JackNine Off Suit

Hey, Dave Matthews in the news!!!

2004-08-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

Ummmmm, yeah, not exactly for the best of reasons.

Unreal

2004-08-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

I really hate to see stuff like this. The biggest problem here is that this guy probably proclaims to be a Christian.....a Conservative....a Republican. What's worse - because I am all three of those, albeit closer to the center than most, I have now become this guy - in the eyes of the other side. It's terrible, because in no way, shape or form do I think this even remotely appropriate, yet I will still have to put up with "See, that's how you guys think, that's how you guys are". I hate it and I truly hope they remove this guy for life from the bench. What an A-hole.

A judicial panel has charged an Orange County judge with chastising a deputy sheriff who had a child out of wedlock, saying she was a "disgrace to society," "had no morals," and her child was "a bastard."

Ugh

Todd asked detectives in 2001 if a female courthouse administrator "was taking good care of the detectives." The detectives said she was and he responded, "Well, that's what the men's bathroom wall says ... I just wanted to make sure," the notice said.

A-HOLE

Been playing A LOT of poker

2004-08-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

My usual night consists of 3 tables of $50 NL on Party. Of course, there's always the bad beats, the bad runs, etc., but typically I can walk every night up between $75-$100 dollars. Not too bad. I would love to make more than that, but for some reason, it seems that the longer I play, the worse my cards get - especially late into the night. Not to mention, the players in the middle of the night get crazy....and I mean crazy. You do not see a flop without a raise, then you don't see a turn without a big raise and you definitely don't see a river without an all in. Now, usually I don't mind that kind of play, but for some reason, it just seems that I either do not get cards that warrant me staying in or I get sucked out at the end. Either way, I just tend to give my money back at the end of the night. So, I have really time limited myself to just a few hours a night, get my $100 and walk away.

Last night, I was into my 3 tables and felt like getting some tournament action. I got into the $9+$1 Super Weekday Qualifier on Party. 400 players. Top 22 get freerolls into the Super Weekday. I really feel like I am a good tournament player and really stick to the "get your money in if you are in the lead" only to get popped at the end - all in, with a river suckout. I can't shake that. Well, last night, somehow, someway, things changed and I was able to coast my way to a 7th place finish - which doesn't mean much, because after the top 22 were locked down, everyone just started going all in every hand - I did the same, just won a few to get to 7th. I really played well though or at least felt like I did. Made the right moves at the right times. I still believe though that in a big tournament, you can be good, but you really have to get "lucky" 3-4 times, probably more, to get into the money, even more if you are going to win. I had 2 of those instances last night that really stick out to me.

Dealt AKoff (Ace of spades) on the button, one MP limp, I make it 4xBB to go, small folds, big calls, MP folds. Flop comes all spades, 10s being the highest (10, 4, 2, if I remember correctly). Big goes all in, which at the time was a significant amount of chips - @6K. We were dead even, I was over probably less than 100 chips. I thought and thought and thought - really was hoping for that free card, but could not for the life of me think what he had. What would he call me with? KQ with a K of spades? KJ? No idea. I finally put him on one of those two with the K of spades and just trying to buy it, so I called. He turns Q-10 of spades for the made flush. Ouch. Big ouch, but I still have outs. Turn - a spade. I take the pot and take over the table chip lead. Good pot, probably a terrible call, I just couldn't see betting an all in on a made flush. A terrible read, but it worked out. Lucky call on my part.

I cruise for a while, about 100 players left, I am sitting on @13K of chips at this point - a little over the average. Dealt 55 (presto) in middle position. 3 limpers and I limp in as well - 5 in the pot. Flop comes 7,5,2 rainbow....very nice. Checked to me from the BB, I bet half the pot, drop, drop, drop, call from BB (who is about even with me chipwise). Hmmm.......okay. Turn is a 2 (2 same suit on board now). Veeeeeery nice. Checked to me, I bet half the pot, trying to milk this guy, he comes over the top of me all-in. Huh? What the?!? Only thing I could think he had was a 3rd 2 and was trying to scare me. Overpair? Overcards? I had no idea, but really thought I was golden. Took me all of 5 seconds to run the cards through my head, but just knew I was good.......but I was all-in on this call. Call and he turns pocket 7's. Full boat. DAMMMMMIT!!!!!! What the?!? I know I am a retard, but I never saw that coming. Soooooooo, guess what comes on the river? The case 5. Thank you very much. Completely lucky. Bad call made good by the Poker Gods. Unreal. I even typed sorry in the chat. I was already getting out of my seat.

Anyway, coasted from then on....I had plenty of chips and basically folded every single hand until I got into the money. Nice win, but definitely could not have gotten it done without those 2 suckouts. Like the man said, "that's poker".

And a week later I am HEALED!!!!

2004-08-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Jeez.....that SUCKED. It, seriously, took me a week to heal up from closing my car door. Wow. I can't even imagine what will happen to me the next time I try and take out the trash or mow the loan.

Damn, 30 IS old

2004-08-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just had my first "Damn, I really am old" moment. This morning, I get some chest and abs in - typical workout. I workout fairly hard, but nothing stupid. No problems, no pulls, nothing - good workout. Feeling good, I get into my car, reach out to close my door and BAM - something pops in my shoulder. It wasn't a click, it was a loud pop. Ummmm, that's not good - then my entire arm starts going numb. I barely make it home the pain is so bad. Unfortunately, I have to get ready for work. It took me an hour just to put my shirt on - I can't even raise my arm over my head. Jeeeeeeeez.........

