SCOOP = POOP

Was cruising right along in Event 37-M (won entry via the PokerStars blogger freeroll) until this crushing river:

Tournament, 400/800 Blinds 100 Ante (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

SB (t49356)
BB (t28226)
UTG (t39355)
UTG+1 (t49093)
MP1 (t17835)
MP2 (t15889)
Hero (MP3) (t44923)
CO (t100310)
Button (t21383)

Hero's M: 21.39

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Ks, Kh
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t1780, 2 folds, Hero raises to t4800, 4 folds, UTG+1 calls t3020

Flop: (t11700) 5c, 7d, 4d (2 players)
UTG+1 bets t3880, Hero raises to t8800, UTG+1 raises to t44193 (All-In), Hero calls t31223 (All-In)

Turn: (t91746) 3s (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t91746) 10d (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t91746

Villian shows Kd, Qd (flush)

The Good Doctor


It's an honor to have been bestowed a link on Dr Pauly's poker blog! Now there's an actual chance others may read this drivel.

Playing a lot of NL100 Rush Poker on FTP...after an initial boost, it's been a slow, rollercoaster of a grind. Win $300, lose $250...lose $200, win $175. It wears on the mind, especially when work is sucking the proverbial fat one and all I can think about is "I wish I could play poker for a living, but how will that ever happen if my online bankroll hardly grows?"

I take beats, I play bad, I think about having to go to work the next day, and I get real mad/depressed. Reading the Elements of Performance section of Tommy Angelo's book has been helpful; I feel so calm & relaxed after reading those pages. Breathing is the best cure for tilt, and for avoiding tilt. I must make it part of my routine to read/breathe before every session.

Time to go play some more Rush, then the For Anna benefit tourney on Full Tilt at 10.

Also, if anyone wants to trade blog links, just leave me yours in the comments...thanks!

WBCOOP = SCOOP!

So I parlayed seven hours of my life on Sunday into a free entry into a $215 SCOOP event on PokerStars by wading my way through 2,000 or so bloggers in the WBCOOP Main Event. Wish I could say it was due to brilliant play, huge bluffs, and hero calls...but it was pretty ABC-ish. My big hands held up, I won a couple of big flips, and that was about it. Never had more than 75,000 chips towards the end, and went out in flames when my 8BB shove with A-Q found both T-T and A-K waiting for me, in the blinds no less...but no complaints here.

And by the way, whenever I hear SCOOOOOP, it reminds me of the announcer at Hartford Jai Alai when someone would make a nice catch of a short-hop. Many nights spent at the old fronton...I miss watching jai alai (and playing it on the amateur courts in Milford), but the CT casinos stole all the gamboolers away.

I Mean It This Time!

New Year's Resolution season is here! First let me take a look at my 2009 list of goals:

- Lose 30 pounds by June 1st...didn't make the 30, but I am down about 20 pounds from my high in January...I'm proud of my progress.
- Become a winning player at $5/10NL by December 31st...yeah, not so much! Still at $.50/1NL, but running at about 3BB/100 over my last 4,500 hands or so...more work to be done here.
- Qualify to play in a major live tournament, no later than the WPT at Foxwoods in November...this one didn't happen, but I did cash in a $300 buy-in tourney at Mohegan Sun last month.
- Post at least once per week...lol...but it looks like I didn't post any less this year, either.
- Improve my position at work (or find a new job) by June 1st...10% unemployment rates didn't help me here, but I'm always looking around, keeping my ears open at work, etc.

And now for the 2010 goal checklist:

- Weigh 220 lbs or less by our next trip to Vegas (sometime this summer)
- Become a winning player at $5/$10NL by December 31st (not giving up on this one)
- Qualify to play in a major live tournament, no later than the WPT at Foxwoods in November (...or this one!)
- Grow our monthly live tournaments at the Lounge (we're averaging around 12-15 entries, I'd like to see this up to at least 20 by year-end)
- Plan three major vacations (Las Vegas, Ocean City (MD), and To Be Determined)

What I'm already doing to accomplish these goals:

- Reducing my carb intake by eating less bread, pasta, potatoes, sweets, etc.
- Reading poker books, blogs, and articles (already 75 pages into Elements of Poker, which I got from my brother-in-law Steve for Christmas...thanks!)
- Reviewing prior poker sessions, talking over hands with Todd, sweat sessions, etc.
- Collecting cell phone numbers & e-mail addresses from new players, and sending out messages reminding everyone of the next tournament.

