Res Ipsa Poker: February 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

Bookends

Why I hate poker, in a nutshell:

The first game of the evening:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5447247834: Irish Poker Open Satellite (41361334), Table 3 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:26:52 ET - 2008/02/29
Seat 2: on_thg (1,795)
Seat 3: J_rck22 (2,715), is sitting out
Seat 4: CoronadoMan (1,805)
Seat 5: Invernomuto (1,690)
Seat 6: DarkRattler (2,760)
Seat 8: Hippopot (6,535)
Seat 9: togie (2,070)
CoronadoMan posts the small blind of 40
Invernomuto posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to on_thg [Jc Jd]
DarkRattler folds
Hippopot folds
togie calls 80
on_thg calls 80
J_rck22 folds
CoronadoMan folds
Invernomuto checks
*** FLOP *** [Td 6c 4d]
Invernomuto checks
togie bets 280
on_thg calls 280
Invernomuto folds
*** TURN *** [Td 6c 4d] [4h]
togie bets 1,710, and is all in
on_thg calls 1,435, and is all in
togie shows [Qc Ts]
on_thg shows [Jc Jd]
Uncalled bet of 275 returned to togie

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=4346310
pokenum -h jc jd - qc ts -- td 6c 4d 4h
Holdem Hi: 44 enumerated boards containing 6c Td 4d 4h
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Jc Jd 39 88.64 5 11.36 0 0.00 0.886
Ts Qc 5 11.36 39 88.64 0 0.00 0.114

*** RIVER *** [Td 6c 4d 4h] [Qd]
togie shows two pair, Queens and Tens
on_thg shows two pair, Jacks and Fours
togie wins the pot (3,710) with two pair, Queens and Tens
on_thg stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,710 | Rake 0
Board: [Td 6c 4d 4h Qd]
Seat 2: on_thg showed [Jc Jd] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Fours
Seat 3: J_rck22 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: CoronadoMan (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Invernomuto (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: DarkRattler didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Hippopot didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: togie showed [Qc Ts] and won (3,710) with two pair, Queens and Tens

Annnnnnnnnnnd the last game:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5450065226: Friday Nite Blogger Donkament (40778369), Table 3 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:15:08 ET - 2008/02/29
Seat 2: ElSnarfGrande (4,740)
Seat 3: Fishiswa (63,570)
Seat 4: NumbBono (10,787)
Seat 6: pushmonkey72 (33,626)
Seat 7: on_thg (16,298)
Seat 8: nutzfirth (14,849)
ElSnarfGrande antes 50
Fishiswa antes 50
NumbBono antes 50
pushmonkey72 antes 50
on_thg antes 50
nutzfirth antes 50
NumbBono posts the small blind of 250
pushmonkey72 posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to on_thg [Kh Kc]
on_thg raises to 1,500
nutzfirth folds
ElSnarfGrande folds
Fishiswa folds
NumbBono folds
pushmonkey72 raises to 5,050
on_thg: i'm taking these hobbits to Isengard
on_thg raises to 16,248, and is all in
pushmonkey72 calls 11,198
on_thg shows [Kh Kc]
pushmonkey72 shows [Tc 5c]
*** FLOP *** [3d Jd 4c]

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=4346316
pokenum -h kh kc - tc 5c -- 3d jd 4c
Holdem Hi: 990 enumerated boards containing 4c Jd 3d
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Kc Kh 894 90.30 96 9.70 0 0.00 0.903
Tc 5c 96 9.70 894 90.30 0 0.00 0.097

*** TURN *** [3d Jd 4c] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [3d Jd 4c 7s] [6s]
on_thg shows a pair of Kings
pushmonkey72 shows a straight, Seven high
pushmonkey72 wins the pot (33,046) with a straight, Seven high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 33,046 | Rake 0
Board: [3d Jd 4c 7s 6s]
Seat 2: ElSnarfGrande folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Fishiswa (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: NumbBono (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: pushmonkey72 (big blind) showed [Tc 5c] and won (33,046) with a straight, Seven high
Seat 7: on_thg showed [Kh Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 8: nutzfirth folded before the Flop

The stuff in the middle was more of the same, only slightly less extreme.

Screw this.

More Whining And Stuff

Trying to get a Tier II token for Sunday's Big Game has been extremely frustrating.

I took a variety of shots last night. Started with a single table satellite, using a Tier I token. Got donked by something retarded like losing a 70/30 and bubbled in 4th. Tried another. 5th. Tried a two table, no love. Fired up a few Tier Is to rack up some more tokens and a satellite for some T$. Nothing, nothing and nothing.

