Need What I Want

32...

2009-06-23T20:53:00.002-04:00

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

Also happy birthday to real blogger, Carmen, who's also celebrating today.

~

I took down a forum anniversary tourney on Saturday that earned me over 41k in FTP's. It took me over 4 years to make 25k for a jersey, and I almost doubled that in one afternoon... I think I'm going to wisely invest those points in either a Cardrunner of Stoxpoker membership. My only problem with that is, I don't know when I would find the time to get the most out of those sites. I barely have enough time to play as it is, I don't know when I'd have time to study the game too. Maybe this fall/winter I'll have more time...

Ok...

2009-06-15T18:29:00.002-04:00

I don't have the time at work like I used to to write these posts, but since I'm hoping to get posting regularly again, the posts are going to be shorter and less drawn out and probably full of spelling and grammar errors because I'm not going to proof them so closely...

~

I had to drop the Jewell off at the airport this morning. She's gone to Washington DC for the week for work. That sucks.

~

I'm pretty sure I wrote about this last season, but just in case I didn't, I run a poker league with my friends (The Way Cool Super Fun League... "It's like a super fun league, only way cooler."). Basically there's a series of tournaments where you earn chips by what place you come in for the tournament. After the 7 "regular season" tournies, we're going to have a "Final Table" where each player uses the chips that they earned during the season. We've had 2 games so far (both of which I came in 5th out of the 9 people that are in it. Game 3 is this Friday. You don't have to be a league member to play in the tournament, so you're all invited.

~

I also have a prop bet going with a friend at work for this year's World Series of Poker (WSOP). We drafted some players and win $3 if they make a final table and $5 if they win the bracelet. We're a little over half way through the Series, and I'm doing well thanks to Phil Ivey winning two bracelets (so far!)... Still a ways to go, but I'm feeling good about it.

~

Back when I was writing here regularly, my game of choice was 6-max turbo SNG's. Since then, I've switched to playing full ring PLO cash games. I read Pot Limit Omaha Poker by Jeff Hwang, and it changed my game completely. Such a great read that provides a real thorough understanding of the game (for my level anyways). For anyone wanting to make the switch to PLO, that's the book to get...

Stay Tuned...

2009-06-13T21:56:00.002-04:00

In an attempt to add some content to my Facebook page, I'm going to try to revitalize this blog... hope for the best...

Music Review 2008

2009-01-02T14:05:00.003-05:00

I told myself that if I didn’t resurrect this blog in time for my 2008 Music Review post, I’d never resurrect it. And since this was such a big music year for me, I couldn’t NOT have a year end review… So here I am…

I developed a new appreciation and relationship with the Doors this year…

I’m going to be showing a lot of videos in this post so you can really get a feeling of my music year. I gained a new appreciation of live performances and tried to only use them in the ones that I chose. Of course you can always search out studio versions of these songs on youtube or other sites if you want to hear those…

Without a doubt, the best album of the year for me was The Unusable Signal from the greatest gutterrock band of all, Junkbutton. However, I really can’t count that one for this review because it’s not widely available, so it’s not fair to count it with national acts. I’m not just saying that either. For me, it really is the most thoroughly enjoyable album I listened to this year. I wish I had more videos to select from, but these are the best of the new songs that I’ve been able to come up with… Maybe if I ever get myself to another show, I’ll be able to get more videos…

One of the biggest assets to my new music binge this year was the Pepsi Stuff promotion that I talked about earlier in the year. Collecting close to 3,000 points meant that pretty much any song I came across and wanted to download from Amazon would be free. That really helped me to expand my music library.

I used that promotion to make a conscious effort to catch up on two bands that I knew I liked, but never really got on their wagon. One of those bands was the Foo Fighters. After getting a couple of albums from them, I decided that while I really liked all of their hits, the lesser known songs never really caught on to me. That’s ok though… I don’t have to like it all…

It’s not too often that I can say that the drums are really what stand out for me in a song, but I can say it about this one…

The White Stripes were the other band that I wanted to get into. Like the Foo Fighters, I always liked what I would catch on the radio or the music channels, but I never really invested in them or their albums. What I found really blew me away. Jack White is an incredible artist… There weren’t really any songs by them that I couldn’t get into.

It’s amazing what sound can come from just two people on stage…

What was great about really discovering the White Stripes was that it led me to discovering the Raconteurs, Jack White’s other band. Jack’s able to play with an entire band around him and not be contained by the image that the Stripes cage him in… What I love about him in this band is, while he’s obviously the star of the group due by just being who he is, you never get the sense that he thinks he is. He’s only interested in making great music. He does… I’ll be talking more about The Raconteurs later and their new album, but for now, this is Level from their 2006 album, Broken Boy Soldiers…

I came across this really cool vid on youtube (through Moby’s blog of all things…). Check this out…

Pretty cool, right? I believe that is a video that someone made in their movie making class that was posted on youtube, and then someone dubbed the song over it. That got me interested in the song, and I found the actual video of the song (by Gary Jules) to be equally interesting… Check it out…

Early in the year I made what was probably my biggest music discovery of 2008. It was a band called Okkervil River, and I came across them by stumbling upon this song from their 2007 album, The Stage Names…

I actually like this band and this album so much, that I’m pretty sure it would have made the top 2 for my album of the year this year if it was released in ’08. They did put out an album in ’08, so all hope isn’t lost yet, but I’d have to say this was probably my favorite album I bought this year… Here’s another track…

Another great discovery I made this year, was the band Against Me!. I found their album, New Wave to be a really good one, but unfortunately it was released last year so it wasn’t able to make my top albums for this year’s list… That doesn’t make Thrash Unreal any less of an awesome song…

Ryan Star was a contestant 2 years ago on the Rockstar: Supernova series. I’m not really one to jump on the bandwagon of some fly by night performer on a show like that, and I wasn’t. It wasn’t until earlier this year that I really discovered what a great singer/songwriter Star is with his album, Songs from the Eye of an Elephant which was released in September of ’06.

Another artist I found this year is Sufjan Stevens. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to really spend the time with him that I’d like to. He has a really large catalog of music (including a 5 disc Christmas album!), but what I have been able to find from him I’ve really enjoyed. I discovered him with a song called Chicago, but it was a song about John Wayne Gacy Jr. that really stuck with me…

Another band that I came across this year was the Cold War Kids. They had some songs from their 2006 album, Robbers & Cowards that really caught my attention. Most notably, Hospital Beds…

This year they had a new album come out that I was really excited about called, Loyalty to Loyalty. Unfortunately, nothing from it really grabbed me like the earlier record. I’ve made it number 10 on my top ten albums of 2008 list. Here’s the biggest single from it so far, Something is Not Right With Me…

As you may recall, last year my big music discovery was an artist by the name of Micah P. Hinson. I wasn’t able to put him on my list for 2007 because he didn’t put out an album last year, but he did put one out this year with …And the Red Empire Orchestra. To say I was anticipating it pretty highly should go without saying. However, it never really grabbed hold of me like his earlier albums did so I put it at number 9 for 2008. There was one stand out track for me with The Fire Came Up to My Knees…

Another new band for me this year that I’ve started to get into is The Decemberists. I was eased into them with their album, The Crane Wife. I like them, but much like the Foo Fighters and the White Stripes, their collection of music is so vast, it’ll take time (and money) to catch up. But then I heard a song that caught my attention while listening to an episode of NPR’s All Songs Considered. It was Wonder by Decemberist’s front man Colin Meloy from his live album, Colin Meloy Sings Live!. It didn’t take me long to buy that album and really find something special in it. It comes in at number 8 of my top ten albums of 2008.

Download: The Engine Driver, On the Bus Mall, Wonder

A band that I really got into this year, which I’m kind of disappointed in myself for not getting into earlier was Buckcherry. This is a great rock band that has really put some good songs out. Their new album, Black Butterfly is no exception and comes in at number 7 on my list. It’s a great mixture of ball grabbing rock songs (Rescue Me, Too Drunk…) and radio friendly ballads (Dreams, Don’t Go Away). Josh Todd and Co. may be falling into the formula rock trap (ala’ Nickelback/Hinder), but the difference between him and Chad Kroeger is, I believe Todd has lived these songs before.

Download: Rescue Me, A Child Called “It”

One of my most anticipated albums of the year came from The Killers. I loved every song from their first album, Hot Fuss (it probably would make my all time top 10 list of albums if I was to make one…). I didn’t give their second album Sam’s Town much attention, but after hearing the first single, Human from the new album, Day & Age, I knew this was going to be a good one. It was.

Everything I love about Okkervil River, can be found in The Killers which helps the album, Day & Age come in at number 6 on my top albums of 2008 list. This album brings a real nice mellow sound, but they add a synth sound to it that makes it feel more radio/video friendly. I think that helps it to sell some more records, but it really gives the music a watered down feel…
Download: Human, Spaceman, A Dustland Fairytale

Like I said before, Okkervil River was one of my biggest discoveries this year. Their 2007album, The Stage Names could have been my album of the year last year if I had known about them at that time. While I don’t hold their 2008 album, The Stand Ins quite up to that level, it holds its own at number 5 for my 2008 list. With really no bad songs, on the record, these guys are what I’d call quiet rock. You can go see them in a club and nod your head to every song, but they’re not going to blow your ears out.

Download: Singer Songwriter, Starry Stairs, Pop Lie, On Tour With Zykos

My other big discovery for 2008 was The Hold Steady. These guys are just a great rock band, and you know if from the first note of their album, Stay Positive, which I put at number 4 of my top albums of 2008. I love the voice of singer, Craig Finn, but I will admit that his style of storytelling rather than actually singing does bug me sometimes… My one disappointment in this album is that it was leaked before it was released, so when it was released they put out a limited number of discs with some bonus tracks. I, of course didn’t get that version, and am missing some songs, most notably a song called Ask Her For Some Adderall that I really like. Hopefully they’ll be available individually sometime soon…

Download: Constructive Summer, Lord, I’m Discouraged, Stay Positive, Magazines

One of the most anticipated albums of the last two decades finally hit the shelves about a month ago… Chinese Democracy isn’t your old school Guns n’ Roses. And anyone who would expect it to be is crazy. This album took 15 years to make and saw a lot of musicians come and go. From what I’ve read online, a lot of people would be happy if this was called the Axl Rose Project and not GNR. I can’t say that I disagree with them, but it is what it is… And I think it’s pretty awesome. Awesome enough to come in at number 3 for 2008. Sure it’s over produced but what can you expect after so many years in production? It doesn’t rock in the same way that they did in the 80’s and 90’s, but it still rocks.

Download: Chinese Democracy, Better, Sorry, I.R.S., This I Love

Another of my favorite surprises this year was Jack White’s other band, The Raconteurs. It’s no secret what an amazing musician he is, and their 2008 album, Consolers of the Lonely shows what he can produce when he’s got a full band of talented musicians around him. Just awesome awesome stuff. I flip flopped a couple of times between this and my number one pick for my favorite album this year. I went with the other making this number 2, but as I listen to this again, I’m just not sure I made the right choice…

Download: All of it, but the ones that really stand out to me are, Many Shades of Black, Five on the Five, Rick Kid Blues, You Don’t Understand Me

You know? Now that I’ve listened again to Kings of Leon’s album, Only by the Night, I know exactly why it took the number 1 spot of my top albums of 2008 list. It’s perfect. From beginning to end, it captures your ears and holds on with everything it has. I came across KOL last year with their album Because of the Times. I thought they were awesome then, so I collected their entire back catalog and loved everything I heard. With this year’s album, you can see real growth in their music and musicianship. Before they were just a real catchy band with a southern rock style and a singer you can’t understand. They’re still all that, but with this album they’re bringing a real modern sound with them.

Download: The whole thing. Really. There’s a lot to be appreciated with this record. I think it has a lot to offer people with all kinds of musical tastes.

Enjoy!

Pep Talk...

2008-09-28T16:36:00.001-04:00

My poker game has reached a new plateau this weekend. It didn’t start out that great. I had a cash game here at the house where after 5 hours of play I lost exactly one $10 buy in. But since then I’ve been on fire.

My bankroll has reached a new all time high, and for whatever reason I just can’t bring myself to move up in levels. It’s gotten to the point where even the Jewel is giving me shit for not moving up. My games of choice are $6.00+$.50 6-max turbo SNGs and .5/.10 $4 CAP PLO. And I’m sitting on a $700 bankroll. Those are pretty much the lowest stakes you can play and I’ve got the bankroll for so much more. But every time I try to move up, I just can’t handle it. I just always feel like I’m outmatched or I’m not comfortable playing my A-game. That’s pretty much what it is. My A-game suffers because I can’t get past the fact that the top of the window says it’s a $12 SNG and not a $6 one…

But anyway, I did take some shots yesterday. I played a $12 SNG, and you know what? I went out 6th. Dead last. I crumbled and burned. But I didn’t let that stop me. I fired up a $.10/$.25 $10 CAP PLO table. The buy in was $20, which just about stopped me right there… I played timid at first. Trying to stay out of the aggressive player’s way until I found a big hand (as I normally do at the lower stakes…). I bled a few chips away. I stayed in a few hands I wasn’t supposed to for a little longer than I should. At one point I found my stack down to $13, and I just felt so down on myself for trying to move up… But then I found some hands. I found some big hands and some opponents who wanted to get some money in against me with them… and they held up. In the matter of about a half an hour I had built my stack up to over $50.

And my run didn’t end there. That was the only shot I took at the higher PLO tables, but I played some more at the lower level and I cleaned up. I did play another higher SNG and went out 5th, so that still isn’t treating me very well. But the lower games kept working for me and I played a few. When the dust settled yesterday I had added about $100 to my Full Tilt bankroll. I’ll admit the deck was hitting me pretty hard, but I was also making some good laydowns as well as some next level moves that I may not always make. I also found myself playing extremely patient, even for me. (UPDATE: Tried another $12 SNG and came in 2nd, so that’s looking up…)

So from here what I have to do is just keep taking these shots. I’m not ready to exclusively play the higher stakes, but I’m going to work them in when I feel confident.

Maybe the Bills are this good…

2008-09-22T19:42:00.000-04:00

What a great time to live in Buffalo and be a fair weather fan! I’m not going to be so bold as to say the Bills are playoff bound just yet, because seriously, who have we beaten? But it’s certainly exciting around here… Now if we can only get some billionaire to swoop in and keep the team here… Sign the petition here…

~

The Jewel and I went out to her favorite restaurant Saturday night to celebrate our 6 year anniversary that was Sunday. “Kung Fu Dinner”, as my friend, E calls it, it’s a Japanese place where the chef comes right out to the table to cook and serve your meal. It doesn’t suck, but it’s the same show every time (chef spins the egg on the grill and says, “Japanese eggroll”, sprinkles sesame seeds on the rice with a strobe light flashing and says, “Japanese disco”…). But if that’s where my sweetie wants to go, and it’s only once a year, that’s where we go…

One highlight, if you can call it that, is you’re usually sitting at a table with people that you can grow to hate and have something to talk about on the way home. We were seated with a party of 5 celebrating a birthday. We know that because they were sure to mention it to us, our waitress and our chef at least a half dozen times.

It took until the salad course for me to decide I hated them. The birthday girl (50-something, I’d guess…) really liked the ginger dressing they put on the salad and asked for some extra. The waitress brought out a little bowl of it and set it down in front of her. You know that face that people make when they’re talking to an idiot? I know that face well because I deal with idiots all the time. Well the birthday girl asked if she could have a spoon and huffed and puffed and pointed at the spoonless bowl and made that face. If she were in my party, I would have told her to use her fork (this dressing has the consistency of applesauce) or maybe she could *shudder* POUR the dressing from the bowl onto her salad. It’s not like she was sharing it with anybody…

Anyway the waitress got her a spoon, and that’s when I started hating someone else in the group. This older gentleman asked for a knife. Seems simple enough. However, this place didn’t have knives. See, they cook your meal right there in front of you. The chef, with all his whirling and twirling of his knife and spatula, cuts up all the food in little bite sized pieces for you. “I’m sorry sir, we don’t have knives.” “But I need to cut up my salad. Either bring me a knife, or you can take this back to the kitchen to have someone cut it up.” Now I wasn’t watching too closely, but I suspect he was giving the look too. He certainly had the tone…

Now I don’t deny someone the right to cut their salad up. But come on… live a little. They don’t have knives, slice through that lettuce with your fork. The waitress went to the kitchen to see what she could wrestle up while he sat there and had a silent tantrum. Someone did come get his bowl and took it to the back to be cut up. When they brought it back he didn’t even say thanks. I actually don’t think he said anything for the rest of the meal… He’s brave though. He finished that salad. If I worked there, there’s a good chance there might have been some spit in it when it came back out…

~

Poker was an up and down battle all weekend. My great run at the PLO CAP games sort of fizzled out, and I had minimal success at the SNGs. However, last night I did end up taking a second and a first to bring my roll back up to where I started the weekend. So it was a push…

Well, here’s a twist…

2008-09-16T18:58:00.000-04:00

While I was getting crushed in SNG’s all weekend, my cash game went on a heater like I’ve never had before. I took a few beats as per the game, but I sat and doubled my buyin consistently all weekend long.

It started Friday night with game 3 of The Way Cool Super Fun League (“It’s like a super fun league, only way cooler”). We had seven players turn out. I started off running very well, but pushed AQ into AK on a flop of Axx to get crippled. After building back a little bit I was able to get it all in preflop dominating my nemesis (AK vs AQ I believe). He spiked his Q (hence nemesis status) and I slide down to the cash game end of the table… From there I buy in for $10 for our .25/.25 dealers choice game and a few hours later cash out up $15, the exact amount I lost in the tourney.

The weekend showed more of the same. I’ve found a new love in the PLO CAP cash game tables. The hands that people are willing to cap it with is beyond astonishing, and my running well didn’t hurt either. 3 or 4 times I was able to double or more my buy-in. Unfortunately, my SNG game was getting kicked around and I lost a lot of that back to that. I even switched to PLO SNG’s where I felt I could take advantage of some top pair maniacs… One hand stands out. I was in the pot with 44xx for whatever reason and looked at a flop of 4KK. I knew this would be a great chance to take advantage of some dope overplaying a naked K and got in a raising war with one guy. I was licking my chops when all the money went in and our cards were turned over. I looked to see what 3 cards I’d have to sweat on the turn and river but instead was staring at KKxx… Amazingly two more 4’s didn’t hit the board, and that was it for me in that game…

~

The finale of Big Brother is tonight… The two that are left deserve it as much as anybody I suppose. While this show remains Must See in our house, it’s certainly taken a dive in the interesting department these last few seasons… I’m rooting for Dan because he’s been the most fun, but either way, I don’t really care…

Warrior

2008-09-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

Here’s the video to the song, Warrior, Kid Rock’s tribute to the National Guard. Download the song at NationalGuardWarrior.com. Pretty cool…

Weekend Highlights...

2008-09-08T19:07:00.001-04:00

I hosted a cash game here on Friday night and scored big. As I have mentioned many times in the past, cash games are not my thing, preferring tourney style games. But this marked the second big cash game win for me in a row. I didn’t do anything too great to earn my score. I can recall a couple of big marginal, yet reasonable calls on the river I had to make against a couple of regulars who have been getting a little too aggressive lately. There was one hand where I first limped then called a 3x raise preflop with a suited 85. The flop came with two 8’s and an A. There was a little betting and raising going on, and the board completed with running 4’s where all the money wound up in the middle. He showed AK and my boat felted him. It was a fun night, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. This Friday is Game 3 of the Way Cool Super Fun League. Hopefully my rush can carry over into that for some much needed points…

~

The Jewel and I closed the pool yesterday, so that must mean that summer is over… This one went by too fast. The end of pool season isn’t really a big deal for me; I’m happy not to have to deal with the upkeep of that for a while… But the weather this year was not very pool-friendly, so the Jewel was kind of depressed, since swimming is one of her favorite things.

~

Yesterday was also the start of the regular Buffalo Bills season. Like the start of every year, I’ll be interested for a little while… At least until we figure out just how bad the Bills will suck this year. However, with the dominating performance they pulled yesterday over the Seahawks (are they any good?) in the rain, along with Brady going down in New England, this might be a season that’ll keep my interest through the end… I’d say maybe even into the post season, but no reason yet to think this year will be any different… Not yet…

~

I DVR’d MTV’s Video Music Awards last night and started watching it earlier this morning. I tell ya what… Linkin Park lost some cool points in my book. They were up for best rock video or something, and the award was being presented by Slash and Shia LaBeouf. After their name was called, they were given their award, and as Slash and Shia LaBeouf were walking away, one of the guys (Joe Hahn) said into the microphone, something like, “Transformers was awesome,” or something like that…

Now I’m sure Shia LaBeof is LaGreat and all, but come on… The guy is making a (albeit huge) career out of being Spielberg’s bitch boy. Transformers was CGI and noise. Shia LaTool talked to tennis balls and ran around. This Linkin Park guy really wants to give him a shout out when Slash… SLASH!... is standing right there? I’m sure Shia LaDouche is a nice guy and all, but he’s not even on the list of things that made Transformers great… Slash is on the top two of what made Guns n’ Roses great, and number one for top hats… But Linkin Park wants to make sure they tell Shia LaBeof that Transformers was awesome… So sad…

~

We had a pleasant surprise last night when we discovered that HBO was running a free weekend and we were able to watch the season premiere of Entourage. You may recall that the Jewel and I got rid of our movie channels a few months ago to help catch up on old credit card bills. The new season of Entourage is definitely one of the shows that we’ll be missing the most… It was nice to get to see one new episode before we have to wait probably a year before we can rent them on DVD…

~

Late last week our dishwasher, as we say back east, shit the bed. It’s been getting rather loud for the last month or two, and then around midweek after the Jewel started it, it started making a racket like never before. Almost like there was a two pieces of metal that were clanging together. It finished the load though… Later in the week, I loaded it up again, and it started like the last time, making the clanging sound, but after around 10 minutes it just stopped. That was it for that dishwasher… We stopped at Sears on Saturday and bought a new one. It’ll be installed on Wednesday.

Long Weekend...

2008-09-03T19:26:00.002-04:00

4 day weekends pretty much rock. That’s what I’m coming off of right now… Of course going back to work after said 4 day weekend sucks worse than any Monday ever could, it’s still worth it…

My plan for the weekend was to do not much. Mission Accomplished.

At work on Friday, we had what we call a “Food Day” in celebration of the long weekend. People bring in food, and we enjoy it all day. After my recent digestive issues, and drastic diet changes, I wasn’t really planning on partaking that much. Though when they set the spread up right in front of my desk, it did make it a little harder to resist.

Until… I saw some of the “community food” habits of some of my co-workers. So many hands ruffling through bags of chips. I saw not one, but two episodes of double dipping… DOUBLE DIPPING! Who does that? I saw one manager take a chip, scoop up some taco dip, and you know how sometimes you might be putting something in your mouth that might drip, and in order to catch the drip you might lean your head over your plate? Well this person leaned their head over the bowl of taco dip! There was a crock pot that had some surprisingly good smelling, though not the most appetizing looking concoction of hotdogs and chicken wings simmering in bbq sauce. I was planning on trying that out since it smelled so good… That was until I saw a different manager, with apparently no convenient place to put the crock pot’s lid, place it ON THE FLOOR! She took the lid off of food, put it down on the floor (not even upside down, though I’m not sure that would have made me feel better about it), spooned out her chow, and then put the lid back on the pot! I wasn’t too concerned with having any bbq hotdogs or much of anything else after that…

~

On Saturday, the Jewel’s sister had us and other family members over for a Labor Day barbecue. Not really something that I would ever look forward to, but it didn’t suck that bad. I did get interrogated by my bro-in-law’s 4 year old nephew on what I did for a living (work at a bank), why did I do what I do (not really qualified for anything else), and why wasn’t I a lawyer like his daddy (I’m really not that ambitious – luckily he didn’t make me explain that to him, it might have depressed him… and me…).

On the way home, we decided to get a couple of movies for our long weekend, so we stopped at Blockbuster. We saw a display of previously viewed Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story, which I really wanted to see, so I grabbed that off the rental shelf. I also noticed Deal, which I didn’t think was out yet and snatched that right up as well. I knew it would suck, but it’s the one new poker movie that I had been waiting for since I originally heard about it. The Jewel decided to pull the chick card and got Definitely Maybe…

Saturday night we watched Walk Hard… Which pretty much sucked. There were a few funny parts, but for the most part it was a huge waste of an hour and a half. Sunday night I watched Deal. Like I said I knew it would suck, and it did not disappoint. I’d like to say that it was better than Lucky You, but I’m not sure I honestly can… On Monday night we started watching Definitely Maybe, and at some point we had to turn it off for something, and we never turned it back on. I don’t know if the Jewel plans on finishing it or not, but I know I don’t. So we went 3 for 3 on shitty movies this weekend.

On Tuesday, the Jewel’s mother had knee surgery, so I took off from work to hang out with the Beag while the Jewel and her father spent the day at the hospital. I finished going through all of our cd’s and ripping what I wanted to my computer (a project I started months ago), I cleaned a bunch of stuff off of my DVR and watched Weeds, an old Nick Nolte film that I have on VHS and been wanting to watch again for some time. Let me tell you, the Jewel and I don’t own an HD tv or anything fancy like that… So I can just imagine what that would have been like if I were accustomed to watching movies on that level… But VHS is really hard to watch…

~

Poker started out pretty good for the weekend, but quickly fizzled on Monday and Tuesday. I got my Full Tilt roll up to another all time high, took a shot at the higher buy-in, and haven’t cashed there since… I have found that people really have no clue when it comes to Omaha, so I’ve started to mix that into my rotation. So many people are willing to get themselves all in with top pair, it’s sickening that I can’t hit something… And then when I do, they hit something better… Here’s probably the worst one of them all, that I just took so it’s fresh on my mind… What’s worse is this is so typical. People will get their money in this bad all the time… I was 87% when the money went in… When I can get some of these to hold up, look out!

Full Tilt Poker Game #7923360567: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (60246943), Table 1 - 20/40 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 19:15:02 ET - 2008/09/03
Seat 1: phils730 (1,415)
Seat 2: dueGAgal (1,090)
Seat 3: memoryboy119 (1,775)
Seat 4: junkbutton (830)
Seat 5: tituuf (2,360)
Seat 6: Nadezda (1,530)
Nadezda posts the small blind of 20
phils730 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [As 9d Ks Ad]
dueGAgal calls 40
memoryboy119 calls 40
junkbutton raises to 220
tituuf folds
Nadezda calls 200
phils730 folds
dueGAgal calls 180
memoryboy119 calls 180
*** FLOP *** [Ac Qh 5d]
Nadezda checks
dueGAgal checks
memoryboy119 checks
junkbutton bets 610, and is all in
Nadezda folds
dueGAgal raises to 870, and is all in
memoryboy119 folds
dueGAgal shows [4s Ah 7h 8d]
junkbutton shows [As 9d Ks Ad]
Uncalled bet of 260 returned to dueGAgal
*** TURN *** [Ac Qh 5d] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [Ac Qh 5d 2s] [3c]
dueGAgal shows a straight, Five high
junkbutton shows three of a kind, Aces
dueGAgal wins the pot (2,140) with a straight, Five high
junkbutton stands up
The blinds are now 25/50

The Dark Knight

2008-08-27T19:58:00.000-04:00

The Jewel and I went to see The Dark Knight last night. There’s nothing I can say about it that hasn’t already been said… I have to agree that all of the hype revolving around Heath Ledger and his portrayal of The Joker is well deserved. I have never seen an actor envelop himself in a character so completely before. Brilliant. I hate jumping on the posthumous Oscar bandwagon, but he more than earned it.

August 26

2008-08-26T17:33:00.000-04:00

On the night of August 26, 1999, I was playing gin on Yahoo! games. I had just learned how to play maybe 3 days earlier. On that particular night, I happened to sit at the table of someone with whom a conversation started. I can’t tell you what we talked about. I can’t tell you what made this particular anonymous internet conversation memorable. But I remember the next night I went back to see if I could find this person again. I found her… I married her… And nine years later, we’re still talking…

HH's from HA MTT last night...

2008-08-24T12:13:00.002-04:00

Jumped into a $5 HA (Pot Limit Hold’em and Omaha) MTT last night. With 108 runners, I made a deep run, but didn’t get far past the money bubble… Here are the key hands…

With a bigger bet on the turn, I probably would have gotten away from this one, but since it wasn’t much bigger than the flop bet, I didn’t feel he was too strong… I hit the river while he made a bigger hand, and I stacked him…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7773095336: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 8 - 10/20 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 21:21:36 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: Chris Partlow (1,490)
Seat 2: Fathomer (1,470)
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 (1,480)
Seat 5: lcabasa (1,500)
Seat 6: bsnappper (1,445)
Seat 7: jeffe10 (1,500)
Seat 8: junkbutton (1,500)
Seat 9: dgrfn (3,115)
DonkeyBallz22 posts the small blind of 10
lcabasa posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Jc Td]
bsnappper folds
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton raises to 60
dgrfn calls 60
Chris Partlow folds
Fathomer folds
DonkeyBallz22 folds
lcabasa calls 40
*** FLOP *** [7s 9s Qs]
lcabasa has 15 seconds left to act
lcabasa bets 190
junkbutton calls 190
The_Emphasizer sits down
The_Emphasizer adds 1,500
dgrfn folds
*** TURN *** [7s 9s Qs] [4d]
lcabasa bets 285
junkbutton calls 285
*** RIVER *** [7s 9s Qs 4d] [Kd]
lcabasa bets 965, and is all in
junkbutton calls 965, and is all in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lcabasa shows [Ks 9d] two pair, Kings and Nines
junkbutton shows [Jc Td] a straight, King high
junkbutton wins the pot (3,070) with a straight, King high
lcabasa stands up

I gave this guy a great opportunity to get away on the turn, but he didn’t listen, and went broke with a pair of Kings…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7773149661: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 8 - 15/30 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 21:26:07 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 2: Fathomer (1,460)
Seat 3: The_Emphasizer (1,500)
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 (1,470)
Seat 5: Sussex_Kid (1,530)
Seat 6: bsnappper (1,435)
Seat 7: jeffe10 (1,470)
Seat 8: junkbutton (3,040)
Seat 9: dgrfn (3,075)
Fathomer posts the small blind of 15
The_Emphasizer posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Jh Ts 5d Js]
DonkeyBallz22 folds
Sussex_Kid folds
bsnappper calls 30
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton calls 30
dgrfn folds
Fathomer calls 15
Sage62 sits down
Sage62 adds 1,430
The_Emphasizer checks
*** FLOP *** [Qs Ks 2c]
Fathomer checks
The_Emphasizer checks
bsnappper bets 90
junkbutton calls 90
Fathomer folds
The_Emphasizer folds
*** TURN *** [Qs Ks 2c] [9d]
bsnappper bets 300
junkbutton raises to 1,200
bsnappper calls 900
*** RIVER *** [Qs Ks 2c 9d] [4c]
bsnappper bets 115, and is all in
junkbutton calls 115
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bsnappper shows [5s Kc 5h Ac] a pair of Kings
junkbutton shows [Jh Ts 5d Js] a straight, King high
junkbutton wins the pot (2,930) with a straight, King high
bsnappper stands up

I like the way I played this turn from out of position. After raising preflop, I made a pot size bet on the flop that looked like a standard c-bet. I checked the turn to show that maybe the Ace scared me and I was giving up, but insta-raised the pot in what turned out to be his value turn bet. He probably should have thought a little harder before calling with his two pair. He was so low on chips that it didn’t matter what happened on the river, I was getting it all, and I did…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7773264009: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 8 - 15/30 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 21:35:41 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: Sage62 (1,320)
Seat 2: Fathomer (3,010)
Seat 3: The_Emphasizer (2,040)
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 (975)
Seat 6: DJhumble (1,105)
Seat 7: jeffe10 (1,597)
Seat 8: junkbutton (4,475)
Seat 9: dgrfn (3,143)
Fathomer posts the small blind of 15
The_Emphasizer posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [2s Ad Ah Kc]
DonkeyBallz22 has 15 seconds left to act
DonkeyBallz22 folds
DJhumble folds
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton raises to 90
dgrfn calls 90
Sage62 folds
Fathomer folds
The_Emphasizer calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Ac 2d Kd]
Youngster21 sits down
Youngster21 adds 4,045
The_Emphasizer checks
junkbutton bets 285
dgrfn calls 285
The_Emphasizer folds
*** TURN *** [Ac 2d Kd] [8c]
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton checks
dgrfn bets 350
junkbutton raises to 1,905
dgrfn calls 1,555
*** RIVER *** [Ac 2d Kd 8c] [2c]
junkbutton bets 2,195, and is all in
dgrfn calls 863, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 1,332 returned to junkbutton
*** SHOW DOWN ***
junkbutton shows [2s Ad Ah Kc] a full house, Aces full of Twos
dgrfn mucks
junkbutton wins the pot (6,391) with a full house, Aces full of Twos
dgrfn stands up
The game is now Pot Limit Hold'em with 20/40 blinds
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,391 | Rake 0
Board: [Ac 2d Kd 8c 2c]
Seat 1: Sage62 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Fathomer (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: The_Emphasizer (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: DJhumble didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: jeffe10 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: junkbutton showed [2s Ad Ah Kc] and won (6,391) with a full house, Aces full of Twos
Seat 9: dgrfn mucked [5s As 8s Jd] - two pair, Aces and Eights

Again, I slow played a big hand, and got someone all in with a very weak holding. Admittedly, I have only a slight understanding of decent Omaha strategy, but respecting huge raises while holding only an overpair has got to be something that you need to realize is not a strong hand… especially for all your chips…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7773389075: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 8 - 25/50 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 21:46:23 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: Sage62 (1,300)
Seat 2: Fathomer (3,760)
Seat 3: The_Emphasizer (2,160)
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 (1,415)
Seat 5: Youngster21 (3,855)
Seat 7: jeffe10 (1,497)
Seat 8: junkbutton (7,663)
Seat 9: Bawlsout (1,855)
jeffe10 posts the small blind of 25
junkbutton posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [8s 4d 5s 9d]
Bawlsout folds
Sage62 folds
Fathomer folds
The_Emphasizer folds
DonkeyBallz22 has 15 seconds left to act
DonkeyBallz22 is sitting out
DonkeyBallz22 has timed out
DonkeyBallz22 folds
Youngster21 raises to 150
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton calls 100
*** FLOP *** [7c 5d 4s]
junkbutton checks
Youngster21 checks
*** TURN *** [7c 5d 4s] [4h]
junkbutton checks
Youngster21 bets 325
junkbutton raises to 1,200
Youngster21 raises to 3,705, and is all in
junkbutton calls 2,505
Youngster21 shows [8d 9c 3c 9h]
junkbutton shows [8s 4d 5s 9d]
*** RIVER *** [7c 5d 4s 4h] [2c]
Youngster21 shows two pair, Nines and Fours
junkbutton shows a full house, Fours full of Fives
junkbutton wins the pot (7,735) with a full house, Fours full of Fives
Youngster21 stands up
Sage62 stands up
Fathomer stands up
The_Emphasizer stands up
DonkeyBallz22 stands up
jeffe10 stands up
junkbutton stands up
Bawlsout stands up

Now that was pretty much the first four hands that I played. Busting four players and sitting behind a huge stack. From here, I pretty much just fold for the next hour and a half. I trade a few small pots around, but don’t make any major moves.

