A Moment of Thought and Reflection.

I will not play tonight. My wife was mad at me last night. I can home from work at 7pm and got right on the computer. I didn’t really even talk to her and the kids – just a comment here and there. I ate my supper at the computer while playing cards. I played till 9:30pm, got off, took a bath and read a book for ½ an hr, and went to bed. When I got out of the tub Ash-wife and the kids were already in the bed. When I slid into bed, my wife distantly and somberly told me how that made her feel. Honestly I didn't even realize that I was being distant and selfish with my time. It didn’t even dawn on me. I'm dumb like that sometimes. For someone that watches everything at the table, you would think that I'd be a very observant person. I do empathize with her and see it from her perspective. So tonight I will come home, put poker out of my thoughts, and spend the remaining evening with the family. (Like I should.)

It is weird how sometimes things, that once pointed out to you, seem so obvious, yet you can be to totally oblivious to it without help. It is called hindsight bias. I will have to think about how my poker affects my family and not just blindly jump on the computer the moment that I walk in the door. It makes it seem like they come second in my mind. So I will try to play most of my poker these next days off after everyone hits the hay.

Just a little food for thought. This is a side of online poker that isn’t discussed often; probably because we subconsciously don’t want to admit that we are sometimes neglecting our duties in life. It is actually a sign of addiction. I do know that I’m not addicted or at least not too bad anyways. I don’t play every waking hr or anything such as that. I also often take multiple days off and do other things. So check yourself and make sure the next time you get on, that your priorities are where they should be. Also take a minute and empathize with you family and think how you are affecting them. Basically think about how others see you and how you make them feel. Make poker your hobby, not your life.

Later bad, bad Donkass out.

Playing With My New Software

I played last night after work. I got on and played with my Bro. We got on UB on a $25NL 6-max table. I set up a new data base on PT for the stakes, type, and site that I was playing, as to be able to manage the stats better and also to track common players over time. My Bro has been playing as long as I have but doesn’t frequent forums or read many poker books so he had never heard of PT or Hud. I told him and immediately he sad isn’t that cheating. I told him kinda, but not totally – I added how most other players were using the technology. The only think that still doesn’t seem fair is seeing hole cards at showdown, even if they don’t want you to and muck. He downloaded the trail version of both and I ran him through the setup and config. He was impressed with the stats. We both discussed how we have been at an unfair advantage the whole time we have been playing without this – especially at 6-max. I honestly think poker would be better off without the software. But since it is out there, you need it to just the playing field. No wonder they fold when I get the Big 4. Bastards. Plus seeing my hole cards totally showed them what I was willing to play and draw with. They could and I’m sure they did take that into account on subsequent hands.

The hands were coming fast with only 6 of us at the table. Also good cards were coming fast for me. I played for 2 hrs and got in almost 200 hands. I hit some nice hands and got paid off well. I took a few beats also. 1 2-outer for $10. But I kept climbing. I was feeling the table well. I ran a few guys off the table. I played against 2 guys (one at a time during the 2 hrs) were I got real aggressive. I showed a lot of bluffs and got called down when I had something multiple times. It felt good to run the table. Me being the TAG guy, I don’t get to run the flow of the table, I just hit and wait – hit and wait. So yea, it was exhilarating and quite the rush. But at 6-max you have to loosen up if you want to bet the blinds and rake.

Here’s my session. Later donkass out.

UB 6-Max $25NL

The 4 Days Off

Here’s the rundown of my last few days. I played only 2 lengthy sessions and that was yesterday. I couldn’t get any money on WPEX, because they don’t take Epassporte or Click2pay. They take Visa so maybe I can use my debit card.

Anyways, I put $250 of my roll on Stars. I have never played at stars other than forum tourneys. I played $100 NL 6-max that first morning of my days off. I only played 1 table. I was up $80 or so when I decided to try and go to sleep. I couldn’t go to sleep even though I was wore out. I got back on and ended up not only losing my mornings profit, but also $50 .

I played just a little over the next few days. I would get on and get someone to go in on the turn with me ahead and miraculously hit some junk on the river. I now know why they call it River Stars. I would get sucked-out on and just not feel like playing anymore that day or for at least for hrs anyway. Once I had 2 pr and go in against a guy with aces for all his cash and the river pairs the board giving him Aces-up. Onther guy stacked me when he went in against my set with a gut-shot and spikes. I end up down for those 2 days another $80.