Not going well. Tilt setting in.

I recovered a bit by winning my last two Tier Is and then the donktitude started up again.

Played the dollar token frenzy. I trap one of the biggest mouth breathing morons ever. I have KK. Moron T3o, top pair no kicker. River 3 for two [censored] pair, there goes half plus of my formerly big stack.

Played the big token frenzy. Get down into the 40s with 30 tokens paid. I'm getting short and need a double. Right on cue, KK in the BB and a chance to double up. Against AKo, of [censored] course the first card off the deck is an ace. Dammit.

I've figured out my epitaph. When I bite it, please have the following carved on my headstone: "He could never win a hand when he needed to".

Stupid game.

So I also got into the Riverchasers event. Actually won with a few dominating hands and was sitting 2nd as the final table bubble approached. Yeah, like that's going to keep up. I lose a chunk with AQ when snakster decided to call off the rest of his chips with K8s and hits. The slide begins.

Down, down, down.

I really should have bubbled out - I was that short and getting J3o every hand wasn't helping - but CK ran into a minor cooler and busted on the bubble. So I got bottom cash instead, which I will admit did ease the sting of the evening's sucktitude just a bit.

I'm getting tilted all over again just thinking about this crap. Dollar donkament tonight and Saturdays with Dr. Pauly tomorrow.

Have a good weekend!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Fundage Deficit

I was doing some speculatin' after reading the latest batch of details about the BBTree. In particular, I was pondering just how much cashing I'd have to do to keep playing.

Tournament players suffer droughts. Even the best players will go cashless over a period of time. It's just the nature of the beast. When you're really not very good, those droughts last longer - and since I don't have enough in my account to buy in directly to even half of the events, I would need to cash early and often if I wanted to play 'em all.

It's a problem. But then again it's been a problem for years.

I suppose that satellites are an option. Sort of. You can satellite into the Big Game and the MATH, but there isn't any way - actually, scratch that, I remember reading something about Full Tilt instituting T$, which might work - to satellite into the Skillzzzz, Mookie or Riverchasers since they have odd buy ins.

I guess I better go read up on how exactly the new T$ system works, because that has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of playing the BBTree series ... at least if I can learn to fold QQ in the face of three all-ins.

Sometime between now and Sunday I need to decide a plan of attack. Obviously I will play at least some events for the social aspect and the enjoyment of laying sick beats on my invisible internet pals. I will not play exclusively or primarily for the awesome rewards - for one thing, I probably will never play the main event at the WSOP, not only because I suck but also because it would be an absolute nightmare with work. I could see playing in one of the other events - I would probably pick event #19 (PLO) or one of the many $1500 NLHE options. I've come agonizingly close before. I just don't know that I can make the commitment - bankroll wise or sleep deficit wise - to playing enough tournaments to be a contender.

Somewhere along the way I'd like to pick up a $75 token, because on my roll (LOL) that's a pretty stiff buyin.

Say, do you suppose it was a coincidence that FT sent out an email today touting the availability of e-check deposits?

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

I'm So Sorry, Five O'Clock Isn't Getting Here Fast Enough

... and I am bored, bored, bored out of my skull.

The Cuban and The Rump Santa

Just the words that were in my head when the alarm started beeping. No idea why.

Last night was all setups, all the time. I played in three events - the dollar token frenzy, the Bodonkey and the big token frenzy. Took a pass on the Skills Series knowing that once again the endless series of brick-brick-bricks would send me into a rage (plus I need to save my pennies for BBTree).

First up, dollar token frenzy. I play suited junk on the button. I make two pair on the turn when nobody's shown any strength. I lose to a flopped straight and a flopped bigger two pair. Rigged.

Next up, Bodonkey. I manage to fold AJ or AQ at least four times when someone has raised it before me - and EVERY time the raiser shows AK (or AQ once when I had AJ). I play like crap - more on that in a second - and when my M finally hits 5, this happens: I get AQs in the SB. Folds around to me. I just jam, which may not have been optimal but who cares. Of course the BB has AKo. Of course. Of [censored] course.

I missed out on several opportunities to try and get something started. I actually had superior cards - AA twice and QQ three times in less than two hours. The worst hand of all was holding 65s. I'm on Jordan's left and call a raise. I flop an open ender, turn the straight which also puts a flush on the board. I donk call his turn bullet - no, you don't have a flush you pot-betting mister you and I'm gonna hurt you on fifth - but die on the river when a fourth club comes. Check check. Jordan has the two of clubs. Flush good. Fawk.

