Montreal... So far, everyone who we've talked to that's been to Montreal had nothing but great things to say about the City.
"The place is so much fun!"
"It's the best place to visit!"
Those were some of the commonly heard accolades of Montreal whenever me or any of my friends told anyone who's been to Montreal.
Weird, because we are probably the first ones to tell you that we can safely say we will never come back here again.
This trip was just all wrong and perhaps, I should have picked up on the first sign when my intial flight out of Richmond was delayed 2 hrs, thereby being told that I will not make my connecting flight to Montreal. After talking to the idiot Delta rep, she rerouted me through Atlanta, at which point it got me to Montreal about 40 minutes later than planned. No problem. Disaster averted.
I joined my friends that night around 12:30am and we quickly got the party started by downing a few soco shots and whiskey shots in between guzzling down Labatt's Bleue like they were going out of style. So far, the only thing that sucked was that there were no girls. No problem. We got a chance to catch up (since these are guys that live in CT so I don't get to see them often) and we were ready for the craziness that was sure to happen.
Friday, we get up and decide that we need to hit up breakfast. Except by now, it was already close to noon so the diner that we went to told us that they no longer serve breakfast food. I guess that's one thing different about "diners" in the US v Canada. They did direct us to a place called Eggspectations (when the guy told me to go to Eggspectation in his french accent, I thought he was trying to get us to go to a strip club called Expectations). The place was great (breakfast, not strip club) and we were off to a good start. At the same time, the Jazz Festival is happening this week so 200,000 people were flooding the area, coming to check out the finest. Not being the jazz connoisseurs, we decided to hit up the casino.
And this is possibly where it all went down hill.
My friend, who has been due all his life for a monster crap roll is still due for a monster crap roll. I, labeled "Iceman" by other bloggers due to my quick crap out continued the saga as... Iceman. But in all fairness, this was like the table from hell. We couldn't get anything going and so next thing we knew, we were walking over to the bar area (no alcoholic beverages by the tables) to ease the pain of the losses. Fast forward several hours and we hit up Gibby's which was recommended by Astin. Man, that guy knows his food. The food at Gibby's was exceptional and we really enjoyed our dinner. But this is where all hell starts breaking loose...
We then hit Crescent street and start drinking at some bar... we then proceed to hit on two VERY VERY average looking women... which we then end up spending the next 3 hours of our precious little vacation time... I swear, at that point, it had nothing to do with desire and more to do with... not sure, really... big big mistake. By the time we were done, there wasn't much left to do. We then hit up Tim Hortons for some late night bagels and donuts and after scarfing down some food, we leave, heading back to our hotel. On the way back, we spot a dude with a very hot girl who was clearly an escort. My drunk friend proceeds to want to go make a comment but he didn't even get much of a word out when one of the guys who was part of the escort posse stops him. My friend was just like "woah, I wasn't gonna say or do anything" when a drunk member of the posse decided to slap my friend. That kinda got him fired up and so my friend was like "wtf was that for?"
CRACK!
Out of nowhere, the dude with the escort came out and coldcocked my friend square in the jaw. He must have hit the right spot really hard because it literally knocked my friend out cold. He was probably unconcious for close to a minute as everyone decided to help him get off the street. My friend finally came to when we poured water on him but it was a scary sight considering his eyes were open but his whole body was limp. I've never seen anything like it so close.
After that, we get back to the hotel and we finally pass out. My friend wakes up this morning to significant pain in his swollen jaw (obviously), scraped up elbows (from when he literally fell to the ground after the punch), and a mysterious ankle injury that none of us knows what happened to but was swollen the size of a softball. He was in a lot of pain so we end up testing the Canada health care system and take him to the hospital. After being charged $500 for the visit, my friend decides that he doesn't want to wait around for an xray so we just head back to the hotel room. With my friend totally banged up and the fact that they drove up together from CT, I suggest that it would be totally cool and understandable if they just left me here by myself for another night. Considering what happened and being hungover, we weren't gonna party too hard tonight anyways so I thought it would make more sense for my friend to get back.
Eventually, around 4pm, they did agree that going back and putting an end to this nightmare of a trip would be a good thing.
My flight is at 9:45am tomorrow where I will be going back to Richmond via Washington, DC. I never imagined before this trip that I'd say this on a Saturday night in Montreal...
I can't wait to go home.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
change of plans
I guess I shouldn't be surprised but my flight to JFK is delayed 2hrs which means I will not be able to make my connection to Montreal. As such, they rerouted me to ATL and after a 2hr layover there, I will fly to Montreal, putting me there an hour later than planned. Astin mentioned that the airport is quite far from the main part of the city. How far is quite far? Too bad my friends who are driving will be too drunk to pick me up....
Montreal, eh?
In 4 hours, I will be flying out to Montreal. The only bad beat is that I have a 2+ hours layover at JFK. (LJ, wanna come meet me for dinner???) I arrive there at 6:30 and my flight for Montreal doesn't leave till 9pm. No problem though as I am the master of killing time. I arrive in Montreal at 11pm. Prime time. By then, my buddies should be drunk since they are arriving there around 8pm. All I know is that I'll drop off my luggage at the hotel room and do a few shots to immediately catch up. I'm sure insanity will ensue. I have used the past two nights to warm up for this insane drunken debauchery that is sure to happen. I am still a little hungover (didn't think we drank too much last night but my bazillion text messages say otherwise) but the best cure for a hangover is more beer. I'm sure my mom is hating this post right now. Don't worry mom, I won't drink too much... after this weekend.
I shall use Sunday to recover from the insanity of Canada so I can be ready for the insane bash on Friday, celebrating the independence of this country. I have two cookouts to go to and a cab number on my cell. If any of you ever wonder why anyone would come to Richmond for a visit, this 4th of July party would be a damn good reason. But that's next week.
Alright, must go pack. Have a nice weekend!
I shall use Sunday to recover from the insanity of Canada so I can be ready for the insane bash on Friday, celebrating the independence of this country. I have two cookouts to go to and a cab number on my cell. If any of you ever wonder why anyone would come to Richmond for a visit, this 4th of July party would be a damn good reason. But that's next week.
Alright, must go pack. Have a nice weekend!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The KK hand
Here's the actual HH of the KK hand that I posted about the other day. I'm also going to hide the names. I think that's something I'm gonna start doing moving forward because I just looked up the search engine list to see how other people are finding my blog and I noticed that there are A LOT of people coming to this blog by searching for random fulltilt screenname. Of course, if they type my name in, they'll end up here but I don't want others who are trying to look up other players to end up here either. With so much information readily available, I am worried that I am putting myself at a disadvantage...
Full Tilt Poker Game : Table News (deep 6) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:21:09 ET - 2008/06/24
Seat 1: ($1,273.70)
Seat 2: ($662.30) <--- SB
Seat 3: RecessRampage ($1,189.70) <--- BB
Seat 4: Villain ($391.10)
Seat 5: ($929.90)
Seat 6: ($413.50)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Kd Kc]
Villain raises to $12
4 folds
RecessRampage raises to $38
Villain calls $26
I was incorrect in my original post. I said he limped but he actually raised. Crap... now I am thinking my whole analysis was mistaken.
*** FLOP *** [8d 7h 5c]
RecessRampage bets $63
Villain raises to $126 (leaves himself $227 behind)
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage calls $63
As I described yesterday, I hated the minraise. I hated the flop actually but again, I was incorrect in that I thought the villain limped then called a raise. Now that I know he raised preflop, he could easily have done this with 66, 99, or TT. I would guess that with AA-JJ, he would have repopped me preflop or raise bigger here than just a minraise. Either way, it's different from my recollection in that I ruled out TT+ (and possibly even 99+) because I thought he limped, then called my raise. I thoguht he would raise with 99+... and, well... he did raise preflop...
*** TURN *** [8d 7h 5c] [Jh]
RecessRampage checks
Villain bets $132 (leaving himself $95 behind)
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage folds
Villain wins the pot ($327)
I am hating how this hand went down more and more now that I look at it. Even though, the fact that he's not shoving on the turn may indicate a lot of strength because he is obviously committing himself, I don't think I can rule out 99 or TT in this hand. This is the cool thing about reviewing HHs. There are so many more things that start coming to mind that may not occur to me during the hand.
I will say though that in a cash game, sometimes, folding in spots like this is a smaller mistake than playing for stacks with just an overpair. You just want to make sure that you adjust your play so that you don't totally get run over either.
I just wanted to post the actual HH so everyone got to see the exact action as opposed to my memory based description (which turned out to be incorrect).
Full Tilt Poker Game : Table News (deep 6) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:21:09 ET - 2008/06/24
Seat 1: ($1,273.70)
Seat 2: ($662.30) <--- SB
Seat 3: RecessRampage ($1,189.70) <--- BB
Seat 4: Villain ($391.10)
Seat 5: ($929.90)
Seat 6: ($413.50)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Kd Kc]
Villain raises to $12
4 folds
RecessRampage raises to $38
Villain calls $26
I was incorrect in my original post. I said he limped but he actually raised. Crap... now I am thinking my whole analysis was mistaken.
*** FLOP *** [8d 7h 5c]
RecessRampage bets $63
Villain raises to $126 (leaves himself $227 behind)
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage calls $63
As I described yesterday, I hated the minraise. I hated the flop actually but again, I was incorrect in that I thought the villain limped then called a raise. Now that I know he raised preflop, he could easily have done this with 66, 99, or TT. I would guess that with AA-JJ, he would have repopped me preflop or raise bigger here than just a minraise. Either way, it's different from my recollection in that I ruled out TT+ (and possibly even 99+) because I thought he limped, then called my raise. I thoguht he would raise with 99+... and, well... he did raise preflop...
*** TURN *** [8d 7h 5c] [Jh]
RecessRampage checks
Villain bets $132 (leaving himself $95 behind)
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage folds
Villain wins the pot ($327)
I am hating how this hand went down more and more now that I look at it. Even though, the fact that he's not shoving on the turn may indicate a lot of strength because he is obviously committing himself, I don't think I can rule out 99 or TT in this hand. This is the cool thing about reviewing HHs. There are so many more things that start coming to mind that may not occur to me during the hand.
I will say though that in a cash game, sometimes, folding in spots like this is a smaller mistake than playing for stacks with just an overpair. You just want to make sure that you adjust your play so that you don't totally get run over either.
I just wanted to post the actual HH so everyone got to see the exact action as opposed to my memory based description (which turned out to be incorrect).
Help needed
If you have not heard, please drop by and send your thoughts, prayers, and whatever good karma you got to Bayne and his family. Based on the update on his blog, it seems that things should be ok but please, if you have a chance, drop by to show support and give him encouragement.
Bayne and I chat daily and he's one of the handful of bloggers that I would drop a random text to, even when I'm not pokering. Even though we always talk shit or give each other a hard time, that's pretty much how I roll with most of my friends. Please help him and his family get through this tough time by including them in your prayers (if that's your thing), your thoughts, or next time you're asking for a 2 outer on the river, ask for Bayne's wife's recovery (you can ask for the 2 outer and Bayne's wife's recovery at the same time).
Bayne and I chat daily and he's one of the handful of bloggers that I would drop a random text to, even when I'm not pokering. Even though we always talk shit or give each other a hard time, that's pretty much how I roll with most of my friends. Please help him and his family get through this tough time by including them in your prayers (if that's your thing), your thoughts, or next time you're asking for a 2 outer on the river, ask for Bayne's wife's recovery (you can ask for the 2 outer and Bayne's wife's recovery at the same time).
