Cause Everyone Else is Doing It...

Moved to a new place

2006-01-30T16:18:00.000-06:00

Again my blog has moved to here:

http://mookie99.bigopokerroom.com

Thanks to all of you who have hooked me up with a link. Please update the link to the above....

Blog Has Moved !!

2006-01-28T23:19:00.000-06:00

I have moved my blog and all past posts here:

http://mookie99.bigopokerroom.com/

Post Lite

2006-01-26T10:57:00.000-06:00

I haven't been playing too much online this week so far. At the beginning of the week I continued my bad run by losing two more SNGs. I decided to change things up a little and play a 4-person Heads UP SNG, winner take all.

Both matches were very long (200 total hands played) and in the end I was lucky enough to win.

I have only played one other time online and that was a single table SNG. Down to 4 players, blinds were 100/200, I had 3,710 in chips and UTG had 2,570: JJ in the BB. There was one limper UTG, SB called and I raised to 1,000. UTG calls and SB folds.

The flop is 9c Kd Qc. What would you do now with JJ ?

I won't post anyting more about the hand for now, except to say I lost and was knocked down to about 1,200 chips. I stayed aggresive though and in the end I was able to pull out the win.

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Misc.

The first bounty tournament of the year at the Big O Poker Room is this Saturday.

Mrs. Mookie continues to run well...she took 3rd in a 45 person tourney on Pokerstars.

Scotty Nguyen won his 1st WPT title this week.

Topless poker in Vegas.

Sunday SNGs at Aladdin Poker Room in Vegas are now internet style.

Congrats to Chris at 21Outs for winning the WSOP Circuit Limit 3 Draw Low-ball event.

Weekend update

2006-01-22T21:17:00.000-06:00

I wasn't planning on playing any live poker this weekend as we weren't able to find a babysitter for our five runts (imagine that). However, MM was kind enough to stay behind and watch the kiddos while I went and played at the 2006 Winter Series of Poker Event 1 at Jim and Stacey's.

In retrospect, she should have made the trip and left me behind as she has been running better than me lately.

The tournament had 16 players and had the options of a single rebuy and add-on. Most players started with 17K in chips (you get 1k for registering online and another 1k for showing up on time). Blinds started at 100/200 and went up every 20 minutes. One of the nice things about playing there is that there are players who don't play at the Big O Poker Room. It's always refreshing to play against different players.

Right out of the gate, I lost 9k within the first level in two different hands. The first one, I flopped two pair against a flopped straight and the second one I flopped an open ended straight flush draw that didn't get there.

Since there was only one rebuy, I tightened up and didn't play too many pots over the next level. In the last minute of the last level (300/600 blinds) before rebuys ended, I called off the rest of my chips (3k) with J6c and was up against AKo and AQd. I flopped two pairs and tripled up giving me around 10K going into the first break.

I rebought and did the add-on to give me about 25k chips to start the next level (blinds 400/800).

I could never get above average for the rest of the tournament. Anytime I would gain a little momentum, I would lose a key pot. I lost a big chunk of my stack when I limped in with QJs and flopped and turned a J, only to be outkicked by the SB with AJ.

I never got a pair higher than 5's for the night and my biggest pots were won with the J6 hand I mentioned earlier, 73o (bluff), and QJs (semi-bluff). With blinds at 1,500/3,000, UTG+1 raised to 9k. It folds to me in the BB, and with a total of 24k (including my 3k BB) I jam with AKh. UTG+1 calls with 77. 665 on the flop and a 7 on the turn and IGHN in 12th place (I think).

Jim and Bern ended up chopping heads up and Stacey finished 3rd. A very nice finish for the hosts.

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After busting out of the tournament I went home and played some online at Pokerstars. I started out playing micro (.10/.25) NL cash and quickly lost $15 when I ran QQ into KK on a T high flop. I then played a 3-table SNG. My starting table was pretty wild, nearly each hand had a pre-flop raise and then a re-raise. I layed pretty low and then ran AA into quad tens to end my tournament in 21st place.

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Congratulations to Absinthe for taking down the $300 NL Event #1 at the LA Poker Classic (Commerce) for $113,000 and change.

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Toby "Moneymaker" and Justin made a trip up to the Winstar Casino in Oklahoma (Texas/Oklahoma border). There trip was very profitable as Toby won 2nd in a 54 person tournament for around $1,200 plus another $200 or so playing in the cash games. Justin won around $600 in the cash games plus another $250 hitting a bonus hand in blackjack.

Toby said they have around 30 poker tables and spread NL and limit hold 'em. They have tournaments Monday-Thursday. They played the tournament and $1/$2 NL cash. Toby said the competition seemed pretty soft (must be if these two donkeys finished up....just kidding)

Also, since the legal gambling age in this casino is 18, the players there are ready to gamboool.

The Winstar is only about 4 hours away Austin, so I am sure we will be making a trip(s) up there soon.

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It looks like the Big O Poker Room will be having the 3rd tournament of the season this Saturday. It will be a rebuy/bounty tournament. More details will be posted on the Big O website.

Slow week

2006-01-19T09:48:00.000-06:00

This has been a slow week for blogging as I have been pretty busy with work stuff. I hadn't played any online poker until last night and even then I only played 1 SNG.

Early on, I played loose (donkey) and picked up a couple of larger pots. Here is an example of my donkey-like play:

Blinds 10/20, I limp in MP with Kh5h, player next to me limps, and the button raises to 60. The BB calls, I call and the player next to me calls.

The flop was 8h 9s Qh. We all checked to the button who bet 75. The BB called, I called and the other player folded.

Now the turn is (8h 9s Qh) 6s. The BB goes all in for 295. Now this is where my true inner donkey takes over. I am getting about 2.5 to 1 on my money, but I don't know the BB is going to do. At this point I think I have about 12 outs, but 3 of those may be dead outs to a higher straight. The play here is to probably fold or jam (or not be a donkey and limp in with K5). So I of course just call. The button just calls as well.

The river is (8h 9s Qh 6s) 2h. I lead out with a bet of 400 and the button calls. Button had KsQs and the BB had Jd8c. With that pot, I was 2nd in chips.

I stayed in 2nd until we got down to 5 players. I lost over half my stack trying to run JJ past AQ with 2 Qs on board and having the ass-end of a straight against the higher straight. With the blinds going up, I switched gears and became more aggresive and chipped back up.

Made it into the money and continued to play aggresive. I knock out the 3rd place finisher and take a slight chiplead heads up. We play a couple hands before I outflop his TT with KQ and win.

This makes my 3rd SNG win in a row. I should probably play more SNG instead of cash as I haven't done too well in the cash games lately and that's where I have been spending most of my time.

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Here are few new(to me) blogs I have been reading:

Pokerstars.com Official Blog

Sound of a Suckout

Poker with WillWonka

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No poker at the Big O Poker Room but we may go over to the 2006 Winter Series of Poker Event 1 at Jim and Stacey's if we can find a babysitter.

Stuck in neutral

2006-01-16T11:25:00.000-06:00

I played a lot of live poker this weekend. All small low buy-in NLHE tournaments. I ended up cashing in 3 out of 4 tournaments, but broke completely even. (Never higher than a 3rd place finish)

On Saturday, Season 3 at the Big O Poker Room began with a smaller rebuy tournament with 12 players.

First hand of the tournament at the other table, somone suggests everyone go all-in blind since A. It's the first tournament of the new season and B. It's a rebuy tournament. Well 4 players did, including Mrs. Mookie, and her QJ won. So right off the bat she started with close to 70K in chips.

That was pretty much the theme for the night at that table, as they had 8 rebuys there to our 1 rebuy at our table. After the rebuy period ended things calmed back down.

I love playing short handed, and early on I was able to chip up by playing a lot of small pots cheaply.

There was a huge hand at the other table between Pants and Mrs. Mookie. She limped in on the button and Pants checked his option in the BB. The flop was A A T rainbow. Pants checked while commenting "I'll slowplay", Mrs. Mookie responded "I won't" and pushed all-in. Now she was the chipleader, however, Pants had just doubled up by hitting a straight flush and had alot of chips as well. He called and turned over A9, while Mrs. Mookie had TT. No help for Pants and Mrs. Mookie went over 100K in chips.

