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.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Friday, August 08, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
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...
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...
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...
Friday, August 01, 2008
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.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Breaking the Seal
Open shoved or 3-bet into AA six bloody times last night.
Oh yeah, also auto-folded AA on the button when I ran to take a piss. (Had been raised in mid position, too, aaargh).
Terrible terrible night overall. I'm a donk. Min-cashed in one of the Daily Doubles, but aggro donkish play on my part near the bubble cost me cashes in the Bodog $5R (which I was in to for three rebuys and add-on), and the $6k guarantee.
Came back from having until around 91 chips (from starting stack of 1,500) in a PokerStars HORSE tourney to having nearly 5k, only go again go totally aggro donk on the 3rd round of Razz. My only saving grace there was that it was only a $1.10 MTT.
Ended the night with a very bad attitude, to where the Good Doctor Mondo told me to leave the room and call her when I was in a better mood. Fortunately, airings of Escape from Planet of the Apes and Matrix Reloaded did the trick, those damn dirty pokerapes.
So the downswing continues. On the other hand, I've been doing a better job of reading good spots to open shove with short stacks, and managed to pick up several pots by cowboy-ing up with ATC, so the night wasn't a total loss.
Rehearsal tonight, no poker for the next couple of days...
Oh yeah, also auto-folded AA on the button when I ran to take a piss. (Had been raised in mid position, too, aaargh).
Terrible terrible night overall. I'm a donk. Min-cashed in one of the Daily Doubles, but aggro donkish play on my part near the bubble cost me cashes in the Bodog $5R (which I was in to for three rebuys and add-on), and the $6k guarantee.
Came back from having until around 91 chips (from starting stack of 1,500) in a PokerStars HORSE tourney to having nearly 5k, only go again go totally aggro donk on the 3rd round of Razz. My only saving grace there was that it was only a $1.10 MTT.
Ended the night with a very bad attitude, to where the Good Doctor Mondo told me to leave the room and call her when I was in a better mood. Fortunately, airings of Escape from Planet of the Apes and Matrix Reloaded did the trick, those damn dirty pokerapes.
So the downswing continues. On the other hand, I've been doing a better job of reading good spots to open shove with short stacks, and managed to pick up several pots by cowboy-ing up with ATC, so the night wasn't a total loss.
Rehearsal tonight, no poker for the next couple of days...
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
All Quiet on the Blogging Front
Very quiet times, indeed, at least on this lil' page. I suppose I could be writing more, but then, I haven't done anything lately even close to what this luckbox has been scoring. (way to go, btw!). I also haven't quit my job like this donkshover did this week.
Somehow, I believe both of them are sitting in very +EV spots right now.
Anyway, I've only played in one poker event since last Tuesday, and there was absolutely nothing at all worth mentioning on that. I called too many pf raises out of position with small pocket pairs, having forgotten to turn on my setmining boomswitch, and shoved A2 soooted into A9 soooted shortly after first break, when I was already at 1/2 average stack.
Oh yeah, it appears as if I have finally found a new musical outlet. Well, not new, but new to me. They've been playing around Denver on and off for about ten years or so. The outfit's called New Ben Franklins, and it's basically whatever musicians Dave DeVoe puts together for a stretch. After a couple of loose jam rehearsals on some old NBF's material, it seems as if Dave and I are natural musical matches. We also have a drummer who looks to stick; maybe we'll be able to start playing shows in a couple months, but that means less pokering, for certain.
I would describe the New Ben Franklins as some sort of mashup of alt-country with occasional big britpop/shoegaze sensibilities, in terms of things such as effects and phrasing. If you're so inclined, you can check out some earlier recordings here (in particular "Braids" and "Gonna Be Alright", as examples of the weird melding of styles)
Anyway, tonight is Tuesday, which means it is my one real online poker night of the week. No doubt I'll be in the usual Bodog events tonight ($10+1, $20+2, $30+3, $5R), and likely a couple others. I'm going to start sitting out the PLO and Limit O8 events I've been playing at Full Tilt, simply because I'm running so bad in those for the last two months, it feels like I've giving money away.
Maybe I'll live blog if I get bored, or if my beloved Rockies tilt me into turning off the telly tonight. In the meantime, I'm pulling for a trade for Justin Duchscherer, we'll see if it happens or not.
Somehow, I believe both of them are sitting in very +EV spots right now.
Anyway, I've only played in one poker event since last Tuesday, and there was absolutely nothing at all worth mentioning on that. I called too many pf raises out of position with small pocket pairs, having forgotten to turn on my setmining boomswitch, and shoved A2 soooted into A9 soooted shortly after first break, when I was already at 1/2 average stack.
Oh yeah, it appears as if I have finally found a new musical outlet. Well, not new, but new to me. They've been playing around Denver on and off for about ten years or so. The outfit's called New Ben Franklins, and it's basically whatever musicians Dave DeVoe puts together for a stretch. After a couple of loose jam rehearsals on some old NBF's material, it seems as if Dave and I are natural musical matches. We also have a drummer who looks to stick; maybe we'll be able to start playing shows in a couple months, but that means less pokering, for certain.
I would describe the New Ben Franklins as some sort of mashup of alt-country with occasional big britpop/shoegaze sensibilities, in terms of things such as effects and phrasing. If you're so inclined, you can check out some earlier recordings here (in particular "Braids" and "Gonna Be Alright", as examples of the weird melding of styles)
Anyway, tonight is Tuesday, which means it is my one real online poker night of the week. No doubt I'll be in the usual Bodog events tonight ($10+1, $20+2, $30+3, $5R), and likely a couple others. I'm going to start sitting out the PLO and Limit O8 events I've been playing at Full Tilt, simply because I'm running so bad in those for the last two months, it feels like I've giving money away.
Maybe I'll live blog if I get bored, or if my beloved Rockies tilt me into turning off the telly tonight. In the meantime, I'm pulling for a trade for Justin Duchscherer, we'll see if it happens or not.
Friday, July 25, 2008
In All Cereusness
Who'd a thunk it? The cheating weasels* over at Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet have decided to truly combine their estimable powers and talents to rape honest players of even more money.
New AbsoluteFraud and UltimateTheft platform
Here's the best part of the story:
CEREUS: a new poker platform that will integrate the customers and features from both poker rooms, instantly making CEREUS the third largest online poker network.
So that means they're bringing the superusers with them! S'awes. Shine that pig up some more now, why don't ya.
Thanks, Falstaff, for bringing this to our attention. You're absolutely correct -- the real reason behind this move would seem to be nothing more than a shallow attempt to leave the names behind. And yet, the online poker community is simply far too bright (even if often arrogant and degenerate) to fall for this garbage.
Of course, there will be a few naive money grabbers who will sign up with anyone for a cheap buck, at the expense of your good reputation. Yeah, Tiffany Michelle, I'm looking at you....don't spend that two day endorsement money all in one place, cereusly.
*I don't wish to disrespect weasels by lumping them in with absolutely fradulent ultimately thieving online sites.
New AbsoluteFraud and UltimateTheft platform
Here's the best part of the story:
CEREUS: a new poker platform that will integrate the customers and features from both poker rooms, instantly making CEREUS the third largest online poker network.
So that means they're bringing the superusers with them! S'awes. Shine that pig up some more now, why don't ya.
Thanks, Falstaff, for bringing this to our attention. You're absolutely correct -- the real reason behind this move would seem to be nothing more than a shallow attempt to leave the names behind. And yet, the online poker community is simply far too bright (even if often arrogant and degenerate) to fall for this garbage.
Of course, there will be a few naive money grabbers who will sign up with anyone for a cheap buck, at the expense of your good reputation. Yeah, Tiffany Michelle, I'm looking at you....don't spend that two day endorsement money all in one place, cereusly.
*I don't wish to disrespect weasels by lumping them in with absolutely fradulent ultimately thieving online sites.
Giving the Candidates Equal Time
In the spirit of countering the alleged liberal media bias:
I wonder how many of those pill bottles are Viagra?
Rhetorical question, if the media is so biased to the left, why is it that the most well-known blowhards on the air, with the largest claimed audiences, are almost universally far right wing xenophobic fear-mongers and/or racists (Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity)? They're every bit as much "media", and yet they're the ones whining the most about perceived bias.
No, the only bias there is in the media is a bias against hate-filled vitriolic bile.
Enough ranting for now -- just wanted to give the other extreme their alloted time, and such...
I wonder how many of those pill bottles are Viagra?
Rhetorical question, if the media is so biased to the left, why is it that the most well-known blowhards on the air, with the largest claimed audiences, are almost universally far right wing xenophobic fear-mongers and/or racists (Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity)? They're every bit as much "media", and yet they're the ones whining the most about perceived bias.
No, the only bias there is in the media is a bias against hate-filled vitriolic bile.
Enough ranting for now -- just wanted to give the other extreme their alloted time, and such...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday Recap
Ended up final tabling two tourneys last night. In one, I couldn't win a race against chipleader, after previously making a marginal fold to a bluff by the same player (folded AQdd on a rainbow ten-high board when chipleader shoved, and he showed KJhh. Nice bet, sir. He'd raised to 12k preflop, I repopped it from the button to 40k and he smooth called and shoved the flop. I was new to his table and hadn't seen how often he was bluffing, and didn't have the read to call in that spot.
In retrospect, I probably could have called correctly. The only hand that really worried me was AK, because I wasn't sure he'd 4-bet that preflop, but AK probably doesn't shove there -- and the board was so raggy that the only way he connects there is if he flops a set, and he's not open shoving that flop with a set, most likely.
Anyway, I ended up 3-bet shoving AQo from the big blind around 5-6 hands into final table, and the same player called with 88, and I got no help.
The one kinda cool part of this tourney is this...at one point, down to about 100 players or so, there were four of us playing at one table, and all chatting it up pretty freely. Well, that table eventually broke, but three of that four ended up at final table (and the 4th person ended up going out 10th). I don't think I'd ever been part of something like that where some of us playing at the same table long before final table all ended up getting there.
Oh yea, the other final table -- that was another $3 turbo double shootout for a seat in Full Tilt's $750k. The seat's worth $216. Only 4 spots pay in these $3 turbo double shootouts...one gets the seat, the others get from $4-13 in leftover prizes. I went out 3rd when I got 3-outed on the river.
Ordinarily, I might tilt like a mofo, cashing for $8 two spots away from $216 (I would have taken the $Ts, as $216 would raise my roll instantly by 60% on that site at this time....). But as I mentioned last night, I truly was untiltable, and wasn't even bothered. Maybe because I only got that far by catching two-outers twice at my first table to go from short stack to dominant leader....
I still ended up down on the night, because in my normal Bodog poker events, I couldn't catch a break. On the few times I hit flops, I got 2-, 3-, and 4- outed repeatedly, and lost 2x as much in tourney buy-ins as I made at the JokerStars final table. Oh well. I'll get them back next week.
And the Good Doctor Mondo's luggage finally arrived, all intact! What do you know, good things DO happen to good people.
Ciao
In retrospect, I probably could have called correctly. The only hand that really worried me was AK, because I wasn't sure he'd 4-bet that preflop, but AK probably doesn't shove there -- and the board was so raggy that the only way he connects there is if he flops a set, and he's not open shoving that flop with a set, most likely.
Anyway, I ended up 3-bet shoving AQo from the big blind around 5-6 hands into final table, and the same player called with 88, and I got no help.
The one kinda cool part of this tourney is this...at one point, down to about 100 players or so, there were four of us playing at one table, and all chatting it up pretty freely. Well, that table eventually broke, but three of that four ended up at final table (and the 4th person ended up going out 10th). I don't think I'd ever been part of something like that where some of us playing at the same table long before final table all ended up getting there.
Oh yea, the other final table -- that was another $3 turbo double shootout for a seat in Full Tilt's $750k. The seat's worth $216. Only 4 spots pay in these $3 turbo double shootouts...one gets the seat, the others get from $4-13 in leftover prizes. I went out 3rd when I got 3-outed on the river.
Ordinarily, I might tilt like a mofo, cashing for $8 two spots away from $216 (I would have taken the $Ts, as $216 would raise my roll instantly by 60% on that site at this time....). But as I mentioned last night, I truly was untiltable, and wasn't even bothered. Maybe because I only got that far by catching two-outers twice at my first table to go from short stack to dominant leader....
I still ended up down on the night, because in my normal Bodog poker events, I couldn't catch a break. On the few times I hit flops, I got 2-, 3-, and 4- outed repeatedly, and lost 2x as much in tourney buy-ins as I made at the JokerStars final table. Oh well. I'll get them back next week.
And the Good Doctor Mondo's luggage finally arrived, all intact! What do you know, good things DO happen to good people.
Ciao
Now This Is What I Call A Party
Pauly, we're speechless. Truly. I'm stunned. I was just getting to blog a bit about my marvelous Nantucket vodka experience, when I came across Waffle's pimpage of the one of a kind Tao of Poker 5th birthday celebration.