ESPN TOC

2004-08-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Tooling around RGP and came across a post by Daniel Negreanu about the ESPN Tournament of Champions:
----------
From: Daniel Negreanu (anonymous@hotmail.com)
Subject: ESPN TOC event update
View: Complete Thread (68 articles)
Original Format
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Date: 2004-08-08 13:29:39 PST

So this is what I heard. The 10 players chosen are as follows:

Doyle Brunson
Chip Reese
Phil Hellmuth
Men Nguyen
Johnny Chan
TJ Cloutier
Phil Ivey
Howard Lederer
Greg Raymer
Annie Duke

Curious as to what the criteria was to play, apparantly they did an
independant poll of 300 players and asked who they thought the best
players were.
Of course, I don't know one person that was asked to vote in this poll
and have no idea if it actually took place. If it did, I can't imagine
who they asked? I'd be willing to bet that this poll never even took
place.

I didn't care so much that I wasn't involved in the SuperStars of Poker
Show, but now we are talking about a freeroll for two million dollars at
stake! I'm starting to wonder what you actually have to do to qualify as
one of the best no limit hold'em tournament players.

1. Tournament results obviously don't seem to hold much weight.
2. Being a winning player in the high limit cash games can't be enough.
3. Respect from your peers also doesn't seem to be very important.
4. Longevity? No that wouldn't make sense either based on that list.
5. Winning the ESPN Player of the Year Award? Useless.

So what then, does it take to qualify for the ESPN TOC? Please
enlighten me, because I have no idea.

Daniel Negreanu
www.fullcontactpoker.com

P.S. Sorry if this post comes off as whiny, but I'm a little frustrated
and feel like I've now been "double dissed" :-)
----------
Hmmmmm, okay. I guess I can feel for Daniel and see where he is coming from - it would probably piss me off pretty good to have the kind of year he's having and than see Annie on this list. Of course, I have a good feeling - as do many of the RGP'ers - that Annie was added as a "We need a woman on the show, find someone that everyone knows". I seriously doubt that even Annie feels that she belongs on anyone's Top 10 list. Also, if you are going to have to add a woman, wouldn't you go straight for Jennifer Harman?

I guess that Daniel isn't the only one feeling a little slighted.
----------
Message 1 in thread
From: Erik Seidel (erikseidelak@hotmail.com)
Subject: TOC Tale of the Tape

View this article only
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Date: 2004-08-09 15:15:05 PST

There seems to be a great deal of controversy on the selection process
that ESPN used to chose the 10 players for this event. Having read
through many of the posts here it seems as if there is some outrage at
Daniel being left out. I think there is a case for Daniel, and also a
case for a few others (myself among them). Here is the case for:

Gus Hanson- Hottest player on the WPT tour the last year and a half.
Even more impressive when you take into account he didn't play many
events the first year of WPT. The objection might be that although he
has dominated the WPT he has no results or history with the WSOP.

Dan Harrington- I believe Dan might have the most impressive record of
anyone in the 10k at the World Series. 6th in 87',1st in 95', 3rd last
year, and 4th this year. This is a really impressive record and he
certainly warants serious consideration.

John Juanda- Without question John has been the most overlooked and
underexposed player in poker. Runner up for Player of the Year in 01,
and 02'.
Champion of the Year in 02' and he is leading Champion of the Year
list this year. Champion of the Year only counts the major events that
the top players play. Phil Hellmuth has been publishing the list for 2
1/2 years and Juanda has a chance to win 2 out of 3. The fields have
grown so big this is really a remarkable achievement. In my opinion
he's the best tournament player in the world and it's time that he
get's the recognition he deserves.

Erik Seidel- 6 WSOP titles (4 living players have more than 6, 3 have
been picked for the show, the 4th is Billy Baxter/Mr. Lowball, who
owns all 7 in lowball).
3 Bellagio Titles, I believe only Scotty N. has won 3 also.
Phil H. has been publishing the stats for Champion of the Year since
02'.
3 players made the top 10 in those 2 years. Myself, Howard Lederer,
and Phil Ivey. I am the only player to score in top 5 both years and
was the combined points leader going into this year. My record vs. the
10 players ESPN chose, heads-up in tournament finals is 8 wins and 1
loss. The one loss being in 88' to Chan. I wonder if there is anyone
else who has even 2 wins against this formitable lineup?

All this said I think it's ESPN's show and they certainly have the
right to pick who they want. I was very disappointed to be left off
their list. Next year it sounds like we will have a clearer picture on
how to qualify.
I also think this show is a huge breakthrough for all of us. ESPN is
the first channel to step up and offer real money to some of the
players and I'm hoping this will set a precedent that other channels
will follow. The players have been waiting a long time for some
financial compensation from the other channels and very little has
trinkled down. The players have been providing quite a bit of
programming for Fox Sports, Travel Channel and ESPN and it is great to
see that ESPN/Harrah's is giving something back to us. Even though I
am not one of the invited party's and would love to see them expand
the show to 2 tables, I think the show will potentially have a big
impact on all of the players who are playing these large events. -Erik
Seidel
----------
Looking at those accomplishments, it's tough to argue with his reasoning. Even tougher to not think that Harrington deserves some serious consideration with his WSOP record. The post does kind of come off sour grapes to me, but I guess when you have that record and you get left out of a $2 million freeroll, I probably would be pretty pissed off as well.

