Hit a small rough spot the last few weeks. Just keep getting it in crushing and getting sucked out on, or losing my flips. Not exactly been the most entertaining stuff to write about, and to be quite honest, by the time I am done being pissed off, I usually just want to put it behind me instead of writing on here about it. But also, it probably has something to do with the amount of writing have been doing, so once I build this back into my routine I assume it will become easier and easier to do.
Last night, I got confronted about a particular game I used to play in, that is now being accused of cheating. The person confronting me was the guy who runs the game, and he wanted to "clear the air" with me about said game. I told him that I have seen weird things in his game (slipping chips onto the table with nut hands, holding out chips with losers, weird stuff happening with the deck resulting in coolers, etc. etc.), and was not going to be a part of it. Because even with all the weirdness I still could beat that game at a decent clip for the most part. He argued with me about it for a bit, but eventually had to accept that he was being looked at by most people as a cheat. So it was what it was, whatever.
I've got a few things to take care of today, and then a long drive to LA to play at the Bike the next couple nights. They are hosting a deep stack tourny that I am hoping to make a good showing at. Lets hope things work out!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Return
I have no idea how all the full time pros maintain blogs. It really amazes me, because usually when I get finished playing the last thing I want to do is sit around typing and recaping my session and why I play so bad, or good. To all you persistent bloggers out there, I salute you.
About a month ago, things were looking really ugly for me. Not just in poker but life generally. I was laid off, running low on cash, and running pretty bad in poker. Things were looking down. With my confidence on the decline and money running short, my buddy Fancy Name, asked me to play in one of the big local tournys. I told him I wasn't really interested, and I wasn't playing my best, so I didnt want to invest the money. As a compromise Fancy Name put me into the tourny and I ended up making a deep run, and chopping 4 ways. The come up gave me a ton of confidence and had me playing and feeling better then I had in a long time.
With my bankroll off life support, and no money of note coming in, I made a pretty no brainer decision to play as a means of supporting myself. Things have been pretty good, with my nearly doubling my roll in the last month or so. Grinding the local casinos has been fun and it's good to be recognized by a lot of players I haven't seen in a long time. I also made a little jaunt to LA to play, and found the 5-10 up there to be pretty profitable. Things have just generally been looking up.
I have slowed my play down, and have been grinding much more then I had in the past. It's kind of weird, because I feel like my life is finally getting back to normal, and at the moment, things are about as weird as they possibly could be.
In the last 2 weeks I have hit a little slide, but it has been much different then the slide I took at the begining of the year. In January, I was playing fast and having big losing sessions that my roll simply couldn't sustain. Now, I have a much bigger roll, and the losers I am taking are usually of the 1 buy in range. Given this, I know now that I am properly equipped to deal with the downswing and ride out the storm. Also, I am adjusting my game much better then I have in the past. I think overall I am in a much healthier place mentally.
I caught a cold a few weeks ago, and haven't been able to shake it. It was pretty brutal for awhile, and my mom was freaking out cause she thought I had the dreaded Swine Flu. Fortunately, it is passing and each day I am feeling better and better. Should hopefully be back to normal in the next few days.
Im taking the rest of the week off from poker. But that doesn't mean that I am going to let it off my mind. I spent tonight watching the new WSOP episodes, Poker After Dark, and listening to a combination of Deuce Plays and Poker Road Radio.
Sigh, it's good to be back.
About a month ago, things were looking really ugly for me. Not just in poker but life generally. I was laid off, running low on cash, and running pretty bad in poker. Things were looking down. With my confidence on the decline and money running short, my buddy Fancy Name, asked me to play in one of the big local tournys. I told him I wasn't really interested, and I wasn't playing my best, so I didnt want to invest the money. As a compromise Fancy Name put me into the tourny and I ended up making a deep run, and chopping 4 ways. The come up gave me a ton of confidence and had me playing and feeling better then I had in a long time.
With my bankroll off life support, and no money of note coming in, I made a pretty no brainer decision to play as a means of supporting myself. Things have been pretty good, with my nearly doubling my roll in the last month or so. Grinding the local casinos has been fun and it's good to be recognized by a lot of players I haven't seen in a long time. I also made a little jaunt to LA to play, and found the 5-10 up there to be pretty profitable. Things have just generally been looking up.
I have slowed my play down, and have been grinding much more then I had in the past. It's kind of weird, because I feel like my life is finally getting back to normal, and at the moment, things are about as weird as they possibly could be.
In the last 2 weeks I have hit a little slide, but it has been much different then the slide I took at the begining of the year. In January, I was playing fast and having big losing sessions that my roll simply couldn't sustain. Now, I have a much bigger roll, and the losers I am taking are usually of the 1 buy in range. Given this, I know now that I am properly equipped to deal with the downswing and ride out the storm. Also, I am adjusting my game much better then I have in the past. I think overall I am in a much healthier place mentally.
I caught a cold a few weeks ago, and haven't been able to shake it. It was pretty brutal for awhile, and my mom was freaking out cause she thought I had the dreaded Swine Flu. Fortunately, it is passing and each day I am feeling better and better. Should hopefully be back to normal in the next few days.
Im taking the rest of the week off from poker. But that doesn't mean that I am going to let it off my mind. I spent tonight watching the new WSOP episodes, Poker After Dark, and listening to a combination of Deuce Plays and Poker Road Radio.
Sigh, it's good to be back.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Update
Wow, what a lay off. Apparently with everything that has shaken me up lately, I havent had a chance to write but I really need to get some of this stuff down before things fade too much in my memory.
So the big thing that happened is that Ashley and I split. It was a bit shocking at the time, and I think that I am still having some difficulty adjusting, but things are slowly and surely getting better. Not better better, but better. I guess that doesnt make a ton of sense, but its the only way I can express it. We still talk just about everyday, and she still comes to visit so it has made things a bit easier to deal with. I guess by not writing it all down, things seemed less real, but as I write this, it seems to be setting in a bit more then it previously had.
As a result of my recent amount of free time, I have been playing alot more. I have been pretty happy with my play, but have ended up on the wrong side of almost every coin flip I was in. A couple of the fun ones were, my queens with a flush draw vs KK no flush draw on a 9 high board. AT vs JT on a KTT board, for about 2K. Pair flush draw vs top pair (this one happened a good 4 or 5 times). So basicly things have been pretty gross. So much so, that I took this entire week off. I was thinking about playing tomorrow but my dad recruited me to do some work for him, so its probably not in the cards, so to speak.
I wish I had more to write at the moment, but its not really coming to me. Until next time I guess.
So the big thing that happened is that Ashley and I split. It was a bit shocking at the time, and I think that I am still having some difficulty adjusting, but things are slowly and surely getting better. Not better better, but better. I guess that doesnt make a ton of sense, but its the only way I can express it. We still talk just about everyday, and she still comes to visit so it has made things a bit easier to deal with. I guess by not writing it all down, things seemed less real, but as I write this, it seems to be setting in a bit more then it previously had.
As a result of my recent amount of free time, I have been playing alot more. I have been pretty happy with my play, but have ended up on the wrong side of almost every coin flip I was in. A couple of the fun ones were, my queens with a flush draw vs KK no flush draw on a 9 high board. AT vs JT on a KTT board, for about 2K. Pair flush draw vs top pair (this one happened a good 4 or 5 times). So basicly things have been pretty gross. So much so, that I took this entire week off. I was thinking about playing tomorrow but my dad recruited me to do some work for him, so its probably not in the cards, so to speak.
I wish I had more to write at the moment, but its not really coming to me. Until next time I guess.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Return
So Ive been really shitty about updating. My own fault completely. There has actually been alot going on that I probably should be blogging about but I havent had the energy, nor the time frankly, to sit down and actually put it all down. To start, I am not working at my former job any more. It was an unfortunate situation where it was nobody's fault, other then the circumstances of the situation. It has been an interesting transition since then. The days immedietly following it, I lounged around the house, and basically made myself as unproductive as possible. It was a really odd change of pace for me, as I am usually really accustomed to being on the go. Suddenly downshifting into a life where I didnt really have a whole lot going on was quite the change.
I found a sales gig with a new company within the same field so that is good. I mostly do outside work, driving to places and selling new customers on our product line. Its definitly very different then the management side of things which I was used to, however, I am embracing the challange and have found myself to be pretty decent at the work. I did the same gig for my old company a few years ago, so it is a bit like riding a bike.
Anyways, onto the poker. I have been playing quite a bit more as of late obviously. Since this sales gig isnt exactly paying the bills yet, I have been grinding it out at the low to midstakes games around town. I forced myself to play a much more basic and straightforward game, trying to eliminate as much variance from my style as possible. Generally things have been working out pretty well. I found that you dont really need to get too fancy with these guys. It is a bit of an ego shot to step into the smaller games but as long as dollars are being made, at the end of the day that is what is important.
Today things started off really well when I got JJ to hold against 88 within my first few hands. A short time later I picked up another $100 when I check raised the chip leader on an A82 board. Things were rolling pretty good, but things started to run cold. I picked up AK and AQ a few times and bricked all times. QQ vs AQ and AQ makes a flush. AA vs Q4 in a hand where I slow played and he had the deck break for him. I still booked a small winner but it could have been ALOT more. Sigh...
