WTF VENENO!

Damn Veneno and her pyramid schemes. Cmon Girl! At least warn me that Poker Stars is only holding a Blogger Tourney so they can get free advertising. If any of you other Bloggers want to join go ahead, but I am warning you that you must deface your Blog with Poker Stars advertising.

Anyway, I filled out the damn form so fuck it, here it is. I swear if I get you at my table I am taking you out:

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 7609581

Poker in the Pitts

Well my Boss wanted me to work in Pittsburg, so he sent me with a laptop. Woo hoo! Poker time! So I hook up to the free internet and walla. Everything works. I install .NET and then try Titan Poker. I can not remember my password. So I uninstall that puppy and fire up Stars. It works fine. I play an SNG and some 1/2 limit. Get the bankroll to $85 on Stars. Cool. If it gets big enough I could play some of those nice tourneys everyone tell me about...

So thats what..

Damn. That is what a real SNG tourney is like. Titan poker was down tonight. So I took my sorry ass to the only other place I had not busted out of yet: Stars! I hear good things about it. I played a little limit. I did not see the 6-MAX limit tables at stars. Do they have any? Oh well. I got bored so I hopped over to a 10/1 SNG. I placed first. It happened on two questionable plays really. On both plays I had a straight and flush draw. So like 13 outs at least. Possibly overcards too.

The first play I had won 3K in chips. I was doing good. So I went for the flush draw. Hit it on the river. Nothing much to say there.

On the second play it was three ways. Some guy limps in with his Kings. Not the worse play. The flop is KJx. Two diamonds for me. He makes it cheap for my first call. I have over 6K in chips. Have him covered. He might be bluffing, right? We are in the money. So I call. The turn brings me a Q. So now I have the straight and flush draw. He makes it more expensive this time. The pot is 2K and he pushes all in for his remaining 2K. I call. I see the trips and my heart skips a beat. However that diamond was there for me on the river. I said "Good Game" and he said some unrepeatable words. I will not subject you to them.

So anyway.. I am thinking it is dangerous for me to have chips in any tourney. I get too reckless with them. First place was fun though. I closed the deal with JJ vs A4. So my Stars Bankroll is $57 now. Up from $25.

Oh.. and BTW, is it me, or does anyone else hate how slowly Stars flips the cards? I mean CMON! I am dieing here to see if I pull my luck ass out of the fire and it takes 5 minutes to flip a card. Oh well. It is what it is..

Good points all..

I liked all the response to the suckout hand. I do not think you fold this hand though. There was something along the lines of 18BB in the pot by the river. The straight was the nuts so when I make it I win. I also had some over cards that may or may not have been good. It is very hard to tell with that board. It would be interesting to hear some analysis.

One funny thing though.. Al had asked how I would feel if I was sucked out on. Lately.. I am loving being sucked out on. It usually means I am in for a good night.. Sometimes it is hard, but sometimes I really feel good about the suckouts.. Which is "sometimes" more than I ever did before... could there be hope for me?

Oh yeah, btw, I am leaving for two days.. off to Sunny Pittsberg. Oh Joy!

Suckout King

Ok. I sit down at a 2/4 table at Titan. I am there for a couple of minutes. I raise with KK and 4 people call. I end up holding on to that one. I lose one. Then comes this hand. I have AKo. It gets raised, I make it 3, someone makes it 4, FIVE people in pre-flop on this hand. The flop is 87J. So I have overs assuming nobody hit the straight. So I am in second second to last position. It gets bet, it gets raised, I call. It gets called by ALL FIVE people. The turn is a T. So now if someone had a straight draw they just made it. I have overs still, but this makes them weaker. I also have a gutshot NUT straight draw. So I call the 2-Bets. ALL FIVE PEOPLE CALL. Now could everyone have a good hand? I doubt it. However the pot at this point in time is so large that folding would be a mistake. So I call. The river is a beautiful lady. I am golden! Runner-Runner nut straight. No flushes. No Paired board. You can not do that in NL! So the guy before me bets, I raise, and FOUR people call that final 2-BET. MAN! I hit a $75 pot five minutes into playing and almost trippled up. SWEET! The bankroll is just over 600 and I am SMOKING! Now I gotta go eat dinner with the wife.

Cursed!

$1,000 Depositors Freeroll - September 24, 2005

Congratulations to barb1 for winning our weekly $1,000 Depositors Freeroll. barb1 outlasted 414 other players and won first prize of $250.

Damn you Barb1! I shall defeat you! I saw this on Titan Poker this morning!!!!

Oh, btw, the Titan Bonus. Not so bad. Since Friday I have cleared $20 of $250. A little slow, but at 1/2 ring it goes at a good clip.

Told Ya So!! Nahh Nahh!

Well.. I told you all I would score in a Tourney on Titan. Did you listen? NOOOOO! I sorta cheated a little. It was not my fault. You see it was a 1K freeroll and it had over three hundred people signed up. Actually 425 to be exact. You see though, these fishies never even showed out. They knew SirF was in da House. So once me and another guy dispatched two of the live players we took turns folding to each other. This lasted like three levels. So when I actually had to play a hand I had about 6K in chips.

