Thanks Kotk17

Just wanted to say thanks to Kotk17 for stopping by the FTP table I was playing last night and chatting a little bit. Nice to know there is more than 1 person who occasionally reads this blog. See ya around the tables Kotk17... remember game selection to match your playing style. Tight look for a table with high percentage of people seeing flops. Are you a loose player? Look for tables with a small percentage of people seeing flops.

$10

Wow, just had a good night last night. Bought into the .10/.25 table with $10.00. Little while later I cashed out with $70. $60/hour. Not too shabby. I was up to about 30 when I had QQ. The guy to my right raised, I re-raised, he called. Flop comes all low cards. He a small amount, I raise, he re-raises and I push all in. He says he knows he's beat and calls with JJ. I double up through him.

This morning, I quickly threw in $25 onto a table. And walked away 15 minutes later (had to go to work) with a $20 profit.

Kids Say The Darndest Things

My wife's cousin came over with her husband and daughter this weekend. While they were very helpful with some tasks around the house, they said one of the scariest things ever.

"Our daughter has an imaginary friend. Donnie in the Basement. Not even just Donnie, but Donnie in the Basement. She told me the other day, 'Don't worry Donnie in the Basement won't cut you.'"

Unfortunately for them they just moved out of their old house and apparently Donnie in the Basement came with them.

A MTT WIN

OK, so there were only 19 people. It started of Shorthanded, but I knocked someone out relatively quickly with AK vs AQ. AK held up.

One key hand, I thought I played good, but apparently not (judging by the polls).

6 people left and top 4 pay.
100/200 Blinds
Seat 2: some player (10,192)
Seat 4: some player (2,085)
Seat 5: SB (7,870)
Seat 6: BB (1,010)
Seat 7: Unimpressed (3,755)
Seat 8: UTG+2 (3,588)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Unimpressed [7c 8c]
Unimpressed calls 200
UTG+1 calls 200
some player folds
some player folds
SB calls 100
BB raises to 1,010, and is all in
------------

Ultimately I didn't want to give the BB a walk. No one showed any strength so I figured a call might be good (since the BB could push with any hand at that point). Plus if the UTG+1 or the SB pushed, I could fold and still have enough chips to survive. The money was right (call 810 to win 1600) and with him possibly having anything, I figured at worst I was a 3:2 dog, which heads up is the right pot odds. Apparently with 2 people left to act, I should have folded or maybe pushed to isolate.

Well I just called. The other two folded. BB actually had a hand, but not a pair. He flips over AK which was pretty much what I figured (though was really hoping for a bluff, but figured it wasn't likely). The flop pretty much sealed the deal with 7-7-x. The turn was a blank which did seal the deal. The BB was NOT happy with my call. Oh well.

I made a few donk calls after that and was short stacked, but two timely sets allowed me to double up. The heads up match was again the SB in that hand and I started with a big chip lead. He get some back then lose it. Then get some back, then lose it. Until finally we got all the money in with AJ vs KQ and my AJ held up.

So while it was really like a 18 handed SnG, it was technically a MTT, we even got to the antes. So technically it was my first MTT win.

And a DIET update: I've lost 17 lbs so far this year. Weight Watchers works!

Back in the Game

In January I deposited $100.00. Went through it in 4 days. 1/2 of it went down to a bad beat when I jumped into a $1/$2 NL game with $50. Bad bankroll management? Not really, since it wasn't a bankroll, just a deposit. And one of the things I wanted to do with the deposit was either play in a $50 SnG or a bigger stakes cash game. I chose the higher stakes and had my AA cracked by AT. Shortly there after, the rest was gone.

In February I decided to do a test deposit, wasn't sure if it was even going to work. It did, so I put in another $50. This time, I focused on .05/.10 NL and nothing higher than a $5.00 SnG. I quickly lost about $30 of that. Most of it was becasue of stupid play. I was definitely playing below my ability.

One day I jumped into the usual .05/.10 6-handed NL game as well as a $5.00 SnG. Between the two I was hit with the deck... hell I was hit with like 20 decks and pretty much able to pick any cards I wanted. In the course of an hour I had AA/KK/QQ about 5 times, plus a bunch of AK/AQs. In the SnG I was chip leader and at the cash game, I turned $5.00 into $35. I busted out of the SnG just out of the money, then I got into a big hand and lost about $20 on a questionable call. I stilled ended with $15 from a $5 buy-in.

