Resolutions for the new year

Everyone is doing them so I might as well join the fray (since there's no poker content because someone stayed up too late the night before).

Ok my resolutions for the new year...

1) Spend more time with little Drizz and my wife.

Since getting out of the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game for non-geek out there) world I have become somewhat helpful around the house (no I still can't cook) and spent considerably more time with my family but I'd like to do things outside of our home more often. Go to the park, go skating, go to a movie (LOTR was the last one I've seen in a theater), anything just get out of the house and have fun.

2) Go back to school

This one is a little tougher since we're most likely going to be moving in next few months and we'll be financially strapped (barring my impending WPT win of course) after moving into the new place. I would like to complete a bachelors degree since I already have an A.S.
It may not make a difference at work, but I'd like to have it for a sense of finality and accomplishment.

3) Learn more about poker

Reading books, playing against drunken bloggers, and being more observant. Instead of blindly playing ABC poker and chasing bonuses (which I'm still going to do since its generally easy money and cushions variance), I'm going to strive for playing a more aggressive game based on betting patterns vs. just my cards. Looking at all my outs, position, who's raising with 72o (oh wait that's me nevermind). I've got SSH, Lou Kreiger's Omaha book, and I'll probably snap up Super System 2 from Doyle's Room if they still have that promotion.

4) Playing poker when I am ready to

Firing up the computer and a couple of tables of is easy to do. But like last night I would have been half-asleep and dreaming of Lindsay Lohan bouncing up to me while lounging at the Mandalay Bay beach pool asking me if I'd join her for a heads-up game of strip poker. Poker isn't a RPG game, if you play it tired (NOTE: drinking is a different story since I too have moderate success playing drunk) you will make tired decisions like calling passively with second pair, surf for nude Lindsay Lohan pics, or play above your bankroll because "you want to make the money back quicker". I used to play Dark Age of Camelot for 4-5 hours a night, every night, never again will I lose sight of what's important... holding the nuts with a PartyPoker fish just begging to give you money :D

5) Meet the bloggers IRL

The trip reports from Vegas only stoked the fire that I have been wanting to meet the bloggers out there. I know sometime this year I'll be able to meet up with Chris at Canterbury but I'd also like to attend the next WPBT event. Since my friends don't share the poker bug or the need to wager on the winner of a game of Dance Dance Revolution. It would be an honor and a learning experience to meet such people. Just give me a 3-4 month forwarning to get my liver and stomach in shape. I just hope my ghostly Minnesota whiteness doesn't frighten anyone.

6) Win another MTT but learn to play ring games better
I had 4 final tables at MTTs this year (well I started in July...). I won a tournament at Pacific, a 4th (out of 1500) in the Party $5 tournament, a 2nd in the Grublog Classic (which I'm more proud of then the rest of the tournament cashes), and a 6th (out of 1200+) in a Omaha PL tournament at Stars. Sadly the high places make up 1/3 of my bankroll. I need to become a better ring game player since I'm too chickenshit to play in higher buy-in tournaments then $10. I need to grow some brass balls and take a shot in the $20-$50 range now that my bankroll allows me to do so.

Again I hope to meet all of you fellow gambing degenerates (I heard the Aladdin was a possiblity?) sometime next year. Until then see ya at the blogger table :)

Easier to read

I changed the background to blue and smaller font. Hope my scribble is easier to read now :)

Easy come, easy go

I got a lesson in variance again last night as nothing seemed to go right... except at the blogger table. A full table again of the finest degenerate online poker writers anywhere. Hammers flying, quips penned, and small penis jokes for comedic relief. The funny thing is that the blogger table is the only place I won last night. Two stacks gone at a $25 NLHE table when KK goes down to AJ pre-flop (who re-raises all-in with AJ? A new person on my buddy list of course!), I made a bad play on a flopped two-pair running into a flopped straight, AJs vs. J9o (called a 6XBB raise of course) flopped two pair to my TPTK, and to top off that table KQ vs. A8 got re-raised all-in on a A - K - Q rainbow flop. I didn't fear any that could beat me so I pushed, sure enough an A comes on the turn and its time for bed. Even the bad beat jackpot table killed me, some tilt, some horrible calls when I knew I'd gotten outdrawn, and some premium hands cracked (KK three times, JJ twice, AKs twice). Self-control after a bad beat is something I need to work on.

At the blogger table was fun, if it wasn't for Iggy and Otis constantly trying to loosen up the table (to their advantage of course) I would have probably resorted to throwing the cat or something. I even dropped the hammer last night on AlCanFold (my guess was the lack of SoCo, luckily I caught him early in the night). There was two hands that I remember... flopping a set from PRESTO and losing to a flopped set of Aces, sigh. And Iggy showed me the power of the big stack when I turned top two but a third straight card came on the river and he shoved me off my hand (email me if you flopped the straight Iggy, I'd like to know if I was right).

- Going shopping

Before the disastrous night of poker we were forced to go out and kill time due to another showing of our house, which is still not sold :( First stop was Best Buy to pick up Anchorman and Old School (a nice $25 for both special) with Wil Ferrell (sp?). I like Best Buy, I like drooling at the 120 foot LCD screens with football highlights, but... since an impatient wife and antsy toddler waited for me in the car there would be no oogling tonight. So, I get up to the line to wait for the next cashier when this trailer trash reject with two daughters cut in line front of me (foreshadow to a bad night of poker?). I sighed as usual and brushed it off as I really didn't care (but yet felt the need to write about it). They were all listening to MP3 players in the store and were talking loudly over them as they grazed the racks before the register before leaving the line to go do more shopping. Finally after a couple of minutes I get to the front of the line and a rather pleasant Andrea waved me over to make my purchase... until the women and her daughters zoom right into Andrea's awaiting arms (she shruged at least). Sigh. No fear since another associate was ready not a few seconds after that. Next... my only pet peeve about Best Buy is the magazine thing, the associates offer you fabulous discounts on magazines that you did not come to the store to get. Can I opt out of this? Because its freakin annoying to hear the droll speech about the magazines everytime you check out. With my purchase in tow I head to the front door and lo and behold trailer trash and her urial stained teeth set off the alarm. This made me snicker but... the security people don't even blink and she walks right out! Eh? I guess a couple of CDs or DVD wasn't worth the hassle of asking her about her purchases.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Wow, what a fun Christmas! Sure it was more hectic having a little toddler screaming all over the place and saying the word "no" 15 million times. But, the smile on his face when he opened a gift was worth it.