I played well though. I never looked back. I did have one lucky suckout that probably enabled me to get to the final table. I raise pre-flop with AJo and get one caller. The flop is all diamonds and all cards lower than J. So I bet hard assuming that the Jack of diamonds could save my ass, and that I MIGHT be good with my overs. So he raises me, I call the raise, and we flip. AJ. Each of us. Me with a J of diamonds, him with an A. So the turn is of course a diamond and the river. I am lamenting my 4K drop in chips (yes, I had him WAYYYY covered) when the chips slide my way. Ummmm. Dealer? Ohhhhh.. I sucked out a straight flush. THANK YOU DEALER!

It was all up from there. Aggression. Timed moves. Calling small stacks and chipping up. I finally had 30K with 30 people left. I kept playing well and hitting hands. The
move that sealed it was pretty lucky I have 100K in chips. I get AA and raise big. A guy before me had bet 32K. He folds. The very next hand I get QQ. I push over the top of a guy who has me covered. He calls with AJ. My hand holds up and I have over 200K with less than 20 left. I just cruised to the final table from there. I was aggressive a little. I stole some blinds. I chipped up.

The final table was aewsome but my nerves were shot. I basically just played hands, kept my 3:1 chip lead. Busted small stacks. Finally it was HU. I blew it there. We had equal chips but I just kept being over aggressive at the wrong times. I went out on a coin flip, 55 vs AJ. Oh well. It was $50 extra for first, and a little but of pride. I ended up winning $200 for that win and bringing the roll to over $500. A little over. So now I can actually play 1/2 (almost) with out worrying about it.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. I am actually enjoying playing limit poker. I am not exactly grinding. I play every day. I buy in for 25 at 1/2 or 50 at 2/4 and keep doubling. Over and over and over. I have learned to be aggressive. A little over aggressive at time. Not always aggressive. I am trying though. You know what. It works too. In my first climb to the "big bucks" I was never aggressive. I played weak-tight, and gave people too much credit for being good players. Now you all have pissed me off. I do not trust you any more. You WILL call to the river with that DRAW. (Not always a bad play), you will try and win with that third pair. Basically I give you no credit for any hand unless you show me you can play. You know what. Its working too.

Bonus Code: I hate Iggy

** PLEASE SEE THE POST PRIOR TO THIS ONE. CHRONOLOGICALLY THIS POST WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE BLOGGER TOURNEY. SOME OF MY OPINIONS HAVE CHANGED. **

Titan Poker. I had high hopes. I mean how cool. A poker site that looks like the Teen Titans Tower ™. I was on a good roll at Empire.. so I decided to double up my money by going to Titan. Stupid Idea. In case Iggy ever reads this blog, I would hate you, but your such a cute, fuzzy, little, dwaf that I can not stay mad at you.

The things I hate about Titan. Ohhh let me count the ways. First off the main reason I went there was the bonus. Welll.. if your not playing high stakes the bonus is EXCRUCIATINGLY hard to clear. You have to make 1000 stars to get ten bucks. I have been playing a lot of hours for the last three days and have made 258 stars. HELLO! Its fucking ten bucks! Are you trying to get people to like your site or hate it. I had the same problem with Full Tilt, busting out before I cleared hardly any bonus.

As if that is not bad enough. I can not even SEE how many F*ING stars I have? HELLO! Anyone home! I have to ask tech support every day: Bitches, how many stars do I have? So not only do you torture me with stars but you will not even let me know how many I have unless I kiss your ass and ask nicely. I wonder if they would kick me off the site if I said “Hey Bitch! How many f*ing stars do I have!!! NOW!!!”.

Ok. So those things are very annoying. The other annoying thing is the game selection. With Full Tilt you at least had a bunch of weird games to bust out with. This site does not event have 20/2 SNGs with ten players! HELLO! I DO NOT WANT TO PLAY SHORT! I would hate to be someone looking for higher stakes SNGs too. Nope. Very little. We can hope that the structure changes but I doubt I stay long enough to find out.

Now to the irrational side of things. I not only hate Titan Poker, it hates me. Yes. You heard it here first. It has an AI that just does not like me. I have had the WORSE beats. I have seen 4 sets of QUADS in two days. Two sets against me. Ok, ok, two sets for me. I have not seen quads in months on the supposedly rigged Party Poker. I know. I know. Blah Blah rigged.. Blah Blah. I have seen things that have made me cry. BEWARE!

I do not like the characters either. The Avatars. I would much rather be a mad monkey than a Cowboy.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot. When you are on a table, your bankroll shows only what it not at the table! HELLO! I have that money still you know!! JEEZ! Oh yeah, do not get me started with that damn buzzer too!!!?!?!?! I ALMOST FORGOT TOO! I signed up and typed WALGMan cause the interface sucks and they will not let me change it!!! DAMN SITE!!!

So all in all the site has been a huge letdown. I am hoping to get out break even, or score in the Blogger tourney. It is the one thing I am looking forward to on the site. I just hope I do not go out the first hand.

