Do you have this fold in you? Dino's fun - 12/30/08

So after a couple of weeks off I go to Dino's for my usual Monday torture session, errrrrr, poker game, and the usual happened: Calling stations and morons making horrible calls and getting lucky on the river against me. Rammed A-K into a short stack, shortie wakes up with Aces to take half my stack...after doubling my stack back up on well-timed bluff push, I double-up another stack for 2/3 of my chips when my 10s get outflopped by pocket 4's. Push all-in in the dark for last 900 (200/400 level now) in SB, BB flips over pocket 8s - look great against J-6, yup I'm out.

Typical of my night, I work my way up from $10 to $15 in side cash game, then this hand happens:

1-2 blinds - EP raises to 5. Call from Bernie, and then I look and find KK in my hand. Raise to 20. Fold, then Nicole (who has built up a great stack for this game) pushes all-in. I don't insta-call, but seeing as I have 40 chips left, and feel almost pot-committed at this point, I make the call...while at the same time saying, "Flip the aces over". Tough hand to get away from, but in retrospect it really wasn't that hard to lay it down...just need to think things through more sometimes.

Oh well, 24 and House are on Mondays on FOX starting in 2 weeks...good game, me.

Monday fun at Dino's - 11/24

I didn't get enough points to get into the "final table", but there was a decent crowd for 22-24 for the "kiddie game", and since that tournament has some prizes for top 3, it's worth playing.

I sit down and from left to right I get some new dude, Ponytail Guy, Bridget, and Adam the Ass (more about him later), and me. The Ass raises the first few hands 10x big blind, shows off his nothing, and we move on. First chink in the armor for The Ass is him calling off 200 with A-rag, and losing about 600 chips in total to my 9-9 on a K-Q-3-3-6 board.

Got bluffed out of a smaller pot couple of hands later, then watched as some new dude and got taken out by The Ass's top 2 pair. Adam is a loud, obnoxious fukktard who thinks he's playing solid poker, but really only knows one or 2 moves: "All-in" being the main one. That being said, he pretty much tries to steer clear of me (and a couple of others) at the tables for some odd reason...even so, I love seeing him get knocked out.

Somehow in an unraised pot, my 6-3o hits on a board of Q-Q-6 - after it's checked around, a 7 (3 diamonds on the board - I have one in my hand, yeehaw!) hits the turn, and it's checked again. On the river, a 4th diamond hits, and it's checked around to me, only this time I put a pot-sized - The Ass flashes a queen (wow!), says "I f'd that hand up - lucky catch"....to which I responded by slamming my 6-3 face-up on the table. Gotta bully the bully once in a while, after all.

Bridget busted out to the Ass a few hands later, and soon afterwards my 6-6 held up in a race against A-10 to get us down to 3 players...table move, THANK GOD!

I get to a new table with Bearded Dude, Stevo, Richard, Texas Tim, and Lucky Bastard. Win a small pot early on, then raise off button with K-Q - Stevo goes all-in, and while I think I should have called due to pot odds, I wasn't sure that I wasn't dominated, and figured it was only 300 or so chips, so I let it go.

Big hand came 3 hands later, when I checked out of the BB with 6-6 - sometimes I raise this, sometimes I call, just all depends. Anyways, Texas Tim flops me a boat 3-6-3, and now I'm trying to figure out how I am going to get money out of this hand. Lucky Bastard bets out 200 (blinds at 100/200 now), I smooth-call, and Bearded Guy goes all-in for about 650 more. Dennis and I both call. Checked the turn, and after a 4th spade hits Dennis bets out 200...I don't take long to raise 500 as a value-bet, and Dennis insta-calls. I think he had a flush, cept he said "Nice hand" when he saw my boat, and we were down another player.

Dennis and Richard soon busted out, and then Gary busted out at another table (Pat actually quit the game due to the Ass), and soon we were down to 8. Let's see if I can get this order right (from me to my left): Me, Jay, Unknown, Stevo, Texas Tim, Jim, Ass, and Unknown - the two unknowns have played a few games recently, and are decent enough people...welcome additions to the game.

Stevo busted out to Ass's donk call when Ass's Q-7 hit a 7 on river to take out Stevo's ace-high. Ass brags too much about his "great call", and Stevo didn't take it too kindly. Ass seems to get in verbal confrontations every week, and I think Anger Management courses are needed.

Texas Tim busted out next in a 3-way pot with Ass and myself. Tim open-raised all-in, to which Ass immediately yelled "All-in" - he loves to isolate shortstacks, even with rags, and with pocket 10's I figured I was in great shape against both of them...and I was. Ass's A-8 and Tim's hand (whatever it was) got no help, and I doubled up from 6200 or so to about 14K after this hand.

Couple of hands later Jim busts out Ass out when his A-5 spiked a 5 to take out Ass's A-K, and then the blowup ensues. Ass calls Jim a donkey for making that call, and doesn't seem to understand what Jim is trying to tell him about why he thought his A-high was ahead. Ass can't drop the matter for a few minutes, but when he leaves everyone is relieved to have this jackass gone. DUDE, it's a god-damn freeroll - get a life!!!!

Oh yeah, Ass got turned away from the cash game once, then got into it with Any Ace Ron just before we left for the evening...ahhh, what fun!

Back to the kiddie game - the 2 Unknowns bust out, but with much better attitudes than The Ass, and we're down to Jay, Jim, and myself for the title. After about 30-40 minutes, Jay busts out Jim, and we're heads-up. Bank and forth for some time here, then Jay wins a couple of big pots in a row, and after getting down to 7 BBs, I open-push with 7-10...Jay calls with A-8, hits ace on flop, I get the runner I need on turn for the straight, but when the 2nd runner doesn't hit, Jay wins. Well played, sir!

Oh yeah, and in the tournament that no one gives a shit about, Any Ace Ron took down Bernie to win the main tourney - congrats, Ron!

I love hyperaggressive donkeys!

PokerStars Game #21619942370: Tournament #117380899, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/10/30 13:45:20 ET
Table '117380899 15' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: neetog (3495 in chips)
Seat 2: Mr.Thomsen88 (2195 in chips)
Seat 3: BKrywko1 (2295 in chips)
Seat 5: Airfield (105 in chips)
Seat 6: mellow747 (5595 in chips)
Seat 7: dukefish (380 in chips)
Seat 8: Cotton Rock (2065 in chips)
Seat 9: Tito-el-León (4395 in chips)
mellow747: posts small blind 75
dukefish: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [6d 6c]
Cotton Rock: folds
Tito-el-León: folds
neetog: folds
Mr.Thomsen88: folds
BKrywko1: calls 150
Airfield: calls 105 and is all-in
mellow747: raises 150 to 300
Sir Churcill is connected
dukefish: folds
BKrywko1: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [6s 4s 9h]
mellow747: bets 300
BKrywko1: calls 300
*** TURN *** [6s 4s 9h] [2d]
mellow747: bets 450
BKrywko1: raises 1245 to 1695 and is all-in
mellow747: calls 1245
*** RIVER *** [6s 4s 9h 2d] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mellow747: shows [Tc Ah] (high card Ace)
BKrywko1: shows [6d 6c] (three of a kind, Sixes)
BKrywko1 collected 4425 from side pot
Airfield: shows [As Th] (high card Ace)
BKrywko1 collected 420 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4845 Main pot 420. Side pot 4425. | Rake 0
Board [6s 4s 9h 2d Kh]
Seat 1: neetog folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Mr.Thomsen88 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: BKrywko1 showed [6d 6c] and won (4845) with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 5: Airfield (button) showed [As Th] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 6: mellow747 (small blind) showed [Tc Ah] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 7: dukefish (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Cotton Rock folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Tito-el-León folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Huh? I could get used to these tourneys...

Played 4 $1 Turbo "Double or Nothing" SnGs simultaneously over at Stars last night, just for the hell of it. This means that when the field gets down to 5, the tourney is over - So I made a grand total of $1.90 for my efforts when I cashed in 3 of them (bubbled the other one). I can definitely see this as being profitable for solid SnG players, especially those who have had experience in satellite play.

Now to see if there are any $5 & $6 ones to play tomorrow night - might not be a bad way to go to clear my bonus, if I don't feel like playing in any cash games.

Soem election thoughts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWSEcL9xFQk

Barack Obama has attack a private citizen who dared asked him a question that Barack answered in a way that reveals his true intentions for this country. His name is Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher, a typical middle class American working as a plumber from Ohio. He is now known as “Joe The Plumber”.

Obama went to Joe’s neighborhood to answer questions. Joe asked Barack about his tax plan to raise taxes on small businesses. Barack’s response was that he didn’t want to punish Joe’s success, but that he wanted to “spread the wealth”. This is called socialism. Here are some videos that will inform you on the nature of Barack Obama.

First Obama’s statement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcJvOnCD1ls

Some reaction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0g1rJPnI0g

Now, instead of addressing his “spread the wealth” answer to Joe, Obama, Biden, and the media attack him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJUmWYjK83M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4KbMm4OtVo

The message to you all is this: If you ask a legitimate question of your leaders, be prepared to have your entire life examined. It’s BULLSHIT! This isn’t fucking Russia! But this doesn’t surprise me. Obama being a socialist would naturally adopt other socialist ideologies…Yes, just like silencing his opponents. And you think this is bad just wait to see the power he will wield if the country is fooled into voting for him because he knows how to give a speech.

When Obama taxes small business, it kills jobs because the business will have to raises prices, and therefor be less competitive, or lay off employees. Big deal? How many poor people ever gave you a job? None. Successful people provide jobs and Obama wants to make them the bad guy. He plays class warfare by pitting workers against employers. Do you want to be successful? Well, good. But remember, Obama claims he is on your side now, but after you spend years and years working your butt off and become successful, he then becomes against you and wants to take what you earn for his own pet projects.

So, who is Joe The Plumber? You are. I am. We all are! So lets do the right thing and refuse to be cowed by a socialist. How do we do that? Like this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOCsNrzlV2k

Dino's 10/20 game

Very frustrating evening at Dino's, as it turned out. Things started off very well, then went south for an extended time...bubbled before the final table, bleh!

From my left, I have "Some ATC Player" (Any Two Cards), Scott (Hevad Donk), Dennis (Lucky Bastard), and Pat. There will be chips flying at this table, which is a good thing.

First hand in I limp in with 8-6, and win a nice pot off of Some ATC Player after hitting trip 6's on the turn.

A few hands later I take a decent pot off of Lucky Bastard after a 3rd heart hits the river and bet out 2/3 pot with middle pair. This would not be the last time I bluffed Lucky Bastard out of a hand after the river.

2nd level I nearly got to make a great call with A-high on a 7-7-5-5-J board against Some ATC Player, but after Pat called Some ATC Player's bet, I figured my hand wasn't good anymore...good laydown, at Pat had 9-9 to beat King-high.