Yesterday I got on and took anther hit for $ 50. I then got off and delved into my Poker Tracker software and learned how to set it up. I then did some searching on the net for Pokerace Hud. I downloaded their trail and configured it with PT. I got back on Stars and went to the $10NL Full Ring tables. I got 3 going with PAH and PT going. The trail version only allowed me to use stats on one table and a few stats were also blocked. All in all, I really don’t know why I never used it. It isn’t really cheating. Everyone has access to it. The stats are more than I could divulge by watching the table that is for sure though. The one item that Ace Hud does do that pretty much constitutes cheating is that if a hand goes to showdown you get to see the hole cards whether or not the person mucks facedown. I can see that being a real benefit. It really sinks in how much info players are using against me. They can tell if I most likely will fold my SB and/or BB to a steal; if I will usually CB or not, if I will usually fold on the flop, turn, or river bet; how many hands that I put money in; how often I raise PF, flop, turn, and river; ect., ect., ect. I honestly see now that I have been at a huge disadvantage for a long time and surely more the higher I went up in stakes. I will be buying the full version very shortly. I also can see the info working better at 6-max than at FR. With only 5 others at the table you could really use those stats to manipulate yours and their play. The cutoff and button really becomes a weapon. I will have to get back in there and try some 6-max in the future. Obviously you are up against Ace Hud at the 6-max tables with almost everyone using it I’m guessing.

I played 900 hands and made like $40. I am happy with that. I also have a $120 bonus I am working towards. I am over halfway there. I got it for depositing in August of last year. I think I will stay at these stakes for a little while on Stars. I will also play on UB with my Bro sometimes. I like playing 3 FR tables and 1 or 2 micro tourneys at the same time. I really like Stars tourney structure.

Home Game

We had a home game on Saturday night. I did well again. A few new people came, but we had less total people than the last 2 times out. AJ showed up again. He is the only person that I really even have to worry about. All the other guys are pretty predictable. AJ actually has one bad habit that I hope to exploit at some point. I haven’t had a hand yet to call his play. He pushes his whole stack in on the flop or turn with either a strong draw, to protect his hand from a draw, or a bluff with overs. He doesn’t do the overs often, yet I have seen it once. But I have never seen him just push with the nuts; he usually value-bets the monsters on an innocuous board. I lost one big hand. Pat opens PF to $4 at 8xBB. He does this move often with with any pockets. I pushed with Ladies knowing he would call. If it is good enough to raise with he will not fold to any aggression guaranteed. He Shows Cowboys and I lose close to $25. I end up making $48 for the night. Nothing big to discuss really. There was the usual horrid calling-station plays. Good game. We played till 3am when Pat kicked us all out. He had quit playing hrs before.

Music Would be Cool

Poker Sites

Oh yea, I'm actually off of work this time. I can see me now... sitting in front of the computer with my Ivey phones on, trying not to show any virtual tells.

Comic Relief

I was perusing the blogiverse (that sounded ghey and I’ll never say it again, promise) and stopped by our favorite marathoner’s blog. IG has started posting a-comic-a-day segment. I read a lot of poker comics and figured why not be a total piece of mimicking shit and post some comics. But here’s my twist: I won’t do it every day. That makes me original, right? God I hate myself. So anyway, I will post the funny ones that I run across. I’ll have to archive back on a few sites and hit you with some memorable jokie-jokes.

New goal: Learn the Short-game

I have been playing dead even poker for a couple months now. I am going to put a roll on WPEX so that with the no rake I’ll at least make some money while playing even. I know that’s isn’t a real solution and that I should find and seal some leaks, but if I start making money again my confidence will go up and likely help improve my game.

Here’s the situation. WPEX has a low player base so there aren’t enough tables going. I am a full-ring cash guy as you know well, but they usually only have 6-max tables going. So I want to make the transition to 6-max.

I know I will have to loosen up and develop a post-flop game to play 6-max efficiently. I think that learning to short-game will be my next step to learning more about the game and becoming a more rounded player. Because as I move up levels I need to learn to outplay opponents and not just play the monsters to make profits.

So this morning after 2 weeks of waiting for half my bankroll to get into my epassporte I should finally be able to put it on WPEX.

Anyone have any pointers - hook a brotha up.

Wish me luck.. Donkass out.

SNAILTRAX

I drop by for the first time in a long time to read some of Doubleas wisdom and what do I find? A little linky-link to this sick realm of improprieties. I come lookin’ poker knowledge and I’m met with dick and fart jokes and ethnic epithets. I am thoroughly impressed with Daddy's demented wit as well as Doubleas usual great posts. OK, I’m done kissing ass. Good shit boys, keep it comin’. A new sheep has joined the herd of the lost. Now I know I have to start playing the weekly blogger events again.

Check it out guys, you'll laugh till you shit.

Sick

Sicker

sick as shit

Just wrong - horribly wrong

Quickie

I played a little when I got up this afternoon. I put in 1 1/2 hrs. I made 1 buy-in at the $25 tables. I was playing 5 and was slightly up on all when I got off. That felt good.

I tried to play when I got home in the morning from work, but UB only had 1 table going. I checked the forums and hit the hey.