So that in a nut shell is my life right now. I promise to update more frequently!
I found a sales gig with a new company within the same field so that is good. I mostly do outside work, driving to places and selling new customers on our product line. Its definitly very different then the management side of things which I was used to, however, I am embracing the challange and have found myself to be pretty decent at the work. I did the same gig for my old company a few years ago, so it is a bit like riding a bike.
Anyways, onto the poker. I have been playing quite a bit more as of late obviously. Since this sales gig isnt exactly paying the bills yet, I have been grinding it out at the low to midstakes games around town. I forced myself to play a much more basic and straightforward game, trying to eliminate as much variance from my style as possible. Generally things have been working out pretty well. I found that you dont really need to get too fancy with these guys. It is a bit of an ego shot to step into the smaller games but as long as dollars are being made, at the end of the day that is what is important.
Today things started off really well when I got JJ to hold against 88 within my first few hands. A short time later I picked up another $100 when I check raised the chip leader on an A82 board. Things were rolling pretty good, but things started to run cold. I picked up AK and AQ a few times and bricked all times. QQ vs AQ and AQ makes a flush. AA vs Q4 in a hand where I slow played and he had the deck break for him. I still booked a small winner but it could have been ALOT more. Sigh...
So that in a nut shell is my life right now. I promise to update more frequently!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Right Track
I ventured back into the world of home games last night.
After the last few weeks of break even sessions, I decided a change of pace in a berry patch was what I needed. I felt like I played pretty well in this loose passive type game, and was rewarded instead of punished for a change. To define the night I would say one simple phrase: The squeeze play is my friend.
I lost a pot early with 88 when I ran into AJ which wasnt fun, but was able to squeeze my way back into contention and set up a hand where I got TT in against A9 on the good old 953 board. From there I maintained my stack and grew it slowly.
Late in the night, 3 players showed up. 2 I knew from when I was coming up and I was a bit put off by their presence. The interesting thing however is that while in my mind these 2 guys were still the crushers from years past, my game has clearly developed to a higher level then theirs. It was a pretty good feeling to own this one kid over and over again, and put him in spots where he never could call, and forcing him to second guess himself in all the wrong times. And because he was one of the dudes that was around before I was, it felt all the sweeter.
Other then that not a whole lot going on. There is some stuff at work that hasnt been too fun, but I dont feel like getting into it. Beyond that, there is some stuff in my personal life that I would like to write about but this isnt the right time. Maybe shortly when I have some more definite answers I will have more to say.
Until then though, hope everyone is doing well, and crushing the fish.
After the last few weeks of break even sessions, I decided a change of pace in a berry patch was what I needed. I felt like I played pretty well in this loose passive type game, and was rewarded instead of punished for a change. To define the night I would say one simple phrase: The squeeze play is my friend.
I lost a pot early with 88 when I ran into AJ which wasnt fun, but was able to squeeze my way back into contention and set up a hand where I got TT in against A9 on the good old 953 board. From there I maintained my stack and grew it slowly.
Late in the night, 3 players showed up. 2 I knew from when I was coming up and I was a bit put off by their presence. The interesting thing however is that while in my mind these 2 guys were still the crushers from years past, my game has clearly developed to a higher level then theirs. It was a pretty good feeling to own this one kid over and over again, and put him in spots where he never could call, and forcing him to second guess himself in all the wrong times. And because he was one of the dudes that was around before I was, it felt all the sweeter.
Other then that not a whole lot going on. There is some stuff at work that hasnt been too fun, but I dont feel like getting into it. Beyond that, there is some stuff in my personal life that I would like to write about but this isnt the right time. Maybe shortly when I have some more definite answers I will have more to say.
Until then though, hope everyone is doing well, and crushing the fish.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
WSOP Rincon
Last night Ashley, Anthony and I played at the WSOP Circut event at Harrah's Rincon. I really like the facility itself, but the action at the place is pretty blah. I always feel a pressure when I play up there, because it is an hour drive, and since the cash game is pretty terrible, if busting occurs then it is a very long boring drive home.
Anyways, I played really well, and was very happy about my play. I got stuck early when I flopped top two on an AKT board against broadway. I battled back for a long time, but unfortunately was just short of the money, finishing in 29th with the top 18 getting paid. Sigh...
Ashley faired slightly better then me, and was able to make the money despite taking a pretty brutal cooler (KJ vs AA, on an AKK flop) as the money drew near. We might go back on Saturday so she can play in the Ladies event, and I am going to hope the cash games are better when we return.
Other then that, not too much has been happening. I have been eating alot better, and have had less trouble sleeping and it has been much easier waking up in the mornings. With a bit more work the weight bet is going to be in the bag. Simply cutting out fried foods, and soda has been immensely helpful in this first week. I have been eating alot of salads, and when I eat sandwiches, I am trying to eat less bread, and am ordering them without fries. Its a change but I know in the long run it will be benficial. Mentally when I am playing cards, I feel more fresh, and am able to concentrate for longer periods, while maintaining a good amount of discipline.
Ashley is cooking tonight, and I got things on the DVR to catch up on. Tonight should be exciting!
Anyways, I played really well, and was very happy about my play. I got stuck early when I flopped top two on an AKT board against broadway. I battled back for a long time, but unfortunately was just short of the money, finishing in 29th with the top 18 getting paid. Sigh...
Ashley faired slightly better then me, and was able to make the money despite taking a pretty brutal cooler (KJ vs AA, on an AKK flop) as the money drew near. We might go back on Saturday so she can play in the Ladies event, and I am going to hope the cash games are better when we return.
Other then that, not too much has been happening. I have been eating alot better, and have had less trouble sleeping and it has been much easier waking up in the mornings. With a bit more work the weight bet is going to be in the bag. Simply cutting out fried foods, and soda has been immensely helpful in this first week. I have been eating alot of salads, and when I eat sandwiches, I am trying to eat less bread, and am ordering them without fries. Its a change but I know in the long run it will be benficial. Mentally when I am playing cards, I feel more fresh, and am able to concentrate for longer periods, while maintaining a good amount of discipline.
Ashley is cooking tonight, and I got things on the DVR to catch up on. Tonight should be exciting!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Perfect World
The last few weeks have been very up and down for me. I spent quite a bit of time playing in the Spring Flind tournys at Sycuan, and ended up with a big goose egg for my efforts. However, I was able to grind the cash games, which were actually quite good during that time, and every night, made back my buy in plus a few hundred for my time. The only tourny success I have had as of late is another final table for the WSOP Main Event Qualifier. Unfortunately the payout isnt very good since a big chunk of the cash goes to the freeroll at the end of May.
Anyways, things have been going pretty good. I have been playing pretty strong without making too many mistakes in the cash games and I have been pretty steady in my results.
I have had a little bit of drama with loaning money to a player, and that has been frustrating and annoying. Since every little bit of cash I can get is helpful to me, having someone take their time in paying me back is quite the hassle. In a perfect world when people needed a loan they would pay it back as if their life depended upon it, but such is not the way...
I had dinner with Sean and his wife the other night for St. Patricks Day. We drank beers, ate corn beef and played a little heads up. I scooped Sean for a solid $20! Hurrah for me! As the night wore on, we got into discussions about prop bets, and I booked a weight bet with his wife. Since we both are trying to lose weight, we both figured it would be a good motivation. The goal is to lose 30lbs in 4 months. If we both lose 30 then the bets is square, but if one of us loses less then 30 we have to pay. If I lose, she is going to dress me up, and we go to a gay bar for 4 hours. If I win, she has to come to the casino and give me 4 hours worth of massage at the table. I think her pay off is a little bit better then mine, however, I like my side of the bet, so I am willing to give up some edge on that side of it. Suffice to say, it should be interesting.
The last few days, I have been trying to walk a bit more, and I have been eating better, and portioning my food better. I think the key to this is smaller and more incrimental steps, then trying to make a drastic sweeping change. If I try to keep a healthy diet, and exercise more and more progressively, then I hope things will work out.
Tonight, I am playing at Sycuan. Hopefully, I can collect some cash from the no-limit players, and the ones that owe me money. In a perfect world of course.
Anyways, things have been going pretty good. I have been playing pretty strong without making too many mistakes in the cash games and I have been pretty steady in my results.
I have had a little bit of drama with loaning money to a player, and that has been frustrating and annoying. Since every little bit of cash I can get is helpful to me, having someone take their time in paying me back is quite the hassle. In a perfect world when people needed a loan they would pay it back as if their life depended upon it, but such is not the way...
I had dinner with Sean and his wife the other night for St. Patricks Day. We drank beers, ate corn beef and played a little heads up. I scooped Sean for a solid $20! Hurrah for me! As the night wore on, we got into discussions about prop bets, and I booked a weight bet with his wife. Since we both are trying to lose weight, we both figured it would be a good motivation. The goal is to lose 30lbs in 4 months. If we both lose 30 then the bets is square, but if one of us loses less then 30 we have to pay. If I lose, she is going to dress me up, and we go to a gay bar for 4 hours. If I win, she has to come to the casino and give me 4 hours worth of massage at the table. I think her pay off is a little bit better then mine, however, I like my side of the bet, so I am willing to give up some edge on that side of it. Suffice to say, it should be interesting.