What else I need to do to accomplish these goals:

- Get back on the low-carb horse after New Year's...I behaved during Thanksgiving, but there was just too much good, starchy, sugar-laden food around me these last couple weeks for me to pass up!
- Get back to the gym...it's at the end of our driveway...c'mon man!
- Buy and read Treat Your Poker Like a Business...and then another poker book, and then another.
- Look into buying a membership to a poker training site...I've got tons of FPP's on Full Tilt I can use to pay for one.
- Play more "main event" qualifiers...Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, maybe even the EPT stop in my dad's birthplace of Dortmund, Germany.
- Send out e-mail recaps of the Lounge tournaments...I used to do this for the private tournaments we ran online, and I think it kept everyone interested...numbers went down when I stopped the recaps.
- Don't waste my sick/vacation days on so many Mental Health Days...plan days off & use them to play in live tournaments and for vacations.

OK now, let me hear a big 'Whoa Bundy' on three!

Taking It Seriously

Todd & I talk about poker every day at work, exchanging stories about our hands from the night before. We win some, we lose some, but neither of us have been making any solid headway. No progress.

We bemoan our bad luck, talk about the hands we should've raised or folded, but for me it always comes back to the same point...it's easy to see now - after the fact - that I made the wrong play, but why can't I recognize that and make the RIGHT play while I'm in the hand? No focus.

I'm finally willing to admit this: I know I'm intelligent enough to be a winning poker player, but I haven't played with enough consistent focus to realize that potential. There have been times when I've done some studying/reading/coaching sessions, but it's been in spurts and usually ends after I've lost a few buy-ins. Sometimes I'll bring the laptop upstairs and play in the spare room without any distractions, but it's so much easier (and more comfortable) to plop down on the couch and fire up a couple tables with the game on in the background. No discipline.

While driving home from work today, I thought to myself, "OK, you're in your late 30's...you work full time...you don't have the time to really dedicate the time needed to become a better player...college kids in their 20's have the time & lack of responsibility, they're the ones that can make the big money playing poker...are you ready to admit that this isn't going to work out for you?"

I didn't like what I had just thought.

If I quit on this, then what dreams/goals do I have to achieve? I don't bowl competitively anymore, I'm pretty much locked into this career I've had for the past 10 years. Forty is around the corner, and who knows what the future will bring? Longer hours at work? Children? Nope, can't stop now. I quit my bowling leagues a few years ago to spend more time on poker..this is it, bro.

Day One of the new routine is over. After I got home from work, I chilled on the couch for a bit, watching TV, checking emails & whatnot. Had dinner, little more TV...then switched over to poker mode. Hopped on Jen's desktop & printed out some poker blog strategy posts I read before from Ed Miller and citizenwind, printed them out & put them in a three-ring binder. I then took the binder & laptop up to the spare room, read & highlighted key points from the blog posts, and then fired up PokerTracker. I scanned my last session hands and focused on three "tough spot" hand histories. Cut & pasted those suckers into a Word file, added notes where I made good/bad decisions, and e-mailed it to Todd for his feedback...like we used to during our group coaching sessions.

Only after all that did I finally start playing some poker. Table selected (looking for high % of players seeing a flop, large avg pot sizes, and no shortstackers to my immediate left), found three decent tables, and started playing. No TV, no Internet Explorer...just poker. I told myself to stay calm, don't tilt, and keep thinking. I acknowledged that even though I had taken all of these steps and even hit the books, it wouldn't guarantee I'd have a winning session.

Fortunately, I did have a winning session:



Nothing spectacular, but a win is a win...and I decided to lock up the win after about an hour...good for the psyche. There were a couple of spots (which I'll review in depth tomorrow) where I actually took a couple of seconds, thought about if the villian's bet made sense, and made two profitable decisions. One was just a turn call in position with 7-7...we checked the river and I was good vs just two overcards. The second was a big check-raise from a fishy player when I flopped TPTK with the nut diamond draw...it seemed an easy enough decision - I'm definitely not folding the hand - but I took the time to check his stats...and sure enough, my man's check-raise flop stat is three outta four.