Last stop, the big token frenzy. That thing was mostly bloggers, er, well, there were a lot anyway.

Here's your setup:

It's a turbo MTT. Blinds are up to about 50/100 (all of this is from memory, but it should be pretty accurate). 100ish players left, about 20 tokens awarded. I have about 1380 behind after posting the big blind - in other words, I've done nothing so far. I get QQ for my big blind hand.

UTG open shoves for a little less than I have.
UTG+1 shoves for about 1900 total - more than I have.
Folds to the SB, who shoves for less than I have.

W. T. F?

I'm sure the proper play here is to fold, but how close is it? When UTG and UTG+1 shoved, I felt pretty good, like I might have the best hand. Two big aces? One big ace, one smaller pair? I wasn't so happy when a third player shoved.

Because I'm a donk and I wanted the chance to (almost) coast to a token, I called. UTG had 99. UTG+1 had JJ. SB had AKo. I don't think I could have hoped for much better. Way ahead.

{insert laugh track here}

Yeah, right. J on the turn, I don't catch a Q on the river. Setup complete.

Just another night at the tables.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

BBTree

Not all precincts are reporting yet, but Al has provided this tease of the third installment of the Battle of the Blogger Tournaments:

7 seats to the World Series of Poker.

Don't ask me how, just enjoy.

Specifically, we're getting two (2) seats in the WSoP Main Event as well as five (5) $2,000 seat packages to preliminary events. We're also getting cash for the leaderboard, freeroll and an interesting little writing contest.

Good stuff.

The freaky part is the series itself: 55 events over 13 weeks. That's either 4 or 5 events per week. Total buyins of over $1,000. Poker your eyes out. Forget about sleep, work, family obligations, all that crap and just play. And play and play and play.

Yikes.

Since there's no way in hell I'm going to win a seat by playing (and I apparently don't have a chance at writing my way in, since my attempt last time didn't even make the list of entries!), I'm going to be thinking about stupid prop bets instead.

A couple early lines:

Number of persons playing all 55 events -- O/U 3
Number of persons playing 50+ events -- O/U 10
Number of persons playing 40+ events -- O/U 26

Good luck to whomever of y'all are going for it.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Dr. Pauly Can't Lose

Ah, another weekend lost. I spent much of mine painting the basement. What'd you do?

I only say "much" because I took a break at 16:20 ET on Saturday for what is rapidly becoming my favorite blogger donkament of the week - Saturdays With Dr. Pauly.

Hosted by genial former child actor turned serious artiste Corin "Corky" Nemec, Saturdays with Dr. Pauly offers something that other tournaments don't - fun. It has the feel of an old school blogger event - not that I'm all that old school or that I even know half the players - possibly because it's PLO and nobody is so full of themselves as to be a dick when they get sucked out on.

Yeah, that's right, I said it: Bloggaments are more fun when they're not taken so damned seriously. Add in a healthy dose of white man's disease (nostalgia) and I'm halfway to eating applesauce twice a day and yelling at kids to get the hell offa my lawn.

So what I'm saying is play Saturdays with Dr. Pauly.

Oh, yeah, and I finished 7th this week. My chips continuously found their way, either directly or indirectly, into Dr. Pauly's stack. He kept fading my outs - I had a monster 17 out uberwrap straight and flush draw (which I thought was actually a 19 outer, but he had top set). Whiff. Flush draw with some straight possibilities? Whiff. Two hands, I go from top five to fumes. I still managed to hang on and on and on. Once I even drew out on ~~Corky~~our host. But it was only once.

Went out on a dreadful play. With only 1000-odd chips left at the 150/300 level, I shoved QQJT single suited. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, except for the fact that there going to be at least TWO other players in the hand. Stupid. An unimproved KKxx - one of the most obvious hands out there - took me out. Retarded. Omaha sucks.

So Dr. Pauly won his own tournament. Well played. At least it was luckily played. Any four will do, right boss?

See many of you for the Bodonkey tomorrow night. Might throw in the Skills Series, even though I have none.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Ventage

I had planned to play the Riverchasers and the KORD last night, but I didn't make it that far.

After getting home at a relatively early hour, I fired up a few tables. Some $3 KO 90 man SnGs. A $20 PLO tournament. One table of cash NL. All of these had a spot on my screen at one time.