The last few days, I have been trying to walk a bit more, and I have been eating better, and portioning my food better. I think the key to this is smaller and more incrimental steps, then trying to make a drastic sweeping change. If I try to keep a healthy diet, and exercise more and more progressively, then I hope things will work out.
Tonight, I am playing at Sycuan. Hopefully, I can collect some cash from the no-limit players, and the ones that owe me money. In a perfect world of course.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I'm Back
Wow its been awhile. Ok, so Vegas didnt end up going so great for me. I stayed ahead of the curve the whole way, making pretty good decisions and getting into some pretty good spots. However, in the last 24 hours everything that could go wrong went wrong. I found myself to be variance's bitch for a little bit, and ended up stuck for the trip by a few hundred. Sigh...
Since being back things have been pretty slow. I didnt play till the weekend and when I finally did get my hands on some cards, I did pretty decent. On Saturday I grinded the cash game for a few hundred, and played the Sycuan tournament and was able to chop that up for almost $600. After the tourny I headed up to Viejas to watch Anthony play the big game. It was cool getting to sweat him, even though he ended up getting stuck pretty bad. Cooler after cooler hit the kid but he kept coming back right up until the end.
Sunday was a test in perseverence. The game at Sycuan was pretty decent because of some freeroll they were giving players that day, so I jumped into their big game right when I got there. I immediately got stuck for a buy in when I took AK up against K8 on the good old KJ8 no suit board. Blah. The day got worse from there and I ended up in the game for $1K, but was able to make most of it back in the few hours I was there.
Probably will be playing later on this week. But for now, Im tired and need to rest.
Since being back things have been pretty slow. I didnt play till the weekend and when I finally did get my hands on some cards, I did pretty decent. On Saturday I grinded the cash game for a few hundred, and played the Sycuan tournament and was able to chop that up for almost $600. After the tourny I headed up to Viejas to watch Anthony play the big game. It was cool getting to sweat him, even though he ended up getting stuck pretty bad. Cooler after cooler hit the kid but he kept coming back right up until the end.
Sunday was a test in perseverence. The game at Sycuan was pretty decent because of some freeroll they were giving players that day, so I jumped into their big game right when I got there. I immediately got stuck for a buy in when I took AK up against K8 on the good old KJ8 no suit board. Blah. The day got worse from there and I ended up in the game for $1K, but was able to make most of it back in the few hours I was there.
Probably will be playing later on this week. But for now, Im tired and need to rest.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Accident
My tournament streak ended the other night when I bubbled in 12th place at the $80 buy in. It was a bit brutal because of the way the hand went down. With blinds of 2K-4K, I make it 10K UTG with AK. The guy directly to my left ships for 2.5K more. It folds back to the big blind, who had been playing pretty tight, and he ships for 3.5K additional. I call the 3.5K to put them both all in, and am up against 88 from my left, and QT in the BB. The flop is AKJ, and I flop top two with QT flopping broadway. I brick the turn and river and my tourny was basically done.
On a bright note, Ashley was able to final table AND because one of the guys refused to chop the prize money, they played down to heads up, and after she knocked out the dude who wouldnt chop, she took about $1K and the official win. Very well done. I didnt fair too bad either on the night because I had a few last longer bets in play that I won with my 12th place elimination, so it still worked out pretty well.
On Saturday, Ashley and I didnt do too much. I picked up breakfast and we ate and watched tv, and before long she was off to work. So I sat around for a bit, and then headed out on a drive. As I was getting on the freeway, I rear ended a guy and did some pretty serious damage to my car. Luckily the guy in front of me was not hurt, and I didnt get hurt seriously either. So the rest of my day was spent taking care of my car, getting the insurance information to the proper people, so on and so on.
Sunday I picked up my rental car, and put in a short session. Nothing too noteable, other then booking a $100 winner after only about an hour. Whatever, a win is a win.
Vegas is coming in a few days and Im really excited to get out there and mix it up. I will probably be taking time away from the tables until Vegas shows up. The wait is going to be killer, but anticipation always leads to good things.
On a bright note, Ashley was able to final table AND because one of the guys refused to chop the prize money, they played down to heads up, and after she knocked out the dude who wouldnt chop, she took about $1K and the official win. Very well done. I didnt fair too bad either on the night because I had a few last longer bets in play that I won with my 12th place elimination, so it still worked out pretty well.
On Saturday, Ashley and I didnt do too much. I picked up breakfast and we ate and watched tv, and before long she was off to work. So I sat around for a bit, and then headed out on a drive. As I was getting on the freeway, I rear ended a guy and did some pretty serious damage to my car. Luckily the guy in front of me was not hurt, and I didnt get hurt seriously either. So the rest of my day was spent taking care of my car, getting the insurance information to the proper people, so on and so on.
Sunday I picked up my rental car, and put in a short session. Nothing too noteable, other then booking a $100 winner after only about an hour. Whatever, a win is a win.
Vegas is coming in a few days and Im really excited to get out there and mix it up. I will probably be taking time away from the tables until Vegas shows up. The wait is going to be killer, but anticipation always leads to good things.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Go! Go! Go!
Took a few days off playing and I am ready to get back out and earn.
The last few nights, Ashley and I stayed in and watched a few movies. Bangkok Dangerous was ok, a pretty standard action flick, with a couple of pretty kick ass moments. Last nights pick was Rightous Kill, which was terribly predictable and even though I really wanted to like this movie, I just couldn't. The twist in the movie was tipped every step of the way, and there was no real suspense by the time the big reveals occured. I still have yet to see Slum Dog and despite everyone who has vehmently praised this movie, I probably will end up waiting to see it. Something about it just doesn't draw me in, or make me feel like its a must see.
I've been messing around in the PokerRoad forums more then usual lately. I normally only participate in the strategy talks and hand analysis portions of the forum, but lately its been fun to venture out and interact with other fans of the shows. Im not super big on forum culture, as I tend to think most internet people are pretnetious douches, but everyone is really cool and respectful so no complaints from me on that end.
The other night I passed on one of the local home games and I am still not sure if it was a good move or a bad one. The game is a $1-$3, and somehow the perfect storm of players came through each buying in for over $1K. Apparently the table was loaded with over $8K in play, which is simply ridiculous for a game of that size. I know a few of the players who bought in big, and they arent especially talented or skilled. Outwardly this looks like a bad move to have passed on this, however, the detriment to my confidence right now if I lost would have been severe, not to mention the financial crappiness that it would have been should I have lost a significent sum right before Vegas. The way I figure it, the game will still be there. There is always another time.
Tonight I will probably be looking for a tourny to play or a soft seat in a cash game. I don't really feel like thinking so I want to find the path of least resistence to making money tonight. Sycuan is running an $80 tournament that will probably get the prize pool to around between $7K or $8K. Should be interesting.
The last few nights, Ashley and I stayed in and watched a few movies. Bangkok Dangerous was ok, a pretty standard action flick, with a couple of pretty kick ass moments. Last nights pick was Rightous Kill, which was terribly predictable and even though I really wanted to like this movie, I just couldn't. The twist in the movie was tipped every step of the way, and there was no real suspense by the time the big reveals occured. I still have yet to see Slum Dog and despite everyone who has vehmently praised this movie, I probably will end up waiting to see it. Something about it just doesn't draw me in, or make me feel like its a must see.
I've been messing around in the PokerRoad forums more then usual lately. I normally only participate in the strategy talks and hand analysis portions of the forum, but lately its been fun to venture out and interact with other fans of the shows. Im not super big on forum culture, as I tend to think most internet people are pretnetious douches, but everyone is really cool and respectful so no complaints from me on that end.
The other night I passed on one of the local home games and I am still not sure if it was a good move or a bad one. The game is a $1-$3, and somehow the perfect storm of players came through each buying in for over $1K. Apparently the table was loaded with over $8K in play, which is simply ridiculous for a game of that size. I know a few of the players who bought in big, and they arent especially talented or skilled. Outwardly this looks like a bad move to have passed on this, however, the detriment to my confidence right now if I lost would have been severe, not to mention the financial crappiness that it would have been should I have lost a significent sum right before Vegas. The way I figure it, the game will still be there. There is always another time.
Tonight I will probably be looking for a tourny to play or a soft seat in a cash game. I don't really feel like thinking so I want to find the path of least resistence to making money tonight. Sycuan is running an $80 tournament that will probably get the prize pool to around between $7K or $8K. Should be interesting.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
2 Tournaments and Some Cash
This week has been pretty active for me. Saturday I had not planned on playing but my dad called and wanted to run a session, and because Ashley was working, I had only planned on playing Fallout 3 all night. I drove out to Sycuan with my dad and missed the tourny which I was kinda bummed about but we spent about 6 hours grinding the $1-$3 cash game togther and I was able to book a $500+ winner, and my dad was able to take down about $200.
The only semi-interesting hand that got played was as follows:
2 players limp early, I raise to $25 with AQo. The cutoff calls, the button calls, the BB calls, and both limpers call. (I know, it was a huge raise, but my image was such at the table that players generally give me respect...apparently not in this hand though...) Flop is Qc Tc 4d. I fire $100 at the pot after everyone checks to me, it folds back to the BB who ships for $250. I don't think I am ever folding here because the price Im getting laid is pretty good, unless I just ran into 44, or MAYBE TT, so I call it off and dude turns over AcKc. I fade the turn and river and scoop a pretty decent pot. It was nice.
