Predator314's Poker Journal

13 days until your assignment is due. I've already received a couple submissions. I'll be posting the prizes tonight. Stay tuned.

Just got back from my first big singles bowling tournament. 100+ entries. I get 40 pins handicap. I bowl 182, 152, 191, 183, 180, 169. They had a fairly difficult oil pattern set out and when it broke down, it got worse. I was farily happy with my scores, although I played all 6 games with an excruciatingly painful finger. I think I have a cracked bone or something. Anyway, I finished in 20th place out of the 100+ entry field. I can take that.

I think next month I can get in the money assuming my finger feels better. It's hard to get a consistent hook when your finger is throbbing.

Lee Jones Strikes Again!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (9 handed) converter

Hero (t9315)
MP2 (t2555)
MP3 (t4330)
CO (t3750)
Button (t4340)
SB (t1540)
BB (t1690)
UTG (t4130)
UTG+1 (t1685)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Jd, Jc.

2 folds, Hero raises to t400, 5 folds, BB calls t300.

Flop: (t850) Ts, Js, Qs (2 players)

BB bets t1290 (All-In), Hero calls t1290.

Turn: (t3430) Qc (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t3430) Th (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t3430

Results in white below:

BB has 6h Qh (full house, queens full of tens).

Hero has Jd Jc (full house, jacks full of queens).

Outcome: BB wins t3430.

I'm still about twice the average chipstack at the first break, but that hand would have made me the chipleader at the break.

*** Update ***

Same donkey...moments later:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (8 handed) converter



Hero (t8075)
BB (t2855)
UTG (t5005)
UTG+1 (t6505)
MP1 (t1115)
MP2 (t1480)
CO (t4955)
Button (t2210)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Kh, Kc.

UTG calls t150, 2 folds, MP2 calls t150, 2 folds, Hero raises to t1800, 1 fold, UTG folds, MP2 calls t1330 (All-In).

Flop: (t3580) 4s, 9d, 9c (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t3580) As (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t3580) 8d (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t3580

Results in white below:

Hero has Kh Kc (two pair, kings and nines).

MP2 has Ac 3d (two pair, aces and nines).

Outcome: MP2 wins t3260. Hero wins t320.

**Update**
Out in 31st. Hung around near the top. Chip leader got put on my immediate right. He raised every single hand. I get QQ and after 42 limpers, he raises, I go all in, everyone folds to him. He calls and flips over AA. IGHN.

Where would you go? Essay Contest

Class is in session bitches. Break out the #2 pencils and start cranking out some essays. The top response will get a FREE Prize. I'm not sure what the prize is, but I will try to think of something by tonight. Rest assured, the prize will be absolutely, 100% decent. DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS 2 WEEKS FROM TODAY: FRIDAY DECEMBER 16TH AT 11:59 PM EST. Send all essays to leonardw@gmail.com.

In an effort to get some outside reader responses, I propose this hypothetical situation:

Let's say you quit your job to become a professional poker player. Let's also add the facts that you have a huge bankroll and can afford to live just about any place you want. Where would you go? Why? Does poker affect this decision? If you chose your current residence, what would your 2nd choice be? Why?

I'm not going to deduct for spelling/grammar mistakes or anything like that. I will judge these on content only.

Depending on the response, I will probably post all entries to this site and allow readers to vote on their favorite. Then I will give away a 2nd prize for the "Readers' Choice" winner. I will post the essays on this site unless you don't want me to post yours. Also, if you choose, I can keep your essay anonymous when I post it.

It's on like Donkey Kong..

Ok, enough of the break. I played Mario Kart: DS until my fingers cramped last night. That game is too much fun. And I haven't taken it online yet. I'll probably pick up a wireless router this weekend. However, it has taken up enough of my money making time.

Anyway, I plan to play some poker tonight. I need to get some hands in for the month so I don't have to spend my real work money. I'll probably spend some time on the $2/4 6 max tables. I'd like to play 1000 hands. That's my goal.

