Well, for months, I've been making cash in tournaments. I'm comfortable there, and definitely play my best there.
But then I'd lose sums of that money off in cash games. I could never get comfortable there. I'd drop farther down than my bankroll allows, straight down to .01-.02NL blinds. And still, I could get nothing going. Well tonight, I decided, I'm going to find a game I could crack. Just at least to get me off the ground in cash games. So I played on a .02-.04PL blinds in Hold'em on Noble Poker. I come out of there in about a half hour up $1.76, not playing anything questionable (save a J8o that I was able to limp on in the SB, and spiked a Jack on the flop to take the pot), and took every pot I was involved in.
So for now, I'm gonna keep my eye on the PL games, less all-ins to worry about, and keep playing good hands, and drop at the right time. I feel a lot more comfortable there with at least a margainal ceiling.
Eventually, I'll get ready to start playing NL, but right now...just doesn't seem smart.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Sunday, April 24, 2005
A so-so tournament day
Ok, so I get to Hatcherland today for the bi-weekly tournament. I pull out my tournament standard (for now) Gail & Molly deck. My first draw, I get one of my friend's and his JBL heat deck. Now, I've played this deck hundreds of time before, and it's a toss-up every single time. At the end of the first round, one thing finally became abundantly clear: Search out Molly-Go-Round instead of Wake Up. Why give him free heat?
After an agonizing defeat, here comes my next draw. Another friend. And oh wow, another JBL deck. This time not heat; we're going heel, foreign object, Chicago Street, Dem Dam Dudleyz. I was doing great, until the turning point of the match. He draws Overhead Chair Shot, Strike/Strike. I don't have two strike reversals in my hand, so it has to go on the overturn. Nothing. Realizing I can't reverse it, he discards after he draws for Overhead to put it back in his to play it again. And again. And again, And, you get the idea. It pins me.
So I'm feeling a little bit down at this point. But I'm perked up when a trade finally goes through. I get the Light Heavyweight Belt (which I need to build Rey) and Ultimo Rechazo (which I need for Eddie) for a Stunner and some other random UR. Actually, the guy didn't even need the cards he got, but knew I really needed the cards, so he went through with it. So I was really grateful for that.
Now, next draw. I got some kid with a John Cena deck. Nothing too special, except it was a chain deck. Big surprise. He was low fortitude the entire match. I managed to bait out Backlash midway through, sometime before playing Gail's Hurricanrana. So I was high up on fortitude the whole match; POTP is so great when they don't have a strike reversal in their hand. So then here's where I thought he'd cause a turnaround. I draw Molly-Go-Round. I play a simple Punch just to get out the successful maneuver; I pretty much knew it would work, he hadn't reversed a strike the whole game, save the overturn. Yeah, it went through. So here goes Molly-Go-Round, and I had started revelling in my victory, when I see him drop When You Thought You Had All The Answers. Balls. There goes my second trademark. Yeah, so I sense a comeback. But there's still a match. I keep reversing. We end up each down to one card for our hands at one point, sometimes zilch. Eventually I finally finished him off.
So after that match, I get a little kid playing Eugene. I don't care if you suck at the game or not, I take a Eugene deck seriously. If you don't have reversals on your draw, you're boned. This kid really had no grasp, yet thought he knew it all. He tried to opt out of discarding for Wake Up like that was an option. Then he tried Backlash on my first maneuver. And then we had a spat about that. And well, I got fortitude, and reversals. But he got enough fortitude too. Enough to do two unreversable maneuvers, high damage. His third card, I think I Cowed. But no matter what, one more maneuver and I would be dead. I think I reversed two more before it was all said and done. But yeah, I was toast.
So that takes me out of the main tournament. Now for the side tournament. So I was thinking Gail again, but let's go for a change? So I pull out the Shelton deck I was just given by a friend who got out of the game because of several games where he was just given salt in his wounds by a sore winner. Let's see. Seems like a plan.
First Draw: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLDBERG GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLDBERG. The most broken Character ever. Titles, 9D Jackhammers, now why can't I have any Escape Moves? Just great. Easy win for him.
And the one thing that cheered me up was the most pivotal trade, 3 cards just for me to get one West Coast Bronco Buster, THE card I was lacking for Rey. So now Rey is build-ready.