The next night, Ashley and I went to dim sum for brunch, and ran some groccery errands for our house and for my parents. After dropping off the groceries I got the itch to play and we headed out to Sycuan again to play in their WSOP qualifier tourny. For some reason once I got there, I wasnt really into playing a tourny, but was able to make a few good moves and pick up chips at the right times. I final tabled with my buddy Alan, and qualified for the WSOP freeroll to the main event on May 31st. So along with a few hundred in prize money that was fun. Ashley made the final 3 tables but faded out at the end. She ended up playing the cash game, and made about $3oo so it wasnt a bad night for her either.
Monday was a boring work day, and again we made our way to Sycuan after I got off. That night the tourny was $24 with rebuys and an add on. I got seated at table 2 which I was pretty happy with since I am friends with the dealer and got to joke around with him throughout the tourny. I played with some REALLY weak passive players and they let me roll them over. By the time we made the final table I had a bit more then 1/2 the chips in play. I ended up taking a chop because I was bored of playing and I only got $150 less then first place which was ok with me since my sleep was more valuable to me.
Vegas is coming up next week, and I can't wait to get out there and mix it up. My spirits are good, and I feel like I am playing pretty well, especially coming out of the slump of the last few months. Up, up and away!
The only semi-interesting hand that got played was as follows:
2 players limp early, I raise to $25 with AQo. The cutoff calls, the button calls, the BB calls, and both limpers call. (I know, it was a huge raise, but my image was such at the table that players generally give me respect...apparently not in this hand though...) Flop is Qc Tc 4d. I fire $100 at the pot after everyone checks to me, it folds back to the BB who ships for $250. I don't think I am ever folding here because the price Im getting laid is pretty good, unless I just ran into 44, or MAYBE TT, so I call it off and dude turns over AcKc. I fade the turn and river and scoop a pretty decent pot. It was nice.
The next night, Ashley and I went to dim sum for brunch, and ran some groccery errands for our house and for my parents. After dropping off the groceries I got the itch to play and we headed out to Sycuan again to play in their WSOP qualifier tourny. For some reason once I got there, I wasnt really into playing a tourny, but was able to make a few good moves and pick up chips at the right times. I final tabled with my buddy Alan, and qualified for the WSOP freeroll to the main event on May 31st. So along with a few hundred in prize money that was fun. Ashley made the final 3 tables but faded out at the end. She ended up playing the cash game, and made about $3oo so it wasnt a bad night for her either.
Monday was a boring work day, and again we made our way to Sycuan after I got off. That night the tourny was $24 with rebuys and an add on. I got seated at table 2 which I was pretty happy with since I am friends with the dealer and got to joke around with him throughout the tourny. I played with some REALLY weak passive players and they let me roll them over. By the time we made the final table I had a bit more then 1/2 the chips in play. I ended up taking a chop because I was bored of playing and I only got $150 less then first place which was ok with me since my sleep was more valuable to me.
Vegas is coming up next week, and I can't wait to get out there and mix it up. My spirits are good, and I feel like I am playing pretty well, especially coming out of the slump of the last few months. Up, up and away!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Catch Up
Wow, a week passes without an update, and now I got alot to catch up on.
Poker: I played a few tournys with Ashley last week. She final tabled one of the first two, and got a decent peice of the chop despite being short. I was able to make money in the cash games after busting and made my buy in plus a few hundred for my time. On Friday, I was able to final table for almost $1K, and made a little bit of money on a 4 way, $100 last longer bet. Interestingly enough, both Anthony and I final tabled the event, so we ended up having to split the last longer because the final table was chopped, but Im not going to complain about a little extra cash in the pocket. I've got my flight to Vegas booked for the 19th, and I can't wait to get out there and just unwind. Ashley is going out there with the specific intent of grinding, and while that seems like a good idea, a part of me wants to take some time to relax and just get away from everything.
UFC: The fights were ok. I really enjoyed the Machida fight and GSP's total domination of BJ Penn. It was pretty exciting to see a bout like that finally come together. Where GSP goes from here I don't know, but I am going to be eagerly awaiting to see if his next opponent can step up to beat him.
Partying: Jessica and Nick came over to watch the fights with Ashley and I, and afterwards, we went out to party for a bit at Johnny V's. Ashley decided to stay in because she was comfortable in pajamas and tired, but I ended up having a pretty good time. Some highlights from my night:
- Getting absolutely destroyed by a guy playing pool but being too foolish to quit him
- Drinking a few beers, but having the presence of mind to cut myself off when I was hitting that point of no return
- A drunken girl outside of the bar tried to get people to let her into the bar by flashing her boobs, and pressing them up against the glass windows.
- Seeing a drunk guy slammed to the ground by security who thought he was resisting them but was simply too drunk to control his body
- Having a girl make an unusual amount of eye contact with me from across the bar, which let me know she was kinda vibing me, which is always nice
Family: So after going back and forth on whether to let my uncle go or not, finally nature too its course and he passed quietly. I spent a few days prior going to and from the hospital somewhat awaiting the inevitable. I have had some revelations in terms of how I view the world, but this isn't the moment I am going to choose to get into that. Anyways, the funeral was a few days ago. It was a pretty somber event, without the pomp and uplift that I have typically seen at those types of events. Jessica was doing the planning for it, so that was cool to hang out with her and Nick so I didnt have to dwell in all of the sadness that I was surrouneded by. Ashley was having a minor drama with my cousin, and Im not sure how to quite resolve it, so defference is my weapon of choice on the subject for the moment. The kid is going through alot right now, its not the time or the place to make issue with some of the stuff he did. But there will be.
Plans: Probably going to just be taking it easy. I got some money on Full Tilt again, so I probably will just concentrate on grinding that into something sizeable, and hopefully by the time I am ready to go to Vegas I will have a decent roll online. I am going to try to keep a low profile until Vegas, because I dont want to deal with the feeling of being stuck and traveling then, being in a poor frame of mind going into the trip. My buddy Manny should be coming down pretty soon, so hopefully I can see him before I take off. Blah.
Poker: I played a few tournys with Ashley last week. She final tabled one of the first two, and got a decent peice of the chop despite being short. I was able to make money in the cash games after busting and made my buy in plus a few hundred for my time. On Friday, I was able to final table for almost $1K, and made a little bit of money on a 4 way, $100 last longer bet. Interestingly enough, both Anthony and I final tabled the event, so we ended up having to split the last longer because the final table was chopped, but Im not going to complain about a little extra cash in the pocket. I've got my flight to Vegas booked for the 19th, and I can't wait to get out there and just unwind. Ashley is going out there with the specific intent of grinding, and while that seems like a good idea, a part of me wants to take some time to relax and just get away from everything.
UFC: The fights were ok. I really enjoyed the Machida fight and GSP's total domination of BJ Penn. It was pretty exciting to see a bout like that finally come together. Where GSP goes from here I don't know, but I am going to be eagerly awaiting to see if his next opponent can step up to beat him.
Partying: Jessica and Nick came over to watch the fights with Ashley and I, and afterwards, we went out to party for a bit at Johnny V's. Ashley decided to stay in because she was comfortable in pajamas and tired, but I ended up having a pretty good time. Some highlights from my night:
- Getting absolutely destroyed by a guy playing pool but being too foolish to quit him
- Drinking a few beers, but having the presence of mind to cut myself off when I was hitting that point of no return
- A drunken girl outside of the bar tried to get people to let her into the bar by flashing her boobs, and pressing them up against the glass windows.
- Seeing a drunk guy slammed to the ground by security who thought he was resisting them but was simply too drunk to control his body
- Having a girl make an unusual amount of eye contact with me from across the bar, which let me know she was kinda vibing me, which is always nice
Family: So after going back and forth on whether to let my uncle go or not, finally nature too its course and he passed quietly. I spent a few days prior going to and from the hospital somewhat awaiting the inevitable. I have had some revelations in terms of how I view the world, but this isn't the moment I am going to choose to get into that. Anyways, the funeral was a few days ago. It was a pretty somber event, without the pomp and uplift that I have typically seen at those types of events. Jessica was doing the planning for it, so that was cool to hang out with her and Nick so I didnt have to dwell in all of the sadness that I was surrouneded by. Ashley was having a minor drama with my cousin, and Im not sure how to quite resolve it, so defference is my weapon of choice on the subject for the moment. The kid is going through alot right now, its not the time or the place to make issue with some of the stuff he did. But there will be.
Plans: Probably going to just be taking it easy. I got some money on Full Tilt again, so I probably will just concentrate on grinding that into something sizeable, and hopefully by the time I am ready to go to Vegas I will have a decent roll online. I am going to try to keep a low profile until Vegas, because I dont want to deal with the feeling of being stuck and traveling then, being in a poor frame of mind going into the trip. My buddy Manny should be coming down pretty soon, so hopefully I can see him before I take off. Blah.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Losing Flips
Spent the last week muddling around and visitng my uncle at the hospital. Things were very touch and go for awhile, and this week we are still at the same impass as the last. My aunt signed off on a non-rececitation agreement, so now we are sitting back waiting for him to either pass, or come out of the coma. A few nights ago, they called everyone in to say their goodbyes when it looked like he was having brain swelling, but it subsided, and now we are back to square one. Sigh. It is an impossible decision as to what should be done at this point, and I can't help but feel completely helpless and useless as far as this goes. There is no peaceful decision that can resolve this, so we are reduced to this anticipatory, reactive state of waiting for the next big situation and hoping things will resolve one way or the other.
