Slappy is off to Vegas, but has decided not to continue with the league. Too bad, but I'm not going to sweat it. Despite the money going involved (over 16 weeks, you're putting in $450 if you show up every week), it really is a bunch of drunk degenerates hanging out, many of them have been drinking and hanging out all day before the game, and just continue to drink during. It's less than professional, and a lot of their shit would get them kicked out of the casino, but ultimately it's just fun for them, and they don't take it seriously.
I don't mind it, but that's probably because I win constantly with them. Not to spoil anything, but in this "season," I've finished 1st or 2nd 8 out of 12 weeks. I'm freerolling for the season and currently have a 9 point lead over 2nd place with 4 weeks to go. It's far from locked up, since the last week can make or break you, but I'm still running well, and could, quite possibly, lock up the season before the final game.
OK, recaps.
Week 10- nothing memorable. I finished 2nd. Tilty took first. He was in 2nd overall, so my lead dropped 1 point. 2 people couldn't make it, so 2nd place only takes 10 bucks, so -15 on the night.
Week 11- I'm sick. I feel like I'm going to puke. I don't want to go, but need to keep the pressure on with my lead. I'm the 2nd player to arrive. While waiting around, I jump up and run to the bathroom and puke my guts out. Ah, I feel better. But I don't play better. I'm the first one to bust. I busted on a bluff. I have pocket 5s. Flop comes K7x. Host bets out. I don't think he has a K (just a feeling), so I call, planning on taking it away on the turn. The perfect card (other than a 5 comes), an 8. I check, Host bets again, and I push all-in. I'm thinking he may have a7 and would have to fold, and/or can put me on 78 and even if he has a weak King could fold it. He tanks for some time. And this is where I get a little pissed and can understand Slappy's frustration. People start hootin' and hollerin' saying he should call, just acting all macho, and stir up action. I'm a big proponent of the one player to a hand rule, but that doesn't apply here, really. Again, just picture a bunch of drunken frat guys. Host finally calls with a K and I don't hit my set. I'm out. 3 people didn't show, so I still get 4 points for being the first one out. Tilty goes out next, so I only lose one point to him. However, Tighty makes a big come back, heads up against Host and takes it down. This is the first time I've ever seen him win, I think. But his tight play, has him jumping Tilty and taking 2nd place.
Week 12- Another week where I go in saying, "Play Tight, Play Tight." I do and it pays off. Nothing big happens here. Tilty goes out in the middle, so I put some distance there. Tighty goes out 4th, so I gain a point there.
I make one bluff 3 handed and one awefukit call and it pays off. Host is on the button and folds. I'm in the SB (blinds are 5/10) and have Q8. I have about 90 chips. I raise to 30. Walken thinks for a few minutes then says, "Screw it, All-in." I'm about to fold, I count my stack behind me, 57. I have 30 out there. I'm thinking he has a big hand. Ultimately, I decide that since the two people who are chasing my points lead are out, I can afford to call here, since I need chips if I want to win the thing. I probably should have shipped it with less than 10 BBs, but oh well. I call, Walken flips over the 97 soooted. Sweet. We miss the flop, I hit an 8, which at first glance, I'm happy, since it kills the 3 7's he could hit, but then realize it gives him 4 tens for a gutshot. A blank on the river and he's crippled.
After that it's smoothing sailing. I get heads up with Host and about even in chips. I get a slight advantage. The final hand, he limps on the button, I have QJ and raise it to 30. He calls. Flop comes QJx with 2 clubs. I bet out, he pushes, I call. He has the flush draw and misses. I take down another week.
As I stated earlier, that puts me 9points ahead of 2nd place. 3 Regular weeks and one double week left. I have to keep my eye on the prize here and stay focused next week.
Wish me luck.
Weeks 10, 11, 12
The Big Double Week.
The Double Week took place one week later. As per usual, I say I'm going to pay tight, but the double chips make me play too many hands. But I sat tight.
Slappy took a few beats and went on some serious tilt.
1) Slappy raises from middle position. One caller (Tighty), maybe two. The flop comes K-K-X, two clubs. Checks to Slappy who C-bets. Tighty calls. The Turn brings an X. Check-Check. The river brings the Tc completing the flush. Checks to Slappy who bets... Now here's where it gets weird. First, assuming Slappy didn't have the flush, which I was pretty sure he didn't, I knew he just threw that bet away. There was no way he was getting called by a hand that he beat. Anyone else, maybe, but not against Tighty. Tighty is about points. He can fold with the best of them. No one folds like Tighty. I figured maybe trip Kings, maybe the flush. So, as I said, Slappy bets, and Tighty calls. As soon as he calls I figured he had the flush. Tighty would just call the nut flush because the two Kings on the board. Slappy shows his AA. Definitely, no way he was going to be called by a worse hand. Slappy says he put the guy on QQ or JJ. Which I pointed out, Tighty would NEVER call there. Not with the flush and the two Kings. The weird part of this hand was that Tighty showed a boat. I think it was KT. A boat and just called? Most of us where flabbergasted. We had no idea what happened. Even now, I'm not sure Tighty even saw his boat. Slappy is visibily upset.
I believe there was another beat before that, where it was Slappy with AK and Host with K8. Host flopped an 8. Called Slappys C-bet on the flop (after much deliberation). Then they both checked it down. While a beat, I saw nothing wrong with anyone's play there really.