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CORRECTION: Pants checked the flop, Mrs. Mookie bet the flop and Pants called. On the turn Pants checked and MM went all-in and Pants called
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We went to the final table with 10 players and I had an above average stack. Since both players that busted came from the other table, (and because of the 8 rebuys) they all had monster chips.
I took a tough beat early on to make me a shortstack. This kept me from playing many pots. We lost a few players and I continued to nurse the shortstack. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mookie took a tough beat against Mikey and that brought her back to the pack.

With the blinds moving up and my stack staying the same, I pushed all-in with ATd and ran into the recent bracelet winner's (aka Toby Moneymaker) QQ. Luckily for me, an ace came on the turn and I doubled up.

We made it down to 5 players and saved a few crumbs for 5th. After losing Jim in 5th, I lost a couple of large pots, one to Mrs. Mookie and again found myself on the shortstack. Moneymaker knocked me out when we raced his 99 vs my KJ.

In the end, Mrs. Mookie faced Mikey heads up. Mikey had a 3-1 chiplead and was able to pull out the win.

We ended up playing another tournament that night, and my 11 yr. old daughter played. She ended up knocking me out and finished 3rd.

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Last night I played a small tourney and squeaked into the money. Went home and played a little online while watching Friends: Season 2 with my wife (And no I don't want to hear any "You know how I know you're gay.." references)

Here comes the weekend

2006-01-13T13:53:00.000-06:00

Not much going on these past couple of days. I have played a little online, but pretty much break-even poker. No exciting hands and only cash games.

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On Saturday, we will start Season 3 at the Big O Poker Room. We will be unveiling pictures of the 2005 Top Ten Money Leaders, 2005 Top Ten Points Leaders, and of course the 2005 Big O TOC winner. These will hang on the wall inside the Big O Poker Room. (that is until Mrs. Mookie makes me take them down)

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One of these days I want to buy some nice custom ceramic (casino-like) poker chips for the Big O. Bad Blood is getting ready to buy some for his home game. He is buying them from HomePokerChips and look like this.

It looks like it will cost me about $1200 to get a customized set of 1,000. That's a lot of wampum, but one of these days...maybe.

Well that's all for now, have a good weekend....

One extreme to the other

2006-01-11T14:15:00.000-06:00

Played a little more on Pokerstars last night. Started in in the hole by playing NL cash tables(.10/.25 and .25/.50). After playing for about an hour or so, I decided to play in another SNG.

This proved to be a complete opposite experience from the night before. No big hands to bust people with, and a lot of folding early on. In the end, it would take 138 hands to get heads-up (instead of 21 like the night before) and only 5 hands of heads-up play (instead of 33) to pull out the win. Even with the win, I still only broke even for the night due to my cash game losses.

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Tonight there is a private tournament that I may play in tonight on Pokerstars if I have time. It is hosted by HighOnPoker and Tripjax. I am even worse at Omaha H/L than I am Hold 'Em, but it sounds like a lot of fun. So come play if you wanna try some Omaha for a change of pace.

Down to 2 in 21

2006-01-10T09:55:00.000-06:00

So last night I checked on my cashout from Empire and found my money in my Neteller account. I then put that into Pokerstars and started playing some low limit NL cash games. I pretty much played break even poker and then decided to play a $10+1 NL SNG. This is the strangest SNG I have played in. Here are some of the hands:

Hand #3
With blinds at 10/20, I raise to 100 in EP with Ac As. I get two callers and we see a flop of Jd 6d Qc. I bet 250 and both players call. The turn is 7h and I bet 900 and the next player jams for 250 more. Folds to me, I call, he turns over Ah Js and no J comes on the river and I knock him out.

Hand #13
With blinds at 15/30, I raise to 90 UTG with As Ac. EP player re-raises to 650 and is all-in. A player in SB re-raises to 1100 and is also all-in. I of course call and EP shows 5d 5c, SB shows Ad Kc. My hand holds up and I knock both players out.

Hand #14
With blinds at 15/30, the button makes it 120 to go. I re-raise to 510 in the SB, with Kc Ks. The button re-raises to 2285 and is all-in. I call and he shows Qd Qc. Again my hands holds up and I knock him out.

Hand #16
With blinds at 15/30, a player in MP raises to 210. I call in the cutoff with Ah Kh as does the BB. The flop is Ac 2d 5c. MP pushes all-in for 1275. I re-raise to 2550 and the BB folds. MP shows As 2c for two pairs. Turn is 6d, and the river is 5s to counterfeit the MP's 2 pair.

We are now down to four players and the blinds are still 15/30. One of the other players knocks out the bubble.

Hand #21
With blinds at 15/30, I raise to 120 in the SB with Jh Js and the BB calls. The flop is Td Th 5s, I bet 240 and the BB calls. The turn is Qh, I bet 660 (enough to put the BB all-in) and the BB calls. BB shows Jd 6c.. ??? Interesting play.... Drawing dead, he is knocked out.

So now 21 hands into the tournament, I find myself heads up with a couple of minutes left in the 15/30 level. I have 9980 in chips, while my opponent has 3520. Because the blinds are so low in relation to my (our) stack sizes, I try to play smaller pots and try to chop away.

We ended up playing 33 hands heads up, before I am able to pull out the win. I stuck to my plan and never fell below 8500 in chips.

This by far, was the most bizarre tournament I have ever played in. Of course a monkey could have played and gotten heads up with those hands, but it was still weird.

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I read a great article about playing lower limit online multi-table tournaments (MTT) on the Tao of Poker blog that was guest written by JoeSpeaker. If you have some time, take a look as there is some really good information.

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Just spoke with Arnold "Lederer". He is out in Phoenix on a business trip and found his way to Casino Arizona (101 & Indian Bend location). He says the poker room there is nice and huge - 45+ tables. He played there for about 4 hours and it was packed. He played in the $50 min/$150 max NL cash game. Blinds are $3/$5.

Weekend results

2006-01-09T10:14:00.000-06:00

Saturday, we hosted the 1st Annual Big O Tournament of Champions. We had a few last minute cancellations so we were left with 14 of the 20 qualifying players for the tournament. Most players paid full amount to start with 40k in chips. (Avg to start was about 38K)

I was dealt AA first hand of the tournament, but didn't get any action. That was pretty much par for the course for the first couple of levels. The table was on the tighter side, so I was able to make plays at a lot of pots. However, when I did have a monster I rarely got paid off.

We lost our first player, Steve, early in the 2nd level (30 minute blinds). I didn't see the hand as he was at the other table, but it had something to do with another player calling all the way down and then his all-in on the river will a pair of 3's. Steve will probably have his hand and the exact details of the way the hand played out on his blog.

It would be another 6 levels before we would lose another player. Having deep stacks and longer blinds will do that. I was over average pretty much the first 10 levels. I never doubled my starting stack, but was always above average.

Right before we made it to the final table, I lost almost half of my stack with AsQc on a flop of Qs 9s 4s. I thought I was way ahead and ended up checkraising all-in on the turn only to find out I was up against Ks 5s. No spade on the river and for the first time in tournament, I was below average.

At the final table, I was probably 6th or 7th in chips (out of 10 players). I lost a large pot when I limped in MP with Jc Ts. The blinds were 2k/4k and I had about 53K in chips with average stack about 58K. Five players saw a flop of Js 6h 2h, both blinds checked and I bet 12K. One player (Justin) folded while another (Michael) went all-in for 33k more. It folded back to me and I went into the tank. Now with 77k in the pot, I was getting almost 2.5-1 to call. I ended up folding thinking I am only a slight favorite over a flush draw and a huge favorite to a bluff. If he had a set, bigger J or bigger J with a flush draw I was drawing very thin. Michael was nice enough to show me Kh Jh. (Side note, I should have never been in that pot to begin with, especially limping in)

From that point on, I was in push or fold mode. We lost a few players and I hung in there. I doubled up a few times, but with the blinds moving up, that didn't get me out of push/fold mode. I made it down to the final 4 and called off the rest of my chips with Ad 9d against Toby who had Qs Qc. He flopped a set and I flopped a flush draw, but the board paired on the turn I was done.

Shortly after that, Toby knocked out Justin and got heads up with Rocky. Rocky had started at my table and was down to the felt very early in the tournament. He made a great run to get heads up. Both were very even in chips, with Rocky having a slight lead. About 10 hands into heads up play, Rocky went all-in and Toby called with A2. Rocky had KQ and the A high held up and Toby became the 2005 Big O Tournament of Champions winner.

Toby won $100, the Pokerstars chipset, and the beloved Big O TOC I bracelet.

Rocky finished 2nd and won $60 and a Full Tilt hat.

Justin finished 3rd and won $37 and a Cardplayer subscription.