I signed up on Blue Fire Poker last night after getting back from the hospital. Ashley read Harrington on Hold'em while I watched training videos, so it made for a pretty laid back Sunday. There was alot of decent content on BFP, but with everything going on, I found it hard to concentrate on getting the most out of each video. I probably will have to go on again in the next day or so, and re-watch to try to get some of the finer points that I might have missed. But so far I am pretty happy with my purchase.
I played a bit online too. I broke even, or was slightly ahead in the SNGs that I played, but got burned in the $55 rebuy, and after winning about 2 buy ins at 100NL, I got murdered by flips in $50NL. AK vs 55, QQ vs AK, AQ vs JJ. It was pretty annoying, and I probably tilted off a bit more then I normally would. Again, at the moment its hard to keep everything in check as nicely and neatly as I normally do.
This week is the Super Bowl of Poker at Sycuan. All week they are running, tournys of varying sizes, so I will be grinding those this week, and probably hoping into the side action whenever I should have an early exit, which hopefully will be never! But its always best to prepare. With any luck, I will get my head on straight, and get back into the swing of things. The bankroll is hurting a bit because of the last few weeks of inactivity, and break-even sessions. I need to make a bit of cash, because I think crunch time is coming at work, and I need to come up with some cash to keep myself going.
Just gotta take one step at a time. One foot in front of the other. One hand, before the next.
I signed up on Blue Fire Poker last night after getting back from the hospital. Ashley read Harrington on Hold'em while I watched training videos, so it made for a pretty laid back Sunday. There was alot of decent content on BFP, but with everything going on, I found it hard to concentrate on getting the most out of each video. I probably will have to go on again in the next day or so, and re-watch to try to get some of the finer points that I might have missed. But so far I am pretty happy with my purchase.
I played a bit online too. I broke even, or was slightly ahead in the SNGs that I played, but got burned in the $55 rebuy, and after winning about 2 buy ins at 100NL, I got murdered by flips in $50NL. AK vs 55, QQ vs AK, AQ vs JJ. It was pretty annoying, and I probably tilted off a bit more then I normally would. Again, at the moment its hard to keep everything in check as nicely and neatly as I normally do.
This week is the Super Bowl of Poker at Sycuan. All week they are running, tournys of varying sizes, so I will be grinding those this week, and probably hoping into the side action whenever I should have an early exit, which hopefully will be never! But its always best to prepare. With any luck, I will get my head on straight, and get back into the swing of things. The bankroll is hurting a bit because of the last few weeks of inactivity, and break-even sessions. I need to make a bit of cash, because I think crunch time is coming at work, and I need to come up with some cash to keep myself going.
Just gotta take one step at a time. One foot in front of the other. One hand, before the next.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
My Uncle
Ok so this is a bit of a difficult post for me to write but I am going to give this a shot.
The last few nights, I have been up and down playing live, basically breaking even over the last week or so, and being a slight loser online. Burn out is becoming a factor in playing poker for me, and I am taking the rest of the week off to rest and recouperate. Next week is a series of tournaments that I plan on playing in, so I figure it is best to take a bit of time off before. Following that I probably will go back on break, playing once a week in one of the very soft home games around at most, until I go to Vegas in the middle of February. So until then, things might be a bit slow for me.
Now for the harder part of this entry. I just found out that my uncle suffered some type of heart failure while riding his bike the other day, and is probably going to be unable to recover. As I type this, I believe he is being evaluated by a second neurologist but at the moment, things are looking pretty bleak. Im not sure how to feel about this. My experience with death isnt overly extensive, and the people I know who have died are usually not overly close to me, or are older, so in a way I am somewhat more prepared for it.
My uncle had his birthday on Friday, and this all happened on Saturday. Apparently when his heart failed, CPR wasnt adequate to get oxygen to his brain, so as a result, things have turned grim. I cant really articulate how I feel at the moment, partly because I think I am still in shock at all of this, and partly because I simply dont know how I feel.
I tend to be a pretty emotionless person. My highs are never really that high, and my lows are never that low. It takes a lot to move me, and as I go through my mind trying to catagorize where this falls, I simply have no clue. It is a weird and awkward feeling for me to be so in limbo about this. I intelectually understand how sad this is, and how difficult this must be for my aunt and cousin, but emotionally I am just...blank. I know I am sad, cause I feel that much. Do I feel like crying? No...and I feel like I should feel like that.
My uncle was a really healthy guy. He took care of himself, exercised, and such. One of my earliest memories is wrestling with him in my grandpa's house, and to escape some hold he had me in I bit him. He of course got kind of pissed, but he did let go and I had won the day! A lot of my family memories I recall talking to him about how school was going, and partying in college and despite never being super close with him, I can always remember seeing him in the background of my thoughts when my mind drifts to those times. I remember, I was watching an old kung fu movie, and I thought one of the characters looked like him, and when I told him that, he laughed and said it was him. I went through the next 7 years watching and re-watching this movie on my parents' VCR and telling them all the time "That's Uncle Paul!" That movie is a firmly entrenched part of my childhood, making him a large part of it by transference. And it is so weird that this is now happening. I always thought I would have more time to drink beers with him and talk about school, or work, or whatever...
This whole thing has shown me that we never will stay a longer then we are supposed. Its like a switch was flicked and his heart just turned off. What was he thinking? What is it like in those moments as he loses consciousness perhaps thinking he isnt going to see his son go to high school, or graduate college? Even more simple things like seeing a full moon seem so endless, so unlimited, and yet in a single moment they are all taken away. Its just so crazy to me.
I take a lot of my life for granted. I dont take care of myself, and I have a propensity to damage myself. This is just so jarring to me, I wonder if I can continue to live my life as it is. And to change, Im just not sure I know how.
The last few nights, I have been up and down playing live, basically breaking even over the last week or so, and being a slight loser online. Burn out is becoming a factor in playing poker for me, and I am taking the rest of the week off to rest and recouperate. Next week is a series of tournaments that I plan on playing in, so I figure it is best to take a bit of time off before. Following that I probably will go back on break, playing once a week in one of the very soft home games around at most, until I go to Vegas in the middle of February. So until then, things might be a bit slow for me.
Now for the harder part of this entry. I just found out that my uncle suffered some type of heart failure while riding his bike the other day, and is probably going to be unable to recover. As I type this, I believe he is being evaluated by a second neurologist but at the moment, things are looking pretty bleak. Im not sure how to feel about this. My experience with death isnt overly extensive, and the people I know who have died are usually not overly close to me, or are older, so in a way I am somewhat more prepared for it.
My uncle had his birthday on Friday, and this all happened on Saturday. Apparently when his heart failed, CPR wasnt adequate to get oxygen to his brain, so as a result, things have turned grim. I cant really articulate how I feel at the moment, partly because I think I am still in shock at all of this, and partly because I simply dont know how I feel.
I tend to be a pretty emotionless person. My highs are never really that high, and my lows are never that low. It takes a lot to move me, and as I go through my mind trying to catagorize where this falls, I simply have no clue. It is a weird and awkward feeling for me to be so in limbo about this. I intelectually understand how sad this is, and how difficult this must be for my aunt and cousin, but emotionally I am just...blank. I know I am sad, cause I feel that much. Do I feel like crying? No...and I feel like I should feel like that.
My uncle was a really healthy guy. He took care of himself, exercised, and such. One of my earliest memories is wrestling with him in my grandpa's house, and to escape some hold he had me in I bit him. He of course got kind of pissed, but he did let go and I had won the day! A lot of my family memories I recall talking to him about how school was going, and partying in college and despite never being super close with him, I can always remember seeing him in the background of my thoughts when my mind drifts to those times. I remember, I was watching an old kung fu movie, and I thought one of the characters looked like him, and when I told him that, he laughed and said it was him. I went through the next 7 years watching and re-watching this movie on my parents' VCR and telling them all the time "That's Uncle Paul!" That movie is a firmly entrenched part of my childhood, making him a large part of it by transference. And it is so weird that this is now happening. I always thought I would have more time to drink beers with him and talk about school, or work, or whatever...
This whole thing has shown me that we never will stay a longer then we are supposed. Its like a switch was flicked and his heart just turned off. What was he thinking? What is it like in those moments as he loses consciousness perhaps thinking he isnt going to see his son go to high school, or graduate college? Even more simple things like seeing a full moon seem so endless, so unlimited, and yet in a single moment they are all taken away. Its just so crazy to me.
I take a lot of my life for granted. I dont take care of myself, and I have a propensity to damage myself. This is just so jarring to me, I wonder if I can continue to live my life as it is. And to change, Im just not sure I know how.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Not So Nice
A frustrating night but not a whole lot that could be done about it.
