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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Bird Flu Hits Anaheim, CA

WATCH OUT!

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.

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.

En memoria de Eddie Guerrero

1967-2005

Vaya con Dios, Eddie. Le veré en cielo. ¡Gracias por las memorias!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Blogger Championship

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 7777953

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!

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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.

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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!

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.

Finally found a comfortable cash game

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.

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.

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