Well how about that. Neteller funds have arrived in my bank account. Of course they didn't come from Neteller (the sender was another corporation), but who cares.

I think I'll add that whopping $60 to my live game bankroll - or possibly just use it as a live game beverage fund. It won't last long either way.


Ebay is a trip. I've bid on six golf-related items this week, and managed to "lose" five of them by one dollar each time. Not that it matters - I'm putting in pretty low max bids on a variety of items, hoping to have one or two go through - but it's odd that it's a dollar each time but once.

Neteller sez: Funds are now available to U.S. customers.

We sez: Yeah right. But withdraw anyway. Now. You've only got until January.

If the stars align, I should get sixty bucks, which interestingly enough had no direct connection to any gambling website.

***

Taking a couple of days away from the game. I had a choice of games on Saturday evening, but took a pass on both after the afternoon round of golf took nearly six hours. Cruel and unusual punishment, that.

Off to eBay to look for replacement weapons. Golf clubs, that is. The driver is letting me down and I'm just not happy with any of the three putters I've been rotating.

A couple more amusing examples of live 1/2 donk-on-donk violence involving Aces:

Hand 1: Tilty kid overraises to 20 or so from late position. Button repops to 50. The button player has been destroying the table by hitting on the river every single hand. Tilty kid pushes over the top for the rest of his buyin and draws the the proverbial instacall. Button has AA, kid has AQo.

Flop is all random rags. Turn Q, river Q, kid gets paid for about the dumbest move possible - he was a mere 99.7% to 0.3% dog on the flop.

Hand 2: Bored regular raises to 20 from middle position without looking at his hand. Folds around to the big blind, the button destroyer from the previous hand, who smooth calls.

Flop is A22. Big blind immediately bets enough to set the regular all in.

Regular finally looks at his hand, does a double take, and calls.

Regular has AA. BB has 32s. Unbelievably, the case 2 does not come and the blind aces hold.

I wasn't involved in either hand, so I don't owe you a dollar. Actually, I'm happy to still have some dollars left - I had the button destroyer on my left and by the time I left he was sitting on well over $1,000. He kept making the nuts with hands like A7s, T6s and 42o. By mostly folding a lot I ended up in positive territory, wiping out most of a tilty loss from my previous session.

The frustrating part of the last two sessions is that I was not able to take advantage of the serious donators. Session one featured an asian woman who blew through three buyins in less than two hours. I think I got maybe $20 of it when second pair, no kicker out of the big blind was good. Otherwise, I didn't have anything I could even consider going with. Session two had several of the Laotian crew playing fast and loose. Identifying who to tangle with is a part of the game that I feel like I'm learning.

Anyway, if I'm going to continue playing at the track, and so far it looks like I will, I need to really learn how to play NL cash. That plus improving my ability to observe and read the opposition would greatly improve my chances of beating the games.

Live 1/2 NL.

Hero is in the SB with Qh 7h. Three limpers, Hero completes, BB checks. $10 in pot.

Flop is Qd 8s 7d.

Hero checks.

BB bets $10.

Two folds.

LP raises to $25.

Reads: BB is a fairly solid ABC player having a bad night. He'll try and win an orphan pot but is capable of folding marginal hands to pressure.

LP is new to the table, having played an orbit or two. Bought in very short and has doubled up on a hand where Hero open-raised with 88, button called and Mr. LP pushed in the BB with JJ - button called with 99.

Hero has $81 behind. Other stack sizes uncertain but pretty similar - if anything, they have Hero slightly covered.

Hero thinks the situation through. LP asks: "Kicker problems?"

Hero's move?

Back with thoughts later.


Edited to add: I folded, having only $2 invested. I'm quite confident I was ahead of the BB, but couldn't decide if LP had me beat. If I'd thought harder about his comment, I might have elected to push instead, that sounds a lot like taunting from a tard who has horribly misplayed KK or AA. Then again, it could have been a set. I'll never know, as the $25 bet took it down.

Plane ticket secured. I even have an idea for a new "event" that I'll pitch once it's fully formed. Now I just have to watch the mail for a room offer.

Incidentally, I hope this enthusiasm isn't too terribly off-putting for people who were just there last month, especially if it involved work.

Dealer: Looks like you sucked out on the river.
Donkey: That's what it's there for!


Utilizing my incredible powers of observation, I noticed last night that you really did NOT want to have aces.