Daniel makes some odd (at least I think they are odd) comments to Eric's post.
----------
From: Daniel Negreanu (anonymous@hotmail.com)
Subject: Re: TOC Tale of the Tape

View this article only
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Date: 2004-08-09 22:12:07 PST

On Aug 9 2004 3:15PM, Erik Seidel wrote:

Even though I
> am not one of the invited party's and would love to see them expand
> the show to 2 tables, I think the show will potentially have a big
> impact on all of the players who are playing these large events. -Erik
> Seidel

I agree with your post completely. It's imperative that they come up
with a legitimate criteria for qualification in order to protect the
integrity of the game. The public in general doesn't have a clue who is a
"great" player and who isn't. If the players are so "great" then they'd
be making final tables without having to start at one.

The chosen list would just get demolished by a second group of ten.
Assuming Greg Raymer is a shoe in, I'd take these nine over the nine
chosen in a heartbeat:

Erik Seidel
Todd Brunson
Jennifer Harman
Daniel Negreanu
Gus Hansen
Barry Greenstein
Erick Lindgren
Ted Forrest
John Hennigan

In my opinion, this second group of nine is much, much stronger than the
ESPN TOC group. I could go on with more names that would outduel the ESPN
group in no limit hold'em, but I think you get the picture.
Several of the chosen players have shown absolutely no success in no
limit hold'em. My list here would crush em'.
----------
Ouch. Speaking of sour grapes. Crush 'em? Hmmmm.......what do I know - I have never played with any of these guys, but crush Lederer? Crush Ivey? Crush Hellmuth? Crush Chan? Ummmmmm......sorry, Daniel, I don't see it. I really like Daniel - I like the way he comes off, I like the way he plays, but man, this is way off - serious sour grapes. I will be the first to admit, I don't know all of the background with these guys, so I didn't know there was some record with Daniel and some of these bigwigs.
----------
From: Russ Georgiev (RussGeorgiev@aol.com)
Subject: GCA "Daniel Negreanu emails Russ G"
View: Complete Thread (8 articles)
Original Format
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Date: 2004-06-04 01:39:48 PST

From: Newgca (newgca@aol.com)
Subject: GCA " Daniel Negreanu emails Russ G"
View: Complete Thread (62 articles)
Original Format
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Date: 2003-09-06 21:42:49 PST

From: "daniel negreanu"kidpoker@hotmail.com
To:
Sent: Monday,June 11,2001 6:48 PM
Subject: Daniel's wish
First off Russ, I hope this stays off the record. I don't need
anybody knowing about this e-mail if you know what I mean. I KNOW also
that Doyle is a big fat cheat, I can't stand him one bit. When you
guys started this whole thing I was really excited about the idea. I
figured you guys were going to expose Doyle for what he is. You see,
I'm in no position to.
You guys just aren't coming up with enough concrete evidence though,
and recently I think you guys went the wrong way. Your focus should be
what you KNOW for sure is true, anything at the Bellagio is difficult
to prove. Also, why would you use Ted Forrest's name? Ted is no cheat,
this I know for sure. Where did you get that info?
If you guys are going to talk about the Bellagio game, eventually you
have to be more specific. Also, I hope you guys keep up with the
honest player report as well. I'm very concerned with what this whole
thing is doing to honest people's reputation.
If I ever so much as hear that Jennifer Harmon is implicated in any
of this you will have a LIFETIME PROBLEM WITH ME. At present I have no
beef with you, and I'd like things to stay that way. Jennifer Harmon
has never cheated a day in her life, and I want that reputation
protected.
Cool?
Stick with Doyle and Chip. Geez, use Men the Master too he literally
is the biggest cheat in tournament poker today, no question. You have
no idea what this shit has done to Jennifer. She was crying when she
heard all this shit because she was worried her name was going to be
mentioned in something. I told her not to worry.
This woman is my best friend in the whole world, and if her
reputation is important to her, it's just as important to me. This I'm
sure you will understand.
So, please continue with telling rgp who you know to be honest, I
hope that Jennifer's name is at the top of that list. By the way, she
has no idea I'm sending you this e-mail, and I hope it stays that eay.
This is a small favor I'm asking for, I'd like to help you guys in
any way I can, but it HAS to be strictly confidential.
Sincelerely,
Daniel(never cheated a day in his life) Negreanu
----------
Well, that makes 3 of them. Guess we see why Daniel doesn't like Doyle and Chip being added to that final table. I think it's fairly common knowledge how Daniel feels about Minh (at least to RGP'ers) so I won't even touch that one.

I will not verify that email to Russ - I don't know the post story - so if it's not true, I apologize.

Again, I like the guy, but if I was Daniel, I would probably shut up and take it graciously. I would say that while they might not be the "best" out there right now, Chip, Doyle, Chan have all earned that spot. I guess we'll see.
----------

Lovinger on ESPN

2004-08-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Jay Lovinger wrote another poker article on ESPN's Page 2. Iggy didn't like it at all - I typically don't like Jay's writing either, but I didn't think this one was too bad. However, it didn't really say a whole lot - just read off the typical reads for a better poker education.