2) The Big One. Slappy is low on chips at this point. He's in early position and limps. Limps around. Flop comes Tc8c3c. Walken, in a blind, puts in a small bet. Slappy puts in a raise. Walken, re-raises rather quickly. Slappy calls and shows QcTc for the flush. Walken shows T3 for 2 pair. No sweat when the 3 comes on the Turn giving Walken the boat. He improved to Quads with another 3 on the river. That pushed Slappy over the edge. He grabs his things and basically storms out.
Other than that, nothing exciting happens. My only really interesting hand was a fold. I was in middle position with the short stack. Host in early position raises. He will occasional get out of line, but it's rare. Str8>Flush re-raises all-in (he has me covered). I'm not worried about his hand. He will push with anything. I look down at JJ. Normally, insta-call in this spot. I'm a little worried about Host. I figure his range has hands that have me beat and some that I have beat and crushed, plus the 2 races. Ultimately I figure I'm about 50-50 with his range. I think, because I was short, and this is a league about points, I was looking for a reason to fold. I finally, reluctantly fold. Drunky comes over the top. Host says he was just kiddin' with his A9 and folds. Str8>Flush shows A9, Drunky shows AQ. Shoulda called. I had to avoid 3 Qs and an Ace. Even worse, the final board was 25522 for a chopped pot. Dang, would have tripled up. In the end I busted in the middle to add some points. Maintaining my position in first.
To Be Continued...
Let's Catch up
We finally got the league started again. It was about a month and a half before we re-started. We skipped the double week just so we because we wanted to get the league restarted but 3 people couldn't, so we just played a regular week.
I was still running well, getting hands and playing well.
The first big hand, I flopped the nut flush draw. I made the flush on the river and was able to value bet the Host on the river.
The very next hand, I get KdTd. Bunch of limpers. The flop is Ad3c4s. Muscles leads out. I have no idea why, but I called. Drunky calls, too. The turn is the 2d. Muscles checks, I check and Drunky puts in a min bet. We both call. The river is a beautiful 5d putting a straight on board but giving me the nut flush. Muscles checks, I bet about 1/2 pot. Drunky makes a min raise. Muscles calls and is all-in. I push all-in. Drunky thinks for about 30 seconds and reluctantly calls. Muscles shows a flopped 2 pair (but plays the board). Drunky flips 67 for the nut straight. I show my flush and bust 2 players.
After that, i just hit every hand and couldn't lose. I busted Slappy when I overplayed a small flush draw. Slappy called my re-raise push with top pair no kicker. I rivered the flush. Slappy was not happy that I re-raised his flop bet with a weak flush draw.
I went up against the Host heads up. I had a big stack against him. It didn't last long. Host pushes all in. I wanted to fold my A2 figuring I was probably dominated. I made a crying call and host shows JT. I'm pretty happy until the flop comes JTx. I am given some life when a 2 comes on the turn. The Ace on the river ends the tournament. When you hit every hand, you can't lose.
The double week was uneventful for me except the first bust out. But more on that in a different post.
I Hate Online!
I deposited a bunch of money on both FTP and Pokerstars.
Didn't take long for me to lose. Tilted... as usual.
Figured I was done, until I get my rakeback on FTP. So I had a few bucks (very few). So I decided to play a few SnGs and even through some at a .01/.02 table.
The SnGs ended, no horrible beats, I just couldn't get cards.
The cash game really tilted me. Luckily I'm busto, or I'd spew. I doubled up when I flopped a flush and continued to play tight. At those levels, that's all you have to do.
The table breaks down to short handed. It's HU, then 3 handed. A fourth person comes in and sits to my left. I'm in the BB and he comes in. He buys in short and pushes all of it in. I have AK and call. He has 92 suited and hits his hand. No biggie. I'll get it.
He proceeds to donk 1/2 of it off, doing it again. We get to a hand were it's my SB vs BB. I push with Q5s (a little tilt, but thought if he continued to call light, I'd be good). He had A8. The next few hands I had pocket pairs. I kept on pushing it and he kept having overs and winning. Finally ran the last of my stack into someone else's TT. Grrr. Tilt! I hate online.
Still no League, not supposed to be starting until next week. But Slappy has his home game and I'll get to play this weekend. EASY MONEY!
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Here's the Question.
Do I combine a non-poker blog and my poker blog for one blog? Possibly get more hits, than if I have one blog? Or do I keep them separate...
Maybe just acknowledge my non-poker blog here, make a note when I post or something...
Any ideas?
One downside to combining the two into this blog is that I can't add Google's Adsense since this is considered gambling related.
Screw Up.
Damn it. Totally screwed up my blog format tonight.
Trying to edit the format of a different blog and messed up this one.
Now I have to fix it. Son of a bitch!
Now I just need to figure out how to remove that stupid FEED Button on the top right.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Oh What A Night!
So last night I went to Mohegan Sun to play some cards. I haven't been to Mo Sun in a while. I stopped by once when we first moved to CT, but never went back since they didn't have a poker room. I stuck with Foxwoods. But now with Mo Sun's new poker room, it gives me more options to play. More competition is good for the customer.
For those who haven't been, the poker room in Mo Sun is significantly smaller than the one at Foxwoods, but that's not saying much since the Foxwoods poker room is like the 2nd largest poker room in the world... or something to that effect. On a Friday night, there was almost never any wait for 1/2 NL.
Here's a recap of my night.