I figured his raise of half my stack had committed him, so I shoved hoping to get called by something like top pair with the Kd or Ax-Kd...if he actually flopped big (two pair/set/flush) then I'm still drawing live. Unfortunately he tanked & folded, but I still took down a nice pot. Maybe I should've just called & let him shove the turn? I guess we'll talk about that at work in the morning.

Now I just have to do this again tomorrow...and the next day...and the next...nope, that's Christmas Eve. But the trick will be to follow these same steps again on Saturday, or whenever the next time I'm able to study, THEN play some poker.

I Love Me Some Mo

...as in Momentum. The finals of my poker league were last night, with 14 of us freerolling for over $1,000. Oz didn't make the top 15 in the points standings, so he was the only one that had cough up a hundo to play. Someone from the top 15 was a no-show...not one of our regulars, and Luke even texted him earlier in the day, so too bad/so sad for him.

I played poorly in the first hour...very lazy, not paying attention, lots of limping pre-flop and checking/calling post-flop. The lowlight came when a couple people limped in front of me, and I decided to limp with 9s-8s. The blinds came along, and we saw a K-xs-xs flop. Lucky bet close to the pot, I think someone else called, and I called. Turn was a blank, Lucky fired a 2/3 pot bet, and I was the only one to call. I was pretty sure he had K-x. The river missed me but paired the board (sixes?), and Lucky quickly checked.

I thought for a while, playing with my chips while I thought: a) could I get Lucky off his King and b) how much would it take? I decided not to give up on the hand and bet 3/4 pot...he quickly called and I said "You win," as he was asking me if I had a King. Indeed, he showed K-2 and I was pretty disappointed with myself for spewing a third of my chips. Lucky and a couple others agreed that I took too long to bet; I was mad at myself for not being more aggressive earlier in the hand. Could've raised pre-flop and probably taken it down with a continuation bet (Lucky probably folds pre-flop). Could've raised his c-bet and probably taken it down on the turn with a decent bet. My river bet looked exactly like someone bluffing a busted flush draw...I know better than that.

Luckily I managed to not suck the rest of the hour, got Calling Station Pops to give me some chips when I was dealt Queens, and made it to break close to my 10k starting stack. I resolved to play better poker from that point on. Pay attention. Play smart. Apply pressure.

Early in the second hour I played a hand with pocket threes much better than I would've in the first hour. I started by raising pre-flop, and was called by just Oz in the big blind. The flop was a scary Qd-Jd-8d (neither three was a diamond), and we both checked. The turn brought a non-diamond 7, and Oz checked again. I thought about what he could have. He probably would've bet by now if he had the Ad or Kd, a Queen, T-9, 8-8, or Q-J. I decided that I could probably bet him off his hand, so I bet a little over half pot, and he called. After a very non-scary 5x hit the river, Oz checked again. No way he's checking a big hand there, so I made another half pot bet...and he folded fairly quickly. I was very happy with my aggression and hand-reading on that one...pretty sure I got him to fold something marginally better than my threes.

I managed to make the final table, but card-deadness and escalating blinds kept me at about 10k and one of the shorter stacks. I quickly doubled up when my A-J won a race against Evil Vinny's pocket eights. Blinds were now up to 500/1k, so there wasn't much room to make plays...it was going to be a shove-fest from here on out. But most of the others at the final table tightened way up; they were hoping to hang on and make the top 4 ($500/300/200/75). I took advantage of this and open-shoved many, many times...and didn't get a single call. I broke the money bubble when I busted the short stack to my left...he had let his top-3 stack dwindle down to 1 1/2 big blinds by employing the "hang on and make the money" strategy of Fold/Fold/Fold. Didn't work.

Evil Vinny (who's actually the total opposite of evil, probably the most soft-spoken, kindest guy of the bunch) knocked out Lucky in 4th and Billy in 3rd place, so he had a huge lead on me when we started heads-up. We took turns raising each other's big blinds until he raised my 7k blind to 21k. I peeked at an Ace and shoved for just 18k more...he thought for a couple minutes before folding. Must've had something like 7-6 where he couldn't stomach losing the chip lead if I had him killed. Sure enough, I peeked at my other card before mucking: I had Ah-Qh. That was my shot at taking the lead.