The setting: A 1/2 "NL" game. Duh.

A guy at the other end of the table has aces. He limps in. Goes to war and gets all his money in on the turn on a Kxxx board. Opponent has KQ. River Q.

Half an hour later, aces guy from the previous hand has walked off the bad beat, re-bought and sat back down in the same seat. He limps in again. Flop comes jack high and he ends up getting all in again. He flips, obviously, aces. Opponent has J7s. Turn blank. River 7.

Okay ... you especially don't want aces if you're going to limp with them.

Later, I win my first pot of note with jacks on the button. SB has aces but doesn't push me out. I flop a set and river a full house to take monies from two victims.

Aces cracked 100% of the time. Some would call that standard.


Donkey 1: I have the nuts.
Donkey 1 flips over 87o for the rivered gutshot straight.
Donkey 2 studies his hand carefully and double checks the board, taking his time after just calling a $30 river bet.
Donkey 2: I guess I have the other nuts.
Donkey 2 flips over 87s.


For once I actually made a good decision. Stop the presses.

A couple of hours in, a kid with a huge stack that had to be at least $700 changed tables. He proved to be a very solid player -- he had no hesitation about firing pot-sized bets and sizable raises any time anyone showed weakness. I tangled with him once and had to insta-dump my unimproved hand. There were also a couple other good players that I was working to avoid. I was getting tired.

So I went home.

The end.


One of these days, they will get an Omaha game going. Last night they had a list for $1/$2 "NL" Omaha high. I think they had as many as 4 names on the list, but never the five or six needed to get it started.


Nothing much else happening. Hoping for a home game one of these days (hint hint). Lined up for 36 holes again on Saturday if it doesn't rain.

A few random Tuesday morning observations for your annoyance:


Think positive: It might not be that long before Lindsay Lohan can make incredibly authentic women in prison movies!


It's been awhile since I've remembered to thank my sponsors. So ... thanks. It's great to have this site supported by outfits that I respect and use - I play at Full Tilt and have done & look for bonus offers when signing up for new sites through Poker Source Online, Launchpoker and Whichpoker - if there is ever a poker carveout from the UIGEA, I'd love to dive back in. I check those sites and pokerblog.com for poker news as well - just today I noticed a report that a Danish court determined that poker is a game of skill.


I've already done a little price shopping for December airline tickets to Las Vegas. As usual, I'm presented with an assortment of options and will have a hard time choosing. Can you tell that I'm just a little obsessive-compulsive?

Allegiant is the cheapest, about half the cost of any other option, but it requires an hour and a half drive plus the flight times kinda suck - return at the crack of dawn on Sunday? Eww. All the majors fly out of the airport that's just under an hour away for the same (higher) price. For a few dollars more yet, I can fly Midwest out of the airport just up the road. Or, if I really want to get adventurous, I could drive to Detroit and for $40 less (if bought right away on sale) fly Spirit in one of their first-class-but-we-don't-call-it-first-class (no amenities) seats. I love the idea of extra legroom, a direct flight and their flight times are good, but I'm not so hot on the prospect of a three hour drive.

Anyone ever fly Spirit?


I've enjoyed the last couple sessions at the track and continue to be impressed by how decently run the operation is. It's not perfect, but a lot of the limitations are imposed by the Charitable Gaming Division, not by the outfit and charities operating the game.

I did find myself wondering last week, however, how on earth a UAW local qualified to put on a charitable gaming event.

It would also be nice if the operators would update their website a little quicker.

Still working on putting together a Minnesota trip - it's looking like the weekend of September 15 and 16 is most likely. A visit to Canterbury for some low-stakes live donkey-on-donkey action is almost guaranteed. If you're going to be around, the more the merrier.


With that, it's back to the lifesuck otherwise known as work.

I have an ethical question for you folks who play live more often than I do.

I went back to the track for another session of 1/2 "NL" charity poker. The first hand of note that I played went to showdown. I had JTo, the other player had QJs. The board was J-X-X-Y-Z. X was a pair of rags (9s?). Y and Z were also rags ... I think.

After we both checked the river, my opponent said "I have a jack". I said that I also had a jack and flipped my cards. I said, joking, "but you probably have me outkicked". He eventually flipped his hand.

The dealer split the pot.