I play good- I lose.
I play bad- I lose.
I play patient- I win.
I play bad- I win.
I play good- I win.
It was a roller coaster night for me. I got there around 6 and sat down to play. There seemed to be a bunch of people everyone knew at my table. They were all singing the praises of this poker room over Foxwoods'.
To my immediate left, there's an Indian (as in India) dude who didn't seem to know what he was doing, but was a freakin' luckbox. At first I thought his "This is my first time playing" was an angle. But once his luck started to run out, it was pretty clear he wasn't all that good. He had an obvious betting pattern. If he has nothing he folds. If he has a marginal hand, he bets small. If he has a big hand, he bets large amounts, just grabbing handful of chips and tossing them in.
Unfortunately, I didn't pick up any hands against him early on. I bought in for $100. The max is 300, but I only had about $300 on me, so I didn't want to only have one bullet.
The first big hand, my stack is a little low and I limp with KQ. This table is a limpfest (as are many 1/2 nlhe live tables). I flop a Q with 2 low cards, and 2 hearts. One guy who looks like a dorky Bill Cowher, best about 15 into the put, and I push all in for about 70 total. He calls with a flush draw and hits it on the river.
If that was online, I'd probably tilt. But as it's live, I didn't even flinch. Just pulled out another $100 and rebought. This is where I start to play bad. Not horrible plays, just with a small stack I shouldn't really be making continuation bets all the time. Many of my C-bets are called and I shut down. I had one good call with I limped with A9 suited. I hit the ace and put out a small bet of about 20. I get 2 callers, including Indian dude. The turn is a low card and everyone checks. The river is another blank for me. I check, figuring I'm going to fold to a large bet. Indian guy bets 20 and it comes back to me. I was thinking of folding but realized that this is a small bet, and decided he would have bet more if he had something bigger. I call and he turns over 2nd pair and I take down a rare pot.
Unfortunately, my play doesn't improve and I'm left bleeding chips. With only about 40 bucks left of my 2nd buy-in, I get T9 in the SB and limp. Multiple limpers in the pot. The flop was KJ7. One person bets out $10, and I push with by double gut shot. I get two callers and I don't improve. I bust.
At this point, I contemplate leaving. I really don't know if I want to play my last 100. This was the buy-ins for the rest of the League that I was playing with. With $100, I still had enough for the next 3 buy-ins. I saved my seat, but went for a walk.
I love the casino atmosphere. I don't know why, because I hate slots and not a fan of most table games, but something about the lights and sounds of a casino gets to me. It's an energy that is sometimes easy to miss in the face of all desperation you can see.
The worst casino for that was Horseshoe in Bossier City. That was the worst place I've seen. Not that the casino was run down, but it just looked like a place that was only interested in taking old ladies' money. Foxwoods sometimes has that feel.
With the stroll through the Mohegan Sun, I didn't feel that desperation. I made my decision. I hadn't been there long. If I left at that point, the time playing vs the time driving would be about even. Maybe even a little more driving time. Plus, one of my buddies was on his way. Besides, I love live poker. I really do. Even if I'm losing, I'm still having fun. Plus, I have a chance to win money. I take my last $100 and return to the scene of the crime.
Unfortunately, I'm:
1) Still kind of card dead.
2) Playing a poor loose passive game. Lots of limping. Though raises don't get much respect.
Unfortunately, no much happens. I loose a lot of chips to the Indian dude when I flop an open ender and he bets too small for me to fold. But ultimately I have to let the hand go on the river even though the bet was tiny.
I try to hit a few hands, but miss everything. I steal an occasional small pot, but not enough to keep me afloat. I count my chips and I'm down to under $30. Yes, for the night I'm a $270 loser. I'm card dead, but I'm tempted to just push with anything and get the inevitable over with. Ultimately, I convince my self to go into a lockdown and wait for a hand.
When my stack is down to $23 bucks I pick up AK in early position. I can't really raise and fold if I miss, so I just toss in my stack. It folds around to one of the blinds. Some old guy who folds, looks over at me and says, "Oh, you're still there. You haven't played a hand in forever. I thought you left." I coulda killed him. Yes, thanks, just point out how tight I'm playing now. Prick. The SB tanks, and reluctantly calls me. I am happy to see his KJ. The flop gives him a J, but it gives me an A. On the river, it can be split with a T, but we both make Two pair when the K hits, and I double up.
The very next hand I'm dealt AA. I push my entire stack in, but get no callers. I fold, get another big hand in the BB, many limpers, I push and collect those free chips. Soon I'm back to around 100. A little bit of winning definitely puts me in a better mood. I wasn't in a foul mood, but when I was losing, I was just sitting there quietly, listening to my iPod. Now I begin to engage my table mates in conversation.
I look down at another big hand. KK. I raise it up to 12 and get one caller; Russian kid who seems to play a good game. Flop comes with the Ah, 7h, X. I have position on the kid, he checks. I decide to check for 2 reason. I don't like the A, but also maybe he thinks I'm setting him up, if I hit the ace. The turn brings a 3rd heart. Russian guy bets out 20. I tank for a moment. I figure I'm not good here. But how good can his ace be? AK is out since he just called my raise. AQ, that might be out too. Can I push him off his ace? He checked the Ace high. He could have a lower pair or missed and is betting because he smells weakness with my check. I decide I can push him off a weak ace since there's a flush out there. Plus I have a redraw to the nuts flush. I ship in my stack and he insta-calls with AK. Rut-roh. So much for making a comeback. Oops, a beautiful heart on the river gives me the flush and I double to 200. Nice, Only down 100 for the night.