Last night in Vegas

2004-08-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

The last night (Sunday) I was in Vegas, I got to sneak off to the Flamingo to play a little NL. Bought in for $200. There were a lot of big stacks at the table - I am pretty sure these guys had been playing together all night - so I was hoping to sneak in and take some of their money. It was the drunk college frat crowd who all seemed to know each other and who all thought they were much better than they were. I was there for about an hour and didn't see a card higher than a 10 until I got A9 hearts in the big blind. Free flop so I checked. Flop comes low rags - if I remember right 5,4,2 rainbow. 3 players in. Small check, I check , MP checks. Next card 9 - matched up a suit on the board, clubs I think. Small bets, $25, I raise $50 to $75, MP thinks, thinks, and raises me all in. Small folds. Here is my first dilemma. I know, probably not a hard laydown, but the way these guys were playing, very loose, my instinct said to call...........but I didn't. I folded. That hand still bothers the crap out of me. I really wish I had paid to see his cards (especially considering the next hand I played).

Back to fold around, until I get AK off, MP. UTG raises to $10, I raise to $20. Small blind raises to $125 (putting me all in), big blind folds, UTG folds. Damn. I was stuck here. I know Slick is the worst played hand out there and I know I played this terribly, but I think I was still seething from the way these guys were playing. That big of a raise, I really thought he was just playing with me. I hadn't played that many hands so maybe he was trying to get a read on me. I thought, Aces or Kings don't make that big of a raise, at worst, I am a coinflip with 2 overs, at best, he is sitting A smaller and I am a huge favorite. Unlike the last time, I go with my first instinct and I call. He flips Queens. Go figure. Of course, first card off is a Queen and I am dead. I walk - giving these guys the money I made at the Mirage.

That walk back to the hotel at 4 am is very lonely.

Playing in Vegas for my 30th

2004-08-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

Like I discussed earlier, my 30th birthday fell on the 31st of July. I invited about 40 of my closest and we tore the city up. It was a great time. Unfortunately, I was babysitting everyone most of the time, but I did have some time to sneak away and play some poker. I caught wind of the WPT tournament over at the Mirage, so a friend of mine and I snuck over there to catch a few glimpses of the bigwigs of poker and see if we could get in a game for a few hours. The place was packed. I snuck my head in a few cracks and saw a few players: Dan Harrington, Scotty Nguyen, Antonio Esfandiari, John Juanda, and Annie Duke. I tried to follow some of the action, but people were seriously cramming in to watch and it just wasn't worth getting shoved around. My friend and I floated into the poker room and signed up for NL. It took about 30 minutes but my name was finally called. I bought in for $200 and sat down. Immediately, some guy at the table started bitching and yelling (at me? I couldn't tell) and pointing at me. I was already a little nervous, so I asked the guys next to me what was going on. They said that the guy was some kind of movie star or something and that he had been trying to get that seat for his woman for some time. I sat there and watched this guy bitch to every single Mirage person who would listen, but they kept telling him no. Then his woman walks up to him and whispers something to him. I see him whisper back and when she turns her head to listen to him, I see her face. Jennifer friggin Harman. Great. So, I took Jennifer's seat. I turn to the guy and say, "you know, that's Jennifer friggin Harman". He goes "yeah, she was playing earlier and took everyone's money." I don't think he knew who Jennifer friggin Harman was by his reaction. Guess I sat down at the right time - when she got up. I never did figure out what the big problem was.

Anyway, her guy (she's married right? I don't know that much about her) turned out to be a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge jackass. I mean, seriously, this guy was a total jackass. He had a lot of money, so obviously he was winning, but he was yelling (okay, probably too sharp of a word, because he wasn't yelling, but strongly talking?) at the other players, the dealer, the floor guy. It was ridiculous. Then, when it got to the point that I wanted to get up and put my fist in his ear, his buddy sits down at the table. He turned out to be even a BIGGER jackass. He was a "raise everything" type of player, which is fine, I know how to play people like that - he was good in the fact that if you reraised, he would fold, etc. But he was really mouthy - talking the whole time. One hand in particular, he was in raise, reraise, reraise pot with another guy with a big stack. I remember the board had a King and a Jack on it and Jackass raises like $200 on the river Jack. The other guy takes a long time and calls the bet - with pocket 7's. Jackass had A low, maybe a 3 - no pair, nothing. Good call. Tough call. Anyway, Jackass goes OFF on this guy about how stupid he was, what a terrible call, how he was going to take all of this guy's money, etc. Not mumbling either - I mean a full fledged dress down in front of everyone. Enough so, that the guy stacked his chips and walked. Now, normally, I will keep my mouth shut at all times. I will never get into any kind of debate about my play, play at a table, anything, but I was just about to say something to Jackass, when the guy next to me speaks up and says something to the tune of "You're surprised someone called your bullshit, when you have been playing crap all day. You're easy to read". Jackass goes off on him shouting (and I am paraphrasing) "Yeah, well I have won over $2 million dollars playing this game - be happy with your $100 wins." I just shook my head - what an idiot. I refused to get involved. I wish I had caught this guys name - he couldn't have been 100 pounds soaking wet (aren't all big mouths?), so it really cracked me up watching him talk shit.