So until further notice Titan Poker gets a F- from me. I would give it a G if I could. Use Iggys bonus code when you signup though .. at least he might get something out of this whole thing.

** BTW: I forgive you Iggy. Since I have had his IM open I am up $50 in a 6-MAX limit game. LMAO!!! Cashing of that game now.

Addict

YAY! I finally got to go home. At 4AM in the morning. Ouch. So what do I do when I step in the door? PLAY POKER! DER!!! I just needed something to wind down with. So I played a quick 20/3 SNG. Came in 4th. I was over aggressive with AQ when the blinds were 40/80 or something like that. I had 700 in chips. Everyone else had around 1600. I might have been able to fold to the money instead of being bubble boy. However I had a good hand and went with it. The accursed 99's beat me! Such is Poker. Such is Life.

Anyways.. I wake up at 10AM this morning and what do I do? PLAY POKER! DER!!!! Just a few hands of 1/2 limit. I bought in for 25 and ran it up to 38 very quicky. I then overplayed A9 on my last hand and dropped it to 33. I then decided working would be more profitable so I am heading out. Up a nice eight bucks in five minutes. That is like 500 BB/HR!! See what I lose? I am bad at math.

One last thing. I think I give the impression that I lose alot of money playing Poker. Reading my Blog and hearing all the raw emotion of losing it probably seems like I have lost thousands of dollars as a player. It just is not true. Well, it is kind of true. In the past two years I have spent between $200-$400 on poker. So while I am a losing player, and I have run small amounts up to thousands of dollars and lost those thousands I have not actually invested alot of my money out of pocket. Which is somewhat good I guess. I think that $400 as a learning experience, entertainment cost, and Blog community initiation fee over two years is not so bad. Once I figure out how to keep my profits I will be in good shape.

Waffling

Ok. I am waffling again. I wrote a great post. In the spirit of this Blog I am going to post it. However I MUST say I have had a 100% turn around in opinion. I waffle therefore I am. For those of you who have children I think you can relate to this. You as parents tell your kids things. Do not touch the hot stove. Do not stick your tongue in the light socket. Yada Yada. The kids however never listen. It is not because they think your stupid, they do, but that is not the reason. It is because they do not have the frame of reference to understand electricity and fire. Once they are burned once then you have a chance to have them listen.

I am here to say listen to daddy Iggy. He is pretty smart. Does he make money from having people go to Titan and other sites. Sure. However when he took me aside and said "Sir, the sharks hate bad software.. its all fish here", I did not beleive him. Well I have changed my mind in full!!!! I have seen, and profited off, so much bad play it is scary. I have been sucked out like crazy. However somehow it all works out. See, I might lose a buyin once a day or two. However I tripple up and double up much more often.

Now I am sure I am not over getting pissed at suckouts. I went on rampage tonight when I finished the 2500 Rebuy in 23rd place. Three out of the money. I had major chips with 8 left. It is HU and I have Q5. So I raise to steal the blind. I get called. The flop is QJ9. I push. I had the guy covered. He called off most of his stack pre-flop. He was eight to the money. He turns over JT. You know how this is going to end, right? With an eight of course. Well I got wicked pissed. Slammed my fist down. Went all in with AK. Got sucked out again. Finally had to go in with a KJ and got out drawn again. To finish three out.

I then went to play a little Poker with Scott. I busted out in 5 minutes. I had A7 vs his 57. He flops two pair. I have TP Ace kicker. So I am aggressive. I cap. However this mostly works with fish. He turns a boat. I bet, he raises, I call. I river an Ace. He bets, I raise, he re-raises, and I call. I had like a few bucks left after that. I wasted that. I then made a good choice. With everyone yelling at me to take a breather, I stormed up stairs for an hour to cool down.

Anyway, back to the story. Titan poker is growing on me. The bankroll is climbing slowly. Grinding out some wins. They have GREAT overlays for there guarenteed games. Have to attract people. I played a 1K rebuy for 5/1 and a 2500 for 10/1. Bought the add-on in both. The games had 65 and 120 people respectively. Not as tough as beating 2000 at party. It also takes alot shorter time. I am determined to score in one of these. So read my next post with a grain of salt. I was angry. I decided to wait a few days to post about Titan. Just because I wanted to give it a chance. I am glad I did. The software does suck. However Poker is about the games.. and Titan is pretty good.

So.. tired..

Well.. Still at work at 11:18PM. I may go home early tonight. Not sure yet. Been a hell of a two week stretch. Of course making $$ as a consultant working those many hours is not the worst thing that could happen to you..

Thanks to Duggle for the response. I definitely can take constructive criticism, idea’s on how to improve my game, etc.. Somehow saying I am as big of a disaster as the Titanic does not fit in the category. However it was a standup thing to do to come and smooth things over in the comments. Appreciate it.

Oh, and btw, Veneno, Duggle did not try and smooth things over with you. So if you guys want to go have a Blogger flame war be my guest. Might be amusing.