I finished 4th and won a Cardplayer subscription.

Tommy finished 5th and won a Full Tilt hat.

Henry finished 6th and won a Cardplayer subscription.

Anna finished 7th and won a Full Tilt t-shirt.

The tournament was long, a little over 6 hours, but I think it went well and was a lot of fun.

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On Sunday, I played more on Empire with the intent of blowing through the remaining money I had on there or running it up to $50 and cashing out (as that is the minimum you can cash out). I played a $11 SNG and lost and was down to $13 and went to the $50NL cash table. I played for about an hour and left the table with $52. I am now done with playing on Empire ! In the end I got Pokeroffice for free, but it took longer than I wanted as I hate playing on Empire.

Weekend...finally

2006-01-06T13:40:00.000-06:00

Even though this week was shortened for me (didn't have to work on Monday) it still seemed long due to work going back to normal.

I was unable to play any online poker last night, as my grandfather had to be taken to the hospital due to breathing problems. They gave him drugs and breathing treatments and he did much better and they let him go home. Although very scary, it was good that he was able to go home and seems to be doing better.

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This weekend is the 1st Annual Big O Tournament of Champions Freeroll that I mentioned in an earlier blog. This should be alot of fun. I am looking forward to playing in a tournament that offers so many chips (40,000) and a little longer blind time (30 minutes). Blinds start at 100/200.

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I came across a great post on Felicia's blog that talks about what makes a good poker blog. Go here to read about it. Here are some things she wrote that are key: (again be sure to check page for discussion on each point)

1) Don't post bad beat stories
2) Don't post hand histories
3) Don't whine about losses
4) Don't post pics of kids or pets
5) Give your opinion
6) Are you a poker journal, or not?
7) Try to act serious about your play
8) If you are going to enable comments, actually REPLY when someone leaves one

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In parting, here is an interesting article regarding Pokerstars. It looks like they are going to sell or merge.

Hook 'em Horns !

2006-01-05T11:30:00.000-06:00

Wow, what a game ! This has to be the most exciting game I have seen. I thought last year's Rose Bowl wouldn't be topped anytime soon, but last night was amazing. It's easy to say this now, but even if the Horns would have lost, it still would have been the best title game ever.

I haven't talked to my friend who was at the game yet, but I am looking forward to hearing about it from his perspective of being able to witness it live.

I guess the only *bad* thing about last night's game, is that Vince played so well, I don't think he is coming back next year.

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I did play a little of poker on Empire again. I played the $5NL cash table again, doubled my buy-in and then donked most of it all off. I blame the Texas game, I tried to play at the beginning of the game and then realized I should quit. But not before I played in another of their crappy SNGs. Finished 3rd to break even before I turned off my laptop and focused my full attention on the game.

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I have decided to start working out again, so Tuesday was my first day back in the gym in probably at least 6 months. I figure if I keep up with my workout schedule on here, it will keep me motivated to continue. My goal is to put on 15lbs within the next 3 months. Yes, put on weight...I have been "scrawny" my whole life. When I graduated high school I was 6' 125lbs. A couple years after that I was married and still 125lbs. When I go back and look at pictures of myself then, I bet I could post them on here now and you would donate "just 25 cents a day, to make sure I was fed a healthy meal". That's how scrawny I looked.

A few years after I was married, I started going to the gym and reading up on eating to gain weight, etc. and in a year I went from 125lbs to 167lbs. I stayed at that weight for about a year and then slowly quit working out. So today, I weigh about 150lbs and am way out of shape.

So anyway, the goal is to get into a regular workout routine and stick to it. I have no excuses if I slide as we have a gym within our building here at work.

Back to work

2006-01-04T10:47:00.000-06:00

Tuesday was my first "real" day back to work from the holidays. I worked most of last week, but there was hardly anyone here at the office so it was pretty laid back.

During the day I heard that my friend and his wife who are out in Vegas (same friend who ran a scooter into the back of the bus on the first day of his honeymoon back in November) for a week, played in the Aladdin tournament (around 85 players) and they both chopped 1st-3rd place money with one other guy. They both took around $1000/each from the chop. They are going to the Rose Bowl tonight and then may stay for an extra day to visit Commerice or the Bike before heading back to Vegas. They won't be back until late Saturday night so they will miss the 1st Annual Big O Tournament of Champions Freeroll

At my home game, we have a money list and points list. At the end of the year if you are on either or both of those lists you qualify for the tournament. You get free chips for each list you are on, the higher up the list you are, the more chips you get. Players can also pay $1 for 1,000 chips to get them up to 40K in chips. The tournament should be alot of fun, the blinds will be 30 minutes long plus everyone will probably have 40K in chips. So there should be some good poker played. I was able to get the following prizes donated:

Pokerstars came through HUGE and donated a poker chip set personalized with the Pokerstars logo on each chip.

Full Tilt donated 2 hats and a t-shirt

Cardplayer donated 3 - three month subscriptions, plus sent 80 January 2006 issues

We also went and had a bracelet made up for the event. So whoever is skilled and lucky enough to win the tournament, will walk away with this:

I got this idea from a fellow blogger when he hosted a big tournament.

Haven't played a whole lot of poker lately...went online last night and played on Empire. I have already cleared the free PokerOffice, but when I went to cash out I found that the minimum cashout is $50. Well I only put in $50 so that I could get PokerOffice and took a beating in the .50/$1 limit game. (this was before I found they spread micro-limits under their Beginner section) so now I am stuck playing out the crumbs that are left from my original deposit.

I played a SNG and they have a horrible structure, only 800 starting chips. Was knocked out early when I couldn't win with QQ and TT (I will do my best to avoid posting bad beat hands on here). Went to the $5 NL table and ended the night up a whopping $5.
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Online results today: +5
Live results today: $0
Online results YTD: -$25
Live results YTD: $0
Total results: - $25

New Books

2006-01-02T22:22:00.000-06:00

My wife gave me three poker books for Christmas:

Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein
Phil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold'em by Phil Gordon
Doyle Brunson's Super System 2 by Doyle Brunson (and various other pros)

I just finished reading Ace on the River. The book is paperback but has a "coffee-table book" page and picture quality. There are pictures on every page. The content of the book is geared towards "advanced" players and covers multiple forms of poker along with with different aspects of poker (money management, psychology, math, etc.). This is a great book if you are looking to advance your game or if you are considering "going pro". Even if you aren't looking to do either of these things, there is still plenty of good information to be found.

I think I will read Phil Gordon's book next and then after I finish that I will start on Super System 2. Another thing I want to try to do this year is learn to play more than just NL Hold 'Em. If and when I finish Super System 2, I will probably re-read some or all of Ace on the River since there were alot of sections I skipped since I have no clue on how to really play Stud, Triple-Draw, etc.

If you are looking to improve your NL Hold 'Em tournament game, I think Harrington on Hold 'Em Volume 1 and Volume 2 are still the best books out there right now.

Happy New Year

2006-01-02T17:05:00.000-06:00

Some of the things I am going to try and change this year is post here more often and keep exact stats of all my poker play. Part of the reason I haven't in the past, is cause I play such small limits, micro-poker. But hopefully this will help improve my game and give me motivation to play well and move up limits.

So far I haven't fared too well, I deposited $50 into Empire Poker in order to clear a bonus to get a free copy of PokerOffice. I played a little of everything in the lower limits ($25NL, .50/$1, .25/.50 and .15/.30 limit) I played a total of about 300 hands and lost $30.

I will probably play a little longer on Empire and then put some money into Pokerstars.

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Online results today: -$30
Live results today: $0
Online results YTD: -$30
Live results YTD: $0
Total results: - $30

Vegas pictures

2005-12-29T13:46:00.000-06:00

I am wayy behind on updating my blog. One of my million New Year's resolutions will be to write here more often. I am testing the Picasa Blog This feature for posting pictures on here.

Vegas: Day Five

2005-11-23T10:12:00.000-06:00

Monday
This was our last day in Vegas. We checked out of the Plaza (hopefully for the last time ever) and headed back to the Luxor. Everyone headed to the 1/2NL cash game except me and the Crazy Asian (CA).

We put our names on the 4/8 list and sat at the 2/4 table. There wasn't enough interest yet for the 4/8 game so we played 2/4 for about an hour and a half. No real notable happenings here. I saw a few flops and missed. I bought in for a rack and was down about $30, when I called 2 bets from the CA with JTo. Flop was Jxx rainbow. CA bet, I raised and he called. Turn x, he checked, I bet, he called. River T, he checks, I bet, he calls and shows AJ.

