Going Through the Motions

It's odd how it happens. You can't pinpoint a defining moment. It may be a culmination of things or it could be as cliche as a light bulb blinking on inside your head. For me it was a combination of both.

My trial by fire began several weeks ago when I documented a massive slide down the food chain in one night. With a sigh of resignation I dropped back to the 1/2 level and began to seek out the best in bonuses. I really felt I didn't belong there. Playing at a level I had beaten soundly in the past wasn't where I deserved to be. To further pummel my already bloodied ego I still couldn't win. Sure I would post a winning session but it was always followed by three or four losing ones. I was spiraling downward and was in danger of not even having a bankroll to support playing at 1/2 anymore.

Why was it happening? I hadn't changed my play, had I? I still had the same starting requirements that I had developed when I came up through the ranks. These weren't exactly by the book starting hands but they had worked for me in the past and damnit, they should be now as well. Was it my post flop play? Naw couldn't be that either. I was being dealt bad beat after bad beat, that had to be it.

We have a new employee at work that joined our regular work home game about two months ago. He had never played before but was eager to learn and after we corrupted him on that first night he had the poker bug in a bad way. He downloaded a version to his phone, a laptop, and watched it on TV at every opportunity. Now two weeks ago we had our last poker night. The new guy showed up and I was impressed by how fast he had progressed. He displayed some selective aggression and was capable of making some advanced plays that I thought were beyond the people I played with. When the night was coming to a close the new guy was up and I was down. I began to see something in him that I didn't have. I had it at one time, but the realization that I no longer possessed it was troubling to me. I'm not sure when it happened but my passion for the game was gone. I played every night and went through the motions but that's what all I was doing. Going through the motions. I desperately wanted to rekindle this missing part of me and I invited him to stay after the night had come to a close for some heads up play. He accepted my invitation and we continued to play for another two hours. Being able to concentrate on the action I began to enjoy myself. With experience on my side I was able to out maneuver him and managed to reclaim some of my earlier losses. My heads up game vastly improved due to this exercise but I was still losing the ring games.

A few days later while perusing the PSO forum I came across a post on the hands that win or lose you the most money. I knew I hadn't checked that data in quite some time so I fired up Poker Tracker and had a look. I was shocked at what I was finding. I keep separate databases for each level I play and wanting to get the most data possible I loaded a combined database for 2004. I lost money on hands that I believed were the staple of my game. My complete disregard for the study techniques and data tracking that had started my poker journey were no longer part of my regimen. This was the 2004 data which I was profitable at. I shuddered to look at the 2005 data since I had been losing all year. I wasn't playing bad starting hands. I just wasn't playing them correctly. Whether it was position, calling raises, or not raising myself, I was playing them all wrong and often to far after the flop. My game had truly disintegrated. In fact it wasn't that good before.

It wasn't the light bulb moment. It was a combination of realization and revitalization. I'm calling it an increase in strength of character. I'm winning again. Comparing my current win rate to the win rate I had in 2004 at the 1/2 level. They are close to identical. The big difference is I'm winning differently than before. I have strung together nine winning sessions as of last night. I've never done that before. In the past I've gone 4 or 5 and then had a loser thrown in. My variance is also down by a large margin.

The one thing about this that is cliche is that you never stop learning. I thought I was on top of my game yet it took a slap in the face from reality to push me to that next level. My hope is that it doesn't take the rest of you this kind of gut check. It really is a miserable experience but I'm a better player for it.

Kansas Qualifier - World Poker Cup

"Hello and welcome everyone to this edition of the World Poker Cup Qualifiers. I'm Jack Hearts and as always I'm joined by professional analyst Chip Rack. Our lady on the floor Stacks O'Plenty will be bringing us player reactions and relaying what it's like to be in the trenches. Chip why don't you bring us up to speed on whats happened so far."

"Thank you Jack. We are witnessing a stunning display of poker today as our tournament format is a heads-up elimination event. With 67 entrants populating the field we began with only six players seeing action on three tables. Once the winners from these matches were determined we began a bracket style event with a field of 64. We are now down to the final two players in this heads up match and it's been pretty intense so far as the chip lead has floated back and forth with no one player being able to mount a distinct advantage."

"That's right Chip, we are in the presence of poker greatness and I wouldn't be surprised to see the winner of todays event go on to represent the USA in the World Poker Cup Tournament. Why don't you let us in on who these final two players are and give us an update as to the chip counts."

"Near as I can tell theres only one Chip and that's me. But seriously we have lifesagrind representing Overland Park, Kansas with a chip count of 72,960 and our chip leader at the moment is siznow who hails from Topeka. Siznow's chip count is 116,160 and we have blinds of 960/1920. Lets go right into a segment on this show we call "Play Along with an Amatuer". This time around were going to only reveal lifesagrind's hole cards and discuss the play as it's happening."

"Lifesagrind is on the button which means during a heads up match he is the small blind and first to act. I see he has pocket 10's and that's a monster heads up."

"That's right Jack. A pair of tens as your down cards can always be powerful but in this situation I wouldn't be surprised to see him try to take away some of the advantage siznow holds. He's reached into his stack and has raised it 5,760 which is a standard 3x the big blind raise. Lifesagrind has been pretty religious about using this raise no matter what he holds during most of the tournament so siznow is likely to call with lesser holdings. Sure enough siznow calls and says "Let's see a flop".

The flop comes Jack Seven Jack with two clubs and this is either going to be very good or very bad for lifesagrind. Siznow checks and lifesagrind wastes no time betting 7,680 into an 11,520 pot. I'm pretty sure lifesagrind does not want a call here and is just trying to end this with a nice profit. Siznow calls though and the dealer flips an A of spades onto the felt. This is a very bad card for the pair of tens especially since siznow was willing to call the large bet on the flop. Sure enough siznow appears to be reaching for some chips. Siznow is counting out a large stack and is pushing 11,520 in. This really is putting pressure on those 10's. I think I would fold up camp and take a loss here but it doesn't look like that's what lifesagrind is going to do."

"I just don't understand this play Chip. Siznow was willing to call a big bet on the flop with the board paired and now with an Ace on the turn the player comes alive with a big bet. Lifesagrind has to think he's beat here yet he's stacking up chips for a re-raise. Either he has a great read on his opponent or he's putting his whole tournament in jeopardy."

"It could also just be a stall tactic and he has no intention of playing this hand any further. Either way we'll get back to the action in a moment. First lets check in with Stacks and see how lifesagrind got this far."

"Thanks guys. Lifesagrind has been a machine throughout this tournament and has wasted little time in mowing down the competition. He was seated at his first table when the field was at 64 players and within 8 hands had eliminated his first opponent. The second match went much the same way as his opponent decided to bluff all in at a flop of J33. Little did he know lifesagrind held A3 and another player was sent to the rails. The next heads up match proved to be the most challenging as shortly after it began lifesagrind disappeared from the table. Upon his return quite some time later he told us that he was having "Technical Difficulties" but I'm not quite sure what that means. He was outchipped at this point by about 3 to 1 but managed to mount an incredible comeback. After almost 40 minutes of play lifesagrind had secured his spot in the round of 8 when his pocket K's held up against chef29's pocket J's.

The next two rounds seemed relatively easy and he managed to build a chip lead early in each match and never gave it up. This brings us to the finals and what has been a long four and a half hours of play. Lifesagrind had to be the favorite going into this final table but the cards always have there say."

"That was the every charming Stacks O'Plenty and Chip, lets see how this plays out."

"Well Jack, lifesagrind had decided to make a stand and has come over the top of siznow making it 23,040 to go. Wow Jack! Siznow wastes no time declaring "All In" and has pushed the remaining chips out onto the table. Since siznow has more chips than lifesagrind this will also put him all in if he decides to call. Lifesagrind has gone deep into the tank now. The clock is about to expire and it looks like... yes... he has decided to cave to the pressure and lay down his hand. The chip count now is horribly skewed as siznow has 154,560 to lifesagrind's 37,440."

"It looks like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar Chip. I don't see how he can come back from such a loss but as they say, All it takes is a chip and a chair."

"The ladies say all it takes is a Chip and a Bed, Jack."

"I'm sure they do Chip, I'm sure they do. Why don't we head back to the table for some more action."

"Were three hands later Jack and lifeagrind has managed to take the last two pots. This has added about 10,000 to his stack but he has a long ways to go. Both players have been dealt their cards and the action is on siznow on the button. He has A9 off suit and calls the big blind. Lifesagrind looks down and see's a beautiful blackjack. With that AJ he has raised it up to 8,640 and he has siznow dominated at this point with a 76% chance to win the pot. Siznow doesn't know what he's stepped into and makes the call.

Oh! A disastrous flop for lifesagrind as it comes 393. This gives siznow a pair and since they both share an A siznow now has an 87% advantage. Lifesagrind takes no time declaring all in and I'm sure siznow will call. Yep, sure enough there both in this and lifesagrind appears devastated now that the hands have been turned over. He's going to need to catch a J to win this. The turn is a Q and lifesagrind is now up and pacing around. The river is a five and that's it! We have a winner! Siznow will represent Kansas in the US qualifiers. Stacks is with lifesagrind down at the table."

"Obviously you didn't see that coming. How do you feel?"

"You're right I didn't see that coming. And I feel like crap. I've worked so hard all day and it ends with a mental mistake as I overplayed those 10's a few hands ago. My hat's off to siznow because I wasn't really able to get a good read on him all match. The other matches throughout the day seemed easy, like I was in the zone, but this one was truly difficult. I might have put to much pressure on myself, I'm just not sure. I just hope siznow had that third Jack earlier, or else I'm going to look like a big idiot when this airs."

