river is usually a recipe for disaster. And usually, even if you end up winning a hand with something mediocre, it only seems to warp your perception, making you think that what just happened was some sort of correct play, when in all liklihood it would cost you a lot of chips 9 out of 10 times.

While I am far from perfect, I think I usually have a pretty good grip on the game. I'll never say never, but I rarely raise on the end with just a lo hand. I have seen so many times when someone holding a nut lo with no high hand at all keeps raising the pot. I saw it several times last night. And almost every single time that happened, the winner was the high hand winner, because there was usually 2 identical lo hands out there. You see two lo hands quartering the pot quite frequently - it is much more rare to see someone quartering the high pot while you are collecting your lo. It is a dangerous gamble to make. You really should have no worse than 2 pair with no flush potential on the board to be justifying raising on the river with a nut lo. Unless you know for certain that all of your other opponents are going for a high, the only time you should be raising with a nut lo on the river is when you are thinking you have a chance to scoop.

Anyway - back to last night. I started off slow - made a little headway in the middle, exploded towards the end, and then fizzled at the very end to finish 3rd out of 11. When we got 3 handed and played for a bit - we all ended up fairly close in chips. So we split $180 of the $220 prize pool by 3 and each took $60 (Third paid $30 and 2nd paid $70, so this pretty much a good deal). Then we finished the tournament out with the winner taking the last $40. Worked out pretty good, and I went out on the next hand.

I then went to the cash game and made another $50 or so. All in all, it was a good night for me. I have aspirations of playing the O8OB tournament at the WSOP Circuit Event in Tunica in January. I am looking forward to playing that quite a bit, and last night just whet my appetite even more.

Steak

I am a Donk

Plain and simple, the last two days have been a complete clusterfuck.

I am down $299 with only a $26 token to show for it. I have played bad, then tried to play bigger to make up. I play good but get sucked out on, and that ends up with the same result as if I played bad, except for more money. I play in the $17,500 Guarantee this afternoon and actually cash, but it was completely disappointing. I was Top 5 in chips right before we hit the money (933 players and it paid 90 players), but I donk off chips, and then end up all-in with KT suited when someone behind me yet to act had AK. Game over - out in 53rd. I know now that if I had been more patient I could have moved much further up the money ladder, and that my aggressiveness was poorly timed and gave me no real chance to steal/win chips, but every chance to piss them away. So I kind of made some progress, but not nearly what I should have made.

So then I decided to play the Razz tourney tonight, paying full price. I was making great reads - but you know what happens when you have a great draw and know your opponent has a weak hand? You still need a hit a hand to win, because by the time you reach 7th there is so much money in the pot that the player is going nowhere. It was a just gnarly tourney.

Then I played in a $11 Knockout 90-person SNG. What can I say? I have been absolutely destroyed before in tournaments, but I have never felt more deflated after a tournament than I did after this tournament.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836265

Six hands later:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836272

Very next hand:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836278

End of tourney. I had doubled up early on in the tourney when one player donk went all in with Top Pair on the turn when I turned a flush. But he had 100 more chips than me, so someone else ended up with that bounty. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I end the night by losing a $26 buy-in $75 token tourney, and then winning a $26 token.

So I am so screwed on my goals right now. Just like Shaun mentions in his blog, I am thinking I need to take a break. At least online. Play some live games over the next couple of weeks, and get my mind straight before I head to Tunica the second week of January. When I get back, then I will start thinking about June and the WSOP. But I can tell you, unless I get myself straight, and do so soon, I have no business being out in Vegas for anything at all. Period. Anyway - my Road to Event 26 is taking a detour after this disastrous past couple of days, and we shall see if I hop back on that road soon or not. I am on vacation for work the next week and a half, so I am sure that I will probably end up playing some online simply because I will not be able to control myself not to. But I need to reflect on my game a little bit and see where it takes me. Maybe the best thing to do is just stop playing completely and focus on other things in my life. I just don't know. What I do know is that I need to win my Fantasy Football league bad now. Go Brady!!! Go Pats Defense. Shut those Dolphins out!!!!!!!!!!!

Steak

Final League Tournament and some SICK Cash Game Action

So last night was the final tournament of our league. The tournament for me was inconsequential. I played good at first, and sucked ass at the end. Actually, pretty much a reversal of the way I usually play. I was making good moves and reads early on, and chasing way too much when the blinds were high. I paid a severe price, and ended up getting busted somewhere right in the middle of the pack. So $500 not in my pocket for Tunica in a couple of weeks. That sucked.

