Fishstickittie's Poker Blog

MTT, STT or Live......that's the question.

2008-03-28T10:18:00.002-05:00

So I'll have the house to myself tonite and can't decide to try and play a grinding session of my standard STT's or a few MTT's (been playing the $3r and really enjoying the chaos) or hit the ATM and take the long (5 minute) drive to the boat.

It's going to be tough. Luckily I have all day to decide. The boat is the most enticing but I have to be up ~early tomorrow and really should be home when the family gets home tonite. But........

I'll probably play the $20+2 at ~6 (or whenever it is) and the $3r at 8. I've been enjoying playing MTT's a bit more lately even tho' I still suck at them. I sent a few hands from the rebuy last week to Tdizzle and was pleased to see I accidentally made a few correct decisions.

Got my HH grabber to work. So Hopefully I'll start posting some hands. My problem is that I'm so lazy, when I remember to take the time to post hands I'll forget the context of the hand. No info=not helpful.

We'll see.

Completing from the SB in a STT/I'm back

2008-03-24T19:46:00.002-05:00

I forgot my password when blogger "reset". Not sure how much I'll keep up w/ this, since I don't have the best track record in the past, but I'm going to try (echo...echo...)

There's a great thread on CP in the SNG section discussing completing from the SB PrF. The beauty of it, like many great CP threads, is that it was intended for entertainment and ended up becoming a strategy discussion.

These threads are always gold. Starts out w/ someone posting a hand they deemed "interesting". In reality it's quite the opposite. Someone points out to the OP that a mistake they made in the hand and the comedy ensues.

Basically, the OP in this little saga complete from the SB w/ several limpers in front w/ J-3 clubs. When another poster politely pointed out that it was "incorrect" he then chose to defend his "play" by his 11:1 odds he was getting on his .5 blind. LOL.

It really is posts like this that renew my hope that the games are still very beatable and we still have "those guys" putting money online. I really can't think of any better reply by someone than when they spout the odds they are "getting on their money". Reminds me of the character Keving from "The Office" commenting that "if someone gives you 10:1 odds you take it...... If John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar, let's just say I'll be a very rich man." If i knew how to embed I would.

I'm back playing strictly STT SNG's, barring coming home drunk on Tuesdays and bleeding money at the the cash tables or having a "good feeling" regarding the rebuy's. GRRRRRRrrrrr.....

I'm Back. A post from CP

2007-03-23T11:47:00.000-05:00

actually updated. i will try harder, i promise. this is a post i had at CP, thought it'd be an easy way to update the ol' blog.

this is spawned by a brief post in the tourney section. i read a book YEARS ago when i was serious about getting into motorcycle racing (road not motocross). the book was "Twist of the Wrist" by Keith Code. like most books it was rather technical in it's approach and very thorough. things like breaking down a turn, finding the apex, ascending, descending, vision, etc. like all GOOD instructional books it had a section focusing on the psychology of racing.
the author (Keith Code himself) spoke of "taking the negative" out of our mindset. for instance instead of saying "i didn't take that turn correctly" or "I didn't get the front wheel around.." in order to correct your mistake you must look at it in the proper frame of mind and in the correct text. we take the above examples and switch the wording around to say: "i was too slow going into the turn and need to get the front wheel around sooner to maximize speed at the apex.". it's easy to see which approach will achieve our goals quicker and more effective. (not example from book)
this isn't exclusive to negative wording alone. it applies to a positive awareness of "where you went wrong" and what steps you need to apply to correct. or in some cases vague terminology that is used to describe a tactic that may be too narrow on it's own (ex. "tight")
here's where we can apply some of this to poker. for instance, terminology: TIGHT. we speak of playing "tight" early in a MTT but what does that mean? we all have our own personal definition, coupled with the opinions of others; but how are we applying it? we want to play opportunistic and avoid trouble. problem here is that a lot of times inexperience (or even players that have gotten "stale") fall into the rut of "playing their cards" during these "tight" periods. they fail to see opportunities when they might be able to pick up chips w/ very little risk or they, unbeknown to them, begin to get pushed off of better hands by a "more observant" player seeing the "tight" player give away pots uncontested. situations where a simple CB by the PrF aggressor nets a virtually "free" pot.
we fall into that trap/routine of using terms we don't fully understand. we fall into excuses "i played tight" but fail to see missed opportunities.
worse, ever finish a session and say "i played horrible" or "i didn't play well'? negative terminology that doesn't net us the correct (POSITIVE) refocus required to play optimally.
Keith Code stated in his book that "you can't fix something you didn't do". obviously, it's impossible to take the "nots" and "didn'ts" completely out of our game. however, if we can simply expound on our own definition of "what we didn't do" and focus more on what we should have done, we're well on our way to having the correct mind set when we play.