Things fun for me, as Slappy introduces me to the new guy sitting to my left. Rake Feeder (aka Rob). We chat. He's very aggressive. His first hand at the table, he straddles. Bunch of limpers, he raises everyone folds. He has AA. Nice way to start. Nice guy and we chat a bit while playing.
Slappy busts froma SnG and joins our table. Always fun to play with Slappy. Though a cash game in a live casino is a little bit different than playing the home games. A little bit more money at the casinos, but I can't say that I play him any differently.
Also about that same time, a very attractive brunette sits down. She was very flirtatious. And friendly. She pulled out some food. I mentioned that I was starving and she shared. It was good. Another good quality... she seemed to like to use her sexuality at the table and was wearing a very low cut tank top to distract the guys (at least my impression anyway). We chatted a little, but I tried to keep my focus off of her. She did bet aggressively, so I proceeded with caution around her.
I win a decent size pot off Rob. He's to my immediate right and straddles again. I limp with 99. I plan to re-pop him when he raises his straddle. It gets to him and sure enough, he raises to about 17. I repop him to 50. He doesn't take long to call. This worries me a little. Flop is KK3. He checks. Now this is a big leak in my game I think, and I'm trying to work on it. If I see a paired board, I almost always figure my opponent to NOT have the trips there. With only 2 Ks left, he's a small percentage to have one. Apparently, I'm not trying to fix the leak tonight, because I push my stack into the middle. He tanks for a while, shows A and a Q then folds. I take a nice pot there.
Another thing to learn, I'm a magnate for others to have good hands in the straddle spot. Over the last few straddles I've gone up against, I've faced AK, AQ, AK, AA, AQ. Yikes.
Shortly there after, he moves to sit next to Brunette (I was looking to move over there before she came) and Slappy takes Rob's spot next to me.
I decide to get creative and limp with the Qc4c. I see a club flop (with the Ac) and slow play it. I check the flop, it gets bet, I call. I get one additional caller. I don't want to go crazy because if someone has the Kc, they're not going to fold on the flop. No club comes and the original better bets again. This time I re-pop him a good amount. He thinks for a while and then folds.
I'm pretty much unstuck for the night. I've turned a $23 stack to over $300. I'm pretty impressed with that, even if I do say so myself. What I liked about my play was that I didn't tighten up and fear losing. I still didn't have trouble playing hands and putting money in the pot, even if it meant losing my for the night.
My last big hand was against Slappy. He's to my right and raises to $12. I look down at QQ. I re-pop him to $30. It folds back to him and he just calls. The flop comes K high. He checks. I worry that he is going for the check raise here with AK. I check behind him. The turn is a blank and he checks again. This is where I make a mistake. I should probably have bet here since he showed weakness twice. I don't and check behind him. The river is another blank. Slappy fires in $20. A small bet and I call. He has TT and I win a good sized pot.
The rest of the night is slow. Winning and losing small pots. I won more small pots than I lost.
In the end, I went from $-277 to up over $+100.00. A small profit for the night, but an awesome comeback.
This might put me into the casino a little more after the League is over. It should restart next week.
Until then...
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Less Than Crappy Online Play
I know, surprising.
I got a tiny amount of rakeback and managed to kick that around for a while. I finally went busto again when a few races didn't pan out how I wanted. But at the small limits, I did the right thing and just played tight.
This week is another off week for the League. Hopefully it's the last. In an effort to knock some rust off, I'm going to hit Mohegan Sun tomorrow to check out their poker room. I should some good material this weekend.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
No Poker!
Well, no LEAGUE poker. Instead one of my “regular” home games got together on Saturday evening. $20 buy-in, unlimited re-buys for the first hour (15 minute levels). There’s usually a cash game after.
Nine players started the tournament. Early on the flop came with paired 6’s a # of times. We started joking that a 6 was the nuts. But you had to have ONE 6, not a pair of sixes. I won a few hands with a 6 or even bluffed some hand with a 6. The host even raised under the gun with 56, and hit trips on the flop, he won a big pot.
The game settled down after a while. I built up a decent stack, but it was starting to dwindle. 3 handed some donkey had a MASSIVE chip stack and the host and I were down to barely anything. Less than 10 BB probably. We both managed a double up or two.
I’m in the BB and have a little less than the host. Slappy is still the big stack. Host pushes all in, Slappy tanks, and I call with 66. Host shows A7. Slappy shows an A. I dodge the flop and the turn, but the river brings an Ace and I busted on the bubble.
The cash games started while those two battled heads up. It went back and forth for probably another 30 minutes.
Early in the cash game (4 handed- .25/.50), I raised UTG with AQ. I got one caller. The flop was all low. I C-bet and got called. The turn was an 8. I checked and gave up control. The caller bet out and I called. I just didn’t think he had much. The river was a J. He bet out again and I just didn’t think he had anything. He’s been known to push hard when he has busted draws. I called and showed A high. He had Q high and I was good. At that point I only built my stack. At one point, I was up to about 70 bucks (from a 20 buy in). As it got late I found myself bleeding chips. Slappy and the host got into the game (Slappy took it down). I still hovered around the 50 mark. In the end there were only 4 of us again: me, host, host’s brother-in-law, some other guy.