But it got me thinking. I was lucky enough to get most of the money I recently lost and blew a big portion on what might have been a questionable call. (I had J6 in the BB- there are a couple of limpers, I just check. Flop comes J-J-x. I bet, get 2 callers, Turn is a blank (no draws), I bet and get one caller (he has the 2nd biggest stack). River is another Blank. I believe I checked, in case he had another Jack. He pushes all-in. I call and he has QJ). Hard to get away from that. I should have bet the river, and if he came over the top I might have been able to throw it away. My check showed weakness and his push-in could easily have screamed of desperation.

Basically, the situation (not the hand) caused me to pay more attention to my play and even at these micro-limits there is definitely room for thinking. I don't plan on making this my living, but I'd like to build up a bankroll where I can play higher limits like 1/2 or 2/4 and not blow my wad. Maybe withdraw some cash (once the whole UIGEA is figured out) to buy some luxury items.

So I made a conscious effort to turn my play around. I've even made some rudimentary attempts at game selection. I'm looking for active games. Higher percentages of people seeing flops, higher average pots. This will allow me to play a bit tighter and wait for big hands. I've stuck to the micro limits - .05/.10 and .10/.25- no limit, mostly short handed. I've played a few SnGs (short handed, full or heads up- $5.00 buy-in). But not performed particularly well in those.

The cash games have been a lot better. After losing the initial $30 from the most recent deposit(combo of cash games and SNG), I've had one losing session and that was only because I cut it short. Twice I lost my initial $10 buy-in, but rebought for another 10 and both times won back my lost buy-in plus some more.

So here I am, one week since my $50 deposit. 1 week from losing a total of $130 for the year. When I closed out a cash game last night... I am a PROFITABLE player for 2007. I've turned that last $50 deposit it to $152. Sure it's only a $2 for the year so far, but it's nice to know that I was able to dig myself out of the hole I put myself in.

I understand that it can get unlucky and bad beats happen, that's part of the game. But I'm going to stick with the micro games until I get my bankroll up. I actually want to turn this INTO a bankroll.

Neteller & Live At The Bike

The BIG news is that Neteller has stopped accepting U.S. customers (I'd have a better link, but I'm at work and all gambling sites including news sites are blocked).

Actually, checking out FTP's cashier section, you can make an E-Check straight from your bank (instead of going straight through an e-wallet co). So until the banks start enforcing the bill (which I believe is in July), you should be able to deposit still. Full Tilt has tried really hard to keep their site open to US residents. If/When the act is ruled unconstitutional, I hope FTP's customer base remembers this and doesn't abandon them to go to those sites that originally left us out in the cold.

Now, I don't have any money until we get some tax money back, so at that point, I'll try a direct deposit from my checking account. Until the, I won't be playing. I'm hoping I'll get enough rakeback in February in order to play some.

Live at the Bike is a great concept. I had bandwidth issues when it was free, but seriously, I know ONE person who pays for it. Can it really be worth it??? For $15 a month? Seems a bit high. I can't see me sitting there all night watching it. I might be willing for $5.00 a month.

I was watching this weeks, Poker After Dark, and Doyle Brunson is UTG. He looks down at AQ, puts in a raise, and everyone folds. When the BB folds he says something like, "Don't make me play this hand." Then he even said something like, "If this wasn't on TV I'd have thrown this hand away." Now I understand that AQ is a dangerous hand. It can be in lots of trouble against AK and better. HOWEVER, the format is a 6 handed Sit-n-Go tournament. AQ, even UTG is more than likely either best hand or a coin flip, and definitely worth a raise from UTG.

Maybe that's why he's a pro and I'm barely a poker player.

An Unsuccessful Foxwoods Trip

I went there just to play in the $100.00 tournament.

I started off well, building an early chip lead. A couple of poor calls, and I was getting low on chips.
The one that sticks in my craw (what the hell does that mean?) I'm dealt AQ in MP and raise 3x. Button calls. We check down with all low cards on the flop and turn. River is a J. Button puts out a small bet, I think he might be trying to buy it since I never showed strength, I call, and he has AJ.