Fifteen or so minutes later, it hit me that it probably *shouldn't* have been a split pot, because I think his Q would have played. I'm not positive because I'm not sure about the river card, but I think cards Y and Z were probably both less than tens. I also don't recall exactly the size of the pot.

What would you do in that situation? (This is not Vegas, LDO, so there are no cameras).

***

Another question for you cash game NL experts: Was this hand misplayed?

I have 55 in early position. Because I read Fuel, I play it. Because I suck and am in EP, I limp. There's a raise behind me to $12, three callers and I close the action. I'm only getting 5-1, but this is presto we're talking about.

Flop is AJ5, two spades. Yahtzee. The first player to act goes all in for $48.

Oh.

I have $66 and bottom set. What do you do?

***

Unlike the other day, this time I did not play with as many regulars. There was one guy who was Hellmuthian in trying to talk the table into submission, but after he bled off a bunch of chips he pretty much shut up. Instead of the usual crowd, this table was about half full of Laotians. A fun group.

***

Anyway, getting back to the hand, I'm not screwing around. I insta-push for my entire stack. I should probably study the question of whether I wanted any of them to call, but my guess is it would be okay. I wasn't afraid of any of them having AA or JJ, and any additional callers either have 3 or 4 outers (gutshot or two pair -> boat) or flush draws. Multiple callers with flush draws means fewer outs for them to draw to, obviously. On the flip side, I'd love to be heads up against anything other than AA or JJ, and who open-pushes those hands on the flop?

All three fold. One of them took an awfully long time to fold what he said was AK - no spades.

First to act flips K9s for the nut flush draw, gets there on the turn and I don't fill up on the river. Rebuy!

After rebuying twice, I got an unimproved KK to hold up against a guy who called all the way down, presumably with AQ for TPTK, and ended up plus $45. Not a big win, but after a near-stacking and some pretty shaky play I'll take it.

***

Much golf was also played. I had my worst round of the season Saturday morning - apparently my game doesn't travel well - but came back with a decent round on my home course in the afternoon. Yesterday was good for the first nine holes and lousy on the back. Just like poker, my golf game is VERY inconsistent.

***

I'm trying to set aside the money I took to the track this weekend (plus profits) as a live game bankroll of sorts. I've never really kept a separate roll, unless you count money taken to Las Vegas. It will be an interesting experiment.

As a change in the regular routine, I ventured out to the track last night for a little live charity poker. I was prompted to go, in part, by reading that checkraising is now allowed by the authorities. Also, I saw that the outfit that organizes the game has added Omaha to the list of games spread.

I made it up there about 7:00 and found that my options were to play in the nightly tournament (pass, it was a rebuy) or to play the only other game going - 1/2 "NL". It's technically spread limit, but the upper limit is high enough that it plays as no limit. Two tables were going, and a third started soon after I arrived. No regular limit games ever got started. I put my name on the list for Omaha (high/low, 3/6 limit), but it never got close to going. Off to NL.

Early play was drum tight. Once the table filled, though, it gradually morphed into the loosest, weakest NL table you'll ever see. Lots of pots with 5-8 people seeing a flop for $2 apiece. Occasional preflop raises ... to $7.

I won a few small pots with hands that caught a piece of the flop plus position. After building my $100 buyin to $140, I played a hand horribly. With AJs on the button and a few limpers, I pop it $12. Four callers. Oops. The small blind leads weakly for $10 (less than 1/4 pot) on the KQ4 flop (one of my suit). Folded to me. I elect to call, with the idea of taking it away on the turn. Turn is another of my suit, but I completely wuss out and check call. The river gives me third pair, but I again can't make myself fire and deservedly lose to top pair mediocre kicker.

Back down to my starting stack, I won my one big pot of the evening. I have J9s in position and get to see a flop for $2. I flop a jack, the field is thinned to four by a $7 bet. The turn is another jack, and two players call my raise to $20. The river is a beautiful 9 and the SB actually calls as much as he has of my $60 bet (I had $61 left, strategic betting) with J4o. Sorry, sir, trips no good and my 9 kicker would have played anyway.

I don't think I got a single quality hand the last two hours, but since I never caught a piece with the junk that I did play, it was a slow bleed. I finally gave it up about 11:00, up fifty bucks. Never had a pair higher than 7s. Maybe a half dozen big aces, which essentially broke even.

