Predator314's Poker Journal

Another personal post on this site, just to remind everyone that I'm not dead yet. I'm not broke yet either.

I've played very little poker lately. What little I have played has been shitty. It all just seems like work still, so I'll continue with the break until poker becomes fun again.

Christmas:
I had a pretty good Christmas this year. This was the first Christmas in a long time where I really had no idea what I was getting. I turned out getting some good stuff. Some things I got were: Canon PowerShot SD400 Camera with a photo printer, some much needed household items like sheets (flannel!) and curtains, some cool dishes with Pool Balls on them (tacky, but right up my alley) and matching coasters, a bunch of clothes.

I spent Christmas Eve with my parents at their house. My cousin from Tennessee came in for a while. My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew visited for a while. I also slept at my parents house Christmas Eve night.

On Christmas day, we opened our packages and had a nice breakfast. Then we went to my uncle's house for dinner. Spent most of the day relaxing watching football and also ripping shit loose on my uncle's pinball machine.

The pinball machine was a bad idea. I used to spend $50-100/week playing pinball back in my high school days when I hung out at the pool hall all the time. They used to give prizes for the high score each week and some of my buddies and I always had a pinball rivalry going on trying to win the prize. Now I want a pinball machine for my place. The problem is that they are expensive and sometimes high maintenance. I'm going to try to buy my uncle's since he rarely uses it and both his kids are off in school. He's also well aware that his particular machine is going for around $2000 on ebay.

New Years
I'm still not sure what I'm doing on New Years. I'd really like to do something different. Last year, I got hammered at a party one of my friends threw. It was a good time. I would throw a party, but where I live, we have pretty strict ordinances on parties and noise. That's one of the reasons I chose the place. Even then, I still don't have the parking for a good party.

So I will probably end up at a bar somewhere, putting up with hundreds of drunk pricks. I really hate bars anymore. I guess I'm just old. If I get drunk, which is very possible, then there is always the possibility of getting into a fight because the common loud mouth drunk annoys the shit out of me. I don't get mouthy when I get drunk... just a bit on the horny side. Which also leads to its own set of problems.

Other random stuff

Since I'm not playing much poker, I'm still spending some of my spare time with my Xbox playing Madden 2006. It's a very fun game now that I've got all the settings the way I want. All my games against the CPU are very close. I still get my ass handed to me online though. I suck.

I've also been playing a lot of guitar lately. I spent all evening yesterday playing my acoustic. I like playing my acoustic more than my electric guitar. For starters it's a better guitar. It's a Tak EF341SC. The same model Springsteen and Toby Keith play. Pretty quality. It's not a Martin, but for the price (around $700 I think), you can't beat it. I'm having some troubles with my Electric though. It's an Agile AL2800. Just a Korean Made Les Paul knockoff. It was actually a decent guitar when I got it, but now I'm having issues with the cheap electronics and it staying in tune. I don't play the electric much anyway, but I'm putting aside some money for this:



It's a beautiful guitar and not very expensive at around $600 after shipping online. It also comes with the SD JB/59 pickup set which I would probably put in any guitar I buy anyway. My friend has the same guitar except he got the one with a natural wood finish and EMG pickups. I'll probably get one of these as soon as I feel my skills are worthy of an upgrade.

Also, there has been quite a few news items that have just pushed my buttons lately.

1.) The RIAA is back at again, shutting down sites with guitar tablature on them. Now I can see them getting upset at the piracy of mp3's. I mean, we are taking money out of their greedy little pockets. However, guitar tabs are usually not the correct way to play a song anyway. Plus, if I learn a song by ear and write it down so other's can learn it to, how the fuck have I stole anything from them? There has to be a line drawn somewhere and I think that line should have been drawn way the fuck back in the Napster/Metallica days. If we keep letting them push us around, soon, you won't be able to sing in the shower without getting fined.

2.) This is a local story. So if you live in WV or drive through WV for any reason, listen up. The WV turnpike has always had toll boothes as long as I can remember. The tolls were $1.25 for a passenger car and $5 for trucks. Starting January 1, the tolls will rise to $2.00 for cars, $7.00 for trucks. That's a 60% increase folks. It will cost me $12 in fares to drive 1.5 hours to the state capital and back home. It costs a tractor trailer $42 to make the same drive. Nobody voted on this except for the dumbass politicians in charleston. And none of them are owning up to voluntarily voting for it. So why the fuck are they continuing with the increase if nobody voted on it and everyone is against it? Somebody is lying my friends. I've sent emails to the governor, the parkways authority, and to anyone else that might listen. They keep taxing and taxing and then wonder why more businesses won't come to WV. I live close to the VA border and I know of quite a few companies in the area that has jumped the border into Virginia just to avoid the excessive taxes. Everyone I talk to complains about these taxes. SO WHY THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP VOTING FOR THESE COCKSUCKERS?

Ok, I've vented. Y'all have a nice New Year. I leave you with some pics taken from my new digital camera:


Me - unshaved


Me - shaved


My pussy - unshaved

This will probably be my last post until after Christmas. I've got a lot going on this week. I have to go to Morgantown, WV tomorrow for work. Home of the Mountaineers and one of the biggest party schools in the nation. Too bad everyone is done with their semester and there won't be anyone there to party with. I'm too old for that shit anyway.

Still no poker updates. So if that's what you're looking for, tough shit.

I've still been occupying my time with my Xbox, PSP, and Nintendo DS. Most of my time has been spent playing Xbox and Madden 2006. I've played through almost 2 seasons and I've come to the conclusion that Michael Vick sucks. The only thing he's good for is occasionally breaking loose for a long TD run. Last night's real life game against the Bears proved my theory.

I finally got my Xbox online. I had lost the adapter to my Wireless Ethernet Bridge. I picked up an AC adapter at Wal-Mart while doing some Christmas shopping this weekend. Got to play some Madden online yesterday. I took Green Bay, random guy picked San Diego. He started going to Tomlinson every play. I shut that down real quick. However, 5 turnovers later, I lose by 10. First play of the game was a kickoff to me. I take it out past the twenty. First contact knocks the ball out of my hands and back towards my endzone. It's scooped up by the defender for an easy touchdown. It was a fun experience regardless of the loss. I need to find my communicator so I can chat. The dipshit I played yesterday had his on. And he kept talking and talking and talking. I never understood the first word. All I heard for the entire game was just a bunch of mumbling.

Enough of that. Now on to bowling. Last night I bowled the final king of the hill tournament for the year. I've pretty much sucked a big root the past few weeks as far as bowling goes. My little finger injury started the slump. So during a couple practice game last night, the ball was coming off my hand very nicely. However, I wasn't scoring well (just couldn't find a good line to bowl). So I headed into the start of the tournament with mixed emotions.

Things started off shaky as I only threw one strike the entire game. However, I kept the card pretty clean and ended up with a 168. Game 2 started off with 2 straight strikes (ugly ones though). 2 opens in the 8th and 9th frame killed me and I only got a 177. Should have been an easy 200+ game. Game #3 was a little better as I started off fast, then kept the card clean until I opened in the 9th frame. 199.

My handicap allowed me to qualify in the top 8 and hit match play.

In my first match, I get one of the guys I was looking for. My high handicap really puts pressure on the scratch bowlers. So that's who I look for in match play. I don't want to bowl against the crappy players. I want the good ones. They can't afford to mess up against me.

So I had a 37 pin advantage against my opponent right off the bat. Then I proceeded to throw 6-7-10 splits in both the first and 2nd frames. Then I started to turn it up a notch and threw 3 strikes in a row. So down to the last 2 frames, I have a 7 pin advantage. My opponent steps up and strikes off the sheet. This forces me to strike on my first ball in the 10th frame. Talk about pressure. I love it. I take my approach and threw the prettiest ball I've thrown the entire night. It was like that tuning fork going off in your loins shit that Tin Cup talked about. The ball rolls just beautifully over the intended mark, slides down the lane, catches friction and darts towards the pocket. I start my patended walk 3 lanes over because I know it's a beauty and I wanna see it from an appropriate angle. EXPLOSION! Beauty! ... Bah...I left a ringing ten pin.

For those of you that do not bowl, a ringing ten pin is the equivalent of a bad beat in poker. The ten pin is the pin in the back right hand corner. It's probably the hardest single pin spare to pick up just because it's tucked in the corner by the gutter. Your ball also curves away from it if you throw a hook. Anyway, when you bowl a good shot in the pocket, one of the pins (I'm not sure which number) is supposed to take out the 10 pin. If you hit a little light the pin will sometimes hit the side wall and hang up in the gutter, leaving the 10 pin. This I can handle, because it wasn't the best shot. However, the ringing 10 pin is where the pin goes about 100 mph towards the 10 and either shoots over top of it or hits the side wall with so much force, it goes around. However it happens, it sucks and it cost me money.