I want to put in some good sessions these days off. I haven't put in but 1 session in the last few weeks that was over 5 hrs. 2 at least that long and I will be happy. Unless I'm playing with my Bro at UB, I will probably be at WPEX. I haven't played there in a while because of the low amount of players. After talking to my boy Rake the other day, I am going to give it a go again. And since I've been earnings stagnant for awhile I think rakeback is just what I need to make some freakin' money. If nothing else I'll get a few games going on each site.

Later Donkass out.

Home Game Losing Streak Has Ended

Home game again. This time I’m back with a vengeance. OK, maybe not that dramatic, but I did win a nice score. $77 to be exact; that ain’t bad for .25/.50. I played tight for the most part. I was actually card dead for the most part, but I did get a few opportunities. I won 3 big hands and the rest were the slow grind. I had 1 beer.

Same old story: bad plays all night long. Basically if you could just get a hand you could take down some loot. I think I need to loosen up a little more. We had 10 people playing. Only 4 of us were the usual crew; the rest were friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Anyways, these guys were playing every hand. 6 or more limping to the flop. I just kept folding and weighting for starting hands. I’m telling you there is no protecting your hands with these guys. You raise PF and get 3 callers. Raise big on the flop and still get 2 callers.

So many bad plays. Ex: Chris limps along with 5 or more people with 97o. 997 flop. Raise before him. He raises it up and gets 2 callers. Turn is a paint card. Early guy doesn’t check to the aggressor and bets out again. Chris raises bigger. Both call. I am thinking trip-fight and it will be down to the kicker. Maybe over pair for the other caller or maybe 77. Imagine my befuddlement as a 9 hits the river board. I say that someone is lying their asses off. Phil leads out again and Chris pushes his last bit. Phil and another new kid call. Phil turns over 88 and I fell nauseous. The new guy shows down J7o or something horrible like that. Chris pulls in the pot of the night with quads. Terrible play.

Also I’ve noticed that there is a lot of regressive betting at our game. Often someone will bet $3 on the flop. and then bet $2 on the turn and river even though the pot is getting larger. No one follows the ½ pot and up rule. That is mainly the reason that I can chase down a possible and win a big pot once or twice a session usually, if the cards cooperate. Also the other thing that I noticed was that the majority of players were callers, not raisers. They would just check or call with prs, but would call if someone bet. There was a lot of this going on. I saw people only call down hands where they sat with monsters because they didn’t have the nuts. Makes it cheaper for me if I lose the hand, yet also makes it harder to know where you stand in the hand. If you got something bet. Oh yea, another thing is all the limping with almost everyone seeing the flop. I think this is because of how much they like to say what they would have hit if they wouldn’t have folded. They don’t realize that in the long run they would lose money playing that junk hand that just happened to hit that hand. This also makes it hard to know where you’re at on the flop. Lots of 2prs connect with that much action.

My 3 big hands. I get in SC’s and hit the Um-possible on the flop. I bet out a few bucks to try and take down the pot or at least build it up if I hit. I am raised double by a new guy. I call. He is very green and probably only played a few time somewhere else if at all. Put it this way, when we started we had to teach him the blind structure and how to burn a card when dealing. I watched him call down with 2nd-pr a few time up this point. The turn is a small card to the board. I check. He raises less than the last and I am obliged to call. River brings my flush money; it is smaller than the high card. I don’t have the nut flush though. But I don’t put him on the flush-draw. I don’t see him betting and raising to the flush. I put him on top pair. I check, hoping for the raise. He decides to bet big here. I push. He thinks about it a long time and then calls with top 2pr and then buys back in.

Hand 2 and 3 go and in hand. Chris’ brother was there and at this juncture pretty sloshed. As he was getting drunk, he won some nice pots. He had only around $50 at this time – double what he had bought in for. He was up a lot more at one point. He is a very cocky kid – nice but cocky. He got into an ego habit of doubling his buddy’s PF or flop bets. We started making a big deal about it, so he started doubling everyone’s bets early in hands. He called down his fiend often and showed nothing – not even a pr. But he was getting a lot of folds and pretty much was running the table because everyone was afraid to bet early on. I am just waiting and praying for a hand. His ego really kicked in as he got drunk and he started raising PF $5 every few hands. If he had anything he was throwing in that $5 chip on top of is fifty-cent chip at our .50 game. I get dealt ATo and limp. He only bets $2 above the blind this time and I call. A-small-small flop. I check , and he throws in that $5 chip. I make it $15. He calls. Turn x and I make it $10 to go. He calls again. I start second-guessing my move and check the innocuous looking river with the intention to call if he bets. He checks and shows A8o.

While the cards are being shuffled he is obviously tilting. He starts stacking his chips out in $1 piles and has around $20 left. I get dealt KK. I raise to $3.50. folds to him and he says I’m all-in and pushes the counted out stacks into the middle. Folds back to me and I call. He turns over 95s. His buddy calls him a dumbass and I take down the pot. He buys back in for like $18 and tilts that off to someone else in the next 10 min. or so. He then asks to borrow some money from his brother, who tells him to take his ass-whippin’ and walk home. He downs his Miller Lite and leaves saying good game.