Then I played in the cash game that popped up. So sick. It was just a $0.50 / $1.00 cash game at first. All NLHE. When the tourney wrapped up, we moved to the main table at The Shadow's Poker Pit - sweet table and sweet environment to play. We switched the game up to playing dealer's choice. And when we say dealer's choice, it really morphed into dealer's choice of ANYTHING that even remotely resembled poker. And we all got hooked on a game called 52. This is the sickest game ever. It has nothing to do with skill at all - purely a luck game. Pure gamble, and could be very expensive.

For those who don't know what this is, everyone at the table has to ante. Then everyone is dealt 5 cards. You look at your cards, and you have to decide right then if you are in or out (going around the table declaring one way or the other, with the dealer declaring last). You declare by throwing another ante into the pot. Those who stayed in get dealt two more cards. If two or more players stayed in, the winner takes the pot in the middle, and the loser(s) have to match whatever was in the pot and put it into the pot for the next hand. Then everyone antes again, and you start all over again. So if only two people stayed in, then the pot only grows by the amount of the antes. If three or more people stayed in, then you have two or more people matching the pot. The first hand usually has about 4 people in it, so you are looking the pot growing several times the initial pot for the second hand. As you can see, this can get big quick. The way the game ends is if only one person stays in. When that happens, they get their 2 additional cards, and then a ghost hand is dealt in the middle of the table. The player left must beat this ghost hand, and if they do they take the pot. If they do not, then they must match the pot.

The first few times we played this, the pot never got ridiculous. I think we had one $100+ pot the first dozen times we played it. But the last game was a classic.

The initial ante was $1.50 each, and we had 5 players in the pot. After that, each additional ante was $1.00 each. It starts off a little slow, with the pot never getting too big, and usually only one person calling. But at some point, it got ridiculous. I think what happened is we actually had 3 players in the pot when it was up to about $46. So after that hand was over, it was almost $100. Then the craziness ensues. Runner Runner Ricky lost his nickname, as luck was not on his side tonight. He faced off against the ghost hand and lost, and was stuck almost $100. So now the pot was almost $200. Then Robert held 2 pair against the ghost hand - and lost on the river. He was stuck $200 in the game now. So the pot is a sick amount of over $400. So Ricky gets two pair again, and tries to take down the massive pot. Now, please remember that it is after 4:00AM (we had been playing this cash game for quite some time). We had been playing this particular game for awhile, as once the pot got this big most of us were folding and re-anteing to see another hand. So Ricky is feeling pretty good about his hand. I will never forget this. The ghost is dealt:

K-K-K

Now Ricky had a K in his hand. The case Kings are dealt as the first 3 cards to the ghost hand. Ricky is now stuck another $400. By the time this was finalized, the pot was well over $800. Robert takes it down with a high two pair, and we (except Ricky) sigh a huge breath of relief. One crazy hand, and that pot could have easily topped $1700. I think going forward we will call for the pot to be capped, as it is really insane to think that a few hands not going your way could lead to you losing a mortgage payment in a game where skill is next to non-existent. Considering the stakes we were playing for, the end of the night was intense. It was fun, but a stressful fun. I actually had a chance to take down the $800 pot when I was dealt AAKQT, but I had pretty much made up my mind that unless I was dealt a straight, I was not even considering making that call. Then again I would have won and pretty much had my Tunica trip paid for in one psychotic hand of 52. Oh well, as Ricky once taunted John before losing his ass "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda". Ricky probably is probably thinking today he "Shoulda" not made a couple of those calls. Oh well. Live and learn.

I guess this is why I try to steer clear of dealer's choice games. While I like variety, I need to be playing skill games and not chance games. Money much better invested that way. For me, it was a live and learn scenario as well.

Steak

Road to Event 26, Day 5 (with a slight detour to Day 4)

Sometimes I just cannot help myself. Last night, I am up late doing a little laundry with not much else to do. Monday Night Football is on, but I could care less. My fantasy football action was done by the end of the afternoon games on Sunday (which I won --> I have at least $218 coming to me from this year's competition thanks to at least clinching 2nd, and also winning half of this year's transaction pool for scoring the most points during the regular season. If I win next week, tack on another $150 for a $368 score).

So I could not help myself - I jumped in and played some $3/$6 Razz. Mistake. I played for just a little while, and slowly ground my $60 buy-in down in half. I retreated - it was one of those feelings you have. So technically, I ended yesterday down. But since I had concluded my play for yesterday, I decided that I would have to just work harder on Day 5, and count this loss towards Day 5.

