So the Bodonkey is Bodover?

That really sucks. Big thanks again to $mokkee for doing such a cool job of hosting it back in the day. Between the overlays, the tough fields, and that awesome end of the line prize, Bodog had stepped up big time for us bloggers. But it's no longer to be, given how Bodog has laid off a group of office and marketing staff (Bodog denies any layoffs of server ops types).

In fact, I attribute more than a small part of this to Google fucking the poker bloggers' page ranks, as without search engine ranking, there's not much need for Bodog to become advertising partners with bloggers, and therefore, no need at all to be running a blogger's tournament series.

In fact, the news for Bodog appears to be pretty rough these days, what with rumors of imminent indictments (based on their sports betting operation), and the fact their poker operation's pretty much been a loss leader.

Bodonkey, I'm really gonna miss you.

Given all the bad news and rumors, I took a step I wasn't sure I'd ever take at that site:



That's right, I cashed out about 80% of my remaining roll on Bodog. It's not much, but I'm withdrawing an amount 4x what I ever deposited, so that part's cool. Of course, it's also less than half of what I had on there before I started my atrocious run of the last seven weeks. If anything, I wish the news had come about two months ago, and I could have avoided donking off half my roll. I could have bought a hell of a nice bass with what I had on Bodog at one point. But I didn't get caught up in the Neteller mess, and don't want to start now, if Bodog suddenly went tits up.

Still, we're told to expect eight weeks to receive payment. Eight weeks? Folks these days would get their homes foreclosed upon for less. So I'm more thankful that we're not even talking month-changing money, much less life-changing money. Nevertheless, the roll I had built before my downswing could have bought one hell of a nice bass if I wanted.

If I ever see the $$$, at that point in time, I'll probably split the amount and deposit it on Tilt and Stars, just so I can have some kind of roll to play with. I wouldn't see that as violating my goal not to deposit at all this year, because it's more a matter of a really delayed inter-site transfer. But given that those dollars are currently in limbo right now (and will be until at least late October), I'm down to about $350 all told spread on three different sites, which means I'm going to be limited to microballin' and playing free rolls before I know it, as I'd rather not blow that goal 2/3 of the way through the year.

Kind of a shame, as I've really enjoyed playing at Bodog, despite it's less-than-optimal software. At least until their RNG decided to treat me as if I were a misbehaving choir boy in a Boston parish.

Who knows, maybe I'll be able to grind up what little I've left on the site, but if it were to go away tomorrow, that would be one site I could leave a lifetime winnah.

May your pots be large, and your outs arrive on the river.

Brief Observations on DNC in Denver

Traffic driving to work better than usual. Most people commuting from the north seem to be staying home.

My plan to work from home on Wednesday and Thursday is as fucked as my chanced to win with a flopped set of aces usually is.

George Stephanopoulous looks even shorter in person than I would have thought.

The continued Hillary for President protest crew is in a really small parking lot. The media is creating a bigger story out of this than the number of bodies appears to merit.

As hard as it was to get a ticket to Obama's speech, it's not that hard if you're a name partner at a Denver law firm.

Tilting in the Key of G

Gahhh, I don't even know where to begin. Sometimes, you get really amped about certain prospects, and if you don't rein yourself in, you do nothing but set yourself up for extreme disappointment.

Such was the case with me this week, as it regards my cyclical attempts to make some wonderful music.

After learning one of my favorite new bands, Hawks of Paradise, was losing their bass player, I did what every self-respecting fanboy bassist would do. I wrote the band, asked for an audition (they said they were auditioning replacements), and started practicing the hell out of the four tunes on the band's Myspace page.

As it turned out, I ran into a mutual acquaintance of the band's on Saturday night, while out at a show. He indicated to me that the band had actually already tried out a couple bassists, and hadn't seemed to settle on one. Of course, I hadn't heard anything from the band by this time, so on Monday, I wrote them again as a followup, and included links to some of my playing with previous bands.

