PAPT (Home Game) Update

*Warning* If you're not interested in our home game, this post might... errr, probably will bore you to tears.

Ok, now consider yourself warned.

I think Sia can attest to the fact that I play more online poker than anyone he knows. I mean it's almost like a disease. I won't play if I have less than 30 minutes but if I have more than 30 minutes to kill, I will immediately fire up a table or two. So, last night, I got home from work around 6 and Mrs Recess had her pilates class until 6:45 so I decided to play a little online poker. Fired up two 2-4NL 6 max tables and by the time I was done, I was up a buy-in with a big pot coming when a donk tried bluffing his missed flush draw against my set. I mean bluffing is one thing but he overbet by pushing all in. Oh well. Thanks.

At 7pm, I had dinner with Mrs Recess and shortly thereafter, headed over to the PAPT, hoping to repeat my performance from last week. 8 runners, typical sng style tourney in our weekly home game. It was a weird night though. Tyke, our PAPT player of the year front runner, was on tilt the whole time because his laptop was being "Windows"... you know, blue screen of death, memory dumping, etc. Typical. No, no, I'm not a Mac guy or anything... I just accept those things as part of having a Windows computer... just like I've come to accept that bad beats are part of poker.

Anyways, I was down to half my starting stack early when I lost two big pots in these two hands...

Two limpers, I bump it up to T$12 (I think the blinds were 1-2) with AQ and they both call. Flop comes Q-10-10 with two spades. both checks to me so I bet about T$15. Then I get raised for T$30 more by Shaun, who is a fairly tight but aggressive player. However, I did not peg him as a guy who would make a play against me with nothing so I was pretty convinced he had a T there. I spew some more chips by calling on the flop but folding on the turn when he fires out another big bet. Then few hands later, I find 99 UTG. I limp and it fold around to the button who raises. Shaun calls from the SB, BB calls and I call. Flop comes 7-7-2 (hammer time!) with two diamonds and Shaun bets out T$20. I bump it up to $50 and it's folded back to Shaun who reraises me for a $100 more... Well, with 99, there wasn't too much I could beat at that point so I decided to save my chips for a better spot... turns out I folded a better hand (I told him 9s and he said they were good) but my guess is he must have had two overcards both diamonds. I was down to about T$80 from the starting stack of T$175 but I just felt that I could still find a better spot. I was upset for a little but fortunately, my cards were so bad for the next few orbits that I didn't even have a chance to tilt my chips away.

Fortunately, I picked up decent cards at good times and my all ins were called a few times which enabled me to double up 3-4 times and eventually, I was heads up against... Shaun. We battled it out for a fair amount of time but there were two key hands where it tipped the scale. I turned two pair but slowplayed it where he eventually caught a straight on the river. I doubled him up there... Then he pulled a monster bluff with 6-3 on a board of A-J-9-x-x where I had to lay down my K9 on the river... In hindsight, that was such a bad fold... but it is what it is. Alas, after those, he kept constantly pressuring me and eventually, I got frustrated, pushed my Q8o into his KQ and I bust out 2nd... Helps that I'm a donk but very well played by him.

So, for all that trouble, I won $60... net profit $35... after 3.5hrs of work... maybe I shoulda stayed home and played online...

How you say... jacks??

Couple of interesting hands all involving me having pocket jacks...

Part 1 - Betting too much

FullTiltPoker Game #2702574091: Table Hollow Pine - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:42:14 ET - 2007/06/18

9 handed - villain only has $170 before this hand

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Jd Jc]
RecessRampage raises to $14 from MP
Villain (from the big blind) calls $10

*** FLOP *** [Kc Kd 9d]
Villain checks
RecessRampage bets $25
Villain calls $25

*** TURN *** [Kc Kd 9d] [5h]
Villain checks
RecessRampage bets $70
Villain raises to $134.10, and is all in
RecessRampage calls $64.10
Villain shows [Qs Kh]
RecessRampage shows [Jd Jc]

*** RIVER *** [Kc Kd 9d 5h] [7d]
Villain shows three of a kind, Kings
RecessRampage shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
Villain wins the pot ($345.20) with three of a kind, Kings

In reviewing the hand, I'm not sure I misplayed it... well, maybe I did. This is where I might need to be more concious about bet sizing and pot control. The K-K-9 flop looked fairly innocent. It's checked to me so I bet. However, in hindsight, maybe his call should have been a red flag. So, I am fine with everything until the turn card comes. Now at that point, it's another safe card. The pot at that point has $78. I guess I bet $70 because I was thinking if he is drawing to a flush, I needed to make him pay. The only problem is that since he only had $64 behind him if he pushes, by betting $70, in effect, I was betting $135. And, if he's drawing to a flush, he only has 8 outs since I have a diamond. So, that means he's drawing to about 18%. So, in a $78 pot, technically, I can just bet $30 and it will still be a) incorrect for him to call and b) leave myself with outs in case he wakes up with a better hand. Now granted, I'm not sure that I could have gotten away from this hand but that is certainly something to keep in mind... that I don't always have to bet so big. Will I potentially be leaving some chips by not aggressively betting against a worse hand? Possibly. But on that board, what hands that I could beat would call my bet? TT and maaaaaybe 88 or 77. Aside from that, there aren't too many hands that would call my preflop bet and my c-bet on the flop.

Part 2 - Trusting your reads

Full Tilt Poker Game #2702813562: Table Marietta (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:09:33 ET - 2007/06/18

6 max - I have $400 and Villain here has $300

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Jc Js]
Villain calls $4 from UTG
RecessRampage raises to $18 from the button
Both blinds fold
Villain calls $14

*** FLOP *** [7c 3c Ad]
Villain bets $36
RecessRampage calls $36

*** TURN *** [7c 3c Ad] [2d]
Villain bets $60
RecessRampage calls $60

*** RIVER *** [7c 3c Ad 2d] [9c]
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain bets $128
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage calls $128

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Villain shows [7d Kh] a pair of Sevens
RecessRampage shows [Jc Js] a pair of Jacks
RecessRampage wins the pot ($487) with a pair of Jacks

This was another interesting hand. After the hand, the villain showed his classy side by typing in the chat box "nice f***'n call." So, generally, I don't respond to things like that and I especially don't like giving free lessons but I couldn't resist... so I told him "Check out the hand history and then tell me what you think I think you had." That actually calmed him down, actually said "Damn, I didn't know I was playing against a pro. Just so you know, I didn't think you had the ace though." I told him I wasn't a pro... but that was nice. But anyways, that's neither here nor there. The river bet admittedly was a scary one. There was so many ways for me to lose... and yet, I made the call. Is this because I can't lay down a pocket pair? Come on. Hopefully, those of you who read this blog frequently know better. So, let's go back through the hand.

Preflop, he limps UTG and then calls a raise after everyone else folds. This could mean he has a monster and is good enough to slow play a big pocket pair since he knows it's heads up. Or, he's got some sort of a drawing hand or a mid to small pocket pair. So in other words, at this point, his range is pretty big. Flop comes A-7-3 with two clubs. He actually thinks about it and then bets $36 into a $42 pot. At this point, I immediately narrowed his hand down to either a draw or a pocket pair. Why? I just couldn't see a guy with A-x not raising preflop or reraising. In other words, if he had AK, I'm 90% sure he would have come over the top when I raised preflop. So, I was convinced my hand was good there. The only thing I was worried about was that he was doing this with a flopped set and I don't know anything about the guy so that was certainly a possibility. So, I didn't want to unnecessarily build the pot so I figured I'd call and if he doesn't have an ace or trips, he'll check the turn, I'll bet and take it down.

Well, he continued his aggression on the turn when a blank fell (sure if he had 45, he has a straight but I can't worry about that). This is probably where I made my first mistake. I just smooth called again. Why? Because I still felt I had the best hand but again, I didn't want to build the pot too much. But what if he had a draw? Yeah, exactly... I think that's where I made a mistake. And as such, the river comes another club. And the villain was courageous enough to be a fairly big amount. $128, leaving himself $56 into a pot that contained approx $240. This is where I made my second mistake... I think. Calling here should not have been an option. Considering he only left $56, it's either a fold or raise situation, I think. What do I mean by that? If I think that I'm ahead the whole time then that shouldn't change here. If I think the flush card beats me, I should fold here. But if it's enough for me to think that my jacks are still good, I need to push in case he was doing that with a hand that I initially thought which was a smaller pocket pair. That way, I could take all his chips. But calling wasn't the worst thing I've done. That was definitely a tough call and I made it tougher for myself by not raising on the turn. However, again, I knew he didn't have the ace so that made my decision slightly easier.

Oh and one other benefit to doing that? I noticed quite a few. I got bluffed at a lot less after that and at the same time, they started respecting my raise and c-bets which are key at a 6max table where you are generally more aggressive than usual.

Part 3 - Helps to get lucky

Full Tilt Poker Game #2703094206: Table Marietta (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:41:14 ET - 2007/06/18

6 max - another confrontation with a small stack
Villain has $190 here

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Jd Jc]
Villain raises to $14 from the CO
RecessRampage calls $12

*** FLOP *** [6d 4d 9h]
RecessRampage checks
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain bets $25
RecessRampage raises to $85
Villain raises to $172.30, and is all in <--- woah...
RecessRampage calls $87.30
Villain shows [Ks Kc] <--- oh snap!
RecessRampage shows [Jd Jc]

*** TURN *** [6d 4d 9h] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [6d 4d 9h 8d] [9d]
Villain shows two pair, Kings and Nines
RecessRampage shows a flush, Jack high
RecessRampage wins the pot ($373.60) with a flush, Jack high <--- better lucky than good :)

Nothing much here... since it was only $85 more to call, I had to make the call. On a 6 max table, high PP vs high PP is pretty much disaster esp with all low cards. I mean I've seen clowns push preflop with a hand as bad with AJ...