Nearly donked off a sizable portion of my chipstack to Some ATC Player while holding 2nd pair with top kicker - on the turn I entertained thoughts about check-raising the dude, and actually had chips in my hand, but after thinking about his actions and bet sizes, the "story" didn't make any sense to how he normally plays a hand...I said "nice hand", and dude shows trip Kings...good read me!

Shortly after that, I got involved in a 3-way pot with Hevad and Lucky Bastard holding pocket 3's. All low cards on the flop, which got checked around - it was on the turn that the action got interesting. I needed to push Hevad out of the pot on the turn to be able to steal on the river against Lucky Bastard...if that makes any sense, and I accomplished this with a good 2/3-sized probe bet. I then ramped up the aggression on the river against Lucky Bastard to get him to fold...unless LB has a big hand, he's not calling on the river very often. Hevad grunts that he thinks he had me beat, and he probably did.

Near the end of 25/50 level I get 10-10 on the button, raise to 200...Some ATC Player and Hevad call me. Hit my set (with 2 spades on board) on flop, and bet the pot out to make drawers looking for flushes pay...both players fold, and I think I left some chips out there on the table, oh well.

Couple of hands later (50/100 level), I raise 5xBB on the button to Hevad with K-K, basically telling him that he's going all-in if he wants to defend his blinds. Hevad thinks his cards are live and decides to gamble...no luck for Hevad, and my stack gets healthier.

At 50/100 level, raise Some ATC Player 3xBB with AA in the SB, too bad he decides that this is the time 3-2 isn't worth defending. A few hands later, Pat busts out Fred, and we get broken up...I have about 2500 chips at this point.

At 100/200 and 200/400 I get extremely card-dead...hard to make moves when a raise, then all-in occurs before you get to act, and you look at rags like 9-3. Finally, push my last 1200 in from the button with A-8 - Any Ace Ron insta-calls with 10-8 suuuuuuited, nothing on flop, 10 on turn (never a doubt!), bubkus and river, and everyone is happy because they're down to 10.

Recap: Good first 60-75 of play there, not so good last 45 minutes of play...and too late to give away my money in the cash game.

10/13 Dino's post

- Won the first hand when pocket tens pwned Fred's 7-7. This may have been the best hand I played all night, bah!

- Donked some chips off to PJ when my trips got pwned by his boat

- Blinded off some chips, then won a couple of pots off of Bernie and Fred...the last one being a good call with A-high.

- Card dead from 100/200 to 200/400 - jammed last 1270 or so with Q-10, WD Ron insta-calls with K-Q. 10 on flop puts me ahead, runner-runner straight for WD and I'm out.

- Decide to drink 4 Labatt's, and let the silliness start at the cash game. Some dude overbets a dry side pot and gets me to lay down the best hand...bad laydown, looking back at it, but that's the problem with not playing with people at times. Donk away my chips, I'm out $10, big whoop.

- Talk politics with Stevo and some other Clevelander while I let my buzz go away, then leave. Fun for all, yippee!

Dino's Fun - 10/07/08

Played again last night at Dino's, and actually was quite proud of my play - mainly from a decision-making standpoint. No "last shorter" bet with Stevo last night, since he waved the white flag of surrender early last night. Errrrr, actually, I think he overslept, but whatfukkinever...the action junkie in me was disappointed.

Very happy with my table draw last night, as I had Andy, Gary, Pat, Donald, and Richard there. Other than Andy, I'll be able to push the around pretty easily. First hand in I flop the wheel, and take down a nice pot when the other 2 miss their 2-pair draws.

Lose a few hands, then hit a big against Gary when my 6-4 hits a straight on the turn - but also gave Gary a wheel. Since Gary never raises unless he has a monster, I slowed a bit after the turn, fearing that I was up against a full-house (since there was a pair of 3s on the board in an unraised pot), but got the ol' "crying call" with a value bet of 300 from Gary after the river.

A couple of hands later, I raise from the button with K-K to 200 (25/50 still) with only one caller (Pat), and bet it strong under the Ace of Hearts hit the board on the river. Pat loves to play calling station with Ace-anything, and is like Gary in that she loves her flush draws. After she check-calls all the way, she puts a bet of 400 out that stunk to high-heaven...and I know I'm beat. I make some speech about chasing all the way to the river, then fold my Kings face up - and later told by Pat that she hit the nut flush on the river (with K-Q in her hand). Good read, me.

I take a medium pot off of Andy when my 8-4 hits trip 4s on the flop, then lose those chips back to Gary when he chases a flush and hits on the river. 6-1 to call on the river with low 2-pair was easy, solely for information. At this point of the tournament, however, I'm feeling great about my reads (so far spot on) and how I'm playing, but just not getting the breaks.

Win a big pot off of Richard soon after this when I DB my 9-8 all the way to the river to catch a straight (J-10 left me open-ended after the flop) after Richard failed to properly bet me out of the hand (min bets of 100 into 500 and 700 pots don't usually work in that regard), and we're back in business. Bluffed away about 500 chips to Donald on the next hand, but he couldn't throw away his J-2 on a K-10-2-3-3 board.

Crippled Andy shortly after this when we get to 100/200 level when his Q-Q were no match for my K-10 after I flopped trip Kings, and after winning a couple of hands at 200/400 by firing first post-flop into the pot, I get moved to another table...where Tim, some Skinny Dude (SD), Bernie, and Nicole are holding court.

I double Nicole up after her A-J beats my 8-8 in a race...took about 2-3 minutes before deciding to call her all-in:

1) Because I was UTG + 1 - 3 players left to act made me almost throw them away.
2) Because I know Nicole's range is a lot wider than a lot of players in the game, but I needed to convince myself that 8-8 was the best hand

Sooooo, even though I didn't win the hand, I did make the proper decision to call here, and take the slight edge in my coin-flip. Nicole went on a rush soon after, knocking 2 players out, and we were down to 10, so it's final table time.

Pick up K-K UTG on the first hand of the final table (400/800), and shoved my 3225 into the middle. Everyone folded to PJ in the BB, who thought his Q-6 was live. He was drawing dead after the turn, but K on river gave me a meaningless full-house to knock him out.

Went card-dead afterwards, then on the next orbit picked up A-Q UTG....jammed for same amount or so, called by Jay's 9-9 and Pat's J-10. J on the turn puts Pat ahead, nothing on the flop for me, and I get my 1 bonus point in 7th...bleh!

All things considered, very happy with my play today - so I won't complain much at all.

I have an admission to make...

I'm not totally proud of this, but here goes:

I actually bet money on the Detroit Shock WNBA game last night - $5 on the moneyline got me $11.25 in profits, fukk yeah!

Making money is making money, right? :-\

2008 Presidential Debate drinking game

Since we have 2 more debates on 10/7 and 10/15, I thought I'd provide a way to truly enjoy these debates - by making it a drinking game! Here are the simple parameters to follow - you will not leave this debate sober:

The Presidential Debate Drinking Game:

- Drink every time McCain refers to the American people or voters as “my friends”.

- Drink every time Obama refers to the American people or voters as “folks”.

- Drink every time Obama mentions “change”.

- Drink every time Obama uses the phrase, “Let’s be clear on one thing here...” (Or some derivative of this phrase in his answer).

- Chug every time an announcer or candidate makes reference to McCain being a “maverick”.

- Drink every time McCain makes reference to serving in Vietnam.

- Drink every time McCain says “reform”

- Drink twice every time either candidate says “reaching across the aisle”, “both parties coming together”, or “bipartisan”.

- Drink every time Obama says, “um”.

- Drink every time McCain brings up Obama’s “lack of experience”.

- Chug if McCain and Obama hug at the end.

Another night of mirth and mayhem at Dino's

Got up to Dino's earlier than normal since traffic was smooth both from downtown and then from Birmingham - so I killed an hour-plus of time by playing some Megatouch games. Damn, Dino's, it might not hurt you fukkers to reset the high scores more than once a year so some of us cheap fukkers can get some free games, either!

Sat down at our table with Sharon, Fred, Harry, Wine-Drinking Ron, and Nick at my table. Was up and down for a little, then took 2 sizable pots off of Nick. First one was after raising to 40 (5/10) level with Q-Q, board of 9-8-3 with 2 clubs hit - 2/3 pot size bet didn't chase him away, nor did a half-pot bet on the turn when a 7 came out. When a second 7 came out on the river, Nick tried to buy the pot, but folded after I raised him 150. Didn't see his hand, but his 8 probably wasn't any good :-)

A few hands later, I limp in with the ever-popular souxxie-nouf ("69" in French), and flop trip 6's. Make a boat on the turn, but slow-play 6's over 9's since there are 3 hearts on the board. After the river Nick throws out a decent-sized bet, then makes a quick call after I raised him, then showed him the bad news.

Donked/bluffed away a few hundred chips to Sharon in a couple of pots when she was holding legitimate hands, then took a sizable pot off of WD Ron when my 8-9 hit 2 pair on the river - this is why min-bets when holding top pair don't work, WD!

2 hands derailed me last night. First hand was a 3-way hand with Nick all-in, and me and WD Ron in the hand. My K-Q hits on a board of K-J-J, and my 250 bet into a dry side pot should have told a player with a clue that I have a hand - but this is WD Ron we're talking about, so he calls. A seemingly bland hits the turn, and here I think I'm trapping here, but Ron smooth-calls on the turn. 3rd club on river hits, and after I bet out a value bet of 300, Ron min-raises me to 600 (since he thinks this is a limit game, apparantly), I make a crying call here, and Ron flips over A-10 of club for a flush...I muck my cards, make some comment about some "Donkey poker being played", and am glad to fold the next few hands after being put on semi-tilt.

Few hands later, Fred jams and I'm trying to figure out if my pocket 5's are good enough. I go in the tank for a couple of minutes, put him on 6-6 through 10-10, fold my 5-5 face-up, but then find out that Fred had pocket 4's...dammit! Oh well, gotta trust my reads and my gut, since they're right more often than not.

A few hands later, being the shortstack at 990, I open jam A-J from EP, only to have Stevo call me with A-K - I believe the words "Yo, gimme my dollar bitch!" (I could be wrong, though) came out of my mouth, since I won my last-shorter bet this week. Mediocre middle of the pack finish, bleh!

Quick night at the cash game - suited connectors and killer flops were not panning out, and my $10 was gone pretty quick...chalk it up to being one of them nights, I guess. At least Stevo took out WD Ron - I think this was Stevo's personal mission after seeing him knock Harry out earlier with A-2 against Harry's Q-Q when WD flops trips, then hits quad 2's on river...I think WD could be nicknamed "Any Ace Ron Jr.", and it'll fit well.

Life throws curveballs at you every once in a while...