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Obligatory poker post
Since this is a poker blog first and everything else second, I felt compelled to write something poker related since a lot of my posts recently have nothing to do with poker. Being that my trip to Montreal is coming up in a few days, I imagine there would be less poker material to write about. I hate it when social life comes in the way of poker... ah hell, what am I talking about. I'm having a freakin blast.
Well, last night, I played some poker. Not much. Just 4 tabled for about two hours I think... I was only going to play for an hour but then I was stuck a buy in and I knew I was playing well so I didn't want to stop. The only reason I was stuck a buy in was because we got it all in post flop... I had 99, villain had AA... flop was A-9-x. I eventually made it all back though and ended the night positive.
However, there was a hand that I don't have the HH for right now but it was a hand that I could have gone broke in but decided to cut my losses on the turn. The basic idea of the hand was that there was an EP limper, I raise with KK, EP limper calls, and we see a flop. On the flop, it was an uncoordinated, all low/mid flop and he checks to me, I bet about 85% of pot and I get mincheckraised. I took this as a sign of strength. After much deliberation, I called. Now I believe the flop was like 7 high or 8 high. On the turn, it was a J and he bets out about half his remaining stack. At that point, the pot was approximately $250ish. I had about $340 remaining. If I call his turn bet, I am obviously committed to calling the river bet so I felt that I was making a decision for my entire stack on the turn. I thought long and hard and eventually found the fold button. Now I don't know if that was a good fold or a bad fold. But it also made me think whether the flop call was a good one or not. And it reminded me of something about big pocket pairs preflop which doesn't directly tie to this HH but an interesting concept nonetheless.
Few months ago, when I was in Vegas, I played some with Weakplayer and Don. At one point, Weak comes and tells us about a hand he was involved in where he had KK, the flop was all low (like 7 high maybe) and he folded to a jam. At that point, Don pointed out that if he was gonna do that, he shoulda mucked KK preflop unless he was set mining. What does he mean? Well, this is how the hand played out preflop.
There was an EP limper, Weak raises, another guy calls, and the EP limper reraises a pretty big amount. At that point, Weak thought it might be aces but he wasn't sure so he called and so did the last guy. They saw an all low flop, EP limp reraiser jammed, Weak mucked his KK, and the last guy called. Turns out EP limp reraiser had QQ and the other guy had JJ. But we're not trying to judge based on the results. The interesting part to me was Don's comment.
In other words, if you are going to fold your kings on an all low flop, without set mining odds, why do you even need to call preflop? (and in this instance, I don't think weak had the set mining odds after the reraise) In other words, you need to make the judgment preflop about what to do if the flop is ______. You obviously can't totally plan ahead because you don't know what's coming. But you do need to run a few scenarios. In the hand above, it is definitely worth considering a fold preflop if you know that you're gonna fold to a flop jam on an all low board. The reason is that after showing that much strength (limp, then reraise), there's no way the guy is not cbetting. So, knowing that the cbet is coming, you have to consider what your actions are. If your thought is folding to a cbet, then you're essentially turning your pocket kings into presto or pocket 7s or whatever middle pocket pair you want to set mine with. In other words, it's no longer a big pocket pair for you.
The hand I was in is totally different and yet similar in the sense that I had to think through the action of the latter street and make a decision on the prior street. When I called the flop bet, it was because he minraised and I felt that if I can catch my two outer, I will stack him. If his hand wasn't all that great, it would be hard for him to bet out. Based on the preflop action, I pretty much eliminated TT+ so on the flop, he either overvalues 99 or 88 (assuming flop was 7 high) or he hit a set. My mind was that I'm drawing for the 2 outer and on the turn, when a J came and he bets out about half the pot (which was also half his remaining stack), I knew that even though the bet was for half his stack, my decision was for his entire stack. There was no sense in calling so it was a shove or fold decision and I felt that I shouldn't overcommit with just one pair, albeit a nice one. I probably didn't have the right odds to draw to a two outer, even on the flop minraise but I also thought maybe he's not quite as strong as he indicates. What I failed to recognize was that he was gonna fire out a turn bet regardless after that checkraise so potentially, it might have been a better move to fold on the flop. Nonetheless, I felt that the turn fold was not so bad and in the end, I was able to capitalize on better situations instead of playing for stacks in a very marginal situation which I have caught myself doing in the past month or so when I was playing overly aggressive (read: BAD).
Well, last night, I played some poker. Not much. Just 4 tabled for about two hours I think... I was only going to play for an hour but then I was stuck a buy in and I knew I was playing well so I didn't want to stop. The only reason I was stuck a buy in was because we got it all in post flop... I had 99, villain had AA... flop was A-9-x. I eventually made it all back though and ended the night positive.
However, there was a hand that I don't have the HH for right now but it was a hand that I could have gone broke in but decided to cut my losses on the turn. The basic idea of the hand was that there was an EP limper, I raise with KK, EP limper calls, and we see a flop. On the flop, it was an uncoordinated, all low/mid flop and he checks to me, I bet about 85% of pot and I get mincheckraised. I took this as a sign of strength. After much deliberation, I called. Now I believe the flop was like 7 high or 8 high. On the turn, it was a J and he bets out about half his remaining stack. At that point, the pot was approximately $250ish. I had about $340 remaining. If I call his turn bet, I am obviously committed to calling the river bet so I felt that I was making a decision for my entire stack on the turn. I thought long and hard and eventually found the fold button. Now I don't know if that was a good fold or a bad fold. But it also made me think whether the flop call was a good one or not. And it reminded me of something about big pocket pairs preflop which doesn't directly tie to this HH but an interesting concept nonetheless.
Few months ago, when I was in Vegas, I played some with Weakplayer and Don. At one point, Weak comes and tells us about a hand he was involved in where he had KK, the flop was all low (like 7 high maybe) and he folded to a jam. At that point, Don pointed out that if he was gonna do that, he shoulda mucked KK preflop unless he was set mining. What does he mean? Well, this is how the hand played out preflop.
There was an EP limper, Weak raises, another guy calls, and the EP limper reraises a pretty big amount. At that point, Weak thought it might be aces but he wasn't sure so he called and so did the last guy. They saw an all low flop, EP limp reraiser jammed, Weak mucked his KK, and the last guy called. Turns out EP limp reraiser had QQ and the other guy had JJ. But we're not trying to judge based on the results. The interesting part to me was Don's comment.
In other words, if you are going to fold your kings on an all low flop, without set mining odds, why do you even need to call preflop? (and in this instance, I don't think weak had the set mining odds after the reraise) In other words, you need to make the judgment preflop about what to do if the flop is ______. You obviously can't totally plan ahead because you don't know what's coming. But you do need to run a few scenarios. In the hand above, it is definitely worth considering a fold preflop if you know that you're gonna fold to a flop jam on an all low board. The reason is that after showing that much strength (limp, then reraise), there's no way the guy is not cbetting. So, knowing that the cbet is coming, you have to consider what your actions are. If your thought is folding to a cbet, then you're essentially turning your pocket kings into presto or pocket 7s or whatever middle pocket pair you want to set mine with. In other words, it's no longer a big pocket pair for you.
The hand I was in is totally different and yet similar in the sense that I had to think through the action of the latter street and make a decision on the prior street. When I called the flop bet, it was because he minraised and I felt that if I can catch my two outer, I will stack him. If his hand wasn't all that great, it would be hard for him to bet out. Based on the preflop action, I pretty much eliminated TT+ so on the flop, he either overvalues 99 or 88 (assuming flop was 7 high) or he hit a set. My mind was that I'm drawing for the 2 outer and on the turn, when a J came and he bets out about half the pot (which was also half his remaining stack), I knew that even though the bet was for half his stack, my decision was for his entire stack. There was no sense in calling so it was a shove or fold decision and I felt that I shouldn't overcommit with just one pair, albeit a nice one. I probably didn't have the right odds to draw to a two outer, even on the flop minraise but I also thought maybe he's not quite as strong as he indicates. What I failed to recognize was that he was gonna fire out a turn bet regardless after that checkraise so potentially, it might have been a better move to fold on the flop. Nonetheless, I felt that the turn fold was not so bad and in the end, I was able to capitalize on better situations instead of playing for stacks in a very marginal situation which I have caught myself doing in the past month or so when I was playing overly aggressive (read: BAD).
Monday, June 23, 2008
The "bAy weekend" (nonpoker)
Oh my god... This past weekend was everything that it was hyped up to be and more. Actually, I'm gonna go ahead and say that it was a lot more than it was hyped up to be. And we were totally psyched for it but we had no idea that it was gonna be this much fun. I mean to be honest, I was expecting a crazy Friday night where we would get trashed (ok, that was as expected) and then a chill out, relaxing Saturday on the boat where we would throw back a few beers and just float around. Instead, I'm totally sore now from being thrashed around in the water but I'll get into that later...
Friday, we are driving up to Maryland and the place was actually close to Delaware. It's still on the Chesapeake Bay side but the house is along more like an inlet of the Bay. Well, as we're driving there, according to the directions, we're no more than 10 minutes away from this house and we have yet to see any body of water. Since we didn't print out maps or anything, we are strictly going by these directions that our friends gave us and so we're not even sure if we're still along the coast or in the middle of Maryland. We joke about how fucked up it would be if the house is in a community called "The Bay" (since the whole time, they just said, "you guys wanna come up to the House at the bay?") But seriously... we couldn't figure out if we were gonna have to drive up to where the water was.
Well, we finally get to the gate of the community and again, no water yet. We drive through these fields with gigantic houses and we now realize that we are definitely in for a treat. We get to the house and we are in awe. I meant to take a picture of the house but I just didn't get a chance to. Let me just say that there's a house and there's a cottage. We stayed at the cottage which alone is a perfectly fine house for any single family to own. Of course, it's half the size of the main house. We are shown around the house and as we walk out to the backyard over the deck and this is the view that we're greeted by.
Our friends ask if we want to go check out the boat and jet skis that we'll be riding tomorrow so we obviously eagerly agree.
We're already psyched, knowing that we're gonna be on the boat, chilling out with beers and good company. But since it was like 7pm on Friday when we arrived, we're ready to eat/drink. So, we're shown to the basement where we will be partying after dinner and this is what I walk into.
It's a fully stocked bar with a lot of high end liquor. I'm gonna assume the most expensive thing we drank was the Johnny Walker Blue Label. I have to admit though. I'm no scotch connoisseur so that glass was probably a waste to have gotten into my body. But now I know what it's like. That was part of the "scotch tasting" that we did. Not like we needed to kick the party up to another level after already having a few shots of 100 proof Southern Comfort but we all knew that this was gonna be a night of some serious drinking. Some more shots I can remember doing would include some high end vodka that I've never heard of (and I can't remember at this point) and something else but memory is kinda fuzzy. Pretty sure it wasn't rum because I have bad memories from rum but I remember grabbing a bottle and doing a shot of something different, only because I wanted to try it... which is a pity since I don't remember what it was.
Shockingly, after all that drinking (and later on, the pukage by our host), we were still ready to go the following morning. So, after some much needed eggs and bacon/ham, we headed out to the water where we got to ride around on the jet skis (or waverunners for those who want to be perfectly accurate on what we were riding) and hanging out on the boat. After a few hours, we decided to attach a little two seater raft so we can go water tubing.