I was the 2nd place finisher with $77 behind Chris’ $105. You could just see his ego swell. For some reason his cockiness is bothering me. He isn’t humble and likes to brag up his luck. He thinks it is all skill as of right now. He has been hitting his draws on some big hands and winning overall. He has yet to deal with Lady Variance. I just want him to stop being cocky, because I find myself playing more hands against him trying to humble his ass. That isn't good, because that means he kinda has me on tilt against him.

SnG Challenge: Last 7

Ok, I didn't do as well with the remainer of the games. I took a I averaged 5th place. Not too good. I took some beats, but they were equalized with some bad play o my part. I also went for too many coin-flips. The play was better at this level; there were a lot less agro all-in guys. I think I could be profitable at $10 SnG's. Maybe I'll give it another go the next time I feel my career has stagnated.

4 - 5th = -$11

5 - 10th = -$11

6 - 10th = -$11

7 - 1st = +$39

8 - 2nd = +$19

9 - 7th = -$11

10 - 5th = -$11

Total for Challenge
Risked $110
Made $97
Net -$13

Not too bad for my first big jump into the SnG ring. (10 isn't a real big jump, I know.) I am going to head back to multi-tabling my $25NL FT RG for now though. I do think the SnG's made me focus more and think deeper about my play. The big difference is in my FR game I can sit and wait until I want to mix it up; the blinds dictate that I be a little more aggressive than my norm.

New Sidebar Feature

Association of Players, Casinos & Webmasters



Welcome to the APCW, where players, casinos, and webmasters come together for the common good of the online gaming industry. We offer a meeting place for open communication, a central source for important news and information, an organized and professional resolution center, and the power of a consolidated voice.

I added a video to the sidebar. It's kinda cut a little off, but you can see most of the screen. They update this weekly. That is their mission statement sorta above. Check them out by clicking the above logo. It is free to join. If you like what they stand for after looking them up, join. We must start fighting now before they take our rights away; not wait until then a begin the fight.

Cool Cheat Vid

This dude is good. I just thought that players would like to see what you could be up against. Hopefully not. It is a cool vid though. It is a vid from a migic site that sells card tricks and other magic tricks, books, and items. The kids were watching Naruto clips and I saw it was a U-tube clone site so I typed in poker and this was one of the clips. Check it out and be amazed at the skillz. Later.


Poker Cheats - video powered by Metacafe

SnG Challenge: First 3

I got home from work and got on with my Bro. I told him about my challenge and he said he'd be happy to play a few SnG's. He plays a lot of tourneys. We started up the first one. I played foldem for the most part, not seeing much early on.

My Bro got caught on a bluff against a flopped set and dropped to 300. Then he commenced to double up multiple time and accumulated over 6000 in chips and the big stack at the table. He reigned over for awhile and then, wrongly IMO, doubled up 2 guys in a row with marginal calls of their allins. I think maybe he was trying to help me, the short stack, out by knocking out 2 of the other low stacks. All he managed to do was make more of a disparity between me and the other stacks. I think maybe he tilted slightly after that and went out quickly after. He raised with a marginal Ace, was raised, and then he pushed. He was called and dominated.

I managed to get my chips in with the best a few times,thus putting me above push/fold mode. I stole some blinds and won a few small pots and got to the bubble. We played 4-handed for a long time. Everyone was playing push/fold at this point. I was less aggressive than the rest hoping to get to 3rd and then step it up. But I pushed with A6s when in the SB and the BB called me with a dominating AT and I left with 3 outs and a back-back-door FD. I lose on the bouble after a long game and some hard work.

Game 2 went better. I played foldem again but hit a few flops and sat nice for the early game. My Bro played his usual game and was also up for half the game. He was one of the Bigs for a while but didn't sit on it and lost a few fights that I wouldn't have got in the ring for. He ended up going out the same way: bet, raised, push, called. But this time his TT was on the better side of the coin flip, although he didn't hold up. I got some nice cards and slowplayed a few monsters and took out a few guys. the end game wasn't too long this timer. I went from Big to Short a few times. But ultimately I took both guys out for my first win.



Today I have played one game so far. I was typing this up while playing the early and mid stages. I looked one minute with 6 total left and me in 5th and then when the table poped back up for the next hand, there were 4 left and me the ST with less than half of the next lowest stack. I got a few hands and took down the blinds with my pushes. I also pushed overtop of a few hard bets. I bubbled again in a blind fight when my 99 fell to Bigslick.



I'm happy so far, but the 2 4th spots away hurt more than going out in any other spot.

