I really should update this more

Hi there.

Well, a bunch has happened over the last 10 days.

When I last put something up, I was all excited about the opportunity to play in a WSOP circuit event being held at Caesars' Indiana. I had a seat locked up and was ready to play....or so I thought. Caesars' royally screwed up the registration and, to make a long story short, I had the choice of being the 309th alternate or getting my money back. I got a refund.

I made a good day of it. Played a little at the casino, drove down to Lexington and played the ponies, and then played a home game that night. A home game which, I might add, may have some of the worst players I have ever seen. I netted a $20 profit for the day. Getting paid to have fun....I love it.

Other than that, I've been banging around that same BR number for a while now. Lose a little, make it back. I've just started a Sit n Go experiment where I'm playing SnG's exclusively for a month. I'm pretty sure how it's going to turn out (barring some ridiculous run), but want to try it just the same. I love SnG's and usually do very well, but it's time to see just how well I do and if this is where I need to focus my online time.

I'm playing better and feeling good about that. I've really lucked out to be included into the P1MP gang. These guys know their stuff and it's been nothing but a positive influence in my growth as a poker player.

Like I said, I'm playing SnG's ONLY through the rest of this month and November. I've got a spreadsheet set up and will post stats as they develop. Haven't really decided on everything I want to track, but I'm sure it will become more robust as I go. Hopefully, this becomes a BR builder for me.

Wish me luck.

I'm better, but also worse.

OK, I've been bitching about my losing streak....yada, yada, yada.

Well, it turns out a lot of it was me. Imagine that.

I've been overplaying hands and getting committed to pots I shouldn't even be in. My boys over at P1MP looked at some of my hand histories and I'm doing much better. Pulled down a couple of 2nd's in $20 SnGs and a couple of decent sittings at the cash games. I think I'm on the right track, which is important since I'm playing the biggest buy-in of my young poker life. I'm playing the $300+40 NLHE event at the WSOP Circuit as Caesar's Indiana on Thursday. I can't wait. Going to play some MTT's this week to get my mind right.

Which leads into the ugly part of this entry

FUCK, FUCKKITY, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK.

I like the $30 NLHE at UB at 10PM. It's not a ridiculous field and solid play is usually rewarded. Well, I feel like this is a tournament I can and will take down at some point so I made a run tonight. Early on it wasn't pretty caught dead rags for a solid hour and yet somehow managed to pick up a few chips with some "creative" play. I had a sick beat at 50/100 where my pocket 10's got sucked out on by two sevens on a 3 4 9 5 6 board. I doubled back to where I was when the same pocket 10's held up against AK. I got a huge break when I made a move with AQ, only to get called by AK and hit a Q on the turn. 20 hands later I caught another break when I softplayed AA with a min raise PF, BB called. Flop was 4 Q K. Check, I bet out 2/3 of the pot and got a call. The turn was a 10 and BB put me all in. I had him on JJ and called. Wrong. He had Q 10, K hit the river and my two pair beat his two pair.

Well, that put near the top of the heap. Around 12K in chips and top 10. Even with the suckouts, I liked my play for the most part and then BANG.....payback is a bitch. I'm just going to post the hand history and let it speak for itself. The sad thing is....I saw the bitch coming.

Hand #9029478-145 at Sat10pmA-009 (No Limit tournament Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 15/Oct/05 23:58:00

top2pear is at seat 0 with 12295.
Mackerel1 is at seat 1 with 11625.
boyet66 is at seat 2 with 3015.
1stDominator is at seat 3 with 7400.
ThePlowKing is at seat 4 with 6525.
Chef Henri is at seat 5 with 5715.
bikergirl25 is at seat 7 with 2245.
gabih is at seat 8 with 9625.
sanmark is at seat 9 with 3445.
The button is at seat 8.

top2pear posts ante (25).
Mackerel1 posts ante (25).
boyet66 posts ante (25).
1stDominator posts ante (25).
ThePlowKing posts ante (25).
Chef Henri posts ante (25).
bikergirl25 posts ante (25).
gabih posts ante (25).
sanmark posts ante (25).
top2pear posts the small blind of 150.
Mackerel1 posts the big blind of 300.