"There you go guys, is he a big idiot, we may never know."

Thanks Stacks, that does it for this edition. For Chip Rack and Stacks O'Plenty, I'm Jack Hearts, remember any two cards can win, and those cards might be the ones your holding right now."

Please Sir, May I Have Some More

We've all seen it. Four players see the flop in an unraised pot. The turn appears to help no one but it hasn't helped you either. Everyone checks around again and there you sit in late position. No one seems to want this pot but it's going to cost you a big bet just to win two. Is it worth it? Maybe someone is scared to bet that bottom pair and has you beat. Maybe someone is slowplaying a big pocket pair. Maybe a lot of things.

The orphan pot can be a nice way to win some money, or a sad way to lose some. The pots are so small that you will have to take them down 40% of the time to be profitable. That's a pretty high win percentage but these pots are a unique sort of beast. Win that 40% and you will make your 2BB/100. lose it and you'll slowly bleed your bankroll.

As with most plays the more you know about your opponents the better your odds of success. If it's to early to have a read on the players and your in late position when this situation arises. Take a stab at it. If you get a call be prepared to fold the river and if your raised just let it go. It may have cost you a big bet but you've gained some insight into that particular player.

The only time that it really doesn't make any sense to even try this play is when you have a player who almost infallibly slow plays his big pocket pair. This player usually waits for someone to bet into a pot and then check-raises. Just check it around against this type of player. If he/she still checks the river then you may want to try it. I emphasize may because just about any player with an A will call you in this situation. You should have an A with a big kicker before even considering this play on the river.

All this may seem elementary to you but just think back at all the times you've seen this come up and nobody bets till the river, if they bet it at all. The orphan pot is called that for a reason and often the first player willing to adopt it gets to take it home.

Sending Out An S.O.S.

Sadly, I did not win the trip to the WSOP on Saturday night. If I had I would have updated yesterday with an over abundance of enthusiasm. As it turns out I didn't make it past the first break. Recent tournament history has not been kind to me and I lost holding AK. An early position player raised and when it got to me in middle position I was going to be pot committed if I re-raised. The best thing to do in that situation is to go ahead and push it in if your going to play, so that's what I did.

My read on the player ahead of me was that he was holding a middle pair. We had similar chip stacks but he had me covered with about 200 chips left over. I really didn't believe that he would risk a coin flip this early in the tourney with so much at stake. When I pushed it all into the middle the rest of the field folded. With the decision back on my opponent he went into the tank. Having used up almost all his time before making the call I was shocked to see him flip over pocket 3's.

There is no logic to this move. I figured him for a middle pair but with this holding he had to figure he was dominated. Even if I was pushing with the hammer I'd have an overcard to him. He obviously knew more than me though and I never got the help I needed to double up.

With the tournament behind me I went ahead and made the plunge into Full Tilt Poker. The $600 bonus was to much of a lure and I eagerly took the bait. Having been hooked I realized too late that it was going to take an eon to be reeled in. I have never encountered a bonus that releases so slowly. After six hours of two tabling 1/2 I have only managed to clear about $11 in bonus.

I'm sending out an S.O.S. to anyone who has managed to clear the Full Tilt bonus. Any suggestions on what to play to clear the bonus most efficiently will be greatly appreciated. I know O8 is usually a good game for bonus clearing but the only game I've seen going is .10/.25 pot limit. I played it for a half hour and even though it was a profitable table the pots only averaged about $3. And that folks, isn't enough to help clear the bonus.

I'm going to keep at the Tilt bonus but Absolute is offering a 20% reload until midnight tonight. I'm going to hit that one before going back to Tilt. Absolute bonuses clear slowly as well but not at the excruciating pace I've been enduring the last two nights. I'll get Absolute knocked out over the next week and then with a little bankroll cushion I'll head back.

Here We Go Again

After sulking over my meltdown last week I've begun the arduous task of rebuiling the bankroll. If you read the post detailing the debacle you know I was left debating whether to play 1/2 or 2/4. The master plan I finally decided upon was to begin bonus whoring again and multi-table 1/2 so I could clear the hands quicker.
With Paradise offering the superbowl weekend 20% bonus I was in business. The sportsbook end of Pokerstars was also offering a free $50 to play with so I made bets on New England and Philadelphia so I could have the cash. A free $10 prop bet on the coin toss was also included in the deal. I unfortunately couldn't hit my 50/50 chance. I completely blame the 10 year old who did the toss as he flatly dropped the coin to the ground instead of actually flipping it in the air. They should never give a child that much responsibility.
Switching back to poker I've been a cumulative disaster. I cleared the Paradise bonus with a profit, but it was a smaller profit than the bonus. So in essence that was just a nice way of saying I lost. I started out witha big win, then a modest win, then a big loss followed by another big loss, ending with a modest win. Overall I ended down about $50 in five sessions but with the bonus cleared the bankroll still grew.
I'm going to have to search for where the next worthwhile bonus is at. I'm considering the 100% up to $600 bonus at full tilt if it's still available. I've heard it takes a long time to clear though. $600 is a lot of scratch at this point so that may be worth it.
Over the next few days I'll be playing at Absolute. I've got a $10 bonus that needs to be dusted off there and I've got two tournaments to play in. The Pokersourceonline poker league, USA vs. Canada will be in it's second round on Friday and on Saturday I will be playing for a seat at the WSOP. PokerSourceOnline.com is sponsoring that tournament as well so I encourage everyone to go check them out. They have the best signup deals on the net. If you sign up for one of their promos I'd appreciate you using referral code "lifesagrind". They will be giving away several seats to the WSOP this year.
If you want to stop in and offer some encouragement I play under the name "hotlead" at Absolute. The tourney is on Saturday at 8pm central.

Strategy Shmategy

Today I want to talk about something that's been swirling around the back of my cavernous cranium. (the preceding sentence was written in honor of the big human head who seems to be one of my regular seventeen readers) That is writing about strategy.

The problem with writing a strategy article, at least for me, is that everyone knows when talking poker, it always "depends". I can think of a concept, work it out and then come up with countless scenarios that would rebuff what I was just thinking.

I assigned a database project to one of my employees and she came to me today with plans that went way beyond the scope of the original vision. I threw out some corrections and to help her get back on track I told her "Don't overthink things." She looked at me sideways for a moment and then replied, "Yeah, that's probably what I'm doing."

Well, that's what I do too when it comes to writing. I've tossed countless ideas out because I overanalyzed to the point where the original thought had lost all meaning. No one can account for every eventuality. Trying to do so will only stall you in a quagmire of self doubt and disillusionment.

It's not easy to think of something to write about and when you place undo pressure on yourself it only helps lead to that dreaded blogger burnout. What I have decided to do for myself, and this may help others, is taking my thought process only to the point where I would in a game situation. With the online clock counting you down you can only run through so many probabilities before being folded. If you take this approach to writing about strategy you will avoid the pressure and the pain that comes from firing to many neural pathways.

Tackle a subject, narrow your scope, and go with it. Will you cover everything? No. Should you? Absolutely not. If you do you'll only lose your reader and any hopes of passing on your hard won knowledge. Obviously I haven't written a great tritest on strategy writing but maybe this tip will help those of you that struggle, just like me.

The Question

You hear it every day. Those you like, those you even dislike will throw it out there. They don't want an honest answer and you really don't want to give one. It's innocent and never means anything. But never is not the case this time. This time it means everything. You have to answer it honestly. It is more than just the answer. It is the questions that follow...the questions that must follow if you are ever to make sense of it.

Only two hours have passed. You knew it could happen and you've planned for it. Considered all the possibilities and installed safeguards. Others have planned as well. Hundreds, even thousands have succumed to the pressure but not you. Your infallible. Beyond reproach. When the realization washes over you no explanation is evident. What could have happened? What feasibility was not assessed? You are in control, nothing should have gone wrong. Perhaps nothing is wrong. Yeah, your on course. This ship will be righted and your the one to do it.

"How are you doing?"

There it is, the trigger. The one question that should mean so little, yet carries every implication.

"I'm down."
"You've been down that much before, right?"
"No, not this much."
"You should quit then."
"I'm just going to finish this table."
"OK, I'm going to bed."
"I'll be up in a few minutes."

"Liar! You lying rat bastard!"

That's what she should have said instead of walking up the stairs. Hell, somebody should have said it. You should have even said it to yourself. This wouldn't be the last table. Not even the one after that. It would be a third and several hours before shock would take hold. The realization that the one thing you never really had control of was yourself. The only eventuality you couldn't account for was the human condition. The ability for a human to self delude themselves in such a manner that they are unaware of what is transpiring. They say trauma can cause blackouts and this is one trauma you wish you could forget. But you can't forget. You musn't forget. To forget would be foolish and foolish you are not. You are not a God, you are a mortal and have succumb to mortal weakness.

Numbers don't lie. They aren't bound by emotional attachment and feel no regret. When you thought you were tightening up and only playing when you had the best of it the numbers wouldn't support you. You managed to push the tide back into that vast ocean of loss for a period of time. That was all you needed to conciously believe you were in control. Doing the right things. The reversal of fortune was welcoming you like the warm embrace of a lover. You were in control. When the table turned to a rock garden and they began stoning you from all sides it was just bad luck. When the table was finally shorthanded you were playing scared and the sharks could smell blood. You were folding when you should be pushing, and pushing when you should be folding. But to you they were getting lucky. You have control, and as they say, "control is an illusion".