Weekend of Futility

Before I start, today is Monday and that only means one thing (aside from the fact that it sucks cuz it's the first day of the work week)... Mondays at the Hoy! So, bloggers and nonbloggers alike, come on out. $24+2 tourney at 10pm EST, password is "hammer" on FullTilt.



Next, go congratulate this sicko. He, unlike my whiny ass, played well and is WSOP bound! It would be great to see some of the bloggers make some serious noise at the Main Event... and I think we are putting up a solid line up. Couple that with the fact that I think the Main Event will have less donkeys than last year because Harrah's no longer accepts third party buy-ins, this could be a good thing. Again, Fuel, congrats!

As for me... well, what a weekend. Losing those two KK hands and being busted out of the tournament really did a number on me... especially given the fact that I didn't think the players were all that great and I felt that I could win my way into the 100 seat guarantee, that beat put a little hurtin on me. Now, I know bad beats suck and believe me, I'm generally not one to complain about it. But for me to be saying it the following morning, I think clearly illustrates how much it hurt. LJ, on the other hand played well but unfortunately was bounced from the tournament with about 10 players left for the seat, maybe less for some cash. She made a comment about how she'd rather bust out early than bubble. And I agree... when I bubble... but when I bust out early, I find myself saying I'd rather bubble because then I have a fighting chance... :) I guess that just means that I'd rather not get bounced at all.

On the flip side, I felt that I played well on my cash games. I posted a few hands but all in all, it was a pretty good weekend... unfortunately, it was one of those weekends where I don't have much to show for. I played well but I got sucked out on couple of big pots and so after playing a lot of poker this weekend, I was back to where I started on Friday... nothing like playing well and breaking even... so rigged.

So, I am hoping that instead of my usual hateful Mondays, that this is the beginning of the new week where maybe I could go on a rush, take down a BBT or two, but definitely make some serious cash at the cash tables. Hey, I can hope.

FUCK YOU FULL TILT

I haven't been this pissed in a while...

FullTiltPoker Game #2692719036: Satellite to 100 Seat Guarantee (19919018), Table 55 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:00:57 ET - 2007/06/17
Seat 1: JPet (3,180)
Seat 2: MR SMOOTH D (1,745)
Seat 3: 120279 (960), is sitting out
Seat 4: Itsa Robbery (2,660)
Seat 5: AJ_Rider (1,080)
Seat 6: Mr Real McCoy (1,540)
Seat 7: RecessRampage (2,005)
Seat 8: dp_jaxson (1,750)
Seat 9: Kelvin1206 (890)
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 50
dp_jaxson posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ks Kd]
Kelvin1206 folds
JPet folds
MR SMOOTH D folds
120279 folds
Itsa Robbery folds
AJ_Rider has 15 seconds left to act
AJ_Rider folds
Mr Real McCoy raises to 350
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 2,005, and is all in
dp_jaxson folds
Mr Real McCoy calls 1,190, and is all in
RecessRampage shows [Ks Kd]
Mr Real McCoy shows [6h 6c]
Uncalled bet of 465 returned to RecessRampage
*** FLOP *** [8s Td 2h]
*** TURN *** [8s Td 2h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [8s Td 2h 6s] [4c]
RecessRampage shows a pair of Kings
Mr Real McCoy shows three of a kind, Sixes
Mr Real McCoy wins the pot (3,180) with three of a kind, Sixes
The blinds are now 60/120

The reason I pushed? Because right before this, he made a comment about how he didn't want to race and how he folded AK when another guy came over the top all in. So, I figured instead of reraising a fair amount, pushing might get him to call. Which it did. Which FullTilt decided to fuck me grossly.

Then, two hands later, I'm down to 450 in chips, blinds are 60/120, and what do I get? KK. I thought justice. Folds to me in the cutoff and I push. BB calls with K3 of clubs. Of course, he makes the flush on the river and I go home in 757th place... I don't give a shit if this happens on a $24 tourney or something... But what a way to go out for a WSOP satellite.

I haven't been this pissed in a while... I think I'm gonna go break something.

One last attempt...

So far, I haven't really played in too many satellites for the World Series. But, since this is the big day for the Full Tilt's 100 seat guarantee, I figured I'd give it a shot. Two $69+6 tourneys later, no seat into the 100 seat guarantee... however, I played in a single table $14+1 supersat and took it down.



So, this is my last attempt I suppose. If I win my way into the 500 seat guarantee, then great. If not, no WSOP attempt for me this year.

I know several bloggers are already in the 500 seat guarantee so if I don't see you there, good luck!

A few interesting hands...

I probably could have made this into multiple posts. So, if I did, the titles would be as follows:

- This is why you don't want to overdefine your hand!
- Can you identify the squeeze play?
- This is why I hate tournaments.

So, enjoy...

Part 1 - This is why you don't want to overdefine your hand...

Let's say you have AA, KK, or AK in your hand and you're one of the blinds. A button raises. You suspect a steal? Well, if you have AA or KK, you're probably better off smooth calling if it's going to be heads up anyways because a) you probably don't want to lose your potential victim there and b) you don't want to tip off your hand like this guy right here...

Table Bunch Grass - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:27:26 ET - 2007/06/16
9 handed - Villain has $260 and I have $420 before this hand...

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [8c 8d]

Villain calls $4 from UTG+1
MP calls $4
RecessRampage raises to $20 from the button
Villain raises to $60 <--- the good ol' limp reraise? must be AA or KK
MP folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage calls $40 <--- he's kinda short so I have barely enough odds to all for set mining
*** FLOP *** [Jc Tc Ah] <--- no set here... but wait...
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain bets $24

Are you thinking what I'm thinking here? Hesitation and a weakish bet. Remember, based on his actions preflop, he's either got AA or KK, maaaaaaybe QQ or AK but doubtful. So, he either loved that flop and wanted to string me along or...

RecessRampage raises to $85

I didn't want to raise too much so that I could still save some money if he comes over the top. Plus, I am now definitely representing an ace. I'm the one that raised preflop then called his reraise. What else would I have aside from Ax (and from his point of view, most likely I have two pair)??? And who would raise with any pair less than what's on the board???

Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain folds <--- good girl!!!
Uncalled bet of $61 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage wins the pot ($173)

And this, boys and girls, is why you don't want to resort to the limp reraise garbage with big pocket pairs... it's easier to play when you KNOW what the other guy has... and I'm not tilting...



Part 2 - Can you identify the squeeze?

As we all know, the play at 6 max is definitely more aggressive... And I think the squeeze play is more prominent. At least at this table it was. And I find myself making that play a lot more often than I used to. So, the key now is can you identify it?

Table Simmons (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:15:13 ET - 2007/06/16

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [3d 3h]
UTG raises to $14
RecessRampage calls $14 from the button
BB has 15 seconds left to act
BB raises to $48
UTG folds

This was an interesting spot. I had run my stack up to $560 at this point and the BB had $377 before this hand. We've all been playing relatively aggressive but nothing crazy. However, the raise was a pretty big one so I thought it seemed more like a raise with two big cards instead of an overpair. I read this more as a squeeze play to take us out, esp since the UTG was raising preflop at a very high percentage.

RecessRampage calls $34 <--- if I'm wrong, maybe I can hit a set and stack him that way
*** FLOP *** [2s 8s 8d]
BB has 15 seconds left to act
BB bets $88

On a x-x-y flop, something seemed fishy about that bet. A) It was a standard c-bet size (the 75-80% range of the pot) and B) Fuel (I can't remember the post but he talked about the x-x-y flop before) always advocates to make a move because flops like these most likely didn't help the opponent.

So I do.

RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to $220
BB has 15 seconds left to act
BB folds
Uncalled bet of $132 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage wins the pot ($285)

The hardest part about this hand was the bet sizing on the flop. Since he only started with $377, after the preflop reraise and the flop bet, he had about $200 remaining. I didn't want to over bet and not leave myself any outs but I also wanted to bet big enough to let him know that I had a decent pp like TT or something.



Part 3 - This is why I hate tournaments...

There are 8 of us remaining, top 6 gets paid and this comes up...

FullTiltPoker Game #2686806514: Tier One $8+$0.70 (Turbo) (20486210), Table 1 - 250/500 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:43:18 ET - 2007/06/16
Seat 1: Nidaplex (5,320)
Seat 2: ohcowboy12go (7,780)
Seat 4: lionman79 (2,080)
Seat 5: RecessRampage (2,450)
Seat 6: crewsmissle (2,170)
Seat 7: shev24 (2,460)
Seat 8: grizzlernz (2,260)
Seat 9: 10691069 (2,480)
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 250
crewsmissle posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [6c Ad]
shev24 folds
grizzlernz folds
10691069 folds
Nidaplex folds
ohcowboy12go folds
lionman79 folds
RecessRampage raises to 2,450, and is all in <--- folds to me in the small blind, I'm short enough, Ax, I push
crewsmissle calls 1,670, and is all in
RecessRampage shows [6c Ad]
crewsmissle shows [7d 8c] <--- WTF!?
Uncalled bet of 280 returned to RecessRampage
*** FLOP *** [Jd 3d 8d]
*** TURN *** [Jd 3d 8d] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 3d 8d 5s] [Th]
RecessRampage shows Ace Jack high
crewsmissle shows a pair of Eights
crewsmissle wins the pot (4,340) with a pair of Eights

I mean are you kidding me? I realize we're both short but 78? He calls to put himself all in. Don't you want to wait for a better spot? I mean what was my pushing range that would justify his call with 78? And shortly after, I bust out in 7th and he ends up finishing the tourney in 2nd place. What a freakin joke.