top2pear: Kd Kh
Mackerel1: -- --
boyet66: -- --
1stDominator: -- --
ThePlowKing: -- --
Chef Henri: -- --
bikergirl25: -- --
gabih: -- --
sanmark: -- --

Pre-flop:

boyet66 folds. 1stDominator calls. ThePlowKing
folds. Chef Henri calls. bikergirl25 folds. gabih
folds. sanmark calls. top2pear raises to 1400.
Mackerel1 goes all-in for 11600. 1stDominator folds.
Chef Henri folds. sanmark folds. top2pear calls.


Tournament all-in showdown -- players show:

top2pear shows Kd Kh.
Mackerel1 shows As Ks.


Flop (board: 6d Kc Js):

(no action in this round)


Turn (board: 6d Kc Js Td):

(no action in this round)


River (board: 6d Kc Js Td Qd):

(no action in this round)




Showdown:

top2pear has Kd Kh Kc Js Qd: three kings.
Mackerel1 has As Ks Js Td Qd: straight, ace high.


Hand #9029478-145 Summary:

No rake is taken for this hand.
Mackerel1 wins 24325 with straight, ace high.
----------------------------------------------------------------

I would have been 2nd or 3rd if I pull this down. Instead, I'm all but out the door. I love poker, but shit like this sucks. I'm confident I can take this bitch down, but damn, beats like this hurt.

Can I have a hand hold up please?

Lost about $150 this weekend in MTT's, SnGs, and cash games.....ALL on 2 and 3 outers

$20 SnG - Bubble time, I've got K 10 vs K 4 on a K 6 2 board. He bets, I raise all in, he calls.
4 hits the turn.

$30 MTT - I move all in with 2 pair jacks and tens on a 2 J 10 board, guy to my right calls with QJ. Queen on river

.5/1.00 NL - I've got AK and bet out 5 PF, one caller. Flop is AA4. He bets out $10, I put him all in for $40 more, he shows AQ. Queen on river.

$20 SnG - Down to 5. I've got 10 10 on the button and make pot bet. BB (Chip leader) calls. Flop is 2 5 J. I bet out 1/2 the pot, he min raises, I move all in, he calls. He's got 88. 8 on the turn.

Why does it come in streaks like this? I don't mind losing one every once in a while, but it comes in waves. This is really beating me down and I'm playing the circuit event in 10 days, not a good time to be in a bad frame of mind.

I may take some time off. I don't know......

Is it July again?

Fuck, what a day.

Went through $150 in some of the ugliest beats and horrible calls I can remember.

Scene 1: $10 SnG
15th hand or so, I get AA in the CO. guy to my right makes it 150 (blinds at 15/30), I just call, SB calls. Flop brings junk with a couple of clubs. 1st guy bets 200, I move all in, SB calls, he calls. I'm up against K 10 (WTF?) and QQ. Rag. QUEEN. Shit. I'm down to 270. I work it all the way back up to 2000. I get 22 on the button, it's min-raised to me where I call. Flop 2 4 9. Cool. UTG bets out the pot, I come over top all in, he calls (he's got me covered). He shows 10 10. Rag. River....you guessed it TEN. Two ugly river beats and I'm gone.

Scene 2: .25/.50 NL
I buy in for the full 50 and in the 5th hand I get A 10 suited in MP. Feeling frisky, I make it $2.50 and get two callers. Flop brings A rag rag with 2 diamonds. UTG bets $5 and I put him all in for another $20. He calls. I don't get my flush, and he shows AJ offsuit. Wow....what a donkey.

Scene 3: .25/.50 NL

I can't say anything, I'll just post the hand history.