So I come home Tuesday night, and Kelley hits me with a curveball regarding her health that I totally wasn't prepared for. I won't drive myself crazy over the next 3 weeks until tests are run and come back in, but nevertheless I will still be quite nervous about everything until we get some certainty from the doctors. Then again, I think Kelley will be even more scared with what is going on.

And yes, I'm intentionally being semi-vague (ok, very vague) about this right now, since I need to get more information and facts before I disclose any more facts. I'm really hoping, however, for some positive results from the doctors regarding all of this.

And for my gambling note of the day, I'm taking Tulane and USC to cover tonight

Monday fun at Dino's

Determined not to bust out 1st or 2nd this week (although apparantly I was 3rd out last week, not 2nd), I hopped in the minivan and headed to Dino's. Stevo and I had our "last shorter" bet once again, and off we go.

I had Fred, some older lady who played every hand, Andy, and PJ at my table to start (28 or so players). Didn't get too many hands for a while, but I was chipping up nicely with some medium-sized pots. Busted out PJ with a BB Special when jammed A-rag into a A-8-5 flop...too bad I was holding 8-5. No help for PJ, and he's gone.

I proceed to bluff off 1/3 of my chips on the next couple of hands, then douched a straight on the river against Pat when I had no business doing so to get up to 4000 chips again. I almost got into it with Annoying Clapping Fukktard (ACF - dude give a golf clap after every hand) after he lectured me on not having proper poker etiquette because I like to splash the pot with chips with every bet. I do call out my bet either before or as I'm splashing the pot, at least...I love these self-appointed "table captains" (alternatively known as, "Dicks"), just too bad I couldn't bust this dude out.

We finally get to 10 players for final table, and 2 hands in Dennis and Andy get into it when Dennis over-reacted to Andy calling him a "lucky bastard" for winning a big pot. Dennis was well within his right to say something about being offended by the comment, but he didn't have to be quite the asshole about it, either. Andy was shaken for the whole game by that, and don't blame him. Any Ace Ron blows a nut a couple of hands later, and I'll go through the action on this hand now....

Stevo opens up in EP with an all-in bet, and I'm sitting in MP with 9-9...I know Stevo doesn't play junk, but I have to figure out if he's holding a pair or if I am racing, because this is for all of my chips. Not to brag or anything here, but I'm the only person at this game who would even think of laying this hand down pre-flop...much less take 2 or 3 minutes to make a decision and actually make the proper laydown. Stevo makes a comment that "I guess our bet will be settled on this hand", and that was the overriding factor in me laying my hand down...I say, "Nice hand", and lay down my 9s. Harry calls with A-K, but Any Ace Ron takes offense to Harry holding his cards up so Scott can see them (even though he's out of the hand)...Stevo has A-A, and doubles up when it holds, and the arguing continues. For a fukkin' free tournament, some people take this game way too seriously.

Couple of hands later I get K-K in MP, and W-D Ron calls with 6-6 - I bust him out, and just kinda survive until we get to 5-handed. In the SB now, and Harry open-shoves for 3500. Meghan calls, and I'm up to a decision again as I have 9-9 - I know I have Meghan beat, but I don't know about Harry, but after another couple of minutes I make the crying call, then Andy also calls. I am delighted to see a 9 on the flop for the set, and after all the cards are flipped, my set holds up...Harry had 10-10, Meghan had A-rag, but she took the side pot.

I bust Jim out a few hands later with the ever-dangerous 2-2 (made a flush on river), then trade blinds and make some small bluffs for a while with Andy and Meghan until we bust Andy out. HU took a while, and I fought my way back from 4-1 to 3-1 down, then open-jammed with 8-3 soooooooooted, and flopped a flush to take the chip lead. Donked a lot of my chips away with K-9 after a K-7-5 flop when I put Meghan all-in, 'cept she hit K-5...doh! 2 hands later and down to 2 BBs (we actually went to 2000/4000 blinds), I shoved 8-2 against her J-something...flop of A-A-J was enough to end it (barring running aces), so I take 2nd this week. One misplayed hand, but what can you do...I'll take my $25 gift cert and not look back.

A great Saturday

So I get this e-mail from Superbook.com, informing me that they put $10 in my account, and that I can bet the fukk out of it, and if I had any money left after Monday night, they'd take their $10 out. Being the responsible gambler (Ahem!) that I am, I decided to roll the dice with a 4-way college football parlay - hell yeah!!!!

Parlay (4 Teams) 09/20/08 08:39 ET
bet 10.00 to win 120.08 (paid 130.08) Result: Wager Won

EMichigan 24
Maryland 51 09/20/08(13:00 ET)
Maryland -21 Way to stick by my alma mater!

NotreDame 7
MichiganSt 23 09/20/08(15:40 ET)
MichiganSt -8.5

Temple 3
PennSt 45 09/20/08(12:00 ET)
PennSt -29 (-115)

Wyoming 0
BYU 44 09/20/08(15:00 ET)
BYU -28

A positive thing to say about Absolute Poker

So a couple of posts ago I slammed Absolute Poker for being "fukksticks", which was disappointing for me due to their being guilty of having "superusers" in their high-stake cash games and in various tournaments. Being a super-user meant that they had the ability to see hole cards of all the players...and obviously giving such users a grossly unfair advantage.

And while they still are fukksticks, in my eyes, I have to give them props for getting me my $100 in check in less than a week...well done, Absolute Poker!

Ugh..

I played at Dino's last night, and busted out 2nd (Scott was first out this week) when I reraised PJ all-in with QQ, only to get called by Jay's A-K. King on flop, Ace on turn, no queen on river, and I'm done. I won a buck from Stevo in our "last shorter" bet, then went home because I wasn't feeling too well...turns out I have bronchitis, so I can look forward to a week of antibiotics and meds, yay!

Awesome!

Went out drinking (but not too much!) with Kelley Friday night, and after driving the sitter home at 3am, Kelley and the dog were crashed out in the bed. Since I was in no mood to sleep, I decided to go fukk around and play some blackjack on Absolute Poker.

Now, a couple of days prior I transferred $50 from Absolute BJ winnings to someone from another forum for $50 over at Sportsbook.com (pissed that all away this weekend on football betting, HA!), which left me with a whopping $21 there. Since that was not enough to play in a $20+2 SnG, I decided to play 3-handed at $1 a pop. Ran that up to $78 within 15 minutes, then railed a friend of mine in some Stars freeroll for 10 minutes.

Saturday morning, repeated the above process as far as Blackjack play goes, and ran it up to $101 - and since I know AP doesn't give out checks for under $100, I stopped while I was on a nice 3-3-3 setup from a hot run of cards. Alas, I get to the cashier and AP charges $8 (WTF???) for a manual check. Went back to blackjack, and the minute I won $7 (which was about 4 or 5 hands), exited and cashed out my $100 - time to delete them fukksticks from my computer now!

Well, that was quite the nice surprise

So I log onto Stars last night to play a couple of SnGs, along with some cash games (I have a $40 bonus that I don't want to be waiting until January to try to rush and clear) in Stud H/L, and something appears odd on my screen when I go to signup for a SnG - the balance is quite a bit higher than I remember it.

A little investigation finds that I had a $75 affiliate payment made to me - sweeeeeet! Too bad I have no idea who the heck signed up, but I'm not going to complain, that's for sure.

1st and a 4th in SnGs - the one I took first in, I got in bad almost every hand (and if you're never getting in bad, you're not using good SnG strategy), yet was the suckout monster. A-9 vs A-J, 9-9 vs 10-10, A-J vs A-K...then Q-7 vs A-A on the last hand (course, I did have a 12.2K to 1.3K lead HU with blinds at 200/400 against a total rock) - felt good to get that done all in one day.

Maybe the $15+1 are calling....

Dino's mirth and mayhem

After taking a month off from the Dino's game, I finally returned last night. Played for about an hour, lost out a couple big pots to Andy and Ron when they chased their 4-outers and hit, then lost to Ronnie with A-K when Ronnie's A-J flopped a flush...at least I wasn't out first this time, since Stevo took that honor.

Got in the cash game, and was treading water...had to rebuy after Scott cracked my pocket aces with a set of deuces, took a few pots to get back up to only $4 down, then this hand happened:

Triple B (Big Bald Brad) in the SB, Scott in the BB, and Nick with the straddle to 4...Old Dude (he of the "working deuce" theory) limped in, I called with 7-4 of diamonds only because I figured my low cards were the only low ones in the hand, then Jay popped it to 8. Nick called, and since I called 4 before, might as well do it again.

Flop comes A-4-7 with 2 clubs, and this one I bet out and got 2 quick calls. Another club (I think it was a K) hit the board, and Nick bet out 10. Jay and I both called - I'm pretty I'm behind to at least one guy here, but pot is too good to fold now. 4 hits the river, and Nick fires out a bet of 20 ($5, to the uninitiated, since each chip is worth 25 cents). After playing with my chips for a minute, I raise another 40 chips, Jay folds, then Nick semi-reluctantly calls with the nut flush...and sees his bad news, ouch!

Donked off about $11 of chips after that, with about $7 going to Andy when he limped in and then check-called all 3 rounds with pocket aces to beat my 2 pair. Still walked away up $17, so after taking into account my meal and everything, I still made a couple of bucks.

Screw the tourneys, the cash game is more fun :-)

A successful night

Played in 5 SnGs last night during the course of an hour and half:

- 2 $6.50 1-table turbos
- 1 $6.50 2-table turbo
- 1 10 cent 360-man donkfest
- 1 $2.20 180-man donkfest

The last 2 SnGs on here were non-cashes, so let's ignore them. Took first and 3rd in my single-table SnGs, and 2nd in my 2-table SnG (fought my way to there, big time) meant my profit for the night was:

$70.20 winnings less $21.80 buy-in fees = a tidy profit of $48.40 for an hourly rate of $32/hour, not bad!

Thought about seeing if I could keep my good night going, but got a little tired, so decided to let the talking heads on TV put me to sleep for the night.

Fukkin around last night...

...and decided to play in a 10 cent/360-man SnG over at Stars. Played nothing more than ABC poker, and took 11th for a whopping 40 cents payout. Jammed on turn with A-J against chipleader (3rd in chips at the time) when my jack paired for 2 pair, and CL calls me with 8-4 hearts on a board of 5-6-A-J (2 hearts) - hits 7 on river to knock me, but then took abuse from a couple of remaining players for what a stupid call it was (pot odds right). Lost a $6 SnG on the bubble at Stars, but took a 2nd and 3rd at Absolute on the $10 Turbos (pays $27 and $18), so a profitable day for me.

No Dino's, as promised for tonight...probably til October. Goin on vacation Wednesday morning for a few days - have a great week!

The Official Dictionary for the "9/11 Truth Movement"

Alloyal subject: Person who regards as sacred the creed that steel is perfectly rigid until it melts.

Alternative theory: Something so wacky that even Twoofers don't give it much credence (e. g. holographic planes, pods).