Then for the next draw, another friend, playing an Edge deck. And here's what killed me here: White Wedding. Followed by a card (I forgot what it is) that blanks my SSV, making it pointless for me to draw for White Wedding. So he keeps hitting maneuvers, removing cards from the game, and I'm defenseless. This was a long battle, where the TD was pissed that it took so long. So just for giggles, I popped Wrestlemania. It only saved me for about 5 minutes. And it was done.
So my final draw was a Two-Man Power Trip. Good strategy. All except by now, I was getting accustomed to Shelton. On the draw, I get a Don't Try This At Home. He's got Wrestlemania out. Yes, I'm hanging on to that card for dear life. I reverse his maneuver, then going into a Panic Grab->Wraparound Wristlock. Either overturn or say bye-bye to four cards. So I keep going till I get 25F. I'll skip to a pivotal moment. He isn't playing a lot of strikes, and I draw a T-Bone Exploder Suplex. Now I could play it as a maneuver, risk it getting reversed, and losing the match. Or just let him bring doom upon himself. So I say, "Your turn." And he draws, and does exactly what I want him to do: a Grapple maneuver. He has about 19 cards left in arsenal. T-BONE. So here he goes, takes the 20D and knows, hey, I've got a second chance...that's what he thought. He tries to pop it, and out comes the Don't Try This At Home I've been squirreling away for THE moment he popped Wrestlemania. That's a pin. That was the match a huge chunk of satisfaction came from.
And that was my tournament day.
After an agonizing defeat, here comes my next draw. Another friend. And oh wow, another JBL deck. This time not heat; we're going heel, foreign object, Chicago Street, Dem Dam Dudleyz. I was doing great, until the turning point of the match. He draws Overhead Chair Shot, Strike/Strike. I don't have two strike reversals in my hand, so it has to go on the overturn. Nothing. Realizing I can't reverse it, he discards after he draws for Overhead to put it back in his to play it again. And again. And again, And, you get the idea. It pins me.
So I'm feeling a little bit down at this point. But I'm perked up when a trade finally goes through. I get the Light Heavyweight Belt (which I need to build Rey) and Ultimo Rechazo (which I need for Eddie) for a Stunner and some other random UR. Actually, the guy didn't even need the cards he got, but knew I really needed the cards, so he went through with it. So I was really grateful for that.
Now, next draw. I got some kid with a John Cena deck. Nothing too special, except it was a chain deck. Big surprise. He was low fortitude the entire match. I managed to bait out Backlash midway through, sometime before playing Gail's Hurricanrana. So I was high up on fortitude the whole match; POTP is so great when they don't have a strike reversal in their hand. So then here's where I thought he'd cause a turnaround. I draw Molly-Go-Round. I play a simple Punch just to get out the successful maneuver; I pretty much knew it would work, he hadn't reversed a strike the whole game, save the overturn. Yeah, it went through. So here goes Molly-Go-Round, and I had started revelling in my victory, when I see him drop When You Thought You Had All The Answers. Balls. There goes my second trademark. Yeah, so I sense a comeback. But there's still a match. I keep reversing. We end up each down to one card for our hands at one point, sometimes zilch. Eventually I finally finished him off.
So after that match, I get a little kid playing Eugene. I don't care if you suck at the game or not, I take a Eugene deck seriously. If you don't have reversals on your draw, you're boned. This kid really had no grasp, yet thought he knew it all. He tried to opt out of discarding for Wake Up like that was an option. Then he tried Backlash on my first maneuver. And then we had a spat about that. And well, I got fortitude, and reversals. But he got enough fortitude too. Enough to do two unreversable maneuvers, high damage. His third card, I think I Cowed. But no matter what, one more maneuver and I would be dead. I think I reversed two more before it was all said and done. But yeah, I was toast.
So that takes me out of the main tournament. Now for the side tournament. So I was thinking Gail again, but let's go for a change? So I pull out the Shelton deck I was just given by a friend who got out of the game because of several games where he was just given salt in his wounds by a sore winner. Let's see. Seems like a plan.
First Draw: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLDBERG GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLDBERG. The most broken Character ever. Titles, 9D Jackhammers, now why can't I have any Escape Moves? Just great. Easy win for him.
And the one thing that cheered me up was the most pivotal trade, 3 cards just for me to get one West Coast Bronco Buster, THE card I was lacking for Rey. So now Rey is build-ready.
