Well, I don't have a lot of time for details, but man, am I feeling pretty pimp right now.
So, finally I catch Daniel Negreanu setting up a SNG on FCP before registration closes. He also puts a bounty on him of a autographed FCP T-Shirt. Not bad. So I sign up, ready to play. Of course, he's in a hurry to go pick up his wife, so he sets it to turbo mode. Bad, Daniel. I digress.
Seatings drawn, and we're 4 handed, and there's the man of the hour at my table. Yay, here's my shot.
So on the last hand of the first level, Daniel gets dropped to about 50 chips when his top pair gets outkicked. And on the very next hand, he's in the SB, and I'm UTG with pocket jacks. Yes, this could be payoff. Raise standard, and he moves in, and all of a sudden, the BB raises me?!?! Something told me I was ahead, I really didn't put him on the three hands that could beat me, so I just move all-in, and if he could've beat me into the pot, he would've.
BB turns up pocket tens, and Daniel turns up J3s. Wow, I couldn't be in better shape. Well, I could've; Daniel couldn't have made my outs cased. So, if BB catches a ten, I'm almost drawing dead, and Daniel's literally drawing dead (save some diamonds). Flop comes blanks. Just hold up. Turn's a blank. One more, just hold up. River BLANK! I bust both of them and grab my bounty.
Would've been a whole lot more satisfying had I have been able to outplay him (yeah, right) post-flop, but I'll take that win!
I can still say I busted Daniel Negreanu. Fun times. Now to recoop a little bit of money I lost in these SNG's tonight (yeah, these multi table SNG's kill me!)...tomorrow.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Thursday, December 08, 2005
High Pressure SNG: Feel Good Win
So, with the addition of a poker room on FullContactPoker, everyone around Negreanu's camp's been abuzz.
Well, this afternoon, I got off the phone with my mom to pull up the forums and see that Daniel had set up a private sit-n-go for all comers. Unfortunately, I was a few minutes too late, and only got to watch. Oh well, he's supposedly gonna be on tomorrow, so I get my chance to bust him soon.
Well, after I watched that one, a few guys from FCP forums wanted another private SNG. So, one got set up, and we played.
Granted, this was only a $5+.50 SNG, so it wasn't a huge dent on any of us really. But I hadn't played any of these guys (knowingly).
So here was the set up
1. Some guy I didn't know
2. Suited_Up
3. Me!
4. BetterBo
5. Governator
6. Zimmer4141
Now I know the 411 on the guys I'm playing against. Zimm's a red hot player, and just won the SNG with Daniel. I also have a lot of respect for Suited and Gov. Bo, I don't know too much about.
Barring the players I didn't know, or didn't know much about, I felt like I was probably the weak link at the table.
So all-in-all, I felt like I had a small shot here. But, playing solid, and keeping my confidence, I felt like I could accomplish all.
I started off low stacked, after my pockets 6's ran up against what I think was Zimmer's KQ. I can't tell you for certain whether or not it was KQ. But that was my read, and it was a scary flop of AK5. After I bet and he check/called the flop, that's what I felt. His bet on the river pushed me out.
Later on, Zimm and I were at it again. I catch a King on the flop with K8 (as most know, my lucky hand), bet 300 out and he calls. turn comes a Jack, and I move all-in, feeling as I was ahead. I had no read to go on here, I just felt it. And all of a sudden he says in chat, "I have to call this." I feel so screwed right now. He had to have me outkicked with a king on the flop. He then says, "I know I'm behind, but I can't lay this down." Ok, I may have a shot.
He calls, and turns up KRABLAR! Oh man, I was ecstatic. No 3 materialized, and I double up, and leave Zimm crippled. No pinch pinch for you.
A couple of knockouts later, we're now 3 handed, 2 cash. I have maintained second or third steadily since doubling up through Zimmer. And I get J8 in the big blind, and it's just me and Suited, where he limps.
Flop comes QJ3. I bet out, he raised, and I moved all-in. He turns up KRABLAR! WTF?! I was laughing, and as no king or 3 turned up, I knocked him out, giving me about 4:1 chip lead against Governator, who had been sitting out for most of the game due to his dog. Well, he's back and ready to play.
Only a few hands into this, I get A5, and catch middle pair on a flip of 538 (I think it was, but I know it was middle pair). I bet enough to put him all-in (1930), and he calls, and turns up two hearts. No hearts fall, and I emerge victorious!
All I could say was wow. That was a win that gave me a lot of confidence. These were some of the more respected members of FCP. And definitely better respected than me. And I felt like I handled them well. I was catching, and was reading pretty good here. Definitely the most exciting SNG I've played, even if it was only 5.50 to play.
Well, this afternoon, I got off the phone with my mom to pull up the forums and see that Daniel had set up a private sit-n-go for all comers. Unfortunately, I was a few minutes too late, and only got to watch. Oh well, he's supposedly gonna be on tomorrow, so I get my chance to bust him soon.
Well, after I watched that one, a few guys from FCP forums wanted another private SNG. So, one got set up, and we played.
Granted, this was only a $5+.50 SNG, so it wasn't a huge dent on any of us really. But I hadn't played any of these guys (knowingly).
So here was the set up
1. Some guy I didn't know
2. Suited_Up
3. Me!
4. BetterBo
5. Governator
6. Zimmer4141
Now I know the 411 on the guys I'm playing against. Zimm's a red hot player, and just won the SNG with Daniel. I also have a lot of respect for Suited and Gov. Bo, I don't know too much about.
Barring the players I didn't know, or didn't know much about, I felt like I was probably the weak link at the table.
So all-in-all, I felt like I had a small shot here. But, playing solid, and keeping my confidence, I felt like I could accomplish all.
I started off low stacked, after my pockets 6's ran up against what I think was Zimmer's KQ. I can't tell you for certain whether or not it was KQ. But that was my read, and it was a scary flop of AK5. After I bet and he check/called the flop, that's what I felt. His bet on the river pushed me out.
Later on, Zimm and I were at it again. I catch a King on the flop with K8 (as most know, my lucky hand), bet 300 out and he calls. turn comes a Jack, and I move all-in, feeling as I was ahead. I had no read to go on here, I just felt it. And all of a sudden he says in chat, "I have to call this." I feel so screwed right now. He had to have me outkicked with a king on the flop. He then says, "I know I'm behind, but I can't lay this down." Ok, I may have a shot.
He calls, and turns up KRABLAR! Oh man, I was ecstatic. No 3 materialized, and I double up, and leave Zimm crippled. No pinch pinch for you.
A couple of knockouts later, we're now 3 handed, 2 cash. I have maintained second or third steadily since doubling up through Zimmer. And I get J8 in the big blind, and it's just me and Suited, where he limps.
Flop comes QJ3. I bet out, he raised, and I moved all-in. He turns up KRABLAR! WTF?! I was laughing, and as no king or 3 turned up, I knocked him out, giving me about 4:1 chip lead against Governator, who had been sitting out for most of the game due to his dog. Well, he's back and ready to play.
Only a few hands into this, I get A5, and catch middle pair on a flip of 538 (I think it was, but I know it was middle pair). I bet enough to put him all-in (1930), and he calls, and turns up two hearts. No hearts fall, and I emerge victorious!
All I could say was wow. That was a win that gave me a lot of confidence. These were some of the more respected members of FCP. And definitely better respected than me. And I felt like I handled them well. I was catching, and was reading pretty good here. Definitely the most exciting SNG I've played, even if it was only 5.50 to play.
Monday, December 05, 2005
PokerForumChallenge V: I feel rather satisfied
Yeah, I failed to post this on the night of the game. But yeah, Friday night was the PFC. And boy was I psyched. But earlier in the day, I was afraid I would not be at 100% to play. And well, as I have posted earlier, this would continue a long standing tradition.
The day before the PFC, I get an e-mail from Hyunsil, one of my best friends in the whole world, who also lives in Korea...halfway around the world from myself. She needed help with a report she was doing for her American Culture class. Well, I had told her that if she ever needed any help, to let me know, and I didn't let her down. She later, at about 10PM my time, sends me the questions to work on, and then tells me that she would be able to be online again at 6AM my time to run through what I had written and make sure it's what she needed.
Like I said, it's 10PM. I'm figuring I can get this done by midnight, get some sleep, and wake up to talk to her at 6.
At 3AM, I finally get the questions done. And have caught a second wind. Perfect! Just perfect. So now, I know beyond any doubt that I'd be much better off staying awake till 6, staying awake till we're done, and then sleep.
So at 6, just like she promised, here she is, and we get everything ran over. Well, then we got talking about various other things, as we hadn't gotten a chance to talk in about a week or so. The huge time difference, on top of her not bringing her computer to college with her, kind of hinders that. I need to get a phone card and call her sometime, but hey, that's another story.
At 8 or 9, she has to go, and I desperately need sleep! I finally fall asleep at 10, knowing at 8, the tournament starts.
I finally wake up at about 5:30, but would've slept longer had it not have been for the tournament. I put a pot of coffee on, because I knew I needed it. And then hopped in AJPoker's chat room and talked with the crew that was playing tonight.