I did find myself wondering just how often some of these people play. By the end of the night, my table had FIVE people that I've played with before, and I've only been to the track five, six, eight times in 2+ years. Some of them I've played with several times. Others are just memorable - like the lady who cracked my KK with 92o in a limit game the first time I went. Another dozen or so familiar faces were playing the tournament.

If I ever bothered to take notes (or learn how to play), this could be a very profitable game.

***

I have no idea if the Friday Night Donkament is on tonight, seeing as how Kat is in Oklahoma for Okie-Vegas. If it's on, I may or may not play, depending on whatever else I've got going. Lined up for 36 holes tomorrow.

TGIF!

Here's a chance to help a brother out.

No, not me. I'm beyond redemption.

Falstaff of PokerStage is doing some sort of bicycling event to raise money to fight cancer. I'm not real good at details, so you can check out the relevant information here.

Plus, if you sponsor him today, he's got a shot at winning a nice prize.

John is once of the nicest guys in the poker blogosphere, and as you may recall has previously taken on the largely thankless task of organizing a WPBT live event. Plus, cancer sucks. You've probably lost friends or family to it. I have.

I need to find my wallet in order to ship a few bucks, hope you'll think about it too.

Edited to add: How can you not love an organization called 24 Hours of Booty?

***

Speaking of which, I also noted that Mr. F has booked Las Vegas for December 6-10. December? check. Rodeo week? check.

Time to commence the el cheapo plane ticket watch.

***

We won't even mention the Mookie, in which I grossly misread a StB hand and bombed out early in the first hour. At least a little "cash" game action made up for it and then some.

***

I'm interested by the latest Neteller news. It's nice that there is some additional hope that U.S. players will get their money back, but I have to say that I was a little concerned about the repeated use of the word "criminal". While I don't expect that the Feds will be real interested in prosecuting little guys, I wouldn't put it past them to see if they can make an example, using the Wire Act and other pre-UIGEA laws, out of some of the bigger fish.

Plus there's always the chance that they'll share their information with the IRS. Personally, I'm glad that I've reported the income I used to make from the game.

In the mail yesterday I received a glossy brochure from Harrah's. I'm not a huge fan of Harrah's, but I'll read most any Las Vegas related mail anyway. Turns out it was the quarterly mailing from Total Rewards, listing hotel rates for the next three months for players card holders.

First thought: Damn, there are a lot of days marked "free" and there are coupons (up front comps FTW!) for 2 free nights each month. I'd really like to do this.

Second thought: Now how the [censored] am I going to find the time to go in the next three months?

Unfortunately, the dates only run through November. If I had December dates (or an Imperial Palace promo), with cheap flights available on Allegiant I'd be booked already.

Then again, if I had more than 0 Total Rewards points this year, they'd probably be calling me to book.

***

I did satisfy my urge to vacation a bit by thinking about a Minnesota trip for early fall. Someone alert the Canterbury donkeys.

***

I continue to bleed away play chips online. Urge to play diminishing.

***

Getting ready for work this morning, I had the radio on the usual station. About 7:30, in the middle of a couple songs in a row, you could hear the "DJ" doing his voiceover work for the rest of the morning - mostly "live" traffic and weather updates. "It's 8:12, traffic is backed up [here and here]. It's 72 degrees, blah blah blah, here's a Prince song from umpteen years ago" ... "It's 9:58, so and so is in next, have a good day", etc.

Funny thing is, this is the second time this doofus has done the same thing, where you can hear him over the air, pre-recording his bits.

I was unable to suppress the urge to laugh.

I did, however, manage to get out the door long before the [censored] Prince song came on.

***

This being the final day of the WSOP, I'll probably find myself checking the updates often. My money (okay, not really), is on the Wrath of Khan, followed by the Vietnamese dude. Now that I've delivered the proverbial kiss of death to their chances, feel free to wager on the rest of the field.

***

Off to fight the urge to not work.

I really need a change of luck.

After an incredibly brutal Friday at the tables - another one of those days where the opposition hit the perfect river card every freaking time - I decided to change things up a bit last night. I hit up a few nanostakes Sit n Goes on Stars.

It didn't take long to determine that it (AGAIN) wasn't going to be my night. Early in my first game, a donktard open pushes from UTG. If I remember right, we're at the 50/100 level and he's got 1,000 chips. I have AKo on the button and call. It's not even a flip - tard has AJo. One jack on the flop later, and i'm hurting. I rebuild and hang around long enough to bubble in 4th, long after Mr. Tard was gone.

