Struggles With Donkeys? More Like With Life

To be honest, my head just wasn't really in it. Last night's tourneys, that is.

(That's not why I didn't run deep, I just played poorly, but played poorly, in part, because of an inability to focus.)

Unlike RecessRampage (who seems to love his job), I'm really pretty damn miserable in mine right now, and recent events are really exacerbating things for me. Do you ever feel trapped in a game where the rules change arbitrarily and you have no impact or influence on them, yet are responsible for the results? That pretty much describes how I feel, and I don't see any way out. I feel like I'm paying for someone's previous decisions that were either poorly thought out or poorly executed, and that when someone says "oh, just do [xyz]", they have no appreciation not only for the hours that entails on my end, but what that means with regard to cases on my docket that they aren't on.

Don't get me wrong...I understand. It's not any attorney's job to worry about what's on another attorney's docket. It's only their job to worry about their docket dates getting met, and getting their product out the door. I get that. But when you're in the midst of a true clusterfuck document production (not in size, but in the rampantly unnecessary duplicated acts, waiting on others, poor direction following by vendors, etc.), while at the same time needed to be in full trial prep mode for another case where you're leaving town for trial in less than three weeks, and the attorneys on the two cases are not the same...just fuckitol, ya know?



Anyway, I'm stuck, because I don't know how to do anything else for a living. And no, I'm not going to play professional pokerz. I've been a paralegal for nearly 20 years, and I'm not about to go to law school. I think I'm really good at what I do, and I've worked for some of the largest and best firms in the country. This is what I do, and this is what I'm going to do tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, probably until I die of a pressure-induced stroke, or something. But none of that makes me feel any better when the fit's hitting the shan, and you're powerless to change your situation.

Okay, whiny rant mode off.

I'll try to end with something positive. The recent Chesterfield Kings' album I just picked up, "Psychedelic Sunrise", is really fucking good. If you like your rock'n'roll flavored a la Brian Jones'-era Rolling Stones, with a dash of early 70s style, then this record is for you.



No one does truly authentic 6Ts sounds like Chesterfield Kings, other than The Royal Purple, or The Omens, that is.

Tuesday Bloggerment Donkmania

I can't imagine playing more terribly than I did at last night's Bodonkey, where I went out 36th, I guess. Fun and challenging first table, with bayne, smokee (and LoveElf), Peaker, and even RecessRampage (who was AFK, I suppose).

Picked up AA in the big blind on the 2nd hand, but it folded around to Peaker who folded to my raise to 40. Overshoving for value wasn't going to get a call there. But it was all downhill from there, and frankly, I just didn't play well.

The curtains aren't necessarily closed for me for the final, but I'm 27th with five weeks to go, and the band's tuning up their instruments. Indicative of my season is that I am the lowest ranked player with four points finishes, by a fair margin. Whether it's getting 3-outed on a final table bubble, or going utterly card dead when antes arrive, or shoving AK into AA, I just can't get the one top-3 finish that would likely put me over the hump.

Played worse in the Skillz game, but somehow won enough pots to make it about halfway through. As soon as Waffles sat down, I went out about two hands later, when I tried to bluff out a couple of draws. A shame, because I like watching him work, and I guess he did pretty well in it last night? I'm not really sure why I played, because I really do dislike Stud poker (outside of Razz).

Waffles thought I'd like it better if I was good at it, and while I first thought otherwise, I'd probably have to agree. But I don't think I'm a total fish in the game, as I do fold a lot pre-4th street, play strong draws, and don't overvalue a high pair. But when I'm playing it, I'm just not really enjoying it. Even in HORSE games, I work harder in the first three rounds so that I don't have to mix it up much in Stud and Stud8.

I did manage to have a deep run in Bodog $8k last night, going out 16th, when I shoved AJo from the button into a mid-position min-raiser who showed down AA. When we got to the final two tables, I had about a 7th place stack, but had to fold to a couple of resteals, and by the time of my shove, I was probably more like a 12th or 13th place stack, and had an M of about 5.5. I could have waited, but I didn't read strength into that one minraise. At any rate, that's two cashes in a row in the $8k. Neither of them really deep (final 2 and 3 tables, respectively), but enough to put a bit of confidence back in my game. Oddly enough, I'm not making it that deep in the $3k or $2k rebuy. I've now had four cashes in it (though none higher than 16th), and maybe it represents a sort of sweet spot for me. Or, maybe I'm just seeing most of the right end of variance there, I dunno.

So the forecast is fair to middling, with a bit of bankroll but no championships. That's cool.

Public Service Announcement to Bodonkeys

Yup, it's that time of the week, and the weeks are beginning to grow short. Come one, come all, to the Bodog Blogger Tournament Series!

Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each Tuesday in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.

The winner of the final tournament will receive a once in a lifetime opportunity to win a $12,000 WSOP* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.