Lets see if I can remember all that went on...

- Christmas eve:

Went to my parents side of the family for an hour and they were all gearing up for a poker tournament!!!! But... the wife said we're going to my sister-in-law's house instead BOO! Oh well, we had a good time over there as my brother-in-law's parents were down from up north and we always have a good time with them. I got a big hooded sweatshirt from Ely, MN, a poker calendar (complete with a hand ranking guide!), and an omelet maker (I love breakfast). There were some assorted other items but those were the ones I'll be getting the most use out of.

- Christmas day:

Went to my mother-in-law's house and my wife's grandparents were there with the same people from yesterday. Party punch? Sure I love getting semi-drunk without noticing it. And I thought I put too much alcohol into my mixed drinks. Grandma was slurring her words after a couple of hours which made me worried since we can barely walk as it is. The boys spent most of the time in the basement watching KC vs. Oakland (covered plus the over GO GO $5 parlay bet whoo whoo!!). Again, I had a good time, got some scratch off lotto tickets (won $12 off $7 worth of tickets wheeeeeeeee). We got home around 6:00pm and I was going to settle in with the Junior National Hockey tournament and the phone rings. My dad calls up and asks if I'd like to go to my uncle's and play poker. My wife looked over and saw the poker chub in my pants and calmly told me "you're not getting any tonight", but if you want to go play poker go ahead. My dad picks me up and away we go. We played 3 tournaments, $5 buy-in, all you drink (after all that party punch I reverted to Miller Lite to prevent passing out). The first two touraments had 8 people each and we had a blast! First hand of the first tournament 4 people go all-in! I thought AA, KK, QQ, AK... nope 22, K9 (SOOOOOOOOted), TT, and someone did have AQ at least. The flush dropped for the K9 and we were down to 5. And you thought PartyPoker was loose-aggressive. I just sat back and waited to drop the hammer, but alas, it never came the whole night! I did manage to slide into the final two of the first tournament and got heads-up with my aunt. Everyone was telling me to just give up since it was a 6 to 1 chip difference... Ye of little faith, I won two back to back all-ins and we near tied-up. When I got J8 and a Jack flopped with a rainbow board. With top pair I pushed all-in... my aunt pushes with... J5 for two pair! Sigh.
Second Tournament I found myself in the final 3 again with big slick and after my dad raised, I pushed all-in and he calls with... 32o! Three spades flop (I have the As) my chances are looking pretty good now, then an offsuit 3 hits (grrrrr.... and I take a swig of my watered down Lite), and an offsuit 2 on the river completes the train wreak IGHN.
Third Tournament some more degenerate gamblers wander in and we have 12 people total for the last tournament. I built a nice stack after hitting top set into a boat with two cowboys, and picking off my sister's bluff with top pair on the turn with KQs. Since it gets hazy I don't remember much of the third tournament except it was down to the last two and I offered to split the $55 between 1st and 2nd since I had a 3 to 1 lead and was about to fall over. But someone suggested we play showdown for it! Nothing like poker bingo for money. His Q4 vs. my 78s... flop Q - 4 - 6 rainbow (at least I got a gutshot) turn Q (at least I got a gutshot) river... Q (at least I got shot in the gut). Jez, four ladies! IGHN.
3 tourneys, 3 ITM, but spending time with the family was the best part... ok playing live poker was cool too but playing with the family made it all the better.

- Day after Christmas

Played some online poker while shaving off more of the 750 FPPs I need at PokerStars. Again the fishes there have multiplied 10 fold. I was winning quite a few hands with top pair and stronger flushes (hint to WhiteSoxFan... 94s is not a good hand to cold call 3 bets with). I won 20BBs over the weekend while getting 500 FPPs. Not a great win rate, but I felt more confident at the $1/$2 level then I have in the past. I wish Stars would have the auto hand download that most of the other sites do, I think I missed 200+ hands to put into Pokertracker.

PartyPoker's Bad Beat Jackpot tables again turned my frown upside down, calling down all flush/straight draws (that didn't hit) raising with the non-nut draw into my AXs. God bless you PartyPoker, now gimme the jackpot! I made back all of the money I lost at the $25NL tables last week plus some! I even won a NLHE SnG for the first time at the $11 level (small po-ta-toes, I know but it was nice!).

I fired up Intertops for the $2004 ho-ho-ho freeroll, played like a maniac for the first rounds, double up or go to bed. And soon I found myself ITM with 30 people left (852 started, top 90 got ho-ho-ho cash!). I'm not sure if I made a fishy play here but... with AQo in MP and 6XBB my stack I decided to go for a steal and push... only to get called by AKo. Should I have just limped in and gotten out if raised and wait for a better spot to push? I got $11 for the 3.5 hour effort. I haven't played in a MTT for a while and it was nice to go on a rush.

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday season... oh wait we got New Year's Eve and bowl games coming up don't we. I never remember much about New Year's so don't expect a long post about it :)

Quick post and night night

Just a quick jotting down. Worked off another 200 FPP at Stars and won!! Deck was hitting me in the face tonight, Quads kings twice, flopped trips, straights. It was nice to get on the nice side of RiverStars.