Beam Weapon: A currently non-existent quantum weapon that entered our dimension during a 3-hour period on 9/11/2001 and got a space woody for steel-framed buildings and five-sided buildings. Oh, and half of some automobiles. Then it winked out of existence and is not included in the 9/11 Omission Report.

Bermass - a loud-mouthed conspiracy theorist. "When all he did was yell 'liar liar' over and over, I knew the guy was a bermass"

bollyn (v.) - The act of noticing a strange car outside your house, assuming it's FBI, calling the police, having the people in the car tell you're they're just undercover local cops, not believing them, threatening them, telling them you're going into the house to get a weapon, getting arrested, losing your job, and then blaming it all on the Jews. Usage Note: Because of the low likelihood of anyone actually being stupid enough to do all these things, the word may be used in a looser sense to describe any attempt to blame a personal misfortune on some shadowy world-domination entity, when it was really your own stupid fault. "Example: All the 9/11 Denier candidates for Congress lost, so they'll probably try to bollyn the results off on Diebold."

Brainwashing: non-conspiratorial thinking, thought processes which involve documented information and scientific data

Censorship: Practiced by the Zionist-controlled MSM (qv), censorship is supposedly the real reason the Twoof (tm) hasn't already brought down the government. The fact that virtually all of the Twoofers' so-called evidence is nonsensical is utterly irrelevant.

Controlled Demolition: A process initiated by thermite causing large buildings to spread debris in all directions damaging nearby structures.

Disasterbate - Convincing oneself that a major event is actually a government conspiracy. Usually involves ignoring evidence, quote mining, and watching internet conspiracy movies. "After he heard about the explosion, he couldn't wait to get home and disasterbate.

Mutual Disasterbation - When one conspiracy theorist uses another conspiracy theorist to validate his own crazy speculations. "The Loose Change forums are a den of mutual disasterbation"

Dodgic(n): thought process and reasoning used by twoofers. Involves attempting to change the subject when faced with facts that destroy their assertions (usually by starting a new discussion, or posting heaps of links or pasting complete articles of ahumptions irrelevant to the matter at hand).

Duhmerican fRepress - An entirely reLIEable source. A good publication to cite when one needs to repress actual facts.

Evidence: (pronounced "ev-ee-dense," cf. David Ray Griffin) facts from scientific studies or direct observation that agree with the conspiracy theorist's pet theory.

Evirense (n.) - Proof of a conspiracy claim that traces back to a conspiracy website that freely admits it has no editorial standards whatsoever.

Evidense (n) : 1. misinterpreted data. e.g. photos of steel beams cut during the clean-up said to be evidence of umplosions (q.v.) such as *therm*te ; 2. coinvidence(s) (q.v.), ahumption(s) (q.v.).

Evidence, "Planted" : any real, actual, physical evidence really, actually, physically located at the scene, that disproves a given conspiracy theory and cannot be explained away by holograms, CGI, starwars space beams, etc.

Expert: Someone with no training in a particular field but who can issue analyses that dispute all the so-called experts.

So-called Experts: Someone not to be believed just because they have advanced degrees and years of experience in a particular field.

To expose: to slander, smear, or make false accusations

Facts: Misinterpretations of things that appear in videos.

False Flag: name for those mysterious and unidentifiable people who are responsible for every misfortune, from double-parking to 9/11, when Twoofers can't provide documented proof to blame their nemeses.

Freefall: A speed roughly equivalent to the speed of gravity.

The government: Did it!

Government shill: someone who disagrees or challenges one's pet theory; any normal person

Government Shill: What you call the other guy when he is winning the argument.

the Holy Concrete Grail: building core mysteriously visible only to those pure and worthy enough to experience it.

Illuminatichoke: Kind of mental vegetable that feeds on nebulous concepts of "them".

Impervect: 1. Person who never stops to try to visualise the forces acting on a struck building after the initial impact has dissipated (gravity), and the direction in which it acts (downwards). 2. Unable to comprehend the concept of vectors.

"I've read the NIST report": "I've either never seen or don't understand the NIST report"

Just Asking Questions: means Not Wanting Answers

JAQing off: 1. the act of spouting accusations while cowardly hiding behind the claim of "just asking questions". 2. asking questions and ignoring the answers. "He said he was going to present evidence, but instead he was just JAQing off."

Keeblergonomics: a little known branch of science based on make-believe, tree-dwelling, cookie-making elves (see also: elfisics) "The towers should have toppled like a tree based on these keeblergonomical calculations."

Kook-a-like: Concluding one event is exactly the same as another event that looks-a-like

Law of 100%: If a witness recollection isn't 100 per cent accurate then he/she should be dismissed totally.

Says What I Want to Hear Corollary: Except if anything that the witness says agrees with the troofer.

Media, Mainstream: Usually implied to be under the control of Zionists (see below). Generally deemed by Twoofers to be unreliable except when reports support a particular theory. Erroneous early reports in the MSM, particularly ones that can be spun as sinister (dancing Israelis, surviving hijackers, etc.) are immediately seized upon as gospel.

Media, Independent: Bastions of journalistic integrity such as Prisonplanet, AFP, Killtown's blog, etc. These are usually assumed to have the "inside story", whatever that might be.

Mexpert: Kind of layman who suddenly becomes omniscient about any number of disciplines after a gallon and a half of Dos Equis and a burrito.

Misinformation: facts from scientific studies or direct observation that disagree with the conspiracy theorist's pet theory.

Patriot: cop-hater

Peer review paper: Posting one theories on the internet and having fellow troofers agree with you.

Plane crazy: Unable to appreciate that a fully-loaded airliner crashing into a building might do considerable damage.

Professional engineer - Disinformation agent

Research: watching YouTube clips over and over again

Kevin Ryan - President of UL, the company that stamped the WTC towers, certifying that they would stand forever barring use of a thermite initiated controlled demolition.

Sheep/Sheeple -- Not to be confused with shill, a sheep is someone who refuses to examine the evidence and your analysis of it, or is too simple minded to comprehend it. You can tell they have not paid attention to the Truth™ because they do not believe the Truth™ (naturally anyone who has seen your evidence cant help but be convinced, because no one has higher standard of evidence than the truth movement)

Slowblind: Unable to realise that very large objects seen from a long way away seem to be moving much slower than they really are.

Smoking gun: any peculiarity or anomaly in the official story, misconstrued as proof of an elaborate conspiracy

Speed of gravity: the speed at which the Twin Towers fell; halfway between the speed of the dust and that of the squibs.

Thermaphrodite (n.) - A high-temperature incendiary compound that contains elements of both thermite and thermate, and constantly changes between the two

Trolled demolition: Activity carried out by faceless minions who seek to dispose of sensible arguments by endless nonsense.

Truth: Anything I say; not what you say. And... and... You can't tell me what to say! You don't own me! It's a free country and ... and.... my mommy said we are allowed to speak our opinions, in America. So there, Poopy Head!

Truth movement: Group of angry white guys with IQ's in the mid-80s, joined by their common hatred of GWB and general sense of powerlessness.

Very Interesting means something is a small minor anomaly to regular human beings but proof of massive conspiracy to troofers.

Victim - a person alternately pitied or accused of being deeply involved in a conspiracy to murder thousands depending on context, audience, and time elapsed since last dose of medication; see also firefighter

Violating the laws of physics - From studying the evidence, events occured in conformance with scientific law, but since I've never actually taken a science course I'm much too dumb to understand.

Waking up to the Truth: Having a complete mental breakdown, with permanent impairment of higher cognitive functions.

Within their own footprint: Any large undefined area around a controlled demolition.

Woo-dunit (n.) - a narrative dealing with a well-understood murder or series of murders, in which conspiracy theorists attempt to determine what shadowy global-domination group was really behind it all. Rhymes with "whodunit."

WTCing is believing: Adage expressing the ability to interpret visual information any number of ways but the sensible one.

The X-Files: A factural serial documentary about how the government operates and what technology it possesses

Youtube - The world's leading consortium of scientific evidence.

Zionists: JOOOOOS.

Online fun last night

Got in a $3 private bounty game over at Full Tilt to kill some time, and took 2nd place over a whopping field of 6. Took out 2 players on one hand to get to the money, so I was clinched a profit once down to 3 (yeah, 6-man tourney paid 3 lol). Was generally pretty happy with my play and my reads - amazing how many times I was getting outflopped by "any-ace" players.

Hand that set me on tilt while HU went down like this - holding K-7 in the SB (blinds 100/200 - chip counts just about even), I raised to 600. BB called. Flop comes 6-7-6, and I bet out 800...quick call. Ace on the turn doesn't deter me, and I make a bet of 1,000, which is quickly called. 10 on the river doesn't seem to help anyone, so I bet another 1,200 as a value bet...other player thinks for a bit, goes into time bank, then calls with Q-10. No straight or flush draw out there, either...aye yi yi!

Later he explained that he was planning to steal on the river...although I wonder how playing calling station is "stealing on the river". I told the dude, "Nice play...can't imagine how you have a -40% ROI on SnGs when you're making plays like that", then 2 hands later jammed J-2 (but it was a working deuce!) into 9-9, gg me!

Profitable night at Dino's

Went to the "final table" tourney tonight over at Dino's, and nearly 30 people were playing. Cheryl doubled the stacks to 3000 per player, so this was going to be a long night. Won a couple of pots early, then started running into players getting hit with the deck.

Last hand I called an overbet from "Doc O" (who found this game from reading this blog, go figure - hope you're still reading!) with me holding top 2 pair of K-J, but Doc was holding a straight...gg me! At least I got 2 brand spanking new decks of cards and recognition (?) for being first one out.

Bridget and I started chompin' at the bit for the cash game to get started, and when Ron, Mike, and Pat busted out, we had a game. Richard pussed out and left early (meaning: Was smart and took his profits and ran), and eventually Wine-Drinking Ron sat in. Another dude sat in for 3 hands before we busted his a$$, then the deck started hitting me...especially against (as Steve calls him, to differentiate here) "Any-Ace Ron".

Here's one hand how it played out, and how my explanation to him after the hand put him on tilt for a few hands. Sitting with A-8 in the BB, and Ron raises to 5. After Mike and I call, flop is A-Q-9. Ron bets out 10 (2/3 the pot), and I make the smooth-call here. I put Ron on an ace...probably better than mine, but we're gonna try and steal on the turn or river. An 8 comes on the turn, and after another bet of 10, I slow play the 2 pair. 3 on the river helps no one, and this time I fire out 15 as a value bet. Ron's face told me he knew he was beat, but he quickly called...then slammed the cards and yelled in disgust.

Ron whined that his post-flop bet should have represented A-Q to me, but I told him that if he actually had A-Q he wouldn't have bet that hand as strong as he did, since there's no value, whatsoever, to doing so. While AA Ron, Mike, WD Ron, and "Working Deuce" dude tried to tell me that my thinking was nuts, Pat and Bridget just sat back and smiled at the conversation - they're 2 of the better players in the game, so they knew what I was talking about.