There you have it folks... my interesting hands trilogy...

Bad Karma is back!! (Bad Karma Part 6 & 7)

*Warning - bad beat story*

So this one especially sucked because I was abusing this guy... literally, abusing him. I started with the full buy-in of $200 and and I ran it up to what I had below basically by abusing shostakovitch. So I knew he pretty much hated me and that he was starting to tilt... and this came up...

Full Tilt Poker Game #2683350473: Table Cheyenne (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:41:01 ET - 2007/06/16
Seat 1: DrGiggy ($339.50)
Seat 2: shostakovitch ($200)
Seat 3: RecessRampage ($373.40)
Seat 4: JBVFJK ($169.75)
Seat 5: Macacawitz ($246.15)
Seat 6: dallas8800 ($172)
JBVFJK posts the small blind of $1
Macacawitz posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ah Qh]
dallas8800 folds
DrGiggy folds
shostakovitch raises to $7
RecessRampage raises to $21 <--- I don't always do it but I figured this will add to his tilt factor and I have position
JBVFJK folds
Macacawitz folds
shostakovitch calls $14
*** FLOP *** [9s Qd 6d] <--- perfect
shostakovitch checks
RecessRampage bets $35
shostakovitch raises to $150 <--- for a second, a set crossed my mind but like I said, I was abusing him so he was tired of being pushed around.
RecessRampage raises to $352.40, and is all in <--- ie, easy call
shostakovitch calls $29, and is all in
RecessRampage shows [Ah Qh]
shostakovitch shows [Ks Qc] <--- ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Uncalled bet of $173.40 returned to RecessRampage
*** TURN *** [9s Qd 6d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [9s Qd 6d Jh] [Ts]
RecessRampage shows a pair of Queens
shostakovitch shows a straight, King high
shostakovitch wins the pot ($400) with a straight, King high
RecessRampage: lol

Runner runner straight... unreal... there goes my profit from this table...

Then this... You know how sometimes you know what the other guy has? (like I did when I still managed to donkishly lose all my chips with KK). Well, this was the case here...

Full Tilt Poker Game #2683208285: Table Wetlands Park - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:22:07 ET - 2007/06/16
Seat 1: bigfattoad ($334.40)
Seat 2: NJ2NC ($419.80)
Seat 3: bigdaddyuga ($467.80)
Seat 4: 5thinning ($600.70)
Seat 5: BKNARROW ($105)
Seat 6: Been Machine ($376.60)
Seat 7: schmill ($294.50)
Seat 8: RecessRampage ($352)
Seat 9: davcomm ($178.70)
schmill posts the small blind of $2
RecessRampage posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [8d Tc]
davcomm raises to $8 <--- UTG min raise? Another typical way a donk would play AA
bigfattoad folds
NJ2NC folds
bigdaddyuga folds
BKNARROW stands up
5thinning folds
BKNARROW folds
Been Machine folds
ur_an_ASSet adds $400
schmill folds
RecessRampage calls $4 <--- I personally love my hand and it's AA crack worthy
*** FLOP *** [Ts 9d 3d] <--- good flop!
RecessRampage checks
davcomm bets $4 <--- if you really do have AA and are slowplaying it, you're asking to get killed
RecessRampage calls $4
*** TURN *** [Ts 9d 3d] [Td] <--- BOOM!!!!
RecessRampage checks
davcomm bets $26 <--- the board gets dangerous and NOW he bets
RecessRampage raises to $52
davcomm raises to $78 <--- lol... dude, the board just paired, the flush just got there, you just got checkraised and you raise again? You played aces as badly as anyone can play it... and as such, you're obviously not gonna fold so....
RecessRampage raises to $340, and is all in
davcomm calls $88.70, and is all in <--- thanks you donk!
RecessRampage shows [8d Tc]
davcomm shows [Ac As] <--- obviously
Uncalled bet of $173.30 returned to RecessRampage
*** RIVER *** [Ts 9d 3d Td] [Ad]
RecessRampage shows a flush, Ace high
davcomm shows a full house, Aces full of Tens
davcomm wins the pot ($356.40) with a full house, Aces full of Tens

When the river hit, I puked a little...

These should be obvious folds...

I honestly don't know what happened. Well... actually, I think I kinda do know what happened. I think I was on a slight tilt... not the anger tilt but one of those "it's in the back of your head and so you're tilting but you're not quite aware of your tilt until you take a step back and look at it" type of tilt. Ever had those? Well, here's me, being a super donkalicious idiot...

Full Tilt Poker Game #2677625819: Table Spruce Fern - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:42:00 ET - 2007/06/15
Seat 1: RecessRampage ($409.80)
Seat 2: LTFisher ($70)
Seat 3: Tilty_Poo ($363)
Seat 4: SDRI MAFIA ($342.50)
Seat 5: RedBird101 ($129.85)
Seat 6: vavavavoom ($154.10)
Seat 7: rjdee17 ($263.30)
Seat 8: TwistedDonkey ($400)
Seat 9: coldsmoke1 ($233.40)
TwistedDonkey posts the small blind of $2
coldsmoke1 posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qd Qc]
RecessRampage raises to $14
LTFisher calls $14
Tilty_Poo folds
SDRI MAFIA folds
RedBird101 folds
vavavavoom calls $14
rjdee17 folds
TwistedDonkey folds
coldsmoke1 folds

*** FLOP *** [Th 7s 9d]
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage bets $32
LTFisher raises to $56, and is all in
vavavavoom has 15 seconds left to act
vavavavoom raises to $140.10, and is all in

Well, I was going to call first all in but when the guy comes over the top for another all in, based on what's on the board, I can't beat much. So, here's me doing the sensible thing.

RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act <--- still hurts
RecessRampage folds
vavavavoom shows [Tc Ts]
LTFisher shows [Ad Td]
Uncalled bet of $84.10 returned to vavavavoom
*** TURN *** [Th 7s 9d] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Th 7s 9d 3s] [4d]
vavavavoom shows three of a kind, Tens
LTFisher shows a pair of Tens
vavavavoom wins the pot ($189) with three of a kind, Tens

Obviously a good fold by me but this is actually a normal fold in my opinion. But, it still sucks when I have to fold an overpair like that... However, my mentality should be that I'm glad I saved money, not it sucks to lay down an overpair... because otherwise, you can make a tilt-induced play, say like 15 minutes later...

15 minutes later...

Full Tilt Poker Game #2677773573: Table Spruce Fern - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:57:30 ET - 2007/06/15
Seat 1: RecessRampage ($309.45)
Seat 2: 7SaVa2 ($300)
Seat 3: PoorNapoleon ($407.50)
Seat 4: SDRI MAFIA ($391.80)
Seat 5: CHRIS8364 ($402.80)
Seat 6: agore111 ($463.20)
Seat 7: newera13 ($396)
Seat 8: TwistedDonkey ($408)
Seat 9: coldsmoke1 ($294.20)
PoorNapoleon posts the small blind of $2
SDRI MAFIA posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Kh Kc] <--- finally... it's been a slow night for me so I need to make something happen here!!
CHRIS8364 calls $4
agore111 folds
newera13 folds
TwistedDonkey folds
coldsmoke1 calls $4
RecessRampage raises to $22 <--- stupid limpers...
PoorNapoleon folds
SDRI MAFIA calls $18
CHRIS8364 has 15 seconds left to act
CHRIS8364 raises to $402.80, and is all in
coldsmoke1 folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act

Ok, let's think about this for a second. This guy just limped UTG, had another limper, then a raise, then a BB calling that raise... so, clearly some of us have something here... nonetheless, he pulls the classic "wait let me think about it, ok I'm all in" move... the classic "let me advertise that I'm a little unsure about this decision so HOPEFULLY I'm right" move... yes, simply put, weak is strong... we all know this. I believe this is poker 101. He clearly has AA.

RecessRampage has requested TIME <--- what... what am I doing? Dude, why are you thinking??? He's got aces! HE'S GOT ACES!!!!!! Your kings are no good!!!!

RecessRampage calls $287.45, and is all in <--- HEE HAW
SDRI MAFIA folds
CHRIS8364 shows [Ac As] <--- of course
RecessRampage shows [Kh Kc] <--- all the donkeys in the world are embarrassed with this call
Uncalled bet of $93.35 returned to CHRIS8364
*** FLOP *** [2d Ad 9s]
*** TURN *** [2d Ad 9s] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [2d Ad 9s 3c] [Ks]
RecessRampage: I can't believe I called
CHRIS8364 shows three of a kind, Aces
RecessRampage shows three of a kind, Kings
CHRIS8364 wins the pot ($643.90) with three of a kind, Aces

I think this was one of the worst calls I made in a while. Personally, I'm ok with making calls based on my reads, even if my reads are incorrect. At least I trusted my reads and I went with it. What I hate is when I go against my reads. I've played long enough, I've studied the game enough, and I've developed my read good enough... so if I can't trust my reads, what the hell am I doing at the poker tables??? And this type of play really pisses me off and like I said, once I think about it the next morning and think about what I was thinking last night, it was clearly tilt induced. The only positive of this hand was actually the fact that it slapped me out of my tilt and I played solid the rest of the night. I, unfortunately wasn't able to get anything going, but at least I snapped out of it...