Hopped over to Party and got a juicy Bad Beat Jackpot Table (jackpot's at $320K log on now!!) and made $100 in 15 minutes! Nut straight, flopped set, and a AK vs. AQ called down made it quick and easy. If only I had the stomach to play at $2/$4 I'd try it more often, because it doesn't look anymore difficult then $1/$2.

I won't be writing till after the holidays probably so a Merry Christmas to all!! And to those that have been taking my money at the blogger tables.... I'll be back to donate Sunday night probably :)

RiverStars

I think the most exciting thing about poker is watching that last card come up and make/destroy your hand. I continued my bad streak of pushing the chips in while I was ahead last night and got sunk by someone on a draw. Not sure how else to play NL, I thought I'd made the right decision to put all-in with TT and a ragged but two flush card flop. "Make them pay for their draws" is advice I've heard. I made him pay, he ends up hitting an overcard to win. Sigh, time for bed, at least the blogger chat was decent. The night wasn't a complete wash, I did win 10BB at a $1/$2 limit table earlier in the night, so at Party I only lost $16 for the night (forgot about my bubble finish at a $11 Omaha 8 SnG).

Stars was a different story for me, lost to 3 gutshots with me holding top two and top pair went down to 74o when he called to the river with middle pair and me leading out. Sigh. That's poker, ups and downs and we still come back for more! I am seeing an improvement while cranking up the aggression factor I little bit. More raises with AK and mid-large pocket pairs. Also reading players and following that read. I called down a flopped middle pair vs. someone who'd raise me on the flop, turns out he only had high cards and I took it down. What surprised me was the bad play at Stars, from past experiences its been very tough place to play. I did lose 13BBs but felt confident that I was a better player then most at the table (that wasn't the case in the past when I played there).

5 day weekend starting at 4:30pm today. I need it! Going out for drinks with my sister after work since its her birthday... and I can could use a beer or three. Then over the weekend its running from family celebration to celebration. I plan on wearing sweatpants most of the time cause these people can cook, and I can eat :D They flooded the hockey rinks near my house yesterday, if weather warms up (currently -2 temp) I'm going to take the little guy up to go skating.

My first blogger table

Since no one gave out names I couldn't tell who was a blogger and which site they were from (please email me so I can add you to my buddy list!). Sorry if I was a bit crabby last night, as I managed to bleed off most of the PartyPoker bonus before clearing it. Raises got too much respect (won the blinds with AA three times, KK twice), tilt induced calls, spliting pots when hitting the nuts, and three suckouts on the river (damn you Hilton Sisters!!) landed me into a second losing session. Part to blame was trying to play 4 tables and keep up with the conversation. Maudie dropped by with a couple of quips, sadly she had to go before playing though.

Three of our closet friends got together to exchange gifts for the kids last night. Eating with 3 toddlers/infants is a fun experience! Nothing like organized mayhem for 30 minutes to offset a long day at work. The little one is getting better about not picking up and throwing everything within his reach but it wasn't relaxing chasing him down everywhere.

Wife was up all night sick so I was up most of the night as well. She still went to work because she didn't know if one of her co-workers was going to be there. She works in a kitchen, the last place I'd want someone who's sick to be working. Hope she can get in to see a doctor today since this cold has been going on for a couple of weeks now.

I didn't get to see Monday Night Football but heard the disgust of the bloggers when Miami pulled the proverbial rabbit out of their ass and won. I can imagine there was some unhappy sportsbook gamblers last night, that game had all of the fixings to be a lock for New England.

I deposited some cash into PokerStars last night to take advantage of their reload bonus. I haven't been there much except to play in Iggy's tournament and to turn my last $5 into $32.50 by placing a multi and winning a SnG. I'll try out two $1/$2 limit hold em full tables to start and see where my luck goes. I haven't cleared a bonus at Stars before, so if anyone has a hint on the easiest games let me know. I'll be popping into Party to play a little as well each night to see if this new frequent player club is worth it. I've never been one to pass up a free t-shirt, it was the whole reason why I played softball and volleyball! That and the free beer after the games I suppose.

UPDATE:
Boss brought in Krispy Kremes this morning.... I'm in sugar-laced heaven. Continue with your day.

Xmas with the parents

Wow, my parents giving never cease to amaze me. These two time and time again have helped whenever they can and I can't be more graceful for being their son. Because of their too generous gift me and my wife will be able to go on vacation this year. Because of selling the house we orginally were planning to stay home to save the money but now we'll be able to make our yearly trek to Vegas. Too much.

Brandy slushes, Viking football (I lose the parlay but I can't believe how they won the game), and watching my son open up Xmas presents made for one of the best days of my life. He got this big wagon from my parents with foldable seats and 4 cup holders! Like I said, too much. Words can't describe how happy I am at the moment.

Good mood means some cards will definitely go up in the air tonight maybe before Las Vegas is on, maybe after as I still have another 500 hands to work off on PartyPoker. I don't think I played yesterday as I'm still down $80 after a small profit on Saturday night thanks to people who like to chase flushes in no limit (it doesn't hurt when I turn a set into boat).. That bring a good question into my mind... when is it profitable to chase that flush? I have a habit of overbetting the pot (talking about NL of course) when I have an overpair or top two pair on the flop and two flush cards appear. Is it the right strategy to try to take down a small pot to potentially taking down a larger pot (or losing a large pot) by letting the flush draw try to draw? I'm confused as to whether this is weak-tight play on my part and potential missed bets by taking down those small pots. If any uber-bloggers out there could chime in, please do so as I feel this is a potential leak in my NLHE game.