10 Game Challenge

1 - 4th = -$11
2 - 1st = +$39
3 - 4th = -$11

Total = +$17

Written Poker Records

You should keep accurate records of your wins, losses, and amounts. Use an Excel spreadsheet, Poker Tracker, or even a hand written ledger. That way there is no mistaking how you’re doing, you can just look down and there is a true account of how you are performing. Here’s the reason for a written record: personal recall is usually positively biased. What that means is when you think back about something that you personally did, you usually remember that you did better than you actually did. You don’t do it on purpose and usually can’t help it or even realize that you did it. It is an unconscious defense mechanism for your self-esteem, which helps keep you viewing yourself in a positive light. This helps alleviate depression and neuroticism. This is a good thing in general but can be misleading at times. Often addicts can’t realize how bad things are getting because they unwittingly lie to themselves. Sometimes things aren’t what they seem. Anyways, this is just something to think about. And ultimately this is why you should keep records of how you’re doing at poker or any goals in general and not just mentally keep tally.

Going a New Route or Psych Wars: A New Hope

I am having a major downswing lately. For the last few months I have been doing more losing than winning. I was up last month by a few hundred by overall I had more losing sessions than winning ones. This month so far I am down a hundred or so. OK, I guess not a major downswing, but it seems so. I am feeling very negative about my current game. My total game online and off this month as of yet hasn’t been good, to the point that I have barely played online. I just feel that I’m in a rut and I can only lose money if I play. And it is fact that negativity breeds negative results. Junk in, junk out as the IT boys say. I really have to buckle down and think positive about how well I have actually done in poker. But I just keep having this losing streak. I have lost 3 home games in a row. I lost $75 playing that live rebuy, though I didn’t really expect to cash my first time out. It all wrapped up together has put my psyche in turmoil.

I think I will take a sojourn from my usual cash game grind. After reading Chipper’s blog a little I have decided to give SnG’s a try. I have done fairly well at SnG’s in the passed, albeit $1 STT’s. I think a change of scenery will do me go and possibly steer me out of this rut. I am going to play 10 $10 SnG’s and evaluate how I fair if I am above even I will give another 10 a shot. This challenge will give me a set short-term goal to strive for other than my norm of just being profitable. Also I plan to start playing some forum weeklies again and also some weekly blogger’s – The Mook for sure anyway. And the SnG’s will get me in shape to play in those games and hopefully help me get deep.

I’m sure I’ll throw in a little time at the cash tables because my Bro has started playing again lately. But it will be cheap win or lose because he is just starting a roll so the stakes will be small. Donkass out.

Fish Game No More or This is Getting Old

This is the last time I will call The Fish Game by that name. I’m down $51 dollars as of yet this year. We played 5 times already. I walked away a winner the first two games and all seemed normal and just in the universe. But in the last 3 games I have walked away with my hands in my empty pockets. Good thing I have that fist sized hole in one pocket or I wouldn’t find any satisfaction. (Damn, fist sounded gay – finger then. That sounded slightly less gay, but gay nonetheless. Ok, enough with all the innuendo; my man-nuggets are near the hole in my jeans.) I lost $20 Friday at the “Home” game. That’s what I’ll call it for now on. I think I let my ego get the best of me recently by calling it the fish game. I should be a little more humble. Out of last year’s 17 games I was 14/3, so I just took for granted that I couldn’t lose against them. I have already lost as many games this year as all of last year. Don’t get me wrong here, I am still rational about the softness of the game; it’s just that I was getting a little cocky it think. I needed a reality check it seems. But truly I should be making consistent money at this game.

I played fairly well for the most part, but just wasn’t hitting the cards to beat the calling-stations. We played for 6 hrs and I got barely any premium hole cards and absolutely no big PP’s. The best I did was AK twice, 99 once, and AQ, KQ, AJ, and AT multiple times. I would have been slightly up for the night, though card dead, if I hadn’t made one mistake. An embarrassing mistake to say the least. Next game I will not drink. Twice now I have misread a hand and lost a big pot due to getting too tipsy; twice now it has cost me to go home on the losing end of butt-kickin’. I don’t drink at home so why do I when I go out? Social drinking I guess. Truly it shouldn’t be all about financial gain when playing with friends. It should be about camaraderie and hanging with friends in an easygoing setting. Shit, I can do all those things without getting drunk. Actually my big problem is that I’m competitive, maybe overly so; I honestly just hate to lose. It’s about being better and more knowledgeable at something and the money is just a by-product of that never-ending quest. And in the case of the “Home” game it’s more like being unsatisfied with not meeting my potential against inferior opponents. Not intellectually inferior or anything to do with cognitive reasoning, just overall substantially deeper knowledge of Holdem and poker in general. I’m done cleaning out the gray matter while typing, sorry. Rant over.

