Newberry at Cedarville

Oh, I almost forgot. Newberry at Cedarville. Newberry 6 – Cedarville 20.


This was a good game. The weather sucked. It rained most of the game. Off and on, off and on. We had some issues on offense and defense that caused our loss this week.

Defense: Defense played a great game overall. They were playing tough, but there was 1 huge issue. Number 1 reason on defense that we gave up 3 TD’s was a match-up issue. Our corners are little fast guys. Actually, the 2 smallest kids on the team are our corners. This is because most teams don’t pass often. Well Cedarville does. And one of their wide receivers is taller than Ash-boy. A lanky streak of lightening that towered over our corner. All they had to do was lob it out there. He made 2 TD’s and many first downs. I don’t know why we didn’t make a switch there? Bad decision, that was for sure. It was obvious to us parents on the sideline, which were discussing the problem, so I don’t know why the coaches didn’t make a change. We play them once more this season and at practice this week, they have already said that there will be a better match-up when next we meet. They will put taller corners out there. The 3rd TD was just a topper during scrub-time. The whole 4th quarter we played the 2nd string guys and so did they.

Offense: Offense was horrid this game. The 1st 2 quarters the offensive line wasn’t getting their blocks, they were standing straight up on the snaps instead of coming out of their stances forward. They were being pushed back and letting guys through. They also weren’t opening their holes so the runningbacks had nowhere to go. Our offense was stagnant. The 3rd quarter was the only time that the team played well all around. The Coaches gave a good pep-talk at half-time. He told them that they better do what they could, because the 4th he was putting in 2nd string no matter what. The boys came out raring to go. The Offensive Line came out and held the line for the whole quarter, thus allowing the backfield to execute their plays. They made a real nice drive and finished the quarter down just one TD.

Ash-boy’s 1st half performance was well below standard. He wasn’t holding the line worth a shit on offense. 1st quarter wasn’t too bad, but the farther time went on the worse he played on offense. Finally one of the coaches came to the stands midway through the 2nd quarter and started hollering for me. I heard him and came over. He said that Ash-boy wasn’t performing because his jammed finger was killing him and had gotten re-injured during the 1st quarter and that I needed to tape it up so he could play well. He was nursing it after each play. I couldn’t tape it because he plays offensive and defensive 1st string so he never came out. At half-time I taped it up and told him it was time to get in there and perform like he does in practice all week long, that he had the hr and a half ride home to whine about that finger. He was in bad pain. He was close to tears as I taped his fingers. As they were going back to the sideline getting prepared for the second half, the coach pulled Ash-boy off to the side along with one of the other team captains, (who is also a big linesman,) and told them both, that if they didn’t step up to the task and perform, the team didn’t have a chance to win, that they were the backbone of the team, and that they needed to show some drive and also get the team pumped up in the huddles. I was proud to hear this. The team came out and played hard in the 3rd. He really is a tough kid. As bad as he was hurting he never once asked to come out. He just steeled himself for the next play and went on. Defense he did well most of the game. The 2nd quarter he slacked off a bit with the injured finger, I think, being the culprit. He said with it not taped, it kept getting hung up on their jerseys and arms, and felt like it was going to rip off. He did get in on some nice tackles throughout the game. He along with everyone on defense, in the 3rd, just crushed Cedarville’s offense. They didn’t get many 1st downs in the 3rd. We dominated the possession clock. Ash-boy was swimming through the line making tackles and stopping their rushes coming his way. All in all, I was proud of his play, 2nd quarter excluded of course. Damn finger. It is still really swollen and has to be taped before each practice. Oh yea, another nice play that he was in on was our TD rush. We were 2 yards from the goal line. They called for Ash-boy to drive forward pushing through the defense with the QB pushing right behind. It worked perfectly. Sucks how Linemen get no credit.

Some solace though, is that this was the 1st time this season that Cedarville was kept under 35 points. As aforementioned, defense played well this game other than the match-up dilemma. We had 3 breakaway (or close to breakaway,) plays that could have easily turned the tide in this game.

1 – One of the 2nd row guys on the kickoff return team (A bigger kid with some wheels,) caught the ball and made a hell of a run. He was finally brought down by the last guy back on defense for their side. He busted through a few tackles, bulldozing his way down field. Just that 1 kid stood between him and a TD. Kid dove for our guy’s legs and took him out at the feet. A real nice tackle by the kid.

2 – Breakaway run where our runningback was run down from behind and brought down. That one really sucked. The runningback kept looking back over his shoulder instead of just running. One of those plays where you are up on the balls of your feet clapping and cheering, then, bang, you’re let down, all of your emotion faltering, as the away stands let out a sigh of anguish.