I did play a little limit O8 this weekend as well, nothing has changed in these games... wait for the nuts and drive em home. At least I feel confident about my starting hands now. Naked aces with only a low draw go bye-bye now without blinking. Most semi-high pairs with no flush draws are gone. I'll be studying a little more Kreiger before moving up in the rank for O8, but for now its a great way to clear bonuses. I did have a slight brain fart thinking I had the nut flush (I blame the Goose Neck beers I was consuming) with only the Ace. Nice 6BB loss there for not remembering the rules! How can I possibly think about hanging with the AlCantHang crew if I can't play poker with just a few beers in me? Sigh. I'll definitely need to tough up my tolerance should the bloggers descend (or is it ascend) to Vegas next year.

I got Small Stakes Hold Em' and Positively Fifth Street to start reading. I've heard good things about this 2 + 2 book, can't wait to start it.

I'll be on PartyPoker tonight slaving away at the bonus should anyone want to extend an invite to the blogger table (.50/1 O8 anyone??). Good luck and happy Monday!

Bonuses galore!

Bonus whores got the golden goose of all bonuses today. Party poker is offering (as I'm sure 1,000 other blogs are reporting) a 20% reload bonus up to $200. The reload bonus must worked off in one week's time.... 1400 hands! Luckly the little one decided to take a long nap today and I'm already through 900 hands. If you haven't joined the aquarium yet... BONUS CODE: IGGY damnit!

Morning session was a trying one. KK, QQ (three times), JJ (twice) all went down weak aces who called a 3 - 4BB raise. Sigh. Was just a crappy morning where your bacon got burned, while your kid is screaming, and your wife is threatening to back out Christmas shopping after maxing out the credit cards. But, the fishies did throw this humble guy a life preserver...

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) converter

SB ($20.09)
BB ($25.15)
UTG ($45.5)
UTG+1 ($23)
UTG+2 ($32.25)
Hero ($29.55)
MP2 ($8.5)
MP3 ($67.96)
CO ($17.5)
Button ($33.5)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Kc, Qc. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $2, UTG+2 folds, Hero calls $2, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $2, CO folds, Button folds, SB (poster) calls $1.75, BB folds.

Flop: ($8.50) Tc, Ac, 5d (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero checks, MP3 checks.

Turn: ($8.50) Ah (4 players)
SB bets $3, UTG+1 calls $3, Hero calls $3, MP3 folds.

River: ($17.50) Jc (3 players)
SB bets $3, UTG+1 raises to $15, Hero calls $24.55 (All-In), SB folds, UTG+1 calls $3 (All-In).

Final Pot: $63.05

Strangely the SB had AQ and folded on the river, I don't if I would have put myself on the flush draw but at least it softened the blow of the horrible morning. This was my first royal (live or online) so I did a little happy dance despite the wife's comments of "stop acting like a dork".

There's also a reload bonus over at PokerStars. The bonuses there are more difficult to clear but I may give it a run since I'd love one of those squishy stars they give with 300 Frequent Player Points. Speaking of frequent player points... Party Poker is starting up a program in which you get points for deposits, just playing frequently, refering a friend. I might stick closer to PartyPoker if its worth it. I'll report more once there's more information.

Still waiting on my withdrawls from Sportsbook.com and Intertops. I don't like to act freaked out but when I get an email saying 24 to 48 hours I expect their end to hold that up. For the most part I've no troubles with deposits/withdrawls from poker sites so I'll hold my judgement until Wednesday, then my pissed off customer voice will come out.

Damn its late, Xmas with my parents tomorrow. Viking football and mom's cooking to raise my blood pressure can't ask for a better day.

Parlay picks this week...
Vikings (-3) over Motor City Kitties Vikes have been bad but Detroit has no QB
Broncos (-1) over KC Yes I picked my best friend's team to win, but Jack the Snake needs to prove he can lead the team into the playoffs. A better bet might be the over.

Intertops Poker

Well, I tried to join another Party skin tonight (Intertops) and after a series of screens and bonus codes it didn't give me the sign-up bonus. Sigh. I truly suck at signing up under people (see post about trying to sign up on the UB for Grubby a couple of months ago). I followed the directions, I put in all my information, made the $500 deposit and under the bonus account: a big fat 0.

After wasting a good half-hour trying to figure out where I went wrong, I sent a couple of emails to the customer service departments (I know I'll probably never get an answer but its worth a try). If anyone has experience working with Intertop's service department please leave a comment. Thanks!

Receipe for a headache:
1: 20 minute nap for 18mos old son
1: Tired/Sick wife
1: Long day at work, sprinkled lightly

Taking the kid out to eat when he didn't sleep all day was a bad idea but my wife was set on going out. The food at Ruby Tuesday's was good (had a buffalo chicken sandwich), but I didn't eat much since we both spent the whole time catching food my son was throwing and trying to calm him down. Not even a replay of Scott F. winning his first WSOP bracelet in the bar was soothing enough for the little guy. Then this morning he decides he's awake at 4:30 am but doesn't want to get dressed. Ah, the joys of being a parent!

Tomorrow would normally be a fun day for me and the little guy but there's a showing of the house in the morning (grrrrrr no $5 multi @ Party), so we're going shopping with my mom. I need to get my wife some socking stuffers (any non-poker related ideas from the blog crowd?). No, she won't wear the dirty nurse's outfit from Fredrick's of Hollywood...

Thank god for the Hilton Sisters

Yes they're pretty to look at, but even better during the 12 days of Christmas bonus at Interpoker. $10 just for getting dealt QQ. I don't care if 83o gets a runner-runner straight, I win $10!!