God, they still all over-value most hands most of the time. Kickers don’t even go into their decision-making processes. In the 6 hr session I watched nearly countless big fights with marginal holdings. The money at the table just moved from pile to pile. (Except mine that is. LOL.) They play with the Dealer’s-choice mentality, where they think luck is the key and you need to have your money in all the time because you never know when you will hit. “If it’s your night, it’s your night.” As we students of poker all know, skill and knowledge are ultimately how we win. Not trying to sound cheesy, but as Kenny once sang, “You have to ‘know’ when to holdem and ‘know’ when to foldem. Anyone can win on any given day but only skilled knowledgeable players will win in the long-run. OK, back to the lesson at hand, I watched 3 trip fights where no one even considered kickers. They just kept betting and raising each other on every street, making the pot huge, even though it was pretty obvious what both had and they showed down 3’s-7’s as kickers. Only once in those 3 hands did someone have over a T as a kicker. Don’t get me wrong, I would most definitely have to see the showdown with trips, but with a low board and a baby-kicker, and someone showing that they likely have the same trips also, I am going to slow down the betting to C/C mode. (Check/Call.) Also when the board 4-flushes like it did quite a few times in the 6 hr session, the betting gets crazier than the accumulated kickers condone. I watched 4 people go allin when the river brought the 4th suited card to the party. 1st guy shows down 2pr, 2nd player a straight, and the last 2 players show a 4 and a 7 on the low board. The 7 wins, but all including the winner said, “damn, had to see it,” none thinking that maybe their call or bet or reraise wasn’t the best play. This all just leaves me at the table lamenting Crom, the God of poker among other things, for not giving me a high card of that suit.

Hell sometimes it’s hard to lay down a marginal hand when they bet hard. I actually lost 3 hands to Phil last night because of him over-valuing his hand, thus causing me to fold early on in the hand due to his junky bets. Maybe I’m simply weak. But I think in the long-term against calling-stations the optimum strategy is to play foldem and when you hit hard bet, bet, bet. Trying to play at their drawing luck game isn’t that strong, you can’t really out-play them with moves, because they don’t know what you’re telling them. They just say hell I have a pair, lets call this bet and see what happens. I do play a little loose, trying to hit hard. The way they call bets you just never really know if you’re ahead or totally crushed. The one nice thing about their bad play is that they rarely value-bet. I watched Phil’s wife just call with the nuts when another player before her bet the river. He was willing to go allin with a semi-strong hand. See could have taken it all, but instead she left him with $15. You guys have to see why I am so pissed at my losing streak. I mean I’m not talking $50NL player’s skill against my skills. Where some players are close, parallel, over better than me. No I’m talking the equivalent of Freemoney players or worse at my game. I am just running bad. It is not really variance in the usual since, because I’m not really getting out-drawn, it’s more of just being card dead. When you have a minimum of 4 CS’s per hand you have to occasionally have the best hand to win.

Oh yea, let me not forget to humiliate myself before I leave you to ridicule my misfortune, err I mean, utter debacle. Let me start by saying that I was buzzing strongly. (Right to the excuses, I know. Hey I have some pride to uphold you know.) I have QJ. Lots of limpers to the flop. Phil doubles a BB and makes it $1 to go on a board of KT6. Maki and Gregg call. I normally F/C (fold/call) 75/25% here, but with 3 already in the hand, I get my price I want to call. Pat goes allin for his last $3.5 limpers Fold back to Phil and Mac, Gregg, and him all call. I squeeze my miserly sphincter tight and put in another $2.50 also. Turn comes the Ace. Phil bets $5 into the side-pot and all 3 of us call, me with my mighty gut-shot-possible. (We call all draws possibles. It is just a running joke that originated a Chris statement. Months ago at a game when asked what he had mucked, he said, “…a possible,” like it was a noun. Like someone would say I folded a flush-draw. So now we all just say that we had a possible.) The river comes a J. But being buzzed-up I remembered my hole cards as QT. And I didn’t check my cards again. Phil leads out for $5 again; Maki calls; and I say,“ Lets make it $10,” thinking wrongly that I had the nut straight after hitting my possible. Pat shows his straight; Qx that wasn’t even a possible when he went allin on the flop. I say that I also have the straight as I am turning over my cards on the table. I see my error and say oops and show down 2pr. Phil has K6 and takes down the pot and I am red in the face and look like a total jackass. Real nice feeling I tell ya. At least it was among friends; yea friends that will make sure that they remind me at work and every game from here on out. But I wouldn’t let them live it down either, so I deserve what I get. Did I mention that I’m not drinking at the next game. Later, Donkass out.

Last Few Days or Slowly But Surely

I have put in maybe 3 hrs in the last 4 days. I’ve been working so I haven’t had much time for anything but sleep. Each morning I would come home and play a little before sleep. I was up slightly on each session. Not a lot of money, but I made around 2 buyins at the $25 tables over my 4 sessions. I am currently playing solid ABC poker plus positional bets and raises added in. Often I will limp in with a hand that I want to see a flop with and everyone will fold but the blinds. If they both check I bet pot no matter what I have or what hits the flop. I bet I take down 5 out of 6 of these position plays right there on the flop. I don’t know how much poker I will get in these days off.