And all of them ended badly. The FTP RNG was NOT my friend.

It didn't help that I played poorly. I didn't have to lose a full stack with AA vs. QQ in the cash game - if I were a better player, I could have gotten away from it only down a half stack. (As an aside, LOL at the donk who thought his unimproved TT might be good against two players going to war). A bad read and a poor decision on my part.

Other than a half dozen or so knockout bounties, I got nothing out of the SnGs. Didn't make a single final table.

Sigh.

I really felt like I got hosed in the PLO tournament, and not just because it was a 6 max tournament which I didn't notice. I had an major donk on my right who ran good early and was the chip leader for quite a while. I'd built up to about 8k - slightly above average - with less than 30 players left when I had a golden opportunity to double through the super donk. In position, I flop the nut straight, turn the second nut flush and make an awfukkit call (and lose - deservedly) when the board pairs on the river. Congratulations, sir, playing Q993 and calling down with middle set is truly an advanced play.

So, anyway, I knew that it wasn't my night. I also knew that I'd probably break something if subjected myself to the inevitable brick-brick-brick-brick of Stud H/L or Razz, so I shut it down. I think a day or two off might be a good idea.

Have a good Friday.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

If You're Going To Get Punked, Get Punked In Style

Mookie. 23 players left.

CracknKK raises. I'm short, in the SB, and have a little more than 2x the raise behind.

The jackace (AJo) is one of the better hands I've seen. I shove.

CracknKK calls.

CracknKK shows the hammer (72o).

$%^&*!%!!, I'm at least a 98%-2% underdog.

I do not suck out. 7 on teh turn.

Stupid rigged game.

***

Despite winning a bunch of tokens and lasting about two hours in the Mookie, I did not have great cards. In fact, I wouldn't even say that I had good cards. In all of that play, I recall having AA once and KK once. I stayed alive by folding. A lot.

I was definitely disappointed that I didn't get paid on any overbets for value in the Mookie. Once I rivered quad 6s on a straight heavy board and once I rivered a king high straight for the well-hidden nuts. Both times I was out of position and tried to make a fishy-looking play.

No love.

Mookie players are too good.

No complaints though, as I did suck out a few times. My apologies to all the victims.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Frenzy

Al says: "Start stocking up on tokens" for the BBT3.

I sez: "OK".

I also sez: "Dude. Wait. What?"

Al says: " It's going to last three long months and include the monthy Blogger Big Game, the MATH, Blogger Skill Series, the Mookie and the Riverchaser games."

I sez: "$75 token, $26 token, $12+1, $10+1, $10+1 ... and the $26 token is the MATH, which I never play because it's Monday at [censored] 10 PM".

Scratching of head.

I sez: "Hey, let's go play some peep SnGs for $26 tokens anyway!"

I smrt.

Two sets of token sats played, total of 8 games.

5 tokens won + $14 cash.

Crush.

Now what the [censored] am I going to do with these tokens?

Plus Three

Dollars. Not buyins. Granted that buyins would be better, but I'm not complaining.

I was the cash bubble boy in the Bodonkey, going out 10th. I think that means I got back my T$11, so it was a wash, except for picking up some points toward the end of season event.

The Skills Series was not memorable. I went out mid-pack after getting nothing resembling a playable hand for a long long time. I generally played like a tard, so no complaints.

After busting out of the Skills, I joined a blogger cash game and won enough to cover the entry plus the aforementioned three bucks. Yay.

***

I'm still debating if I played a hand incorrectly early in the Bodonkey last night. It was real early, so the blinds were no higher than 15/30, if even that. I'm going from memory, not the actual hand history, but I assume that I have this right.

I had QQ in MP and raised. One relevant caller: the King of the Cooler Bayne_s from one of the blinds.

Flop is jack high, all hearts. I had the Queen of hearts. Checked to me. I bet. Bayne min-raised. I min-three-bet. Bayne four-bet-shoved. Arr in.

I folded, but really have to wonder if that was the right move - especially after TripJax said in chat that he'd folded Ah2h.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Declaring Victory

Winner.

No, not in the donkament. Didn't play. Tired.

No, not in Saturdays with Dr. Pauly. Didn't play. Birthday party.

No, not in any of the Sunday tournaments. Didn't play. Busy.

I'm declaring victory over the evil light fixtures. After years of head scratching, I finally figured out how to change the bulbs. The key?

This guy.

The humble suction cup.