The suckouts continue on Interpoker, I had a horrible -15BB night again. I must have enraged the river gods there because I didn't have enough fingers and toes to count all the bad beats. I'm beginning to question my play at the 6-max tables. After 2,500 hands there I'm -$110 on the $1/$2 tables. Not a good figure. I know I had a leak for betting middle pair off the flop and I changed that last night, but some untimely runner-runner suckouts prevented a profit. I did clear the $50 bonus.... but lost it all in the process of playing. Don't worry I'll turn in my Bonus Whore membership card on the way out. But wait! Since the Hilton Sisters graced my screen three times last night, I will be receiving an extra $30, which would give me a net profit of.... $27! Sigh. At least I got to play, right?

Feeling shaky about my play I decided to make myself feel better and fire up a $25NLHE PokerNow table. After some uneventful orbits, The Hammer stared at me with 6 limpers in LP, so I stared back and fired off a 4xBB raise. All folded except for a semi-decent-loose aggressive player in EP. Flop came out rags so I fired off a pot size bet, he called. Not good. A lovely 7 came on the turn and a gutshot straight draw. I put the short stack all-in hoping he was overplaying two overcards. He wasn't and turned over 99, with no help on the river, the hammer crashed :( But, since this is a Party skin, I reloaded with confidence and flopped trip sixes about 10 hands later. Checked the flop, bet the pot when the rainbow was completed by a Jack, got min raised, I pushed, he turned over KJ and I promptly got my hammer stack back (It rhymes!). There was a name at my table towards the end that I thought was uber-blogger Dr. Pauly mayhaps? Email me if it was so I can sweat you from rails sometime :)

Ladies night on the WPT tonight, I don't know the line up but hoping to ogle at the lovely ladies battling it out at the tables if I don't fall asleep first. Maybe Lindsay Lohan will be there?!?!?! I can still dream I suppose.

Jackpot Jay appearently played a hand vs. a blogger, this is from his article on ESPN.com....
"8.) Revenge of the Donators -- Sometimes, they bite back. I had folded pre-flop in a $10-20 game. The guy in the big blind, having already invested his $10 blind, decided to call a pre-flop raise with what turned out to be 7-2 off-suit. When the flop came Q-10-7, he was in for the duration of the ride, no matter what the cost. So despite the best efforts of his remaining opponent, who bet or raised on every round with what turned out to be K-K, our hero was still hanging in there when the river brought a 2. As the guy with the K-K messaged after the hand, "Hey, are you (bleeping) serious?"
It is true that, in the long run, guys who call K-K with 7-2 are going to lose all their money. The problem is, if you are sitting there with A-A, and six guys with 7-2 or the equivalent are calling you, at least one of them is bound to outdraw you more than half the time. And for better or worse, that's exactly what happens quite often in online poker games, especially below the high limits"

Seems like he learned lesson #1 of online poker playing... Never fuck with the hammer.

1 for 6

No I'm not talking about Shaq's free throw line mishaps. Its how many winning tables I had playing at Interpoker last night. Played for 2 hours and the suckouts almost got to me. But I trudged on and managed to work back to a -12BB night. AA, KK (twice), QQ, JJ (twice) all went down. Its been a trying week or so now of being on the wrong end of beats. Its hard to remain aggressive with decent starting cards when you know all 6 of the people are going to call your raise with junk. Sigh. I need to stop whining like an NBA player who didn't get laid 15 times last night. Anyone that could spare a hint or two about the 6-max tables I'm all ears. For some reason at Interpoker its been getting hit with rivered flushes, straights, and unlikely two pairs that have been killing me there.

Watched a decent episode of Las Vegas last night. Ed shows more of his shadowy CIA side, while Danny comes to the rescue to force the information out of his former workmates. Great show I watched that rather then the slow starting Monday Night Football (heard it ended up to be a decent game).

I read Felicia's post this morning about the blogger tourney, she didn't seem too happy...

Black Bear Trip Report

Ok since I've been having a run of bad luck lately, I thought "Hey I should go to the casino!". After this weekend I should have curled up into bed and hope that the house didn't get hit by a tornado/avalanche/hurricane/rabid pack of ducks.

Here's the things that went right this weekend:
- Got $10 free from the Birthday Bucks Promotion at Grand Casino Hinckley (stop there going to and from Black Bear)
- The whirlpool in the room worked great
- The ice machine worked and kept my beer cold (but I didn't drink much, details a little later)
- Won my NFL parlay bet
- Mom made some chocolate chip bars that were so good, I almost forgot about all the things below

Here's the things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm:
- Lost the free $10 while leaving Grand Casino
- Lost two racks playing $3/$6 at Black Bear (details below)
- Lost $200 while on "Slot Tilt" (details below)
- Wife caught the flu and was sick the entire weekend (reason for not drinking, since I hate drinking alone)
- Two sets of friends also caught the flu and didn't make the trip (again reason for not drinking)
- There was a hockey tournament and kids were staying in every room surrounding us (making wife crabby since she couldn't sleep and passing on the displeasure to me)
- It rained the night before, then snowed on Sunday morning (if you're not from a Northern state you may not understand what happens when this occurs but trust me you don't want your car to be left outside)
- Broke the ice scraper while chipping off the block of ice called my car (refer to note directly above)
- Vikes lost to the lowly Seachickens on a trick play (At least Moss threw a tight spiral, right?)
- My fantasy football team got clobbered
- And this morning... my son decided he didn't want to get dressed and threw a fit the whole morning, making us late for work

Sigh. My live bankroll took a might hit this weekend, so I'll need to cash out a few bucks to replenish it but that's ok, its money I saved up to gamble with and I had fun spending it (most of it at least)


Poker Game
There were two $3/$6 limit hold em' games going and with an open #10 seat I settled in next to the dealer with two racks. I played for about 5 hours but didn't get involved in too many hands yet my raises didn't get much respect.