You had a plan. It was a good plan. After playing for a year and a half you were now in position. It was now time for all those months and hours to pay off. Now that you've left the kiddie pool behind you could start using the money and skill to pay off some of that debt. The plan was to be rid of all revolving debt by the end of the year. That would make you free. Free to enjoy life just that little bit more. That plan was freedom, the plan was the catalyst. You wanted it so bad that defeat was no longer an option. You had finally reached the summit and nothing was pushing you off. Control, yeah it is an illusion. Some call it tilt. I call it stupidity.

It would be nice to say this whole tale was just an exercise in fiction. A little story to entertain the reader. It's not, It's the truth in the guise of a cautionary tale. A tale I lived through just last night. I managed to lose one third of my entire bankroll in five hours. It's left me with some hard decisions. Fortunately my bankroll is completely separate from my living expenses so I'll be able to continue playing but I'm at a crossroads. "The plan" is no longer an option at this point. Play at 3/6 is also no longer viable. In fact my bankroll now falls between the 1/2 and 2/4 levels. The conservative in me says to just drop back down to 1/2 and build back up slowly. The not so conservative says to drop to 2/4 for a few weeks, get the bankroll back up to the 3/6 level and resume the plan. Both are reasonable I'm just not sure which one is correct for me at this point. At any rate I'm taking a few days away from the tables. I'll still play Wednesday in the WPBT but that's just for fun anyway. Shakespeare was right, "To Thine Own Self Be True."

I haven't written about my own play in a while so here it goes. I'd like to first point out that the tag line to the blog has changed. I have removed the word "new" from before the "poker player" because, well, I'm not new anymore. I also removed the word "micro" from describing my limits because I now play 3/6 and can officially declare myself a low limit player.

Upon my return from the trip I continued to multi-table 2/4 and found myself playing on autopilot and getting bored. Boredom brought on loose incorrect play which in turn led to a bleeding bankroll.

Wanting to get back to basics and correct the problem meant for me getting back to one table. 2/4 didn't lend itself to the risk/reward ratio I needed to maintain interest so I made the move to 3/6. The competition here is not all that different but there are a few items that I think you may find useful when moving to this level.

Where 2/4 was full of calling stations meaning you better have the best hand, 3/6 can be full of over betting pots and bluffing. Aggression is the number one issue you will find at this level. The key is that the aggression is often misplaced. I see players all the time laying down what I believe will be the winning hands because another player is willing to raise, or reraise on the turn. With observation it really doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the players on both ends of this situation. Poker Tracker and Gametime+ can help speed the player evaluation process and it is important to make these distinctions. It may even be in your best interest to push back on the aggressive players when you have nothing more than second pair. This will let them know that you won't be pushed around and that your capable of reading their play. In return this type of player may now lay down to you when you have nothing because he knows you know he probably has nothing. Now that I'm writing this down it seems like a lot of overthinking, but I swear it works.

Table selection has also become more of an issue at this level. I prefer a table with large average pots and thus the high aggression factor I mentioned. It is also possible to find tables full of rocks and these tables will kill my earn rate faster than anything. As a result I find myself table hopping with much more frequency than I had in the past. It would be in the best interest of my growth as a well rounded player to seek these types of tables out once in a while. Perhaps I will in the future. I know that I should just adapt my game to the tendencies of the "Rock". It's just that when it's quick and easy to find a game that already matches my prefered style, I just don't.

Of course why should you even listen to me or consider my advice valid. Yes, I'm a winning player and have been fortunate in that respect, but so what. There are lots of winning players.

Many bloggers write of the poker books they read and which ones are the best. I've read a whole one and half poker books. That's right, a half, I couldn't even finish the second one. I'm not the study a book kinda player. I prefer to observe my opponents and try to get a read on their tendencies. I'd estimate 75% of my poker knowledge comes from table time. The rest is from reading other blogs and reviewing my own play in PokerTracker.

I'd like to say I spend the time to scope things out and do serious research like Poker Chiq does. I've recently been reading her blog since she commented on mine and I'm impressed. But again, that's not me.

I'm also not an entertaining writer, perhaps not even a good one so I'm sure Pauly doesn't read me. :) All that I can hope is to bestow a little knowledge and perhaps a little diversion from the daily grind.

[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

In the never thought I'd see that department: I found several copies of All In magazine at a local grocery store today. It is the January/February edition. I didn't know that they had made it past the first issue. Just goes to show you that just when you thought it couldn't get any bigger. . . .

[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

Cruise Report: Day 3 No-Limit Tourney.

Day three was going to prove to be one the most fun filled days of the whole trip. After another battle with a fabric challenged robe and a room service breakfast I headed down to take my seat in the $100 No-Limit tournament. This was the second of three tournaments being played on the ship and all PSO cruise winners were fortunate enough to have PSO pay our entry fees into this event.

I drew table 14 seat 2 and was given my allotment of starting chips as the field of 120 filled in the surrounding tables. The first thing I noticed after being seated was that all the tables were now 9 seated instead of 10. This helped to alleviate some of the crowding problems we had been experiencing but more changes were going to be needed to cure it. After winning two of the first three hands played, uncontested, I knew this was going to be a long drawn out process as no one wanted to get involved early. By the time we had completed our first orbit the tournament director was stopping play on our table and splitting us up. As our table was the closest to the entrance of the room I guess it made sense to split us up but nobody had been busted out and our table was full.

I was moved to a table against one of the walls and found myself seated in position 6 to the immediate left of a WPT winner. I didn't know it at the time, I'm not even sure if the episode had aired yet but I had taped it and watched it when I returned home. She looked unassuming and aside from the large rocks adorning several of her fingers her appearance was that of a quiet unassuming girl. I am of course referring to Isabelle Mercier. One of the dealers asked her if she was still "attached to that casino in Paris" but nobody else seemed to recognize her or throw any special attention her way. She also looked younger in person than on TV but she has an unmistakable taste in clothing and she performed ad nauseum the same chip tricks as she did in the Ladies Night edition of the WPT. I saw her later in the week with who I am assuming was her mother, and she was wearing this hot pink fur coat thing with fuzzy pink boots. She definitely appears to have a wild side that wasn't evident in the room.

Aside from the player in seat 9 everyone had about the same size chip stacks, well everyone but the 8 seat who had lost a big one to 9. After a few orbits and some loud shouting from other tables as players were eliminated on big hands I began to get a read on my table mates. Most came across as Rocks, including Mercier. On an interesting side note the 8 seat was also from Kansas. I never would have thought I would run into somebody from Kansas, much less someone who only lived about 20 minutes away from me. We struck up conversation and along with the lady in between us we were having a good time chatting in between hands.

As time went by it was becoming easy to steal blinds and if I was met with any resistance I knew I was beat. I managed to hold my own and at the first, and I believe only, break I had more than doubled by starting stack and we were down about half the field. There was no record kept of placings so no one ever knew what position they were in or how many players were left. There was also no structure to breaks. They made it clear they didn't want to have any if possible and the 16 min blind increases were moving the tournament along.

I believe about 5 members of the PSO team were still in it including myself. I wasn't the biggest stack left from our group but I wasn't the shortest either so I felt pretty good about my standing at the time. Upon our return to the tables things began to heat up and the short stacks began falling. Isabelle was trying to put some pressure on a few players at this point but she was running into real hands and was eliminated. After we had lost a few more players I was joined by fellow PSO'er David. He was down quite a bit but doing a good job of holding on. I didn't want to be the one to eliminate him but as fate would have it I took out the only PSO'er left besides myself.

I continued on for a little while but in order to tell you about the hand that I was eliminated on, I have to tell you about this hand first. I was not involved in this hand and the 8 seat raised it from early position. It folded around to the 3 seat who reraised. The 8 seat was still occupied by my fellow Kansan and as he was now short stacked so he rereaisd all-in. The 3 seat called and they showed their hands. The 3 seat had A's and the 8 held 8's. Kansas was dominated but an 8 came on the turn and he doubled up. The 3 seat went into tilt mode and made it very evident that he was peeved.

Fast forward two hands and I'm on the button. I'm chatting with Kansas (mistake one) and when the action gets to me I look around the table in front of me. I don't see any cards on the table so I go for the blind steal (mistake two). I normally make a standard 3 BB raise but since I only had about 6 x the BB at this point I went all in knowing the blinds would fold. They did and I looked to the dealer to push my chips towards me. Instead the 3 seat chimes in "You really stepped in it this time." He pushes his chips in and tosses a pair of A's onto the felt. I know this guy was on tilt and I swear his hands had to be concealing his cards when I looked around the table. At any rate I only held a Kh4h and I got no help from the board. I was eliminated when there were 4 tables still in play so I finished somewhere in between 27th and 36th. This was my first "live" tournament and considering these were card players I believe I did very well. It was a stupid mental mistake that ended my run and I know that sometimes it only takes one mistake, in my case I committed two in one hand.

Later in the night I returned to the card room and along with the rest of the PSO crew we managed to get a 4/8 table started by ourselves. This was a good time but I dropped about $27 by the time we broke up. I then moved back to my stomping grounds in the 2/4 arena and began what would be a journey into stupidity.