My buddy Jingo & I were both on the same page pretty much, as he had to sleep during the day also, because he received a surprise phone call from a friend in Iraq. But all in all, we were both ready. I had been at a place where my focus has been at the highest it's been in a while, on top of that I was running good. In the first one, I had slept through the first 3 levels, caught cards, but had no focus. In the second one I played, I was running horribly, but had a dead read on everyone. So this would be the first one I'd go into having both.
As the PFC started, I was psyched. I played rather tight at the start, but still, when I was in the pot, I knew where I stood, and whether I could steal the pot. That kept myself hovering around the average for the first 3 levels. Then, comes the breaking point.
I started really catching. And my focus was still dead on. Knocking out players left and right. Then comes one of the funny hands of the tournament.
I'm sitting in the BB with 94o. Everyone limps to me, and I check. Flop comes x99. I lead out and bet, and see a smaller stack just in front of me push all-in. Two callers, so I decide to isolate and move everyone else all-in. One caller, and I have the best of it. Dropping two in one hand, I check the lobby, and I am now the chipleader with 600 left (after starting with 2000). The first caller then starts needling me about being a crap player. Well, that's what you get when you let me see the flop for free with crap hands!
Upon review, he apologized, forgetting that I was in the BB. Much respect for that. It happens.
At the first break, I hold the cheap lead with under 500 left. I felt pretty safe, but in this no one is.
I wind up shortstacked at 10K with under 200 left and get dealt Q4s in the BB with the blinds at 500/1000. Button raises to 3000, and normally I would fold. However, I felt I had a read that told me that he was just playing position to steal the blinds, as he had been doing anyway. So I push all-in, thinking he'll fold, and I could still back in to something if he did call. Well he did, unfortunately he shows AKo. Bad misread. And I get teased. Flop an inside straight draw on the flop, giving me a chance to hit a 3, 4 or a Queen to scoop, and miss all outs on the river. Thus, ending my run in 176th.
PFC III: 800-something
PFC IV: 1200-something
PFC V: 176th
Not bad? No cash. But I felt very satisfied. In a normal tournament situation, I would've cashed. However, this being a freeroll, with a weird pay schedule, I don't. All-in-all, I usually don't have total faith in myself in a large field. I need to work on that, but I just never do. But I started to gain some faith after this game. I was holding my own, something I love doing, and really felt like I played some of the best poker I have played in a long time. Very sweet.
For the record, JohnJr never showed. Clown!
The day before the PFC, I get an e-mail from Hyunsil, one of my best friends in the whole world, who also lives in Korea...halfway around the world from myself. She needed help with a report she was doing for her American Culture class. Well, I had told her that if she ever needed any help, to let me know, and I didn't let her down. She later, at about 10PM my time, sends me the questions to work on, and then tells me that she would be able to be online again at 6AM my time to run through what I had written and make sure it's what she needed.
Like I said, it's 10PM. I'm figuring I can get this done by midnight, get some sleep, and wake up to talk to her at 6.
At 3AM, I finally get the questions done. And have caught a second wind. Perfect! Just perfect. So now, I know beyond any doubt that I'd be much better off staying awake till 6, staying awake till we're done, and then sleep.
So at 6, just like she promised, here she is, and we get everything ran over. Well, then we got talking about various other things, as we hadn't gotten a chance to talk in about a week or so. The huge time difference, on top of her not bringing her computer to college with her, kind of hinders that. I need to get a phone card and call her sometime, but hey, that's another story.
At 8 or 9, she has to go, and I desperately need sleep! I finally fall asleep at 10, knowing at 8, the tournament starts.
I finally wake up at about 5:30, but would've slept longer had it not have been for the tournament. I put a pot of coffee on, because I knew I needed it. And then hopped in AJPoker's chat room and talked with the crew that was playing tonight.
My buddy Jingo & I were both on the same page pretty much, as he had to sleep during the day also, because he received a surprise phone call from a friend in Iraq. But all in all, we were both ready. I had been at a place where my focus has been at the highest it's been in a while, on top of that I was running good. In the first one, I had slept through the first 3 levels, caught cards, but had no focus. In the second one I played, I was running horribly, but had a dead read on everyone. So this would be the first one I'd go into having both.
As the PFC started, I was psyched. I played rather tight at the start, but still, when I was in the pot, I knew where I stood, and whether I could steal the pot. That kept myself hovering around the average for the first 3 levels. Then, comes the breaking point.
I started really catching. And my focus was still dead on. Knocking out players left and right. Then comes one of the funny hands of the tournament.
I'm sitting in the BB with 94o. Everyone limps to me, and I check. Flop comes x99. I lead out and bet, and see a smaller stack just in front of me push all-in. Two callers, so I decide to isolate and move everyone else all-in. One caller, and I have the best of it. Dropping two in one hand, I check the lobby, and I am now the chipleader with 600 left (after starting with 2000). The first caller then starts needling me about being a crap player. Well, that's what you get when you let me see the flop for free with crap hands!
Upon review, he apologized, forgetting that I was in the BB. Much respect for that. It happens.
At the first break, I hold the cheap lead with under 500 left. I felt pretty safe, but in this no one is.
I wind up shortstacked at 10K with under 200 left and get dealt Q4s in the BB with the blinds at 500/1000. Button raises to 3000, and normally I would fold. However, I felt I had a read that told me that he was just playing position to steal the blinds, as he had been doing anyway. So I push all-in, thinking he'll fold, and I could still back in to something if he did call. Well he did, unfortunately he shows AKo. Bad misread. And I get teased. Flop an inside straight draw on the flop, giving me a chance to hit a 3, 4 or a Queen to scoop, and miss all outs on the river. Thus, ending my run in 176th.
PFC III: 800-something
PFC IV: 1200-something
PFC V: 176th
Not bad? No cash. But I felt very satisfied. In a normal tournament situation, I would've cashed. However, this being a freeroll, with a weird pay schedule, I don't. All-in-all, I usually don't have total faith in myself in a large field. I need to work on that, but I just never do. But I started to gain some faith after this game. I was holding my own, something I love doing, and really felt like I played some of the best poker I have played in a long time. Very sweet.
For the record, JohnJr never showed. Clown!
Saturday, November 26, 2005
The hump part 2
Well, I've had two more chances this week to get over the hump at AJPoker. One game at Absolute, and the other in the league at Paradise.
Last night at Absolute, the deck was completely spitting at me. I could not catch a hand to save my life. So yeah, that one wasn't good.
However, tonight should've been my night. I was playing well, and catching at the same time.
One hand, I had been playing tight, so I decided to use my image in my advantage. I raise standard with Q3 suited in spades. I get 3 calls. Flop comes J86, two spades. One of the callers leads out with 400, and immediately I put him on a pair of jacks. So I decide to make his decision really, really difficult, and move all-in, thinking he'll fold, and if he calls, I have a 48% chance to catch the turn or river to scoop. He quickly calls with J7o, and I'm waiting for the spade or the queen to come to give me a win. Turn comes a spade, and the river a Seven, and I double up, and cripple him. Needless to say, I didn't mix it up after that hand on that table, because the chances of me getting called would've been high.
Unfortunately, I made a terrible error after the second break, when some stupid MIS moves all-in UTG. My first instinct was that he was a donk with Aces, but I'm holding AK, and convince myself into thinking he has a medium pair or AQ. I'm in this tournament to win it. Even though he has me covered, I have to take this chance and accumulate more chips to win this. So I call, and he turns up...ACES! Should've gone with A. I don't improve, and I'm out in 28th.
Well, after that, I head over to Stars and play a SNG. Been a while since I did that. Started out not doing too well, then as always, turned up the heat, and quickly got the chip lead. Unfortunately, I went into heads up at a 3:1 chip disadvantage, and got busted. Oh well, I took an extra $8 for my efforts. Which is more than what AJ's first place was tonight.
I still want an AJ win though.
Last night at Absolute, the deck was completely spitting at me. I could not catch a hand to save my life. So yeah, that one wasn't good.
However, tonight should've been my night. I was playing well, and catching at the same time.
One hand, I had been playing tight, so I decided to use my image in my advantage. I raise standard with Q3 suited in spades. I get 3 calls. Flop comes J86, two spades. One of the callers leads out with 400, and immediately I put him on a pair of jacks. So I decide to make his decision really, really difficult, and move all-in, thinking he'll fold, and if he calls, I have a 48% chance to catch the turn or river to scoop. He quickly calls with J7o, and I'm waiting for the spade or the queen to come to give me a win. Turn comes a spade, and the river a Seven, and I double up, and cripple him. Needless to say, I didn't mix it up after that hand on that table, because the chances of me getting called would've been high.
Unfortunately, I made a terrible error after the second break, when some stupid MIS moves all-in UTG. My first instinct was that he was a donk with Aces, but I'm holding AK, and convince myself into thinking he has a medium pair or AQ. I'm in this tournament to win it. Even though he has me covered, I have to take this chance and accumulate more chips to win this. So I call, and he turns up...ACES! Should've gone with A. I don't improve, and I'm out in 28th.
Well, after that, I head over to Stars and play a SNG. Been a while since I did that. Started out not doing too well, then as always, turned up the heat, and quickly got the chip lead. Unfortunately, I went into heads up at a 3:1 chip disadvantage, and got busted. Oh well, I took an extra $8 for my efforts. Which is more than what AJ's first place was tonight.