So tonight, I'm going to be hitting up the bowling alley trying to collect money for a college football bowl game pool I'm running. I'll also probably get a game or 2 of madden played. Tomorrow, I have to go to Morgantown and install a new server. Wednesday night is bowling night, and Thursday night is party time because I'm off Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I'm just in the mood to party for some reason.

So this will most likely be the last post I make before Christmas. So I just want to wish all readers a Merry Christmas. I hope everyone stays safe. And remember, even though I'm a materialistic person that loves his gadgets and toys, I do know there is way more to Christmas than Xbox 360's and Tickle Me Elmos. Christmas is about the birth of Christ and that shouldn't ever be forgotten. Without him, the Xbox 360 wouldn't have been invented :). It sickens me that Jesus gets taken out of Christmas more and more every year. So before you start unwrapping your toys, or start munching on the hams and turkeys, even before you sit down to watch a little football with friends and family. Take a few minutes to remember the real meaning of Christmas.

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S

I still have not played any poker. I just don't have the urge to play. That's a good thing about no being a pro. I can take extended breaks when I'm burnt out and not have to worry about it. It just means less of my real paycheck that I can save.

So, I've been occupying my time by playing video games, bowling, and work.

Bowling is starting to irritate me. I strained my ring finger sometime around Thanksgiving. I think I did it while practicing bowling one day. Over the next few weeks, it grew to about twice its normal size. Of course, my finger wouldn't fit into my balls (that sounds good doesn't it?), so, I was basically just bowling with my thumb and pointer finger. That doesn't help the average at all. My average has dropped 7 pins in the past 8 weeks or so. Not entirely the fault of my injured finger, but it doesn't help.

So anyway, the finger is getting back into shape again. It's almost back to its normal size. I still didn't bowl for shit on Wednesday. I think I put up something like 193, 145, 159 or sometthing like that. 3 days before that while practicing, I played 8 games and 7 of them were over 200.

Bowling is just weird like that. Some days your body will cooperate and throw the ball in the right direction and let it come off your hand consistently. Some days, you just feel like a retard. So, in many ways, it's similar to poker.

As for video games. I'm not a huge gamer. I do own all the consoles except the 360, which I'm sure I'll own before too long. I'm one of those leisure gamers that will pick up a game, not finish it, go buy another game. However, one genre of game has held my attention over the years. Plain and simple...football games. I've played NCAA 06 on the PS2 until my fingers couldn't take it anymore. I'm talking season after season after season with my WVU franchise.

So I purchased Madden 06 the other day for the Xbox. I chose the Xbox version because you could actually play this one over Live and also because the Xbox has a hard drive. Enuff said. Initially, I thought Madden sucked. I liked the idea of the quarterback field vision. However, I just couldn't get the AI set up the way I wanted. It seemed like no matter what I did, it was either way too easy or way too hard. So I was just about to give up and go back to NCAA.

Fortunately, I was able to find some sliders on ign.com's boards that are fantastic. They actually used the Pro level which I never even dreamed of doing because it was too easy. However, after I applied these sliders to my franchise, I'm now 3-5 in my season using the Falcons. All of the games have been decided by less than 2 touchdowns. The stats are very realistic too. These sliders revived the game for me. I like the accelerated clock feature in Madden too.

I don't have much in store for this weekend or even for the remainder of the year. Tonight, I'm going to try to find some Christmas gifts. I haven't bought a single thing yet. I'll probably spend a good amount of time playing Xbox. I just began playing Jade Empire, so I'll probably spend a couple hours on that anyway. I might even throw in a Madden game or 2.

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would put a small update.

I have been staying away from the poker tables lately. I just don't have the patience for it right now. I have, however, sit down for a couple short 100+ hand sessions. Nothing much as far as results though.

I figure I'll keep with the breather until after the Holidays.

I have spent most of my free time playing video games. As you know, I had been abusing my fingers by playing Mario Kart: DS. Well, after getting the thing online, I've come to the conclusion that I suck at the game.

So I went out and bought Animal Crossing for the DS. It's a cute/fun game, but I don't see me playing it for a long time.

So yesterday, I went to EB Games to take advantage of their buy 2 get 1 free used games sell. I bought 3 Xbox games. I ended up choosing Madden 2006, Jade Empire, and Forza Motorsport. I also went to Roanoke, VA yesterday with my parents to do some Christmas shopping. So I only got to play one game of Madden.

Tonight, I'll probably donate a few wins to some lucky online Madden players via Xbox Live. I wasn't even aware Madden 2006 had online play on the Xbox. So, if you have Live and Madden, look for TitliestProV1 (yes Titleist is spelled wrong... I'm a game donkey). I'm sure I'll be on Forza some also, however, it might be a while before it gets any attention.

After Christmas, I'm gonna buy a new TV. I'll probably never get to play poker again :)

Lastly, I've decided to cancel the essay contest. Too much shit going on with the holidays and not enough interest. So, if you have already sent an essay, I apologize. I'll try to find a way to make it up to you.

Bah...I'm digging a nice hole to start this month. Everytime I log on the computer, I lose $100+.. This is the only thing good that happened today:

Line Competition Match Match Date Forecast Odds Correct? Result
1 NFL Football Lines Cincinnati Bengals v Pittsburgh Steelers Dec 04, 2005 13:00 Cincinnati Bengals +3 1.8 Yes 38 - 31
2 NFL Football Lines Green Bay Packers v Chicago Bears Dec 04, 2005 13:00 Chicago Bears -7 2 Yes 7 - 19
3 NFL Football Lines Arizona Cardinals v San Francisco 49ers Dec 04, 2005 16:05 Arizona Cardinals -3½ 1.909 Yes 17 - 10
4 NFL Football Lines Washington Redskins v St Louis Rams Dec 04, 2005 16:05 Washington Redskins -3 1.87 Yes 24 - 9

I won something like $128 on that parlay to win something for the day.

I'm still trying to find something good to give away for my essay contest. I want to give a good prize so I can get maximum participation. I may also extend the deadline because of the blogger tournament/gathering in Vegas.

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.

Not much in the poker world the past few days. I've tried playing a bit, but the post-heater downswing is upon me. Every time I touch my mouse, I lose $100. So I'm gonna try to juke the variance and not play as much this weekend.

I do have some good news. I wanted to place a few wagers on some football games today, so I pulled up intertops. I had $112.50 in my account that I didn't know about. Also there was an additional $10 bonus. Score!

The heater officially died last night as I got kicked in the junk from all angles. After my little RIP post last night, I almost clawed back to even for the day, but then fell way back again. The slaughter continued this morning when I found a table with a turbo donkey on it, but I was out of position on him and ran into many hands like this one:

Ultimate Bet 3/6 Hold'em (6 handed) converter


Preflop: Hero is CO with Ah, As.

2 folds, Hero raises, 1 fold, SB calls, BB calls.


Flop: (6 SB) Td, Jd, 5c (3 players)

SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets, SB calls, BB calls.


Turn: (4.50 BB) Ts (3 players)

SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets, SB calls, BB calls.


River: (7.50 BB) 5s (3 players)

SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks.


Final Pot: 7.50 BB


Results in white below:

SB has 5h Qh (full house, fives full of tens).

BB has 7d 7c (two pair, tens and sevens).

Hero has Ah As (two pair, aces and tens).

Outcome: SB wins 7.50 BB.

and this one:

Ultimate Bet 3/6 Hold'em (5 handed) converter


Preflop: Hero is UTG with 4c, Ac.

Hero raises, MP calls, 3 folds.


Flop: (5.33 SB) 8s, As, 3c (2 players)

Hero bets, MP calls.


Turn: (3.66 BB) Jh (2 players)

Hero bets, MP calls.


River: (5.66 BB) 4s (2 players)

Hero bets, MP raises, Hero calls.


Final Pot: 9.66 BB


Results in white below:

Hero has 4c Ac (two pair, aces and fours).

MP has 9s 7s (flush, ace high).

Outcome: MP wins 9.66 BB.

So I took a break to run to the store. However, I was determined to get a good number of hands in today, so when I returned, I went right back at it. I was able to find a good $3/6 table on UB with another turbo donkey LAGtard, but this time, I was able to sit directly to his left isolated him relentlessly with 3 bets. This time I was able to take advantage. I also found a $2/4 table on Full Tilt with the same thing. Again, I sit to the direct left of a really loose aggressive donkey and was able to isolate him. Here are some examples:

Ultimate Bet 3/6 Hold'em (6 handed) converter


Preflop: Hero is MP with Js, Jh. CO posts a blind of $3.

UTG raises, Hero 3-bets, 4 folds, UTG caps, Hero calls.


Flop: (10.33 SB) 8h, 4d, 2d (2 players)

UTG bets, Hero raises, UTG calls.


Turn: (7.16 BB) Kc (2 players)

UTG bets, Hero calls.


River: (9.16 BB) 9d (2 players)

UTG bets, Hero calls.