After that, everyone got raise/all in happy. I have never been that type of player, but I know how to play people like that. The blinds were 2/5, but normally you didn't get to see flops for less than 20 bucks. Big blind came to me and hell if I didn't get a free look with a K10 off - 5 people in pot - flop comes A,Q,J rainbow. jackpot, nut straight. Small checks, I check (just for strategy reference, normally I bet this out with the nuts, but the way this table was running, I really felt someone would make a play at it and with the rainbow flop, I felt pretty comfortable), and someone makes it $25 to go, small blind raises to $50, I raise to $150 (I have about $100 (after the $150 bet) in front of me at this point) initial bet folds, small blind does the "How much do you have left?" I say a $100, he puts me all in, I say thank you and turn over the nuts, he says shit and turns over A7 off (WHAT?!? It was that kind of table). No runner outs, I pull a nice pot. I say thank you again to the guy just to be a smartass. Again, I am not like that normally, but Jackass across from me got everyone's temp up.

And then, it came to a head. This was a wild hand. 4 big stacks at the table, Jackass being one of them, probably around $400/$500 a piece, pretty even. Jackass raises from UTG, small blind reraises, big blind reraises, Jackass reraises, small blind reraises, big blind reraises, Jackass all-in, small all in, big all in - probably about $1300 in the pot. They flip, Jackass has pocket 6's (WHAT?!?) small has Kings, big has Aces. Nice, at least Jackass will get it handed to him, right? Wrong. Of course, as poker always has to hit for the a*holes - flop comes 5,5,6 - no help, no help, Jackass stacks the chips and walks from the table. That hurt me hard to think this guy won any money off of a terrible play (in my opinion) especially after all of that crap he gave everyone else.

Anyway, I stay for another orbit, pocket about $150 for my time and go back to the hotel and party balls with everyone.

Yeah, I know.....I suck

2004-08-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

Jeez......serious, serious props go out to Iggy, Hdouble, Poker Chronicles, Pauly, Las Vegas Hold Em and the rest for keeping up the poker blog fight on a daily basis. It's a lot harder than it looks. I read these guys on a daily basis and really enjoy keeping up with what they have to say.

That being said, I am completely rejuvenated to write again. I have been playing a lot of poker and am really trying to improve my game. I just got back from my 30th birthday in Vegas (a lot more on that later) - one hell of a party, but also one hell of an eye opener on how good (rather, how bad) a player I really am.

I took a look at my site stats and despite my little hiatus, there are actually people coming on here looking to see what I have to say. Now, I am pumped.....and I got a lot of stuff to discuss with you guys.

ESPN The Magazine

2004-06-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

So, I get this week's issue of ESPN the Magazine in the mail the other day and right above the title is a little teaser for an article on the WSOP - Crashing the World Series of Poker. Alright! I get a little excited. Cool. Of course, I head right where I head everytime I get a new issue of ESPN the Magazine - the head. It's where I do my best reading. Flip straight to the WS article (written by Jay Lovinger). I have never heard of Jay, so if he is some legend of poker or something, my apologies, and I do realize that this article is written directly for the poker dummy - but, DAMN, that friggin sucked. I mean sucked. I could have reached over, grabbed a tile of toilet paper and a crayon and scribbled a better article on poker than that. Needless to say, I was seriously disappointed in Jay's work. Again, I realize this was meant for the knownothings, but if you haven't read it yet, don't hold your breath.

Now....all that being said, Jay busts out with this hilarious line - I seriously almost fell off the pot - "As I watch, Chris chugs a bagful of M&Ms and vaporizes a package of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups faster than it takes to push your chips all in." Okay, that's hilarious - probably not what Jay was going for, but hilarious nonetheless. Chris - jeez, dude, throw a salad in brother!

It's 2:00 AM and all is well

2004-06-20T23:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, everyone, I am back. I, without a doubt, had one of the busiest weeks I have ever had at work, in my personal life, in general. It was tough - I didn't have time to do much of anything, much less play poker, much less write about poker.

BUT, I am back and I am writing again. so, stay with me - I have built up quite a few things to talk about this week.

huslinone

Holy crap....

2004-06-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

I have been busy. Very sorry for my lack of posting these last few days. I had a family reunion (we all know how fun those can be) all week-end and my week at work has been devastating. I will return shortly - I promise.

Hdouble

2004-06-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks - I appreciate the link.

Holy shit....what a great post

2004-06-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

GamblingBlues with a post right on target. Man, I completely feel your pain. 2 days ago, I got the phone call from out of the blue ending a 4-year relationship. I guess I knew it was over for a while, but to hear the words "I just want to let you know that I have moved on." Oooooooooooof. It's like someone just drop kicked me square in the nutsack. 10,000 times.

I feel your pain, brother, it sucks. I feel like the last 2 days have been a drunken haze. All I think about is calling that bitch up and chewing her out, making her feel like shit, saying anything and everything that I can to make her hurt........but I'm a puss.....and a nice guy.......so I won't. Still sucks though.

WPT

2004-06-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

I caught a little of the WPT on the Travel Channel last night - it's the one with Moneymaker on it. Man, that dude physically looks completely different. A friend of mine made the comment that the attitude of Moneymaker has completely changed. I watched for a while - and he's completely right. During the WSOP, you could tell he was timid, almost apologetic while he played. Last night, his whole demeanor, his posture, was different - almost cocky - you definitely get the impression that he feels that he belongs. I haven't seen him play outside of the win at the WSOP, so I am not sure if he does or not, but he certainly has the attitude down to a tee.

Really? Hmmmm....

2004-06-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

Again, showing probably way too much of my pervert-ness here, but this is pretty interesting.

A new television series is looking for hot chicks.