Then for the next draw, another friend, playing an Edge deck. And here's what killed me here: White Wedding. Followed by a card (I forgot what it is) that blanks my SSV, making it pointless for me to draw for White Wedding. So he keeps hitting maneuvers, removing cards from the game, and I'm defenseless. This was a long battle, where the TD was pissed that it took so long. So just for giggles, I popped Wrestlemania. It only saved me for about 5 minutes. And it was done.
So my final draw was a Two-Man Power Trip. Good strategy. All except by now, I was getting accustomed to Shelton. On the draw, I get a Don't Try This At Home. He's got Wrestlemania out. Yes, I'm hanging on to that card for dear life. I reverse his maneuver, then going into a Panic Grab->Wraparound Wristlock. Either overturn or say bye-bye to four cards. So I keep going till I get 25F. I'll skip to a pivotal moment. He isn't playing a lot of strikes, and I draw a T-Bone Exploder Suplex. Now I could play it as a maneuver, risk it getting reversed, and losing the match. Or just let him bring doom upon himself. So I say, "Your turn." And he draws, and does exactly what I want him to do: a Grapple maneuver. He has about 19 cards left in arsenal. T-BONE. So here he goes, takes the 20D and knows, hey, I've got a second chance...that's what he thought. He tries to pop it, and out comes the Don't Try This At Home I've been squirreling away for THE moment he popped Wrestlemania. That's a pin. That was the match a huge chunk of satisfaction came from.
And that was my tournament day.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Evil RINGO
Old Beatles' musicians, why must you torture me?
So, normally, I will just let these pass by...but now...I just can't.
So early this morning, I get an e-mail from someone wanting me to sign up to Ringo, a universal Address book. I've gotten many of these in my time. All they really do is just add more annoying spam to your e-mail. So I delete it.
8 hours later...I get an e-mail from another person wanting me to sign up. So I delete it again. THEN SOMEONE ELSE SENDS ME IT AN HOUR LATER.
I know have a lot of spare time...but GIVE ME A BREAK...is your address book on your e-mail address really not adequate enough, that you have to have a third-party address book? If so, WHY USE THAT ADDRESS? PLEASE
If you want a universal address book, GO TO THE DOLLAR STORE, BY A NOTEPAD AND A BOX OF PENCILS FOR $2...see? how hard is that? no annoying e-mails.
THE NEXT ONE THAT REQUESTS ME TO GET RINGO DIES
So, normally, I will just let these pass by...but now...I just can't.
So early this morning, I get an e-mail from someone wanting me to sign up to Ringo, a universal Address book. I've gotten many of these in my time. All they really do is just add more annoying spam to your e-mail. So I delete it.
8 hours later...I get an e-mail from another person wanting me to sign up. So I delete it again. THEN SOMEONE ELSE SENDS ME IT AN HOUR LATER.
I know have a lot of spare time...but GIVE ME A BREAK...is your address book on your e-mail address really not adequate enough, that you have to have a third-party address book? If so, WHY USE THAT ADDRESS? PLEASE
If you want a universal address book, GO TO THE DOLLAR STORE, BY A NOTEPAD AND A BOX OF PENCILS FOR $2...see? how hard is that? no annoying e-mails.
THE NEXT ONE THAT REQUESTS ME TO GET RINGO DIES
Friday, April 08, 2005
The week of me getting run over by an 18-wheeler constantly
This week, my poker game has been totally off. Almost every tournament I entered I lost. I was constantly getting sucked out on by horrible players. There's one hand I remember oh so clearly where my three Queens got beat out by some shman holding a 2-4 offsuit who got his straight on the river that knocked me out of the tournament. Of course, that would've never happened if I hadn't been stupid and bet out on pocket 3s when I knew (and I really did know, I just could NOT for the life of me, drag the pointer to the check button, instead, I just bet until I had the player all in with a hand he was not going anywhere with) I was beat.
I've thought about taking a break next week. But there's so many league games that I need to play that I'm not. So I'm just taking a step back in reflecting on why I didn't play so well.
One reason could be because I'm preoccupied with other things. I'm currently building two Raw Deal decks, considering a third, getting ready for a Raw Deal tournament Sunday. On top of that, I'm building a computer program that will allow me to have all my poker clients running on my Linux computer at the same time, and will also be able to be used on Windows and Macintosh, to make every internet poker player's life easier. I just kind of rule that one out, because I'm usually multitasking while playing poker. And that in itself is due in large part to a friend who always messages me even after I tell said friend I'm playing poker, and then after I tell said friend to leave me alone until I'm done playing, so said friend just starts sending five messages per second till I want to kill said friend. Yeah, I got sidetracked on that one.
