and the home of the CHIEFS!!!!

Who would have thunk it? AFC west champions. The fans here are just so happy to have meaningful football this time of the year. The Chiefs can lock up the third seed with a win against the Raiders. This game is still important. The Chiefs get a home game to be sure, but the Raiders game is important for the second round. If, and it is a big if, the Chiefs beat, probably the Jets, then they would get the second seed on the road. That would be either the Ravens or Steelers. I would rather go on the road against any of those teams instead of the Patriots.

I think the Chiefs are hard to beat at Arrowhead. But, the combination of a young team and first time in a long time playoff game could mean a quick exit for the Chiefs. Either way it is going to be fun.

Poker?

Not sure what I am doing with poker. I have such a defeatist attitude toward the game right now. I played a home game last night. I almost double up with QJ on a queen high flop. The big blind had a worse queen. I then get AA on the button. Limped to me and I pop it to $5. The big blind is .50. Get only the big blind to call. Flop is QT9. Check and I bet the pot. He calls. King comes and I shut down. Checked down the river and he has QJ. I end the night losing with 77 to 66 or the rest of my stack. Flopped set. Slow rolled me. It was only $40 but this sessions loss hit me harder than usual. I feel adrift and drowning in the game. It would appear to the casual observer that I am smiling and dancing when in actuality I am flailing and sucking down water. I can barely see over the water line. I don't even have the energy or the care to get upset about the beats. I accept the AA and 77 loss as a matter of course. I I I. There is not I in poker.

I do not know. I had a good time in Vegas playing poker. I won a tourney at Treasure Island and then about a hundred on a 2/4 table at the Flamingo. Net up for the trip.

I am done with Full Tilt for a while. I have a couple of bucks on Cake. If I can not manage to run that up, I am probably done with online poker for the near future.

Enough I's for now.

Later Gator.

Suck IT Lederer

Full Tilt hates me.

A red phone rings. A hand reaches out from a deep sleep and answers "Hello?".
An gruff voice on the other line responds, "Mr. Lederer, he is on the grid, sir". "Have you called Ferguson and Gordon?", asks Howard Lederer. "I will call them next sir". "Very well, thank you Mr Matusow, back to work". "Yes sir" and Howard hangs up the phone.

Howard gets up from bed, grabs a robe to cover his naked body, and stumbles over to a grand fire place that has been imported from Italy. It is old and made of the finest marble. Hand crafted by gypsy artisans. It is worth more than most peoples cars, but money is not an object for Howard. He makes fireplaces in mere minutes in rake. It bores him.

He glance over his shoulder to make sure his wife is sleeping. Satisfied, he reaches up and and pivots a small painting that hangs on the wall above the mantle. The safe that is revealed has a keypad. He punches in the numbers, 4 8 15 16 23 42 and the safe opens with a small click. Inside reveals only a single red raised button. Howard checks his wife once more and pushes the button. The whole fire place from the floor to ceiling swings silently as it rotates Howard into a small room on the other side of his bedroom. He steps off the hearth as the fireplace continues silently to its original position.

A motion detection light flickers on to reveal a grand staircase the descends into the darkness. Howard ties his robe as he starts down the stairs Lights in front of him illuminate and the ones behind flicker off. He comes to the bottom of the stairs and is greeted by Mike Matusow. The Mouth is sitting behind a plain office desk. The desk is adorned with only a lap top and a Full Tilt coffee mug. "Hello sir" "Hello, Mike. What is he playing?" "He's in the $20K Rush rebuy sir". He is doing quite well". "Okay, are the others on the wall yet? Mike checks his laptop, "Coming on line now sir". "Very well" says Howard as strides to the door. He enters another code and the lock buzzes and the door slips ajar. Mike gets up and follows Howard to the door. Howard stops and with a scowl asks "What are you doing?" Mike stammers and says "I I I j j j ...just thought..." Howard cuts him off mid sentence. "Have you payed me back the two mill I loaned you to pay Forest? Have you?" Mikes eyes go to the floor as he answers a sullen "No". Howard's eyes bulge and his brow raises as he forcibly pushes Matusow back towards his desk. "Get your ass back to that seat and get me my money" Mike mutters "Yes sir" and skulks away.

The door swings in as Howard enters the room. He takes his annoyance at The Mouth out on the door as it slams hard against the frame. In front of him is an array of large televisions on the opposite wall. On one of the monitors is Chris Ferguson. On another is Phil Gordon. Lederer takes a seat at a large desk command station that has a commanding elevated view of the monitors. He looks much like a one man mission control. "Hello gentleman" as he sits down. Phil asks, "Where the hell have you been?" "Yeah" says Jesus. "It was fucking Matusow. He wanted to come in". "Did you tell him to get his ass back to work and get us our fucking money?" asks Gordon. "Yep" answers Howard. Jesus just chuckles.

Howard says "Give me a second" as a porn starts playing on the the biggest monitor. "That's better. Now lets begin."

"Where is he?". "He's table sixty one, seat eight 20K rebuy" answers Jesus. "How do you want to play it tonight?" Gordon asks the other two. "I say we end it quick, I am tired" answers Howard. "Naw, we are already up and I am kind of excited" pips in Jesus. "Me too" says Gordon "Let's make it last" as he unbuckles his pants. "Fine" says Howard..

"Okay, lets start off with a little hit just to warm up." smirks Lederer. As he presses a button on the panel, table 61 pops up on a large monitor right below the porn. All the players cards are revealed. "Ohh, I see Mike was right. MorningThunder has over thirty thousand. Easily in the top fifty." chuckles Jesus. "lets do something about that." murmurs Lederer as his robe falls open.

On the monitor with porn, a woman is exposing herself to the camera as an unseen man directs her every movement. The poker screen shows MorningThunder with pocket kings. Steve 1256 has QQ and a stack of about seven thousand. The flop comes king seven two. "Do it." Jesus spits as his pants slide down to his ankles. Howard hits a button and a queen falls on the turn. "Yeah" whispers Gordon. "One more". Lederer hits another button and the case queen hits the board. "Oh yeah" the threesome moans as their hands slide down their respective bellies and come to rest on their cocks.

"Now tease him". blurts Ferguson. "Make him think all is well with a huge draw". Lederer types in more commands. The porn screen shows a woman orally administering a huge cock. The poker screen shows MorningThunder with a king and queen of spades. UpayMyTuition has a ace and a jack of different suits. It is limped pre flop. The flop is jack ten three with two spades. Money is bet. The turn is another three. UpayMyTuition bets and MorningThunder pushes all in, his tournament life on the line. On the porn screen the woman is choking on the male porn stars huge member. He is holding her head and it appears that she will soon pass out or vomit all over his crotch. The threesome moan as they lather their hands and start stroking their cocks with lotion. "Not yet" purrs Phil. "You bet" whispers Lederer as he delivers the ace of spades on the river.

"Now another little hit" coos Jesus. Howard types with his left hand and the poker screen flashes. MorningThuder has 99. SeniorPoopPants has JT and moves in his short stack from the button. MorningThunder calls. The porn screen shows the the woman being penetrated from behind. The camera zeroes in on her nether regions. The male stud abruptly withdraws his cock from her pussy. The poker monitor shows a flop of 973. The turn is a two. "Yeah" sputters Lederer as his breathing increases. On the porn screen, the male model violently shoves his cock up the unsuspecting starlets ass. She screams as does the three poker stars. The river brings the eight of clubs. "That is so hot" murmurs Gordon. "I am almost there" echoes Ferguson. "Just one more" moans Lederer.

The poker screen blips and MorningThunder has KK. TooPhat238 is under the gun with a jack and two of spades and limps in. Three others limp. MorngingThunder raises to ten times the blind. The blinds fold and TooPhat238 calls. All others fold. The porn is really going now as the male is pounding her ass over and over. It is hard to tell if she is enjoying it or just crying from pain. The flop comes ten four two with no spades. TooPhat238 checks. MorningThunder bets the pot and is called. The turn is the three of clubs. On the porn screen the dude is grunting wildly and really slamming her ass. She is falling off the arm of the couch and begging for him to stop. He ignores her. The threesome are beating off furiously now. "Almost there" cries Ferguson. "Do it" moans Gordon. Lederer uses his left hand to hit the last key. The key that will put them over the edge. MorningThunder moves all in. TooPhat238 calls.