I also have set some monthly goals for poker:

1.) Play 15,000+ hands in the cash games: This is the biggie. I just haven't been getting my hands in recently. I think I'm trying to dodge variance or something. Everyone knows that it can't be dodged. Also, 15,000 hands gives me a pretty decent rake rebate for the month as well. I also want to keep track of the hours I put in at the tables, so I can get an average hourly rate. I'm not a pro poker player, so I'm not going to be putting in any insane hours. I just want to get a feel for the number of hours I can put in on a weekly/monthly basis.

2.) Play at least 1 180 person sit n go on Stars per week. These are fantastic. First place in these bad boys is something like $1080. I got 4th in the last one I played.

3.) Work on making better laydowns and reads. I tend to go into auto-pilot mode after a while during most sessions. Some of this comes from boredom, but mostly I think the problem is the multi-tabling. Multi-tabling is great for getting an insane number of hands played, but sucks for helping your game. I think I'm gonna cut down my number of tables so I can focus on reads. I normally play 4 tables of 6 max. I'm gonna drop back to 2 for a while so I can work on my game. This will work out for me better in the long run. I also need to take more advantage of some of the tools available to me such as Gametime+, PokerAce HUD, Poker Tracker, etc.

4.) Clear all my open bonuses. I have $140 left on UB, about $150 left on Full Tilt, and I received and email from Interpoker telling me that I can get a $120 bonus for playing 450 raked hands this month with a $90 deposit. Can't beat that. I'll probably start there first.

Last thing about poker: I plan on becoming a Poker Stars affiliate. Currently I'm only pimping Absolute for their bonuses. However, Poker Stars is hands down the best site on the net. It has an abundance of games running at all hours, great support, and great software. Their only problem is a lack of rakeback.

In other news, one of my Christmas presents came in:



I'm gonna take it to the alley this evening to get drilled. I'll probably toss one game with it to make sure they drilled it good, then back it goes to get wrapped and put under the Christmas tree. Surprise Surprise Surprise on Christmas morning.

I was reading this blog and found this post which I thought was quite funny:


According to a recently announced Vatican policy, you can't be a priest in my church if you're gay. Well, ok, you can be nnnnnnnnnnn a little gay. I can imagine an interview...



Father Humpsboise : Well Mr. Burghlesturds, your grades are fine, your references impeccable. You appear to be an outstanding candidate. There's just one more thing before we can accept you into the seminary...

Mr. Burghlesturds: Yes?

FH: Are you, you know, homosexual?

MB: Well, yes. But only a little!

FH: Oh dear. Well, as you know, our standards now say that you can be somewhat gay and still get in. So, how gay would you say you are?

MB: Not very. Lightly gay, I would say.

FH: If you were to describe your gayness, would you be more likely to use "fairy" or "raving queer?"

MB: Definitely fairy.

FH: Outstanding. More inclined to pitching, or catching?

MB: Pitching.

FH: Excellent. Pitching is much less gay. Tell me, do you subscribe to Modern Faggot?

MB: Certainly not.

FH: Good, good. Here then is the make or break question: Are you a bone smoker?

MB: Well, yes sir. Although I've taken more balls to the chin than Johnny Bench, I want to stress that I only suck girl's dicks.

FH: I'm not sure I understand.

MB: Only trannies.

FH: I think that might be gay.

MB: No; how could it be?

FH: Well, sir, you are sucking dicks after all. Gargling with cocksnot. All that.

MB: Look: Do they call them 'chicks with dicks,' or 'dudes with boobs?'

FH: Chicks with dicks, of course.

MB: Exactly. So they're chicks, not dudes. So it's not gay.

FH: Yes, yes, I see. Nicely done. Welcome aboard Mr. Burghlesturds.

MB: Good to be here, sir.

Welp, I've dusted of the Nintendo DS and I'm ready to put it use for the first time since I've had it (bought it when it launched). I bought a copy of Nintendogs Lab and Friends off ebay last night. I also pre-ordered Animal Crossing: Wild World which will be out next week. And tonight I'm heading to EB to pick up a copy of Mario Kart: DS. So I have plenty of gaming ahead of me. I have to bowl tonight, so I won't get to spend a lot of time with MK:DS.

Last night I met with a financial advisor and I ended up buying a few mutual funds. So I should be a millionaire in a few years. That's good news. I'll believe it when I see it. I can also take a tax deduction for the money that I personally put into my IRA which is nice too. Uncle Sam has put his foot in my ass the past couple years.