At around 9 that night we had assembled a cast of characters that was ripe for the shenanigans that would soon ensue. We managed to band together for the rest of the cruise and spent several late nights playing and closing the cardroom at 3am. The table of foolishness consisted of myself, DuggleBogey, Krager, The "Prosecutor" (a prosecutor from San Diego), and Ray (a former NFL Wide Receiver). Others joined us on various nights but we were the core group. It all started innocently enough, we were playing serious poker and Duggle had just taken down a decent pot. The difference this time was that he held the "hammer" and showed it. Now I know the hammer has gotten quite a bit of "face time" in the blogs recently and I was out of the loop when all this was going on. I don't have a comment on it but in this case it served a very good purpose. It broke the ice. A few hands later the board comes 772. We talk about Duggle's 72 and guess what he was holding. That's right, 72 yet again. At this point we all joined in the craziness and nothing and no one got any respect for the rest of the night. We were no longer playing poker, we were playing cards. It was now a social event and I've never had more fun losing $85 in my life. If they hadn't kicked us out I'm sure dawn would have come with us still slinging chips and any 72o that came our way.

Cruise Report: Day 2

Ahhhh, our first full day at sea. With room service due to deliver breakfast at 8 am I arose at 7:50 and donned the one-size-fits-all robe provided by Holland America. Now the term one-size-fits-all should represent just that, but it doesn't. Apparently there is the petite one-size-fits-all and the normal one-size-fits-all. Our cabin steward thought I would look better in the petite version. I can honestly report that this is not the case. I'm a large guy and this thing barely covered the essentials. When room service knocked on the door I had so seek refuge under the covers to spare myself what I'm sure would be embarrassing cooler talk by the ship's crew.

After breakfast and a little lazy time I headed to the cardroom. Today Cardplayer was hosting it's first of three tournaments during the cruise. This event was a $100 limit hold-em tourney and I chose not to participate as I don't care for limit tournaments. This tournament like all those that followed, used every table in the room. As players were eliminated they would open up live games. As luck would have it I arrived at just the right time and was seated after a short wait.

I was destined to enjoy myself on this trip and my fellow players made sure that would happen. Being seated with some of the same players as the night before I began to pick up on their idiosyncrasies and was taking advantage of it. The deck was also doing it's part and my big hand of the afternoon was another full house, K's full just like the night before. This time however I had the lead from the time the cards were dealt and I scooped a nice pot. I finished the afternoon session up $113 and feeling quite pleased with myself.

Ending on a very good note I went in search of my wife. She had found her own oasis of bliss in the form of the spa. A very nice layout with saunas, massages, workout equipment, everything you'd expect from a spa on land. We had also managed to meet a couple just a little younger than ourselves during the boarding process the night before so my wife had someone to hang out with during my hours of absence.

The dinner was again amazing and after countless desserts we retired to the Vermeer Lounge for a Broadway Review performed by the Ryndam Dancers. It wasn't exactly on par with Broadway but you get what you get when your in the middle of nowhere off the coast of Mexico. It was very obvious that the male dancers were much more talented than the women which seemed just a bit odd. All in all though it was enjoyable and afterward I found my sealegs carrying me back to the cardroom.

I managed to be seated with a player who I had sat with every time thus far. He was almost old enough to be my father and he was there with his parents. In fact his mom was seated at our table. This player had a name in common with a very famous TV deputy so I'll refer to him as deputy from here on out. I wanted to call him deputy on the ship but I wasn't sure he'd find it that humorous.

Anyway this guy was a tilt waiting to happen. Many players throughout the week complained about him but I loved playing with this guy. He was predictable and was more than willing to lay down a winner to the proper aggression, especially if he was already on tilt. Another bonus was that he had a bad habit of telling people what he thought you held on occasion. He had paid enough attention to know that I have tight starting requirements but failed to think that I may change those requirements once I knew he had figured this out. This was a habit many players would mistakenly fall into. (you reading this duggle)

Moving on I was able to use that to my advantage and logged another winning session. Midnight was approaching and I had to be in the cardroom by nine for the no-limit tournament in the morning. I was riding a high with 3 winning sessions and I felt like only good things were going to happen in the morning.

More to Come.....

Cruise Report: Day 1

What do jellyfish stings, over-crowded seating, and being silly till 3am get you? One amazingly enjoyable Cardplayer Cruise that's what. This was our first cruise ever and it was one helluva good time. I have decided that I could live as a passenger on a cruise ship for the rest of my life.

It all started innocently enough as we awoke at 4am on Saturday the 4th to go to the airport. Ofcourse we didn't finish packing until 1am so the entire time in the air was spent sleeping. Upon arrival the chilly, meaning colder than it was in Kansas City when we left, San Diego air was quite a surprise. Our cab ride to the pier was a short 10 minutes and after clumsily working our way through the preboarding process we were on board at 11:30am. Since the stateroom, ie. closet doubling as sleeping quarters, wouldn't be ready until 1pm we were left to explore the ship. I wouldn't describe the ship as a floating city as we were on a smaller vessel that only held 1,300 passengers, but it was definitely a floating 5-star hotel. The MS Ryndam had all the bases covered with bars, nightclubs, theater, casino, pools, and more.

After getting settled into the room we left for the introductory cocktail party being hosted by Cardplayer. As previously agreed upon my wife and I wore our PokerSourceOnline.com polo shirts so we could find our group and meet everyone. Cardplayer Cruises provided us with some nice welcome aboard gifts including a t-shirt, a nametag/money holder to wear around your neck, and a small waterproof container to hold items while on shore excursions. Each item was very useful during the trip. The actual Cardplayer Cruise constituent numbered around 400 of the overall 1,300 passengers on board. The PokerSourceOnline group comprised of the company owners Mike and Peter as well as Peter's dad Steve and grandfather Nelson. The "players" were myself, DuggleBogey and his wife, Krager, John, and David along with his girlfriend.

Linda Johnson of CardPlayer and WPT fame gave a brief talk about what to expect on the cruise and informed us that hold 'em and omaha would be spread with limits ranging from 2/4 up to 10/20. We were also told that they would accommodate the players and spread any other games wanted but I found out later on that this was not the case.

The ship left port during the cocktail party and afterwards we headed straight to dinner. Since all members of the poker cruise were given the same dining time we were able to eat dinner every night with the PokerSourceOnline group. This proved to be a most entertaining and fun group of people. I truly hope we can all stay in touch in the future.

I don't remember the specifics of most meals on board but the food was generally very good and I remember eating steak for most of them. It in fact became quite a topic of conversation towards the end of the trip as some people were amazed at just how much steak I could eat in a weeks time.

I had no intention of playing cards on the first night but with the wifes permission I ventured to the card room after taking in a comedy show at the ships Vermeer Lounge. The wait list was surprisingly small but the room was jam packed. The "board" was a dry erase board on an easel located at the entrance to the converted conference room, now poker room. I would have thought the poker room would be part of the ships casino but apparently they don't play poker in ship's casinos. You learn something new every day. The Poker room itself wasn't all that big and I didn't get an accurate count of the tables crammed into the room, but if memory serves it was around 19 with 10 seats each. This led to very crowded conditions. You couldn't move in your seat without hitting the person next to you or behind you. My 10 minute wait for a seat was eased by the buffet style spread of snacks that was laid out whenever the card room was open. We were truly treated very well.

Much to my surprise a majority of the players could be classified in the senior citizen category. Since my bankroll for the cruise was going to limit my play to mostly 2-4 I found myself at tables full of mostly older women during daytime and evening hours. This didn't turn out to be as bad as it may sound since most were very friendly and very weak. My game required no adjustment as the tables played very similar to the Party Poker tables I was used to. This meant several callers preflop and action to the end. Most players paid no attention to your play and those that did were usually vocal which really helped out as the week went on.

After displacing half the players in the room just to get to my seat, I sat down very nervously at my first real live poker table. I didn't want to look like an idiot, I'd save that for later, so I was very quiet and tried to stay below the radar on my first night. I did a lot of folding for most of it and was going to finish down about $20 when I found a pair of K's staring at me. My raise sent no one out and others decided to bump it up. We were capped preflop with 4 players and the flop paired the board with a blank. This brought another flurry of betting and we only lost one player. The turn was much more subdued as it was only one bet each. The river brought me a third K for the full house and after capping the river I found that I had dealt out my first bad beat of the cruise as one player had pocket A's and the other had trips. I folded a few more times and decided to call it a night with a profit of $23.

I know $23 is nothing to get excited over but this was my first time playing live in a poker room environment and I had survived. Not only survived but learned a lot. As my week of playing would go on I'd learn that playing live is actually much easier than playing online. Opponents will give away so much and if you press the right buttons without them knowing it, you can really increase your advantage. You lose these nuances online because there isn't that human connection. I walked away with a much greater appreciation, and yearning, for the live game.

I've scribbled on long enough about day one. Day two to come....

Test
I have loaded Hblogger onto my new toy, the PalmOne Treo 600, so I'm writing this to test the upload process. If all goes well, Part I of the CardPlayer cruise report will show up in the morning.

I know I've been offline for a very long time....Work has been busy since were in the middle of a regime change and any freetime I've had at home has been spent playing instead of writing.

[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

Vacation Time

I've been a bad little blogger and I haven't updated when I should. I've been getting ready for my Cardplayer Cruise which embarks on Saturday the fourth. It's seven days on high seas and my excitement is getting out of control.

On the actual poker playing front I've finally made the move to 2/4. It isn't playing any differently than 1/2 and I'm able to 3-table it just as I did 1/2. I've come across a program to replace PlayerView. It's called GameTimePlus and it integrates with Poker Tracker and all of it's supported sites to offer stats overlayed to the screen just as PlayerView did. The huge advantage being that GameTimePlus can be used with all sites where PlayerView was only available for Party skins.

I will make sure to take notes on my poker playing times during the cruise. A full trip report will follow upon my return in a little over a week.