Final Pot: 11.16 BB


Results in white below:

UTG has 9s 7s (one pair, nines).

Hero has Js Jh (one pair, jacks).

Outcome: Hero wins 11.16 BB.

and

Ultimate Bet 3/6 Hold'em (6 handed) converter



Preflop: Hero is CO with Ad, 5d.

1 fold, MP raises, Hero 3-bets, 3 folds, MP calls.



Flop: (7.33 SB) 2s, Ts, 3s (2 players)

MP checks, Hero bets, MP calls.



Turn: (4.66 BB) Th (2 players)

MP checks, Hero bets, MP calls.



River: (6.66 BB) 9h (2 players)

MP checks, Hero checks.



Final Pot: 6.66 BB



Results in white below:

MP has 6s Kh (one pair, tens).

Hero has Ad 5d (one pair, tens).

Outcome: Hero wins 6.66 BB.

I was able to get most of last night's and this morning's losses back just by isolating those 2 players. I won big on both of those tables and won another small amount on my 3rd $3/6 table, but nothing too intersting happened there.

I have to run some errands here in a bit, so I won't be around to play too much this afternoon. However, I plan to come back this evening and put in a bunch more hands. My goal for today is 1000 hands.

In other news, I was able to get a rakeback deal on my Full Tilt account. The coolest thing was that I didn't have to create a new account or anything like that. Full Tilt just allowed me to sign up under an affiliate because I originally signed up straight through their website when they first opened. I'm also able to offer 25% rakeback on Full Tilt if you are interested. You can AIM me (AIM name: predat0r314 ... the "0" is a zero) your email address or send me an email to leonardw@gmail.spamsucks.com (remove the spamsucks. part). I'll get you an offer out.

R.I.P.

The heater died.

A guaranteed way to build your bankroll

I have come up with a sure fire way to add a healthy boost to your bankroll. Find an Xbox 360 and ebay that bitch. These fools are paying upwards of $2500 for some packages. I even found one auction where some idiot paid $600 for just the box and another idiot paid over $700 for a gmail email address with the work xbox360 in it.

A Royal Pain in the Ass!

If anyone has not played Royal Holdem on UB, I urge you to try it out. Then you can experience first hand what a royal pain in the ass this game can be. Thursday or Friday last week, I sit down at a table on UB thinking it was a regular $3/6 6 max game. I hadn't even heard of Royal Holdem at the time. Then I proceeded to get the biggest hands you've ever seen. I'm talking Aces, Kings, Queens, flopping straights, boats. It was unbelievable. Except for the fact that I was taking a beating. I just thought it was a sick form of variance until I figured out I was playing Royal Holdem. I managed to claw my way back to even once I figured out that straights suck donkey balls with a 20 card deck.

So I sit down at a $1/2 Royal Holdem table again today... on purpose. I started out well and was really putting a hurting on the donkeys that didn't know they were playing Royal Holdem. Then one dipshit decided to educate all the newbs that they weren't playing regular holdem. He decided to lay out the rules for them and tell them which hands were good and which weren't. I told him to do everyone a favor and shut the fuck up. There's something wrong with a person when they would rather seem like an authority than actually win some money. I experimented at the lower stakes seeing what worked and what didn't in the game. One thing I did was check/fold any time I flopped a straight (assuming no Royal opportunities). The only winning strategy I could come up with was to just try to find a table with as many people as possible thinking that they were playing regular hold 'em. It doesn't matter what strategy I've come up with. I've played my last Royal Hold 'em hand.

Another bad thing about UB spreading Royal Holdem is that all the short handed games are Royal. None of the regular holdem 6 max games were running. I sit down hoping to spark a table to start up or even play a bit of heads up, but nobody came. Hopefully all the degenerate gamblers don't flock over to the Royal tables.

I did manage to find a $2/4 game running. There was one other guy at the table that was pretty solid. However, he had no idea I was on a rush (non-royal rush). I proceeded to kick the whole table in the nuts over the course of a couple hundred hands. The cards just kept coming. I would show some interesting hands, but UB sucks and I can't get the hand histories. I'm not at my normal computer, so no little programs to capture the hand histories either. IF ANY ULTIMATE BET PERSONNEL ARE READING THIS BLOG, PUT THE MOTHERFUCKING HAND HISTORIES ON THE HARD DRIVE. JOIN THE 21ST CENTURY.

I'm going to try to play some more poker this evening. Hopefully the rush will continue. The bankroll is very healthy right now. I'll probably take an extra amount in my monthly cashout next week because of Christmas. I'll just have to wait and see. I'd like to leave as much money in their as possible because I want to move up to $5/10. However, I'll just keep at $3/6 until after the first of the year so I can improve my game and bankroll. I currently have over twice the size bankroll recommended for $5/10, but again, I'm being conservative. It's so much easier to take a 250-300BB downswing when you're not about to go broke.

I'm gonna try to sign up for a completely new neteller account this evening as well. I have multiple checking accounts, so I figure I can just tie it to one of them and move money around accordingly. After that, I can use my new Party account with rakeback. I haven't played on Party in so long. It has been nice playing on these other sites, especially Stars. I wish they had a rake rebate program. Hopefully the VIP program will be something useful.

Party just sucks balls lately. Their customer service is a nightmare. You send an email and they send you a canned response that doesn't answer your question. You call them and can't understand them. Their software is slow and shitty. Hopefully they will realize their site is becoming a scum hole and they are losing GOOD PAYING customers to better sites. I did read that Empire was suing them for that whole skins splitting fiasco. Good for Empire. Empire and Eurobet had enough business sense to lure the good paying customers away from Party.

Full Tilt evidently missed the memo that I was on a heater. So I got my ass handed to me early on this morning. However, It's the new "110% Tilt Free" me. I managed to keep playing good poker and turn a horrible session into a 1BB win. After that session, I was only 109% tilt free. But for all you that like the "DEMS QUADS BEETCHES" lovers, here's a hand for you:

FullTiltPoker Game #300141918: Table Mt Hood (6 max) - $2/$4 - Limit Hold'em - 10:54:11 ET - 2005/11/20
Seat 1: jafisherton ($66)
Seat 2: jkocher82 ($0.50), is sitting out
Seat 4: jimmythekid ($87)
Seat 5: WiredAces77 ($145)
Seat 6: Jimbo_Chang ($122.50)
Jimbo_Chang posts the small blind of $1
jafisherton posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to WiredAces77 [Ks As]
jimmythekid folds
WiredAces77 raises to $4
jkocher82 adds $40
Jimbo_Chang calls $3
jafisherton folds
*** FLOP *** [8s Ts Ad]
jkocher82 has returned
Jimbo_Chang checks
WiredAces77 bets $2
Jimbo_Chang calls $2
*** TURN *** [8s Ts Ad] [Js]
Jimbo_Chang checks
WiredAces77 bets $4
Jimbo_Chang calls $4
*** RIVER *** [8s Ts Ad Js] [Qs]
Jimbo_Chang checks
WiredAces77 bets $4
Jimbo_Chang raises to $8
WiredAces77 raises to $12
Jimbo_Chang calls $4
*** SHOW DOWN ***
WiredAces77 shows [Ks As] (a Royal Flush)
Jimbo_Chang mucks
WiredAces77 wins the pot ($44) with a Royal Flush
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $46 | Rake $2
Board: [8s Ts Ad Js Qs]
Seat 1: jafisherton (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: jkocher82 is sitting out
Seat 4: jimmythekid didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: WiredAces77 (button) showed [Ks As] and won ($44) with a Royal Flush
Seat 6: Jimbo_Chang (small blind) mucked [Kh Jh] - a straight, Ace high

DEMS ROYALS BEETCHES!

The heater continued today as I finished clearing my Stars bonus. 2 bonuses in a row on Stars where I actually made money. Maybe Lee Jones reads all the good things I say about them on this blog. Maybe he doesn't hate me so much anymore. Thanks Lee!

I know I'm glutton for punishment by posting my success on this site. It has always been bad luck in the past. Fuck it... I'm not superstitious (knock on wood). May the heater never die!

Heater!

It's been a long time since I went on a good heater. The past few weeks or even months, the wins and losses have been going at a moderately steady rate. Tonight, I finally hit a nice heater. I didn't get to play as much as I wanted because of a bowling tournament, but still got in about 400 hands. In those 400 hands, I managed to win over 100BBs. All the hands were played on stars $3/6 6 max. Think that winrate is sustainable?

Also, before I went out tonight, I checked out the $100/200 NL table on Full Tilt. Here is what I saw:



Talk about a tough table!

When I returned a few hours later, here is what I saw:



Now that's a heater.

I have bonuses coming out my ying yang right now. I received a nice letter from Stars yesterday informing me of a 20% up to $120 bonus. So without hesitation I dropped another $600 into my Stars account and fired up a few tables of $2/4 6 max and proceeded to play 600 hands of break even poker. Once again, the games were very good, but this time I wasn't able to take advantage. Oh well.