Ashley met me at work and we headed up to the super satalite. We arrived late and I was alternate 20 and they had yet to seat any of the alternates. With blind limits of 15 minutes, and starting with somewhat short stacks as it were, I was not super happy. I got in with 5 minutes left in the 50-100 limit and was out after 1 full orbit when I was in the BB, 5 players limp at the 100-200 blind level. I look down at KK, and make it 1200. The first limper folds, the second shoves, and eveyone else folds. I call, and dude turns up QQ. Qxx on the flop and bye bye for me.
I get into a 2-5 game relatively quickly and on the first hand get cooled off. The hand is talked about on the PokerRoad forums a bit so check it out here: http://www.pokerroad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3850. Cliff notes are that I flop middle set and get bumped off by a gutter ball. I stole one pot post flop and Ashley busted so I cashed out and we left. A $380 hit isnt bad, but its just frustrating when things like this happen so quickly back to back.
Anyways, I am probably taking tonight off, but will hopefully be at it again this weekend. No rest for the wicked right?
Ashley met me at work and we headed up to the super satalite. We arrived late and I was alternate 20 and they had yet to seat any of the alternates. With blind limits of 15 minutes, and starting with somewhat short stacks as it were, I was not super happy. I got in with 5 minutes left in the 50-100 limit and was out after 1 full orbit when I was in the BB, 5 players limp at the 100-200 blind level. I look down at KK, and make it 1200. The first limper folds, the second shoves, and eveyone else folds. I call, and dude turns up QQ. Qxx on the flop and bye bye for me.
I get into a 2-5 game relatively quickly and on the first hand get cooled off. The hand is talked about on the PokerRoad forums a bit so check it out here: http://www.pokerroad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3850. Cliff notes are that I flop middle set and get bumped off by a gutter ball. I stole one pot post flop and Ashley busted so I cashed out and we left. A $380 hit isnt bad, but its just frustrating when things like this happen so quickly back to back.
Anyways, I am probably taking tonight off, but will hopefully be at it again this weekend. No rest for the wicked right?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Bad Reads and Aggressive Play
Played a little bit last night at a home game and it was a bit of a roller coaster. I stayed pretty steady most of the night until the following hand. I limp in mid-ish position with KQ, the player to my left, a fairly novice player opened for $12. One call behind and I call. Flop comes out Q94 with 2 hearts. I check, preflop raiser bets 25, the limper folds and I call. Turn is a T. I check, and am met with a $50 bet. River is a K, I check and raiser bets $75. At this point in the hand, feel like I have repped either a monster or a flush draw. In either case, I expected my check to be met with a check back. Unfortunately, the river bet now looks to me like the guy either had QJ and got there (which I didnt think because he wasnt the type to raise those types of hands pre-flop) or a bluff, like AK of hearts which missed but backed into top pair, or AQ trying to just take the pot away. I made the crying call, and was surprised when the raiser tabled 99. I tilted a bit, mainly because I know that he wasnt betting the river for thin value, but had actually just looked at his hand and decided that since he had a set he had to bet. So that was pretty blah.
Shortly after that, I played a 4 way all in pot with AK on an AT9 board with 2 hearts. Amazingly my pair held against a worse ace and 2 flush draws. With that pot, I was up a little from what I started with at about $310.
At this point my table broke and I changed to the table where Tyler was dealing. At this point I opened up my game a bit more since I was much more familiar with my competition at this table. After raising 3 pots in a row, and taking them all down either pre flop or on the flop, I picked up AQ. I made my standard raise, and my friend Will called on the button, one of the blinds called and an early limper called. Flop was K35 with a suit. The 2 early players check, I bet 3/4 pot, and Will calls, while the blind snap calls. The turn was a K pairing the board, and the early position player checked, and I paused a moment to think. From what I knew of the players, Will plays pretty straight forward, and if something on the board had hit him I would have heard from him on the flop for sure. Looking at him, he didnt look overly interested in the pot either so I didnt rule him as a big threat. The early limper was another story however. His snap call on the flop and check on the turn when top pair paired made me believe that he either was on a big flush draw, or some type of middle pocket pair. I mean, if he had turned trips he probably would need to bet to stop flush draws from getting there. I decided given this information, I would check behind, because I didnt want to play a huge pot at this point with just ace high. Will checked behind and we went to the river. An off suited ace rolls off, and the player out of the blinds bet $30. It was a pretty small bet in propotion to the pot, and I was pretty skeptical of the bet. I thought that it was somewhat likely that our blind player had a hand like Ax on the flush draw and backed into top pair and was now block betting to get to the river. Figuring I could get some value, I pop him back $100. Will groans about how unfair it is and folds, then the blind tanks. He starts asking me questions like "Do you have AK here buddy?" Now Im scared becuase I realize I just made a pretty big mis-read and this guy actually did get cute with a K here. I banter back with him saying "Do I need AK? I think KQ is probably good enough right?" Dude keeps tanking for another 30 seconds and finally shows a K and mucks it face up. I breath a huge sigh of relief that my spew didnt turn into something really bad and scoop the pot. Hurrah for bad reads and aggressive play.
From then on the night played pretty standard, and I left making over $200.
Ashley, Tyler and I will be going up to play at Viejas tonight. There is a satelite to their $100K first place tourny, and since I dont want to fork over the buy in I got to try to satelite in or simply not play, which just doesnt sound like a fun option. So hopefully I will have good news by the end of tonight.
Shortly after that, I played a 4 way all in pot with AK on an AT9 board with 2 hearts. Amazingly my pair held against a worse ace and 2 flush draws. With that pot, I was up a little from what I started with at about $310.
At this point my table broke and I changed to the table where Tyler was dealing. At this point I opened up my game a bit more since I was much more familiar with my competition at this table. After raising 3 pots in a row, and taking them all down either pre flop or on the flop, I picked up AQ. I made my standard raise, and my friend Will called on the button, one of the blinds called and an early limper called. Flop was K35 with a suit. The 2 early players check, I bet 3/4 pot, and Will calls, while the blind snap calls. The turn was a K pairing the board, and the early position player checked, and I paused a moment to think. From what I knew of the players, Will plays pretty straight forward, and if something on the board had hit him I would have heard from him on the flop for sure. Looking at him, he didnt look overly interested in the pot either so I didnt rule him as a big threat. The early limper was another story however. His snap call on the flop and check on the turn when top pair paired made me believe that he either was on a big flush draw, or some type of middle pocket pair. I mean, if he had turned trips he probably would need to bet to stop flush draws from getting there. I decided given this information, I would check behind, because I didnt want to play a huge pot at this point with just ace high. Will checked behind and we went to the river. An off suited ace rolls off, and the player out of the blinds bet $30. It was a pretty small bet in propotion to the pot, and I was pretty skeptical of the bet. I thought that it was somewhat likely that our blind player had a hand like Ax on the flush draw and backed into top pair and was now block betting to get to the river. Figuring I could get some value, I pop him back $100. Will groans about how unfair it is and folds, then the blind tanks. He starts asking me questions like "Do you have AK here buddy?" Now Im scared becuase I realize I just made a pretty big mis-read and this guy actually did get cute with a K here. I banter back with him saying "Do I need AK? I think KQ is probably good enough right?" Dude keeps tanking for another 30 seconds and finally shows a K and mucks it face up. I breath a huge sigh of relief that my spew didnt turn into something really bad and scoop the pot. Hurrah for bad reads and aggressive play.
From then on the night played pretty standard, and I left making over $200.
Ashley, Tyler and I will be going up to play at Viejas tonight. There is a satelite to their $100K first place tourny, and since I dont want to fork over the buy in I got to try to satelite in or simply not play, which just doesnt sound like a fun option. So hopefully I will have good news by the end of tonight.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Drinking and Poker
Saturday night Ashley and I had sushi with Will and his wife Tracy. I hadn't intended to drink that night, but somewhere over the course of the night, I stared doing a few shots of sake, and that is where my night started to spiral.
After dinner we all went to The Brig to grab some drinks and Anthony met up with us. I started on the scotch and I found myself in that happy place where you are pretty intoxicated but can still hold it together well enough to function without creating a scene.
After dropping off Tracy at their home, we ventured out to Sycuan to mess around for a bit. Despite my state, I played decent, despite the fact that nobody seemed willing to fold hands to me. Example being, I raise 2 limpers from the button with Q9o, and both call. Flop comes 832 and I lead for 3/4 pot, and both call. Turn is a 5 and we all check. River is an off suited ace, and it checks to me and I bet $25. One calls the other raises to $50. I fold, the other guy calls, and one rolls 24s, the other turns over 34. My head nearly exploded.
I picked off Anthony one time, which was fun because I got to hold it over his head for the rest of the night. In the end, when we left I was stuck about $125 or $150, so not exactly a great night, but not exactly terrible either.
When I got home I was feeling sick so I passed out right away, but sleep was elusive, and it was a pretty restless night.
The next morning, I woke up pumped for the Charger game. Ashley was cool and went out to pick up breakfast which made my day start off that much better. I caught the last half of the Giants/Eagles game, and as the afternoon passed, suffered through the Chargers agonizing defeat at the hands of the Steelers. I think it was more frustrating for me because we looked so good through the first half, and the second half we were completely dominated. It was like watching 2 different games. The fact that we were making lots of mental mistakes didnt help, but nobody can really be blamed but our own team. We could have won that game, and after this Cinderella season, I thought that we could. Sigh...