How to Participate
This tournament is open to poker bloggers worldwide. Players must have a Bodog Member Player Account to register.
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com/

Players are then required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they must then click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.

Players are encouraged to register early. If you need assistance with signing up for the tournament or with starting a Bodog member player account, please call Bodog's Poker Customer Service at 1-866-909-2237 or contact us prior to start time at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact

Tournament prizes, leader board and tournament schedule available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/

And don't forget, Buddy Dank Radio is broadcasting from the Bodonkey tonight. But hey, it gets even better for good 'ol BDR.



Also, don't forget about Chad's ongoing Blogger Skillz Series, a rotation of non-NLHE tournaments with double-stacks and $2 KO bounties. I have no idea what tonight's game is, and I have yet to register myself, but I have no doubt most of the field has again put away their fold buttons, which means you can expect the same play quality as I found at the Bit on Saturday. Might be fun and profitable nonetheless, if you can avoid 632,497 suckout opportunities.

I'm Through

With bar poker, that is.

Seriously.

Who fucking calls a MP call and button shove, out of the small blind for 1/3 of their stack, with...






...68, sooted or not.

Final championship tourney, top three get paid. 6th place no good because of six-fucking-eight. Naturally, the flop comes 457.

I'm through with bar poker.

When Free is Just Not Good Enough

A friend of mine is singing the National Anthem today at the Rockies game. Sweet. The Cubs are in town, and the team's got a ticket for me at Will Call, thanks to the honey vocal stylings of El Guapo.

My favorite Rockies pitcher is starting today, and I even have his actual honest-to-goodness rookie season road jersey to wear to the game, to watch him sink sink sink the Cubbies.

Unfortunately, I can't go. Work is truly kicking me in the junk right now. A free ticket, a beautiful day, a businessman's special, and I simply can't be gone from the office for 3.5 hours today. So sick.

Rather feels like picking up pocket AA at a table when everyone else has 20x your chip stack, ya know?

At least I'm still hopeful I'll manage to get to these guys' CD release show tonight, if only because it's a lot easier for me to be somewhere late than somewhere early (but with my workload, I don't think I can be out until 1am watching live moozik). The Widowers are really one of the best things Denver's got going on musically these days, and that's saying a lot.

Busted My First Bodog Pro

Every picture tells a story, and this one...



says, ship the bounty, baby.

Oh yeah, Vinnay caught a miracle river three outer (all in PF) to knock me out on the final table bubble. So sick. I ended up spending about 90 minutes as chipleader, and a couple beats sent me home. Picked up a few points, but damn, I was really looking at a top 3 finish until that.

Also bubbled the final table of the Bodog $3k, when K2o < 62o. Fuck, I'm really starting to grow frustrated with Bodog's RNG right now. Two fucking final table bubbles in one night, and almost nothing to show for it. I should be able to win ONE effin' 93% hand on a final table bubble. I'll get over it, of course.

Bust A Bodog Pro Tonight

That's right, you heard me -- bust a Bodog pro tonight, at the Bodog Blogger Tournament.

Tonight, a mystery Bodog Poker Pro will join the rest of the blogger community in the Bodog Blogger Tournament Series where a $100 bounty will be placed on the pro's head and the poker blogger who takes his or her last chips in this tournament will receive a $100 credit to their Bodog Member Player Account. If the Bodog Pro wins this tournament, he or she will receive the $100 credit. Details at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com

I have no idea who it's going to be, but my hunch is we may see the 2004 WSOP Main Event runner-up in the field. At any rate, it's going to be fun. And because everyone knows bloggers pwn pros, tonight's Bodonkey is like carrying an extra $100 overlay. Good times, folks, good time.

Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each Tuesday in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.

The winner of the final tournament will receive a once in a lifetime opportunity to win a $12,000 WSOP* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.

How to Participate
This tournament is open to poker bloggers worldwide. Players must have a Bodog Member Player Account to register.
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com/

Players are then required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they must then click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.

Players are encouraged to register early. If you need assistance with signing up for the tournament or with starting a Bodog member player account, please call Bodog's Poker Customer Service at 1-866-909-2237 or contact us prior to start time at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact

Tournament prizes, leader board and tournament schedule available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/

Come join and drop me further down the leaderboard. With just seven weeks left in the series, there's plenty of time to score Top 18 points, but the finish line is creeping a wee bit closer...



Also, don't forget about Chad's ongoing Blogger Skillz Series, a rotation of non-NLHE tournaments with double-stacks and $2 KO bounties. I have no idea what tonight's game is, but you can be sure to find a good sized field as the Skillz game is BBT3-approved, and the Tournament of Champions is rolling around soon enough. I'm pretty sure you'll find me donking it up there tonight, so who wants my bounty?