Tonight I'll probably finish off that bonus. I'll probably go back up to $3/6 while clearing it though. I'm not sure why I played $2/4 last night. It was more of an instinct than anything. I didn't even really think about playing $3/6 until I was finished.

After my Stars bonus is cleared, I'll go back to clearing my bonus at Full Tilt. I still got quite a ways to go there. Then I have a good bit to clear at UB when that is done. All together this month, I've received $620 in bonuses. Looks like there is a 30% up to $150 bonus also going on with Party. I haven't played on Party in a while, but this will probably bring me back. Looks like it will take 1500 raked hands to clear. That shouldn't hardly take any time at all.

I was looking through my newest issue of All In magazine last night and noticed the Holiday Gift guide. They had a book out there I never knew existed. It is called Tales from the Tiltboys. I didn't even know they had a book out. If you haven't read the trip reports on the Tiltboys' website, you have missed out on, hands down, the best trip reports you will ever read. If you haven't heard of the Tiltboys before, it's a group of degenerate gamblers who get together and play poker while trying to put each other on tilt constantly. You've probably heard of a couple of these guys (Phil Gordon, Perry Friedman).

I made a post on 2+2 yesterday trying to get reviews on the Tiltboys book. While in the Books & Publications sections of the site, I found a thread about Matt from ThePokerChronicles.com's book. Surprisingly, the 2+2'ers had some really nice things to say about it. If you don't know the history between Matt and the 2+2 group, you should check out The Poker Chronicles. Short summary is that Matt has always claimed that a winning player can have a 30% VP$IP. Also he states that it can be just as profitable to have a 2+2'er at your table as your normal donkey. I agree with this. The 15% VP$IP'ers on 2+2 take offense. The player must adapt. I think most 2+2'ers play way too tight and are very predictable. I qualify that remark because there are some fantastic players that post on that site. However, the majority of the 2+2 population are donks like me.

That's all I have for right now. I'm planning to play as much poker tonight as I can possibly handle. I'm trying to save up a bit of money for a new Xbox 360 when they come out. Normally I don't care for buying a console at launch, but Project Gotham Racing 3 is one of the launch titles. Enough said.

I watched the Final Table coverage of the WSOP last night. It was pretty entertaining. It could have been really entertaining had Matusow lasted longer. Something about that guy makes me like him. Sure he's a donk, but an entertaining donk. Actually, I'm not sure he's a donk, but in the few hands I've seen him play on TV and the hands I've watched him play online, he has played the role of TURBO-LAG-DONK.

Here's my opinion on each of the final table participants (based on the few hands they showed from each person on television):

Aaron Kanter - Ummmm...he's invited to my home games. Absolutely GAVE away his chips to Tex Barch. A little hint. You have top pair, SHITTY kicker, and no draws, and you get raised twice on the flop, you are more than likely beat. Give it up!

Tex Barch - One cool customer. He seemed to be a pretty solid player and didn't act like a complete tool when he won/lost a hand. He made an excellent read on Kanter with the 2 pair. I'm not sure I could have made that call at that point in the tournament. I'm not sure all the details of what his chipstack would be like had he folded, but there were a lot of hands that beat him. The only thing that would allow me to make that call would be the fact that it was against Kanter. After watching him play, I would have had to put him either on a set, K-10, or a WAY overplayed flush draw. Had I not known the final outcome of the WSOP, this guy would be my #2 pick after Matusow.

Andrew Black - How can you not like this guy? He's got a super-soft attitude, but sure is aggressive with his chips. I love watching the aggressive players. A very likeable guy. A little tip for you Mr. Black: turn your glasses over. Be original!

Mike Matusow - Definitely my favorite at the table. This guy is nonstop entertainment. Once again, invited to all my kiddie home games. Mike is a loose aggressive player (to put it mildly). It brought the biggest smile to my face when he flopped that king on the KK vs AA hand. It was great to watch him jump up and down to the crowd. Too bad, he still lost the hand.

Steve Dannenman - This was the coolest guy at the table. A much better player than he let on. He might not have given himself a chance but after watching the river value bet he put on Hachem in that first heads up hand, I definitely found out who was the better player between the two. He's also a funny guy. He was definitely having a good time.

Joseph Hachem - The champ. He's a decent player that has not chance of repeating that success. I put him more in a Chris Moneymaker class of player as opposed to a Greg Raymer. He played his short stack very well at the final table though.

Daniel Bergsdorf - Hrmmm... I don't remember a damn thing about this guy. I had to read the tournament summary to remember the hand where he lost with JJ vs. Barch's TT.

Scott Lazar - I didn't like this guy. I think he tried to hard to be a "personality" for the TV and failed miserably. He seemed to play fairly decent to begin. However, he really had a nice meltdown to end his run.

Brad Kondracki - Another guy I don't remember much about. I remember he was the quiet young guy with the small chipstack. That's all I have on him :)

I played a little bit of $3/6 6 max before and after the WSOP coverage last night. I stuck with Full Tilt and had a decent session while clearing about $70 of my bonus. I read alot of complaints about Full Tilt's bonus sucking, but it seems to clear fine at the $3/6 limit. I still have $230 in bonus money left to clear on this site and could actually clear it fairly quickly if I could find some time to play.

I'm getting frustrated with my lack of play lately. I want to play, but can't fit in the time. It seems like there is always something going on. On Mondays, I bowl. That ties me up until about 9:00 pm by the time I eat. Tuesday is a good poker day, but I usually eat dinner with the parents and the WSOP comes on at 8:00. Now that the WSOP is over, I will play a lot more on Tuesdays. Wednesday is another bowling night which ties me up until 9:00pm. Thursday is a "free" night, but I'm usually eating with the parents or something, so I don't get a lot of time for poker again. Friday has been my main poker playing night. But sometimes I go out with friends or whatever. Saturdays and Sundays, I usually get some more playing time in, but not like I want. I usually have household chores that need tended to. If I could just get more play in during the week, I'd be happy.

I'm currently looking for a replacement on my Monday bowling league, so that would free up that night. The reason for looking for a replacement is personal related, not just because I want to play mroe poker. The WSOP is finished on Tuesday. Wednesdays will always be bowling up until April I think. Hopefully I will get some more time put in the tables soon.

That's all I have for now. Peace Out!
-Wes

I've been bitten by the flu bug. Oh joy. I skipped out on work on Thursday and Friday. That's how I was able to finish that turd sit n go challenge so quickly.

Now I'm back in the cash games and couldn't be happier. I guess I've made my official move to $3/6. That's all I've been playing for the last few days. I have snuck in a $2/4 table or 2 when I can't find a good $3/6 table. I've been playing all my cash games on Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet while I clear the bonus. I'm not quite 1/2 way to finishing the Full Tilt Bonus, and I haven't cleared very much of the UB bonus.

I got some good news today. I got my first profit sharing/retirement money for my job. Now I just gotta figure out how to invest it. I've been reading about mutual funds and IRAs on the internet and I can honestly say that I'm plain fucking ignorant on the subject. I'm gonna give a friend of mine a call this evening. He's a financial advisor for BB&T banks. I'm just gonna say, "Hey, I got this many thousands of dollars to invest. Where do I put it?"

I tried getting my boss to make out the check to me, Neteller, or even Poker Stars, but evidently that's out of the question. I think I can get a better return on it. Just look at the return I'm getting on my initial $200 poker deposit 14 months ago. I'm not sure how to calculate it, but it's way up there! $200 has bought me a car, truck, 4 wheeler, guitars, computers, part of a home, many other toys, and still enough left over for a $5/10 bankroll.

I'm getting very addicted to the heads up games on Ultimate Bet. I just finished cleaning some donkey's account out.

I also played in that monthly Moose tournament today. I didn't last long. Twice I had top 2 pair and ran into a set. It doesn't take long to hit the rail like that.

I've played quite a bit of $3/6 6 max and $2/4 6 max today on Ultimate Bet and Full Tilt. I've cleared about $50 of my $300 bonus on Tilt. I'm also racking up some nice FPPs to use in their store. I want a Baseball Jersey. A good ways to go for that one though.

Ahhh, back to the cash games. After playing all sit n goes the past few days, it felt good to take some bad beats in a cash game. I've got 2 big bonuses to clear, so I clocked in and was ready for some action. I pulled up Ultimate Bet and saw a heads up table with one guy sitting at it, so I sat down. I also pulled up 2 tables of $3/6 6 max on Full Tilt.

Needless to say, all 3 tables were a donkfest. Let's start out with the heads up match. At the beginning of the match, he kept folding to everyone of my bets and I figured this wasn't going to be such a good game. Then all of the sudden, the full moon came uncovered and the guy turned into a turbo donkey. However, I kept pushing my leading hands, but he kept catching miracle cards on the river to take huge pots on me. It seemed like every time he went for a turn bluff, he would catch his 2 outter on the river. We both started with $150 stacks and it wasn't no time before I was down to $30.