Ultimate Poker Babes

Strip Poker is a new Pay-Per-View prime time television series. Set in an actual courtroom, a real game of Strip Poker will be played.

Eight women will be selected for this game of Texas Hold ‘Em. Each will be paid $1.000 for the taping of the show.

Plus, the winner will receive $5000.00 in cash and a chance to host a twenty-six-week, nationally syndicated, prime-time poker series.

All the selected Ultimate Poker Babes will tour America’s Hottest casinos.

Auditions will be held on June 2nd at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (7000 Hollywood Blvd) at 11 a.m. All candidates must be at least 18 and under 30 to be considered.

AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! MY EYES!!!!!!!!!!! MY EYES!!!!!!!!

2004-06-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

ESPN was having a 2003 WSOP marathon yesterday throughout the day. I sat and watched through lunch and they showed the episode where they profiled Phil Helmuth - where they showed him doing yoga, "great things will happen to me", etc. I don't know - veeeeeeeeeery strange. If you missed it, trust me, all you missed was a trip to the porcelin for a stomach cleansing, because......at the end, for some unknown reason (the producer of this crap should lose his job immediately) they decide to show Phil, in all his naturalness. AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!! Trust me, a chicken fried steak lunch and a topless Phil Hemuth do not make for a good mix. God have mercy on anyone that had to endure that. Phil......c'mon, man, keep it on, bro.

Another link

2004-06-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Again, thanks for the link!

Seems I made some friends with the Shana Hiatt link.

Poker getting frontpage time on ESPN

2004-06-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

ESPN has a write-up of the Celebrity Invitational that Phil Laak won - the same won that I alluded to down below.

I wonder how long until we start to see Poker sandwiched in between football and baseball highlights?

Ronald Reagan - jeeeeez, dude.....

2004-06-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

I am a fairly political person, so every now and then you will see politics come out on my blog. I did, however, start this blog for poker purposes, so I will absolutely keep the politics to a minimum. In the wake of the Reagan passing, I came across this article. Holy jeez, dude, easy....easy. The man just passed away - everyone deserves their right to opinion, but man, those are some unnecessarily harsh things to say about someone that just passed - the man's body is still warm for God's sake.

Ahhhhhh, but then I read this (my bold):

I remember as a student in Berkeley the words screeching out of the bullhorn, "The Governor of the State of California, Ronald Reagan, hereby orders this demonstration to disburse" ... and then came the teargas and the truncheons. And all the while, that fang-hiding grin from the Gipper.

and it becomes all too clear. It's such a shame that people's politics make them hate so much. I don't like a lot of people, but I can, honestly, say that I don't have room in my heart for that kind of hate. Jeez.....

Thanks Iggy!

2004-06-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Iggy, I appreciate the link

The Tournament

2004-06-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

So, coming off my big win Friday night, I felt really confident walking into the Players Tournament on Saturday. I walk in and people are still talking about my play on those Kings. My head was seriously swollen. Anyway, I start the tourney with about $8000 in chips - about average. First hand, no kidding, first hand, and I get dealt Pocket Aces. Coming off Friday night, I just knew this was going to be my week-end! Ante is $100/$200 at this point. I don't want to scare anyone off, trying to get some value, so I make it $500 to go. Fold around to the man across the table from me and he goes all-in (he has me covered). Everyone folds to me, I call of course, he shows pocket Kings. Ahhhhhhhhh, how nice. He just about passes out when I show my Aces. Nothing stupid on deck and I double up 1st hand. I am telling you - it's my day! I take the 2nd hand off. 3rd hand, no kidding, 3rd hand in and I get pocket Aces again. Wow.......I make it $500 to go. One caller - young kid to my left. I flop a set and check to him. He checks. Next card nothing. I bet $500 - he folds. Damn, too bad. I make some money, but not a whole lot for a flopped set of Aces. Rest of the tourney, I am basically folding, I see nothing and ride my 2 big wins to the final table. I try and make a move and get caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I go all in with a pair of Aces after a check, only to be shown flopped 2 pair. Ouch. I double him up and basically get blinded out. My final move was A-10 of hearts all in, folded around to pocket 9's who calls. A on the flop, along with a set of 9's. Yeeeouch. I'm out in 9th place. No money. Overall, happy though - still riding a high from my previous night's work.

The Greatest Night in my Short Poker Life

2004-06-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhhh, what a great week-end for Poker! I did well in that players tournament, but I will post on that in a second. Friday night was an absolute windfall for me. $1/$2 pot limit table. I have played this table a few times and profit usually is very small - $50 tops up to this point. The players on there are generally very tight and very tough to get any money out of - bet, fold, bet, fold. Anyway, this first timer comes in, older guy, everyone called him "Cowboy" so I'll do the same. He walks in, sits down with about $400 and proceeds to bully every hand - betting $30 bucks at $10 pots, just to make make a point. Everyone was getting pissed off. He bluffed me out of one pot where I had 2 pair, but couldn't justify betting $50 to win $50 on a possible flopped set. The best part to this whole story is that I told the guy next to me that I was going to trap this guy eventually. Fast forward about an hour. I get dealt big slick on the button - Cowboy makes it $20 to go. Everyone else folds to me, I call, small and big blinds fold. So, Cowboy and I heads up. Flop comes 7-K-K. Perfect. Cowboy comes out firing - $50. I take a second - every bone in my body screaming to raise, but I know he will bet this out, so I just coldcall. Turn card is the final K. Holy crap, like the man said, the Star Spangled Banner is going off in my head. Right on cue, Cowboy comes out firing - $100 bucks to go. I Hollywood this one for about 30 seconds, staring at him, counting chips, staring at him. Then coldcall, knowing damn well he will bet into me the final round. River is an Ace. Bingo - please, oh please, be sitting with an A in your hand Cowboy. And, of course, Cowboy goes to his chips, counts out about $150, then pushes it in. Right when he takes his hand off, I push my chips in, say I call, drop my Big Slick for the nuts. Man.....you could have heard a pin drop in there. I double up, take Cowboy for all his chips - about $300 bucks worth. He shakes his head in disgust, gets up and leaves. No one says a friggin word. It was awesome!