Then, when we’re about 6 spots from the money, I make this stupid stupid play, doubling up a short stack… I wanted so bad to check raise big on the flop because I felt that I was ahead, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. So instead I play the hand out about as weak as it can be played… I’m most disappointed in the river call… My excuse was that the pot was so big, but all I did was throw good money away after bad… So bad…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7774505947: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 9 - 150/300 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 23:21:51 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: DonkeyBallz22 (9,339)
Seat 2: marytere86 (7,497)
Seat 3: LarryM17 (3,454)
Seat 4: Phakim84 (6,790)
Seat 5: jeffe10 (9,498)
Seat 7: junkbutton (14,638)
Seat 8: Wilduece (5,538)
Seat 9: willyfoldna (6,712)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 150
Wilduece posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [9d 7s 3c Ad]
willyfoldna folds
DonkeyBallz22 folds
marytere86 folds
LarryM17 folds
Phakim84 folds
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton calls 150
Wilduece checks
*** FLOP *** [As 5c 8h]
junkbutton checks
Wilduece bets 600
junkbutton calls 600
*** TURN *** [As 5c 8h] [4d]
junkbutton checks
Wilduece bets 1,800
junkbutton calls 1,800
*** RIVER *** [As 5c 8h 4d] [Tc]
junkbutton checks
Wilduece bets 2,838, and is all in
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton calls 2,838
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Wilduece shows [6h 5h 7d Ks] a straight, Eight high
junkbutton mucks
Wilduece wins the pot (11,076) with a straight, Eight high

After that hand, I tightened right up, concerning myself with making the money. I hate to play so long and have nothing to show for it. With probably 3 or 4 away from the bubble breaking, I went for broke with a huge straight draw on the flop. He had a big hand and draw too, but luckily mine came in…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7774742627: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 9 - 250/500 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 23:41:53 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: DonkeyBallz22 (8,989)
Seat 2: marytere86 (4,293)
Seat 4: Phakim84 (5,890)
Seat 5: jeffe10 (19,506)
Seat 7: junkbutton (9,350)
Seat 8: Wilduece (9,226)
Seat 9: willyfoldna (6,212)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 250
Wilduece posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [7s Td 8d 9s]
willyfoldna folds
DonkeyBallz22 folds
marytere86 folds
Phakim84 folds
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton calls 250
Wilduece raises to 1,500
junkbutton calls 1,000
*** FLOP *** [5h Jh 6c]
willyfoldna has been disconnected
willyfoldna has reconnected
junkbutton checks
Wilduece bets 3,000
junkbutton raises to 7,850, and is all in
Wilduece calls 4,726, and is all in
junkbutton shows [7s Td 8d 9s]
Wilduece shows [Qh Qs Ah Kh]
Uncalled bet of 124 returned to junkbutton
*** TURN *** [5h Jh 6c] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [5h Jh 6c Qd] [4d]
junkbutton shows a straight, Eight high
Wilduece shows three of a kind, Queens
junkbutton wins the pot (18,452) with a straight, Eight high
Wilduece stands up

I was able to ride that stack into the money, but not too far… With the bubble breaking at 12 players, I went out in 10th with this unfortunate hand…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7775004217: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 9 - 400/800 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 0:05:07 ET - 2008/08/24
Seat 1: DonkeyBallz22 (16,051)
Seat 3: jstorm (28,084)
Seat 5: jeffe10 (10,116)
Seat 6: mike86_rezkid (16,633)
Seat 7: junkbutton (15,876)
jeffe10 posts the small blind of 400
mike86_rezkid posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kd 2s Jd Ks]
junkbutton calls 800
DonkeyBallz22 folds
jstorm calls 800
jeffe10 folds
mike86_rezkid checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac Ts 7s]
mike86_rezkid checks
junkbutton checks
jstorm bets 1,400
mike86_rezkid folds
junkbutton calls 1,400
*** TURN *** [Ac Ts 7s] [9s]
junkbutton checks
jstorm bets 5,600
junkbutton raises to 13,676, and is all in
jstorm calls 8,076
junkbutton shows [Kd 2s Jd Ks]
jstorm shows [7h Tc 3s As]
*** RIVER *** [Ac Ts 7s 9s] [5s]
junkbutton shows a flush, King high
jstorm shows a flush, Ace high
jstorm wins the pot (32,952) with a flush, Ace high
junkbutton stands up
DonkeyBallz22 stands up
jstorm stands up
jeffe10 stands up
mike86_rezkid stands up

After 3 hours of play, I showed a profit of close to $4… Sustaining my current ‘break even’ streak…

It's Always Sunny in NeedWhatIWantelphia...

2008-08-14T18:32:00.002-04:00

Not only have I had not much to say, I’ve had little time to say it. It seems like every moment of every day is spent doing something or going somewhere, and then when I finally get home, in my chair and can breathe for a minute, I’ve got the Beag staring at me and pawing at me and growling at me in this way-too-cute-for-words way she growls and throwing her ball at me. When I’m at work, which is where I spend a lot of time writing, I’ve been either too busy or two tired to write anything. Or if I do have some moments, I’m trying to catch up on all the blogs that I haven’t read yet. The flood of posts caused by the WSOP really set me back… I’m still about 5 days behind on everyone…

So what’s been going on…

Like I said before, my poker game had taken a turn for the good, and a big part of that was my discovery that Poker Stars had added .10/.20 Limit 5 card draw… Which as you may recall, was at one time my most profitable game. I hadn’t been able to play any 5CD for quite a while because my bankroll over at Stars had depleted by my chasing of stupid pipe dreams…

My roll there was around $26 when I decided to check them out again a few weeks ago. I came up with a couple of different plans for increasing the bankroll and ended at around $16. Then I found that they had a lower limit for 5CD (previously the lowest was .25/.50). So I went to work and right now sit at around $36. This really is a very easy game to win at if you can stay patient and robotic in your decisions. Which I am and can… My last couple of outings have been frustratingly break even, but that’s to be expected, so no big whoop…

My SNG game on Full Tilt was rocking for a while there, but then at the end of last week I took a dive. Not that taking a dive for me is any big deal because I play so ridiculously within my bankroll. Because of this, with what little I’ve played in the last 4 or 5 days and the little bit of rakeback I get, I’ve actually got my roll right now, up to close to my all time high. My plan right now is to let it grow just a little bit more, and then I’ll take a more serious shot at the $11 SNG’s… Something I’m way overrolled for now as it is, but mentally, I need a little more padding to be comfortable…

~

I discovered a new tv show on Hulu.com in the last couple of weeks… I’ve read a few good things here and there about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and was surprised to see that Hulu had the first 3 seasons available for viewing. By the second episode I was hooked*. I’m now about a third of the way through season 3, and aside from a couple, all of the episodes have been awesome.

It has a Seinfeld vibe to it, but dirtier. It’s about 3 friends who own a bar and get into mischief during the day. A lot of shows are focused on controversial topics, so some people may find it offensive, but I think everyone can find it funny too.

Danny Devito was introduced as a main character at the beginning of season 2, but as much as I love him, I really don’t feel like he added a whole lot to the show. They may have needed his star power to keep the show alive, but I think they could have gotten anyone to play his roll and it’d be just as good.

*Below is a scene from the second episode of the first season. When Charlie says, “I don’t have to buy you sheet,” I was hooked…

Well, I guess I haven’t had much to say lately…

2008-08-10T15:53:00.000-04:00

Work has sucked.

Poker was awesome, but started to suck a few days ago.

I have no excuse for the long absence. I’ll try not to let it happen again…

Runner Runner Redonkulous...

2008-07-31T06:31:00.001-04:00

The last time I wrote about poker I was excited about a new plateau that my Full Tilt bankroll was about to hit. Well, I hit it, I surpassed it, I enjoyed it for about 15 minutes, and then it came crumbling down… I haven’t dipped that far down, but it dropped enough to make me shake my head and think for a minute…

That started my weekend downswing. Seriously, after I hit my milestone, I couldn’t so much as flop a draw let alone a real hand for the remainder of the weekend. Monday was a little bit better. Though I only had time to play one SNG, it was pretty clear the poker gods were still cross with me for getting cocky… I was able to get myself HU, but with a huge chip disadvantage. I held a little over 1,000 chips and my opponent was sitting on a stack of just over 7,000. I’m dealt K4 suited on the button, and with high blinds, and figuring that King high is better than whatever he’s probably holding, I move in of course. Of course he calls me with his any two cards, because he has a huge chip lead, can take the hit if he loses, and seriously, with the blinds so high and my paltry stack, I’m pushing with anything. He holds Q8 suited. The flop comes down x44, and for a minute I think maybe my luck has turned around, but with the 8 on the turn I know that the poker gods are just fucking with me, making sure I know my place. They give him another 8 on the river and I get just a taste with second place money.

I hate to believe in losing streaks. I don’t want to think that anything has anything to do with the current hand I’m playing. I need to be able to not put myself in a negative state of mind. But it’s hard when you are not even surprised by a ridiculous runner runner beat like that one…

I had no time to play Tuesday night, but I won the game I played last night, so I’m feeling good that things are turning around now… My roll isn’t as high as it was, but it’s past that ‘plateau’ I talked about.

Unnecessarily Tragic...

2008-07-30T20:17:00.001-04:00

I’m pretty disturbed that they can chase this poor guy around for 6 days and can’t capture him or tranquilize him, but they can shoot him dead? I’m far from being an animal activist, but this seems unnecessarily tragic…

The "Last Lecture" Professor died today at age 47...

2008-07-25T14:06:00.003-04:00

Link

I think it's pretty impossible to have a computer or a tv and not know about Randy Pausch. His story has been widely spread throughout the internet and news programs for some time now. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, he lived long past his doctor's expectations and inspired millions with his "Last Lecture". If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor...

Day off...

2008-07-25T09:02:00.002-04:00

With the in-laws away on a little long weekend trip, I decided to stay home and hang out with the Beag today. She’s not too keen on spending long days by herself, and I’m more than happy to not go to work, so it’s like we’re helping each other out…

~

I haven’t talked about poker in a while, so I thought it was time to give a little update there… My SNG game has never been better. I’m not winning every one, but I am making the right decisions most of the time. My Full Tilt bankroll has been hovering at an all time high, which I’m really happy about. However, getting over that hump has always been the hardest thing to do for me. I can get to the high, but busting through has never been easy. I know that as long as I don’t splash around too much at the cash games and stick to what I know best in the SNG’s, I should have no trouble. After that, I really need to get myself to move up to the $10 SNGs. At this point the only thing keeping me back is my own lack of confidence, and if I don’t play them, I’ll never gain any. Right now my biggest obstacle is myself…

Last weekend I decided that I wanted some change of scenery in the online felt. Since getting the laptop, I’d only been playing at Full Tilt. First I downloaded Bodog again. I had read some good things about the soft “Beginner” SNGs that they run, and wanted to try them out. I had a whole 7 cents in my account, which is good for nothing. I tried to make a deposit, but the few options they offered, all had too many hoops to jump through for my liking, so I didn’t get to play. I might try to earn a bankroll the old fashioned way with freerolls if I ever get the time.

Then I downloaded Poker Stars again. In that account I actually had around $26. I fired up a couple of $3 SNGs to see if I couldn’t get anything started there… And I quickly remembered just how much Stars hates me. If I wasn’t running big hands into bigger ones, I was running into players calling raises with 94 suited and not able to lay down their flopped pair… It didn’t take long for the roll there to drop to around $15. I then tried out the .01/.02 NLHE tables to see if I couldn’t get something going there. I treaded water for a while, but soon enough came to the conclusion that I really do suck at NLHE cash games. My latest attempt at building up the Stars bankroll is NLHE HU SNG’s. Their cheapest are $2 + $0.20, so not really ideal for my paltry roll, but I think it’s going to give me the best shot of making anything out of it. So far out of the 5 that I’ve played I’ve won 4, so it’s a good start. Ultimately my goal is to get the roll up enough that I can start playing 5 card draw again. I always did real well with that. That is, as long as I stuck with it. I really screwed up before when I was doing so good and then just blew it all with a bunch of MTT’s that were just silly to blow a bunch of money in.

~

I don’t think I gave a final roundup on my WSOP prop bet with the Case Ace. After being down for the entire Series (down $3 going into the Main Event), I finally pulled ahead. With two of my guys making the money in the ME and only one of his, I was able to take the $5 for the most players to make the money, the $5 for the total money won and $5 for the highest finishing position. That gave me a WSOP profit of $12. I’m happy with that. The goal of the bet was to make following the Series more interesting (which it certainly did), and to hopefully make a couple of bucks. Our plan now is to draft the final table and bet on who has the player who finishes first. We’ll put off that draft until we get closer to November so we can learn as much about them as we care to before we pick.

~

Also last weekend I came across a guy who had a bunch of pictures online from a recent Junkbutton show that I wasn’t able to attend. You can view all the pictures here . They are really high resolution pics, so I thought they’d do well with making a poster. So I opened up Microsoft Publisher, which I’d never used before to see what I could come up with. I ordered it through Café Press and I think it turned out great. Check it out:

Youtube clip dump #3

2008-07-21T20:16:00.001-04:00

Here’re a couple of tearjerkers for you…

This first one I caught a mention of on the ESPY awards last night… Basically this college girl hit her first ever homerun and when she missed touching first base and went back for it, she tore her acl and couldn’t walk. Two members of the opposing team picked her up and carried her around the bases.

This next one I guess was featured on The View this morning. The Jewel heard about it from her mother and after telling me about it, I looked it up...

In 1969, these two guys bought a lion cub at a department store in London. They named him Christian. After a couple of years Christian got too big for them to care for, so they worked it out that he could be sent to Kenya and be reintroduced into the wild. A year after that, they wanted to go visit him. They were told that there is no way Christian would remember them. They went anyway. Here is a short video of their story and then their reunion… Try not to cry too much… After you watch this video, read more about Christian’s story here…

Youtube clip dump #2...

2008-07-19T15:16:00.000-04:00

Dr. Horrible’s Sing A Long Blog is a 3 part series available on iTunes. It is cheesy, campy and all kinds of awesome. It stars How I Met Your Mother’s Neil Patrick Harris and is written/directed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Joss Whedon.

Harris stars as Dr. Horrible, an aspiring super-villain, whose attempts at villainy are constantly thwarted by his nemesis, the heroic Captain Hammer. He must take his efforts to the next level in order to get into the Evil League of Evil while also mustering the courage to talk to Penny, the girl at the Laundromat. And it’s a musical!

Here’s a preview:

~

On e of my all-time favorite comics was Richard Jeni, who unfortunately killed himself a little over a year ago. I was very fortunate to get a chance to see him live a few years ago. Here are a couple of my favorite bits:

~

That second clip about Michael Jackson reminded me of the following bit by Katt Williams. Warning: Depending on your level of tolerance, this bit may contain some strong language… It’s also funny as hell…

Work stuff...

2008-07-18T18:18:00.001-04:00

I think if it weren’t for weekends, there would be a lot more workplace shootings… One can only handle so much stupid, but once Friday afternoon arrives, it’s like, well, I only have to put up with stupid for a few more hours then I don’t have to look at them for two whole days. Three day weekends come around just in time for those occasions when two days off just isn’t going to cut it.

A typical work week:

Monday: I’m too tired to really give a shit. Whatever you say…
Tuesday: Ok, what’d you say?
Wednesday: You know that’s the most retarded idea you could possibly have.
Thursday: But you’re implementing it anyway…
Friday: ARGHHH! 3 more hours… 2 more hours…1 more hour…
WEEKEND!

Rinse
Repeat

~

On a related note, there have finally been new developments regarding the job at the Jewel’s company that I interviewed for a few weeks ago. She cornered the hiring manager to find out if the job had been filled or not since I have not received any communication as to whether or not I was getting it. The manager told her that the req. had actually been put on hold until they decide if there is even enough work to justify hiring someone. She did tell the Jewel that if an offer was going to be made, I was the one who was going to get it.

The Jewel seems to think this is good news because you never know, just because they’re not hiring now, they may soon, and my name is at the top of the list. I seem to think that this sucks ass… I’m certainly happy that I didn’t totally bomb the interview like I assumed I would, but it’s really discouraging that something that I wanted really badly (and continue to want really badly – see above…) was so close, but ultimately unreachable.

I’m not going to give up all hope yet. The Jewel says that it’s slow right now because everyone is on vacation, and in a month or two, once everyone is back to work and things are in full swing, the workload will pick up and they’ll figure out they need me after all. Seeing as they’re a defense contractor, I’m hoping we invade Iran or Canada or somewhere soon to help boost military spending… I need a new job!

Let's hear it for the boy...

2008-07-17T18:03:00.001-04:00

There’s this guy named, Gabriel Greenberg, whose older sister died in the 1980’s as a teenager. He has a bunch of her stuff, and now, 20-something years later, this is all the memories he has of her. A few years ago he was looking through it and came across a cassette tape of the Footloose soundtrack. He became obsessed with this soundtrack and what it undoubtedly represented to his teenage sister in the 1980’s. I mean, this could have been THE soundtrack to the 1980’s and who would understand that more than a teenage girl? So he listened to it over and over and somehow found a connection with his sister through the music.

Gabriel Greenberg has a childhood friend who is a musician by the name of Thomas Bartlett. He heads up the band, Doveman. Greenberg told his friend his story and asked him to cover the album. Now why he would do this, I don’t know. I’d think that he could get a closer connection to his sister through the original songs that she undoubtedly tapped her feet to when she listened to it. My only guess is he was looking for a more melancholy version of those songs that she loved.

Well he got it. And knowing the backstory to it, I find it all very touching and emotional and awesome. Unfortunately I haven’t found where I can download the songs yet, but you can read Greenberg’s story in his words and hear the streaming songs here…

Scenes from the last row…

2008-07-15T17:45:00.001-04:00

My company made me sit through a big meeting run by our president yesterday. It was held in a banquet hall; I was there along with 200 of my closest co-workers. We have these things about 3 times a year and my job at them is to try real hard not to fall asleep. I think the whole purpose of everybody in the company being required to attend is that we feel involved or something...

Whatever… Here are a few things thoughts I had yesterday in between catching myself snoring…

I like to get to these things early. I can get the seat I want and not have to worry about walking in late and getting stuck stepping over people for a crummy seat in the middle of the row. I get there early and get myself in the back row on the end, right where I want to be. So I’m sitting there and someone who I don’t work with and barely recognize, but she works somewhat in the same vicinity as me, so I guess we’re best friends, sits down next to me. Now, I don’t know much about her, but I do know that she’s one of these chatty Cathy type people. I hate people like that. I don’t care about your family. I don’t care about your car problems, I don’t care that you don’t want to be here. Just shut up. What was ironic was that a few minutes later, another lady, that pretty much fits the same description, actually grabbed an extra chair from the back of the room and slid it up on the other side of me. So now I’m not even sitting on the end of the row, which I specifically got here ten minutes early to be able to do, and I’m in between these two blabber mouths. Atleast I won’t have to worry about falling asleep…

Just as this thing was about to start, I hear someone behind me. I turn, and another lady, this one I don’t recognize, pulls up another chair right behind me. I’m so dumbfounded, I can’t even believe what’s going on. I purposely get here early to avoid exactly what is happening. How I don’t run screaming from the building is beyond me (but really not that hard to fathom, seeing as I’m pretty much boxed in at this point). What made this even worse was that this woman, now breathing down my neck, was sporting day old cigarette breath. Now I’m no prude. And I can appreciate the smell of a lit Marlboro along with other former smokers… But smoker’s breath, unless you’re smoking, never smelled good. Apparently she’s practicing for a dance recital too. Either that or she has a nervous leg disease which prohibits her from sitting still and stop tap tap tapping her foot on the wooden floor… For pretty much the entire presentation…

I don’t like to use the word douchebag when describing someone, even though it’s a pretty common occurrence within the anonymity of the internets, but I wracked my brain and couldn’t come up with any other word to describe the two douchebags sitting in front of me. I think these two guys thought they were at a high school assembly or something, giggling about their peers and just basically looking like totally jackasses…

What didn’t help with at least one of their jackasseryism was the quarter inch square diamond-looking earring one of them was sporting. Now I say diamond-looking, while I don’t know for a fact that it wasn’t authentic, it’s pretty safe to assume that something the size of that, if it were in fact real, wouldn’t be worn by this turd, seeing as it’d cost more than he makes in a year. And please guys, if you’re a dude, and you’re wearing a rock as big as my pinky knuckle in your ear, either be a professional basketball player, or have at least one endearing quality that will make you appear to not be such a douchebag. Seriously, you might as well be playing dress-up with your grandmother’s fancy jewelry…

Prop Bet Update…

2008-07-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

My WSOP Main Event prop bet has become a freeroll for me with Allen Cunningham being eliminated last night. As much as that makes me happy, I’m also a little (very little) sad to see one of the last big name pros eliminated so late. I am very happy to see some big names still in it, especially my last two horses, Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow. To me, those are two of the greatest players of ALL TIME and to see them both still alive with ONLY 79 players left while starting with 6,844 is simply amazing.

But aside from that, my prop bet took a huge swing in my direction now that Cunningham is out. I am set to win the $5 bet for the highest number of players to make the money, with my two horses Hellmuth and Matusow vs the Case Ace’s lone money maker, Cunningham. Since Cunningham is out now, I’ll scoop the $5 bet on the total money won as well as the $5 bet for the highest finishing position. The only thing left to see is if I win is the final $5 for making the final table ($10 if both of Hellmuth and Matusow make it – also known as ESPN’s wet dream table…).

~

Held game two of the Way Cool Super Fun League this weekend. After my horrible finish in game one, I really needed to turn it around to earn some points for some much needed chips for the final table in December. There were 6 of us playing for $10 a piece plus a $5 bounty to the person who knocked you out. I started out really slow and actually stayed that way for most of the night. I was simply not getting any cards. A lot, and I mean A LOT of 82, J4, Q6 type hands. Very disappointing. I limped in with a few suited gapers and actually hit some hands that were good enough to pick up a few chips to stay afloat, but no real confrontations or nice pots won for at least the first hour or two. Finally the blinds were creeping up enough and my stack was hovering at a position where waiting around wasn’t good anymore. I needed to pick some hands and do some pushing. Which I did for a while. I found some tiny pairs and some medium aces and just pushed with them. My ultra tight image was enough to win some blinds and limps.

I was able to make it down to the final three by doing this before I actually had to start showing some hands. The other two players I was with were both very aggressive, so I knew that once I found a hand I liked, I’d have to push to their raise and for the most part when I did this, they would lay it down to me. Finally I found AJ suited in the bb. The dealer made a raise, the sb folded and I pushed. He hmm’d and haw’d for a while before finally calling with A7 suited. I can’t quite remember if it was that hand where I knocked him out or it was sometime later, but that pretty much doubled me up and I actually took over the chip lead. If it wasn’t then, it was shortly after where I took that player out and I was heads up.

The other player that I was up against is easily the most experienced live. Or at least he carries himself like he is (very confidently moves chips around). His father is the poker room manager at the local casino. I use that as an excuse to be intimidated by him, but I really shouldn’t be. He’s aggressive, but I found that he can be moved off hands when facing similar aggression.

Anyway, we spar back and forth for a while, the aggressor taking the small pots. I get him rather dominated in chip count when a hand that I can not remember very well comes up. I think I had something like A8s. He raised preflop and I call. He moves what he has left in blind before the flop (which was probably a little more than double his preflop raise. The flop comes down 8 high so I call. I can’t remember for the life of me what he had, but I had him pretty much crushed. He had Qx, and I remember after the turn he needed a Q or a T to win, and the river brought the Q.

So that doubled him up, and we went back to aggressively taking pots back and forth preflop. Finally I was dealt pocket jacks. I raised preflop and he called. That should have tipped me off right there because the majority of our hands were either raise fold or raise reraise fold. The flop came down 552. He checked I bet he called. Again, this really should have told me what I needed to know, but I didn’t listen. The turn was a blank and he checked again. I don’t remember if I bet and he moved in or if I just moved in at that point, but regardless we got it all in on the turned blank. I was somewhat afraid of him turning over a five, but not really since he called a raise preflop, but he didn’t have a five. He had what I least expected him to have and that was pocket deuces. He flopped a full house, slowplayed it to the turn and left me with two outs… Which I missed of course putting me out in second. I did earn some much needed points for the league, so I’m happy about that.

After the tourney I joined the cash game that 4 others were splashing around in and I proceeded to get ridiculously lucky throughout for the rest of the night. We played dealers choice and some of the games included wild cards where I made five-of-a-kinds twice taking pots from a royal flush and another five-of-a-kind, getting paid off on both. A very good night indeed.

Adoption Day…

2008-07-08T19:31:00.001-04:00

I’ve had a dog my entire life. When I was very young we had German Shepards that remained outside dogs. Later on, we brought them in to be inside dogs. Most recently it was George who I talked about a few months ago in this post . I always knew that I’d have a dog as an adult, but I never was in a living situation to get one. After I moved out of my parent’s house until November of ’05 I only lived in apartments.

When the Jewel and I first got together, I told her that someday I’d have a dog. She wasn’t very eager about it. She said she had a dog when she was young, but was allergic, so they had to get rid of it. I’m not one to buy into the whole “allergy” thing, and besides they have pills for that sort of thing, don’t they? So my plan has always stayed the same. Someday, when we get a house, we’re getting a dog…

In November 2005, we finally did get that house. And looky here, there’s a fenced in back yard. We decided that we’d wait through the winter because who wants to mess around with housetraining in the winter, right? I did do some research though. Looked around for breeders and breeds and got my mind in the game. It didn’t take too long to figure out that breeders charge big bucks, so we thought we’d go the SPCA route. It’s hard to find puppies through the SPCA, but that was fine. I had decided that since the Jewel really had no dog caring experience, and I was never the responsible one for the dogs growing up, it’d be a good idea if our first dog was an adult who probably had some idea as to what her needs and wants were and would be able to hopefully communicate those needs and wants to us should we forget them…

In late June we took our first trip to the SPCA. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for. The Jewel wanted either something huge like a Saint Bernard, or something medium sized. The first one I saw that interested me was this big labradoodle type thing. Part labrador retriever, part poodle. These are bred just for the allergenic person in mind. All the great fun traits of the retriever, but they don’t make you sneeze like the poodle… What could be better? We took it for a walk around the yard. This one was young with lots of energy and ended up dragging me around. We decided that we just didn’t have the time or energy to tire out such an active dog. There was nothing else of interest to us then, so we left to try again another day…

A week later we went back. As we walked through the kennels looking at the dogs we came to one that was about halfway down the row. The tag over the door read “Rosie”, and underneath it said, “Beagle”. “We already have a lot of Rose’s in our family,” the Jewel said. “We can change the name,” I said. We peaked inside. She was curled up on the cot, but when we looked in, she lifted her head up at us. She got herself up and came over to the door and put her feet up on it, looking at us. I swear to god she asked us to take her for a walk. So we did…

We took her outside where they had little park-like area. She was pretty easy going. She sniffed around and was interested in everything, and she didn’t pull. We got to a bench and I sat down. She sat down next to me. And we just looked around. The Jewel and I talked about her. She seemed like a real calm dog. She wasn’t pulling me. She was safe. But I was looking for one who’d like to play. George was a player. He’d bring you a tennis ball and you’d throw it and he’d go get it and bring it back. I wanted a dog that wanted to be somewhat active, but nice and calm when she’s not. We weren’t sure what to do. We went back inside with her and told the people there we were interested in her. There was a special room there where you could take a dog and there were some toys and some chairs and you could sit in there with her, so we did. We went in and sat down. She got right up on the couch at first and sat there (getting on couches is something she’s never shy about). The Jewel and I just sort of stood there and looked at her. There was a colored tennis ball on a ledge. I picked it up and bounced it once, and would you believe this dog lit right up, jumped down and begged me to throw it. So I did. She ran to get it (as much as she could run in such a small room) and brought it right back to me. I turned to the Jewel and said this is the one. The Beag said throw it again, so I did…

This all happened on a Thursday. She’d have to get spayed before we could take her home, so we wouldn’t be able to pick her up until Saturday. Which we did. That was two years ago today.

I think even the Jewel would tell you that my persistence to get a dog was the best thing I ever did. The Beag has done nothing but bring joy to our lives, and I really hope she feels the same way about us.

Happy A-Day, Kid… I know we picked you. But you kept us…

YouTube Clip Dump #1...

2008-07-07T21:48:00.001-04:00

I remember channel surfing in my first apartment 12 years ago or so when I came across this… Although I wouldn’t really play for many years afterwards, this is what put the bug in me. “Call and it’s all over, Baby…” So cool…

I added a lot of old cd’s to my iPod this weekend, and then today I was listening to some Doors live. That made me want to check out some clips on youtube. These guys could perform. I really wanted to see some that showed how the audience was reacting to their performance, but I really couldn’t find any… This will do…

This was posted on somebody’s blog a little while ago… Tech Guy vs Sales Guy… It’s long, but it’s so funny…

This is an acoustic cover of that song Handlebars by the Flobots that I posted a while ago. I was looking for their Letterman performance from a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t posted. I really like acoustic versions of songs… Especially when they’re sung by pretty girls…

This is a Letterman performance… It’s Brand New with the song, Jesus Christ. I’ve tried a lot to like these guys, but this is the only song that’s really grabbed me.

I’m not sure why I find this guy so inspirational… WhereTheHellIsMatt.com is this guy who pretty much just goes to far off lands and dances for a video camera. Seriously. He’s sponsored by a gum company and everything. I’ve known about him for a while, but there was something about this video (which I’m pretty sure I found posted on someone’s blog) that is just so cool. Check it out and check out some of his other videos…

7…

2008-07-07T19:11:00.001-04:00

I’m starting to wonder if I should be a stuntman, because I can fall with the best of them. Just like last year, when my life suddenly came close to taking an early dismissal with my fallinng in the shower incident, this weekend saw me prove that I really do have a knack for slipping and falling and living to tell about it...

After a short swimming venture with the Jewel in the backyard Saturday afternoon, I had gotten out and was toweling myself off on the deck around the pool. The Beag was inside and decided that she was ready to come out too and scratched on the door. I had put on a shirt, but not my sandals, and when I took the first step down the stairs of the deck, enough water had dripped off of me onto that first step that my foot went right out in front of me…

I was holding onto a metal handle at the top of the stairs (we don’t have any railings on these stairs… yet.), and that took a chunk of skin out of my pinky and some other scratches in a couple of other fingers. My upper ass and lower back got what can only be described as a brush burn from pretty much sliding down the stairs. Pretty much every major joint in my body, from my knees to my ankles to my hips are sore still two days later. I have a bruise on the outside of both thighs. And though it’s gone down considerably now, the ball of one of my feet felt like I was actually walking on half a golf ball… I must have hit that on something…. I seriously just fell down a five feet of stairs. These things happen so fast you really don’t have time to react, but somehow I was able to land on my feet. But man, was I in some pain… However, I didn’t break anything, and I was able to walk away from it (though I got pretty stiff as the day went on…).