My final hand was me not taking the time to put enough thought into it. I went halfway.

Blinds are 100/200 w/ 25 ante. I have about 1500 left (started with 2k, got up to about 3+K.

Button limps, I'm dealt KT from the SB, buttom limps, I call., BB checks.

Flop comes K-J-9. Buttom makes a mistake and tries to bet, but dealer stops him.

I knew the guy was tight so he had to have something. I'm first to act. With my stack and the blinds, I'm thinking, there's really not much I can do. Can I fold top pair with a gutshot. I don't think I can. I know Button wants to bet. I might have the best hand here, so I push.

That was my first mistake. I thought about my stack and the blinds, but didn't put enough thought into what the Button could have. Against any other guy a push would have been the best play. But since I knew he was tight, I SHOULD figured he'd have to have something to want to bet. If I would have thought about it more, I should have let it go. But I know he can't have AK or he'd have raised. Basically if he has a King I'd have to put him on KQ, KJ, KT or K9 in order for him to want to bet. All which beat me. He wouldn't bet with just a Jack. He wouldn't bet bottom pair or any lower pair.
It boiled down to what would he limp with and then want to bet that flop... only what can beat me. Two pair, a set is unlikely because w/ JJ and KK he would have raised. Maybe he could have had 99, and of course he could have limped with QT, AND he would want to bet after that flop.
Most of my thought process was AM I willing to throw way a top pair with a gutshot with my chipstack in relation to the blinds. I didn't think I could.

Of course, what he had was QT for the straight, and I'm pretty much drawing to the split pot. Q never comes and I'm busted.

Good news. Foxwoods has FINALLY changed their MAX buy-in on 1/2 no limit.
It's now $60-$300! WOO HOO! Now if only I had that kind of cheddah to buy in. But I don't.

Boys Found.

Boy missing since 2002 found alive

I was living in St. Louis when Shawn Hornbeck went missing and remember it being all over the news. I can't even imagine the pain at losing their son or the pure relief of getting him back years later.

I hope the guys spends the rest of his life in jail.

Twice in One Month!

Money is tight until payday right now, so I took my poker money from the home game and threw it into our checking account. Figure we get paid on Friday, I'll just throw it on FullTilt. Yesterday, I realized that I have off on Monday. The Mrs doesn't and daycare is open. Soooo... I'm going to take that cash and hit the 10am tournament at Foxwoods. It'll only be my 2nd live multitable touranment. I'll probably play some cash games for a little bit as well.

I want to say a big Thank you to Dawn of I Had Outs and Clareified. She's given me my first comment in Months, and well... ruined the delusion that I'm just talking to myself. If there are any other readers, I HIGHLY recommend her blogs. I Had Outs is easily the most entertaining blog out in the Blogosphere (that one was for you Dawn).

The Home Game, a brief review

Well this weekend was poker night. But more importantly, it was eat like a pig night!

That's right, the Mrs and I are dieting. I need to lose about 50lbs, so we're doing Weight Watchers. We're not going to the meetings, just doing it online. It works pretty good. It's really just a fancy way of counting calories, and as long as you burn off more than you take in you're going to lose weight. The hardest part is preparing meals, we were already eating "healthier." So we are able to make our points go further. The good thing about Weight Watchers is that they give you extra points each week. So I saved up all week and was ready for poker night. Got a big ol' 12" chicken parm and an appetizer of Potato Skins with Bacon and Cheese. PLUS before that I stopped at Taco Bell and picked up a Steak Quesadilla. Overall I lost 6 pounds for the first week, not too shabby.

OK, now on to poker.
Tournament #1. I got no hands, except two.
First Hand. JJ. I raise it up and get 2 or 3 callers. Of course the flop comes an Ace. I'm not about to give up. Figure maybe a bet will get ace rag to fold (but not likely with this crowd). I bet about 2 bucks (blinds were .25/.50). Get a caller and know I'm beat. I check he bets, I fold my jacks up. Maniac of course asks, "How do you fold jacks there?" I'm thinking, "Easy, that's why I win more of these than you."

2 hands later, I get 77. I raise it up, get 3 callers... flop is all overs and I have to let them go.