Attaching the raft to the boat and getting two guys in, we started playing the "who can stay on the raft the longest" contest. And let me tell you. It was no joke. On the raft, you are getting whipped around, holding on to dear life as you are flipped from the raft numerous times. It was an unbelievably fun time that is pretty much impossible to describe in words. Let's just say that I would be laughing the whole time I'm on the raft as I get tossed off the raft after a sharp turn. It was awesome.
Admittedly, the next day, we realized how sore we were, most likely from having a death grip on the raft and then also being tossed around like a rag doll. Sunday, we didn't get to hit the waters for long but a slight modification was made to the raft. The raft had this little fin which got cut off by one of the hosts so that there would be less stability. First thing we noticed was that it felt a lot faster without the fin (attached to the same boat). Second thing we noticed was that we were thrown further out on the sharp curves, literally tilting 45 degrees and on straightaways where we would hit waves, we are literally airborne. One of the falls that I had, it was described to me as doing a cartwheel in the air before I fell into the water. And yes, I was laughing the whole time.
Last night, when I got home, my body (esp my back and around my shoulder blades) were really sore. My forehead was totally burnt... not from being out on the boat where I was prepared enough to put sunscreen on but from the drive back where I had my top down on my convertible(and wasn't prepared enough to put sunscreen on). My shoulders are also red and a little burnt, my body is still tight, but aside from that, I'm just bummed that we're not on the water today. It was an unbelievable weekend and needless to say, almost zero poker (except last night when I dabbled in it for about an hour).
Next up is Montreal. That should be a fun time too. I leave on Thursday and come back Sunday. Holy cow. This blog is gonna be hurting for some poker content after all these weekend trips.
Friday, we are driving up to Maryland and the place was actually close to Delaware. It's still on the Chesapeake Bay side but the house is along more like an inlet of the Bay. Well, as we're driving there, according to the directions, we're no more than 10 minutes away from this house and we have yet to see any body of water. Since we didn't print out maps or anything, we are strictly going by these directions that our friends gave us and so we're not even sure if we're still along the coast or in the middle of Maryland. We joke about how fucked up it would be if the house is in a community called "The Bay" (since the whole time, they just said, "you guys wanna come up to the House at the bay?") But seriously... we couldn't figure out if we were gonna have to drive up to where the water was.
Well, we finally get to the gate of the community and again, no water yet. We drive through these fields with gigantic houses and we now realize that we are definitely in for a treat. We get to the house and we are in awe. I meant to take a picture of the house but I just didn't get a chance to. Let me just say that there's a house and there's a cottage. We stayed at the cottage which alone is a perfectly fine house for any single family to own. Of course, it's half the size of the main house. We are shown around the house and as we walk out to the backyard over the deck and this is the view that we're greeted by.
Our friends ask if we want to go check out the boat and jet skis that we'll be riding tomorrow so we obviously eagerly agree.
We're already psyched, knowing that we're gonna be on the boat, chilling out with beers and good company. But since it was like 7pm on Friday when we arrived, we're ready to eat/drink. So, we're shown to the basement where we will be partying after dinner and this is what I walk into.
It's a fully stocked bar with a lot of high end liquor. I'm gonna assume the most expensive thing we drank was the Johnny Walker Blue Label. I have to admit though. I'm no scotch connoisseur so that glass was probably a waste to have gotten into my body. But now I know what it's like. That was part of the "scotch tasting" that we did. Not like we needed to kick the party up to another level after already having a few shots of 100 proof Southern Comfort but we all knew that this was gonna be a night of some serious drinking. Some more shots I can remember doing would include some high end vodka that I've never heard of (and I can't remember at this point) and something else but memory is kinda fuzzy. Pretty sure it wasn't rum because I have bad memories from rum but I remember grabbing a bottle and doing a shot of something different, only because I wanted to try it... which is a pity since I don't remember what it was.
Shockingly, after all that drinking (and later on, the pukage by our host), we were still ready to go the following morning. So, after some much needed eggs and bacon/ham, we headed out to the water where we got to ride around on the jet skis (or waverunners for those who want to be perfectly accurate on what we were riding) and hanging out on the boat. After a few hours, we decided to attach a little two seater raft so we can go water tubing.
Attaching the raft to the boat and getting two guys in, we started playing the "who can stay on the raft the longest" contest. And let me tell you. It was no joke. On the raft, you are getting whipped around, holding on to dear life as you are flipped from the raft numerous times. It was an unbelievably fun time that is pretty much impossible to describe in words. Let's just say that I would be laughing the whole time I'm on the raft as I get tossed off the raft after a sharp turn. It was awesome.
Admittedly, the next day, we realized how sore we were, most likely from having a death grip on the raft and then also being tossed around like a rag doll. Sunday, we didn't get to hit the waters for long but a slight modification was made to the raft. The raft had this little fin which got cut off by one of the hosts so that there would be less stability. First thing we noticed was that it felt a lot faster without the fin (attached to the same boat). Second thing we noticed was that we were thrown further out on the sharp curves, literally tilting 45 degrees and on straightaways where we would hit waves, we are literally airborne. One of the falls that I had, it was described to me as doing a cartwheel in the air before I fell into the water. And yes, I was laughing the whole time.
Last night, when I got home, my body (esp my back and around my shoulder blades) were really sore. My forehead was totally burnt... not from being out on the boat where I was prepared enough to put sunscreen on but from the drive back where I had my top down on my convertible(and wasn't prepared enough to put sunscreen on). My shoulders are also red and a little burnt, my body is still tight, but aside from that, I'm just bummed that we're not on the water today. It was an unbelievable weekend and needless to say, almost zero poker (except last night when I dabbled in it for about an hour).
Next up is Montreal. That should be a fun time too. I leave on Thursday and come back Sunday. Holy cow. This blog is gonna be hurting for some poker content after all these weekend trips.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Ubershort nonpoker post
In less than 3 hours, a buddy of mine and I would leave Richmond to head up to the Maryland side of the Chesapeake Bay. We're gonna take Route 301 instead of heading up I-95 but traffic is probably inevitable. Nonetheless, it will be a weekend filled with boating, jet skiing, and heavy partying. To say that I'm excited about it is an understatement. Another friend of mine did a boating/fishing thing the weekend I was getting back from Japan so unfortunately, I was unable to attend. This will be the first time this year that I'm headed to a body of water so even though I'm a total city boy (yes, I realize I live in Richmond), I am freakin psyched. I just have to leave work early to pick up a few supplies.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Oh shit, and next weekend is Montreal. Woot.
My next few weekends are looking AWESOME.
I did look up airfare for Okie-Vegas. It's like $500 to fly out of Richmond... I know, I probably waited too long. I realize how much fun I will be missing out on but instead, I'll be playing tons of golf (and obviously drinking) that day also so as much as I'm bummed about not being able to go, it is what it is for now. Looks like the next blogger function I will go to is the Bash and I am in for sure!
Ok, this time, it's for real. I am out. Have a great weekend everyone!
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Oh shit, and next weekend is Montreal. Woot.
My next few weekends are looking AWESOME.
I did look up airfare for Okie-Vegas. It's like $500 to fly out of Richmond... I know, I probably waited too long. I realize how much fun I will be missing out on but instead, I'll be playing tons of golf (and obviously drinking) that day also so as much as I'm bummed about not being able to go, it is what it is for now. Looks like the next blogger function I will go to is the Bash and I am in for sure!
Ok, this time, it's for real. I am out. Have a great weekend everyone!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!
These are always hard for me but in hindsight, I need to get away from hands like this in this situation...
6max 2-4NL
Seat 1: booyahkashah ($190.40) <--- BB
Seat 2: PIKAPIKACHU ($833)
Seat 3: glenmorangie88 ($1,087.40)
Seat 4: MagicBeT ($150.70)
Seat 5: uffameg ($843.70)
Seat 6: RecessRampage ($542) <--- SB
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ad Qs]
PIKAPIKACHU folds
glenmorangie88 folds
MagicBeT folds
uffameg raises to $14 <--- from the button
RecessRampage raises to $46
booyahkashah has 15 seconds left to act
booyahkashah folds
uffameg has 15 seconds left to act
uffameg calls $32
*** FLOP *** [Qc Ac Jc]
booyahkashah has returned
RecessRampage bets $70
uffameg has 15 seconds left to act
uffameg raises to $140
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage calls $70
Ok, this is where it gets interesting. I repop it preflop with AQ which is standard at a 6 max table and I flop top 2. I bet out and then I get minraised. I didn't know what to make of that minraise so I called, wondering if the villain flopped a set (with like JJ) or if he somehow flopped a flush or a straight. Or was he just making a play. At the time, I also thought maybe he had AK with Kc but based on the preflop action, I can probably safely rule out AK here. It's so much easier to say that now when I'm not in the hand and the timer is not staring back at you.
Should I be in a check/call mode here? Does anyone fold to that minraise here? Folding here I think would be a mistake... but I'm not sure.
*** TURN *** [Qc Ac Jc] [6d]
RecessRampage checks
uffameg has 15 seconds left to act
uffameg bets $376
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
What would you do? I really took my time here but I thought he could have a flush, a set, or he could have AKc (again, I think I can rule that out now but at the time, that's what I thought) or AJ (I honestly thought this was a real possibility).
RecessRampage calls $356, and is all in
uffameg shows [Tc 9c] <--- doh!
RecessRampage shows [Ad Qs]
Uncalled bet of $20 returned to uffameg
*** RIVER *** [Qc Ac Jc 6d] [5c]
uffameg shows a flush, Ace high
RecessRampage shows two pair, Aces and Queens
uffameg wins the pot ($1,085) with a flush, Ace high
RecessRampage adds $400
I really think on the turn, I needed to get away from the hand. There were a lot of indicators that made me think I was beat and yet I couldn't find the fold button. I think I'm starting to play well again but I HAVE TO plug leaks like this.
6max 2-4NL
Seat 1: booyahkashah ($190.40) <--- BB
Seat 2: PIKAPIKACHU ($833)
Seat 3: glenmorangie88 ($1,087.40)
Seat 4: MagicBeT ($150.70)
Seat 5: uffameg ($843.70)
Seat 6: RecessRampage ($542) <--- SB
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ad Qs]
PIKAPIKACHU folds
glenmorangie88 folds
MagicBeT folds
uffameg raises to $14 <--- from the button
RecessRampage raises to $46
booyahkashah has 15 seconds left to act
booyahkashah folds
uffameg has 15 seconds left to act
uffameg calls $32
*** FLOP *** [Qc Ac Jc]
booyahkashah has returned
RecessRampage bets $70
uffameg has 15 seconds left to act
uffameg raises to $140
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage calls $70
Ok, this is where it gets interesting. I repop it preflop with AQ which is standard at a 6 max table and I flop top 2. I bet out and then I get minraised. I didn't know what to make of that minraise so I called, wondering if the villain flopped a set (with like JJ) or if he somehow flopped a flush or a straight. Or was he just making a play. At the time, I also thought maybe he had AK with Kc but based on the preflop action, I can probably safely rule out AK here. It's so much easier to say that now when I'm not in the hand and the timer is not staring back at you.
Should I be in a check/call mode here? Does anyone fold to that minraise here? Folding here I think would be a mistake... but I'm not sure.
*** TURN *** [Qc Ac Jc] [6d]
RecessRampage checks
uffameg has 15 seconds left to act
uffameg bets $376
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
What would you do? I really took my time here but I thought he could have a flush, a set, or he could have AKc (again, I think I can rule that out now but at the time, that's what I thought) or AJ (I honestly thought this was a real possibility).