Shortly after this they finally had enough interest to start the 4/8 game. I sat in with 200 next to the CA. The table was pretty solid with the exception of two players. They saw and/or raised every flop. One of the guys said he had a plane to catch in an hour. The other guy (OG) had played in the same game a day earlier and blew through 200 in less than an hour. Today would be no exception.

Early on, CA raises, I make it 3 bets with AA and OG calls and CA caps it. We both call. Flop is Qxx rainbow. CA checks, I bet and both call. Same on the turn and river. I show my AA, OG flips over 99 and the CA flashes KK. Wow, AA actually held up and I am off to a nice start. The very next hand CA raises again preflop and is called by 2 people. Flop is K high and CA gets action from only one other player. There are some raises on the flop and turn and with a Q on the river it goes 3 bets. CA turns over AA while the other guy has KQ for a rivered two pair. CA took a walk after that hand and eventually finished out the day playing the 1/2NL game.

Up about 80 I should have just left the day up for a change, but I stayed in and then this hand comes up:

In the BB with K5o I check my option (4 players see a flop) Flop is K 5 9. I bet, middle pos. guy calls and SB check-raises. I call as does the other guy. Turn is a K. SB bets, I raise, other guy folds. SB caps, I call. River is T ( K 5 9 K T). Once again it goes capped again and he turns over KT. Ouch, I played the hand poorly I think, because there is not much I beat on the river. I could have saved some bets on this hand I think, but was too impulsive.

This put a serious dent in my stack. I also lost another pot when I held KK against another guys AA. I was down to about $60 and then went on a nice little run and brought it back to $159 when we had to quit to head to the airport. Even though I had a losing session, I felt good in that I didn't tilt at all and over all played OK.

Poker results for the day -41 net
Poker results for the trip -213 net

Vegas: Day Four

2005-11-11T09:29:00.000-06:00

Sunday
We fell out of bed around 10:30am and headed down to the poker room. I played a $35 SNG with Carol and made it down to 3 players (2 spots pay). The blinds were already 400/800. I had exactly 800 in the SB. The button folded and I went all in with K2c and the BB called with Q6c and hit the Qd on the river to bust me out on the bubble.

Before anymore poker, I went over to the sportsbook and put down $20 on a 3-team NFL parlay. I chose the Giants, Seahawks, and Steelers.

I then jumped into a $25 SNG with my wife and made it down to the final four (along with my wife). With blinds at 200/400, I found AA in the SB and raised to 1,000. The BB immediately went all-in and I insta-called. He had KQs, flopped two spades and rivered the 10s to knock me out of the tournament as we both had the same exact amount of chips. My wife ended up heads up but was outchipped 4-1 and couldn't mount a comeback. About the only good thing that happened, is that all 3 of my teams covered so I won $135.

After swearing to never play another SNG at the Plaza, and going to the sportsbook to collect my winnings, we drove back down to the Luxor for cash games. I decided to play 2/4 limit instead of the normal 1/2 NL game. My friend the Crazy Asian talked me into getting on the list to play in the 4/8 game. I have never played much limit, and never played 4/8 so I was a little nervous. I played for about 20 minutes in the 2/4 game before my name was called for the 4/8 game. The table was 9-handed, and I wasn't finding much to play at all. I may have come into 2 pots out of the blinds the entire time I was there. I lost about $40 just going through the blinds and playing those two pots. The table broke about 45 minutes after I sat in, so me and the Crazy Asian headed back to a 2/4 game.

I ran very poorly in this game. One hand of interest: I raise in the cutoff with AKo and am called by 3 players including the BB. Flop is A A 4, two diamonds. BB bets, I raise, button calls and the BB re-raises, and I cap. The turn in the 7s and the BB bets again, I raise, button calls and the BB calls. The river is the 3d, and the BB bets once again, I just call as does the button and the BB turns over J5d. This is pretty much how my entire session at the 2/4 table goes. After losing a rack there, I surrender and head to a 1/2 NL table.

I play break-even poker at the 1/2 table and around 10:45pm we quit and head back down to the Plaza to register for the Midnight tournament ($98).

I draw the same table as my wife. My friends Henry and Jim are seated at the same tables as Tanya. I hovered with my original starting stack, until the blinds reached 50/100. On the button with AA I raised to 350. The SB re-raised to 800 and I move all-in. He calls with KK and flops a K and I have to rebuy. After one orbit and with about 1200 in chips, I get QQ on the button and raise to 400 and get called by the BB and a MP player. The flop is 7 7 4 with two clubs. Both players check and I move all-in. The BB insta-calls and I know I am done, while the MP player folds. The BB turns over 97 and IGHN. I didn't even make it to the first break !!

I go upstairs to the room and play and win a $10 SNG on Pokerstars ! Feeling less like a DonkFish, I go back downstairs and sweat the others still in the tournament. My buddy Jim makes the final table with Tanya, but loses out with QJ vs. 66 in a big pot when J comes on the flop and a 6 on the turn. This guy ended up winning the tournament, while Tanya chopped 2nd and 3rd.

We stayed up to about 4am as this was to be our last night in Vegas. We played some Blackjack, Craps and I extended my winning streak in Roulette (2-2) and won $20.

Poker results for the day -308 net
Poker results for the trip -172 net

Vegas: Day Three

2005-11-10T10:17:00.000-06:00

Saturday
Around 10:30am, we made our way to the Plaza poker room and got on the lists for the daily SNGs. Jim and I sat together in the $25 winner take all single table tournament. Shortstacked with just 3 players left this hand came up...
Blinds 400/800, I am in the BB with just 800 left after posting the blind. The button is by far the chipleader (he had approx. 6,400 of the 10,000 chips in play) and goes all-in. The SB has about 2,000 chips and goes all-in as well. I call in the dark as there now is so much in the pot, I have half my chips committed to the pot already and the tournament only pays one spot. The button has 33, SB has 96o and I end up having 75o. The button turns a 3 to take us both out and win the tournament. Afterwards one of my friends says my hand was an easy fold, but because of what I mentioned earlier I think you call. Thoughts ?

Needless to say this would be an omen of things to come for me for the day as well as the rest of the trip. Black Saturday !

We stopped by the Sports Book and placed some bets on college football. One of my buddies back in Austin called and asked me to put $300 on Texas Tech (playing Texas A&M, line was only 6.5). I placed his bet then place a small 3 team parlay and a little on Texas Tech as well. I had Texas Tech, Virginia Tech and UCLA for my parlay.

After the SNGs and sports betting, we drove over to the Wynn to do some site seeing. What an awesome place ! So many pretty people, fancy decor, Ferrari dealership and a nice looking poker room. The poker room was packed and the list was long so we headed over to MGM for more site seeing. The poker area there looks nice. The marble racetrack around the poker tables is kinda weird looking though. We didn't play here either as we had to meet our friends over at the Luxor.

When we got to the Luxor some headed straight to the poker room, while a few us went and ate at the Luxor buffet (around $20). Afterwards we went to join the others in the poker room. There were at least three 1/2 NL cash games going so we were able to spread out a bit and only have 1-2 friends at each table.

The table I sat in at had two huge stacks to my immediate right (at least $400 each). Both guys had been drinking and were raising $25 preflop every few hands. One guy would scream at the top of his lungs "Captain Caveman!" and then push all-in preflop. He was nonstop chatter the whole time. I rebought twice as I took a stand with AK and lost to 77 and then had 88 and lost to AK. After an hour or so, I moved to another table and lost two buyins when I took 88 up against AK and TT against AK. After the TT hand I figured dropping $200 on coinflips was enough for me for one night and hit the rail and watched the others finish up.

We played there for almost 8 hours that night and some of my friends did very well (+300 or more in some cases). I was very disappointed to have lost that much in that game, especially with the others running so well, but felt I still played well and never went on tilt. We also kept an eye on the football games we had bet on as well. Texas Tech easily covered after an early scare, but my parlay was killed by UCLA and Virginia Tech who got smoked.

We headed back downtown and I played some Roulette for the first time in my life and won about $40. Headed to bed I couldn't believe how quickly I had begun to run so poorly. I told myself tomorrow would be another day and quickly went to sleep.