Hand #8514783-11899 at Ahlat (No Limit Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 06/Oct/05 23:32:41

ambdiddy is at seat 0 with $85.35.
chizzler is at seat 1 with $54.85.
Mikey13 is at seat 2 with $78.90.
rockets91 is at seat 3 with $25.55.
yschweiz82 is at seat 4 with $24.25.
2 LAZY is at seat 5 with $47.90.
Sniper Vk74 is at seat 6 with $25.70.
top2pear is at seat 7 with $46.20.
RayHWW is at seat 8 with $47.30.
PinkFloydAB is at seat 9 with $37.90.
The button is at seat 5.

top2pear posts the small blind of $.25.
RayHWW posts the big blind of $.50.

ambdiddy: -- --
chizzler: -- --
Mikey13: -- --
rockets91: -- --
yschweiz82: -- --
2 LAZY: -- --
top2pear: 4d 4c
RayHWW: -- --
PinkFloydAB: -- --

Pre-flop:

PinkFloydAB folds. ambdiddy folds. chizzler folds.
Mikey13 folds. rockets91 calls. yschweiz82 folds.
2 LAZY folds. top2pear calls. RayHWW raises to $2.
rockets91 calls. top2pear calls.

Flop (board: 4h 9h Jc):

top2pear checks. RayHWW bets $6. rockets91 folds.
top2pear raises to $24. RayHWW calls.

Turn (board: 4h 9h Jc Js):

top2pear goes all-in for $20.20. RayHWW calls.

River (board: 4h 9h Jc Js 9d):

(no action in this round)




Showdown:

top2pear shows 4d 4c.
top2pear has 4d 4c 4h Jc Js: full house, fours full of jacks.
RayHWW shows Kc Jh.
RayHWW has Jh 9h Jc Js 9d: full house, jacks full of nines.


Hand #8514783-11899 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $94.40.
RayHWW wins $91.40 with full house, jacks full of nines.
----------------------------------------------------------------

What a fucking donkey. Calls a $24 bet with a pair of jacks....didn't even have the kicker. Fuckwad. I got so pissed I immediately cashed out 1/2 of what I had left in my account. Since I won that big MTT, it seems they're making me pay in any way possible. I've dropped about $300 in just about any manner you can figure.

I'm making good plays and solid decisions, but lately all I get for that is a nice buttpounding.

Hope things turn around soon, I'm playing a small WSOP circuit event on the 20th.

Hey, I've got a blog....I guess I should update it

OK, it's been a hell of crappy run lately.

First of all, my house refinance has gotten TOTALLY fucked and has screwed my finances. I finally have a grasp on what's going on and it looks like I'm finally getting this stupid thing done.....3 MONTHS LATER.

**WARNING!! EXTREMELY BITTER SEGMENT**

Then, I have the classic story of a great job opprotunity. It was in a field that is very specialized and used a software that probably 100 people in the country use regularly. On top of that, I found out that the job description was written with me in mind and that I was their target hire. Well, it seems that the Army has one of the most fucked up hiring systems on earth where the first cut is made through a computer system called Resumix. It takes the job description and filters it for keywords and scores that against your resume. Now, I did 6 rewrites of my resume and it was almost a duplicate of the job description. Now, here's the funny part. Disabled? You get 30 bonus points. Prior service? 5-10 bonus points. So, I can be a dead match for the job, but because some dipshit's ankle is screwed he gets the job just for sending in his application. You don't really have to know anything about the job....if you're disabled or have prior service. The result? The job that the guy responsible for hiring wanted me to have I can't have. I was told that there should be another opening in a year or two and that the next job description will be much, much more specific. Gee, thanks. I'm dying to get out of where I am and I get fucked over by a computer program. Being that I'm a computer guy, the irony is just overwhelming.

**BITTERNESS OVER....HERE'S SOME POKER STUFF**

On the other hand, my little MTT win turned a losing month into a big winner. Since August 1, I'm now $900 up and counting. I'm using a little of my extra cash to experiment with a little different style. I'm starting to see the value of really loosening up early in MTT's and have used it to my advantage in SnG's, as well. However, I still think "tight is right" in SnG's and will probably adjust back.....not completely, but will definitely get back to basics as SnG's are solid for income.

I'm also dabbling a bit more in Omaha hi and 8/b, but I'm having horrible luck on draws. I don't care if I had the nut low, wrap around straight draw, AND nut flush draw, I could miss it right now. One thing I know is that if you can't hit your draws in Omaha, you are a dead duck.