RecessRampage calls $356, and is all in
uffameg shows [Tc 9c] <--- doh!
RecessRampage shows [Ad Qs]
Uncalled bet of $20 returned to uffameg
*** RIVER *** [Qc Ac Jc 6d] [5c]
uffameg shows a flush, Ace high
RecessRampage shows two pair, Aces and Queens
uffameg wins the pot ($1,085) with a flush, Ace high
RecessRampage adds $400
I really think on the turn, I needed to get away from the hand. There were a lot of indicators that made me think I was beat and yet I couldn't find the fold button. I think I'm starting to play well again but I HAVE TO plug leaks like this.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
My leak and goals in review
The other day, I posted something and I received an anonymous comment about how he/she thought WSOP was one of my goals for 2008 and that I need to revisit my goals. Since it's almost the half way point, I figured that it's probably not a good idea. This is my post that described my goals for 2008. So, apparently, WSOP was not my goal, even though admittedly, I thought I said somewhere that I would try harder to make it. On the flip side, not sure what Mr Anonymous wanted me to do. I did play in the two major qualifiers, I was in the TOC, I did play in few of the weekly freerolls, and I fell short in all of them. In the end, I wasn't good enough to get there so I can make it my goal all I want. Nonetheless, the 2 goals in a nutshell were to convert to 6max and win a MTT. Since I didn't play much MTTs to begin with, I thought that would be a tough one but I did kinda win one... It was a 450ish person, 7k or so guarantee. It happened in May and I'm too lazy to link back to it. It was for like $2,200ish. Nothing crazy but not too shabby. Win is a win I guess. So, I guess you can say I achieved that goal.
I guess my lack of enthusiasm is coming from the fact that I actually thought I would be much better at this point. I had high hopes/expectations for myself for this year and to say that I am falling short is an understatement. It would be like saying that the Celtics were barely able to beat the Lakers last night. (You know I would never link up to ESPfuckinN.com site cuz I hate that stupid site)
I will say this. I think I am noticing that the games are getting tougher at 6 max. I don't know if this is just me or not but there are more players I recognize and squeeze plays, 3 bets, OBFV, etc are moves that I am starting to see more and more. In the past, a gross overbet was AK or a draw. These days, it could even be top set. I was not adjusting quick enough and I was overcommitting so much more with weak holdings like one pair. Here are couple of hands where I get taken for (my friend JT always asked me to post hands where I lost so here they are):
PokerStars Game #18052224536: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/06/10 - 18:56:42 (ET)
Table 'Emita IV' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: mansea ($101.70 in chips)
Seat 2: Alotofaction ($586.90 in chips)
Seat 3: ZeKGB ($494 in chips)
Seat 4: PartyRefugee ($1846.85 in chips)
Seat 5: Dirty Vizzer ($416.20 in chips)
Seat 6: jaywks ($444 in chips)
ZeKGB: posts small blind $2
PartyRefugee: posts big blind $4
Just started the session so I don't know anything about them. Plus I know nothing about players over at Stars since I haven't played there nearly as much as Fulltilt.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Th Td]
Dirty Vizzer: raises $10 to $14
jaywks: folds
mansea: folds
Alotofaction: folds
ZeKGB: folds
PartyRefugee: calls $10
Pretty much ideal situation. I raise from UTG and the only caller is from the blinds so I'll have position on them.
*** FLOP *** [5h 7d 2c]
PartyRefugee: bets $28
Dirty Vizzer: raises $44 to $72
PartyRefugee: raises $1760.85 to $1832.85 and is all-in
Dirty Vizzer: calls $330.20 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($1430.65) returned to PartyRefugee
*** TURN *** [5h 7d 2c] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [5h 7d 2c Jc] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PartyRefugee: shows [5c 7c] (two pair, Sevens and Fives)
Dirty Vizzer: mucks hand
PartyRefugee collected $831.40 from pot
Needless to say, that was a TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE call by me. This is like the pinnacle of my poor play. Overaggroing with hands that beat nothing and then CALLING off rest of my stack. It was just bad. But if you want, feel free to pile on. Really, there's nothing to pile on though. I mean... this is about a bad a call as I can make. At least in the second hand, I learned my lesson... sorta...
PokerStars Game #18052832545: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/06/10 - 19:27:10 (ET)
Table 'Dorothea IV' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: russ0618 ($409.10 in chips)
Seat 2: pharus ($159.50 in chips)
Seat 3: PartyRefugee ($586 in chips) <--- SB
Seat 4: Dirty Vizzer ($1203.40 in chips) <--- BB
Seat 5: tapatapa ($915.15 in chips)
Seat 6: kapie123 ($452.10 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Kd Ks]
tapatapa: raises $8 to $12
kapie123: folds
russ0618: folds
pharus: folds
PartyRefugee: calls $10
Dirty Vizzer: raises $40 to $52
tapatapa: calls $40
PartyRefugee: calls $40
*** FLOP *** [7c 5h Tc]
PartyRefugee: bets $76
Dirty Vizzer: calls $76
tapatapa: folds
So this time, I remembered that the last time he bet out, he actually had a hand. On this board, I still thought it was fairly realistic for him to do it with a draw so I called to at least peel off one more card. If it's not a K, I'm done. Realistically, I can fold here but I'm not THAT good.
*** TURN *** [7c 5h Tc] [9c]
PartyRefugee: checks
Dirty Vizzer: checks
*** RIVER *** [7c 5h Tc 9c] [2c]
PartyRefugee: checks
Dirty Vizzer: checks
When this is checked to me, I did contemplate betting. The only problem was, I wasn't sure how well I can rep a club here and if the guy could fold what might be a pretty strong hand. I also felt that JJ-QQ could be in his range (though doubtful) so I felt that instead of risking a few hundred dollars to see if I can get a fold, I will just showdown my hand.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PartyRefugee: shows [7d 7h] (three of a kind, Sevens)
Dirty Vizzer: mucks hand
PartyRefugee collected $305 from pot
Sure enough, he had a set and my kings were no good. However, on the turn, if it's a nonclub and he bets out pretty strong, I'm fairly certain I woulda mucked my KK, knowing that he stacked me at the other table in the similar fashion.
I guess my lack of enthusiasm is coming from the fact that I actually thought I would be much better at this point. I had high hopes/expectations for myself for this year and to say that I am falling short is an understatement. It would be like saying that the Celtics were barely able to beat the Lakers last night. (You know I would never link up to ESPfuckinN.com site cuz I hate that stupid site)
I will say this. I think I am noticing that the games are getting tougher at 6 max. I don't know if this is just me or not but there are more players I recognize and squeeze plays, 3 bets, OBFV, etc are moves that I am starting to see more and more. In the past, a gross overbet was AK or a draw. These days, it could even be top set. I was not adjusting quick enough and I was overcommitting so much more with weak holdings like one pair. Here are couple of hands where I get taken for (my friend JT always asked me to post hands where I lost so here they are):
PokerStars Game #18052224536: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/06/10 - 18:56:42 (ET)
Table 'Emita IV' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: mansea ($101.70 in chips)
Seat 2: Alotofaction ($586.90 in chips)
Seat 3: ZeKGB ($494 in chips)
Seat 4: PartyRefugee ($1846.85 in chips)
Seat 5: Dirty Vizzer ($416.20 in chips)
Seat 6: jaywks ($444 in chips)
ZeKGB: posts small blind $2
PartyRefugee: posts big blind $4
Just started the session so I don't know anything about them. Plus I know nothing about players over at Stars since I haven't played there nearly as much as Fulltilt.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Th Td]
Dirty Vizzer: raises $10 to $14
jaywks: folds
mansea: folds
Alotofaction: folds
ZeKGB: folds
PartyRefugee: calls $10
Pretty much ideal situation. I raise from UTG and the only caller is from the blinds so I'll have position on them.
*** FLOP *** [5h 7d 2c]
PartyRefugee: bets $28
Dirty Vizzer: raises $44 to $72
PartyRefugee: raises $1760.85 to $1832.85 and is all-in
Dirty Vizzer: calls $330.20 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($1430.65) returned to PartyRefugee
*** TURN *** [5h 7d 2c] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [5h 7d 2c Jc] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PartyRefugee: shows [5c 7c] (two pair, Sevens and Fives)
Dirty Vizzer: mucks hand
PartyRefugee collected $831.40 from pot
Needless to say, that was a TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE call by me. This is like the pinnacle of my poor play. Overaggroing with hands that beat nothing and then CALLING off rest of my stack. It was just bad. But if you want, feel free to pile on. Really, there's nothing to pile on though. I mean... this is about a bad a call as I can make. At least in the second hand, I learned my lesson... sorta...
PokerStars Game #18052832545: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/06/10 - 19:27:10 (ET)
Table 'Dorothea IV' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: russ0618 ($409.10 in chips)
Seat 2: pharus ($159.50 in chips)
Seat 3: PartyRefugee ($586 in chips) <--- SB
Seat 4: Dirty Vizzer ($1203.40 in chips) <--- BB
Seat 5: tapatapa ($915.15 in chips)
Seat 6: kapie123 ($452.10 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Kd Ks]
tapatapa: raises $8 to $12
kapie123: folds
russ0618: folds
pharus: folds
PartyRefugee: calls $10
Dirty Vizzer: raises $40 to $52
tapatapa: calls $40
PartyRefugee: calls $40
*** FLOP *** [7c 5h Tc]
PartyRefugee: bets $76
Dirty Vizzer: calls $76
tapatapa: folds
So this time, I remembered that the last time he bet out, he actually had a hand. On this board, I still thought it was fairly realistic for him to do it with a draw so I called to at least peel off one more card. If it's not a K, I'm done. Realistically, I can fold here but I'm not THAT good.
*** TURN *** [7c 5h Tc] [9c]
PartyRefugee: checks
Dirty Vizzer: checks
*** RIVER *** [7c 5h Tc 9c] [2c]
PartyRefugee: checks
Dirty Vizzer: checks
When this is checked to me, I did contemplate betting. The only problem was, I wasn't sure how well I can rep a club here and if the guy could fold what might be a pretty strong hand. I also felt that JJ-QQ could be in his range (though doubtful) so I felt that instead of risking a few hundred dollars to see if I can get a fold, I will just showdown my hand.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PartyRefugee: shows [7d 7h] (three of a kind, Sevens)
Dirty Vizzer: mucks hand
PartyRefugee collected $305 from pot
Sure enough, he had a set and my kings were no good. However, on the turn, if it's a nonclub and he bets out pretty strong, I'm fairly certain I woulda mucked my KK, knowing that he stacked me at the other table in the similar fashion.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Another year of no WSOP for me
What a terrible weekend it was for me in terms of poker. Not so much the money lost but in terms of how I played, it was just horrible. I played the $350 Pokerstars WSOP satellite and I busted way early in the tournament when I couldn't get away from my top 2 pair against a made straight. There's no reason for me to be playing a pot that big so early with two pair.
And then I played the $550 Fulltilt WSOP Satellite (I'd like to point out that I didn't satellite into either of the above tourneys) and I busted somewhere in the 3rd hour or so when I went for a resteal with QTs which was by far the best hand I've seen in an hour (which online is a lot of hands) and the initial CO raiser called me with A9. It was such a poorly played tournament by me (including one time when I folded AA because I timed out... I was cooking at the same time and didn't notice it was my turn... at least the chicken and vegetables that I cooked up with some cajun seasoning was good. Not sure if it was worth folding pocket aces but it probably wouldn't have made a difference anyways. All in all though, I never got anything going and it was just bad, bad poker. As soon as I busted, I just quit because I felt like I was way off my game.