Sick Bubble Play and Some Random Bits

2006-10-26T21:29:00.000-05:00

I had a long post typed out but realized pretty quickly that it sucked. There has been some good discussions going on at Cardplayer's Forum again. Fritzmania is back and has the forum "fish" salivating with virtually every response. It's kind of nice to see the members oooh and aaaah over knowledge that is "common" to Fritz. Even better is that Lucko seems to take the opposite approach from Fritz's nurturing and it makes me laugh. Not to say that what Lucko is giving them isn't INCREDIBLE advice, it's that they don't seem to understand the aggression and Lucko just isn't going to wait around while they figure it out.

Speaking of which, Lucko was the source of some very heavy debate of a recent bloggers tourney (I wasn't involved, I'm not part of that community). Lucko had entered this MTT with an absolute SICK chip-lead and played bubble poker like I've never seen it played before. One of the things (and there have been MANY) that Lucko has taught me is the importance of bubble play (I've closed a LOT more SNG's and got ITM a LOT more based on some simple principles he's given me, thanks kev). Basically, Lucko was accused of colluding with the short stack because he was doing what appeared to be "soft playing" the short stack. It turns out this is EXACTLY what he was doing, however, the "why" portion wasn't what everyone thought.

Lucko was folding to the short stacks jams and aggressively applying pressure to the other players. To the "other players" this appeared as though Lucko was a personal friend of the short stack and wanted to keep that person around. In reality, Lucko had never met the short stack but DID in fact want to keep that person around. Why? Because with the short stack remaining AND with his massive chip lead he could EASILY take advantage of the "patience" of the two medium stacks. See NO ONE wants to bubble, it sucks. Even worse is bubbling with a short stack present. So in order for the medium stacks to play a hand they wanted to have a hand worth playing. They wanted to have a hand that they could be almost certain they wouldn't/couldn't lose. Leaving them only playing QQ-AA at WORST. How many times do we expect to see AA, KK or QQ? Not many, not enough. So the blinds and antes were Lucko's on almost every hand.

This is a part of the game where you must walk that fine-line. It seems to me that the concept of picking up the blinds and antes at bubble time is lost on most players. They try to take too many risks thinking that their opponents understand this concept AND they attempt to make these plays without the proper stack.

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This leads me to another short topic (like I keep anything short), I see too many players on these forums that expect too much from their opponents. They learn concepts like above and attempt to apply them without a true understanding of the mechanics of these plays. The idea of "adding weapons to your arsenal" is NOT simply to have "more weapons to fire" it's to have the right weapon at the right time. Sometimes these concepts can only be used in specific situations. They tend to deviate from good solid ABC poker in an attempt to get "creative" only to leave money on the table or open themselves up to a trap (or worse) later.

A member at Cardplayer's Forum was asking how he should go about teaching an intelligent raw new player the game. He had devised a lesson plan for this player without knowing the basic MOST important piece of information he needed prior to proceeding: "what does she hope to accomplish, what are her goals?". Simple obvious question, right? Maybe not. Did you ask YOURSELF that before you began?