We decide it’s the last hand of the night, I’m UTG so I straddle. The host double straddles and cards are dealt. The SB folds, the BB calls the $2, and I look down at AQ. I raise to 5, thinking no one will believe me since I was a straddler. The host repops it to $15. The BB tanks for 5 minutes. He says he doesn’t want to fold the cards, but doesn’t want to go home with nothing. Finally, he reluctantly folds. I can’t really put the host on too much just because of the re-raise. We were all a little punchy and having fun. I push in my remaining stack, and he insta-calls. RUT ROH. He flips AK. BB folded AK. The cards are dealt and I spike a beautiful Queen on the river and end up cashing out of for $100. So minus the 20 buy in and my original 20 for the tournament, I end the night up $60.
Next Sunday is the league game again. The Double Week. I would LOVE to take that down. 1st place is like 300.
Good luck all!
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Week 7 is in the Books.
Nothing too memorable about this week. Though I took 2nd place. 1st place went to Tiltbox. I had a good chiplead a few hands into heads up. Though I noticed if I limped on the button he would push. So when I look down at AQ on the button, I limp. He pushes, and I call. He shows K8 and hits both his K and 8. The turn is a Q to give SOME sweat, but the river is another 8 and I lose about half my stack. A few hands later it's all over when I get 66 on the button and push. He calls with JJ. He flops a J, I turn a 6 and river does not give me Quads. 2nd place was good for points, but because two people missed this week, I lost $15 for the night.
The second place puts me solidly in 1st place by 9 points. Week 8 will be in two weeks and it's a double week. I hope to keep playing good and getting lucky.
Online, I tilted any funds away. I guess online poker is just a guilty pleasure. I suck at it, but like to play it.
No league this weekend, but one of my regular home games has a tournament on Saturday. I may go to that. Not sure.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Just A Little Bit More- Part II
Actually, got it up to $7.34 when I continued to play and almost bluffed it off. I guess you can say it worked.
I continued to play because there was a major fish. I stayed after he left because one guy was tilting because he played a bad hand against the fish and the fish caught with 73o.
Tilter followed Fish to another table (I was going to do that, but only because he was a fish, I wasn't tilting). I was watching the table and saw Tilter getting into a big hand with Fish. I decided to try to play off his distraction.
There is one limper and I'm on the button. I limp with 6d8d. Tilter (in the SB) makes it .15. Limper calls, I call. Flop comes JcTd4s. .45 in the pot and Tilter bets .15. I think, BS Continuation bet. Limper folds, I re-pop him to .50, he calls. Uh-oh. The turn is a 9h. I now have the idiot-end of a OESD with a possible straight already out there. He checks.
I figure he might have called the flop raise to save face. And checked to slow down or try to get to showdown cheap (maybe he has a T, or even AK). I bet the pot which is 1.50. He calls. I've now basically bluffed off 1/2 my stack with almost nothing. I'm trying to debate if I think he'll fold (this is .02/.05) or just cut my losses (Me pushing would be about 1/2 pot). I feel tilt taking over and I'm going to push, figuring he has the best hand and probably won't fold.
Suddenly, the beautiful 7h hits the turn. I make my ass-end straight. But at this point, I'm definitely pushing this hand and if he has the better straight, so be it (but I don't think he has it). I push my stack and he folds.
So, I was bluffing the entire time. I hit on the river, but was that considered a successful bluff since I was probably going to push the river either way?
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Just A Little Bit More
I was busto, my rakeback (rakefreeze.com- tell them Unimpressed sent you) kicked in this week. First time I've gotten any rakeback that I can actually play. A whopping $2.40. I put all of it at one .02/.05 6handed NLHE table. And built it up to a monsterous $5 bankroll. Watch out Durrrr!
Hope I can make it to the league game on time. Though, Drunky was running a little late to the game once and we held it a few minutes. He got there just in time for the first hand. He was dealt AQ. Hit an ace on the board of A6x. Stacked off all his chips to some donk playing A6. Busted out on the first hand.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
I Hate To Say I Told You So But...
I suck at online. I tilt. I don't believe people. I'm sure I'll load a few bucks in the future, but I really should learn to control the tilt. I deposited 20 and play .02/.05 NL short handed, plus 2.25 SnGs. I occasionally played the $6.50 turbo short handed.
I hovered between 15 and 30 most of the time. I was at 32 this morning. I'm down to 0.00. Wait, that's a lie. I saved .01 so that I can chat if I'm railing someone.
I tilted about 10 of it off this afternoon. I took a break and started playing again this evening.
I only won one coinflip. And that was shortstacked in a $6 turbo short stacked tourney. I was on the bubble and my 33 held against AQ. I folded and folded. Against the big stack I have AQ. He pushes from the button and I call with AQ. He has KQ. I hit my Ace on the river, but that gave him a straight and I go out in third.
I tilted my remaining $6.00 in a cash game, when I ran my AK into an obvious AA situation. No way I was good. And the stacks were deep enough that I should have been able to fold it. But I was steaming.
The reason I still had 6 bucks was because of an earlier hand. I had QJ. It's raised to 17 (standard pot preflop raise @ .02/.05). I call. Small blind repops to .29. 1st raiser calls and I call the additional .12. The flop comes KT6 rainbow. It goes check, check, and I bet out pot just under $1.00. It's half my stack and I'm planning on pushing the turn if I get a caller. The SB makes is 3.50 (putting me all in). Original Raiser pushes all in. I call (figuring I was planning on pushing and had to hit anyway, but probably some tilt involved there). The SB calls. They show... KK and 66 for set over set. I hit my beautiful Ace on the river and take in a big stack.