After the game, Ashley and I got ready and headed out to Sycuan to play in a qualifier for their Super Bowl of Poker tournament series. Basically it is a $54 tourny where first place wins entries into the weeks worth of tournaments. In a weird coincidence we were seated at the same table, and both made it down to the final 2 tables. I had alot of trouble finding spots throughout the tournament to get my money in. I kept having spots where I couldnt pick up a hand to jam with, or when I would pick up a marginal hand to open, someone would beat me to it, and I wouldnt have enough chips to shake them off.
It came down to me picking up 88 in the BB and getting it in against Ashley and another player who had woken up with KK. Ashley had TT, and that was all she wrote for both of us. We went and grabbed some dinner at Chili's and talked about the hands we had played and what we thought we did well and things we could be working on. Im probably going to be taking most of this week off, with the exception of the Wed night game (assuming my friend Tyler is dealing it). With the tourny series coming up and playing 7 nights that week, Im going to want to rest up for it.
I plan on studying a bit more poker too. I have been really lax on hitting the books, posting on forums and watching training videos in the last few months. I need to get on that because I feel like when I really live and breath poker, that is when I am going to be playing my best. Given that I am on a skid right now, it is hard to motivate myself to surround myself with poker, but I just need to force myself and the results will come.
After dinner we all went to The Brig to grab some drinks and Anthony met up with us. I started on the scotch and I found myself in that happy place where you are pretty intoxicated but can still hold it together well enough to function without creating a scene.
After dropping off Tracy at their home, we ventured out to Sycuan to mess around for a bit. Despite my state, I played decent, despite the fact that nobody seemed willing to fold hands to me. Example being, I raise 2 limpers from the button with Q9o, and both call. Flop comes 832 and I lead for 3/4 pot, and both call. Turn is a 5 and we all check. River is an off suited ace, and it checks to me and I bet $25. One calls the other raises to $50. I fold, the other guy calls, and one rolls 24s, the other turns over 34. My head nearly exploded.
I picked off Anthony one time, which was fun because I got to hold it over his head for the rest of the night. In the end, when we left I was stuck about $125 or $150, so not exactly a great night, but not exactly terrible either.
When I got home I was feeling sick so I passed out right away, but sleep was elusive, and it was a pretty restless night.
The next morning, I woke up pumped for the Charger game. Ashley was cool and went out to pick up breakfast which made my day start off that much better. I caught the last half of the Giants/Eagles game, and as the afternoon passed, suffered through the Chargers agonizing defeat at the hands of the Steelers. I think it was more frustrating for me because we looked so good through the first half, and the second half we were completely dominated. It was like watching 2 different games. The fact that we were making lots of mental mistakes didnt help, but nobody can really be blamed but our own team. We could have won that game, and after this Cinderella season, I thought that we could. Sigh...
After the game, Ashley and I got ready and headed out to Sycuan to play in a qualifier for their Super Bowl of Poker tournament series. Basically it is a $54 tourny where first place wins entries into the weeks worth of tournaments. In a weird coincidence we were seated at the same table, and both made it down to the final 2 tables. I had alot of trouble finding spots throughout the tournament to get my money in. I kept having spots where I couldnt pick up a hand to jam with, or when I would pick up a marginal hand to open, someone would beat me to it, and I wouldnt have enough chips to shake them off.
It came down to me picking up 88 in the BB and getting it in against Ashley and another player who had woken up with KK. Ashley had TT, and that was all she wrote for both of us. We went and grabbed some dinner at Chili's and talked about the hands we had played and what we thought we did well and things we could be working on. Im probably going to be taking most of this week off, with the exception of the Wed night game (assuming my friend Tyler is dealing it). With the tourny series coming up and playing 7 nights that week, Im going to want to rest up for it.
I plan on studying a bit more poker too. I have been really lax on hitting the books, posting on forums and watching training videos in the last few months. I need to get on that because I feel like when I really live and breath poker, that is when I am going to be playing my best. Given that I am on a skid right now, it is hard to motivate myself to surround myself with poker, but I just need to force myself and the results will come.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
With the Assist
I got a phone call from Will in the afternoon while at work and we talked about we had played against one another the previous night. Will had gotten in against me with a straight, and I was free rolling him with the same straight, a gutshot to the higher straight, and a flush draw. The bigger end came through, and Will had left in a huff. I talked to him for awhile, and discussed some things about his game I think he could work on, and gave him a little bit of advice about hand reading and discipline. He left the conversation feeling much more confident and armed with some new tools to work with.
Nothing feels better to me then helping out a friend, and trying to assist them in improving their game. It was really pretty gratifying.
After what felt like a pretty long day at work, I went home last night and played a little online 6 max while waiting for Ashley to get ready to go to dinner. I defeated the .25-.50 for a whopping $8.50. Hurrah for me!
We grabbed a bite to eat at Mediteraneo, a semi-fine dining place that serves great food for a pretty reasonable price. We got out of the restaurant at 9, and rolled up to Viejas Casino. Anthony and Will were both sitting in the 2-5 each with pretty big stacks. Ashley got into a game quickly, but I was stuck waiting for a seat to open for over an hour. I killed some time talking to Anthony about the upcoming $100K first place tourny that is in about 2 weeks. My status on it is unsure but doubtful and I told Anthony such. In a very cool gesture he offered to take a big chunk of my action to get me in, which I am considering.
Will, who was sitting at the same table as Anthony was tearing the game up. Apparently he had sat the 1-3 with $150, ran it up to $800, took it over to the 2-5 and when he left cashed for about $1500. Not a bad night at all. He thanked me a few different times for the help I gave him earlier in the day and offered to take Ashley and I to dinner. I told him I would rather have a peice of his action, but would accept dinner all the same.
I sat in a 1-3 with some crazy drunken guy for a few hours, and slowly grinded up. For some reason I could never find a spot against the guy, but did a pretty decent job of squeezing when people were starting to get a bit too out of line against him. I snapped off an over pair with T8 on the good old T84 flop, and later got some value by checking top pair into a guy who tried to take the pot away from me on the turn and river. I cashed for $250, and Ashley made about $150.
Waking up for work today was a bitch, but I made it on time, and have used a bit of my day to plan my upcoming weekend. After 13 days working, Im going to get 1 day off and then start over again the next week. My life is good!
Nothing feels better to me then helping out a friend, and trying to assist them in improving their game. It was really pretty gratifying.
After what felt like a pretty long day at work, I went home last night and played a little online 6 max while waiting for Ashley to get ready to go to dinner. I defeated the .25-.50 for a whopping $8.50. Hurrah for me!
We grabbed a bite to eat at Mediteraneo, a semi-fine dining place that serves great food for a pretty reasonable price. We got out of the restaurant at 9, and rolled up to Viejas Casino. Anthony and Will were both sitting in the 2-5 each with pretty big stacks. Ashley got into a game quickly, but I was stuck waiting for a seat to open for over an hour. I killed some time talking to Anthony about the upcoming $100K first place tourny that is in about 2 weeks. My status on it is unsure but doubtful and I told Anthony such. In a very cool gesture he offered to take a big chunk of my action to get me in, which I am considering.
Will, who was sitting at the same table as Anthony was tearing the game up. Apparently he had sat the 1-3 with $150, ran it up to $800, took it over to the 2-5 and when he left cashed for about $1500. Not a bad night at all. He thanked me a few different times for the help I gave him earlier in the day and offered to take Ashley and I to dinner. I told him I would rather have a peice of his action, but would accept dinner all the same.
I sat in a 1-3 with some crazy drunken guy for a few hours, and slowly grinded up. For some reason I could never find a spot against the guy, but did a pretty decent job of squeezing when people were starting to get a bit too out of line against him. I snapped off an over pair with T8 on the good old T84 flop, and later got some value by checking top pair into a guy who tried to take the pot away from me on the turn and river. I cashed for $250, and Ashley made about $150.
Waking up for work today was a bitch, but I made it on time, and have used a bit of my day to plan my upcoming weekend. After 13 days working, Im going to get 1 day off and then start over again the next week. My life is good!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Swings
The last few months have been very up and down for me. I have had relatively decent success online, but have been pretty inconsistent live. This last week, I was able to beat up .50-1 HU online for a few buy-ins and even had a decent night at a 1-3 homegame, beating it for almost $400.
Last night, after getting home from work, I fired up a HU table and quickly got stuck for a buy in when I 3 bet preflop with KQs flopped a flush draw and barreled into the river where I hit top pair and paid off a check shove. Anyways, I spent a little time getting my money back before the guy quit me when I was still stuck a few dollars. He doesnt owe me anything, but I find it annoying when people do that. It would make the poker world so much better if people were a little more courteous to each other. Just a simple, "Hey, Im done playing after this hand," would be better then suddenly sitting out and disappearing. That minor gripe aside, the guy played pretty decent and I tried a few new things while playing against his aggressive style that worked with varying degrees of success.
Ashley and I went to grab pizza with my friend Joe for his birthday, and we arranged to meet up with him later in the week for board games, probably Risk since we are both kinda strategy nerds and I haven't got a chance to play a game like that in years.
Afterwards, Ashley and I headed to Sycuan Casino to put in a session. I played in their 1-3 game where most of the players knew me and I had a decent start. A weird hand came up where I turned a gutshot straight after the flop was checked around and my villian called a healthy bet with a pair/flush draw and got there and took me to value town. Sigh.