Got involved in a bigger pot earlier with Bridget while holding KK - raised to 10, since I didn't want any limpers catching a hand, and she called. "Big ace", I thought. Board of 2-J-2 on flop, and Bridget bet out 10...thought about raising here, but since I knew that as long as an ace didn't hit I was golden, I called. 2 on turn brings out another bet of 10, an another quick call. 8 on river slows the lady down, and after announcing a bet of 20, Bridget insta-folds after flashing A-Q...yay me!

For some reason, my reads were strong all night in this game, and I was sorry to have to leave at 12:15 - but a profit of $46 is never a bad thing...not bad for a $10 buy-in!

Taking a couple of months off from the Dino's game, and not for any particular reason other than I need a break, I think, from the bar game. Been playing regularly for 2 years, and game is seeming more like a chore than I want it to be, so for the time being I'm just gonna enjoy some extra family time, get more of my fix online, and just recharge the batteries.

Weekend poker stats...

Not much to speak of, as I was sick as a dog Friday night through this morning. So, ah, yeah, last weekend was pretty much a lost weekend for me. I'm feeling better today, but we'll see what happens later this evening/tomorrow morning. Last time I was this sick was end of 1997 - that was 6 days of nothing but this:

- Sleep
- Get up to either go to bathroom or to throw up
- Sleep
- Get up to get some food and beverage in my system
- Oh, I've been awake for 90 minutes? Damn, I'm exhausted!
- Sleep
- Shower...don't want to be smellin' funky here.
- Did I mention sleep?

And yet, it wasn't mononucleosis that I had, go figure :-\

What is a donkey?

I found this over at CardsChat.com - used to hang out at that site, but haven't done much lately. Check it out if you want a decent forum without the arrogance that 2.2 gives you.

"Websters" Definition: Donkey

Donkey:[donk]: noun, to donk v. slang. poor poker player, a player who thinks they are good but no evidence of this assertion can be found.

2. Often found shortstacked, whining or whining in the losers lounge while good players are still in the game - usually blurting unprompted questions or statements like: "play me for cash","play me for real", "freerolls suck/are waste of time" ,"play me hu", "I won this or that tournament last week", "I play at (enter any famous casino name)", "my bankroll is bigger than yours!", etc., etc. etc.

3. Usually in this situation being unable to beat players deemed, by player most often using this term, of lower skill.

4. Not to be confused with making a wrong read, bluffing, late positioned/big/short stack, big blinds, calling a 7-2 bluff or any other read that may give basis to call with something other than AA - they never like all other human poker players make mistakes. B. Frequently heard to exclaim "you called me with that"! note: this can usually be rebuffed with the reply "You went all in with that!" (see YouTube: the video where Patrik Antonius' all-in of A-2 is called by Doyle Brunson's 3-3) Note: having just made the same play they earlier called out as a "donk play" when made by someone else - they never return the announcement. Note: watch their hands carefully as they deftly,skillfully demonstrate how to win playing only 4 pocket pairs AA, KK, AK,QQ on the button!

5. Frequently chats, blogs, writes complaints about "that donk this", "that donk that", "why all the donks" complaints which can be traced back to being taken out time after time after time again by someone they consider a donk - never stopping to ask the question - "If it is they and not I who am a donk why can't I win against them? Is it possible I am the donkey?"

6. Sometimes a mindless warning to someone who may be playing badly to stop and play better so they can win - instead of the person who cannot restrain themselves exploiting these weaknesses to win - this person would much rather play at a table with Stu Ungar, Alan Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Chip Jett, Barry Greenstein and Johnny Chan or where all players play perfectly and are therefore better than they, thereby insuring they lose (can't beat bad players/can't beat good players). Note: they frequently are "better" than these people too - no really just ask then check their ranking scores - zero does not mean they are bad.

7. Often issued as an alert to the other players of "Hey a player with lesser skills is taking all my chips" and a reminder of "I can beat Raymer on any given day and I am making expert commentary on how others should play, ignore the fact I am not winning here and now because I am unable to take advantage of my own excellent advice".

Frequently the player who "checks you" to the nuts (e.g doesn't know the correct bet to give you incorrect odds to call and/or doesn't have the guts to make the bet and/or thinks it's a limit game), goes all-in on the river (with 2nd or 3rd best hand) then screams "donk", "chaser", "river rat" on the way to or from the losers lounge for twenty minutes!

8. Trite, overused, "TV Poker-ese" for someone who is "English challenged" trying very hard to sound like they "know poker" having not mastered the actual game. Verbal device used to distract from the fact their own play is poor. See also Yakkity, Yakkity, Yak, Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Some hand histories from last night's win

There's always a few keys hands in any kind of tournament win - here are some of those and some thoughts going on while and after they happened - BKrywko1 is your "hero", for those of you reading:

Not getting too jiggy with 6s

*********** # 94 **************
PokerStars Game #19228565557: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XI (400/800) - 2008/07/30 - 17:40:21 (ET)
Table '99014634 11' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: clubdoktor (5540 in chips)
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (9715 in chips)
Seat 3: VfR 1921 (9945 in chips)
Seat 4: Ange-Etienne (18365 in chips)
Seat 5: tuga4660 (2480 in chips)
Seat 6: wendiful (6938 in chips)
Seat 7: cannotloose4 (11045 in chips)
Seat 8: MelvinMGT (8861 in chips)
Seat 9: gab78 (17530 in chips)
clubdoktor: posts the ante 75
BKrywko1: posts the ante 75
VfR 1921: posts the ante 75
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 75
tuga4660: posts the ante 75
wendiful: posts the ante 75
cannotloose4: posts the ante 75
MelvinMGT: posts the ante 75
gab78: posts the ante 75
VfR 1921: posts small blind 400
Ange-Etienne: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [6h 6s]
tuga4660: calls 800
wendiful: folds
cannotloose4: folds
MelvinMGT: calls 800
gab78: folds
clubdoktor: folds
BKrywko1: calls 800
VfR 1921: folds
Ange-Etienne: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc 5h Jh]
Ange-Etienne: bets 800
tuga4660: raises 805 to 1605 and is all-in
MelvinMGT: folds
BKrywko1: folds
Ange-Etienne: folds
Uncalled bet (805) returned to tuga4660
tuga4660 collected 5875 from pot

Moron tries to bust me on the bubble - guess which idiot soon became bubble boy?
PokerStars Game #19228985602: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XIII (600/1200) - 2008/07/30 - 17:56:35 (ET)
Table '99014634 11' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Bogwan20653 (12121 in chips)
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (5490 in chips)
Seat 3: VfR 1921 (12595 in chips)
Seat 4: Ange-Etienne (29374 in chips)
Seat 5: tuga4660 (32265 in chips)
Seat 7: cannotloose4 (4505 in chips)
Seat 9: gab78 (8490 in chips)
Bogwan20653: posts the ante 125
BKrywko1: posts the ante 125
VfR 1921: posts the ante 125
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 125
tuga4660: posts the ante 125
cannotloose4: posts the ante 125
gab78: posts the ante 125
BKrywko1: posts small blind 600
VfR 1921: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Jc Ad]
Ange-Etienne: folds
tuga4660: folds
cannotloose4: folds
gab78: calls 1200
Bogwan20653: folds
BKrywko1: raises 4165 to 5365 and is all-in
VfR 1921: folds
gab78: calls 4165
*** FLOP *** [Ac 3c 3h]
*** TURN *** [Ac 3c 3h] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 3c 3h 7d] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BKrywko1: shows [Jc Ad] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
gab78: shows [6c 5h] (a pair of Threes)
BKrywko1 collected 12805 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12805 | Rake 0
Board [Ac 3c 3h 7d 8c]
Seat 1: Bogwan20653 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (small blind) showed [Jc Ad] and won (12805) with two pair,
Aces and Threes
Seat 3: VfR 1921 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Ange-Etienne folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: tuga4660 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: cannotloose4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: gab78 showed [6c 5h] and lost with a pair of Threes

So Idiot Boy first calls off 15% of his stack with a limp in, then calls 2/3 of it off with 6-5 off...this dude would fit in great at our Monday night game at Dino's!

B busts a short stack!!!

PokerStars Game #19229115683: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XIV (800/1600) - 2008/07/30 - 18:01:41 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: jmnicoletti (21926 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (13930 in chips)
Seat 3: I'MA HOLDIN (906 in chips)
Seat 4: Wackworm (17080 in chips)
Seat 5: Ange-Etienne (24924 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (50965 in chips)
Seat 9: Haarzuilens (10079 in chips)
jmnicoletti: posts the ante 150
BKrywko1: posts the ante 150
I'MA HOLDIN: posts the ante 150
Wackworm: posts the ante 150
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 150
ganggreen69: posts the ante 150
Haarzuilens: posts the ante 150
BKrywko1: posts small blind 800
I'MA HOLDIN: posts big blind 756 and is all-in
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [6d 7s]
Wackworm: folds
Ange-Etienne: folds
jmnicoletti is disconnected
jmnicoletti is connected
ganggreen69: folds
Haarzuilens: folds
jmnicoletti: folds
Uncalled bet (44) returned to BKrywko1
jmnicoletti has returned
hmnc [observer] said, "nat skat"
*** FLOP *** [9d 8d 6s]
*** TURN *** [9d 8d 6s] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [9d 8d 6s Jd] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BKrywko1: shows [6d 7s] (a flush, Ace high)
I'MA HOLDIN: shows [8c Qh] (a pair of Eights)
BKrywko1 collected 2562 from pot

This is at final table - blinds eating away here. I had already decided to shove/call anything here once I saw the hand, it worked out for me

PokerStars Game #19229476192: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XVII (2000/4000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:15:56 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (9104 in chips)
Seat 3: ezz robinson (48305 in chips)
Seat 5: Ange-Etienne (27248 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (58882 in chips)
Seat 8: original6969 (97153 in chips)
Seat 9: BettyBo007 (29308 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 400
ezz robinson: posts the ante 400
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 400
ganggreen69: posts the ante 400
original6969: posts the ante 400
BettyBo007: posts the ante 400
BKrywko1: posts small blind 2000
ezz robinson: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Qc Kh]
Ange-Etienne: raises 22848 to 26848 and is all-in
ganggreen69: folds
original6969: folds
BettyBo007: folds
BKrywko1: calls 6704 and is all-in
ezz robinson: folds
Uncalled bet (18144) returned to Ange-Etienne
*** FLOP *** [4d Qd Kd]
*** TURN *** [4d Qd Kd] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [4d Qd Kd Th] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BKrywko1: shows [Qc Kh] (two pair, Kings and Queens)
Ange-Etienne: shows [As 2h] (high card Ace)
BKrywko1 collected 23808 from pot