Blogger Pimpage!

Alright, before I start my general "I love talking about myself" blog entry, I have to do some blog pimpage for others. I kinda assumed that everyone knew but in case you missed it (ie, in case you live under a rock), Hoy cashed in the WSOP Event #12 6 max event which his specialty! Also, another blogger made some noise at the WSOP! And I know her in person! Lana, again, congrats on cashing in the WSOP Ladies Event! I'd like to think that us meeting before your trip gave you the good karma. Yes, I realize I had nothing to do with it but I'll take credit for it anyways - I mean it IS my blog after all. :) I'm sure she'll do a more detailed write up but check her blog here.

Ok, some more pimpage. First off, let me say this to all my nonblogger, poker-playing friends that the blogger tourneys are not exclusive to bloggers. It is open to everyone and more the merrier. Just to summarize, MATH (Mondays at the Hoy - password hammer) is on Mondays (never would've guessed) at 10pm EST, Mookie on Wednesdays (password vegas1) at 10pm EST, and Riverchasers on Thursdays at 9:00pm EST (password Riverchasers). So, if you guys want to play, feel free to do so. And, more importantly, BuddyDank and InstantTragedy are teaming up to bring some quality entertainment through your Media Player (I use RealPlayer but you can use Itunes or WINamp also). Seriously, it's freakin awesome and if you want to know the details, click HERE. They'll take requests, you can talk all the shit you want (Buddy, you lucky donk) and seriously, it's just a great great time. Now some of the music played can be considered questionable but it's all by request so if you don't like some of the songs, blame the other bloggers. And no, I did NOT request ABBA. That was all InstantTragedy.

But in all seriousness, the BuddyDank & IT radio is awesome. So, go check their websites out! Plus, personally, I love Buddy's banner. Never gets old. :)

Ok, well, I need to catch up on the zzzzz's so I'm gonna leave you with this interesting hand that came up.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2659589534: Table Karina Jett - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:26:19 ET - 2007/06/13
9 handed - my stack is up to $554 and the villain has a full buy-in ($400)

I'm in the SB with 79o and it's folded all the way to me.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [7s 9c]

RecessRampage raises to $12
Villain calls $8

*** FLOP *** [7d 5c 9d] <--- BOOM!
RecessRampage checks
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain bets $18
RecessRampage raises to $56 <--- kind of a draw heavy board so check raise a decent amount
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain calls $38
*** TURN *** [7d 5c 9d] [Jd]
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage bets $100
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain raises to $332, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME

Ok, so clearly, I am in a very interesting situation that I pretty much created for myself. I flop top two on a draw heavy board, a 3rd diamond comes on the turn which is clearly a scare card and yet, I somehow manage to donk bet $100 into this pot that had $136 before my bet. The strong bet was to show that I wasn't afraid of the diamond and to take down this sizeable pot. Then the villain thinks about it and pushes... It's $232 more to call with a pot that is now $568. So, it's serious thinking time.

What are your thoughts here? I raised preflop and he called. But granted, it's only from a SB so I could have anything, even though I think I had a generally tight image. Does he have a set? Catch a straight on the turn? Or did he hit the flush? I gave it some good thought and this was my thought. If he had the flush, he has no reason to push considering I've shown enough strength that he could probably reel me in. He could easily have a set but if he flopped it, I think there would've been a little more action on the flop considering the draw heavy board. Did the J on the turn give him the set? Or... And honestly, this is what I thought. Maybe he has a hand like TT with one of them being a diamond so he has a solid overpair on the flop, and now, with the scare card, he's trying to scare me off (which I played like I have an overpair) and if I call, he has outs. Honest to god, that was my exact read. And this is what happened:


RecessRampage calls $232
Villain shows [7c Ts] <--- wow, worse than I expected... not even a diamond draw
RecessRampage shows [7s 9c]
*** RIVER *** [7d 5c 9d Jd] [As]
Villain shows a pair of Sevens
RecessRampage shows two pair, Nines and Sevens
RecessRampage wins the pot ($797) with two pair, Nines and Sevens

So, it ends up that he was really doing this with air, believing his read (?) that I had maybe like AK. But honestly, with as much action as he saw from me, there's no reason for him to go to war with a hand like that.

This was a key pot for me because this actually brought me back to even after a brutal night where my AA and KK were slashed three times tonight, fortunately by relative short stacks but at these tables, the relative short stacks still have like $160 so believe me, down $500 early in the night with those suckouts hurt. This definitely brought me back to being even for the night... thank god.

Oh and the Mookie? I didn't do well tonight... I donk played (errr, slow played) AA and it cost me early... couldn't get much going with my short stack and eventually busted when I lost the race with AK vs 88. Online poker is so rigged.

Popping the PAPT cherry! (home game)

It's nice when things are slower at work. I get to come home at a decent time (which I live less than 10 minutes away from work so that helps) and do things around the house (ie, play online poker) and still have time to grab some food and head on over to the home of PAPT (Park Avenue Poker Tour - so cleverly named based on the location of its house). So, that's exactly what I did. I got home around 5:30, took care of some chores (very little) and started up a few tables to see if I can "warm up" for the weekly home game. Nothing major happened in terms of online poker. Up in two tables, down in one... net to about nothing... Got the points I needed to continue my ironman freeroll streak and headed over to the PAPT.

Well, with 9 runners and a few old school players back, it was looking to be a good night. And a good night it was. We had all 9 players intact for the first 5 levels which is pretty unusual. Naturally though, the blinds started creeping up and it soon became a push fest. The funny thing about this structure is that it's the worst when it gets down to about 4-5 handed because that's also around the time the blinds are really high in relation to the stacks. And yet, it's not quite as bad when it becomes heads up because the stacks become big enough. So, amassing chips early to survive the mid-late levels is even more important in this tournament.

Well, tonight, the House of Bad Beats lived up to its name. Anyone who thinks online poker is rigged, need just step into this house and will walk away convinced that there's nothing that online poker could bust out that doesn't happen in this House. And there were some tricky plays too. When it got down to 5 handed, JT, who was relatively short stacked smooth called the big blind. JJ, then raised from the CO to about 4 times the big blind and so it gets folded around back to JT who pushes all in. They were both relatively short in that their M's were probably around 6-8. JJ thought about it for a long time but eventually decided that JT was limp-pushing with midpair (which I thought at the time was a good read) so he called with AQ... only to find out that he was a severe underdog to JT's AK (these initials are getting confusing). But, of course, in the House of Bad Beats, AQ was gold... Q comes out on the flop and no K on the turn and the river severely cripples JT who eventually goes out few hands later.

Another funny thing about this group is that the proverbial "bubble" is nonexistent. Top 3 got paid tonight, with 9 runners and top 3 also made points for the Player of the Year award. So, I was thinking that maybe when it's 4 handed, I'll turn up my aggression factor... except no one really cares about the bubble so that's never a consideration. Regardless of the other stacks, if the hand is good enough to go all in, there's no hesitation. So, I had to reel my aggression in a little... but just a tad. I still wanted to make sure that I was stealing my fair share of pots in order to stay healthy during this time of quick and ridiculously high blinds...

Well, fortunately, tonight, the poker gods were smiling down on me. Aside from a few key steals and take downs due to proper aggression, my hands held up when they needed to in key race situations and when heads up, I dealt another massive bad beat... Q was gold tonight (along with a 9 but that's another story). Tyke (our current points leader) and I were heads up and Tyke was solidly applying pressure on me. I, on the other hand, kept trying to play small ball (even with the high blinds) and so I would limp from the small blind 90% of the time. There were several times Tyke would raise and I would have to fold. But, I felt that if I could see the flop relatively cheap, being the small blind heads up also meant I had position and I felt that I could outplay him on the later streets. Well, as I noticed Tyke constantly applying pressure on me, I just knew that it was a matter of time that I would get the cards I need to spring the trap... and it came when I was in the SB and was dealt KQ (pretty monstrous heads up, IMO). So, as usual, I limped, and like he's been doing quite a bit, Tyke raised it up another 120 (blinds were 30-60). With 240 in the pot which would be approximately a third of either one of our stacks, I decided that this is the perfect spot to spring the trap. So I said "all in" to which he quickly responded "I call." Insta-call wouldn't do justice to the quickness with which he called. And to my dismay, he flips over AK... I'm pretty much dead... until of course, the House of Bad Beat delivers! Q on the flop with no help on the turn and the river for Tyke pretty much crippled him (he didn't have enough to even double the big blind) and the very next hand, I was dealt 22 and put him all in. His 3-5 didn't come through and that was it. I finally popped the PAPT cherry and won the tournament. I still have a long ways to go to catch Tyke (or anyone for that matter) but it goes on till the end of the year so I certainly have time.