3 – Ash-boy and his cohort on left side opened a highway of a hole and our QB went through on a mad rush. He does multiple spin-moves, breaking over 3 tackles. And one of our guys makes a nice block on their safety, who was their last chance to stop the run, when the QB, who was coming out of a nice spinning evasion, tripped over his own guy, which made that great block.

So 1st half of the season we stand at 1 win – 1 tie – 1 loss. Next Monday brings the 2nd half and the same teams for a 2nd go at it. Rudyard at Rudyard, Brimley at Newberry, and Cedarville at Newberry. I’m salivating just waiting for these matches. Not being biased, I think we have the skills to win all these games. Whether we do is purely up to the kids and the couching decisions.

BAD BEAT? SITE RIGGED?

You have AA PF on the button and your nemesis is looking down at 72 in the BB. If You just limp in and let dumby in for free and the flop comes Q72 rainbow. Unbeknownst to you, you just got cracked. To you this looks like a great flop. You now get some balls and throw out 3 huge, consecutive bets and at show down this horrible suckout rakes in all your chips with 2 pair. Your now out of the tournament.

Is this a bad beat?

Well, by our aforementioned definition, yes would be the answer. Sorry people, but we need to take this a little further. IMO this isn’t a bad beat.

Does anyone disagree?

If you would have limped and he bet putting you allin PF, then this would be a bad beat.
You put your money in with the best hand and then he drew out on you. That is what makes it a bad beat in my opinion.

Ok, here’s another example. You have AA and your opponent has TJ. You bet 4xBB and he calls from the cutoff. Flop comes AK9. You check in the hopes for a check-raise. He checks and the turn comes a Q. You bet out and he raises.

Bad beat? No, IMO. You tried a play and it backfired. You gave him a free card here that beat you.

Last example. You have AA again and $4,000 left. (what a night for cracked aces.) He has 56d and $7000 in front of him. You bet $400 (4xBB) and he calls. Now $950 in pot with the blinds. Flop AdTd2s all diamonds. You bet $300 and he calls. Now there’s $1550 in pot. Turn comes 9h. You bet $600 this time and he calls again. Now $2750 in pot. River card 3d. You bet $1000 and he raises your last $1700. You call. Showdown he cracks your set of Aces. What’s wrong here you say? You bet the whole way. He just rivered you. Fucking suckout chaser you scream and slam your keyboard.

Bad Beat right? No, once again, IMO. You let this clown beat you. Your weak bets were to blame here.

Lets break it down. Yes, he made a pretty loose call PF. But that Isn’t grounds for a bad beat. He made the call and now has a flush draw on the flop. You bet $300 into a pot of $950. It costs him $300 for a try at $1250. That’s better than 4 to 1 on his money here. That’s perfect odds for him to chase his flush draw. You now do a little better here with your turn bet. You bet $600 into a pot of $1550. This is now only giving him 3.5 to 1 on his money if he decides to call. He needed 4 to 1 to make calling right with his flush draw. Right? Wrong. With implied odds it is still the right call because if he hits and has the best flush, he has a chance at your last $2700.

In all these examples, sorry to say it, but you beat yourself.

If your getting bad beats that one thing. We all get them and will continue to get them. Just make sure what your calling bad beats are actually bad beats and not down right bad play.

Be honest with yourself and the real bad beats will only come as the odds gods allow.



People talk a lot about bad beats and sites being rigged. I just don’t put much stake in that shit. I just feel that it’s everyones’ turn in the barrel – bad luck happens – or more precisely, the odds just don’t go in your favor for a long stretch.

Ex: If I flip a coin 1 million times the odds are going to be 50/50 ratio. But if you break that down into a subset you could find 60 heads flips in a row. That sounds rigged, but it is plausible and a fact. But if you look at the long term it levels back out and will be 50%. You have to believe this and not let the odds play with your mind. Everyone that plays poker will end up getting the same hands and situations in the long-term – how you play those hands will determine if you are a winning player.

Believe me, I would love to blame something other than my play or luck, but I just don’t think it is the sites. But a lot of my losses are my own fault. Yes, I have also had tons of bad beats string together, but let’s reiterate – that is an odds subset smacking you down. But I know that if I play solid poker this crap will turn around and I will continue to be a winning player.

The difference between a slot machine and poker is the odds. In poker the odds are in the good players’ favor, even with the rake. A solid player WILL win in the long-term. The slot machine is isn’t autonomous, it just is, and there are no good or bad players, (though slot players will wrongly disagree,) you WILL lose your money in the long-term because the machine and the casino have the odds in their favor. In poker it’s you vs them – your game vs theirs, period.