Best part - that wasn't it. Second story about an hour later. I'm sitting in the big blind with J/10 hearts. UTG makes it $10 to go, small blind calls, I call. Flop comes 3-J-J. Here we go again. Check, Check, UTG bets $40, small calls, I call. I've got UTG on a medium to high pair. Not sure what small is on - slick maybe? Turn card comes the final J. Are you kidding me? Small checks, I check, UTG bets $50, small calls (huh? - where is he at?) I call. Final card is junk. Small bets $75 all in (I have no idea where he is at) I call (for UTG, $75 would take him all in as well, so no raise from me) UTG calls. Cards turn over - UTG shows QQ, small shows KK, and me - I show quad J's. Man, how nice........

All in all, I walk Friday night $800 bones richer. What a great night for Poker!

Shana Hiatt

2004-06-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

Holy.....I don't think I am going out on a limb here, because it's not like its news, but Shana is friggin hot. Browsing the Internet and came across this. Holy crap! I did not know Shana was in Playboy. Hate to be the world class pervert that I am, but I am now on a mission to hunt that issue down. Damn she's hot.

Phil Laak

2004-06-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

I saw the World Poker Tour final the other night where Phil Laak came back and won. I am not sure where I stand on all that crap he pulls at the table. I am a fairly emotional guy and, while all the guys at the table seem to be having fun with it, I think if Phil came dancing around that table after catching a river Ace - I might put one right on his chin......accidently. It seems like he is genuinely having a good time, but honestly, you beat me for a huge pot on a 3 card draw and I don't know that I would think it was all that funny.

I have to say, too, that those guys make some monster bluff bets. Wow. I guess that is what separates the men from the boys in poker - to have the stones to bluff J2 on a huge flop. I was very impressed.

Tournament Tomorrow

2004-06-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

The local brick and mortar here has a freeroll players tournament tomorrow. I played in it last week, started shortstacked and was busted out fairly quickly. They start your chips based on the amount of points you accumulate through the week. $200 per point - I only had 20 points - so I was starting low right from the start. $100/$200 ante, moving up every orbit. Last Saturday night, I stayed at the $1/$2 PL table for some time and racked up quite a bit of points. I am going to head in tonight, play for a few hours racking points. I hope to get to about 50 by tomorrow, which will start me at @10K in chips. I think that should do it - or if anything give me a shot at the final table. The top 3 get paid, splitting up a $7K pot, which for that final table, makes for quite a bit of scratch.

I'll keep you updated as to how it goes. I would love to take that tourney.

Ouch

2004-06-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I get it. People just do not fold in NL at Party. I think I was busted on the river - and I know everyone likes to say this - by every single bad card I could. Straights beaten by flushes, flushes by full houses. Ouch. I was up about $150 and just got greedy - stupid. Ended up losing $200, then fought my back up to be up $30 for the night. Man, did those cards turn evil on me. The crazy thing is that people were betting into me all night, betting into my made hands and I thought I would just end up raking....only to be jammed in the ahole by the river. Guess that's poker and I can't be too upset about it, but man, last night started off with such a bang, I thought I might walk with some serious scratch. Sometimes I get that conspiratory feeling that Party likes to reward bad play to keep them coming back......I don't know.

I played in a $10+1 last night for a free seat in the Weekday tourney - top 25 spots got the free entry, 26th-28th made a couple of bucks. I busted out in 32nd place out of 456 - just on the bubble. I really had no choice though - I was getting blinded down and was trying to pick my spots - picked the wrong spot. On the button, A-10 off, all in. Big blind woke up with Kings. Took me out. It was cool to make it that far though - first time I have ever even made it to double digits.

Annie Duke and Party Poker

2004-06-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

Just like everyone else in the poker world, I read where Annie Duke blasted online players for their ignorance, etc. in calling bad hands. I see that a lot on Party every night and matter of fact, I have probably made some myself. I know online you cannot get a good read on people like you can when you are sitting there staring at them, but I feel that I have become fairly accomplished at picking up tells due to betting patterns, etc. - you can see who the loose ones are and who will lay down if you bet $3 at them. However, I see a lot of times, where someone makes a call that some overbet doesn't like and he/she proceeds to berate them, calling them every name in the book. I have, myself, asked questions like "What were you thinking?" but I don't get into the name calling - I mean it is online poker, right? I was playing the other night and this one guy was just raising, reraising every single hand - I mean, literally - every single hand, no matter what. Everyone would fold out to him and he won like 4 hands in a row to mucked hands. I had about $30 bucks left and was dealt PP 6's. Of course, he raised and broke everyone out. Flop came all lows and my 6's were top on the board, so I bet small, a feeler bet, this guy raises me all in - I call, I was tired of it and I did think I was good. River is dealt, my 6's hold up and the guy shows Q-7 off. He goes into this tirade about how I am an idiot, that he is going to take all of my money, calling me all of these names, that I am a fish, that I suck, etc for calling - what an idiotic call! I think that was basically it. I just took his money and got off. Bad call? Maybe, I didn't think so - not with the way this guy was playing and with the flop on the board. Plus it was only 30 something bucks and it was worth that much to me to see what this guy was betting. I guess my point is, along with Annie Duke, isn't a good poker play a good call when you think your opponent is bluffing? Hell, I want those kind of calls - most of the time - in the long run, I will take them.