Tournament #2. Early Bluff.
A few hands in, I wanted to show a little aggressiveness, so I decide to play the next hand big. The next hand is 3s-5s. I decide good hand to do so. I raise and get a couple of callers. The flop misses me completely. I bet $2. 1 caller. The turn is a blank, I bet $4, guy calls. At this point, I'm wondering if I'll be able to push him off his hand. I'm going back and forth when the river comes and still nothing. I look at him, think, think... I check. He looks at me, then checks himself. I don't even bother to wait, I just toss them in the muck, as I had the absolute Anti-Nuts (there was no hand that can lose to me) without even waiting for him to show. He showed top pair.

Tournament #3. I wake up, but then get bored.
I finally get some hands and make some things happen. Nothing major comes back to mind except the last hand. I was heads up and behind. Blinds were, as usual, high. I just wanted to end and start a new one. I was happy that I made 2x the buy-in. I'm in the BB with 56 off. SB raises, and I just push. Surprisingly I was 50-50. He had pocket 4s. Which held up. Not surprising. Pocket fours were a monster that night. They were hitting sets left, right and center!

Tournament #4. I turn up the heat.
Again, I continue to play well and get cards. One hand I have ATd. I raise it up and get 3 callers (I'm 3rd to act). It checks around on each street. On the river it checks around, I think about taking a stab, but figure someone has a bottom pair or something and would call a raise, I just check. The button looks at every with a weird look on his face and shrugs and throws in a dollar. He's relatively new to poker (he's been in the home game since I started, over a year, but that's the only times he plays), plays really tight and was easy to read. It folds around to me. I just raise it up to $4. I didn't think I had the best hand (I figure him for either an underpair or bottom pair) and after that shrug, I would have raised with two Uno cards, so I wanted him to fold. He goes into the tank. He says he wants to call with A9. Now I'm praying he calls. But he folds.

A few hands later Slappy (the host) limps in, and I raise, he calls. We're heads up. I've got a pretty good read on him. He's aggressive, but usually with draws he just calls almost any bet. So two hearts come out. The flop missed me so I bet. He simply calls. Right then I know he's on a draw. Turn doesn't help his draw, I bet big, he calls. River is a blank, I bet out again and he folds. Felt good to punish him for chasing a draw. Though he did change things up later. He was in a hand (I folded preflop) and he bet had 7c4c and flopped the flush draw and bet at it on each street, catching his flush on the river.

Later, we're three handed (top 2 pay). I get dealt A8s. One guy folds and I'm in with Slappy. He raises about 2x the BB (which, when the blinds climb, is a good bet). I push all in and he calls with K2 suited. The guy was playing horrible that night. But lucky. He won the first tournament (might have won another) and then was coming in 2nd. Basically he was seeing a lot of flops and hitting them hard. The flop comes QJx. Then the 10 on the turn. His King hits on the river and he jumps up. My heart sinks as now I'm crippled, then a second later, "WAIT! I got the straight!" He drops into his seat. He takes loses hard. I knocked him out and take a huge chip lead into heads up and take the win with little fight.

Tournament #5 (there also may have been a 6th), I don't remember what happened.

Last Tournament of the Night. It was getting late, some of us wanted to play a little more, but didn't want to inconvenient Slappy who had to pick up his girlfriend. So we decided on a $5.00 winner-take-all, blinds double every 5 mins. Was surprisingly fun. There were six of us and 2 got knocked out right away. I got to heads up and it was pretty much a back and forth all-in fest, which I managed to win.

I finished the night up about $20. Bringing me UP about $40 (but my food was about $20, so I was up $20) for the night.


That means for 2007, I'm down $60. Hmm.. should I deposit my $120 into FTP???

Just for Fun.

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very High
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Moderate

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

This Weekend

Well just an update.

I'm down $100.00 for 2007. Blew through my entire 1/1 deposit already.

I ran out of my cash in .10/.25 short handed cash game. Early on I gained a few bucks, but was down to $6 when I get pocket Kings. Flop is all low, I push and one guy calls. He has AA. 8^(

I saved 5.50 for an Ante Up SnG (18 handed) last night. Was patient, until one play, which one I'm dealt 77 and early position raises (I believe he was the table chip leader), I just call. And another guy calls (but that puts him all in). The flop comes 8 high if I remember correctly. I have about the same amount of chips I started with and there have been a number of rounds already. So my chip count was low, but I wasn't desparate yet. I push. The guy calls and shows his QQ. I'm out. Totally donkey play. I shouldn't not have pushed.