Now to the Poker content. There are times in your playing when you just do things right. Your not sure how, or why, or why they worked. You just sense some larger plane of Poker that might exist and tap into it a little bit. I have felt this way on a few occasions. One was a positive experience. I played a NL table like a harp. I kept raising hands with nothing, showing the hands down. Then taking people’s entire stacks. It was very amusing. The other time was last night. It was kind of the opposite. I lost a single buyin. So not a lot of damage. However the feeling was the same. I controlled the table. I got them to call me down with anything. The hit a lot. I played poorly and did not take advantage of it. However for that short period of time I was controlling the table. I was causing people to not play their cards, but to play what I allow them to see.

Now I am no master of Poker. Somehow I think this is a huge part of the game though. It is not something you pickup in a book overnight. You have to work at it and figure it out as you go. I do think that control like this is VERY important. You can either control a table or let it control you. Cause other people to not know what to do or tilt off your money because some donkey out draws you. I have no idea where this brief peek into an idea will go. Perhaps I will have more and more experiences like this and become a better player. Either that or hit an iceberg.

Tired

Been working my ass off and playing my balls off so there is not much left in the middle. I have been putting in 12-15 hour days, and then I need a break so I come home and play poker to all hours in the morning. Rinse. Repeat. Right Felicia? Anyhoo..

Dismal night. Ended up five bucks ahead though. It was cool though. I basically got sucked out on EVERY hand I played in limit tonight. It happens. Whatcha gonna do? There were some riddiculous bad beats and at the end I just blew of my last three bucks of that buyin and left the table.. Who says I get emotional!

So then I found a nice thing about Titan Poker. Besides the runner-runner chasers at limit. There are some good overlay games. I played five bucks, MTT, to win $300, and only needed to beat 62 people. Not a bad deal. I did well to start off. It was a rebuy. So I did goot. I then burned a few chips off and ended up with 4K left with $400 blinds. Sooooooo. There are 28 people left. Ten pay. I get pocket...... eights. So I decide it is worth the 50/50 chance and push in. One guy calls my 4K bet. He risks half his stack. Flips his AK over. And they are off to the races. This one wasnt close.. Sir Waffle in the eight track loses by a mile. A king on the flop and a Ace on the river to rub it in.

So now I am down $35. Twenty five from the limit, five from the freeroll, and a 5 dollar addon. So what is a guy to do? What the hell. One last game of 6-MAX 20/2 SNG. First place pays $60. I go for it. I give the smack down early and get up to 2K early. I take out another 2K stack when he calls my AK, K on the flop, with his 99. Hellllooo.. you had 1700 in chips. You could have waited out the other two guys.

We are all in the money now. However this money sucks. I make a few bad moves. I get chipped down to where it is even. Three ways. I finally take out one of the aggressive guys with AK vs K6. The other guy just keeps raising every hand all in. I guess he felt he needed to catch up.. or go to sleep. So I finally call with Q6o and take him out. ZANG!

So up five for the night. Decided to leave. Did not wanna push it!

How Rude!

GoBeRude:www.goberude.blogspot.com
Okay, this is meant to be constructive criticism, but undoubtedly some will take it as otherwise. I might attempt to turn the looking glass on myself to see where my most annoying aspects are, but there are probably too many to get done in one lifetime. Anyway, here goes:

SirFWALGManSir wiffle waffle is the easiest to criticize. He disappeared! I guess he quit playing, which might be a good idea considering the roller coaster ride his poker play was. It was fascinating to watch the highs and lows, but it was like watching "Titanic." As interesting as the subplots were, we knew it wasn't going to end well.

SirFWALGMan:
At least let me know when your gonna bash me! I am not really sure how "constructive" that was but ok…

I have not left. I did enjoy a little break. I think the jury is out on how I do as a poker player in the long term. I would agree I have done nothing up until now. However it has only been a year! Sometimes it seems like alot more. I had a nice steady run for most of my first year playing. Over 100,000 hands easy so statistically it should have some weight. Somehow I have lost my way. I actually think I have alot of good skills as a poker player, and alot of bad habits as a human being which interfere.

So anyway.. while I do not find the post to be constructive, it also does not bother me (much) and has some truth to it. Good luck in your game. I hope to keep improving like anyone else. As a parting though: “At least the Titanic will be remembered forever”

Aggressive: Good!

I do not have much time. I was going to post about how much I hate Titan Poker. However there are better things to Blog about today. The Titan bashing will happen tomorrow.

It was a blast playing in a Blogger tourney again. I basically allowed myself to get short stacked. Had to go all in with a 50/50. I think it was 99 vs AQ. I had the AQ. The flop was a nice TJ which gave me straight outs. I never improved though. I went out a middle of the pack 38th place or something. As Veneno was so happy to point out “Before her”. Man was she getting lucky. She cracked Kings with Nines and never looked back. She took out the Poker Geek too. He wanted the 50/50 action with his AK vs 99. He never improved either. It is a shame too cause he had a decent stack. Blogger tourneys are THE BEST and I missed the last few. It sucks that I have a real job now and can not read Poker Blogs all day long. It was a fun night!!!!