However, I kept plugging along and clawed my way back up to even. I may have even took a small lead. Then he started catching again and put me down to the felt again. I got back to even and repeated the cycle 2 more times. Then something happened. His river cards quit coming and I T-Totally fucked this guy up. He ended up rebuying twice and I was willing to take that money too. I had the guy on major tilt.

I'm still not completely comfortable with heads up play. I need to keep practicing at it. Right now, I'm just pushing the 60/40 edges and staying aggressive. Against a donk like the one I just played, it looks like they tend to fall into a pattern. I was able to pick up on his patterns and take advantage. I realized his patterns and also made sure I mixed things up so that he would not be able to do the same to me.

Also, on my Full Tilt tables, I had one table where I was a very small loser. I was way down on the table, but won a huge pot with aces. Then I had KK beat twice in two big pots where both times aces come on the river to beat me.

On the other table, I dominated from the get go. I took a few beats that kept me from tripling up, but I more than doubled up on that table to make a nice profit for the day.

Fuck sit n go's!

During my session, I managed to clear almost $15 of my $300 Full tilt bonus and about $15 of my Ultimate Bet bonus. I forgot that UB sucks and forgot to have the hand history window up while playing, so I didn't get the stats of that session. However, on my Full Tilt session, I ended up paying $34 in rake. So if you consider the $15 as rakeback instead of a bonus, that's like 43% rakeback. Which is not bad. If they run these reloads every month, Full Tilt may be my new home. The games are really good right now.

Sit N Go Challenge: Final Results

Summary: Play 100 Sit n Goes and check results
Games: 100
Buy Ins: $2458.00
Amount Won: $2443.50
Net Amount: -$14.50
ROI%: -0.59%
Finish ITM%: 38.00%
1st Place: 10
2nd Place: 15
3rd Place: 13

Umm... what a waste of time. More of the same today. Losing every coin flip, losing most of my 60/40 favorites. Kings losing every time (and I had them alot).

Oh well...that sucked, back to cash games and bonus hunting.

Sit N Go Challenge Stats (To Date)

Summary: Play 100 Sit n Goes and check results
Games: 84
Buy Ins: $2026.00
Amount Won: $2173.50
Net Amount: $147.50
ROI%: 7.28%
Finish ITM%: 40.48%
1st Place: 9
2nd Place: 14
3rd Place: 11

I played a bunch of sit n goes today and continued to run badly. Somehow I made a small profit, but I took some hideous beats today to put me out of a bunch of tournaments where I should have made the money.

I figure I'll finish the sit n go challenge tomorrow and then head back to the cash games and try to actually make some money this month.

Sit N Go Challenge Stats (To Date)

Summary: Play 100 Sit n Goes and check results
Games: 59
Buy Ins: $1351.00
Amount Won: $1453.50
Net Amount: $102.50
ROI%: 7.59%
Finish ITM%: 38.98%
1st Place: 8
2nd Place: 9
3rd Place: 6

I'm running poorly in these things lately. Last night, I bubbled out in 4th place twice with horrible beats. Both times with healthy chipstacks, both times with dominating hands on the turn. Both times, burnt by the river. Oh well. If these hands start holding up, then I'm making some money on this challenge.

I think I have an uncanny nack for putting weak tighties on Tilt. I do tend to pick on them alot. Sometimes they snap and do crazy crap like this:

Ultimate Bet 3/6 Hold'em (5 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx


Preflop: Hero is MP with As, Jd.

1 fold, Hero raises, Button 3-bets, 1 fold, BB calls, Hero calls.


Flop: (9.33 SB) 7d, 7h, 2c (3 players)

BB checks, Hero checks, Button bets, BB folds, Hero calls.


Turn: (5.66 BB) Ts (2 players)

Hero checks, Button bets, Hero calls.


River: (7.66 BB) 2h (2 players)

Hero checks, Button bets, Hero calls.


Final Pot: 9.66 BB


Results in white below:

Hero has As Jd (two pair, sevens and twos).

Button has 8h 5h (two pair, sevens and twos).

Outcome: Hero wins 9.66 BB.

I just called this guy down because I had a hunch he was pissed at me always raising his blinds or something like that. I also wanted to show him that I will call his bluffs down. He played some sort of insane bluff a few hands earlier on another guy and ended up hitting a 2 outter on the river to win anyway.

I've finished my old bonus with Full Tilt. I've cashed out and as soon as the money hits Neteller, I'm re-depositing back to Full Tilt for the $300 reload bonus. In the meantime, I'm working on Sit N Goes and Ultimate Bet.

Sit N Go Challenge Stats (To Date): Half Way Home!

I've played 8 so far tonight, so now I'm up to 50.

Summary: Play 100 Sit n Goes and check results
Games: 50
Buy Ins: $1108.00
Amount Won: $1273.50
Net Amount: $165.50
ROI%: 14.94%
Finish ITM%: 42.0%
Avg Finish: 4.46
1st Place: 7
2nd Place: 8
3rd Place: 6
Other Place: 29

I might play a few more later if wrestling sucks. Right now the divas are on and I'm out!

This sit n go challenge is pretty hellish. These things are so mind numbingly boring. It's awful! I guess I'm going to go ahead and finish out my challenge. However, after going about half way through the challenge, of come to this conclusion: CASH GAMES KICK SIT N GO'S ASS!

The competition is pretty soft in these sit n go's, but the bottom line is they just aren't very fun for me. I guess I'll go ahead and finish the challenge though just to say that I did it. It should only take a couple days to complete anyway.

As soon as I finish the 100 sit n goes, I'm going back to short handed hold 'em. Short handed play is just so fun for me. It's an action game, and I guess I'm an action junkie.

I'm kind of at a cross-roads in my poker playing right now. I know the games that I want to play, but not sure where to play them.

Party is on my shit list right now for various reasons. 1.) They should spread 6 max tables at all limits. 2.) Their customer service is down-right horrid. Email them, they send some sort of canned response the doesn't remotely answer your question, phone them... well good luck trying to understand the Jibberese they are speaking. 3.) After venturing into some of the other sites, I don't think that their games are the best online anymore.

As bad as I hate to, I think I'm going to be playing Party all the time when I move up to $3/6 full time. The only reason for that is rakeback. I have a new username set up on Party for rakeback (25%), but I'm still trying to resolve the small problem of getting money into the account. Neteller claims they can do something on their end, but I gotta get my butt into gear to square that situation away.

All that being said, I really don't have a home right now. I guess Poker Stars is as close as it gets, but as you all know, they hate me. In all seriousness, Stars is the best site I've ever played on. They do so many things right. Good, but ugly software and great customer service.

Once I finish my 100 sit n goes, I'm going exploring. There are quite a few online sites that I haven't played at. I haven't played any Prima Sites, The Gaming Club, Any Crypto site with the exception of Interpoker, Noble, Titan, and probably many more.

I can use this adventure to clear a bunch of bonuses as well. Bonuses (bonii??) make being homeless more fun. Here's my gameplan:

1.) Finish my last $20 in bonus on Full Tilt, then re-deposit before the end of the month to take advantage of the $300 reload they currently have going.

2.) Clear my Ultimate Bet bonus.

Note: Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet bonuses pay more like a rakeback program would, so if they keep offering monthly reloads, I wouldn't have to worry as much about rakeback.

3.) Open an account with a new site (under a reputable rakeback affiliate if possible), clear the bonus and evaluate the competition.

4.) Repeat step 3.

I'm excited to see the details of the Poker Stars VIP club that's coming soon. Hopefully that will give me some nice incentive to stay.

Full Tilt is growing on me. The have got great software and seem to have pretty good customer service (even though I haven't really dealt with them). They have good stuff in their FPP store, the action is soft, and they have some pretty decent tournaments. Plus I've made quite a few final tables on their site. They don't seem to hate me as bad.

Bottom line is that Poker Stars has the best chance of being my #1 site as long as they can do something to keep me away from the competition (reload bonus, rakeback, some sort of incentives). Full Tilt comes in a close 2nd, and Ultimate Bet a distand 3rd (FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAKE THE COMMUNITY CARDS BIGGER!).

My ultimate goal is to have a good conservative bankroll for $3/6 and $5/10 fairly soon. My bankroll is actually above the 300BBs suggested for $5/10, but I'm being VERY conservative with it because of the monthly cashouts for expenses and I seem to go through very swingy times, where I'll lose 300BBs, then make them all back up with one ginourmous heater (haven't had one of those in a while). But what it all comes down to is that I honestly play better when I don't have to worry about the money.

