Friday, April 25, 2008

Full Tilt Foolishness

This is for Donkette and ScottMc. They each won a push fest and I sent them the money. I just checked my email and Full Tilt declined the transfers. Have no fear I will get you the cash. And if you read this, let me know if it came some how.

Sorry for the housekeeping post my lonely single reader.

MT

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Pooooosh Fest

Made the top 50 in the Mookie last night. Got AA vs AK all in pf vs Bayne and won to keep me afloat. Nothing good for 20 minutes so I open pushed in the sb against Pirate Lawyer who took me down with his A9 vs my atc 68d. Fun was had. PL went on to win the whole thing. Congrats.

Listening to BDR and was intrigued with the push fest. Decided to participate and it is fun as hell. Especially in the 50ftp events. These poor bastards are trying to scrape by and half the field is pushing non stop from the start. LJ had an unbelievable run in the $3 KO push fest. was almost 3 to 1 over second at one time. The best is all the chat berating the donkeys and getting them to shove right along. Cherry on top if one of them tilts, especially for 50ftp.

Off to Florida and the beach for a week. Will try to update and play poker or maybe not. We will see.

So do not fret my one loyal reader, I will return. Or continue. Ok bottom line is I am not going away.

I'll bring you back a shell.

MT

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Butter

Well there was very little stompin at the Hoy. In fact I only stomped for 3 hands. Stayed out a little too late with the buds playing bball and the beer got the better of me. Had around 450 when I logged on. Folded first hand I saw. Pushed last two. Oh well, I'll try again.

Will definitely play the Mookie password vegas1. Hope to make it deep again.

I love spring. It has finally sprung here in the heartland. This after an unusually long, cold , snowy winter. Followed by an extremely cool spring. You know it's spring when the butter is soft. Went to butter my toast this morning and it spread oh so nice. We leave the butter sitting out at the Thunder household. We can debate the merits to this if you like. I have close friends who are appalled by this. To me it's a no brainer. We use a stick in less than a week. It is not going bad. And there is nothing worse than destroying a perfectly good piece of toast or an english muffin with a piece of rock hard butter. And if you say wait, Thunder, you can just let the frozen butter nugget melt on the toasted item, and then spread it. Yeah you can, but then the item loses it's heat and isn't that why you toasted it in the first place. Oh and to those of you who use that Country Crock stuff that spreads at any temperature, I pity you. You have to live a little. Butter is the bomb. It is one of the food triplets, but that is for another post. So live it up people and eat more butter. It's like playing jackace as the nutz. Feels so right but will kill you in the end.

See, told you I'd talk about food.

Until next time my loyal reader.

MT

Monday, April 21, 2008

Stompin at the Hoy

Oh I get it. Token frenzies. Just wait till it gets down to, oh say, 20 from the bubble and start putting in raises anytime it is folded to you. Reraise early limpers. You win. I had never even gotten in the top 50% in these things. The play becomes so tight when you can only sniff the token. Easy money, just have to get there. Me and another guy just ran over our table for fifteen minutes. And what is better is when they picked up hands, QQ or better, they would open push and not give us a chance to steal first. Bubble burst at my table. He blinded out. Blinded out. Unreal. Must have been his last $6.50.

Anyhoo, I am in. My schedule has aligned and after shooting a little hoops with my friends, I hope to be in my seat for the first hand. Hope to see anybody who is reading this at the HOY
Password is Hammer.

On a side note. So far my infant blog has started off well. All the feedback has been positive. It is pretty cool that one day I am lurking around the tubes and the next day I have been made to feel a part of a pretty cool thing going on. All this after one tourney and a few blog posts.

See ya tonight my loyal reader.

MT

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Mookie Madness

Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would have that kind of success. I final tabled the Mookie last night. It was a great first time blogger's event experience. It was also my first time listening to Buddydank radio. That is just awesome. Made the whole tournament just that much more fun. I was chuckling the whole time, plus the tunes were great.