A guy is sitting in his apartment in New York City. He is yelling at his screen. "What the fuck Full Tilt? I pressed fucking fold. I pressed fucking fold every time. Why won't you FOLD?!!!!!" On the porn the stud removes his cock and fires jizz all over the starlets asshole, back, and pussy as she groans. The river comes. But it does not come immediately. It waits a tantalizing, agonizing two seconds to reveal the two of diamonds. They can not hold it off anymore. Howard, Phil and Chris, erupt simultaneously in a cyber circle jerk frenzy. A guy in a New York City apartment jumps up and down in sheer joy. He is now in the top ten in chips and goes on to win the tournament. A nice four thousand dollar score. The porn star grabs the the porn starlet by the hair and shoves his cock in her mouth. And somewhere, in eastern Kansas, a lap top smashes against a fire place.

The three poker magnates compose themselves and sign off while avoiding contact. Howard cleans up the mess he has made, using his robe as a towel. He exits the room and throws the soiled robe in Mikes face. "Clean that for tomorrow". "Yes sir" gasps The Mouth as he breathes the robe in deeply.

Lederer ascends the stairs as lights go on and off. He hits a button and returns to his room. He climbs into bed and dreams of how he would like to fuck MorningThunder in person.

Please Tell Me I Am Not Alone

I am mired in the worst run of cards in my life. I played at Harrahs yesterday. Sat down at the tourney and was feeling good about my game. I chip up and then chip down a bit. I get 22 utg and limp. We see a flop four ways as it comes out 246 with two spades. The small blind checks and the big blind bets the pot. Now this guy is a true novice. He was confused about how the blinds worked. He acted out of turn and did not understand the betting structure. He only bet when he had a good hand. He also was a short stack. His bet seemed to scream strength to me. My first thought was "straight". I decided to just put him in then to end the suspense. To my surprise, the small blind called my raise. The turn was the ace of clubs. I put the rest of my stack in. The small blind calls with A7 of spades. The big blind had indeed flopped a straight. Good thing the small blind came along. Now if my hand holds off the flush I break about even. The river brought the oh so beautiful case 2. Sigh......quads....beautiful. I asked the flush guy what he was doing in the pot. He was crippled. He said he just loves flush draws. Yeah me too.

Our table breaks and I sit down next to an older lady that plays ABC poker. I was feeling good. I was reading the table perfectly. I felt like I was easily better than most of them. Arrogance....sigh.....beautiful. There was a lady that came along with me from our original table. She was hitting sets on flops like crazy. The only problem was she was betting the crap out of them and showing after the folds. I saw her call pre flop raises out of position only to hammer the pot when she had flopped top set. She never checked with the intention of check raising. I got into one pot with her where I could not get her to fold second pair. She called with weak hands and hammered strong ones. I was gonna exploit that later if I could. I get AA and get two callers. The flop is queen high and I bet the pot. The only other good player eyes me up and down and then folds. A shorter stack moves in with AQ and I win. The other good guy said he had AQ as well. I should have checked it and won more..damn. I limp with 66 and flop a set. Check my big blind with 96 of spades and see a six high flop with two spades. Limp with 77. Four of us see a flop of AA7. GIN!!!!. The abc older lady to my right bets half the pot. Now I KNOW she has an ace. I decide to pop it four times her raise. She just calls. All right, no high cards please. Six on the turn and she checks. I say all in and she instant calls. She flips AJ as if she has won. I show my boat and it holds. We have the biggest stacks at the table and it bumps me up over T10,000. Easily the chip leader. We started with T2000. There were only T76,000 in the whole tourney. I am doing well.

I get moved again. I have chipped up some more. I have a stack now and loosen up a bit. I call a button raise of two times the blinds with KQ. This is the same guy who said he folded AQ earlier. The flop is queen high. Check raise him all in. He thinks and calls. He has JT for second pair and I hold. I now have over one quarter the chips in play. Cruise to the final table right? Nope the poker gods had plans for me. Build me up to a fantastic fall.

I am sitting nest to a crazy Asian guy. He reads no situations just cards. The old rock at the end of the table was only playing if he had great cards. Caizian got it wrong every time. He is a shortish stack. I raise in early position with TT. Folds to him in the big blind. He pushes with AQ. Ace on the river. Ok, just a ding. A few hands later. I call a button raise of his with 99 from the small blind. The flop is J high. I hesitate and he sighs and starts to push his chips in the middle but stops himself because I have not acted. I check called his all in. He had QT of hearts. He runner runners the flush. Now he has me barely out chipped. We play for a while and he shows down garbage. I get TT again and call his early position push. He flips over JT. JT!!!!. Jack on the flop and I go home. He ends up winning the thing. Good Grief. I know none of these are bad beats, but if I just win one of the three I probably money. If I win the first one, I probably win the tourney.

The Beats Go On

I wish I had good things to say about poker lately. The best thing is I gained another follower. James Aiken. Turns out he is a pro in the UK. Welcome, James to my bitchy (currently) corner of the web.

I am letting Full Tilt settle a bit. It seems I does not want me to stay sane. Therefore, I turned to Cake poker. They have a $3K rebuy tourney I have taken down a couple of times. I chip down a few times and rebuy once again. I get my first big hand of the night with AK in the big blind. UTG limps in as do five others. I have about T3000 left and the pot is around T1100 so I just push. Happy to just take it down The utg instant calls and everybody else folds. Uh oh. AA for sure, right? Nope K8os. K8 OFF SUIT. Bitchy story, he flops two pair and I can not catch up. I rebuy now. I hit some hands and after the add on I am in the middle in chips. I chip up some more with a nice run of cards and I am in the top fifteen with 50 left and 25 getting paid.

I pick up AA in the big blind. I will ask it again, is there much else better than getting AA in the big blind in poker? Maybe the button? Anyway. Middle position raises it up four times the blind. I am the last one left so I pop it up to T4200 about a third of my stack. I like to do that here because it screams AK and I am just trying to win right there. He instant calls. The flop is 899. I push the rest of my stack. He instant calls. Drum roll.......... he has?????? 77.
Yep, he called off three fourths of his stack with 77. Turn is a K. No flush or straight possibilities. The river is the 7. Super well played sir. I can;t bitch, he did what I wanted him to. I sold AK and he bought and went with his read. The poker gods just like messing with me right now. Oh gods of poker, please let my %95 hands hold once in a while. Thanks MT

Prayer over


Fired up FT thinking maybe the mojo had switched to Cake. Played a $3 bounty tourney. I get to the final 14 with a decent stack. Finally get AQ and push. The big stack calls with JT just because he can and busts me. It was a fifth of his stack. Is this the correct play? Is this how a lot of you sit n go guys play it? Get a commanding lead and call off 1/5 of your stack to try to bust players and/or get bounties? I always thought a big aspect of sit n go tourneys is preserving your chip stack. I really would like to know, because I can not seem to play these things correctly. I have been playing them for years and have yet to take one down. Second a few times, but never first.

I will keep playing, but I may need a new laptop. Mine keeps flying out of my lap at the end of my tournaments for some reason.

Happy Thanksgiving

Enjoy the day. Enjoy the football. Enjoy the nap.

AAAAAAAAAAAnd ON

More humorous than anything now. All in on turn. He called down my pot sized raises the whole way.

Aaaaaaaaand On

Will it ever effin end?

And on

AIPF

The beat goes on

All in pre flop

Full Tilt s telling me something

Sat down to play a fun tournament I found on Full Tilt. It is the $10k guaranteed $1 re-buy rush tournament that starts at 9:40 or so. The first time I played I took 159 out of over 2000 runners. I have not cashed since, but I love the format. Top prize is usually over 3k. I was playing last night and went up and down. I had chipped up into the money with about a thousand runners left. I get AA in the big blind. Is there much better than AA in the big? There is a limper and a min raiser. Two more limpers. Blinds are 400/200. I pop it up to T8400. Big over bet, trying to look like a steal. Limper folds and the original raiser just flats. We are heads up. The flop is 3c4c8d. I bet the pot and he flats. Hmmm. The turn is the Jh. I push all in and he instant calls. He is all in. I am in for 2/3 my stack. Any idea as to what he had here? The river is the 8c. And he flips over KcTc. Trying to give me his chips. That pot would have put me in the top 30. I still have 15k left and keep going. I am up and down a bit and then down to 11k. I pick up AK in the big blind. Blinds 800/400/. Folded to the cut off who makes it 2200 to go. I push my 11k. He instant calls with JTos. for 3/4 his stack. He flops and then turns two pair and IGH.