I have a goal of 1 grand again this month. I made it last month but then dropped back down again. Right now I only have $350 on the net. UB sent me a $550 check that I cashed out. It isn’t here yet. I was trying to transfer it to my Click2pay account. The transaction was pending for over a week because I had just opened the account but hadn’t verified it yet, so Click2pay wouldn’t process it. Finally UB just sent me a check. So when it gets here I will put it back on UB through Click. I was trying to redeposit and get the 100% bonus that UB was offering. It didn’t work out as you can tell. I am going to keep $100 for a starter live roll and put the other $450 back on. So I need to make $200 more this month to reach my goal.

Rebuy Tourney Report

29 players entered. 3 places paid out. I started the tourney in seat 8 of table 2. First thing that I noticed was how high the blinds vs starting stacks were. You pretty much had to stay semi-active and accumulate chips pretty regularly. We never made it 2 cycles before a level went up. No super waiting game for me it seems. The levels that really hurt were 4 and 7. As you can see there were big jumps on those 2 levels. If I had known, I would have played differently in this tournament. Next time I will be ready for those big jumps in the blinds. I totally crippled myself late in the tourney for the simple fact that I wasn’t versed in the blind structure. I am happy with my overall play. Using a little hindsight bias I made a few mistakes simple that I can see now. At least I see what I need to work on and some areas where I can improve. I made the Final Table. I went out in 8th.

The guy in seat 9 was a regular and had actually won 3 times recently. You win a gold watch if you get first. He had one on. There were also a few more old dudes sporting those watches. He told me that all the winners get a seat in a special tourney. I think he said at that point the winners from that tourney play for a trip to a WSOP game. (I don’t know which one.) He said that the reason he was still playing was because every seat that he won was one seat that he took away from someone else for the tourney. The guy talked to me and gave me tips to get the most out of the structure. Like at the beginning of level 3 when the blinds went to 100/200 they took away the 25 chips. I had 3 and got a 100 chip for 75. (I have seen this done before at home games but never thought much about it before. Once he told me it seemed so simple that I actually felt a little simple.) He only had 1 chip and turned it into a 100. I said that the exchange worked out pretty good for him. He said that was why he had made that odd bet earlier in the round. I had remembered it. I told him that I had wondered why he had bet 175 PF and that I watched the hand close for any sign or tale. So I really liked the guy for teaching me at the table.

I planed that the first time the blinds came around I was going to rebuy and double my stack. But as fate would have it, when I was in the BB for the 1st time I had pocket 3’s. 2 limpers and the SB tried to complete. I made it 150 to go. 2 called. Scattered board. 1st to act, I threw in a 500 chip, scooped the pot, and mucked.

Blinds went up quick and so did my mentor’s stack. He was running the table. He was obviously full of crap on most bets, but they were winning pots. He was getting lucky though. I think it was due the rebuy structure that he was calling some of his luck hands. If he whiffed he could always rebuy and go for the big stack at the table with his agro style.

Key hand – my buddy Chris raises to 400 or 500 PF with Cowboys. Mentor adds 3 or 4 hundred for a call with 86s. Flop comes something like J62 rainbow. Chris bets 500 and he calls. X-small on the turn and Chris bets 500 again and again he calls. River 6 and mentor bets out 1000 or so. Chris calls and loses most of his stack. I explain to Chris on the ride home that he didn’t protect his hand with his small bets.

I win another hand early into level 2 with AK. I raise PF and get 2 limping-callers. I win the pot due to a ½ pot CB. I’m stacking up nicely.

I watch my mentor and an old dude with a watch duke it out. M raises PF and OD calls. Flop comes paired and a K, OD checks and M CB’s. OD calls. Turn comes a Q and OD checks again. M asks how much he has left and puts him all in. OD calls and turns over J8, which doesn’t pair anything. I’m wondering how he called both streets with absolutely nothing. M turns over JT and they both laugh and split the pot when their J’s play the board.

Then I try to play the player against mister mentor and take an ass-whippin’. I’m in SB and call after a couple early limpers with KT. Mentor raises it up to 600. Folds to me and I call the other 400. Flop comes K6x. I check knowing he was going to bet no matter what. He bets 600. It looks like a CB for sure to me. I said that I raise to 1500 fully expecting a nice fold. But no, he asks how much I have left. I had about 1200 left and put it in the middle. He shows a set of 6’s. I cash in my allin rebuy ticket.

Right before the end of the 3rd I have ducks. There are like 5 limpers including me. I’m 2nd to act and because there are 3 overs on the board I check. Everyone else checks. Turn X and we all check again. River brings my set. I make it 1000 to go and get 2 callers and the win.