I have let the bad beats change the way I play some hands some times and that is bad. You and I are losing profits when we don’t value bet because we “can feel” the suckout coming. You and I must just play winning poker and leave the rest to that bitch Lady Luck. We will earn profits on any and every site that we play on if we play solid poker long enough. OK, I’m done preaching. Later.

Quick Update or More Out Than In

I didn’t play much at all this week. One small session on Px, where I lost a buyin on the $100 tables. Oh yea, the eggroll time too. And I did the AC midweek warm-up game and the Sat League game 3 last week also. I also bankrolled $20 to the Fam again. The difference this time was I just put the money on. Or more like real cash for E-cash. I did cash in both AC games, which feels good.

-$20
-$100 or so.

AC Sat League – Game 3

Ten started this week.

15/30

I tried some BS bluffs in one hand that hurt when Penn wouldn’t let go of his hand. He bet the turn and I raised. He took a few seconds then called. So I figured that he wasn’t real confident with his foldings. He lead out again on the river, not leaving it to the aggressor. That should have equated to a value bet in my head, but no, I raised again. He pushes. I have to fold. It’s early and I have time with the little blinds to wait for some cards.

555 in chips. Short stack. 10/10

I bluff a few more hands after waiting a few rounds. Back up to 800 in chips again.

25/50

Folds to SB, who is Penn, and he raises it up. I sit in the BB with 77. I push. Correct read and he mucks.

900 in chips.

AA from MP. I raise it up to 200. Blinds fold.

1210 in chips.

AT. I limp and Small and Big complete. AT6 on the flop. IG bets $100. I make it 300. She calls. Turn – blank. She checks. I bet 500. She folds.

1700 in chips.

With 50 mins gone by, all players still remains. 9 go to the 1st break.

75/150

Big hand with AT just like the last 2 weeks. It was even vs JB again. I hit the nut straight on the turn. I push and he calls. He turns over 2pr. He doesn’t hit 1 of his 2-4 outs. I can’t remember if I held so of his outs or not.

3765 in chips. 2/6. That is quite the comeback. From short stack to a big stack. Zero to Hero.

RK pushes with his last 700 with AK. Greb calls with Q5s. Q5 spike the felt and RK is felted.

100/200

I bluffed off a bit and was card dead for a while.

I raise with TT. SB pushes with more than I have. I think about it then call. He turns over Bigslick and we are off to the races. Board all under Ten and I double. I actually hit a Ten-high straight.

3800 in chips.

SB vs BB. Me and Greb respectively. Board J3J83. Checks until the river. Greb bets out the river. I call and my K6 hold-up.

Greb and I go HU.

Q on the flop. Greb bets. I push. He calls with Q5. I show QJ and double-thru to take the lead.

9595 in chips.

We play hands back and forth. He gets the better of the fights and catches up a little.

AT vs KK. I don’t remember who pushed or raised when. But greb takes it down leaving me crippled.

2000 or so in chips.

I push with AJ. He calls with 99. I don’t suckout and he wins.

7/8 – week 1
5/10 – week 2
2/10 – week 3 - $30

3rd place.

Eggroll Social Experiment

I decided to try a little experiment with my AC Forum friends. I dubbed it the Eggroll Social Experiment. I gave 10 people $5 on UB to do with what they would. For 1 week they have been writing how things are going with their eggrolls. I just wanted to do something for the guys at AC, plus I wondered how people would manage the few dollars. Would they put it all on the $10NL table and let it ride? Would they start at the penny tables and move up slowly? Would they play SNG’s and move up as soon as they could to the $5 SNG’s?

I’ve been reading the updates that people post. Some did all those aforementioned things. It is pretty cool to see the different strategies people have used and how they performed. There still is half a week yet to go.

Me personally? Well I only played once as of yet this week. I started at the penny2penny tables and $1.10 SNG’s. I lost interest on the penny tables real fast and left with $4.77. I then went and played with some family members on 2 $1 SNG’s. I went out 5th or so in the 1st. I then went out in 2nd in the 2nd. I was the underdog at the start of HU. A very short HU it was; no more than 20 hands I’d say. I took a slight lead after a first hand double allin. I then ran a nice HU hand into a better hand and was crippled. Very next hand I had AQ and pushed. He called and showed Cowboys. The gunslingers took me down at high-noon (or midnight, as it were,) and I went to bed. With bonus money I now sit at $5.63.

Weird playing for those stakes again. I think I am going to run a baby SNG in the background on UB for a while and see just how I can do with that eggroll. It will help me with my weeklies and my overall tourney play, and at cheap cost. Plus maybe I will get good and work my SNG eggroll up, making it up to larger SNG’s. This will be a cool new experiment.