Totally donkey play. I'll be away from online for a little while. As funds are tight. I DO have some cash for my monthly home game this weekend!

I did so well last week, I'm hoping for a repeat performance!

Poker Podcasts

This last few months saw the end of some of my favorite podcasts; MSR's All-in and Cardplayer's, the Circuit.

Both have since been revived. I'll admit, I have not really listened to the new Circuit yet. I have it downloaded, but only listened to it briefly to find out who the new folks are. I'm not really excited about it. You just can't beat the chemistry between Seabok, Huff and Gavin. I might give it a try, but cutting it will keep my podcasts down.

As for All-in , that's been picked up as well. JLev has picked up the ball and is trying to keep it rolling. Now this podcast I tried to listen to. It's just not the same. B-mo, being a comedian, made the show. The show wasn't about poker. In fact very little poker was discussed. It was about the community. B-mo has since moved on to other things: Behind the Bricks and Ultimate Poker Challenge. Even though I don't subscribe to the podcast, I am still banging the boards (there are other podcasts there that I listen to).

Good luck kin 2007.;

Happy New Year!

Well it's 2007, and while I didn't keep much in the way of records, I would like to think that I was slightly ahead for the year. I play mostly low limits. Finished the year with no money on Full Tilt, but I had a 2 big wins playing at Foxwoods, a couple of decent turn outs in the monthly home game (I only made it to about half of them), and I had a few withdrawals from Full Tilt. So all in all I'm going to call 2006 a wash.

2007... granted it's 2 hours and 11 minutes INTO it, is not looking so good.

Now to consider, online I play low/micro limits. With the occasional jump up in stakes just for the hell of it.

I decided to give myself entry into a $50 tournament or SnG on Full Tilt. I decided against that and decided to drop $50 into a $1/$2 no limit ring game instead (Note: this is short handed- 6 players). I play relatively conservative, and lost some cash missing flops. My raises were respected and I could get some blinds (granted not as big a deal in cash games as in tournaments, but anything was nice). I'm down to about $43.00 when I get dealt AA on the button

(oh and as you can tell, AA, probably gonna be a bad beat story).

The cutoff (w/ about $135 behind him) raises to 9, I repop it to 24 (hoping he'd re-re-raise me, but he calls.

Flop comes 7d - Ts - 9c.

I'm relatively happy with this flop, a called raise from a tight player with 86s or J8s is unlikely. He puts me all in, which is really only 19 more, so I have to call it. I probably should have pushed all-in with my stack, but I wanted a double up through this guy. Win a small pot, lose a big pot.

He flips over AdTd. I am lovin' life.
Turn: 2d... oh no.
River: 6d...

Welcome to 2007.

I then took $10 into a .05/.10 shorthanded, and made about $12 profit.

Which I proceeded to most of that profit in an $5.50 18 handed SnG and a $6.25 Turbo Heads Up SnG.

2007: -$49.21

My Rakeback

I went broke on FTP a few weeks ago and have been busy with school so I haven't reloaded. Well I just got my rakeback deposit... woo hoo $5.58. I contemplated a few things, $1.00 tournaments/SNG, one $5.00 one, or just cash games. Ultimately I chose the cash game option and onto a table DETERMINED to play solid poker (I was working on my paper at the same time, hoping that would keep me tight).

After about an hour, I'm at $1.20. OUCH. I was pretty annoyed with my craptastic play. I was pretty much done. I'm in the BB with K2 suited. No raises, so I just check my option (there are about 4 limpers. The flop comes K-6-9 w/ 2 diamonds (I have none). Early position bets a little less than the pot, everyone folds to me. I'm about to throw it away, but tired of my recent play, I decide that I really shouldn't be playing right now and punish myself with a donkey push. Bettor calls and shows his better kicker- KT.
The old adage applies: "God protects fools and drunks." I was not drunk.

2 on the river, and I double up.

I see this as a reprieve and that I should stop being a dumb-ass. I double up again and eventually manage to push my stack to almost 10 bucks. I drop down to under five again when I make some bad plays (I still consider myself a beginner and a couple of times overvalue the flush draw- calling pot sized raises and folding when I miss the river),but worked it back up. I made some good calls, figuring a guy for weak and calling a continuation bet and a turn bet with ace high. Guy backed down on the river and checked and I had him beat.