On a side note, during the heads up match, one key hand that came up when I was in the big blind. Tyke limped, I checked and we saw the flop come 2-3-5. I checked, he bet approximately a 100 into a pot of 120 and I read that as a standard c-bet... so, I decided to make a move and semi-bluff at this pot... by going all in... with 4-7o... yep, just an open ended straight draw. Didn't think he had anything but I think he mentioned that he had TPTK... that was heck of a fold and I'm glad he made that fold... because we did run it out for fun and I wouldn't have caught anything.

Also, I have a confession to make. JT, on the hand where you said you had 22 and the board came 6-7-9 where I raised you from the SB... I later mentioned that I had 44... well, I lied. I actually raised from the SB with 8-3off... so I flopped an OESD and I thought an aggressive bet on the flop could take it down. When the blank came on the turn, I couldn't fire another bullet which you immediately noticed and took it down with an aggressive bet. I seriously considered pushing on the turn and in hindsight, I probably should've. So, lesson learned for me here. Well, actually, you weren't supposed to call...

I hate giving out info on my bluffs but then again, I also aggressively bet my made hands too so in that sense, that should be a wash. Either way, good times were had by all and most importantly, I took that shit down!!!!

MATH recap

The Battle of the Blogger Tournaments enter the final home stretch with I think 10 tournaments (maybe 9 after MATH) left and yours truly right in the middle (6th) of a grueling battle for the top 3 (measly 83 pts separate the 3rd place spot, currently occupied by NewinNov and the 7th place spot, occupied by jeciimd). After a weekend of decent showings in the MTTs I played in (which I know is very few compared to other MTT players), I was fairly confident that I was gonna do well. Well... I did... sort of. Early on, I was able to chip up thanks to a good mix of good cards, decent reads and decent aggression. Having good hands when it went to showdown helped me steal some pots in position. And by doing so, I was able to build a big stack and I was in the top 3 for a long time as I look to really take over this tournament. Well, I started losing focus because what I also wanted, along with winning was also knocking out the others who are in the top 7 points to ensure that I could make up some ground... and because of that, this was the first hand where I knew it was going to be a bad move and yet, I donk-raised...

There were 6 of us on the table with NewinNov as the shortstack and I really wanted to knock him out. He starts with T2,870 in chips and the blinds are 150/300 ante 25 (so the pot starts with 600) and he minraises from the CO. That screamed a big hand... my gut instinct was he has a big hand. I am in the SB, look down to see 44. I tell myself he's got a big hand. And next thing I know, I'm shoving my 19K+ stack into the middle, now hoping for a race... well, it was a race that I was losing badly as he showed JJ... Nothing like doubling up the one guy that I wanted to bust mainly on a donkish move by me.

Well, I didn't let that affect me and just kept up my aggressive ways and I started targeting the other big stack at the table... wwonka69, thinking that he wouldn't want to go up against the other big stack at the table without a good hand. So, every time he posted his big blind, I put in a raise from the CO. I think I went 3 or 4 orbits in a row where I did that... and then this came up...

FullTiltPoker Game #2643750853: Mondays at the Hoy (19464466), Table 1 - 200/400 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:00:48 ET - 2007/06/12
Seat 3: RecessRampage (19,362)
Seat 4: bayne_s (9,260)
Seat 6: wwonka69 (10,720)
Seat 7: leftylu (14,526)
Seat 8: NewinNov (4,340)
RecessRampage antes 50
bayne_s antes 50
wwonka69 antes 50
leftylu antes 50
NewinNov antes 50
leftylu posts the small blind of 200
NewinNov posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ah Qc]
RecessRampage raises to 1,650
bayne_s folds
wwonka69 raises to 5,800
leftylu folds
NewinNov folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 19,312, and is all in
wwonka69 calls 4,870, and is all in
RecessRampage shows [Ah Qc]
wwonka69 shows [6d 6h]
Uncalled bet of 8,642 returned to RecessRampage
*** FLOP *** [Kd 8h Ts]
*** TURN *** [Kd 8h Ts] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 8h Ts Th] [2s]
RecessRampage shows a pair of Tens
wwonka69 shows two pair, Tens and Sixes
wwonka69 wins the pot (22,190) with two pair, Tens and Sixes

Man, why couldn't the river be K, T, or 8, or A, or Q.... so many outs... And honestly speaking, when I reraised all in, I thought this was a case where he finally felt like he had enough so I thought he would reraise me with a hand like AJ, AT (of course, with also hands like AA, KK, AK, QQ, JJ, TT - all of which beats me).... Now that I look at this, it almost seems lucky that I was just a dog on a coin flip. This was clearly the turning point. If I take that pot, since we went to the final table during this hand, it would have been down to 8 players and with 30k+, I would have been a dominating stack. Instead, I was down to approx 9k and then I went card dead... and my stack was a little too short to make any moves aside from pushing all in... eventually, I did, actually right after I made sure NewinNov busted and I end what could've and should've been a monster run at the MATH in 8th place... that was a shitty finish to an otherwise well played tournament by me. Couple of questionable moves by me jeopardized my stack and eventually, I forced myself into a situation where I had to push with J9o... That sucked. Well, at least there is the Mookie tomorrow.

Would you? Can you? Fold Aces?

I think there are situations where folding aces may be easier than others. Having said that, it's never easy, especially if you're heads up. Also, I think there are few ways to play them based on the position but this interesting hand came up yesterday...

FullTiltPoker Game #2630757753: Table Canyon Run - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:15:06 ET - 2007/06/10

9 handed - I'm on the big blind - I've built my stack up to $623 and the villain here has the 3rd largest stack at the table with $451. Villain is in MP.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ah As]
Villain raises to $12
Button calls $12
RecessRampage raises to $48
Villain calls $36
Button folds

I hate that move because I feel like it tips off my hand but I don't want to play aces 3 handed out of position so I bumped it up, hoping to either take it down or make it heads up. Mission partially accomplished (heads up).

*** FLOP *** [4s 8h 5s]
RecessRampage bets $85
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain raises to $403.35, and is all in
RecessRampage calls $318.35

What do you do here? Do you consider folding? I mean you just tipped off your hand preflop by more or less announcing that you have AA or KK, you bet a big amount on the flop, basically confirming that, and the guy thinks about it, then pushes. I obviously called. But what do you think? Would you have folded?

Initially, I thought, man, that's sick... did this guy hit a set? But then I thought it was kinda weird that he pushed all in. If he had a set, and he thought I have AA or KK, he shouldn't be afraid of another spade so wouldn't he raise maybe 2.5x my bet or something to try to reel me in? I mean why push for $320 more? That made me wonder if he wanted me to fold here. In all honesty, this whole thought process didn't hit me until now as I'm typing. But I sensed that something wasn't quite right. Something didn't seem right and so, I called. This is what I saw:

Villain shows [3s 2s] <--- OESD with a flush draw (14 outs)
RecessRampage shows [Ah As]
*** TURN *** [4s 8h 5s] [8c] <--- ok, that takes away 3 of his outs (the two aces and 8s)
*** RIVER *** [4s 8h 5s 8c] [Qc] <--- phew...
Villain shows a pair of Eights
RecessRampage shows two pair, Aces and Eights
RecessRampage wins the pot ($911.70) with two pair, Aces and Eights

Big pot and definitely made me sweat. I don't think it was a bad move by him but this could be dangerous in that next time, in a similar situation, he could do the same and push on the flop with a set. So, then the question is, on a board like that, would you have folded? What if he check called the flop and then check raised all in on the turn, would it be different?

I'd love to hear the thoughts of some people.

Now, THIS is impressive

This has nothing to do with my play or anything. I was just mulling around this morning and saw this on a $1-2NL 6max table.



That's 10 buy-ins! Holy cow. I know the games there are soft but that's a lot... I don't know how long the dude's been sitting at the table but I've never seen a stack that was 10x the max buy-in. I'm also impressed that the table hasn't broken...

I broke the seal!

Finally... I started the year with approx $800 and my goal was to run it up to 5 digits... I was off to a quick start and then May came around and I stalled big time. I was able to lock in another 4 digit profit month but barely and I was pretty upset about my results in May. By April, I was definitely on pace to hit 5 digits so May was supposed to have been the month but I crossed over at one point but by the time I cashed out of the table, I was in the "close" territory. Well, I finally did it. Today, I went past the 5 digit mark and hopefully, will never look back.

I played ok on the cash tables but I had two tournaments that I played in today. One was the Ironman Freeroll and the other was a $69+6 buy-in, $12,500 guarantee tournament on FTP. I always said that Ironman is your typical "rich gets richer" scheme. For the bronze and the silver levels where they are easy to achieve, I think you get a fair number of entrants. But for the gold and the ironman level, there's a lot less. This month, there were only 205 runners in the Ironman level and top 90 gets paid. Yeah, Top 90. That's an insane ratio where almost half the players get paid. Seriously, you can fold to the money (one guy literally did. He never signed on but won because right before he had to go all in, the money bubble burst). I ended up in 53rd place and got $120... which was unfortunate because 45-90 all got paid $120. I could've been conservative and gone for the money bump but that's not why I play, right?

In the other tournament, I played fairly well. I was able to build up my chip stack rather early when I was able to exploit some of the weak tight players at the table (and you KNOW they are weak-tight if I can exploit them). So, I actually tripled my buy-in and was sitting pretty when this stupid hand came up...