The Not So Evil One had a slight lead when I shoved 50k with the sexy 6-9 (blinds were 4k/8k), and he called with pocket sevens. I didn't flop any draws and blanked the turn and river...but was now $300 richer. Glad it was Vinny I lost to...he was gracious as usual (win or lose), and probably one of the top 3 players in the league. He was the first to win both the points title and the finals, so good job Vinny!

I'm satisfied with the recent positive cashflow to my poker bankroll, despite losing about $100 at NL100 online this weekend. I don't think I played badly online, outside of one hand where I cost myself about $40-50 by not betting the river in a big hand against a fish with over $1,100 (at NL100?!?!). I'm pretty sure if I bet that much with A-K on a A-K-x-x-x board, he would've called with his A-T. But I checked hoping he'd shove, and he just checked back instead. Short stack who shoved the turn with a set of nines took down the $110 pot, blech. I need to break my habit of trying to induce bluffs/bets by worse hands, and need to mix it up with more value betting.

But I'm glad that I got my head on straight after the first hour of the league finals...I realized that I need to play more focused than I have over the past week. I was paying much more attention during my 500 hand stretch than I have since, must get back to that discipline.

Which reminds me, I gotta get my ass back to the gym...tomorrow after work!

500 Hands of Progess



Nothing extraordinary, but it feels good to have some sustained progress. First the cash at Mohegan last weekend, now some wins after moving back up to full ring NL100. I feel comfortable despite playing 4 times higher than I have for the last few months. I think my playing style is more suited for full ring vs 6 max, but it seems that some of the extra aggression needed at 6 max has carried over to full ring. Not that I'm playing like a maniac, but definitely more aggressive than I have in the past.

It's only 500 hands over 6 short sessions, and I still need to work on my hand-reading and thin value betting, but it's a step in the right direction.

My First Day Two

Just wanted to jot down some highlights & oddities from this weekend's $150k Guarantee at Mohegan Sun ($300 buy-in):

- got to see a flop from the big blind with 4-2 sooooooted in a multi-way pot, flopped the flush, and actually won a decent-sized pot
- limped under the gun with 3-3, flopped a set, and actually won a decent-sized pot
- guy in Gehrig pinstripes called a 4-bet with Q-Q for 3/4 of his stack, folded the K-J-x flop, and then proceeded to get a chair massage while ordering food from room service...quite the spectacle watching him eat a massive steakburger at the table...room service cart at his side, replete with linen tablecloth, vase/bouquet, and three glasses of ice water
- "You can't do this at Foxwoods!" he bellowed, which got a laugh from the room
- 12k starting stacks, 16k at first break
- 3-bet with K-K, got called, got it all-in vs Q-Q after a raggedly flop & turn, doubled up to 32k
- 3-bet with A-K, got called by steakburger (who was now over 30k), got it all-in vs A-A on a K-8c-7c flop, and spiked the King on the river! Someone had folded a King, so the one-outer saved my bacon...up to 75k
- folded to me in the small blind, I peeked at an A & raised, called by the big stack in the big blind...flop was K-x-x, now I had to squeeze out the other card...Ace! Got him to call all three of my bets with some type of pocket pair that never improved, and I was up to 100k & double the average chip stack
- some guy moved to our table with a smallish stack, and about a dozen room service-sized jars of mayo & mustard?! Turned out to be a uniquely funny guy - who also took down a monster pot when he raised with Kc-4c and turned trip 4's - and kept our table chuckling for the rest of the 12-hour day one
- finished with 96k, average was 71k

- Sunday was not as fun as Saturday
- blinds were up to 3k/6k, guy to my right shoved for 55k, I squeezed out A-K and shoved over him for 85k...another guy hemmed & hawed before finally folding (supposedly a decent pair), shorter stack also had A-K & we chopped
- big stack to my right had been bullying the rest of the table with lots of pre-flop raises, so I shoved over his 17k with K-J on the button for about 80k total...big blind put in his last 22k, big stack agonized before folding (my guess: A-T)...blind had Q-T and spiked a Ten on the flop...turn gave me a gutshot & flush draw to go along with my two overcards, but I whiffed on all 17 outs
- 499 entries, paying 55 spots, mayhem ensued when we reached the bubble...a few guys started lobbying for everyone to chip in $10 to pay the bubble, tourney director stopped the clock, and money is collected...10 minutes and $504 later (??????), the clock was re-started
- blinds up to 4k/8k, I shoved 55k with K-J again, called by short stack in SB with As-Ts, he hit an Ace on the turn
- Luke stopped by to say he was out 47th
- shoved my last 21k after looking at an Ace, big stack raised to 40k..."I hope I have something good to go with my Ace," I said as I flipped over Ac-Jc...he had A-A, nice...Ace on flop, and then running Jacks to rub salt in the wound
- out 46th for $584
- dealt a grand total of SIX pairs during the entire tournament: A-A, K-K, J-J (won blinds & antes), 6-6 (won blinds & antes), 3-3, and 2-2 (won small pot without showdown)...that was out of 400-450 hands, so I should've expected to see about 25 pairs