The final play of the night, I'm not sure if I made a good play or a bad one. I know I made some mistakes.

I have just over 10 bucks, and am the chip leader.

I'm in middle position and look down at AQ suited.
UG+1 raises to $0.20 (-I hate min raisers).
UG+2 calls
UG+3 calls
I call (-stupid play, I probably should have raised)
BB re-raises to $0.30 (-ok, another min raise).
Everyone calls around to me, (-wow big surprise no one folded for 10 cents there)
(-Now, even though the raises are min raises, a raise and a re-raise could spell trouble. If I raise, someone is likely to raise or push all-in with AK or even a middle or high pocket pair, forcing me to fold. But I'm not folding when it'll cost me .10 to win 1.45- or is it 1.55 including my .10).
So I call.

Flop comes 9-A-5 rainbow.
BB is short stacked and has about 1.50 in his stack. He pushes. (-I knew he would. My thought process is that if anyone raises his bet, I gotta let the hand go)
UG+1 folds
UG+2 just calls. (-he's got about 3 bucks left after the call)
UG+3 folds
(-Well I'm closing the action here and no one raised.)
I call. (-I'm really hoping to be able to check to the river on this (but that's not as likely in a cash game as a tournament.)

Turn: Q. (-yahoo)
UG+2 checks. (-Checking to the river is no longer gonna happen)
(-There's about $6 in the pot and he has $3 left)
I push.
UTG+2 thinks for a second then calls.
(-I'm surprised when the hands are flipped up. Not because of how they were played, but because I was right on my reads after the flop. I figured AK vs 2 pair but at this level it could have been AT vs AJ or almost any two aces. I just didn't trust my reads enough to get away from the hand... and I'm glad I didn't)
BB shows AK
UTG+2 shows A9.
(-now I was UTG+2 played it, he could have had a pocket pair that flopped a set, but I was pretty sure BB didn't have a pocket pair. I don't think he would have re-raised, either just called the .20 or put in a large re-raise to protect his hand.)

The river is no 9 or K and I scoop a big pot.


I finished the night @ about $16.00.

And I finished the paper... unfortunately I stayed up until 3:30 am playing Call of Duty 3. I'm tired.

December Homegame

It's been almost 9 months since my last home game. The last time I was able to make it, we only had 3 or 4 people, so we went to Foxwoods instead. The nice thing was that the host pushed it out one week because it was the only weekend I could play.

I've mentioned it before, but the home game is like a WPT Touranment. Blinds DOUBLE every 15 minutes. At the end it's pretty much an All-in 'fest. Buy in is usually $10.00. But you get $20.00 in chips. Blinds start @ .25/.50, and like I said, double every 15 mins (so we never have 3-6 or 5-10, it's 4-8 ,to 8-16). We start at 3pm and pretty much play until midnight, usually getting in about 6 games.

We normally have between 7-12 players with 7 of them being regulars. There are no players that are CLEARLY better than the rest, but there are some others that are "easier" than the others.

This month there were 7 players (payout being $50/$20). We had most of the regulars and one guy who's been there a couple of times. No one new. Most are decent players (for low limit players). With a few extremes:
Crazy Luckbox- I have a reputation for being aggressive and not afraid to throw my chips around, but this guy is nuts... and lucky.
Mr. The Rock- Tight player, easy to read.
Mr. Station- annoying as hell, easy to read, will call with pair or draw until the river and fold at that point, easy to tilt too.
The other three aren't as easy to read, so I haven't put much effort into it.

Because we had only 7 players, 2nd gets 2x the buy in back and winner gets the rest. The first game, I didn't do much, except I knocked out the luckbox. He's always been the bane of my existence at the homegame.

The second game, I managed to get heads up with the guy who gave me the Herpes nickname. I was severly shortstacked. But was destined to win as I hit every hand and double up a number of times. Pretty much there was nothing he could do.