Wish me luck.

Oh, I just realized this was post #100. Century milestone reached. More to come

Corporate America Sucks Ass!

In a brilliant move the company I work for has decided to change all System Managers to an "exempt" status meaning we are no longer eligible for overtime pay. We were already considered partially "exempt" as we were paid straight time for any hours worked over 48 as opposed to the normal time and a half over 40. They have made this retroactive through the last pay period so I am getting fucked out of 43 hours of pay since I worked so many hours two weeks ago. I'm too pissed to write or even think about poker right now.

The family and I are heading to Branson, MO for the Thanksgiving holidays. As this is the case there will be no updates until my return on the 28th.

See how easy it was for me to give you, the reader, an update as to the fact the I will not be updating this site for a week. Yet the company I work for was to chicken shit to afford me the same courtesy about my pay until after I saw my paycheck.

2 Down 2 To Go

The Poker Stars and one of my two Party bonuses are now cleared. That leaves one Party Poker and one Paradise to go.

I downloaded and tried out the PlayerView program last night. I opened up two Party tables and began configuring the PlayerView interface to suit my needs. I have to admit I wasn't paying very much attention to the tables and dropped 25BB's between the two of them within an hour. After settling down with the program in place I found that playing two tables was much easier than it used to be when I would be running the Poker Tracker game time windows. In the past between hands I would spend time updating the windows or looking over stats but with the relevant data superimposed directly onto the tables I had enough free time to open up a third table.

This, as it turned out, was a very profitable event. The third table was bringing me the cards and they were holding up. While I continued to tread water or dip down at the other tables I played during the night this one kept handing me the goods. I was able to amass 47.5BB's in 2 hours at this table and that saved me from what would have been a 35BB loss. Three tables seemed as manageable as two while using PlayerView so I'll continue playing them for the time being.

With the bonuses cleared having the 300BB's for a move up in levels will be here even earlier than I anticipated.

Back To Business

The massive work marathon is complete, well has been for a few days, and things are finally getting back to normal. Several items are floating around in my cavernous noggin so I'll just spew forth a few quick thoughts for today.

I believe its time for Absolute Poker and I to part ways for a while. They have done yet another software update and the memory leak problem I've detailed in the past has reared its ugly head again. Muti-tabling has become impossible as my laptop bogs down in the quagmire of FPU overload. They have also in their infinite wisdom decided to start charging a $1 juice for the $5 multi-table tournaments. I enjoyed playing these but I can find others at Poker Stars and UltimateBet that are only charging .50. I know half a dollar isn't much in the grand scheme of things but it's the principal of the matter. I didn't like it when they did it to the single table tourneys and I like it even less when it's the multi-table variety. The poker league ends on December 3rd so I'll play till then and withdraw my funds.

Being the good little bonus whore I've taken advantage of the Poker Stars, and Party Poker reload bonuses. I will also be accepting the new player sign on bonus at Paradise Poker tonight in preparation for the Grublog Classic II on Sunday night. This means my play will be moving from site to site for a few weeks until everything is cleared. With the OIC Challenge at The Gaming Club I put my $50 down and played for one night. I made a few bucks but with all the bonus opportunities I have to clear it's just -EV to continue with it.

Poker Stars has been my site of choice for the last few nights and its been a very, very pleasant experience. The $10 SNG's are very good and with the ability to import the data into Poker Tracker this has become my new SNG site replacing Absolute. The ring games have also been good. I'm playing the 1/2 level and I'm witnessing the same number of people seeing the flop as at Party, but they are much more likely to abandon their hand at or before the river. This makes for more thought out play in my opinion and table image can work to your advantage in much greater ways. In the two days I've been playing I've posted a 41.5 and 21.25BB profit respectively. I almost hate to leave and clear the Party Poker bonus but I can't let that free money go to waste.

Speaking of profits my bankroll will be healthy enough in the next few weeks for a move to 2/4. I'm really looking forward to this. I've really seen the bankroll grow recently and separating my rolls out to separate entities has really helped me focus on a bigger picture of overall play improvement.

On a final note I had a fellow blogger join in on one of my tables last night. The Poker Boss sat down and it was nice to feel like I had a comrade at arms joining me in the battle. We didn't end up in too many hands together and before I left he was doing well at holding his own. If you get a chance go check him out. I'm sure he has more readers than I do as the traffic here is rather anemic but I'll give him the mention anyway.

Day 6 Hour 80

The work marathon continues....
all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy all work and no play makes grind a dull boy .....

A Little Pokah'

Played a little last night after getting home from work. I finished 1st and 2nd in the two sit-n-go's I played and then I saw a WSOP freeroll satellite was starting up so I hoped on. The first 5 finishers in this tournament get an entry into the end of the month tournament. This tournament then pays out WSOP prize packages.

1200 people were signed up and I had an opportunity to triple up very early which then led to folding hand after hand for 40 minutes. I went into the first break with 4600 chips, up from the original 1500. There were only 371 players left so the action was coming fast and furious.

During the second round with blinds at 200/400 I had built up a nice chip stack of 22,500. I found the Hilton sisters in late position and when several people called before me I bet the pot of 2100. An early limper was my only caller and the flop came 66J. EP led out with 3,000 and I instantly put him on a J. I raised enough to just about put him all in and he pushed all in. I called and he showed me his 6cJc, my Q never came. I can't fathom why he even limped in with that hand, let alone called a big raise, but the flop was as perfect as he could get and I was down to 8,600.

When the second break came I had blinded down to 7,395 and 116 players were left.

I played what I believe to be my best tournament ever. Everything seemed to click and I managed to play a nice tight/aggressive strategy. Having said that I did not make the top five. I busted out in 82nd position. After building back up to 17,000 chips I ran into a player who slowplayed his pocket A's. The player in question would bet with the smallest pair on the flop so when I had top pair I pushed him and we became pot committed. I had him covered by about 3,000 but after losing that hand the blinds were to big for me to sustain anything. I pushed in the next hand and just missed my flush.

I left the tourney feeling very good and happy with my play. Take away the two mistakes and I played better than any other time, even the win and money finishes.

I've never posted twice in one day but I finally got around to checking out Daniel Negreanu's newly redesigned Full Contact Poker and he's added a poker blog to the other items at his site. Not a lot of actual poker content yet but he does talk about two days of play. In one sitting he dropped $140,000. It's nice to know even top pros lose sometimes. But Daniel the next time you feel like dropping that kind of cash just send me a check. I could just about pay off my house with that.

128 hours in 10 days

That is my work schedule for the next ten days starting today. That includes having Tuesday off so other than maybe Sunday and Monday night I won't be playing much poker for the next week. I was happy to see that Iggy has posted a large list of new blogs, at least I'll be able to read about poker at work to kill some of the time. I'm also going to work on a post about tracking ones bankroll and I should have time to finish up that Hellmuth DVD series I started on way back when.

Last night was the first PokerSourceOnline.com Poker League tournament. I managed a 12th place finish. Only 41 people signed up so it's not that impressive. The play was excruciatingly tight and no one wanted to give up anything. I don't think the first person was even eliminated until we were 45 minutes in. I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar a few times while blind stealing and I wasn't able to build up anything. Good experience though and I'll know what to expect next week. I'm going to try to play from work so we'll see how that goes.

Well There You Are

I didn't fall off the face of the earth, just took a few days off. I've kept playing poker and the limit game is coming along nicely. With the bankroll building and my recent devotion to Multi and Single table tournaments growing I've decided to split my bankroll up.

I believe that my tournament play has gotten to a point where it should be self sustainable. With that in mind, I decided to break my bankroll into three separate entities. I have the main ring game bankroll, a sit-n-go bankroll, and a multi table tournament bankroll. I have no fear of my ring game bankroll running dry but if either of my tournament rolls do, then I will stop playing those games until I have had a chance to fully analyze why it happened and have padded the ring bankroll enough to bleed some funds off.

Just as I instituted this change in bankrolls I decided to move my sit-n-go play from Absolute to Ultimatebet. That decision was a mistake. In the first 10 I played I only managed a third place finish three times. This really cut into my sit-n-go roll and with that I'm going back to Absolute where I know I can beat the games. I'm not saying that the Ultimate games aren't beatable. In all reality if I wanted to spend a few weeks getting the experience in I'm quite sure I could have success, I just don't feel the need to put the effort in yet since I already have games I can beat. Not exactly "growing the skill set" but when I can pad the roll a bit I'll try branching out again.

On the Multi table front I'm breaking close to even but down a little. I've made the money in a few but only enough to barely cover the buyins for those particular events. I'm stuck at a point where I can't seem to break through the first payout level. Last night was a huge disaster as I didn't even make it past the first break in either of the tournaments I played in. I really need a big score before the end of the month so I can actually do things during the cruise excursions. Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself and that's leading to performance anxiety. It all comes back to attitude and "Mr. Anonymous" is right again. Mr. Anonymous isn't really anonymous anymore as the author of the comment has revealed himself. It's just more fun to keep referring to him that way.

The ring games are coming along nicely. I think some players are starting to avoid me though. I've been running pretty wild lately and one player who I like to play against because he's a rock, and thus, predictable, has gotten the habit of leaving when I sit down. It might be coincidence but my over inflated ego wants to believe that I scare him, or at the least I'm taking away his action. I had the opportunity to play during the daytime hours on Wednesday for the first time. I'm still playing at UltimateBet to clear the bonus which should be accomplished this week. I have to say daytime play there sucks. The players were so incredibly tight that I couldn't get any action except on the kill games. On these games every time their was a kill the action was so overly aggressive it wasn't worth the money to be in without a monster. This type of play really negates my normal style so I had to leave with a loss and my tail between my legs. Fortunately after busting out of the tournaments last night the games were back to normal and I was able to recoup.