One-Way Ticket Out of Limbo

So I've been basically just treading water in life over these last few months. Looking back on my 2009 goals (lose weight, be a winning player at higher limits online, qualify for a major poker tourney, get a new job), the only one I've made a dent into is the weight loss. Jen & I started eating low-carb about a month or so ago, and we've lost about 10 pounds each, so that's something positive. My goal was to drop 30 pounds by June, but I'll be content if I'm there by year-end.

My online pokering has stalled. Even after watching a lot of training videos, constantly reviewing hands with a buddy at work (who's also serious about poker and even won a seat to the World Series main event this summer), and even paying for some group sessions with a respected poker coach...I'm no better than I was six months ago, or at least that's how I feel. I went from playing every night to not playing at all, protecting my psyche/ego from further beatdown. I couldn't go on having another crappy day at work, and follow it up with another online session ending with a two-outer or cooler or poorly-played hand. I'm not thinkly clearly when "in the moment." It's easy to look back and see that I should've folded that hand, I should've check-raised that one, etc. I need to get my brain on that next level and strategize, do a better job of hand-reading while I'm playing the hand. I know I'm smart enough to be a profitable online poker player, I just need to focus more, study more, want it more. It's easy to say you want to make gobs of money playing poker; it's another thing to put in the time and dedication.

Poor results online + making less money at work + little vacation time left = not plunking down a couple hundo here or there for live-tourney qualifiers. Enough said about that goal.

Job prospects have been few and far between, as to be expected in this economy. I thought I had a decent shot at a position within my company, but never heard a peep from the hiring manager. I thought I had more than enough qualities listed on my resume that would warrant at least a callback and/or a first interview, but nada. Rumor has it because so many people in my department had posted out for other jobs in the company, certain managers were told not to hire away too many of us. Of course I have zero proof of this, but I heard too many things from multiple people (both within and outside of the company) that I can't help but think that it might be true. I'd love to be able to call BS and confront the powers that be, but I know all I would get would be a denial. I'd definitely call their river bet with just ace-high. But all I can do is feel angry and slighted, grit my teeth and keep plugging away, hoping that the most recent re-re-re-realignment of my department within the company's organizational structure will bring positive change.

I keep thinking about switching careers, going into business for myself, having more freedom and flexibility in my professional life...and more money. But what would I do instead of working in the field I'm in now? Oh yeah, that's right, I was going to make money playing poker.

I've GOT to break that mental barrier and learn to be a better player. It feels like there's an internal wall I need to break down...I need to get that light bulb to burn, or that switch to flip, or whatever cliche you care to use. I need to have that "a-HA" moment in my head that allows me to implement strategies, exploit other's playing tendencies, put the pieces together during the course of a hand that helps me hand-read more accurately.

I've always had the feeling that I've underachieved, never used my intelligence to its full potential, and now I find myself stuck in a career with no clearly-defined career path. Poker has given me small tastes of success, but I haven't dedicated myself 100% for a long enough period of time to become a better player. I KNOW I can do it, I just need to buckle down and do it.

Self-Therapy Session #49

- flop top set, donk turns flush, board doesn't pair
- call minraise from SB w/JJ, flop KJT, minraiser has KK
- raise w/AK, SS donk in blinds calls, get it all in on KQ2x, he has 22
- raise w/88, aggressive SS shoves, I call, he has KK

Guess I should be happy that I lost only one buy-in...

Why, Mother Nature, Why?

So of course the 1-3 inches of snow we were supposed to get Monday night into Tuesday morning morphed into 4-6 inches between noon today and now. Took me 1 1/2 hours to get home from work, so getting to Mohegan by 7:30 for the qualifier was not going to happen.