However, I still wasn’t able to avoid the emergency room for the whole weekend…

On Sunday, after a LONG afternoon in the pool with her sister and father, the Jewel came in to take a nap, but soon realized that her lips and cheeks were swelling up. She was having an allergic reaction to something. I told her to take a couple of Benadryl and see if that helped. She took them, but started to panic too much before they really had a chance to take effect. Off to the hospital we went…

We got there just before 5pm. Luckily I had enough foresight to bring my new book by Gus Hansen. Little did I know just how much I’d need it…

It didn’t take me long to kick myself for taking down the Twitter box that I had on here last year… All my blogging life I’ve wanted something to live blog, and a waiting room at the hospital would be an interesting place to start… I didn’t even have a decent notebook. All I had was the notepad feature on my cell phone to keep track of what was going on. Here are some of the things that I noted…

Soon after we got there, 3 older ladies came in. Someone that they knew was admitted, and they were there to see them. One of them was particularly chatty with the reception people. They were told to take a seat, and it wasn’t hard to believe that they chose to sit not far from where we were. Talk talk talk talk talk… She never shut up. My note says: Old lady bitching about her kids that never come to visit and the eating habits of her cat.

There was a lady waiting in a wheel chair. Every once in a while, her husband would wheel her away for a few minutes and then bring her back. Finally I figured out what was up… I heard her tell her husband she had to go to the bathroom. He said, again? She said yes. She was sorry, but he kept parking her near the lobby’s waterfall!

Not long after we got there, an older couple came in. The man was holding a washcloth to his forehead (the washcloth was white, making the blood stains on it stand out beautifully). My note reads: the Jewel thinks the wife threw a plate at him…

There was a real white-trash-ish couple sitting next to us. The woman got up and left and came back a short time later with a bottle of Pepsi and an order of fries. All of a sudden, the room smelled like the fair… I wondered what time the demolition derby started….

There was one lady that really seemed to stand out. She could not sit still. She’d keep getting up and pacing around and crying. She’d complain to her unempathetic husband, but he was really too involved in his sudoku puzzle to noticet. I don’t know what her problem was, but the look on her face was one I make when I really need to take a shit… It almost became a game watching her. Any time someone went in, she’s freak out a little bit more. Eventually she was able to whine her way into the next available bed…

There was one chubby kid I felt sorry for. He had a pretty bad sunburn over his entire back and shoulders, and he was sitting there with no shirt on. That’s like my worst childhood nightmare… Sitting in the middle of a public place, surrounded by strangers, half dressed… I hope this doesn’t leave him with any lasting emotional scars…

The french fries lady’s husband has gone into triage, and now she has struck up a conversation with the Jewel. “I just hate these places…” “Yeah, strangers starting up random conversations…” I said under my breath for only the Jewel to hear. She pinched me.

The chubby sunburned kid’s mom and one of the adult daughters of the guy who (allegedly) got hit in the head with a plate are discussing the service plans of their respective cell phone providers… Ironically, a short time later, plate guy’s other adult daughter was sitting awkwardly on an end table (!) and her cell phone ended up falling out of her pocket and crashing to the floor…

Here’s something that was pretty funny… A guy was pushing his girlfriend in a wheelchair from inside the hospital out to the lobby to leave. She was carrying crutches and had a freshly casted foot. I couldn’t see very well, but as they were going through the doorway, the chair just all of a sudden stopped and he sort of walked into it from behind. Initially I thought that there was some kind of a hump or something in the doorway he wasn’t aware of and he ran into it with the chair making it stop suddenly. But then she started crying uncontrollably and I realized he had actually just driven her outstretched foot (newly injured) into the door jam. Of course it’s cruel of me to find that funny, but come on… I laughed when I saw the same thing happen to Jack Tripper on Three’s Company and probably half a dozen other 70’s and 80’s sitcoms… It was funny then and it’s funny now…

At this point we’re coming on to 8 o’clock… We’ve been here for 3 hours just waiting. We’ve been into triage. The Jewel has had her blood pressure taken and her temperature taken and all that good stuff. The first sign that maybe this was going to be a long night was some guy finally got pissed off that he and his wife were waiting so long. He decided that they were leaving. And although they had probably been there for 4 or more hours waiting (I’m guessing; I just know they had been there longer than us), he escorted her out the door. I don’t know what was wrong with this lady, but she could barely walk, and looked like she was going to pass out at any moment. My note says: Good news! Two empty seats! It’s crowded in here…

Through random conversation with the Jewel, it comes out that she’s feeling better. Her face isn’t so puffy, and the Benadryl that she took, pretty much cleared up the problem. However, her fear is that it’ll come back if we were to leave. It’s 8:30pm now. We’ve been there since before 5, and there are people who have been there longer who are in (presumably) worse shape. It’s looking like a long night for what might be nothing… She says if she’s not called by 9pm, we’ll leave. Of course at 8:45, she gets called…

It turned out to not be to see a doctor. This time it was to see the lady that got all of her insurance information and she gave the Jewel a funky new wristband. Whether I liked it or not, we were in for the long haul now. Regardless if she gets seen, we’ll be paying the deductable on our insurance. Might as well have a licensed professional tell her she’s fine…

At 10:15 she gets called in. Through text messages she tells me that she’s just waiting in another room, and that Old School is playing on the tv.

Just after she gets called back there, the most exciting admit of the night comes through the door. Someone who worked at the hospital was leaving for the night. She was met at the door by a woman who was hunched over and could barely walk. She helped her into the lobby and hollered to the reception lady for a wheelchair. The lady was doing what could have been mistaken as labor breathing techniques (hee hee hoo). No baby was coming out of her though. She was passing a kidney stone. She was in some obvious pain, but was being a trooper. Surprisingly she was there by herself. I found that to be very sad. She got right in…

It’s just before eleven o’clock and the Jewel is still inside. A family of four come in and congregate around the reception desk. They’re told that the wait is around four hours. They don’t look happy about it… They end up sticking around for a while, but when they come out of triage, they leave and I don’t see them again…

It’s just after eleven. There’s an old couple that has been here for a couple of hours. They’re both sleeping in their chairs. I’ve been here for six hours now… They’ve got a long night ahead of them…

At this point I stopped taking notes. I had been reading my Gus Hansen book off and on for the whole night. But by 11 I didn’t feel like keeping my eyes open anymore. I scooted down in my seat as low as I could and pulled my hat down over my eyes and slept for about 45 minutes. After I woke up, the Jewel sent me a text saying that she had seen the doctor and was waiting again. 10 minutes later she was out and we were on our way…

He basically gave her a prescription for Benadryl. At that point (and probably 4 hours earlier) whatever reaction she was having had passed.

So the title of this post (7…) has two meanings. First it’s the number of lives I have left (if we assume that I started with nine, and the falling in the shower episode counted as one…). It’s also the number of hours I spent in the hospital last night…

Luckily I survived both…

Main Event Prop Bet Update…

2008-07-06T10:13:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note on my expanded Main Event Prop bet with the Case Ace… And this isn’t just to gloat… probably… (everything here is just what I was able to find out by perusing PokerNews.com’s updated chip counts. It’s possible that someone is missing…)

The following players from the Case Ace’s roster have all played one of the three day one’s:

“Miami” John Cernuto
JJ Liu
JC Tran
Ted Forest
Justin Bonomo
Dan Harrington
Greg Raymer.

All of those players have busted.

Yet to play from his roster:

Allen Cunningham
Andy Bloch
Tom Schneider
Roland DeWolfe

The following players from my roster have all played:

Patrik Antonius *
Daniel Negreanu
Mike Matusow *
Erick Lindgren *
Barry Greenstein*
Scotty Nguyen*
David Benyamine

Out of all of these players, the only ones to have busted are Negreanu and Benyamine. All of the players with asterisks have made it past day one. In addition I still have these players who haven’t played yet:

Phil Hellmuth
Phil Ivey
Shannon Elizabeth

Of course I haven’t won anything yet. I imagine everyone is still far from the money, and really it only takes one of his horses to win the whole thing to trounce me… But I’m liking my chances…

When is it better to check-call than it is to bet out?

2008-07-04T19:38:00.001-04:00

I just want to get some thoughts out there regarding poker. I haven’t researched anything, so if these ideas are wrong, don’t hold it against me, and don’t make fun of me… I’ve been thinking about some stuff lately, and I want to get them somewhere other than in my head. I don’t know the maths. I don’t have good hand scenarios. I just have some thoughts… I’ve picked these things up from books and magazines and blogs, so if you posted this and I don’t give you props, it’s because I don’t remember where I first got the idea… but thanks for it because it’s helping my game… I know none of this is mind blowing stuff, but it’s stuff that needs to be thought about.

I used to think that it’s always better to bet out at an opponent. Everyone says aggression is key. And a lot of times it is. It gives you two ways to win the pot, right? They can fold and you win it, or you could actually have the best hand.

But there are some situations where at the river, you’re just not sure if you have the best hand. You think you do, but the board is scary. Maybe you have a set, but the board has straight and flush possibilities. If you bet, what are the chances your opponent calls with a worse hand? Not likely. They will only call (or raise) with a hand that beats you. But if you check, and you give them control, what are the chances they bet at you since you showed weakness towards the scary board? Well that’s what you have to decide (since we all know that poker is so situational…). But if you decide that the chance is great enough that they could be betting into your weakness, you can call. Bets sometimes only get called by better hands, but your opponent might bet into you with second best hands enough to make calling profitable.

Something that I actually got off of Hoy’s ICrushBloggers fake blog was this next thing. His character was criticizing the bubble play of some people. The statement was something like, people call short stacks all-ins as if the rules of pot odds don’t count on the bubble. That really made sense to me. I see it all the time in my SNG’s. There are 100 chips in the pot, a short stack goes all in for 800 and some guy with 3,500 calls with J2o. Now sometimes J2o wins, and I like that because that’s one less person and maybe we’re in the money now. But MOST of the time, J2o loses and the shorty is doubled up. There has GOT to be better spots to get the shorty all in than that.

Speaking of bubble play… When my SNG’s, that pay 2 spots, gets down to three players left, quite often there is a big stack, a medium stack and a short stack. I am usually not the big stack. I’ve been playing very patient lately, and often times I am actually the short stack. I can not get over how the big stacks misplay their stacks in these situations. They are always going after the shorty. And they’re letting the medium stack push them around! This is the time for the biggie to just go after the medium stack so that he will have as many chips as he can when it gets to heads up play. Everyone knows where the bubble is. And unless the medium stack has aces or kings, he’s not calling an all in preflop when there’s another guy who’s going to go out shortly due to his dwindling stack.

Stealing blinds is a whole new world that I’m opening up to lately. I’ve just never thought about it the right way… If the blinds are 50/100 and I make a standard raise to 300, I only have to win them 2 out of 3 times to break even. If you pick your spots right, that’s not hard to do. In addition to that, when someone does call, a lot of the time they’re going to fold to your continuation bet on the flop whether you hit or not. And still other times, you ARE going to hit the flop and you’ll have the best hand outright and you’ll get a chance to just extract the chips from your opponent. This is something that I really started to appreciate after reading from Gus Hansen’s new book, Every Hand Revealed. I’m only 50 pages or so into it, but it’s good stuff.

Like I said, I just wanted to get these thoughts down. Take from them what you will. My game lately has been on fire. I’m not winning every SNG or anything, but I’m confident in my decisions, and that’s half the battle right there. Even when I make the wrong decision, I recognize it as bad and hopefully learn from it. But when you make a play, and you’re waiting for your opponent to act or even after they respond to the play, when you know that what you did was the right move, it takes a lot of the pressure off, and has really helped me to feel indifferent about the outcome.

drunk post

2008-07-03T23:53:00.002-04:00

I don't recall everbeing this drunk.

I love my wife more thna anthtyhing. cause she is putting up with my stupid.

my dog is the best in the world.

i needc to remember to log the sng lost I took tonight. it lose

Micah P. Hinson...

2008-07-02T18:45:00.001-04:00

Micah P. Hinson, my biggest musical discovery of 2007 , has a new album coming out later this month. Below is a track from it. I wish his career would take off in America. I’d give just about anything to see him live… Oh so good… (once he’s able to get going…)

Expanded Prop Bet…

2008-07-01T19:24:00.000-04:00

My prop bet with the Case Ace has been going pretty slow. He’s winning, 3 final tables to just my one. Each of his players, Andy Bloch, Allen Cunningham and “Miami” John Cernuto have each made a final table while only one of my horses, Phil Hellmuth has made it that far in an event. I still have some hope to catch up a little before the Main Event gets underway. Phil Hellmuth is currently the chip leader of the $1,500 HORSE event with just 21 runners left.** I’m not going to hold my breath though… As great as Hellmuth is, and he is arguably the best NLHE tournament player alive, HORSE is really not his game. I just hope he holds out long enough to make the final table to shave off a few bucks of my bet before the ME starts.

Speaking of which, the Case Ace and I expanded our prop bet for the Main Event, which starts on the 3rd. Instead of just counting final table appearance and bracelet wins, we added a few other factors to bet on. We’re betting $5 for the highest number of players that make the money, $5 for the highest total money won, $5 for highest finishing position and $5 for each player making the final table. Winning the last bet pretty much guarantees you’ll win the whole bunch, but that’s only if one of our horses makes it that far. In addition to the players we already drafted at the beginning of the WSOP, we also drafted 6 more apiece (for a total of 11).

I had the first pick and I took Daniel Negreanu. I picked him because a) he’s DANIEL NEGREANU, and 2) because I should have picked him the first time around. He’s hot hot hot, and I have a feeling that he ain’t done yet.

The Case Ace used his first pick on J.C. Tran, to which I instantly replied something to the affect that he was just picking him so that I could make fun of the pick on my blog just to have him final table the whole thing, ala’, Cernuto. The Case Ace did not deny it.

With my second pick, I took Mike Matusow. He’s had a good series, and I truly believe he’s one of the best players around (when he’s not being stupid). The Case Ace took Ted Forrest with his second pick. Ted’s a great player, but I really haven’t heard his name mentioned a lot this series… Maybe I’m not listening in the right places…

My third pick was Erick Lindgren. Again, I’m sticking with the guys who have been hot this year, and Lindgren is no exception having won his first bracelet and at least one other final table. For his third pick, the Case Ace confidently chose, Justin Bonomo… To which I replied, “Who?”

After getting my top 3 picks for my first 3 picks, I decided it was time to mix it up a little bit. I knew that the Case Ace was looking to have at least a couple internet sensations on his roster, so I thought this was a good time to take one of those away from him. I was sure that Tom “durrrr” Dwan was on his short list, so I picked him up at number four. Personally, I can’t stand to see the guy on tv; I thought he was very disrespectful towards Phil Hellmuth at the NBC Heads Up Championship (not that Phil wasn’t asking for it), but apparently the kid can play too, so I figured I’d give him a shot. The Case Ace went with a trustworthy standby, and a guy who pretty much wrote THE book on MTT’s, and that is Dan Harrington. He can pretty much guarantee this bet a lock with that pick. If there is one player who could get away with calling himself a WSOP Main Event final table specialist, it’s Dan Harrington.

With my fifth pick, I decided to go back to a reliable poker superstar who has been running hot this year. I went with Barry Greenstein. Not only has Barry been hot this year, but with the Big Game all dried up, he actually needs his tournament wins to live on, so he’ll be playing harder than ever. The Case Ace used his fifth pick on Tom Schneider, who was actually the only player he picked that was on my short list. Tom had a great run last year, and I think has been doing well this year as well.

My last pick was a tough one. I had two names that I wanted to go with on my short list, plus a pick that was more emotional than anything. The two names left on my short list were Erik Seidel and David Benyamine. Both were having a great Series, and both could go far in the Main Event. The other name I was chewing on was my boy, Scotty Nguyen. I’ve been a Scotty fan since the first time I saw poker on tv. I remember channel surfing in my first apartment 13 years ago when I came across a couple of guys playing poker. I was intrigued and quickly threw a VHS tape in the recorder so I could check it out later. I watched that over and over again. “You call, it’s going to be all over, baby…” At first I didn’t want to go with him because he made a sick run in the ME last year, and he’s just coming off of the win in the $50,000 HORSE event. But in the end I figured I’d be rooting for him anyway, so I might as well ride a few bucks on him too. So with my sixth pick I went with Scotty. The Case Ace had me shaking my head again with his last pick as he picked up Roland DeWolfe. Again, it’s probably a good pick, but it’s just not a sexy pick.

We also took two alternates, just in case someone, for whatever reason, doesn’t play. I picked up Benyamine, and the Case Ace took Greg Raymer.

**Hellmuth is currently sitting in first place with 14 players left. Top eight make the final table… Hopefully he doesn’t screw this up…

Slowrolling...

2008-06-28T12:59:00.001-04:00

I’m adamantly against slowrolling. I feel that it’s a disgusting play that has no place at the poker table…

Last night during a 5 card draw hand in our dealer’s choice game, I made quad jacks. When it was time to flip over our cards, my lone opponent announced he had a pair of queens. I said I only had jacks… One pair of jacks and another pair of jacks... I was pretty pissed at myself… But come on. Quads in 5 card draw? How many opportunities will I have to do that again? Plus the pot was only like $2, so I couldn’t feel too bad… But I must, because I'm still thinking about it...

I don't know what to do with myself...

2008-06-26T20:29:00.000-04:00

The interview seemed to go ok. There’s really no way to tell. I don’t think I said anything too stupid. I’m plenty qualified. It just depends on whether or not they found someone they liked better… I’ll let you know when I know something.

~

From what I heard, Jeff pulled through his surgery fine, so your happy thoughts were well received. Thanks.

~

My poker game is about as good as it’s ever been right now. I’m not killing the cash tables, but I’m not getting killed at them either. I’m talking advantage of the Happy Hours that Full Tilt runs where you earn double Full Tilt Points. I’m still close to 12,000 points from a jersey, so every little extra helps. I play the $4 CAP Omaha Hi tables when the Happy Hour is for all ring games and the .25/.50 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo when it’s only running for limit games. I’d say I’m a solid break even player in both, with the occasional one or two buy-in score to keep me coming back. But really, as long as I’m earning FTP’s and not losing money, I really don’t care. The Omaha Cap game’s rake is ridiculous, so that makes it a good FTP earner… And the O8 is just plain fun to play.

My SNG game still seems to be going good. I’ve only played a handful since I last reported that I was on a 6 game winning streak, and I’ve cashed in 3 of the last 5, so pretty much break even there. But tonight I decided that since my bankroll was at an all time high, I should move up a level to see if I can make a run and boost the roll even more. I normally play the $6.50 turbo, so I moved up to the $12 turbo… and won. Add another $30 to the roll… I honestly don’t remember my roll being as high as it is now. I hope I can keep it going and not do anything stupid like take a shot at the 100NL table… Of course I wouldn’t do that because the cash game just isn’t my thing, as much as I’d like it to be…

I’m so fucking hot right now, I don’t even know what to do with myself…

One year smoke free...

2008-06-22T21:37:00.002-04:00

One year ago today, at around 10pm, I stepped out on my back patio and lit up my last Marlboro Light. Just as I was starting this blog (I missed my one year anniversary a couple of days ago…), I was in the final stages of my plan to quit the habit I had held for over 10 years.

My plan was simple. In early May of last year I decided that if I just pushed back the time I started smoking each day, eventually I’d run out of day and in a sense, have weaned myself off of cigarettes. My goal would be my 30th birthday, June 23.

When I started to put the plan in action, I wasn’t smoking a lot. I averaged around 8 cigarettes a day, and didn’t start smoking until my first break at work, which I took around 11am. The day after I made this plan with myself, I didn’t take that first cigarette break until 11:15. The day after that, I took my first break around 11:30. Now I didn’t push my starting time back 15 minutes every day. Some times were tricky to get past. 1pm is when I usually eat lunch, and I remember it was really hard to wait until after lunch before having my first cigarette of the day…Eventually I did though. And over the next month and a half, I slowly but surely kept pushing back that first smoke. I never cared how much I smoked after I got to that first one. If I had my first one, and 15 minutes later, someone asked me if I wanted to go out for a smoke, I’d go without thinking about it. I’d smoke two in a row if the mood struck me. As long as I didn’t have the first one before whatever time I had my first one yesterday, I did not make the process any harder on myself.

When it was all said and done, I think it would have been nicer to give myself a couple more weeks. Towards the end, I was forcing myself to hold out an hour longer than yesterday. Those days were tough. But by 10pm on the 22nd of June, I was ready. I stepped outside, smoked the first and last one of the day, went to bed, and woke up a 30 year old non-smoker.

I never felt any urges to smoke again after the last one. I never felt any withdrawal symptoms. I simply woke up a non-smoker and never looked back. To say I don’t miss it would be a lie. I’d start back up tomorrow if the Jewel wouldn’t bite my head off. I just never felt any chemical desire for it anymore after that last one. Sometimes I’ll find myself standing among a group of smokers, breathing in a little deeper than I need to. But my biggest obstacle has been deciding what to do with my hands.

I’m sure I wrote about this experience a year ago, but I thought you might like an update as to how it turned out. It’s a plan that probably won’t work for everyone. But if you’re a smoker who tends to smoke at the same time each day, and you’re ready to quit, I believe it’s a foolproof plan.

~

Since my second place finish in that MTT the other night, I’ve played 6 of my 6-max SNGs… And I’ve won… every… one… No seconds for me since. This is actually a really great run I’m on. I’m still losing at the cash tables as normal, but my SNG game can not be stopped. I am playing with a patience that I don’t feel I’ve ever had before. And what’s even better, when I get myself in situations where I have my opponents dominated, my hands are holding up.

It’s a real confidence boost…

~

Which I’ll hopefully take with me to my interview tomorrow… But as nervous as I am, there’s an old guy I work with who had a heart attack last year. Tomorrow, at around 8:30am, just after I’ve sat down to my interview, he’ll be going under the knife getting himself a pacemaker… I’m going to try to keep that in perspective. No matter how much I’m freaking out in my head over my situation, there’s a heck of a nice guy who’s going through something a little more serious. So wish me luck, but if you’re sending out good vibes, send them Jeff’s way… I know he's feeling pretty nervous right about now too...

~

Happy Birthday to me tomorrow… The party starts as soon as my interview is over…

100 Things about me #14 plus second place again...

2008-06-21T22:19:00.001-04:00

14) I interview horribly. I'm amazed I even have a job. When asked what I didn’t want in a job, I once told an interviewer that I didn’t want to wear a tie… Pathetic.

This is actually topical because I’ll be putting my interviewing skills to the test this Monday. I mentioned to the Jewel recently that I was tired of my job and ready for something different. She didn’t waste any time finding something for me at her company. I applied and have an interview the day after tomorrow. I know that I’m more than qualified for it, and with my wife already working there for so long and doing so good at what she does, this job is mine to lose.

Not that that takes the pressure off… We’ll go over some stuff tomorrow to help prepare me for it. She keeps reminding me to not be myself until after I get the job. That’s not very encouraging, but I know what she means. It does make me awfully self conscious though, so it’s not going to help with me nervousness. Anyway, wish me luck…

~

Full Tilt still wants me to be second… I got into a 90 person $5.50 SNG last night because I saw that Scott Fischman was in it. I entered it for no other reason than I wanted to bust him. My plan was really to just get into a hand with him, get him all in, and hope to get lucky. I’m not even sure why I was thinking that, but going in, that’s all I wanted to do. I eventually got a chance, but I chickened out…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6905266024: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (52469464), Table 2 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:30:25 ET - 2008/06/20
Seat 1: TheMan2484 (23,090)
Seat 3: SliderDev (8,065)
Seat 4: wespac23 (18,125)
Seat 5: Scott Fischman (6,270)
Seat 6: Pokergak (4,695)
Seat 7: junkbutton (11,310)
Seat 8: queen4lady (8,430)
Seat 9: AaronLinssen (8,755)
AaronLinssen posts the small blind of 100
TheMan2484 posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Qh Tc]
SliderDev folds
wespac23 folds
Scott Fischman raises to 700
Pokergak folds
junkbutton calls 700
queen4lady folds
AaronLinssen folds
TheMan2484 folds
*** FLOP *** [As 2d 6d]
Scott Fischman checks
junkbutton bets 800
Scott Fischman calls 800
*** TURN *** [As 2d 6d] [3s]
Scott Fischman checks
junkbutton bets 1,600
Scott Fischman raises to 4,770, and is all in
junkbutton folds
Uncalled bet of 3,170 returned to Scott Fischman
Scott Fischman mucks
Scott Fischman wins the pot (6,500)
The blinds are now 120/240 with an ante of 25

Scott was playing ridiculously tight. Like, folding his bb to a min raise with calls in between tight. His raise tells me he has a big hand. I wanted to just push like my original plan was, but I was running real good in this tourney and didn’t want to just throw it all away. I called because I have a ton of chips and QT is my favorite hand, so why not give it a chance… When he checked the flop I put him on kings queens for jacks. When he called my bet I suspected it might have been something better. I decided to take another shot on the turn when he checked again. I don’t think that my bet looked particularly weak, so when he pushed I put him either on two pair or a set of aces. With nothing to draw to I let it go. That was my only hand I played with him. He went out not too long later when his AJ didn’t improve all in preflop vs pocket 4’s.

I ran really good throughout this tourney. I don’t think I lost any major coin flip I found myself in. It was really a good tourney. Right up until the last hand…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6906570858: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (52469464), Table 8 - 1000/2000 Ante 250 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:17:15 ET - 2008/06/20
Seat 1: Slim Red 23 (145,964)
Seat 5: junkbutton (124,036)
Slim Red 23 antes 250
junkbutton antes 250
Slim Red 23 posts the small blind of 1,000
junkbutton posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ac Ad]
Slim Red 23 calls 1,000
junkbutton raises to 6,500
Slim Red 23 raises to 34,000
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton calls 27,500
*** FLOP *** [4c 5h Qc]
junkbutton bets 89,786, and is all in
Slim Red 23 calls 89,786
junkbutton shows [Ac Ad]
Slim Red 23 shows [Jc Js]
*** TURN *** [4c 5h Qc] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [4c 5h Qc 8s] [Jd]
junkbutton shows a pair of Aces
Slim Red 23 shows three of a kind, Jacks
Slim Red 23 wins the pot (248,072) with three of a kind, Jacks
junkbutton stands up
Slim Red 23 stands up

I had him so set up. With the action preflop, I decided to just call his 3-bet in order to push on any flop to make it look like a steal. I get myself in a position to hold 97% of the chips with my opponent having two outs with two cards to come… Of course it’s still me playing, so his third jack comes on the river… $69 for a $5 investment is nice, but first place prize would have been so much sweater (inside joke – I know I spelled that wrong…)…

Checking in...

2008-06-19T19:52:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I was doing so good lately and I’m real disappointed in myself. My only excuse is that I’ve been working a bunch of overtime this week, and there’s always been something to do after work and I’ve been getting home late. Not to mention, the Beag has been uncharacteristically getting up in the middle of the night to go out. Sleep has come at a premium this week. At least three times I’ve sat down to write something, but just couldn’t get the words together. I’ve just wanted to open a table at Full Tilt, sit back and relax. And that’s what I’ve done. Even this little bit of nothing seems to be a chore… God, I’m starting to sound like Pauly…

I’ll have something this weekend, I promise…

Prop bet update...

2008-06-14T20:52:00.001-04:00

The $5,000 PL Omaha w/Rebuys event #28 just started about half an hour ago… Phil Hellmuth (one of my horses in my prop bet with the Case Ace) has already doubled up. Also “Yukon” Brad Booth has busted and decided not to rebuy. It is a well known fact in my circle that the Case Ace could pass as a look-a-like to “Yukon” Brad. It may just be a coincidence, but as far as I’m concerned this is a sign that this prop bet is about to start heading in a whole new direction… Of course first Andy Bloch has to bust from the Razz event that he’s still doing well in and Allen Cunningham is going to have to bust from his final table… Check PokerNews.com for those updates which I expect shortly…

Way Cool Super Fun League, Game 1...

2008-06-14T11:19:00.003-04:00

I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet, but I created a league for me and my poker friends to run over the next 6 months. Basically between now and December we’re going to play six tournaments with an extra fee of $15 for those in the league. Depending on how we finish in the tourney, we’ll earn chips to be used for a “Final Table” tournament that will be played in December and will pay out these monthly fees. I sort of tongue-in-cheekly named it the Way Cool Super Fun League, so in case someone comments here making fun of the name, you'll understand... At the very least the title of this post makes a little more sense...

Last night was the first of the tournaments. We still play our regular $10 buy-in with $5 bounties. There are 7 of us in the league, but two of those players actually failed to show up last night, so the five of us that were playing automatically jumped up two spots in the chip accumulation for the Final Table. That’s a good thing for me because I was the first one out.

I’m not going to be able to accurately remember the hand in its entirety, but basically it came down to between me and the loosest player in our game. He was in the cutoff and I was the big blind. He limped and I’m sure the sb called (doesn’t really matter) and I checked with K6o. The flop came down KTx. The sb checked as did I. The cutoff bet out 150 which was the size of the pot. The sb folded and I just called. The cutoff is not only the loosest player in our game, he’s also a maniac. He could make this play with Q high or a set. He’s really tough to play against (for me anyway – he always seems to have my number). Of course the better play for me at this point would be to raise (or to have bet out on the flop first) to see where I was at, but I honestly don’t know if I would have been able to tell with whatever play he made in response to that. My goal was to try to keep the pot small.

The turn was a blank and I checked. I don’t remember how much he bet out on the turn. It was probably somewhere between 200 and 300 chips. Again I just called. The river brought another T. I’m not loving that card at all right now. I check again. He immediately pushes all in. That was pretty much the only play I didn’t want to see. I had resigned myself to call any reasonable size bet, but I really didn’t want to put myself out with this hand (he had me covered). I tanked for a really long time. The longer I waited the more table chatter was going on, and he was acting very much like he wanted me to call. He was holding his hand in such a way that he was eagerly waiting to be able to turn the hand over. He wanted me to think that he wanted to show these cards.

What I was thinking was this… I was pretty positive he didn’t have a T because of how fast he moved in. There was a flush draw on the flop so he definitely could have been betting that or the straight draw from the beginning. Or he also could have paired the x on the flop. The other possibility that I was thinking about and the one that was strongest in my mind was a K, and with my measly 6 kicker, it wouldn’t take much for that to beat me.

In the end, the way he was acting, almost aggressively pushing his cards at me, giving the impression that he was begging for a call so he could turn them over, and the way he instantaneously moved in so fast, I decided that whatever he held, he did not want me to call, so I did. At first he looked beat which I was happy about, but when we turned over our hands he held KJ for the king with a better kicker. I think he really thought he was beat when I called, but he should have known since it took me so long to get there that he must have had the best hand. Either way, my read on him was right (which is one of the few times I’ve ever been right about this guy’s play), so I’m not too upset. I just really wish I had been a little more aggressive myself instead of weakly calling him down. I’m not sure the outcome would have been different if I had…

~

One good thing about having a laptop now is that once I bust out of the tourney I don’t have to sit there and watch other people play. I can break out the laptop and fire up Full Tilt. Which is exactly what I did after the disappointing hand above. I sat in one of my 6-max SNG’s to see if FT had forgiven me for whatever it was that I did wrong. Apparently she hasn’t…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6815707421: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (51806836), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:58:24 ET - 2008/06/13
Seat 1: Themistro24 (1,365)
Seat 2: duffer32223 (4,635)
Seat 3: LOOSEMCGOOSE (1,425)
Seat 6: junkbutton (1,575)
Themistro24 posts the small blind of 20
duffer32223 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kc Kd]
LOOSEMCGOOSE raises to 80
junkbutton raises to 280
Themistro24 folds
duffer32223 has 15 seconds left to act
duffer32223 calls 240
LOOSEMCGOOSE calls 200
*** FLOP *** [Ks 8s Ah]
duffer32223 has 15 seconds left to act
duffer32223 bets 120
LOOSEMCGOOSE has 15 seconds left to act
LOOSEMCGOOSE raises to 1,145, and is all in
junkbutton raises to 1,295, and is all in
duffer32223 folds
junkbutton shows [Kc Kd]
LOOSEMCGOOSE shows [6h 8h]
Uncalled bet of 150 returned to junkbutton
*** TURN *** [Ks 8s Ah] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [Ks 8s Ah Th] [5h]
junkbutton shows three of a kind, Kings
LOOSEMCGOOSE shows a flush, Ace high
LOOSEMCGOOSE wins the pot (3,270) with a flush, Ace high

I get the guy all in drawing remarkably thin, and yet he still gets there with a runner runner flush. Ah well… I did play another right after that and took it down, so maybe Full Tilt is coming around…

~

After the live tournament that was being played in my house was over (won by the guy who took me out; he actually took out everyone at the table, earning $5 bounties from everyone including the first place prize money. Good for him because he doesn’t usually fare well in our tourneys…) a cash game broke out. At first I intended not to play because I was short on cash and usually suck it in cash games. But eventually I figured I’d splash around a little bit and bought in for $5… Which I quickly lost. Again I was done playing. I was just sitting there trying to be social and playing some .25/.50 HORSE on Tilt. At one point they went out for a smoke, and when they came back in I heard the next game to be dealt (they were playing dealer’s choice) would be Omaha. We don’t play that like ever, so I perked right up and said I’d buy in. So I bought in for another $5 and pretty quickly lost about half of that. So I nursed those few chips left for a while and then I went on a little heater with some wild card games that I wasn’t too familiar with.