I see so many players question this play and that play on the different forums but never see them question their goals and assess their "level". Can you be honest with yourself about where you are in relation to the game? How about versus your opponents?

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We've begun playing a weekly home game two weeks ago and I'm really looking forward to that. It's a nice group of players and a handfull of players that I would consider solid and suprisingly NONE that I would consider totally inept. Live poker is just something I could do 24/7, online not so much. Something about holding those cards in your hand and even shuffling the deck yourself that I just love.

Hopefully, I'll have enough success for a little more spending cash and hopefully my live roll will be back so I can spend some Friday's at Aztar. Barring anymore medical set backs from me or the family.

Live "Home Game" Tourney

2006-10-16T20:46:00.000-05:00

We had our first annual Gashaus Gorillaz Poker Tourney this weekend and I guess it's only fitting the founder was the winner, yours truly. It was a GREAT time. I met Robb and Al at "the farm" around 10:30am just after Al had begun the smoker (GREAT stuff BTW, Al, MUCH appreciated). I was shocked to see that everyone else trickled in shortly after and we hit capacity at approximately 1pm.

After losing a quick game of washers I dug the poker table and chips out of Robb's Explorer and attempted to gather players for a small cash game. We had room for eight players and it wasn't hard to fill that quota. I wanted to play a $10 max game but settled for $5 max with blinds at $.05/$.10. I wanted to make it a bit higher, obviously, but we had a big mix of players and we figured it was better to have limits too low vs. too high to encourage participation.

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POKER BEGINS:

The play was a little loose as was expected but nothing ridiculous. I stated before that we had a mix of players, there was also a mix of style. There were a few players that played serious, a few more that played somewhat serious and the rest were recreational players. Tom (a good friend of mine whom I've played with a LOT) really got the action going but it there wasn't anything of interest to me until I got involved in a hand much later. I kept getting nothing but trouble hands (K-J, Q-10, etc.) and missing flops.

I sat with my same $5 (which was suprising as I was NOT playing tight I just wasn't getting the right spots) for several orbits, give or take a few small pots. Finally I got involved in a pot. I got heads-up with T-dub (a friend and plus one member). I called a pre flop raise from another player that I was confident I could out-play post with KQ only to also have T-dub in the hand, not what I wanted. The flop came: K-9-10 rainbow. I put a raise out there, opp calls and T-dub pushes the rest of his chips in. I was certain the opp would fold the hand at this point to T-dub's raise as he'd been rather easy to get out of pots (but would see almost ANY flop). With T-dub's all-in I loosely calculated that I was getting the correct odds on just about any hand he could hold except for AK as I was getting almost 4.5-1 at that point. Even AK might have been laying me the right pot-odds to make the call here except that the several beers and lack of calculating math in my head left me unsure but looking back AK was NOT giving me the odds.

I reluctantly call fully expecting him to show me the AK. T-dub turns over 9-10. This made my "K" live and me very happy as I was clean to any J-Q-K. 10 outs run twice. The turn came up blank but the river netted me the J for the straight. I double and T-dub lets someone else sit in his seat. I was actually shocked that "tight-bastard" allowed himself to short in this cash game and not protect his stack. Btw, after playing a little X-box he was back.

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Another key hand in the cash game was when we finally got our maniac. We'll call him Buddy, because that's his name. Buddy had played pretty tight and solid for a few orbits and then got aggressive, very aggressive. He was making raises of 10x the bb in a game where the buy-in is only 50bb. After several hands of him making big bets pre and getting it all in the middle on most flops I figured I'd see a flop with my KQ (again with the KQ) and see if I could pair either of my cards or better. I had to figure I was in either a 50/50 situation or 60/40-40/60 against his range of hands. With his bets I may not be getting the correct pot-odds here but the implied odds, while not tremendous, were obv there.