Ever since I got back from Japan/BBT ended, my urge for playing poker kinda died down. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't been able to put together a solid session or what... maybe I'm just burnt out. I really don't know what it is but yesterday was like the pinnacle of bad poker by me. Losing $900 in tournament buy in sucks. And now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I bought into those tourney because where my poker game is at right now, I am total dead money in the WSOP so why would I want to play in a $10k tourney? I don't. I realized that after I busted last night.
I can't take a break from poker because I am a degenerate. You know I have a problem when I am actually looking for an excuse not to play and yet I can't really find one. I will continue to rack up 200 points per day on FTP because I feel that I have to but my quest for platinum level on Stars is definitely not happening. I just can't put that much time towards poker. Plus, the next few weekends, I am out of town. I am going up to the bay in MD this weekend and I will be in Montreal the weekend after. That means no poker for two weekends in a row. Well, I'm sure while I'm in Montreal, I'll find ways to rack up 200pts (not in MD though since there's no internet at the house we're staying).
Before I forget, go congratulate LJ on winning her seat to the WSOP last night in the Fulltilt WSOP satellite. I don't know if any other bloggers were playing it or won a seat (I am so far behind on reading other people's blogs, I am only up-to-date on a select few so even if you posted, chances are, I just haven't seen it) so if you have, sorry I missed it.
At least this session over at Stars helped ease the pain a little...
PokerStars Game #18162703209: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/06/15 - 19:14:08 (ET)
Table 'Waterman II' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: Turbobent ($410.20 in chips) <--- SB
Seat 3: VictumSempra ($835 in chips) <--- BB
Seat 4: RINALDO_1976 ($306 in chips)
Seat 6: Dirty Vizzer ($1478 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [7h 7s]
RINALDO_1976: folds
Dirty Vizzer: raises $10 to $14
Turbobent: calls $12
VictumSempra: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc 7c As]
Turbobent: checks
Dirty Vizzer: bets $23 <--- bet your sets!!!
Turbobent: calls $23
*** TURN *** [Jc 7c As] [7d] <--- DQB!
Turbobent: checks
Dirty Vizzer: bets $62 <--- bet your quads!!!
Turbobent: calls $62
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7c As 7d] [Ah] <--- best card ever
Turbobent: checks
Dirty Vizzer: bets $1332
Turbobent: calls $311.20 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($1020.80) returned to Dirty Vizzer
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [7h 7s] (four of a kind, Sevens)
Turbobent: mucks hand
Dirty Vizzer collected $822.40 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $824.40 | Rake $2
Board [Jc 7c As 7d Ah]
Seat 2: Turbobent (small blind) mucked [Ts Ad]
Seat 3: VictumSempra (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: RINALDO_1976 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Dirty Vizzer (button) showed [7h 7s] and won ($822.40) with four of a kind, Sevens
Obviously, it sucks for turbobent that another A came on the river. I'm not saying he coulda gotten away from his ace but I'm pretty sure I couldn't have gotten his entire stack unless the river was an ace or a ten. Oh well, I'll take it!
And then I played the $550 Fulltilt WSOP Satellite (I'd like to point out that I didn't satellite into either of the above tourneys) and I busted somewhere in the 3rd hour or so when I went for a resteal with QTs which was by far the best hand I've seen in an hour (which online is a lot of hands) and the initial CO raiser called me with A9. It was such a poorly played tournament by me (including one time when I folded AA because I timed out... I was cooking at the same time and didn't notice it was my turn... at least the chicken and vegetables that I cooked up with some cajun seasoning was good. Not sure if it was worth folding pocket aces but it probably wouldn't have made a difference anyways. All in all though, I never got anything going and it was just bad, bad poker. As soon as I busted, I just quit because I felt like I was way off my game.
Ever since I got back from Japan/BBT ended, my urge for playing poker kinda died down. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't been able to put together a solid session or what... maybe I'm just burnt out. I really don't know what it is but yesterday was like the pinnacle of bad poker by me. Losing $900 in tournament buy in sucks. And now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I bought into those tourney because where my poker game is at right now, I am total dead money in the WSOP so why would I want to play in a $10k tourney? I don't. I realized that after I busted last night.
I can't take a break from poker because I am a degenerate. You know I have a problem when I am actually looking for an excuse not to play and yet I can't really find one. I will continue to rack up 200 points per day on FTP because I feel that I have to but my quest for platinum level on Stars is definitely not happening. I just can't put that much time towards poker. Plus, the next few weekends, I am out of town. I am going up to the bay in MD this weekend and I will be in Montreal the weekend after. That means no poker for two weekends in a row. Well, I'm sure while I'm in Montreal, I'll find ways to rack up 200pts (not in MD though since there's no internet at the house we're staying).
Before I forget, go congratulate LJ on winning her seat to the WSOP last night in the Fulltilt WSOP satellite. I don't know if any other bloggers were playing it or won a seat (I am so far behind on reading other people's blogs, I am only up-to-date on a select few so even if you posted, chances are, I just haven't seen it) so if you have, sorry I missed it.
At least this session over at Stars helped ease the pain a little...
PokerStars Game #18162703209: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/06/15 - 19:14:08 (ET)
Table 'Waterman II' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: Turbobent ($410.20 in chips) <--- SB
Seat 3: VictumSempra ($835 in chips) <--- BB
Seat 4: RINALDO_1976 ($306 in chips)
Seat 6: Dirty Vizzer ($1478 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [7h 7s]
RINALDO_1976: folds
Dirty Vizzer: raises $10 to $14
Turbobent: calls $12
VictumSempra: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc 7c As]
Turbobent: checks
Dirty Vizzer: bets $23 <--- bet your sets!!!
Turbobent: calls $23
*** TURN *** [Jc 7c As] [7d] <--- DQB!
Turbobent: checks
Dirty Vizzer: bets $62 <--- bet your quads!!!
Turbobent: calls $62
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7c As 7d] [Ah] <--- best card ever
Turbobent: checks
Dirty Vizzer: bets $1332
Turbobent: calls $311.20 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($1020.80) returned to Dirty Vizzer
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [7h 7s] (four of a kind, Sevens)
Turbobent: mucks hand
Dirty Vizzer collected $822.40 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $824.40 | Rake $2
Board [Jc 7c As 7d Ah]
Seat 2: Turbobent (small blind) mucked [Ts Ad]
Seat 3: VictumSempra (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: RINALDO_1976 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Dirty Vizzer (button) showed [7h 7s] and won ($822.40) with four of a kind, Sevens
Obviously, it sucks for turbobent that another A came on the river. I'm not saying he coulda gotten away from his ace but I'm pretty sure I couldn't have gotten his entire stack unless the river was an ace or a ten. Oh well, I'll take it!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Playing nonpremium hands and using software
I'm gonna pimp a blog that I enjoy reading. Mainly, I'm doing this because the HH that was posted there was the motive for my blog post today. Matt is a Seattle based poker blogger who plays under the screenname Mclarich who is looking to be a more involved blogger. Honestly speaking, I'm not sure how to get further involved besides playing in blogger tourneys. Of course, once in a while, there are jackasses like me that only play during promotional series such as the BBT but I think that's mainly due to bankroll considerations. I'll definitely still play the Big Game but aside from that, I just don't want to play tournaments on weekdays that if I win would keep me up till 1 or 2am (eastern) for a couple of hundred dollars in profit. Don't get me wrong. I love this crowd, I love tuning into BDR, and I love playing in it but sleep is also important to me. Having said that, I would probably still play the Mookie every now and again. I just know that I won't make it a point to make it to the tournaments like I did during the BBT.
Oh, before we get started, let me also pimp this guy since he is so desperate for traffic that his gchat status is his blog... I mean dude... come on... (just giving you a hard time, bro). There's a lot of heavy poker analysis though so if that's not your thing or you're in the mood for light reading, sometimes it might be tough. But go give him some love. He definitely has some strong analysis and thoughts on the game.
Alright, back to the regularly scheduled programming. Matt posted this hand on his blog that I basically tore into him, telling him how terribly played I thought it was. But I'm not gonna copy and paste the HH and steal his thunder. Here's the link to his blog that discusses this hand.
He then emailed me and asked me some questions and also made a comment on why he was in that hand. And so I decided to just go ahead and make a blog post out of this.
Every now and then, you read someone's blog or you hear someone say "It's a very soft game." What exactly does that mean? To me, it means that there are tons of weak tight players. Flip that statement around and you can say that there are tons of players who only play premium hands. You can call it what you want. Soft is soft. Now don't get me wrong. That doesn't mean you just have to turn into a lagtard. But that's when you really want to open up your game. Play suited connectors, one gappers, etc. The question is, how do you play them?
In the hand I referred to above, I thought it was terrible because a) he limps from EP with a suited connector and then b) he calls a LP raiser, now putting him OOP in a heads up hand. Now what's so terrible about this? I mean Fuel does it quite a bit (and believe me, I am equally critical of his play whenever he does this). The problem is now, you are about to see a flop and a) you our out of position (disadvantage #1) and b) your opponent has control over the pot, ie showed initial aggression (disadvantage #2). The way I see it (and I'm stealing this from somewhere but I don't know where I read it), if you're not gonna have positional advantage throughout the hand, you need to at least try to take control over the aggression. After the flop, he check calls a flop cbet which has three high cards, but he flops bottom pair. I mean... that's just terrible. Remember, you already conceded aggression and now, you're calling again? That's just a big leak.
But I'm not typing this to criticize Matt. Now let's change things around for a second. If you want to play suited connectors from EP, you must come in with a raise. The way I see it, limping in an unopened pot is just terrible play. You can try to say you are just trying to trap with AA (the ol' limp reraise) but then unless this table has seen you do that before, don't ever do that with mediocre hands... because when you limp, you're giving off the impression that you have a weak hand. And if you actually have a weak hand, well, you might as well just play with your cards face up.
On the flip side, if you have position, I am not opposed to playing the suited connectors. Not one bit. In this hand, let's flip Matt's position. Let's say there's an EP raiser and Matt is on the button with T9s. Now, even if you are most likely behind, you can call here. Sure, calling doesn't indicate strength but a) you have position and b) you are calling a raise so you must have something (at least that's what the villain would think). Once you see the flop, you can evaluate and you can even try to float. But when you float, float in position. Floating OOP is just a big, big leak that even I sometimes do when I have hands like 88 in the blinds and I didn't reraise a LP raiser but instead I call, see a ten high flop. If I check call, I am "floating" but that's just a terrible play. I know I sometimes do it but I encourage a lot of you to NOT do that. If you are playing at a table where guys are only raising premium hands, there's a lot of value in calling with suited connectors and one gappers as long as you have position AND as long as you don't commit more chips unless you hit something big. Bottom pair or a piece of it is NOT "hitting it big."
