Happy Christmas

I'm writing this post in the car on our way back from C-bus. Went down to visit the in-laws and nephews. Hooked them with some serious toys.

My apologies for not posting as often as I should. I'll get back to semi-regular posts ASAP. I've been busy at work, sick, and had a death in the family. Now I am on vacation until 1/5.

Poker has been uneventful as if late, no cashes in the tourneys and still can't win at $1 cash games. Still undefeated at $1-2 since Sept, so that and the tourney cashes have kept my bankroll in the black. I'm hoping to get to mountaineer this week. I am also going to read some basic Omaha strategy for the mixed tourney at Dave's tomorrow. I got pretty deep in the last one I played, and in fact did best at Omaha.

Last week at Daves I made 10th place after playing well after being nearly felted by players that cannot fold. Then I push against Chan's raise and he wakes up with KK vs my pocket 10's. Oh well. Chan had a monster lead yet barely made 4th. Mailman defeated Pyxis heads-up for the win.

Poker Update

Despite a dismal evening at Dave's on Saturday, I'm still upbeat this week after yet another win at Hip's game. 5-0 now. It was a crazy night. I made a $75 snap call on the river against Caveman in a $150 pot with A-high that was good. Everyone was aghast. I knew it was a stab. Calling a bluff like that or making a great laydown is so much better than hitting that miracle card on the river...although I did a little of that last night too.

I totally pwned Caveman last night. I pushed on him twice with the nut flush and he paid me off. I called him down twice with 10-2 suited (hit the 10 both times) and was good. I was on a bit of a roller coaster after Hip made a couple good calls against me (next time I WILL have a hand bro...or a least a better kicker lol), Uncle Bob hit his usual 2-pair with A-7 against my AJ, and even Knish got a piece of me. He flopped a set of 7's, bet all the way to the river (I just called, looking to hit the nut flush), and then the river pairs the K but also gives me the nut flush. I had put Knish on 2 pair or even a total bluff. He CHECKS the full house, and I bet out $50 (which was the same as the turn bet), and he just calls. I ask..."no raise?" He said I had him confused. My flat-calls apparently made him think I had a bigger boat? Either way, I saved a ton of $$ on that hand as I thought I was way good.

There was another guy there that came with his brother (seems to love to gamble) that was bleeding chips like crazy, I just couldn't get any of them. Hip had his number.

So the roller coaster went like this: Buy in for $200, down $100, add-on $200, up $400, down $100, up $350, then run for the door. I had been kicking myself for not leaving when up $400 and was lucky Caveman rebought several times and stuck around to keep me ahead. He was the only one I could beat. I'll take a win like that any day. I dont know what it is about the lower stakes game, but I really need to stay away from it and just play the donkaments.

Still undefeated at Hip's

Decided to let the heater roll last night and headed to Hip's to play the $1-2 cash game. My first table was pretty lame and after rebuying early I hovered between down $100 and up $100. I gave Con a nice chunk of change on one hand, but dont remember the specifics at the moment. Something like middle pair on flop then open-ender, then hitting my kicker for 2-pair (or tripping up) only to be hit with a straight....or something to that effect.

Anyway, there wasn't much money at that table so as soon as a seat opened up at the main table I jumped on it. Uncle Bob, Charlie (still playing every pot together), Gross, Hip...there was some action on this table. Ended up calling UB down with bottom pair, getting open-ended on the turn, and finally hitting on the river. I also flopped a flush on him for a big pot. Superior play rules the evening. Hey, a win is a win, right? I am still ahead of Slacks in $$ won this year for sure. Talk all you want about my skill, but the bottom line is what counts. :)

2 straight first place finishes

Pretty good weekend! Played the cash game on Wed night and actually won $20!! Woo hoo!!! I'm going to have to throw a freaking party. There was also a guy with 1 hand visiting from NC, and looked us up on meetup.com. TK was sitting next to him, so I sent TK a text: "when you tell that guy nice hand, it's literal"...TK couldnt stop giggling. He then asked him how he lost his hand, and he admitted that he was trying to make a bomb. WTF??? Of course, TK segues right into "I work for an explosives company". Hilarious. Anyway, we had a great time.

Thanksgiving was great as always. I cook a mean turkey. Mashed potatoes made with Yukon Golds...mmmmm! Killer stuffing and all the other trimmings. Just had the family over. Grandpa will be 95 in 6 days. (12/7) Gonna have to take some chicken paprikas over for him.

I missed the caravan to WV on Friday, after all the hype. I turned off my alarm clock, happy that I didn't have to work. TK even called but I didnt hear the phone. Oh well, next time. Glad I didnt go anyway, everyone lost.