Well, yesterday, I get word that the band has already found its replacement, and that the band is not interested in me auditioning. This truly sucks balls. Of course, the most obvious answer as to why is that I'm 42, and thus clearly too old to actually make interesting indie rock, and should be summarily restricted to joining classic rock cover bands. (I just threw up in my mouth a little at the prospect.) The second most obvious answer is that I'm simply not in the Denver incestuous clique of hipsters that run in concentric circles, floating in and out of each others' bands. Instead, I'm just a fan who likes the music of a lot of those bands, but I am left to conclude that while my fandom, patronage, and customer business is appreciated, I am clearly not cool enough to be qualified to actually play with them.

Of course, I am still jamming with New Ben Franklins, and I think the dudes in that project are really nice guys, and I enjoy their company. But as each week goes by, it's more and more obvious to me that I was way off on my understanding of the type of music we'd be playing. Not a criticism of the music itself (because it's well written), but I don't want to play the blues, and I don't want to play covers of multiple old country songs in the same key. The odd yet interesting idea of combining alt-country and shoegaze intrigued me, but it's just not what it turns out we're actually doing, so my interest is waning very quickly.

One the one hand, it would be really easy to just say fuck the whole thing -- if I'm not cool enough to merit an audition, I'm clearly not the type of music fan you want to see your shows and buy your records, so fuck you. But that would be incredibly immature, and really, why should I allow that to detract from my ears' enjoyment of good music. After all, I don't go to see bands with the idea in my head that someday, you're going to lose your bass player and I'm going to be their replacement. It doesn't work like that. I like awesome live local music of certain type(s), and the fact I've been trying to find a band like that to play in for years doesn't alter that fact.

As much as I like Hawks of Paradise, there's a good chance that I'll never be able to be as excited about them as I was before they decided to completely bypass me in finding their new bass player, because it will be difficult to watch them play without being jealous and envious. They really are that good, but that's just human nature. I suppose we'll see, when I go to their September 6th show.

But knowing that doesn't make me any less bitter. Bitter about the fact I am pretty much forced to live 35 miles out of town and will never be more than peripheral to the local music scene. Bitter that people seem to think that if you're over 35 (never mind over 40) that you're hopelessly out of touch with interesting and compelling music. Bitter that the only bands typically looking for bass players via Craigslist here are the usual cover bands, death/doom/speed metal, or worship bands. Bitter that circumstances required I leave the best band I was ever in, in order to be a good partner to the Good Doctor Mondo and move out west.

And, mostly, bitter that it appears I'll never again get to play the kind of music I enjoy, in a band I like and respect, onstage ever again, for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with my ability or desire to play bass.

Hope your week's better. At least my Rockies are 5-0 on their current road trip. Naturally, just enough to give us delusional types almost a reason to think our season's not done yet, when we're so toast you can call us pumpernickel.

The More Things Change...

Poker blahs continue. I wanted to play in NYRambler's game last night, but played almost no poker prior to last night. Took one shot at a token on Monday and bubbled (naturally). I didn't feel rolled for a $26 entry, so I skipped it. The final week of NYRambler's series is next Tuesday. I don't know what the game is, but it is a $26 buyin, so get your peep tokens ready. I'm going to try to pick one up over the weekend. I'm actually 5th on his leaderboard, having played only 4 of 12 events (but taking 2nd in 3 of the 4), and I'd hate to miss it.

Managed to play bridemaid at the Skillz game, just the same. I still hate 7 Card Stud, but ship the runner up mobnies.

Made final two tables of Daily Double B, but never really had a chance at the big money, as I rode a short stack from the final 100 players until I went out 18th, when I called from the BB with 96 soooted. I wanted two live, and I had them when the early raiser showed KJ. I felt good when I flopped the flush draw (to his flopped pair), but didn't improve. Oh well.

Bodog continues to fuck me dry without a reacharound. I've now lost 1/2 my bankroll from its high. Twice I went out on preflop all ins with AK v TT, when I'd flop an A, only to see my opponent river a two-outer ten. Both of these times, this was tantalizingly close to the money. I've finished out of the money in approximately 29 of my last 30 tournaments, and more often than not, coming a few spots from the money, or losing a 70/30 for the chiplead, or something similar.

What is it, Bodog hates me because my Google page rank is down? Too bad for them, I guess, since where my roll is now, I can no longer play the $30 and $40 buy-ins. Really, I should be done with the $20 buyins, too, if I were to practice effective bankroll management. Given their sparse MTT options, that means I'll be playing only their $10+1 and $5R unless I manage to take one down, which can only hurt their rake.