I think it's that my sleep pattern has been entirely disrupted. I don't know why, but started pulling all nighters again. I have won a tournament after an all-nighter, but that's only one. But I ran well all last week when I was getting to bed around midnight, and waking up at about 9 or 10. I won a tournament, and placed in the money 5 more times, if memory serves me right.
Or maybe I've just got a lot of pent up frustration this week that is getting in the way of keeping a clear head at the table. I don't know about this one, but I know there's a lot of people that have been really irritating me this week, and that could be it.
Or maybe it's just because I didn't break any appendages this week.
I don't know what's the cause yet, but I know something's wrong, considering I've only placed in the money once.
Well, I've got 5 minutes left till I start in at 24hPoker.com in their 5-Card Draw tournament. So I will close for now.
I've thought about taking a break next week. But there's so many league games that I need to play that I'm not. So I'm just taking a step back in reflecting on why I didn't play so well.
One reason could be because I'm preoccupied with other things. I'm currently building two Raw Deal decks, considering a third, getting ready for a Raw Deal tournament Sunday. On top of that, I'm building a computer program that will allow me to have all my poker clients running on my Linux computer at the same time, and will also be able to be used on Windows and Macintosh, to make every internet poker player's life easier. I just kind of rule that one out, because I'm usually multitasking while playing poker. And that in itself is due in large part to a friend who always messages me even after I tell said friend I'm playing poker, and then after I tell said friend to leave me alone until I'm done playing, so said friend just starts sending five messages per second till I want to kill said friend. Yeah, I got sidetracked on that one.
I think it's that my sleep pattern has been entirely disrupted. I don't know why, but started pulling all nighters again. I have won a tournament after an all-nighter, but that's only one. But I ran well all last week when I was getting to bed around midnight, and waking up at about 9 or 10. I won a tournament, and placed in the money 5 more times, if memory serves me right.
Or maybe I've just got a lot of pent up frustration this week that is getting in the way of keeping a clear head at the table. I don't know about this one, but I know there's a lot of people that have been really irritating me this week, and that could be it.
Or maybe it's just because I didn't break any appendages this week.
I don't know what's the cause yet, but I know something's wrong, considering I've only placed in the money once.
Well, I've got 5 minutes left till I start in at 24hPoker.com in their 5-Card Draw tournament. So I will close for now.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Ok, so I just realized it...
Sometime's I'm a little slow on the uptake. In February, a friend of mine asked if she could have her own board on our message boards. I ok'ed it. Well, just two months later, I finally looked in there, and realized it.
She talked me into giving her that board so that she could have her own private blog!
I got owned.
Sometime's I'm a little slow on the uptake. In February, a friend of mine asked if she could have her own board on our message boards. I ok'ed it. Well, just two months later, I finally looked in there, and realized it.
She talked me into giving her that board so that she could have her own private blog!
I got owned.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
If this week hasn't sucked...
Ok, I broke up with my g/f this week. Yeah it sucks, I hate breaking up with people. I'm amazingly bad at it, considering the amount of times I've gotten dumped in my life, I should know all the lines.
Tuesday, I lock myself out of the freakin house going to get the mail, and had to wait for my friend's brother to get home. Just peachy.
Well, Wednesday I break my toe. I kid you not.
Thursday I go to Barnes & Noble, and try to get Startbucks with a Starbucks gift card someone gave me, and they told me they can't accept it.
And today was just boring.
Oh well, at least I still have Jesus & Poker.
I won a small chunk of change on Ultimate Bet Wednesday during the fiasco of breaking my toe. Then I won a freeroll on Banner Poker that night, winning $15.
Playing through pain is cool.
Tuesday, I lock myself out of the freakin house going to get the mail, and had to wait for my friend's brother to get home. Just peachy.
Well, Wednesday I break my toe. I kid you not.
Thursday I go to Barnes & Noble, and try to get Startbucks with a Starbucks gift card someone gave me, and they told me they can't accept it.
And today was just boring.
Oh well, at least I still have Jesus & Poker.
I won a small chunk of change on Ultimate Bet Wednesday during the fiasco of breaking my toe. Then I won a freeroll on Banner Poker that night, winning $15.
Playing through pain is cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)