Played Dave's "deeper stack" tourney on Sat, and actually won it all. 26 players I think. I got VERY lucky a couple times. Put a couple great bluffs down on Matt G and Doc Donator. Folded JJ to Hacker before we got into the money. I just wasn't ready to get crippled if I lost, so I laid them down. At the final table I was all-in with A5 suited, got 2 callers, who each had pocket pairs. Spiked an A on the flop and that was all she wrote. Later, I had the pleasure of taking Chan out, calling his push with K-10 vs. his 9-6 suited. Flopped 2 pair. Buh bye. The biggest luck shot came later when I blasted Father Time to get us down to heads-up. I had an A4 off, and the flop was Q4x with 2 diamonds. I call the flop bet and get another diamond on the turn, and FT pushes. I had told him earlier that "next time, I call" after making a fold with middle pair. I pondered a few minutes and made the call. Flushed on the river.

Almost gave it all away to Hacker during heads-up play. I got him to go all-in after just calling with my AQ. He had A3 and nailed the 3. I dont remember what hand actually won it, but I got the winning hand shortly after talking about a chop. I wanted to play it out. I have had pretty good luck after refusing to chop. So much for superstition.

Being a $50 tourney, 1st place paid well...$590. Gave some back at the cash game of course. Misplayed flopping the nuts that turned out NOT to be the nuts on the turn. Shit.

So anyway, the non-existent POY race that Theo is keeping track of has me in the lead. The top 6-7 players are actually interested now that things are heating up. Should be fun to watch going into spring.

Tourney win and cash game loss

First place in Dave's Sat night tourney! The usual combination of tight/aggressive play and a sprinkling of good luck. Then I sat down and played some $1/1 HA, and immediately got up almost $200, until Chan pushed on me with his draw and I had hit top 2 with AQ. He had a flush draw and gutshot, and hit the flush. I then lost a big hand where I thought I had a straight but misread my cards. Oops. Ended up losing $100 playing cash, so I still came out ahead, but once again I stayed too late.

Meats and our local pro player Hiphop were there. Meats got sucked out. He almost certainly would have cashed for the third week straight if he hadn't.

OK, sorry for the lack of posts

So Saturday, I took some chili out to Amherst and watched the Buckeyes game with some friends at the hunt club my friend belongs to. The weather was too ugly to shoot a round of skeet, so we just hung out and talked about old times.

Went to Dave's in the evening and jumped on the roller coaster. Bottom line...an $8 loss for the night. I only had $55 for the cash game (after finishing 10th or 11th in the tourney. no cards) and that immediately went bye-bye. So I borrowed $100 from Dave and built it up to over $300, then lost about $100 calling down Dave who hit his kicker with some kinda crap. I tilted a bit and gave some more away after that. I just cant figure out how I am playing differently there than at a $1-2 or 2-5 game. I do think I need to be a bit more aggressive and raise more often when someone bets out and I have what I think is a better hand. I also should have quit when I was ahead too. Live and learn. Or not.

Spent a lot of Sunday downloading movies online, and pirating a few I had rented via Netflix. Packed up a laptop I bought on Craigslist for $40 from a pawn shop and sold on eBay for $160. Nice little profit. There are a couple of others I am looking at as well that I may resell. Pays for poker.

Weekend

I missed Dave's on Saturday, dammit. I guess the cash game was juicy. Meats even showed for the tourney from what I hear.

Damn...busy at work, I'll have to post more later.

The election is finally over

The people have spoken. Now if everyone will just STFU, maybe we can get back to playing cards and having a good time.

Somewhere out there, Rush is popping an oxy tablet, grumbling about socialism.

-Ron Paul in 2012!!!!

Happy Election Day

Thankfully it's finally over. Maybe everyone on the message board will STFU about politics.

Ron Paul in 2012!!!!!

Recent purchase

Got a used Beretta 96D Centurion .40 for $200 last week. It's the black one next to my Taurus PT-99. I'm going to order some rubber grips for it this week. I have shot it once, and it shoots like a Beretta, nice and smooth. It has a spurless hammer and it's double action-only, (no safety) so the trigger pull is a little long, but not too stiff. It has some wear and tear but for $200 it's a steal. I already have a standing offer of $350 for it. I'll take it out to the range this weekend with Slacks.

Cash game success

Finally a win at Dave's cash game. No love in the tourney. Dennis called a monster raise preflop with 7-9 sooted and caught a gutshot/flush draw. No way he's laying that down. Of course he hit it, he was hitting everything Saturday night. (and he thinks he's just good)

Hacker was back for a 2nd week. I think he busted in the HA game, which turned out to be a "let's put all our money in and see who wins" type of game. I dont get this. The Omaha players think they are so high and mighty like Omaha is a finesse game. WTF? Data refuses to play NLHE, yet sits down in a pot limit game with the likes of Theo and Big Timmy. Whatever.

Anyway, had a pretty good cash game. Called EVERY bet Jamie made on the river if I was still in the hand, and came up the winner about 75% of the time. He's pretty awful, but he'll rebuy 3 or 4 times. One thing I need to do is start raising Dave W early in the hand if I think my hand is good. It usually is if I have that gut feeling, but he seems to catch his money card on the turn/river every time.