I was happy to hear that a live blogger tournament has been planned. I was unhappy to read the date it was being played on. That is the same day we are due to arrive back in San Diego so I won't be able to attend. I probably wouldn't be able to attend anyway but at least now I have a good excuse.

Overvaluing the Flush

I screwed up the registration process for the Poker Forum Challenge. I registered on the website but didn't register on the Royal Vegas software so I couldn't play in the tourney. I thought that if you registered on the website you would be registered for the tournament but apparently the website just allowed the privilege of registering for the tournament at Royal Vegas.

I was in a tournament frame of mind and I found a $5+.50 rebuy with a guaranteed $15,000 pool at UltimateBet. I used some saved up player points to join the tourney and purchase the initial rebuy so I could start with 2,000 instead of 1,000 chips. Things seemed to go well but I found myself second best a few times and automatically rebought if I fell below 1,000. Before the first break I had rebought twice and with the addon I was invested $15. The prize pool had grown to over $25,000 and first place was getting over $7,000.

With 1912 players initially joining the tournament 1042 were still in it at the break. That means 870 players were nothing more than dead money as they opted not to rebuy. Extending that thought, with the buy in at $5 the players contributed $4,350 in essence giving the tournament an overlay. That's assuming none of the 870 did any rebuys. I might have to play this one again in the future.

Anyway, back to actual play. On the first hand after the break I was dealt K9d in late position. I was able to limp into a multiway pot and the flop came JJ6 with two diamonds. It checked to the player on my immediate right and he put a pot sized bet out. I called with the flush draw expecting others to call but everyone folded around. The turn brought a K and my opponent checked. I figured my K may or may not be good since JJ was on the board and my opponent represented the J. With it checked to me I took the free card. The river brought another diamond and with my made flush thoughts of doubling up bounced in my head. My opponent placed a pot sized bet and knowing I could now beat his three Jacks I pushed all in. By going all in I was only making a slightly larger than pot sized bet so my opponent called. He showed me a KJ for the full house and I was out on the first hand after the break in 1042nd place. We could now increase the dead money count by an additional $15.

This was the second time my flush had gone down to a full house in this tournament and each time it was slowed played by my opponent. During the ring games I played after busting out I again lost with a flush against a full house. It was certainly not my night to have flushes. This makes me look harder at overvaluing the flush without taking the board into consideration. None of my opponents represented the full house when they hit it and that's what they are supposed to do. I believe I was too over anxious and never took the time to review everything before placing my bets. I think it's OK to ride the flush through the river in a ring game as your losses will be limited but I'm going to have to be much more careful in the future in the tournaments. I always here you shouldn't risk an all in unless your 99% sure you have the nuts in and in both cases the board showed that I could be dominated. In the hand I was busted out on if I would have just called the bet I would have been shortstacked but at least I'd have still been in the fight.

Learn from my mistake. Don't overvalue your hand.

Part-y-ing is Such Sweet Sorrow

I finished clearing my free $50 bonus last night. In the three sessions I spent working it I just about tripled up. I am truly amazed at some of the play at Party on occasion but then Iggy's been saying it for, well, forever. With the Party bonus behind me I need to turn my attention back to UltimateBet and the clearing of that one. After that I'm thinking the Full Tilt 100% bonus is sounding good. I've heard good and bad about the clearing process but hey, 100% is 100%. If enough players are on it I'll give it a shot.

Tonight I visit Royal Vegas for the $5,000 freeroll by way of the Poker Forum Challenge. I'll be playing for PokerSourceOnline.com and if I can win It'll turn my entire Poker Cruise in December into a free trip.

Wish Me Luck

PS - using bisons criteria per his post on 2+2 I rated all the players in my Poker Tracker database. I rated out as a "Slight Loose Preflop", "Aggressive Preflop", and "Aggressive Postflop" or sLA-A. If I change the "Slightly Loose Preflop" to a "Tight Preflop" I'll be rated the way he says I should. It's all subjective and my style works for me but I have noticed a natural tightening up of my game lately. Who knows, I might end up "Tight Preflop" by progression instead of effort.

Know What, You're Right

In my last post I talked about the frustration of playing a tournament in which I really felt like I was butting my head against a wall. I received one comment to the post and it went like this:

You got 3 hours worth of poker experience with cold cards, and managed to cash.
You beat 550 other players, all who lost money.
You managed a short stack well enough to surprise some other players.
And you sound like somebody SHOT YOUR DOG.
You don't have the temperament for poker. I suggest online quake.
Anonymous

That comment is absolutely correct when taken in the context of that tournament. I certainly did not have the temperament for poker that night. My frustration/aggression would have been better served blowing monsters to bits in Quake. At least I was able to convey my feelings to words as Mr. Anonymous was able to come to roughly the same conclusion I was about the night.

Fortunately I've gotten over myself. Tuesdays day off had a nice rejuvenating effect on me and I came back last night feeling ready to go. To my delight the Party patrons were ready as well. Ready to part with their money that is. A nice 25BB win for 7BB/100 and I was able to go to sleep feeling good about my play and my attitude.

It's for the experience, right?

Going in search of a cheap multi table tourney last night proved to be more difficult than I thought. After checking several sites UltimateBet was offering a $5 +.50 and a $10 +$1 w/ rebuys and $20,000 guaranteed prize pool. The smart money would have been to play the $10 but considering the rebuys and add-on I was looking at a minimum investment of $31. ($10 + $1 entry, immediate add-on $10 and the final add-on $10) That was if I didn't drop significant chips before the final add-on.

The $5 tourney started an hour earlier than the $10 and since I was looking to go cheap I bought in figuring if I busted within the first hour I could go with the rebuy event. After it was all over I almost wish I had busted early. This had to be the single most depressing tourney I've ever played in. Depressing might be the wrong word, I wasn't actually "depressed", perhaps "ho, hum" would be better. At any rate there was nothing to lift my spirits going on here. I was very card dead for the entire tournament and had to survive at least 5 or 6 all-ins in the later stages just to make the money. I was to the point where any Ace was an all-in hand and I had to count on the big stacks calling me with garbage to survive. Since I was no threat they happily obliged and one player commented about how funny it was that the "little" guy was still hanging on. If we had been at a real table I'm quite sure I would have reached out and bitch slapped him. Frustrating... that's the word I was searching for, not depressing, frustrating. Complete and utter frustration. I managed to finish 51st out of 631 for a small $2.16 profit. Almost 3 hours of my life that I'll never get back for a mere pittance.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Being upset about making the money, well the little end of the money. Am I to hard on myself, Do I have a delusional outlook on my own abilities? I'll have to ponder this and since tonights family night I'll be able to get away from the game for a night and think about it.

Two in a Row

Finally broke out two back to back wins. It's been weeks since I've strung some together it came at a nice time.

Party Poker graced me with an email on Saturday proclaiming that I had $50 waiting in my account and all I had to do to keep it was play 500 raked hands by October 28th at Midnight. That will be a tight bonus to clear since I don't play ring games on Sunday-Tuesday, but I blew out 200 on Saturday night so I should 'get er done.

I played for three hours to clear the 200 "raked" hands and managed a 7.43BB/100 earn. I haven't played Party in weeks since it was kicking my ass but this was a good welcome back gift.

Last night was Sit-N-Go night at Absolute and I played in three of them. I've stopped muti-tableing these since the end game requires too much concentration on my part. In the three I posted a 2nd, 3rd, and 8th. The 8th was a hard one to swallow as a suited hammer took out my AQs. He made a straight on the river with the 2. I knew I was going to lose the hand when the straight hit the river but I was already pot committed. I expected to see him show an A2 since he was calling down my big bets but instead he had absolutely nothing till the river. A profitable night none the less but I knew I was too ticked to keep playing.

At least I'm learning to leave when I know I'm not going to play optimally. That makes me feel like progress is being made in my game and that's always a good thing.

The Precipice of Greatness

OK, actually I just wanted to use the word Precipice in the title.

A sure sign that you've arrived on the blogging scene is having Dr. Pauly mention you as one of the "Notable players KO'd" from the blogger tourney. Did I mention he used the word notable. Being designated as notable is surely a sign of greatness, or a notable sign that armeggedon will soon be upon us. But hey, I'm in a "glass is half full" kinda mood so we'll go with greatness.

Speaking of glass being half full. I had a good night of bonus clearing at UltimateBet. I covered my gambling losses from a few nights ago and that was a big confidence boost. For those of you following along I'm sure it's become more than obvious that I'm in a win one day, lose the next day, playing cycle. I really need to put together a couple of wins in a row to get myself going. My current wins are slightly bigger than my losses so progress is still being made, albeit very slowly.

I worked on switching up my play a little and raised with hands I normally don't while limping with hands I'd normally raise. I tried to be as inconsistent as I felt I could and still be profitable. This was working wonders at one table in particular and I had a lot more calls at the river than I normally would. I was giving the impression of overvaluing some weaker cards and caught several players chasing second best because of it. I'm not convinced it's a complete formula to success as the suckouts are a bit bigger but certainly more research will be in order this evening.

My work towards limiting my losses through better play started to pay off last night as well. I did have one losing table, because it broke up, only dropping 4 BB's. All other tables were profitable.

Well I better get back to work, this is your notable poker blogger signing off.