After one long-ass visit to Home Depot, where I investigated every kind of light bulb and light fixture they had, I was able to determine - no thanks to HD - that the bulbs were GU-10 bases, of which there are only two important varieties. After perusing the internet, I had some ideas of what to try. Option one - attach suction cup and yank.

I didn't expect it to work, but it did.

Praise whatever deity you happen to believe in.

Anyway, I'm only declaring victory. I have the bulbs changed, but the replacements bulbs I selected - primarily because they were the only option available at the Home Depot - are a hair smaller and don't quite stay all the way up in the fixture. No worries, though - now that I know that these are Ikea fixtures, I can go hunt for the proper replacements bulbs at my leisure - all while enjoying copious quantities of bright halogen light.

***

There you have it folks, the worst poker blog post ever.

What can I say - the only thing all weekend that was even tangentially related to the game was ... I received what I think was my first ever international text-a-shot.

I'll do better. I promise.*

Anyway...

Coming up, don't forget any of the many weekly opportunities to call someone a donkey --

Monday: MATH.
Tuesday: Super duper Bodonkey. Skill Series.
Wednesday: Moooooookie and Dookie.
Thursday: Riverchasers.
Friday: Dollah Dollah Donkament Yawl.
Saturday: Saturdays w/ Dr. Pauly.

As usual, I will most likely be found playing like a 'tard in the Bodonkey and trying to overcome the superior poker skillz of the Rooster in Saturdays with Dr. Pauly. Other events are possible but not likely.

See you there.

* promise not valid on first, second or third planet from the Sun.

[O/T] Old

After reading about the new Rothbury Festival coming up over July 4th, I decided to check out their website. Quite an impressive list of acts - Dave Matthews, Snoop Dogg, John Mayer, about every jam band you can think of. It should be a fantastic weekend.

It would be easy to get to - aside from the fact that if they do draw 40,000 people to the sticks, traffic will be a nightmare.

I guess I'm getting old, citing traffic as a reason not to go to a show.

Okay, that and the ticket price. I'm not fired up enough to fork out $250.

Old.

Friday, February 15, 2008

So Ready

I determined today that I'm so ready for a heater. It's been a while.

That's all.

Except that I'm kind of ticked off that I'll be missing Saturdays With Dr. Pauly tomorrow. A birthday party which must be attended. Somehow I don't think it would be kosher to bring the laptop.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Reverse Punk Hand Of The Day

Full Tilt Poker Table Cogswell - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: 6610tarheel ($104.50)
Seat 2: Robb2 ($51.80)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O ($90.10)
Seat 4: darenzou ($59)
Seat 5: GoonerNut ($24.65)
Seat 6: LMDEagles ($31.50)
Seat 7: tntplus7 ($120.65)
Seat 8: freeroll12 ($26.50)
Seat 9: on_thg ($53.05)
darenzou posts the small blind of $0.50
GoonerNut posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to on_thg [8h 8c]
LMDEagles raises to $2
tntplus7 folds
freeroll12 folds
on_thg calls $2
6610tarheel calls $2
Robb2 folds
O0Brian0O folds
darenzou folds
GoonerNut calls $1
*** FLOP *** [5h 9d 6s]
GoonerNut checks
LMDEagles bets $4
on_thg calls $4 (looks suspicious, I suck, I'll float)
6610tarheel folds
GoonerNut folds
*** TURN *** [5h 9d 6s] [7c] (aye freaking yah)
LMDEagles bets $5
on_thg raises to $26
LMDEagles calls $20.50, and is all in
on_thg shows [8h 8c]
LMDEagles shows [8d Ts] (dubya tee eff? PFR, bet flop with THIS?)
Uncalled bet of $0.50 returned to on_thg
*** RIVER *** [5h 9d 6s 7c] [5d]
on_thg shows a straight, Nine high
LMDEagles shows a straight, Ten high
LMDEagles wins the pot ($64.50) with a straight, Ten high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $67.50 | Rake $3
Board: [5h 9d 6s 7c 5d]
Seat 1: 6610tarheel folded on the Flop
Seat 2: Robb2 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: darenzou (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: GoonerNut (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: LMDEagles showed [8d Ts] and won ($64.50) with a straight, Ten high
Seat 7: tntplus7 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: freeroll12 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: on_thg showed [8h 8c] and lost with a straight, Nine high

It was that kind of night. Down a full buyin at the cash tables, got donked out of a peep token when my AA got cracked, got a whole series of crap cards in the Bodonkey.

Must. Shut down. Computer.