I don't know any way to embellish the good news of the event any better than the fine gentleman behind it, so I'll let his words speak for themselves (and if you want to set up a PokerStars account for the occasion, please click the link so that Pauly gets proper credit, or just to to his site and click the link from there):
The Tao of Poker turns five in August. I never would have envisioned what has transpired the last five years. It's been an incredible and amazing run. I've met several sensational people through Tao of Poker, stumbled into a career as a poker writer, and traveled the world.
And of course, none of that would have been possible without you... the reader.
In order to celebrate the Tao of Poker's fifth birthday, I'm throwing a private tournament on PokerStars with an interesting twist... the first place finisher will also win two nights at the Borgata Hotel & Spa in Atlantic City and they will also gain an entry into a $5,000 buy-in NL tournament during the Borgata Poker Open on September 12th.
That's my way of saying... "Thanks for the support over the last five years."
I'm not joking. $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.
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. Perhaps even a pro or two might show up.
Mark your calendars. August 5th. 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.
Personally, I think the very best part of this is the "must play" nature of the prize. There's nothing worse than putting up a once in a lifetime opportunity, only to see folks take the cash instead, like what happened in the Bodog Blogger Tournament series, where the champion was 10,000 miles away from the Main Event. That still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as I know many of us dream just for once chance to actually play in an event like this.
Anyway, I'm going to try my damndest to be there, how about you?
As for the best vodka I've ever tasted --- I suppose that's a subject for tomorrow.
I don't know any way to embellish the good news of the event any better than the fine gentleman behind it, so I'll let his words speak for themselves (and if you want to set up a PokerStars account for the occasion, please click the link so that Pauly gets proper credit, or just to to his site and click the link from there):
The Tao of Poker turns five in August. I never would have envisioned what has transpired the last five years. It's been an incredible and amazing run. I've met several sensational people through Tao of Poker, stumbled into a career as a poker writer, and traveled the world.
And of course, none of that would have been possible without you... the reader.
In order to celebrate the Tao of Poker's fifth birthday, I'm throwing a private tournament on PokerStars with an interesting twist... the first place finisher will also win two nights at the Borgata Hotel & Spa in Atlantic City and they will also gain an entry into a $5,000 buy-in NL tournament during the Borgata Poker Open on September 12th.
That's my way of saying... "Thanks for the support over the last five years."
I'm not joking. $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.
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. Perhaps even a pro or two might show up.
Mark your calendars. August 5th. 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.
Personally, I think the very best part of this is the "must play" nature of the prize. There's nothing worse than putting up a once in a lifetime opportunity, only to see folks take the cash instead, like what happened in the Bodog Blogger Tournament series, where the champion was 10,000 miles away from the Main Event. That still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as I know many of us dream just for once chance to actually play in an event like this.
Anyway, I'm going to try my damndest to be there, how about you?
As for the best vodka I've ever tasted --- I suppose that's a subject for tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
An Unscientific Study
On the effect of a week on the beach in Nantucket, sans computer, on one's poker game...
Well, on the soul, the effect is amazing. Of course, there's more fish in a single $5k 10+1 MTT on Bodog than even swimming around Nantucket Island, which is why my button 3-bet shove got called by K9 offsuit out of position, and my flop shove got called by the same K9o holding nothing but one over to the board and a gutshot(preflop), only to get rivered by the gutshot (which naturally, hit on the river...which I should probably call ocean for tonight).
Funny thing is, I don't have the first ounce of tilt in me. Nantucket is s'awes.
Now that I'm back, we'll see how the poker games treat me, but I've never felt as at ease in life as I do right now (the near calamitous near miss flying into Denver aside, that is). Fun times when you're on final approach, and mere few hundred feet above the runway when you have to make an emergency pullup because a plane taking off in front of you didn't clear the runway. The pilots did a great job, though...sadly, the baggage handlers weren't at the same level of capability, as nobody knows where the hell the Good Doctor Mondo's luggage is. Fortunately, everything that mattered was in the carry-on.
Now my SB 4.8x big blind squeeze raise got called by K9s and get this...K8o, and my pocket tens were no g00t, obviously. I can see that I'm not going to win a thing tonight, but I'm collecting lots of notes on fish! And yet, still no tilt. Why? Well, the shirt says it all...
Well, on the soul, the effect is amazing. Of course, there's more fish in a single $5k 10+1 MTT on Bodog than even swimming around Nantucket Island, which is why my button 3-bet shove got called by K9 offsuit out of position, and my flop shove got called by the same K9o holding nothing but one over to the board and a gutshot(preflop), only to get rivered by the gutshot (which naturally, hit on the river...which I should probably call ocean for tonight).
Funny thing is, I don't have the first ounce of tilt in me. Nantucket is s'awes.
Now that I'm back, we'll see how the poker games treat me, but I've never felt as at ease in life as I do right now (the near calamitous near miss flying into Denver aside, that is). Fun times when you're on final approach, and mere few hundred feet above the runway when you have to make an emergency pullup because a plane taking off in front of you didn't clear the runway. The pilots did a great job, though...sadly, the baggage handlers weren't at the same level of capability, as nobody knows where the hell the Good Doctor Mondo's luggage is. Fortunately, everything that mattered was in the carry-on.
Now my SB 4.8x big blind squeeze raise got called by K9s and get this...K8o, and my pocket tens were no g00t, obviously. I can see that I'm not going to win a thing tonight, but I'm collecting lots of notes on fish! And yet, still no tilt. Why? Well, the shirt says it all...
Sunday, July 13, 2008
And.......It's Done
From Pokernews:
Jamal Sawaqdeh Eliminated in 74th Place ($77,200)
Jamal Sawaqdeh limped in before Jamal Kunbuz raised it up to 125,000. Chris Crilly flat called in the small blind as did Sawaqdeh.
The flop came {7-Hearts}{6-Spades}{4-Diamonds} and Crilly moved all in for about 775,000. Sawaqdeh called for his tournament life, and Kunbuz, who covered both players, also made the call.
Kunbuz: {A-Hearts}{A-Clubs}
Crilly: {10-Spades}{10-Clubs}
Sawaqdeh: {5-Hearts}{5-Clubs}
The turn was the {10-Diamonds} to give Crilly a two-outer and the river was the {K-Hearts} as Sawaqdeh is eliminated in 74th place.
Congratulations, Jamal, you did us all proud!
Now, does anyone else think it just a bit odd that with only 75 left in the Main Event, there's two guys named Jamal?
Jamal Sawaqdeh Eliminated in 74th Place ($77,200)
Jamal Sawaqdeh limped in before Jamal Kunbuz raised it up to 125,000. Chris Crilly flat called in the small blind as did Sawaqdeh.
The flop came {7-Hearts}{6-Spades}{4-Diamonds} and Crilly moved all in for about 775,000. Sawaqdeh called for his tournament life, and Kunbuz, who covered both players, also made the call.
Kunbuz: {A-Hearts}{A-Clubs}
Crilly: {10-Spades}{10-Clubs}
Sawaqdeh: {5-Hearts}{5-Clubs}
The turn was the {10-Diamonds} to give Crilly a two-outer and the river was the {K-Hearts} as Sawaqdeh is eliminated in 74th place.
Congratulations, Jamal, you did us all proud!
Now, does anyone else think it just a bit odd that with only 75 left in the Main Event, there's two guys named Jamal?
Magic in the Number Ocho
Day 6 - Jamal Sawaqdeh coming in with 888,000 chips.
You go, you crazy sumbitch, you go!
The celebrations in Blackhawk should be starting just...about...now.
I'm finally sold on the 90 day break between getting to the final table and playing it out, if only for the idea that Jamal can be coming home a conquering hero for a few months, which I find kinda cool.
Headed to Nantucket tomorrow morning, and I may actually try to get some poker in today, since I've not played since Tuesday, and won't be back until next Tuesday....
You go, you crazy sumbitch, you go!
The celebrations in Blackhawk should be starting just...about...now.
I'm finally sold on the 90 day break between getting to the final table and playing it out, if only for the idea that Jamal can be coming home a conquering hero for a few months, which I find kinda cool.
Headed to Nantucket tomorrow morning, and I may actually try to get some poker in today, since I've not played since Tuesday, and won't be back until next Tuesday....
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Will He Be the Conquering Hero?
I've been tracking Jamal, Blackhawk's golden boy, through the first four days of the main event. Went to bed early-ish last night, and didn't know whether or not he'd still be around, but BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Yup. Going into Day 5, Jamal's sitting 24th in chips, at just a bit under 1.3 million. Last I'd seen he was at about 300k, so the poker gods over yesterday evening and last night were truly most kind to his stack.
Oddly enough, going back through the live reporting, I have yet to find any mention of Jamal. This would appear to be a very good thing, as he is apparently flying way under the radar. Keep it up, and GO GO GO!
Yup. Going into Day 5, Jamal's sitting 24th in chips, at just a bit under 1.3 million. Last I'd seen he was at about 300k, so the poker gods over yesterday evening and last night were truly most kind to his stack.
Oddly enough, going back through the live reporting, I have yet to find any mention of Jamal. This would appear to be a very good thing, as he is apparently flying way under the radar. Keep it up, and GO GO GO!
Friday, July 11, 2008
There Once Was A Donk In Nantucket
There once was a Mondo in Nantucket
Who carried his chips in a bucket.
He donked them one day
To someone who can't play...
'till he finally just said, "poker? oh fuck it".
That's right, kids...off to Nantucket on Monday for a week of crab, lobster, beaches, the definitive Keith Moon biography, and most likely not a single hand of online poker.
Hell, I may not even bring my laptop, though I probably should.
Who carried his chips in a bucket.
He donked them one day
To someone who can't play...
'till he finally just said, "poker? oh fuck it".
That's right, kids...off to Nantucket on Monday for a week of crab, lobster, beaches, the definitive Keith Moon biography, and most likely not a single hand of online poker.
Hell, I may not even bring my laptop, though I probably should.
Why Do Hookers Love the 2008 Main Event?
....perhaps more than any other year?
That's easy. The Blogfather's made it to the mobnies. Yup, everyone's favorite poker midget widget rode his short stack to the cash, and he's still riding it hard. Hookers in the IP Geisha Bar are already lining up to buy second homes. By Saturday, at least one or two will be at the Maserati dealership.
Going into Day 4, Iggy's still on a shortish but growing stack, but would he really want it any different? Anyway, he's still got plenty of play left, and a great story is brewing. Go go go, Iggy, go go go!
Jamal, whom I mentioned yesterday, is also still alive, and with 201,000 chips, he's actually in fairly decent shape. Considering he's completely free-rolling the Main Event, it's all gravy. Oddly enough, his chip count wasn't even listed at the end of play last night, but then, no one knows him. They will soon -- Jamal's a great ambassador for Blackhawk poker, even if the $5 max betting limit pretty much pisses away all the goodwill.... Go go go, Jamal, go go go!
In other news, I had my informal hang with The New Ben Franklins last night, and we're getting together to jam on Saturday. Got a real good vibe about the guys, and we seem to have common ground, musically and otherwise. High hopes for this bunch -- they made some interesting music back in the day, and I would like to be part of their re-entry into the Denver music scene. However, the proof is in being able to actually play *together*, so much more to be learned tomorrow.
UPDATE: Sad to say, Iggy's out -- fought hard, and I think he even moved up one payout slot. But it's early in the day, so the Spearmint Rhino's getting ready for his grand entrance. Jamal, on the other hand, had nearly doubled up today, and was firmly in mid-pack, but took a hit and is now short (250k) with 363 remaining...
That's easy. The Blogfather's made it to the mobnies. Yup, everyone's favorite poker midget widget rode his short stack to the cash, and he's still riding it hard. Hookers in the IP Geisha Bar are already lining up to buy second homes. By Saturday, at least one or two will be at the Maserati dealership.
Going into Day 4, Iggy's still on a shortish but growing stack, but would he really want it any different? Anyway, he's still got plenty of play left, and a great story is brewing. Go go go, Iggy, go go go!
Jamal, whom I mentioned yesterday, is also still alive, and with 201,000 chips, he's actually in fairly decent shape. Considering he's completely free-rolling the Main Event, it's all gravy. Oddly enough, his chip count wasn't even listed at the end of play last night, but then, no one knows him. They will soon -- Jamal's a great ambassador for Blackhawk poker, even if the $5 max betting limit pretty much pisses away all the goodwill.... Go go go, Jamal, go go go!
In other news, I had my informal hang with The New Ben Franklins last night, and we're getting together to jam on Saturday. Got a real good vibe about the guys, and we seem to have common ground, musically and otherwise. High hopes for this bunch -- they made some interesting music back in the day, and I would like to be part of their re-entry into the Denver music scene. However, the proof is in being able to actually play *together*, so much more to be learned tomorrow.