Now to a good thing about Titan. Well, not just about Titan but about Poker in general. I think my passiveness post flop is what kills me in limit. Even when I was a successful player I rarely had nights where I tripled up. It was an oddity. I played a few hands with Scott last night and REALLY noticed how he bet HARD. No fear! Where I might check down a K8, on a six-max table, with the fear it was outkicked, he would be betting it. I also would check strong TPTK hands on the river. Trying to avoid that extra check-raise thing some people are so fond of. So I decided to the hell with the respect I give other players for having SOMETHING, I would go all monkey ass Sir-Waffle on them and see what happened. You know what? I tripled up. Yup. Went from twenty five clams to seventy-five. No bad! Now I know it was one night. However it was totally apparent that when I amped up my aggression I started winning. A LOT! I will write more on aggression in a future post, including my attempts to get some. However it is not all raising and betting the hell out of hands. So maybe these old Poker guys know something.. perhaps the Titan games are SOFT and AGGRESSIVE players can make a killing.. hmmm.

So that happy night put my bankroll back over $200 on Titan. Nothing on Empire/Party. I cashed out to move over to Titan and lost the $50 I left on Empire. I also have $25 courtesy of Big Chief Tokem. We often lend each other a few bucks to play. He owed me the twenty five and paid it back. He is a standup kinda guy. I have some GREAT news about him but I am going to save it for another future post (get your fat ass working Gordo!).

Titan Poker

Ok. I might have been a LITTLE bit unfair with Titan Poker. I am at least going to give it a fair shot. I do not want to influence anyones option of a new site until they have had a chance to try it out. Especially since it coincides with a downward slide in my play.

If not for anything else, you all better come play in the Blogger tourney on Tuesday. I intend to win, so consider it a donation to the site. If you have not signed up yet go give Iggy's affiliate link a hit at Guiness and Poker. Links on the right.

Good luck and see ya on the tables!

Freaking Titan Poker

I hate it. I should not have moved my roll there. I was doing fine, building at Empire. I am going to quit after this latest SNG but a happy welcome it has NOT been. That has turned into some bad playing. Like calling an all in with AA in an SNG. I mean what a bad move. Of course I hit trips. After his jacks flop quads. Second set of QUADS I have seen against me so far. RIGGED!?!?!?#?@?#?!?@! I better win this blogger thing or I am going to be pissed.

Ok. Ok. So I made worse worse plays like calling an all-in in an SNG with AK vs 77. Ouch. I lost of course. I am off my game. I am taking the day off.

So the roll is not too badly dented yet. I am down to $145 on Tital, $50 on Empire, and I cashed out $23. I just didnt feel like transfering the additional $23 to Titan. I think once the tourney is over on Tuesday I am going to probably cash out of Titan.

I will do a full write up of my opinion of the site but I hate it. I guess I am a party guy through and through..

SNG Down Spiral

What do you do when the SNGs dry up? Go to 200/NL of course!!** No, No, bad Sir. Just kidding. I decided to focus on the .25 ring game. So I get one two tables and have one of those games on each table. You know the ones. Where you can do no wrong?

For instance. I play pocket tens against a guy who goes all in with five bucks. I am up almost $25 on each table at this point. He flips aces. I catch a ten. HOWEVER he rivers a straight. Curses! Wait Sir, you said this was a happy story? Oh yeah, I forgot. So I almost crack the aces. Few hands later he limps. I have 23 diamonds. Late postion. I decide to limp in.The flop is Q23. Hey, not bad. I get some action from Ace boy. I figure I am good so I push. He calls. I show two pair, he shows Aces again. I win. A public service announcement for you: DO NOT SLOW PLAY ACES IF YOU HAVE NO ABILITY TO LAY THEM DOWN.

Anyway it felt good to have a winning session after dropping sixty yesterday. I was actually up sixy then drop one twently. Ouch. That hurts. However the bankroll is still in the mid three’s and I am happy with it. Now back to testing out the SNG waters..


** SPECIAL NOT TO AEQ: YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE BET DUDE!

Im Back

Well, my Network card problems are solved. A day where I could leave work before 1AM, and $14 for a good Linksys network card and we are up and running. I suggest Linksys to anyone. They are SOOOOOOOO good and EASSSSSYYY!

I have decide to write some REAL poker content. So come and disagree with me. The first article is entitled: Play for fucking 3rd moron. It is based on a comment I saw on a blog. Here is the deal. In an SNG you are talking about a small time investment. Probably an hour. So you can play alot of these. It is DIFFERENT than a tourney. SO here is what I say: PLAY FOR 3rd! DAMMIT! Once you get ITM then you can try and maximize your win. Why? I do not know. I am not a math genius. It has something to do with if you take first your gonna win 50% of the total profit, for third you get 20%, so you already are almost 50% to the max of what you can win. Ask some smart blogger to do some better math explaining.