I fire up a $6 ko sit n go and this happened




I took it as a sign and turned off the computer.

Woke up this morning and fired up a $2.20 cash out tourney, just to mess around. I lose half my stack with AK. On a JsKs9h3dQs board where a guy in position is just calling me down. I check the river and fold to his all in bet. I have T1500 and get AK utg. I raise the pot and get called. Next guy min raises and I push in. Original limper folds and the min raiser calls. He has TA DA 56os. The flop is AK7. Turn 8. River 9. I call him a donkey and he says sorry he was priced in. Yeah because you priced yourself in. Are you really priced in here? He had to call T1000 to win T2200. Are you really priced in when the best you can hope for is what he got, up against two overs? I really want to know readers. Do you ever make this call because you are priced in? It meant calling off over half his stack.

Praire Band Casino.

Months ago my buddy Prasad asked if I wanted to go to an Indian casino, Prairie Band, on a Friday night. I gave my wife plenty of notice and that day was Friday last. Prasad was telling me how they spread a 2-5 game. I have never played above 1-2 before, but he said the game was pretty soft. It turns out I got myself into a game with a bunch of regulars. I picked a hell of a time to move up in limits. I had the worst run of cards I had ever experienced in my life. I saw AQ or AK four times. AJ, 33, 44, 66, 88, 99, JJ, and AA exactly one time. I got KK once in a chopped pot. I played for eleven hours straight. And the marginal hands I did play were getting drawn out on.

My best play of the night was when I started out seated at the feeder table. I get a walk with A7os in the big blind. Flop 7A5. Bingo. The small blind bets out. I smooth call and the button min raises. I go from bingo to uh oh. 57 flashed in my head. I had been playing with this guy for a while and he had been active. This is the type of bet he would make with that hand. The only other hand that fit for him here is A5. I could not put him on a set. The turn is a nasty 5. We check to him and he bets over 3/4 the pot. Now I know I am beat. The small blind folds and so do I. I flash him my cards and says "me too". I asked if he had top two pair as well. He only had an ace. His eyes got huge when he saw my lay down. I was right though. The button flipped up 57 for the boat. He was so proud. If he only knew.

I got moved to the main table and things just kept getting worse. Fold after fold. I finally got short and went broke on the nut flush draw. I reloaded and started to fold some more. There was this crazy Asian woman sitting at the table. She put the sickest beat on a guy to my left. She was calling all pre flop bets with any two cards. It got heads up on the flop of 423 when she bet and he moved all in. She called a $400 flop bet. The pot was over $500. The turn was a ten. The river was an ace. He had flipped over her jacks after the flop. She was standing holding her cards. She looked at the board, looked at her cards, back and forth. She very deliberately and smugly took one card out and placed it face up next to the the ace on the board, pairing it. He other card was a seven. Yep. A7 calls $400 bet on a 423 board. JJ guy was reeling while the rest of us salivated. She announced she would leave when she got to 2K. She only had $150 to go. If I could only get a hand.

The night wore on and I had little to no traction. We are playing five handed. The lady is still there. We are there because she is there. I get AJs and raise it up. She calls and we are heads up. Flop is Ac9h2d. I bet out $50, which is a little less than the pot. She calls. The turn is the 4d. I bet out the pot. She calls and only has $6 left. I toss the $6 in the pot as the river is dealt. It is the 9d. I flip over my hand. She does the same thing that she did with the JJ guy. Can you guess what she had? J2 of diamonds. She yells "frush" and tells the dealer to "give me his money" I had my hand to get paid and get screwed by the poker gods. I win that hand and I am back to even after a horrendous night. She goes broke soon afterward and reaches in to her pocket for $150 more. She busts again and goes to do it again. The dealer asks if she can short buy again. We all about scream YES!!! I finally pick up AA on the button. I raise it to $25 knowing she is going to call from the big blind. The board comes J high and we get it all in. She has J2 again and my aces hold. She has had enough and the game breaks. The last hand gets me to only a few hundred down.

Prasad tells me that there are usually three or four more like her. It was just a slow night. I was just not my night.

More Matter

Went to Harrahs to drop off my weekly $50 donation to the luck fest they call a tournament. I did just that in three hands. I call a five times blind raise with AJs. I get heads up with a older guy who has just open raised every hand of the tournament. Flop is JJ7. Woot Woot. He continue bets and I call. Turn is a blank. He bets bigger and I call. River is a blank and he bets bigger and I push. He has 77 for the flopped boat. IGH. On to cash.

I had played about half of hour of cash before the tourney. The last hand before I have to go to the push fest, I pick up KK on the button. Four limpers ahead of me, so at least I can pick up some dead money. I raise it to $15. The small blind folds and the big blind makes it $45. Folds around to me. I decide to just call. I am in position and can get away from the flop if an ace falls. The guy I was up against I had played with a bit. He is tight aggressive and easily could have aces or even as low as AK. I was on the button, so he could put me on a steal. We had even stacks so one of us was probably gonna double up. If no ace flops, I am pretty much committed to the pot. The flop is T73 rainbow. He pauses a split second and pushes out a stack of $100. This is a bit over the pot size. The size made me think he did not have AA or TT, the only two hands I am really afraid of here. I think he bets smaller with those hands. $100 felt like QQ or JJ. He wanted to win there and was getting rid of AK. I think this through for a moment and move all in. I have him covered by $10. He has to call and does. I flip over my kings and ask if he has aces. He gives a slight shake of the head and I know I am ahead. He does not show his cards. The turn is another 3, great. The river is the very nasty Qh. My insides fall a little in anticipation of the bad news. He shakes his head and mucks and I am up $180 in half an hour. Nice.

How do you feel about opponents not revealing their hands on all in hands? If he had hit his jack, it would have felt a lot like a slow roll. I know it is not, it just feels that way. I do not mind it here because he called my all in. What really gets me is the guys that I call down and do not show. It not raging mad, just annoyed.

I went to another table after the tourney. I was absolutely card dead. I saw zero pairs and one big ace in the first three hours of play. This is where Zen and the Art of Poker has really helped me. I just kept repeating it is not my turn in my head. In the past I would have pressed and lost money. I just waited for the cards to turn. The guys at my end of the table kept needling me. I just told them the truth. I got T3 four hands in a row. Q2, 86, J5, all the goodies. I did pick up KK in the small blind for the chop. There is a bad beat at Harrahs, but he did not have a cheeseburger hand. When my cards did come, I stole some blinds. I finally strung together four playable hands in a row and then started to get action. I picked up AA in the small blind and flatted a raise from utg. I flopped a set and won a small pot. I hit a couple of flushes and another set and ground to a $167 profit. Up about $350 for the day.

There was one guy at the table who could not lose. All the cards came to his seat. He left with $1300 for his eight hours of work. The one big hand I saw was his 22 vs KQ vs KQ on a 2KJ4 board. The set was betting the whole way and both KQ called the whole way. One had picked up a flush draw, but still bad calls. he won a $700 pot there.

Matter

My high school physics teacher always used to say matter is just stuff. I just have some stuff today.

I missed the Very Josie last night. It starts just a little too soon for me here in the central time zone. Kiddos are still getting to bed. I did make the Mookie. I bubbled. TT vs AQs of NYRambler. I can not win a race against that dude. gracie That was my 4 year old typing her name.
Anyhoo. I ended winning a 27 man $6 sit no go later for around $65. Felt better.

I went on my weekly Harrah's run. I sign up for the tourney and have an hour to kill before I meet my brother for lunch. I try to get on a 1/2 game, but all that is open is a 3/6 limit game. I take the seat and proceed to win $100 in about thirty minutes. I then get my 1/2 seat and win another $30 before lunch. Nice to win my buy in for the tourney, lunch, and another $50 to boot. Nice hour of work.