Perfect example

2004-06-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

Playing last night, $50 NL Party. I was kind of touch and go in the beginning - not a whole lot going on, took some $5-$10 pots, but nothing too big. I was probably up $40 total. This hand put me to sleep though and I called it a night.

I have about $82 - player I am about to go against has about $93 - fairly even
Dealt pocket 2's (h,s) - UTG makes it $3 to go - not too bad, on the button with PP, I'll call, 3 callers (myself included) so 5 players total
Flop Comes Kc,2c,2d
Pot is about $15 at this point.
UTG makes it $5 to go
Everyone fold around to me - I call
I am begging for a club or (kind of) a King for my opponent to catch a flush or full house and bet out - PP KK would suck big time, but I'll take that chance
Bingo - 9c hits - so now I have my flush draw, begging for maybe an Ac in his hand
UTG makes it $15 to go - I coldcall
River is a K - nice, again quad K's would suck, but I felt fairly confident right now - I was hoping he was sticking with a K high and a boat, which I think I could really drain him.
UTG makes it $20 to go, I take a second to "think" about it and go all-in, putting him basically all-in save for about 6-8 chips. He calls, no thought, kind of makes me think I am about to lose to quad K's. Nope. I take the pot. What did he have? Pocket 4's. WHAT?!?So, he had 2 pair, K's and 4's - doubles me up, keeps betting into a coldcaller and then calls an all-in raise after 3 rounds of coldcalling? Am I missing something? Is this a bad play or am I just thinking it is? I thought it was terrible, I would have thought I was seriously beat at that time, but......am I missing something?

Anyway, took that pot, and from winning at the other table dropped off Party after about 2 hours up $127. Time for sleep.

Building that Bankroll

2004-06-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

Like I said previously, I am on a mission to get some scratch together for my big 30 year blowout in Sin City come end of July. I was reading somewhere (sorry, don't remember the place) about a dude that started with $100 bucks and was building up to $10K. Pretty cool. I feel like I am a pretty good player - I am a better brink and mortar player, than online, even though I have done fairly well - so I thought I might try it out and see what kind of damage I might be able to inflict. I'll keep track, post here, show results, hands played, won, lost, etc.

I started last Monday with $100, playing $25 NL on Party. I tried to start out with 3 tables, but that damn ringer kept blaring for my turn and after folding the nut straight one time to the tune of a $60 dollar pot, I decided 2 tables was the max for me.

Right now, I am up to $50 NL tables, 2 at a time, about 3-4 hours a night after work. My bankroll is up to $1,037 as of last night's count. I had read about the stories of these floods of fish (which I am not sure I cannot count myself as one - I feel like I play poker by the book - for the most part - play for good situations, play for position, etc. - but I am not sure I am experienced enough to be talking down to anyone at this point) hitting the Party tables. Whatever you want to call them, there are some seriously weird (bad? see () above) players there every night and this past week, I almost feel like I am stealing sometimes. I have gotten popped a few times, but the good plays have seriously outweighed the bad on my part - and I am not trying to say anything by that, I just mean I see some seriously bad plays and just end up shaking my head. I have typed "What the?" in the chat more times that I can count. Cold calling down to the river with a flush, straight, A high, K high on the board with medium pocket pairs. Bluffing at $3 pots for $10, when I just flop a set, I come over the top, call them all-in and they call....with 7's? Unreal play. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining - it's helping me do what I want to do, but......wow. It really is that bad.

Here we go....

2004-06-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have been planning to start this blog for quite some time now, but things keep popping up....namely my own laziness. I figured since a big part of my day is reading about everyone else's experiences, trial, tribulations playing poker both online and in person, it might be a good idea to join in the discussion.

I am an avid poker player, both online and brick and mortar. I play mostly $50 NL on Party, sprinkling in some $30 or $50 SitnGo's. I have had quite a bit of success in both, but it seems like my SnG time, lately, has been spent making bad reads, bad raises, bad calls....pretty much bad play and adding to someone else's stacks. However, on the other hand, I have had some very nice success playing in the NL ring games on Party. After reading some of the success stories of building bankroll, I thought I would do the same. I started with $100 last Monday (May 24th) and have since built my roll up to $1,037 by last night's count. Actually, the winnings were more than that, but I get bored at the tables and tend to add a tournament or two at the same time and end up losing my entry fee. I will keep you updated as to how this goes. I am turning 30 July 31st and I would love it if I could build this bankroll up to finance my trip. Should be quite a bash.

Anyway, welcome to my blog. I am very active and am always looking for stuff to read, stuff to talk about and people to meet, so let me know that you are out there!

Cheers,

huslinone