Eventually the Case Ace and I decided to introduce Omaha 8 to the other two guys that were playing, and we played a few hands of that. I don’t think I won too much at that point, but eventually the Case Ace busted and decided to call it a night and I was left with two guys who, before tonight, had never played O8 before, and both were intrigued and loving it. It didn’t hurt that I went on another little heater card-wise, but was also playing a split pot game against two guys who really had no clue what kind of strategy to use in such a game (not that my strategy is anything too advanced…). Eventually they caught on to the basics but not before I thought a fight was going to break out… At one point one of them thought that they would win the low because their low hand included the A5 that they held while my low used the 34 that I held in my hand. He thought that since he was using the A, the lowest possible card, his low was lower, but I explained that his 5 was higher than my highest low hand (I believe we each had a 7 high for the low using the board cards). It took quite a while to get him to believe me, and as late as it was and as tired as we all were, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had jumped up and stormed out from frustration. But he held it together, and I think after another hand or two, something clicked in him and he realized why my low hand was better. Without a doubt hi/lo games are difficult to get your mind around when playing for the first time, and this being my first time playing one live, and having to be the expert voice playing with two novice players was no easy task.

In the end I had won back a good chunk of what I lost for the night and was only down around $10. Not bad considering where I was. I’m also excited that these guys enjoyed O8, which has been my favorite cash game to play for a while now, and what I’ve had all (as little as it’s been) my success in lately. Normally I like playing Limit and these guys only want to play NL, but given their experience with it, I’ll have an advantage for at least a little while.

~

My extraordinary ability to prop bet my way into the poor house has gone one step further with my WSOP bet with the Case Ace right now… Allen Cunningham made the final table of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha Event #24 this morning. He is just behind Kyle Kloeckner in the chip count, but both of them are holding almost twice as many as the third place player. It’s a somewhat tough final table with Mihn Ly and Max Pescatori also at the table, but Allen Cunningham is a great great player, so I’m not going to be shocked if he takes this down and earns the Case Ace another $10 for our bet. As of right now though the Case Ace is up by $6. Where the hell is Patrick Antonius!?!

~

And just because I can’t help myself (and seriously, if you were sick of reading these by now you wouldn’t still be coming back), here’s another hand example of Full Tilt keeping me from getting too cocky…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6820729865: Satellite to MSOP Event #27 (51840033), Table 2 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 10:03:34 ET - 2008/06/14
Seat 1: casinoca (1,835)
Seat 2: 69NOVA (2,480)
Seat 3: junkbutton (3,010)
Seat 4: madlib z (3,140)
Seat 5: bfeazell (2,770)
Seat 6: susu95 (6,770)
Seat 7: Leopard25 (2,505)
Seat 8: CS224 (640)
Seat 9: Witchshot (1,570)
susu95 posts the small blind of 100
Leopard25 posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [6h 6d]
CS224 folds
Witchshot folds
casinoca folds
69NOVA folds
junkbutton raises to 600
madlib z folds
bfeazell folds
susu95 folds
Leopard25 calls 400
*** FLOP *** [6c Qc 2c]
Leopard25 bets 1,300
junkbutton raises to 2,410, and is all in
Leopard25 calls 605, and is all in
junkbutton shows [6h 6d]
Leopard25 shows [5d 4c]
Uncalled bet of 505 returned to junkbutton
*** TURN *** [6c Qc 2c] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [6c Qc 2c 3d] [Js]
junkbutton shows three of a kind, Sixes
Leopard25 shows a straight, Six high
Leopard25 wins the pot (5,110) with a straight, Six high
CS224 stands up

Stop me if you've heard this one...

2008-06-12T21:31:00.003-04:00

Full Tilt Poker Game #6802009744: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (51702046), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:30:03 ET - 2008/06/12
Seat 1: junkbutton (2,540)
Seat 6: brinksters (6,460)
brinksters posts the small blind of 40
junkbutton posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Qh Ts]
brinksters raises to 160
junkbutton calls 80
*** FLOP *** [2c Qc 6h]
junkbutton checks
brinksters bets 320
junkbutton raises to 960
brinksters raises to 1,600
junkbutton raises to 2,240
brinksters raises to 2,880
junkbutton calls 140, and is all in
brinksters shows [8c 8h]
junkbutton shows [Qh Ts]
Uncalled bet of 500 returned to brinksters
*** TURN *** [2c Qc 6h] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [2c Qc 6h 4s] [8d]
brinksters shows three of a kind, Eights
junkbutton shows a pair of Queens
brinksters wins the pot (5,080) with three of a kind, Eights
junkbutton stands up
brinksters stands up

100 Things about me #11, #12 and #13

2008-06-11T21:39:00.003-04:00

11) I am a Republican. In a lot of ways, I'm a conservative Republican. 10 years ago, Senator John McCain would have been my dream candidate for President. But I'll be voting for Barrack Obama this coming election. It’s not just because he plays poker… But that’s definitely one of the reasons…

12) I don't think there is a single word that can ruin anybody's credibility worse than "yous". The moment that word comes out of your mouth I have a hard time taking you seriously.

13) I have a weird fascination with the song, Maybe from the movie Annie. I sing it to myself while at work way too much. Sometimes I’ll give it an intro like, “Sometimes I wonder about my real parents, and dream about the day they’ll come back to get me…” I’m sure the first few times my co-workers thought it was funny. Probably not so much anymore…

Full Tilt simply doesn't want me to win...

2008-06-10T21:12:00.002-04:00

These are the last two hands from the last two SNG's I played...

Full Tilt Poker Game #6775412323: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (51498854), Table 1 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:34:28 ET - 2008/06/10
Seat 2: HeatherNJoe (4,740)
Seat 6: junkbutton (4,260)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 100
HeatherNJoe posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Qs Js]
junkbutton calls 100
HeatherNJoe checks
*** FLOP *** [6s 9s 2s]
HeatherNJoe bets 600
junkbutton calls 600
*** TURN *** [6s 9s 2s] [7h]
HeatherNJoe has 15 seconds left to act
HeatherNJoe bets 2,000
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton has requested TIME
junkbutton raises to 3,460, and is all in
HeatherNJoe calls 1,460
junkbutton shows [Qs Js]
HeatherNJoe shows [7c 9c]
*** RIVER *** [6s 9s 2s 7h] [9h]
junkbutton shows a flush, Queen high
HeatherNJoe shows a full house, Nines full of Sevens
HeatherNJoe wins the pot (8,520) with a full house, Nines full of Sevens
junkbutton stands up
HeatherNJoe stands up

Full Tilt Poker Game #6775853123: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (51501853), Table 1 - 120/240 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:09:44 ET - 2008/06/10
Seat 1: junkbutton (1,750)
Seat 4: DerekForeal86 (7,250)
DerekForeal86 posts the small blind of 120
junkbutton posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Tc Th]
DerekForeal86 raises to 7,250, and is all in
junkbutton calls 1,510, and is all in
DerekForeal86 shows [2s 2c]
junkbutton shows [Tc Th]
Uncalled bet of 5,500 returned to DerekForeal86
*** FLOP *** [4c Ac 2h]
*** TURN *** [4c Ac 2h] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [4c Ac 2h 9d] [4s]
DerekForeal86 shows a full house, Twos full of Fours
junkbutton shows two pair, Tens and Fours
DerekForeal86 wins the pot (3,500) with a full house, Twos full of Fours
junkbutton stands up
DerekForeal86 stands up

Where the heck is Patrik Antonius?

2008-06-09T21:23:00.003-04:00

He was my first pick in what's turning out to be a stupid prop bet I made, and his name hasn't been reported playing in any event for 3 freakin' days...

Forget about the curve ball Ricky, give him the heater...

2008-06-09T18:20:00.003-04:00

I went on a super heater at the Omaha 8 Limit tables this weekend. Cashed out from two sessions up 4 buy-ins. The best part is I didn't just turn around and give it back which is what I usually do when I run good at the cash tables. I can’t say there was any phenomenal play by me at any given time, but I sure did catch some cards… Example…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6737125809: Table Albert (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Limit Omaha H/L - 22:49:48 ET - 2008/06/07
Seat 1: idesofmarch ($2.40)
Seat 2: bigdaddy9165 ($4.05)
Seat 3: Alfonse18 ($2.25)
Seat 4: Developer ($14.60)
Seat 5: Smartdonkey ($1.30)
Seat 6: junkbutton ($17.25)
junkbutton posts the small blind of $0.10
idesofmarch posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ts 5s 8s Jh]
bigdaddy9165 calls $0.25
Alfonse18 folds
Developer has 15 seconds left to act
Developer folds
Smartdonkey calls $0.25
junkbutton calls $0.15
idesofmarch checks
*** FLOP *** [Kc 9s Js]
junkbutton checks
idesofmarch checks
bigdaddy9165 checks
Smartdonkey checks
*** TURN *** [Kc 9s Js] [4s]
junkbutton bets $0.50
idesofmarch raises to $1
bigdaddy9165 calls $1
Smartdonkey folds
junkbutton calls $0.50
*** RIVER *** [Kc 9s Js 4s] [7s]
junkbutton checks
idesofmarch bets $0.50
bigdaddy9165 has 15 seconds left to act
bigdaddy9165 folds
junkbutton raises to $1
idesofmarch raises to $1.15, and is all in
junkbutton calls $0.15
*** SHOW DOWN ***
idesofmarch shows [Tc As 6s Jc] a flush, Ace high, for high
junkbutton shows [Ts 5s 8s Jh] a straight flush, Jack high, for high
junkbutton wins the pot ($6) with a straight flush, Jack high
idesofmarch is sitting out
No low hand qualified

~

How is it that women can dress up like they’re going to the beach when my company’s dress code policy changes into “Summer Dress Code”, but the best I get is I can start wearing sandals… Sandals… With long pants… That’s almost as cool as wearing socks with sandals (unless of course you’re Canadian, where, I guess, it’s the norm....). You won’t catch me sporting either… Except maybe in a pinch when I have to take the garbage out, but never out in public…

~

The Jewel and I have our regular dentist cleaning/checkup this Thursday… I guess it’d be a good time to start flossing regularly…

Phil Ivey Eliminated in 9th Place ($37,130)

2008-06-09T06:29:00.002-04:00

So close to evening out the prop bet...

Damn you stud games with your 8 player final tables!

"Miami" John Cernuto Eliminated in Third Place

2008-06-07T23:45:00.001-04:00

Phew...

The thing about longshots…

2008-06-07T10:43:00.001-04:00

…is it really stings when they come in against you…

Yesterday the Case Ace pointed out to me that his “longshot” pick, “Miami” John Cernuto was still running in Event #10, $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low. I wasn’t too worried about it at the time, but I was paying attention when I got home and started following the coverage on pokernews.com. Of course they played deep into the night, and I went to bed not knowing what would happen, but hoping with all my might that he would go busto…

This morning I got up pretty early and went right to my computer to get an update and expected to see a final table lined up. Nope. At around 5:30 this morning, they were still playing down to that final table. There were 13 left in the field and they were playing down to 8 players for the final table. For close to the next 3 hours I constantly hit refresh looking for updates; waiting for “Miami” John to stumble and save me from my bet.

I don’t know what was going on with him, but I swear he was not involved in a single reported hand for that entire three house… Hand after hand was reported and his name was never mentioned. I was keeping an eye on his chip count and that fluctuated a little bit, but he just never got involved in any hands. For a while I wondered if he was even sitting there, but then his chip stack grew by about 5,000 and I figured nobody would be giving him a walk when he wasn’t there.

Over that three hours, I watched players get bumped, but no “Miami” John. Then finally, just before 8:30 this morning, Brandon Cantu busted out by the hand of non-other-than, “Miami” John Cernuto… Whoopty-fuckin’-do…

junkbutton: 0 the Case Ace: 1

The final table resumes play tonight at 4pm Vegas time, 7pm EST. You can bet I’ll be tuning in to pokernews.com’s incredible coverage to make sure “Miami” John doesn’t take me from $3 down in my prop bet to $10.

I didn’t think I had anything to post tonight…

2008-06-05T20:21:00.000-04:00

And then this hand came up…

Looks like Full Tilt just wants me to take second in my SNG’s right now… I was running so well in this tourney and I was trying so hard to set this guy up for a hand just like this. And when it arrives, he catches miracle runner runner. I’ve been experimenting with over betting for value, and I actually made huge raises with huge hands and didn’t get the call throughout this tourney. Finally I get this guy to put it all in on the flop with ace high… Once the T hit, I had no doubt what was dropping on the river.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6709295328: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (50996630), Table 1 - 120/240 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:09:20 ET - 2008/06/05
Seat 4: pokerowl1977 (3,860)
Seat 6: junkbutton (5,140)
pokerowl1977 posts the small blind of 120
junkbutton posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [5s 4s]
pokerowl1977 raises to 480
junkbutton calls 240
*** FLOP *** [Js 4h 5h]
junkbutton checks
pokerowl1977 bets 960
junkbutton raises to 4,660, and is all in
pokerowl1977 calls 2,420, and is all in
junkbutton shows [5s 4s]
pokerowl1977 shows [Ac Kc]
Uncalled bet of 1,280 returned to junkbutton
*** TURN *** [Js 4h 5h] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Js 4h 5h Td] [Qh]
junkbutton shows two pair, Fives and Fours
pokerowl1977 shows a straight, Ace high
pokerowl1977 wins the pot (7,720) with a straight, Ace high

Prop bet and Lobster Empathy Center...

2008-06-04T20:35:00.002-04:00

How can PETA expect to be taken seriously… This is from my hometown newspaper…

http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5119011.html

~

Today at work I set up an WSOP prop bet with my friend, the Case Ace. I was inspired by some of the bets that were made over on High On Poker. We’ve each picked 4 players including 1 woman and for each final table they make we’ll win $3, and for each bracelet they win, we’ll win $10.

I won the coin flip and picked Patrik Antonius first. I’ve been reading Patrik’s blog for a little while now and I think he’s in a great frame of mind for the series. He’s been known as the best player not sponsored by an online site for a while now and since he was recently signed by Full Tilt, I think he’s going to be even more inspired to go deep in a lot of tournaments this season. He’s already got one final table this year, and I think he’s due for a few more…

The Case Ace took Allen Cunningham with his first pick. Allen was number 5 on my master list, but someone I certainly wouldn’t have been upset with if I picked him up in my top 3. It was a good pick, and I told the Case Ace as much.

For my second pick I went with professional WSOP bracelet collector, Phil Hellmuth, because, as I told the Case Ace, winning bracelets is what he does best. I don’t think it’ll be long before Hellmuth puts some padding between his record 11 WSOP bracelets and the 10 of his closest competitors, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson. I’m hoping this is the year he starts…

For his second pick, the Case Ace chose “Miami” John Cernuto. He called him a longshot, I said it was a gutsy pick. Though “Miami” John is a much more accomplished player than I’ll ever be able to give him credit for (because I’m just not going to take the time to look up his stats…), he just isn’t in the limelight like, at all… So how many events he plans to play or how focused he is on the series is anybody’s guess. Unless my fellow degenerate, the Case Ace, knows something I don’t (which is usually the case…), I think this might be a good pick for me…

My last pick was a hard one. So far I had gotten my number one and number two pick. Everything was going good. The next two on my list were both still available, and in reality I could get my top three choices in this thing. On my master list, my number three pick was Andy Bloch and my number 4 pick was Phil Ivey. I wasn’t expecting to be able to actually choose between them. I figured the Case Ace would have snatched one of them by now and that would make the decision easy. When I made the list in preparation of this draft, I felt that Andy Bloch was the best choice. He’s already taken on second place in the WSOP so far this year, and it’s been well documented that he is the best player to have never won a bracelet. It’s really only a matter of time… On the other hand, Phil Ivey is… PHIL IVEY! It’s also well documented that he’s got bets out all over the place that he will win a bracelet this year. Shouldn’t that mean that he’s a lock to take one down this year? Probably not, but that was my thinking when I chose him as my number three pick. I ended up going against my master list and choosing my number 4 overall player as my number 3.

I regretted the pick as soon as I made it and if the pain of making that decision wasn’t harsh enough, for the Case Ace’s last pick, he went with none-other-than, Andy freakin’ Bloch… And dare I say, he INSTA-picked him… Obviously the Case Ace had all the confidence in that pick that I thought I would have when I made my initial master list, and when I couldn’t pull the trigger, the Case Ace took the swing without a second thought. Damn… I know that one will come back to bite me…

Since I had first pick on the guys, the Case Ace got first pick for the lady. It didn’t really matter. I mean, it’s such a crap shoot to pick a guy to final table a WSOP event, it’s an even longer shot to guess what woman is going to make it that deep. The Case Ace went with JJ Liu for his woman. Why, I don’t know. Maybe he actually did a little research to see who was known to get deep in these tourneys. Maybe he thinks that she is due. Or maybe he just picked her name out of a hat.

There was no hat picking when it came to my lady pick. I went with Shannon Elizabeth. I chose her for a couple of reasons, and only one of them is because she’s hot. The bigger reason is that she’s being backed by Doyle’s Room this year and I think she’s going to be playing a lot of events. The more events she enters the better the chance she’ll get deep. I also think she wants to be taken seriously as a poker player. That is a big motivation and I think she’ll be playing her best at all time.

We’re going to keep track of stats with events that started today (events 7 & 8) and go through the rest of the series when we’ll settle up from the results. If nothing else this will make keeping track of what’s going on in Vegas a lot more interesting for me.

100 Things about me #8, #9 and #10

2008-06-03T21:27:00.004-04:00

8) As a child, I said Goodnight to my mom. Nowadays I’ll say Goodnight to my wife. I’ll even say Goodnight to the Beag… However… Just because I work 9 hours a day in the same room as you, and it’s time to go home, when I’m walking out the door, I don’t need you saying “Goodnight” to me. I’ll see you tomorrow. Let’s leave it at that… You can tell me to have a Good Night... But unless you're tucking me in, you can just take it easy... or, see me later... or maybe even wish me a safe drive home... Seriously. I will walk around the entire perimeter of my department to avoid walking past the desk of people I KNOW have to say Goodnight to me at the end of the day. How messed up is that?

9) For the last 8 years or so, since the Jewel and I started sharing a tube of toothpaste, when we get towards the end and it becomes difficult to get the last bit of paste out of the tube, we always have a contest (sometimes without even alerting the other that we’re in such a contest) to see who ends up having to replace the tube. I’ve never lost...

10) I’m sick of foreigners telling me how much the US sucks. Matthew Good is one of my favorite musicians and I love his blog, but I only read about a third of it because almost every post is about how fucked up the U.S. is. Dude, you’re from Canada… What do you care? The Jewel also has a very opinionated European in her extended family. I stopped listening to him a long time ago… In his defense though, it’s not just because of his political views… he’s also an idiot.

Full Tilt's poker gods are coming around...

2008-06-02T19:17:00.003-04:00

Two hands from a SNG tonight where I didn't really get in with the best of it...

I don't feel bad for this first one because this guy was just stupid for raising and then calling a 4 bet with J9o...

Full Tilt Poker Game #6668155291: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (50681686), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:35:01 ET - 2008/06/02
Seat 1: AJPOPULAR (5,315)
Seat 2: junkbutton (1,750)
Seat 3: Sim_nofx (790)
Seat 4: Pkastyler (1,145), is sitting out
AJPOPULAR posts the small blind of 30
junkbutton posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ad Ah]
Pkastyler has returned
Sim_nofx folds
Pkastyler folds
AJPOPULAR calls 30
junkbutton raises to 180
AJPOPULAR raises to 300
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton raises to 720
AJPOPULAR calls 420
*** FLOP *** [Js 6d Jh]
AJPOPULAR checks
junkbutton bets 1,030, and is all in
AJPOPULAR calls 1,030
junkbutton shows [Ad Ah]
AJPOPULAR shows [Jd 9c]
*** TURN *** [Js 6d Jh] [As]
*** RIVER *** [Js 6d Jh As] [8d]
junkbutton shows a full house, Aces full of Jacks
AJPOPULAR shows three of a kind, Jacks
junkbutton wins the pot (3,500) with a full house, Aces full of Jacks

Full Tilt Poker Game #6668394986: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (50681686), Table 1 - 120/240 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:54:40 ET - 2008/06/02
Seat 1: AJPOPULAR (2,745)
Seat 2: junkbutton (2,340)
Seat 3: Sim_nofx (2,260)
Seat 4: Pkastyler (1,655)
Pkastyler posts the small blind of 120
AJPOPULAR posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [As 4s]
junkbutton raises to 2,340, and is all in
Sim_nofx calls 2,260, and is all in
Pkastyler folds
AJPOPULAR folds
junkbutton shows [As 4s]
Sim_nofx shows [Js Ac]
Uncalled bet of 80 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [8d 2c 4h]
*** TURN *** [8d 2c 4h] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [8d 2c 4h Qs] [Ad]
junkbutton shows two pair, Aces and Fours
Sim_nofx shows a pair of Aces
junkbutton wins the pot (4,880) with two pair, Aces and Fours
Sim_nofx stands up

Cash games suck…

2008-06-01T17:52:00.001-04:00

I don’t know if it’s a patience thing or what, but I just can’t get a handle on the cash game. Twice today I get stacked running paint pocket pairs into aces all in preflop… Got stacked flopping a set to a turned flush (I bet ¾ of the pot on the flop which also held an ace along with two spades; there was a raise preflop so I put him on an ace at best… nope, Q4s)… I pretty much just treaded water this weekend… The cash games did not help.

I guess I didn’t stay away from the game long enough…

2008-05-31T08:27:00.000-04:00

Here’s a sampling of what Full Tilt has thrown at me in just the little bit that I’ve played last night and this morning…

In this first hand, I can’t stress enough how fast this guy INSTA-called my push here…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6630417981: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (50396157), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:09:55 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 1: junkbutton (950)
Seat 2: Tackler (2,190)
Seat 3: GangGreen1 (1,020)
Seat 5: TheOWL99 (3,315)
Seat 6: JC Cheff (1,525)
JC Cheff posts the small blind of 40
junkbutton posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Td Qd]
Tackler raises to 160
GangGreen1 folds
TheOWL99 folds
JC Cheff folds
junkbutton raises to 950, and is all in
Tackler calls 790
junkbutton shows [Td Qd]
Tackler shows [Ts Js]
*** FLOP *** [9s Jc 5h]
*** TURN *** [9s Jc 5h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [9s Jc 5h 6s] [Jh]
junkbutton shows a pair of Jacks
Tackler shows three of a kind, Jacks
Tackler wins the pot (1,940) with three of a kind, Jacks
junkbutton stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,940 | Rake 0
Board: [9s Jc 5h 6s Jh]
Seat 1: junkbutton (big blind) showed [Td Qd] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 2: Tackler showed [Ts Js] and won (1,940) with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 3: GangGreen1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: TheOWL99 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: JC Cheff (small blind) folded before the Flop

And in this one, I had this guy so set up… Get him all in with 3 outs and surprise, surprise, there it is… What really sucks is I walked him right into bluffing off almost all his chips earlier (he put me all in), I make the call and double up, and he’s giving me shit for it. I finally showed him that he was my little dancing monkey with this hand, and the poker gods like him more…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6635303689: $10 + $0.50 Heads Up Sit & Go (50433589), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 8:12:00 ET - 2008/05/31
Seat 1: Ale-K5- (1,020)
Seat 2: junkbutton (1,980)
Ale-K5- posts the small blind of 30
junkbutton posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kh Ad]
Ale-K5- calls 30
junkbutton raises to 180
Ale-K5- raises to 1,020, and is all in
junkbutton calls 840
Ale-K5- shows [As Tc]
junkbutton shows [Kh Ad]
*** FLOP *** [5h Qd Ts]
*** TURN *** [5h Qd Ts] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [5h Qd Ts 8c] [5d]
Ale-K5- shows two pair, Tens and Fives
junkbutton shows a pair of Fives
Ale-K5- wins the pot (2,040) with two pair, Tens and Fives

Full Tilt also made me bleed at the cash table too… Beautiful set up hand, QQ vs AA… Bleh…

This is what we’ve all been waiting for kids...

2008-05-30T21:16:00.002-04:00

World Series of Poker 2008 kicked off earlier this afternoon. I know where I’m getting my updates from, do you?

He’s who we all wish we could grow up to be. He’s living the dream. For the next two months, I’ll be living it through him.

Have you checked your closets lately?

Homeless Japanese woman evicted from closet

How's this for awesome? Prince covered Radioheads song Creep at a concert. Some kids taped it, like all kids do nowadays at concerts, and put it up on youtube. Prince's label got wind of it and asked youtube to take it down, as it's copyrighted material. Youtube did of course. Then Radiohead got heard about Prince covering their song. They said, "No shit? I'd like to see that." When they found out that Prince had it taken down from youtube, they were like, "Uh, that's our song. We decide if it comes down or not..." Apparantly right now they say it stays up. Check it out after the link...

Radiohead to Prince: Hey that's OUR song

It's not great, but it's still Prince doing Creep, so it can't be that bad... Watch it while you can, 'cuz it might not stay up long....

100 things about me #6

2008-05-29T19:09:00.002-04:00

6) When I was about 4 years old I had an operation on my throat. I believe it was to have growths removed from my tonsils (why they didn’t just take out my tonsils, I have no idea…). That one traumatic experience has fucked me up more than anything else in my life. It is the single biggest event in my life that has had more influence on how I am now than anything that’s ever happened to me or anything that ever could. I believe that everyone has some event that happens to them when they are young that has a huge influence on how they are as an adult. This operation is mine. Maybe that's just a convenient excuse... But I don't think so. About 7 or 8 years ago that event inspired the following story that I wrote for a creative writing class. This is the way I remember it…

~

The walls of the room were made out of a white sheet that was held up with a curtain rod. In the middle of the room was a small bed that I sat on. My parents stood on either side. Watching me… Waiting.

Suddenly the sheet was pulled back and an alien walked in. She had shoulder length brown hair and was wearing a long white coat. A little blue nametag was above a pocket that held a single pen. In one hand she carried a light blue piece of cloth. In the other was a clipboard. She stood at the foot of the bed.

My parents walked to her, where they stood talking in low voices. Occasionally I would hear my name, and twice the alien looked up at me. I sat there looking back and forth between them and my hands. I laid back on the bed, resting my head on a stiff pillow. I began singing quietly to myself. “A-B-C-D-E-F-G… H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P…”

“Nolan?”

“Huh?” I didn’t recognize the strange voice that said my name. I looked up to see the alien looking down at me. My parents stood at her side.

“Nolan, I need you to put on this gown, and I’ll be back in a few minutes to get you, OK?”

I looked at her blankly. I looked at my parents. My mother was smiling at me. I smiled at her. “Um, ok”, I said. The alien turned and walked out of the room, closing the sheet behind her.

My mother came over to me and sat me up on the bed. As she pulled my shirt over my head, I asked, “Mommy, what’s a gown?”

“This is”, she said pointing at the light blue piece of cloth that laid on the bed. The alien must have put it there, I thought. My mother started taking off my shoes.

“Why do I have to put it on?”

She put my shoes on the floor and started taking off my socks. “After this, we’re going to go for ice cream”, she said. “What kind are you going to have?” She put my socks next to my shirt on the bed.

“What kind do they have?”

“Well, any kind you can think of, I imagine. How about chocolate?” She lifted me to my feet so I was standing on the bed.

“Sure!” I stood there thinking about a big bowl of chocolate ice cream as she started to unzip my pants. “Can I get those little brown sprinkles on it?”

“You sure can”, she said as she pulled down my pants. “Now, step out of your pants.”

“And what about Cool Whip? Can I have some Cool Whip on it too?” Holding on to her neck for balance, one foot at a time, I stepped out of my pants.

“Anything you want.” She started to pull down my underwear. My eyes shot around the room. I heard voices and footsteps on the other side of the sheet. There were more aliens out there, and any second they could walk in and see me naked. My cheeks turned red.

“Do I have to take my underwear off?” I asked covering myself with my hands. I looked from her to my father.

“I don’t think he’d have to take those off”, my father said to my mother.

“No, probably not”, my mother said. “They’re not going to do anything down there.”

Relieved, I quickly pulled my underwear back up as fast as I could. My mother took the gown and held it in front of me. I put my arms through the sleeves. She turned me around and tied up the back. I sat back down on the bed and listened to the sounds from the other side of the sheet. My parents stood together looking at me. “Where are we going next?” I asked.

“Well”, my mother began, “We’re going to another room where the doctor will help your throat. He needs to fix it so that it doesn’t hurt anymore. And then, you can eat all the ice cream you want!”

That made me smile. My parents didn’t let me eat very much ice cream, and I couldn’t wait to get my little hands around a big bowl of it. I laid back and pretended my hand was a dinosaur and it was eating my other hand, which was a big scoop of chocolate ice cream. “Munch, munch, munch”, my dinosaur hand said. “NOOOO! Don’t eat me!”, my ice cream hand cried. “It’s too late, now!”, my dinosaur hand said, “You’re all gone!” My ice cream hand melted off the side of the bed.

The sheet wall was pulled back again, and the alien walked in. I looked up from my dinosaur hand that had been singing about cookies, to see her standing there looking at me. I quickly looked at my parents who were looking at me too. I didn’t like the alien very much.

“Are you all ready to go?”, she asked me.

I looked at my parents who were waiting for me to answer. “I guess so”, I said.

“OK, then”, she said as she pulled back the sheet even further. On the other side was another bed that was a little smaller than the one I was laying on, and had metal bars on the sides. There were two other aliens standing next to it. Both were wearing long white coats with little blue nametags like the first alien. “Why don’t you hop up on here, and we can get going”, the first alien said.

My mother came over to me, and picked me up. She quietly carried me over to the other bed and laid me down in it. “Why do I have to be on this?” I asked.

“Shhh”, she said as she kissed my forehead. “As soon as we leave, you can have all the ice cream you want.” She looked down at me and smiled. I smiled at her.

The two aliens started rolling the bed down the hallway. One on either side of me. My parents were walking with us, by the head of the bed. I looked in front of us and saw a long hallway with two swinging doors at the end. To the right, there was another hallway. I looked back at my parents, who were both watching me. As we approached the hallway, I saw the first alien pointing it out to my parents. Then, as we got to the hallway, my parents, and the first alien turned and started to walk down the hallway. I was still being pushed down the main hallway by the other two aliens.

“MOMMY!” I cried. But she didn’t turn back. I tried to sit up, but the two aliens held me down. “Let me go!” I screamed. “MOMMY!” I started crying, struggling with the aliens.

They looked down at me, and one of them said, “What a brave boy you are. You’re doing so good.”

“MOMMY!” I cried again, but she didn’t hear me. She was gone. I cried harder.

The aliens pushed me through the doors at the end of the hallway, and rolled me under a bright light. Through my tears, the room was a kaleidoscope of bright lights. I tried again to sit up, but another hand pushed me back down. Another alien with a white mask over her face peered down at me. In her hand she held a black rubber mask with a black hose coming out of it.

“Now, I’m going to put this over your nose and mouth, Nolan, and I want you to count to ten. Can you do that for me?”

“NO!” I screamed. “Let me go! MOMMY!”

Another pair of hands held my head back against the pillow, and the alien lowered the black mask over my face. I cried harder.

“Now, count to ten with me, Nolan. One… Two… Come on, you can do it. Three…”

I laid there crying at the alien, struggling to get up. Struggling to escape. No matter how hard I tried to keep them open, my eyes slowly started to close. I cried out one last time, and then I was gone.

Movie Night...

2008-05-28T18:03:00.003-04:00

The Jewel and I went to see the 4th installment of the Indiana Jones franchise last night. I found this one just like all the others for me… I had no idea what was going on most of the time, but there were lots of fun chase scenes to keep me interested. Indiana Jones was never a big deal for me. I would have much rather gone to see Iron Man, but the Jewel pulled rank and Jones it was…

The highlight of the night for me was the theater itself. Regal recently took over the mall theater and my father in law (who was with us) had a coupon, so that’s where we went. Admittedly, I have little experience with mall movie theaters. I can only remember going once or twice in the past, and both times were unimpressive. The place is dark, it doesn’t smell the best, and the theaters themselves are ruthlessly outdated. This description couldn’t be further from what I experienced last night…

The outside of it was just so inviting, I can’t even describe it. It looked like a place that was just exciting to walk into. Inside, the place was bright and clean and cheerful. Everyone working there seemed happy and eager to help. I imagine it’s not going to stay this way; it just opened a week ago, but my first experience was a good one.