But if I did play in the tourney, then I never would've played with this fine fellow:


Seat 2: let's call him "DB" ($172.60)
Seat 5: me ($106.50)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to me [Jd Js]
DB raises to $4
me calls $4
*** FLOP *** [Jh 3d 6s]
DB bets $10
me has 15 seconds left to act
me raises to $20 (I could've raised more but flop is dry & I wanted to get the other two pre-flop callers to fold, which they did)
DB calls $10
*** TURN *** [Jh 3d 6s] [Ac]
DB checks
me checks (thought there was a chance he had aces since he almost never raised pre-flop, so I keep from committing my stack...plus it's very deceiving in case I'm way ahead)
*** RIVER *** [Jh 3d 6s Ac] [Ah]
DB has 15 seconds left to act
DB bets $20
me has 15 seconds left to act
me raises to $82.50, and is all in

DB waited almost 10 sec, then...

DB calls $62.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
me shows [Jd Js] a full house, Jacks full of Aces
DB shows [Ad Jc] a full house, Aces full of Jacks
DB wins the pot ($219.50) with a full house, Aces full of Jacks

DB: toug river
DB: weird check
me: thanks for the slow roll
DB: no slow roll
DB: i am playing multi tables
me: ohhhhhhh

A few minutes later, DB calls my $8 river bet w/AJ on a Q-high board...

Dealer: me shows a pair of Fours
Dealer: me wins the pot ($27.10) with a
pair of Fours

me: pity call?
me: or just bad
DB: good info
DB: called for info
me: bet you do that a lot
DB: is that a jab at me...
me: i guess
me: since you slow call with the nuts &
then question my play
DB: remember i raised the hand that you
had jacks
me: whatever dude
DB: you should have bet that turn real hard (which gave him top 2 pair & he wouldn't have folded anyways)
me: you're just better than me
DB: and not check
DB: i am better than you
me: thats what i just said
DB: but i have played with you before and I
am just trying to help you. (I've never seen this guy before)
me: i dont remember you
me: i must have a bad memory
DB: i keep notes on players
me: how do you do that
DB: right click on the other players avatar
me: oh
me: i thought you used a diary or something

At least I got my money's worth ribbing him...still haven't given up hope on qualifying for Mohegan's big tourney next weekend.

The Need to Succeed

Trekking back to Mohegan tomorrow night, weather permitting, to qualify for their big ol' tournament. Not trying to qualify, but to qualify.

Super Sunday, Terrible Call

Played in the $125+25 qualifier for Mohegan's $2500 tourney...60 entries, we were down to 2 tables, and I had a slightly above-average $22k stack...blinds $600/1200, I had already opened a few pots in this level, and raised MP to $4000 with Ah-Qh...the most aggressive player at the table was in the SB, thought for a min, and shoved for $16k more...back to me, I thought for a minute or so...I saw him push earlier over a check-raise on the flop with just middle pair & gutshot, so I put him on a pretty wide range...I have K-Q and A-J crushed, racing against most pairs, and worried about A-K/queens/kings/aces.

Since only the final 3 would win a seat, I decided to gamble & called...he showed aces, and I was dead by the turn...got knocked out the next hand.

I'll be thinking about this one for a while...I could easily have folded & still had an average stack...first thing I thought when he shoved was "everyone gets knocked out with A-Q." But then I also thought it's most likely we're racing or I'm ahead, and felt it was a good spot to try & put myself up near the chip lead. So much for that.

Good news is my buddy Luke also played in the tourney, and he won one of the seats to the big dance. Now the pressure is on me to qualify, since this was all my stinkin' idea to begin with!

Insert Title Here

Not much new and/or exciting to report. Getting re-motivated at work. Live poker trips scheduled to Mohegan Sun & Atlantic City over the next couple weeks. Working off my year-end Iron Man bonus on FullTilt. Monthly poker tournament at the Lounge is set for next Saturday. First weigh-in for Biggest Loser contest on Thursday. It'd be nice if at least half of these things lead to some positive results.

Since the weigh-in isn't for a few more days, Jen & I are braving the snow to cash in gift cards at TGIFridays...yay food!

In 2009, I Resolve to...