I was raising from late position as I was frequently doing but this time I have pocket kings. All our money goes in on the flop when I see this...



Online poker is soooooo rigged. Fortunately, I chipped up early so even though this hurt, it brought my stack down to T2000 which was only slightly below average. Well, one thing I'm definitely good at is that I rarely tilt. I moved on like nothing happened and continued to play solid poker.

As the second break was coming up, I was doing fairly well.



As the bubble approached, I wanted to make sure that I didn't tighten up... except all of a sudden, I went card dead. And other big stacks were raising before me so I couldn't make a move. I slowly dwindled down until I decided to just attack the guys who were raising almost every time. Fortunately, that worked and one key hand where I was able to win the coinflip propelled me into top 8 with about 18 players remaining. I tried to remain aggressive but in the end, I got picked off when we saw the flop four handed, I pushed with an open ended straight draw and a guy who had me barely covered called with TPTK. Unfortunate end to a decent run. Having said that, it's always nice to see these messages pop up...



And believe me, I was pretty happy finishing 13th out of 258 runners even though, I can't help but think what could've been... And this one for the ironman challenge...



In all honesty, finding this blogging community has been the best thing that's happened to my poker life. By reading others' blogs and playing in the BBT, I know that my tournament skills have improved immensely over the past couple of months. Before, I felt like I could eventually win one of these things. Right now, I feel like it's a matter of time before I take one down. I know I have a few more things to learn for sure but I know I can get there. And hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later.

PS. Schaubs, thanks for the email. I'll have the password for future references! And don't worry about not getting back to me in time. At least I had a good excuse for not being in the 4 man tourney... :)

Clear sign that I'm a degenerate...

Friday... We all look forward to this day. End of the work week, big plans for the weekend, and just Friday night madness involving maybe a nice dinner, going out for drinks, maybe movies or a date... so many endless possibilities. Few years ago, it was a definite happy hour followed by insane amount of alcohol consumption where every finger waved in the air meant another round of Soco or Jagerbombs. So tonight, what do I do???

After a quick dinner with Mrs Recess and some QT, I hit the poker tables. Which is nothing unusual these days. Well, I didn't get to hit the tables till about 10pm (which is my excuse for missing the Friday night donkament) but even better is the fact that around 11:30, I go check out the final table... and end up railing all the remaining bloggers while jamming to Buddy's live broadcast. Don't get me wrong, it was very fun and I'm guessing that's what the trip to Vegas would have been like (except of course A LOT MORE FUN). It was just funny that that's what us poker degenerates do on a Friday night. I can only see my conversation with my coworkers on Monday.

"Hey Alan, how was your weekend? Did you do anything special on Friday night?"

"Yeah, actually, I was railing a few bloggers and listening to the live broadcast."

"Railing? Bloggers? Oh ok... I'll talk to you later."

:) Ah, what do they know?

Btw, does anyone know the password to the WPBT? If so, please let me know. Thanks!

Nice little run in the 26k

Before I go into my recap of a relatively deep run in last night's 26k on FTP, let me say that it looks like the bloggers are hitting Vegas hard! Last I checked, Hoy was doing well in WSOP #12 6max event and sounds like he's at least cashed in the event according to Iakaris. (Actually, unfortunately, Hoy is now out - but he cashed, so well done sir!) To see Iak's update on Vegas, click here.

I still I wish I was there... but anywho, last night, for a change, I decided to play in the 26k guarantee tournament on FTP. Since I consider myself to be a tournament donk and tourneys tend to seem to be more hit or miss than cash games (it's rare that you play solidly for 3 hrs in a cash game and come out empty handed vs tournament, that could easily happen with one missed coinflip at the end), it's rare that I play in tourneys outside the blogger gatherings (more commonly referred to as blonkaments... ie donkaments).

Well, since I've been playing with the bloggers, I've been putting some effort into becoming a better MTT player. And so I figured I might do alright which was part of what played into my change of heart to try out the 26k. For the first hour, I really couldn't get anything going. Aside from one donkish fold (I overestimated the skill level of some of these clowns), I didn't even get good enough cards to make a mistake with. So, towards the end of hour #1, I stole a few blinds just to stay around the starting stack... In hour #2, as the blinds started increasing, I knew I was gonna have to make some plays. So, I decided to use my tight image as a weapon and started going after the medium stacks. And it worked nicely. Couple that with getting decent cards at the right time, I was chipping up nicely. I had about 10k and that was slightly above average stack when break #2 rolled around. I was still playing relatively tight though and obviously, cashing in this event was not my goal (paying $26 to play in this damn thing, believe me when I say I don't care if I get $33 or whatever the minimum payout was - 1st place was $6k+). So, I knew I had to chip up even more aggressively in hour #3. Actually, in my mind, I decided that this will be the make or break hour where I would either end up top 15 in chips or bust out. So, midway into hour #3, I decided to tangle with another big stack at the table:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2608836914: $26,000 Guarantee (19443133), Table 56 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:36:28 ET - 2007/06/08
Seat 1: RecessRampage (13,989)
Seat 2: Brucesta76 (3,511)
Seat 3: ColoradoG (5,865)
Seat 4: BODINE_W (11,545), is sitting out
Seat 5: Massita (12,065)
Seat 6: pnkranger (14,290)
Seat 7: bats867 (5,740)
Seat 8: RosseyDog850 (9,905)
Seat 9: NastyBeet (9,949)
RecessRampage antes 75
Brucesta76 antes 75
ColoradoG antes 75
BODINE_W antes 75
Massita antes 75
pnkranger antes 75
bats867 antes 75
RosseyDog850 antes 75
NastyBeet antes 75
NastyBeet posts the small blind of 300
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ks Ts]
Brucesta76 folds
ColoradoG folds
BODINE_W folds
Massita folds
pnkranger raises to 1,600
bats867 folds
RosseyDog850 folds
NastyBeet folds
RecessRampage calls 1,000 <--- I was ready to go to war. I know KTs is a crappy hand. I was looking for a moderately coordinated board. He's been raising a fair amount so his range could be pretty big.
*** FLOP *** [7d 6c 8s] <--- perfect
RecessRampage checks
pnkranger bets 2,750
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 12,314, and is all in <--- two overs, gut shot straight draw, and a runner runner flush draw, coupled with fold equity? No brainer, IMO.
pnkranger has 15 seconds left to act
pnkranger folds
Uncalled bet of 9,564 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (9,675)

This was big because this put me close to 20k in chips and meanwhile the table chip leader before this hand was below the 10k mark after this hand.



So, I was feeling good about that but the blinds increase insanely quickly at this level and soon, I found myself stealing more often than I am comfortable with... But, considering some of the marginal hands I've been raising with, I was delighted to find AJ from CO-1... So, I just go for a steal push... and then get two callers...



The KQ was obviously a result of the fact that he's seen me do that a lot and also his low M... Unfortunately, I get no help and I'm down to like T$4000 with my M of like 3. I folded my BB of 2-4 (I don't believe in total ATC...) but I pushed the remainder of my chips with Q4 the very next hand from my SB against a button raiser who had J8. Two pair on the flop for me and so I got some breathing room. Very next hand, I find QT and I think to myself this is good enough to push with if it's folded to me. I see one limper from MP so I push... and this is what I see.



A race situation to put me back into contention is all I can ask for at this point...



No help on the turn or the river either and that ends my deep run into the 26k... 77th out of 1,077 runners sound good but it's no good... Still, it's better than nothing I guess.



Admittedly, I didn't get to sleep till close to 2am EST so I am exhausted this morning... where's my cup of coffee...

Mookie, Bloggers Gathering, and a little Poker in the Big Apple

Wow... so much to write... and so little time. Well in the interest of time (and the readers), I'll try to keep this short. After my missed bluff opportunity on Monday against jeciimd, I woke up still pissed with myself on Tuesday... Sadly, I had to wake up super early since I was flying up to NY for a business trip. Going into the Mookie, I was determined to play well and make up for my weak play on Monday... well, I guess I overdid it... I held pocket tens and raised to 140 from MP (blinds at 20-40). When Pushmonkey72 reraised me to 480, instead of calling (his reraising range is larger than an average person... maybe right on par for a blogger), I decided to push. He called with AK and everything was looking good... of course, until the river ace... so rigged. :) I'm out in 48th place out of 51. Maybe I should be folding to the points...

However, even better was BuddyDank's live radio feed of the Mookie. Nothing like having good music with an occasional commentary during the bloggers tourney. Apparently, InstantTragedy was supposed to be the special guest but unfortunately, he never made it (where were ya Sean???). Anyways, in case you haven't seen, InstantTragedy's got the full report of at least Day 1 (at this time) of his trip to Maui so go check it out. Very nice! Seriously though, that live feed was very cool. I really enjoyed it... too bad my tournament life was cut waaaaaaay too short.

So in addition to these two blogger tourneys that I really didn't do anything in, some of the bloggers are heading out to Vegas in the next couple of days. At first, I contemplated going but since I didn't really know anyone or really talk to anyone for that matter (at the time), I thought that maybe it wasn't worth going... (Ok, aside from the obvious question of "when is Vegas not worth going!?!?" I just wasn't sure about how this whole thing was going to go). But in the past few weeks as my blog has gotten more and more visitors and I've started to talk to more people, I started thinking that this could really be fun. And then I read up on a lot of other bloggers who are going and it appears that many of us don't know or have never met the others who are going (it's almost like a blind date for poker degenerates... and mostly men). So, in other words, it wouldn't have mattered, it would include a lot of drinking and playing cards... wtf was I thinking???? So, I'm kinda upset that I'm not going to Vegas this weekend. For those of you who are going out there, have fun!!! Maybe next time, I will join you guys. Scratch that. Next time, I will be there.