In an Omaha/8 version, I find AA52 double suited and after flopping four pieces to a scoop brick out and lose to some improbable gutshot draw. Another bubble.

I did manage to finish 3rd in one donkey fest and ended up 1 for 4.

Hey, at least I came out a dollar ahead at the golf course (at least before I spent four bucks on a beer) and managed not to catch pneumonia from spending the morning out in the rain. So far, anyway.

***

It's getting down to crunch time at the WSOP. Bloggers are still busting their asses to bring you the action as it happens. ESPN has to be pumped at the fact that Scotty Ngyuen, Lee Watkinson and a bunch of crazy internet kids are still alive.

****

Have a good rest of the weekend!

The quest to satellite into one or more of the PokerStars WCOOP events has encountered a slight delay: I haven't been able to log on to Stars for the past week or so.

No hacking or anything, just that the program tries to update, crashes and spits out an error message. I've been swapping emails with support the last couple days and after trying a list of different things the latest solution is "uninstall and re-download".

I'll get right on that.

***

As a result, I've been hanging around at Full Tilt instead (NTTAWWT).

My usual haunts are still the micro limit play money PLO tables. Why, you ask? Good question. It must be masochism.

If I've learned one thing about Pot Limit Omaha, it's that it's a game of money management more than anything else - it's easier to go broke playing PLO than any other game, and to have a shot at winning you have to avoid that result.

Case in point: Earlier this week over a couple days I dropped two 'buyins'. Wednesday I dropped two more. Starting off last night, I dropped two more - 1 on a suckout, 1 where I was getting almost 4-1 preflop against some LAGtards with a very good hand, flopped a nut flush draw (plus my overpair of kings) and didn't get there. That's down 6 buyins. I made the two I dropped back, plus a quarter buyin more, before I shut it down. Tallying things up, I'm still ahead 3.5 or so buyins over 7 days.

I feel like I'm really living on the edge, bankroll wise. I don't have that many play chips in my account - only 16 buyins at my personal game of choice. I've had the equivalent of a 25 buyin downswing within recent memory (it wasn't that many because I was playing higher, it's 25 current buyins). Downswings are not entirely due to bad play. There are, legitimately, times when you get your money in as a 65, 75, 85% favorite and you still lose. Repeatedly.

I think that if I continue my recent trend of playing more regularly I'm going to stay down in limits for a while, until I have at least 30 buyins at my current level. It's still playing for crumbs (nobody gets too excited over play chip level poker, amirite?), but it's the right thing to do.

***

I also hit up the Mookie on Wednesday and, as usual, played like a complete retard for the first hour. Somehow I survived. I even survived the second hour, despite receiving the worst assortment of cards ever. Somewhere in there I laid a horrific beat on Bobby Bracelet - he flopped a set of 9s in the big blind and put all his chips in on the river which, sadly for him, was an ace which gave me a wheel with my Q3s. Small blind special. I went out somewhere in the third hour in like 20th place.

Which I think keeps me at 0-for-2007 in Mookie cashes. So good at this.

***

Neteller has issued press releases the last couple days, which of course say absolutely nothing other than "we're still working on it". It'd be nice to see people get their money back.

Someday.