Chad raised the question as to what's a more difficult MTT to win, given similarly sized fields, "similar sized field, one double stacked, other not, one 15 minute levels, other 12, and one costs $200, one costs $10."

I think the answer to that particular question is obvious, but is also the wrong question. At Bodog, the fields for $10 buyin MTTs are much much larger than they are for the $30, $40, and $50, much less the $200 buyins. It's simply more difficult to win a larger-field MTT, irrespective of the buyin. The fact that players are (or should be) much better at the $200 level is a double-edged sword. They're capable of making more plays, but they also understand what you're trying to represent with a bet. That simply doesn't happen at $10+1.

As such, you need to navigate a much larger field of much worse players, and ergo, need much more luck. You're less likely to be outplayed, but more likely to be outdrawn.

Scratch That, Reverse It

Looks like no charity poker tournament during the DNC for Paralyzed Veterans of America. Turns out the Colorado Bureau of Investigations has determined the tournament to violate existing Colorado law (and there's case law to support that determination). Colorado's pretty messed up when it comes to gaming legislation, in that a lot of it contradicts itself. Oh well...guess I'll be cleared up to blogger tourney or rehearse next Tuesday.

My past weekend contained zero poker content whatsoever, but lots and lots and lots of rain. Wow. Short all year, and it comes down at once. And there's even snow above about 12,500 feet now!

I did spend most of the weekend jamming on four tracks from what I previously called my "new favorite local band", Hawks of Paradise (after their blistering short set at the Denver Post Underground Music Showcase. Not two weeks after I fell in aural love with this band, their bass player up and moved to Cali-for-nia, and they're looking for a new 4-stringer. If there's ever a time I wanted to catch a 3-outer in life it's now. If there's any justice in this world, I'll get luckier beyond my wildest dreams and be their new bass player.

The band should remind listeners of great bands like Brian Jonestown Massacre, Outrageous Cherry, and the Velvet Underground, along with some others. Just great great stuff, and I'd be honored to get to play those songs...

Anyway, all that bass work helped keep me away from the felt, and you know what? I don't mind at all, not one lil' bit.

In Denver For the DNC?

If you're in town for the upcoming Democratic National Convention, then you may find the following of interest. The Poker Players Alliance has put together a charity tournament to take place at Coors Field during the DNC.

From CardPlayer magazine

Tourney will Benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America

The Poker Players Alliance will hold a poker tournament to benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, during the Democratic National Convention.

Poker at the Ballpark will take place the night of Tuesday, Aug. 26, on the club level of Coors Field, and all proceeds will go directly to the PVA. The winner of this event gets a seat into the main event of the 2009 World Series of Poker.

“PPA is honored to host this charity poker tournament and looks forward to raising a lot of money for these American heroes,” said Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the PPA and former Democratic senator from New York. “This is a great opportunity to harness the popularity of the game in order to raise much-needed funds for those who have fought to protect our country and our individual freedoms — paralyzed vets.”

Individual players can register for $500, and two sponsorship opportunities are available:

Full House Sponsorship — This sponsorship costs $3,500 and gives the buyer four entries, two specetator seats during the tourney, one ticket to the VIP reception, admission to the general reception, and recognition on all event materials and signage.

Royal Flush Sponsorship — This sponsorship costs $7,500 and gives the buyer eight entries, four spectator tickets, two tickets to the VIP reception, and recognition on all event materials and signage.

Ben Affleck has confirmed, as well as Andy Bloch and Barry Greenstein. The reception begins at 9:30 p.m., and the tourney at 10 p.m. The Democratic National Convention takes place in Denver Aug. 25-28.

For more information about the tourney, and to register, visit www.theheraldgroup.com/ppa.

Now, as my few regular readers probably already know, I'm not a fan of the PPA. Mostly because, for the most part, they seem to be far more interested in representing the interests of certain online poker sites (um, can you say Party Poker?) trying to lobby to work in the US market without actually having to lobby under their own name, than actually representing the interests of U.S. poker players in advocacy.