Dodge a couple of times here, taking the blinds - just showing one of them

PokerStars Game #19229514815: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XVII (2000/4000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:17:29 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (23008 in chips)
Seat 3: ezz robinson (49505 in chips)
Seat 5: Ange-Etienne (11344 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (53682 in chips)
Seat 8: original6969 (104353 in chips)
Seat 9: BettyBo007 (28108 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 400
ezz robinson: posts the ante 400
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 400
ganggreen69: posts the ante 400
original6969: posts the ante 400
BettyBo007: posts the ante 400
ganggreen69: posts small blind 2000
original6969: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [5c 5d]
BettyBo007: folds
BKrywko1: raises 18608 to 22608 and is all-in
ezz robinson: folds
Ange-Etienne: folds
ganggreen69: folds
original6969: folds
Uncalled bet (18608) returned to BKrywko1
BKrywko1 collected 12400 from pot
BKrywko1: doesn't show hand

This may have been the hand of the tournament for, since it put it a great position for the remainder

PokerStars Game #19229668077: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XIX (3000/6000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:23:38 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (25108 in chips)
Seat 3: ezz robinson (24705 in chips)
Seat 5: Ange-Etienne (76288 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (54882 in chips)
Seat 8: original6969 (37109 in chips)
Seat 9: BettyBo007 (51908 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 600
ezz robinson: posts the ante 600
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 600
ganggreen69: posts the ante 600
original6969: posts the ante 600
BettyBo007: posts the ante 600
BKrywko1: posts small blind 3000
ezz robinson: posts big blind 6000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Tc Ts]
Ange-Etienne: raises 18000 to 24000
ganggreen69: folds
original6969: raises 12509 to 36509 and is all-in
BettyBo007: folds
BKrywko1: calls 21508 and is all-in
ezz robinson: folds
Ange-Etienne: calls 12509
*** FLOP *** [3h 3d 5c]
*** TURN *** [3h 3d 5c] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [3h 3d 5c Td] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Ange-Etienne: shows [9h 9c] (two pair, Nines and Threes)
original6969: shows [Kc Ad] (a pair of Threes)
Ange-Etienne collected 24002 from side pot
BKrywko1: shows [Tc Ts] (a full house, Tens full of Threes)
BKrywko1 collected 83124 from main pot

B gets bluffed out of a pot here - this one was a 50/50 call, but pussed out of it...didn't go on tilt, thankfully!

PokerStars Game #19229682521: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XIX (3000/6000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:24:13 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (83124 in chips)
Seat 3: ezz robinson (18105 in chips)
Seat 5: Ange-Etienne (63181 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (54282 in chips)
Seat 9: BettyBo007 (51308 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 600
ezz robinson: posts the ante 600
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 600
ganggreen69: posts the ante 600
BettyBo007: posts the ante 600
ezz robinson: posts small blind 3000
Ange-Etienne: posts big blind 6000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [8d 8h]
ganggreen69: folds
BettyBo007: folds
BKrywko1: raises 12000 to 18000
ezz robinson: folds
Ange-Etienne: calls 12000
*** FLOP *** [4s 3d 4d]
Ange-Etienne: bets 44581 and is all-in
BKrywko1: folds
Uncalled bet (44581) returned to Ange-Etienne
Ange-Etienne collected 42000 from pot
Ange-Etienne: shows [6s 6d] (two pair, Sixes and Fours)

This is probably the second biggest hand, and was pretty much a snap-call, if you can believe it. Here's the thing about Ange: She loves to overbet pots with overs, and her showing those 6s helped me make this an instant call, especially after not raising with any pair after my SPFR. Taking notes of betting patterns is key here!

PokerStars Game #19229774115: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XIX (3000/6000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:27:55 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (64524 in chips)
Seat 5: Ange-Etienne (72181 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (93387 in chips)
Seat 9: BettyBo007 (39908 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 600
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 600
ganggreen69: posts the ante 600
BettyBo007: posts the ante 600
Ange-Etienne: posts small blind 3000
ganggreen69: posts big blind 6000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Kh As]
BettyBo007: folds
BKrywko1: raises 18000 to 24000
Ange-Etienne: calls 21000
ganggreen69: folds
*** FLOP *** [Th 4d 3d]
Ange-Etienne: bets 47581 and is all-in
BKrywko1: calls 39924 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (7657) returned to Ange-Etienne
*** TURN *** [Th 4d 3d] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [Th 4d 3d 9d] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Ange-Etienne: shows [Ac Qc] (high card Ace)
BKrywko1: shows [Kh As] (high card Ace - King kicker)
BKrywko1 collected 136248 from pot

Time to start playing some big-stack poker

PokerStars Game #19229809312: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XX (3500/7000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:29:21 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (135548 in chips)
Seat 5: Ange-Etienne (23671 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (86173 in chips)
Seat 9: BettyBo007 (24608 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 700
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 700
ganggreen69: posts the ante 700
BettyBo007: posts the ante 700
BettyBo007: posts small blind 3500
BKrywko1: posts big blind 7000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Kh 5c]
ganggreen69 said, "lol"
Ange-Etienne: folds
ganggreen69: calls 7000
BettyBo007: folds
BKrywko1: checks
*** FLOP *** [7s 6d Kd]
BKrywko1: checks
ganggreen69: bets 21000
BKrywko1: raises 49000 to 70000
ganggreen69: folds
Uncalled bet (49000) returned to BKrywko1
BKrywko1 collected 62300 from pot
BKrywko1: doesn't show hand

Same as the previous 3 hands - I'm making you put your tournament life on the line here if you want to move up the pay window

PokerStars Game #19229833566: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XX (3500/7000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:30:20 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (178248 in chips)
Seat 5: Ange-Etienne (15271 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (56773 in chips)
Seat 9: BettyBo007 (19708 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 700
Ange-Etienne: posts the ante 700
ganggreen69: posts the ante 700
BettyBo007: posts the ante 700
Ange-Etienne: posts small blind 3500
ganggreen69: posts big blind 7000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Ad 5h]
BettyBo007: folds
BKrywko1: raises 21000 to 28000
Ange-Etienne: folds
ganggreen69: folds
Uncalled bet (21000) returned to BKrywko1
BKrywko1 collected 20300 from pot
BKrywko1: doesn't show hand

2nd to last hand - dodge one here

PokerStars Game #19229937782: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XXI (4000/8000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:34:42 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (232448 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (37552 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 800
ganggreen69: posts the ante 800
ganggreen69: posts small blind 4000
BKrywko1: posts big blind 8000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [8h Jd]
ganggreen69: raises 28752 to 36752 and is all-in
BKrywko1: folds
Uncalled bet (28752) returned to ganggreen69
ganggreen69 collected 17600 from pot
ganggreen69: shows [As Ad] (a pair of Aces)

How's this for ending things with authority?

PokerStars Game #19229943396: Tournament #99014634, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit
- Level XXI (4000/8000) - 2008/07/30 - 18:34:56 (ET)
Table '99014634 7' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: BKrywko1 (223648 in chips)
Seat 6: ganggreen69 (46352 in chips)
BKrywko1: posts the ante 800
ganggreen69: posts the ante 800
BKrywko1: posts small blind 4000
ganggreen69: posts big blind 8000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Ad Jd]
BKrywko1: raises 16000 to 24000
ganggreen69: raises 21552 to 45552 and is all-in
BKrywko1: calls 21552
*** FLOP *** [Jh 9s Jc]
BKrywko1 said, "gg"
*** TURN *** [Jh 9s Jc] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 9s Jc 6d] [2s]
ganggreen69 said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ganggreen69: shows [5h 4c] (a pair of Jacks)
BKrywko1: shows [Ad Jd] (three of a kind, Jacks)
BKrywko1 collected 92704 from pot

Had a little time to play some poker today...

Played around in a little 180-man SnG over at Stars...changed modes quickly from just trying to survive and advance up the pay window at the final table once I tripled up and got the big stack:

PokerStars Tournament #99014634, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $2.00/$0.20
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $360.00
Tournament started - 2008/07/30 - 16:47:30 (ET)

Dear BKrywko1,

You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $108.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 181.41 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/

Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

Some hand histories forthcoming

2 more weeks!

Cheryl lost half the sheets for the season, so instead of one final table of 10 people, there will be one big tourney for everyone to play in. I honestly don't think I will be going back to Dino's (at least on a regular basis) after the, what, 11th of August? Well, at least on a weekly basis, that is. The prizes have gotten progressively worse, and it's become more and more of the sort of donkeyfest that I detest when playing online.

Didn't have a good night yesterday - would get in pots cheaply, get some monster draws post-flop, then get nothing to get paid off on. Playing with 3 calling stations meant bluffing was out of the question most of the time...while the rest of the time other players were getting hit with the deck. I know that sounds like a whine there, but that's just how it was last night...frustrating night to not really get any kind of hands to do anything with.

Story of my night might as well have been the first hand of the night - pocket 10s under the gun, and I raise to 40 (5/10). Mike (tight player) calls, and flop is K-7-9 - Mike bets out 30 (?), and since it's cheap I call. 4 comes out, and this time Mike bets 100 - which means he's got a hand. Just a pair of kings wouldn't be worth that bet to him, and I figure out that he hit a set or 2 pair...Mike flips over pocket 7s to confirm my suspicion. Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeat, 2-outers hitting on me to start the day!

Sat in as dealer for cash game since I wasn't ready to go home at 10pm, and dealt for 1/2 hour or so. Went home and had some fun before bed - then made another 20 this morning in 5 minutes playing BJ at Absolute. lol...such a junkie!

Mixed weekend

Got to play some poker the last couple of days (not as much as previous weekend) - finished 6 points out of making top 100 list on Stars in the Battle of the Planets promotion. Somehow made a couple of bucks, although I made about 60 bucks playing BJ on Absolute...dang, that bonus sucks now, but the BJ is very much +EV.

Decided to link a few blogs here - I think Sparta's blog is a great one. Killed many an hour at Compuware discussing multi-tabling, strategies, bad beats...anyways, glad to see that his new profession is going well for him.

Playing at Dino's tonight - maybe I'll try not to donk my way out before we hit the points.

So I won a couple of private buy-in tourneys last night...

...granted, one of them was a bounty tournament at Full Tilt with only one other donkey, errrr, player bothering to sign up (must have been intimidated by my omnipotent presence being announced earlier at one particular forum), and even this idiot didn't bother to show up. That's alright, a profit of $2.50 for 6 minutes of clicking "min raise" repeatedly as fast as I could works for me.

The other was a 12-man $2 buy-in ($25 added!) at Full Tilt. Survived the landmines that happen in these things (most people only raise with the nuts in these particular tourneys), and it was quite fun watching 4 people try not to bust out 4th or 5th (tourney paid only 3 place). I say this only because while I had the chip lead at 13K in chips, the other 4 players had only a little over 1000 each, and with blinds at 200-400, one can see why some felt lucky to cash.