The theaters were big and CLEAN and comfortable. Almost too comfortable, really. The stadium seating was very modern with super high backs and arm rests that go up to give you more room or to allow you to snuggle in closer to that someone special. They rocked a quite a bit to allow you to lean back, which I can somewhat see why people like that, but personally I like stationary support, and these weren’t giving it to me. But still, for a 2 hour movie I can get through it, and the eons of leg room more than made up for any possible complaint I could come up with…

Like I said, the movie itself was good enough for me… I was really coming in expecting to see a lot of CGI stuff to make it more exciting for the over the hill Harrison Ford, but honestly I didn’t feel cheated in that way. There was one scene at the beginning that I saw on every preview I saw for the move that featured an obviously computerized Ford use his whip to swing his way through a warehouse chasing a Jeep. That scene seemed a little over the top for me, and I was expecting a lot more of the same throughout. Fortunately it really didn’t go that way. There were some over the top action scenes for sure, but Jones didn’t do anything that I wouldn’t believe someone with his background and experience would or could at 60+ years of age. You’ve got to give them a little extra rope because it’s a movie and because Indiana Jones is more or less an action hero, but nothing was really over the top. Nothing along the lines of Die Hard 4 (which you have to give miles of rope to right off the top because come on, it’s John McClane!).

~

You may (or may not) have noticed I added a few more links to other blogs I read. In addition to some of the pros (Doyle Brunson is a MUST read! Not only for a look into the life of someone who’s living the dream, but into the life of someone who’s lived the dream for 50+ years…) I also started recently reading Donkette’s. She is putting out some incredible posts about her recovery from drug addiction. It’s really intriguing stuff that really needs to be read. I’m a little behind on my blog reading, so I don’t know how many posts long the epic story is as of right now, but I just finished part 13. It sounds like a lot, but it’s really awesome reading and you’ll fly right through it (and hopefully learn some things from her mistakes).

~

My great run last week on the virtual felt came to a complete halt over the weekend. I started out with a lot of seconds in my 6 max SNGs, which is really just enough to keep you afloat, but that soon gave way to a lot of 3rds. I didn’t fair any better in the few MTTs I played, and then when I got bored losing money there, I moved over to some limit O8 where I could lose a few bucks and not even know if it was me playing bad or the other guy… I can’t say this for my O8 games, but I am confident for the most part in how I played my hold em games. Regardless, I am giving myself a little break. Movie last night so no time to play, and I don’t plan on playing tonight. Maybe tomorrow night, but most likely I won’t fire up the tables until Friday. I’m just giving myself a few days to let the tension ease and regain focus.
~

This may all be common sense to most of you out there, but it wasn’t for me, so I’m posting about it in case someone else out there is searching for the explanation that I had a hard time finding…

Like I said, the other day I was able to get Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 through the Jewel’s work for just $20. Well, my sister in-law was none-too-happy that she couldn’t get in on this deal too, so she searched out her own cheap version. She came across a site that was selling it for around $28 and she couldn’t figure out why it was so cheap. Other places are selling it for over $500, and here it was, from what looked like a reputable site, for pennies on the dollar. She asked me to check it out and see what I could find out.

The part that looked out of place on the product page was where it listed License Type. Under License Type, it said Media Only. Now I’m not a wiz when it comes to software, so for all I knew (and perhaps other less than knowledgeable consumers out there), Media Only is a type of license. There was no explanation as to what I can do with this Media Only license after purchase, so maybe it was legit.

Just as I was about to report to my sis-in-law to go ahead and take a chance on this $28 software (because come on, if it works you got it for 28 freakin’ dollars!), I decided to try one more things…

Yahoo Answers is fast becoming one of my favorite sites. Have a question about something? Ask it there and you’ll get 101 answers, some of which might actually be right. Usually you don’t even have to ask, just do a search and someone has probably already asked it, and someone else has probably already answered it. Well that’s what I did. It took me a few tries to get the right combination of key words to get the question/answer that I was looking for, but finally I had my answer. That’s a big reason as to why I’m even mentioning this in my blog here. Like I said, most people probably already know how software licenses work and already know the conclusion I came up with in my search, but there are a few of us out there that don’t know it, and when searching, it wasn’t the easiest needle in the haystack to find…

What I came across was this. The answer is, when someone is selling software cheap, and the listed License Type is Media Only, it means that you aren’t getting a license. You may ask yourself, well why would anyone buy that? The answer is, the person who buys this is someone who already has a license but no longer has the disk to install the product (in our case Microsoft Office Enterprise). If someone had purchased it in the past but needed to reinstall it, but didn’t have the disk anymore (and yet still had their license number…) then they would buy a software package whose License Type was listed as Media Only. All others would have to buy the version that included an actual license.

I hope I included enough key words in there so that someone searching Google looking for the same answer I was looking for the other day will come across this post and get their answer easier than I did.

~

I can not stop listening to this song...

It's been a while...

2008-05-25T11:50:00.000-04:00

The Jewel gave me the greenlight to get a laptop a few weeks ago. After Wi-Fiing the house, I guess it was the next sensible step. I was happy to get the new computer now while Windows XP was still available. I’ve read too many not so-great-things about Vista, and I knew that Microsoft would stop putting out XP at the end of next month, so getting it now made sense for me and I’m happy I did. I got it last week and have been spending all my free time on it.

I think the Jewel was so agreeable to me getting it was because I could spend more time in whatever room she was in and less hours in the office. And that’s exactly what has happened. I was able to play pretty much every night last week while still spending quality time with the fam because I was able to do it while being mobile throughout the house. I actually think that it helped me stay focused on my game because I was less distracted surfing the internet.

I actually went on a great run last week getting my Tilt bankroll up to where it was back before I staked a friend of mine that I mentioned a few months ago. It started with a satellite win for $109 tourney dollars and with that I went on a nice little tear of my SNGs. Unfortunately it’s slowed down a little bit these last couple of days but I still feel very confident in how I’m playing.

~

Because I haven’t spent any time on my desktop computer I haven’t been able to write up any blog posts. I didn’t get Office with the new laptop because the Jewel is able to get Office Enterprise through her work for just $20. That finally arrived yesterday so now I’m able to start writing again. I know a lot of bloggers just open up blogger and start typing, but I don’t feel comfortable enough to write anything lengthy in just a white box.

~

I played in the Tuckfard Monday night tourney for the first time this week. It’s at 7pm which is a much better time for me during the week rather than the other blogger related tourneys that don’t start until 9 or 10pm. BamBam was pimping it on his blog about a month ago and I always meant to check it out and play but just never got the chance to. I was somewhat disappointed with the turnout – only 5 people showed, but it was a fun little tourney.

On one of the first hands, after one player limped and the sb folded, I checked with Td9d in the bb. The flop came down J9x with two diamonds. I bet out 60 into the pot of 75. My opponent raised to 120, which I then bumped up to 300. He called. The turn was an off suit ace. I put out a defensive bet of 390 which he quickly called. The river was an off suit 8. I checked as did my opponent. He showed KJ for a flopped pair of jacks. I have no issue with the way I played the hand. The only thing I would have liked to do differently is bet again on the river, but seeing as he was calling down with one pair after some strong aggression on the flop, I have no doubt he would have called up to all of my chips on the river.

After that hand, someone wrote in the chat, “chasing the flush will getcha”. I didn’t write anything back, but I didn’t really like that comment too much. Obviously the guy wasn’t paying attention to the hand. I’m pretty sure all of these guys that I was playing with had played together before either in this weekly tournament or other games. I’m sure they have a hard time finding faults in each other’s play, so as the outsider, obviously I must have played it wrong. I don’t feel like I was chasing anything. I held middle pair and a flush draw and I was BETTING it. My opponent was CALLING DOWN with just a pair, which after the turn wasn’t even top pair, and I believe with all my might, without a question or second thought, that if I had put my last 780 chips in the middle of the table that he would have insta-called off almost all of his remaining chips (he had about 200 more chips than me to start the hand) with that middle pair king kicker… I don’t think betting with a draw (and for all I know he was the one drawing) can ever be described as chasing.

This certainly won’t keep me from playing in this weekly tournament. In fact the only thing I didn’t like about it was the regular tournament blind levels with such a small field. Ordinarily that wouldn’t bother me but when it got down to heads up (I still made it deep even when starting out by bleeding off so many chips) the two stacks were so deep that it took forever… I actually pushed the action a little too hard (which is something I am usually good at NOT doing when heads up) and ended up finishing in second. It really didn’t bother me because the difference between first and second was just 2 bucks. Maybe if word gets around about this tourney a growing field will make for a bigger prize pool. It’s a fun little game with a cheap buy-in ($3.00 + $0.50) with a dollar going toward knockouts. It’s every Monday night on Full Tilt at 7pm EST, the password is donkey.

Quads again!

2008-05-18T20:26:00.000-04:00

This time not for me... And I paid him off...

Full Tilt Poker Game #6471666040: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (49203185), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:23:50 ET - 2008/05/18
Seat 1: tecumseh781 (1,665)
Seat 2: Kottonmouth22 (1,730)
Seat 3: BigJohn1970 (665)
Seat 4: jessal2 (1,085)
Seat 5: TheMarauder23 (1,690)
Seat 6: junkbutton (2,165)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 40
tecumseh781 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kc 7s]
Kottonmouth22 has 15 seconds left to act
Kottonmouth22 calls 80
BigJohn1970 folds
jessal2 calls 80
TheMarauder23 calls 80
junkbutton calls 40
tecumseh781 checks
*** FLOP *** [4c 4d 7c]
junkbutton checks
tecumseh781 checks
Kottonmouth22 checks
jessal2 checks
TheMarauder23 checks
*** TURN *** [4c 4d 7c] [2d]
junkbutton bets 240
tecumseh781 folds
Kottonmouth22 calls 240
jessal2 folds
TheMarauder23 folds
*** RIVER *** [4c 4d 7c 2d] [8c]
junkbutton checks
Kottonmouth22 bets 880
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton has requested TIME
junkbutton calls 880
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kottonmouth22 shows [4s 4h] four of a kind, Fours
junkbutton mucks
Kottonmouth22 wins the pot (2,640) with four of a kind, Fours

Quads...

2008-05-18T20:00:00.002-04:00

And I get paid off too!

Full Tilt Poker Game #6470290759: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (49193239), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:39:05 ET - 2008/05/18
Seat 1: fatflynn34 (1,135)
Seat 3: junkbutton (3,595)
Seat 4: Jef7 (3,830)
Seat 5: steeltown1966 (440)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 40
Jef7 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [5d 5h]
steeltown1966 folds
fatflynn34 folds
junkbutton calls 40
Jef7 raises to 240
junkbutton calls 160
*** FLOP *** [3s 5s 5c]
junkbutton checks
Jef7 bets 480
junkbutton calls 480
*** TURN *** [3s 5s 5c] [8c]
junkbutton checks
Jef7 has 15 seconds left to act
Jef7 bets 1,440
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton has requested TIME <<<< In the voice of Jon Lovitz: "ACTING!!"
junkbutton raises to 2,875, and is all in
Jef7 calls 1,435
junkbutton shows [5d 5h]
Jef7 shows [2d 2s]
*** RIVER *** [3s 5s 5c 8c] [7d]
junkbutton shows four of a kind, Fives
Jef7 shows two pair, Fives and Twos
junkbutton wins the pot (7,190) with four of a kind, Fives

100 Things about me, #3, #4 & #5

2008-05-18T14:18:00.002-04:00

3) I’m very brand loyal… Jif, Tide, Caress, Charmin, Heinz, Pepsi, Bulls Eye BBQ Sauce, Colgate… Store brands just won’t do!

4) I don’t wear pink or purple. Once I was at the a store trying on dress shirts, and instead of trying on the ones that were still wrapped in plastic, the salesperson gave me a couple that were the same brand and style and size, but were already opened. One was pink and the other was purple. I found that pretty ironic. The Jewel found it hysterical...

5) My favorite food is tacos, but even more important than the tacos is taco sauce. I buy it in bulk from BJ’s, and I honestly can not get enough. Ortega is another brand I am loyal to…

Standoff...

2008-05-13T18:14:00.002-04:00

The live coverage of this crazy motherfucker made me miss How I Met Your Mother last night… Thank god for CBS replaying their shows online… If you’re going to kill yourself just do it. There’s no need to ruin everybody else’s day…

Story here...

Weakness...

2008-05-11T15:50:00.003-04:00

Putting more money in on the river when I KNOW that fifth street just made mine the worst hand is a weakness that I have to work on... Having the second best hand is nothing to be proud of, so there's no reason to show it off to your opponent.

100 Things about me #1 and #2

2008-05-10T12:27:00.001-04:00

1) I don’t say, “Bless you” when someone sneezes. I’ve never really seen the point. I have no real blessing ability, so why bother? Is it supposed to be polite? How is me acknowledging someone else sneezing polite? They have an involuntary spasm, and I have to interrupt MY day? I don’t think so. Wouldn’t it be more polite if they were to say, “Excuse me,” after they sneeze? That’s what I do. The other day, one of the big wigs at my job was hanging around and she sneezed. Four people almost died trying to be the first one to say, “Bless you.” I don’t get it. I’m really bothered by people who will say “Bless you” to someone they don’t even know. Walking through the grocery store, let out a sneeze, and some bimbo from two aisles over says, “Bless you.” The next time someone says that to me, I’m going to tell them to mind their own fucking business.

2) The farm that this Sesame Street clip was filmed at is right around the corner from where I grew up. I believe at least three of the kids in the clip are cousins of mine, though I don’t recognize them in the clip… The man working the press is the father of my uncle’s wife.

Luck hasn't changed yet...

2008-05-09T22:23:00.003-04:00

I took a couple of deep runs tonight in MTTs, but not deep enough to cash... Both of them were $2.25 buy-ins. One was a regular 6-max tourney. In this one I was never really able to get anything going for the most part. I pretty much stayed towards the end of the pack, but I was surviving. With 129 runners, we were down to 22 with 15 getting paid. At this point I was actually running in the middle, I believe I was right in 11th place at the time. Then I got involved in this hand against the table chip leader and was taken out...

Full Tilt Poker Game #6353441401: $2 + $0.25 Tournament (48233913), Table 18 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:11:39 ET - 2008/05/09
Seat 1: kenoman22 (7,298)
Seat 3: junkbutton (8,070)
Seat 4: MelvinRingue (20,644)
Seat 5: sennsational1 (7,875)
Seat 6: grotto4 (6,020), is sitting out
kenoman22 antes 25
junkbutton antes 25
MelvinRingue antes 25
sennsational1 antes 25
grotto4 antes 25
kenoman22 posts the small blind of 120
junkbutton posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Qh As]
MelvinRingue calls 240
sennsational1 calls 240
grotto4 folds
kenoman22 folds
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton raises to 1,200
MelvinRingue calls 960
sennsational1 calls 960
*** FLOP *** [Kc Qs Tc]
junkbutton bets 6,845, and is all in
MelvinRingue has 15 seconds left to act
MelvinRingue has requested TIME
MelvinRingue calls 6,845
sennsational1 folds
junkbutton shows [Qh As]
MelvinRingue shows [5c 6c]
*** TURN *** [Kc Qs Tc] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [Kc Qs Tc Qc] [6h]
junkbutton shows three of a kind, Queens
MelvinRingue shows a flush, King high
MelvinRingue wins the pot (17,535) with a flush, King high
junkbutton stands up

With a couple of limpers, I made a good size raise hoping to take down the pot right there, but in reality I probably would have gone all in if someone pushed. With middle pair and a gutterball, I figured I’d take a chance and pushed for close to twice the size of the pot. Now I know this was probably stupid. I’m pretty much only getting called with a hand that beats me, and honestly I don’t know what I was thinking, but I did it, and I’m man enough to admit it… AK, AJ, KT, J9 are all hands that either one of my opponents could have had and I shouldn’t have been surprise to see either one of them. And when I got the call, I would have accepted the results if that was in fact what I was up against… But instead I get a caller for close to TWICE the size of the pot with a 6 high flush draw… FT pretends to show some mercy by giving it to him on the turn (instead of the river), but they only did that because they were giving him the Q of clubs so I still had to sweat looking for the full house…

Now that hand kind of sucked. It’s not really a bad beat, just a mediocre play that got beat by a questionable one… But this one really did blow…

This was a $2.25 Shootout Super Satellite for an FTOPS event. A Shootout tourney is a MTT where each table is played down to one winner, and then those winners are grouped into another table where the winner of that table moves onto the next and so on until there’s a winner. This particular one was an 81 max tourney with 9 tables. I crushed my first table (the HU battle actually went a while, but up until that point I couldn’t miss and took out pretty much everyone myself). We were now at the final table where the top 3 spots win seats to the Satellite (of course my goal is the tourney dollars…).

We each started with the chips we won from our respective tables which was 13,500 and the blinds had started at 120/240. I had chipped up pretty good and was feeling good. Then this ridiculous hand came down on me that left me with pennies and no hope to cash…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6353525646: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #9 (48325029), Table 1 - 600/1200 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:18:49 ET - 2008/05/09
Seat 2: winna_08 (16,440)
Seat 3: Redlineit4 (20,130)
Seat 5: junkbutton (20,540)
Seat 6: texalex69 (23,540)
Seat 7: lggomes (11,500)
Seat 8: NoLimitToday (11,300)
Seat 9: Jimbalaya (18,050)
texalex69 posts the small blind of 600
lggomes posts the big blind of 1,200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ks Kh]
NoLimitToday folds
Jimbalaya folds
winna_08 raises to 2,400
Redlineit4 calls 2,400
junkbutton raises to 20,540, and is all in
texalex69 folds
lggomes folds
winna_08 folds
Redlineit4 calls 17,730, and is all in
junkbutton shows [Ks Kh]
Redlineit4 shows [Qs Js]
Uncalled bet of 410 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [2s Qd Jc]
*** TURN *** [2s Qd Jc] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [2s Qd Jc Qh] [4c]
junkbutton shows two pair, Kings and Queens
Redlineit4 shows a full house, Queens full of Jacks
Redlineit4 wins the pot (44,460) with a full house, Queens full of Jacks

I was dealt pocket kings and after two limpers there was over 6,000 in the pot. I’m very happy with that and will gladly take it down right now. I’m not here to win, I just need to survive to the top 3 spots. I push for over twice the size of the pot and get one caller… Now if he had slowplayed AA, good for him. He outplayed me and I’ll just cross my fingers hoping for the suckout and push him my chips when it doesn’t come… But this guy calls me with QJ sooooted… Seriously? Calls off ALL OF HIS CHIPS with suited connectors for more than twice the size of the pot!?! What could he possibly be hoping I pushed with? He wasn’t short and he wasn’t a monster stack. Absolutely nothing positive could come from that call… But call he did and the poker gods blessed him with two pair on the flop and just for good measure, they filled him up on the turn. Unfucking real…

When someone makes a ridiculous play that gets rewarded like that on me, I never give them a hard time. NEVER. Never will you see smart-ass comments from me in the chat box. Never will I call someone a donkey or a fish or a moron. Never. In the back of my mind I tell myself that I want them to make those plays because in the end I win, and in the front of my mind I’m throwing up on myself… But the donktasticness of this play forced me to comment…

junkbutton: seriously dude... what kind of call was that?

He didn’t answer and I probably didn’t want to hear his excuse anyway…

Still waiting (ever so patiently…) for my luck to turn…

Wheelin’ and Dealin’

2008-05-08T17:28:00.000-04:00

We finally got our new car. Tuesday after work, the Jewel and I went right over to the Jeep dealer. We had pretty much settled on the fact that we were going to be leasing another Jeep for the next three years. The only decision left was whether it was going to be another Cherokee or if we were going to try something different with the Commander.

When we got there it was total chaos. The dealership had been running a huge used car sale for the last week and tonight was the last day. They were wrapping it all up with what they were calling a “Slasher Sale”. We weren’t part of that since we were looking for a new car, but from the sideline we figured out that it was some kind of contest and whoever won, would get to buy a car for $79. I’m not sure how the contest worked, but at one point they had locked everyone inside (I’d guess around 50 people were participating) and after a countdown, the doors were opened and all these people ran out onto the lot. For the next hour or so, horns were blowing, lights were flashing and people were walking, running and dancing between the cars. We noticed in the end that a Latino family who spoke broken English had won and were demanding to drive the car off right away. The poor salesman had to keep them there for the paperwork and whatever else and when they were still persistent to leave, he finally had to tell them, “Look, you’re going to buy a car for $79. The least you could do is be a little patient.” Two hours later, they were still there…

The first car we drove was the Commander. It was a little roomier than our Cherokee which the Jewel and I both like, and the look on the inside is real safaris-ish. We liked the look and feel of it, and we especially liked that it was something different. We had both gotten burned out on driving the Cherokee. The Cherokee on the other hand was still a Cherokee. When we got into that, it all felt the same. They had actually made some improvements since 2005, but it still felt the same sitting in it, and it pretty much looked the same. If the price was right, we were pretty much set on the Commander…

Next came the part that every new car buyer dreads: talking numbers. Just to reiterate, the Jewel and I are trying to downsize our lives. We’re trying to cut back on some things in order to pay off some bills and save some money. So far we’ve gotten rid of all of our movie channels, gotten rid of our internet (we set the Jewel’s parents up, who live next door, with Wi-Fi), we’re hardly eating out at all, and now we’re going down to one car. The monthly payment is key for us. We’re willing to spend a little more on our one car payment than we did for the Cherokee since we won’t have the Impala to pay for too, but it can’t be outrageously more. That’s what happened with the Tahoe and the Sequoia. Both of which are incredible vehicles, but weren’t really saving us that much monthly to make it worthwhile to get either of them.

When we went to look at the Tahoe we had a small connection to our salesman. He was a friend to the husband of someone the Jewel worked with. He didn’t know us from anyone, but since we were able to drop that name, he was really fair with us, and I believe, gave us his best possible deal right out of the gate. When we went to look at the Sequoia, the guy we went to talk to was (stick with me on this one) the father of the Jewel’s sister’s husband’s brother’s business partner. Does that make sense? Basically, the Jewel’s sister’s husband (my brother-in-law) has a brother who is co-owner of a used car dealership. Him and the other owner bought it from the other owner’s father. That father went on to be a salesman (and a pretty good one if the plaques hung up around his desk are any indication) for a Toyota dealership. He was the guy we went to talk to about the Sequoia. Anyway, he wasn’t as forthcoming with his best price right off the bat, but within minutes we were at a point where he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) budge, and we knew that we weren’t going to be able to sign.

In contrast, when we walked into the Jeep dealership, we were walking in cold. We didn’t know anyone. This was a different dealership than the one we leased our current Jeep through, so we couldn’t even go back and find the guy who leased us that one. We walked in and the first guy who said hello was the one we got. His name is Pat. I felt like he was a super nice guy, if a little low on the confidence scale. If I was going to be a car salesman, I think I’d be Pat. He had four or five plaques around his cubicle celebrating random months throughout the last few years where he was top salesman (to compare, our Sequoia salesman had one plaque for 2007 where he was salesman of the month every month except one… He was an all-star, where Pat was at best a dependable utility player. He’ll get the job done, but he ain’t gonna wow you.).

I don’t want to bore you (or have to remember….) all of the negotiating details, but it went something like this…

He gave us a couple of prices (monthly payments) for the two cars, both of which were higher than we expected. We wanted to see an itemized list as to how he came to those prices (much like our previous two salesmen had given us). He came back with a different lower price. Again, we wanted to know exactly how he came to that price (the Jewel got a discount through her work, we had a trade-in with the Impala, plus the regular deals and rebates that Chrysler offers – we wanted to know how it all fit). Finally he came back with a (very rough) outline of the math and gave us a price on the Cherokee that was very tempting.

All this time he’d pretty much been focusing his energy on the Cherokee and ignoring the Commander, whose price was, at this point, a lot higher than we wanted to spend. We asked him for a minute to talk it over and he wandered around over by the soda machine. We were looking at the price for the Cherokee. It was a price that was even lower than the monthly payment we were making on our current Cherokee. That was very hard to pass up. But we really liked the Commander a lot more. The price we had on the Commander was the original one he had given us. He didn’t work with those numbers at all, solidifying the feeling that he really wanted to send us off in the Cherokee. We decided that if we could get him to work with the Commander number and get it down by $50, we’d take the Commander. That’s about how much he had come down from his original Cherokee offer and if he could do the same for the Commander, that’s what we would take.

I called Pat back over and the Jewel reiterated that while we liked the price he’d given us on the Cherokee, we really had our heart set on the Commander. I too chimed in, thanking him for working with us on the Cherokee and if he could do something similar with the Commander, we might come to a deal. Like I said, he reminded me a lot of myself, and those would be things that not only I would like to hear, but would also encourage me to get this nice couple the best deal I could.

Now, just to fill you in, every time we had a question on the pricing that we had, like with the breakdown of the numbers or how much he was giving us for the Impala, every time there was a decision to be made on his part, he’d have to go in the back to speak to Lou. I believe Lou is short for Lucifer, and was pretty much the devil behind the hassle of all this. I believe the first time Pat went back to talk to Lou and gave us the original offer, he just picked two numbers out of thin air to see if we would pay it. From there we had to keep working him down (through Pat, who was having a hell of a time carrying himself all the way to the other side of the dealership to Lou’s office and back for every question we had…), and I think it was his frustration with us that finally got us the best deal we could get.

When Pat came back with the final Commander price, I think the Jewel and I both were holding our breath. He flipped the paper over to show us the price… it was close to $80 (!) less than his original asking price per month. There was really no way we could turn it down…

So we have a Commander now. That’ll be our one car as we try this one car experiment. It really shouldn’t be too hard since it’s really not too often that we don’t go places together. And in those rare occurrences that we do need a second ride, her parents are right next door and are pretty much always willing to help. That will come in handy.

~

I had time to play one game this week. It was one of my cheap 6-max SNG’s where I bubbled again. I’ve been bubbling pretty much every game for the last week…

Down to three players, I was the short stack with about 1,500. Second had around 3,000 and the chip leader, sitting to my right had around 4,000. The blinds were at 50/100 and the leader, who had been pretty aggressive the whole game was raising preflop often. At this level he had been making it a funny looking 255 to go. I was able to tell that he was doing this with less than stellar holdings by pushing at him with my shorter stack and getting him to fold. I think this was getting on his nerves. Finally, still at this level, I’m in the bb and the button folds. My nemesis in the sb, raises to that 255 again and holding 66, I push again. He INSTA-calls me and shows A2o. What was funny about this hand is I wasn’t even expecting to lose. A lot of times I’ll get in these situations where I’m a monster favorite and I can’t even look as the board is dealt because I just KNOW that the guy is going to hit his slim-to-none. This time I just smirked to myself, growled the word idiot, and waited for the pot to be pushed my way. Of course we all know how this story goes… One of his three outs hit on the flop and that’s it for me… Ah well… if history is any indication, my luck should be turning around any day now…

A whole lot of nothin'...

2008-05-05T21:03:00.002-04:00

More car shopping this weekend with little to show for it. Again we found a great vehicle that we really liked in the Toyota Sequoia, but we just couldn’t get the payment down as much as we’d like. The Jewel and I are in a rebuilding year of our finances, and while we’re not trying to be overly cheap with our car payments, we are trying to be reasonable. It basically came down to how much he was going to give us on our trade-in. We wanted what the Chevy Guy offered, but Sequoia Guy came in $1,000 light, so we had to pass.

~

Poker started out promising this weekend, but that soon fizzled out. I took a lot of 3rd places in my 6-max SNGs, and that equals a lot of $0.00 payouts… What little I did win went right back into some Omaha CAP games that I probably had no business playing anyway… It feels like it’s time to reassess where my game is heading…

~

I realize my blog has been a little thin on content lately, so I’m going to mix it up a little and fall back on an old blogger standby… The 100 Things About Me post. I started putting a list together probably 6 months ago or more, but I never made it to the 100. So instead of putting them all out there at once, I’m going to stretch it out by posting a couple at a time once or twice a week (when I have nothing poker or life related to talk about) and hopefully I’ll eventually reach 100. So you have that to look forward to… yay!

Car Shopping...

2008-04-29T21:42:00.002-04:00

The Jewel and I went car shopping last night. The lease is up on our Jeep in a couple of weeks, and we’re looking for a replacement. We're trying to cut back on some bills so our goal is to get down to one car. We’re planning on trading in the Impala and use the equity in that as a down payment. Well we learned that even by doing that a Tahoe is still out of our budget…

A friend of the Jewel’s from work sent us to her Chevy Guy. Chevy Guy was an old high school friend of her husband’s and if there was a best deal on a new Tahoe lease, he could hook us up. She warned us that he’s a salesman and might be kind of pushy, but that really couldn’t be further from the truth. He sat us down and worked the numbers every which way he could to get us the best price. It unfortunately came down to uncertainty on our part.

The price Chevy Guy was offering us was close to $100 cheaper than what we’re paying now on the two cars, and while saving money is our #1 priority, we’re just not 100% sure we can survive on just one car. I’m sure he offered us a great deal, but if a few months down the road we come to the realization that we NEED two cars, we’d end up paying more than we do now per month on car payments which would be the exact opposite to what we're trying to do. The Tahoe was a sweet ride, and if you’re in the market, look up Mike over at Keller Chevrolet. Tell him junkbutton sent ya. He’ll have no idea who you’re talking about…

Welcome Back, kgblovesoreos!

2008-04-26T14:53:00.001-04:00

A couple of years ago, long before I became the blogging sensation known as junkbutton, I was a forum posting sensation over on the Full Tilt Forums known as junkbutton. Since my job requires a lot of time staring blankly with glazed over eyes, and since I have a computer with access to the internets, I would spend up to 19 hours a day trolling that forum, interacting with other degenerate wannabes…

Eventually (it took them over a year and a half!) my job figured out that me being productive didn’t require me to troll that forum, so I was disallowed access to it. So I started looking for other things to do with my time. Another frequent poster on that forum was a guy who went by the name, kgblovesoreos. In his sig was a link to his blog. That was sort of my stepping stone from forums to blogs. From his I found Al and Pauly’s blogs and from there, well, take a look at the right and you’ll see what it’s turned into for me. I read all of those and more now on a daily basis. Until work decides to ban me from Google Reader that is…

Unfortunately, not too long after I started reading his blog, for whatever reason Oreos closed up shop and deleted it. Well the other day I was reading someone’s (can’t for the life of me remember who) and he was talking about his comments and mentioned one from someone named kgblovesoreos. After poking around a little, I found that it was indeed the same guy.

If it wasn’t for him, both of my loyal readers would have to find something productive to do with the 15 minutes worth of reading I put them through each week because I wouldn’t be in this space. If you get a moment, head on over and check him out. He actually posts about poker and even sounds like he knows what he’s talking about…

~

I held a little tourney here at the house last nght. We finally had enough for a tournament instead of a little cash game. Still not as many as I expected. At one point we had 12 expected, but ended up with just 7. We play a $10 tourney with a $5 bounty on each head.

There was one new guy (super nice guy, hope he makes it back again) to the game and he was getting super lucky. He would play his suited connectors and flop straights on more than one occasion. It didn’t take him long to accumulate a nice chip lead. I bled off a few chips in a hand with AK that didn’t catch, but otherwise kept it pretty tight. I got a nice double up against the lucky new guy when I reraised him preflop with KK. He called and we saw a flop of all low cards. He insta-pushed and I insta-called. He turned over JJ and I doubled up.

It was a pretty uneventful game. There was one hand that was interesting just after we got heads up. I was up against the early luckbox guy. He probably had a 3 or 4 to 1 chip lead on me. I wish I had taken a picture of the hand or written it down or something because I can’t remember the exact details, but it went something like this…. I had 45o and the flop came down something like A35. He bet as he had been prone to do with his huge stack and I pushed all in with my middle pair, crappy kicker. He thought about for a bit but ended up calling. He had (I believe) 57 suited. Now this is the interesting part… The turn brought a 6 of his suit and made two of that suit on the board. So now, he has the best hand because his 7 is playing, he has an inside straight draw (pairing up my 4 does me no good because it’ll give him a straight) and on top of that any card of his suit (I believe it was a club) gives him the flush. There’s on card to come and the only one I can catch to give me the win is a non club deuce. Two outs. I was dealing. I burned and put the turn card on the table face down. I didn’t want to look at it. I held it up to my friend Mike who was sitting to the right of me and said, “Did I win?” He said, “Yup.” Now granted he would probably say that no matter what card I showed him, but I quickly looked in disbelief at the 2 of spades… I made my straight and doubled up (and probably at that point took the chip lead).

From there on out it was just a lot of trading blinds back and forth. I took a big pot off him when I flopped a straight and got a lot of his chips when he was chasing an inside straight draw of all things. The whole time we were playing he didn’t seem like someone who would be chasing to the inside straight for large raises (and a huge chunk of his stack), but he did.

The final hand came down when I called from the dealer’s sb with AQo and he pushed. I insta-called and he showed Q9 of spades. Of course I couldn’t just take it down without some sweating. I don’t remember the exact cards, but on the turn he had an open ended straight and flush draw. Neither one of them got there on the river and I win it all. First place was $50 plus I took out 3 of the players for another $15. I’m not positive, but I think this is two live, home tourney wins in a row for me.