I still want an AJ win though.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Neteller Joys
Well, finally, on Monday, Neteller has been active.
I go to the SSA, and ask for (in a raspy voice, as I was deathly ill) a Third Party Verification form. Then I have to go through the lady at the desk saying, "Are you sure?" 150 times. After the 4th or so time of me saying yes, I'm pretty sure that means I'm sure. Well, she finally gives me something, and we head out.
Get to Kinko's and fax off the form, then head home to see if it's working.
Not working.
An hour later?
Not working.
So, I finally call Neteller again, and they needed a phone confirmation...why did they not tell me about this?! Oh well, it works now.
I just got my $84 from picking Mike Matusow for the WSOP Main Event...and got into HoldemPoker.com for their $5,000 Thanksgiving freeroll. Sweet!
I go to the SSA, and ask for (in a raspy voice, as I was deathly ill) a Third Party Verification form. Then I have to go through the lady at the desk saying, "Are you sure?" 150 times. After the 4th or so time of me saying yes, I'm pretty sure that means I'm sure. Well, she finally gives me something, and we head out.
Get to Kinko's and fax off the form, then head home to see if it's working.
Not working.
An hour later?
Not working.
So, I finally call Neteller again, and they needed a phone confirmation...why did they not tell me about this?! Oh well, it works now.
I just got my $84 from picking Mike Matusow for the WSOP Main Event...and got into HoldemPoker.com for their $5,000 Thanksgiving freeroll. Sweet!
Monday, November 21, 2005
Break the Silence...
I finally am hoping it's gone. Hopefully it is.
Anyway, here's the lowdown. Around my former local area, it was common knowledge that I wrote songs, a lot. I would write whenever I could and had to carry a notebook no matter where I went. You could actually see me in church: one moment, I'd be completely attentive to the goings on in whatever was happening during service, the next moment, you'd see me sitting down with my notebook writing. Also carried everywhere I went was a green binder with all my songs typed out. With my band practices, you never know when it would be needed.
So, I had written so much, and I loved it. And I was prophesied over that it was one of my greateset gifts, that I had been blessed with that talent. And I was proud of it. Maybe a little too proud.
In April of 2004, I wrote one of my last songs. I didn't make that conscious decision. Just all of a sudden, I couldn't think of anything to write. I would get ideas, and they'd just fall dead. Maybe it was my pride. Maybe it was that my head wasn't straight, or maybe even my heart. But something wasn't right.
I became worried. I fell deeply in depression, wondering why this gift had abandoned me.
Last night, I finally did something I hadn't done when feeling emotional in a long time. I wrote a song. It came back naturally, and it was one of the best feelings in the world. I'm hoping there's more to follow.
But all in all, I don't know what stopped it, but I know what restarted it. I guess it goes to show that there's a season for everything.
Anyway, here's the lowdown. Around my former local area, it was common knowledge that I wrote songs, a lot. I would write whenever I could and had to carry a notebook no matter where I went. You could actually see me in church: one moment, I'd be completely attentive to the goings on in whatever was happening during service, the next moment, you'd see me sitting down with my notebook writing. Also carried everywhere I went was a green binder with all my songs typed out. With my band practices, you never know when it would be needed.
So, I had written so much, and I loved it. And I was prophesied over that it was one of my greateset gifts, that I had been blessed with that talent. And I was proud of it. Maybe a little too proud.
In April of 2004, I wrote one of my last songs. I didn't make that conscious decision. Just all of a sudden, I couldn't think of anything to write. I would get ideas, and they'd just fall dead. Maybe it was my pride. Maybe it was that my head wasn't straight, or maybe even my heart. But something wasn't right.
I became worried. I fell deeply in depression, wondering why this gift had abandoned me.
Last night, I finally did something I hadn't done when feeling emotional in a long time. I wrote a song. It came back naturally, and it was one of the best feelings in the world. I'm hoping there's more to follow.
But all in all, I don't know what stopped it, but I know what restarted it. I guess it goes to show that there's a season for everything.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
The hump
And no, I'm not talking about my lovely lady lumps. I don't even think I have those. *looks down shirt* NOPE!
Two weeks back, I was watching the Colts/Pats game on Mondy Night Football. The pregame talked about Manning's inability to get over the hump, the one obstacle that always plagued him. That was Tom Brady & the Pats. And they always say, once you get over that hump, it is no longer an obstacle, and you do much better.
Well, I'm at my hump. I've been at my hump for a long time, I just haven't realized it really.
I started playing private games at AJPoker in March. The first game I played in, I made it to the final table, and made it on the bubble to cash (5 cashed, I was 6th). The very next time I played at AJ, I made it to the final table again, and finished 8th, cashing on Absolute Poker.
Since then, I have made the final table 6 more times, and have yet to win it. I have cashed about 20 times on there. Yet, the one thing eluding me is to win a private game.
Well, tonight was the start of Season 5 of their league. I qualified for the finals 3 out of the 4 leagues (and the one league I didn't qualify for, I didn't play in). So, I'm going into this with almost a certainty that I will make it to the finals again.
So, I set up for Paradise, and I'm ready to play. I was dangling as a short stack for a while, then finally built up my chips to about 2600. Some move-in specialist moves in on me. I'm sitting on AQs in spades. There is 3 hands away before the break, and I figure, if I go out, I might as well go out before break, and save me some time. I also thought he had a middle pair, and I was going to be at a coinflip, so I call.
He turns up AQs in HEARTS. All I'm thinking is, "NOT ANOTHER SPLIT," as this was looking to be the 5th split I had seen at this table. Then the almost unthinkable happens: the flop brings two spades. Now I'm feeling teased, but the flirt delivered with a spade on the turn. Unreal, now I'm sitting in 8th with 30 something left.
I sat on that for a while, and made it to the final table. Jingo joined me. I think this goes to show that skill ends up paying out in the long run, as me and Jingo, as well as other regulars (sorry if I left you out), often make it to the top of the heat in these things. So, once again, I'm poised to post a win finally. One problem, I wound up getting chipped off, and getting shortstacked. So, on one hand, I make a move with K9 suited in spades. Two callers, and the flop comes ATx, two spades. Now I'm thinking I'm gonna triple up. Turn comes an Ace, but I'm still optomistic that if a spade or maybe even a king comes up, I triple up. But then I see the two callers get their money all-in. Now I'm out the door. Sure enough, one shows AT, and I'm out the door.
I cashed again. But, out of 9 final tables, and 21 cashes, I have yet to win a game here. Once again, I will state this. I'm at the hump. I'm trying not think about it, cause it's like quicksand. The more you try to fight it, the deeper in over your head you get. I know I'll get over this, I'm (and I hate to sound so cocky, but) too good not to get over this hump. I've won other places, so it's only a matter of time before I win an AJ game.
I have no idea what I'll do to celebrate it. Splooge, I guess.
Two weeks back, I was watching the Colts/Pats game on Mondy Night Football. The pregame talked about Manning's inability to get over the hump, the one obstacle that always plagued him. That was Tom Brady & the Pats. And they always say, once you get over that hump, it is no longer an obstacle, and you do much better.
Well, I'm at my hump. I've been at my hump for a long time, I just haven't realized it really.
I started playing private games at AJPoker in March. The first game I played in, I made it to the final table, and made it on the bubble to cash (5 cashed, I was 6th). The very next time I played at AJ, I made it to the final table again, and finished 8th, cashing on Absolute Poker.
Since then, I have made the final table 6 more times, and have yet to win it. I have cashed about 20 times on there. Yet, the one thing eluding me is to win a private game.
Well, tonight was the start of Season 5 of their league. I qualified for the finals 3 out of the 4 leagues (and the one league I didn't qualify for, I didn't play in). So, I'm going into this with almost a certainty that I will make it to the finals again.
So, I set up for Paradise, and I'm ready to play. I was dangling as a short stack for a while, then finally built up my chips to about 2600. Some move-in specialist moves in on me. I'm sitting on AQs in spades. There is 3 hands away before the break, and I figure, if I go out, I might as well go out before break, and save me some time. I also thought he had a middle pair, and I was going to be at a coinflip, so I call.
He turns up AQs in HEARTS. All I'm thinking is, "NOT ANOTHER SPLIT," as this was looking to be the 5th split I had seen at this table. Then the almost unthinkable happens: the flop brings two spades. Now I'm feeling teased, but the flirt delivered with a spade on the turn. Unreal, now I'm sitting in 8th with 30 something left.
I sat on that for a while, and made it to the final table. Jingo joined me. I think this goes to show that skill ends up paying out in the long run, as me and Jingo, as well as other regulars (sorry if I left you out), often make it to the top of the heat in these things. So, once again, I'm poised to post a win finally. One problem, I wound up getting chipped off, and getting shortstacked. So, on one hand, I make a move with K9 suited in spades. Two callers, and the flop comes ATx, two spades. Now I'm thinking I'm gonna triple up. Turn comes an Ace, but I'm still optomistic that if a spade or maybe even a king comes up, I triple up. But then I see the two callers get their money all-in. Now I'm out the door. Sure enough, one shows AT, and I'm out the door.