-$45

My Poker Maxim: Never, I Mean Never, Teach at the Table.

Too many times I watch the sharks berating the fishes in the chat box. Livid at the horrible suckout that has the tilting or close. “You didn’t have the odds to call that, you luckbox.” “You only had 4 outs. I needed more than 10 outs to call that.” Suck it up and say nothing to the fishes.

Odds are odds and outs are outs. It’s called variance. I know you know this, teaching them the finer nuances of the game is only hurting you. Why you say?

When a player whines in the girly chat, not realizing he was the one that misplayed the hand, don’t tell him otherwise. He believes it's just bad luck. Never tell players what they did wrong because you are teaching them and making them smarter, thereby losing money for all of us. No matter how much they call you names. Just write junk back to incite the rage at tilt. (Talking about their mother usually works well. Tell them that you are going to buy her something nice that night, when you take her out, with their money.) When someone sucks out on you without the odds, don’t bitch and tell him how bad he sucks and explain why he shouldn’t have called. Don’t teach at the table no matter what. Just sit back knowing that he will continue to pay us off until he pays for the experience thru time and money to learn it himself.

Suck it up, take that bad beat, and say nothing to the fishes. You only make less food for the sharks.

AC Mid-week League Prep Game

Pretty tough game for only having six players. Very good game and the shit-talk was the norm. I had some nice starting hands throughout. I was a little more agro than my usual self. I think that 5 Max helped me a little. I definitely will have to get some more time at that. I was helping Ash-boy with some science algebra so I didn’t get to take the usual notes. I was happy with my game. I end up in the money in 3rd just past the bubble. Good Game. Over an hr for 6 people is pretty long. Overall a pretty tight game, especially in the middle portion.

3/6

Nighty-night, or more like time to remember some equations.

The Mookie Thru Ash's Eyes

I had a chance to play the Mookie this Weds. 43 started. I did rather well. I ended close to the Big Dance. (Final table.) I stayed above 1500 the whole game. (Until the end that is.)

I hovered slightly above starting stack and then at the 50/100 mark I got a huge suckout. I limp from UTG with 99. Small and Big complete. From – 862. Checks over to me and throw out a ¾ pot raise. SB raises. BB drops. I push and he calls. He turns over SB Special of 82 and I start the praying. River 9 saves my ass.

3400 in chips.

First break brings 27 remaining. I’m in 7th.

After the break. SLB with a below average stack, yet not desperate stack, pushes from UTG with A6. I don’t get that move. Anyone at the table could wake-up with something, which I did. AA. 6 on the flop just to get his hopes up and my ass to pucking what for the payback suckout. No help and I’m left wondering why that hand even went down.

21/43 left and I’m rocking in 3rd with 5265 in chips.

I raise from EP with AQ. Miami Don in LP reraises me. I push, he calls and shows Cowboys. I’m left hoping for an Ace to once again suckout and take down 1st in chips. No such luck and I’m back to 2680 in chips. Not being results oriented at all here, I have to say that I really misplayed this hand. I normally limp from EP with this unsuited hand. But I was felling it. I was playing well and getting cards and hitting. Not only raising with this hand out of character for me, the push was stupid and all around a bad play. Don is tight-aggressive and I should have respected that bet.

120/240/25 and I’m dropping in the ranks quick. I push with Aqs from EP and pickup the blinds.

Then comes my last hand. 120/240/25 and we are down to 14/43. I am sitting sad in 14th. I find 66 in the small. It folds around to me. I push. The big blind is a chick that has been hitting every hand and a lot when behind. She calls and turns over KTs. I’m only about a 5th of her stack and the shorty so in no way is her call bad here. But holy crap is she hitting. The flop brings AQJ for the str8. I am left needing a 6 and a paired board. Obviously no resuck came.

I made some mistakes in the game so I have to be happy with my placement. Man I’d like to cash in one of these damn things.

14/43

Nighty-night.

STRAIGHT-FLUSH or NEW BIGGEST HAND EVER

Even though I was going back on days Weds, Mon night I stayed up to 4:30 am. I should have been switching my nights to days. It is so easy to switch from days to nights. All you have to do is sleep-in on your first day back. Nights to days a different story. I get off at 7 am my night of work, and I’m usually in a meeting till 8am. I get home and the only way I will go to sleep at a normal hr that night is to stay up all day long. But I ain’t doing that. I usually try to stay up for 4 or 5 hrs then take a nap, get up, and try to go back to bed that night. This never, or very rarely works. I usually take that nap and stay up all night. My sleeping/mood meds don’t even put me to sleep after nights. What usually happens is I go to work my first morning with about 2 or 3 hrs sleep and when I get home I’m ready to eat, shit, take a shower, and head to bed.