Soooo, Buddy makes his standard $1 bet with a $.10 bb. Flop A-J-10. (HOLY SHIT!!). Out-of-Position to me I am fairly certain that he hit that flop, not hard or as hard as me but he hit. So I check setting up the check-raise. Perfection. Check. Bet. All-in (me). Call (him). Sweet (me). As he emphatically announces A-9 I quietly lay down my cards and announce "broadway".

Shortly after this hand we bust up and head into the house to play the "Main Event". there were some interesting hands in that one and I'll get into them later. Including flopping a flush only to lose to a PP when the turn paired the board and the river brought the case 8 to fill him up (he had 88 pre with an 8 in an opponents hand). A backdoor flush draw and falling behind approximately 7-1 after holding the CL for quite sometime and still coming back to win.

Can't Sleep

2006-10-10T00:21:00.000-05:00

Since I've been taking my pain pills for my back I have had a hard time sleeping. Add to that fighting off either a cold or some sort of sinus infection and I think I'm going to cough up a lung; that makes it hard to sleep too.

A lot of the +1 guys just got back from an AC trip. Seems like a good, drunken time. The gathering was for Hellory's bachelor party, poor bastard, and from the trip reports it seems that waking up as the sun set was the norm for the weekend. Fuckers. I was too poor to attend, but maybe next time. Indy will be a definite.

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The Caesar's event is approaching quickly and barring some miracle, anonymous donor, or a MUCH larger commission check I will have to sit this one out. Probably not as bad a thing as I think, although I was REALLY looking forward to some soft ring games.

I attended last year and played as an alternate, the format was horrible and the staff handle the larger than expected field rather poorly, staying around much longer than I should have with a dangerously low starting stack. Sitting with T1500 and blinds 75/150. I managed to outlast approximately 2/3 of the field before losing AK vs. JJ then insta-jamming with 6bb with KQ vs. A10 (was stoked I was 60/40 as the "caller" made an isolation raise).

The play the night before was what was attrocious. I played a SNG for a T500 WSOP chip and was amazed at how truly poor the players were. It was re-inforced when I set up a CR w/ K-10 from the bb on a flop of K-10-X, getting two callers. One with K-8 (drawing dead) and another with 5-6 (of hearts with one heart on the board). He, of course, back-doors a flush. Oh well.

I might try to make a trip over to Louisville during the Circuit events, but it's in "depends" mode. I am REALLY jonesing for some live poker tho', some REAL live poker.

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Speaking of which, my softball team is hosting a poker tourney to raise some money for some uni's next season, man I hope the back is straightened out. It will take place this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it too. There haven't been many home games or I just haven't been actively seeking them out as before.

Having that second kid and my new position at my "real" job is really cutting into my poker time. Add to that so much other stuff going on like: daughter's soccer, in-laws flood problems, back pain, Colt's games, etc. It's been rough.

Anyway, that's my goal. I'm setting up a weekly poker game in lieu of our weekly bowling league that I was in the last few years. Hopefully that will provide some entertainment, cheap beer and possibly a "live" roll to take to Aztar.

That's something I've had a hard time holding on to and not spending, my "live" roll. I always plan on working on this and enacting some discipline but I think it'll be easier now, I've got a little bit of disposable cash.

In addition to the weekly game and the upcoming softball fundraiser, I am going to try to play a lot more of the local church tourney's. Fundraiser's for local churches, usually catholic, that usually have a decent pay structure and several VERY poor players. I am also going to make an effort to play in a local weekly tourney just north of town that is a $17 rebuy tourney. I've played this only three times and finished third for a little over $300 and 14th to finish out of the money, used to be about 70-ish entrants. These local "home" games actually have a mix much like I've seen at the local casino. Maybe better actually.

I'll try to update and get some stories regarding these games and maybe post a few hands if I can remember them.

What a Week....

2006-10-06T11:02:00.000-05:00

Both personal and poker wise. Not sure where to even start....