I cashed again. But, out of 9 final tables, and 21 cashes, I have yet to win a game here. Once again, I will state this. I'm at the hump. I'm trying not think about it, cause it's like quicksand. The more you try to fight it, the deeper in over your head you get. I know I'll get over this, I'm (and I hate to sound so cocky, but) too good not to get over this hump. I've won other places, so it's only a matter of time before I win an AJ game.
I have no idea what I'll do to celebrate it. Splooge, I guess.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Neteller Woes
Well, when I won my first freeroll online, I instantly wanted to cash it out, and put it at a better site. Well, to do that, I figured I'd have to have the verification call, since I had never deposited on Neteller. And, I was up here in Indianapolis; I had registered my phone # in Illinois. So I called Neteller to change my number before I transferred. "Well, we can't do that, just register a new account with your new address and phone number." Idiot. Doing that froze both accounts; I mean, I have two addresses, but I can't have two Social Security Numbers. So now, because of some idiot's mistake, I had to go to Anderson to have my Social Security Number verified.
Well, I was starting to tear up on the sites I had money on, and I didn't see the need to get it verified yet. Until I got involved in a player staking program, where they need Neteller to transfer my stake money to. Now's the time to do it, especially after they e-mail me saying if I don't get it verified, they're taking me off the list and sending my money elsewhere.
So I get over to Anderson yesterday, which took a brief miracle to find, and get up to the doors. CLOSED! Just 30 minutes before we got there!
So, we were going to go over there this morning, but I woke up sick, and didn't wanna go.
So hopefully, there will still be money for me Monday. Then I'll have it...hopefully.
Other than that rant, I've just been reading poker lit, trying to get my game higher. Super/System2 is finally being read. Loving it so far. Loved Negreanu's Triple Draw section. Maybe I might actually turn up a profit at UB next time. And then I just got halfway through reading Caro's tips. Amazing read. Most of this stuff is pretty obvious, just some of it hadn't been as obvious to me.
Regardless, I'm getting a lot out of it. Sadly, they cut Razz out of the book (looks like I'll be picking up SS1 sometime to read through that). But, more tips in Omaha, a lot of them I already known, but surely I can learn more from Berman. And perhaps I'll finish off the NLHE section later.
Anyway, that's all for now.
Well, I was starting to tear up on the sites I had money on, and I didn't see the need to get it verified yet. Until I got involved in a player staking program, where they need Neteller to transfer my stake money to. Now's the time to do it, especially after they e-mail me saying if I don't get it verified, they're taking me off the list and sending my money elsewhere.
So I get over to Anderson yesterday, which took a brief miracle to find, and get up to the doors. CLOSED! Just 30 minutes before we got there!
So, we were going to go over there this morning, but I woke up sick, and didn't wanna go.
So hopefully, there will still be money for me Monday. Then I'll have it...hopefully.
Other than that rant, I've just been reading poker lit, trying to get my game higher. Super/System2 is finally being read. Loving it so far. Loved Negreanu's Triple Draw section. Maybe I might actually turn up a profit at UB next time. And then I just got halfway through reading Caro's tips. Amazing read. Most of this stuff is pretty obvious, just some of it hadn't been as obvious to me.
Regardless, I'm getting a lot out of it. Sadly, they cut Razz out of the book (looks like I'll be picking up SS1 sometime to read through that). But, more tips in Omaha, a lot of them I already known, but surely I can learn more from Berman. And perhaps I'll finish off the NLHE section later.
Anyway, that's all for now.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Negreanu Open
Well...needless to say, I was pumped to play this one. I only got a few key hands, but played pretty solid through most of it.
Here comes critical pot #1: UTG raises (with the blinds 10/20) to 85. I re-raise 2 people away with to 250 with pocket queens, and UTG calls. Flop comes 6-T-2, two spades. UTG checked, and I bet 400, trying to knock him off what may be a draw. He delays, then RAISES 400 MORE! I jam my last 295 in, and he has to calls. He turns up...AK, both diamonds! Oh man, I coudln't be in a better position!. Two blanks doubles me up.
I get moved a couple times when I made a mistake...I think. With the Blinds 50/100, CO2 limps in. I raise on the button with K9s. Everyone folds back to CO2, who calls. Flop comes QJT, 2 hearts. He bets 300, and I raise 450 more. He then moves. At this point, if he's limping, I swear he doesn't got AK, so I call. Man, was I wrong. He turns up AK. And now I'm short stacked.
I end up jamming three times, with pocket 5s, all fold, A3s, all fold, and then get called with pocket 2s by EIGHT SIX OFF! WTF?! River comes a 6 and I'm out in 78th.
Now that just sucked. But it was a refreshing experience. I'll hopefully be back next week, to perform twice as good.
Here comes critical pot #1: UTG raises (with the blinds 10/20) to 85. I re-raise 2 people away with to 250 with pocket queens, and UTG calls. Flop comes 6-T-2, two spades. UTG checked, and I bet 400, trying to knock him off what may be a draw. He delays, then RAISES 400 MORE! I jam my last 295 in, and he has to calls. He turns up...AK, both diamonds! Oh man, I coudln't be in a better position!. Two blanks doubles me up.
I get moved a couple times when I made a mistake...I think. With the Blinds 50/100, CO2 limps in. I raise on the button with K9s. Everyone folds back to CO2, who calls. Flop comes QJT, 2 hearts. He bets 300, and I raise 450 more. He then moves. At this point, if he's limping, I swear he doesn't got AK, so I call. Man, was I wrong. He turns up AK. And now I'm short stacked.
I end up jamming three times, with pocket 5s, all fold, A3s, all fold, and then get called with pocket 2s by EIGHT SIX OFF! WTF?! River comes a 6 and I'm out in 78th.
Now that just sucked. But it was a refreshing experience. I'll hopefully be back next week, to perform twice as good.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Preparing for the Poker Forum Challenge - Part 1
So, after Thursday night's total joke of a performance, I knew what it was time for. It was time for me to take a break from the tables, as it had become apparent to me that both:
A) I was not catching like I should.
B) I was playing like an absolute donk.
So, a little breather can only help. I spent my time on other endeavors. Part of it was poker-related. I installed WINE on my Linux desktop, trying to get my Poker clients up in Linux, so I wouldn't have to deal with Windows anymore. PokerStars & AP was a success, everything else failed. So I'm gonna have to either work on them, or shell out for VMWare.
My first venture back to the tables came Monday night, when Jake, his little brother Caleb, and I, played some hold'em...at stakes they could afford to lose...$0.15 buy-in tournaments.
The first game, I completely outplayed them. I have had so much shorthanded experience that it isn't funny. Granted, I'm not the best at it, but I feel my shorthanded NLHE game is incredible. There was probably one hand that first game that I sat out on, and spent my time completely outplaying them on the flop. Took Jake out first, and then I finally get the chance to take Caleb on heads up. Once again, dominating him on the flop, and letting himself dig holes for himself. I was playing so many different starting hands, that they had a hard time putting a read on me. Up $0.30
Second game, Jake took an early chip lead by taking Caleb out within 5 hands, leaving me heads up against him at a 3:1 chip disadvantage. I head him off for a long time, but used his chip lead very aggressively, and would come over the top of me after almost every post-flop raise I would make. At that point, I knew I was either going to have to catch a hand on the flop and try to get him to put his money in against me, or go big or go home pre-flop.
Eventually, I came almost to even money with him, but it was not enough. He continued to play the same strategy. After trying to bluff him out with a double gut buster on the flop, he called with two-pair. I improved on the turn with a flush draw, not to mention perhaps a pair to give me a shot for a higher two pair or a set. Unfortunately, nothing materialized, and he picked up the win.
I ended the night up a whopping $0.15. Yeah, book the cruise. But it was a good practice game. Gave me a little time to adjust to two different amateur styles of play, which I'm going to need come Dec. 3.
As you all should know, the fifth Poker Forum Challenge will be at Royal Vegas Poker on that day. It's time to start getting my focus on for this one. I slept through the first 3 levels in the first one I played with, and caught dry in the fourth one, and would like a little redemption this time around. It's gonna be tough with the bizarre structure of this tournament. Blinds double every 10 minutes. When it comes to about 60 away from the money, it becomes a short stack convention. Gonna have to practice a lot of different strategies quickly and get ready for this.
As a lot of you have read below, AJPoker.com had an altercation between TCPokerCommunity.com in the last PFC, and me more speicifically with a member of their forums named "JohnJr." I've laughed off this clown dodging me, but I still want redemption. I think the ones of us who was there all do. All in all, I'm waiting to see the seats, and actually hoping to get JohnJr at my table. If I can't earn his respect, I'll steal it from him with every chip I take from him.
Well, tomorrow night will be the Negreanu Open on Stars. I have been waiting for an opportunity to play this event, and finally get the chance to do it tonight. It wasn't for a lack of a bankroll on Stars, just a timing conflict on my part. I had registered several times, and had to unregister because something had come up. Not now. I'm ready for this. Can't wait to see my name at the top of the results. Plus, that $300+- dollars would look pretty shiny in my Stars account.
Until then, keep it real.
A) I was not catching like I should.
B) I was playing like an absolute donk.