Another question he asked me was if it was worth buying software such as Pokertracker or Holdem Manager. I don't use either one because the whole Bootcamp on Mac thing just doesn't enable me to. It's a long story. But anyways, I used to use it when I had a PC laptop and in my opinion, it is a must. $80 or whatever it is to buy this software will pay itself in about a week or two. The value that you get from the software is insane. And unless you are at a point where you get a good feel for how the players play, software will help you tremendously on analyzing the opponents. At the very least, it will either confirm or correct your take on the player (like you thought he was a total LAG but you might see that his VP$IP is only 14). I'm not gonna go into all the detailed reasons as to why the software is worth it because there has been plenty of posts by others on why and what's so good about it. But if you are thinking about getting it, you should definitely get it. And these days, I think most vendors accept Fulltilt or Pokerstars transfer so if you have money in your poker account, do it already.
Wow... I just realized that I rambled on and yet said nothing. I'll start posting more HHs again. I got a few where I played poorly and but I think it'll be good blog material. Alright, I'm out. Have a nice weekend everyone!
Oh, before we get started, let me also pimp this guy since he is so desperate for traffic that his gchat status is his blog... I mean dude... come on... (just giving you a hard time, bro). There's a lot of heavy poker analysis though so if that's not your thing or you're in the mood for light reading, sometimes it might be tough. But go give him some love. He definitely has some strong analysis and thoughts on the game.
Alright, back to the regularly scheduled programming. Matt posted this hand on his blog that I basically tore into him, telling him how terribly played I thought it was. But I'm not gonna copy and paste the HH and steal his thunder. Here's the link to his blog that discusses this hand.
He then emailed me and asked me some questions and also made a comment on why he was in that hand. And so I decided to just go ahead and make a blog post out of this.
Every now and then, you read someone's blog or you hear someone say "It's a very soft game." What exactly does that mean? To me, it means that there are tons of weak tight players. Flip that statement around and you can say that there are tons of players who only play premium hands. You can call it what you want. Soft is soft. Now don't get me wrong. That doesn't mean you just have to turn into a lagtard. But that's when you really want to open up your game. Play suited connectors, one gappers, etc. The question is, how do you play them?
In the hand I referred to above, I thought it was terrible because a) he limps from EP with a suited connector and then b) he calls a LP raiser, now putting him OOP in a heads up hand. Now what's so terrible about this? I mean Fuel does it quite a bit (and believe me, I am equally critical of his play whenever he does this). The problem is now, you are about to see a flop and a) you our out of position (disadvantage #1) and b) your opponent has control over the pot, ie showed initial aggression (disadvantage #2). The way I see it (and I'm stealing this from somewhere but I don't know where I read it), if you're not gonna have positional advantage throughout the hand, you need to at least try to take control over the aggression. After the flop, he check calls a flop cbet which has three high cards, but he flops bottom pair. I mean... that's just terrible. Remember, you already conceded aggression and now, you're calling again? That's just a big leak.
But I'm not typing this to criticize Matt. Now let's change things around for a second. If you want to play suited connectors from EP, you must come in with a raise. The way I see it, limping in an unopened pot is just terrible play. You can try to say you are just trying to trap with AA (the ol' limp reraise) but then unless this table has seen you do that before, don't ever do that with mediocre hands... because when you limp, you're giving off the impression that you have a weak hand. And if you actually have a weak hand, well, you might as well just play with your cards face up.
On the flip side, if you have position, I am not opposed to playing the suited connectors. Not one bit. In this hand, let's flip Matt's position. Let's say there's an EP raiser and Matt is on the button with T9s. Now, even if you are most likely behind, you can call here. Sure, calling doesn't indicate strength but a) you have position and b) you are calling a raise so you must have something (at least that's what the villain would think). Once you see the flop, you can evaluate and you can even try to float. But when you float, float in position. Floating OOP is just a big, big leak that even I sometimes do when I have hands like 88 in the blinds and I didn't reraise a LP raiser but instead I call, see a ten high flop. If I check call, I am "floating" but that's just a terrible play. I know I sometimes do it but I encourage a lot of you to NOT do that. If you are playing at a table where guys are only raising premium hands, there's a lot of value in calling with suited connectors and one gappers as long as you have position AND as long as you don't commit more chips unless you hit something big. Bottom pair or a piece of it is NOT "hitting it big."
Another question he asked me was if it was worth buying software such as Pokertracker or Holdem Manager. I don't use either one because the whole Bootcamp on Mac thing just doesn't enable me to. It's a long story. But anyways, I used to use it when I had a PC laptop and in my opinion, it is a must. $80 or whatever it is to buy this software will pay itself in about a week or two. The value that you get from the software is insane. And unless you are at a point where you get a good feel for how the players play, software will help you tremendously on analyzing the opponents. At the very least, it will either confirm or correct your take on the player (like you thought he was a total LAG but you might see that his VP$IP is only 14). I'm not gonna go into all the detailed reasons as to why the software is worth it because there has been plenty of posts by others on why and what's so good about it. But if you are thinking about getting it, you should definitely get it. And these days, I think most vendors accept Fulltilt or Pokerstars transfer so if you have money in your poker account, do it already.
Wow... I just realized that I rambled on and yet said nothing. I'll start posting more HHs again. I got a few where I played poorly and but I think it'll be good blog material. Alright, I'm out. Have a nice weekend everyone!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Reason for my Blah and more blogger drama (and more nonpoker content)!
I just figured it out. Even though I promised that my next post would be a poker post, I just had to get this out. I think I am in a state of "blah" because a bunch of bloggers are either in or on their way to Vegas. Me? I'm stuck here at work, grinding away like the chumps that we are, and the best thing I have to look forward to today is a company happy hour... I intend to get fuckin blitzed tonight. While other bloggers are counting down to their flight times, I'm counting down to my free beer with a bunch of coworkers. I mean if there ever is a bad beat, there you go. But bad beats aren't without some poor plays on my part. My worst play ever? Not letting cmitch and LJ to convince me to fly to Vegas. At the time, I figured that having just flown back from Japan, I'd be tired and jetlagged and not in the right shape to then turn back around and fly out to Vegas. Well, it's Wednesday today. I just got back from Japan on Sunday. And not a trace of jet lag... instead, just a strong desire to fly out to Vegas to join the other degenerates. My other gchat buddy, Bayne, is already out there throwing dice and omaroaching. This really blows. This means that Thursday and Friday, I will be without gchat buddies... good news for my company though since that probably means I get more work done. My mom would hate reading this but to let myself forget the fact that I am not in Vegas, I'm getting plastered tonight (she hates it when she reads/hears about how drunk I got). I mean what else is there to do in Richmond fuckin VA? God, I hate this place. It's so boring. I can't wait to get out of here. Mook, did you say my over/under on turning pro is September? I don't know about turning pro but I am definitely outta here by September I think. Either that or I shoot myself in the head (not literally, of course).
Ok, enough of my bitch fest. Now on to blogger drama.
For those of you that haven't followed, there are a couple of interesting posts that you might want to read first before you read on:
First, from Perticelli's blog.
Then, from CK's blog.
To make a long story short, there was a blogger named Donkette who did like this 15 part story (which I never read... it's too long and seemingly depressing) of how she overcame some sort of addiction (drugs or alcohol, I assume). Well, she joined this blogging community, I think, around 6 months ago and as usual as is the case for this great group of bloggers, everyone was very accepting... Except me... and no, I didn't sense anything or anything crazy. I just have to respect someone's game or really hit it off with the person in order for me to be so accepting. That's just how I roll. Sorry. So anyways, she was always railing a bunch of bloggers (soon enough, she was railing me too) and stuff even though I had no clue who she was. Apparently, she then started "borrowing" money from some of the bloggers. A few Fulltilt transfer here and there I assume. I haven't openly asked but even then, I know a few people (excluding the two listed above) who sent money to her and never got anything back. In reading bunch of other blogs, everyone is pleading her to get some help because surely, there's something wrong with her to screw over her "friends."
Now, this is what I don't get. Again, since I didn't read her blog, I don't know but to those of you that got screwed, how do you know that this whole addiction thing is even true? Could she just be a typical con artist, getting money from a bunch of bloggers and just running away with it? I mean everyone is like "please get help" but how do we even know that she really needs help as opposed to her just cheating everyone off their cash?
Now don't get me wrong. I am certainly not blaming the bloggers that got screwed. As a matter of fact, I am very sorry to hear about the losses some of you have experienced. It is definitely not cool for someone cheat this group that is always unquestioningly (is that a real word??) open to everyone who wants to join this crew. I also can relate because there are numerous times I've spotted someone before. First one that came to mind was Matt who asked me one time if I could spot him with any sort of cash and at the time, I believe I said I can lend him anything up to $500 (he accepted $100 I think which he promptly returned). Now, keep in mind this is a guy I never met. Another time, I had transferred $1k to LJ because she cashed out most of her winnings and then all of a sudden, she was underrolled. She gave that back to me in Vegas. Bayne and I frequently do a cash transfer swap between FTP and PS and not for small amounts either. We all know how great of a BR management discipline he has (as good as my roll at the craps table during the blogger gathering) so sometimes, he hits me up with a swap idea where I would transfer him $x on FTP and he would transfer $x on PS or vice versa. I have a good chunk of cash on both sites now so I am always open for a swap but then I thought, one day, Bayne could come up to me, tell me he needs a big chunk, I can send via FTP... and never hear from him again. Of course, that wouldn't happen but my point is, I was just as vulnerable as anyone who got cheated by Donkette (the "con artist").
I really hope this bad experience doesn't affect the bloggers in terms of how open they are to newcomers.
I doubt it. These are great people and one bad apple shouldn't affect how they are to other new bloggers that will surely come our way.
Not going to Vegas is a big mistake... Maybe I'll try to hit OkieVegas even though I'm not sure how I can get down there during July which is another quarter end month for us, ie I am super busy... I'll be at the Bash for sure though in September. I think that doesn't coincide with my friend's wedding... When was the Bash again??? I sure hope it's not September 20th... (for some reason, I have a feeling it is)...
Ok, enough of my bitch fest. Now on to blogger drama.
For those of you that haven't followed, there are a couple of interesting posts that you might want to read first before you read on:
First, from Perticelli's blog.
Then, from CK's blog.
To make a long story short, there was a blogger named Donkette who did like this 15 part story (which I never read... it's too long and seemingly depressing) of how she overcame some sort of addiction (drugs or alcohol, I assume). Well, she joined this blogging community, I think, around 6 months ago and as usual as is the case for this great group of bloggers, everyone was very accepting... Except me... and no, I didn't sense anything or anything crazy. I just have to respect someone's game or really hit it off with the person in order for me to be so accepting. That's just how I roll. Sorry. So anyways, she was always railing a bunch of bloggers (soon enough, she was railing me too) and stuff even though I had no clue who she was. Apparently, she then started "borrowing" money from some of the bloggers. A few Fulltilt transfer here and there I assume. I haven't openly asked but even then, I know a few people (excluding the two listed above) who sent money to her and never got anything back. In reading bunch of other blogs, everyone is pleading her to get some help because surely, there's something wrong with her to screw over her "friends."
Now, this is what I don't get. Again, since I didn't read her blog, I don't know but to those of you that got screwed, how do you know that this whole addiction thing is even true? Could she just be a typical con artist, getting money from a bunch of bloggers and just running away with it? I mean everyone is like "please get help" but how do we even know that she really needs help as opposed to her just cheating everyone off their cash?