Poker results for the day -225 net
Poker results for the trip +136 net

Vegas: Day Two

2005-11-09T10:27:00.000-06:00

Friday
Crawled out of bed and we made it downstairs around 11am. From 10am - 5pm Plaza runs SNGs ($25/$35). We put ourselves on the list for both the $25 and $35 SNG. My wife ended up playing another $35 SNG with a couple of the other friends that made the trip with us. I played one with my friend Jim.

The structures of the SNG are actually pretty fast (bad). Each player starts with only 1000 chips and go up every 15 minutes. The blind structure is:

25/50
50/100
200/400
400/800
600/1200

I never have seen one make it to the 600/1200 level. By the time you get to 400/800 its a crapshoot. Each SNG pays out 2 spots - 1st - $225, 2nd - $75)

Anyway, I started the SNG with Jim and was the first one knocked out when I couldn't get my KK past T9o. I then signed up to play another $35 SNG with Carol. Down to the felt early, I made a nice (lucky) comeback and made it to the final two. I offered up a chop, but since he had 2-1 chips he kindly refused. After winning a couple set of blinds then doubling up by going all in with QJ and getting called by T2, we chopped it evenly for $150 each.

After the SNG ended, most of us jumped in the rental and drove down to the Luxor. Of course there were 6 of us who wanted to go to the Luxor and only one rental car - a small Saturn Ion. So someone had the bright idea of having someone sit on a lap and then cram the rest of the people in the backseat. So with me driving and my wife in the passenger seat, Carol sat on Henry's lap while Scott and Jim squeezed in the back with them. Needless to say this was a site to see.

We drove down the strip to the Luxor so that Scott could see the sights since this was his first trip out to Vegas. As expected, at stoplights we saw fingerpointing and hysterical laughing at the Saturn clown car driving down the strip. Eventually we made it to the Luxor and everyone piled out and made their way to the poker room.

I got on the list for the 1/2 NL game and then sat in a 2/4 limit game, while the others spread out over three 1/2 NL tables. I won one pot and then was called to a new 1/2 NL game. The buy-in for the 1/2 game is an exact $50. Once you post the blinds and fall below $50 you can buy in immediately for another $50. Since we were just starting the table and were shorthanded, I just stayed with my original $50. Play was tight as we were shorthanded, but as soon as the table filled, the action heated up. There weren't too many notable hands other than one time in a 5-way limped pot I checked my option in the BB with KJo. The flop was KJ4 with 2 hearts. I bet $8 and was called by two players, one who had just sat down. The turn brought the 7h and I bet out $15 and was only called by the new player. The river was the Js and I bet out $25, and he called immediately and turned over his AA. With that pot and a few smaller ones, and in addition to the $20 I made in the 2/4 limit game, I finished the night up $160.

We piled into the clown car and drove back to the Plaza and hit the sack.

Poker results for the day +172 net
Poker results for the trip +361 net

UPDATE: I forgot to mention I played in the 7pm tournament again and finished 11 out of 34 players. My friend Henry chopped 2nd and 3rd for about $325. I am updating my poker results to include the $68 buy-in.

Vegas: Day One

2005-11-04T12:15:00.000-06:00

Thursday
Seven of the group of nine, went to the airport to fly out at 3pm Austin time. The other two, flew out later that night. On the plane, we had a $5 HU tourney (round-robin). Everyone else must have thought we were pretty weird, playing poker and switching seats every 15 minutes or so. Carol ended up going undefeated and started the trip off up $30.

We arrived in Vegas at 4pm local time. Our package deal through Southwest included a rental car from Alamo. Biggest mistake of my life ! It has never taken us that long to get a rental car. Long story short, we didn't get to the Plaza until 6:15pm.

We checked into the "lovely" Plaza and immediately bought into the 7pm tournament. The buyin was $48, which gave you 2,000 starting chips. There was also one rebuy for $20 and that gave you another 1,500 chips. There were 37 players and I was at the same table as my wife and Rico.

I started off strong, doubling up early with AKh when I turned a K and then rivered a flush. Got AKc next hand and JJ right after that and had around 6k in chips. Clara took a tough beat, when she flopped top set with JJ and was up against a guy who flopped a straight with 97h. By the time we were down to two tables I was still hovering around 6k and becoming a short stack.

I made it to the final table as the 2nd shortest stack. It was so bad, that I finally pushed all in blind with 1,500 chips when the blinds were 800/1600 w/200 ante. I luckily doubled up that hand and then went on a mini rush. Before you knew it, I was in the money ! I ended up going out 4th and took $195.

Later on I played a little 2/4 limit and won $62. Rico is up $500 playing Blackjack

The plan for Friday is to play some SNG at the Plaza, then drive to the Luxor and play there 1/2 NL cash game and eat the buffet there and then come back to the Plaza to play in the 7pm tournament again.
-------------------------
Poker results for the day +189 net
Poker results for the trip +189 net

Weekend Update

2005-10-31T13:48:00.000-06:00

Thursday

Thursday Thursday evening I went to a bachelor party at a Sullivan's. The party was held in a private room. We ate some steak and then played a NL Hold'em tournament afterwards. The steak was good, but not sure it was worth the $30+ I paid for it. (not counting the side dishes, drinks, etc.) Maybe it's just cause I am not cultured or something, but if you were to blindfold me and give me a steak from Outback and one from Sullivan's, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Even though I was knocked out pretty early in the tournament, all in all it was a fun time.

Friday

Friday we hosted the 2nd Annual Big O Halloween Costume Tournament. The basics are if you come dressed up, you get one free rebuy for the tournament. This year we had 14 out of 21 players come dressed. Also, everyone brought a special card protector, and it was used as your bounty. So when you got knocked out of the tournament, the other player got your card protector. Since alot of the women went to a Lady's Night Out party ("special" toys) an hour before the tournament, they showed up with some interesting card protectors !

I dressed up as the 2000 World Champion:

I ended up going out on the bubble, as I could continue the hour and half long streak of nursing the small stack.

Saturday

That evening we went to our friend's wedding. It was held outdoors and was very nice. They actually met each other playing in our weekly Wednesday night poker tournament here at work. They are going to Costa Rica for 10 days, two of which will be all poker in San Jose.

Sunday

Did absolutely nothing but sit on the couch and watch football, play Age of Empires III and watch the kiddos.

Vegas Update

We fly out this Thursday at 3pm and will arrive in Vegas 4pm local time. Everyone is very excited and I am sure this will be the 3 longest days of work for me.

Misc.

One of blogs I love to read is Tao of Poker. Dr. Pauly is getting ready to host some pretty cool tournaments on Pokerstars. Even though I will be in Vegas this weekend, I am thinking of registering and posting/folding so I still have a shot at the cool prizes (along with some cash if you money). Check out the details and schedule here.

Week in Review

2005-10-26T09:12:00.000-05:00

Thursday

Friends of ours are getting married on October 29th, so the Big O Poker Room has a tradition of hosting a Wedding Shower Tournament. The buy-in was $50 and the bride and groom to be received free entry into the tournament. We ended up with 16 players, not too bad for a Thursday night I guess. The tournament went by pretty fast considering it was a freezeout and in the past the play was tight and slow. We have added a new rule that may have something to do with this. To prevent people rabbit hunting, the rule is the player who asks for the hunt has to post the big blind the next hand. If they are in the blinds already for that hand they have to post double. This has proven to be very successful.

Nothing too exciting to report as far as my results in this tournament. Never could get anything going for me. Ended up trying to make a move on the button (groom to be) with AJd in the BB, but he had 88 and called and his hand held up.

The groom to be ended up finishing 2nd for $200 and the bride to be finished 7th.

Saturday

I watched some of the UT/Texas Tech game. It is weird to see Texas undefeated this far into the season. It's also hard to get your hopes up as Mack Brown has never won a championship.

After taking the kiddos to the park, we came back and played dealers choice with TW, Crazy Asian and my sister. TW and my sister had never played any other games besides hold'em and stud so it ended up being a lot of fun.

Sunday

Watched football and then played in the Pokerstars Bloggers Tournament. It was a lot of fun, but I bombed out in 981st place.

Countdown to Vegas

We are almost a week away from being in Vegas (Nov. 3rd) I am very excited to get back out there. Although TW was out there a month or so ago, I haven't been out there since January.

MissT74 said she is gonna be in Vegas on Nov. 6th for the TOC tournament at Binions since she did so well in the two tourneys she played there this past week. So there is the off chance we may see/meet her.

Some of the awesome blogs I am reading...