So, a little breather can only help. I spent my time on other endeavors. Part of it was poker-related. I installed WINE on my Linux desktop, trying to get my Poker clients up in Linux, so I wouldn't have to deal with Windows anymore. PokerStars & AP was a success, everything else failed. So I'm gonna have to either work on them, or shell out for VMWare.
My first venture back to the tables came Monday night, when Jake, his little brother Caleb, and I, played some hold'em...at stakes they could afford to lose...$0.15 buy-in tournaments.
The first game, I completely outplayed them. I have had so much shorthanded experience that it isn't funny. Granted, I'm not the best at it, but I feel my shorthanded NLHE game is incredible. There was probably one hand that first game that I sat out on, and spent my time completely outplaying them on the flop. Took Jake out first, and then I finally get the chance to take Caleb on heads up. Once again, dominating him on the flop, and letting himself dig holes for himself. I was playing so many different starting hands, that they had a hard time putting a read on me. Up $0.30
Second game, Jake took an early chip lead by taking Caleb out within 5 hands, leaving me heads up against him at a 3:1 chip disadvantage. I head him off for a long time, but used his chip lead very aggressively, and would come over the top of me after almost every post-flop raise I would make. At that point, I knew I was either going to have to catch a hand on the flop and try to get him to put his money in against me, or go big or go home pre-flop.
Eventually, I came almost to even money with him, but it was not enough. He continued to play the same strategy. After trying to bluff him out with a double gut buster on the flop, he called with two-pair. I improved on the turn with a flush draw, not to mention perhaps a pair to give me a shot for a higher two pair or a set. Unfortunately, nothing materialized, and he picked up the win.
I ended the night up a whopping $0.15. Yeah, book the cruise. But it was a good practice game. Gave me a little time to adjust to two different amateur styles of play, which I'm going to need come Dec. 3.
As you all should know, the fifth Poker Forum Challenge will be at Royal Vegas Poker on that day. It's time to start getting my focus on for this one. I slept through the first 3 levels in the first one I played with, and caught dry in the fourth one, and would like a little redemption this time around. It's gonna be tough with the bizarre structure of this tournament. Blinds double every 10 minutes. When it comes to about 60 away from the money, it becomes a short stack convention. Gonna have to practice a lot of different strategies quickly and get ready for this.
As a lot of you have read below, AJPoker.com had an altercation between TCPokerCommunity.com in the last PFC, and me more speicifically with a member of their forums named "JohnJr." I've laughed off this clown dodging me, but I still want redemption. I think the ones of us who was there all do. All in all, I'm waiting to see the seats, and actually hoping to get JohnJr at my table. If I can't earn his respect, I'll steal it from him with every chip I take from him.
Well, tomorrow night will be the Negreanu Open on Stars. I have been waiting for an opportunity to play this event, and finally get the chance to do it tonight. It wasn't for a lack of a bankroll on Stars, just a timing conflict on my part. I had registered several times, and had to unregister because something had come up. Not now. I'm ready for this. Can't wait to see my name at the top of the results. Plus, that $300+- dollars would look pretty shiny in my Stars account.
Until then, keep it real.
Monday, November 14, 2005
En memoria de Eddie Guerrero
1967-2005
Vaya con Dios, Eddie. Le veré en cielo. ¡Gracias por las memorias!
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Between SBC & Linksys, there has to be a brain...
...somewhere, deep down inside, there just HAS to be!
Wow, what a frustrating evening. So I'm up here, and Jake has consistently had problems with his new wireless router. Every five hours, it loses internet connectivity. Weird, when I set up Alice's router, this never happened. Well, Linksys gave him the runaround, and he knows the minimal about this kind of stuff. So, I figured I'd give it a shot, especially after the third or so time today of resetting the Router.
So I check the properties on the Router, and kind of have a feeling what the problem is. His DNS's are blank on the router; that's a definite no-no with DSL. Same with the Domain. Ok, domain's a given: sbcglobal.net. But now, just to make sure, let's go to Linksys myself and talk to them, cause I know what to ask and how to ask it so I don't get taken for an idiot.
Well, after a short chat, they tell me: "We cannot help you any further. Please contact your Internet Service Provide for more assistance." AHA! So it IS the DNS! Well that's easy. Let's head over to SBC and ask for...WHAT?!
SBC tells me it's not their problem and to contact Linksys. Hey, too bad, already been there, you're gonna help me. "Well, if the DSL works without the router, then it's not our problem."
OF COURSE IT'S YOUR PROBLEM! YOU HAVE THE DNS INFO I NEED! WHAT?! AM I SUPPOSED BE A GREAT MAGICIAN AND MAKE MY OWN DNS?!
"We can help you set up your Router's DNS service. Here's the DNS info you need."
Ok, so, apparently, if I hadn't known what was missing from the router, hadn't known that it works perfectly still connected just with the DSL modem, and hadn't known what a DNS was, no one was gonna help me?!
I swear to God, Tech Supports are put there just to confuse people who aren't in the know. Any tech support guys reading this: come clean, are you paid to give the minimum? If so, just go to 1-800-SAFE-AUTO. Maybe you actually work there, do what you do, and HELP PEOPLE!
There's my rant for tonight. Gotta get up in the morning to call and remind Mom to drop off my bass, and my power supply for my computer with Carol so I can strum and get my Linux box working again.
Wow, what a frustrating evening. So I'm up here, and Jake has consistently had problems with his new wireless router. Every five hours, it loses internet connectivity. Weird, when I set up Alice's router, this never happened. Well, Linksys gave him the runaround, and he knows the minimal about this kind of stuff. So, I figured I'd give it a shot, especially after the third or so time today of resetting the Router.
So I check the properties on the Router, and kind of have a feeling what the problem is. His DNS's are blank on the router; that's a definite no-no with DSL. Same with the Domain. Ok, domain's a given: sbcglobal.net. But now, just to make sure, let's go to Linksys myself and talk to them, cause I know what to ask and how to ask it so I don't get taken for an idiot.
Well, after a short chat, they tell me: "We cannot help you any further. Please contact your Internet Service Provide for more assistance." AHA! So it IS the DNS! Well that's easy. Let's head over to SBC and ask for...WHAT?!
SBC tells me it's not their problem and to contact Linksys. Hey, too bad, already been there, you're gonna help me. "Well, if the DSL works without the router, then it's not our problem."
OF COURSE IT'S YOUR PROBLEM! YOU HAVE THE DNS INFO I NEED! WHAT?! AM I SUPPOSED BE A GREAT MAGICIAN AND MAKE MY OWN DNS?!
"We can help you set up your Router's DNS service. Here's the DNS info you need."
Ok, so, apparently, if I hadn't known what was missing from the router, hadn't known that it works perfectly still connected just with the DSL modem, and hadn't known what a DNS was, no one was gonna help me?!
I swear to God, Tech Supports are put there just to confuse people who aren't in the know. Any tech support guys reading this: come clean, are you paid to give the minimum? If so, just go to 1-800-SAFE-AUTO. Maybe you actually work there, do what you do, and HELP PEOPLE!
There's my rant for tonight. Gotta get up in the morning to call and remind Mom to drop off my bass, and my power supply for my computer with Carol so I can strum and get my Linux box working again.
Absolut Frustration
Is it just me, or does everyone automatically assume that the only way they can win now is with Stall?
Well, that's what it seems like.
Wednesday night, I get home to an offer to play an SS3 Afterburn game on apprentice. I load up my Edge Army deck and am prepared to play. HE pulls up The Rock.
2 hours later...I'm pulling my hair out wishing he'd just do something. He gets around my Strap with Vince, and gets around my ability and Old School Psychs with I can't Be Reading this right. About 70% of his turns consisted of him getting those back in his hand and nothing else. I didn't care who won, I was just glad it was over.
Today, I play an UF Afterburn game. I play my Gail & Molly deck versus Christy. Great, inferno match, and then he takes over an old school psych with the old switcheroo.
I had 40 F by the end of the game. He had EIGHT! And he was still beating me. Action, overturn one or two, and then shuffle in 3-5. oh for God sake! I play something, REVERSAL. And no matter what, if I had him down to 1 card in hand, I had no chains. If he had more than 3 cards in hand, I'd have one, and he'd have a reversal. It was annoying. On top of that, I lost my Bald to a Skirt, so I could YFH my ability to get something rolling. It was pathetic.
If someone starts going with another stall deck on me on apprentice this week...I'm gonna scream, and jump out the basement window.
Well, that's what it seems like.
Wednesday night, I get home to an offer to play an SS3 Afterburn game on apprentice. I load up my Edge Army deck and am prepared to play. HE pulls up The Rock.
2 hours later...I'm pulling my hair out wishing he'd just do something. He gets around my Strap with Vince, and gets around my ability and Old School Psychs with I can't Be Reading this right. About 70% of his turns consisted of him getting those back in his hand and nothing else. I didn't care who won, I was just glad it was over.
Today, I play an UF Afterburn game. I play my Gail & Molly deck versus Christy. Great, inferno match, and then he takes over an old school psych with the old switcheroo.
I had 40 F by the end of the game. He had EIGHT! And he was still beating me. Action, overturn one or two, and then shuffle in 3-5. oh for God sake! I play something, REVERSAL. And no matter what, if I had him down to 1 card in hand, I had no chains. If he had more than 3 cards in hand, I'd have one, and he'd have a reversal. It was annoying. On top of that, I lost my Bald to a Skirt, so I could YFH my ability to get something rolling. It was pathetic.