Have a good lunch with the brother. When we were getting seated, I asked the hostess if my brother had come in. I see her every week so she knows who I am. Turns out my brother is right behind us. I say there he is and throw him some homemade chex mix I brought for him. The hostess said that was a nice thing to do for my little brother. Now I am about three inches taller than him but about fifty pounds lighter. I am also eleven years younger. I told her she was mistaken. She would not believe me. I even told her about the age difference. She thought I was full of shit. My brother has been blessed with a full head of dark hair. I have been gray and getting grayer for about ten years. I also am a losing some hair up front. I can see how she made the mistake. But if you look closely at us, his face shows the real story.

I played the tournament. Starting stacks T2000. Took some hits early and was down to T850. I look down at 33 and limp. Five of us see the flop. J53 rainbow. The big stack utg pushes all in. Now, he had been doing this a lot. Every time he did it he showed top pair. He even did it with the nuts. He never slow played that. No matter I am getting it in with my set here every time, obviously. It was just cool to know right away. I knew he had AJ. He was the epitome of playing your own cards. Down right disbelief and anguish registered on his face when he saw my cards. It never occurred to him that he was behind. I doubled up and had my original stack back. I chipped up along the way and had about T4400. I knocked out a shorty and had about 5k. I lost a bit and needed a hand because blinds just went up to 400/800. Let the push fest begin. I get KK utg. Whew!!! I push and the same guy, who is still the chip leader says "I have to call". He has AJs. I flip over my hand and he again cant believe he is behind. Ace on the flop and IGH. I hold here and I am one of the chip leaders. That guy amazed me. I stole from him some. He always bet his hand if he hit. He never got sneaky. I would have really beat him up with a stack. Oh well.

The cash game afterward was great. I lost half my buy in early. I had two 2/5 players on my left just splashing away at the pot. I play super tight. I finally get KK in ep and rerasie it $15 to the utg player who made it $5. Four of us see the flop of KJT rainbow. I should have bet out, but I shut down. I was convinced utg had AQ. It checked around. The turn brought the ugly Q. Utg ends up having AT. I played it ok. I don't know. I guess I should have bet out the flop and see where I am. I think I was just intimidated by the guys to my right. Weak I know.

I get KK again and bet it the same. Same four callers. Flop comes eight high and I push. I win. One of the 2/5 guys leaves and I move one seat over from the one seat to the two seat.. I hit AA three times and get paid. One time by a LAG that called off $170 with I do not know what. He raised pre flop $10. Three call and I pop it to $50. He calls and it is heads up. Flop is 9 high with two spades. I bet 3/4 the pot. He flats. The turn is the 4 of diamonds. He agonized over the turn when I pushed all in. He finally calls off $100 with I do not know what. The nasty four of spades comes out and I am sure I am crushed. I flip over my AA and he folds and leaves. Yay me.

I limp utg with QQ. Three callers around to lp. One guy raises to $20. The button moves all in for $60. I move all in. The button asked for the exact flop he had earlier when his 22 flopped a set. The dealer obliged. He flipped his cards over while telling the dealer thank you. I casually turned mine over and the button calls me a butt hole. The door card was a Q. Q24. Turned quads. If the river came 2 we win a bad beat. Close as I had ever come. The other guy had JJ.

I hit KK three times. Fun seat. I end up #340. $470 or so for the day.

I will be in Vegas for a family thing December 6-11th. Nice coincidence heh? I will try to make it over to the IP or wherever everybody is. I really wanted to play the tourney.

Whew!!! Found It!!!

Been a while. My computer got sick. Really sick. It kept redirecting my searches. It would not let me get on blogger. I could not get on Full Tilt or Cake. It took me four days and a friends help too realize I had smss.exe. Nasty little thing. I had to reset my computer back to factory settings. Works great now.

No online poker, but I have been playing some live poker. Played at Harrahs Tuesday. I went out in the tourney right in the middle. Older gentleman open raises. I call and we are heads up. I had about starting chips. I have QJs. Flop is J83 with one spade. He over bets the pot. I read this as he wanted to win it there with brute strength. I should have shipped it. My gut said I was ahead. The call committed me. It was half my stack. I just called. The turn was the king of spades. He pushes all in. Barely had me covered. I beat him in the pot. He turns over 9Ts. I receive the six outer when the 7h comes. Blind aggression pays off some times. I don't think he folds the flop if I push.

Played cash after that. Up and down. Up a bit on my $200 buy in. Go to the bathroom. Get a drink. Come back and two new guys are sitting to my left. I sit down and straddle in middle position. I get 99. First new guy limps. Second new guy raises to $20. We are playing 1/2. I call. First new guy calls. Flop is 975 rainbow. Bingo!!. I just check, obviously. First new guy bets $`0. Second guy pops it to $20. Me? I crap my pants. I'm getting paid. Woot woot. I decide to raise it up another $100. First guy instant calls. If you have 68, well played sir. He was short though, only had around $60. Second guy agonizes. I have him where I want him. He has an over pair. Everybody knows it. He finally folds JJ. First guy has QQ. Turn is a 7. River is a J. Dodged a bullet. Put me over $400 in my stack. I go home happy.

In the tourney, there was a guy sitting next to me that just kept on complaining. He kept forecasting doom. And it came. Was glad he left. I can handle most people at the poker tournament, but those guys just bug me.

The Chiefs

Things are looking good here in Chiefs country. They are 4-2. A full two games up in the loss column over the Raiders. The Chargers are cooked. They have a Tennessee at home, then on the road to Houston. And, they still have to go on the road to play the Colts. Denver is done too.

That leaves the Chiefs and Raiders. I do not know what to make of their sick 59-14 win over the donkeys. Unless they start backing it up, I am going to call it an aberration.

I think 9-7 wins this division. If the Chiefs can hold serve at home, they go 9-7. That is 5-5 the rest of the way. Granted one of those wins would have to come against the Titans. Not easy. But road games at Denver and St Louis are winnable. The Raiders have to win six to get there. They too have five home games. They get Seattle, Indy, Miami and KC . They have to win all of those and pick up a road win to get to 9-7. Jacksonville is really the only option. The other road games are KC, Pittsburgh, and San Diego.

I am not ready to anoint KC the AFC West Champions. It is just really fun to explore the possibilities. The Chiefs should bet the hapless Bills next week at Arrowhead. If Seattle can somehow knock of Oakland on the road, then I would buy the banner.

Zen

I have been reading Zen and the Art of Poker. I am only half way through it but I think it has helped me out quite a bit. My last two big losing sessions at the casino would not have happened if I had read the book. The biggest ideas I have taken away from it is the idea that it is not my turn and learn to love the fold. In my past two losing sessions I called (ugh) all in against the nuts, and in the other I pushed with a weak holding that had little hope of pushing the original raiser off his hand. Yesterday, I broke even and felt pretty good about it. I was on one of the biggest action tables I had seen in a while. I was card dead. Stone dead. I kept repeating my mantra. "It's not my turn". Over and over. My original $200 had dwindled down to $60 over three hours mostly due to a nut flush not getting there and my only pair, 99, running into a shorties AA. Finally the dam broke. Got KK and took down some blinds and limpers. Read a player right and called down his bets with my AT. He had 57 off suit, ace high good. I pick up 77 and it was my turn. Flopped a set on a 79Q board, in position. Early position player bets the pot. Me and my neighbor call. Turn is the five of hearts. This puts the flush draw out there. The original raiser bets $18 and my neighbor flats. I push all in for $51 more. The original raiser tanks then calls. My neighbor super tanks and says he thinks he is priced in now. He finally folds T8 for the flopped oesd. I wish he had called after the four of diamond blanked the river. The original guy showed a naked queen and said he made a bad call on the flush draw as well. I am pretty sure he just had a queen. I have played with him a lot and he is a pay off wizard. I flop another set with 66 later and I end up even for the day.

Zen worked for me this day. There were many times in the game that I felt like pushing with less than great holdings but then listened to my mantra.

I bubbled the tourney as well. It got heads up and the stacks were near even. The lady did not want the chop. First was $544, second $344. Of course she lost. Cost her $100 or so. It never ceases to amaze me how often people fail to realize the nature of this turbo tournament. It is a crap shoot at the end. Take the guarantee and do something else.


Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

MOOKIE WIN!!!!!

Took down my first Mookie tonight. It was a deep, tough, and talented field of five.

A win is a win.




Say hello to the defending Mookie Champ.

Boo ya!!!!

The Other Side

Gotta be fair.




They say you have to get lucky to win tourney's. I did so twice here. Third time was not the charm as my JJ went down to obvious min raised AA. Could not get away since my open raise pretty much committed me to the pot. Ahhhhhhh.

Satan Does Exist

Back door flushes prove that.

Got that from lighting.


True. Too True.

At least it happened in the cash. Won $37. First was over 3k.

Some things

Went to Harrahs Tuesday. Not much to say played for three hours at a 1/2 table. Left up $70. I'll take that win rate. I wish I could have stayed. I was sitting at one of the weakest tables I have ever seen at Harrahs. When I got there I took the seven seat between two guys that seemed to be having a good time. Lively conversation and all. I talked a little with them and they were nice guys. Their ideas on poker were fun too. The guy to my right told us that he rarely folds a suited ace to a raise. Great! Then they both agreed that they preferred KJ to AJ. I almost blurted out "donkey hand", but stopped myself. The drunk lady in seat 4 was spewing chips. The rest of the table was all ABC. It is probably the first time ever that I have sat at a table and felt like I was the best player there. I had played for an hour and had not raised a thing. I look down in the big blind and find QQ. Raise it up to $15 with three limpers. Fold, button calls and the small blind calls. Flop is ace jack junk. I c-bet and get called at both spots. The turn is another blank. OK. I am done. I slow down and check. The button instant shoves all in. The small blind (I play any suited ace dude) beats him into the pot. The button has A4os. The small blind has JhTh. The river is the jack and the small blind wins. That is the table I was at. No awareness of what is going on with calling the first raise. They were playing their cards and it did not occur to them that it was the first time I had raised since I sat down. And the small blind getting himself all in on that board. I don't know how he could think he was good there but he did.

Fun stuff

Word of the Day

Pudenda

This is Just How I Roll

The money went in on the turn. FML

Edit: Umm I meant flop.

The Mighty Duece Four

For Poker Grump

The Chiefs

I would have bet any amount of money that the Chiefs would not be the only undefeated team left in the NFL after four weeks. I will also bet any amount of money today that the Colts will beat the Chiefs next Sunday.

I am just glad to watch some meaningful football. It has been so long since Kansas City has had anything to cheer about with the Royals and the Chiefs being equally pathetic. Even with two tough road games at Indy and Houston in the next two weeks, the Chiefs will still be tied for first in their division at worst. Then the schedule gets super soft. Hell they get to play the NFC west.

Can not predict if they make the playoffs, but it will be fun to watch football that matters to me.

Flopped Full House, The Other Side

This is better.


In interest of full disclosure.....



We did not get it in until the turn. BTW

Really!?!

Exploring new ways to lose. Just %99 to win after the flop.

Fuck you Waffles, I run way worse than you.

Tingly Down There

Is there anything better than picking up Aces?

I was playing the $4.40 Rush tourney. I had recently doubled up and was sitting in the top five with about 23 players to go. Top fifteen get paid. I get rushed to the next table and find myself in middle position with AA. I go through my normal quick check off when I get a big pair. My position, stacks sizes I am up against and how am I going to play it, pre-flop post flop whatever. How am I going to maximize value here. I tend to talk to myself at the computer. I am verbalizing all this when under the gun plus two (2nd in chips) open shoves. I giggle a little and mutter "that decision is taken care of". I sit for a split second as my elation turns to worry. God I hate poker sometimes. I am getting ready to call a bet that can double me up and I am holding the nuts. But, all I can think of is the bad beat that is coming. Sick I know. I guess it has come to this. It is easier to expect the beat down while holding the nuts than getting excited about winning with the nuts and getting snapped off.



As you can see it all worked out in the end. I doubled up and took the commanding lead. What a great play with JJ eh? That guy should teach a class on how to never ever play JJ. Just plain awful.

I made the final table pretty easily. FT got me. It is not that it gets me, it is the manner in which it does. I took a race for half my stack with 55 in a battle of the blinds all in pre flop. I win and I have a commanding chip lead over all but one other player. 55 < AK. The board comes out T787T. Counterfeited. Damn. Would have felt better losing to an ace or king. Getting counterfeited feels so dirty. Still have chips enough to make moves, about 15K. Blinds were 800/400.

First hand of the final table I get 4 limpers with me in the big blind. I have 23of clubs. Flop 4c5c8s. The small blind bets and I push. The big stack flats as does the small blind. I hit the flush and the big stack pushes. Doh!!!. He flips over the nut flush and I am drawing to one out. No such luck and IGH in 9th.

Nuff Said

Notch a piece of cake

Just went out in Cakes 30+3 4K guarantee bounty. Second hand. I have JJ. UTG min raises and I just call with the big blind. Flop is 9J6. Original raiser bets half the pot. I just smooth call. Turn is 6. Sweet I have full house, now worry about flushes. He bets the pot. I smooth call. The river is another 9. Damn, that is gonna kill my action. AA and KK slow down for sure now. I bet half the pot. He min raises me. Ok, I push and he calls and tables 66. One outed on the river. You never see quads coming.

So my last three tourneys have had flopped trips beat by runner runner straight, runner runner flush and my turned full house lose to turned quads.

How am I running?

FT curse is back

Just lost my last two sit n go's. 66 vs AsKc and KK vs AA. Both times I flopped a set to get way ahead. The sixes lost to runner runner flush. The KK lost to runner runner straight. It's like I am being punished.

farfromgroovin.

Poker Bleh

Went to Harrahs yesterday. I made the most horrendous play I have made in a long time. I get in a cheap flop with Q9 from the small blind. Flop of 9QK hits. I bet $10 and get called in three spots. The turn is a 6. I slow down and check. The big blind bets $60. Folds around to me and I think a bit before calling. River is a blank 7 of hearts.. There were two spades on the flop. I check and he bets $200. That puts me all in. I deliberate and finally call. It was obvious to everyone he flopped the nuts JT. I knew it too. My brain was screaming at me to fold from the turn. My brain was sending off 5 alarm bells on the river. It was like I was mesmerized. I guess I just wanted to be a hero. Never go broke with a pair of queens in you hand. Right? I could only beat top pair or the busted flush draw. No way he bets that way. No way. The kick in the junk of the whole thing is I told myself I was going to play until my big blind, but decided I had one more round in me. If I had just got up I would have booked a smallish $60 win. Still $20 an hour. Instead I went home broke and dazed and severely disappointed in myself. Expensive lesson.


I played on Cake poker last night for the first time in a while. It was a $5.50 re buy and add on. I got in for the minimum $15 consisting of the double buy to open the tourney and the add on at the end of the re buy period. All of my big hands had lots of all in action and all held up. I ended the re buy period as the huge chip leader. I cruised to the final table, never falling below fifth place. We were playing ten handed with blinds 3k/6k ante 500. I limp with KQs under the gun. We see a flop five ways. Ts8s3s. Can you say GIN!!!! There is already 40k in the pot and I have about 62k left. I decide to push and take it down here. I would be second or third in chips. It folds to the big blind who instant calls. He has about 70k left. He has the As4h. Of course the final spade hits the river and IGH. I win that pot and I am in first place. The fool. He puts basically his whole tourney life on the line as a %70 underdog. I fade that spade and I have a great chance of winning another $650 or so.

So there you have it. No justice in poker. I donk off into the nuts and get drawn out on by a donkey.

Bleh

Good things come

to those who wait.

I finally won one of these after about a bajillion tries. The best I had done to date is third a few times.

Got down to three handed with a short stack and a Lagtard that had about my stack. He busted the small stack and we played heads up for about 10 hands. I took a small chip lead when the final hand cam up. I have 89os in the small blind and limp. He checks and I flop gin!!!! T76 two clubs and a heart. I check and he checks. He must have something here because he always bets. The turn is the QH. I bet 3/4 the pot and he raises me about half his stack. Awesome. I push all in and he calls tabling Qc6C for top pair and flush draw. The river blanks and I win. Woot. Woot.