Anyways, got to heads-up with a (I'm not kidding) 17.5K to 500 chip lead...that's 35-1, by my math. Lost with 9-3 to J-rag on first hand, then busted last player with Q-J to his 3-3 - winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Maybe some more online madness tonight, but we'll see - lawn is getting quite shaggy here.

Solid weekend of poker

Weekend is finally done, and here are the weekend stats for me in SnGs:

NLHE - $6+.50 Turbos:
3 1sts
3 2nds
3 3rds
4 no cashes

Omaha/8 - $6+.50 Turbos:

1 2nd, 1 3rd, 1 no cash

$2/180 man SnG:

1 8th, 1 no cash

Busted out 55th in a $5.50 satellite (out of 248 - pays 24)

Solid weekend of poker, decision-wise - won most races, had no monster suckouts...variance is great when it's going well for you.

Rough night at Dino's

Played last night at Dino's, and took 7th place. Pretty much card-dead the entire night (A-J and A-10 were best hands I saw - no pairs the entire evening), somehow survived for a while by defending blinds and bluffing more than normal. Took out Andy when he was uber-shortstacked after I hit trip Jacks on the flop to outflop Bridget (was told A-Q was pwned by J-5), who nearly got busted that hand, as well.

I tried a PFR against Sharon's BB a few hands later when I only had 1200 chips left with Q-2, then sheepishly flipped them over when she showed A-Q. Ace on flop hurt me, but hit runner-runner spades to hit flush comes to give me a miracle win.

Final table comes, and absolute dog shit for cards - and action before me not condusive to blind stealing. Went in for my last 1650 or so at 300/600 with A-10 UTG, called by Sharon and Nick. I hit a 10 on flop and on river, but Sharon's pocket 8's hit an 8 on flop...her full boat took me out, and justice was probably served there.

I think I'm good for the final, whenever that is - but will still have to go to make sure.

Monday madness at Dino's

Got home earlier than expected from work, rushed to get the trash to the curb before the rains came in, then headed out early to Dino's so as to not get any last-minute honey-do requests from the Mrs - only had about an hour and 15 minutes to spare. Detroit fireworks and summer nights meant this week was a small crowd - 16 or 17, I believe.

Limped into a family pot with A-4 on the first hand, and Annoying Guy (more on him later) raised it up to 50 from the BB. After everyone folds, I see a flop, and hit A-3-4. A.G bets out 75, then pretty much gives up after my call. 8 hits the turn, and after he checks and I bet, he insta-folds, giving me a decent pot to start.

Win a few small pots, lose a few small pots here and there...Fred goes out rather quickly, and Cheryl is running wild on the table with some big hands (then hitting, as well) - this is alright, if I can stick around long enough to benefit from her loose calls and crazy action.

I donk off half my chips after re-raising Cheryl all-in with 6-6, but an Ace and 3 diamonds hit on the flop...insta-fold after Cheryl goes all-in. I maybe should have just jammed everything into the middle, or just called the raise - this hand affected my strategy for a couple of levels.

Luckily, I got a break or 2 when we merged to one table, since Cheryl was now sitting on my left (take advantage of her table position by acting before here), and I got to be dealer on first hand. Stevo got fucked by the draw here - sorry, bro. Dick was first out after I jammed in MP with A-Q...Dick and Cheryl called my all-in, then Dick went all-in after an ace flopped. Cheryl calls with 9-7 (?), then hit runner-runner clubs to make a flush, but my queen was also a club...so I still tripled up (plus, including the blinds).

Donked a few chips away to Scott (calling station and draw chaser), then took Stevo out with A-7 to his K-J - scary that I was sure my A-7 was the best hand (or at worst, in a coin flip), based on him taking longer than normal to make this move UTG. Stevo was kinda shaking his head at my call - just call me Action Brian, bro!

After doubling Scott up, the next hand Scott and I chopped a pot (but both doubled up against Cheryl) in a 3-way all-in. Cheryl's loose play (forced me all-in with her holding Q-9 to my Q-J to Scott's J-10) helped us both here. Scott was gone soon afterwards, however.

Cheryl once again doubled me up once my chip stack was at 3300 when my JJ flopped a set against her K-Q - dodged a straight draw on turn and river to get me in good position. Hung around for a bit, then Ron, Cheryl, and Pat busted out. Donald limps in at 500/1000, and after A.G. folds in SB, I see Donald has about 200 back (WTF?). Holding only 9-7, I bump that extra 200 in, and am not upset to see Donald with A-J. 7 flops for me, no help to Donald, and we're down to 3.

A.G. had this annoying habit of bending the cards (and these were new ones), then acting all indignant when Nicole and I (and soon Cheryl joined in) called him out on it. A.G. was getting a little stupid trying to belittle me as an "Internet player", but shut up when Pat told him that Nicole and I were easily 2 of the better players at this game. Was rather enjoyable to listen to A.G. whine that (when I have 6K in chips) my only move was "click, all-in" - yet dude didn't grasp that with 5K in chips you just can't limp-in at 500-1000 and then fold when you raised with...uh, anything.

Anyhow, I needed to knock this fukker out to get in good position against Nicole, chip-wise, and when A.G. jammed on the button, I called with A-J...and it held against his A-9 - down to 2!

HU was pretty much a series of SPFRs from me and Nicole, alternating with limp-ins by either of us, and me winning after better post-flop. Quickly went from 3-2 down to ahead in no time. I respect Nicole's game from playing enough with her, and her game is similar to mine (most of time plays with good starting hands, know when to jam and not jam based on stack-sizes, etc) - but if I stay aggressive without getting stupid, I should be able to grind my way to a win.

Look down in BB and see AA - Nicole raises me to 4K pre-flop, and after thinking for a minute, I re-raised all-in - Nicole folds K-Q, and now I'm smelling it. Take down another pot after check-raising the turn on her, and then a sick final hand shows up.

Nicole limps in, and I look down and see AA again - twice in 3 hands, after not seeing it this entire season, yikes! I decide to try and trap here, so I check into the flop. A-6-5 rainbow, Nicole immediately jams all-in, I actually said, "I guess I have to call you here", and turn over my trips, Nicole flips over 6-5, and I'm a 900-1 or so favorite here...no miracle, and we have win #7 at Dino's in the last year plus 3 weeks or so.

Let's see, missed 6 of first 7 weeks, and I think I have 24 points - I would like to think I'm safe for the final table already, but might as well rack up them points!

Oldie but goody

Probably the greatest "Whose Line Is It..." skit of all time

Monday fun at Dino's

Picked Harry up and headed to Dino's, hoping to do better than last week, which shouldn't have been too hard. Harry, Ronnie, Tim and his wife were at the table with me, then Nicole joined us after one table broke up. Donked away down to under 1400 early, then picked up a good-sized pot against Tim after hitting a straight on the turn.

Picked up a couple of good pots at the 50/100 and 100/200 levels pre-flop after reraising Tim first with A-K, then the second time with Q-Q. Tim plays odd for this game - limps in with big pairs, raises with junk. Not all the time, but enough to be able to exploit as long as he doesn't pick that time to get creative.

Big hand for me came when I limped in from MP with 7-4 hearts, then flopped a set of 7s - Tim's "bingo card" of a 9 on the turn paired one of his rags, but no improvement for him, and and I was up over 5K at this point.

A couple of hands later Harry picked the wrong time to jam a pocket pair, as Ronnie took him out when his A-A held up against Harry's 7-7. An orbit later or so at the 200/400 level, I busted out Ronnie when I raised on the button with K-J, Ronnie jams with 9-8, and after I call Ronnie hits a 9 on flop (but I get a flush draw), I rightfully get a Jack on the turn and take classless fukker out - dude huffed and puffed and left table without shaking hand...next time I bust him I'll punk him out, or at the worst, do something awfully obnoxious so the whole bar can hear it.

Cruised to final ten after that, and after doubling up players about 6 times (and doubling up a couple of times later), get down to 4 players. Pissed myself off at 2 hands I misplayed (or, in one case, made wrong decision on...been a problem for me lately on 50/50 plays, for some reason not able to pull the trigger on it, even when my instincts are correct), but wouldn't have mattered if shortstacks could have busted out. Just amazing how many times the dog would river his card to stay alive.

I busted out 3rd with 9-7 against Pat's pocket 10s, but at this point it was 12:30, and I was getting tired and ready for bed. Better luck next week.

Monday fun at Dino's

Much like Stevo, Jay busted my ass out at 100-200 level pretty early. Didn't have my best game today, as too many calling stations who look at a hand after the river and say "Oooooh, I have a pair, that'll play!" were topping my hands. Hey, it happens - few people know how to fold hands these days, it seems.

Moved on to the cash game, and pocketed a tidy little $20 in a little over an hour. Perfect table for me to play with: Andy, Gary, Ron, and Mike - any big hand is getting paid off, any bet they make is pretty much giving me odds to chase hands with, and bluffs can be actually made and gotten away with. Near the end of the night I drove Andy nuts when I check-raised him on the river holding Q-6 on a 6-9-K-A-7 board and took down a nice $5+ pot when he folded pocket jacks face up. Was pretty sad to leave this game.

Not sure how many more Mondays this summer I will be going - the motivation isn't there now to play with the weather getting nicer, and I'll have some business interests to worry about soon enough. Then again, I may be there every week, too...we'll see.

4 days late, a Dino's post

So I head back to Dino's after taking a week off to play in my Monday game. Not really caring how well I did (since the Wings were poised to win the Stanley Cup that night), I didn't bring my A-game...although I made a few reads/plays that were very strong.

Took a couple of early pots, then just kind of folded and waited patiently for a couple of hands. 2 hands in a row I won big HU pots against Harry, and that should have jump-started my night.

The first hand, Harry raises UTG to 150 (blinds 25/50), after everyone folds to me in the BB, I call with A-5 suited. The flop comes 6-2-2, with one spade, and Harry checks the flop, which I find odd - I can't imagine that helped him a whole lot (I have him on either a medium pair or an AJ/AQ/AK hand on this point). Another spade comes out on turn (a 9, I believe), and Harry puts out a bet of 100, which is begging for a call...yet it's a weak bet. At this point, he hasn't hit his hand yet, but neither have I, but I call figuring on stealing after the river even if a spade doesn't hit.

A 5 (no spade) hits on the river, and at this point I'm damn sure I've won the hand, and am not surprised when Harry checks - if he had bet this strong after the flop or turn, he might have gotten rid of me...this hand was misplayed all around on his end. I bet out 250, which I figure is representing more of a bluff attempt (I've been caught a couple of times already - never keep trying, though!) than a true value bet. Harry knows my game and I love to bluff with snow at times (especially against him - I get a kick out of watching him agonize over tough decisions lol), and he calls with his Ace-high, then bemoans his bad luck when I turn over the 5.