Tip of the day…

2008-04-19T16:23:00.001-04:00

When you’re on the bubble of a SNG, and you’re the medium stack between a large stack and one teeny tiny stack, it might be a good idea to just stay out of the way and wait for that bubble to break. Bad things could happen otherwise…

First the hand that made me the monster stack…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097194694: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:33:18 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 1: de-el-si (3,930)
Seat 3: madpanda (2,380)
Seat 4: hobbles (465)
Seat 5: junkbutton (2,225)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 20
de-el-si posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Qd Kd]
madpanda raises to 140
hobbles calls 140
junkbutton calls 120
de-el-si folds
*** FLOP *** [8d Qh Kc]
junkbutton checks
madpanda bets 460
hobbles calls 325, and is all in
junkbutton raises to 2,085, and is all in
madpanda calls 1,625
junkbutton shows [Qd Kd]
madpanda shows [Ad Ah]
hobbles shows [9c Qc]
*** TURN *** [8d Qh Kc] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [8d Qh Kc 7c] [Js]
junkbutton shows two pair, Kings and Queens
madpanda shows a pair of Aces
junkbutton wins the side pot (3,520) with two pair, Kings and Queens
hobbles shows a pair of Queens
junkbutton wins the main pot (1,435) with two pair, Kings and Queens
hobbles stands up

So after that hand, I have a 1,100 chip lead over the second place guy and the short stack has only 155 chips. Here’s my chance to collect as many chips as I can before the short stack bows out…

But first the medium stack doubles up the shorty…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097200832: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:33:53 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 1: de-el-si (3,890)
Seat 3: madpanda (155)
Seat 5: junkbutton (4,955)
de-el-si posts the small blind of 25
madpanda posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kd 2s]
junkbutton folds
de-el-si has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton: ty
de-el-si raises to 300
madpanda calls 105, and is all in
de-el-si shows [8s 2h]
madpanda shows [Js Kh]
Uncalled bet of 145 returned to de-el-si
*** FLOP *** [As 5s 9d]
*** TURN *** [As 5s 9d] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [As 5s 9d 6d] [5c]
de-el-si shows a pair of Fives
madpanda shows a pair of Fives
madpanda wins the pot (310) with a pair of Fives

That’s actually a good thing because it drops the medium stack a little bit and it gives the short stack more room to survive for a longer period so I can collect more from the medium stack.

I had a great hand here, but it set the tone to let the medium stack know that from here on out he’s my bitch. If he wants to cash in this thing he’s going to sit back and let me take his blinds until the other guy is out…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097205633: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:34:19 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 1: de-el-si (3,735)
Seat 3: madpanda (310)
Seat 5: junkbutton (4,955)
madpanda posts the small blind of 25
junkbutton posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [5h 5s]
de-el-si calls 50
madpanda folds
junkbutton checks
*** FLOP *** [9s 3d 5c]
junkbutton checks
de-el-si has 15 seconds left to act
de-el-si bets 50
junkbutton calls 50
*** TURN *** [9s 3d 5c] [Qh]
junkbutton checks
de-el-si has 15 seconds left to act
de-el-si bets 200
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton raises to 750
de-el-si folds
Uncalled bet of 550 returned to junkbutton
junkbutton mucks
junkbutton wins the pot (625)

With the tone set it’s time to see if he learned anything.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097215057: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:35:12 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 1: de-el-si (3,435)
Seat 3: madpanda (285)
Seat 5: junkbutton (5,280)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 25
de-el-si posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [7h Qs]
madpanda folds
junkbutton raises to 150
de-el-si calls 100 <<<<< Nope.
*** FLOP *** [7d 2h 9c]
junkbutton bets 300
de-el-si calls 300 <<<<< He’s just not getting it…
*** TURN *** [7d 2h 9c] [4d]
junkbutton bets 4,830, and is all in <<<<< This should wake him up.
de-el-si folds
Uncalled bet of 4,830 returned to junkbutton
junkbutton mucks
junkbutton wins the pot (900)

This hand is kind of cute… It’s like he’s a kid trying to be a grown up…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097223517: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:36:00 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 1: de-el-si (2,960)
Seat 3: madpanda (595)
Seat 5: junkbutton (5,445)
madpanda posts the small blind of 25
junkbutton posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Jh 9h]
de-el-si raises to 950 <<<< He puts in a 19x BB preflop raise… Wha?? Either he has a big hand or he doesn’t and wants to tell me he’s not going to be pushed around…
madpanda folds
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton has requested TIME
junkbutton raises to 5,445, and is all in <<<< I don’t think so…
de-el-si folds <<<< That’s a good sheep…
Uncalled bet of 4,495 returned to junkbutton
junkbutton mucks
junkbutton wins the pot (1,925)

This is where it started getting interesting… The short stack started moving all in on my big blind (to his sb). I need to be careful because in order for this to work I need to keep him extremely short to me and the other guy. I need the other guy to know that as long as he keeps folding to me he’s going to make the money… So here I need to fold an ace because I just can’t take the chance of doubling him up…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097236204: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:37:13 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 1: de-el-si (1,930)
Seat 3: madpanda (510)
Seat 5: junkbutton (6,560)
madpanda posts the small blind of 30
junkbutton posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [2c Ad]
de-el-si folds
madpanda raises to 510, and is all in
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton folds
Uncalled bet of 450 returned to madpanda
madpanda mucks
madpanda wins the pot (120)

Now here was the first glitch, if you can even call it that. The medium stack was getting tired of me pushing him around so he took a stand with KQs… and doubled up.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097253783: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:38:52 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 1: de-el-si (1,750)
Seat 3: madpanda (750)
Seat 5: junkbutton (6,500)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 30
de-el-si posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [9d Tc]
madpanda folds
junkbutton raises to 6,500, and is all in
de-el-si calls 1,690, and is all in
junkbutton shows [9d Tc]
de-el-si shows [Kc Qc]
Uncalled bet of 4,750 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [Ah 2s Js]
*** TURN *** [Ah 2s Js] [4d]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 2s Js 4d] [6h]
junkbutton shows Ace Jack high
de-el-si shows Ace King high
de-el-si wins the pot (3,500) with Ace King high

So yippy, good for him. He’s got to be all happy with himself, right? Well he should be careful because I still have a chip lead and I’m not teetering from my plan… The very next hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097257551: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:39:13 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 1: de-el-si (3,500)
Seat 3: madpanda (750)
Seat 5: junkbutton (4,750)
de-el-si posts the small blind of 30
madpanda posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Qc Js]
junkbutton raises to 4,750, and is all in
de-el-si calls 3,470, and is all in
madpanda folds
junkbutton shows [Qc Js]
de-el-si shows [Kd Ks] <<<< I move all in and of course he wakes up with Kings… But should he really be putting his tournament life on the line here? Yeah, I probably would too, but here’s why he shouldn’t…
Uncalled bet of 1,250 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [9c As Jh]
*** TURN *** [9c As Jh] [5d]
*** RIVER *** [9c As Jh 5d] [Qd] <<<< BOOM! River two pair! Instead of just conceding the massive chip lead to me and still being allowed to cash, he had to get all frisky and let a guy who at one point had just 155 chips take second place… That can’t be +EV…
junkbutton shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
de-el-si shows a pair of Kings
junkbutton wins the pot (7,060) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
de-el-si stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,060 Rake 0
Board: [9c As Jh 5d Qd]
Seat 1: de-el-si (small blind) showed [Kd Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 3: madpanda (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: junkbutton (button) showed [Qc Js] and won (7,060) with two pair, Queens and Jacks

The final hand… I sucked out again…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6097270388: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (46414149), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:40:24 ET - 2008/04/19
Seat 3: madpanda (930)
Seat 5: junkbutton (8,070)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 40
madpanda posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [7h Ac]
junkbutton raises to 8,070, and is all in
madpanda calls 850, and is all in
junkbutton shows [7h Ac]
madpanda shows [9h Ad]
Uncalled bet of 7,140 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [6h Ts 8s]
*** TURN *** [6h Ts 8s] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [6h Ts 8s 4c] [5c]
junkbutton shows a straight, Eight high
madpanda shows Ace Ten high
junkbutton wins the pot (1,860) with a straight, Eight high
madpanda stands up
junkbutton stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,860 Rake 0
Board: [6h Ts 8s 4c 5c]
Seat 3: madpanda (big blind) showed [9h Ad] and lost with Ace Ten high
Seat 5: junkbutton (small blind) showed [7h Ac] and won (1,860) with a straight, Eight high

Phase two has begun…

2008-04-13T22:25:00.002-04:00

But not quite how I planned it.

This afternoon I wanted to play an 18 player $6.50 token SNG to earn another token. While I was waiting for it to fill up, I poked around the regular tournaments to see what was starting. I noticed I was about 5 minutes away from a Super Satellite for FTOPS Event #2 to start. To boot, it was also a Knockout tourney where $3 of the $6 entry was actually going to the person who knocked you out. On top of all of that, it wasn’t even hold ‘em, it was Omaha! I thought if nothing else, this tourney sounded like a fun time. Far from my best game, but certainly something I like to play once in a while to mix things up a bit.

A Super Satellite is actually a satellite into a bigger satellite. So the seats they were giving away for this one was for a $55 Satellite into the $256 FTOPS Event #2. Of course I don’t want to play in that event. My goal would be to unregister from the $55 satellite and take the tournament dollars.

This tourney saw 84 runners with the top 4 getting seats and places 5-7 getting a little money… Here are all of my hands of interest…

I started out playing very tight, like I should, but ended up bleeding some chips away on hands like this:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6020621297: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #2 (45733271), Table 4 - 15/30 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 15:44:52 ET - 2008/04/13
Seat 1: evilshim (1,731)
Seat 2: Parasjonok (2,040)
Seat 3: fokkerupman (1,395)
Seat 5: junkbutton (1,373)
Seat 6: snowsharkpe (1,343)
Seat 7: itsch08 (983)
Seat 8: MikeRotch07 (1,470)
Seat 9: Biff Barker (1,395)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 15
snowsharkpe posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kh 5d 5h 6s]
itsch08 folds
MikeRotch07 calls 30
Biff Barker folds
evilshim calls 30
Parasjonok calls 30
fokkerupman has 15 seconds left to act
fokkerupman calls 30
junkbutton calls 15
snowsharkpe checks
*** FLOP *** [7c 8d 5c] <<<< Happy to flop a set, but on a very coordinated board.
junkbutton checks
snowsharkpe checks
MikeRotch07 checks
evilshim checks
Parasjonok checks
fokkerupman checks
*** TURN *** [7c 8d 5c] [Kc] <<<< Flush hits.
junkbutton checks
snowsharkpe checks
MikeRotch07 checks
evilshim bets 60 <<<< Small bet…
Parasjonok folds
fokkerupman has 15 seconds left to act
fokkerupman folds
junkbutton calls 60 <<<< Which I call, I’m just looking to fill up.
snowsharkpe has 15 seconds left to act
snowsharkpe folds
MikeRotch07 folds
*** RIVER *** [7c 8d 5c Kc] [9c] <<<< Don’t fill up.
junkbutton checks
evilshim has 15 seconds left to act
evilshim bets 300 <<<< I believe this was a pot sized bet, and it looked so suspicious to me.
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton has requested TIME <<<< I thought about it for a long time but finally decided to fold. Probably the best play.
IroncityJP sits down
IroncityJP adds 1,410
junkbutton folds
Uncalled bet of 300 returned to evilshim
evilshim mucks
evilshim wins the pot (300)
The blinds are now 20/40

I continued playing very tight but still bleeding chips. Even more with this hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6020762249: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #2 (45733271), Table 4 - 25/50 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 15:55:30 ET - 2008/04/13
Seat 1: evilshim (991)
Seat 2: Parasjonok (3,430)
Seat 3: madrad2002 (1,315)
Seat 4: IroncityJP (2,530)
Seat 5: junkbutton (1,143)
Seat 6: snowsharkpe (1,113)
Seat 7: badboy296 (3,040)
Seat 8: MikeRotch07 (3,958)
Seat 9: vendee (420), is sitting out
junkbutton posts the small blind of 25
snowsharkpe posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [8c 2h 5h 7s]
badboy296 has 15 seconds left to act
badboy296 folds
MikeRotch07 calls 50
vendee folds
vendee has returned
evilshim folds
Parasjonok folds
madrad2002 folds
IroncityJP folds
junkbutton calls 25
snowsharkpe checks
*** FLOP *** [2c 8h 3c] <<<< I flop top and bottom pair from the sb.
junkbutton bets 150 <<<< Bet the pot with a somewhat coordinated board.
snowsharkpe has 15 seconds left to act
snowsharkpe raises to 600 <<<< Get raised big here. Obvious to me that he wants to get it all in with me here. I put him on a straight and flush draw or at the least a set of 3’s.
MikeRotch07 has 15 seconds left to act
MikeRotch07 folds
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act <<<< I think about it for a few seconds, but I’m not ready to risk it all on two pair playing Omaha…
junkbutton folds
Uncalled bet of 450 returned to snowsharkpe
snowsharkpe mucks
snowsharkpe wins the pot (450)
badboy296 stands up
The blinds are now 30/60

I fold the next four or five hands, very short stacked, looking for a big hand. This is what I found:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6020853296: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #2 (45733271), Table 4 - 40/80 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 16:02:25 ET - 2008/04/13
Seat 2: Parasjonok (3,490)
Seat 3: madrad2002 (1,315)
Seat 4: IroncityJP (2,350)
Seat 5: junkbutton (943)
Seat 6: snowsharkpe (1,123)
Seat 7: kellypaz (5,297)
Seat 8: MikeRotch07 (3,488)
Seat 9: Lutzinger (1,558)
Parasjonok posts the small blind of 40
madrad2002 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [4c Kd 9h Kc] <<<< A pair of kings looks nice.
IroncityJP folds
junkbutton calls 80 <<<< Being so short, I’m probably supposed to raise. This shows my Omaha inexperience.
snowsharkpe calls 80 <<<< But
kellypaz calls 80 <<<< We get
MikeRotch07 calls 80 <<<< Lots
Lutzinger folds
Parasjonok calls 40 <<<< Of
madrad2002 checks <<<< Limpers…
*** FLOP *** [Ac Jd 9c] <<<< Not loving the ace, but I now have the nut flush draw with my Kings.
Parasjonok checks
madrad2002 checks
junkbutton bets 480 <<<< Let’s try to get it all in there and see what happens.
snowsharkpe has 15 seconds left to act
snowsharkpe raises to 1,043, and is all in <<<< One guy wants to take me to the rail…
kellypaz has 15 seconds left to act
kellypaz folds
MikeRotch07 raises to 3,408, and is all in <<<< Make that two…
Parasjonok folds
madrad2002 folds
junkbutton calls 383, and is all in
MikeRotch07 shows [Tc 9s 5c Qc] <<<< Lots of draws (including 3 of my clubs)…
junkbutton shows [4c Kd 9h Kc]
snowsharkpe shows [6s Ks Jc 9d] <<<< Two pair’s no good in Omaha… plus he’s holding one of my clubs.
Uncalled bet of 2,365 returned to MikeRotch07
*** TURN *** [Ac Jd 9c] [As] <<<< Nobody has an ace, so my two pair is biggest….
*** RIVER *** [Ac Jd 9c As] [3h] <<<< And they hold!
MikeRotch07 shows two pair, Aces and Nines
snowsharkpe shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
snowsharkpe wins the side pot (360) with two pair, Aces and Jacks
junkbutton shows two pair, Aces and Kings
junkbutton wins the main pot (3,069) with two pair, Aces and Kings

Continued my extremely tight play. I moved some chips around to work my stack up, but nothing too exciting. Here’s an example:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6021011725: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #2 (45733271), Table 4 - 60/120 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 16:14:23 ET - 2008/04/13
Seat 1: Tovman (5,862)
Seat 3: jaysull (3,420)
Seat 4: IroncityJP (2,230)
Seat 5: junkbutton (5,375)
Seat 6: demartini777 (3,370)
Seat 7: kellypaz (5,057)
Seat 8: MikeRotch07 (4,830)
Seat 9: mogolor (4,990)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 60
demartini777 posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [9s Qc Kd Kc]
kellypaz has 15 seconds left to act
kellypaz is sitting out
kellypaz has timed out
kellypaz folds
MikeRotch07 folds
kellypaz has returned
mogolor folds
Tovman calls 120
jaysull calls 120
IroncityJP calls 120
junkbutton calls 60 <<<< Again, probably a hand I’m supposed to raise with, but I’m an Omaha donk…
demartini777 checks
*** FLOP *** [3c 6c Qd] <<<< An over pair and a king high flush draw.
junkbutton checks <<<< I’m probably supposed to bet, but honestly, I suck at Omaha…
demartini777 checks
Tovman checks
Tovman: me too
jaysull bets 300 <<<< Felt like a very weak bet…
Tovman: nice job on holding
IroncityJP folds
junkbutton raises to 1,200 <<<< So I put him to the test.
demartini777 folds
Tovman folds
jaysull calls 900 <<<< This call felt even weaker.
*** TURN *** [3c 6c Qd] [6h] <<<< Wasn’t excited about this card pairing the board…
junkbutton bets 3,000 <<<<< But went with my read that he was weak…
jaysull folds <<<< And I was right…
Uncalled bet of 3,000 returned to junkbutton
junkbutton mucks
junkbutton wins the pot (3,000)

Now that I’ve got some chips, I can start taking some chances that will hopefully pay off. Like this one…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6021093249: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #2 (45733271), Table 4 - 80/160 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 16:20:35 ET - 2008/04/13
Seat 1: Tovman (5,422)
Seat 2: Big Blueberry (11,658)
Seat 3: jaysull (5,880)
Seat 4: IroncityJP (1,790)
Seat 5: junkbutton (7,695)
Seat 6: demartini777 (1,410)
Seat 7: kellypaz (4,217)
Seat 8: MikeRotch07 (4,430)
Seat 9: Dutchman999 (3,025)
IroncityJP posts the small blind of 80
junkbutton posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [5d 7c 4h Kc]
demartini777 raises to 560 <<<< This is a short stack who looks like he’s just trying to get it all in…
kellypaz folds
MikeRotch07 folds
Dutchman999 has 15 seconds left to act
Dutchman999 folds
Tovman has 15 seconds left to act
Tovman folds
Big Blueberry folds
jaysull folds
IroncityJP calls 480
junkbutton calls 400 <<<< We’ve got a caller in front of us (also a shorter stack), and with 160 already in there, we’ll take a flop and try to collect a bounty…
*** FLOP *** [5h Tc Jc] <<<< Bottom pair with a king high flush draw isn’t great….
IroncityJP bets 1,230, and is all in <<<< But with this guy going all in, and the other guy with less chips than him, likely to go in as well, it might be worth risking less than a quarter of our stack….
junkbutton calls 1,230 <<<< So we call..
demartini777 calls 850, and is all in <<<< And as planned so does the other shorty…
IroncityJP shows [5s Jd 6s 6d]
junkbutton shows [5d 7c 4h Kc]
demartini777 shows [9s 2c 7s Ks]
*** TURN *** [5h Tc Jc] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [5h Tc Jc 2d] [Qc] <<<< Beautiful club on the river brings us a nice pot and two bounties!
IroncityJP shows two pair, Jacks and Fives
junkbutton shows a flush, King high
junkbutton wins the side pot (760) with a flush, King high
demartini777 shows a straight, King high
junkbutton wins the main pot (4,230) with a flush, King high
demartini777 stands up
IroncityJP stands up
The blinds are now 100/200

The theme of this game for me was playing tight. I hardly played anything at all. Then I tried to make a move with this hand…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6021298384: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #2 (45733271), Table 4 - 200/400 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 16:36:03 ET - 2008/04/13
Seat 1: Tovman (5,662)
Seat 2: Big Blueberry (8,490)
Seat 3: jaysull (7,900)
Seat 4: wolcher (30,488)
Seat 5: junkbutton (10,135)
Seat 6: KyCats5 (3,575)
Seat 8: MikeRotch07 (2,870)
Seat 9: Dutchman999 (5,250)
Dutchman999 posts the small blind of 200
Tovman posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [5d Kd 8c Kc]
Big Blueberry folds
jaysull folds
wolcher calls 400
junkbutton calls 400 <<<< Again, I limped with kings, which is probably a no no…
KyCats5 folds
MikeRotch07 raises to 2,200 <<<< This felt like a steal attempt to me…
Dutchman999 folds
Tovman folds
wolcher has 15 seconds left to act
wolcher folds
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton raises to 4,000 <<<< So I thought I’d go with it since he was pretty short…
MikeRotch07 calls 670, and is all in
junkbutton shows [5d Kd 8c Kc]
MikeRotch07 shows [4d Ah Qs Qh] <<<< I was right and got my money in ahead…
Uncalled bet of 1,130 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [4s 2d 9s]
*** TURN *** [4s 2d 9s] [Ts] <<<< And was looking good…
*** RIVER *** [4s 2d 9s Ts] [Qc] <<<< Until the river queen gave him a set….
junkbutton shows a pair of Kings
MikeRotch07 shows three of a kind, Queens
MikeRotch07 wins the pot (6,740) with three of a kind, Queens

If I was playing tight before, I took this opportunity to play even tighter. I used my image to steal and resteal a few pots just to keep afloat, but never saw any flops. Until finally it was time to take a stand…

Full Tilt Poker Game #6021594973: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #2 (45733271), Table 4 - 400/800 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 16:58:15 ET - 2008/04/13
Seat 1: Tovman (11,074)
Seat 4: wolcher (33,431)
Seat 5: junkbutton (8,265)
Seat 6: lilbeep (11,245), is sitting out
Seat 9: Dutchman999 (21,600)
wolcher posts the small blind of 400
junkbutton posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kd Kh 6d 9c]
lilbeep folds
Dutchman999 folds
Tovman folds
wolcher raises to 1,600 <<<< Tourney chip leader min raises…
junkbutton raises to 4,800 <<<< It’s now or never to get back in the game and hopefully my kings will get me there…
wolcher calls 3,200 <<<< His call is weak, but he has uber-chips, so that’s alright…
*** FLOP *** [6c 4d 9s] <<<< My kings turn improve to two pair…
wolcher bets 9,600
junkbutton calls 3,465, and is all in <<<< Good enough to go broke with…
wolcher shows [8d As 7c 8s] <<<< His open ender doesn’t get there and I am still in this thing!
junkbutton shows [Kd Kh 6d 9c]
Uncalled bet of 6,135 returned to wolcher
*** TURN *** [6c 4d 9s] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [6c 4d 9s Qs] [Jh]
wolcher shows a pair of Eights
junkbutton shows two pair, Nines and Sixes
junkbutton wins the pot (16,530) with two pair, Nines and Sixes

Now just to give you an idea as to how tight I was playing, that last hand had blinds at 400/800… I didn’t play another substantial pot for the remainder of the game and it ended with blinds at 1,000/2,000. For the most part I folded my way to the final table, and used my tight image to steal small pots to stay afloat. And in the end, when all was said and done, I was one of the last 4 players sitting at the table and I earned my seat in the $55 satellite which I quickly unregistered from to take the tournament dollars.

This is exactly the outcome (on a smaller scale, but still) that I am trying to do with these $26 tokens. My ultimate goal is to win the tournament dollars to use to play in my 6-max SNG’s which will (if history is any indication) build my cash money bankroll. This win today was another step to get there. $55 isn’t anywhere near where I want to be, but it’s a positive start, and I’ll take it

The Smell…

2008-04-13T12:31:00.000-04:00

If you thought this blog was getting boring because of the lack of posts, wait for this one. The bulk of it is about bread… But first…

Full Tilt is starting up their FTOP series again, so that means a whole slew of new satellites that I can try to win my way into. Again, I need all the options I can have because I’m having a hard time finding any good ones that work into my schedule. I’m doing very well winning tokens, it’s placing in the satellites that’s the trouble. Yesterday I used one of my tokens to play in one. 74 runners with 13 spots getting paid and I made my exit in 23rd. It’s frustrating because I’m getting close, but it’s also very encouraging. The last three satellites I’ve played, I’ve finished in the top third of the players. I’m so close to the prize I can taste it. I’ve just got to get a few more hands to go my way, and this plan of mine is going to light right up.

In between the token SNG’s and other games, I am tearing up my regular 6-max SNG’s, building my bankroll up about 15% in the last week. No where near where I want to be, but definitely heading in the right direction. I’m playing more disciplined than I ever have early in the games, using position better than I ever had, recognizing steal attempts from my opponent and adding the resteal to my tiny arsenal, and probably most importantly, some of my hands are holding up. Someday I might be good enough to win without good cards, but I’m not there yet. My playing well is a result of my running well, but hopefully I’m learning some stuff that will help me when I’m not running so well…

~

Now on to the bread…

When I was a kid, my mom would go to garage sales every Saturday with her sister. Quite often I would tag along. While we were out, there were also other stores that we would always go to as well. One of them was always a J.J. Nissen bread outlet store. I think this stop was more for my aunt than my mom. Her family has a big dairy farm, and a big family, and I’m sure they went through enough bread on a regular basis to necessitate buying it in bulk from a discount outlet. I don’t recall going in there to buy anything specifically, but what I do remember very strongly is the rich bread smell of the place. It’s easy to imagine what bread smells like. Stick your nose in a bag, and that’s pretty much it. But this place just embraced you with the aroma of bread. Any strong bread smell I may come upon will always bring me to this place.

I was reminded of this smell yesterday afternoon. The Jewel’s parents had bought her some coconut cookies that she likes and they got them from a Wonder Bread outlet store that’s not far from our house. After grocery shopping yesterday, we decided that we would stop there on the way home so she could see if they had any more. I had driven past this place many many times since moving to Western New York, but had never felt the need to stop in. However, on the drive there I was getting kind of excited about smelling that smell again. It’s probably been close to 20 years since I was inside of that J.J. Nissen bread outlet in Waterville, Maine, but I remembered the smell like it was yesterday, and I knew that going inside of this place was going to smell the same and take me back. I was not disappointed.

Later on in my young adult years there were two kind of bread that I liked, both of them from J.J. Nissen. For everyday use, I liked the Canadian White. It was thick and held up well when spreading something on it. When I was living on my own, and was responsible for buying my own bread, this is the one I bought. My second favorite bread was a thick multi-grain that made great toast to spread peanut butter on. My father owned a store that I worked in from the time I was 13 until I was around 23 (and moved to the Buffalo area). I remember sometimes having to beg the Nissen salesman to bring me a loaf of the multi-grain bread. He didn’t want to because he’d have to get a whole tray of them and he just didn’t sell enough of them on his route to bother since it would end up costing him money to do so. But he was a pretty cool guy and he’d get me a loaf when he could.

I opened the door to the Wonder Bread Outlet and it was like walking into a fog, the smell was so thick. I loved it. The Jewel asked me if it smelled like I remember the outlet store I went to as a kid, and I assured her it did. We started perusing the aisles. I noticed some Hostess SnoBalls that I hadn’t had in years, and made a mental note to pick some up before we left. The Jewel found her cookies. And then I saw it…

Have you ever found something you didn’t know you were looking for? Sometimes when I take the Beag for a walk, we’ll be going along, and then all of a sudden she picks up the Scent. She’ll stop, make sure she’s smelling what she thinks she’s smelling, her tail will start wagging and the chase is on. 30 seconds ago, she might have been shuffling along without a care in the world looking for trash on the sidewalk that she wants to pee on, and in a flash she sort of remembers that following this scent is what she was supposed to be doing. Her nose goes a million miles an hour, she darts back and forth to make sure she’s not missing a single smell, and she bays at the top of her lungs, telling me and anyone else who wants to join her pack, “It’s this way! Let’s go!”

Sitting on the shelf at the Wonder Bread Outlet store was two different kinds of bread made by J.J. Nissen: Canadian White and Multi-Grain. It was all I could do to contain my excitement. Much louder than I needed to, I called the Jewel over to where I was; where I was unable to move, mesmerized by the familiar site in the unfamiliar place. This is what I had been looking for and I didn’t even know it. I tried to tell her how excited I was, but I didn’t really have the words to describe it, and I’m not sure if she got it. I picked up a loaf of each and told her I was getting these. I asked the lady who rang us out if they always had Nissen bread. She said they always carried those two kinds. I know where I’ll be getting my bread from now on… Now that I think about it, I forgot those SnoBalls… I’ll have to get them the next time I’m there (which will be sooner than later).

When we got home, after I brought in the groceries and the Jewel was putting things away, I got the peanut butter out and started making myself sandwiches. They were all I remembered and more. I was standing there in the kitchen giggling to myself as I spread peanut butter on another piece while the Jewel was trying to navigate herself around me. If I wasn’t sure before, this reminded me just how well I was running this week…

The Jewel is 2 for 2…

2008-04-06T16:57:00.000-04:00

Full Tilt Poker Game #5929729300: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (45142340), Table 1 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:52:01 ET - 2008/04/06
Seat 1: Gali Odo (1,160)
Seat 2: Sudaeer (1,690)
Seat 3: kerolek (2,760)
Seat 6: junkbutton (5,630)
Seat 7: Doko46 (3,530)
Seat 9: mattybuoy (1,005)
mattybuoy posts the small blind of 80
Gali Odo posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [5d 5c]
Sudaeer folds
kerolek folds
junkbutton raises to 480
Doko46 folds
mattybuoy raises to 1,005, and is all in
Gali Odo folds
junkbutton calls 525 <<<< At this exact moment, the Jewel hollers something up the stairs… Again inaudible because I’m rocking out while playing…
mattybuoy shows [7c 7d] <<<<<< BOOM!
junkbutton shows [5d 5c]
*** FLOP *** [Qd 3d 9d]
*** TURN *** [Qd 3d 9d] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 3d 9d Js] [4d]
mattybuoy shows a flush, Queen high
junkbutton shows a flush, Queen high
mattybuoy wins the pot (2,170) with a flush, Queen high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,170 Rake 0
Board: [Qd 3d 9d Js 4d]
Seat 1: Gali Odo (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Sudaeer didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: kerolek didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: junkbutton showed [5d 5c] and lost with a flush, Queen high
Seat 7: Doko46 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: mattybuoy (small blind) showed [7c 7d] and won (2,170) with a flush, Queen high

Thanks Sweetie!

The Jewel is bad luck…

2008-04-06T12:29:00.001-04:00

Playing a SNG… I doubled up the hand before this one. I’m the table chip leader. I’m happy… I’m jamming to Junkbutton’s new album. Things are looking good…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5926235466: $6 + $0.50 Madness (Turbo) (45121672), Table 1 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:16:28 ET - 2008/04/06
Seat 1: superdave36 (945)
Seat 2: CORN RANGER (1,480)
Seat 4: HiFi01 (2,755)
Seat 5: junkbutton (4,140)
Seat 7: Lan1493 (4,180)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 60
Lan1493 posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ah Ac] <<<<<<< YAY!
superdave36 raises to 945, and is all in <<<<< Double YAY!!
CORN RANGER folds
HiFi01 folds
junkbutton raises to 4,140, and is all in
Lan1493 folds
junkbutton shows [Ah Ac]
superdave36 shows [Qd Ad] <<<<< Triple YAY!!!
Uncalled bet of 3,195 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [2s Js 9d]
*** TURN *** [2s Js 9d] [Tc] <<<<< At this point, the Jewel hollers something upstairs to me. Of course I can’t hear it because I’m jamming to Junkbutton. It doesn’t matter what she said though. What she meant was, “Surprise! You lose!” For those of you keeping score, the villain is open ended…
*** RIVER *** [2s Js 9d Tc] [Ks] <<<<< There it is…
junkbutton shows a pair of Aces
superdave36 shows a straight, Ace high
superdave36 wins the pot (2,010) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,010 Rake 0
Board: [2s Js 9d Tc Ks]
Seat 1: superdave36 showed [Qd Ad] and won (2,010) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 2: CORN RANGER didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: HiFi01 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: junkbutton (small blind) showed [Ah Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: Lan1493 (big blind) folded before the Flop

That didn’t hurt that bad. More irritating than anything. Does anyone else’s significant other make you lose every hand they interrupt? This wasn't the first time...

Matt Good in Real Life...

2008-04-05T00:48:00.001-04:00

The Jewel and I watched Dan in Real Life tonight with the Beag. I was pretty impressed with it. Going into it, the Jewel said, “I just hope he (Steve Carroll) doesn’t play the same character.” I couldn’t agree more. Without a doubt, what Steve does on The Office and in his other movies is genius, but it’s also pretty much the same guy. Dan is not that guy. Steve really turned it down, and I loved it. It really reminded me of how Will Ferrell wasn’t playing his same dimwitted character in Stranger Than Fiction. Very refreshing. I was also really impressed with Dane Cook. I thought for sure he was going to try to stand out in every scene he was in (as any comic really would), but if Steve Carroll turned it down to 7 for this movie, Dane Cook turned it down to 4. He really blended into his roll in the family, and as a viewer, I really appreciated it. As a whole, the movie was good too. I was pretty sick of the family by the end. There is not a family in this world that enjoys spending that much time together. Nowhere. But it made for a sweet movie, and I do wholeheartedly recommend it.