Tao of Poker (his latest post is one of the funniest I have read in awhile)
This is not a poker blog (another Austin blogger)
Party Poker Blog (always keeps me from working)

Weekend Update

2005-10-19T09:37:00.000-05:00

After having to work late on Friday night, I crawled out of bed in time to watch the Horns crush Colorado. Later in the day we had to go to my niece's birthday party where I spent most of my time watching the awesome ND/USC game. At first I was crushed that USC came back and won since that would have put UT at #1, but I think its probably best to have less pressure on a Mack Brown coached team.

Later that night I went over to friend's house for a poker tournament. The first tournament had 20 players. Things started off great as I flopped quads and got paid off twice each time I got AA.

How would you play it ?
Level 2 (200/400 blinds - 7 handed table)
I limp in with 88 UTG +1. 4 players see a flop of:

8 8 9

I check, button bets 800, SB and BB both fold. I call. Turn card is:

8 8 9 (T)

I check again, button best 1600. I call. River is:

8 8 9 T (3)

I check again, button checks. Quads hold up.

I should have bet the river or maybe check-raise the turn ?

I ended up making the final table, but as a shortstack. I ended pushing all-in with 99 in the SB against the BB who woke up QQ and that was that (finished 7th).

While we were waiting for the remaining four players to finish up so we could start the 2nd tournament, some us created a new side game to bet on. We made the rules up on the fly, the basics were this:

You have to out of the tournament.
$1 per hand/player
Each player picks their two hole cards. You cannot pick a pocket pair and you cannot pick the same card (suit) as another player. (You could pick 9d8d and I can pick 9s8s)
You then use the board of the final table (in this case, the four players left in the tournament)
All five cards must be seen for there to be a winner. (So if you only get to the turn, then the hand is a push)
You cannot win the hand with a high card, you must have at least a pair.

We played about 6 hands of this and it was very loud and exciting. I think the remaining 4 tournament players were a little ticked since we were yelling and screaming everytime their flop was dealt.

I ended up playing the second tournament (13 players) and came in 5th. No special hands to discuss here.

Vegas Trip Update

15 days till we go to Vegas. I think we have about 9 people total going together. It should be alot of fun. The only issue we may run into, is having all or a majority of us at the same cash tables. We are all staying at the dumpy Plaza (mainly because we plan to play alot of tournaments there). We also want to go to other casinos that we haven't been to so we can try out their poker room. (Wynn, MGM, etc.)

Update from the weekend

2005-10-10T22:21:00.000-05:00

The Big O Poker Room was open for tournament action on Saturday. In an effort to get ready for our Vegas trip on November 3rd, we switched up the tournament format to mimic those run at places like the Plaza. The Wife (TW) was able to back her way into the money. After the main tournament we ran some single table shootouts/SNGs structured exactly like at the Plaza. TW continued her winning ways and cashed in both of those as well.

Before the tournament started the Crazy Asian asked me for a single college football pick. After looking through the lines, (and being in Big 12 country) I noticed an easy one - Texas A&M (+3.5) at Colorado (-3.5). Going into the game A&M was 3-1, but barely beat Texas State and Baylor at home. So the Crazy Asian put his money on Colorado and easily cashed - Colorado 41 Texas A&M 20.

The next morning the Crazy Asian called again asking for a single pick to put all the money he won from the college game on an NFL game. I went with what I thought was an easy pick - Dallas (+3.5) at home against the Eagles (-3.5). The Crazy Asian put all $90+ he won from the night before on this game and then a little extra on a 3 team parlay including this pick (2 picks for the early games). So going into the Dallas game his parlay was 2-0. Once the Eagles whooped the Cowboys the Crazy Asian would clear an easy $300 or so.

Dallas 33 Philly 10

OUCH !!!

Needless to say I don't think the Crazy Asian will be asking me for any picks anymore.

Wife comes home

2005-10-07T11:23:00.000-05:00

Well for the past four days or so I have been Mr. Mom while my wife was away playing poker in Vegas. She flew back in and was home around midnight last night.

My wife played mostly tournaments downtown at the Plaza. During the day from 10am - 5pm they run single table shoot-outs/SNGs. They offer 3 flavors - $25/$35/$50. You start with 1000 in chips and the blinds are 15 minutes long and start at 25/50 and double each round. She said they lasted about an hour on average. At 7pm and midnight they host a multi-table tournament with 20 minute blinds and a starting stack of 2000 chips and the option to rebuy one time.

She chopped 1st three times in the SNGs ($100, $100, $150) and then took 3rd place in one of the midnight tournaments for $280. Not too shabby...

We have less than a month till our trip together to Vegas (Nov. 3-7). We are taking a small group of friends so it should be fun. At my home tournaments Big O Poker Room, we are going to start running them with the same structure as in Vegas to help get us ready.

My wife leaves....and "weird" poker

2005-10-03T13:41:00.000-05:00

Each year my mom, g-ma, sister, aunt, etc. all meet in Vegas for one week during October. This year my sister tryed to talk my wife into going out there with them. She really wanted to go, but in the end decided against it. This past Saturday night, my sister and her b-friend (Crazy Asian) come by our house and she starts talking my wife into going to Vegas with them. After checking flights, pricing and availability, she again decides against it. Sunday morning she talks with my sister who is now in Vegas and decides to go out there. So yesterday afternoon me and the kids drive my wife to airport and see her off.

Now for the next 4 days and nights I am Mr. Mom - taking care of all FIVE of my kiddos all by myself (ages 11, 8, 6, 2, 6 months). So what does any responsible father do in a situation like this ? Have people over for poker of course :)

My sister's boyfriend - Crazy Asian (he is half Vietnamese and half American, and loves to talk trash at the poker table) wants to change it up from the usual Hold'em tournaments and have a dealer's choice cash game or what I call "weird" poker. Before the Hold'em boom, I don't think I have ever played one hand of any kind of poker. The Crazy Asian on the other hand has played every home game variation of poker, plus will gamble on just about anything. (He had a bet with my sister whether or not my wife would end up going to Vegas at the last minute)

So at 7:30 we had five guys buying in for a cheap $20 and after a quick 15 minute tutorial on how some of these games (criss cross, little L, 44, 55, 33, two or none, guts, follow the queen, elmira, little chicago, etc.) are played, we are off and running. Some of these games have progressive pots, so even though the antes are only a quarter or fitty cents, you could be playing for $20 or more on one hand.

Fast forward to 12:30am and I am stuck like $60, my wife calls to say she has landed in Vegas and asks how I am doing. :) After that conversation we play a hand of 55. (Each player gets five hole cards and there is 5 community cards that are turned over one at a time with betting on each round. The third card turned over is called the "splitter", if this card is 8 or lower, whoever has the lowest card of this suit automatically gets half the pot, if it is 9 or higher whoever has the highest card of this suit gets half the pot). Long story even longer, the splitter is a 2 of diamonds and I have the 3 of diamonds and I have a full house. So after two rounds of capped betting along with more betting on the other rounds. I scoop the whole pot for $75 which gets me unstuck. I just love that feeling of getting unstuck, it's almost better than booking a nice win.

By 1:00 am everyone has left, and I spend the next hour and a half getting stuff ready for the kids and school the next day, preparing bottle for the night for the baby etc. When the alarm goes off at 6:45am this morning, I have about 3 hours of sleep in me. Geez do I miss my wife already :)

Another reason why Pokerstars is the best....

2005-09-30T09:15:00.000-05:00

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

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 2894131

Catching up

2005-09-30T08:58:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile....We moved into a new house, our new baby is almost 6 months old and we still continue to host poker tournaments at the Big O Poker Room.

I haven't been playing as much online as I used to, but have been playing live at least once a week. Last week we played 5 tournaments over 3 days (Thursday-Saturday).

I have been running good lately, cashing in 4 out of the last 7 tournaments I have played (live).

November 3rd, I go to Vegas with my wife and at least 6 other friends. This will be our 3rd trip out there and it's 100% poker.

The first time we went out to Vegas, we spent exactly 3 hours site seeing. We went to the Venetian and then the Bellagio and then played poker the rest of the trip.

One of these days we may actually go to a show or something....

When we are in Vegas, we play a lot of tournament at the Plaza. I am hoping that this trip I will visit more poker rooms like the Wynn, Hilton, MGM, Paris, etc. I found a great website that lists reviews, tournament schedules, etc. for almost every poker room in Vegas. All Vegas Poker

I haven't been doing much blogging myself, but have been lurking at these excellent blogs:

Tao of Poker
Terrence Chan
Paul Phillips
This is not a Poker Blog
Twenty-One Outs Twice
Party Poker Blog

There is about 20 more that I read but I will include those in another post.