The 3rd game started and I was just on a roll. Winning one of these pretty means you're freerolling for the rest of the night. At worst you end up even. It opens up your game a little bit. I basically opened up my starting hands a little (which are loose to being with). I ended up heads up with the same guy again. This time we started about even in chips. The lead went back and forth. The final hand was good one (wish I could remember what each of our hands were). I was first to act. And limped. He checked (neither of us are afraid to play after the flop). The flop hit me with, giving me a pair of 9s. I bet and he called. Turn was a 10. This gave me a open ender. I checked and surprisingly he checked. The river was a Q. giving me a straight. I think about it for a while, and take a big risk and check. He thinks for a second and pushes all-in. He was barely done saying all-in when I call and flip over my straight. It's a great feeling to set someone up.

The 4th and 5th games, I didn't do much, other than tilt Mr. Station and bust Mr. Luckbox. Mr. Station actually won one and so did Mr. Rock.

The final game I finished 2nd (AGAIN heads up with nickname giver). He set me up nicely after the flop. Flop came K-K-x. we both check. Turn is a 6 (which pairs me). He checks and I push all in. He calls and flips over the K. Unfortunately there was only 6 folks in that one so 2nd place got the buy-in back.

It was a good time and I came home up about 40 bucks, which includes all the buy-ins, chips and soda and ordering food.

Can't wait for the next one.

I Failed!

My self-quaratine from poker failed miserably. I definitely have a problem... I even donked off a bunch of my most recent deposit, but got some of that back between SitnGos and micro-limit Cash games.

But I thought I would take this time to mention some hands on FTP last night in an SnG. People are always talking about sucks outs and bad beats that they see at FullTilt, and I've seen my share, but I was playing in an 18person $5.00 +$.50, SnG. I made the final table and cashed in 4th (the first money spot). But to get there I had hands that held up. Two or three times, I had all my chips (I was short stacked a for a while) in with top pair or 2 pair, and my opponent would show either a flush draw or a straight draw. Those draws never made it, and I stayed in the tournament. And on my final hand, I had A10 vs KK, and guess what, an ACE didn't come. KKs knocked me out.

What does this mean? Well basically it means, take the time to notice when you're good hands hold up. Makes it easier to digest the times that they don't. If there wasn't chance/luck in poker, it would be called Chess.

Frustration

I'm back in school and that is going to be taking a lot of my time with papers and readings this semester, so I've decided to take a break from online poker. Basically if I'm going to be working on my computer I should be doing school work. OK, I'm working on it. But boy was I looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend. My brother in law was going to set up one of his $50 buy-in home games. A bit steep, but I've won that last two. I talked to him and he said to come down to the restuarant and we'd be playing around 11pm. So I get there only to find out that most of the people decided not to play. He tries to get a 4th person. That person agrees, but then leaves without a word. So we scrap the game and I head to back to the house. I decide, that this is a special occasion, and throw some cash onto Full Tilt and start playing.

I jump in the $10+1 Midnight Madness Tournament, which is a fun one. Played and sweated a buddy of mine who was also playing. 1300+ people, I finished 160. Won about 2x the buy-in. Unfortunately I dusted off a bunch of other money playing other MTT SnGs.

Finally I sat down at a micro-limil NL cash game, and won enough to be just about even for the night. Finally had to call it a night @ 3am.

Big hand of the night in the cash game.
I had pocket 4s and was playing with a maniac.
Flop was 3-6-Q. He bet a little less than the pot, I called.
Turn: Q. He bet again, I called.
River: x but it was higher than my pair.
He pushes all in, which was about 2x the pot, but that was less than 20% of my stack (i'd still be showing a profit it I call and lost). I think and because he's too much of a maniac, I called. He showed 7-3, and I stacked him.

Left shortly after since after he left it was just me and another guy, who was a pretty big luckbox.

Channeling Jack Straus

"Chip and a Chair"

Sure this wasn't the WSOP Main Event, it was only a $5 + $0.40 Heads Up Shootout (4 players) on FullTilt.

I ended up my first headsup opponent in 23 hands.

BLINDS ARE 15/30
The first hand of my second match (each have 3000 chips), I'm dealt A3o. I call the BB and my opponent just checks.
*** FLOP *** [Ah 9c Qd]
I simply bet the 1/2 the pot (30) and my opponent folds. I win 60 chips.