If someone starts going with another stall deck on me on apprentice this week...I'm gonna scream, and jump out the basement window.
Friday, November 11, 2005
I'm finally back
Well...it took me a while, but I'm back to posting on here. I finally did a long overdue overhaul of my blogs, and got rid of the generic template. I think this looks very very sexy.
Also, I finally started updating Josh In The Ghetto again! Of course, the update of that got hindered by me helping Caleb out with a comic for his science class. Of course, this involves Josh In The Ghetto characters. So we know who's to blame if it fails him.
So I'm back up in Indianapolis. Looks like to say. It's bittersweet. I miss my mom and my cats, but what can I do? I hate Southern Illinois. It's pathetic. And I'm nothing but depressed there.
At least here I feel like I'm doing something. So that helps.
I also just posted up all my blogs from Xanga up on this one. Why? I don't know. Just because I think it'll be easier to look at later than trying to remember all my old blog sites.
But yeah, that's about it. See you all later.
Also, I finally started updating Josh In The Ghetto again! Of course, the update of that got hindered by me helping Caleb out with a comic for his science class. Of course, this involves Josh In The Ghetto characters. So we know who's to blame if it fails him.
So I'm back up in Indianapolis. Looks like to say. It's bittersweet. I miss my mom and my cats, but what can I do? I hate Southern Illinois. It's pathetic. And I'm nothing but depressed there.
At least here I feel like I'm doing something. So that helps.
I also just posted up all my blogs from Xanga up on this one. Why? I don't know. Just because I think it'll be easier to look at later than trying to remember all my old blog sites.
But yeah, that's about it. See you all later.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
So I'm not the only idiot out there...
Just found this deck on TCO
Just a few months ago, I built Torrie Ask Yourself, with 10 Hello, Ladies. It was quite funny when my opponent realized what I was doing. He cried.
Randomness, YAY!
Just a few months ago, I built Torrie Ask Yourself, with 10 Hello, Ladies. It was quite funny when my opponent realized what I was doing. He cried.
Randomness, YAY!
Well, I get up today and decide it's time to start flexing my muscles again. So I hit my sites and try to find out what's going down.
First site I pull up is PokerHost. They usually have some kind of Freeroll going, and I've been trying to get money there, so I decide to try to hit one. And as I'm looking through, I realize I'm in luck, as there is a 7-Card Stud Freeroll registering. At least I thought I was in luck.
I sat through 4 levels and didn't hit a single winning showdown. It was totally pathetic. I was playing great, but the cards were not there. I'd start out with a great hand, and never improve. Or I'd improve, and get drawn out on. I wound up pushing all-in with 3K3 and, again, didn't improve.
Next stop was Full Tilt Poker. Nothing really happening tournament wise, so I decide to play some .05/.10 PL Omaha. I would up getting stuck 4 bucks in that one within 15 minutes. Once again, I was getting good cards, but they simply were not holding up.
So I shimmy from there to the .25/.50 Razz table, where I'm a fixture. In the first half of my session, I caught no good cards. Then, I started catching great starting hands, and watched them dissolve into crap in no time flat. Or someone would catch the cooler on me. I was starting to get frustrated, and apparently, it was starting to show, as this next hand shows.
I'm holding A79 in third position. I like to throw people off, so I complete. I get one caller, with a 3 showing.
4th street brings me a 8, and him a 2. He bets, I call.
5th brings me a 6, and him a 5. He bets, and now I'm thinking. Does he really have it? Usually, I'm spot on here. And my gut tells me he's either go A4, or Ax hiding in the hole, and the x is probably paired up. But, he's got a lot of outs left to draw on, and I figure keeping this hand will cost me dearly. So I fold.
He shows...32325! OH MY GOD! If was frustrated before, I was sure as crap steaming now!!!! So, realizing that, I leave stuck $2.25.
An hour or so later, I jump to PokerTime, and find out their free $10 has cleared to my account finally. So I started look for an SNG to play. Wierd, I cannot find anything but SNGs already started. So, I decide I'll jump to a NL Hold'Em .05/.10 cash game.
Well, it was absolutely uneventful until 30 minutes in. I raise .30 in late position with AJo, and Button calls. Flop comes T98 rainbow. I bet .80 thinking I can take it down here, and he raises to 2.40. I'm sitting on about 7.70 at this point and he at 7.40. I'm thinking that he's on the draw too, semi-bluffing like me. So I push all-in and he calls.
Sure enough, he's drawing too, except he's got JTs. Oh great, so I'm dead to a 7, Q, or Ace. Turn comes the ace, and river a blank, I'm lucky, but I recoop what I lost earlier with the $10 Free and my double up there.
Then, my favorite poker league site, AJPoker, come to find out, is celebrating it's 1 year anniversary today, and as a gift to us all, Luke, the admin, stakes us all in the $5 Tony G at Pokerchamps. $640 Prize Pool with only 128 in. This should be a cakewalk...yeah, sure. I played HORRIBLE! So, I wound up out in the FIRST LEVEL.
30 minutes later, it's time for the Poker Whore-tel...errr...Poker Cartel tournament. I won my first tournament here, and got 2nd in another one. Other than that nothing. Especially since the list of mostly decent players got watered down by a bunch of fish whose only raises are all-in, and still manage to draw out whatever monster you're holding at the time. Plus tonight's at Absolute, and this site hates my guts. But, I figure I need to get back in the swing, so I'll play.
My first big hand, holding pocket Queens UTG+1, and knocked it up for 160, SB, a big stack, calls.
Flop comes QA9. SB checks, I bet 200, he calls. Turn comes a 9...perfect. SB pushes me all-in, even more perfect, as he turns up AJs.
But then, the fish persist to be fish. I call UTG+1 with QJo, 5 callers. Flop comes QJT. UTG bets 300, and I know he's not got the straight. He may have 89, but I doubt it, and I know if he didn't raise, he's doesn't have AK. So I call.
Turn comes a 5. Now he moves all-in. I KNOW he's not got the straight. No way. So I call.
Sure enough, he turns up KQs. River's a 9, and I'm shortstacked. Stupid fish. I must've stared at the screen for 40 seconds after that trying to regain composure. Oh well, a draw-out's a draw-out. But see what I mean? Absolute hates my guts!
Well, UTG, just before the break, I pick up JTs, and move all-in. Big stack earlier calls me and turns up ATo. Flop comes Jd Td 2s. Perfect! Just let me dodge an ace. Turn is a 5. I'm now 94%, and the turn is a 9. I'm back up to 1500, but still on rocky ground. So, now I have to play tight, and move all-in to any raise if I catch something.
Come break, I look and miraculously have survived to 146 out of 556 starting. Now I'm hoping I can survive just a little bit longer to get down to the final table. Sadly, at the end of break, blinds raise just enough to put me on the shortstack again.
So, three levels later, I catch my lucky hand, K8, and move all-in. Shorter stack calls, and then BB calls (stating pot-odds...LOL). He turns up T5, shorter stack turns up pocket jacks. I don't improve, but neither does the BB. And I pick up a $5 profit. Yippy Skippy.
THE VERY NEXT HAND, I pick up KQs, and move all-in. two callers. they check to showdown, and AK high wins it, and I'm out in 90th.
Oh well...There's always tomorrow.
First site I pull up is PokerHost. They usually have some kind of Freeroll going, and I've been trying to get money there, so I decide to try to hit one. And as I'm looking through, I realize I'm in luck, as there is a 7-Card Stud Freeroll registering. At least I thought I was in luck.
I sat through 4 levels and didn't hit a single winning showdown. It was totally pathetic. I was playing great, but the cards were not there. I'd start out with a great hand, and never improve. Or I'd improve, and get drawn out on. I wound up pushing all-in with 3K3 and, again, didn't improve.
Next stop was Full Tilt Poker. Nothing really happening tournament wise, so I decide to play some .05/.10 PL Omaha. I would up getting stuck 4 bucks in that one within 15 minutes. Once again, I was getting good cards, but they simply were not holding up.
So I shimmy from there to the .25/.50 Razz table, where I'm a fixture. In the first half of my session, I caught no good cards. Then, I started catching great starting hands, and watched them dissolve into crap in no time flat. Or someone would catch the cooler on me. I was starting to get frustrated, and apparently, it was starting to show, as this next hand shows.
I'm holding A79 in third position. I like to throw people off, so I complete. I get one caller, with a 3 showing.
4th street brings me a 8, and him a 2. He bets, I call.
5th brings me a 6, and him a 5. He bets, and now I'm thinking. Does he really have it? Usually, I'm spot on here. And my gut tells me he's either go A4, or Ax hiding in the hole, and the x is probably paired up. But, he's got a lot of outs left to draw on, and I figure keeping this hand will cost me dearly. So I fold.
He shows...32325! OH MY GOD! If was frustrated before, I was sure as crap steaming now!!!! So, realizing that, I leave stuck $2.25.
An hour or so later, I jump to PokerTime, and find out their free $10 has cleared to my account finally. So I started look for an SNG to play. Wierd, I cannot find anything but SNGs already started. So, I decide I'll jump to a NL Hold'Em .05/.10 cash game.