You may notice the picture in the background on my desktop. It is from a room in the Bellagio taken by Astin. Drop by his blog and see it, it is pretty cool.

On Fire

Went to Harrahs last Tuesday to play the daily 1 pm tourney. You have to get there three hours early just to get a seat. Ridiculous? Absolutely. It used to be a 60 man tournament. Now it is only 30. Dealer shortage. Yeah, OK.

Anyhoo, I have about a hour to kill until my brother gets there to meat me for lunch. What to do? What to do? Craps of course. I buy in for $100 to get rated and wait for the current roller to finish before placing a bet. He craps out and I put money on the pass line and $1 on the fire bet. The fire bet is a bet you make when a new roller is coming out. If he makes four points during his roll you get 40-1, five points 200-1, all six and it is 500-1.

He rolls a six. Bam!! Next roll a six. Rolls a ten. Bam!! Next roll a ten. He hits the five and eight relatively easy. Within ten minutes, my little dollar is $40. He then rolls and makes points that he does not need to complete the fire bet. Until finally a nine. Bam!!! Rolls another nine. My buck is now $200. Been playing for just twenty minutes. Now he gets stuck on nine. He sets nine as the point and hits it another two times. All the while rolling fours left and right (the only point left to hit the big bet). Finally he rolls a four. And four rolls later, another four. Bam!!!! $500. Just like that. I left for lunch up $700. First place in the tourney only paid $300 or so.

Slick was sick. He did not go that day and he loves the dice.

I bought my brother lunch.

Later at the cash games, I ran into the scariest poker player I have ever seen. He was snapping off bluffs left and right with bottom pair. He would look at them and say, you missed your draw, I call and always be right. It was creepy. I stayed out of his way. He had $1500 in front of him in a 1/2 game $200 max buy in. I flopped a couple of straights and ended up $70.

I played video poker while waiting for my seat and won $3.25.

Good day all around.

Holy Cow

I have posted more in August than I did in all of 2009. My fingers are on fire.

Rush smush

Just busted out of a rush tourney.

Here are the two hands that did it. I got it in good as %80 or better and lost of course. Howard Lederer grrrrrr.

Hand Answer

Here is what I did.

I had just over T2000 left. I was gonna push on the small blind, but when the high jack pushed all in I stopped. It was kind of funny, because when the flop came out, I muttered to myself, "I'm goin broke this hand". I used my time thinking of what to do. The first bet did not concern me near as much as the push all in. The high jack could easily have KQ or JT. It felt like a straight to me, so I folded. The small blind called and they flipped over....QJ for the small blind and AQ for the high jack. Damnit!!!! The turn and river were blanks and I would have nearly tripled up.

This is the paradox of poker. You make right decision and fold and it feels so wrong. Then you make the wrong decision and call and are rewarded with a suck out and it feels so right. It is so hard not to be result oriented.

I made the correct decision here. I just ran into the one time where I am ahead. What are the odds that the other two queens are out there for the oesd. I never even considered that possibility. One opponent, sure. Two, never.

Another Hand Question

Playing on Full Tilt. $3 KO Tournament. In the first hour you get QQ in the cut off. It folds to the high jack who calls the big blind. You make a pot sized raise. The small blind and the high come along to the flop. The flop comes JT9os. The small blind bets the pot. The high jack pushes all in for twice the pot. You have them covered but barely.

What do you do?

Here

Played poker up at Harrahs Tuesday. Not much to say. Booked a small win $58. Played some craps while Slick played the tourney. Turned $60 into $180. Then two guys showed up and started playing the no pass line hard. Snickering when a ten or four was rolled for the point. The table mojo changed instantly and wiped me almost entirely out. I had only $20 left when it got to the last lady that had not rolled since they showed up. I played the pass, and the fire bet, again and she rolled a few sevens and an eleven. I had a little breathing room. I had waited for her to roll. She had hit three points twice and was responsible for my now blown winnings. Well she turned out to be too much for the bad juju duo. She rolled and rolled and rolled. She hit four points, which qualified for the fire bet. She hit the hard ways. I had put $1 on all of them and at one time had them all parleyed. She rolled the hard four back to back and my $1 initial bet yielded me a cool $111. She rolled a nine to mark her fifth point. I had all the numbers covered. It was awesome. The negative duo where hating life. She rolled and the first one came up a six and the the second one sat on 3 for a split second and then tumbled on over to the one. Ah sooooo close. The five point fire bet payed 200-1. Oh well, the 4 fire bet got me another $40. I cashed out for a $220 profit. I had started with only $20. Nice roll ma'am.

Cash game that night was ok. Grinding. Two big hands. A9s turns the nuts and I get doubled. KK I opened for the raise, seven times the big blind. I get two callers in the blinds. Flop comes 752 rainbow. The big blind bets 3/4 the pot. He is aggressive and he could have anywhere from air to a set. I put him on making a move at a non scary pot. He thinks I am playing AK or AQ. I raise enough to commit the other guy and scare off the big blind. The other guy calls quickly and the big blind thinks a bit then folds. The other dude turns up 75os for top two. Well played sir. The turn brings a 2 and I get the re-suck. Thing is, he is now kinda pissed. Whatever. That is the way it goes. Ran QQ into AA later, but ended up about $80 for the session. Not bad.

Ripping of the Goat

WEEKLY DOSE OFF AWESOME!!

ala Julius Goat

Look out for the Devil.

In order to be fair

Just thought I would be fair to Howard and Full Tilt here. As you can see I got it in bad pre flop and got lucky. So....Howard, I will ease up on the junk punch when I see you.



This was a little $3 KO tourney. We get down to less than 20 and I need a hand. I am in the big blind and I see AKs. Woot woot. UTG goes all in ahead of me. He is shorter than me and this happens.




Sorry Howard, back on.

This close

So this happened...



All in preflop. He instant called. WTF!!!!

All in knowing he is racing at best. Phenomenal poker.

I was oh so close to launching my laptop across the room. I had picked it up. I ended up just forcefully throwing it down on the couch.

I was playing a $6 token tourney. I got AA in my next big blind and I got five people to pay me off. I doubled up on the original 77 guy and never looked back.

Maybe, just maybe.

I do not even care anymore.

Played a $4 Rush sit n go on Full Tilt just now. I am just numb. Here is how I lost the first chunk of chips after chipping up early. I raised pre flop and bet nearly the pot on the flop. He flatted both times. I slowed down after the turn and paid off a small bet on the river. I am obviously playing poker wrong.




Here is where I busted out. I called the pre flop raise and re-raised all in on the flop. He snap called. Puke.




I played the Mookie last night. I had this nice hand.



That old wheel is gonna roll around once more. It's just so effing slow.

MT

Bounty

SHIP IT!!!!!!

Tuesday crew day

Made the traditional field day trip to Harrahs. We like to play the $30 old man tournament game. We get there at 11:25. The tourney starts at 1:00 p.m. I go to buy a ticket and there is only one seat left. The three of us pass and decide to play cash. When we started going to the boat, the tournament was 60 peeps. Now it is down to 30. Just stupid. We have to leave four hours before the tourney time just to get a seat. They say it is because of a dealer shortage. Are we not in a recession. Coach up a black jack dearer and get them in there. How long does a potential dealer have to go to school before he or she can deal. It has been way too long. It just keeps getting whittled down. They say bye September it will be back up to 50. Yeah right. Harrahs room is going to shit. We literally had to wait 5 minutes to get our name on the list for 1/2 today. They were talking amongst themselves. Harrahs just does not care about the player all that much anymore.