The Blogger Tourney, Such As It Was

I saw 14 flops, suffered 1 bad beat, and I didn't go out on the bad beat. Player foles1_98 seemed to have my number all night and took most of my chips as well as booting me from the tourney. I should have taken it as a bad sign as phonetically "foles" is the same as my ex-wifes current last name. I couldn't get anything going as even when I had good starting cards the board would give me no help. I went out on the hand before the first break in 93rd position.

I then fired up some ring games at UltimateBet and still could get no help. I was blessed with pocket K's 5 times yet lost money with them. I loosened up a bit more than I should have but overall the cards just wouldn't hold up for me.

I suffered my biggest loss, when holding KK. A straight minus the K was on the board and since we were capping the turn and river I expected a split. The river card paired the Jacks on board though and his J10 gave him the full house. I went from a 90% favorite at the turn to losing 8.5 big bets. That hand pretty much summed up my whole night. It can only get better, right?

What were you thinking?

That's what I said to myself yesterday as I reviewed Sunday nights play in Poker Tracker. Sunday night is normally a sit-n-go night for me but with UltimateBet offering the big bonus, and since I had such a good Saturday night, I decided to stick with the limit tables to knock out some more of the bonus. To make a short story shorter I gave back the big win Saturday night and then a little more.

Even while I was still sitting there playing Sunday night I knew I was not playing correctly. I would say to myself, "I should fold here", but I clicked the call button again and again like an unthinking automaton. I played four tables and was only profitable on one. That table brought me a whopping 5 cents. The others, well lets just say I lost more than 5 cents on each. :)

It became very evident, very early in my review of the data that I wasn't playing poker. I was at the poker tables, but I was gambling. Not since first starting to play have I gambled it up that much. I actually found more than one hand were I was calling off bets with zero outs. Now that I'm two days removed from the debacle I find it kinda funny and I look at it as a blowing off steam session. Maybe subconsciously I needed to throw money around. When I get back to the grind on Friday I'll be focused once again.

I normally get back to the grind on Thursdays but with the Poker Blogger Tourney on Thursday night I will be doing that instead. There is still time to sign up. The tournament will be at Poker Stars and you can get all the details at Iggy's place.

Dissin' the Duke

I'm hard at work clearing my 50% deposit bonus at UltimateBet and winning while I'm at it. Today though I don't want to write about my play, instead I want to briefly discuss Annie Duke.

I believed, as I think many online players did, that Annie Duke was a big cry baby. Her comments as quoted by ESPN after she busted out of the WSOP championship were that of someone trying to make excuses for her lack of ability and over inflated ego. It also appeared, to me at least, that she thought she was better than all other female players and that playing in an all female tournament would be too demeaning for her. The "chip on her shoulder" indeed seemed large and only growing larger.

Then came the Tournament Of Champions event. Did Annie Duke deserve to be in the tournament? no. She herself said she probably didn't have a shot of winning it. ESPN was putting her in the event as the token female player and there were no expectations. Of course she went on to win it and during this event I noticed something that began to change my attitude toward her. She was extremely lucky in a few of the hands we saw on television and it was these hands which helped propel her toward her eventual win. Without this luck she was definitely not the best player at the table. She honestly admitted to this in the post tourney interview so that helped here cause. Also when she was heads up, she became the best player at the table. No doubt, Phil's an excellent player. She played tremendously against him and knew exactly what buttons to push to win the psychological war between them. His massive tilt session afterwards will, I'm sure, go down in history as one of the best.

This event in itself didn't change my thinking to much but when combined with her interviews afterwards, I started to see her in a different light. I was able to read several interviews where the lack of her appearances in all female events were explained. She referred directly to the WSOP Ladies event and listed her reason for not playing in it to be because the event didn't pay as much as the other event running at the time. I can't fault anyone for looking at the big financial picture. She also said she supported the womens events but that she is looking to make her presence known in the major events and that's were she needs to focus. Again, I can't fault her logic.

This leads me to the WPT Poker Corner broadcast this last week. I had recorded it and just watched it last night. While it was a fluff piece designed to give the WPT more air time I have to say that Annie impressed me. I'm not a professional player, for do I profess to be, but her "analysis" of play, as opposed to Daniel or Phil's, seemed to be more to the way I would have looked at the events. She was passionate about her "reads" and more than willing to defend her point of view. Daniel came off as a color commentator you'd see on ESPN and Phil was trying to distance himself from everything Annie said while trying to align himself with Negreanu's thinking. Annie was clearly not getting any respect from either of these players and Mike Sexton appeared to pick this up and offered Annie words of encouragement in form of agreement on several occasions.

After taking all to this into consideration I have to say I see where the "chip on her shoulder" comes from. It's clear that women, or at least Annie Duke, are not getting the full respect of the current players and I hope that changes soon. I for one am willing to say I was wrong, and Annie, you've got my respect.

Welcome to Poker Stars

I signed up for Poker Stars last night using the link from Iggy's site. I hope he's getting something out of it because they sure didn't offer me anything. What's with the no first time depositer bonus. That's a bogus no bonus.

Since we all know that all poker sites are rigged, in leau of the sign on bonus the computers made sure I took plenty of money from the tables. I've always heard how tough the play is at that site but I extracted 20BB/100 last night. This will more than cover my buy in for the blogger tourney so I'm happy about it. My greed wants me to go back tonight for more but Ultimate Bet is offering a 50% reload bonus for today only so I'm heading back over there. I'm not one to turn down free money.

The tables seemed pretty ripe for the picking last night but what's with the interface. All of the muted brown and yellow colors are just to, well, muted. There needs to be some more contrast in the color scheme. It's easy to overlook someone still in the pot if you don't take the time to look it over carefully. A few times I would miss an early player limping in when I had hands going on multiple tables. This cost me a few times. Maybe I'm spoiled by some of the other sites but I'm not sure I'll play at Stars very often.

Futures So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

After a restful night away from the tables I was ready to go. I watched the documentary on the team that built SpaceShip One as they went for the X-prize. This is showing on the Discovery Science Channel and I recommend it. Good TV.

As has become my normal Wednesday night routine I signed up for the Absolute Rewards Points $500 guaranteed tournament. I had about 45 minutes to kill before it got started so a quick sit-n-go was in order.

These things normally run around an 1:15 to an 1:30 but it was over in 58 minutes. I emerged victorious and ready for the tournament. The few hands that overlapped while I finished up the single table tournament were uneventful but then things fired up. It was nice for a change not to have to worry about playing the small stack. I stayed around average to a few thousand over the average size chip stack for the majority of the tournament. I played well but was boosted by some nice flops. I didn't receive that many pocket pairs but did have more than my fair share of A's. I remember getting pocket pair six times during the event. 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's each once and the A's three times. I believe the A's helped me to eliminate an opponent each time as they held up. Now that I've put them on paper as it were, my pocket pairs eerily give me the straight.

At any rate I coasted to the final table and and pushed in a large bet with AJo from early position. The small stack at the table responded with an all in and everyone folded to me. I saw it as my duty and called. The SS outkicked me with his AQo and I was left with barely enough to cover the BB of 6,000. When it came around to me I pushed all in with the hammer and declared in the chat box that I was "going out in a blaze of glory". No one seemed to find this humorous but when a 2 hit the flop and a 7 on the turn I thought I was going to triple up and live to fight on. As it happened though one of my callers held pocket 5's and made a straight on the river. I was out in 6th place but happy with my play, my finish, and my goal achieved of making the final table.

I only have enough reward points left to buy into another 3 of these so from here on out it's all about the win.

Sweet, Sweet, Variance

After having the horrible loss on Thursday night I managed to take the lesson to heart and had an extraordinary night on Saturday. I posted a 58BB win which more than covered the loss and gave me a 20BB gain for the week. I managed to play enough hands by Saturday night that I have secured my spot in the $100,000 freeroll that takes place on December 18th at Royal Vegas Poker. According to their info they are expecting 50,000 entrants. (maybe I'm reading that wrong) I don't know how this can be handled but it will certainly be interesting to see how it's done. That enormous of a field will be nearly impossible to get through but I look forward to the challenge.

On the tourney front I managed an 11th place finish last night in a field of 91 at Absolute Poker. I could have easily skated into the final table but I got greedy and was caught 100% off guard by my heads up opponent. I've replayed it hundreds of times, as I was very pissed for a very long time last night. Problem is I'm not sure if I made a mistake or not. I certainly could have played it differently but I was so sure of my read I sacrificed everything. I have never posted a hand history to a forum before but I think I will post this one at PSO. I'm interested in the feedback I'll get. Next week when I've gotten some responses I'll disect it and post it here for your guys' opinions.

Speaking of tournaments it appears that I have become very adept at playing a short stack (as it seems I'm short stacked 90% of the time) but I don't have a clue how to play a large stack. Every time I managed to build up to a decent stack I end up giving it away. This will be the next item in my game I'll need to address. I'm open to any guidance my readers have on this topic. (hint..hint..use comments...hint..hint)

My sit-n-go game has seemed to go to pot recently as well. I feel I'm getting to weak/tight and always seem to pick the wrong times to go aggressive. Oh Well, practice...practice...practice

PS. I will be playing in the next blogger tournament being hosted at Poker Stars. I don't have an account their yet but I'll get one this week and start preparing to improve on my 10th place finish in the last one.

Lesson Given

Poker Tracker has shown me a lesson.

I had a horrible night of cards last night. In an effort to win a spot in the $100,000 freeroll happening in December at Royal Vegas Poker I needed to play 100 raked hands by this Sunday. I deposited some money two or three days ago and managed a modest win on the first night. Then came last night.