I get the dealer rebuy and the add-on so at break I have 10500. The 4th and 5th levels are pretty tame and I hold my own, yet don’t gain. Mentor drops in level 4 I think. He bets with all the way to the river and was called down the whole way by a lady that was a true calling-station. Her stack was up and down all night long depending on if she hit or not. She was in most hands didn’t fold often. Anyway, she gets a runner-runner 4-flush for the win. He pushes with less than the blinds and heads for home on the next hand. Later teach, thanks for the tips.

We consolidate to the FT and I still haven’t moved all night. At the start of the 6th I have 9000 in chips. The blinds went up to 2000/5000 from 1000/2000 just a minute before. There are 8 left. I should definitely of found a spot in the previous level when my stack actually held some sway and made a few moves. But I didn’t even think about until they said that the blinds were now 2000/5000. I look down at JT and push with less than 2 BB’s. I get 3 callers and 1 hits a straight and I go to the rail in 8th.

Here’s a couple of mistakes that I made that I can see other than holding a relatively low chip stack compared to the blinds most of the time. Oh yea, having less than 2 BB’s. In the SB in level 2 or 3 I have Q8s and call. 2 Q’s hit the flop and I check as do the other 2 guys in the hand to the river and then I bet out. They didn’t hit their hands so they dropped and I won a smallish pot. I should have definitely bet the turn. Also it would seem unlikely that I had a Q if I had bet out the flop. No one probably would have called any bet, but I still didn’t like the check-check. Of course this is in retrospect. Another hand that hurt was when I had AQs in LP. 2 limpers and then a player from MP raises 4xBB. Folds to me and I think about it and fold due to the other 2 players to act. Both call and it is a Q-high flop. Checky-check-CB-foldy-fold. I don’t know really if it was bad or not but it hurt anyway. I probably made the right decision, but with the blind structure being so tight I’m not positive. I really need to chip-up when I get a hand.

I learned a lot and had fun. I will likely play again, but I totally hate the structure of this tourney. I would much rather buyin for a set amount and the best man wins. I also think if I’m to do better I need to loosen up early and try to chip-up or rebuy trying.

Side note: Chris actually got 2nd place. I am very happy for him, but I have mixed feelings about it. (Him dogging me about placing higher might have a little to do with it.) No truly to be honest about it, he was likely the guy out of the 29 entrants with the least amount of skill/experience. He just started playing our home games and still doesn’t know all the rules of what bets what. Actually once in the tourney the dealer had to explain to him why he lost a hand. Just the other day when we played I had to explain that his KQ didn’t beat the other guy’s A6. He said that his 2 cards were higher than the 6. Same game I had to explain that his 4-flush with his 4 was beaten by the other guy’s 8. He said that it should be a split pot because they both had flushes. Anyway, my point is that he got 2nd place and almost to down the watch. He had awesome cards all night long. He actually hit quads after going allin vs 2 players PF and knocked them both out. But even with great hands I still wouldn’t have thought someone that inexperienced could have a chance to win a 29-man tourney. When it got down to 4 left he was the big stack. Him and the other big stack whittled down the other 2 and took them out. When it got HU him and a Lady at had played well, just checked back and forth to showdown, occasionally beating only when they had something. No aggression at all. Hands started going here way and she took over the chip lead. They both finally had a hand at the same time and butted heads and Chris lost after going in with the worst hand. He did well and netted over $300 after his rebuys. We talked poker the whole hr home. I told him about aggression HU and after she showed that she was passive, that he should have really started bullying her.

Rebuy Tourney Structure

Rebuy Tourney Structure - $30 buyin 1500 chips; 1 – allin rebuy = $10 for 1500 chips or $20 for 2500 chips; endless rebuys = $10 for 1500; 1 – dealer rebuy = $5 for 1000 chips; 1 add-on = $20 3000 chips.

1st 3 rounds 20 min each; remaining rounds 15 min each.

All rebuys only occur during the 1st 3 rounds; add-on at end of 3rd round.

Allin rebuy: you can only go allin and lose once in the tourney. At that point you can buy back in for 1500 or 2500 chips for $10 or $20 respectively.

Rebuys: you can buy 1500 chips for $10 any time that you drop below 1500 in chips as long as you don’t go allin and lose.

Dealer rebuy: you can buy 1000 chips 1 time during the 1st 3 rounds at any time you choose.

Add-on: at the break at the end of the 3rd round you can buy chips no matter how many you have - $20 buys 3000 chips.

Blind Structure

Level 1- 50/100

Level 2 – 100/200

Level 3 – 200/500

Level 4 – 500/1000

Level 5 – 1000/2000

Level 5 – 2000/5000

Level 6 – 5000/10000

Level 7 – 10000/20000

Level 8 – 20000/50000