1. I was tired.
2. I misread the board.
3. I was drunk.
4. This really great song just came on my iPod, see, and ...
5. I can't dodge bullets, baby.
6. I'm not a lucky person.
7. It's a medical issue.
8. If life is like a box of chocolates, I get the really crappy ones.
9. I'm not wearing my special poker outfit.
10. I forgot my sunglasses.
11. It's not 5 o'clock yet.
12. Aliens have taken over my brain.
13. It might be food poisoning.
14. I thought a straight beats a flush. You mean it doesn't?
15. My girlfriend forgot to rub my head for luck.
16. They weren't soooted.
17. I thought the green chips were worth $1.
18. It's all Phil Hellmuth's fault.
19. He only had 17 outs twice, that's not that many.
20. I don't usually play that hand.
21. I did it all for the Mookie.
22. That was a really crappy structure.
23. Too many donkeys.
24. The dealer didn't like me.
25. The lighting was bad.
26. My computer is allergic to poker software.
27. My glasses were dirty.
28. I was distracted by Brandi Hawbaker's insanity.
29. Lost my internet connection.
30. It was mimosa-tilt.
31. I didn't think he had the 9. He didn't. It was still better than what I had.
32. Karma is a bee-yotch.
33. I'm usually much better than this.
34. Playing low cards works for Gus Hansen, so I thought it would work for me.
35. I forgot to fold.
36. A guy I know told me to always slowplay aces.
37. Cramp!
38. I was too busy reading Daddy's latest post about using bacon as an aphrodisiac.
39. It's not my year.
40. Sorry, what was the question again? I am not smrt.
41. They weren't using KEM cards.
42. I was only playing for the points, the money doesn't mean anything to me.
43. I thought it was hi/lo and my 6 low was good for half the pot.
44. They didn't call me on my string bet, so my chips ended up in the pot.
45. I keep falling asleep when I read poker strategy books.
46. Playing in this time zone always gives me problems.
47. I thought I had a read. Too bad she was French.
48. Folding is ghey.
49. I could never get an ace when I needed one.
50. Value betting is when you push all your money in on a bluff, right?
51. Carpal tunnel.
52. I knew that I could blog about it if I lost.
53. I thought from his screen name that he'd fold to my bet.
54. Ooh, bathroom break.
55. How could I know that he'd have aces?
56. I was dehydrated.
57. Stacking that guy was my only goal for the session.
58. Hey, is that the Goodrich blimp?!
59. Seriously, I misclicked.
60. I was just trying to get even for the session.
61. I had the sixth nuts!
62. Big pot poker is my game, I just lose most of them.
63. They tried to make me go to rehab, I said no, no no.
64. The massage girl wasn't working tonight.
65. My fortune cookie at dinner said 'you go on journey happy fun long time' and I was sure it meant I'd be winning a WSOP satellite.
66. I was just chasing this fish, see ...
67. I accidentally checked auto-fold.
68. My K key is stuck.
69. I was eating pretzels and one got stuck.
70. I haven't hit a flush draw since the Reagan administration.
71. Because Bob Respert just typed "i hate you" in the chat box and it tilted me.
72. I folded the hammer every time I had it.
73. I figured that any game Paris Hilton could master, I could master.
74. He could have staked me instead of stacking me.
75. I read somewhere that JJ was OK.
76. My chips stuck together.
77. I can never beat Russians. Especially white Russians.
78. It was a temporary case of 'awwfukkit-itis'.
79. I was really just playing for funsies.
80. I could have re-bought, but I wanted to save my money for a case of Turtle Wax.
81. My comeback is just on hiatus.
82. Seriously, what's with those guys with '420' in their screen names.
83. My eyes don't let me read opponents correctly.
84. They didn't have Shiner Bock anyway.
85. I saw that suckout coming, but I still called.
86. Apparently they frown on people sleeping at the tables. Who knew?
87. If they'd only let me call a round of 'Magic: The Gathering', I would've gotten even.
88. The awesome power of King Five was apparently on vacation today.
89. I'm still recovering from FPS.
90. They must've had a hole card cam and saw what I had.
91. My mouse is left-handed or broken or something.
92. I thought we were going to go play Pai-Gow.
93. These stakes are meaningless.
94. It seems that 47 consecutive "F-bombs" really will get you thrown out.
95. Nobody really understands my game.
96. I only had 25 times the big blind, so I was in push-or-fold mode.
97. That was just a warm up for the real poker to be played later.
98. I'm waiting for my Viagra to kick in.
99. I always 3-bet Ace Queen.
100. Well, it worked last time.

and ...

101. It's rigged. So [censored] rigged.

Ripped from Otis over at the Pokerstars blog:

Stars is guaranteeing $15 million in prize money for this year's World Championship Of Online Poker series. Here's the schedule, buyin and guarantees to the right:

Sep.14 (15:00) NL Hold'em [6-max] $215 $400,000
Sep.14 (16:30) PL 5-Card Draw $215 $100,000
Sep.15 (15:00) PL Omaha [6-max] $215 $200,000
Sep.15 (16:30) 2-7 Triple Draw $215 $100,000
Sep.16 (16:30) NL Hold'em $530 $2,000,000
Sep.17 (15:00) PL Omaha w/Rebuys $320 $400,000
Sep.18 (15:00) Limit Hold'em $215 $100,000
Sep.19 (15:00) Limit Omaha H/L $530 $300,000
Sep.20 (15:00) NL Hold'em w/Rebuys $215 $1,000,000
Sep.21 (15:00) NL Hold'em Match Play $320 $500,000
Sep.21 (16:30) Razz $215 $100,000
Sep.22 (15:00) HORSE $215 $200,000
Sep.22 (16:30) PL Hold'em $530 $400,000
Sep.23 (16:30) NL Hold'em $1,050 $2,000,000
Sep.24 (15:00) 7 Card Stud $320 $100,000
Sep.25 (15:00) PL Omaha H/L $320 $200,000
Sep.26 (15:00) NL Hold'em [6-max] $320 $400,000
Sep.27 (15:00) 7 Card Stud H/L $530 $200,000
Sep.28 (15:00) PL Omaha $530 $300,000
Sep.28 (16:30) NL Hold'em Triple Shootout $530 $200,000
Sep.29 (15:00) HORSE $5,200 $500,000
Sep.29 (16:30) Limit Hold'em $1,050 $200,000
Sep.30 (16:30) NL Hold'em Main Event $2,600 $5,000,000



That's a whole lot of scratch.

I'm assuming that the start times are Eastern Time, which would rule out the weekday events for me. Saturday events are my best chance, so I'll be targeting the $215 HORSE on the 22nd (and maybe the PLO on the 15th). I'm going to have to satellite in, probably using FPPs, unless I work out a deal with someone.

What a difference twenty miles makes.

I flipped on the news last evening to see if it was going to rain. It had been a steamy day out on the golf course, the kind of weather that makes you think that you might just melt. The thermometer was only around 80, but with the 9000% humidity it was stifling. Anyway, the weather finally comes on, and it's 95 degrees or hotter most everywhere else nearby.

Lucky.

***

What a difference a few days makes.

I think I mentioned in my last post how frustrated I've been with the game lately. I've been ice cold lately - most of it due to poor play, but a non-negligible part due to entirely uncooperative cards.

As soon as I posted that, I caught a few breaks. A small winning session on Thursday, followed up by a very nice winning session on Friday. I even took 2nd place in the Friday Night Donkament - after laying a horrendous beat on Irongirl with 44 vs. KK. My bad, I was guessing AK. Ingoal completely ran over the field and was a deserving winner.

Of course I decided to see if I could extend the run on "Lucky Day", 7/7/07. No dice. I got in an extended session and never got anything going one way or the other. Ended up with an insignificant loss. Another go yesterday and it was back to how things have been for the last few months - I call a raise with a very playable hand (say JT98 ss), see a completely awful flop (like AA3 none of my suit) and check fold. Or I make the nuts on the flop or turn only to see my opponent hit the perfect river card. Every time. Oh, well.

***

What a difference the UIGEA makes.

It looks like the WSOP main event will end up drawing about 6000 runners. Not bad, but also not surprising that that figure would be down almost 33% from last year's total. I haven't been paying enough attention to know for sure, but it certainly appears that the UIGEA - as applied by Harrah's - has kept this from being a 10,000 player field.

Think about it. The experts seem to be saying that 20-25% of the people who won seats online are actually participating.

***

Well, that's it for this fabulous Monday morning (%^&! full work weeks).

I had a little free time yesterday evening and decided to wind down with some online poker.

Stupid.

Mentally, I wasn't ready to play. Of late I've been rather gun shy, and given that I seem to miss 99.8% of flops completely, there was way too much pre-flop raising followed by post-flop check folding. The heart of a chicken. Add in some donks ready and willing to gambool and it was solidly negative session.

I really have no idea where my game is right now. I haven't had success at anything since a nice run a couple months back at the low level play chip PLO cash games, and that run ended with a serious crushing that wiped out all gains and then some.

Some small part of that is probably due to not playing frequently. It's summer and there are a million other things to do. I'm rusty. Then there is lack of study - I haven't cracked a poker book in months or reviewed any hands in forever. Add in the headaches caused by the UIGEA and I'm just not there. Until I get "there" it really doesn't make sense to hit the live legal game at the track.

All of which is kind of a shame. I'd really like to be able to go back to Las Vegas in December and historically I've been able to pay for those trips with money earned at the tables.

--

On another note, I was the bubbletard in last Friday's Katitude donkament. My apologies to all those who lost to my inferior hands. Attendance was low, but maybe tomorrow it'll be back. It's still all the retarded fun you can have for essentially no money.