A few hands later I picked up QQ on the button, made a standard raise, and had Randy, one of the loose aggressive regular players, ship his $300+ stack on me. Normally I wouldn't think about folding, butI know that Randy is capable of making silly moves against me because he knows my range is wide, and he is willing to gamble, so I stuck it in, and he rolled AA on my foolish ass.
That ended my night, and I was on the wrong side of the happy with my life spectrum. Ashley on the other hand, was very happy with defeating her opponents for $3. I guess she had a few awkward spots where she was happy to escape the casino with a break even night.
I'm not really sure what my plans are for the weekend. My best friend is back in town after traveling for the New Year, so I might try to hang out with him, while squeezing in a session or two before the weekend is out. Guess we will just have to play it by ear.
Last night, after getting home from work, I fired up a HU table and quickly got stuck for a buy in when I 3 bet preflop with KQs flopped a flush draw and barreled into the river where I hit top pair and paid off a check shove. Anyways, I spent a little time getting my money back before the guy quit me when I was still stuck a few dollars. He doesnt owe me anything, but I find it annoying when people do that. It would make the poker world so much better if people were a little more courteous to each other. Just a simple, "Hey, Im done playing after this hand," would be better then suddenly sitting out and disappearing. That minor gripe aside, the guy played pretty decent and I tried a few new things while playing against his aggressive style that worked with varying degrees of success.
Ashley and I went to grab pizza with my friend Joe for his birthday, and we arranged to meet up with him later in the week for board games, probably Risk since we are both kinda strategy nerds and I haven't got a chance to play a game like that in years.
Afterwards, Ashley and I headed to Sycuan Casino to put in a session. I played in their 1-3 game where most of the players knew me and I had a decent start. A weird hand came up where I turned a gutshot straight after the flop was checked around and my villian called a healthy bet with a pair/flush draw and got there and took me to value town. Sigh.
A few hands later I picked up QQ on the button, made a standard raise, and had Randy, one of the loose aggressive regular players, ship his $300+ stack on me. Normally I wouldn't think about folding, butI know that Randy is capable of making silly moves against me because he knows my range is wide, and he is willing to gamble, so I stuck it in, and he rolled AA on my foolish ass.
That ended my night, and I was on the wrong side of the happy with my life spectrum. Ashley on the other hand, was very happy with defeating her opponents for $3. I guess she had a few awkward spots where she was happy to escape the casino with a break even night.
I'm not really sure what my plans are for the weekend. My best friend is back in town after traveling for the New Year, so I might try to hang out with him, while squeezing in a session or two before the weekend is out. Guess we will just have to play it by ear.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
It All Begins Here
The begining of a new year sounds like a fitting time to start a poker blog. Of course, being in a pretty bad downswing at the moment is somewhat of a discouraging point of contention for me, but lets overlook that for a moment and allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Steven, and I am a San Diego boy, born and raised. I started playing poker with family when I was pretty young. In fact, one of my earliest memories is sitting with my dad, and having him explain poker hands to me at our dinner table. Throughout high school I played card games, like big 2 and killer, during lunch breaks (and occassionally during class). At the time, the $20 or so that I won seemed huge to me, and I knew that there was something so alluring about playing a game and having people, essentially, pay you to play with them. It was an idea I fell in love with.
In San Diego there is a pretty healthy community of card rooms and casinos, and as soon as I could, I started playing in them. It started with black jack, and after that bored me, I moved to poker. The depth of the game intrigued me, and I dove into it with way more exuberance then...well anything. Fortunately, I had a girlfriend who lived close to one of the casinos so I became a pretty regular player.
When Moneymaker hit, roughly a year or so after I started playing more seriously, it was crazy. Tournament poker blew up and I got swept up with the bug. Everyone and their brother played cards, and I did my best to adapt to the no limit climate. I took a shine to the game, and found out that although I was a mark in the game early on, I picked up the concepts quickly. Being in college at the time, it was perfect for me to skip class to play cards. What harm could that ever do?
Over the last few years I have played with varying degrees of seriousness, ranging from casually playing once or twice a week, to playing for portions of my income. I have recently been playing a bit more online, as the accessability just can't be overlooked (especially because I'm pretty lazy, and if I can avoid driving I can and will).
With the start of 2009, I am coming off a pretty bad downswing, and am aiming at putting a decent roll together for the WSOP in the summer. Im not sure exactly where I am going to go with this blog, as in snap shots of my life, or hand histories, or somewhere in between. Most importantly I hope that this provides a place for me to write about my thoughts on poker and chronicle my journey to the WSOP and beyond. So lets hope for some laughs, and some good stories as the year goes by.
The cast of characters in my life are as follows:
Ashley: My girlfriend, best friend, and running mate in poker. We have been together for a few years and she has started playing tournaments with quite a bit of success in the last 6 months or so. She still works on her cash game, but her love is the tourny scene.
Pops: He taught me how to play when I was young, and now I return the favor. He really enjoys playing but because he owns his own business he doesnt get to play as much as he would like. A pretty solid player that claims to always have an edge on me if we play pots heads up.
Manny: My current/former student. He has went busto a few times, and is in the process of rebuilding his roll with his regular nine to five. I have known the kid since elemntary school, and he has the right notions about the game but somehow can't put it all together and make it work.
Sean: My long time friend, and partner in crime. He doesnt play too much anymore but still makes random appearences at the table. One of the big influences on me when I was coming up, and someone I will still talk poker with when I find myself in interesting spots.
Johnnee Persian: A friend from college who is currently grinding out SnGs fulltime. I like his game even though it can be pretty different then mine in many ways. I usually talk to him through the power of the interwebs but he provides some interesting comments about hands and gives me a very different perspective.
Tyler and Anthony: Poker friends of mine who I play with pretty frequently and whose games I respect. Probably some of the only people I personally know that I talk poker with, and actually am interested in what their responses are.
Will: A newer player who is still learning the ropes. I talk to him about strategy and general poker concepts. He is possibly one of the nicest guys you could meet at or away from the table.
My name is Steven, and I am a San Diego boy, born and raised. I started playing poker with family when I was pretty young. In fact, one of my earliest memories is sitting with my dad, and having him explain poker hands to me at our dinner table. Throughout high school I played card games, like big 2 and killer, during lunch breaks (and occassionally during class). At the time, the $20 or so that I won seemed huge to me, and I knew that there was something so alluring about playing a game and having people, essentially, pay you to play with them. It was an idea I fell in love with.
In San Diego there is a pretty healthy community of card rooms and casinos, and as soon as I could, I started playing in them. It started with black jack, and after that bored me, I moved to poker. The depth of the game intrigued me, and I dove into it with way more exuberance then...well anything. Fortunately, I had a girlfriend who lived close to one of the casinos so I became a pretty regular player.
When Moneymaker hit, roughly a year or so after I started playing more seriously, it was crazy. Tournament poker blew up and I got swept up with the bug. Everyone and their brother played cards, and I did my best to adapt to the no limit climate. I took a shine to the game, and found out that although I was a mark in the game early on, I picked up the concepts quickly. Being in college at the time, it was perfect for me to skip class to play cards. What harm could that ever do?
Over the last few years I have played with varying degrees of seriousness, ranging from casually playing once or twice a week, to playing for portions of my income. I have recently been playing a bit more online, as the accessability just can't be overlooked (especially because I'm pretty lazy, and if I can avoid driving I can and will).
With the start of 2009, I am coming off a pretty bad downswing, and am aiming at putting a decent roll together for the WSOP in the summer. Im not sure exactly where I am going to go with this blog, as in snap shots of my life, or hand histories, or somewhere in between. Most importantly I hope that this provides a place for me to write about my thoughts on poker and chronicle my journey to the WSOP and beyond. So lets hope for some laughs, and some good stories as the year goes by.
The cast of characters in my life are as follows:
Ashley: My girlfriend, best friend, and running mate in poker. We have been together for a few years and she has started playing tournaments with quite a bit of success in the last 6 months or so. She still works on her cash game, but her love is the tourny scene.
Pops: He taught me how to play when I was young, and now I return the favor. He really enjoys playing but because he owns his own business he doesnt get to play as much as he would like. A pretty solid player that claims to always have an edge on me if we play pots heads up.
Manny: My current/former student. He has went busto a few times, and is in the process of rebuilding his roll with his regular nine to five. I have known the kid since elemntary school, and he has the right notions about the game but somehow can't put it all together and make it work.
Sean: My long time friend, and partner in crime. He doesnt play too much anymore but still makes random appearences at the table. One of the big influences on me when I was coming up, and someone I will still talk poker with when I find myself in interesting spots.
Johnnee Persian: A friend from college who is currently grinding out SnGs fulltime. I like his game even though it can be pretty different then mine in many ways. I usually talk to him through the power of the interwebs but he provides some interesting comments about hands and gives me a very different perspective.
Tyler and Anthony: Poker friends of mine who I play with pretty frequently and whose games I respect. Probably some of the only people I personally know that I talk poker with, and actually am interested in what their responses are.
Will: A newer player who is still learning the ropes. I talk to him about strategy and general poker concepts. He is possibly one of the nicest guys you could meet at or away from the table.
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