- Lose 30 pounds by June 1st
- Become a winning player at $5/10NL by December 31st
- Qualify to play in a major live tournament, no later than the WPT at Foxwoods in November
- Post at least once per week
- Improve my position at work (or find a new job) by June 1st

More to come as they come to mind...2008 was a pretty crappy one on a lot of fronts, but poker was a bright spot. I need to build on my poker success and continue to learn, move up in limits, and make more money. It doesn't guarantee happiness, but money can certainly help alleviate that financially-related stress cloud that's been rumbling over me (and most everyone else, I know).

And the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Poker Tournament Goes to...

My weekly poker league ended last night, as 16 of us played in the finals. There was just over $1,800 in the pot, with 5 spots paid ($800/500/300/200/160). I experienced the full range of starting hands and tough situations, coin flips and bad beats (both given and received).

After playing 3-handed for about half an hour with blinds so high that none of us had more than 10 big blinds left, we decided to each take $500 and play it out for the extra hundo and coveted championship trophy (minus the hockey sticks).

I got to heads-up against Andy, crippled him when my A-6 outdrew his Q-Q, and took it down shortly after. Obviously the suckout was the main reason I won, but there were two hands earlier in the night that I'm especially proud of. Both ended up being big pots, and I won them both, enabling me to make it to the final 3 and get lucky for the win...

With blinds at 100-200, I opened from the cutoff with 9-5. I hadn't seen many good cards or played many hands, and I needed to start growing my stack, so I figured my raise could get some respect from the button & blinds. Roy and Mike did fold, but Bill thought for a few seconds and called. Luckily, the flop came a raggedy 9-high with 2 suits...but Bill bet out 900, leaving him with only 1,200 behind.

This would normally be a tough spot for me, but over the course of the league, I had seen Bill bet a good portion of his stack...only to have someone else come over the top and get him to fold. As soon as he made the bet, I pushed in my stack and waited. I had Bill covered, and he started agonizing over his dilemma. He asked, "So you have Jacks? Queens?" I knew at that moment Bill had pocket tens...I had to get him to fold.

He asked if I'd show my cards if he folded, and I told him I could show him one. That was a huge mistake on my part; if I indeed had a big pair, showing him just one card wouldn't prove anything. Showing one card indicated that I probably hit a pair on the flop, meaning his overpair was way ahead. So as he kept looking at me, I camly told him twice that I "have a hand," and tried to act as 'normal' as possible. I must've projected just enough perceived strength; after another minute or so of waffling, Bill finally mucked his cards, and I flashed the nine. "Did you have tens?" He nodded quite painfully. Whewwwwwwwwww.

At the next level, Mark min-raised the 400 blind to 800. I peeked down at an ace...squeeeeeze...another ace! Of course I'm looking for action, so I made a smallish re-raise to 2,000. Hoping to isolate and get heads-up with Mark, that's just what happened, and we saw another raggedy flop, this time Queen-high. Mark checked, and I asked him how much he had left: the count was 2,700. "Okay, I bet 2,700." I tried to say it with a twinge of doubt in my voice, hoping to raise some suspicion on his part. My read on Mark is that he usually doesn't believe that others have him beat, so I wanted to induce a heroic call. First I started fidgeting a little, putting my hand over my mouth, trying to look uncomfortable. Finally, after another 30 seconds of waiting on Mark, I went for the final false tell...I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms on top of my remote control cradle (a.k.a. my belly). I'm not sure if was due to my perceived weakness, but Mark made the call with just A-K, and he was drawing dead after the turn.

Now who knows if all my acting and posturing actually factored in my opponents' decision-making, but the bottom line was I accomplished the two biggest goals when playing poker: getting a better hand to fold, and getting a worse hand to call.

It's That Time Again...

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

This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 339231

Oops, I Did It Again



I hadn't played Saturdays with DrPauly in over two months...always something going on Saturday afternoons. Last time I played I was fortunate enough to win; this time around I was just plain lucky.

Don't remember the details, but I played two all-in pots early on...and rivered them both. Felt weird to administer the beats instead of suffer them.

I think I was in the lead when the final table started, but behind almost 2-to-1 to jeciimd when it got to heads up. We got it all in on a two-diamond flop; jeciimd flopped two pair, I was chasing with Kd-Qd-x-x...and runner-runnered a higher two pair. Pretty gross, but no apologies!