That said, I think this is a wonderful event. The charity involved, (the PVA) is a wonderful organization providing valuable services for those who've given more for this country than anyone else. As a veteran, I can get behind this event. By the way, the club level at Coors Field is really rather nice.

I probably won't play, because I'm certainly not rolled for it. I may look into volunteering, though my wife's DNC convention plans may make that difficult. But if you're planning on being in town, I can't imagine a better way to spend part of your time here. Heck, you may even bust Barry and get a signed book. Heck, you may even win your Main Event seat for 2K9, if you're the ultimate luckbox. Even a GOPer would like that, no?

Naturally, Tuesday Means Live Blogging

7:06pm - NYRambler's donkeyshove rebuy tourney. Get AA and KK in the first few hands, both hold, up 7x starting stack.

7:23pm - As is typical in Bodog's $10+1 $5k guarantee. Yeah, AA, raise PF, K high two spade flop (I have A spades), I bet pot, BB reships, I say "if you flopped a set gg", he shows Q high flush draw, and flush hits. Naturally. Run good >>>> play good every time.

7:26pm - QQ < AJo in Bodog $16.50 SNG, when four flushed on river. Naturally. Whatever Smokkee said about these...well, just don't be results oriented, and you won't tilt so bad.

8:03pm - Naturally. KK goes down to AA in the $28k guarantee on Tilt. On the 2nd motherfucking hand. Naturally. So much for that token.

8:05pm - NYRambler's tourney - 1 of 7 left at break. Would you believe 106 rebuys in a 9 player tourney?!?!?! I'm only in for $4, believe it or not. I can really use the $121 first prize in this.

9:07pm - 2nd break in the Rambler, heads up with CheckinMyAA, and looking at the current chiplead. I've finished 2nd twice in my 3 Rambler's, and would like to move up one spot this time. 1 time plz.

9:09 - Sitting 60th of about 180 in the $26 $4k HORSE tourney. After my $28k debacle, I thought I'd donk my other token in a tourney where I couldn't go out in 2 hands. Got abused in the early LHE, but picked up nice chips in Razz and Stud, oddly enough.

9:15pm - Huge hand in the Bodog $5 rebuy. Rivered A high flush paid off my rivered straight flush. I bet the turn on my pair, with straight and flush draws and was called. So when I smallish bet the river, I got raised. Minraised back, and he shoved. The call was easy, really, even though it was only 2nd nuts, with higher straight flush possible.

9:21pm - 53 of 171 on 1st break of $4k HORSE. Only 24 pay, so I can use chips, but I'm healthy.

9:23pm - Went out bridesmaid (again) in the NYRambler. Got outplayed on one hand where my flopped top pair went down to turned trips, which made me short. Ended up calling a shove with two live. Flopped pair, turned trips, and lost to flush on river. Nicely played all around, though, and the BR help is welcomed.

9:32pm - Down to 109 of 151 on HORSE - that last Omaha 8 level was brutal.

9:46pm - Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand out of the HORSE, after playing total donkeyfuckeraggro in Razz, and eventually getting it in good on 5th street in Stud Hi, only to get outdrawn to a flush. Fucking waste of my only two tokens, as usual, but really, in this HORSE, I played terribly for the most part. I was outplayed, but more so because I played much worse than usual, not because the players were so much better.

11:21pm - Naturally. Thanks to a couple of turdgargling mouthbreathers, who think calling off over half their chips with one over is a good play, I'm out of everything else except for a measly FTP $3 KO. Naturally. My hand hurts from where I punched the bottom of my mouse. ABS plastic = 1, left hand = 0. In fact, I lost another 10% of my Bodog roll thanks to a couple of fuckers who prefer playing from the 30% side of a 70/30. I guess that's one way to avoid races -- get all your money in as no better than a 2:1 dog. That's the ticket. Worst part is, I only get to play once a week, and can't even get my pound of flesh from those toolbaskets. I'm thinking for them, reading Phil Gordon would actually be a good thin for their online poker game.

12:56am - Well, at least I went out with a cash tonight, finishing 17th of 532 in a $3.30 KO. Unfortunately, I never really did get any cards, only got one knockout, and rode a short stack from the final 120 players down to my eventual exit, when I shoved 33 UTG with 1.5 BB, and got four flushed on the turn.