Denver Poker Tour Semi-Finals Trip Report

Starting stacks based on number of nightly games won during the year. Ten player tables. Myself and five other start with 5k, there's a couple 10k and a couple 11k stacks. Blinds 25/50, so I'm not feeling desperate.

Chip up to 6500 when KK > QQ on a no-paint but flushing board. Led out 400 on flop, late position raised to 800, I called, check/check turn, bet out 800 on river and got a call.

Then, a ton of folds, a couple of smallish limp/calls to see flops with suited connectors. One limped JJ, which I see as only a smallish mistake, but the AK on flop minimized damage. With three pf calls in front of me, and a somewhat shortish stack, I was hoping to setmine with higher pair than normal.

Down to about 6k, and pick up suited slick. Blinds 100/200, I raise to 600, one caller. Two heart flop, all numbers, I make my 2nd biggest mistake of the tourney and bet 700 into a 1500 pot. Call. Turn comes Q of hearts. I should check/fold here, right? But I don't. I make my singel biggest mistake of the tourney. I bet out 1300, and he instashoves. I think on it, and fold.*

The very next hand, I pick up QQ (I think I'm UTG here). Down to 3400, I raise to 600. Mid position player with large stack raises to 1200, I call. Flop comes Axx. I check/fold; he shows AA. Good fold, but I'm down to 2200 at first break.

Very shortly after, I pick up KK on the button, with one PF caller. I shove, everyone folds. Back up to 1800. A couple hands later, I pick up AA, I shove, and get one caller (the one player in the previous KK hand who called pf prior to my raise, and then folded). AA holds, and I'm back up to about 4100 or so, blinds 200/400/25.

Fold, fold, fold my BB, and see 42o in the small. Cutoff calls, and with antes, I figure completing here isn't bad. In retrospect, a shove would have been much stronger, considering the stack of the other to players. Flop comes Q53 rainbow, and I like my draw. I lead out for 400, BB calls, and cutoff raises to 1500. I think this is fishy, and he's got about 4k behind, so I shove the OESD. BB folds, and cutoff thinks long and hard before calling with QJ. My draw doesn't hit, and I go home.

So, in the span of less than four full 25-minute blind levels, I see AA, KKx2, QQ, JJ, and AKs, and I don't make it through 100 minutes of the event. Not my shining moment, though in my defense, I was playing after watching a 22 inning game, sleeping for three hours, then working a full day. The fog on my head was heavy. On top of that, I was at a table with a handful of really strong players, or at least players who have cashed HPT events, played WSOP, etc. These guys weren't Ivey or Lindgren, but they were a lot better than the vast majority of players I run into at bar poker tables, and understood what bet sizes represented, were capable of playing back, very very few limped flops, etc.

I do think the only hand I really misplayed was the AKs hand (which goes to show how one colossally fucked up hand can ruin an entire tourney, even if it isn't the hand that sends you home, and even if you manage to pick up a few chips later. In my case, check/folding the flop on my AKs hand would be really weak, but betting 700 into a 1500-1600 chip pot on a flush draw board was bad. I needed to make a pot-sized bet there, and take away pot-odds (though he presumably had two overs to the raggy board and may have called).

After I busted out, he told me he had a K-high flush, which means his starting hand could not have been better than KJs (unless he had AKs and is not telling the truth, which is certainly possible, but in this case, I believe him, as he was one of the more active players at the table). So maybe a larger flop bet gets him out. Maybe a shove over his turn raise sells him on a nut flush (if he's holding KJ), but a) he makes that call there almost always, and b) my pf raise doesn't indicate ATs, A9s, etc.

So my casual attempt to go to the WSOP with the DPT fell way short, as I didn't even make it into the final tournament next weekend, much less win it. Maybe I was too tired to play. Maybe I just wasn't vested enough, starting with half the chips of other players, and being such a rare participant at DPT events (I've only ever played about 9-10, and won two of them). Maybe I'm just too aggressive at the wrong times. Or maybe, it just wasn't going to be my night. That's okay, really -- I just hope the next time I can pick up so many premium hands in a short span, I can manage to do more with them.

Anyway, it's beeeeauuuuuutiful here in Colorado today, and my Rockies are on a four game winning streak, with the Phils and Cubs in town this week. I can't worry about bar poker results, when the world is otherwise so grand, ya know?

Good luck on the felt.

And Here Comes the Pitch

He swings, he misses, he folds.

I honestly do not know which is more exhausting, playing a large field MTT staring at 8pm and running deep, or sitting through every single pitch of a 22-inning marathon.

Every. Single. Pitch.

All 659 freaking one of them. Frankly, most of them were great, as there were nearly 40 strikeouts in the game, all told (even though the zone was a bit dodgy at times, it seemed.) Jeff Francis was....well, he was finally Jeff Francis.