Fun with Q9 offsuit

2005-05-31T17:11:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday after I was knocked out of the tournament at my house, 4 of us decided to start playing a cash game while the others were still playing in the tournament.

We decided to play .25/.50 NL and each bought in for $10. I started right off in the hole for about 7 bucks, so I quickly rebought for an additional $20. After the rebuy I had the table covered, with two other close to $20.

In the BB I had Qh 9s. Everyone limps and I check my option.

Flop was Ah Kh 6h.

I check, UTG checks, Button bets $2. SB folds, I call and say " Brad, if another heart comes your in trouble." Everyone chuckles and the UTG calls as well.

The turn is 5s.

I check, UTG checks, Button bets $2 again. I call and say " Brad, if another heart comes down I am going all-in" Again everyone laughs and the UTG calls again.

The river is 7h.

I immediately move all in. The UTG player thinks a long time and finally says " I don't think you have the flush, I call".

The button now is clearly frustrated, he says " I know I have one of you beat, but OK there is too much money out there, I call as well"

I proudly turn over the Qh and the UTG shows her Ad2h (???) and the button throws his Jh into the muck.

Catching up

2005-05-31T16:46:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I last posted on here.

Since last time I have played 3 more work tournaments, 1 tournament at a friends place and 1 tournament at my house.

In my work tournaments I finished 2nd and chopped 1st and then this last Wed. was knocked out pretty early. So all in all not too bad since it had been since last November when I last finished in the money.

At my friends tournament I played well and got heads up with the chip leader who had me outchipped 360K to my 40K. We played 30 minutes and I was within reach (He had 215K to my 185K). And then the final hand happened:

I limped in with A8o he checked from the BB. Flop was 8 6 4 rainbow. He checked, I bet 30,000 (blinds at this point were 5k/10K) He check-raised another 30K. This was a strange bet as any other time he had check-raised or come over the top of any of my raises, he would bet alot stronger. Each of those other times, I had folded and he would show me a monster hand. So at this time I really felt he was weak. So I jammed for another 120 something, he went into the tank and then finally said "I am tired and ready to leave, I call" He turns over 54o.

Turn 3
River 2

I finish a disappointed 2nd place.

This past Saturday we had a Rebuy Bounty Tournament at my house and had 20 players show up. Early on I built my stack to over 40K from my starting 15k but then lost it all on two hands.

First hand, limped in MP with QTc, flopped KcJc3c. I bet 2500 into 4000 pot (blinds 500/1000) only the SB calls. Turn is 3s, SB checks, I bet 5000. SB checkraises and makes it 15000. This is an easy fold as my flush is no good more than likely as it's not the nut flush and the board has paired. But being the idiot I am, feel I should call as I still the Ac and 9c to complete my straight flush. So I call, but the SB thinks the turn was the river and turns over his hand, Ac3c. River is not the 9c and I lose a lot of chips, but don't go broke.

Final hand, stack down to about 18K after the QT debacle. Limp in MP again with Ks Jd. Flop is Qd Td 3h. All four limpers check the flop. The turn is the Kd. SB bets 2K into a 4K pot. Another EP player calls and with alot of outs (or so I think) I debate raising but end up just calling. The river is a 9s. SB goes into the tank and then finally moves all-in. EP player folds, leaving just me.

I have the SB count down his chips and he has me covered by 500. I tell him if you have AJ or the flush then you got me and call. He turns over AJ and I am eliminated in 12th place. My wife ended up winning the tournament, so not all was lost.

This week we have our monthly $50 tournament at my house on Thursday, so maybe I can win one at my house that night. It has been a long time since I have finished in the money at my house. I seem to money every other place, but not there.

Weekly Home Tournament

2005-05-16T14:23:00.000-05:00

We had our weekly home tournament on Saturday and I extended my impressive non-cash streak at my place. (I haven't cashed at my house since March 12th).

We started with just 13 players this week so we have one table of 7 players and one table of 6. While most that play at my house hate short handed play to start, I enjoy it. It lets me play alot more hands and the pots tend to be smaller.

We started with 15,000 in chips and by the end of the first break I was up to over 30,000 without having to go or call an all-in.

Halfway to the second break I had my chips over 40,000 and we were playing 6 handed at our table and the other table was down to 5 handed. It was about this time that everyone else was asking if we could collapse and final table at 11 players. I really didn't want to do this as I was playing and doing well short handed, but every other person wanted to play 11 handed.

I finally caved in and we re-drew for a final table of 11.

Shortly after we went to the final table, I lost two key big pots (one to my wife) and by the second break I was down to 26,800. Went card dead and with blinds at 3000/6000 I pushed my last 15,000 in with 33 and was called by 77 and that was it.

Weekly Work Tournament

2005-05-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

I played in our weekly work tournament last night. The format was a little different this time around as it was a bounty tournament. So every player had a bounty on them. We started with 15 players.

Right off the bat, I limp in with T9 and 98 and win small pots. Then a MP player raises to 800 (blinds are 100/200), in the BB I look down and find 33. I call and the flop is Tc 9c 3h. I check, he bets 800 and I raise 2000 more. He goes into the tank, and then then goes all-in. I call and he has JJ. Preflop another player accidentally exposed a J so he had one out. The turn is another 3 and I knock him out and win his bounty.

Over the next two levels, I play alot of pots and build my stack to around 30,000 (started with 10,000)

DONK HAND: During the 4th level(400/800) I limp in UTG with AJo. 1 other limper plus the SB and BB. Flop is Axx. BB bets out 2K, I stupidly call instead of raising. On the turn he bets 5K and again stupidly call instead of raising or folding and not checking to see how many chips he has left behind him. Of course he goes all in for about 9K more and I call. He shows AQ and takes down a huge pot, leaving me with only 7K.

One hand later I double up off the same guy with K5c.

Being shortstacked and the blinds up to 500/1000 I start looking for a hand to go in with. I don't find one and make the final table (8 players) with only 11,000 in chips and blinds at 800/1600.

I steal my way to about 25,000 in chips by either pushing in preflop or on the flop. Down to 5 players (3 spots paying) I am the second shortstack when this hand comes up.

With 2 limpers in the pot, I just call in the SB with AQd. I don't ever do that with this hand out of position, so I don't know what I was thinking. Luckily for me the flop is KhJhTd. I push in for 21K. BB folds and the chipleader calls. He turns over Qh7h for flush and straight draw. He bricks on the turn and river and I double up to 50+K and am now one of the chipleaders.

Very next hand the Q7 guy (former chipleader) goes all in UTG for another 20K or so. I call on the button with AA and he turns over Q6c. I win that pot and the bounty and take a big chip lead.

I knock out a guy to put everyone left in the money. Then ship over about 30K on this hand:

DONK HAND: In the SB with QT0, button has already folded. I limp (instead of raise, like I should have) BB checks. Flop is Q28 rainbow. I bet out 5K (blinds 2k/4k), BB raises another 5K. I call (see a pattern here, too much calling and not enough raising. Should have noticed his stack and pushed on the flop). Turn is a 7 and he goes all in and I call. He has 72o for two pairs. I don't improve on the river.

72o guy knocks out the other player and we go heads up with him having a 3-2 chip lead.

We play raise and take it for a good 15 minutes, to where I have him outchipped by 5K (150K total in play)

He raises on the button with blinds at 3k/6K and makes it another 6K to go. I call with 98s. Flop is 9c 6s 5c. He bets out 10K and with top pair, gutshot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw, I checkraise all in. He calls in a snap and shows TT. I brick off on the turn and river and am left with only 5K which I promptly lose on the next hand and finish second.

Now for some hands I have questions about:

With blinds at 300/600 and sitting on a stack of about 25K, I limp in with 33. BB goes all-in for about 5500 more. I think and then finally fold. I think this is a clear fold but a couple of other players I asked said they may have called with my chipstack.
With blinds at 300/600 and sitting on a stack of about 25K, EP player pushes all-in for 6000 and I find AJo on the button. Again I think again before finally folding. Not sure what the correct play is on this hand. The raiser is a tight aggresive player so at best I am racing there I think.

Cinco de Mayo Tournament Report

2005-05-06T11:48:00.000-05:00

We had 20 players show up for the $50 Cinco de Mayo Tournament last night. (CLICK HERE for a tournament report).

Each player started at 20K in chips with 20 minutes starting at 100/200.