So anyways, I played with Rake till 2:30 am. (That’s 8:30 am for him. Quite the all-nighter. What a lunatic.) We were 3 tabling all night or however many tabs were open from hr to hr. While playing, I was up then down. I got stacked once when a guy hit his flush after going allin with me on the turn. (That hurt I tells ya.) I was up close to a buyin when that went down and I slowly got most back.

Then comes the big hand!!! I hit the straight on the turn with JTs. A few guys in the hand with me at that point. I bet pot and one guy stays. The turn comes a 9 witch pairs the board. But HOLY SHIT it gives me the STRAIGHT-FLUSH. I bet Pot and he raises me double. I push for a $150 or so more. He insta-calls and turns over a well-hidden Boat. The 9 that gave me the str8-flush gave him the fullhouse. He thought I just likely hit a nut-flush on the river. It was simply beautiful. The guy left the table, which always makes one feel superior.

But I felt a little bad for the guy – maybe he was having a bad day or maybe he was gambling with his house payment or baby’s diaper money. NAAA, I'm just joking, sad to say that is how we make money. IMO, you should only be playing with what you can afford to lose. It’s called bankroll management. And if you have read my blog for any length of time you know that I religiously follow it, sometimes to the point of even being anal about it, with way too much over-kill. And if the person can’t follow this path due to being a degenerate gambler, I am actually helping the guy.

Preach-on Brother, you say?


If you have an addiction, when do you get help? When you hit rock-bottom, that’s when. And that's where I come in. So I am just doing my part in getting him some help. Just think of me as his 12-Step Program. Don’t everyone thank me all at once. LOL. I’m just doing My part for the greater good of All.

OK, after the largest pot ever, Rake finally went off to bed or wherever vampires take respite. I had some family playing freemoney on UB. Two of them just started playing online. I wanted to play with them, yet wasn't going to play playmoney. That's where I started and will never look back for any reason. That's just not me anymore. So I hooked everyone up with ten bucks in their accounts, which was perfect because that was all I had in neteller at the time to put on UB - $40. I originally wanted to get on one .01/.02 tab and play together but it was late, plus I saw that they were playing free SNG's before I showed up. So I figured they'd rather play a $1 SNG.

We started with 1500. I was getting off the internet with rake and after folding the 1st 6 hands, I look and my sister is already at 450. Holy crap. A few hands later in EP, after watching her and my cousin get involved in every hand, I have TT. I raise to 120, because that's the only way to thin the field. I get 3 callers, obviously my sister and cousin also calling. Flop 9 high. I bet 300 to put her allin if she wanted to call. Her and my cousin call. The other guy drops. Q turn. I push. He folds like I hoped. I rake in a nice pot for the start of the 2nd orbit. Not bad, Not bad. Before the stakes go up I take my cousin out. He shows down total shit. It is obvious that they just need to put in more time at the tables and get some hands under their feet and freemoney is the best place for that. That way you get experience and don't have to pay for it.

Anyways, I was getting some nice cards while waiting for them, thus playing tight, and hitting the board quite often as well. I just kept taking people out. I took out 3 people to get it down to 4, sis and cuz included. ;)

I knock out the other 2 and it is down to me and dad. We played back and forth a little bit, but I bullied him around, and showed him a lot of bluffs. I was able to do this because I started heads-up with over 10000. He had to pick a spot and push, which he did with A6, I think if I remember correctly. I just happened to wake-up with Big-slick that same hand and was wondering how to get his money in the pot. Check or bet I was thinking as he pushed. No 6 or BS flush or straight. Game End. I'm just glad I came into HU so far ahead, because that is pretty much all he plays is SNG's and tourneys. He is usually real aggressive HU, but he just didn't have the clout with his baby-stack. I made $4. WooHoo.

+$232.25
Total Bankroll = $1898.75

OK I Need to Update a Little More Often so Everything Doesn't Get All Messed Up

AC League – Game 2

Not much to say here. I was playing rather well and was up over 2000. I went in a hand with the big stack just like last week’s game. Same exact scenario almost this time. We both have trip Aces just like last week. I had AT just like last week. And got out-kicked just like last week. I wasn’t disappointed this time with my play though. Because we were only 5 handed and I was the one that raised PF.

7/8 – week 1
5/10 – week 2

Weekly Updates All Wrapped Into One

I didn’t play much last week. I didn’t play any weekies other than the AC League.

I played a few times at different games and different stakes. I ended up for the week. I played a little every morning for 30 mins to an hr after I got home from work. I played pretty close to even until I tried the 5 max. I didn’t write that I played 30 min and stayed even or slightly up or down.