Anyway, I can only say this...the only thing that sucks harder than having to play 22 innings and get on a plane for another road trip is, playing 22 innings and losing, and then having to get on a plan for another road trip. Sucks to be a Padre today, eh?

Kinda sucks to be me, too, in a small way. See, after I dunked and donked and won a Denver Poker Tour event last week, their annual semi-final is tonight. They're only playing down to top 20% or something similar, but honestely, I dunno how I'm going to be able to read cards by 10pm after watching every. single. pitch last night. Too bad, because if I can get over hundreds of semi-final players, and probably 80-100 final players, there's a WSOP seat with my name on it.

My Rox should have thought about that before torturing me so. But that's okay, the pain is good, even if it likely means the poker won't be.

And just in case anyone's wondering -- yeah, he touched it:

A Brief Message From Our Sponsor

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The site is well laid out and clean, and frankly, I think it's one of the more well put together and comprehensive poker sites out there. Check it out, and let them know what you think.

In the meantime, tonight's another edition of Riverchasers -- I won't be there, but you should be. Go grab your seat at the BBT3 Tournament of Champions, and try to get past two of the more polar opposites of blogger play for a WSOP Main Event seat!

How to Win and Tilt at the Same Time

Last night had to be one of the more exasperating nights of my meager poker career. Certinaly, it was the most disappointing profitable night I've had.

I played in a total of ten tournaments last night, and managed to cash in four, for a 40% ITM. Sounds nice, yeah? Especially considering all but one were MTTs? Well, the eRoll didn't exactly end up too much higher than the night started, but such is life.

The best microcosm of my entire evening is this lil' nugget I flopped, in a Full Tilt $3 KO MTT:



It was fairly early in the tourney, and I'd donked off a bit chasing possible KOs, so I wanted to get some real value out of my first flopped straigth flush in forfuckinever. So, when tedwins9 bet out 90, I chose to simply call, and Caridi came along for the ride. And when both called my turn shove, I figured, thankyouverymuch. Boy, was I ever wrong:



Last night's Skillz Donkey Supremo likes to talk about the concept of setup hands. Well, I think I finally found one. Even if I raise the flop bet, tedwins9 is likely 3-betting all in there, given every form of open-ended draw in the book. The look on Caridi's face must have been priceless, though.

Crashed out of the Skillz in about...oh...24th, when I overplayed and committed myself to a semi-bluff (showing a flush draw, actually having a real nice low draw that busted), and one that another shortish stack had a hand to play with.

Donked out of the Bodog Blogger Tournamnet four lousy spots from some much needed tournament series points, when I shoved AQ into a big stack's AK. I was short enough that the shove seems okay, but damn. I'm 30th in the standings with 7 weeks to go, and only top 18 play for the seat. (any points at all would have put me at least about 22nd). When all is said and done, last night may bee the crucial event that leaves me out of the Top 18.

Went deep in the Bodog $8k, but got sucked out on to go home 22nd or so, just before the money got really tasty. Limped into $$$ in the Bodog $5k, but was never a factor.

However, the real tilt moment came in the nightly peep token frenzy. The picture does it most justice:



I'd tripled up early, and won and lost a few smaller pots, but with two orbits left, and 50 players, I thought I had plenty of chips to fold to the token. At any rate, my next two orbits were consisted of completely unplayable cards and little FE, anyway.

There's 40 tokens (and 1 cash prize) up for grabs, and go home 42nd, when the only shorter stack than I called my allin big blind with QQ from under the gun. (I had about 200 chips, he had 63(!!) and it was 800/400/100 at the time. Oh yeah, BB was in the hand, too. If BB's hand holds, I at least get the cash. So gross and painful.

Anyway, that was the night. What I earned in $$$, I definitely gave up in sanity. Lost everything I truly wanted to win, and won...well...not much to blog home about.

Let Us Remember

Plenty of time to blog on poker later. Today, as I sit here in my office in my Virginia Tech golf shirt, over the top of my Hokies United T-shirt, thinking about my Good Doctor Mondo participating in her lie-in against gun violence at noon, it's awfully hard not to dwell on a year ago today.



We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.... We will prevail....

-- Nikki Giovanni, University Distinguished Professor, poet, activist




The Good Doctor Hokie Mondo and I will be attending a memorial service this evening. And, really, all we can ask for is that no school ever have to bear such tragedy.

Tuesday Bodog Bloggerment Pimpage

Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhh Boyyyyyyyyyyyyyyzzzzzzzzzzz!

Does that read more like a really bad rapper, or did I hit the Randy "Macho Man" Savage just right?

It's Tuesday, and you know what that means! Come join us for another edition in the
Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series. There's only a few weeks left, but still plenty of time to run deep and jump into the top 18!

The winner of the final tournament will receive a once in a lifetime opportunity to win a $12,000 WSOP* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.

Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each Tuesday in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.