~

Another week of pretty much no poker. American Idol and Big Brother are just taking up too much of my time during the week. Hopefully I can rectify that this weekend. A poker friend today asked me if I was going to keep trying to win my token satellites. I said of course I was. I’m going to keep trying until it works. I’ve come so close already, and I’ve only tried a handful of times. I still just need to get into one $200+$16 tournament in order to make a profit. But more importantly, once I hit that, I’ll be able to use those tournament dollars (and not my cash bankroll) to win another seat (and another and another…). And at that point, the sky’s the limit, really. I’ll only have to touch my cash roll for cash games which I pretty much don’t play much of anyways. I know that this is a solid plan. I just have to make it work.

~

Just as I suspected, some people posted videos from the Matthew Good concert I went to last weekend. Here are a couple of clips from that show:

Running well...

2008-03-30T14:37:00.001-04:00

I’ve run a lot better this weekend than last. I started out Friday night with my home game. We were only able to get a total of 4 people to show, so instead of a tournament, we just did a little .25/.25 cash game. By the end of the night, I was up $19, and I was very happy with that.

That carried me to Saturday where my warm streak continued. I started out the day by signing up for a 6 max SNG, but didn’t realize until after it started that it was Omaha Hi and not NLHE. No problem. The poker gods were looking out for me today as I tore through the competition. When we were heads up, the chip count was pretty even when I got it all in with this hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5827738279: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (44358594), Table 1 - 60/120 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 11:39:41 ET - 2008/03/29
Seat 4: Lochryan (4,360)
Seat 5: junkbutton (4,640)
Lochryan posts the small blind of 60
junkbutton posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Jc 2s 3d Qc]
Lochryan raises to 360
junkbutton calls 240
*** FLOP *** [Tc 4h 2c]
junkbutton checks
Lochryan bets 720
junkbutton raises to 2,880
Lochryan raises to 4,000, and is all in
junkbutton calls 1,120
Lochryan shows [Ac 5c 7h 7d]
junkbutton shows [Jc 2s 3d Qc]
*** TURN *** [Tc 4h 2c] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 4h 2c 5h] [8c]
Lochryan shows a flush, Ace high
junkbutton shows a flush, Queen high
Lochryan wins the pot (8,720) with a flush, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,720 | Rake 0
Board: [Tc 4h 2c 5h 8c]
Seat 4: Lochryan (small blind) showed [Ac 5c 7h 7d] and won (8,720) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 5: junkbutton (big blind) showed [Jc 2s 3d Qc] and lost with a flush, Queen high

This knocked me down to just 280 chips to my opponent’s 8,720. Can you believe I came back to win? I can barely believe it too. I only do because I was there… I doubled up a couple of times and then just got back to playing my game. Here’s the final hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5827791165: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (44358594), Table 1 - 80/160 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 11:45:42 ET - 2008/03/29
Seat 4: Lochryan (2,920)
Seat 5: junkbutton (6,080)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 80
Lochryan posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [6s 9h Ah As]
junkbutton raises to 480
Lochryan raises to 1,440
junkbutton raises to 4,320
Lochryan calls 1,480, and is all in
junkbutton shows [6s 9h Ah As]
Lochryan shows [Jh Kc Kd Jc]
Uncalled bet of 1,400 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [Qc 4h 6h]
*** TURN *** [Qc 4h 6h] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Qc 4h 6h 9c] [5h]
junkbutton shows a flush, Ace high
Lochryan shows a pair of Kings
junkbutton wins the pot (5,840) with a flush, Ace high
Lochryan stands up
junkbutton stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,840 | Rake 0
Board: [Qc 4h 6h 9c 5h]
Seat 4: Lochryan (big blind) showed [Jh Kc Kd Jc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: junkbutton (small blind) showed [6s 9h Ah As] and won (5,840) with a flush, Ace high

Quite possibly my biggest deficit comeback ever.

Among other games, I also ended up playing a $2 two table SNG and won that, and I won another token. It was a very refreshing day.

Today has started out well too. I started out taking second in one of my 6 max SNG’s, and I won another token. I turned right around and entered a satellite with that token. There were 30 runners and it paid 5 spots. I played real well, but alas, I made my exit in 7th place. I’m still looking for my first satellite win. But I’ve also only given it 3 tries. I’m just going to continue to be patient with the games I choose to play, and I know that eventually this will pay off.

~

The Jewel and I went out to see the artist behind my favorite album of 2007 , Matthew Good last night. Going to so many Junkbutton shows certainly has spoiled me. I’m used to being right up close to the talent and getting a good view. During this show, the Jewel and I stood way in the back. So far in the back that I couldn’t get a decent picture with my phone. I could have pushed my way forward and tried to snap a couple of pics, but it just didn’t seem worth it. I’m hoping someone will put up some videos on youtube, and I’ll share them with you when I find them. But until then, check out these two clips from when he came to the same venue (http://www.clubinfinitylive.com) last October. The Jewel and I would have gone to that one, but we had already made plans to go to Maine that week. Check out the videos. They are really great quality considering they’re not professional, and they’re two of my favorite songs:

Trip to the vet...

2008-03-28T19:53:00.003-04:00

No time to play much this week. I played one 18 max token SNG on Tuesday while the Jewel went out to the movies with her parents. I ended up bubbling that one, continuing my suck streak. I haven’t played since and won’t play online until Saturday. I will be holding a little live tourney here at the house tonight. Hopefully I won’t let my results in that determine my mindset for the rest of the weekend (unless I win of course), which seems to be how my weekends have been going lately – however I do Friday night sets the groundwork for the next two days. Not a good way to be…

~

You may recall my 2007 music review. If not, there’s the link. Anyways, my number one album of the year was Hospital Music by Matthew Good. Well, lucky for me, Mr. Good is bringing his one man show to a nice little venue Saturday night and the Jewel and I will be attending. He won’t have his whole band with him, it’s going to be an acoustic show. I’m looking forward to just a nice mellow night with not too much rocking. I do not plan on getting wrecked.

~

The Beag decided to mix things up last night by getting us to take her to the emergency vet. We’re not entirely sure what happened, but during our nightly play time, which pretty much consists of me throwing/hitting the ball away from her with her bringing it back to me, and me trying to keep the ball away from her and her pouncing on it/me trying to get at it (I’m on the floor with her). Well last night about 15 minutes in, she’s bringing the ball back to me and I notice a little limp. When she gets to me, she puts the ball down and just plops herself down pretty much on top of it, I imagine her saying, “Time out.” I get her to stand up and she still wants to play with the ball, but she’s obviously limping as she goes after it.

Being the inexperienced doggy parents that the Jewel and I are, we decide it’s better to be safe than sorry and we load her up in the car and go to the all night emergency vet. Although she was limping quite a bit when she walked, the vet twisted and pressed on the Beag’s leg trying to get her to flinch so she could determine what was causing her pain, but the Beag stood proud and wasn’t giving up the goods. The government should give all their secrets to beags because they don’t give in to any torture…

The vet said that since she was still walking on it, it wasn’t broken, and since she wasn’t showing any signs of pain from the twisting and pressing that she did on the leg, she wouldn’t recommend x-rays. So she gave us some anti-inflammatory meds and told us to keep an eye on her for a few days and if she didn’t come out of it we should take her to our own vet. She also said no ball playing for a week. I haven’t exactly told the Beag that yet, and I don’t think she’s going to take the news well. She said that we could still take her for walks, so we’ll have to give her an extra one of those a night to help tucker her out before bed.

Phase 2, Step 1...

2008-03-23T11:28:00.002-04:00

The plan for this weekend is to start putting my tokens to use. I had very little time to play last week, so I wasn’t able to collect any more. I still have 5. Yesterday was a bust. I just wasn’t feeling it so I never put a token in play. I donked around trying to win some more, but spent more time on the bubble than the winner’s circle. I did take second in a $5 18 person SNG, so that at least paid for my shortcomings yesterday. So far today I’ve bubbled three SNG’s, so I guess the chances of my feeling it today are slim to none. There is one satellite that starts shortly that I’m strongly considering. We’ll see how I do in the turbo 6-max that I’m in right now…

~

Had a little cash game here Friday night. It was pretty uneventful except I pretty much had my ass handed to me. I know that little bit of confidence killer is part of my problem from yesterday… Just gotta keep movin’ on…

~

My Pepsi Stuff challenge at work is still going strong. I’ve collected over 220 codes from co-workers and a ton more that I’ve fished out of recycling bins around work. Some people just don’t understand how these things work, so I’ve also gotten a few Coke Rewards caps. Of course I don’t need these, or can do anything with them, so if anyone out there can use them, here are the codes:

NARF6MLB0F5F
NOVOHLB7RPFL
BOP494M4RD0K
MMHJ6NM4BK9KLMX

Enjoy…

~

Update: Played in the satellite. 190 runners at $24+$2 or a $26 token (the way I entered) apiece. I was loving the way I was playing. Chipping away. Not getting fancy. Keeping myself in the middle of the pack. Going for the cash, not the win. Can’t get my money in any better than this:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5749901448: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (43104083), Table 19 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:19:20 ET - 2008/03/23
Seat 1: Chief_kz1 (2,485)
Seat 2: Snosrf (4,505)
Seat 3: Fobzy (5,570)
Seat 4: DavidCris77 (2,740)
Seat 6: NuEnglndRich (1,270)
Seat 7: dontneednuts (1,930)
Seat 8: BARKY77 (915)
Seat 9: junkbutton (2,215)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 30
Chief_kz1 posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kh Kc] <<<< WEEE!
Snosrf folds
Fobzy raises to 180 <<<< Big Stack
DavidCris77 has 15 seconds left to act
DavidCris77 folds
NuEnglndRich folds
dontneednuts calls 180 <<<< Weak
BARKY77 calls 180 <<<< Weak
junkbutton raises to 2,215, and is all in <<<< I’ll take it right here, please…
Chief_kz1 folds
Fobzy raises to 5,570, and is all in <<<< Or one caller is fine by me!
dontneednuts folds
BARKY77 folds
Fobzy shows [9c 9h] <<<< Laughable.
junkbutton shows [Kh Kc] <<<< Boom!
Uncalled bet of 3,355 returned to Fobzy
*** FLOP *** [8c 8h 2h]
*** TURN *** [8c 8h 2h] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [8c 8h 2h 6d] [9s] <<<< Not funny…
Fobzy shows a full house, Nines full of Eights
junkbutton shows two pair, Kings and Eights
Fobzy wins the pot (4,850) with a full house, Nines full of Eights
junkbutton stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,850 Rake 0
Board: [8c 8h 2h 6d 9s]
Seat 1: Chief_kz1 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Snosrf didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Fobzy showed [9c 9h] and won (4,850) with a full house, Nines full of Eights
Seat 4: DavidCris77 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: NuEnglndRich didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: dontneednuts folded before the Flop
Seat 8: BARKY77 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: junkbutton (small blind) showed [Kh Kc] and lost with two pair, Kings and Eights

Oh well. If I just keep playing my best, one of these will pay off…

Wrecked...

2008-03-18T20:08:00.001-04:00

I’m giving a new definition to the word, Wrecked. It means rocking really hard. For example, last Friday I could have said, “I’m going to get so wrecked during the Junkbutton show tomorrow night.” Or Sunday I could have said, “I got so wrecked last night.” And on Monday I could have said, “I’m still so wrecked from Saturday night…” And boy was I. I’m feeling a lot better today, but I was in a fog for a good chunk of Sunday. My neck and shoulders were so sore from the heavy duty rocking I was doing. I felt 100x better on Monday, but my neck was still pretty stiff. Today I feel totally normal and am ready to do it all again.

Check out Minty’s (my evil alter-ego and what I’m known as in Junkbutton’s world, cause seriously, it’d be kind of awkward if they called me junkbutton, right?) review of the show here…

~

Poker went a lot better this weekend. I’ve earned 4 tokens (up to a total of 5 as of this writing), and can hopefully get a few more this week. Then my plan is to spend next weekend putting those tokens to use in satellites. If I can turn just one of them into $200 in tournament dollars I will have turned a profit. Two of them, and I’ll be on the moon.

Discouraged...

2008-03-11T19:53:00.001-04:00

I said in a recent post, while describing my early poor results to my new plan, that I wasn’t going to get discouraged… Well, I’m discouraged. I played 3 games last night. The 17:45 Token Frenzy, a $6 + $.50 18 player SNG and one of my regular $5 + $.50 6-max SNGs. If you’re not into reading bad beat/general complaining HH posts, you have permission to move along… If you like seeing a slaughter, keep reading…

I know I’m not supposed to win these things every time. KK vs QQ all in preflop is only going to win 81% of the time, and I accept that I’m still going to lose 18% of the time (tie 1%), but I’m in a place right now where I really need to win my share so that I can get this new plan in motion and not go broke trying to get it off the ground…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5583836551: Tier One $6+$0.50 Sit & Go (42493570), Table 1 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:04:59 ET - 2008/03/10
Seat 3: shomikaci (5,125)
Seat 4: junkbutton (2,290)
Seat 5: illwill89 (2,055)
Seat 7: its2ply (3,485)
Seat 8: AoneManArmy (1,720)
its2ply posts the small blind of 100
AoneManArmy posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kc Ks]
shomikaci raises to 400
junkbutton raises to 2,290, and is all in
illwill89 folds
its2ply calls 2,190
AoneManArmy folds
shomikaci folds
junkbutton shows [Kc Ks]
its2ply shows [Qh Qc]
*** FLOP *** [8s Jd Ah]
*** TURN *** [8s Jd Ah] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [8s Jd Ah Qs] [3h]
junkbutton shows a pair of Kings
its2ply shows three of a kind, Queens
its2ply wins the pot (5,180) with three of a kind, Queens
junkbutton stands up
shomikaci stands up
illwill89 stands up
its2ply stands up
AoneManArmy stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,180 | Rake 0
Board: [8s Jd Ah Qs 3h]
Seat 3: shomikaci folded before the Flop
Seat 4: junkbutton showed [Kc Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: illwill89 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: its2ply (small blind) showed [Qh Qc] and won (5,180) with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 8: AoneManArmy (big blind) folded before the Flop

That hand knocked me out of the Token SNG…

On to the Token Frenzy. I have this guy all-in, DOMINATED on the flop, only to chop it… WTF? I can’t win these things if I can’t get some of these to go my way.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5583902950: $26 Token Frenzy (41776052), Table 5 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:10:00 ET - 2008/03/10
Seat 1: Pug_Fugly (2,084)
Seat 2: grumpygopher (2,435)
Seat 3: DOOM (4,658)
Seat 4: junkbutton (2,365)
Seat 5: bucksgal (1,955)
Seat 7: KWP12 (1,605)
Seat 8: grumpsy (3,685)
Seat 9: FizZz0o (4,781)
grumpygopher posts the small blind of 40
DOOM posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ad Kd]
junkbutton raises to 240
bucksgal folds
KWP12 folds
grumpsy calls 240
FizZz0o folds
Pug_Fugly folds
grumpygopher calls 200
DOOM folds
*** FLOP *** [3s As 3c]
grumpygopher checks
junkbutton bets 500
grumpsy raises to 1,000
grumpygopher folds
junkbutton raises to 2,125, and is all in
grumpsy calls 1,125
junkbutton shows [Ad Kd]
grumpsy shows [Qs Ac]
*** TURN *** [3s As 3c] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [3s As 3c 7c] [3d]
junkbutton shows a full house, Threes full of Aces
grumpsy shows a full house, Threes full of Aces
junkbutton ties for the pot (2,525) with a full house, Threes full of Aces
grumpsy ties for the pot (2,525) with a full house, Threes full of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,050 | Rake 0
Board: [3s As 3c 7c 3d]
Seat 1: Pug_Fugly (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: grumpygopher (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: DOOM (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: junkbutton showed [Ad Kd] and won (2,525) with a full house, Threes full of Aces
Seat 5: bucksgal didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: KWP12 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: grumpsy showed [Qs Ac] and won (2,525) with a full house, Threes full of Aces
Seat 9: FizZz0o didn't bet (folded)

This is the hand that knocked me out of the Frenzy…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5584007710: $26 Token Frenzy (41776052), Table 5 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:17:58 ET - 2008/03/10
Seat 1: Pug_Fugly (2,114)
Seat 2: grumpygopher (2,915)
Seat 3: DOOM (4,358)
Seat 4: junkbutton (2,625)
Seat 5: bucksgal (2,305)
Seat 6: XL254m (800)
Seat 7: XxD4DBBoYxX (2,010)
Seat 8: grumpsy (2,795)
Seat 9: FizZz0o (5,451)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 60
bucksgal posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Th Ad]
XL254m folds
XxD4DBBoYxX folds
grumpsy folds
FizZz0o folds
Pug_Fugly folds
grumpygopher calls 120
DOOM folds
junkbutton raises to 480
bucksgal folds
grumpygopher calls 360
*** FLOP *** [9d 7d 6d]
junkbutton bets 720
grumpygopher raises to 2,435, and is all in
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton calls 1,425, and is all in
grumpygopher shows [6s 6c]
junkbutton shows [Th Ad]
Uncalled bet of 290 returned to grumpygopher
*** TURN *** [9d 7d 6d] [As]
*** RIVER *** [9d 7d 6d As] [Jc]
grumpygopher shows three of a kind, Sixes
junkbutton shows a pair of Aces
grumpygopher wins the pot (5,370) with three of a kind, Sixes
junkbutton stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,370 | Rake 0
Board: [9d 7d 6d As Jc]
Seat 1: Pug_Fugly didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: grumpygopher showed [6s 6c] and won (5,370) with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 3: DOOM (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: junkbutton (small blind) showed [Th Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 5: bucksgal (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: XL254m didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: XxD4DBBoYxX didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: grumpsy didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: FizZz0o didn't bet (folded)

It definitely wasn’t pretty for me to call everything off on a draw, but if he didn’t have a set (say top pair or an overpair), I had lots of outs, and even with his set, I still win 34% of the time… I’m not bragging about the way I played it for sure, but man I’d love to win one of these once in a while…

And finally the 6-max SNG… We’re three handed. I might be tilting a little after the earlier two losses… plus about 5 hands earlier I doubled up the POKERMOM player when my TT < his AK. I probably could have shoved this hand preflop, but I’m really not THAT short. I also could have folded. But either way, when I can’t even beat 62, you know the poker gods are not smiling at me… This is how I busted out of this game…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5584491570: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (42501321), Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:54:20 ET - 2008/03/10
Seat 1: junkbutton (1,315)
Seat 4: KWD11 (3,595)
Seat 5: POKERMOM1028 (4,090)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 50
KWD11 posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [8s 9s]
POKERMOM1028 folds
junkbutton calls 50
KWD11 checks
*** FLOP *** [8d 6d 2c]
junkbutton checks
KWD11 bets 100
junkbutton raises to 1,215, and is all in
KWD11 calls 1,115
junkbutton shows [8s 9s]
KWD11 shows [2d 6h]
*** TURN *** [8d 6d 2c] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [8d 6d 2c 3h] [Td]
junkbutton shows a pair of Eights
KWD11 shows two pair, Sixes and Twos
KWD11 wins the pot (2,630) with two pair, Sixes and Twos
junkbutton stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,630 | Rake 0
Board: [8d 6d 2c 3h Td]
Seat 1: junkbutton (small blind) showed [8s 9s] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 4: KWD11 (big blind) showed [2d 6h] and won (2,630) with two pair, Sixes and Twos
Seat 5: POKERMOM1028 (button) didn't bet (folded)

So sick… So discouraging…

I’m taking tonight off from playing to watch American Idol with the Beag and the Jewel and get to bed. Hopefully I can come back tomorrow night for a couple of games and win something…

Stop! Thief!

2008-03-10T19:08:00.002-04:00

There’s a free local paper in my area. Every Saturday afternoon, a white van drives up my street attaching two papers in blue plastic sleeves to my mailbox. One for my house, and one for the house across the street. We inevitably have to collect both because the people across the street apparently were raised in a home lacking common courtesy, decency or any form of neighborly manners whatsoever… But that’s a rant for another time…

This paper is not unlike any other free paper, I imagine. It’s probably 20 pages of classifieds and ads peppered with high school sports articles and other local interest stories. There is also one other section that is the only thing in there worth reading, atleast as far as the Jewel and I are concerned… It’s a section called Blowing Off Steam. Basically it’s where people can write in and complain (or compliment – but mostly complain) about pretty much anything. Favorite subjects usually revolve around the local government and how things are run. Sometimes people want to complain about how others drive or how they park their cars in the streets. Some people may even want to rant for a bit about Paris Hilton only having to go to jail for 45 minutes… Whatever the topic, Blowing Off Steam gives people an unedited, unresearched for facts, platform to voice their gripes.

Well, for reasons that I’ll explain in a bit, I didn’t submit this, but this is what I would like to submit to Blowing Off Steam:

To the person or persons who entered my garage and stole two gas cans and the change from the console of my car: I will give you two days to return everything to me, no questions asked, or I will unleash the wrath of God upon you, your family and your pets.

Now of course, I don’t have any real power to unleash the wrath of God upon someone, but man, wouldn’t it be fun to mess with someone’s head like that? However, if said person or persons actually read the Blowing Off Steam section of our local free paper, and if they actually did recognize their crime in that short message, and if they failed to believe that God actually did have a wrath that I had the ability to unleash on him or his family, then I say I’d just be setting myself up for further intrusion, so for that reason, I decided not to stoke that fire and let it go…

So anyway, yeah… I was robbed. Sunday morning I go out to snowblow my driveway after what turned out to be our biggest snow storm of the winter, get halfway done when I run out of gas, only to find that my gas cans had been stolen. If that doesn’t put you on life-tilt I don’t know what does…

So I go in, eat breakfast, then go to the hardware store, buy a couple of new cans (don’t get me started on how the new ones have all this new ozone protecting safety shit that pretty makes it impossible to pour gas into any small piece of equipment…), go to the gas station to get some gas, and then back home to finish the other half of the driveway. Then I start thinking that something might be wrong with my snowblower… It just doesn’t feel like it’s working right, and I think that there was oil or something else brownish dripping out of it. It might have been running weird just because of the snow that was packed down on the driveway, and for all I know that was dirty snow that was melting onto the ground that was brownish; upon inspection, I didn't find anything leaking from the machine. The end of my driveway was full of plowed in heavy ice chunks, so I wasn’t about to take my blower down there (it’d be like putting rocks through it, not to mention I'd just be daring one of the chunks to shatter the plastic chute), so I had to shovel out that part by hand… Let’s just say when this was all said and done, I wasn’t in the best of moods…

~

This brings us right into Sunday, day two of my new poker plan… Even though I’m not in the best of moods, I really can’t be expected to hold off on my new plan, right? Right? Like I was saying the other day, I’m really not as good as you think I am…. And I’m certainly not good enough to not play, especially when I’ve got this new plan, and I’m trying to set the wheels of it in motion. So when I was done with the driveway, I pretty much went right online and started playing… And I didn’t win a thing. I got into the 14:45 Token Frenzy, cause that’s the key to my new plan, and I donked out of that… by literally making the dumbest play I’ve made at the tables in my entire playing career, and I justified it by the fact that I just didn’t want to play anymore. On one hand it was good that I finally recognized that, but it’s not a valid excuse to throw money away.

I did make one good decision though. There was a $26 satellite into some $200 tourney to get into some big tournament in England (I would unregister from the $200 tourney and take the tournament dollars). By the time it started, there were just over 20 people registered, and they were giving away two seats (plus some cash to a couple of places). I tried real hard to justify signing up with my last token, my biggest argument being that with so few people it would be over quickly. But I was atleast smart enough to realize that yeah, it would be over quickly, because I was in no shape to play. With that, I logged off of Full Tilt and didn’t open it again for the rest of the day.

So days one and two are in the book, and I’ve lost a bunch… I can’t let this discourage me though… Like everything in poker, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. I’ve got to give it a chance to work before I give up on it. I’ll be playing in every 19:45 Token Frenzy I can during the week to try to stock pile some tokens so I can focus on the satellites on the weekends. Hopefully if I can get a couple and be able to focus on the satellites fully when I play them, I’ll find some success.

~

The Pepsi Cap Code Challenge is going well… I’ve collected well over 100 caps from co-workers, some of whom have even changed their drink of choice over to a Pepsi product. One guy who drank Dr. Pepper religiously, is now drinking Cherry flavored Pepsi, and my boss, who doesn’t drink soda herself, has instructed her boyfriend that he is to start drinking only Pepsi. That, along with the many that I am digging out of the recycling bins around work, the few that the Jewel gets from her co-workers, and the many that I drink everyday has already landed me 3 free DVD’s. I’ve already received the first season of Weeds as well as the first season of Friday Night Lights. And this weekend I placed my order for the American Pie Trilogy. I’ve also already got my sites set on getting Die Hard 4, Spiderman 3and Disney's The Fox and the Hound (for the Beag…).

A new deal…

2008-03-08T23:07:00.002-05:00

I’ve decided that I’m going to start taking advantage of Full Tilt’s new Tournament Dollars. How they work is, if I can satellite my way into a tournament, I can then unregister and keep the money as tournament dollars to be used in tournaments. What I had figured was that if I can win some seats for cheap, I’ll be able to use those dollars for the SNG’s that I normally play, and make real dollars when I cash in those. And if worse comes to worse, Full Tilt allows you to convert tournament dollars for real cash (at a cost of 5%, I believe). I figure I’ll never have to do that because SNG’s are what I use most of my real money for anyway, so I’ll get the discount of using the won tournament dollars. It seemed like a win-win situation for me, and I was pretty excited about it this week when I came up with the plan, and was eager to get to it this weekend. Well, this weekend I’ve found a few problems with my theory…

In my original plan, I wanted to be able to win some cheap satellites into some big tournaments. When I say cheap, I was picturing some $3, maybe some $6 and at the most $8 satellites. My plan was to win some $100 or $200 seats. What I failed to piece together when I was thinking this up was that if these things were that easy to win, I would have been doing that already. The basic math should tell me that if I’m playing a $3 satellite, and it’s giving out seats to a $50 tournament, it takes over 16 people to pay for each seat they’re giving away. That’s just too many to make it profitable or even achievable on a regular basis… So my plan is sort of going in a different direction now…

Full Tilt also has something called Tokens that you can win. Like a satellite, you can win them in a tournament and use them to buy into a larger tournament that has the exact value. They come in $26 (for $24 + $2 tournies) and $75 (for $69 + $6 tounies) values. At this point I’m going to focus on the $26 tokens. My goal is to win tokens to buy into larger buy-in satellites which I will then unregister from to gain the tournament dollars.

Have I lost you yet…?

This afternoon was my first attempt at this. I played the 14:45 $26 Token Frenzy. This is a $6.50 MTT that pays out in tokens. There were 286 runners and 66 of them won tokens. I’ve had really good success with these in the past, and today was no different as I was one of those 66.

Instead of taking a break and maybe moving on to part two of my plan tomorrow, I decided to jump into my satellite pretty much right away after that tournament was over. Full Tilt was running a $24 + $2 Satellite to the Saturday Winner’s Choice tournament which is a $200 + $16 tourney. So what that means is, if I could win a seat into that game, I could unregister and earn $216 in tournament dollars. This is pretty much what I am trying to achieve with this new plan.

What made this tournament so appealing was that with $24 going into the prize pool with each participant, that means that a seat was being given away for every 9 runners. See how my chances of cashing are better? And just because it’s a higher buy in doesn’t make the players any better. They’re all winning their entry though satellites like the Token Frenzy just like me. This should be my best chance at winning some tournament dollars.

So I enter the tourney, and even though I’m tired, I feel like I’m playing my best. There were 50 runners with 8 spots getting paid. Places 1-5 get the $216 seats, but to be honest, I’m just looking to cash. This token cost me $6.50 and if I just walk away with $24 for 8th, $36 for 7th or $60 for 6th, I’ll be happy enough. I work my way through the field. I’m trying hard to not get all in. I’m recognizing the people that I can steal from, and those who are trying to steal from me. I use selective aggression to chip up without showdowns. I’m reading people well, and everything is just going good.

We’re down to 12 handed… 4 more gone and we’re in the money. The blinds are 120/240 with a 25 ante and I have over 4,000 in chips. I am feeling good and while nothing is certain, if I don’t do anything stupid, I should be able to get there. Then this hand comes up and blows me away…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5555897564: Satellite to the WC Saturday (41364549), Table 6 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:24:16 ET - 2008/03/08
Seat 2: tomek322 (9,184)
Seat 4: junkbutton (4,431)
Seat 5: tuff_fish123 (13,155)
Seat 6: iplayforfood (5,280)
Seat 8: -mash-x (4,578)
Seat 9: kev19 (4,702)
tomek322 antes 25
junkbutton antes 25
tuff_fish123 antes 25
iplayforfood antes 25
-mash-x antes 25
kev19 antes 25
iplayforfood posts the small blind of 120
-mash-x posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ad Kh]
kev19 raises to 720
tomek322 folds
junkbutton raises to 4,406, and is all in
tuff_fish123 folds
iplayforfood folds
-mash-x folds
kev19 has 15 seconds left to act
kev19 has requested TIME
kev19 calls 3,686
junkbutton shows [Ad Kh]
kev19 shows [9h 9d]
*** FLOP *** [3c Ah 6d]
*** TURN *** [3c Ah 6d] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [3c Ah 6d 8c] [9c]
junkbutton shows a pair of Aces
kev19 shows three of a kind, Nines
kev19 wins the pot (9,322) with three of a kind, Nines
junkbutton stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9,322 | Rake 0
Board: [3c Ah 6d 8c 9c]
Seat 2: tomek322 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: junkbutton showed [Ad Kh] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 5: tuff_fish123 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: iplayforfood (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: -mash-x (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: kev19 showed [9h 9d] and won (9,322) with three of a kind, Nines

Nothing like the suckout, resuck loss to really knock the wind out of you. We were shorthanded, and I’m holding a premium hand. The guy under the gun made a standard sized 3x the bb raise. It folds to me and I move all in. What probably went through his mind was that my push, a huge overbet of the pot, seemed awfully fishy and I was just trying to steal the pot. He decided that his nines were probably way ahead so he was going to go with it. In reality, I actually did really want him to fold, though I figured I was ahead. I didn’t want him to call and suckout on me. I just wanted to chip up a bit and secure a money spot.

He does call though, and I’m not unhappy to see that it’s a coin flip. Then that beautiful ace comes out on the flop and I take a huge lead. The turn brings a blank and I’ve got this guy on the ropes. Only two little itty-bitty cards in that great big fat deck gives him the pot… And then the fucking 9 of clubs slaps down on the river and I literally jump out of my chair in disbelief.

I come up with a great strategy to actually earn some money. I think it through and implement it perfectly. I put myself in a wonderful position to have it pay off and then… BOOM. It gets crushed… I felt pretty crushed.

Hopefully I can take this as a learning experience and build on it. I’ve got to realize that this isn’t going to work every time I try, and in fact it’s not going to work more times than it does. But I’m really disappointed because I’m not going to get this close too often, and I need to come through with it when I do.

In the last week or so, I feel like I’m playing better than I ever have. I honestly feel like my game is not only moving up to a new level, but my excitement for the game is bigger than it’s been in over a year. I attribute this to articles I’m reading in magazines, books and online, as well as the great posts on so many of the great blogs that I read (all of which can be found in the links to the right…). I used to spend most of my time discussing poker on forums, and I thought that I was really learning some things then. But let me tell you, there are some great players in that list over there who are living the dream everyday, and they have a wealth of knowledge that they are sharing. Nothing can compare to that…

I know that in the big picture, my game is nothing. I couldn’t play my way out of a wet paper bag most days. I’m a break even player who has caught a couple lucky cards to be able to show a profit over the last few years. But I’m getting better, and right now, even though there are millions of steps to take to be great, I feel like I’m flying up those stairs two at time…

There’s always tomorrow…

Bubble aggression...

2008-03-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

Once again last night I found myself in a situation where I was able to use a big stack to do some damage to my opponents on the bubble. This time it was in one of my small 6-max SNGs. Never before have I truly used the power of my stack to just steal blinds without regard to what my cards were.

There was a key hand where the cards I held did help me to make my bully bets a lot more confident. I had around 4,500 in chips, the second place guy had around 3,500 and the last place guy had about 1,000. From the sb I made a standard raise preflop with K9o after the short stack button folded. The bb (the second place guy) foolishly called. He was probably getting frustrated that I was raising him quite a bit, but there really wasn’t any reason to play out a hand with me. If he thought he had the best hand, he might have raised or pushed, but if he’s holding something speculative, I don’t think this is the time to try to get lucky when there is someone else so short.

So anyway, he called and the flop comes down KKx. Bingo! I bet out about half the pot (‘cause I’m a man!) and he calls. The turn pairs the x and I make another smallish bet (a little less than half the pot), trying my hardest to make it look like I’m just trying to steal it without risking too much. He just calls again. The river is a blank. I pause for about 10 seconds and then push. It’s an overbet of about 1.5 times the size of the pot. He thinks for a good long time. I’m hoping and praying he has an Ace and sees my push as a huge steal attempt with ace high and he might call for a chop. Finally he lays it down.

That hand put some real distance between our stacks, and I continued to steal from him. He finally realized that maybe he should just let those crappy hands go, and I dwindled him down to comparable to what the third place guy had. While all this was going on, light bulbs were going off left and right in my head. The value of all these extra chips I was picking up were being realized at that very moment. If I can get to HU with an 8-1 chip lead, I can all but lock up my victory. And that’s pretty much what happened. I got into a blind vs blind with him again, this time just calling. I hit top pair on the flop and bet out (again, cause I’m a man!) and he pushed with second pair. I called and he didn’t catch up.