I managed to lose 45BB between two tables of .50/1. With my current bankroll woes that is significant damage. I wanted to delve into the issue of the loss before posting so I fired up Poker Tracker and looked at the table I lost the most at first. I expected to see glaring holes in my play but I honestly did not find anything of significance. I truly had a bad run of cards. The only pair I received during my play was 4's, they didn't flop trips and with overcards I folded. My biggest pocket cards that were not a pair was ATo. Even when I had my bad run last month I don't think I ever received such a large amount of bad cards in a single session. I did not win a single hand at the table during my 74 played there. Aside from two hands I never lost more than 1.5BB's in a single pot. My VP$IP% was 14.86% so I was playing way fewer hands than I normally do, I just wasn't getting any to play.

On the second table I was getting a bit better cards. I not only received pocket 4's once but pocket 10's as well one time. Instead of having ATo being my best hand other than pairs I got AJs once. My VP$IP% was 22.22% which is still tight but I was seeing more action. I had a few hands hold up at this table and even managed to win a few pots. Although I didn't lose as much money at this table I played this table much more poorly. Looking through my post flop play I was giving away far too many Big Bets. It looks as though I was trying to overcompensate for the loses from the first table by winning bigger pots on the second. This worked a few times but as I lost more than I won I was overvaluing my hands and giving money away.

There is no way, given the cards, I was going to win last night. I compounded the problem by giving away more than I needed to at one of the tables. I broke the rule of minimizing your loses.

Lesson given, but was it learned. I for one, hope so.

One Step Closer

A few days ago, or maybe a week, I proclaimed that instead of just trying to make the money in multi table tournaments, I was going to shoot for the final table. Last night I busted out one spot from that final table. In an Absolute rewards tournament (you use rewards points for the buy in but cash is paid out) in which over 340 people registered, I began my quest. Five hands into the thing I had 165 chips left from the original 1500. I had pretty much resigned myself to busting out among the first players as my AKd ran into 10 7o. The 10 7 made two pair on the turn and my flopped K cost me almost my entire stack. Short stacked play was the overriding theme for the night so that's what we'll address here today.

Conventional wisdom states that when short stacked you need to be aggressive and try to steal blinds when the opportunities arise. This is sound strategy if you have enough of a stack left that you might intimidate someone. What do you do if you don't have enough of a stack to even match an average size pot? I know Celebrity Poker is a bad reference but I keep hearing Phil Gordon's voice in my head. "I can't believe he folded that hand. That was a horrible play, when your short stacked you need to pick any two cards and move in. You need to get lucky and try to double up." I don't specifically remember the episode this came from, or even if that is an exact quote, but it covers the main point he was making. Well I say pushaw Mr. Gordon.

I have an approach that completely bucks the trend. Be patient and wait for a top starting hand. Will you be blinded off, maybe. Will you double up when called, yes, most of the time. I had to put the disclaimer of "most of the time" since we all know even aces can be cracked. What you want to do is give yourself the greatest possibility to be the victor. Put as much of the odds as you can on your side. In essence, cut down on the luck factor. When you are left with a small enough stack that you are almost guaranteed a call from a bigger stack, you have to be patient and wait it out. Fold hands you may even normally play. I folded small pocket pair on more than one occasion last night waiting for the proper cards and position.

Position is key in deciding what hands to play. This holds true in everyday play and is even more critical when short stacked. Those pocket 4's are good to move in with if your on the button and it's folded to you, but if your under the gun just muck them. It won't take long before the observant players start respecting you again even if they have you covered four times over. I had taken my 165 chips and turned them into an above average stack before the first break. I didn't get more than my fair share of good cards, I was just patient and looked for opportunities to maximize my gain when these hands came.

I stayed above board until we were down to 54 players. I don't remember the specifics of the hand but I found myself with less than 10x the big blind when the chips were pushed away from me. At the late stages of a tournament you will have a big stack call an all in from a short stack holding just about anything. I've seen 72o call an all in so you need to take advantage of these opportunities by maximizing your preflop odds. With so many players left I knew I wasn't going to make the final table if I got careless. I sweated it out and finally ended up all in on my big blind. I was dealt 84o and knew I was busted. One caller came with me and I received my first of two lucky breaks in the tournament. I made two pair and more than doubled up. My next lucky break came when I raised the big blind from my small blind. I went all in and the BB only had to call 230 more chips to cover me. He wasn't paying attention to the chip stacks though and folded. I had the goods holding AK but still he committed a critical error. The table let him know this and he was the next to bust out.

They say you need luck as well as skill to win a tournament and my luck came at these two opportune times. I stayed among the shortest stacks until the end but I played my chips hard when I had my best preflop chances and continued to double up when I needed to. I knew I wasn't going to be able to mount a serious run for the win without a much bigger stack but I couldn't mount that large of a comeback. I took my chances with a small pocket pair with 10 players left and was handed my walking papers. My ride from 50 down to 10 may not have been flashy or pretty but I did what was necessary to propel myself through the ranks. A succession of all in bets may have been what some will recommend, but in my experience, the tortoise can beat the hare.

Review: Phil Hellmuths Million Dollar Tournament Strategies DVD

After experiencing disappointment with the Million Dollar Poker System I really didn't have high hopes for this one.

While the production value remained roughly the same as in the Poker System DVD it was obviously filmed at a different time. We see Phil wearing the open collar and unbuttoned cuff (what's up with that) look that he sported in the late add on segment placed into the Poker System DVD. As before I believe a continuity in wardrobe would have added to the overall production value. A few more "effects" have been added where camera angles are changed with maddening frequency and the onscreen transition graphics become quite annoying. A welcomed addition was Phil's greater comfort level with the cameras. He appeared to be much more relaxed and almost reminded me of the personality type you see on the late night infomercials. Not the Ronco guy because he's way over the top but Phil had a rather subdued yet energetic delivery. The trademark ego was in full affect but to be honest I took it as more of a qualification of his abilities and supported his "proof of knowledge" as opposed to the normal blatant self indulgent rhetoric. He bordered on personable, but that may just be that fact that I'm in a good mood while watching this.

Now onto content. Knowing that this instructional DVD is for beginners only, and I stress the word beginners, it has some very good content. It also severely lacks in its explanations of that content. At 57 minutes the run time is just to short to do anything but tell you what a tournament is. In fact the 57 minutes includes the opening sequence, credits, and commercials at the end. All in all only about 48 minutes is actual instruction. This DVD is more of a primer to help people watch a tournament on TV, and have some idea what the commentators are talking about, rather than a primer to actually playing in a tournament.

Phil steps through the following strategies or stages as they call them in the DVD
1) How to Enter
   What to Expect
   The First Hours
2) Raising to Steal the Blinds
   The "All in" Strategy
   The Bluffing Weapon
3) Work Your Chips
   The Will to Win
   The Final Table
   Recap

Phil starts with the buy in procedure for most major tournaments. As this would be step one in the casino tournament process I suppose it had it's place. The DVD would have been better served if they had taken that 5 minutes and used it to give more detailed explanations of actual playing strategies. For instance the blind stealing section although important in tournament play really left much to be desired in it's explanations. Phil has a tendency to introduce a basic concept, then explain that concept by introducing advanced plays and anecdotes from his past tournaments. I can't blame him for the lack of real world usable content. The DVD medium is just not the proper format for truly learning the game of poker. A good collection of books will give you so much more useable information. He introduces concepts and tells you what they are, just not the real knowledge to use them.

Next up Online Secrets...I can't wait :)

Uncle! Uncle!

I should have cried Uncle last night and gave up. I wanted to watch the Presidential Debate but instead found myself at a 5 year olds birthday party. As I'm sure you are aware these are often just more fun than a barrel of monkeys but I was able to peel the family away in time to make the $8,000 guaranteed tournament at Absolute. I arrived back at home with 5 minutes to spare and was busted before the first break.

I called an early raiser with QJo in late position and 3 of us saw the flop. The flop came Q high and I had a sense that the only hands that could beat me were AQ or KQ. I just couldn't put anyone on a big pair, not even the early raiser. The early raiser came out with a bet about one third the pot and the MP called as well as myself. The turn and river were blanks and the EP raiser led out each round. We let him and at showdown the EP had only pocket 10's. The MP player showed KQ and I was left with 10 x the Big Bet within 5 minutes of the tournament starting. I played this hand all wrong, knew I could be beat, and still chucked my chips into the pot. I tried to hang on but with no cards to fight back with it was only a matter of time and that time was short.

Not being too horribly disappointed I moved to Ultimate Bet and fired up two cash tables. I received good starting hands on both tables but always seemed to come up second best. What made things worse was I knew what my opponents had, I knew I was beat, yet kept putting money in the pots hoping my reads were wrong. A cardinal sin broken and I paid 40BB for my sacrilege.

To give you an idea of what I was up against I held AA UTG. I raised and got two callers. The flop came QQx and I just knew someone had the Q. I led out only to get raised by the CO. I folded the hand...NOT! I knew I was beat so I called...NOT! I raised it. Was reraised then called and check/called all the way through the river just throwing my money away. My KK ran into AA and my flopped trips, which filled into a full house on the river was taken down by a bigger full house. Many more second bests and thus was my night.

On the bright side after busting out of the hold em games I decided to give Omaha/8 a try. I went to the .25/.50 tables to get my feet wet and managed to double my buy in. I've always read starting hands are key to omaha so I tried to be disciplined in this manner. It seemed to work and I had fun. I won't be jumping into omaha anytime soon but I'll probably dabble from time to time.