How to Participate
This tournament is open to poker bloggers worldwide. Players must have a Bodog Member Player Account to register.
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com/

Players are then required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they must then click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.

Players are encouraged to register early. If you need assistance with signing up for the tournament or with starting a Bodog member player account, please call Bodog's Poker Customer Service at 1-866-909-2237 or contact us prior to start time at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact

Tournament prizes, leader board and tournament schedule available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/

Seriously, with an extra T$600 up for grabs every night, how can you go wrong?



While you're at it, Chad's continues with another week of his Blogger Skillz Series -- known to be equally maddening yet entertaining, and probably nutritious, as well. He's hosting Stud 8 tonight. I haven't yet decided whether or not to jump into that particular pool. Stud 8 is pretty much my worst game, yet last time through the rotations, I came rolled up K versus rolled up 9 away from a final table stake, so we'll see...but there's BBT3 points at stake, and you can't let this guy into a club that you're not in too, right?



Besides, he'll be there, I'm sure of it.

Tough Times and Idiotic Plays

Yesterday was tough all the way around on the tables. Played seven tourneys, cashed in zero, and completely gave away a Tier Two token that was mine for the asking.

I came *this* close to cashing in the $11R, but my short stack button push 200 out from the $$$ was called by a mid stack SB playing J4, which crushed my A8o, but I can't truly fault the call, as I'd shoved the last two orbits from an unopened button, and SB had to think I was shoving light, at that point, but my M was down to about 4.

If you look at my OPR, it doesn't tell the story...worst of all was the $14 token frenzy on FTP (playing for $75 tokens).

153 players in the $14 Token Frenzy, with 26 tokens up for grabs, and I triple up first hand. Give a few back, gain a few more...

With 88 players left, and me holding an 8th place stack, I pick up TT under the gun and raise to 800. Called by a middle position player who had me covered, called by button, and a shortly SB shoved (just under 2k, about 40% of my stack, but only about 2.4x my original bet). Tough spot, but I considered folding. I also considered kicking myself for not trying to limp my TT, but I think limping there UTG is bad. I knew if I folded now, I could not just fold to tokens, as I might have been able to do had I not even stepped my toe in the water at all. But c'mon, I'm holding TT. So I called.

Of course, mid position called (or re-raised, I forget now), the button shoved, and now I'm faced for a decision for all my chips, But I was now already in for 40% of my stack, and would have been shortish if I fold, leaving me with an M of 6-7. So, I called. Duh.

My TT ran into KK, AA, and KQ (yeah, the original SB short stack shover had KQo.) So gross. Zero cashes at all in anything yesterday, much less run deep, and that Tier Two should have been mine.

Today's another day.

Apologies and Salutations

I want to apologize to two of my favorites local Denver bands, Widowers, and Light Travels Faster. Truly, Deeply, and Madly. Why?

Because I was to see the both of you, as well as highly anticipated band Overcasters, Friday night at the Falcon. A gig I'd been waiting 2-3 weeks for, and yet one I completely missed in its entirely. Why, do you ask?

Well, as is typical for me on a night when I'm going to see bands, I'm already working in downtown Denver until 6pm. The shows often don't start until 9pm or 10pm or so, which leaves me a few hours to kill. I hate shopping, I've gots lots of driving, so lots of drinking is out of order...so I usually end up donking it up for an hour or two by playing bar poker at a Denver Poker Tour event, where I truly don't care how I finish, because I'm really just there to kill some time before some great Denver indie rock.

But on this particular night, I was alternately a card rack and a good reader. Picked up AA three times, a few other high pairs, made a couple correct (but really tough) laydowns, and for the most part, had my suckout-avoidance skill working. I won the whole goddamn thing, on a night when I really did not care, and even did not want to. By the time the tourney was over, Light Travels Faster and Widowers were well past done, and I probably couldn't have even gotten to the venue in time for any Overcasters. The results-oriented part of me was kinda pissed, because the result of the night was no awesome live music -- LTF and Widowers are absolutely two of my favorite bands these days.

Unfortunately, this was one of those all-ages events that started right at 9pm, which isn't conducive to running deep in a bar poker game that starts at 7pm. I promise to make it up. And hopefully, some of the few readers here will click the links and check out the tunes.

You Look Like You Need A Hug...

...or a marmot.

Return of the Bloggerment Blahs? And a Near Miss?

So...when I sat down to play the Tuesday night two-fer bloggerment madness, the positive vibes were in the air. The Skillz was HORSEy, a rotation I like. Well, at least 3/5 of it, anyway. The Bodonkey tables looked reasonably well-suited, and were generally populated by some pretty decent folk, who I like to share table space with.