Overall, it was a rough poker night, as once again, the Bofuckers hosed me from a cash (went out 10 from the money in the Bodog $5R, when my SB raise (with ATs) was overshoved by the BB, who ended up having TT. Duh. Case ten on the flop sealed my fate. All I have to show for tonight is a small cash in a small $$/big field MTT, and yet another bloggerment bridesmaid. A little piece of my soul just died.

Welcome to the Doghouse

So these guys have jumped into the swirling waters of Bodog's online poker MTTs? I, for one, say welcome! Please drop your chips off at my seat on the way out. Okay, I keed, I keed. I do honestly wish the both of you continued health to your run-good genes, especially in the latter stages.

The interface is improved, the three-table limit is still kinda hokey, but I can deal. Chad's read on mid-to-late stage tourney play at Bodog is pretty much spot on. Players will limp call your raises, or overshove light, near and past the bubble all day, hence the need for strong run-good genetics and mad suckout-avoidance skills.

Still, as frustrating to me as things have been, the site's still treated me better in the poker arena than any other this year, and dive into that pool again tonight, I will. Oh, I will. I just hope I can have the pleasure of running into Don and Chad in my travels, though I suspect they're playing a bit higher than I am, given their recent early successes.

On the bloggerment front, tonight is another week in NYRambler's series. Here's hoping I can improve my finish by one spot. Tonight it's a $2R event, and the password is, as usual, epicfail. Which, oddly enough, describes my recent performances.

Also on tap is the Skillz Series, dishing up double stack bounty Limit Hold'em. I haven't yet registered for that, as I may play the 8pm big ass field $26 at Full Tilt, and will need to give my attention to that. No FTOPS for me, once again. I don't have the roll for it, don't have the roll for $75 satellites into same, the $26 satellites don't pay enough seats, and I don't have a stake.

I may try some of $mokee's challenge SNG's over at the 'dog, though. We'll see.

7:58pm - Well, finally went out of the SNG, but in 3rd place, for $32. Picked up some pots, and played tight into the money. Standard pushmonkey from there.

8:02pm - 7 left in NYRambler's game. I'm on top, and only in for $4, yay me. Would you believe 106 rebuys?!?!?!

Did You Enjoy the Opening Ceremonies?

Hmm, not only was some of the music faked and lipsynched, but the actual singer wasn't even the little girl the lying communist government would have you believe. Oh yeah, the fireworks you saw on TV? Some of that was "digitally enhanced", too, and if you were sitting in the stadium, that's not what you saw.

It's amazing how much the nation's commercial interests are willing to suck the teat of the Red Army just for the sake of a few shekels.

Maybe the next time the Olympics are in China, even the events themselves will be stage-managed and actually filmed from a soundstage in Vancouver.

NBC's the worst of the lot, frankly. First, they stage manage event scheduling so that the glamour events can be shown live in the U.S. (gymnastics, swimming, etc.) Never mind the fact this fucks the athletes by requiring that finals take place at times like 8:30 in the morning. Then, NBC has the gall to only show the events live in the eastern and central time zones, so that us in the entire western half of the country get tubed just the same.

But then, NBC has pretty much been a hind tit suck of a network for the last 20 years anyway. Remember their "plausibly live" coverage of Sydney? They're like the Bush White House version of broadcast honesty. At least have the fucking decency to take off the "live" logo in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. I mean, when I can read the results of a swimming race on another channel's sports ticker five minutes before you broadcast the race...ahem..."LIVE"...there's something rotten in Denmark.

But hey, it's all about the Benjamins, right? I hope the network chokes on their advertising dollars. BTW, the promos for that new Christian Slater show suck balls.

Are You Coming For the Convention?

If you're coming out to Denver for the Democratic National Convention later this month in Denver, there's a few things you're probably going to want to know about our fair city. To help guide you along the way, three members of the Denver Visitors Bureau have put together a short video to point out some of the finer features of the Mile High City.*

Without further ado:




*It probably helps if you were close to a mile high while watching the vid. Thanks to one of my favorite drummers for posting the vid.