I’m happy with how it went. Plus, I started learning the short game which might help me loosen up a little in my full-ring play. I would love this. It would be great to switch gears and throw off my opponents. Throwing out a well-timed bluff isn’t switching gears. And that is all I do in the way of playing loose. So this will be an advantageous learning experience, plus I get to write advantageous in a sentence.

7/8 – AC game 1

Week Ending - 9/16/06 = +$111.81

Total Bankroll = 1666.50

Premature Judgement or 5 Max Rules

Ok, maybe I was a little premature on how bad 5max was. No full-ring tables were open on Px and my friend Rake or Nuthouse or Magnus, whatever moniker or handle you want to call him by, was playing at the 5 max, so I decided to give another go. I played tight at first while I got the fill for it, not to mention that it was also $200. I began loosing up my starting requirements. I was always aggressive when in hands, or usually anyways. I bluffed often and defended my blinds regularly. I kind’a got in a zone after awhile and could feel the flow and pulse of the game. It was cool. Not really the feel you get at a full table. I only played at one even though there were more open. At a full-ring game I can play 4 tables efficiently, knowing how I will play the hands I’m dealt. But with playing more hands and the overall aggressive nature and pace of the game, I needed to concentrate. It was that way for me with full-ring also so maybe this is something that I can learn and will stop feeling so intense. There is a lot more imbued energy and flow to the play. A lot more depends on reading the betting patterns and their playing styles. With so few in the game it is easier to pinpoint players’ styles and what their actions likely mean. I had fun and learned much in the short time that I played. Not getting sucked-out on but once also helped. I ended up more than $100.

+$111.81
Total Bankroll = $1666.50

Newberry at Brimley

Good tough-fought defensive game this week. Final score 0 – 0. There is no overtime at this age group. This was an away game at Brimley.

Ash-boy (#45) once again had the biggest kid (#58) on the other team right across from him for most of the game. He played well against the kid. He only let him through a couple of times. He plays Left Offensive Guard. He also starts on Left Defensive Tackle. He started out trying to just use his shoulder-pads and not use his hands on offense. He jammed his finger real bad playing football with some friends the day before the game and had his pinky taped to his index finger. He was afraid of it hurting. During an early Timeout I ran over to him and told him to deal with it and that he was going to have suck-it-up and play hard and steer this big guy around. I was proud to see him do that. He started pushing the kid around, opening holes, and keeping him out of the backfield. And if the kid did make it through Ash-boy usually steered him clear of the play long enough that the kid wasn’t a factor in the play.

Ash-boy was in on a few different tackles and big plays. He also sacked the QB once and made a fumble recovery by diving on the loose ball, after about 3 of our guys creamed the running-back in the backfield. One think he did wrong was he went off-sides once, jumping the gun on a two-snap.

They only made one pass play and we picked it off. At this young age they don’t do many pass plays, thus it is very unsuspecting and that is why it was so impressive that we intercepted. The corner saw the pass the whole way and stayed between the receiver and the ball. It was nice.

I know that there are some dirty plays by both teams in a game, but Brimley was dirty. I see this being a big rivalry between these two teams. We have one more game together and I can see both teams wanting to win it, thus making it another great game. There was only one Ref so he couldn’t catch everything. But he was also from Brimley. They face-masked quite a bit and it only got called once. Also this one kid was trying to hurt people. After the play was over, when he was getting up he punched our guys in the stomach twice.

We had a good shot at winning this game at the end of the first half. We were at 1st and goal but ran out of time. So close.

Our QB was doing a keeper play and was sweeping to the right side of the field. The Safety and a Linebacker sandwiched him, one from each side. He laid there crying for a few mins. It turned out that he got the wind knocked out of him. A scary moment. He was out for most of the second quarter.

We had a few things going against us. The Head Coach wasn’t there for the game. He had a prior engagement. The other coaches didn’t run the plays well and went on a two-count on every play. You have to switch this up or you become to predictable. We also had poor substitutions going on. The coaches would call a kid and tell him to go in for someone after the team was already in the huddle. This caused 2 penalties for too many kids on the field. You should have the kids ready on the previous pay before you want them to sub. We also got a penalty for one kid not having a mouth-piece in.


All in all this was a very good game.

No More Spam

5 Max or Nope I Don't Think I like it

Px was dead so I tinkered around a little this morning with 5 max. I would have gone to FT or InterPoker, but they haven’t gotten back with me yet on whether or not I am eligible for rackbake on those sites. I didn’t want to spend a lot learning the 5 max, so I opted to join a $25NL 5 max table. I played around for a little while and was down around half a buyin, so I just took a shower and went to bed. I just don’t think that is my game. I can’t wait until RakeBreak gets back with me and I can start spending some time at Tilt.