Here's the lineup for most of the time playing:
Seat 1: Mousey looking guy but decent player only raised with the nuts
Seat 2: College Kid: Any two will do, but I will not raise you
Seat 3: Stoner: Any two will do with a horseshoe stuck up his ass and claims to be a great tournament player
Seat 4: Solid playing older guy
Seat 5: Decent playing guy mid 30s
Seat 6: Stoner #2 with a hemp stocking cap: fishy fishy fishy
Seat 7: Decent playing younger guy
Seat 8: Decent playing but had a leak for top pair no kicker
Seat 10: Me

Key hands:
Hand #1: I get J - J one off the button but everyone limps in behind me, a raise here does me no good since the blinds will call with anything so we the hand 6-handed. Flop of 8 - 2 - 3 rainbow has me feeling good. Big blind bet, and its folded around to me and I raise with my overpair, all drop to the #3 seat who reraises me. Hmmmm... he could have ace high since he played every single hand so I called. Turn was an offsuit 2. He checked, but his hands trembled like there was an earthquake. So I sighed and fired a bet fully knowing he was.... going to check-raise. I made the call yet didn't follow through on it (noted leak in my live game). He did indeed check-raise me, the river was a blank and after his bet I made a crying call to see him turn over 32o for the boat.
Hand #2: I get KK 2 off the button with only one limper I fire out a raise, the two and three seats cold call, everyone else folded. Flop K - 8 - 5 all clubs. Not a great flop but worthy enough to warrant a bet. The 2 seat dropped and the earthquake started up again for the 3 seat as he flat called. I know he flopped a flush, yet when the 4 flush hit the board, I still bet ("LISTEN TO YOUR CALLS!!" said the little voice in my head) but no help came as I called his raise and as the river came as a blank the three seat exclaimed "ALL IN"! I looked at him and said "if you've got the ace there's no need to be a prick about it". The funny thing was, he wasn't kidding he started to stack his chips to push into the middle before the dealer calmly explained this was a limit game. He then said "don't mind me I'm just a tournament player", riiiiiiiiiiiight. The real funny thing was he didn't even have the ace, he had QTs. I wonder he'd continue to bet if the board would have paired. Being the awesome tournament player he is, my guess he is he would have.
Hand #3: I get A3s on the button and call with 5 limpers. Flop comes out A - 3 - 8 rainbow. Nice! Solid guy in the #4 seat calls, Stone Fishy raises, I figured him for Ace + weak kicker but not two pair so I just called. Turn offsuit 6, solid guy checks, fishy checks, I bet, and both of them called. Now seeing how my weekend has been going what do you think the next card was... if you guess a 6 you'd be right. I got counterfeited, checked all around, solid guy turns up AQo, fishy had A9o. And I lose. Sigh.
Action hand #4: On the button I get 55 PRESTO! But wait... solid guy in the #4 raises, #5 calls, fishy folds, #7 re-raises, #8 caps! Hmmm... 4 bets cold for PRESTO!? No, I folded I smelled big pocket pairs in all three of them and I was right (LEAK PLUGGED!). Raising war broke out when the final board showed 8 - 7 - J - K - 6. #4 seat had KK, #7 had JJ for the flopped set, and #8 had AA! I was waiting for the "tournament player" to turn over 94s or 54o for the flush or straight but he dropped out after the first bet on the flop when both the flop and turn got capped.

I lost two racks but had a decent time, the guys in the #7 and #8 were fun to chat with and said they play on Partypoker.

SLOT TILT!!!!!

My mom dropped by the poker table, I didn't want to leave the juicy game but I wanted to spend time with my mom. Ahhhhhhh. Yeah, yeah insert momma's boy comments. So I played some slots with her and was winning a little until I played this Kenny Roger's Gambler machine. You see I play slots for one reason, and one reason only: To get the little bonus games. Its a stupid thing but I like those cartoons damnit! I dropped $40 in there, got nothing. Another $40... squat, finally dropped another $40 and luckily I had the sense to get my ass up even without getting the cool Gambler's card game :(

I ended the trip -$350, and despite the phlegm hacking ways of my wife (who lost a whole $2 despite playing slots for a good 3-4 hours), and all the above things that happened I had a good time. It was nice to be able to have fun gaming without worry as to if you lose. I hope Interpoker is nice to me during the 12 days of X-mas promotion, gotta rebuild the home stash for my Vegas trip in March.

Cracked like an egg in a stampede of soccer moms

AA, QQ, AA 3 hands in a row, all three hit top set on the flop, all three died. Its been a trying couple of days. Lost 3 stacks last night to 4 outers or less on the river. But, I did battle to almost break-even for the night.

This is a short post since I'm gearing up for Black Bear Casino tomorrow with hopes to forget that I'm not in Vegas with the better known bloggers. Another one of my friends dropped out of the trip due to the flu. This week has just been one misadventure after another. Hell, I signed up on PokerPlex this morning, cleared bonus for a whopping $5.25 profit (the bad beats above happened there and PartyPoker NL yesterday). I'll keep fighting the fish since they love to call 3 bets cold with any sOOOOOoted cards. But, I need to give them credit quicker when the 3rd flush card comes down.

I'm getting tired from being so old so I'm gonna head up to bed. I hope someone is getting the other end of the cards tonight since I've seem to monopolize the bad poker karma this week. Good luck to all the bloggers in Vegas, next year I'm seriously going to push to come out there, especially if another certain more famous MN blogger would go. Next post will be on Sunday before the Vikes take on the Seachickens. I'll probably have to buy a new TV before the game done, but I'll remain a loyal fan :)

Parlay for the week:
Jacksonville (-7.5) vs, Da Bears (this one seems like a sure thing unless Jeffery comes in the game)

Ravens (-10) vs. Giants (as long as Eli Manning continues to suck, bet against the Giants)

Getting older

I had a great dinner with my parents and best friend last night. But, it wasn't the usual booze-fest on birthdays as it has been in the past. The funny thing is I didn't mind it, I had fun made some good conversation with a friend I don't get to see much lately because of his wacky work schedule and new kid.