Enough babbling. I expect to play quite a bit this evening. Hopefully I can get get a good chunk of those sit n goes knocked out before I fall asleep. I've been 4 tabling them. I think I'm going to try 6 or 8 tabling them to see if things get a little more exciting. I'll try to take time to call Neteller this evening as well, so I can go ahead and bite the bullet and start the dance you have to do to sign up with a new Party account.

Sit N Go Challenge Stats (To Date):

Summary: Play 100 Sit n Goes and check results
Games: 40
Buy Ins: $838.00
Amount Won: $1003.50
Net Amount: $165.50
ROI%: 19.75%
Finish ITM%: 42.5%
Avg Finish: 4.43
1st Place: 6
2nd Place: 7
3rd Place: 4
Other Place: 23

Found a bit of a downturn in my last 10 sit n goes. My finishes are 9th (with a wicked beat), 8th with KK running into AA, 4th, 6th, 5th with another bad beat, 2nd, 5th with a bad beat, 4th with a bad beat, 3rd with a bad beat, and 2nd with a bad beat (this one was my QQ vs his 10-7 suited which he seemed happy to donk off 2/3 of his stack with... of course, he rivered his flush... all the money went in before the flop).

I've already lost count of my hours, so bleh on that. I think I'm gonna use a little time clock program I wrote for our Payroll system at work to log my hours. It keeps histories for ytd, mtd, qtd, etc.

Sit N Go Challenge Day 3 Results:

Summary: Play 100 Sit n Goes and check results
Games: 30
Buy Ins: $568.00
Amount Won: $823.50
Net Amount: $255.50
ROI%: 44.98%
Finish ITM%: 46.67%
Avg Finish: 4.30
1st Place: 6
2nd Place: 5
3rd Place: 3
Other Place: 16

I moved up a bit and played 8 $27 turbos this evening. I still did pretty well. I won 2 out of 8 and placed in the money in half of them. I also logged about 2 hours. Bringing my approximate # of hours to 6.5 with and hourly rate of $39.31. Now we're getting up there. I'm happy with a $40-50 hourly rate considering the limits I'm playing. I'm not sure if that rate is sustainable at this level because I'm not sure how the average winning player's stats look. I don't know if I'm running good, running average, or what.

I'll probably play a few more of these things tonight. I'll update the stats on this post if/when I do.

Ok, that's not another banner ad for the site. Just the UB logo because I'm gonna talk a bit about UB.

I got wind of Ultimate Bet's 50% up to $200 deposit bonus. I haven't played on UB in quite some time. So I decided to give it a shot. I put in my $400, bringing my UB account balance up to $407 :) Isn't it great to find $7 that you can just add to the bankroll?

So I'm off to clear a bonus. According to their terms, I guess I have to achieve 2000 UB points to clear the bonus. I ended up clearing about 1/10th of that in my short session.

I played 2 tables of $3/6 6 max. I got 2 doozy tables too. The first was full of weak tighties, spouting of some babble about pot odds. This little tirade went on for 30 straight minutes. My other table had 1 big league donkey and 4 calling stations. Needless to say, it was juicy.

So now I'm playing 2 completely different games. On the calling station/donkey table, I have to tighten up and minimize the bluffing. Whereas, on the weak/tighty table, I'm playing almost the opposite. Both gameplans worked pretty well and I had a nice session. Check the stats on this KING donkey:

Hands: 62
VP$IP: 88.71
Att to Steal Blinds: 90.00
Amount won: -$333.00
BB/100 Hands: -89.52
PF Raise: 70.97

I made about all my money on this guy. I couldn't isolate him though, because the other guys were making desparation calls with low suited connectors and shit like that, even to 3 bets. You can lose a lot of money at tables like this, but I got lucky and most of my showdowns were good.

So, the games at UB are getting an A+ so far in my book, but it's a small sample size. UB's interface, however, is horrid. What's the deal with having huge hole cards, but having tiny community cards. I'm squinting just to see the suits. The clanks and clicks that they call sound are annoying as shit too. I have to turn on the iPods to drown out the sounds.

It looks like they are paving the road in my neighborhood, so I think I might be stuck here all day. I might get a shit load of poker in.

Sit N Go Challenge, Day 2 Stats:

Summary: Play 100 Sit n Goes and check results
Games: 22
Buy Ins: $352.00
Amount Won: $486.00
Net Amount: $134.00
ROI%: 38.07%
Finish ITM%: 45.45%
Avg Finish: 4.27
1st Place: 4
2nd Place: 4
3rd Place: 2
Other Place: 12


For some damn reason, my pokertracker is missing 4 sit n goes. I've compiled these stats manually (with help of OpenOffice.org spreadsheet), so there's a slight possibility of some errors.

I took some horrid beats tonight which left me on the bubble all too many times. There are some real donks in some of these things. Others have better players. None have great players. I feel pretty confident in the $16's on Poker Stars. The good players are few and far between.

I played 14 sit n goes tonight. I logged approximately 3 hours. That brings me to a total of 4.5 hours and a win rate of $29.77/hr. Again, not exactly a great win rate. I might try some of the $27's later in this challenge or as part of a new challenge.

OK, listen up. You'll notice the Absolute Poker banner at the top. This is probably the last time you'll hear me pimp that banner unlike some other bloggers that have to promote their Party Poker signup code every 3rd sentence in all their posts.

Absolute is a great site for the little man. If you are struggling to build a bankroll, use their 200% up to $200 bonus for new signups. They also have tons of reload bonuses.

Thank the Good Lord... It's finally Friday! Man, it has been a LOOOOONG week. I'm gonna try to work my ass off today so the day will pass by quickly.

I didn't play as much poker yesterday as I wanted to. I had dinner with my Mother last night and spent some time at her house. On the way over there, I got pulled over. The cop pulled out behind me as I passed the gas station below my house. It's about 3 or 4 miles to my parents' house from there. He followed me all the way until I turned into my parents' neighborhood. As soon as I turned, he hit the lights. I got pretty pissed too, because I didn't do anything worthy of being pulled over.

As the cop gets out of the car, he shines his flashlight on my license plate. Uh oh, I knew the problem right then. Actually, I figured it was one of two problems. If you take a look at my truck, you will see the license plate has a smoke colored cover over it. This thing is pretty dark and makes seeing my license plate damn near impossible at night. Also, if you notice, I have 2 4" exhaust tips coming out the back. Those things are no longer connected to a muffler. Straight pipes baby. Needless to say, my truck is pretty loud. Also, I have a very loud stereo system and I happened to be blaring out SRV's rendition of "Little Wing", which in my opinion is far from noise pollution.

Now the cop comes up to my window and asks to see my license and registration. I reach in my back pocket... empty! I check my console, no registration either. That can't be good. I explain the predicament to the cop. He was pretty cool about it. Finally, he just said he pulled me over to ask me to remove my license plate cover. I agreed with him and went on my merry way.

All this brings me to my next beef. I'm a big fan of police officers. They don't get paid nearly enough for what they do. However, during my little 3-4 mile trip with this cop behind me, I witnessed 1.) A car pull out in front of me and then went speeding on, oblivous to the fact there was a cop behind him, 2.) Another car pull out in front of me, then stop dead in the middle of the road for no apparent reason, then finally make a left hand turn with no signal, and 3.) 2 vehicles in front of me not stop at a stop sign before pulling out. However, I got picked to be pulled over because of my license plate cover. Such a bad beat. No ticket though, so I guess I sucked out.

Enough of that little story. Tonight is Friday night. There are no football games of any importance tonight. I do have a few DVDs coming from Netflix. I'll have PCU (great funny movie), Eric Clapton Unplugged, and Alice in Chains Unplugged. I know I will watch PCU and probably AIC unplugged to wind down before I go to bed. Also, I want to buy an Xbox game. I'm debating on a football game or that Far Cry Instincts game. I'm not sure what I want.

Also, on my agenda tonight, I want to play at least 12 more sit n goes. That will put me up to 20% of my goal being completed. I'm aiming for 20, but I'm not sure if I can stay focused long enough to get 20 played. I can sit and play cash games for hours because it's nonstop action. Put me in a sit n go and I do good to stay awake.

One last semi-poker related tidbit: I want a new TV for my new place. I'm really aching to get a new DLP televison somehwere in the 50" range. I bought one of these a year ago, but it was a gift for my parents. I would really like to have the same TV. I can hook my laptop up via the DVI port and play poker in 50" HDTV bliss. It would also be nice to have some HD programming, and I'm going to get the Comcast DVR package. The only reason this is poker related is because poker is gonna be the only thing that allows this to happen. So let's all hope I can run good through the end of the year so I can buy one of these jewels.

Night One of the Sit N Go Challenge Stats:

Summary: Play 100 Sit n Goes and check results
Games: 8
Buy Ins: $128.00
Amount Won: $189.00
Net Amount: $61.00
ROI%: 47.66%
Finish ITM%: 50%
Avg Finish: 4.50
1st Place: 1
2nd Place: 3
3rd Place: 0
Other Place: 4

I also noted by each entry in my spreadsheet of when I have taken a bad beat to get eliminated from the tournament. Tonight, it was all 4 of the tournaments where I didn't make the money.