UPDATE: Sad to say, Iggy's out -- fought hard, and I think he even moved up one payout slot. But it's early in the day, so the Spearmint Rhino's getting ready for his grand entrance. Jamal, on the other hand, had nearly doubled up today, and was firmly in mid-pack, but took a hit and is now short (250k) with 363 remaining...
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Go Go Go!!!
Go, to you, Iggy -- pump those lil' legs deep into the mad poker mobnies!
And go, to you, Jamal -- represent the Colorado mountain casinos well. Jamal, the ultimate lucksack, who wins his main event buy-in via a drawing at the Gilpin, and who's already won one bad beat jackpot worth near $100k this year. You're a damn good player nonetheless, and every donk here in the Rockies is railing you. Take it down. Preferably HU versus Iggy.
Maybe Phil Hellmuth will shave his scalp again. Or better, yet, clean up the cheaters at Ultimate Fraud.
Now that would blow ESPN's mind, eh?
Iggy's at about 85k, and Jamal's at 152k.
No news on the poker front for me any time soon.
Meeting a dude about a band tonight. If I don't get river three-outed by cruel band fate, I may have just finally found my next project -- a reforming band that was a pretty cool part of Denver's scene back in the 90s, and a sort of blend of britpop and alt-country. Cool.
And go, to you, Jamal -- represent the Colorado mountain casinos well. Jamal, the ultimate lucksack, who wins his main event buy-in via a drawing at the Gilpin, and who's already won one bad beat jackpot worth near $100k this year. You're a damn good player nonetheless, and every donk here in the Rockies is railing you. Take it down. Preferably HU versus Iggy.
Maybe Phil Hellmuth will shave his scalp again. Or better, yet, clean up the cheaters at Ultimate Fraud.
Now that would blow ESPN's mind, eh?
Iggy's at about 85k, and Jamal's at 152k.
No news on the poker front for me any time soon.
Meeting a dude about a band tonight. If I don't get river three-outed by cruel band fate, I may have just finally found my next project -- a reforming band that was a pretty cool part of Denver's scene back in the 90s, and a sort of blend of britpop and alt-country. Cool.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Please, Sir, Can I Have Some More?
Kicks in the balls, that is. Gack.
Bodog $30+3, down to about 28, with 18 paid, and I'm a bit under average stack, probably around 16th-20th in chips. Folds to me in small blind, raise up the A9hh...flop 863, with two hearts. Bet 2/3rds of pot. Big blind re-raises enough to put me all in, calling off 3/4 of his stack in the process (he had me covered by a bit). Folding here leaves me an M of about 3.5, so I call. He flips up T4hh. Really? Really?? Shove the ten high flush draw? Flat call a 2.5x preflop raise with T4hh?
Obviously, he hits the 4 of spades on the river to knock me out with the well known SPSK hand. (aka "Shit pair, shitkicker" for those who live too close to the Red River)
I well and truly hope that fucker's name was Oliver, because he plays poker like a shit-eating prat.
Of course, I could have shoved PF, but 1) every time I shove a mid sooted ace preflop the BB nearly always wakes up to AA, KK, or AK...2) existing solely on a "shove or fold"...ahem..."strategy" is weak ass shit...and 3) what the fuck is wrong with being able to outplay someone post-flop?
Still, it's obvious that more and more players are moving over fro JokerStars to play poker at Bodog. How can I tell? Because the quality of play at my usual Bodog MTTs has gone way downhill the last few weeks, and you see plays at $30 and $50 buy-ins that would look just as fishy in a $1.10 SNG.
Bodog $30+3, down to about 28, with 18 paid, and I'm a bit under average stack, probably around 16th-20th in chips. Folds to me in small blind, raise up the A9hh...flop 863, with two hearts. Bet 2/3rds of pot. Big blind re-raises enough to put me all in, calling off 3/4 of his stack in the process (he had me covered by a bit). Folding here leaves me an M of about 3.5, so I call. He flips up T4hh. Really? Really?? Shove the ten high flush draw? Flat call a 2.5x preflop raise with T4hh?
Obviously, he hits the 4 of spades on the river to knock me out with the well known SPSK hand. (aka "Shit pair, shitkicker" for those who live too close to the Red River)
I well and truly hope that fucker's name was Oliver, because he plays poker like a shit-eating prat.
Of course, I could have shoved PF, but 1) every time I shove a mid sooted ace preflop the BB nearly always wakes up to AA, KK, or AK...2) existing solely on a "shove or fold"...ahem..."strategy" is weak ass shit...and 3) what the fuck is wrong with being able to outplay someone post-flop?
Still, it's obvious that more and more players are moving over fro JokerStars to play poker at Bodog. How can I tell? Because the quality of play at my usual Bodog MTTs has gone way downhill the last few weeks, and you see plays at $30 and $50 buy-ins that would look just as fishy in a $1.10 SNG.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Hot (or Not) Blogger Action
Not much time for blogging these days, as we're in full trial prep mode on a case that's been going on since 2004...or a full year before I even joined the firm. The long haul is almost over (fingers crossed), but 95% of the work comes during the last 5% of time. There's witness binders, exhibit indexes, exhibits, demonstratives, about a million little things, and trial doesn't start for another five weeks.
Anyway, it's a piss-poor excuse, but since I often blog during my lunch hour, and I now work during my lunch hour...oh well. I'm hopeful that some very recent developments may put settlement back on the horizon, as I'm most definitely not looking forward to spending five weeks in Toledo, Ohio. Toledo sucks. Hard. (If you're from Toledo and reading this, I'm sorry. Not for the comment, but sorry you live in Toledo...)
That hasn't completely stopped me from online poker, however. Managed to get in a few hours on Sunday, after I spent most of the day coding documents. Donking it up wasn't the smartest thing to do, relationship-wise, and I am actually sorry I did now. It wasn't really fair to the Good Doctor, but after having worked about 15 hours over the 4th of July weekend, I wanted a reward...we were just thinking different rewards, is all, and I feel a bit bad I chose the way I did.
That said, it was a pretty damn good night at the tables. Made two final tables (one at FTP, one at Bodog), picked up about 12-15 bounties in a KO, cashed in the $32k, and cashed in four of nine events overall (including the two finals). It could have been a lot better, as I came into one of the final tables 3rd in chips, and went out 5th, and came into the other 3rd, and went out 8th. However, in that tourney (the $3.30 KO MTT), I was a card rack for two hours, and utterly card dead once the final table started. Shoved A6 into AK, oh well.
But overall, very nice. I'm still burned up over the Stars $3R, where I nursed a shortish stack for 90 minutes, and then built up, only to go out when AQ < 87sooted, when runner runner 78 turn/river cracked my top pair flop. I'd shoved AIPF from cutoff with about 10BB. That would have given me average stack about 400 from cash (3600 entered). Why a slightly above avg stack calls off all their chips with 87 soooted in that spot is beyond me, but I didn't mind it after the flop...such is life.
Anyway, I did manage to add to the roll a wee bit...could have been so much better, but a good night nonetheless...except for the toll of hurting the Good Doctor Mondo's feelings. For that, I am truly sorry.
Anyway, it's a piss-poor excuse, but since I often blog during my lunch hour, and I now work during my lunch hour...oh well. I'm hopeful that some very recent developments may put settlement back on the horizon, as I'm most definitely not looking forward to spending five weeks in Toledo, Ohio. Toledo sucks. Hard. (If you're from Toledo and reading this, I'm sorry. Not for the comment, but sorry you live in Toledo...)
That hasn't completely stopped me from online poker, however. Managed to get in a few hours on Sunday, after I spent most of the day coding documents. Donking it up wasn't the smartest thing to do, relationship-wise, and I am actually sorry I did now. It wasn't really fair to the Good Doctor, but after having worked about 15 hours over the 4th of July weekend, I wanted a reward...we were just thinking different rewards, is all, and I feel a bit bad I chose the way I did.
That said, it was a pretty damn good night at the tables. Made two final tables (one at FTP, one at Bodog), picked up about 12-15 bounties in a KO, cashed in the $32k, and cashed in four of nine events overall (including the two finals). It could have been a lot better, as I came into one of the final tables 3rd in chips, and went out 5th, and came into the other 3rd, and went out 8th. However, in that tourney (the $3.30 KO MTT), I was a card rack for two hours, and utterly card dead once the final table started. Shoved A6 into AK, oh well.
But overall, very nice. I'm still burned up over the Stars $3R, where I nursed a shortish stack for 90 minutes, and then built up, only to go out when AQ < 87sooted, when runner runner 78 turn/river cracked my top pair flop. I'd shoved AIPF from cutoff with about 10BB. That would have given me average stack about 400 from cash (3600 entered). Why a slightly above avg stack calls off all their chips with 87 soooted in that spot is beyond me, but I didn't mind it after the flop...such is life.
Anyway, I did manage to add to the roll a wee bit...could have been so much better, but a good night nonetheless...except for the toll of hurting the Good Doctor Mondo's feelings. For that, I am truly sorry.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Alpha Beta Bodog's Great-a
Thanks to the software junkies over at my favorite site to play poker online!
Bodog Poker is happy to announce to poker players everywhere the most secure and enjoyable online gaming experience possible with the release of their new and improved, resizable beta client for public testing.
This newest version features full screen mode, resizable tables, embedded chat and game details and on-demand player tools. Download the Bodog Poker Beta for Free.
With every update, each beta version of the Bodog Poker client can be run independently, giving players the ability to choose between the established and beta clients during each session. That means you can try the beta client risk-free!
These new features are just another step in Bodog's on-going online poker evolution. Players can look forward to much more in the future.
Here’s what the Bodog poker player gets with the new and improved beta version:
* full screen mode
* RESIZEABLE WINDOWS! (that's huge)
* embedded chat and game details
* on demand player tools - chat game details, stats, notes, profiles, tournament details
Anyway, if you like to play poker online as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to give Bodog's new beta-client a try.
Bodog Poker is happy to announce to poker players everywhere the most secure and enjoyable online gaming experience possible with the release of their new and improved, resizable beta client for public testing.
This newest version features full screen mode, resizable tables, embedded chat and game details and on-demand player tools. Download the Bodog Poker Beta for Free.
With every update, each beta version of the Bodog Poker client can be run independently, giving players the ability to choose between the established and beta clients during each session. That means you can try the beta client risk-free!
These new features are just another step in Bodog's on-going online poker evolution. Players can look forward to much more in the future.
Here’s what the Bodog poker player gets with the new and improved beta version:
* full screen mode
* RESIZEABLE WINDOWS! (that's huge)
* embedded chat and game details
* on demand player tools - chat game details, stats, notes, profiles, tournament details
Anyway, if you like to play poker online as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to give Bodog's new beta-client a try.
Halfway Home
Well, we're right about halfway through 2K8, that is. How's your year? I'm still trying to figure out mine. That said, it seems a good time to take a look back at the goalish looking poker non-goals I set for myself for this year. I say "non-goals", because I pretty much came up zeros last year when it comes to quantitative performance measures. So, let's have a look, shall we?
a. Blog more. This is a blog. It is meant to be used. And abused. And used some more. Blog it. Just do it.
Okay, I guess you can say I've fulfilled that target. Coming into 2008, I'd never written more than a grand total of 24 blog posts in a year. Eeshk. These days, I'm writing nearly 24 a month, and it feels good. Damn good. Target acquired, objective met.
b. Play a few bloggerments. There was once I time when I was a fairly regular participant in the Mookie. I would really like to do so again. However, this will require a re-up at Full Tilt. Especially if I want to join these guys, too.
That's one horse I've gotten back up on, thanks in no small part to my partners over at FlopTurnRiver (thanks!) and also, my otherwise favorite site to play poker online out there.
FlopTurnRiver's partnership essentially gave me the starting roll I needed to get back into FTP bloggerments, and jump in I have. It's been a blast playing the Skillz series nearly every week, and recently, taking part in NYRambler's games. I've even managed to run deep, taking a 2nd and 3rd in the Skillz games.
I never made it to the Mookie or Riverchasers events, but I'm hopeful that will change in the latter half of the year. Nevertheless, I think I can say Target acquired, objective met.
c. Play the $mokkee over at Bodog. I downloaded and deposited over there for the explicit purpose of it. I won't exactly plug his tourney yet, when there's others already gettin' paid to do it, but there's a real nice T$ overlay factor, and the fields are both talented and small.
The best part (and yet still so damn frustrating) may have been playing the recently-completed Bodog Blogger Tournament series. Seriously, those were the most fun structures I've ever seen in the bloggerments -- but I failed to take down any of the juicy overlays or make it to the 2-table final tournament. But that's all on my shoulders, no one else's. Once again, Target acquired, objective met.
d. Write more reviews. This is actually a non-poker goal, as it involves writing more for Westword. Last year, I freelanced a bit of music writing for them, and enjoy it. I'd like to do more this year than I did last year, especially since I've had fuckall luck actually finding a new band to join myself.