However, I did have a blogger encounter. So, I'm in NY and since I have heard of live poker clubs, I reached out to pvanharibo to see if she can hook me up. Well, she came through big time. She told me about some of the clubs and she told me that she will meet me at one of them. So, sure enough, I go out there and I'm at the door negotiating with the dude who says he's never heard my name and that he can't let me in. Until I find out that I'm at the wrong club... So, I had to go over to the other club and eventually, I met her and she let me in. Now, I'm an "official member." We didn't get to sit at the same table but it appears that she did real well. Me? Well, I did fairly well. I couldn't believe how soft the competition was. I don't know why but I always think that players who play live must be better. And every time, I'm shocked as to how bad the players are. Example? This one guy flopped two pair with J8 on a Q-J-8 board. There are two or three players and a round of betting. Turn is a blank. Another round of betting and one of them folds so two to the river. River is a Q. Check, the guy bets, call. The guy that check called had AJ. The other guy proudly flips over J8 and goes "I got two pair." And looks very confused when the dealer ships it to the guy with AJ. Dude, your two pair got counterfeited... how do you not see that? Nice "value bet".

So, I didn't really get any cards but the one big hand that I was involved in was relatively early in the night. Bunch of limpers and I find AQs on the button. I raise it to $15. (Sorry, this is 1-2NL) I get one caller and then a short stack reraises all in for another $21. I thought it was shady for her to limp call but I called without hesitation for two reasons. 1) She was shortstacked. 2) This is gonna sound super sexist but a middle aged female poker player is generally a donkey. Ok, ok. So it's wrong to stereotype... but if you just get to the table, you go by impressions and my impression is that they suck. So I call. Well, to my dismay, the other guy who also had a very big stack calls. So, three people are in and the pot already has $120+ (did I say this was 1-2NL) and we haven't even seen the flop. Well, flop sucks. It comes J-7-5 rainbow. Very raggy. I was willing to check it down... except the big stack decides to bet into the dry side pot. He bets $50. Now it was early in the night and I didn't know anything about him aside from the fact that he accumulated a big stack but one other thing I knew was how soft this table was (so you didn't have to be all that great to win a lot) and how it was common for EVERYONE to limp so he may have just gotten lucky. Couple that with the fact that I sensed weakness, I decided to call. That's $120 main pot, $100 in the side pot if you're keeping score. Turn is another blank and he checks. Now, at this point, there is enough in the side pot that I really wanted to take it down. I figured if the all in lady is going to win the main pot, I need to at least snag this side pot that's grown. So, I was trying to figure out a good bet but since we could only buy in for $300max, at this point, I had about $200 behind. So, at first I counted out a $100 but there's no point in leaving a $100 behind so I said "I'm all in." The guy thinks about it, looks over to the guy next to him, shakes his head and reluctantly folds. So, the side pot is mine. Now, I had to turn over my bluffy AQs and the guy is like "unbelievable!" Well, you know what was even more unbelievable? The all in lady who I stereotyped as a donkey? She had A3 of diamonds. Another blank on the river and the main pot was mine too! A3 of diamonds!? Nice limp reraise all in, ma'am. You're not helping the stereotype. You are a donkey. Thanks for your money. But aside from that, I take a few stabs here and there but nothing exciting. After an hour and a half, I'm up $160 and I call it a night. Again, pvanharibo, thanks so much for letting me into the club and have fun in Vegas!

Dammit!

I'm really in no mood to update the blog tonight. Just been in a crappy mood all day but I was getting ready for the MATH and I actually felt ready when it started. But one bad play and then an unfortunate hand right afterwards ended my MATH in 16 minutes. And to summarize how my tournament went down? I play like a F*CKIN P*SSY. Sometimes, I really hate myself. See below:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2585583866: Mondays at the Hoy (19464432), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:12:06 ET - 2007/06/04
Seat 1: TripJax (2,625)
Seat 2: Blinders (2,875)
Seat 3: Misterd2U (3,140)
Seat 4: wwonka69 (2,805)
Seat 5: RecessRampage (3,415)
Seat 6: jeciimd (2,955)
Seat 7: columbo (2,930)
Seat 8: lucko21 (3,255)
columbo posts the small blind of 20
lucko21 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Kh 3c]
TripJax folds
Blinders folds
Misterd2U folds
wwonka69 folds
RecessRampage raises to 140 <--- from CO... so I was going for a steal. what's your problem???
jeciimd calls 140 <--- uh oh
columbo folds
lucko21 folds
*** FLOP *** [4c 2h 5c] <--- nice flop!
RecessRampage bets 250 <--- cbet
jeciimd raises to 500
RecessRampage calls 250
*** TURN *** [4c 2h 5c] [Td]
lucko21: nah, havent played that in about a week
RecessRampage checks
jeciimd bets 500 <--- looks awfully weak doesn't it?
RecessRampage calls 500
*** RIVER *** [4c 2h 5c Td] [2c] <--- completes the flush! Perfect scare card!
RecessRampage checks <--- *chicken noise*
jeciimd checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jeciimd shows [Ks Ac] (a pair of Twos) <--- I could have easily bluffed him off
RecessRampage mucks
jeciimd wins the pot (2,340) with a pair of Twos

If I can't make a play against the tightest player in the blogger world, I really have no business trying to steal with garbage hands like that...

Yes, guys, I know! You don't have to tell me. No comments necessary. WEAK WEAK WEAK WEAK WEAK! *sigh*

And the very next hand Blinders sent me packing with this beauty:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2585596069: Mondays at the Hoy (19464432), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:13:27 ET - 2007/06/04
Seat 1: TripJax (2,625)
Seat 2: Blinders (2,875)
Seat 3: Misterd2U (3,140)
Seat 4: wwonka69 (2,805)
Seat 5: RecessRampage (2,275)
Seat 6: jeciimd (4,155)
Seat 7: columbo (2,910)
Seat 8: lucko21 (3,215)
lucko21 posts the small blind of 20
TripJax posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ah Qs]
Blinders raises to 120
Misterd2U folds
wwonka69 folds
RecessRampage: don't say it
RecessRampage: you guys all think it and I know it
RecessRampage calls 120
jeciimd folds
columbo folds
lucko21 folds
RecessRampage: <--- p*ssy
TripJax calls 80
*** FLOP *** [6c Tc Qd]
TripJax checks
Blinders bets 240
RecessRampage raises to 620
lucko21: heh <--- thanks Lucko :)
TripJax folds
Blinders raises to 2,755, and is all in
RecessRampage calls 1,535, and is all in
Blinders shows [Qc Kc]
RecessRampage shows [Ah Qs]
Uncalled bet of 600 returned to Blinders
*** TURN *** [6c Tc Qd] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [6c Tc Qd 3c] [7h]
Blinders shows a flush, King high
RecessRampage: gg all
lucko21: gg
RecessRampage shows a pair of Queens
Blinders wins the pot (4,690) with a flush, King high
RecessRampage stands up
Blinders: gg

In case, anyone here thinks I shoulda folded my TPTK because Blinders could have had so many hands to beat me, I hope you are joking. But here's my justification. A) It happened right after I missed the bluff attempt because I was too scared to take a swing at it so it could seem like I was on semi-tilt and B) Blinders know that everyone think he's uber-tight so he might think he could try to semi-bluff me off with a draw and C) if I fold here when my stack is half of what it used to be, what am I even doing playing in a tournament?

Again, I will listen to many different theories. Aaaah, what a night.

What's worse than a donkey?

I know I said I wasn't gonna post or play much this weekend but last night, I saw my friend JT at the $.25/.$50 PL (whole time I didn't even know it was PL until now when I just looked at the HH's... thought it was NL) table so I decided to join him for a little while. It's actually pretty funny as to how soft these tables are. I'm not sure if you just call them soft or what. I mean what I consider an obvious bluff that I'm making, they fold to. You know how everyone tells you to make sure that the story you are putting together make sense? That if you are gonna bluff, if you're not consistent (ie, showing weakness the whole time and then all of a sudden a big bet on the river on a draw heavy board that never got there) you'll get picked off? Well, at this table, it didn't matter. I was betting on missed draws and taking it down all night. Well, so there's that and that's just a weak play that to me makes sense, esp at these lower cash tables and that's certainly not a criticism. You don't expect a 5th grade basketball team to dunk or nail 3's. Same thing. I didn't expect any greatness at these tables and I certainly did not find any.

But, the shocker here is this one character who I could not figure out what he/she was doing... Because I think there are donkeys... and then there was her... See HH below.

First, there was this...