I learned tonight, it won't take long to play 100. I only played about 1.5 hours. So I'm making a decent hourly rate. Very small sample size we're looking at though.

More to come...

I've been working on some ideas for different content for this site. As it stands right now, this site just falls into same realm as 938928374928374 other blogs out there. "I played this many hands and made/lost this much money. Oh yeah, all poker players are idiot donkeys". That pretty much sums up 95% of the poker blogs out there. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy many of those blogs. They just don't have anything to really separate them from the rest.

While playing a bit today this hand gave me inspiration for one idea:

PokerStars 2/4 Hold'em (6 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx


Preflop: Hero is UTG with Qh, Qd.

Hero raises, 1 fold, CO calls, 3 folds.


Flop: (5.50 SB) 2d, Kh, Jc (2 players)

Hero bets, CO calls.


Turn: (3.75 BB) Kc (2 players)

Hero bets, CO calls.


River: (5.75 BB) 3h (2 players)

Hero bets, CO calls.


Final Pot: 7.75 BB


Results in white below:

Hero has Qh Qd (two pair, kings and queens).

CO has 5h 2h (two pair, kings and twos).

Outcome: Hero wins 7.75 BB.

As you can see, this guy really just donked it up on that hand. This sparked an idea. How about every so often doing an article called

The Inner-Mind of the Online Donkey

. The title could use some help, but the idea is there.

The basic idea is to take a hand where you are a player at your table really just plain donked it up. Put yourself in the role of the donkey (assuming you weren't the donkey to begin with) and walk through the hand, sharing the donkey thoughts that flow through your mind and why you played the hand the way you did. This can get entertaining. Also, if you would like to contribute, feel free to email submissions to leonardw@nospam-gmail.com. Please remove the "nospam-" part.

Look for the first inner donkey article in a day or 2. I got some other ideas too. They will probably piss off 2+2ers and bloggers alike. Sometimes you'll have that.

Congrats on the 'Eers beating the snot out of those UConn fuckers last night. That score could have been 80-3 or so had Rodriguez not let up.

I've reached the end of my break. I'm all freshened up and ready to do some check-raising. I got some new goals to share.

Goals: Play 1 more month of $2/4 short. After my cashout last month, I think I'm gonna stay conservative with the bankroll and suck it up at the $2/4 tables for one more month. I'm winning at over a 4BB/100 on these tables, so they are still profitable. However, the play at the $3/6 tables is not any better. The tables are full of donkeys these days. Especially with the WSOP playing on ESPN.

I want to focus on cash games this month. They are my bread and butter. I love the fast limit poker style. However, I've been running good in the $16 sit n goes on Poker Stars too. I want to play at least 100 of these puppies this month. That's right 100 sit n goes. They are boring, they are gay, but they are profitable. That's what poker is all about to me. Fuck the pureness of the game. I'm here to make money.

So I got a nice little spreadsheet all laid out ready for some sit n go crazyness. I have no concept of how I'll end up in my 100 sng challenge, but it will be a learning experience.

Another thing I'm going to try to do is keep a log of all the hours I play this month. I want to try to come up with an hourly rate for my time. I'm not going to set a pre-determined # of hours I want to play. That never works for me anyway. Things have been going good when I play when I want, so I'll continue those ways.

Hopefully November will be good to me this year. Last November was my best month ever. I netted over $20,000 last November.

I'm gonna try to play quite a bit tonight. There's nothing going on this evening as far as I know. So I'll probably settle in after dinner time and put in a few hours at the tables. I'll probably 2 table some cash games on Full Tilt (clearing bonus), while I 2 table the $16 sng's on Stars.

Also, this evening, I need to call Neteller and see what to do about my account and Party Poker. I got my rakeback set up for Party, but I can't deposit because my Neteller account was used on my old Party account. So I emailed Neteller and they said to call them and they can fix it. It will be nice to have rakeback again. Especially when I'm getting ready to hit the $3/6 6 max tables wide open.

Happy Halloween. I got a bag full of Butterfingers, Hershey Bars, and Reese's Peanut Butter cups to satisfy all these freeloading ankle biters tonight. I'm not sure how many trick or treaters I will get at my new place. Hopefully not a lot.

I pretty much kept away from the poker tables this past weekend with a few exceptions. As you can see, I placed 4th in a 180 man sit n go on Friday night. I donked off almost 2 buyins in the blogger game while playing in the sit n go.

I also played a few single table sit n goes yesterday. I think I played 4 all together. I won 2 and finished out of the money in 2.

I spent most of my weekend cleaning. I did go to a Halloween party Saturday night. It was nothing special. I came home early.

Tonight, I'll take on last day off. I have to go to Columbus, OH tomorrow so I'll be away from a computer tomorrow night. Wednesday night will be my return to the grind. Hopefully this November will be another good month.

PokerStars Tournament #14392162, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $3600.00
Tournament started - 2005/10/28 - 22:57:53 (ET)

Dear Predator314,

You finished the tournament in 4th place.
A $288.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 154.72 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html

I forgot to mention that on Wednesday I bowled a 607 series. I bowled 185 in game 1, 224 in game 2, and 198 in game 3. That's my highest series of the year and my 2nd highest series ever. The only other time I broke 600 was a 636 I bowled this past summer in a mixed gender league. But that was on a very easy oil pattern, plus I probably figured bowling a 600 series would impress the chicks :)

Last night made 3 days in which I have not been a single hand. I feel rested and relaxed. In my last post, I mentioned taking the rest of the month off. However, I think I'm ready to play some again.

I'll just play it by ear this evening to see how things go. I'd prefer getting a few friends together and playing some donkey poker, but if I can't swing that, then I'll probably play in some cash games online and get started on next Month's nut.

It's kind of hard to take these breaks, but I think an occasional break is important. Even when things are going well. My advice to the grinders out there is to give yourself a day or 2 breather every now and then. Don't just wait for the bad times and then walk away.

I had a few movies to watch during my break. I mentioned Starsky and Hutch. Last night's feature was Sin City. I have subscribed to Netflix (for the 3rd time). I love the Netflix service. Some of my coming movies that I'll be excited to get in the mail are all music related: Eric Clapton: Unplugged. The famous concert where he put the MTV Unplugged series on the map. Alice in Chains: Unplugged. AiC is one of my favorite bands. Cut down in their prime by our friend, Mr. Heroin. Lastly is Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985. SRV is hands down the greatest guitar player of all time. The man was a genius.

Nothing much to report. I have now gone 2 days in a row without playing a single hand. Yesterday was bowling followed by a screening of Starsky and Hutch. The movie was pretty damn funny. I know it came out a long time ago, but I don't watch that much TV or movies.

I had a really good Month of October and that's the biggest reason for my breather. I've already cashed out my money to pay bills, so I'll probably ride out the rest of the month without playing. I feel more rested mentally when I don't play poker. It's weird.

I didn't play a single hand yesterday. Just took a break from poker. I finally got setup with rakeback at Party. I'm going to make my deposit on there and cross my fingers.

I've also withdrawn a bit out of my bankroll to help cover some expenses for next month. I had a very good month. Hopefully November will be better.

I took a break from poker yesterday. I played very little. I played a $16 sit n go on Stars and won it. Then I played about 20 hands at a single table while waiting for qualifier on Empire. In those 20 hands, I won about 10BBs which was nice. The qualifier blew goat butt though. I had one good hand where I flopped quad 6's and won a nice pot. But that was early and this was a limit tournament. Then I met my demise on the following hand:

I'm dealt AJ suited UTG. I raise and I get 3 callers including the big blind.

Flop comes A,J,2 rainbow. I bet and all 3 call.

Turn comes a blank. I bet and the big blind calls.

River 2. I'm check raised by the big blind, I call, he turns over 6-2 offsuit and takes the pot from me. Bah.

I chose not to play in the deep stacks tournament yesterday. When I went to register, I saw there were going to be over 1000 entries. That makes for an awesome prize pool. However, it makes for LONG tournament. It was a work night and I just didn't want to risk it. I check this morning. The tournament started at 6:15pm yesterday. It ended at 7:03 am this morning. Just in time for me to leave for work :)

I'll play these bad boys on a weekend when I don't have any plans.

Tonight, I think I might take another break and just watch poker on TV. With the string of beats I took this past weekend, I think I need a break.

I've been thinking about the structure of these internet tournaments. It's horrible. Everyone talks about Pokerstars and the great tournament structure they have. In my opinion it's no different from Party. The blinds escalate too quickly. You don't start with enough chips either.

I was surprised to see a starting chipstack of 2,000 yesterday instead of the normal 1,500. That helped a little bit, but after the 2nd break, it's pretty much a dice shoot unless you have a humongous chipstack already. 1 bad beat and you're to the felt. It's a shame really. However, it's in the best interest of the sites to get these tournaments over with ASAP.