Now don't get me wrong. I am certainly not blaming the bloggers that got screwed. As a matter of fact, I am very sorry to hear about the losses some of you have experienced. It is definitely not cool for someone cheat this group that is always unquestioningly (is that a real word??) open to everyone who wants to join this crew. I also can relate because there are numerous times I've spotted someone before. First one that came to mind was Matt who asked me one time if I could spot him with any sort of cash and at the time, I believe I said I can lend him anything up to $500 (he accepted $100 I think which he promptly returned). Now, keep in mind this is a guy I never met. Another time, I had transferred $1k to LJ because she cashed out most of her winnings and then all of a sudden, she was underrolled. She gave that back to me in Vegas. Bayne and I frequently do a cash transfer swap between FTP and PS and not for small amounts either. We all know how great of a BR management discipline he has (as good as my roll at the craps table during the blogger gathering) so sometimes, he hits me up with a swap idea where I would transfer him $x on FTP and he would transfer $x on PS or vice versa. I have a good chunk of cash on both sites now so I am always open for a swap but then I thought, one day, Bayne could come up to me, tell me he needs a big chunk, I can send via FTP... and never hear from him again. Of course, that wouldn't happen but my point is, I was just as vulnerable as anyone who got cheated by Donkette (the "con artist").
I really hope this bad experience doesn't affect the bloggers in terms of how open they are to newcomers.
I doubt it. These are great people and one bad apple shouldn't affect how they are to other new bloggers that will surely come our way.
Not going to Vegas is a big mistake... Maybe I'll try to hit OkieVegas even though I'm not sure how I can get down there during July which is another quarter end month for us, ie I am super busy... I'll be at the Bash for sure though in September. I think that doesn't coincide with my friend's wedding... When was the Bash again??? I sure hope it's not September 20th... (for some reason, I have a feeling it is)...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Writing Blah (pretty much nonpoker rambling)
These days, I don't feel much like blogging. There's really not much to say these days. However, I kinda want to get back into the regular blogging phase so I need to figure out what I want to do. I guess I can post more HHs but I'm kinda HHed out. If I had more time, I'd do like a session review... since I pretty much play every night, I'd have something to write about for sure. But session reviews take such a long time so I just don't know that I have it in me.
I also want to start doing some more nonpoker posts. Since this is a poker blog, I'm not gonna fill this with some nonpoker nonsense. Nonetheless, the responses I got on my lawn debacle was freakin hilarious so maybe there is some merit... Ideally, I would make it where I would do a nonpoker post once a week to just update everyone on what's going on, any funny incidents, etc. And ideally, I want to do that every Friday where my nonpoker playing friends are obviously killing time, waiting for the weekend of nonpoker goodness, whatever that may feel like.
I can do a review of the TOC but really, nothing eventful happened. This Sunday, both Pokerstars and Fulltilt are having the WSOP Main Event Satellite. I think the PS one is $350 and the FTP one is $650. I'm probably not gonna have time to play satellites into either one so I'll probably just buy in. I have recently been playing a lot more on Stars since I seem to be finding more success there. I don't know if it's because the game appears to be softer over at Stars or if it's because I'm still a fairly unknown over at Stars 2-4NL as opposed to Fulltilt where undoubtedly, most of the regulars on the 6max on Fulltilt have notes on me.
On the poker front, I played furiously when I was on vacation in Japan. And yet, it felt like it was never enough. I don't know if at this point, it's the love of the game or just plain addiction... Nonetheless, I am currently on track to qualify for "platinum" status on PokerStars. I obviously have gotten at least 200pts each day to qualify for Ironman status on Fulltilt. It's so easy on Fulltilt to get that because if you are 4 tabling 2-4nl 6 max, it takes me like an hour and I get 200pts. On Stars, on their website, it says that if you 4 table 2-4nl 6 max for 20hrs a week, you would be on pace to achieve Platinum status. With all the freebies as well as ability to convert points to cash (ie, their version of rakeback) and considering I don't get rakeback on Fulltilt, it kinda makes sense for me to start focusing on playing on Stars. I still like the Fulltilt software better but for this month, since I am on track to hit platinum, I want to keep focusing on Stars for now. I will not be able to keep that up in July since work will get crazy busy and I'll have a $600 mid year bonus that I would be clearing for Fulltilt but at least for one month, I'll achieve the coveted platinum level... maybe... I am going to Montreal towards the end of this month and that might kill the chance but we'll just have to see.
Wow, this is impressive. I rambled on and pretty much said nothing. I need to refocus so I can start blogging some more. I swear, my next post will be poker heavy.
I also want to start doing some more nonpoker posts. Since this is a poker blog, I'm not gonna fill this with some nonpoker nonsense. Nonetheless, the responses I got on my lawn debacle was freakin hilarious so maybe there is some merit... Ideally, I would make it where I would do a nonpoker post once a week to just update everyone on what's going on, any funny incidents, etc. And ideally, I want to do that every Friday where my nonpoker playing friends are obviously killing time, waiting for the weekend of nonpoker goodness, whatever that may feel like.
I can do a review of the TOC but really, nothing eventful happened. This Sunday, both Pokerstars and Fulltilt are having the WSOP Main Event Satellite. I think the PS one is $350 and the FTP one is $650. I'm probably not gonna have time to play satellites into either one so I'll probably just buy in. I have recently been playing a lot more on Stars since I seem to be finding more success there. I don't know if it's because the game appears to be softer over at Stars or if it's because I'm still a fairly unknown over at Stars 2-4NL as opposed to Fulltilt where undoubtedly, most of the regulars on the 6max on Fulltilt have notes on me.
On the poker front, I played furiously when I was on vacation in Japan. And yet, it felt like it was never enough. I don't know if at this point, it's the love of the game or just plain addiction... Nonetheless, I am currently on track to qualify for "platinum" status on PokerStars. I obviously have gotten at least 200pts each day to qualify for Ironman status on Fulltilt. It's so easy on Fulltilt to get that because if you are 4 tabling 2-4nl 6 max, it takes me like an hour and I get 200pts. On Stars, on their website, it says that if you 4 table 2-4nl 6 max for 20hrs a week, you would be on pace to achieve Platinum status. With all the freebies as well as ability to convert points to cash (ie, their version of rakeback) and considering I don't get rakeback on Fulltilt, it kinda makes sense for me to start focusing on playing on Stars. I still like the Fulltilt software better but for this month, since I am on track to hit platinum, I want to keep focusing on Stars for now. I will not be able to keep that up in July since work will get crazy busy and I'll have a $600 mid year bonus that I would be clearing for Fulltilt but at least for one month, I'll achieve the coveted platinum level... maybe... I am going to Montreal towards the end of this month and that might kill the chance but we'll just have to see.
Wow, this is impressive. I rambled on and pretty much said nothing. I need to refocus so I can start blogging some more. I swear, my next post will be poker heavy.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Showing restraint on the flop
When I am on top of my game, I think I have a good balance between aggression and restraint. I notice that when I am experiencing downswings, that's when I am committing too many chips preflop and going a little too aggro with overpairs. Sometimes, I just have to remember that an overpair is just one pair. It sounds so simple but sometimes, it requires so much discipline to remember. Other times, it's not as hard. I felt that in the hand below, I think I showed good restraint by not c-betting the flop like most people would in this instance.
PokerStars Game #17931169064: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/06/05 - 11:02:28 (ET)
Table 'Amneris' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: ANGEL2326 ($749.70 in chips)
Seat 3: Dirty Vizzer ($480 in chips)
Seat 4: n1stunna77 ($434.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Skyrre ($400 in chips)
Seat 6: softas ($406.15 in chips)
n1stunna77: posts small blind $2
Skyrre: posts big blind $4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Qs Qc]
softas: folds
ANGEL2326: calls $4
Dirty Vizzer: raises $14 to $18
n1stunna77: folds
Skyrre: calls $14
ANGEL2326: calls $14
*** FLOP *** [Js 9s Tc]
Skyrre: checks
ANGEL2326: checks
Dirty Vizzer: checks
I obviously considered betting here. But I was playing fairly well and even though for a split second, I was going to cbet, I asked myself, what would the cbet accomplish? Of course, I can take down the pot if the two other players completely missed this flop but this is one of those flops that hits someone pretty hard. Plus, I figured if someone had a hand like AK, he actually only has 3 outs instead of 6 since the K would give me a straight. Even with an overpair, I more or less just have a draw here against most hands that would call my bet. Of course, there's the flush draw but I just didn't want to unnecessarily build the pot here.
*** TURN *** [Js 9s Tc] [Ad]
Skyrre: bets $48
ANGEL2326: folds
Dirty Vizzer: calls $48
Of course, the turn was a very gross A. I obviously considered folding here but I also thought that the BB's bet was interesting in that if he hit the ace, it seems odd that he would bet out. Plus, $48 is approximately the amount I woulda used to cbet the flop on normal instances anyways so I decided that it wouldn't hurt to use the chips I saved on the flop to see how he acts on the river.
*** RIVER *** [Js 9s Tc Ad] [Kd] <--- golden gloves baby!!!!
Skyrre: bets $100
Dirty Vizzer: raises $100 to $200
Skyrre said, "yeah. please catch more 3 outers" <--- amen
Skyrre: calls $100
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Qs Qc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Skyrre: shows [Kc Qh] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Skyrre collected $275 from pot
Dirty Vizzer collected $275 from pot
As he pointed out, I obv got lucky here. It woulda sucked if I had caught the 8. The turn call is obv questionable but I felt that with no cbet on the flop, my hand was concealed enough that I thought the villain could be betting with worse hands here. If a blank river comes and he fires out a $100 bet, I would fold because that's a pretty strong bet. But I believe that by not cbetting the flop, I saved myself a good chunk of chips (though in the end, it doesn't matter but that's not the point). More often than not, people will cbet the flop with an overpair and an OESD and that coulda gotten me in a lot of trouble since I surely woulda gotten checkraised and then I'd be in a very awkward situation.
Sometimes, you just have to look at the texture of the flop and think about what you would accomplish with a bet. In this instance, I felt that the cons outweighed the pros of betting the flop and so I was able to contain my aggression on the flop. Again, if a blank river comes, I would just fold, knowing that this hand only cost me $18 pre and $48 post flop for a total of $66. If I had bet out on the flop for approximately $48 and then get checkraised, now what? Of course, you can say you fold your overpair and OESD but that's a bummer because you coulda seen a free card if you had checked. If you call, the hand coulda cost you a lot more if you didn't catch. Reeling in the aggression is sometimes the hardest thing to do in a 6 max game but I know that when I am playing my best game, I seem to balance the aggression and restraint real well.
PokerStars Game #17931169064: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/06/05 - 11:02:28 (ET)
Table 'Amneris' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: ANGEL2326 ($749.70 in chips)
Seat 3: Dirty Vizzer ($480 in chips)
Seat 4: n1stunna77 ($434.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Skyrre ($400 in chips)
Seat 6: softas ($406.15 in chips)
n1stunna77: posts small blind $2
Skyrre: posts big blind $4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Qs Qc]
softas: folds
ANGEL2326: calls $4
Dirty Vizzer: raises $14 to $18
n1stunna77: folds
Skyrre: calls $14
ANGEL2326: calls $14
*** FLOP *** [Js 9s Tc]
Skyrre: checks
ANGEL2326: checks
Dirty Vizzer: checks
I obviously considered betting here. But I was playing fairly well and even though for a split second, I was going to cbet, I asked myself, what would the cbet accomplish? Of course, I can take down the pot if the two other players completely missed this flop but this is one of those flops that hits someone pretty hard. Plus, I figured if someone had a hand like AK, he actually only has 3 outs instead of 6 since the K would give me a straight. Even with an overpair, I more or less just have a draw here against most hands that would call my bet. Of course, there's the flush draw but I just didn't want to unnecessarily build the pot here.