Today we're having the company holiday outing. A decent buffet lunch/dinner then instead of a live comedian (as opposed to a dead one) they rented out the movie theater across from the dining hall for everyone to see one of three movies:

National Treasure

Christmas with the Krunks

Bridget Jones something or other

No, I did not subject myself to the pain of watching Bridget Jones, so I'll be viewing National Treasure. I don't go out to the movies often since there's no closed captioning and I hate spending $9 just to get in. I'd rather wait for the DVD to come out and lounge on my couch with a comfy pillow or my wife. I do like Nic Cage movies, they're usually funny to me at least so I'm hoping for a good time.

No poker last night since I thought the wife wanted anything other then going straight to bed, but I was wrong. So, I stayed up to watch Paul Phillips and Mel Judah duke it out at the Bike on the WPT replay. Someday I hope I get the chance to meet and/or play against these pros. I know I'd get my ass handed to me, but the learning experience would be worth it.

2 days till my Black Bear trip. Do you think the casino would frown upon playing Blind Man's Bluff for one hand? I'm sure to be a little drunk this weekend and might try to spice things up at the poker table :D I'm starting to get antsy about going so a little poker will be needed to calm my nerves tonight before I go out with my brother and sis-in-law since they couldn't make it last night. I don't think I'm going to bonus whore tonight, but I think I'll tackle a couple of $25 NLHE or PL Omaha hi/low tables at PokerNow and try to actually make money winning pots rather then working down hand requirements. As for the OIC, I think I'm done there, the Prima tables can be extremely profitable IF you stay long enough for the swings and work out the variances. People call you down on the low limit tables with anything so getting your KK cracked by 84o who called 2 bets cold is not uncommon, just move on to the next hand and get your money back with interest later.

Happy 30th to me!

Its my birthday and I'm still confuzzled on what to do tonight. The wife has been sick and still trying to go to work (which she just feels like crap after getting home), but my friends are lined up to go out. I'm torn between The Lookout, Cousineau's, Mama G's, or Houlihan's (yummy tall Long Islands). I like the neighborhood bar Lookout, but its a little smoky for the people with kids (like me). I'm having a shot of SoCo tonight since one day I hope to meet uber-blogger AlCantHang and be able to down the shot without some gag reflex and look like a college freshman at his first kegger.

I got two poker books for my birthday and a gift card to Barnes and Noble. Probably will pick up a 2+2 book of some sort. I'll be looking for book on shorthanded games to try to improve my "mouse" factor. I feel aggressive at these tables, but on Interpoker with most of the players being calling stations that will call you down with any pair I feel tighting up is the key to success.

I managed to piss away most of my profit while clearing the rest of the Interpoker bonus but managed to pocket just a little less then the total bonus. The swings are still hard to stomach, which tells me I need to stay at this level and master it before moving on to the $2/$4 game. I'll be dabbling with the $25NL on PokerNow since that seems to be a decent money maker regardless of bonuses. I saw Absolute is offering yet another bonus this week so I might have to mosey on down there to take advantage.

I'd like to try some more MTTs since I have a fairly good record of cashing but with the lack of time/interest in play for 3-4 hours I've shyed away from playing them. I will be testing out some SnGs though but only if I have the time to do so. In the past I'd just fire them up and not worry about the time nor the money invested. I probably lost $200+ just entering SnGs that I had no interest in, didn't have time to complete, and/or didn't play my best game.

If you're reading this and want to drop a quick Happy Birthday, I'm in love with Lindsay Lohan so any cute/racy pics you may have of this goddess would be appreciated :)

A dirty bonus whore

I felt dirty hoping on Empire Poker to snag the $10 bonus offered for 50 raked hands. I figured I had time before the missus got home from volleyball so I 3-tabled my way to an easy $12 payday RAWR!

I pushed along on Interpoker, playing tight is a necessity here. You only need to wait for some big hands and pound people with them, they will pay you off the majority of the time. I saw a limp-reraise tonight with.... KJo and he was betting into AA. Of course he went runner-runner two pair but we won't mention that. I've been up and down on this site, but the players are very loose with playing any pair to the river, so be ready for some odd two pairs and straights.

Cashed out of UB for now since Chris H. has mentioned some very nice bonuses coming for Interpoker's 12 days of X-mas. I'll probably deposit some cash there and pick up some more bonus dollars for the Dec. bonus.

Well the court case is done with, all settled. I won't disclose anything except I'm happy things turned out fine. I'm glad we got things done out of court and without further arguements. Its been 4 years since the accident, I am better then I was 4 years ago but its doubtful I'll ever be 100% or even be able to drive again. Its true that money doesn't solve everything, especially when it comes to your health.

Vikes suck, but the Packers are worse

Watching the Vikes sink to the lowly Bears on Sunday would have sucked worst had it not been for the Summit Extra Pales I was consumming. It was nice to watch the game with all the guys except my best friend who was lucky enough to have to work on the weekend!

I got 1/2 of my parlay right (thank god for INT returns at the end of the game). I can imagine the sportsbook managers in Vegas were pissed about that one, I checked the line for the Buffalo game right before kick off and it had gone up to 5.5, must have been some heavy betting. I haven't checked the account yet, but with the push on the San Diego game and winning the Bills game I should win 1/2 my bet.

For some poker... I'm currently tackling Interpoker for the Decemeber reload bonus (but still haven't gotten my ecash PIN # grrrrrrrr). The "any two will do" school of thought is very prevailant here. If there's a flush on the board, some will play J2s UTG vs. your 3 re-raise bet to the river. It sucks but they will pay your TPTK off to chase any gutshot, any flush to the river but the variance can be harsh. If you tackle these 6-max games make sure you have the bankroll to go up and down and don't be afraid to reload. Another thing is... its a 5 bet cap, not four like every other site, so you have a doofus betting into your nut flush or nut boat, keep raising.