Very next hand, I pick up 6-6 in the small blind, and with 2 limps I am not upset to just complete here and play no set-no bet here. Harry once again raises, this time to 175, and after Andy and Gary get out of the way, I quickly call here. I think for a second about re-raising here, but I know Harry doesn't like to raise unless he has a solid hand (A-10 or better), so I play it a little slow here.

Flop of 8-4-6 comes, giving me a set - I check my set, waiting for Harry to bet, and get a bet of 100, and since I figure that he has another AJ-AK type hand, I smooth-call. After a Q on the turn, I bet out 125, which Harry raises to 275 - there was part of me that wanted to reraise him all-in here, but with no draw out there, I wanted to try to get more value out of the hand, and I just called after thinking about it for a minute.

River brings a 9, and now I'm trying to figure out what amount to bet here - I probably make my value bets too small, but I suppose I should err on that side and get more calls than to overbet and get zilch out of it. I bet out 300, and Harry goes into his "tough decision" mode (face slumps, hands go behind the head, then head buried in head, etc) - but he also has figured out that something is up here, because he says "That bet just reeks", and after a minute he says "Nice hand", and flips over A-Q after announcing he folds. I show my set of 6's, say "Good laydown" (enough players in our game won't get away from that hand), and move on. I bust out Harry a few minutes when my A-9 in SB puts him all-in with pocket 10's - hit ace on flop, survive flush draw on turn and river.

Shortly before final table, I lose a race to Andy's JJ with my A-K, even though I had a flush draw after the flop, and was down to 105 chips. 2 hands later UTG (5-handed here) I get A-8 - easy shove and pray here. Hit 2 pair on flop, nobody does better, and I move up to 405 chips, with BB coming out.

BB comes, and after announcing that I'm going-all-in for my last 5 (plus BB of 400) in the dark, I get 5 callers (including Vic, who doesn't have enough for BB). Oh yeah, I look at my cards, see pocket Aces, and laugh and say that "These rags might be able to play" - checked all around for flop, turn, river, and my Aces hold up AND knock out Vic - back up to 1900+ in chips.

Final table was uneventful - 6 hands in I decide to do an easly-position blind-steal with A-2 suited (plus, overtime was coming up soon in the hockey game, and I wanted to watch that a lot more than I wanted to play poker at that time), Fred takes me and some new cutie out of the game (not as cute as Bridget, but still easy on the eyes, nonetheless), and I finish 8, I believe. Oh well.

Fukkin A, Wings lose in triple OT, but come back on Wednesday to take it down - 4 in 11 years, not too shabby, I might say!

Back in the saddle at Dino's

So last night I head over after a 5-week absence from the bar poker game, just hoping to not get busted out early. Nice to actually have a semblence of a social life after working goofy hours for a month. 30 runners to start, and a bunch of newbies that I will have to get some reads off of quick.

Luckily for me, I get Sharon and Harry at my first table, and directly to my left. Calling-Station Andy and a newbie on my right...this is alright for me. I take a few small pots pretty early by playing pretty aggressive poker - Harry catches me on one bluff attempt, but other than that it was easy to chip up.

Took a big pot from Sharon when my pockets nines hit a set on the flop, and she called all the way down to the river with pocket queens. A few hands later, Andy gets perhaps the easiest knockout in history, as newbie overbets the pot all-in on a board showing 10-J-J-J - Andy insta-calls with J-rag, and shortly after that we break up to go to another table.

(100/200 level) I sit down at a table with (left to right) Mike, Scott, Adam, and Fred. 1st orbit while in the BB I see all other players limp in - I look at A-Q and bump it up to 1200 to go - Mike is the only person who calls (goes all-in for less), Scott folds but thinks I'm raising with shit, and Adam and Fred dutifully fold. I spike a Q on the flop, dodge 4 outs so Mike's A-10 doesn't make his straight, and we get a huge boost to our stack.

I take a huge pot off of Fred with K-3 in the BB after hitting a 3 on the river to with my King (Fred had K-Q, or something like that, with 2 deuces on board), which made Fred's Ks and 2's no good. I then decide to donate chips to both Donald and Fritz by making pot-odds based calls of all-ins - prices dictate one calls when getting 5 or 6 to 1 on your money, but just didn't go my way.

Big hand happens shortly before we go down to 1 table: Scott pushes in with his last 2500 or so, Bridget insta-calls, and I have Fritz left to act...and I have pocket 7's. I think about this for a minute, fold them face up on the table, and Scott has the best hand (pocket deuces) going in. Both Bridget and Fritz have A-J - an ace on the turn means they split the pot, but a big "OH FUKK!" comes from me after seeing a 7 on the river...could have 3 knockouts, but oh well.

Take a couple of small pots at the start of final table, then double up Fritz when his K-8 outflops my K-Q. Shortly afterwards, I take out Nicole when my A-K holds up against her A-J. Fritz and Harry go out shortly afterwards after Jim takes both players out, and we're down to 6.

Trading chips for a couple of orbits, and when the levels were 500/1000, Andy tries to put his whole 1025 in the BB - I tell him if it's folded around to me in the SB, I'll call his all-in in the dark - as players fold around and the giggling starts, I call and reveal...7-3 off to Andy's Q-10. I hit a 3 on the flop, all low cards on turn and river, and we're down to 5.

Big hand of the tournament happens shortly afterwards. Donald goes all-in for his last 1500, and Bridget and I (Kd-7h) in the blinds complete. Cautious checking on flop and turn, and I have a straight flush draw after the turn - I made a 2000 bet, and was quickly called. After the river, another heart came up, Bridget bet enough to put me all-in. Unfortunately, after processing the information I made the incorrect decision to lay down my hand, as she turned over a 5 of hearts - dammitalltohell! Hey, good bet by her - and turnabout from prior weeks is fair play.

I went out in 4th shortly afterwards to Jim's A-K when my K-J didn't get any help, but for the first week back I'll take it.

Finally, a post!

About time that year-end provision work ended at work for me, since now I can occasionally play some poker! Between Friday and Saturday nights, I played in 14 SnGs (all of the $5-$6 Turbo variety): 4 PL Omaha H/L, and 10 NL Hold Em...as well as 1 $3 rebuy in which I had mediocrish finish of 280 out of 700 or so players.

Oh, you want actual stats? Here's your stats right here:

5 wins
3 seconds
2 3rds
2 bubbles

Solid couple of nights, especially in the win department - won't be able to play that much every weekend, but one for one weekend it was nice to have a mini-bender like I used to be able to do in past years.

My baby is growing up!

Quick story here...4 years ago I gave Nathaniel (then 4) some tips on how to properly swing a wiffle bat at a thrown ball in our backyard. This was pretty much an accurate representation of what happened on the very next pitch I tossed his direction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avnPDCo5RjM

Flash-forward to early last night, after I come home from work about 6:40 or so. Nathaniel wants me to pitch wiffleballs to him, but this time he tells me to "bring it on" (meaning, give me your best shot). First pitch fastball, and he takes me "yard" - my baby is getting to be a little jock!

Oh yeah, took 21st in a $10 MTT at Absolute this weekend, my only poker for the 3 days. The good news is that I made money, but the bad news is that it was a whopping $2.97, yay!

Absolute (pardon the pun) worst play ever last night

So I decide to play in a $10 SnG over at Absolute last night, and I get involved in this hand where I think the absolute worst play was made that I've seen at this level.

Here's the action:

10/20 level, 3rd hand of the tournament, and I get a nice little A-10 1 off of the button. Since the pot is unraised, I do a SPFR to 60. Button and both blinds call.

Flop comes 10-Q-Q, and first to act thinks for a minute, then jams his remaining 1200+ chips into the middle (pot is only 240). BB folds, I fold, button folds, and jammer shows QQ for quads...lol.

Way to get some value out of that, idiot!

Tonight's the night...

League final tonight over at Dino's - I get to look forward to getting a T-shirt from a beer company who's beer I will probably never drink, along with my booty for getting first place overall for this season. Hopefully it will be better than the $50 gift cert that Stevo got last summer, and more along the lines of the light or mirror that Scott got last fall.

Could very well be the last game at Dino's for at least a month due to year-end at work...then who knows once the weather gets nice if I will want to play again, but that's a worry for another day.

Some non-poker related thoughts for the day:

- Watching the Detroit Tigers play this past week has reminded me of what it means to be a Detroit Lion fan.

- Barack Obama is an empty suit, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It is amazing, however, how relatively unscathed he came out after that whole "God Damn America" tripe from his pastor. Then again, I suppose we can excuse Obama for not being aware that his pastor was a Anti-American-Kill-Whitey racist, since there's very few men who actually pay attention in church, right?

- By the way, I didn't write a long blog last week because I was dodging sniper fire over in Bosnia...it's about time some of you lefties out there realize what a piece-o-shit liar Hillary is.

- I know Geraldine Ferraro was called a racist by some thin-skinned liberals (isn't that redundant?) out there recently, but she's right: If Obama was a white dude with that thin of a resume, there's no chance he'd have a shot at being President. She could have included Shrillary in there as well - but that would be sexist, wouldn't it? :-\

- I am not a big supporter of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, but when I look around at the list of people who could replace him, I start to think more and more that I hope he straightens his ass out and does some good work for the City of Detroit, because these other guys are just idiots.

- Let's face it, whether you like the guy or not (I happen to think he's a scumbag), there's no denying that he has a certain charisma about him, and he has done a lot to bring more businesses to the city...Cockrel and other jokers just don't have the credibility to do what he can do.

- Memphis wins tonight by 12, just guessin'

Monday fun at Dino's

This week was last week of regular season - I was 1 point up on Jay going into this week, with PJ 6 points and Sweeney (SPG) 7 points behind me for points lead. No details this time - managed to scratch and claw my way to the final table, and when Jay was gone in 7th, I was looking great. Once PJ was gone in 6th, that clinched a 5th place finish for 4 points (and is where I ended up), and no matter what Sweeney did (he was in final 3), I have most points for season. Bring on the beer and liquor swag!!!!!

Monday fun at Dino's

Dino's didn't last too long this week - got QQ cracked by J-2 early on for half my chips from a donkey-luckbox-calling station who really didn't understand basics of poker other than "these are my cards". Oh well - I paid off a $1 bounty on PJ's ass when he busted out 4 hands after me, and then Sweeney (3rd place to date) was taken out early. Jay (4th) made final 8 - if he didn't win, I still have a big lead in points going into the final week next week.

Played in the case game, lost $4 - was pretty much totally bored out of my mind until some time passed, then I was ready to go home.

Ahhhh...ran Superbook balance up to over $600 yesterday via casino play and 3 straight cashes in the $20 SnGs, so I guess I'm running decently online :-)