Monday, February 11, 2008

A Dispatch From The Tundra

(alt. title: Idiocy Still Running Rampant, More At 11)

I've had enough of winter, thanks.

Disaster nearly struck last night. I returned home about 8:30 and couldn't unlock my door. Considering that it was 2 degrees with a windchill of minus 20, that's not good.

At least I immediately knew what had happened. I have a lock set in the doorknob, and the knob was a little loose. So I tightened it yesterday. I had even tested it and it worked OK. Apparently my testing was defective, because I was unable to turn the key to unlock.

I trudged through the snow to try the other doors. No luck figuring them out in the dark.

Back to the main entrance. Because I knew what was causing the problem, I was able to eventually get just enough looseness to allow the key to click over to unlock. Disaster - and I consider spending the night at the office or at someone else's house disaster - avoided.

Obviously the first thing I did was to fish out the screwdriver and re-loosen the stupid knob. I'll run the risk of having it fall off - I've overcome that obstacle with this stupid door too - at least until spring.

***

Nothing additional happening on the poker front. After I defrosted I sat down in front of the computer and noticed that while the internet in general wasn't working (stupid DNS server), I didn't have any problem logging in to Full Tilt. I railed the active FTOPS events for a couple minutes, then decided to go offline and get caught up on some reading.

Once I get home tonight I may post a couple of hands from the FTOPS. Like I said, I only watched for a few minutes. That was long enough to say "wait, this is a $322 buyin tournament?!?" at least twice. I've seen better play in $1 SnGs. Hell, I've seen better play in freerolls. Sheesh.

If I get really bored later I might try and token satellite my way into the MATH. I kind of doubt it, though.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

My Hands Are Tired

Things are looking up a bit. Just a bit.

Fought through the agony and finished third in the Riverchasers: Stud Hi Edition on Thursday. Went out with a decent hand, jacks up by fifth street, but my opponent caught 34 to go with his 567 starter by fifth and I didn't boat up on sixth or seventh. Congrats to Drizz on chopping the win.

Played the Friday donkament and didn't have to rebuy as often as usual. Ended up finishing fifth. I wasn't exactly paying a lot of attention, as I had a couple cash tables and three other tournaments up at the same time. I went deep in a couple freerolls (but not deep enough). Still a good night.

So...

Sometime during those sessions the lightbulb went on -- maybe I do better in tournaments when I'm not paying much attention. Sure, sometimes I donk out, but I think I avoid some of the moves that get me in trouble when I don't have time to, um, think.

Who cares if it's counter-intuitive, I'm going with it.

Saturdays with Dr. Pauly was accordingly accompanied by four tables of cash games. I finished clearing my FTP bonus - first one in a long time. I even won back a few bucks toward covering the beatdown from earlier in the week. I railed Hoy for a while as he was playing the FTOPS 6 max PLO event - I popped it up and he was seated at Table 1 with David Benyamine. I'm sure he'll have a post about the sick, sick hand that crippled him. It was definitely rantworthy.

Anyway, not paying attention worked well again today. I had a massive chip lead at the bubble but couldn't seal the deal, losing like four hands in a row to shorties. That cagey mofo, the original A-lister, the Rooster came back from like 943 chips at the final table to get heads up with me. He had a slight chip lead at that point, he played well, I played like ass. A string of about fifteen really wretched hands in a row didn't help, nor did the fact that I didn't sit out of my cash tables fast enough to focus on the heads up match. Oh well. I'll take the second. Well played, Joaquin.

About the only thing about the not paying attention strategy that sucks is the fact that I can't keep up with the chat - I was lucky to get in a 'gg' when someone busted. I think I saw some snarky comments about lawyers, but like I said, I wasn't paying attention. My apologies to anyone who I (unintentionally) ignored.

Full slate of events coming up again this week. As usual, I'll probably miss anything on Sunday, miss the MATH on Monday, play the Bodonkey and maybe the Skills Series on Tuesday, miss the Mookie on Wednesday, maybe play the Riverchasers on Thursday, probably play the Donkament on Friday and play Saturdays with Dr. Pauly on Saturday.

With that long run-on sentence, I give. Have a nice weekend.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Punk Hand Of The Day Kuro Style Plus I Learned Something From Reading Fuel And I Like Long Post Titles

(and also because playing stud hi in the Riverchasers is making me craazzy)

Full Tilt Poker Table Dove River - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em

(I'm down about $40 because I fawking suck. I did rebuy however.)