But alas, my online account is tapped. What can one do?
Sunday is week 7 of my poker league. I may have to show up late. Going to be in NY and plan on having an early dinner with the in-laws. If we can finish up in just over an hour, I might be able to make it.
Tomorrow Disney with my daughter. My poor parents are going to be watching the little one all day. May be too much for old people to handle.
For anyone interested, I've been updating my twitter account someone frequently. Poker and non-poker items. Feel free to follow me. http://twitter.com/Unimpressed.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Live Poker in Ocala, FL
"It's illegal to play poker for money in Florida."
"No, it is. It's been legal at the indian casinos and about 2 years ago they started allowing it at the paramutuals."
"Uh-huh. What do you play with... matchsticks? Because it's illegal to play for money."
I know my parents live here, but seriously, do they think I'm just making this up. Since we weren't going to Disney on Tuesday because of the chance of rain (good decision as it's pouring now), I decided to hit up the Ocala Poker Room. It's was just a Jai-Alai club, but with the expansion of poker in Florida, many of the paramutuals have added poker rooms. For more on Florida poker, check out Florida's premier poker magazine, Ante Up Magazine.
Since we're on vacation with no rental car, I was forced to borrow my folks tricky Lincoln. First rule... don't open the driver side window. 2nd Rule, after unlocking the door, wait a few seconds before opening, so the alarm doesn't go off. Properly given the rules, I start to backout the driveway. My mom suddenly comes running out. "Oh and one more thing. No matter what, DO NOT TURN ON THE RADIO." Um... OK. Granted this car is 11 years old, but still. Should I worry about the hour drive? I decide to risk it. I want to play some live poker.
Turns out it was only a 40 minute drive. Mostly because it was 8:45 and everyone in Florida was sleeping. If anyone plans on going, you should know that Google gives you wrong directions. It says that getting off 75 you turn left (coming from the south), or head west. It's actually east. The directions from the website are accurate.
The place was mostly paramutual with lots of screens showing various races. The poker room was off to the right when you first walk in. I was planning on doing a proper review, but really, I got there at 9:30 and it's only open until 12. So I sat down with $60 at a 2/2 NLHE table.
I don't have a lot of experiences with live poker rooms. In fact, other than Foxwoods, this is only the 2nd poker room I've seen. Mohegan Sun just opened up their room. And I haven't been to a AC or Las Vegas since I started playing poker. Foxwoods is HUGE. The 2nd largest poker room in the US, I think. Definitely in the top 5. So this was small, about 40 tables. But on a Monday night, it was about 1/2 full.
I don't get many hands early on. The first real hand, I have Tx in the big blind. Flop is KJQ, 2 spades. I check, middle position bets about 1/2 pot. the button calls and I call. The turn is a low 3rd spade and it checks around. The river brings a 9. Giving me a straight. I check, the middle postion guy makes a small bet. The button thinks for a while and puts in his entire stack of about 40+. That almost covers me at this point. I really put him on a flush there. I decide that at best it's a chop. The bettor calls and they both show down a 10. I don't mind my lay down there since I knew I wasn't winning the hand outright. At best it was a 3way chop.
Later on, the same guy that pushed in that last hand, is short stacked ($23). He already made it clear he was pushing in blind. I'm 2 spots from him and decide that I didn't have many more chips, and figured I'd re-buy here. I just call with 8s6s. The button repops it and I have no choice but to call my last 15 prepared to re-buy. I'm up against AJ (raiser) and 2-4 (blind pusher). I hit a 6 and end the hand with a boat. I sheepishly rake in the chips.
A few hands later, I raise with KJ and get two callers. I flop 2 pair and bet out. The guy to my immediate right calls. Turn is a 9. He bets and I raise. He pushes all in. I don't know why, but I called. He of course shows QT. I don't boat and lose 1/2 my stack.
After that I get a string of good hands and start raising 10 ($6 raises didn't do anything). I was accused of being on tilt, but could not get any callers. The toughest was when I raised to 1o the 3rd time in a row with KK got one caller, hit a K and bet out (which I did that last two times). The guy folded.
I ended up winning a big hand with Jx in the BB at the end of the night. I hit a jack, but there was an ace as well. I bet it and get one caller from this old guy who calls everything. This old guy called everything. The dealers all knew him, but didn't think much of his play. I did worry my jack was no good until another jack hit. I really hoped he hit an ace. The river was the case J. I didn't have many chips left. Just under 1/2 the pot. I was going to bet less, but figured that would be obvious. I threw in the last of my stack and waited. The guy tanked for a while (which wasn't uncommon). In the end he folded. I showed my quads.
The final hand I played for the night left me with a small profit. All night I didn't play my draws very strong. With one hand, I raised on the button with Adxd I got two callers (one was old guy). The flop was 356, two diamonds. First limper bets, old guy calls and I push. Bettor tanks and calls, old guy calls. I hit the flush and show. The bettor folds his smaller flush. Old guy stares and stares at his cards, shows his neighbor and mucks. Had 22. Called 2 all-ins with 22.