So, I'm logged into Poker Stars this morning just checking out the tournaments they are having this weekend and I see something that catches my eye. It's a $30+3 tournament called "Deep Stacks". I start looking into it further and notice that you get a starting chipstack of $5,000 and the blinds increase every 30 minutes. That's what I'm talking about.

So at 6:15 this evening, I'm gonna give this one a shot. I'm not sure how many entries there will be. If there are a bunch of entries, this thing could go a long time.

The slower structure gives me a chance to actually play. I don't have to sit on my ass and push with the first Ace that comes along. Also, if I get that big chipstack and some asshole wants to put all his money in the pot with KJ offsuit (see yesterday's post) and he cracks my Queens, I still have an opportunity to rebuild without having to go into push mode.

Some may disagree with me and I'm not basing this on first hand experience, but the WSOP main event has a kick ass structure. Watch the episode where Negreanu and Farha are at the same table. Danny busts out, but he took some beats in that tournament that were hideous. However, I noticed that he never busted out and in fact had enough chips left to play around. I know it's edited and he probably won some hands we didn't see, but the good structure allowed for the better player to stick around longer.

I hope these deep stack tournaments catch on with the other sites as well. I'm willing to pay just a little extra in tourney fees to have that structure. I would think a $30+4 Deep Stack tournament would be +EV over a $30+3 regular tournament.

Results of the official blogger tournament:

Lee Jones: 2
Me: 0

I bubbled out of the prizes taking 138th place. I started off well at my first table. I was fortunate enough to get a table where nobody knew what they were doing. One guy was king donkey and I put my sights on him. I ended up taking 3 big pots off this guy. Here are the hands:

Hand #1:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (9 handed) converter


Button (t1805)

SB (t1900)

BB (t1680)

Hero (t1620)

UTG+1 (t1670)

MP1 (t1890)

MP2 (t1615)

MP3 (t2220)

CO (t3600)


Preflop: Hero is UTG with As, Qd.

Hero raises to t120, 4 folds, CO calls t120, 2 folds, BB calls t90.


Flop: (t375) Ad, 5h, Ts (3 players)

BB checks, Hero bets t300, CO raises to t600, BB folds, Hero raises to t1500, CO calls t900.


Turn: (t3375) Tc (2 players)


River: (t3375) 8s (2 players)


Final Pot: t3375


Results in white below:

Hero has As Qd (two pair, aces and tens).

CO has Ac 2d (two pair, aces and tens).

Outcome: Hero wins t3375.

Here's the 2nd nice pot:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter


UTG+1 (t1820)

MP1 (t1870)

MP2 (t1740)

Hero (t3510)

CO (t2820)

Button (t3387)

SB (t1725)

BB (t1985)

UTG (t2783)


Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 2s, 2c.

UTG calls t50, 3 folds, Hero calls t50, 3 folds, BB checks.


Flop: (t175) Th, 2d, Jd (3 players)

BB checks, UTG bets t50, Hero raises to t250, BB folds, UTG calls t200.


Turn: (t675) Qc (2 players)

UTG bets t500, Hero raises to t3210, UTG folds.


Final Pot: t4385


Results in white below:

No showdown. Hero wins t4385.

And finally hand #3 where I put him out of his misery:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter


BB (t1820)

UTG (t1870)

UTG+1 (t1965)

Hero (t4385)

MP2 (t2820)

MP3 (t3237)

CO (t1700)

Button (t1910)

SB (t1933)


Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Ks, Kh.

2 folds, Hero raises to t250, 4 folds, SB raises to t450, 1 fold, Hero raises to t4385, SB calls t1483 (All-In).


Flop: (t6368) 7c, 8d, 2d (2 players, 1 all-in)


Turn: (t6368) 5h (2 players, 1 all-in)


River: (t6368) 5d (2 players, 1 all-in)


Final Pot: t6368


Results in white below:

SB has Th Ad (one pair, fives).

Hero has Ks Kh (two pair, kings and fives).

Outcome: Hero wins t6368.

Here's my next important hand. I had a lot of outs on the river to take a nice pot:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter


Button (t1540)

SB (t1490)

Hero (t5293)

UTG (t5945)

UTG+1 (t1515)

MP1 (t4685)

MP2 (t1505)

MP3 (t1535)

CO (t3700)


Preflop: Hero is BB with 9s, Qs.

UTG raises to t200, 7 folds, Hero calls t150.


Flop: (t425) Td, 6s, As (2 players)

Hero checks, UTG bets t300, Hero calls t300.


Turn: (t1025) 8d (2 players)

Hero checks, UTG bets t400, Hero calls t400.


River: (t1825) 7h (2 players)

Hero bets t1450, UTG calls t1450.


Final Pot: t4725


Results in white below:

Hero has 9s Qs (straight, ten high).

UTG has Qd Ac (one pair, aces).

Outcome: Hero wins t4725.

I forgot to copy the hand history, but my only mistake of the tournament which I have a hard time playing differently is when I raised pre-flop, cold called by the small blind. flop came A,K,Q. We get it all in and he turns of AK for top two pair.

The next pot was only a couple hands later. I had tried stealing on this table a few times and each time, the guy on my left came over the top on me. I figured he was bluffing, but I couldn't call. I had also seen him bluff at a lot of pots by check raising the flop. Now lets see the hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (9 handed) converter


MP1 (t34811)

MP2 (t3740)

MP3 (t5720)

Hero (t6668)

Button (t8595)

SB (t4520)

BB (t2020)

UTG (t6040)

UTG+1 (t10280)


Preflop: Hero is CO with 5h, Ah.

5 folds, Hero raises to t1200, 1 fold, SB calls t1000, 1 fold.


Flop: (t2400) Qd, 5s, 9h (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets t1200, SB raises to t3295, Hero calls t2095.


Turn: (t8990) 4s (2 players)


River: (t8990) 2d (2 players)


Final Pot: t8990


Results in white below:

SB has Ac Tc (high card, ace).

Hero has 5h Ah (one pair, fives).

Outcome: Hero wins t8990.

I thought that was a pretty sick read to call that all in on the flop. I was pretty much putting the whole tournament on the line with my read.

Then started my demise. I got put at a table with one of the chip leaders. He was an aggressive donkey raising every other hand. I patiently waited for a hand, but it never came. Then Lee Jones apparently showed up to work, saw me prospering, proceeded to kick me in the nuts:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (9 handed) converter


CO (t34986)

Button (t5200)

SB (t2495)

Hero (t11563)

UTG (t15000)

UTG+1 (t3998)

MP1 (t4560)

MP2 (t18855)

MP3 (t8380)


Preflop: Hero is BB with Qs, Qc.

UTG calls t600, 2 folds, MP2 raises to t2400, 2 folds, Button raises to t5150, 1 fold, Hero raises to t11513, UTG folds, MP2 folds.


Flop: (t19963) 8c, 9d, 7h (2 players)


Turn: (t19963) Tc (2 players)


River: (t19963) Th (2 players)


Final Pot: t19963


Results in white below:

Hero has Qs Qc (two pair, queens and tens).

Button has Kd Js (straight, jack high).

Outcome: Button wins t19963.

However, 2 hands later, I got this hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (9 handed) converter


UTG+1 (t36136)

MP1 (t13900)

MP2 (t3945)

Hero (t5913)

CO (t13300)

Button (t2298)

SB (t3760)

BB (t17605)

UTG (t8180)


Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 7d, 7s.

4 folds, Hero raises to t1800, 1 fold, Button raises to t2248, 2 folds, Hero calls t448.


Flop: (t4846) Kh, 9s, Qs (2 players)


Turn: (t4846) Qc (2 players)


River: (t4846) 7h (2 players)


Final Pot: t4846


Results in white below:

Hero has 7d 7s (full house, sevens full of queens).

Button has Ah Ts (one pair, queens).

Outcome: Hero wins t4846.

However, it was not to be. I got cold decked and blinded down from there. I made my final stand and was shot down as a 4 to 1 favorite:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (8 handed) converter


UTG (t48526)

UTG+1 (t13075)

MP1 (t11244)

Hero (t4836)

CO (t13350)

Button (t13715)

SB (t19230)

BB (t27195)


Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7s, 7d.

3 folds, Hero raises to t4761, 3 folds, BB calls t3561.


Flop: (t8847) Ah, Kh, 5d (2 players)


Turn: (t8847) 8h (2 players)


River: (t8847) 6h (2 players)


Final Pot: t8847


Results in white below:

BB has 5s 5h (flush, ace high).

Hero has 7s 7d (one pair, sevens).

Outcome: BB wins t8847.

Basically, I played near perfect poker. The best I've played in a while. However, Lee Jones loves to torture me.

I really wanted an Xbox 360.