Seat 1: DAV78 ($96.50)
Seat 2: BluffingDuff ($126.15)
Seat 3: JohnyCashOut ($98.50)
Seat 4: on_thg ($100.70)
Seat 5: daturk22 ($165.15)
Seat 6: hoove17 ($154.15)
Seat 7: MasterPUA ($218.85)
Seat 8: tbombadil ($72.50)
Seat 9: jeel6 ($49.80)
jeel6 posts the small blind of $0.50
DAV78 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to on_thg [7c 7d]
BluffingDuff folds
JohnyCashOut folds
jeel6: nh
on_thg calls $1
daturk22 folds
jeel6: i was waiting for the Nine
hoove17 raises to $4.50
MasterPUA folds
tbombadil folds
jeel6 calls $4
DAV78 folds
on_thg calls $3.50
*** FLOP *** [Jc 5d 7h] (GIN!!!!!!)
jeel6 checks
on_thg checks
hoove17 bets $5
jeel6 folds
on_thg calls $5
*** TURN *** [Jc 5d 7h] [Js]
on_thg checks (oooooh tricky....)
hoove17 checks
*** RIVER *** [Jc 5d 7h Js] [3d]
on_thg bets $44 (overbet for value beeyotches)
hoove17 has 15 seconds left to act
hoove17 calls $44
*** SHOW DOWN ***
on_thg shows [7c 7d] a full house, Sevens full of Jacks
hoove17 mucks
on_thg wins the pot ($109.50) with a full house, Sevens full of Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $112.50 | Rake $3
Board: [Jc 5d 7h Js 3d]
Seat 1: DAV78 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: BluffingDuff didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: JohnyCashOut didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: on_thg showed [7c 7d] and won ($109.50) with a full house, Sevens full of Jacks
Seat 5: daturk22 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: hoove17 mucked [Qs Qd] - two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 7: MasterPUA didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: tbombadil (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: jeel6 (small blind) folded on the Flop

(now for the best part, where villain lies in chat about what he had!)

hoove17: had rockets couldn't get away

(O RLY? LOL)

9 players left in the Riverf****ers. This is torture. Screw waterboarding, make 'em play stud.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Hail To The Champ

I have to admit that I was a little surprised to see that Kurokitty won the Bodonkey last night. Nothing against him - he's obviously a very fine player - but he hadn't gotten anything going in the first hour last night.

Fortunately for him, early in the second hour he got to do battle with me.

I started off hot - knocking out the King of all Donks (I think) with AK vs AJ. I then had the misfortune of running QQ into 88 - my bad, I didn't have to play an overpair so aggressively - and was back below 2000 chips.

At that point, I was on extreme cash game tilt so I was looking to shove. A lot. Anything to get a stack or go home.

Kuro on my right. He has a few more chips that I do, but we're both below the starting stack. From the small blind (or maybe it was the button, I forget), he opens for a standard pot-sized raise. I call with 9c 6c looking to stop and go.

Flop is 985 or 975 or something - I just remember that I had a pair, a straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. GIN.

He c-bets and I instashove. He calls and shows AKo. Two overs. That's only a 20/80 dog.

So, anyway, I also had a wretched night on the cash tables, dropping four buyins. In keeping with how my luck has been running lately, I found myself in a classic set-vs-flush draw situation four times. Twice I had the set - including once where I'd also trapped an underset for a monster pot- and twice I had the flush draw*. I went 0-4.

I think it's time to go back to treating this game as nothing more than an amusing diversion, and to limit myself to social games and penny-ante stakes. I have enough to play a few weeks of the Bodonkey - at least until golf season starts up.

Until then, I'm going to be reading about the importance of luck in poker and pondering how to change mine. It sucks.

Congrats to Kuro.

* Once I had odds, the other time was a total tilt monkey dammit I'm down 3.5 buyins already awwfukkit stupid call.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Obstacles

"This is how my life goes every day. Encountering idiotic obstacles and trying to find a way around them."

-- Joel Sherman, professional Scrabble player and former world champion

Everybody has problems. Small problems, big problems, life threatening problems. I consider myself fortunate that I'm mostly free of the latter kinds, and I am certainly sympathetic to those struggling with life's big issues.

That does not, however, mean that I don't get frustrated with the small stuff. In poker and in life. I may not be "sweating it", but problems are still problems.

The current idiotic obstacle that's vexing me is how to change a light bulb. Before you get on my case for being a dumbass - guilty as charged, of course - let me explain that we're not talking about a generic lightbulb. I can indeed handle those. Even when the bulb has broken and you have to extract the base. Not a problem.