I don't get any more hands and go home a $17 winner. WOO HOO! I enjoyed the time and liked the poker room. I recommend it if you're close by. I can't comment on any of the other Tampa Bay poker rooms though.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
On Vacation
I'm on vacation this week, visiting my folks in Florida. We're going to hit Disney one day. I'm also going to try to hit the Ocala Poker room one evening. Maybe I'll have a review.
Luckily, the guys at my poker league decided to cancel this weeks game because of the holiday. They normally don't cancel the regular weeks, you just have to miss it.
Week 6
I was going to write a post about the lack of people playing small stakes SnGs on Full Tilt. I waited about 5-10 minutes for 1 short handed tournament to start. First hand I'm dealt AhTh in the small blind. I go to raise it up. DAMN IT! It's limit!
So on to week 6 of my poker league.
This week we finally had some play to the first level. Took over an hour before someone busted. Courtesy of yours truly, in an awfuckit call. I managed to accumulate some chips early and Drunky was short stacked. He pushed all-in. When I counted out my stack, I still had more than my starting stack. I had 8-9 sooooted. It came down to wanting to play the hand. No idea why. Just wanted to gamble. He had two overs, and I hit. I busted him. I felt bad for Drunky. Six weeks and he's first out 4 of those 6 times. And he won the last season.
Game progresses and I continue to get hands. Not "hit in the face" with the deck, but it definitely grazed me a few times. I only had one complete bluff all night with 72. I raised preflop. Got the BB (Host) to call. I continuation bet into a T6x (can't remember that card). He thought hard and ended up folding. I didn't show.
About 1/2 way through, I have a HUGE stack. UTG (Tiltbox) pushes all in. I'm in the SB but have a crappy hand, so I let it go. He takes it down. On the button I look down on KT. Folds to me and I limp. I feel like he's going to push with anything there. SB Folds and I'm right he pushes. I hesitate, but end up calling. I had planned that, right? Gotta stick with the plan. I call and Tiltbox has AQ. I flop a T and even river a K. We collect the chips quickly before he starts throwing them. As he's known to do.
I have a monstrous stack and go heads up with the biggest donkey of them all. He can't even spell POKER.
As expected, he starts gaining on me. I hit a few hands by hitting top or middle pair and push my stack around, but he seems to win any pot that I don't hit. I can't bring myself to pick off a bluff.
We're close to even, but I have the lead. I make a small raise with JJ on the button He pushes and I call. He flips over KdQd. The river doesn't help and puts one diamond out there. The turn brings a 2nd diamond and I'm sweating 15 outs. It doesn't come and I take 1st for the second week in a row. I also take over the overall lead by a few 3 points. Even better for me. That win gave me the enough cash to cover the buy-ins for the rest of the season. Anything else will be all profit. If I could pull off an overall win I can head to down to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun and play with more than one bullet.
We're off next week, which is good, since I'll be out of town. If we were going to be in Florida a little longer, I might have been able to hit up the Ocala Jai Lai and Poker. But since we're not there for long and will be doing one day in Disney with our daughter, I won't get the time to play.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
The Players
Here's a breakdown of the players in this poker league:
Me- I would definitely classify myself as passive right now. I'm working on upping the aggression. I feel like I've been both playing bad and not getting cards, so I've been a bit reserved.
Brian- Obviously a good player. We'll leave it at that.
Host- Another decent player. I think he's pretty straightforward, tight-aggressive, with the occasional bluff here and there. He's won the league a few times. He's a bit distracted with personal problems so I don't know if he'll go far.
Walken- He's the new guy to the league. Likes to do impressions while he plays. He's aggressive and puts pressure if you show weakness. Probably going to be the guy to beat.
Drunky- Plays drunk and gets drunker as the night goes. Very aggressive and likes to bluff. I've seen him so drunk that he could barely stand, but come back from practically 1 chip and win. Apparently won the league last season.
Tighty- Too tight to really win unless he gets hit by the deck, but will almost NEVER be the first one out. He'll often be one of the last 3-4 players in the game and probably be in the race for points.
St8>Flush- The opposite of Tighty. He finally has learned that a flush beats a straight, and he's toned down his aggression a little, and even tightened up his starting hands a little. But he will still play any two suited cards for raises. Likes to make "aw Fuck it!" calls. Him and I had a lot of run-ins last time. This time he seems to be the bane of Brian's existence. He'll win a week or two, but won't be in contention for the overall points.
Muscles- Just a bad player. I busted him last week when I rivered a K high flush (4flush on the board) and he called with A4 (with nothing but a pair of Aces). I've seen him get lucky once and win.
Tiltbox- Similar to Muscles, but probably a little better of a player.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
A New Day
I feel like blogging again, but not sure how much I have to say.
I haven't been playing online. It's a waste of money for me. I just don't play well online. With that said, I just gave some cash to a buddy who is now currently FLUSH with online cash and he transferred me some Full Tilt money (and I'm a playing a couple of cheap SnG's while I'm typing).
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Congratulations Brian. That is some awesome work. Nice consistency! Lets hope you keep playing great in the blogger event... and donking it up in our League.
So the League started up. Oh wait. A LOT has changed in my life. My last post was back in October. I finished up this same league back than. I tied for 2nd place over all so squeaked by with only a little cash overall. I was up over that 16 week period which was nice. They started up the next season, but I took a break. Why you may ask?