Well, it was absolutely uneventful until 30 minutes in. I raise .30 in late position with AJo, and Button calls. Flop comes T98 rainbow. I bet .80 thinking I can take it down here, and he raises to 2.40. I'm sitting on about 7.70 at this point and he at 7.40. I'm thinking that he's on the draw too, semi-bluffing like me. So I push all-in and he calls.
Sure enough, he's drawing too, except he's got JTs. Oh great, so I'm dead to a 7, Q, or Ace. Turn comes the ace, and river a blank, I'm lucky, but I recoop what I lost earlier with the $10 Free and my double up there.
Then, my favorite poker league site, AJPoker, come to find out, is celebrating it's 1 year anniversary today, and as a gift to us all, Luke, the admin, stakes us all in the $5 Tony G at Pokerchamps. $640 Prize Pool with only 128 in. This should be a cakewalk...yeah, sure. I played HORRIBLE! So, I wound up out in the FIRST LEVEL.
30 minutes later, it's time for the Poker Whore-tel...errr...Poker Cartel tournament. I won my first tournament here, and got 2nd in another one. Other than that nothing. Especially since the list of mostly decent players got watered down by a bunch of fish whose only raises are all-in, and still manage to draw out whatever monster you're holding at the time. Plus tonight's at Absolute, and this site hates my guts. But, I figure I need to get back in the swing, so I'll play.
My first big hand, holding pocket Queens UTG+1, and knocked it up for 160, SB, a big stack, calls.
Flop comes QA9. SB checks, I bet 200, he calls. Turn comes a 9...perfect. SB pushes me all-in, even more perfect, as he turns up AJs.
But then, the fish persist to be fish. I call UTG+1 with QJo, 5 callers. Flop comes QJT. UTG bets 300, and I know he's not got the straight. He may have 89, but I doubt it, and I know if he didn't raise, he's doesn't have AK. So I call.
Turn comes a 5. Now he moves all-in. I KNOW he's not got the straight. No way. So I call.
Sure enough, he turns up KQs. River's a 9, and I'm shortstacked. Stupid fish. I must've stared at the screen for 40 seconds after that trying to regain composure. Oh well, a draw-out's a draw-out. But see what I mean? Absolute hates my guts!
Well, UTG, just before the break, I pick up JTs, and move all-in. Big stack earlier calls me and turns up ATo. Flop comes Jd Td 2s. Perfect! Just let me dodge an ace. Turn is a 5. I'm now 94%, and the turn is a 9. I'm back up to 1500, but still on rocky ground. So, now I have to play tight, and move all-in to any raise if I catch something.
Come break, I look and miraculously have survived to 146 out of 556 starting. Now I'm hoping I can survive just a little bit longer to get down to the final table. Sadly, at the end of break, blinds raise just enough to put me on the shortstack again.
So, three levels later, I catch my lucky hand, K8, and move all-in. Shorter stack calls, and then BB calls (stating pot-odds...LOL). He turns up T5, shorter stack turns up pocket jacks. I don't improve, but neither does the BB. And I pick up a $5 profit. Yippy Skippy.
THE VERY NEXT HAND, I pick up KQs, and move all-in. two callers. they check to showdown, and AK high wins it, and I'm out in 90th.
Oh well...There's always tomorrow.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Blogger Championship
I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!
This event is powered by PokerStars.
Registration code: 7777953
Friday, June 24, 2005
Heads up vs. an idiot
Ok, this was ripped off my post on Daniel Negreanu's forums...so you may not understand some of the things I say in this, simply because you don't hang around that board. But please, read this through:
Ok, I'm sure all of you have no clue who this guy is. I'm sure he isn't a member here, but I could be wrong.
Well, it all started on the Poker Forum Challenge. I was at first just chilling with Marion and the FCP'ers flocked around her table, just chatting while I was playing my league game. After I busted 4 away from the money, and and everyone flocked away from her table after she busted, I went to the tables of the rest of the AJPoker.com players that were playing (that was the site I was repping, for clarification). Well, they were doing great, and me and about 5 others from the site were at the tables rooting them on. I was doing the same. Moral support goes a long way. Well, some guy named JohnJr got jealous, because no one was cheering for his for his forum or something, so he called the floor on us for spamming. The floor deemed that the "next person to spam for AJPoker.com would be banned." Well, after that, everyone at my forum thought this was retarded. So, to prove a point, one of my players started spamming. He got banned, and the floor left.
So guess what JohnJr decides to do? Starts bashing our site after the floor leaves! Great double standard! Well, one of our members decided on a great way to settle this: A cross-forum challenge: The top 15 from each site playing for top honors. Well, this guy counter-offers by saying, "Forget that. You'll collude." (How do we know THEY aren't gonna do the same thing?) "I'll take any of you clowns on heads up, right now. Go get the best player at your site, and I will destroy him." Well, no one's stepping up, nor do I; our best player was not present, and I could think of 5 players other than him who should play before me, and they weren't stepping up to the plate. Well, the interchange kept going. Then they decided to compare WSOP qualifiers (they "had 2" we had none)...who cares? they haven't cashed or braceleted yet, so they haven't proven anything! So then all of a sudden, for no real reason, the spotlight gets turned to me. The following interchange occured:
JohnJr: hanguk, do you play checkers?
Me: No.
JohnJr: Hanguk, you must play checkers.
I sense a doucheclown insult.
Me: And what are you insinuating by that?
JohnJr: Because you must suck at poker.
Okay, below the belt, and I wasn't even saying anything derrogatory to the guy.
Me: Still want the heads up match?
JohnJr: Yeah
Me: Give me your e-mail, and what sites you have deposits on, and I'll be there.
So he gives me his e-mail. And then ducks out of the room as I'm trying to concrete the details.
So now I've e-mailed the guy, even though I think his sack shrunk after I called his bluff. This was my e-mail
From: Corey Lanier
Reply-To: Corey Lanier
To: x@y.com (I won't disclose his e-mail.)
Date: Jun 24, 2005 11:35 PM
Subject: Heads up challenge match
First off, I just want to get confirmation on the site you are willing to play at, the chat logs went too fast for me to remember. So if I'm correct, the sites are:
PokerStars
EmpirePoker
Second, I don't know if you saw what I had said later, but seeing as there was no response, I assume you didn't. I would like to up this to a three game series, best two out of three is declared better. The events I proposed are:
NL Hold'Em
PL Omaha
7-Card Stud.
If you do not like the list, and would like to play the series, then you can modify the list to your liking. The games I would be willing to play (and the betting structures) are:
Hold'Em -- Any betting structure
Omaha -- PL or Limit
2-7 Triple Draw -- Limit play only
Seven Card Stud -- Limit play only
Omaha Hi-Lo Split - PL or Limit
5-Card Stud - Limit play only
Razz - Limit play only
7-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split - Limit play only
Soko - PL only
I know the games the Stars offers, and that would rule out 5CS, TD, Razz & Soko. I do not know Empire's offerings, as I don't play on any Party Skins. But anyone can win a NL HE heads up match. But it takes a true player to win in different variations of poker heads up, and that's what I want to get to the bottom of, is who is the more consistent player.
This will by no means solve the argument as to whose forum is better, as this is only a small representation of the players of each forum, thus why I still propose a match between the top players of each site (I'll let you pick the numbers). Like I said, our admin has been trying to get forum challenges together, so this would be a good kickstart for that.
I also would like to know what stakes you would want to be playing, so I know how much to deposit to the site we play on. I may ask for an adjustment to this stake to fit into my bankroll management (because only a moron would risk his whole bankroll on a petty grudge).
I await your reply, so that I can begin the process of transferring to Stars or Empire. And good luck.
--
Thanks clown, 광대야 고마워요.
Corey Lanier 레이니어 코리
http://joshintheghetto.keenspace.com - The greatest webcomic EVER!
==========================================
I don't expect an e-mail back truly, but I hope he does. Because I'm pretty sure he's on his way to getting owned.
But I'm going to need a cross site transfer for empire or stars, cause I have nothing there.
Anyway, I'll keep you guys updated on this one. It's not of the same magnitude of Barry vs. Daniel, but I pride myself in heads-up play, and I think you guys might like me sending a doucheclown home crying.
=============================================
So yeah. That's it. I will keep you guys updated on when and where and if these matches take place. I would like to see some of my friends on here at the table to cheer me on. I'll need the support.
If you guys register a poker account just to talk at the table, with no intention of every playing, that would really mean a lot to me. Just whatever, come and support when/if this goes down!
Ok, I'm sure all of you have no clue who this guy is. I'm sure he isn't a member here, but I could be wrong.
Well, it all started on the Poker Forum Challenge. I was at first just chilling with Marion and the FCP'ers flocked around her table, just chatting while I was playing my league game. After I busted 4 away from the money, and and everyone flocked away from her table after she busted, I went to the tables of the rest of the AJPoker.com players that were playing (that was the site I was repping, for clarification). Well, they were doing great, and me and about 5 others from the site were at the tables rooting them on. I was doing the same. Moral support goes a long way. Well, some guy named JohnJr got jealous, because no one was cheering for his for his forum or something, so he called the floor on us for spamming. The floor deemed that the "next person to spam for AJPoker.com would be banned." Well, after that, everyone at my forum thought this was retarded. So, to prove a point, one of my players started spamming. He got banned, and the floor left.