Later all.

Ash-boy's First Game

Ash-boy’s first game of the season went well. They played Rudyard at Home (Newberry).

This is 5th and 6th grade Football.

Score board - First half 16 to 0. End of Game – 22 to 12.

Ash-boy plays 1st string Offensive Guard. 1st string Defensive Tackle. And Kickoff Return front line. (That's Ash-boy in the back row holding his helment up towards the Football Gods. #45.)

He did well all around. He made some nice tackles and opened some wide holes on offense. He did his assignments well and only let his guy threw a few times. Something to work on this week. He had a kid across from him the whole game that was just huge. (This kid was SO BIG… How BIG was he? He was shaving while he drove himself to the game. LOL. No really, I’m not joking, this was a big kid. I’m doubly proud of my boy’s play because he contained this behemoth on Offense and got by him consistently on D.

This is Ash-boy’s second year starting in those positions. He is very big for his age. He actually wears the same size shoes as me (size 10) and he is only 11. He is a monster for his age and is head and shoulders above his classmates. (OK, not head AND shoulders, but he is the tallest in his class. I’ll stop bragging up the boy now. He’s HUGE.)

They didn’t win any games last year and they only scored 1 TD all season. (Coaching issues.) Last year’s coach had his kid being the QB and that was all that mattered. This year’s coach has coached 6 total years at this age group, but took 2 years off because someone else wanted to coach. (Yea, the dude with the issues.) The new coach taught his own son at this young age and onward, who was All-state in High School and now is a Defensive Tackle in college ball at Michigan Tech. I’m not saying that we are going to keep winning, but the coaching is a lot better. This guy doesn’t even have a kid playing. He is doing it for the love of the game and to work with these kids. My hat’s off to the guy. OK, I’ll stop with the ass-kissing. There is a world of difference from the kids' skills last year and this year. They are already better in practice at their first game than they were at season’s end last year. The kids seem to be having a lot of fun and they show a strong sense of confidence.

AC League - Game 1

I played the AC league game 1 on Sat. 8 people actually showed. This is the biggest turnout since I started playing with these nerds. (You know who you are.) I went out in 7th. Not quite how I envisioned my starting out standings. I played rather well up until my “last hand.” Anyways I called a raised pot from MP after a raise from LP with AT. Not a good Idea in the first place, I know. Too often you will find yourself out-kicked, as I found out. Shit I normally not even limp with that hand. So Not only did I play this hand poorly, I should have never been in the situation in the first play. Double slap. Ouch, I sorry diddy. Oh yea, back to the hand. If I remember it correctly, the flop comes Axx. Sneaky me checks. JB (A new face at his first game, apparently one of IG’s buds) raises and I reraise. He just calls. The turn delivers the A. Now since the jig is up, so I lead out with a bet. JB pushes. At this point I know I am beat, but if I fold I am left with 600 in chips. 600 to call around 3500. What would he raise PF with? If it has an Ace in it, likely I’m out-kicked. I call. He turns over AK, I’m not surprised, and go to the virtual rail with IG. Game 1 shot to hell. I need to play my game and stop trying to push the action.

BTW, Iron Girl did a live blog of the tourney. She did a good job of it I might add. I you feel like it, give it a gander.

Game 1 - 7/8

The Last Four or Lady Variance, You Got'a Love 'er

In the last 4 days I probably put in 8 total hrs at the virtual tables. I was playing Px $100 and $200 tabs. $200 is a little over my bankroll, but there wasn’t mush to choose from. WPEX’s player base is still quite small. I try to play there as much as possible due to the 100% rakeback. I am down I’m guessing $150ish over those 4 days. I actually IMO played pretty solid poker, I just wasn’t hitting much. Plus when I was packing, no one wanted any. (I must have been putting out the ass-whipping vibe pretty strong or something. That happens often when they see you sitting back playing tight, then all of a sudden breakout with the 4xBB raise or strong post-flop bet. I had a few hands were I over-valued TPTK, which was my fault, but sooo hard to fold sometimes. I think there’s an unwritten rule about not putting too much of your stack into an unraised PF pot. I also ran headlong into a few stack-busters, like trips worse kicker and getting slapped down by a larger flush.

I played a nice session with my buddy Rake at Px. I dropped a buyin due to that aforementioned flush issue, while Rake cleaned up as usual. What I fag. ;) He is killing the games at Px and is treating himself to a Vegas trip with his winnings. I talked him into joining the AC Forum. I will try to get him to join the leagues or at least drop by and play every now and again. Watch out he’s a ringer. I’m getting half is earnings. LOL.