Okay, I couldn't have whiffed on this one any more if I had tried. Mostly because I've been too busy blogging, I guess? That could be a cop out, but at any rate, I shot that wad Way Off-target. More so, it doesn't appear as if they'll be needing my services any time soon.
What's almost interesting is that, even though I dumped certain unmet goals from previous years, I ended up meeting them. I finally took down a couple of sizeable MTTs (not Lucko or LJ-sized), but regularly scheduled MTTs drawing between 200-300 players. That felt awesome. Made it out to the summer un-official blogger gathering. That felt a bit less awesome, because everyone sort of fractured into multiple weekends this year, to coincide with specific WSOP events. Best of all was cashing in the Caesars Mega Stack series. That was sweet, because it was a) my largest live field ever, and b) my largest buy-in ever.
Came into this year with probably under $150 online total, and am now sorta-reasonably comfortable with about $1600 to fund my buy-ins. Of course, probably half of that is thanks directly to my advertising partners, but it's nice to not have had to deposit anything this year (yet).
So 2008 is really going pretty well. For the most part, poker has treated me pretty well. There have been lots of ruts, I'm still occasionally having to work on tilt-management, and there's still plenty I'd like to do, all in all, poker's been a faithful, if temperamental, friend this year.
a. Blog more. This is a blog. It is meant to be used. And abused. And used some more. Blog it. Just do it.
Okay, I guess you can say I've fulfilled that target. Coming into 2008, I'd never written more than a grand total of 24 blog posts in a year. Eeshk. These days, I'm writing nearly 24 a month, and it feels good. Damn good. Target acquired, objective met.
b. Play a few bloggerments. There was once I time when I was a fairly regular participant in the Mookie. I would really like to do so again. However, this will require a re-up at Full Tilt. Especially if I want to join these guys, too.
That's one horse I've gotten back up on, thanks in no small part to my partners over at FlopTurnRiver (thanks!) and also, my otherwise favorite site to play poker online out there.
FlopTurnRiver's partnership essentially gave me the starting roll I needed to get back into FTP bloggerments, and jump in I have. It's been a blast playing the Skillz series nearly every week, and recently, taking part in NYRambler's games. I've even managed to run deep, taking a 2nd and 3rd in the Skillz games.
I never made it to the Mookie or Riverchasers events, but I'm hopeful that will change in the latter half of the year. Nevertheless, I think I can say Target acquired, objective met.
c. Play the $mokkee over at Bodog. I downloaded and deposited over there for the explicit purpose of it. I won't exactly plug his tourney yet, when there's others already gettin' paid to do it, but there's a real nice T$ overlay factor, and the fields are both talented and small.
The best part (and yet still so damn frustrating) may have been playing the recently-completed Bodog Blogger Tournament series. Seriously, those were the most fun structures I've ever seen in the bloggerments -- but I failed to take down any of the juicy overlays or make it to the 2-table final tournament. But that's all on my shoulders, no one else's. Once again, Target acquired, objective met.
d. Write more reviews. This is actually a non-poker goal, as it involves writing more for Westword. Last year, I freelanced a bit of music writing for them, and enjoy it. I'd like to do more this year than I did last year, especially since I've had fuckall luck actually finding a new band to join myself.
Okay, I couldn't have whiffed on this one any more if I had tried. Mostly because I've been too busy blogging, I guess? That could be a cop out, but at any rate, I shot that wad Way Off-target. More so, it doesn't appear as if they'll be needing my services any time soon.
What's almost interesting is that, even though I dumped certain unmet goals from previous years, I ended up meeting them. I finally took down a couple of sizeable MTTs (not Lucko or LJ-sized), but regularly scheduled MTTs drawing between 200-300 players. That felt awesome. Made it out to the summer un-official blogger gathering. That felt a bit less awesome, because everyone sort of fractured into multiple weekends this year, to coincide with specific WSOP events. Best of all was cashing in the Caesars Mega Stack series. That was sweet, because it was a) my largest live field ever, and b) my largest buy-in ever.
Came into this year with probably under $150 online total, and am now sorta-reasonably comfortable with about $1600 to fund my buy-ins. Of course, probably half of that is thanks directly to my advertising partners, but it's nice to not have had to deposit anything this year (yet).
So 2008 is really going pretty well. For the most part, poker has treated me pretty well. There have been lots of ruts, I'm still occasionally having to work on tilt-management, and there's still plenty I'd like to do, all in all, poker's been a faithful, if temperamental, friend this year.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
And They're Off....
Twas' the night before Main Event
and all through the Rio
Not a degen was stirring,
not even an Eskimo...
Oh fuck it, I can't even remember the Night Before Christmas, much less riff on it.
On Lucko and LJ and Iggy and Pauly
On Loretta8 and every other motherlovin' blogger in donkament paradise.
Good luck you crazies, may one of you take it down. And a lil' special wish to the blogger I've got the tiniest piece imaginable of....take. it. down.
Mostly, remember how special an experience this is, at the vast majority of us will never ever ever be in the Amazon room for the Main Event. Have fun.
and all through the Rio
Not a degen was stirring,
not even an Eskimo...
Oh fuck it, I can't even remember the Night Before Christmas, much less riff on it.
On Lucko and LJ and Iggy and Pauly
On Loretta8 and every other motherlovin' blogger in donkament paradise.
Good luck you crazies, may one of you take it down. And a lil' special wish to the blogger I've got the tiniest piece imaginable of....take. it. down.
Mostly, remember how special an experience this is, at the vast majority of us will never ever ever be in the Amazon room for the Main Event. Have fun.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
All Hail Return of the Skillz
Yup, you read that right. Thanks to Chip for taking over hosting duties, and thanks to every poker blogger's favorite seemingly dittohead for turning us on to Chip's good deed.
Anyway, it's back, and back to how it all began tonight, with a nice lil' round of Omatard8. The only change to the newly-reborn Skillz series is that the only events that will start with doublestacks (for now, at least), will be the pot-limit events. Limit/ante events will start with FTP's old school 1500 chipstacks.
Thank you, Chip.
Also on the Omatard8 tip is another edition of NYRambler's poker series, a $5.50 PLO8 event that starts at 9pm for you foos on the east coast, and 7pm for us mountain men. Password is "EpicFail", which pretty much describes my performance in this event last week, where I was something like 2nd Gigli in the Pot Limit HA event.
I hope to actually play like I can...I love Omaha, but I've been getting junk-kicked by redraws/resucks so often in that game, to the point where I'm seriously considering temporarily bagging my participation in FTP's nightly $5.50 Limit O8 and PLO tournies for a bit. But blogger events? Always...
I see a few bloggers are putting up mid-year looks at their goals...I may have to do the same, we'll see.
Anyway, keep building them massive stacks.
Anyway, it's back, and back to how it all began tonight, with a nice lil' round of Omatard8. The only change to the newly-reborn Skillz series is that the only events that will start with doublestacks (for now, at least), will be the pot-limit events. Limit/ante events will start with FTP's old school 1500 chipstacks.
Thank you, Chip.
Also on the Omatard8 tip is another edition of NYRambler's poker series, a $5.50 PLO8 event that starts at 9pm for you foos on the east coast, and 7pm for us mountain men. Password is "EpicFail", which pretty much describes my performance in this event last week, where I was something like 2nd Gigli in the Pot Limit HA event.
I hope to actually play like I can...I love Omaha, but I've been getting junk-kicked by redraws/resucks so often in that game, to the point where I'm seriously considering temporarily bagging my participation in FTP's nightly $5.50 Limit O8 and PLO tournies for a bit. But blogger events? Always...
I see a few bloggers are putting up mid-year looks at their goals...I may have to do the same, we'll see.
Anyway, keep building them massive stacks.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Late Notice, But...
I should have posted this earlier, but a band I used to play bass for, The Jet Age, is currently on tour and playing live in-studio at KEXP 90.3 at 4pm EDT, 1pm Pacific...just about now.
You can stream it live here.
Their Denver show on Saturday night was sparsely attended (naturally, as it was first time out west for them), but full of rock'n'roll tasty goodness.
That is all.
Very little poker this weekend, though I managed to satellite into the MSOP $15+1.50 HORSE, and promptly unregistered, as I wouldn't be home to play it.
Those MSOP sats are pretty good bankroll builders!
You can stream it live here.
Their Denver show on Saturday night was sparsely attended (naturally, as it was first time out west for them), but full of rock'n'roll tasty goodness.
That is all.
Very little poker this weekend, though I managed to satellite into the MSOP $15+1.50 HORSE, and promptly unregistered, as I wouldn't be home to play it.
Those MSOP sats are pretty good bankroll builders!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Weird Night at the Tables
So I played the daily KORS last night, and it turned out to be a heads-up deathmatch SNG between myself and Surflexus, since no one else registered. Anyway, I did manage to win that (woo-hoo!), but with only two entrants, no $26 token for the next level...only $16 for an $8 buy-in.
Played a .50 rebuy to Full Tilt's MSOP event #44 this afternoon. Won my entry with one re-buy, and of course unregistered from the MSOP, since it's during my work hours. My goodness so many people don't know how to play satellites. 14 seats, and with 16-17 left, folks would call all-ins with A8 sooted, and go from a comfortable position to being bubble boy. Had fun with one asshat I sent to the rail (when he overplayed middle two pair). In the end, I basically won $15 for my $1.10 buy-in
Managed to win a Tier One token during the frenzy, which I'll probably use next Tuesday in a huge 8pm donkament.
And that was about it.
Completely got my ass kicked up one end and down the other in every Bodog tourney I played. Went out of their $10 turbo MTT 10 spots from $$$ when I raised ATo in early position (was looking to steal, really), got called by two microstack all-ins, and then got re-shoved by one of the blinds. I read the overshove as an attempt to isolate the two micro all-ins, so I called (he had me covered), and I ran into QQ. One of the micros had an A, and I whiffed on the A and eventual broadway draws. If I win that pot, I cash easily.
Also got coolered out of the $5k, and aggro'd my way out of the $5R and $6k.
So my Bodog roll is about 1/4 off its high, and even with three tourney "wins" last night, I was down overall. I don't think I've ever lost so much on a night with so many 1st place finishes.
I should probably stop playing the $30 buy-ins at Bodog until I can achieve another decent ($300+) tourney score. I feel okay playing up to $20 buy-in, at least until my roll drops below $1k, and it's starting to get close to doing so... ever since my $5R win, I've done nothing on Bodog but lose. Probably 15 straight non-cashes now?
Played a .50 rebuy to Full Tilt's MSOP event #44 this afternoon. Won my entry with one re-buy, and of course unregistered from the MSOP, since it's during my work hours. My goodness so many people don't know how to play satellites. 14 seats, and with 16-17 left, folks would call all-ins with A8 sooted, and go from a comfortable position to being bubble boy. Had fun with one asshat I sent to the rail (when he overplayed middle two pair). In the end, I basically won $15 for my $1.10 buy-in
Managed to win a Tier One token during the frenzy, which I'll probably use next Tuesday in a huge 8pm donkament.
And that was about it.
Completely got my ass kicked up one end and down the other in every Bodog tourney I played. Went out of their $10 turbo MTT 10 spots from $$$ when I raised ATo in early position (was looking to steal, really), got called by two microstack all-ins, and then got re-shoved by one of the blinds. I read the overshove as an attempt to isolate the two micro all-ins, so I called (he had me covered), and I ran into QQ. One of the micros had an A, and I whiffed on the A and eventual broadway draws. If I win that pot, I cash easily.
Also got coolered out of the $5k, and aggro'd my way out of the $5R and $6k.
So my Bodog roll is about 1/4 off its high, and even with three tourney "wins" last night, I was down overall. I don't think I've ever lost so much on a night with so many 1st place finishes.
I should probably stop playing the $30 buy-ins at Bodog until I can achieve another decent ($300+) tourney score. I feel okay playing up to $20 buy-in, at least until my roll drops below $1k, and it's starting to get close to doing so... ever since my $5R win, I've done nothing on Bodog but lose. Probably 15 straight non-cashes now?
24 Hours of Booty
Noted blogger, unofficial cruise-ship Julie of all things WPBT, and all around good-guy Falstaff is once again taking part in 24 Hours of Booty, the official 24 hour cycling event of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
As of this moment, Falstaff is at 41% of his overall fundraising goal of $2,000.00. Aside from suggesting to this guy what a way to spend a bracelet race win, we should all be helping out.
Falstaff, hope you can avoid the saddle sores!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Gaping Holes in the Bloggerment Calendar?
Well, yeah, but not exactly.
The Bodog Blogger Tournament is on hiatus for a wee bit.
The Skillz Series appears to be done.
But never fear, the KORS is here, and I'm not talking about this Kors.
Check it out, you Razz degens. Nightly shots to go from an $8.80 into a $200+16 end of month Razz tourney. I'm lickin' my chops, how about you?