Unfortunately, after a nice chip up in the first couple levels of the Skillz game, I made a couple of poor plays in hour two, and went out short of the cash. There was the one Stud hand where my 5th street boat was destined to get paid by ScottMC (who's taken chips from me on more than one occasion):



Once he hit his K-hi flush, I was going to get paid, no doubt:



I just wish I'd had another 675 chips available, so that I could have collected a bounty, as none were to be had.

The Bodonkey was going much better, with me riding the Dank Position with three tables left, all the way to a 9th place final table finish, just squeezing into the points.

Going out of this tourney was no fun, however. Though I was the shorty when final table started, I felt confident that my 99 shove would survive. And when I was called by 99, things were looking up, at least for a few more hands of surviving, andy maybe getting up to 5th (where the juicy $T overlay kicked in). Unfortunately, eventual winner Blinders (Whatsthenuts) hit four hearts on the board to send me home in a most brutal fashion.

I must say, the irony is getting to me, in one respect. I've final tabled two of these things, and both times it has been on nights with exactly 44 players in the field. In other words, exactly one player short of having nine payout spots, instead of just five. Both times, I finished below 5th, which is getting a bit frustrating. Still, I'll take the points.

With a couple months left, I've managed to crawl up to 29th in the standings, but more importantly, only about a 5th place finish away from the current top 18. Only 25 players have pointed in as many as three Bodonkeys in the series, and I'm 24th of those (and 9th out of the 10 who have pointed in exactly three events). There's probably a few different ways to look at it, but I suspect part of it is just running bad once in the points.

That said, I recognize that one of the things that contributed to my final table stack being so short was that Sean managed to steal my BB or re-steal on me a good 5-6 times last night. None of these were really early, when the pots were meaningless. I must say, nice betting. I'll also say he was pretty active, generally, taking lots of stabs througout the night. I do wish I'd had at least one hand in those spots that held showdown value, because I'm pretty sure 2-3 of those steal attempts were fairly light. Still, the best hand I held in those spots was QJs out of position.

Anyway, I'm growing tired of playing the Skillz game, for the most part. I'm a non-factor in the BBT, because I'm completely unable to play the TOC, even if I earn a seat. And, while I am definitely not a NLHE specialist, and thorougly enjoy several of the variants, I just don't like the way I'm running (hot as hell the first couple levels, then nothing but bricks when limits go up). I'll probably sit out next week (Stud 8), which is one of my worst games, and then see how I feel.

Oh yeah...I also took cracks at the Daily Double. Normally, I'd shy away from these things, as entering both last night represented 5% of my FullTilt roll, and I like to practice reasonably good bankroll management. But something about last night told me it was a good night to play. Well, that "something" was half right. I got 3-outed on a river to cripple me in one Daily Double (going out soon after), but ran well enough in the other to finish 55th of about 1150 or so, and recovered my buyin to both.

Then, there was the $10+1 90 player turbo KO SNG, where I picked up AA in the big blind, but had to run a veritable gauntlet with it:



UTG called preflop, then hijack called, button called, and small blind shoved. The only play for me was to re-shove for a tiny bit more, but I suspected there would be at least two, if not three more callers, just because of pot odds. I was pleasantly surprised when only the UTG called, and I was really digging my chances. Why QJo shoved from the small blind there, I'll never understand, but always appreciate.

As you can see, the best hand preflop had to make a miraculous suckout to survive:



Anyway, I didn't final table this one, but got enough KOs to almost recover the buy-in. A bankroll negative night overall, but not terribly so. Also took a shot at the Stars $11R, and doubled up early, but my AK went down hard to AQ (at least it was on the turn instead of the river) five minutes before the rebuy period, and I chose not to chase a rebuy/addon which would still leave me with a relative microstack in hour two.

Congratulations to Scrupboy

He's a blogger, but not a BBT3er -- a local lad who's regaled a couple of us with the stories of his rollercoaster Zero to Hero challenge. Well, after that was done, Scrupboy dug down deep and dropped $10 into JokerStars a couple weeks ago, and has pretty much run wild ever since:

Check out the latest craze on Scrupboy's dancefloor:



And check out his blog, while you're at it. Very well done, Son.

My Bodonkey final table pales in comparison, but I'll blog about that later, just the same.

Rockies are marching back towards .500, and the bats are waking up. Bullpen's been almost unhittable last couple of games. Life is good.

Tuesday Night - Back to the Well

Bar poker, gahhh. In position to take it down, final five players. Blinds are 2k/4k, and I'm sitting on 28k. Raise to 12k UTG with AKo, and a calling station player of very little real skill, aside from suckout ability, calls. Flop is 754 rainbow, and I shove. She calls and shows ATo. I'm licking my chops at having a dominating stack when the 3-outer T hits on the river.

For a moment, I consider whether she calls if I wait until the turn to shove, when I realize of course she would, she's been nothing more than a passive calling station for the two years I've seen her at this game. Oh well.