*** TURN *** [Js 9s Tc] [Ad]
Skyrre: bets $48
ANGEL2326: folds
Dirty Vizzer: calls $48
Of course, the turn was a very gross A. I obviously considered folding here but I also thought that the BB's bet was interesting in that if he hit the ace, it seems odd that he would bet out. Plus, $48 is approximately the amount I woulda used to cbet the flop on normal instances anyways so I decided that it wouldn't hurt to use the chips I saved on the flop to see how he acts on the river.
*** RIVER *** [Js 9s Tc Ad] [Kd] <--- golden gloves baby!!!!
Skyrre: bets $100
Dirty Vizzer: raises $100 to $200
Skyrre said, "yeah. please catch more 3 outers" <--- amen
Skyrre: calls $100
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Qs Qc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Skyrre: shows [Kc Qh] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Skyrre collected $275 from pot
Dirty Vizzer collected $275 from pot
As he pointed out, I obv got lucky here. It woulda sucked if I had caught the 8. The turn call is obv questionable but I felt that with no cbet on the flop, my hand was concealed enough that I thought the villain could be betting with worse hands here. If a blank river comes and he fires out a $100 bet, I would fold because that's a pretty strong bet. But I believe that by not cbetting the flop, I saved myself a good chunk of chips (though in the end, it doesn't matter but that's not the point). More often than not, people will cbet the flop with an overpair and an OESD and that coulda gotten me in a lot of trouble since I surely woulda gotten checkraised and then I'd be in a very awkward situation.
Sometimes, you just have to look at the texture of the flop and think about what you would accomplish with a bet. In this instance, I felt that the cons outweighed the pros of betting the flop and so I was able to contain my aggression on the flop. Again, if a blank river comes, I would just fold, knowing that this hand only cost me $18 pre and $48 post flop for a total of $66. If I had bet out on the flop for approximately $48 and then get checkraised, now what? Of course, you can say you fold your overpair and OESD but that's a bummer because you coulda seen a free card if you had checked. If you call, the hand coulda cost you a lot more if you didn't catch. Reeling in the aggression is sometimes the hardest thing to do in a 6 max game but I know that when I am playing my best game, I seem to balance the aggression and restraint real well.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
I might be a points whore but...
I have no idea how tournament points work, nor did I ever pay attention to them. I never understood what the points bubble was in the BBT3 and I never know what the points bubble is in the Bodonkey until it is announced on BDR. Where am I going with this?
Going into tonight, I was 23rd on the list. I was only 22 points behind the top 18. However, not really knowing how the points system works, I thought I had to at least final table or cash out of the 45 runners. I also didn't exactly know what the points bubble was. Now don't get me wrong. This is no one's fault but my own for not checking into the rules and finding out how many people get points, etc. So, when I was comfortably sitting in probably the middle of the pack with about 6,600 chips with about 20 players remaining of the original 45, I shoved over an UTG raiser with AQ. UTG raiser has AK and I am crippled. This is when Bayne pops up on my IM box.
Bayne: alan you needed top 14 to get points
me: how many pts do you get if you get into the pts?
Bayne: 34 for 15th
I'm assuming Bayne meant 14th. Either way, I had no idea. In other words, I didn't have to take a chance with AQ and I coulda tried to fold to the points. Oh well. In the end, I busted out around 19th or 18th or whatever. I, once again, fell short. Much like the BBT prop bet.
One issue I've been having recently in MTTs is how I'm overplaying AQ. Now it was a 6 or 7 handed table when I shoved but generally, an UTG raise means strength so if I come over the top and I get called, it's almost never an instance where AQ is ahead. I think this is resulting from my 6 max play where AQ is a standard reraising hand and in a 6 max cash game, UTG raises are no where near as tight as the MTT's UTG raise. This is probably something I need to fix.
On a totally separate note, during my vacation here, I've been playing tons of cash games recently and racking up points like they are going out of style. Not that it really makes a difference on Fulltilt since I am happy as long as I get 200pts per day (for the Ironman freeroll) and 3k points per week (for the free WSOP seat freeroll) for each of their promotions but more importantly, I am trying to rack up VIP points on Pokerstars. I am already almost at Silver VIP this month so I should clear that today. Gold VIP is pretty much a guarantee for this month but I started wondering if maybe I have a chance to hit Platinum VIP, if just for this month. There are so many perks such as the $100K freeroll that you can play in if you're a Platinum VIP. We shall see. I do have a few social obligations and once I get back to the States, I'd have to start working again which would obv be in conflict with my pursuit for Platinum VIP but we shall see. I have proven in the past that if I am determined, I can be a total points whore. Bayne knows this better than anyone.
Going into tonight, I was 23rd on the list. I was only 22 points behind the top 18. However, not really knowing how the points system works, I thought I had to at least final table or cash out of the 45 runners. I also didn't exactly know what the points bubble was. Now don't get me wrong. This is no one's fault but my own for not checking into the rules and finding out how many people get points, etc. So, when I was comfortably sitting in probably the middle of the pack with about 6,600 chips with about 20 players remaining of the original 45, I shoved over an UTG raiser with AQ. UTG raiser has AK and I am crippled. This is when Bayne pops up on my IM box.
Bayne: alan you needed top 14 to get points
me: how many pts do you get if you get into the pts?
Bayne: 34 for 15th
I'm assuming Bayne meant 14th. Either way, I had no idea. In other words, I didn't have to take a chance with AQ and I coulda tried to fold to the points. Oh well. In the end, I busted out around 19th or 18th or whatever. I, once again, fell short. Much like the BBT prop bet.
One issue I've been having recently in MTTs is how I'm overplaying AQ. Now it was a 6 or 7 handed table when I shoved but generally, an UTG raise means strength so if I come over the top and I get called, it's almost never an instance where AQ is ahead. I think this is resulting from my 6 max play where AQ is a standard reraising hand and in a 6 max cash game, UTG raises are no where near as tight as the MTT's UTG raise. This is probably something I need to fix.
On a totally separate note, during my vacation here, I've been playing tons of cash games recently and racking up points like they are going out of style. Not that it really makes a difference on Fulltilt since I am happy as long as I get 200pts per day (for the Ironman freeroll) and 3k points per week (for the free WSOP seat freeroll) for each of their promotions but more importantly, I am trying to rack up VIP points on Pokerstars. I am already almost at Silver VIP this month so I should clear that today. Gold VIP is pretty much a guarantee for this month but I started wondering if maybe I have a chance to hit Platinum VIP, if just for this month. There are so many perks such as the $100K freeroll that you can play in if you're a Platinum VIP. We shall see. I do have a few social obligations and once I get back to the States, I'd have to start working again which would obv be in conflict with my pursuit for Platinum VIP but we shall see. I have proven in the past that if I am determined, I can be a total points whore. Bayne knows this better than anyone.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
BBT3 - wrap up and coming up short
What a way to end the BBT3 for me. I grossly misread two players/situations and was busted out of the tournament when I tried to resteal with A4, only to find out that the initial raiser had KK. I had the impression that he was attacking my blinds so I figured his range was wide and that I could get a fold. First hand that crippled me was against Corron10 when he trapped me with JJ. I had TT in the BB, button raised, SB (Corron10) calls, I reraise, button calls, SB shoves. At this point, I thought if he had JJ+, he woulda reraised the button so I thought he was shoving a smaller pocket pair. So I shoved, thinking my TT was good. That crippled me and I was down to 900 in chips but it was early and I was able to build the stack back up to about 4000+ and then I shove A4. What a bummer. Worst part is, that means no fish cake money for me. Congrats to Lucko and LJ for winning some extra side cash. $2,000 for lucko and $750 for LJ. Not bad. These two are obviously, well known ballahs so I guess I should be fairly happy with the fact that I was even close. But considering I was in the lead with about a week or two remaining definitely leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I've obviously been trying to improve my MTT game but I clearly have ways to go.
Now that the BBT3 is pretty much over (except for the TOC next weekend - which my ability to play in it might be slightly in jeopardy), I have to admit, I am glad... It wasn't so much the BBT3 as it was the side bet that made this whole thing a lot more stressful. There were numerous nights where I didn't feel like playing or I had invites to hang out with my friends/enjoy happy hour and yet all those nights, even when I did go out, in the back of my mind was the BBT3 and how I should be playing it. It really became an obligation for me instead of something fun. Usually, after winning the seat to the TOC, I would normally relax and maybe not play as much. However, this time, because of the side bet, I always felt that I had to play. Admittedly, I am pretty tired from it and I do look forward to being able to go out on any night without worrying about some poker tournament. And in the end, it was all for nothing. So in that sense, it really sucks.
On a positive note, I did cash for over a grand during the BBT3 so I think I pretty much broke even for all the tournaments. I am not sure. Either way, it should be pretty close though. According to officialpokerrankings.com, I am profitable in MTTs in 2008 so that's pretty cool too. I guess a little win here and there helps.
Most likely, after the BBT3, a lot of you will probably not see me in blogger tourneys for a little while. I just need a little break and also, starting in July, work will be busy again and this time, instead of hurrying home around 8pm so I can eat before the blogger tourneys, I can just order food at work and continue to be a slave to the corporate bullshit late into the night so that we can keep dishing out credit cards to those that don't deserve them. It was definitely a fun ride and hopefully, there will be something similar in the fall/winter time frame. I'm sure I will see you once in a while in some of the blogger tourneys, I just don't know how often. Good luck to all and for those that have a seat to the TOC, hopefully, I will see you there. Also, special thanks to BoneDaddy for setting up the side bet. As stressful as it was, it made for a good, fun competition.
Now that the BBT3 is pretty much over (except for the TOC next weekend - which my ability to play in it might be slightly in jeopardy), I have to admit, I am glad... It wasn't so much the BBT3 as it was the side bet that made this whole thing a lot more stressful. There were numerous nights where I didn't feel like playing or I had invites to hang out with my friends/enjoy happy hour and yet all those nights, even when I did go out, in the back of my mind was the BBT3 and how I should be playing it. It really became an obligation for me instead of something fun. Usually, after winning the seat to the TOC, I would normally relax and maybe not play as much. However, this time, because of the side bet, I always felt that I had to play. Admittedly, I am pretty tired from it and I do look forward to being able to go out on any night without worrying about some poker tournament. And in the end, it was all for nothing. So in that sense, it really sucks.
On a positive note, I did cash for over a grand during the BBT3 so I think I pretty much broke even for all the tournaments. I am not sure. Either way, it should be pretty close though. According to officialpokerrankings.com, I am profitable in MTTs in 2008 so that's pretty cool too. I guess a little win here and there helps.
Most likely, after the BBT3, a lot of you will probably not see me in blogger tourneys for a little while. I just need a little break and also, starting in July, work will be busy again and this time, instead of hurrying home around 8pm so I can eat before the blogger tourneys, I can just order food at work and continue to be a slave to the corporate bullshit late into the night so that we can keep dishing out credit cards to those that don't deserve them. It was definitely a fun ride and hopefully, there will be something similar in the fall/winter time frame. I'm sure I will see you once in a while in some of the blogger tourneys, I just don't know how often. Good luck to all and for those that have a seat to the TOC, hopefully, I will see you there. Also, special thanks to BoneDaddy for setting up the side bet. As stressful as it was, it made for a good, fun competition.
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