Not sure about about this bloke, though:
He doesn't look like much of a Razz player. Don't. Bore. Nina!
Anyway, the nightly KORS is at 7:45 MDT, so I think I can make it, and it may just be the new hit of the bloggerment summer.
Also, I was clued in on Rambler's ongoing series of tourneys. Tonight's is a $5.50 HA Pot Limit, that sounds like something straight outta the Skillz school. Look for the 21:00 $5.50 HA Pot Limit, password is "epicfail" I learned about it too late to register this morning, so we'll see if I get home from work in time. But if I do, I'm so there.
BTW, a big shout out to our different little yellow BWOP, who's playing in the PLO8 event at the WSOP today. I know her chipstack just took a big hit, but she got a nice early shoutout by the Pokernews crew in the first entry of today's Live Reporting:
"1 hour 52 minutes ago | Posted by Pojo
Notables in the Field
Some of the notable players in the field today include Mark Seif, Humberto Brenes, Barny Boatman, Joe Hachem, and Carol Kline."
Pretty awesome. Let's send her some major chip-up vibes.
The Bodog Blogger Tournament is on hiatus for a wee bit.
The Skillz Series appears to be done.
But never fear, the KORS is here, and I'm not talking about this Kors.
Check it out, you Razz degens. Nightly shots to go from an $8.80 into a $200+16 end of month Razz tourney. I'm lickin' my chops, how about you?
Not sure about about this bloke, though:
He doesn't look like much of a Razz player. Don't. Bore. Nina!
Anyway, the nightly KORS is at 7:45 MDT, so I think I can make it, and it may just be the new hit of the bloggerment summer.
Also, I was clued in on Rambler's ongoing series of tourneys. Tonight's is a $5.50 HA Pot Limit, that sounds like something straight outta the Skillz school. Look for the 21:00 $5.50 HA Pot Limit, password is "epicfail" I learned about it too late to register this morning, so we'll see if I get home from work in time. But if I do, I'm so there.
BTW, a big shout out to our different little yellow BWOP, who's playing in the PLO8 event at the WSOP today. I know her chipstack just took a big hit, but she got a nice early shoutout by the Pokernews crew in the first entry of today's Live Reporting:
"1 hour 52 minutes ago | Posted by Pojo
Notables in the Field
Some of the notable players in the field today include Mark Seif, Humberto Brenes, Barny Boatman, Joe Hachem, and Carol Kline."
Pretty awesome. Let's send her some major chip-up vibes.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Call Me Uncle
Spent the weekend in Milwaukee, with my older sister, her husband, and her brand new baby girl. Well, nearly brand new -- she's now three months old:
Hanging out with that lil' angel was so much fun, I never even felt like going to Potawatami for some NL action, not that I'd planned to. I did go so far as to Mapquest the drive from my hotel to my sis' with it as a waypoint, however. Heh.
Did manage to play some poker on trip. A three hour layover at O'Hare on the way up resulted in me a) finishing 5th in a $10 90 player SNG at Full Tilt (with about 6 KO bounties), and at the same time, dropping a 50NL buyin when I check shoved A2 on an A29Ax board into. (I was BB in an unraised pot pf) Coolered, but broke even.
Late night tournies in my hotel room were much worse, finishing close to the money a ton of times, usually going out on hands where I flop a set, bet it, call a shove by an underset, only to see some asshat who called two shoves with TPTK hit runner runner bigger full house. One of these was in a $30R where I was in for $93, so my recently-grown Bodog roll took a nice hit on the trip. Oh well. I'm proud of the fact that I didn't let any of those events tilt me and put any sort of damper on the trip. But look at that pic above once again...how could anything put a damper on spending time with that little angel.
Hanging out with that lil' angel was so much fun, I never even felt like going to Potawatami for some NL action, not that I'd planned to. I did go so far as to Mapquest the drive from my hotel to my sis' with it as a waypoint, however. Heh.
Did manage to play some poker on trip. A three hour layover at O'Hare on the way up resulted in me a) finishing 5th in a $10 90 player SNG at Full Tilt (with about 6 KO bounties), and at the same time, dropping a 50NL buyin when I check shoved A2 on an A29Ax board into. (I was BB in an unraised pot pf) Coolered, but broke even.
Late night tournies in my hotel room were much worse, finishing close to the money a ton of times, usually going out on hands where I flop a set, bet it, call a shove by an underset, only to see some asshat who called two shoves with TPTK hit runner runner bigger full house. One of these was in a $30R where I was in for $93, so my recently-grown Bodog roll took a nice hit on the trip. Oh well. I'm proud of the fact that I didn't let any of those events tilt me and put any sort of damper on the trip. But look at that pic above once again...how could anything put a damper on spending time with that little angel.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Strange Days At The Dealership
Mostly non-poker content
Okay, so I was going to make my next post sort of a run-through of last night's tournament win in the Bodog $5 rebuy*. Well, today's car service events were too surreal to ignore, and probably more interesting to write about, anyway.
I don't know whether I've blogged on this subject before, but I drive a pretty sweet Infiniti G35x sedan, which is pretty great, except that I now live in Colorado -- a state with only three Infiniti dealers in the entire state, none of them within 50 miles of my home. So, I try to get things such as today's routine 7500 mile service/tire rotation done during an extended lunch hour, at an Infiniti dealer at the south end of the Denver metro area.
I should have known things would not be routine today when, instead of having to go inside and wait 10 minutes before a service advisor writes up the order -- the advisor (a new guy, at least from the last time I was there) meets me outside and just takes my keys and service book. He was a bit excited and in a rush, which turned out to be a bad omen that I should have read.
Well, a few minutes later, I'm inside reading news on their lounge computer, when this service advisor (let's call him Mark, since that's his name), tells me he needs to get me a courtesy car. Why, you may ask? Because he was in such a hurry that he ran my car into another customer's SUV, and now both vehicles have to go to a body shop. Fuck me. The damage isn't severe (the SUV got it a fair bit worse, actually), but it's real damage nonetheless, with lots of paint transfers on my right rear door, quarterpanel, etc.
So Mark says he's going to make me whole. Okay, fine. I'm irritated, but I get my courtesy car, detour three times to get back to the office, because of three separate intersection-closing accidents (how ironic). An hour later, I get a call from Mark, who tells me my $100 service also needs a $550 brake job, complete with new front rotors and pads. Now I'm pissed. I'm not surprised, because my car's been abusive on pads, the rotors have already been turned, and my brakes squeal. but that's sorta beside the point, by now.
In my mind, I'm thinking you've crashed my car, and now on top of that, you've added $550 to a routine service bill? WTF? And you're gonna make me whole? Yeah, we'll see. The body work will end up showing up in a Carfax report, undoubtedly, so you're gonna have to go beyond just paying for the damage you caused when you crashed my car -- that's what I'm thinking, at this point. They're gonna have to pay at least 1/2 of my service and brake repair bill, for me to feel made whole, at least to make up for the inevitable lessened value of the car for the need for body work. I mean, you shouldn't have to tell me you're going to fix the damage you caused, the question is, what are you going to do to satisfy a customer who's been bringing his car to you for ALL service for the last three years, and who has referred new vehicle customers to your dealership who ended up purchasing vehicles?
But I wasn't ready to spring this on Mark just yet. Why? Funny you should ask.
A few months or so ago, I helped convince one of the partners I work for, into buying a 2008 Infiniti G35x from the very same dealer. Oddly enough, he had his car in for routine service and a door ding fix today, as well. Very ironic, but so perfect. His service advisor was also Mark. Well, Mark called to let him know his car was ready, when the partner asked him whether he was crashing any cars today. Hahahahaha, brilliant. It eventually came out that I work for him, and that it was his paralegal's car that the service advisor crashed.
Even better -- when the partner was dropping off his car, during random small talk, Mark learned that we work in automotive franchise litigation. That is, disputes between automotive manufacturers and their dealers. As such, we know a lot about the internal practices of automotive dealerships, as dealership day-to-day operations are occasionally significant to some of our litigations.
Well, they're gonna make me whole next week, that's for sure. Because they're going to know if they don't, I'm going to submit a service survey to the manufacturer that's going to go a good ways towards costing the dealer part of a monthly bonus they should normally be in the running for, for achieving a certain composite service satisfaction score.
Infiniti's not a client of ours, and I don't know the rules of any particular survey score bonus program they have with their dealers. But if it's at all similar to the programs our clients do have, and I'm certainly within rights to give you a zero satisfaction score (after all, you crashed my car!), why should I not submit a poor survey? I'm the absolute opposite of satisfied at this point.
Anyway, the car won't be ready until Tuesday now, so we'll see what happens next week.
Oh yeah, the tourney.
As for the tourney, after my initial buy-in/rebuy got river 3-outed, and sticking around because of a very soft table, I ended up the rebuy hour at just above average chips. At final two tables, a caught a miracle river 4-outer to fill a boat, when smal blind slow played his flopped nut flush, and I shoved his CR on turn with bottom two pair -- yeah I was a donk, but I put him on a draw, and frankly, I've been due a 4-outer of my own:
Got to final table 4th in chips (8-handed final table, because 9th got knocked out as we were breaking table), knocked out a couple shorties, went to HU with a 5:3 chiplead, HU lasted about 20 hands, and that was that.
Okay, so I was going to make my next post sort of a run-through of last night's tournament win in the Bodog $5 rebuy*. Well, today's car service events were too surreal to ignore, and probably more interesting to write about, anyway.
I don't know whether I've blogged on this subject before, but I drive a pretty sweet Infiniti G35x sedan, which is pretty great, except that I now live in Colorado -- a state with only three Infiniti dealers in the entire state, none of them within 50 miles of my home. So, I try to get things such as today's routine 7500 mile service/tire rotation done during an extended lunch hour, at an Infiniti dealer at the south end of the Denver metro area.
I should have known things would not be routine today when, instead of having to go inside and wait 10 minutes before a service advisor writes up the order -- the advisor (a new guy, at least from the last time I was there) meets me outside and just takes my keys and service book. He was a bit excited and in a rush, which turned out to be a bad omen that I should have read.
Well, a few minutes later, I'm inside reading news on their lounge computer, when this service advisor (let's call him Mark, since that's his name), tells me he needs to get me a courtesy car. Why, you may ask? Because he was in such a hurry that he ran my car into another customer's SUV, and now both vehicles have to go to a body shop. Fuck me. The damage isn't severe (the SUV got it a fair bit worse, actually), but it's real damage nonetheless, with lots of paint transfers on my right rear door, quarterpanel, etc.
So Mark says he's going to make me whole. Okay, fine. I'm irritated, but I get my courtesy car, detour three times to get back to the office, because of three separate intersection-closing accidents (how ironic). An hour later, I get a call from Mark, who tells me my $100 service also needs a $550 brake job, complete with new front rotors and pads. Now I'm pissed. I'm not surprised, because my car's been abusive on pads, the rotors have already been turned, and my brakes squeal. but that's sorta beside the point, by now.
In my mind, I'm thinking you've crashed my car, and now on top of that, you've added $550 to a routine service bill? WTF? And you're gonna make me whole? Yeah, we'll see. The body work will end up showing up in a Carfax report, undoubtedly, so you're gonna have to go beyond just paying for the damage you caused when you crashed my car -- that's what I'm thinking, at this point. They're gonna have to pay at least 1/2 of my service and brake repair bill, for me to feel made whole, at least to make up for the inevitable lessened value of the car for the need for body work. I mean, you shouldn't have to tell me you're going to fix the damage you caused, the question is, what are you going to do to satisfy a customer who's been bringing his car to you for ALL service for the last three years, and who has referred new vehicle customers to your dealership who ended up purchasing vehicles?
But I wasn't ready to spring this on Mark just yet. Why? Funny you should ask.
A few months or so ago, I helped convince one of the partners I work for, into buying a 2008 Infiniti G35x from the very same dealer. Oddly enough, he had his car in for routine service and a door ding fix today, as well. Very ironic, but so perfect. His service advisor was also Mark. Well, Mark called to let him know his car was ready, when the partner asked him whether he was crashing any cars today. Hahahahaha, brilliant. It eventually came out that I work for him, and that it was his paralegal's car that the service advisor crashed.
Even better -- when the partner was dropping off his car, during random small talk, Mark learned that we work in automotive franchise litigation. That is, disputes between automotive manufacturers and their dealers. As such, we know a lot about the internal practices of automotive dealerships, as dealership day-to-day operations are occasionally significant to some of our litigations.
Well, they're gonna make me whole next week, that's for sure. Because they're going to know if they don't, I'm going to submit a service survey to the manufacturer that's going to go a good ways towards costing the dealer part of a monthly bonus they should normally be in the running for, for achieving a certain composite service satisfaction score.