Hoping for better results tonight at the Bodog Blogger Tournament and the Blogger Skillz Series games. At least, at lot better than my donktastic performance last week.

We're at the halfway pole of the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series. In fact, I believe tonight marks the halfway point in our journey to win a World Series Main Event seat to play with Team Bodog 2008. Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each Tuesday in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.

How to Participate
This tournament is open to poker bloggers worldwide. Players must have a Bodog Member Player Account to register.
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com/

Players are then required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they must then click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.

Players are encouraged to register early. If you need assistance with signing up for the tournament or with starting a Bodog member player account, please call Bodog's Poker Customer Service at 1-866-909-2237 or contact us prior to start time at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact

Tournament prizes, leader board and tournament schedule available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/

Not only are there bounties, $Ts overlays, and lots of juicy goodness, but there's also Buddy Dank radio! Tune in, tune in!



Tonight is also Chad's Blogger Skillz Series. The soup d'jour is HORSE. Yet another game for button mashing, mutton gnashing bloggers, but one in which I have faith in my grand suckout skills. Actually, if I can just find the fold button myself during the SE rounds, I may just do okay...



See you there!

Zero Poker Content, and Zero (Winning) Baseball

Played absolutely zero poker over the weekend, but got in a couple of rousing Mexican Train domino games in with the Good Doctor Mondo and a couple of our dear friends. In fact, my only poker since last Tuesday was a single 90 player $3.30 KO SNG at FullTilt on Thursday night, which I played at home while reformatting some spreadsheets. Oh yeah, took 2nd place with about five KO bounties.

Went to Rockies games on Friday (home opener) and Sunday. Incredible seats (17 rows back, level with the pitching mound), but two really ugly losses. The new tamales at Coors Field are awesome. The hitting thus far is atrocious, aside from Todd Helton. It's still quite early, of course, but it's not often you see the Rox 30th in MLB in team batting average, ya know? The Good Doctor Mondo was, once again, a star of the Jumbotron, but no purple wig this time. Coors Field is still the greatest stadium in baseball to watch a game, and if you get in the neighborhood early enough on Sunday, you can even find FREE parking within two blocks of 20th and Blake.

Lots of poker tonight and tomorrow -- trying for my fourth bar poker victory in eight weeks tonight, but even if I crash out early, I'll make it home for some juicy online action. Tomorrow, of course, are the Skillz and Bodonkey games, which I'll mention with more vigor tomorrow. Work is still kicking my ass, and will for the next 2.5 months or so...

On Trash Ass Table Talk -- BBT3 Edition

I just don't get it.

That is, rude ass cracka ass douchebags saying crap in chat that they wouldn't have the stones (or lack of tact) to say out loud in a live cardroom. I just don't get it. Just because you can get away with saying something on teh intrawebs without getting your ass kicked in the parking lot later in the evening, doesn't mean doing so is a good idea, y'know?

Set aside for a moment all the great background work Alcanthang did putting together BBT3 -- all those wonderful WSOP seats, the linking of Mondays at the Hoy, Riverchasers, Skillz, etc. Never mind all that, and think about what a large part of the community of bloggers (e.g., "us"), is trying to build. A community, that is.

We may be scattered from Vega$ to NYC, from Texas to Canada and beyond, but the poker part of the blogosphere is truly a neighborhood. Not to suggest that everyone's going to get along, but there is a lot to be said for basic civility. There's also a lot to be said about not rapping on the glass of the fishtank. And yea, verily, there are plenty of fish in the blogosphere, but that's not a bad thing.

I suppose I'm not saying anything that 20 other bloggers haven't addressed in the last two days. But really, why does anyone truly feel the need to be a tacky asshat in chat, just because someone cracked a hand or two of yours? Remember, if you're that far ahead, you *want* those people in your hand, right? Well, unless and until you've got the mortal nuts, your 95% hand on the turn ain't 100%. So when it's cracked, why talk trash as if it were? Don't you *want* that fish at your table in the blogger cash game at the next blogger gathering? Or at least buying you drinks in the Geisha Bar? Or at least being around to commiserate with after Jamie Gold pushes you off a pot with 52o and shows?

Then why be an asshat and drive someone out of the neighborhood? Thassall....

Bloggerments Shmloggerments

Well, that's about how she goes. Tuesday was definitely my worst ever performance in nightly bloggerments ever, and there's really no one to blame but myself.

In the Bodonkey, I never truly got going, and about 1/2 through the first hour, I raise a flop with ye olde untrustworthy TPTK. AJ soooted, I believe. After being raised, I shoved right into a flopped two pair, and IGH 43rd of 44. Ugh. It didn't seem like a particularly tough table or field that night, either, and I definitely wasted a chance to move up the leaderboard.