Or, you can just show up and ride the DNC shuttle, which the Good Doctor Mondo has been driving a couple of days a week lately...

Oh yeah, there may be close to 50 games left, and I shall bleed purple forever, but the Rockies' season is officially over. Losing both games of a doubleheader? At home? To the worst team in baseball? With two of your best on the hill? Gack. Let's start shaping the club for next year, because 2008 is done. I don't care if we're still eight back, even if you could consider that still having a chip and a chair.

That said, a bad day at the ballpark beats the hell out of a good day almost everywhere else. And that will never change.

Paen to Ernie Banks (Non-Poker Brag)

Let's play two.

Talk about lucksackery. Last night's Rockies game was rained out. No day/night doubleheader --- instead a two-fer-one, with Game 2 starting 25 minutes after the end of Game 1.

Slow day at work, was thinking of playing hooky and buyin a ticket.

Partner sends out firmwide blast, extra tix.

Wifey having light day and available to come to Denver.

The Good Doctor Mondo is currently on her way to join me at Coors Field, where we have two free tickets to a full doubleheader, with two of our best (Jeff Francis and Ubaldo Jimenez) on the hill against the bottom-feeding Nationals. And not only were the tickets free, they're awesome, 13 rows behind the visitor's dugout, even with the pitcher's mound.

Minor beat -- I don't have Screenhunter on my office computer, so I can't show you just how effin' awesome these seats are. But if'n any of you are curious, you can go here and click on Section 137 (the light green seats up the 3rd base line).

I'm outta here. Let's play two!

Barbarians at the Borgata

Or rather, Gates at the Borgata. Congratulations go out to Garry Gates for taking down DrPauly's Tao of Poker 5th anniversary tournament, and the $5k Borgata tournament seat.

Check out Pauly's blog for a cool photo of Garry in his other job -- tournament room drink waiter at Caesar's Palace, it would seem...

As for myself, it was a missed opportunity. I chipped up well early, and was in the top 10 for much of the first half hour of the tournament, when Jordan and I got into a big hand. Jordan had been pretty aggro, pushing me off a couple of pots preflop with 3 bet raises with me two on his left. At the time, he and I had the two biggest stacks at the table.

At any rate, I believe this time, Jordan limped, I raised about 3x in late position with AKo, and Jordan shoved. I knew his range was a lot wider than AA-QQ, AKs, so I called and he showed AQo. I am the Dominator, right? By the turn, there was KQJx on the board, and I was licking my chops, as this pot would have made me tourney chipleader (and 30% bigger than 2nd). Still first hour, but a very good spot. Wellllll...the miracle T the river and we chopped. And the night was all downhill afterwards. First, I got it all in against a short stack with something like 88 losing to 99, and I was out just before the end of the first hour. At least I went out with bloggerment dignity, by open shoving the Hammer. Unfortunately, the Hammer got Nailed by a high-ish pocket pair (may have even been AA).

Obviously, as the tournament was on JokerStars, I couldn't expect anything else.

But thank you, Pauly, for being such a great blogger and tourney host.

Took 2nd in NYRambler's event (congrats, Lightning36, glad to finally get you heads-up, that was fun). Went out well before the $$$ in the Skills game, even though I spent the entire first hour into the 2nd at the top of the leaderboard. Once the blinds/antes got real big, my draws stopped hitting.

Took a horrendous beat in the Bodog $5R. I was in for the minimum, and up in chips, a couple tables from the money with average stack, when I looked down at QQ. I'd been raising a lot of pots preflop, showing lots of aggression, but never had to show down trash. I was simply getting nice hands and there was some weak-tightness at the table. So, I play my standard 3x preflop raise in mid-position, and the button (or small blind, forget which) overshoves for 10k. This pot would put me top 3 in chips less than 20 spots from money.

What did he overshove out of position with? ATo. Why did he overshove? He said, "it was easy with you raising". WTF? Don't you have to see air at least once to put someone on raising light in mid position? Oooookay. Yeah, life was great until I got three-outed fucked by the A on the river, which put me on the morphine drip. Sure, I could have open shoved QQ (with 3rd biggest stack on table and the table CL having already folded), and probably added about 15% to my stack pre-flop when everyone folds, but that would be horrible poker, wouldn't it? You can do that with 88-TT, but QQ?