This is why you don't go off the plan. I felt I needed to push the edges harder than I normally would when I got online this morning. I headed right back to the $3/$6 game. I have beat this game consistently in the past, so I had no worries about playing again. The very first hand I hit an 8-5, only to be rivered by someone who ended up with a 7-6. $30 down the very first hand. I made a slight comeback, then I became a mason. I start off 4 to a 6, with people showing face cards, including a guy who was showing 2 jacks, who called me down the whole way when I proceed to go Q-K-Q on 5th through 7th. Actually, I think I checked the river, as I knew he was calling no matter what (and he would have, as made a 9 on the river). Just gross. A few hands later, I get busted out of the game When I started A-5-6, only to have someone else start A-2-5 and A-4-5. I brick all over the place, and the other two guys both hit decent hands, breaking me. Down another $60. This is not looking good at all.

So what better way to end a slump than by playing Omaha 8OB, right? Well, those who read my last post know I blew through $40 yesterday playing this very game. But I figured I was in the twilight zone, and if I was having this much trouble with Razz today then I should have good luck with O8OB. So I sat down at a $2/$4 6-handed table for what I hoped would be a long, grinding session where I could at least get my $60 back (or most of it) and start fresh later today on my journey. And at first, that was sort of true. I had some good luck with high hands holding up with no low draws out there, and I got up to double my $40 quickly. Then I started getting some of the classics. I have a nut lo, and the other idiot with the same nut lo keeps re-raising the high hand to get the pot capped on the river. With all of the other money in the pot, it was just good enough to call these guys so that I would not be any worse off than I would be by folding. What a moron. This same guy was re-raising the high hand heads-up with a nut lo earlier. The high hand was a mornin too and kept re-raising the lo. The winner here: Full Tilt Poker, who got extra rake from the additional bets thrown out there when it was obvious they each had half the pot only. Back to my game - I ended up back down to about $60, which was disheartening. But then I went on a roll. I scooped about 4 pots in a 15 minutes stretch, and before I knew it, I was up over $100. I had reached my goal. I recouped the debacle of a buy-in I had earlier in the Razz game. I wanted to end this now, but something told me to stay. This table was soft. So I did. And I ended up scooping another big pot, putting me over the $130 mark. By this time, I felt I had really done about all I could do at this table. If they had not caught onto me by now, they surely were about to. And I did the best I could at the time - got my money back from BOTH losing Razz sessions. I am officially back to even for my Day 5.

So I then head to the $3/$6 Razz tables one more time. I have a much better session this time. I do have a quick up-then-down cycle over the first 6 hands I play, and I develop a foil relationship with another player. I knew we would be locking horns. We get involved with a hand where we both have good boards, and we swap taking the lead on 5th and 6th street, but finally on the river I boardlock him with a nut 7, and he has two 8's and a 7 showing. Worst case scenario, we are chopping, and I am willing to bet the moon we are not chopping. This guy would have called me down with an 8-7 the way he had been playing me the entire session, but I also think he probably would have checked the river as well. I bet, he calls, and I end up $32 after the hand is over. After the craziness I have had today, hitting my goal directly on the mark is perfect!!!!! So I get up, leave the table, and go from $90 down to $32 up in a matter of an hour and a half. Sweet. Here is my progress as of now:

Daily Profit: +$32.00
Daily WSOP Profit: +$11.50
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $57.50
WSOP Money earned to this point: $76.00
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.50

Steak

Road to Event 26, Day 4

A little rougher road today. I had a feeling today was going to be one of those days. It was a little bit of a roller coaster to say the least. So to start with, I sat down at a $2/$4 Heads-Up Razz table. Someone was already sitting there. The guy who was sitting there did not automatically ante, and 2 seconds later he sits out. He sits there for awhile. It was not an issue of him timing out and not being at his computer. He just did not want to play me. I did not recognize the name. So either this guy decided he did not want to play, or he did not want to play me. I don't know why - it is not like I have made a name for myself as an unplayable guy. Far from it. Anyway - he sat there for awhile, and I was not leaving. If by the off chance he was trying to avoid me, I was going to make him wait forever at that table. So while I was sitting there I went over to a 6-handed $2/$4 LHE table. I played there for all of 6 minutes, and got up $13.00. The reason I left was that while I was playing, the first guy left the heads-up Razz table, and someone else sat down to play. I wanted to concentrate on the Razz table (it is much harder to play multiple Razz tables - or any Stud table - than it is for any flop game due to all of the exposed cards you need to be paying attention to before they are folded). So I quit the LHE game and move over. I start rolling over this guy, and I almost hit my goal right away. Then I go cold - the dude calls me down with 9-8 lo hands, and gets ahead of me. We play for a total of 7 minutes, and the second he pulls back ahead of me he bolts. It is a little annoying, but at the same time I understand the move. I am sure he is not on the same kind of path I am on, but when you are outmatched and you get lucky to get back to even or ahead, why press your luck? :)

Anyway, so I lose $7.90 in that session, and now I am only up $5.10. So, what better way to get ahead than to play yet a whole another game. So I went to a $2/$4 6-handed Omaha 8OB table. I start off good. Then I went downhill fast. I played horribly. I had nut lo hands counterfeited on the river. I end up with 2 best hands both ways in many hands and lose. I am such a donk. Oh well. I donk off my entire $40 buy-in after playing for 35 minutes). But then the light at the end of the tunnel.