This is what I'm talking about:

I don't even know what exactly to call this type of fixture. It's not track lighting, even though it kind of looks like it.

I have two of these fixtures. Over the course of the seven plus years I've owned the house, three of the four bulbs have now burned out. I've tried on and off to replace them, but have never been able to figure out how to do it. The bottom picture isn't a very good one - it's kind of dark in there, you know - but it shows that there appears to be some sort of metal clip. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to do anything - I've managed to remove it from one of the other cans without it doing a thing for the bulb.

At one point a while back, I started to take down one of the fixtures completely. I didn't get past pulling it off the wall, but no obvious answers were revealed, just a lot of wiring.

I've wasted a bunch of time trying to find a comparable fixture or to find some guidance on the internet. No luck. I'm not completely stumped very often, but the lighting industry has gotten the best of me on this one. GG, you schmucks.

What does this have to do with poker, you ask?

Not very much, thank you. But I suppose if you want an analogy, I can give you one. The stupid obstacle I can't seem to overcome there is that I can't make myself fold when I KNOW I'm behind. It should be fundamental at this point - I've played hundreds of thousands of hands. And yet I can't figure it out.

Stupid small problems.

Anyway, if anyone's got an idea I'd love to hear it before I call in an electrician or resort to rereading Phil Hellmuth's book.

***

Speaking of obstacles, I seem to have another one - getting past 27th place in a tournament. Played Saturdays With Dr. Pauly and finished - duh! - 27th. That's three times in the last month.

I got my money in ahead, but since it's Omaha I was only a 64/36 favorite. Oh well. It was a good time with a lot of old school bloggers taking part. Be sure to check it out next Saturday, 4:20 pm ET.

I will say that after all the double and super stack events on FT, it was strange playing with only 1500 starting chips on Stars.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Five For Frying

Five o'clock, Friday. Huzzah!

Random list time!

Last five hands I busted out of poker tournaments with:
1. AKo
2. AKo
3. AKs
4. AA
5. T6s

Last five songs I listened to that are NOT available on Buddy Dank Radio:
1. Tegan and Sara - Back In Your Head
2. Blue October - Into The Ocean
3. Kasey Chambers & Paul Kelly - I Still Pray
4. Royal Crown Revue - Barflies At The Beach
5. The Fixx - Secret Separation

Five hot topics in poker that I really don't care about:
1. Brandi Hawbaker
2. Absolute Poker cheating scandal (sorry)
3. The PPA being completely ineffective
4. Dutch Boyd (may no longer be a 'hot topic')
5. People being tools in chat during bloggaments

Five things I'd do if I could go back and do the last 20 years over again:
1. Learn Spanish
2. Save up money so that I could travel more
3. Quit drinking Coca Cola
4. Get my eyes fixed (Lasik)
5. Um, I can think of a few things that really aren't blog-appropriate for this one
Not mentioned: Stuff like "buy stock in Microsoft" that are entirely obvious.

Five fabulous timewasters that have destroyed workplace discovery this week:
1. The FAIL blog (H/T Tripjax)
2. Following college football recruiting - national signing day is next week!
3. Pondering the latest format change - to be announced Monday - for my favorite local radio station (this is the fourth change in five years)
4. Buddy Dank Radio (not so much at work)
5. Trying to imagine a winning strategy for fantasy NASCAR at Fantasy Sports Live (bonus code BONDS ldo)
Not mentioned: Scrabulous - I've managed to avoid playing at work, though it's tempting.

I've spent five times as much time as expected. Time for a beer. Or five.

There Goes The Neighborhood

Well, now I know what I'm doing this weekend. I just received an email from Full Tilt with a no-deposit bonus offer. Add in the fact that the weather is going to suck and boom, plans are in place.

Probably.

As the prior post indicates, I was pretty disgusted with the game last night. I feel like I've been pretty good about dealing with bad beats, but for some reason that last one put me over the edge. Now that I think about it, it was probably the fact that I lost every single time my shove was called, despite the fact that I was ahead each and every time. 70/30. 60/40. I forget what the third one was, but again, I was ahead. And lost. I do not enjoy the feeling of sitting there thinking 'oh good a call. I wonder how I'm going to get f***ed this time?'.

Sigh.

Fortunately tilt is a temporary thing and this particular instance didn't cost me a penny. Just have to get back up on the horse.