Kept picking up decent hands, applied pressure, and ground down jeciimd to about 5,000. We finally got it all-in on J-J-x-x board, I had slowplayed A-J-x-x and jeciimd unfortunately had J-T-x-x. He wasn't able to boat up on the river and I wonned da tournaments...sorry, the post-tourney celebratory margaritas from Pancho Loco are talking!

Thanks again to the Good Doctor for running a fun, laid-back tourney for his friends & faithful readers.

Which reminds me, a solid Eff You goes out to the IT department at my job for blocking Pauly's site! Now I must wait till evenings for my daily fix...

Nobody Believes Me

I know nobody likes to read blogs full of poker rants, but nobody reads this blog, so awaaaaaay we go!

Background- I was chipleader with seven to go in tonight's bounty tournament at the lounge, and the only hand I had played to this point at the final table was a limp of pocket deuces which became flopped quads...let the beatings commence.

- blinds were 300/600, I raised to 1800 with 8h-7h...it's folded to the big blind (let's call him Villain #1), who thought for a bit, said "Oh well," and went all in for 1700 more. I grudgingly called, and he showed T-9 offsuit? This was someone I thought to be a good player (at least from what he's told me in the past), but I guess he's never heard of such phrases as hand ranges and zero fold equity. The board blanked out, and his ten was good. "I thought you were trying to bully me...I thought you had suited connectors or a small pair." Yeah, I'm targeting the big blind from UTG, and there's no way I could have any ace, king, queen, jack, or pair nines and higher...UGH.

- next hand, everyone limped to the small blind, and Villain #1 folded, which totally tilted me...willing to get it all in pre-flop with T-9 knowing I'll call him 100% of the time, and now with double the amount of chips he folds the small blind getting a bazillion-to-one odds? I knocked the table from the big blind with 9-2. Flop was 9-7-4 rainbow, I led out for 1000, and Villain #2 pushed all in for 1900 more. I had seen this kid raise and call down bets earlier toinght with second & third pair, so I'm either way ahead or outkicked and way behind. I called, he showed K-9, and the board blanked out.

- down to 3200 from over 10 grand a few minutes ago...still at the 300/600 level, I peered down at Ad on the button and shoved, pretending to look at the other card (5h) but not really...big blind (AKA Villain #3) said, "I don't have anything, but I'm going to call." He flipped over Q-8 (might've been sooooooted, don't remember), and guttered a straight on the turn. I had him outchipped, so that left me with 800...I tortured myself by folding until the 800 big blind came around, with my J-5 going down in flames to Villain #1's J-6 small blind special. I walked away from the table, and VN1 grunted, "You owe me your bounty." If I could've just checked my blood pressure at that exact moment...

- I moved over to the three-handed cash game & bought in for my last $35 (max is $40)...more pain please! $1-1 blinds, I raised to $4 UTG with Ad-2d, dealer folded, both blinds called. We all checked the Qx-Qs-6s flop. Turn was 7x, checked to me, I bet $6, called by big blind. River brought a third small spade, checked to me, I bet $10. Villain Numero Quatro looked into my soul for about 10 seconds and made the call on a paired, suited board with A-T.

Double you. Tee. Effffff.

I've Been a Baaad Blogger

...especially since I hung out a bit with Dr Pauly & AlCan'tHang and haven't blogged a word about it.

Jen & I drove down to AC on a Thursday in late-September for a few days of gambooooling. We were supposed to meet up with friends Scott & Jamison from DC, but they weren't able to make it. Made good time driving through New York & Jersey since most schmucks were still at work, and rolled into the near-empty valet area at Borgata as the final table for the World Poker Tour at was running...knowing that Pauly & Al were covering the event, I had to track them down.

I snooped around the ballroom area until I saw some Borgata employees head into the darkened Salon D...there were no posters or signs advertising the WPT final table, but I followed the help inside. Sure enough, there was the WPT set...bleacher seating, monitors, flat-screens, and a poker table complete with a dealer, two players, and a mountain of cash. I didn't recognize either player, but here's the winner of a cool $1.4 million. He had a big chiplead and cracked AQ with AJ on the final hand. Yep, suckouts happen live, too.

I eventually found Al in the makeshift WPT lounge/bar (big shock), and later met up with him and Pauly in the B Bar for a few rounds. Even though there were a bunch of more important WPT/Borgata muckety-mucks in the group, Pauly & Al still were kind enough to chat with me between their schmoozings.

Genuinely friendly dudes.