Infiniti's not a client of ours, and I don't know the rules of any particular survey score bonus program they have with their dealers. But if it's at all similar to the programs our clients do have, and I'm certainly within rights to give you a zero satisfaction score (after all, you crashed my car!), why should I not submit a poor survey? I'm the absolute opposite of satisfied at this point.
Anyway, the car won't be ready until Tuesday now, so we'll see what happens next week.
Oh yeah, the tourney.
As for the tourney, after my initial buy-in/rebuy got river 3-outed, and sticking around because of a very soft table, I ended up the rebuy hour at just above average chips. At final two tables, a caught a miracle river 4-outer to fill a boat, when smal blind slow played his flopped nut flush, and I shoved his CR on turn with bottom two pair -- yeah I was a donk, but I put him on a draw, and frankly, I've been due a 4-outer of my own:
Got to final table 4th in chips (8-handed final table, because 9th got knocked out as we were breaking table), knocked out a couple shorties, went to HU with a 5:3 chiplead, HU lasted about 20 hands, and that was that.
I Thought I Would Be Writing a Tilt Rant Tonight
After getting knocked out of three tourneys on river three outers real close to $$$ (or sorta close), such as the Bodog MSOP 3 tables from $$$, I really thought I'd be ranting Waffles-stylee tonight.
That is, until this:
Thanks, Bodog.
I'll write up something on it sometime tomorrow (gotta work lunch around a car appointment). But it feels good. That's two MTT take downs on Bodog for me in a month, and my biggest Bodog cash ever. Ya, ya, I know, it's still not even $700, but whatev.
That is, until this:
Thanks, Bodog.
I'll write up something on it sometime tomorrow (gotta work lunch around a car appointment). But it feels good. That's two MTT take downs on Bodog for me in a month, and my biggest Bodog cash ever. Ya, ya, I know, it's still not even $700, but whatev.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
This One Goes Out to Iggy
"I'm voting Republican because...sometimes, the Constitution is just one big, inconvenient headache."
No Republicans were harmed in the making of this film.
No Republicans were harmed in the making of this film.
Pimp Your Skillz
Well, it appears the Bodonkey is taking a bit of time off, so there's less bloggeriffic fun to be pimpin' for Tuesday night shenanigans.
However, the Blogger Skillz Series (formerly hosted by the King of Donks) is still running, if currently host-free. Tonight's edition is return of the HOE. That's right, Limit Hold'em/Omatard 8. Should be fun!
But lest we forget about the find folks over at Bodog, they're still running the Mini Series of Poker, a series of tournaments mirroring the WSOP Hold'em events, but for 1% of the buy-in. You'll find me donking it up there tonight in a $16.50 NLHE event, as of 9pm EDT. Maybe I can stay in longer than the Rockies can stay in a game, for once.
Anyway, it's probably my last night of pokerz before I go to Milwaukee to see my new niece, so let's get some game on, kids.
However, the Blogger Skillz Series (formerly hosted by the King of Donks) is still running, if currently host-free. Tonight's edition is return of the HOE. That's right, Limit Hold'em/Omatard 8. Should be fun!
But lest we forget about the find folks over at Bodog, they're still running the Mini Series of Poker, a series of tournaments mirroring the WSOP Hold'em events, but for 1% of the buy-in. You'll find me donking it up there tonight in a $16.50 NLHE event, as of 9pm EDT. Maybe I can stay in longer than the Rockies can stay in a game, for once.
Anyway, it's probably my last night of pokerz before I go to Milwaukee to see my new niece, so let's get some game on, kids.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Vega$ Trip Report - Part 4 (Denoument)
Monday, Monday...bring on the mamas and the papas, as long as they gots chips, I say.
The last day our our Vega$ trip was, in some ways, the best. Certainly the most relaxing, and certainly the most profitable. The day started with the Good Doctor Mondo and I back down at the Lazy River for a few more orbits 'round the pool, where I fulfilled my duties as a human floatation device. I can't get over that pool...hope it's open in December. Actually, my only critique of MGM Grand at all is, their pool opens at 8 or 9am, yet the Lazy River doesn't open until 10. WTF is up with that?
Anyway, we chilled down there for a couple of hours, and got upstairs just in time to clean up before extended noon checkout. I'd been hoping to get one more session of 1/2NL in, of a sorta relaxed variety, but I was not prepared for how busy their room was at that time of the day on a Monday.
After waiting my turn on the wait list, I sat down at table 8, and found an interested bunch. One player had about $800 behind, another had about $500, and there were several of what struck me to be old tighties at the table. I pretty much decided to stay out of most action for the first couple of orbits, and found the big stacks not really playing any hands, either. I'm thinking they picked up most of their chips on one or two huge hands.
I wish I could say there were truly interesting hands. There was the AK I bumped up PF, late position smooth called, raised my c-bet on an raggy board, and I check folded an ugly turn that brought a flush. I actually put her on a high PP at that point. She shoved the turn, and the laydown wasn't really *that* tough. It was her first orbit, and reading her soul, she struck me as a solid player.
There was one player who would consistently pay my ass off. If he had an A, he just could not get away from it, and would raise every PF and c-bet every flop, no matter his kicker, or how bad the board was to his hand. I think over half my profits that day came from him --- twice when he paid off my flopped sets, and once when he folded to a river bet. Now I saw where the two big stacks got their chips. Details are fuzzy now.
Eventually, Mr $800 would come and go from the table and miss a lot of hands. The other good stack left. One of the older guys was constantly complaining and seat-changing, until he left when a new table opened. Pretty typical stuff, but that left me as the only truly sizable stack actually playing at the table, for the most part, and I think I used it well, at one point getting up to about $600 in my short session. By the time I had to cash out to catch the airport shuttle, I was up almost two buy-ins, for my most successful 1/2 stint of the trip. Fuck short sample sizes, I'll take a 85bb/hour rate any day of the week, and twice on Sundays. My only wish is that I had another hour or two to play there, but it was time to come back to Colorado where I remain, donkin' in the Rockies.
To all of you out there this weekend, may your stacks be big.
Best of luck to all you bloggers playing the Caesar's Mega Stack today.
And a special note to F-Train, who's not only out covering the WSOP for PokerNews, he's made it to day 2 of Event 26 - $1,500 Razz with a slightly above average chipstack:
Go go go, you furious lil' prarie dog, you!
The last day our our Vega$ trip was, in some ways, the best. Certainly the most relaxing, and certainly the most profitable. The day started with the Good Doctor Mondo and I back down at the Lazy River for a few more orbits 'round the pool, where I fulfilled my duties as a human floatation device. I can't get over that pool...hope it's open in December. Actually, my only critique of MGM Grand at all is, their pool opens at 8 or 9am, yet the Lazy River doesn't open until 10. WTF is up with that?
Anyway, we chilled down there for a couple of hours, and got upstairs just in time to clean up before extended noon checkout. I'd been hoping to get one more session of 1/2NL in, of a sorta relaxed variety, but I was not prepared for how busy their room was at that time of the day on a Monday.
After waiting my turn on the wait list, I sat down at table 8, and found an interested bunch. One player had about $800 behind, another had about $500, and there were several of what struck me to be old tighties at the table. I pretty much decided to stay out of most action for the first couple of orbits, and found the big stacks not really playing any hands, either. I'm thinking they picked up most of their chips on one or two huge hands.
I wish I could say there were truly interesting hands. There was the AK I bumped up PF, late position smooth called, raised my c-bet on an raggy board, and I check folded an ugly turn that brought a flush. I actually put her on a high PP at that point. She shoved the turn, and the laydown wasn't really *that* tough. It was her first orbit, and reading her soul, she struck me as a solid player.
There was one player who would consistently pay my ass off. If he had an A, he just could not get away from it, and would raise every PF and c-bet every flop, no matter his kicker, or how bad the board was to his hand. I think over half my profits that day came from him --- twice when he paid off my flopped sets, and once when he folded to a river bet. Now I saw where the two big stacks got their chips. Details are fuzzy now.
Eventually, Mr $800 would come and go from the table and miss a lot of hands. The other good stack left. One of the older guys was constantly complaining and seat-changing, until he left when a new table opened. Pretty typical stuff, but that left me as the only truly sizable stack actually playing at the table, for the most part, and I think I used it well, at one point getting up to about $600 in my short session. By the time I had to cash out to catch the airport shuttle, I was up almost two buy-ins, for my most successful 1/2 stint of the trip. Fuck short sample sizes, I'll take a 85bb/hour rate any day of the week, and twice on Sundays. My only wish is that I had another hour or two to play there, but it was time to come back to Colorado where I remain, donkin' in the Rockies.
To all of you out there this weekend, may your stacks be big.
Best of luck to all you bloggers playing the Caesar's Mega Stack today.
And a special note to F-Train, who's not only out covering the WSOP for PokerNews, he's made it to day 2 of Event 26 - $1,500 Razz with a slightly above average chipstack:
Go go go, you furious lil' prarie dog, you!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
We Now Interrupt This Trip Report For the Following Announcement
Originally, I wasn't going to comment on this controversy, but the more I read about it, the more pissed off I get.
I am, of course, talking about the fact that well known blogger Hoyazo played the Bodog Blogger Tournament series under a different account name, and then either wrote a fake blog about his experiences (never writing about his Bodonkey exploits on his own well-read blog), or having other cohorts in cahoots write the "fake" blog entries, most of which were used to trash specific blogger/players, who almost universally had nothing but good things to say about the Bodonkey.
Blinders has written a rather extensive rant on the subject today. In fact, some would call the rant Hoy-worthy. Essentially, Blinders posits that what Hoy did was nothing short of cheating.
I'm not sure I'd go as far as calling what Hoy did as cheating other players, because there is absolutely nothing requiring anyone to play under the same name at every site. He didn't have an account prior to the series, and he was fully within his rights to start an account under a different name.
However, Hoy definitely cheated Bodog out of its earned goodwill and recognition, by not discussing his play in the series on his own blog, which is much more widely read than ICrushBloggers ever was (at least before Hoy completely deleted the ICrushBloggers blog from existence). Nor did he link his widely-read Hammer Player blog to the Bodog Blogger Tournament page, which deprived the series out of a fair number of potential players, and that's a real shame, because Hoy is one of the more prolific and entertaining bloggers out there. The series really could have used the benefit of his writing...especially as he was playing and profiting from it every week.
Bodog went way over and above by adding so many $T every week, never mind the final TOC prizes, and was certainly entitled to have its series put on for bloggers pimped on those blogs, or at least discussed after the fact.
I think the real victims here are Bodog and the greater blogger community, but I can't go so far as to say he cheated, per se. But every act like this does lessen the blogger community in some way, though the narcissists won't be able to see it through the haze of self-importance. Frankly, Love_elf said it best right here.
Quelle bummer.
I am, of course, talking about the fact that well known blogger Hoyazo played the Bodog Blogger Tournament series under a different account name, and then either wrote a fake blog about his experiences (never writing about his Bodonkey exploits on his own well-read blog), or having other cohorts in cahoots write the "fake" blog entries, most of which were used to trash specific blogger/players, who almost universally had nothing but good things to say about the Bodonkey.
Blinders has written a rather extensive rant on the subject today. In fact, some would call the rant Hoy-worthy. Essentially, Blinders posits that what Hoy did was nothing short of cheating.
I'm not sure I'd go as far as calling what Hoy did as cheating other players, because there is absolutely nothing requiring anyone to play under the same name at every site. He didn't have an account prior to the series, and he was fully within his rights to start an account under a different name.
However, Hoy definitely cheated Bodog out of its earned goodwill and recognition, by not discussing his play in the series on his own blog, which is much more widely read than ICrushBloggers ever was (at least before Hoy completely deleted the ICrushBloggers blog from existence). Nor did he link his widely-read Hammer Player blog to the Bodog Blogger Tournament page, which deprived the series out of a fair number of potential players, and that's a real shame, because Hoy is one of the more prolific and entertaining bloggers out there. The series really could have used the benefit of his writing...especially as he was playing and profiting from it every week.
Bodog went way over and above by adding so many $T every week, never mind the final TOC prizes, and was certainly entitled to have its series put on for bloggers pimped on those blogs, or at least discussed after the fact.
I think the real victims here are Bodog and the greater blogger community, but I can't go so far as to say he cheated, per se. But every act like this does lessen the blogger community in some way, though the narcissists won't be able to see it through the haze of self-importance. Frankly, Love_elf said it best right here.
Quelle bummer.
Vega$ Trip Report - Part 3
...aka, the section where our intrepid hero fights back from oblivion.
So there I am on Sunday morning, ragass tired, tilty, and hungry. How to fix this? Head for the bouffffet, MGM-stylee.
The Good Doctor Mondo and I headed down to what was a surprisingly tasty brunch, though I wouldn't have thought pot stickers and seafood ceviche to be appropriate Sunday 10am dining fare, at least not with turkey sausage, blueberry blintzes, and lox with capers.