In my opinion I just do not like to lose money or games. So third is cool. Now here are the facts that will prove out my theory. Well, not my theory, as I am sure this came from way better Poker players.. like Doyle Brunson and the like. Here are my stats in SNGs so far. I hear they are pretty good. However I think I can do better:

ROI: 79.58%.
Finished ITM: 46.67%

In the last 30 games:
Took 1st 3 times, second five times, and third six time. Oh, and I feel like I am in a slump over these last 30 games.

So basically by playing for third I do not think I have lost the ability to take first, I have just gotten to 3rd before getting all HU, aggro, and kicking butt. I play EXTREMELY tight early on. I fold decent hands alot. I fold alot of Kx s00ted, QJo, etc.. I practically ignore the game until the blinds get around 50. I then asses my situation and figure the best way to make third.

So go out there and be mediocre, it works for SNGs!!!

Experimenting

Going to try to install the Network card tonight. I am a software engineer.. we do not do stinking hardware. I think I will be ok though. So HOPEFULLY I will be back up and running tonight.

Excellent reading lately on ALL the blogs. Go to Iggy – Guiness and Poker, and read about the guy who was addicted to gambling. Good reading. You may see some of yourself in there possibly.

I actually liked a few of his ideas. I mean, if you have the skill, why not take twenty five bucks. Play 25/NL. Build it to 50. Play 50/NL. Build it to 100. Play lets say a 50/5 SNG. Build it to 250. Play 5/10 limit. Build it to 1K. Call it a day. I mean all your risking from your bankroll is $25. You can stop whenever you think you have made sufficient amounts of money, or if you feel you are out of your league. If your on a rush, or having a fun night, go as high as you can. All you really can lose is $25. One mistake at the 25/NL tables. On the good side you could take your initial stake, have a lucky night, and build it up to something decent. I think I will try this experiment tonight.

Yo Soy Veneno is KICKING ass! No, not playing poker, although she is doing well. Her blog is off and running. She is getting daily comments and making some good posts. I think she has a knack for this. Either that or there are a lot of addicts with too much time on there hands. So go hit her site up at yosoyveneno.blogspot.com.

And people.. be careful out there..

So here we are..

So here I am.. at work.. 10:24PM. We had a major crisis trying to get one of our shows up. I will not go into details, but I fixed it. Security issues and all. My gout has taken a new tact with me. It has decided it wants to lull me into a false sense of security, so it is puffy and red, but not hurting. So.. if I ever get away from work, I can install my network card and play again. I am on one of my hot streaks so playing would be good. Real Good. Anyway, if I ever get a minute to myself again I will be back online, sprinting for the $500 mark.

Quick Update

Wellll... Gout came back Sunday. After I worked 35 hours this weekend. Real fun. At least I am a contracter and get paid hourly. Gout hurts. Avoid it like the gout! I come home Monday night Jonesing for some Poker action and my network card is DEAD. DAMMIT! So I am out. Until I get another card. Which might be today. Since a guy in my work, who is in MIS, lent me one. Who says MIS guys suck! He owed me anyway because the machine he built for me died, no backups, had to redo 2-3 days of work ASAP. I have been having a good week so far. NOT! Hopefully we can turn it around tonight.. but if you do not see me you will know why..

SHARK!!

I AM A SHARK! Ok. So maybe not. However sometimes it is too easy. I login. The first hand the table lets me draw to the nut flush.

The flop is 33x. Two hearts including the Ace. The guy with the three does not bet AT ALL UNTIL I hit the flush on the river, at which time he bets two bucks. I just call. Not liking the paired board all that much. Now I am all for slow playing your hands. If they are strong hands like trips or sets ok. However -- You must keep this in mind when you do this: DO NOT BET HARD WHEN THE BOARD GOES TO CRAP. If you can not lay down a good hand on a scary board slow playing is not for you.

Before I can stop crying about not making enough money on that hand I get dealt pocket rrrrr--sixes. It is raised a buck. One other caller. I call, the 5/10 rule and all. The flop is a NICE 826. Two diamonds. So I check. The aggressor bets three. I decide not to fool around and raise to nine. He cold calls me. The turn is a nine. I push $18 into the $20 pot and he calls. All in BABY! Yeah! He turns his Kings and I have doubled up on the fifth hand of the morning.

Fish

I was talking to Aequtis last night and I have decided I am a fish. Ok. Perhaps not the smallest, smelliest one.. but if your not winning over time then what else can you be? If you have some skills at the game but consistently lose you are a FISH. Someday that might change. Not with plays like this though.

I let my frustration get the best of me in a hand tonight. I have KQ. I am down nine for the night at the 25/NL table. The flop is K76. Two diamonds. So I do what any good player would do. I raise the two guys who bet FOUR BUCKS! The pot was small. They only bet a buck. I RAISED FOUR and I get BOTH callers. The turn is a Q of diamonds. So I KNOW SOMEONE has a diamond. So what do I do? I get frustrated and PUSH. All in. My remaining ten bucks. I spike a Q on the river!! WHOO HOO! Damn though.. I should have folded.