So, I was up about $400 when I get big slick and put in a raise. Father Time and 1 other player call. Flop is A Q 10. Father Time bets, I call, the other player folds. Turn is the J, giving me the nuts. No flush possible yet. Joe, bets and I just call again. I had put him on KQ, so I figure we're chopping after I misplay the hand. River pairs the Q, and Joe pushes the last of his chips in. I call, saying "OK, let's chop it up", a little pissed at myself. Joe shows Q 10...ugh. Cost me over a hundo. I did manage to get some back. We played until what was technically 5 am because of the time change. Good times.

Dave thinks he's gonna have a cash game this week sometime. I'll give it a shot, mostly because it's so close to home.

BTW... Fuck the Browns

1st Place

Took 1st at Dave's last night, woo hoo. Here's a shot of the final hand. I had 8-9 in the first hand of heads-up and Ryan Thoms called of course. I'll post a couple of hands and more details sometime soon.

That's it...no more fifty cent games

Played at Ken's last night. Lost $150. I just cant win at the fifty cent game. Uncle Bob pulled a boat out of his ass with 4-6 off. I had J-6 of spades in the SB in an unraised pot. Flop was 66x...he called me all the way until the river when I pushed...he caught his 4. I cant lose at $1-2, and cant win at $.50-1.00

Gibran showed up...hadn't seen him in months. TK was also there, along with Felix. No Gross/Caveman/Ryan/Paoli combo. Charlie actually played low stakes.

Poker update

Let's see...it's been a while since I've updated...Tuesday before last I went to Ken's and lost. I just cant seem to win at $.50-1.00. I dont think I play any different.

The following Friday I decided to check out Nautica's indoor complex in the Flats. It's right across the hall from The Improv, where the arcade used to be. I dont know how many tables were available, but about 1/3 of them were full at 6pm on a Friday. Just before I sat down, I learned a friend of mine, the network admin for Avon, had been killed in an accident. He got hit by a car on his scooter that he'd bought to save $$ on gas. Bummer. We weren't best friends or anything but me, him and Fish have lunch together at least once a month, and used to do it a couple times a week. He had a wife and 2 kids and was a great dad. RIP...

So, I sit down with a min buy-in of $300 at the $1-3 NL. 2nd hand I get an 8-9 or 6-7 suited, make a small raise, get 2 callers, and flop the nut straight. There is a bet of $40, a fold, and I put $100 on top, and get called. There is not flush draw or pair on the board and I have the total nuts. Turn puts out a brink but a 2nd club, and I push all-in for about $175-ish. CALL!! We flip our cards, and this guy had a gutshot for a lower straight, and 4 clubs. Who wants to guess the river? Yes, I lost the hand. AAAAGGGHHHHHHH!!!

I re-bought, played for a couple hours and lost another $150. Just nothing happening. I paid a total of $50 for 2.5 hrs in the seat, which is completely stupid. If that hand had held up, I think I would have played out another hour and got out, but since I was stuck, I tried to get it back. Oh, well, lesson learned. The place would be a gold mine if you can hit some hands.

I took the following Tuesday off because I shelled out $800 to Ken W to fix my Sebring, which my wife drives. It needed brakes all around (pretty much all the hardware), tie rods, bearings, tires, an alignment, and an oil change. Ken did it all except the tires, which I'll wait on until next month. He did a great job, and it would have cost double anywhere else. It's like having a new car. Hopefully we'll get a chance to put the top down again once more this fall. I think in the spring I'll get a new ragtop installed. The current one leaks.

So, Saturday at Dave's. Had a decent tourney. Took out Julie and Bill D after I caught AA in early position and just limped. They each pushed pre-flop and my hands held up. Actually, I made A's full both times, and once in the cash game with them as well. I had a huge stack going into the final table, but couldnt catch anything. I ended up in 3rd after a 2-man bust-out. Puts me in 3rd place for the "POY race" thast Theo is keeping track of. I wish now that I'd attended all the tourneys. I'll definitely be at the more expensive ones, as well as the bounty tourney coming up.

The cash game was cool, but I gave back a bunch of my winnings. Some new guy named Jamie just couldn't miss. He sucked out on Colin a few times, who'd already been smacked by the 2nd place tourney finisher. Colin flopped the nuts/nut straight, and he hit runner-runner flush with his AK. I had just remarked that he was still in tourney mode after he raised big. I put him on AQ. Close enough. Sick suckout. It was just one of those nights for me. I got back above even at one point, and my little man started screaming to get my $$ off the table and be happy with a $25 win, but NOOOOO....gotta start listening!!! I have an uncanny instinct about knowing when I've hit my high mark for the night, but often igonore it. Kinda like TK in Vegas. "You think I'm ever leaving this table?"

I also managed to snap a shot of some female asscrack. She came with a guy at my table, so I didn't want to be too obvious.

Me, Mailman, Matt G, Theo, and RR Dave went to breakfast at 5am. Colin was supposed to join us but never showed. Matt was supposed to go to Mountaineer with Doc Donator at like 8 am. Not sure of he made it, but he'd had a shitload to drink. I couldn't have done it, so if you made it Matt, I salute you.

Oh, and by the way....fuck the Browns.

This is a test

Testing a new blogger app on my iPhone...