Things in the Skillz game were worse...after chipping up to 4k the first orbit, I proceed to go out like 83rd, because I forgot my own cardinal rule about how over 1/2 the field had disabled their fold buttons. I had so many quality hands go down to ugly turns and rivers, it wasn't even funny. Only one time, for a largish pot, did I think the opposing player actually play the kind of hand that should be seeing a raised preflop pot in Limit O8, but whatev, it was still very nearly a great night.

See, remember that $75 token I luckboxed my way into? I finally used it, in Full Tilt's $23k guarantee KO, with $15 for each knockout. There were about 432 runners, with 45 paid. At first, I tread softly, thinking the skill level was going to be higher than I was used to. However, after about 90 minutes, it hit me how many others were probably in on Tier Two tokens, because the play really was no different than the $11 KO MTTs, or the $11 turbo KO 90 player SNGs.

I had to overcome a short stack, after getting three outed by a shorty on the river, which dropped me to about 1600 (3000 starting chips). This make KOs very hard to come by because, chip up as I did for 4+ hours, I was always behind average chips. However, by the time the bubble broke, I was still alive, and working hard. Unfortunately, the fourth hour brought total card death, and with 16 players left (and me 16th in chips, I shoved KQ soooted from 2nd position (UTG had called), and UTG called me with a 66 that held. Still, I was able to turn $14 into a Tier Two, and that token in to $199 plus a single KO bounty. I think it's odd that I could survive past 415 players in a 432 person field, and only have one KO, but my few all ins were always with me as a shorter stack.

In fact, the only two showdowns I lost the entire tourney were the 1st hour 3-outer, and the hand of my demise. Nine showdowns out of about 350 hands, and only seeing 9% of flops. That's MiamiDon poker, I suppose.

Anyway, the field didn't seem that tough, and if I can't be around for the Big Game, I've found a decent use for those Tier Two tokens going forward.

Also played the Bodog $8k guarantee, and went out around 20th or so for a somewhat decent cash, as well. In the end, it was a somewhat profitable night, but performing so poorly in the bloggerments really leaves a sour taste, ya know?

Work is truly kicking me in the junk these days, so we'll have to see how often I can post. I was going for two posts every three days, but I may be lucky to do 2-3 a week, at least until this trial in early June. We'll see how it goes. I'm definitely a no-go for the Heartland Poker Tour qualifiers, because I just can't take the time off work to go up the hill. At least they're back in September, and I'll be rolling in so much OT pay from trial that I can definitely give it a shot.

Tonight's the Mookie, but it started 90 minutes ago....

Tuesday Night Bloggamania (Bodonkey/Skillz)

Oh yeah, out of the way first...last night I managed to take down my 3rd 50-60 runner bar poker tourney in my last seven attempts at a particular juke joint (with one 2nd place, to boot). The most minor brag ever, but it felt good being able to have such a good read on one particular aggressive player that...every time he'd chip up against others, I would immediately take them from him. He was raising most hands in mid to late position with ATC, and was C-betting every flop, and most every turn, whether the board hit him or not. In most cases, he would whiff, and I was able to call these obvious c-bets and then push him out on the river with 1/3 to 1/2 pot bets, more than once with nothing more than 2nd or 3rd pair and a good kicker.

Eventually, he pulled this move in a hand where I'd flopped two overs and nut flush draw, and when the A came on the turn and he overshoved, I knew my top pair was likely good, and had a hell of a re-draw. Turns out he was drawing to a gutshot, and he was drawing near dead.

To him, I say, "I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE!" (Actually, I respect his play quite a bit. Most of the table ended up becoming extremely weak/tight as a result, but being able to take advantage of his aggro style by being on his left and having a good read on a decent player just felt so goot.)

Anyway, to more current events:

Tonight is another edition of the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series. In fact, I believe tonight marks the halfway point in our journey to win a World Series Main Event seat to play with Team Bodog 2008. Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each Tuesday in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.

How to Participate
This tournament is open to poker bloggers worldwide. Players must have a Bodog Member Player Account to register.
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com/

Players are then required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they must then click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.

Players are encouraged to register early. If you need assistance with signing up for the tournament or with starting a Bodog member player account, please call Bodog's Poker Customer Service at 1-866-909-2237 or contact us prior to start time at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact

Tournament prizes, leader board and tournament schedule available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/

Not only are there bounties, $Ts overlays, and lots of juicy goodness, but there's also Buddy Dank radio! Tune in, tune in!



In addition, tonight is also Chad's Blogger Skillz Series. Tonight we're playing Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, and believe me, over half the field have disabled their fold buttons for this one, no doubt. If a bloggers got a 568T one suited, they'll be calling 3-bets preflop, and quartering the low with with the dude playing 54 low whose 4 was counterfeited.

Lawdy grant me strength as I try to improve upon my 2nd place Razz finish last week. And please, for one night, let me run like Antonius.



See you there!