Dejected I leave the table. As I close the window for the table, I see the little pop-up: "We have released $20 of your Bonus." I know it is not exactly the same thing, but I will take it nevertheless. So thanks to that bonus money, I am now down only $14.90 for the day (instead of down $34.90).

So I head back over to the Razz tables. I think the earlier bad run at Razz was a fluke, and I decide to sit down at an almost full 8-handed $3/$6 Razz table. Good choice. Here is my first hand:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1820461

Granted, I was going out on a limb on 4th street for this one. I started with a Q buried. And then I pair up top on 4th. But I paired a deuce. He hit a T. If my undercards were as strong as I represented them to be, a pair of deuces is still a slight favorite versus someone who is drawing to a T lo. When he catches the A on 5th, but I catch another wheel card, I feel justified in seeing one more card. Now when he catches the J on 6th, giving him two broadway cards up top, my board all of the sudden looks good with A223. When he checks, I attempt to bluff him off the hand and take it down right there. Of course, he was having none of it and called along, with the pot too big to fold with his draw. I was hoping that the A had actually paired him and that he was in bad shape. Luckily, I nail a 6 lo on the river, bet it, and get raised. I am thinking - this is pretty horrible luck if I catch what I perceive to be a miracle card on the end, only for him to hit a wheel or nut 6 on the river, so I just call. Turns out he has a nut 7, and I nail a relatively huge pot (he was the one who caught the bad "miracle" card). I play for a total of 4 minutes, profit $49 from it, and exceed my goal for the day by a whopping $2.10. I play and lose the $8.70 token tourney, and I am now done. All of this roller coaster ride lasts exactly 59 minutes, and I am done for the day.

***UPDATE*** I decided to play with my extra $2 winnings in a $0.05/$0.10 table, and was doing good until I lost my buy-in when I flopped a flush, only to be outkicked by another flopped flush. Oh well. So the totals down below have been updated accordingly.***

I have decided that I am going to wait and play my token tournaments later in the day, if possible, instead of right after I hit my daily goal. First, it spreads my poker time out a little bit. Secondly, I am usually pretty happy about meeting my goal that I am not as focused when playing the token tournaments as I should be. So from now, I will try and wait at least an hour or more before playing. I think that will be the best idea for me at this time. I got lucky today, as I dodged a bullet playing so badly in O8OB. Tomorrow I will need to play better from the beginning to be able to make my goal. I only have so much luck that I can cash in during my journey these next 6 months. There are still 176 more days of playing to go.

Daily Profit: +$32.10
Daily WSOP Profit: +$12.60
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $46.00
WSOP Money earned to this point: $64.50
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.50

Steak

Road to Event 26, Day 3 (sort of)

OK. Technically, it is still Day 2. But tomorrow is a big day for me from a fantasy football perspective. Win, and I play for my league's title next week. Lose, and I do not make the money. So I will be a little distracted tomorrow, and I thought why not go ahead and do my Day 3 session tonight while I had some time. Good move on my part.

I had planned on playing some $1/$2 or $2/$4 Razz cash. Amazingly, there was not one single $2/$4 game going, and there was not an open $1/$2 game. I start looking around - no H.O.R.S.E. games going. No Omaha 8/b games going I wanted to play. So I go back to the Razz tables. Then I see there was someone waiting in a $3/$6 heads-up table. I never heard of the kid, so unless I know you are good, I have no problem sitting heads-up against you in Razz. In fact, even if you are good I am not scared, but I am a little more careful with my game selection right now trying to make my goal. So I figured "what the hell" and sat down.

Wow. What a good choice. This kid basically gave me his money. He played scared, which is what I wanted. Anytime I hit low cards, he assumed I was good. Anytime he hit any bad card he went to check-fold mode. It was so easy. Five minutes and 23 hands later I was up $39.50. If I was not on my self-imposed journey, I would have loved to have kept playing. But once I hit my goal, I stop. It is just how I am going to roll with this one. If you can remember, I lost $150 a few days ago after I was up $50. So I am more than happy to play this way. I normally would not play $3/$6 to try and win $32. Risk/reward is probably not really there, but heads-up Razz is a whole other conversation. So anyway, probably won't here much out of me tomorrow. Go Brady-to-Welker (no passes to Moss or Watson). And may Tony Romo throw 6 picks. Peace out.

Daily Profit: +$39.50
Daily WSOP Profit: +$19.00
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $34.50
WSOP Money earned to this point: $52.90
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.40

Steak