So guess what JohnJr decides to do? Starts bashing our site after the floor leaves! Great double standard! Well, one of our members decided on a great way to settle this: A cross-forum challenge: The top 15 from each site playing for top honors. Well, this guy counter-offers by saying, "Forget that. You'll collude." (How do we know THEY aren't gonna do the same thing?) "I'll take any of you clowns on heads up, right now. Go get the best player at your site, and I will destroy him." Well, no one's stepping up, nor do I; our best player was not present, and I could think of 5 players other than him who should play before me, and they weren't stepping up to the plate. Well, the interchange kept going. Then they decided to compare WSOP qualifiers (they "had 2" we had none)...who cares? they haven't cashed or braceleted yet, so they haven't proven anything! So then all of a sudden, for no real reason, the spotlight gets turned to me. The following interchange occured:
JohnJr: hanguk, do you play checkers?
Me: No.
JohnJr: Hanguk, you must play checkers.
I sense a doucheclown insult.
Me: And what are you insinuating by that?
JohnJr: Because you must suck at poker.
Okay, below the belt, and I wasn't even saying anything derrogatory to the guy.
Me: Still want the heads up match?
JohnJr: Yeah
Me: Give me your e-mail, and what sites you have deposits on, and I'll be there.
So he gives me his e-mail. And then ducks out of the room as I'm trying to concrete the details.
So now I've e-mailed the guy, even though I think his sack shrunk after I called his bluff. This was my e-mail
From: Corey Lanier
Reply-To: Corey Lanier
To: x@y.com (I won't disclose his e-mail.)
Date: Jun 24, 2005 11:35 PM
Subject: Heads up challenge match
First off, I just want to get confirmation on the site you are willing to play at, the chat logs went too fast for me to remember. So if I'm correct, the sites are:
PokerStars
EmpirePoker
Second, I don't know if you saw what I had said later, but seeing as there was no response, I assume you didn't. I would like to up this to a three game series, best two out of three is declared better. The events I proposed are:
NL Hold'Em
PL Omaha
7-Card Stud.
If you do not like the list, and would like to play the series, then you can modify the list to your liking. The games I would be willing to play (and the betting structures) are:
Hold'Em -- Any betting structure
Omaha -- PL or Limit
2-7 Triple Draw -- Limit play only
Seven Card Stud -- Limit play only
Omaha Hi-Lo Split - PL or Limit
5-Card Stud - Limit play only
Razz - Limit play only
7-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split - Limit play only
Soko - PL only
I know the games the Stars offers, and that would rule out 5CS, TD, Razz & Soko. I do not know Empire's offerings, as I don't play on any Party Skins. But anyone can win a NL HE heads up match. But it takes a true player to win in different variations of poker heads up, and that's what I want to get to the bottom of, is who is the more consistent player.
This will by no means solve the argument as to whose forum is better, as this is only a small representation of the players of each forum, thus why I still propose a match between the top players of each site (I'll let you pick the numbers). Like I said, our admin has been trying to get forum challenges together, so this would be a good kickstart for that.
I also would like to know what stakes you would want to be playing, so I know how much to deposit to the site we play on. I may ask for an adjustment to this stake to fit into my bankroll management (because only a moron would risk his whole bankroll on a petty grudge).
I await your reply, so that I can begin the process of transferring to Stars or Empire. And good luck.
--
Thanks clown, 광대야 고마워요.
Corey Lanier 레이니어 코리
http://joshintheghetto.keenspace.com - The greatest webcomic EVER!
==========================================
I don't expect an e-mail back truly, but I hope he does. Because I'm pretty sure he's on his way to getting owned.
But I'm going to need a cross site transfer for empire or stars, cause I have nothing there.
Anyway, I'll keep you guys updated on this one. It's not of the same magnitude of Barry vs. Daniel, but I pride myself in heads-up play, and I think you guys might like me sending a doucheclown home crying.
=============================================
So yeah. That's it. I will keep you guys updated on when and where and if these matches take place. I would like to see some of my friends on here at the table to cheer me on. I'll need the support.
If you guys register a poker account just to talk at the table, with no intention of every playing, that would really mean a lot to me. Just whatever, come and support when/if this goes down!
Saturday, May 14, 2005
High-stress matches=Lessons learned
My friend comes home from work Tuesday and declares he wants to playtest the two decks he just built. He built a Hogan deck that is completely away from orthodox Hogan-building procedures. But it's effective. I play Shelton on this one.
First, the pre-match was a pain. He had already told me his pre-match order earlier that morning, but I think he thought I forgot because I was half-asleep. I don't usually forget stuff said to me while I'm partially unconscious. Which is quite ironic, because I usually forget everything told to me while I'm completely conscious. So I know he's playing Whatcha Gonna Do, Brother?-->I'm Gonna Break You. My Pre-match helps me, so I wanna stop that. I play Calgary, then follow it with I Want To Play The Game. Hmmmm...I'll take out I'm Gonna...oh crap. He has two I'm Gonna Break You's in his backlash deck as protection for I Want To Play The Game. Just perfect. So I take one out, which is as useless as all get-out. And guess what he drops to my ringside? Wrestlemania. Now I've gotta burn one every turn. I eventually counteract that by running Greco-Roman Specialists to put it back into my Backlash deck.
He had reversals for most of the stuff I was throwing at him, but i was managing to get fortitude off reversals, and the occasional maneuver I might get off. Early in the match, I play Beating The Odds, because I know he's gonna pop Whatcha Gonna Do, Brother once he gets maneuvers in his hand. Sometime later, he plays something I can't reverse to remove it from my ring area. Oh well, next turn, I play ANOTHER Beating The Odds. LOL...man was he pissed. So later he figures just forget it, pops Whatcha, and I pop beating the odds on his maneuver, reverse it, then hit Shelton's Splash. And he's done.
Next up, Raven. Nothing incredibly fancy, except the foreign objects almost killed me. I had about 20 cards in my hand, none of which I could play. Either they were reversals, or high fortitude maneuvers while I was sitting on 5F. I was so frustrated, and he just kept saying "THROW SOMETHING" which made me even more frustrated. We were actually scowling at each other at this point. Plus, he wasn't throwing anything either. I couldn't hit anything from my backlash deck, I already had my maximum out in the Ring. Everytime I drew a low fortitude maneuver, I'd play them, see it reversed, put it at the bottom of my deck, then shuffle in two cards for Calgary. Eventually we were both down to just a few cards in arsenal, and it became apparent whoever could get some damage off first would win. That was me with a reversal. At that point, I showed him my hand at the point where he was telling me to throw stuff to prove the point that I would've if I could have.
Then he had the audacity to ask me to test them with my Gail deck. No thanks, I couldn't take another match like that Tuesday night.
First, the pre-match was a pain. He had already told me his pre-match order earlier that morning, but I think he thought I forgot because I was half-asleep. I don't usually forget stuff said to me while I'm partially unconscious. Which is quite ironic, because I usually forget everything told to me while I'm completely conscious. So I know he's playing Whatcha Gonna Do, Brother?-->I'm Gonna Break You. My Pre-match helps me, so I wanna stop that. I play Calgary, then follow it with I Want To Play The Game. Hmmmm...I'll take out I'm Gonna...oh crap. He has two I'm Gonna Break You's in his backlash deck as protection for I Want To Play The Game. Just perfect. So I take one out, which is as useless as all get-out. And guess what he drops to my ringside? Wrestlemania. Now I've gotta burn one every turn. I eventually counteract that by running Greco-Roman Specialists to put it back into my Backlash deck.
He had reversals for most of the stuff I was throwing at him, but i was managing to get fortitude off reversals, and the occasional maneuver I might get off. Early in the match, I play Beating The Odds, because I know he's gonna pop Whatcha Gonna Do, Brother once he gets maneuvers in his hand. Sometime later, he plays something I can't reverse to remove it from my ring area. Oh well, next turn, I play ANOTHER Beating The Odds. LOL...man was he pissed. So later he figures just forget it, pops Whatcha, and I pop beating the odds on his maneuver, reverse it, then hit Shelton's Splash. And he's done.
Next up, Raven. Nothing incredibly fancy, except the foreign objects almost killed me. I had about 20 cards in my hand, none of which I could play. Either they were reversals, or high fortitude maneuvers while I was sitting on 5F. I was so frustrated, and he just kept saying "THROW SOMETHING" which made me even more frustrated. We were actually scowling at each other at this point. Plus, he wasn't throwing anything either. I couldn't hit anything from my backlash deck, I already had my maximum out in the Ring. Everytime I drew a low fortitude maneuver, I'd play them, see it reversed, put it at the bottom of my deck, then shuffle in two cards for Calgary. Eventually we were both down to just a few cards in arsenal, and it became apparent whoever could get some damage off first would win. That was me with a reversal. At that point, I showed him my hand at the point where he was telling me to throw stuff to prove the point that I would've if I could have.
Then he had the audacity to ask me to test them with my Gail deck. No thanks, I couldn't take another match like that Tuesday night.
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