No play again last night. I've been battling a cold and just didn't feel like doing anything but covering up and watching TV. I ended up watching wrestling last night just to see the fallout of the Survivor Series and to see what this year's "screwjob" was. For those of you that don't watch wrestling, Survivor Series is the event where Vince McMahon screwed Bret Hart out of his title sending him to the WCW and pretty much ending his career. Ever since then, the event has some sort of staged screwjob.

Anyway, some good points from last night's show:

1.) Vince was in the house. That man is my hero
2.) Shane McMcMahon looks like he will be taking over Raw. Shane O'Mac is cool too.
3.) Kurt Angle is the hardest working player in the business now. Give him the damn title already.
4.) Joey Styles is the best announcer ever.

Bad points:
1.) John Cena. This guy is a joke and I wish he would fade away.
2.) No Stephanie McMahon. She's got some tig ol' bitties.

Enough of that. I'm gonna take a week or so off from poker to work on some other things. First, I've got some things that need fixed around the house. Also, I have a meeting with a financial advisor this evening, so I can set up a retirement fund and not have to sit here at this crappy desk every day banging out blogger posts and COBOL code. Who the fuck uses COBOL anymore? I get a few grand from my job to invest, plus I've taken a couple grand out of the bankroll to invest as well. Better than spending it on any of the Christmas items I listed yesterday.

I've also taken out some money for Christmas related expenses. This means that the bankroll is a whole lot thinner these days. However, I've left enough in there for a good $2/4 6 max bankroll. I hated to do it because I was really wanting to stay at $3/6 and possibly move to $5/10 soon. However, I still have some costly flaws in my game that I should iron out before moving up.

I think I'm gonna take a few days off before hitting the tables again. I've been getting burnt out lately and every time I sit down at a table, I'm ready to go do something else. My mind starts wandering and that can be costly. So I'm gonna go pick up a game to occupy some time this evening. I think I'm gonna grab Mario Kart DS. I have a grand total of about 1 hour played on my Nintendo DS, so I think it could use a little love.

After I regroup and hit the tables again, I'll probably be playing mostly on Full Tilt. It's quickly became my 2nd favorite site. However, my #1 favorite doesn't allow rakeback, so Full Tilt will get my play this month. I have 1 goal for the month: FREEROLL CHRISTMAS!.

Neteller sucks ass. I tried to make my monthly cash out and when I logged in, it told me my account has been closed for "certain circumstances". So I call them and have to listen to someone ask me a bunch of questions in Engrish. Apparently, they detected my failed attempt at making a new account and closed the old one.

My downswing continues. It's a little frustrating to get check-raised on the turn when somebody picks up a gutshot straight draw and then hits their 4 outter on the river. However, the conservative bankroll approach really keeps me off tilt. I have, however, completely busted out in my UB account. That's with over $140 left in bonus money to clear. I'll probably reload and finish it off sometime. UB is starting to suck since they introduced Royal Holdem. I can't find a regular game during off-peak hours.

I'm going to try and play some hands tonight, but I'm not sure how much I'll get accomplished. I have some chores and errands to run. However, I had almost gotten back into watching wrestling, but its starting to suck again, so chances are I'll get to play some poker.

In Christmas related news, I keep thinking of new shit I want and nobody can afford. I do have one of the items on my list coming. My parents ordered it for me. It's the new Hammer Hawg Wild bowling ball.

Just for fun, here's my Christmas list of shit I can't afford and nobody will buy me:

1.) Miniature Pinscher
2.) 50" Samsung DLP HDTV (I bought one of these a year ago for my folks, awesome TV)
3.) Xbox 360
4.) New Computer
5.) Wireless Router
6.) Hammer Viscious Pearl bowling ball (these things are discontinued and I can't find one, not even on ebay)
7.) Surround Sound System
8.) Dishwasher... She could be blonde, burnette, or red head. I don't care :)
9.) Lawn Mower and weed eater. I don't really want them, but need them.
10.) New Dodge Ram with Sport Appearance package
11.) New Pontiac GTO

I think of new shit and forget old shit every day. Out of the entire list, I expect to get get zero items.