I had a decent night. Nothing to write home about. After some loses this morning. I am up to 325 tonight.

We are the champions!

It is the season for champions! Are the Patriots AMAZING or what. I have never in my life had a football team this good. I really hope we get the third win. I mean not only have we dominated in an era of parity but what a team. I think the key to the team is good scouting and taking average to good players and putting them in a system that makes them exceptional. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.. the Red Sox probably have not been in first place this late in my life either!!!!

WHAT THE HELL! I just got distracted. No, it was not by taking second in a 5/1 SNG when J4 flopped second pair, called my 2K all in on a KJ6 flop, when I had KT, I was counting my chips, when a four hit the river. Curses!

No, what distracted me was me having AK. Two bucks pre-flop. Two callers. The flop is Q7T. I decide to bet out the pot when nobody puts any money in. Position is good. That puts seven bucks in. It also leave me with 14 left. I get TWO callers. Hello? Ya.. Two people in the hand. Two callers. Ya know?

So the turn is a King. I decide I have to push. So I do. I get called by BOTH guys. Now one guy only had a couple bucks left so ok. The other guy had $14 left. Like me. So what do these losers show? One guy had KJ for a weak king. At least he had something. The other guy had T9. Ok. He has a double-bellied-gut-sucker draw but what was he thinking calling off his whole stack of $23 on a draw? Oh well God bless. The bankroll of $348 thanks you too.

Time to rathole. However, before I go, checkout YoSoyVeneno.blogspot.com. She even has a post up. Not bad. Very amusing. She did not with the 500K but still, she is fun to read.

Duuuudeee.. someone stole your brain..

Wow. I found a good table. I only won one hand. It was a good one. I had pocket sevens. It went something like this:

Dealt to SirFWALGMan [ 7s 7c ]
Thundertj raises [$0.50].
SirFWALGMan calls [$0.50].
blessed_2_B calls [$0.25].
Againstheods calls [$0.50].
mumbles147 calls [$0.50].
kevbar13 calls [$0.40].
josh2224 calls [$0.25].

So far so good. Min raise. Always play your pocket pairs! 5/10 rule and all that.

** Dealing Flop ** [ 7d, 3c, 3s ]
kevbar13 checks.
josh2224 checks.
Thundertj bets [$3].
>You have options at Table 11698 Table!.
SirFWALGMan raises [$6].
blessed_2_B folds.
Againstheods folds.
mumbles147 folds.
kevbar13 folds.
josh2224 calls [$6].
Thundertj calls [$3].

Ok. So I FLOPPED a NUT BOAT! Only one hand beats me here! 33!!! WOO HOO! YES!
I feel good. Why did I raise? Because Thunder had been WAY aggressive all night and I
did not feel he would fold. The other caller, while equally bad of a player, surprised me by calling.

** Dealing Turn ** [ 9c ]
>You have options at Table 11698 Table!.
josh2224 checks.
Thundertj bets [$10].
SirFWALGMan is all-In [$16.80]
josh2224 calls [$16.80].
Thundertj calls [$6.80].

WOW! Wicked aggressive! These guys must have good hands. At this point I think I have the best hand.. maybe not.. but I am committed to this hand. No way am I folding. I am SO surprised this goes three ways again. Lets see the results..

** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
josh2224 checks.
Thundertj checks.
josh2224 shows [ Td, 3h ] three of a kind, threes.
Thundertj doesn't show [ Kh, Ks ] two pairs, kings and threes.
SirFWALGMan shows [ 7s, 7c ] a full house, Sevens full of threes.
SirFWALGMan wins $69 from the main pot with a full house, Sevens full of threes.

Ok. Interesting. How can KK be good with three callers? I can sort of see how T3 was in. However, the trips were so obvious only a moron would not have seen them. So I do not like either play. Except for the fact that I won $69 at a $25/NL table which is really good. I do not know if I would have been able to laydown the T3 myself. So anyway, if you see these players say hello from Sir!

Limit Laughers

KQ s00ted. Pre-Flop raise. Five callers. AJQ flop. I bet out. I get 4 callers. Now I know I am in trouble. A 3 of hearts on the turn. I check. Checks around to button. Button bets $1. Now I am getting odds to make my straight draw, since, possibly the K would help me. Sorta loose. Not the worse call. So I call and the guy behind me calls. We lose one player. A 6 of hearts on the river. One better. One call. I fold. The guy who was being all aggressive had A7o. Against a raise. The guy who started out passive had Q3 hearts for a runner-runner flush.

Guy has A2o. Raises pre-flop AND calls me down all the way to the river where he spikes his 3rd 2 against my pockets.

Raise pre-flop. Get called by two. I bet out. I get called by two. I hit a K on the turn. I get called by two when I bet. The river is an A to give me two pair, I bet and call the raise. Of course some moron had QJo for the runner-runner straight.