I was out three hands later when I open shoved ATo from early position against...you guessed it, QQ.

Of course, the donkeyfucker from the previous hand couldn't grasp the difference between open shoving ATo with an M of 2.5, and overshoving ATo with an M of about 9 behind a mid-position raise. Those are the players I love, but also the players who continue to luckbox me out of money just before bubbles. The most frustrating part is this...I haven't been crawling towards bubbles just hoping to cash. In nearly every case lately, I'm chipping up early, knocking players out, often at or near the chiplead, and easily in the top 10-15% of chips approaching the Bodog bubbles, only to get my stack raped by a donk who catches a 2-, 3-, or 4- outer, and then having to make a desperate play just to have a miniscule chance at a cash. I'm going from legitimate tournament-winning opportunities, to not even cashing nearly every single time for the last few weeks.

Also went out of the $6k guaranteed less than 3 tables from a cash, yet again. This time, it was a result of abject card death. Went out in the small blind when I shoved K-high into A-high on a non-threatening flop. BB did not raise preflop

As a result, my Bodog roll is now down to three digits, which is the worst it's been in months. Without going too ranty, I do feel like I'm playing very solid poker for the most part (though I've made a couple bad reads on players new to a table). At this rate, I'll be Bodog-busto by November. And that's the one site I actually have semi-real money on (e.g., above $250....so the question is, is 2008 the final year of online poker for Mondogarage?

Stay tuned.

Brief Poker Update

So I actually did manage to get my game on in the online poker realm this past Sunday, after not sleeping post Underground Music Showcase.

The good news? Went two for two in peep token SNGs. I was going to use one trying to satellite into the Sunday HORSE tourney, but missed the start time while winning the token. Since I can almost never play on Sundays, that means I'll have a couple shots at the big 10pm EST Full Tilt donkaments ($28k guaranteed?), unless someone has any better ideas for me. That's the same tourney I took 2nd in one time, but that was over 2.5 years ago now. I rarely have tokens, so rarely have to think what to do with them.

Played a JokerStars $3.30 HORSE tourney, and dropped to under 100 chips in the 1st hour, and yet managed to come back and finish 13th out of 400 runners. Nice, right? Well, only paid $14 for my efforts. Otherwise, the perma doomswitch remains in the fully on position for me at JokerStars, which is why I'll be no threat to win the Tao of Pauly tourney tonight. It doesn't matter what the cards are...if I'm ahead, you'll suck out on me like a hooker with a Hoover. If I'm behind, I can't catch 15 outs twice, never mind a gutshot or overcard. If I'm 80% preflop, you're in a coinflip with me.

Bodog was hit or miss. Came real close to a couple final tables, going out 13th in the late night $33 MTT. That was a bit of a disappointment, because I was chipleader during a good part of the second hour, but went terribly card dead around the bubble, and stayed that way. But I lost $$$ on Bodog after all was said and done, because I went out just before the bubble in the $5R, after being in for $25, and had no traction in other events.

In the end, the final result for the day was a shift of $$$ from cash into token value at Tilt, treading water at Bodog, and going near busto at Stars, with about $10 left. As for performance, I cashed in roughly 1/3 of my events, but three times finished one table short of final table. Hoping to do better tonight, but given the bankroll suck that July was for me, I can live with a break even day, especially given the number of events I played.

Right now, the Bodog and Tilt rolls are 1/2 their highs or less, so it's time to actually make some hay or find a new hobby, since I'm too close to my "no deposit in 2008" goal to replenish. (Given the recent Google page rank shenanigans, well addressed in so many better-written blogs, I'm pretty sure there won't be any advertisers depositing in my JokerStars account any time soon.)

That's funny, because I have no idea what my page ranking even is...

You Only Turn Five Once

Happy Birthday, Tao of Poker!

Any may you continue to inspire us all, Pauly.

For those three of four donkeys out in the poker blogosphere who may either not be awake, or are computing on Commodore PETs, this is a reminder that tonight is not only the 5th anniversary of Tao of Poker, but also the special 5th birthday tourney over at JokerStars, with an extra special sealed-with-a-kiss overlay of a $5,000 seat at the Borgata Poker Open.