Over all I played well. Got REALLY lucky once. I was in the big blind with 7s4s and muchtim min raised utg+1. One other caller and I saw the flop of 7d3x5d. I check, muchtim bets out small and other guy calls. Now I see this and am wondering. I am pretty sure the caller is on some type of draw. Not knowing muchtim, or any other blogger's styles, I thought he either had weak AK (no diamonds) or big over pair. I decided that the bet seemed really weak for an over pair and pushed the size of the pot. Fireworks ensue, muchtim pushes, other caller calls and I am left with a decision. Now all I have is crappy top pair and a gutshot straight draw. I have about 1k left, I think, don't really remember. I know I am beat and priced in so I call. Muchtim shows AA, and the caller had 8d6d for the oesfd. Turn is Kx I think and the river delivers me the chip lead with the beautiful 6c.

Now I know I misplayed it. And in retrospect I think muchtim was trying to play a big pot with AA. But when it came down to my decision on the flop, I figured go big or go home. I did not want my inaugural blogger event to set the tone of being weak and passive. I had already called off most of my stack to dwal in a hand earlier and did not want to repeat. Luckily I had chipped back up. I had muchtim covered (barely) and I had the back up gut shot draw to save me. Slim I know, but those two things put my decision over the top. Anyway my play there just solidifies my place in bloggerdom's donkey town.

I also got to take out some blogger's whose blogs I have been lurking around for a while. I knocked out willwonka when we got it all in pre flop his AQ vs my AK. He hit a Q on the flop but I resucked a K on the river. The call on buddy dank radio was a fun listen. I also picked up AA and katitude open pushed as a shorty with AJ. I could hear her wince on BD when I pushed all in over the top. Sureal. Other than that as a chip leader I just open raised decent hands to maintain my chip level and waited for monsters. I also made calls out of the blinds with above average hand to shorties on the button or cut off who were obviously pushing with almost anything when folded to them. I think every one of those except one, my hand held.

I was the chip leader with 24 left. Third in chips after the 2nd break. And I was 5th when the final table bubble burst. I had 15k to the chip leaders 37k. Not the best position but still way in the thing. I went card dead at the final table and dwindled down under 10k. I didn't get above 20k the whole night until I got into a hand with Memphis00 who had been the chip leader the whole time. He had a commanding lead and was wielding his big stack like the mace it was. He had to of open raised every other hand on average. He knew any pot we played would commit us. Anyway I had Ad7d and he raised I called and the flop came out 2 diamond. He pushed and I called he had me with a flopped pair of kings I think, memory is not so good. I got lucky and rivered the flush. That put be up around 35k and above 20k for the first time. This is as close to overcoming his lead we would get as Astin had about the same chip stack as myself and memphis00 had roughly double us.

Few hands later memphis00 open raised from the button the I had chips now and decided to take a flyer with Q7s. Flop Kx2x7x. He bets about pot and I push you know be aggressive be be aggressive. Now I put him on a range of any Ax to K9 and up or any two broadway cards. He flips up KJ and Igh in 4th place for $102.

Pretty freaking good for my first foray into the blogger tournament world. Would have had to call it good and be done with this whole blogger thing if I somehow won the thing. No place to go but down. Congrats to memphis00 on completing a goal and getting that TOC seat

In all it was great and I am still in awe of the whole experience. One thing is for sure, I am hooked.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Best Imitation of Myself

"juggle one handed, do some magic tricks and, the best imitation of myself"-Ben Folds


That is how I feel on the poker tables recently. I don't know, maybe I'm digging myself in a hole. Just wondering. I feel like I am slightly off. Not really being myself. So much of poker is comfort zone. I am trying to be more aggresive and make myself stop limping at all into unraised pots. Working out pretty well so far. Especially at the lower limits I am playing.