SO after that fun day I decided to …. “Embrace my Weakness!”. What the hell. I have $100 left in the account. So I play a 50/5. Logical. Right? Hey, read the past post. So anyway I will not claim to have played any exceptional poker. All my AK’s held up. Veneno and Gordo told me to call a 1K bet near the end with a6o. The other guy had 46o and that is how I took third place. Basically the next hand some guy pushes against my A7d. I call. He flips Q5 and my hand holds up. So now I am sitting with 6775 in chips and one guy left. We danced a little. However it never was in question. I took him out with AJo vs K6c! WOO HOO! So the bankroll sits at $250.

Every which way you can

I played all forms of deviant Poker yesterday. I played two SNGs. Bubbled one one and got majorly sucked out on another for a sucky seventh place finish.

I played 25/NL. I did better with that. I waited for several hours and then doubled up against a moron.

I played ½ limit poker. I only need 70xBB right? Ha! (**Please note if you have never read this blog before please do not play ½ limit with less than 300xBB). I played well. I sucked out on someone. That was my only bad play of the day. He had Q7o and I had pocket T’s. I raised pre-flop and he and another guy called. The flop was Qxx. This guy had been aggressive with weak or non-existent hands so I decide for some reason he is bluffing. The other guy in the pot is calling his bets too. So the pot builds up to a nice $23 and I river my ten. I swear that was my only bad play. Really. Of course it was most of my $20 profit for the session too.

So the bankroll rises to around 160. I embrace my weakness and wait to score or bust out. On a better note:

#Game No : 2644793830
***** Hand History for Game 2644793830 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15402326 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, September 03, 03:12:45 EDT 2005
Table $500K Qualifier(445715) Table #1 (Real Money)

Player MBLarry finished in 12 place and received $0
Player Croehart finished in 11 place and received $0
Player yosoyveneno finished in 10 place and received $0
Congratulations Players you have reached the Final Table
Game #2645047156 starts.


Congratulate Yo Soy Veneno! She will be playing in the 500K this weekend. Today as a matter of fact. On Party Poker. Give her a shout out and wish her the best of luck if you get a chance!

Climbing..

So.. started the night out slow. Lost a 5/1 SNG. Kind of hard to do. I basically had 3 hands in a row with AJ and twice I ended up facing AA. The other time I just lost. I was a little too trigger happy.

I then played a few 25/cash games. I started out really well. I got alot of good hands. I was up to just under $100. Then I got a bunch of suckouts and lost most of that. You know the story. Nut flush gets creamed by runner-runner tens that make someone a boat. That kind of thing. I put in a buck for the limit-holdem 10K qualifier and decided to blow my last 33 bucks on a 30/3 SNG. I know. I know. Bad Sir. At least I am starting to see some patterns in my play.

So I play my ass off in this SNG and end up scoring first place. Nice. I blew a little on a 10/1 SNG but I ended the nite at $139ish. Up more than double what I started with. Not bad. Ok, not the way to make money in the long run, but I will take it.

I am thinking I should just accept my faults. Tilt as much as I want. Play as high a limit as I feel like. Go on a run. Cash out some money. Start over again when I bust out. I mean if I am going to do it anyways I might as well embrace my weaknesses.

Oh yeah, that limit SNG. I finished 38th place. It gets REALLY hard towards the end when thr blinds are 1K and you have 2-3K left. You just need to pick a hand and go with it. I could have done better. I had pocket 2's and about 2K left. The flop definatly had me beat. However I had so little left I should have probably just gone for it. Instead I folded and a two hit the turn. Oh well. Instead of having like 6K I ended up going out with AT on the next hand.

Nein! Nein!

Well I had an ok night. Some good laydowns. ITM in three or four SNGs. No first place finishes but seconds and thirds. Did not lose a single one which is always nice. I played some 25/NL cash too. Ended up losing ten bucks there. How you ask? Well after hours of playing uber tight and getting nothing I end up in this hand.

I have KK. I bet a buck pre-flop and two people call. So the flop is a 886. Now I think there could be an 8 but screw it. I bet out two bucks. The guy with a large stack folds. I get one caller. He only has four bucks left at this point and the pot is seven. A nine hits the turn. I bet two again and he pushes. I call. The cards are flipped and he shows a 96 for two pair. Two pair less then my two pair. He is DEAD! Until that is he hits the 9 on the river. NEIN!NEIN!!!!! I actually took it in stride. If I had won that pot I would be up ten bucks in the cash game for the night. I put my money in with the best hand. I did goot.

So all in all a good night. Up about ten bucks. Which is 20% of my original stack. So that is good. Only played until Midnight. Left down in the cash game. Played good. Solid. ABC. Poker. I am satisfied with my whole game tonight. We shall see about tomorrow..

Up a little..

Came in second in a 5/1 SNG. Not bad. Gets me to $59. I could have *probably* taken first, but I got a little too aggressive with Q8 when it was HU. Not a horrible play but I did not have to play it that hard.

The worst play I made all game was going for a flush draw. It did not cost me alot of money. Probably 200 chips. It was the wrong move though. Need to stop making wrong moves.

Timing is everything..

Empire poker has sent me $50 for free yet again. They must want me back. If they had better tourneys there might be a chance of that. I will keep you posted.