As it turned out, my stomach didn't think so, either, which resulted in my spending pretty much the next eight hours in bed, moaning and groaning through 500 miles of NASCAR Pocono boredom, and an inability to find a Rockies game on TV. At least my better half had yet another wonderful afternoon at the pool -- we definitely got our aquatic mobnies worth out of this trip.
Eventually, I was able to get up and eat a lil' something, when the thought occurred that we needed to get some hours in to lock in our poker rate. What else to soothe the bankroll than some 1/2NL? The soothing came quickly, and powerfully, when I was able to pick up a full buyin and a half in no more than about two hours, for my best live session on the trip up to that point.
For the most part, I played quiet, staying out of pots unless I had the goods, or could get to the goods. As it was, I didn't really feel *that* great, and probably played more passively as a result. There weren't really a lot of interesting hands, other than one in particular. There were a couple of intraweb 21yo whiz kid types sitting at the table, one to my right, with a bigass jewfro (though hardly Alex Jacob-worthy), and a static chipstack. At one point, he had to fold his PP to a dude who showed quad AAAA after the fold.
Not too much longer after that, I pick up KK in some kind of early-to-mid position. With the whiz kid limping, and me still a bit stung from the previous night, I decided to bump to $18, to see how serious he was. Well, a late player called, as did whiz-fro. The flop comes Kxx (two spades), and I'm feeling fine. Whiz-fro bets $20...I can call, but there is that flush draw out there, and one to act behind. I elect to min-raise another $40, and get a fold (from LP), and then whiz-fro flat calls. The turn brings....the case K. YAHTZEE! Whiz-fro checks, and I have a decision to make. Sure, I can check, but if he checks the river and I bet, there's a good chance he folds, and I get no value out of my quads. So I decide to fire out $40, figuring if he's going to fold now, he'd probably have folded on any river, anyway. So what happens? Well, after I raised PF, raised the flop, and bet the turn...whiz-fro shoves. BINGO!
He didn't much like having to show down his 99 to my quad K's, but I was happy for the chips, and his misplayed his hand soooo badly in the first place. I soon turned in for the night, taking my $145 hourly rate to bed, for a last night's sleep in Vega$.
Part 4 to come!
So there I am on Sunday morning, ragass tired, tilty, and hungry. How to fix this? Head for the bouffffet, MGM-stylee.
The Good Doctor Mondo and I headed down to what was a surprisingly tasty brunch, though I wouldn't have thought pot stickers and seafood ceviche to be appropriate Sunday 10am dining fare, at least not with turkey sausage, blueberry blintzes, and lox with capers.
As it turned out, my stomach didn't think so, either, which resulted in my spending pretty much the next eight hours in bed, moaning and groaning through 500 miles of NASCAR Pocono boredom, and an inability to find a Rockies game on TV. At least my better half had yet another wonderful afternoon at the pool -- we definitely got our aquatic mobnies worth out of this trip.
Eventually, I was able to get up and eat a lil' something, when the thought occurred that we needed to get some hours in to lock in our poker rate. What else to soothe the bankroll than some 1/2NL? The soothing came quickly, and powerfully, when I was able to pick up a full buyin and a half in no more than about two hours, for my best live session on the trip up to that point.
For the most part, I played quiet, staying out of pots unless I had the goods, or could get to the goods. As it was, I didn't really feel *that* great, and probably played more passively as a result. There weren't really a lot of interesting hands, other than one in particular. There were a couple of intraweb 21yo whiz kid types sitting at the table, one to my right, with a bigass jewfro (though hardly Alex Jacob-worthy), and a static chipstack. At one point, he had to fold his PP to a dude who showed quad AAAA after the fold.
Not too much longer after that, I pick up KK in some kind of early-to-mid position. With the whiz kid limping, and me still a bit stung from the previous night, I decided to bump to $18, to see how serious he was. Well, a late player called, as did whiz-fro. The flop comes Kxx (two spades), and I'm feeling fine. Whiz-fro bets $20...I can call, but there is that flush draw out there, and one to act behind. I elect to min-raise another $40, and get a fold (from LP), and then whiz-fro flat calls. The turn brings....the case K. YAHTZEE! Whiz-fro checks, and I have a decision to make. Sure, I can check, but if he checks the river and I bet, there's a good chance he folds, and I get no value out of my quads. So I decide to fire out $40, figuring if he's going to fold now, he'd probably have folded on any river, anyway. So what happens? Well, after I raised PF, raised the flop, and bet the turn...whiz-fro shoves. BINGO!
He didn't much like having to show down his 99 to my quad K's, but I was happy for the chips, and his misplayed his hand soooo badly in the first place. I soon turned in for the night, taking my $145 hourly rate to bed, for a last night's sleep in Vega$.
Part 4 to come!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Vega$ Trip Report - Part 2
Saturday was a very unusual, uncharacteristic day for me. How so? Well hell, first of all, I was coming off a cash in my biggest ever live tourney, measured by field size and buy-in. I was still pretty much half asleep in frog pajamas, when the Good Doctor Mondo dragged my dog ass out of bed around 9am to spend most of the day in the Lazy River pool, and as much I really don't care for pools, swimming, and all that jazz, the MGM Grand's Lazy River was really kinda cool.
Anyway, it was eventually time to play some poker, and I found a 3/6 HORSE table at the MGM. Apparently, 3/6 HORSE is a rare bird at the MGM, indeed. I was told it was only the 2nd time that game was ever spread. Unfortunately, the only thing more rare than running that game, was me having any kind of hand. I sat in at the start of Stud, and didn't win a pot until the 2nd hand of Razz. Ick. Only won a couple of pots, and dropped about $70 over nine orbits. Okay, fuck it, I'm hungry, let's grab a sammich and play some 1/2...off we go!
I sign up to find a 14 name waiting list, but it's only about 20 minutes before I'm sitting down to what appears to be a possibly profitable table. About one orbit in, I pick up KK (either UTG, or EP1, I now forget which). Naturally, I bump it to $14 to go, and I only get one caller - a large tattooed Latino guy who reminds me of some of those Unique Whips folks. Anyway, he calls, and we see a flop of 642, with two hearts (I have Kh). I didn't like the flush draw, so I bet $20, and he raises to $40. I flat call, and 6h shows up on the turn. He checks, and I'm immediately suspicious of turned trips. Still, I check behind, and the Qh shows up on the river. The dude bets $40, and I'm sure he's got a 6, but I have the K-high flush, and call. Well, the read was mostly right. He had 64. Yup, the turned boat. Yup, he called $14 PF out of position, with nothing more than 64 soooted. Nice hand, sir.
That's cool, I've still got $120, and a great read. I'll get it back. Over the next 2-3 orbits, I fold a ton of trash pockets, but watch as this same guy raises 90% of all hands preflop, between $14 and $20 each time. And when he got callers, he C-bet 90% of those times. Twice he was called down and had to show trash like T7o, so he's basically betting not ATC, but ETC (every two cards). The only times he ever folded to flop or turn bets were when he was raised off pots by a dude at the end of the table who looked...suspiciously...like his brother or cousin. They were virtually identical looking, except for the ink. And no, I'm not stereotyping. Anyway, I didn't suspect collusion, just bad aggro play. I'm gonna get paid off, eventually.
And then...BOOM. AA under the gun. Normally, I'd raise this up to $12, $14, or so. But I've got monkey aggro two seats to my right, in the small blind. He's going to raise, and I'm going to get paid. So....I....check. And then five limp behind. And monkey aggro....checks. Fuck. He raises every hand except this one. Still, the flop comes Q42 rainbow, so I feel okay. Now that we're several days later, I'm a bit fuzzy, but I believe the donk checked, I bet $20, and he and one other player called the flop. Okay. Rag on the turn, and monkey aggro shoves a stack that's now smaller than mine. Obviously, I overshove -- he's trying to push me off.
Except the player behind me calls. Monkey aggro turns over AQo, just as I thought...and then the player behind me shows 44 for the flopped set. I miss my 1 outer on the river, and 44 stacks us both. Gack.
I know, I know, I know....never limp AA. But I felt I was playing a player more than the cards that hand. He was raising every damn hand, and I knew I'd get to make a large 3-bet. Meh. If it's any consolation, I figure the 44 would have called a $14 bet PF with implied odds of the expected monkey call out of the small blind. But still, now I'm on tilt. Lost a buy-in in 45 minutes where the only hands I played were AA and KK. I needed revenge, and I was going to get it at....
....table games. Please do me a favor if you're ever with me in Vega$, and I make a move towards the table games. Stop me. I don't care how. Just stop me.
First, I dump $60 in two hands of Pai-Gow, before I realize wtf am I doing playing a game best played drunk in $5 increments, for $30 bucks a hand (and sober, at that). So I take $140 over to 3 Card Poker, where I'm quickly back up to $250. Do I leave, having recovered about 1/3 of my loss for the night? No. I swing down. I swing up. Eventually, I turn that $140 into about $350 or so. I've actually recovered over half my poker loss, and my entire Pai-Gow loss.
Do I leave? Hell no. Not until 20 minutes after the Dealer of Death arrives I lose all of that, and even $100 more. Fortunately, I stopped myself after I pulled out my very last C-note, before turning into chips that would eventually belong to Mr. MGM. What an expensive lesson. Here I am, down a few hundo for the trip thus far, even having cashed in the Mega Series, and having had one nice 1/2 session. No more table games for Mondo, ever. I can't be trusted. Every time I was up, I just knew I'd go up more. When I was down, I just knew I'd recover in a hand or two. Yup. Just say no.
I'm please to inform you that I did not play a single table game hand my entire last 38 hours in Vega$. Hopefully, hard lesson in monkey tilt learned.
Part 3 later!
Anyway, it was eventually time to play some poker, and I found a 3/6 HORSE table at the MGM. Apparently, 3/6 HORSE is a rare bird at the MGM, indeed. I was told it was only the 2nd time that game was ever spread. Unfortunately, the only thing more rare than running that game, was me having any kind of hand. I sat in at the start of Stud, and didn't win a pot until the 2nd hand of Razz. Ick. Only won a couple of pots, and dropped about $70 over nine orbits. Okay, fuck it, I'm hungry, let's grab a sammich and play some 1/2...off we go!
I sign up to find a 14 name waiting list, but it's only about 20 minutes before I'm sitting down to what appears to be a possibly profitable table. About one orbit in, I pick up KK (either UTG, or EP1, I now forget which). Naturally, I bump it to $14 to go, and I only get one caller - a large tattooed Latino guy who reminds me of some of those Unique Whips folks. Anyway, he calls, and we see a flop of 642, with two hearts (I have Kh). I didn't like the flush draw, so I bet $20, and he raises to $40. I flat call, and 6h shows up on the turn. He checks, and I'm immediately suspicious of turned trips. Still, I check behind, and the Qh shows up on the river. The dude bets $40, and I'm sure he's got a 6, but I have the K-high flush, and call. Well, the read was mostly right. He had 64. Yup, the turned boat. Yup, he called $14 PF out of position, with nothing more than 64 soooted. Nice hand, sir.
That's cool, I've still got $120, and a great read. I'll get it back. Over the next 2-3 orbits, I fold a ton of trash pockets, but watch as this same guy raises 90% of all hands preflop, between $14 and $20 each time. And when he got callers, he C-bet 90% of those times. Twice he was called down and had to show trash like T7o, so he's basically betting not ATC, but ETC (every two cards). The only times he ever folded to flop or turn bets were when he was raised off pots by a dude at the end of the table who looked...suspiciously...like his brother or cousin. They were virtually identical looking, except for the ink. And no, I'm not stereotyping. Anyway, I didn't suspect collusion, just bad aggro play. I'm gonna get paid off, eventually.
And then...BOOM. AA under the gun. Normally, I'd raise this up to $12, $14, or so. But I've got monkey aggro two seats to my right, in the small blind. He's going to raise, and I'm going to get paid. So....I....check. And then five limp behind. And monkey aggro....checks. Fuck. He raises every hand except this one. Still, the flop comes Q42 rainbow, so I feel okay. Now that we're several days later, I'm a bit fuzzy, but I believe the donk checked, I bet $20, and he and one other player called the flop. Okay. Rag on the turn, and monkey aggro shoves a stack that's now smaller than mine. Obviously, I overshove -- he's trying to push me off.
Except the player behind me calls. Monkey aggro turns over AQo, just as I thought...and then the player behind me shows 44 for the flopped set. I miss my 1 outer on the river, and 44 stacks us both. Gack.
I know, I know, I know....never limp AA. But I felt I was playing a player more than the cards that hand. He was raising every damn hand, and I knew I'd get to make a large 3-bet. Meh. If it's any consolation, I figure the 44 would have called a $14 bet PF with implied odds of the expected monkey call out of the small blind. But still, now I'm on tilt. Lost a buy-in in 45 minutes where the only hands I played were AA and KK. I needed revenge, and I was going to get it at....
