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