On to 1/2. I sat down with $200. I got in some hands early with some big draws that did not get there and was down to $65 in about 15 minutes of play. I then limped with 35os from the button. Flop come 559. I bet smallish and get one caller. I coax $20 more out of him before he folds on the river. Next big hand is KK. There is a $11 raise and three callers ahead of me on the button. I raise to $30 and get called in two places. The board comes all low cards rainbow. They both check to me and I bet a little less than the pot. I get one caller. The board pairs on the turn and I push all in. If you have a six sir, the super well played. He thinks and then call. the river is a blank and he says nice hand and folds. I get AA a little later and open raise to $15. I get three callers on a KJ2 rainbow board. I bet 3/4 the pot and get one caller. The turn is a 8. I but $70 out. He tanks for a whole and moves all in for $12 more. I call. The river is a ten. He flips over KQ and I am in the black. I chip up some more and then get 88 utg. I limp and the flop is seen six ways. I comes out 789 rainbow. I check and it folds to the guy that I busted with kings earlier. He bets smallish and me and one other player see the turn. What a turn. It is a 9, pairing the board. I decide to bet it out $20. Representing the 9. The original raiser makes it $60. The tag a long goes away. I think for a minute and ask him how much he's got left. About $100. I announce all in. He calls quickly and tables T6 for the straight. I flip my full house and he is dead. I am up nearly $400 for the day. Slick and I play a few more orbits and get out of town. Ended up $360 for the day. Fun Fun. That guy hated me.

Ooops.... I did it again

Was fun. Had to get really lucky. 88 and KK flopped sets against AA to get big stack. Also lost with AA vs KK. The 88 hand was the only one where my tournament life was on the line. And MemphisMOJO, I will take you up on that offer.

Nice little score

Gotta keep it going, keep it goin full speed...

Too much

I went to far. Many apologies to all of you. Bad MT. Bad.

Sorry for the outburst. It just gets so old. How can I lose every hand when I am a huge favorite?

No excuse.

Will do better.

I am not even kidding. FUFT

FU FT



This is how I roll. Absolutely fucking ridiculous. The dude was donking off his chips. I call the pf raise. He moves all in on the flop with fucking air. Of course it was not air. FT let him know somehow that I ALWAYS get drawn out on. ALWAYS.

CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK ME.

FT

I just do not learn.

FT got me to reload with their new Quick Pay method. They said they would give me $20 for $10. Have not seen a dime of that money. So I play a couple of $3 ko turbo tourneys. The first one I just wilted away until I had only T1000 left or so. I chip up to T3000. There is a small raise utg and I have AK. I ship it. The big blind calls and the original raiser calls. Original raiser was short. Less the an T800. He does not really matter. OR had 66. Button KQ. River is Q. Fuck you.

Wait a couple of hours and try again. This time I chip up and have a nice stack around T10,000. I am in the top ten with about 37 left. I pick up QQ on the button. One mp limper and then the chip leader bets 10k into a 800 pot. This just reeks of AK or under pair. I call as does the original limper. Limper has AJs. Button has AKos. Limper wins with runner runner flush. How does this keep happening? I mean really. I knew I was racing at worst. Fuck me. How does Full Tilt keep rewarding horrible play. AJ call off all chips against a huge raise and flat call. Yeah, gotta be good. It would be fine if my fucking hands would hold. Just fucking once.

I have said it before and I will say it again.

Full Tilt is a Cunt!!!!!

Mad Genius

Norman Chad on WSOP main event coverage from last Tuesday.

"They call him the Mad Genius, but I've never seen him win anything."

Made me laugh.

Tuesday Fun Day

Played at Harrah's Tuesday. It is what I do on Tuesday's. Me and Slick and JM and sometimes Pat or P money go and play the $30 daily with all the old geezers. So far one of us has finished in the money every time but one. JM even chopped the win two weeks in a row. Anyhoo, I hit the first break about average then donked off with AQos after a raise and reraise. Knew he was huge, but I was short after losing a race to 55 and I wanted to play cash or get big. He flips KK. First two cards on the flop are an ace and a queen. The third...a king. Dead to two outs. No good.

I bought into a 1/2 table for $200. I had won $130 on craps before the tournament, so I was almost free rolling. I win a few pots. 99 wins after raise and c-bet. Then Slick gets sat at my table. All my cards die. Just vanish. Can't get a thing. Just junk for two hours. I do get 55 once and raise it to $10. The flop comes AQ2 with two hearts. There are three of us. Slick, myself and the button. Slick and the button have been sparing a lot. Slick, first to act, bet out real quick half the pot. I fold and the button thinks a bit and calls. The turn is the ten of diamonds. Slick bet out a little more than half the pot. The button calls quickly. The river is a 4 of spade. Slick bets half the pot. The button thinks and thinks. He has to have a big ace. Finally he mucks. He asks Slick to tell him he has 22's. I say naw, he had the flush draw with a gut shot straight draw. Slick turns to me, the button cannot see his eyes, and his eyes are wide open. I totally nailed it. He told me later he had KJ of hearts. He wanted to know how I knew. I said I play with you weekly. It was pretty sweet. I did not know it when I made the fold, but as the hand progressed, and I worked it in my head, it became obvious. Like a light bulb in the dark.

I played for a while and donked off chips. Just trying to get in cheap and hit. Nothing. Even hands I did not play were missing. We decide to leave when the blinds get to us. I look down and 88 utg plus one. I call. Three more calls and the button raises it to $10. I call as do two others. The flop comes 7s 5s 4d. I have an over pair and the gutty. The table checks to the button who fires the pot. Something about the bet seemed fishy to me. I had $70 on top of the raise, so I nutted up and pushed. Slick folds, and the other dude tanks. He finally folds A7. The button instant calls. We do not show as the board comes 9s. Not a great card, but I did pick up the straight flush draw. River is the 9d. Did not mean much on the whole. I flip over since I was called. He tilts his cards up and looks at them and looks at mine. I am either good or about to get horrible slow rolled. Finally he flashes a 6 for the OESD and mucks. It put me up about $80 for the session. I thought he probably had 66 or maybe A6. Slick thought he had 67. Hmmm. I played my last hand and split. Nice to go from over a hundred down to up just like that. (I had min reloaded along the way)

At home, my AC is out. It is 87 inside and 75 outside. Having a hard time cooling the house down. Sucks. 102 tomorrow. New AC on Friday. Gonna put that baby all the way down to 69. Figure I have 3 days of electricity to spend. Gonna be sweet.

Got Drawn out On

It did not hold. The AC died yesterday. Have to wait till Friday to get it replaced. Excessive heat warning until Friday night. The wife just left on a business trip for two days. Lucky her. The kids and I are sweltering.

Just lost a big hand with AA.

HOT

It is hot here in the heartland. It was over 100 today. The forecast says more of the same for the coming week. I can handle the heat. My compressor cannot. I am listening to music, playing a poker tournament and listening to my AC unit die. Or more to the point, the fan. It whines and squeaks. I called a guy who drives a truck that advertises his prowess around such units. He came. He inspected. The unit ran perfectly for him. He did say that it was old. So a fix means replacing all the lines, condenser unit, and compressor. Just $2500. Walking around money really. Right? Calling tomorrow. Getting it swapped. The old beast is LOUD. I want that whisper one. You know, the one that barely makes a sound and is super efficient. That one. I could replace that fan on the old one, but that would be wasting money.

The AC is AA and it's all in against 78s. Two to that suit flop with an OESD. Just hold baby. HOLD!!!!!

One mo ginn

So this is how it feels to run goot!!!!

Fun

Really fun.

All right I get it Full Tilt, you do not want me!!! (I'm gonna junk punch Howard Lederrer!!!)

Playing steps on Full Tilt recently. I took last in the money on one and instead of getting another step, I got $2. I decided to play Rush and see if I could run it up a bit. I played one session and nearly doubled it. I just finished my second session and I am bust. I had A9 < A4, TT < 88 he flopped set on an eight high board, and AJ < A9. Each time the ace hit the flop and each time the villain flopped two pair. I get it FT. I am out. Gonna junk punch Howard Lederer

Go Read This

For Jessica

Harrahs

Played the $30 suber turbo with super nits at Harrahs yesterday. I saw one premium hand, AA. It was down near to the final table bubble. I raise it 2 1/2 the blinds from middle position. Folds around to big blind who had just one eighth of the big blind. He had been wiped out the hand before. He flips over 26os and it straights out. He won his small blind hand. He won another hand. It looked like chip and a chair was happening in front of us. Alas it was not to be. I sucked out on him to take him out in his next big blind.