Hand 2. I'm in the BB with 6c4c. Opponent calls the BB, I simply check.
*** FLOP *** [3d 2h 5s]
BINGO! Can't beat that flop. I bet the pot (T60). He smooth calls.
*** TURN *** [3d 2h 5s] [5d]
Stupiditiy abounds here. I bet the pot (T180). I get min raised to T360. I raise to T1,260. He raises to T2,160. I finish it off, pushing all-in to T2940. He calls his last T720. I get T60 back (woo freakin' hoo).

My opponent flips over his Quad 5s. I'm done. I congradulate him on a good game. And wait to throw in my final chips.

Chip Count (T5940 vs T60).
I'm dealt 6c9c in the SB. and I push all in for 60. I hope he folds (yeah right). He calls, and shows pocket 3s.
I flop two pair and double up.

(T5880 vs T120).
Next hand I'm dealt pocket 7s. I push all in and he calls with Q7. My hand holds up.

(T5760 vs T240)
I call the BB (additional 30) w/ Jd2d. We check it down and he catches a 5 on the river.

(T5790 vs T210) - Blinds increase to 20/40.
He min raises to 80, I push all in with KQo and he folds. More chips!

(T5710 vs T290)
I have Q6o. Call the BB. FLOP is [4s 3h 3s]. We both check. TURN: Qc. He bets 80, I push all in and he calls. He shows 4dTd. The river is a 3, giving me a better boat.

(T5420 vs T580)- I definitely have some breathing room now (with the blinds 20/40), despite the huge chip disadvantage. That was the 7th hand of heads up with this guy.

A few hands go by where not much happened. We checked down to the river, only losing the blinds, or I fold to a bet on the turn.

Hand #10. (T5340 vs T660)
I'm dealt 57off in the SB. I limp he min raises to T80. I call.
*** FLOP *** [Kh 5h 5d]
Opponent bets T160, I of course push, he calls and shows KJo. I, of course and sweating because preflop I was 98% to lose. No improvement for him and I have T1320!

Again there's a lot of checking down or folding to bets. I re-raise him a few times to take down pots.

(T3710 vs T2290)
Hand #58 - blinds are 40/80.
I'm dealt KJ in the BB. He limps, I just check.

*** FLOP *** [Qh 6h Ks]
I check, he bets T160, I just call.
*** TURN *** [6c]
We both check.
*** RIVER *** [8s]
I bet the pot T480. He calls.

I show my KJ, he shows T8 and I take down a T1440 pot to take a slight chip lead.

(T2990 vs T3010)
ABout 10 hands later, I lose the chip lead when I bluff of 1200 in chips, trying to represent a flush with 4 spades on the board. I bet 1/2 the pot value bet bluff on the river, he calls with 2 pair. I wonder if I bet more if he would have folded?

(T3600 vs T2400) - Blinds 50/100
I beat Kojack AGAIN this time with KQ. I'm in the SB. He min raises to T200, I call.
*** FLOP *** [Qc 4c 2s]
I check, he bets T400, I min raise to T800, he calls.
*** TURN *** [Ks]
I check, he pushes all-in, I call for my last T1400. He shows his KJ, I shows my KQ for two pair. The RIVER brings an unneeded Q for my boat. I'm the chip leader again.

(T1200 vs T4800).
It's over two hands later.
(T1100 vs T4900)
He raises to T200, I call with Kd7c.
*** FLOP *** [Tc 8h 9d] I hit an open ender, but with the idiots end. The reasoning behind my next move was two fold. First it was late (3:30am) and second, I figure I could push him around, and even if he wins, I would still have a slight chip lead. I pushed All-in. T4700 (though really only the T900 he had) into a 400 pot. He calls with AJ. He also has the, I guess, genius end of the OESD.
*** TURN *** [Js] Gives me the straight.
*** RIVER *** [Qd] For a split second I thought this was a chop giving us both the Q high straight on the board, but then I noticed my little King sitting there, all neglected, giving me a K high straight and taking down the Shootout.

A hard fought battle and a the biggest comeback I've ever faced. 99 to 1 chip deficit. Probably won't do that again in my life.

HERPES LIVES!

post soon

Had the second greatest comeback story. EVER. Ok, maybe second only to Jack Staus. I'll post soon (those of you from MSR got a short version) as soon as FTP sends it to me (don't ask).