Here's the details, from the horse's mouth (um, er, blog):

$5,000 seat plus two nights in my favorite casino in Atlantic City. All you have to do is win the Tao of Poker birthday tournament. Entry is just $5. Tournament ID is #97513073. Tournament name is Tao Poker 5th B-Day.

Seriously. For $5 you get a chance at winning a $5,000 seat at the Borgata Poker Open plus two nights in the hotel. That tournament is on Friday, September 12th starting at 11am.

Here are the specific details...
1. Tao of Poker birthday tournament is open to all readers.
2. No chops whatsoever for the Borgata Package ($5,000 seat + two nights).
3. The 5K seat is a must play.... meaning you cannot take the cash. You have to play the event on September 12th. The seat is also non-transferable. You win it, you must play it.
4. Package does not include transportation. You have to find your own way to Atlantic City. So if you live in Sweden and win the seat, you are responsible for airfare.
5. Most importantly... have fun.
I should clarify something... there will be normal prize money. The Borgata Package is in addition to the regular prize pool. So the first place winner has a shot at a decent payday in addition to a $5,000 seat and two nights at the Borgata.

The Tao of Poker birthday tournament will feature some of your favorite bloggers and Tao of Poker characters from past, present, and future.

Tonight at 9pm ET. PokerStars. Tao of Poker 5th Birthday Celebration. One faithful Tao of Poker reader will walk away with a $5,000 seat to a Borgata Poker Open tournament plus two nights in the swanky Borgata Hotel & Spa which has the most comfortable beds in the world.

Click here for more information on the Borgata Poker Open starting September 3rd. And yes, I'll be covering the entire tournament series (including the 5K event) for the Borgata poker blog with Friedman and Tropical Steve.


Everybody's who's anybody is going to be there. Except for maybe this guy, the only blogger more busto than I on JokerStars. (John, I'd help ya, but I got like $12.34 on there myself, because I run like ass forever on that site and should be about 6,000:1 to win tonight, even if there's only 350 entrants.)

I'll be there; so should you. Tonight's also cemfrommd's Blogger Skillz Series -- tonight, it's Double Stack HORSE, you better believe I'll be there (passwork = skillz). Also on tap is NYRambler's weekly series, featuring Limit Hold'em (passwork = epicfail). I haven't played that event for a couple of weeks, but will try to play tonight.

More posts during lunch today...I'm falling behind on non-poker content and promised a post on a particular hellishly good vodka from Nantucket...it's coming, even if not yet written. And then, there's all the great stuff from the DPUMS...

How Waffles Spends His Weekends?

Okay, I couldn't be bothered to look for something more WOW-worthy. Interesting call on the end of Mondays at the Hoy.

I call it's Hoy's AHOY!

As in, out to sea, so to speak. Miniscule fields combinded with lingering resentment, bring a rather unceremonious end to a bloggerment.

The Good Doctor Mondo's out of town for a few days. But before all you sharks think I'm ready to donate for the next 72 hours, there may not be much poker for me, at least not until Sunday, maybe.

Why?

The 8th Annual Denver Post Underground Music Showcase - the biggest and best ever, with over 100 bands, some comedy (sometimes one is the other), all on a few block stretch of Broadway in Denver.

Some of my favoite local bands are playing this year. As usual, I'm not in a band ready for it. However, I was thrilled to be on the invited citizens voting panel once again.

Beyond that, I'm looking foward to finally getting to see The Magic Mice, and Hawks of Paradise -- one brand new, the other not so, but both really grasping for and reaching pretty authentic 6Ts inspired psych pop sounds. Both bands I wish upon my last breath I were playing bass in, but that's another story. I've been wanting to see The Magic Mice for about a year, it's just never worked out that way. That finally changes tomorrow.

Sunday? It's back to poker, to get kicked in the junk once again, no doubt. Waffles, if you have a humanistic bone in yer body, please roll me a 20, k thx.

Whether you're donking it up online, or chasing the $250k bad beat at the Lodge, or checking out some of the finest tunes Denver has to offer, have a great weekend.