Keep trying the token frenzies on Full Tilt. So far 0-4. Everybody says they are easy and they seem to be. Just keep getting in good and getting drawn out on. It amazies me how many players will reraise all in over a pot sized raise with the non nut flush draw. I get a pass with Q80s in sb and flop comes Q8J with two diamonds. I lead out pot sized to eliminate draws and get put all in for my tournament. Have to call and he turns over 7d5d. Kd on turn and ighn. Now he barely had me covered here. Why do this, it was early. Could have easily waited for a better spot. Is this some unbeknownst to me rule in the token freny? Double up early or go home. Am I playing wrong? Oh well that ole wheel will roll around again.


Still need some friends here. Robert was the first to post but made no "official" request for that sweet oh so sweet Full Tilt $$$$. Any way, I do not think Robert plays online. Head on over to his blog and check it out. Great read. Start from the beginning. Better that way.

I am gonna try and play the Mookie tonight, password vegas1 See how that goes. So hurry up, that $5 ain't gonna last for long. (yeah right)

Seriously, or I am gonna have to change my blog name to Things I told Robert About. It is a sad blog made up mostly of recipe swapping and serious discussion as to who is the funnier dead fat man, John Belushi, Chris Farley or John Candy. No one wants that.

Talk to ya soon Robert

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I need friends

Well this blog isn't getting off to what one might call a rip roarin start. I had been kicking around the idea of a blog for some time. I just didn't really launch it at the best time. I have been out of town on family stuff for the last five days and unable to get to a computer for any stretch of time. But don't worry, oh all zero of you who are reading this, the Thunder is back.

I plan on getting the nerve up to play in the various blogger events that are held nightly. If I could place in any of those, I could maybe get some traffic coming my way. But until then I have decided that whoever reads this first and leaves a comment asking for it, will recieve, (ready for this?), $5 via Full Tilt transfer. Soooo, don't be shy. Say high and win some money. Even if it is crappy U.S. I am really hoping this doesn't happen for a while and 50 posts from now someone decides to go to the begining and then claims it. Or if it happens today, cool, (unlikely). Win win.

On to sports.

Can there be any better time in the history of Kansas athletics to be a Jayhawk? 12-1 Orange bowl winners. NCAA champs in basketball. Unbelievable. Makes it so much better that all my K-State and Mizzo freinds have to choke on it.

And Chalmers shot at the end of regulation. I was telling my wife that we will never see a game like that again in our lifetimes. I know we will see great shots and buzzer beaters. I mean a game where it matters so much to us, and our team came out on top. It was a once in a lifetime occurance and I am glad I wasn't too drunk to enjoy it. If we could somehow get our team to pull a Florida and all stay, we could do it again. Dreaming here, but if Rush, Chalmers, and Arthur all stayed, we would have Collins and Aldrich join them to start. We have another good point gaurd and more height coming in the new recruiting class. We would have to be the prohibitive #1 for 09. Dreaming though, Arthur and Rush are gone for sure. Chalmers probably stays and KU will have a top 25 team, maybe 15. Not bad after all the players they lost.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Where to Begin

I guess I will start with a strategy post. Home game, playing with regulars. Under the gun raises 8x bb. I wait to look at my cards and as I do, Mookie, not this guy, declares "screw it, I'm all in" from the small blind. Now I have just discovered rockets in the cut off and tell him to hold it, I have not acted yet. Background, he is on tilt from playing crap starting hands, hitting the board hard and still losing to better starting hands. So my question is this, how would you play this hand?

I thought for half a minute and put the $25 in the pot to cover him. He looks at me and starts talking. Everybody is talking and guessing. (horrible etiquette). He says "fuck it" and calls, original raiser insta folds. He shows AK and I have him crushed, duh. My hand holds up.

Is smooth calling the original raisers bet a stronger move than what I did? Doesn't that just scream strength. I was hoping my bet said I wanted to gamble. Or do I just call and hope he pushes still and the original raiser comes along for the ride. He had 88.