....table games. Please do me a favor if you're ever with me in Vega$, and I make a move towards the table games. Stop me. I don't care how. Just stop me.
First, I dump $60 in two hands of Pai-Gow, before I realize wtf am I doing playing a game best played drunk in $5 increments, for $30 bucks a hand (and sober, at that). So I take $140 over to 3 Card Poker, where I'm quickly back up to $250. Do I leave, having recovered about 1/3 of my loss for the night? No. I swing down. I swing up. Eventually, I turn that $140 into about $350 or so. I've actually recovered over half my poker loss, and my entire Pai-Gow loss.
Do I leave? Hell no. Not until 20 minutes after the Dealer of Death arrives I lose all of that, and even $100 more. Fortunately, I stopped myself after I pulled out my very last C-note, before turning into chips that would eventually belong to Mr. MGM. What an expensive lesson. Here I am, down a few hundo for the trip thus far, even having cashed in the Mega Series, and having had one nice 1/2 session. No more table games for Mondo, ever. I can't be trusted. Every time I was up, I just knew I'd go up more. When I was down, I just knew I'd recover in a hand or two. Yup. Just say no.
I'm please to inform you that I did not play a single table game hand my entire last 38 hours in Vega$. Hopefully, hard lesson in monkey tilt learned.
Part 3 later!
Vega$ Trip Report - Part 1
Wow, what a trip. Got home late last night and caught up on reading about 157 blog entries by other writers, so I'm just now getting started.
Anyway, the Good Doctor Mondo and I landed safe and sound and got checked into the MGM with no fuss at all. From the moment of landing, CK and I were trading text messages trying to figure out where or what blogger stuff was happening on Thursday. Of course, most were landing on Friday/Saturday, so in the end, by the time I showed up in the MGM poker room (after a truly wonderful burger at the Studio Cafe that was actually worth the $13-14 cost), CK was already there playing 1/2, and seemed to have a good amount of the table's attention.
Anyway, CK did a pretty good job of describing the two hands we got into it with one another. Funny thing about the AA hand is that, yeah, I was worried about her having a Q, but also thought that she'd fire out on just about any river to represent strength. I think if it were anyone but her, maybe I lay down on that river, but I just couldn't get it out of my mind that she was just trying to push a known blogger out of a pot, because it would have been the WPBT tour thing to do.
Well, I very much enjoyed playing with her, and was bummed to see her buy-in gone. CK is every bit as much fun to be around in person as in an online tournament.
In the end, I *was* crushing the table, but gave back about 1/2 my profits in a couple of bigger two pair hands, but ended up about 2/3 of a buy-in on the night. The Good Doctor Mondo made a few bucks at 2/4 limit, and more importantly, was having fun. I made it a short night, because the Caesar's Mega Stack was the next day, and I wanted some real sleep. And boy, was I glad I did.
Woke up really early on Friday. Knowing the turnouts of the first couple of events, I was expecting long lines, and I still needed a Caesar's players card. Well, duh. By 9:45, I'm already there and registered, so I donked off about $100 playing a 1-3 game that was not playing large at all, and then jumped into the tourney. I've already posted that I ended up going out 39th of 582 (for a relatively small cash), but here's a few fun facts.
a. Only had AA and KK once each in the tourney, and both in the very first hour.
b. Had QQ three times, and all three brought significant chips to my stack.
c. Had AK twice, and both times had to fold to very ugly board/flop raises or 3-bets. (more on AK later)
d. Fantastic structure. Antes didn't start until level 7. However, they start getting really pricey by levels 10-11, in comparison to average stack sizes.
e. Very top heavy payout structure. 54 of 582 paid, so less than 10%. Even so, only the top 36 even got an amount at least 2x the buy-in. Buy-in was $340, and 45th-37th paid $508, 28th-36th paid about $590. 1st, however, was a nice $49k and change.
f. I ended up playing for 14 hours, and didn't get moved from my original seat until we were down to less than 60 players, during level 11 or 12, when they broke down to six tables. Moved twice after that. One other player from my original table was still there, too.
g. On the very bubble, I 3-bet shoved AKo from late position, and was actually okay with losing that hand, but when asked by the original raiser, I told him I was equally okay with a call or a fold. I know that's how people become bubble boys, but of the 55th left, I couldn't have been better than 50th or 51st in chips at that time.
h. Only played two hands post flop where I was significantly behind. Once was just after the bubble, when I shoved KQ soooted UTG. (I'd previously folded KQ UTG last orbit before bubble broke.) Called all in by small blind who had AKo, and I hit straight on turn. The 2nd time was my all out hand. With a miniscule M, me having 1% of chips in play (39 players left), 15 minutes before the end of Day 1 play, and the blinds crawling up my ass, I shoved A6 sooted early, and a big stack overshoved AK. Picked up flush draw on flop (when he paired), and paired my 6 on the turn, but missed an 11 outer on the river. Was my shove okay in that spot, given the situation? Was I underestimating my need to try to double up in that spot in the tournament?
What do you think? Should I have folded pf and been willing to show up 12 hours later for Day 2 with an M no greater than about 2 (assuming I didn't get a big hand in final 12-13 minutes? Or was the shove okay in that spot, knowing I was likely behind to any other A, and have little equity. If I hit my outs, I'm up to about 200k, and have a real chance at being competitive early in a Day 2. Anyway, I gamboooled and lost, and went to bed.
Some of the most fun was calling the Good Doctor Mondo with updates, which she was sharing with her 2/4 table. The whole table back at MGM was kinda cell-phone railing me. That felt good. And texting CK with updates. I wish I could have given better news at the end.
Okay, enough for now. Will blog Saturday's ugliness and monkey tilt later today, or tomorrow.
Anyway, the Good Doctor Mondo and I landed safe and sound and got checked into the MGM with no fuss at all. From the moment of landing, CK and I were trading text messages trying to figure out where or what blogger stuff was happening on Thursday. Of course, most were landing on Friday/Saturday, so in the end, by the time I showed up in the MGM poker room (after a truly wonderful burger at the Studio Cafe that was actually worth the $13-14 cost), CK was already there playing 1/2, and seemed to have a good amount of the table's attention.
Anyway, CK did a pretty good job of describing the two hands we got into it with one another. Funny thing about the AA hand is that, yeah, I was worried about her having a Q, but also thought that she'd fire out on just about any river to represent strength. I think if it were anyone but her, maybe I lay down on that river, but I just couldn't get it out of my mind that she was just trying to push a known blogger out of a pot, because it would have been the WPBT tour thing to do.
Well, I very much enjoyed playing with her, and was bummed to see her buy-in gone. CK is every bit as much fun to be around in person as in an online tournament.
In the end, I *was* crushing the table, but gave back about 1/2 my profits in a couple of bigger two pair hands, but ended up about 2/3 of a buy-in on the night. The Good Doctor Mondo made a few bucks at 2/4 limit, and more importantly, was having fun. I made it a short night, because the Caesar's Mega Stack was the next day, and I wanted some real sleep. And boy, was I glad I did.
Woke up really early on Friday. Knowing the turnouts of the first couple of events, I was expecting long lines, and I still needed a Caesar's players card. Well, duh. By 9:45, I'm already there and registered, so I donked off about $100 playing a 1-3 game that was not playing large at all, and then jumped into the tourney. I've already posted that I ended up going out 39th of 582 (for a relatively small cash), but here's a few fun facts.
a. Only had AA and KK once each in the tourney, and both in the very first hour.
b. Had QQ three times, and all three brought significant chips to my stack.
c. Had AK twice, and both times had to fold to very ugly board/flop raises or 3-bets. (more on AK later)
d. Fantastic structure. Antes didn't start until level 7. However, they start getting really pricey by levels 10-11, in comparison to average stack sizes.
e. Very top heavy payout structure. 54 of 582 paid, so less than 10%. Even so, only the top 36 even got an amount at least 2x the buy-in. Buy-in was $340, and 45th-37th paid $508, 28th-36th paid about $590. 1st, however, was a nice $49k and change.
f. I ended up playing for 14 hours, and didn't get moved from my original seat until we were down to less than 60 players, during level 11 or 12, when they broke down to six tables. Moved twice after that. One other player from my original table was still there, too.
g. On the very bubble, I 3-bet shoved AKo from late position, and was actually okay with losing that hand, but when asked by the original raiser, I told him I was equally okay with a call or a fold. I know that's how people become bubble boys, but of the 55th left, I couldn't have been better than 50th or 51st in chips at that time.
h. Only played two hands post flop where I was significantly behind. Once was just after the bubble, when I shoved KQ soooted UTG. (I'd previously folded KQ UTG last orbit before bubble broke.) Called all in by small blind who had AKo, and I hit straight on turn. The 2nd time was my all out hand. With a miniscule M, me having 1% of chips in play (39 players left), 15 minutes before the end of Day 1 play, and the blinds crawling up my ass, I shoved A6 sooted early, and a big stack overshoved AK. Picked up flush draw on flop (when he paired), and paired my 6 on the turn, but missed an 11 outer on the river. Was my shove okay in that spot, given the situation? Was I underestimating my need to try to double up in that spot in the tournament?
What do you think? Should I have folded pf and been willing to show up 12 hours later for Day 2 with an M no greater than about 2 (assuming I didn't get a big hand in final 12-13 minutes? Or was the shove okay in that spot, knowing I was likely behind to any other A, and have little equity. If I hit my outs, I'm up to about 200k, and have a real chance at being competitive early in a Day 2. Anyway, I gamboooled and lost, and went to bed.
Some of the most fun was calling the Good Doctor Mondo with updates, which she was sharing with her 2/4 table. The whole table back at MGM was kinda cell-phone railing me. That felt good. And texting CK with updates. I wish I could have given better news at the end.
Okay, enough for now. Will blog Saturday's ugliness and monkey tilt later today, or tomorrow.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Having to Be Brief...
It's 3:18 in Vega$, and on borrowed internet. Will post more on Monday when I'm home, but just wanted to give a big shout out to every blogger's favorite frush drawer...that's right, BWoP, for text railing me today during my run at the Caesar's $340 Mega-Stack.
Hope the draining's done by now, at least!
Oh yeah, how'd I do? Well, I lost 1/3 my starting chips by two hands into the tournament, when I had to fold raised AK and 88. 14 hours later, I went out 39th of 582 runners. I'm totally exhausted. Of course, the $$$ is very top heavy, and let's just say my hourly rate going 39th was good for a few happy meals. But it was well worth it.
Will write more on Monday, as I won't have net access until then.
Oh yeah, one celebrity sighting. Louie Anderson was playing an $80 SNG, lol.
Hope the draining's done by now, at least!
Oh yeah, how'd I do? Well, I lost 1/3 my starting chips by two hands into the tournament, when I had to fold raised AK and 88. 14 hours later, I went out 39th of 582 runners. I'm totally exhausted. Of course, the $$$ is very top heavy, and let's just say my hourly rate going 39th was good for a few happy meals. But it was well worth it.
Will write more on Monday, as I won't have net access until then.
Oh yeah, one celebrity sighting. Louie Anderson was playing an $80 SNG, lol.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Why Post So Much On A Wednesday Night?
'cause I ain't taking my laptop to Vega$, that's why. Bwahahahahaha
Jeez, I should just get Twitter, seeing as this post is nothing more than Twitter-worthy, if that.
Jeez, I should just get Twitter, seeing as this post is nothing more than Twitter-worthy, if that.
How Do You Go On Avatar Tilt In Three Easy Steps?
1. Julius Goat and Bayne offer up a fantastic and fun service for us bloggers.
2. In a fit of inspiration, these guys design the best avatar ever (at least one that's not wearing a gold jersey and football helmet):
3. Your Winblows Vista-disabled laptop won't let you overwrite existing avatars, no matter how many fucking times you make the file, the folder, the Full Tilt folder, the Graphics folder, or any other folder not read-only:
Uncheck and unapply "Read Only", go back and try to paste it in and...voila...nothing. It's like the custom avatar screen of death.
And no, I'm not in a position to deal with wiping the laptop and putting XP in (unfortunately). I still have my old XP desktop, but the whole point is not lot lock myself to my home office...
This Dude is having a rather difficult time abiding at this particular moment. Advice welcomed.
2. In a fit of inspiration, these guys design the best avatar ever (at least one that's not wearing a gold jersey and football helmet):
3. Your Winblows Vista-disabled laptop won't let you overwrite existing avatars, no matter how many fucking times you make the file, the folder, the Full Tilt folder, the Graphics folder, or any other folder not read-only:
Uncheck and unapply "Read Only", go back and try to paste it in and...voila...nothing. It's like the custom avatar screen of death.
And no, I'm not in a position to deal with wiping the laptop and putting XP in (unfortunately). I still have my old XP desktop, but the whole point is not lot lock myself to my home office...
This Dude is having a rather difficult time abiding at this particular moment. Advice welcomed.
Congratulations to the Biggest Bodonkeys Of Them All
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