I was pretty card dead for the first two levels, only winning a smaller pot with 99 in early position.

During Level 3 (300/600) I found AA in MP and made it 2400 to go. The button re-raises 3000 more. It folds back to me and I push all-in praying he has KK or QQ. Unfortunately he beats me to the pot with the other AA and we chop a whopping 900 pot.

Right after the first break the blinds went up to 400/800. UTG+1 goes all-in for 9300. It folds to me in MP and I look down and see AKo. I put the player on a small pair at best (33-88) or KQ, AJ, AQ. I re-raised all-in (for a total of 18,500) to isolate the player. Everyone else folded. Other player turns over ATo. T on the flop and I lose half my stack.

On the shortstack I wasn't able to find much to play and when I would raise I wouldn't get too much action.

Was blinded down to 6700 with blinds at 500/1000 and got all in with ATo against a player with KQo. Flop was K K J, turn K K J (4), and a nice river K K J 4 (A) to double up.

Unfortunately I went completely card dead and with blinds at 1500/3000, I pushed my last 4000 in on the BB with T4h and busted in 11th place.

So my bad run continues.....when will it ever end ??

Been Awhile

2005-05-05T11:35:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I posted anything on here. We are thinking about selling our house and buying a bigger one, so I have been busy fixing up our house (painting, flooring, etc.) Because of this I haven't played much live poker. I have been playing a little online each night on Full Tilt. I really haven't done much in regards to my bankroll there, I haven't lost anymore but I haven't gained either. Kinda stuck in neutral.

I did play in our weekly Wednesday tournament at work last night, but played very poorly and finished 14th out of 17 players. Not good. Check out the following hand and how I played it like a donk:

Level 1 (100/200 blinds) 3rd or 4th hand of the tourney so everyone is around 10K in chips (9 handed table)

UTG+1 makes is 600 to go. I look down and see AKo and re-raise and make it 2600 total. It folds to the button who folds, but one of his cards flashes towards me and I see the As. It folds back to the original raiser and he reraises another 6K.

Now I know this player very well as he is a good friend and we talk poker on a daily basis. He is known as an aggresive player so when he initially raised to 600 his range of hands that he would do this with is very wide. However my usual table image is that of solid, somewhat tight aggresive and he knows this. So when he re-raised me the extra 6K it smelled of a mid to really big pair. I kinda discounted pairs 99 and down, figuring he would just go all-in with those. So I put him on TT or higher. Having seen the As, I knew I was down one out and was not sure I wanted to at best race so early in the tournament for all my chips.

I eventually folded and showed just the Ad, and he then flipped over AKo himself. Arrgghhh, bad read on my part. Oh well.....

I was bled and blinded off and made a stand with ATo and ran into KK.

Tonight at my casino (www.big-o-casino.com, actually my house :-) ) We are having a Cinco de Mayo Tournament - $50 buy-in. So far we have 22 players signed up, so it should be pretty fun. I have hosted 3 other $50 buy-in tournaments at my house and have finished on the bubble in two of them and was first out in the other. So I am hoping to break that terrible streak and actually cash.

I will post a tournament report tomorrow.

Latest Poker Results

2005-04-25T16:21:00.000-05:00

Not much good news lately. I haven't played much live as we just had our *fifth* child two weeks ago. This past Saturday, my wife felt up to going over to a friend's house to play a very small, cheap tourney. ($10/rebuy with only 9 players) Neither of us finished in the money and there were really no big hands or bad beats (not that anyone likes to hear a bad beat story). We did get to see a Royal Flush, which I haven't seen in awhile. My friend Henry, who was hosting the tourney, held QTd and flopped AdKd8d and then turned the Jd. He went all in on the river and was called by a guy holding 10s9d ??? Ok...

I have been playing online all at Full Tilt over the last month or so. (Originally started playing at Pokerstars). I am your typical micro-stakes online player. I deposited just $50 a couple months back on Full Tilt. I started just playing $5 SNG and .5/.10NL along with cheap MTT tourneys, including the weekly RGP game on Monday nights.

I was lucky enough to win one of the RPG tournaments for a little over $200 and I have recently moved up to playing $10 SNG and $1/$2 limit.

Right away playing 1/2 I went on a nice run winning about $200 along with cashing decently in the $10 SNG (both 1 and 2 table). Last week I had my bankroll up to about $655. Not too shabby from my $50.

Well what a difference a week makes. I haven't been running (or should say playing) very well at the 1/2 game at all and have bricked in my last 6 $10 SNGs. My bankroll is now down to about $512.

I am curious as to what limits for tournaments and cash games I should really be playing with my current bankroll.

Back at home.....more poker

2005-04-17T23:13:00.000-05:00

Well we are back home with the new baby. Both mom and baby continue to do well. I have spent most of the week trying to take care of the other kiddos while my wife heals and tries to get into a feeding routine with the baby.

I played online throughout the week on Full Tilt. I played about a total of 4 hours of $1/$2 limit (trying to learn to play HE limit cash games) and about 5 $10 SNGs (2 wins and 1 2nd).

I was actually able to play live at a friend's house last night. He hosted a $20 rebuy NLHE tournament with 12 players. We started with 20K in chips and if you fall below 10K you can rebuy $10 for 10K more in chips. There was also a one time add-on for $10 and 10K more in chips.

I started out real slow early on, rebought once and added on. After the end of the rebuy tournament I finally won some pots and built up my chipstack. Ended up heads up with only 90K in chips versus 260K. I was able to draw even and then we ended up chopping $140 each.

RGP Monday Tourney on FT

2005-04-11T21:26:00.000-05:00

Only 38 players this week. It was quick for me. Still in the hospital with my wife and new baby, while they snoozed I lost quickly.

Lost a few blinds early limping in with low pocket pairs and having to dump after the flop. Down to about 1200 and with blinds at 50/100 I was on the button and called a raise to 150 by NotACmputr who was in EP.

Flop was QJX with 2 clubs, he checked I bet 275 in to a 350 pot. He check-raised and put me all in. Should have trusted my read that he had an overpair and folded (bad read), he had AK and hit a T on the turn and I was out in 32nd place.

Baby update and the Big O Casino

2005-04-10T09:19:00.000-05:00

My wife and baby are still in the hospital until Monday or Tuesday since my wife had a c-section. Both are doing fine. I have been spending the night each night up here at the hospital with them.

Yesterday, the older kiddos came up to visit their new sister. I then took them home around 5pm only to find a suprise poker tournament for my upcoming birthday (April 12th) at the Big O Casino (http://www.big-o-casino.com). (We usually have weekly NLHE tournaments at my house and have been running them for about a year and a half. Early on we decided to name our place the Big O Casino. We keep a money list, results, etc from each week. Anytime it's someone's birthday, they get a freeroll and a bounty put on them) My wife had secretly planned this and it was a total suprise to me.

I felt kinda bad as I was playing poker and my wife was at the hospital with the baby, but she assured me she was fine and my mother went up to the hospital to help take care of the baby.

I played horrible poker but had a good time.

Addison Faith

2005-04-08T14:56:00.000-05:00

We now have five beautiful children. Addison Faith was born on April 8, 2005 at 12:59PM. She weighs 8lbs. 4oz. and is 20in. long. Both mom and baby are doing fine.

We almost have enough now for a full poker table :)

Baby Day

2005-04-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

Well today is the big day. Baby #5, yes no typo...my wife is having a c-section at Noon and we will have child number 5. This will be our fourth girl to go along with our lone boy.

Wednesday Work Tournament

2005-04-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

Each Wednesday at my work we have a NLHE tournament. The buy-in is very low ($10 except once a month it is $25). We have a website where we keep standings (money list),so most of us play for pride and not so much for the money. There are usually 14-24 players each week. We start with 10K in chips and the blinds start at 100/200 and go up every 20 minutes.

I lost about half my stack within the first two levels losing many small pots. With 9 players left, I doubled up with AA on a flop of A45.
We final tabled at 8 players and I was 4th or 5th in chips. I lost most of them on this stupid play:

7 players left and 3 spots paying, I limped in MP with JTo with blinds at 500/1000 and a stack of approx. 20K in chips. Button, SB and BB all limped. Flop was AJT rainbow. SB bet 4K, BB foldedand I raised 10K more. My thinking (first problem, me thinking) was he had a weak ace, if he had KQ he would probably slowplay. Well he went all in for 2K more and I called.He indeed did have KQ and I missed on the turn and river. Shortstacked, I pushed in with KQd and lost to AT.