I just signed up at RakeBreak.com so I can play at some of the other sites. I’ll still play at Px first and foremost, yet when the action’s light there I have a backup with a few of the other sites which I frequent.

-$150.00
Bankroll Total = $1554.69

Damn, Damn, Damn or Dumb, Dumb, Dumb

I finally got a chance to play a weekly this week. I played in the Mookie. I got stupid and tried a reraise bluff early on. The guy ended up having AA. And as I'm sure you already surmised, I went down in a blaze of stupidity. I went to bed feeling like a dumbass. And when I woke up I still felt that way. (That's always good with your toast.)

The Mook was played at Full Tilt, plus this was a charity event. So I don't feel too bad, sucking for a good cause. (Damn, that sounded gay, didn't it?. I really must work on that.) Later all, and I hope to get in some poker time these days off.

Yesterday Gone or Party's Over

I played solely at Party yesterday finishing up that bonus. I did well again while clearing it, in spite of some sick beats at the hands of chasing morons and the odds flouters. It total I just about matched the bonus while clearing. Thanks again Party. Now If I could just understand your customer service people I’d be sated.

+$114.94
Bankroll Total = $1704.69

Weekly Tournament Update

I only played 2 weeklies. I did rather well in them. In the Mookie I outlasted 80% of the starters. And I pulled out a send in the AC game.

I’ll have to start an AC tourney update instead of putting it under the weekly, because it starts up next Sat. I must abdicate Greb from the throne. I will end up missing quite a few games due to my odd work schedule. So I must perform when I play, and I will be at a handicap for variance, because I won’t have the extra games that will be above the 8 that are scored.

37/50
3/4 WE (Week Ending) 7/23/06
32/50 - WE 7/29/06
9/35
5/6 WE 8/5/06
Sad WE 8/12/06
Sad
Sad
5/6 WE 8/19/06
7/28
2/9 WE 9/2

Total = -$75

Weekly Update

A good showing this week. It didn’t play a lot, yet I did put in moderate hrs. I didn’t do too bad on my first week back playing in a while either. I spent most of my time at Px playing at the $100 stakes, while playing working on the PP bonus as an aside. I also put in a few hrs at the $200NL tables.

I also figured out why bad beads are so frequent on Party – The Players are so bad that call with little or no outs, so when variance delivers the outs, you see the monster suckouts that bring on the Tilt.

Week Ending 9/2 = +$215.19

Bankroll Total = $1589.75

Aces Cracked Weekly or Sick Suckout

AC Weekly started with a full table.

One dude slid in under the radar by guessing the password. First off, why would you try to guess the password and get into a private game, where everyone knows each other and it's supposedly a social atmosphere. I just can't even guess the mentality someone would need for doing this.


I didn't keep any notes in the first hr other than reaising hard into a 4-way pot PF with the Hammer. Every one folded and I showed down the sick power hand.

At the break - here is how it stood. We were down to 3.

8910 - Penn
3165 - Hero
1425 - Cns1

Pay scale

$45 - 1st
$27 - 2nd
$18 - 3rd

All 3 of us are in to the flop. I check from the small with nothing. Penn min-raises. Cns1 calls. I bluff the check-raise. Both fold and I show.

Cns1 fights hard from the short stack, yet to no avail. He goes out after doubling up once. Now it's Penn and I heads-up. Here's how it stands.

10000 - Penn - about
3500 - Hero - about

Early on I slow roll 99. 9 spikes the flop and I check. Penn raises. I just double. He reraises me a goodly amount. I push. He fills the ass-whipping coming and mucks.

I bluff check-raise from SB and end up taking it down after 2 CB's.

8600 in chips and I take over the lead.

I check-raise PF with TT from the SB knowing Penn will raise to weakness. He calls. Flop comes JQx. I bet. Penn calls, which concerns me. Turn x-small. I CB and he calls again. River small again and likely no help. I bet hard. He holds and I unclenched my anus.

9600 in chips.

We trade for a while, but I never drop much coin.

I reraise allin PF with A6 and he folds.

10500 in chips.

We trade again and he gets some back.

I hit a pr of 6's on the flop, with a T on the board. He bets and I push. He calls for all his chips and the game, then turns over 92 for no pair. ??? He pulls a runner-runner straight out of his ass.

4500 in chips

I am tilting hard now, talking to myself, trying to figure out what he thought he could beat. Even if he thought me bluffing, he didn't have the cards to put he to the test with 9 high.

I raise from the SB with A6. He reraises me. I push. He calls and turns over AT for a nice hand. I go to bed scratching my head.

GG Penn, but you have to explain that hand to me.

2/9 - $16 net