Well, on December 8th, my son was born (We already have a 5 year old daughter). He was a big fella too. 9lbs 9oz. So that's taken up my life. He was 2+ years in the making and a lot of trouble to bring into this world. But worth every bit of pain and money it cost.
So the league finished up and a new season started up. I was invited again, and this time I brought along Brian. Not sure why, the league only has a few good players and I definitely think Brian is better than me, however, he's a friend and I can seem to hold my own around him.
I decided to join. I almost didn't. I've had a string of big losses (big for me mind you) at various home games and I was ready to put poker down for a little bit. Plus it's every Sunday night for 16+ weeks, it's a big commitment. But I decided to try it. Put all other poker on hold and see what I do.
If your interested, here's the breakdown of the rule. Major League. The only change is the payout, and it's only slightly different. 2nd place gets their money back plus a little more. The amount is still in question (buyin is 25 and 2nd place gets either 30 or 40).
Just a quick recap of the blind structure. You start with 20 BBs. Blinds don't go up until the first person busts, than they double right then, and double every half hour (1/2, 2/4, 4/8). After 4/8 it goes to 5/10. There isn't much play, especially if someone busts on the first hand. You go from 20 BBs to 10BBs in one hand.
We've finished week 5. I started off slow.
Going out in the middle of the pack in week 1, and a little earlier in the 2nd week. Week 3 saw me finish either 3rd or 2nd (I can't seem to remember).
Week 4 things got interesting.
About 20-30 minutes (no one busted yet) into the game, it limps around to me, and I look down at AJ in position. I raise it to 6 and get a call from one of the blinds (the perpetual drunk guy) and one of the limpers (Christopher Walken). The flop hits me pretty good. J-5-2, two spades. It checks around to me and I decide to bet out 10. Now I've put 16 chips into this pot. That's about 1/2 my stack at this point. Drunky goes all in (has me covered). Walken calls. HUH? If it was just one of them, I'd have to call, since a flush draw is definitely a possibility. I still thought about calling thinking both could be on a flush draw and thus they have less outs. I think for a while and finally muck AJ face up. Now out of the 9 guys, I'd say 1/2 are OK-good players. The rest were all flabbergasted that I could fold top pair top kicker. In the end, Drunky slowplayed pocket Aces, but Walken hit his set of deuces and even quaded up along the way.
I ended up with about 11 chips. Which was an estimate, because some how, all my chips got pushed into the middle and had to figure out what was mine. We estimated at 11 and I got that back. I managed to hold tight and get a lucky double up at some point. Made it heads up with Walken, got to even and he proposed a chop of the money. We weren't sure if 1/2 points were allowed so we decided to deal out a hand in order to figure out who got the extra point for 1st place. Walken got it and I took 2nd. I normally wouldn't have taken the deal, but with just a disparity in prize money between 1st and 2nd, I needed the split in order to fund a few more weeks of the league.
Week 5 went pretty well for me. I got some hands (something I haven't felt I've gotten much in the first few weeks or previous home games). I managed to go heads up against Tighty McTighty (we tied for 2nd place overall last time I played), but I had a HUGE chip lead. I just kept pushing until I won a hand.
So with the 5 weeks, I started off slow, but now I'm in 2nd and behind 1st place (Walken) by 3-4 points.
I'm still not feeling great about my game, but the last two weeks have boosted my confidence a little bit.
With that said, I did finished in 2nd and 1st in the two SnGs I just played. Maybe things are looking up.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
I'm back... maybe.
Just a little heads up folks. I maybe posting again soon. I'm not playing much online, but I did sign up for a poker league again. We're 5 weeks in and it's looking pretty good.
So, just curious. Is anyone still reading this? Please post a comment if you are.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
2 posts in one month???
Damn, I'm a blogging junkie!
Well the league ended with little fan fair for me. I needed to finish 3 spots ahead of points leader in the final tournament, but I didn't. I believe I went out in 5th. The points leader managed 3rd place (and took the season title). In the end it was heads up between the leagues worst, but most aggressive player and one of the leagues tightest players. And with the points, if the tighest player won the final tournament he'd have sole possession of 2nd place overall. If he finished in 2nd in the last tournament, him and I tie for 2nd place overall.
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Heads up didn't last long, and I don't remember the hand, but the aggressive player won and I split 2nd place money. Which is small. Over the entire league I definitely had a profit, but then again, so did the worst player. Typical, he's either out first or wins. He had 3 wins (including the last tournament which is double points and double money) but was still not in the running at all for season leader.
It was a fun time and it's always good to play live. With a baby on the way I couldn't join the next season. But maybe the season after that.
Another monthly home game. Once again I showed a profit. I showed up late so I missed the first two tournaments. The 2nd tournament had me finish 2nd, and then in the final tournamenet I took it down for a small profit. It's always nice to come out ahead. Especially since these tournaments are a lot about luck with the fast blind structure.
And I've mentioned in that past that I'm no good online. I don't have the patience. I think I have to changed that. I have a few bucks for poker, but I don't see me having an opportunity to hit Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. Which means other than the home games, I won't be able to play much poker. And right now I need to find away to suppliment my income. I don't expect to make a ton of money online, but I would like to make some. Enough to pull out a little bit here and there to help with the various household expenses. I don't have the time for a second job, so I want to try to take these few dollars and turn myself into a profitable player. But to do that I need to learn the discipline. So you may see me at the virtual felt again... if you do, remind me that I need to have discipline.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