Anyway, I ground it out. Stealing when they were weak. Making good folds. When we got to seven, one guy asked if we were going to pay the bubble. The money winners would each kick in $6 to the bubble boy. Everyone agreed accept for early 20's douche bag. He wore reflective sunglasses and took forever to make a decision. Obviously a poker genius. He said he liked it the way it was. I truly believe that he thought he was better than all of us. He did not have a big stack and he was not bullying us at all. Next hand he gets into it with the monster chip leader and doubles up. We ask him now if it was ok to pay the bubble. Same response. He is now the biggest stack at the table. We play and he starts bullying. Non of us have anything to play back at him with. My buddy was on the table with me directly on my right. He had chipped up and was close to the douches stack. The big D pushes when folded to him on the button. He had been doing this a lot. My buddy tanks. And tanks. I am watching the big D and he cannot control his breathing. He is almost hyperventilating. His arms are crossed and they are quivering. He is facing away from my buddy, trying to look like he does not care, but I can see his eyes over his glasses and he is staring my buddy down. My buddy finally calls and tables 55. Big D tables K6 of hearts. The flop brings KQJ. Turn the T. Alright split here we come. River the lovely five. The big D is crippled and goes out the next hand on the bubble. I hope he learned here. At the end of these tournaments it becomes true gambling. There really is no more poker to be played. Everyone is a shorty. At the very best it is two hands and you are out. Even if you are the big stack. That $30 is better than making it all that way for zero.

I took 4th for a little over $100. Gave it all back on video poker. Fun.

On our starting table, I ran into a player I had not seen for a long time. I guess you call him loose passive. He was hitting all kids of cards in the early rounds. QQ, AK, flopped trips, flopped two sets. He got almost zero value. Second had of tourney. Utg raises 3x the blind. LP guy calls and does the button and big blind. Flop comes A26 rainbow. Utg c bets, LP calls and everyone else folds. Turn is 9 last suit. Utg shuts down and LP checks. River is a 2, pairing the board. Utg checks again and LP checks with AK. Two hands later, LP sees a checked flop from the big blind. Flop 44T. He bets out and gets called in one spot. Turn he checks and the caller checks. River, Check Check. Board 44TA7. He had 43 and never bet again. He gets QQ and I call his raise with 34s. Flop comes K35 turn 6 river T. We checked it down. He never bet again. I almost got there. By this time I realized that he is gonna call me if I bet light, so I better have the goods.. I have never seen a guy more afraid of monsters than this dude. We get moved to another table along with my buddy. Third hand at the table, LP raises utg three times the blind. My buddy shoves for 4 times the raise with JJ. Another young poker "pro" at the other end of the table tanks. He wants chip counts. He has the ipod earbuds in. He is serious. Finally he shoves over the top. LP guy instant calls. I am thinking oh shit my buddy is royally screwed. I mean this guy has to have AA, right?. Nope. LP guy tables 33. The other guy, 99. Really? Raise and re-raise and you shove with 99. And you call with 33. I guess the "pro" could have seen it as a chance to get chips. If he wins here he can breeze to the final table. He still had some left behind. But the LP call is horrid. Won't bet flopped trips on a great board to get paid, but 33 is the nuts against two raisers.

Been a while

Took down a tourney just now. Felt good. Almost forgot what it felt like. I ran great and hit some big hands when I needed them. I hit the final table as nearly a two to one chip leader. It got down to three handed and I lost a race that dropped me to third. I then won a race. A few hands later, I took out the third place finisher. Heads up lasted ten hands or so. I call a three times raise with 64h. Flop comes A75 with two clubs. Other guy raises 2/3 pot. I flat and the wonderful 3 hits the turn. I check and the guy commits himself so I push in and he is drawing dead with A8 no clubs. Oh and I probably had 7 bounties for $70. I would kill for $70 on Full Tilt.

Anyway, the shot is here.






Now, to get the money off there.

Pokah

Went to Harrahs once again on Tuesday. Played in the one o'clock tournament. This tournament is really a turbo tourney that morphs into a super turbo towards the end. The blinds are 25/25 to start and increase to 25/50, 50/100, 100/200, 200/400/ 400/800/, 500/1000. You start with T2000.

First hand I am dealt Ac2c on the button. Limper and a 3x blind raiser. I call and four of us see the flop. Flop comes KcQs4c. The small blind bets 100. Original raiser bumps it to 300. I flat and the small blind comes along. The turn is the beautiful 3 of clubs. Someone told me clubs always get there. The small blind then bets out 300. The original raiser calls and I bump it 600 more. SB calls and OR goes away. River brings another 3 and I decide to check it here. The small blind shows a queen and I win.

Two hands later I see a five handed raised flop with 55. Someone told me presto always wins. The flop brings Kd5dQc. Bingo. Action flop if I ever saw one. Now the original small blind from the first hand leads out. Two callers and I just flat. Turn is a beautiful 4c. The raiser bets enough to basically pot commit himself and the others go away. I move all in and he reluctantly calls saying it might be an early tournament. He flips over Q7 of diamonds. The river brings the 4 of diamonds. The guy pumps his fist and starts to take his seat he had stood up from. The dealer announces full house and the dude deflates. Been there done that.

I take out another player and hit the break with 10K. That is usually enough to get you to the final table. 40 runners and all. I do make it and go just card dead. I bubbled it. Oh well.

I went to the bar and played a little video poker. Hit quads a couple of times. Four to the royal a bunch of times. Lost $20. My buddy was sitting at a cash game. It was early yet so I decided to sit down at a different table. I grind it out for about an hour. Nothing going on really. I get 65os under the gun. Now this is usually an easy throw away hand. But, I decided to play it for fun. It is kind of my hand and the table had been limping a lot. Of course the player next to me makes it $12. We are playing 1/2. Four callers around to me, sooooo... I call. Flop comes gin!!!! 423 with two spades. Big blind checks. I check the nuts to the raiser and he puts in $15 more. One fold and then a player wakes up and makes a healthy raise to $55. A fold and the big blinds flats. I think and then push for about $130. The original raiser fold whilst muttering to himself. The re-raiser pushes. The big blind thinks for a while and finally calls. The turn comes the Qc and the river was the 9d. The big blind shows a set of 4's. The other guy had a set of 2's. I drag the biggest cash game pot in my life. $400 or so. The pre flop raiser had QQ. If the fireworks could have waited a round, I would have gotten his chips as well.

Just as I am dragging this pot, my buddy comes over and says he busted. KK vs. AA. I say I want to play a little longer. Would have felt bad about leaving after that.

A while later I call a $7 multi way pot with QTos Flop comes KdJd4c. I call a c bet of $11. The turn is the 9c. Bingo. I bet $60. Now I get called by one of the worst players I had seen in quite some time. I was in a small hand with him earlier where he called down my bets with second pair on an ace high board. A hand where I had raise pre flop. He had KJ. Jack no good. Anyway, his call could be anything. The big blind, after some deliberation, comes along as well. The river is a nasty Qd. I check. The bad player says to his table mates something about playing bad and pushes in his last $26. The big blind folds, thank goodness. I make a crying call. He asks me if I have anything good. What? Of course I do. I have a straight. He flips over AQ no diamond. He says he was working on a straight as well. Really. $60 on that board? I was kicking myself because I had to go. He reloaded for $300 more. Which you can't do at a 1/2 table, but no one objected. I wish I could have stayed until he busted. But I ended my session up $500. By far my biggest cash win ever.

I go to find my buddy and he is siting at his seat again. Wait a minute. He went bust. While he was waiting for me he sat down at an empty table near his and talked on the phone. The dealer from his bust out came by and told him the $40 at his seat was his. Turns out he had the other guy covered. The dealer just thought he was cooling down. He ran that up to $120. Not bad for a guy that thought he bust.

I played in my home game that night. I go up and down and end up losing with 45os on a A45 board. One guy had A5 the other has 23. Oh well. I rebuy later and have KJ. Raise it to $2.50. It is a .25/.50 game. Flop comes QJ4 heads up with the big blind. He is a loose guy. I make it the pot. He flats. The turn is an ace. I make it 3/4 the pot, he flats. I play with him all the time and I am almost positive I am good still. He will call down with bottom pair a lot. The river is a king. He comes alive and I make the crying call with two pair. It was $6. He flips over T2os. I as so pissed. He then starts to talk to me and defend his play. I was a little drunk and angry. I told him to shut up twice. Just horrible.

Still up for the day. Can't complain.