I’m not claiming this is all some major poker theory breakthrough. I realize this is pretty basic stuff. But putting it in action is something that I’ve never really experimented with, so I’m feeling it’s a huge breakthrough in my game, and I’m very pleased with that.

Scott Fischman is a swell guy...

2008-03-04T19:16:00.001-05:00

A lot of people have been complaining about the way Scott Fischman took down the first BBT event on Sunday night. Some didn’t seem happy that he was there, and pretty much everyone agreed that he lucksacked his way to the title. I’m sure deep down everyone was really tickled that a name pro would take the time to donk around with the lowly bloggers, and from what I read, he seemed to be going out of his way to let everyone take his chips. Of course I wasn’t there, but I wanted to share a nice little tidbit about Scott before his reputation gets too hammered by the community…

In July of 2005 I got the idea that I would try to email a bunch of poker pros and ask for an autographed picture. This was before the Jewel and I bought the house, and I knew that someday I’d have a poker room in my house, and I wanted something to decorate it with. I sent out about 10 emails. I don’t remember everyone I sent them to. The stars I remember sending emails to were Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jen Harmon, Antonio Esfandiari and Scott Fischman.

Each email was pretty much the same. A basic greeting, congratulations on all of their success, blah blah blah… I then asked if it were possible for them to send me the autograph. I tried to make it a little funny so that maybe I would stand out among, what I imagine, are the many like emails they receive everyday. I asked them to make it out to me personally so that they knew I wasn’t looking to put this up on ebay. And I gave them a little suggestion for a message: To Nolan, the only poker player I’m afraid to play. I thought that was something a little different, and hopefully make them think that I was a cool enough guy that they might take the time to send me a picture. Out of these 10 or so requests that I sent out, I got 3 replies…

One from Antonio… He said he’d love to sign a picture to me, but I’d have to bring it to him at a tournament some time. Nice enough fellow, I thought. Seriously, what can I expect from him or any of these people, really. They’re under no obligation to send me anything. Me being a fan of his has no benefit to him personally, so I thought it was nice enough of him to take the time to send me an email.

I got another response from Jen. She emailed me and said that she’d send me a pic, but it might be a while since she was currently in the middle of the WSOP. Awesome, right? Of course I’m an idiot for sending out these requests in the middle of the busiest time of the year for these guys… But she came through for me in the end, and sent me an autographed picture with the exact message that I asked her to write on it.

My third response was from non-other than Scott Fischman. Like Jen, he told me he was real busy with the WSOP, but he’d get a pic out to me as soon as he could. A short time later, as promised, I received in the mail that picture and two poker chips advertising his new online poker site TheFishTank.com. He actually didn’t take my message suggestion. His message reads: To Nolan, Don’t bust me! Scott Fischman 88). Now, he probably only went through all that trouble because he was trying to get me to play at his new site… But still. It’s pretty cool that he would take the time to hook up someone he doesn’t know like this…

So anyway, in case anyone was genuinely peeved at Scott, I hope this little act of kindness that he showed to a nobody proves that, at least at one time, he was a nice guy…

So… Am I running bad or not?

2008-03-02T15:07:00.001-05:00

I spent the better part of this weekend getting my teeth kicked in. I couldn’t make a hand, and when I did it was always second best. I dropped 3 buy-ins at the cash tables, and lost 3 of 4 SNGs (and the one I cashed in was second place for a measly five dollar profit…). I’m talking stupid setup hands… JJ vs QQ, hit a river straight when he makes a flush, TPTK vs bottom two. I wouldn’t even say that I’ve taken any bad beats this weekend. Just a bunch of set up hands where, given the situation, I was destined to lose…

Then, I enter one of those fun $3.30 Knockout 90 player SNG’s on Full Tilt and I take the whole thing down! BOOM! I thought this whole weekend was going to be one big depressing second best hand affair and out of the blue I get this gift from the poker gods. I think this is actually my first non-satellite MTT win (at least one with this many players). I’ve gotten a lot of second place finishes, but I can’t recall ever taking down an MTT for cash before.

I owe a lot of it to luck at first. I pretty much just folded through half of the field, but then I got some big hands that held up and it was no looking back from there. I really can’t remember any particular hands. At one point I had more than double the stack of the second place guy and I just used those chips to push people around. That’s something I don’t get a whole lot of opportunities to do, so I was happy for the practice. When we approached the bubble, I selectively moved all in a lot, and people were giving up their blinds and antes. I knew all too well what it was like to be on the other side of that situation, just trying to hold on to the money, and I was happy to be able to take advantage of that.

When we reached the final table (and the money), I started changing gears, but still mostly keeping the pressure on with my huge stack. I definitely got some lucky breaks throughout the final table, so I can’t take all of the credit. But it was the first time I was able to really feel the power of the big stack, and I think I used it right. I think I was the chip leader for the entire final table until we were down to heads up when I gave up the lead for a couple of hands. Soon after I had this hand come up:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5471698446: $3 + $0.30 KO Sit & Go (41629169), Table 3 - 5000/10000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:21:49 ET - 2008/03/02
Seat 2: junkbutton (131,736)
Seat 7: 2bigdawgs (138,264)
junkbutton antes 1,000
2bigdawgs antes 1,000
2bigdawgs posts the small blind of 5,000
junkbutton posts the big blind of 10,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ts 6h]
2bigdawgs calls 5,000
junkbutton checks
*** FLOP *** [Td 4s Ac]
junkbutton checks
2bigdawgs bets 10,000
junkbutton raises to 120,736, and is all in
2bigdawgs calls 110,736
junkbutton shows [Ts 6h]
2bigdawgs shows [Kc 6c]
*** TURN *** [Td 4s Ac] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Td 4s Ac 2c] [3h]
junkbutton shows a pair of Tens
2bigdawgs shows Ace King high
junkbutton wins the pot (263,472) with a pair of Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 263,472 | Rake 0
Board: [Td 4s Ac 2c 3h]
Seat 2: junkbutton (big blind) showed [Ts 6h] and won (263,472) with a pair of Tens
Seat 7: 2bigdawgs (small blind) showed [Kc 6c] and lost with Ace King high

I’m not sure what made him call. There was a hand earlier where he called me down on the river with K high in which he was right, but I sure as hell wasn’t putting my tournament life on the line with K high!. If that’s what he was thinking, then I guess I had set him up pretty good… But at that point we were moving a lot of chips around, so he might have just decided to take a chance at getting lucky. After that hand he was pretty much dead, left with just 6,500 chips to my 260,000, but he did actually double up twice before I finally took him down with this uneventful hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5471713425: $3 + $0.30 KO Sit & Go (41629169), Table 3 - 5000/10000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:22:59 ET - 2008/03/02
Seat 2: junkbutton (243,888)
Seat 7: 2bigdawgs (26,112)
junkbutton antes 1,000
2bigdawgs antes 1,000
junkbutton posts the small blind of 5,000
2bigdawgs posts the big blind of 10,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kd 3s]
junkbutton raises to 32,000
2bigdawgs calls 15,112, and is all in
junkbutton shows [Kd 3s]
2bigdawgs shows [5c Qs]
Uncalled bet of 6,888 returned to junkbutton
*** FLOP *** [Ad 4s Ts]
*** TURN *** [Ad 4s Ts] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 4s Ts Ks] [6h]
junkbutton shows a pair of Kings
2bigdawgs shows Ace King high
junkbutton wins the pot (52,224) with a pair of Kings
junkbutton: gg
2bigdawgs stands up
junkbutton stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 52,224 | Rake 0
Board: [Ad 4s Ts Ks 6h]
Seat 2: junkbutton (small blind) showed [Kd 3s] and won (52,224) with a pair of Kings
Seat 7: 2bigdawgs (big blind) showed [5c Qs] and lost with Ace King high

This tournament was just what I needed this weekend. First paid $72 plus the $5 I picked up with 10 knockouts. It bumped my bankroll up over $500 which is the first time it’s been there since I made my recent staking deal. But most importantly it will keep my confidence from crumbling, which is where it was heading…

Pepsi Challenge

2008-02-29T23:22:00.002-05:00

Pepsi is running another Pepsi Stuff promotion this year. You can collect codes from bottle caps and redeem them for stuff through Amazon.com. Being the big Pepsi drinker that I am, I am taking full advantage of this. They are offering DVDs for 90 points, which is a lot (you get one point from one bottle of soda), but they have some TV seasons available that I’d like, so I’m using my points for those to get full value. I’ve actually already saved up enough points for one DVD and have ordered the first season of Showtime’s Weeds, which I’ve never watched, but always wanted to. I figured this was a good opportunity to buy it blind and not spend anything.

I’d like to be able to take full advantage of this promotion, so I’ve come up with a clever (if I do say so myself) way to get my co-workers involved. Last week I set up an empty tissue box and made a little sign to stick on the front. I’m calling it the Pepsi Stuff Bottle Cap Code Challenge. Basically I’m challenging my co-workers to give me their bottle caps with Pepsi Stuff codes in them.

Of course I have to give something in return for my co-worker’s generosity… So here are the prizes for giving me the caps: For each cap they give me, they receive a “heartfelt thanks”. When they reach 10 caps, they receive a “sincere letter of appreciation”. And finally, to the participant who gives me the most caps, they win a “high five”. Sounds kind of silly, right? Of course it is. My attempt was just to stay away from flat out begging for other people’s caps and to try to get people to WANT to give me their caps.

I’ve actually had two people read the box, and the rules to the ‘contest’, and actually say that they “want to win the high five”. Who knew a high five would be enough to get people’s competitive juices flowing? And you want to know what the key to this whole thing is? A leaderboard. I make them write their initials on the back of the cap so I can keep track, and everyday I update the leaderboard. People love to see their names on lists. And people LOVE to see their names at the TOP of lists. It’s pretty brilliant, really. My one obstacle right now is that I’ve got a guy in the mail room who is collecting caps from other parts of the building. On one hand, that’s great. More caps for me! But on the other hand, if he pulls away with this thing too far, it might actually un-inspire other people to want to participate. Casinos love their whales and treat them the best, but even they know that they need the little guys to keep coming back for them to make their biggest profits… I have to figure out how I can keep this competitive if he does run away with it…

~

Last Friday night I went out to play a cash game with a few friends. I’ve talked about playing with these guys before, and an incredible tell I picked up on one of him. You can check out that post here. Basically I had found that when this guy liked his hand, he would stretch his legs out under the table straight out in front of him. That’s pretty basic confidence tell, and when you can find someone who does it consistently, it’s a real money saver (especially against someone like this guy who will play any two cards and usually does…). I had picked off a couple of his bluffs using this tell that night. Twice he made $2 bets on the river, I looked at his feet tucked up under his chair (low confidence tell), called with a mediocre hand, and scooped the pot.

By the end of the night I was running well and was up a good chunk. It was about a half hour before I had said that I was going to leave, and my hope was to just coast ‘til then and hopefully leave with all of the money I had in front of me… This is actually a huge leak in my live game… When I can see the end of my night closing in, I start playing with scared money. I’ve mentioned this before, and it’s still something I’m working on…

Anyway, I don’t remember the exact details of the hand that totally shattered everything I thought I knew about this guy’s tells… I remember I had pocket kings and I raised it up. He was my only caller, sitting directly to my left. I don’t remember the flop except that it was all low cards, and there were two that were suited. I put out a decent sized bet and he called. Of course this scares me because like I said, this guy will play any two cards in any spot. The turn was another low blank that was the same suit as the lone suit from the flop. I decided to check because I’m chicken-shit, and because I was playing scared… He checked behind me. The river paired the board (an 8 I believe, which was also the highest card on the board – there was an 8 on the flop) and it also would have completed a backdoor flush. So now I’m looking at a draw heavy board… It’s suited with countless straight and boat possibilities. And I have an overpair of kings… Again, I chicken-shit-check again and he, without hesitation, bets out $5.

Now right off the bat I feel like I’m beat. He’s a very loose player who would call a preflop raise with an 8 easily. He would call a preflop raise with two low cards that would hit this board for a straight. He would call a preflop raise and a flop bet with three to a flush. I feel like I very easily could have been outdrawn here… But then it happens… While I’m working things over in my mind, he stretches himself out… His legs are so far out in front of him, he’s practically standing outside. He reaches his hands behind his head and practically lays down in his chair. Anything I’ve ever read or seen on the topic of poker tells and my own experience with this particular villain says that this guy sitting next to me is very confident about his hand…

At that point I’m pretty much done with the hand. I tell him that if I fold I don’t want to know what he had and that he can tell me before I leave. He agrees and I fold my kings face up. He shows his hand to his neighbor and mucks his cards. I’m thinking now that folding my kings face up was a huge mistake. This particular guy and another in my group of players are becoming very aggressive. When we all first started playing they were major calling stations. Now they are finding out that if they bet, they can get other people to fold. When I show that I will lay down big hands to big bets, it is just fueling their desire to bluff me. Big mistake that I need to work on…

He told me before I left that he had a busted flush draw and the other guy confirmed it… So now on top of everything else, I have to go back and figure out if the tell I have on him is real or not. Maybe he was pulling a reverse tell on me… Or maybe he just really needed to stretch…

~

I tend to fall way behind in my tv watching… I haven’t watched a single episode of this season’s Lost yet. I’ve only watched two episodes of Heroes so far. I have two weeks worth of Poker After Dark to get through. All of these shows and more just build up on my DVR until I get around to them… There’s one show that I just started watching that I’m raving about. It’s a new show on AMC called Breaking Bad. It stars Bryan Cranston who is probably best known for playing the dad on Malcolm in the Middle. He is absolutely brilliant on this show. I am so happy that he wasn’t typecast as strictly a comedic actor. He has got some great dramatic chops.

I’m only 4 episodes in to this season but I am hooked hard. Cranston plays a financially struggling high school chemistry teacher who works a second job at a car wash. He’s married with a teenage son who’s disabled, and his wife is pregnant. During the first episode he collapses during a coughing fit while at the car wash (he had just gotten over a cold but still had a lingering cough). At the hospital he is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and has no more than 2 years to live. He decides he needs to figure out a way to make sure his family is financially secure when he dies and starts thinking about using his knowledge of chemicals to make crystal meth. He goes on a ride-a-long with his DEA brother-in-law and realizes that a former student of his has become somewhat of a big shot in the drug trade. They eventually team up and with the kid’s knowledge of distribution, and Cranston’s ability to cook the best crystal meth, they are sure to take the drug trade by storm…

I am really impressed by this show. The acting is excellent and the story is believable. I’m looking forward to getting the DVD so that I can enjoy it without the swearing being blocked out. AMC is allowing some minor swear words, but they don’t even try to cover up the fact that they’re cutting some of the harsher ones out. It’s like they know this show would be better with real dialogue, so they’re at least filming it uncensored with the intent of people being able to see it in it’s entirety eventually, even if they can’t right now. Check it out…

~

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t let both of my readers know about the huge deal that is the BBT3. Go here for full details, but basically it’s a series of blogger hosted tournaments where at the end, HUGE prizes will be awarded, including 7 (SEVEN!) WSOP prize packs (2 Main Event and 5 $2,000 WSOP Bracelet Packages). This is a big deal, and maybe the easiest way for you guys to score a huge seat to the big show…. I will probably not enter any of the events because a) I just don’t feel like my roll can support playing in these things with some very talented players and b) the tournaments are just too late at night during the week! But seriously, the prizes that are being offered can not be ignored and if you have the means and the time, you HAVE to take advantage of this… Goodluck!

Bad Blogger...

2008-02-26T19:24:00.002-05:00

I'm such a bad blogger... No updates. Nothing exciting to report. Too busy at work to write anything. And when I'm home, I just want to play and look at pictures of the cutest kitties and doggies you can even imagine...

Maybe I'll have something to say tomorrow...

Some Hand Histories...

2008-02-19T20:19:00.001-05:00

I write the majority of these posts at work and email them to myself at home to post since I can’t access blogger from work… Well the one I wrote today didn’t get here for some reason. It was short. It mentioned that the Jewel was spending the night in Chicago on business and the Beag and I were chilling out at home… But since it didn’t make it, I’ll share some hand histories from tonight’s play… If you’re not into reading HH’s, I’ll understand if you move on.

Players were in rare form tonight. Everyone was just trying to give their money away.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5322370775: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 19:30:29 ET - 2008/02/19
arde stroyer sits down
Seat 1: junkbutton ($5.45)
Seat 3: koncz13 ($6.90)
Seat 4: dd06936 ($11.95)
Seat 5: BeCampy ($2.10), is sitting out
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($18.25)
Sry BoutUr Luk posts the small blind of $0.05
junkbutton posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ad Qc]
koncz13 folds
dd06936 calls $0.10
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.05
junkbutton raises to $0.40
dd06936 calls $0.30
Sry BoutUr Luk has 15 seconds left to act
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.30
*** FLOP *** [Qh Td 3d]
Sry BoutUr Luk bets $0.10
junkbutton raises to $0.90
dd06936 folds
arde stroyer adds $3
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.80
*** TURN *** [Qh Td 3d] [3c]
Sry BoutUr Luk checks
junkbutton bets $1.70, and is capped
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $1.70, and is capped
junkbutton shows [Ad Qc]
Sry BoutUr Luk shows [8s Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Qh Td 3d 3c] [5c]
junkbutton shows two pair, Queens and Threes
Sry BoutUr Luk shows two pair, Tens and Threes
junkbutton wins the pot ($5.80) with two pair, Queens and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.40 | Rake $0.60
Board: [Qh Td 3d 3c 5c]
Seat 1: junkbutton (big blind) showed [Ad Qc] and won ($5.80) with two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 3: koncz13 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: dd06936 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: BeCampy is sitting out
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk (small blind) showed [8s Ts] and lost with two pair, Tens and Threes

I didn’t win this hand, but it wasn’t because the guy wasn’t trying to give me his money…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5322414097: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 19:34:00 ET - 2008/02/19
Seat 1: junkbutton ($8.20)
Seat 2: arde stroyer ($2.20)
Seat 3: koncz13 ($6.70)
Seat 4: dd06936 ($12.55)
Seat 5: BeCampy ($2.10), is sitting out
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($15.15)
koncz13 posts the small blind of $0.05
dd06936 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Jc Js]
Sry BoutUr Luk raises to $0.20
junkbutton raises to $3, and is capped
arde stroyer folds
koncz13 folds
dd06936 folds
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $2.80, and is capped
junkbutton shows [Jc Js]
Sry BoutUr Luk shows [Ac Tc]
*** FLOP *** [3h Qd 2s]
*** TURN *** [3h Qd 2s] [As]
*** RIVER *** [3h Qd 2s As] [4h]
junkbutton shows a pair of Jacks
Sry BoutUr Luk shows a pair of Aces
Sry BoutUr Luk wins the pot ($5.55) with a pair of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.15 | Rake $0.60
Board: [3h Qd 2s As 4h]
Seat 1: junkbutton showed [Jc Js] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 2: arde stroyer (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: koncz13 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: dd06936 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: BeCampy is sitting out
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk showed [Ac Tc] and won ($5.55) with a pair of Aces

You would think it’d be hard to get someone to go all in with a pair of 9’s… I got two people to do it on this hand…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5322430421: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 19:35:20 ET - 2008/02/19
Seat 1: junkbutton ($5.10)
Seat 2: arde stroyer ($2.20)
Seat 3: koncz13 ($6.55)
Seat 4: dd06936 ($12.55)
Seat 5: BeCampy ($2.10), is sitting out
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($17.80)
junkbutton posts the small blind of $0.05
arde stroyer has 5 seconds left to act
arde stroyer posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [3h 3s]
koncz13 raises to $0.20
dd06936 folds
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.20
junkbutton calls $0.15
arde stroyer calls $0.10
*** FLOP *** [2d 9s 3d]
junkbutton checks
arde stroyer checks
koncz13 bets $0.80
Sry BoutUr Luk folds
junkbutton calls $0.80
arde stroyer raises to $2, and is all in
koncz13 calls $1.20
junkbutton raises to $2.80, and is capped
koncz13 calls $0.80, and is capped
junkbutton shows [3h 3s]
arde stroyer shows [5c 9d]
koncz13 shows [9c Ts]
*** TURN *** [2d 9s 3d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [2d 9s 3d 6s] [Jd]
junkbutton shows three of a kind, Threes
koncz13 shows a pair of Nines
junkbutton wins the side pot ($1.45) with three of a kind, Threes
arde stroyer shows a pair of Nines
junkbutton wins the main pot ($6.15) with three of a kind, Threes
arde stroyer is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $8.40 Main pot $6.80. Side pot $1.60. | Rake $0.80
Board: [2d 9s 3d 6s Jd]
Seat 1: junkbutton (small blind) showed [3h 3s] and won ($7.60) with three of a kind, Threes
Seat 2: arde stroyer (big blind) showed [5c 9d] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 3: koncz13 showed [9c Ts] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 4: dd06936 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: BeCampy is sitting out
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk (button) folded on the Flop

Flop the nuts and have two guys move all in before you? Uh, ok…

FullTiltPoker Game #5322461618: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 19:37:52 ET - 2008/02/19
Seat 1: junkbutton ($9.70)
Seat 2: Phatnicky ($6)
Seat 3: koncz13 ($6.25)
Seat 4: dd06936 ($12.35)
Seat 5: Thugmaz ($5.75)
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($14.60)
dd06936 posts the small blind of $0.05
Thugmaz posts the big blind of $0.10
5 seconds left to act
Phatnicky posts $0.10
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [As Kd]
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.10
junkbutton raises to $0.55
Phatnicky calls $0.45
koncz13 folds
dd06936 calls $0.50
Thugmaz folds
Sry BoutUr Luk has 15 seconds left to act
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.45
*** FLOP *** [Qh Js Td]
dd06936 bets $2.45, and is capped
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $2.45, and is capped
junkbutton calls $2.45, and is capped
Phatnicky folds
dd06936 shows [Qc Kh]
Sry BoutUr Luk shows [7s Kc]
junkbutton shows [As Kd]
*** TURN *** [Qh Js Td] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [Qh Js Td Jc] [9d]
dd06936 shows a straight, King high
Sry BoutUr Luk shows a straight, King high
junkbutton shows a straight, Ace high
junkbutton wins the pot ($8.70) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $9.65 | Rake $0.95
Board: [Qh Js Td Jc 9d]
Seat 1: junkbutton showed [As Kd] and won ($8.70) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 2: Phatnicky folded on the Flop
Seat 3: koncz13 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: dd06936 (small blind) showed [Qc Kh] and lost with a straight, King high
Seat 5: Thugmaz (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk showed [7s Kc] and lost with a straight, King high

Unfortunately, showing down the nuts so much killed some of my action… I should have gotten at least one person all in with me on this one out of the three that were in it…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5322494454: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 19:40:34 ET - 2008/02/19
Seat 1: junkbutton ($15.30)
Seat 2: Phatnicky ($5.25)
Seat 3: koncz13 ($5.85)
Seat 4: dd06936 ($6.65)
Seat 5: Thugmaz ($2.65)
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($17.05)
junkbutton posts the small blind of $0.05
Phatnicky has 5 seconds left to act
Phatnicky posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Td 9h]
koncz13 calls $0.10
dd06936 calls $0.10
Thugmaz folds
Sry BoutUr Luk folds
junkbutton calls $0.05
Phatnicky checks
*** FLOP *** [3h 8d Qs]
junkbutton checks
Phatnicky checks
koncz13 checks
dd06936 checks
*** TURN *** [3h 8d Qs] [Js]
junkbutton bets $0.40
Phatnicky has 15 seconds left to act
Phatnicky folds
koncz13 folds
dd06936 folds
Uncalled bet of $0.40 returned to junkbutton
junkbutton mucks
junkbutton wins the pot ($0.40)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $0.40 | Rake $0
Board: [3h 8d Qs Js]
Seat 1: junkbutton (small blind) collected ($0.40), mucked
Seat 2: Phatnicky (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 3: koncz13 folded on the Turn
Seat 4: dd06936 folded on the Turn
Seat 5: Thugmaz didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk (button) didn't bet (folded)

Calls a bet of almost twice the size of the pot with an OESD with one card to come… LOVE IT!

Full Tilt Poker Game #5322608995: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 19:49:45 ET - 2008/02/19
Seat 1: junkbutton ($15.35)
Seat 2: Phatnicky ($7.80)
Seat 3: koncz13 ($6.70)
Seat 4: dd06936 ($6.50)
Seat 5: Thugmaz ($0), is sitting out
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($14.45)
Sry BoutUr Luk posts the small blind of $0.05
junkbutton posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [5s 6s]
Phatnicky folds
koncz13 calls $0.10
dd06936 calls $0.10
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.05
junkbutton checks
*** FLOP *** [6c Ks 5d]
Sry BoutUr Luk checks
Thugmaz stands up
junkbutton bets $0.40
koncz13 folds
dd06936 has 15 seconds left to act
dd06936 folds
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.40
*** TURN *** [6c Ks 5d] [3h]
Sry BoutUr Luk checks
junkbutton bets $2.50, and is capped
Puffin It Up sits down
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $2.50, and is capped
junkbutton shows [5s 6s]
Sry BoutUr Luk shows [Ac 4h]
Puffin It Up adds $6
*** RIVER *** [6c Ks 5d 3h] [3d]
junkbutton shows two pair, Sixes and Fives
Sry BoutUr Luk shows a pair of Threes
junkbutton wins the pot ($5.60) with two pair, Sixes and Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.20 | Rake $0.60
Board: [6c Ks 5d 3h 3d]
Seat 1: junkbutton (big blind) showed [5s 6s] and won ($5.60) with two pair, Sixes and Fives
Seat 2: Phatnicky didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: koncz13 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: dd06936 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: Thugmaz is sitting out
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk (small blind) showed [Ac 4h] and lost with a pair of Threes

Here’s another example of them trying to give their money away, and an example of my awesome skills to get away from a monster… Or at least what would be considered a monster to these guys…

Full Tilt Poker Game #5322674252: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 19:54:58 ET - 2008/02/19
Seat 1: junkbutton ($17.75)
Seat 2: Phatnicky ($4.05)
Seat 3: koncz13 ($14.15)
Seat 4: dd06936 ($0.30)
Seat 5: Puffin It Up ($7.25)
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($10.95)
Sry BoutUr Luk posts the small blind of $0.05
junkbutton posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ks Qs]
Phatnicky calls $0.10
koncz13 calls $0.10
dd06936 folds
Puffin It Up calls $0.10
Sry BoutUr Luk raises to $0.20
junkbutton calls $0.10
Phatnicky calls $0.10
koncz13 calls $0.10
Puffin It Up calls $0.10
*** FLOP *** [8h 2h Kc]
Sry BoutUr Luk checks
junkbutton checks
Phatnicky bets $1
koncz13 folds
Puffin It Up calls $1
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $1
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton has requested TIME
junkbutton folds
*** TURN *** [8h 2h Kc] [6h]
Sry BoutUr Luk checks
Phatnicky bets $1.80, and is capped
Puffin It Up calls $1.80, and is capped
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $1.80, and is capped
Phatnicky shows [6c Qc]
Puffin It Up shows [7s Kh]
Sry BoutUr Luk shows [Qh Ah]
*** RIVER *** [8h 2h Kc 6h] [7c]
Phatnicky shows a pair of Sixes
Puffin It Up shows two pair, Kings and Sevens
Sry BoutUr Luk shows a flush, Ace high
Sry BoutUr Luk wins the pot ($8.50) with a flush, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $9.40 | Rake $0.90
Board: [8h 2h Kc 6h 7c]
Seat 1: junkbutton (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: Phatnicky showed [6c Qc] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 3: koncz13 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: dd06936 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Puffin It Up (button) showed [7s Kh] and lost with two pair, Kings and Sevens
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk (small blind) showed [Qh Ah] and won ($8.50) with a flush, Ace high

Not a hand I was in, but this guy told the other guy that he had quads and he still got it all in….

Full Tilt Poker Game #5322707179: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 19:57:36 ET - 2008/02/19
Seat 1: junkbutton ($17.50)
Seat 2: Phatnicky ($6.90)
Seat 3: koncz13 ($13.55)
Seat 5: Puffin It Up ($4.25)
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($17.25)
koncz13 posts the small blind of $0.05
Puffin It Up posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [7d 4c]
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.10
junkbutton folds
Phatnicky folds
koncz13 raises to $0.30
Puffin It Up folds
Sry BoutUr Luk raises to $1
koncz13 calls $0.70
*** FLOP *** [Kc 2s Kh]
koncz13 bets $0.50
Sry BoutUr Luk has 15 seconds left to act
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.50
*** TURN *** [Kc 2s Kh] [4h]
koncz13 bets $0.30
redknight09 sits down
Sry BoutUr Luk has 15 seconds left to act
Sry BoutUr Luk: i just flopped four kings
redknight09 adds $10
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.30
*** RIVER *** [Kc 2s Kh 4h] [Qh]
koncz13 bets $0.30
Sry BoutUr Luk raises to $1.20, and is capped
koncz13 calls $0.90, and is capped
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Sry BoutUr Luk shows [Kd Ks] four of a kind, Kings
koncz13 mucks
Sry BoutUr Luk wins the pot ($5.50) with four of a kind, Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.10 | Rake $0.60
Board: [Kc 2s Kh 4h Qh]
Seat 1: junkbutton didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Phatnicky (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: koncz13 (small blind) mucked [Td Ts] - two pair, Kings and Tens
Seat 5: Puffin It Up (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk showed [Kd Ks] and won ($5.50) with four of a kind, Kings

So sick… This guy might as well have said, “Please… I have too much money. Take some please…” He was one of the few who wasn’t playing like an idiot before this hand came up. I figured I had some catching up to do when the money went in. But with two overs and the nut flush draw, I’ll take the chance… Little did I know I was up against the monster: 9 HIGH!

Full Tilt Poker Game #5322764121: Table Worthen (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 20:02:10 ET - 2008/02/19
Seat 1: junkbutton ($17.20)
Seat 2: Phatnicky ($6.90), is sitting out
Seat 3: koncz13 ($11.35)
Seat 4: redknight09 ($10.65)
Seat 5: Puffin It Up ($4.25)
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk ($19.25)
koncz13 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Ks As]
redknight09 folds
Puffin It Up calls $0.10
Sry BoutUr Luk calls $0.10
junkbutton raises to $0.50
koncz13 folds
Puffin It Up calls $0.40
Sry BoutUr Luk folds
*** FLOP *** [Qd 7s 2s]
Puffin It Up checks
junkbutton bets $1.20
Puffin It Up raises to $2.40
junkbutton raises to $2.50, and is capped
Puffin It Up calls $0.10, and is capped
junkbutton shows [Ks As]
Puffin It Up shows [9c 8c]
*** TURN *** [Qd 7s 2s] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 7s 2s Jc] [Kc]
junkbutton shows a pair of Kings
Puffin It Up shows King Queen high
junkbutton wins the pot ($5.60) with a pair of Kings
Phatnicky has returned
Puffin It Up stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.20 | Rake $0.60
Board: [Qd 7s 2s Jc Kc]
Seat 1: junkbutton (button) showed [Ks As] and won ($5.60) with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: Phatnicky (small blind) is sitting out
Seat 3: koncz13 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: redknight09 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Puffin It Up showed [9c 8c] and lost with King Queen high
Seat 6: Sry BoutUr Luk folded before the Flop

That was fun… Up $13 after 45 minutes of work. I wish they could all be like that…

Chick Flicks and Children's Books...

2008-02-17T08:07:00.002-05:00

For breakfast yesterday, I was making some Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls. When I went to open the oven door to take them out, the handle came off in my hand, and a whole outer part of the door just fell forward. WTF. I had never seen anything like it. It’s like the front of the oven just crumbled apart… Luckily when we bought the stove back in ’05 we bought the 5 year protection agreement that Sears offers and the repair man will be out on Tuesday to fix it. That’s one of those things where you don’t think you’ll need it if you buy it, but will definitely need it if you don’t. This time it worked out that we did. Hopefully nothing happens to the microwave which we opted not to buy the protection agreement on…

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The husband of a lady that the Jewel used to work with recently had a children’s book published that he illustrated (and his sister wrote). They were holding a book signing at a local Barnes & Noble. The Jewel and I stopped in yesterday to pick up a couple of the books and visit with her old friends for a little bit.

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After the book signing, the Jewel and I went to the movies to see P.S. I Love You. It was ok (for a chick flick). I heard the book was incredible and I believe it. The movie felt really rushed like they had to cram a lot of stuff in to keep it under 2 hours. It’s about a young couple where the husband dies of a brain tumor. Not long after the wife turns 30 and receives a letter (and cake) from her late husband. Over the course of the next year through letters and other clues, he sends her on a little adventure to help her cope with his passing. On the whole, the movie is good at pulling on your heartstrings. There were certainly some teary eyes in the theater. But because it seemed so rushed, I just didn’t believe their love was so great. James Marsters had a small role, and it was nice to see him not playing Spike. It would have been nice to see him in a more prominent role though…