I've almost cleared the UB bonus. I love the site, and interface but damn this bonus is tough to clear. Tougher competition + LAG yahoos make for some hefty swings. I've been playing 1 table of $2/$4 and holding my own so far. Plus the UB points come in a lot quicker then 2 tabling $1/$2. There's a reload bonus for the entire month of December, I might just get the bonus dollars and leave them there to clear in the future.

Today's the day to clear up my workman's comp case. 4 years to the day that the accident happened. I don't know whether to feel nervous or relieved. The last 4 years have been trying on me, my marriage, and my family but when you've got a good nucleus of family and friends you can get through anything. Without my wife I don't even want to think how bad off I would have been. She got me through the days I couldn't feed myself and all the emotional pains. I couldn't ask for a better spouse and thank God she picked me.

We watched "5 People You'll Meet in Heaven" last night. The book was awesome, yes it was short but wow what an excellent read. The movie was a great adaptation, Jon Voigt (sp?) was an excellent choice to play Eddie and he played it to a key. If you haven't read the book, please do so.

Dropping the hammer and it hits back!

I made the fatal mistake of dropping the hammer on a calling station. First he called a 6XBB raise with... KTo, then I tried to nudge him off his weak top pair to no avail :( Ah, the fishies were out tonight and luckly I nabbed a couple to make up for my horrible morning on the $1/$2 6-max tables. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm a better NL then limit player. But, I looked the beats I took this morning and I was way ahead when I was betting/raising. This is encouraging to me (even though the results sucked ass) that I'm playing a solid game and not chasing flushes/straights when the pot odds are not there. I think the best advice I took out of Jones' book was "look for a reason to fold, there's another hand coming soon". If only I'd taken that advice when I raised with the hammer :D

I bowled a 237 last night whoo whoo! Bring on the 2 fer 1s! There's a money pot the high-rollers go in (I'm a 170ish average, definitely not a high roller) but I had little extra cash and went in. Lo and behold I'm $22 richer (going towards the Black Bear drunkin gamboooling fund).

Woke up this morning to participate in the Toys for Tots Reindeer Run. Basically its a toy drive for this great charity (they bring Toys to needy inter-city kids who wouldn't normally receive presents). With the Windsor 7s from bowling leaking through my pores I managed to complete the 3.1 miles around Lake Harriet in 30 minutes. Usually I run by myself but this year I stayed with my wife and her dad. It was much more fun, and I didn't assume a fetal position after finishing.

The family went out to my cousin's wedding tonight and the little one decided that a church is a cool place to play! Sigh. I spent most of the ceremony out in the lobby chasing down the little guy. He's so fun, but damn I'm beginning to need an oxygen tank to keep up with him! The reception got worst because he can't sit still for 2 nanoseconds, half his food ended up on the celling (I kid) and he didn't want anything to do with anyone except mom, dad, me and my wife. I'm sure he'll get better in the future.... I hope.

Time for bed, I need to rest up for the Vikes game tomorrow!

Oh, since other blogger do this, here's my NFL parlay this week:

Buffalo (-3.5) vs. Miami (Are you kidding me, this game screams bet the house)
Thunderbolts (-3) vs. Broncos (This is a tight game, but I hate Denver since its my best friend's favorite team)

Toddler temperament Timer

Anyone who has brought their darling little 15 month old son or daughter to restaurant

knows there is an amount of time you have to shovel down your food before the toddler goes into spaz mode. I propose the Toddler temperament Timer! Simply place this device up to your toddler's forehead, it fits like a hat. Instantly the Toddler temperament Timer will scan your toddlers body temp and vital organs and start a count-down for how quickly you must eat before the toddler sends his/her meal air mail to other unsuspecting patrons of the restaurant. We tried out a sports bar/restaurant last night called Boston's. Wow! Excellent stromboli, spicy sausage, and the crust tasted like a pretzel YUMMY! The little one decided to throw a fit 3/4 of the way thru the meal so I snarfed down the rest of my stromboli like that Japanese guy who eats 50,000 hot dogs in two minutes. It was good eats and I'll plan a return trip soon. The only bad side was trying to order a beer. "I'll take a Mich Golden Light on tap", seems easy enough since its on the menu, "sorry its only in a bottle". Sigh. Ok... "I'll take Lennie Honey Weiss in a bottle", "sorry its only on tap". HA! I took the tap of Lennie to prevent ordering some foo-foo drink out of spite.

No poker when we finally got home since the little one gave me a headache usually only brought on by downing a 6 pack. I've gotten away from playing tired/disinterest, but playing drunk doesn't seem to effect my bankroll too much (as most poker bloggers seem to report the same results). There should be a study of how much alcohol one can safely consume before it effects their poker play. For my weekend sessions (normally the only time I drink) I'll try to list the amount of beer/drinks I consume and my win/loss for that total session. Playing at Black Bear Casino on the 11th doesn't count because I won't be there to win, but rather to enjoy my birthday. Hell, I might play like a total monkey for the first 30 minutes just to see what its like to catch two pair UTG while holding 83o and crack someone's aces.

I got the Showgirl's box set today from Grubby (THANKS!). Inside was some drinking games (gonna use these at Black Bear), a "pin the pasties" on a full size poster WOWOWOWOW, some shot glasses, a deck of cards (hope they're beer-proof), and some other goodies as I didn't go through the whole box yet. Since the wife isn't too keen on porn, I wonder if she'll watch the movie with me. Maybe we'll have to test drive the shot glasses first :)

No real post today

Had a crappy day yesterday, argued with the wife, no poker, just bleh. I'll be back tomorrow hopefully with some encouraging results from the OIC and having UB return some of the money I tilted away on Monday night.