FullTiltPoker Game #2564143079: Table Mantua (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 2:42:09 ET - 2007/06/02
Seat 1: slaydown ($24.85)
Seat 2: duneworm ($37.45)
Seat 3: isis jones ($119.20)
Seat 4: msfulltilt ($55.55)
Seat 5: RecessRampage ($89.15)
Seat 6: InigoMontoya76 ($15.25)
isis jones posts the small blind of $0.25
msfulltilt posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #2

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ts Ah]
RecessRampage calls $0.50
InigoMontoya76 calls $0.50
duneworm folds
isis jones folds
msfulltilt checks

*** FLOP *** [Qh Th 9s]
msfulltilt bets $0.85
RecessRampage calls $0.85

*** TURN *** [Qh Th 9s] [9c]
msfulltilt bets $1.70
RecessRampage calls $1.70 <--- loose call? Maybe. I thought about raising except I didn't like the turn card so much... so I thought I'll wait and see what happens on the river

*** RIVER *** [Qh Th 9s 9c] [5h] <--- nice! Maybe I'll represent a flush!
msfulltilt bets $3.40 <--- looks like a scared bet into a pot that has approx $6.
RecessRampage raises to $10.20 <--- representing flush/call me ish bet
msfulltilt calls $6.80 <--- dammit! Stupid low stakes donkey who can't fold their top pair?

*** SHOW DOWN ***
RecessRampage shows [Ts Ah] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
msfulltilt mucks <--- WHAT!?
RecessRampage wins the pot ($25.90) with two pair, Tens and Nines

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $27.25 | Rake $1.35
Board: [Qh Th 9s 9c 5h]
Seat 1: slaydown is sitting out
Seat 2: duneworm (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: isis jones (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: msfulltilt (big blind) mucked [Jh 7d] - a pair of Nines
Seat 5: RecessRampage showed [Ts Ah] and won ($25.90) with two pair, Tens and Nines
Seat 6: InigoMontoya76 folded on the Flop

J-7!? So she decided to call a river raise on a board where so many things coulda happened with J high??? what did she think she could beat? Was she trying to look me up to see if I'm the kind of player that would represent hands like that?

So, knowing what happened above, this insanity ensued... right when my friend left...

FullTiltPoker Game #2564182778: Table Mantua (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 2:49:19 ET - 2007/06/02
Seat 1: slaydown ($0), is sitting out
Seat 2: duneworm ($59.70)
Seat 3: isis jones ($123.95)
Seat 4: msfulltilt ($47.95)
Seat 5: RecessRampage ($103.55)
isis jones posts the small blind of $0.25
msfulltilt posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #2

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Td Qs]
RecessRampage calls $0.50 <--- soft table. limp UTG perfectly acceptable.
duneworm folds
isis jones calls $0.25
msfulltilt checks

*** FLOP *** [Jc Th Kd]
isis jones checks
msfulltilt bets $0.75 <--- I've already seen her bet with a draw above
RecessRampage calls $0.75 <--- easy call with a piece of the board and a OESD against a _________ (looking to put a word that describes a player worse than a donkey).
isis jones folds

*** TURN *** [Jc Th Kd] [Ac] <--- there's my straight
msfulltilt bets $1.50 <--- ??? straight also or two pair?
RecessRampage raises to $4.50 <--- no need to slow play here.
msfulltilt calls $3 <--- might be a split pot... maybe raising would be silly considering more money will just be taken away as rake...

*** RIVER *** [Jc Th Kd Ac] [9h]
msfulltilt checks
RecessRampage bets $12 <--- pot sized bet, just in case she's got two pair
msfulltilt calls $12 <--- wasn't a quick call but fairly quick... not quick enough though for a straight... so I thought, wow, what a donkey. Couldn't let go of two pair on this board???

*** SHOW DOWN ***
RecessRampage shows [Td Qs] (a straight, Ace high)
msfulltilt mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot ($34.20) with a straight, Ace high <--- SHIP IT!

Gotta find out what she had...

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $36 | Rake $1.80
Board: [Jc Th Kd Ac 9h]
Seat 1: slaydown is sitting out
Seat 2: duneworm (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: isis jones (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: msfulltilt (big blind) mucked [Tc 6h] - a pair of Tens <--- HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.... one pair.... ONE PAIR!?

Seat 5: RecessRampage showed [Td Qs] and won ($34.20) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 6: InigoMontoya76 is sitting out

I mean that is some craziness boys and girls... I mean I don't even know what to say... calling off that much with bottom pair??? shitty kicker? (like it matters)...

A little donk on donk violence...

Not much poker for me this weekend since a friend of mine from college is back in town and so a few of us are heading down to a cabin down in southwest VA for some quiet... ok, scratch that. For some boozing, grilling and donking around. So, considering that this will be a slow weekend in terms of actual, meaningful poker, I just wanted to leave you with a little donk on donk violence that took place before my friend got here...

Full Tilt Poker Game #2560292795: Table John D'Agostino - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:37:46 ET - 2007/06/01

8 handed - I limp UTG with QJs <--- donk move #1
UTG + 1 calls
Folds around to SB who calls
BB/Villain who is a big stack bumps it to $20
I call <--- donk move #2 (I thought he could be doing this with a wide range of hands, most of which have me beat)
UTG+1 calls
SB folds

*** FLOP *** [Js 8c 4s] <--- top pair!
Villain checks <--- no c-bet on a board like this? AK?
RecessRampage bets $64 <--- pot sized bet to show strength considering limp UTG could be a sign of AA
UTG+1 folds
Villain calls $64 <--- donk move warning

*** TURN *** [Js 8c 4s] [Qc]
Villain bets $110 <--- serious donk move warning!!! Bad timing sir.
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act <--- just running all the options that he could have...
RecessRampage raises to $325.30, and is all in <--- he's a big stack, let's see if he doubles me up... if I'm beat here, then I deserve it
Villain calls $215.30 <--- uh oh...
RecessRampage shows [Qd Jd]
Villain shows [Ks As] <--- DONK MOVE!!!! 12 outs doesn't justify this call...

*** RIVER *** [Js 8c 4s Qc] [4c]
RecessRampage shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
Villain shows a pair of Fours
RecessRampage wins the pot ($839.60) with two pair, Queens and Jacks <--- boom! hey, I told you it was gonna be a donk on donk violence...



HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!

Riverchasers... and a funny story!

Thursdays are generally my basketball night but since I've tweaked my back, I haven't been playing for a while, just to let it heal up good instead of trying to play through it and aggravating it. Back pain is one thing I don't mess with. So, anyways, instead, I played in the Riverchasers tourney on FTP and even though I felt like I was solidly chipping up, I busted 19th out of 57 players when I jammed with AK preflop and got called by the chip leader (or at least top 5 chips) who had pocket 10s. 10 on the flop sealed the deal and I was out... bummer, considering I felt like I was playing well.

Well, the starting table was relatively quiet until a few people got moved around and Pushmonkey72 came to our table. While NewinNov was entertaining us with the live commentary on the Spelling Bee contest on ESPN last night, Pushmonkey72 had a funny story. I initially copied the chat log cuz I thought it was hilarious but it's not fair to take his story and make it mine so if you want to read it, go to his blog or click here. It's kinda sad that we find this story funny... I guess that's what happens to online poker playing degenerates...

A Recess Rampage??? ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... too funny. I could see how it could be a hit or miss though... many people going to check out what this funny story is could be disappointed... if you are, again, you have to be a little sick I think...

I'll post a May recap later but last night, I played cash game for a little while before the tourney started and winning over a buy-in at the 2-4NL helped bring my May total over 4 digits. Considering this has been a rough month which at times looked like it might become my first month down in a long long time, I was pretty happy about that. Having said that, there was one sick suckout that I dropped on someone else last night in a hand that I thought was ahead... (granted, the guy had a short stack so I played it the way I did).


Full Tilt Poker Game #2553976693: Table Wetlands Park - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:57:17 ET - 2007/05/31

I'm up to $570 at this point and the villain had $213 before the hand started.
I'm dealt AK so I raise pot sized to $14 UTG.
Villain in UTG+1 calls and I kind of don't like that call. I mean what do you call a UTG+1 raise from a fairly tight player with? Pocket pair? AK, AQ, AJ?
Folds around to the BB who also calls the extra $10 and we go 3 handed into the flop.

*** FLOP *** [8s 2d As] (pot = $42)
BB checks
RecessRampage bets $34 <--- bet TPTK
Villain calls $34
BB folds

I had mixed feelings about the call. I had no info on the villain so I had to base my reads on my impression of him based on his stack size. At this point, based on the preflop actions, I figured the possible holdings would be 22, 88, or Ax. I felt like if he hit it hard with a hand like 88, he would raise because a) there's a flush draw and b) it's gotta be pretty obvious that I like my hand. So, I started thinking that maybe he has AQ or AJ or a moderately high pocket pair like 10s and above that maybe he couldn't let go. (I don't know if he bought in short but if he bought in full, he's already down $200).

*** TURN *** [8s 2d As] [5s] <--- I have the Ks so this is actually not a bad card
RecessRampage checks (I decided to stick with my read of him having AQ or AJ so I'm ahead AND I have a nut flush draw on the river... perfect time to trap, I thought)
Villain bets $68 (into a pot of $110)
RecessRampage raises to $316 (he had less than a $100 behind so no way I'm gonna fold)
Villain calls $97, and is all in (quick call... uh oh, did he slow play a set?)
RecessRampage shows [Ac Ks]
Villain shows [Ah Ad] <--- oh snap!

Well, thank you river!!!



*** RIVER *** [8s 2d As 5s] [3s]
RecessRampage shows a flush, Ace high
Villain shows three of a kind, Aces
RecessRampage wins the pot ($439) with a flush, Ace high

Hey, nothing wrong with things going your way. :)