The news of the week/day/weekday is the new act on online gaming. There's so much info coming from so many different sources I'm not sure what to read, where to start or what to do. Seems from my limited knowledge that if the sites don't buckle to the pressure the act has no teeth. It seems that there is some confusion as to WHAT the bill actually limits and how/if it can be inforced. Which, to me, is not really that different from where we were at before.

Prior to the new bill I was under the cloudy impression that online "gaming" was illegal in the US. So now it's more illegal? Obviously, the new "act" takes it a bit further and my understanding (again, limited) is that the US gov is pressuring the banks to block transactions from these sites. Thus limiting the ability to "deposit or withdrawal" directly from a checking account (via debit card) or credit card transaction. Again, my knowledge of ALL of this is limited and I'm waiting until the smoke clears to deduce what the truth is.

Those w/ some serious amounts of cash online, aka the "pros", are the ones that truly worry. Not that those w/ "recreational" funds needn't worry, it's just the impact won't be as far reaching. I know of two that are currently looking at moving closer to a region w/ live B&M poker. One w/ a family, so there is some major impact to players and possibly the games. Not to mention, these players have several thousand dollars in a few accounts (upwards of $10g +) compared to my measly $150+. That's impactful and cause for some to worry. Imagine having the site close or not have the ability to get to $10,000 of YOUR money?

I believe that some sites have already caved to the pressure and are closing up, I heard (rumor!!!) that Titan was one. I have not played Titan, nor do I know of anyone (personally. maybe a few forum members perhaps) that play or deposited w/ this site; but it may be something to look into w/ the site you play. Full Tilt has issued a response and appears to be standing up to this act. Notifying it's players via email (this from a forum post where a letter was copied/pasted).

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Finally, I won a $5 sng on UB last nite. Wow! I've gotten bad. It seems like an eternity since I've had a win (not ITM but a WIN) but looking back over my Excel spreadsheet it apparently hasn't been as long as I had thought. At least not between wins, it's been about a week but that's mainly due to an inability to find the right time.

I've REALLY focused on making sure that I am in the right frame of mind to sit and play. Therefore, I am usually prepared for a longer cash session than playing a SNG. I've also been playing a few $1 games the times I've "had a few" or am tired. This minimizes my potential loss and/or allows me to just "quit" if I get too tired w/out any damage to the ol' BR.

The other thing I noticed and "fixed" last nite was that I hadn't been playing "position poker". I've been playing too many marginal hands out of position. Marginal hands CAN be played out of position but they make for some difficult decisions and too many of these open yourself up for MORE mistakes or potential for mistakes. That's important in this game, as ONE bad decision or mistake can either cripple or bust you in a tourney or destroy hours of "building" in one hand.

These make it even harder as a players natural reaction is to "get back in there". One SHOULD but you really need to re-evaluate your mental state prior to reloading or jumping into another SNG. TILT. I Tilt WAY more because of a bad play or mistake on MY part than I do from the "bad beat".

Anyway, I as I state previous, I was able to take down a little $5 sng last nite. Big deal, right? The point is that my confidence had been shaken and my game had gotten a little loose. It's like getting your car back after getting new tires or some "aftermarket" addition, it seems to look better, ride better, etc.

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Blog P1MP. NFulton, poster at Card Player's Forum's, has re-entered the blogging community. He previously kept a "journal", a diary w/out the gay terminology, but didn't keep it updated. Like anyone keeps their "blogs" updated. Fulton's a player I've played w/, chatted w/, played live w/ and just hung out w/. He's probably the best 12 year old gay poker player I've ever seen. Not to mention he's a GREAT "railbird" he's showed up to rail me (not in a gay way) on the rare occasion I've actually FT'd he's been there to "cheer" me on; on in some cases annoy my opponents.

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And last but not least, I have taken today (Friday 10/6/06) to take the kiddies down to the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. It's the 2nd largest open-air street festival in the US, behind Mardi Gras. Nothing but fried foods, brain sandwiches (of which I do not partake), rides, parades, games, etc. All but two of the 100+ food booths are non-profit organizations and all the money raised by the "host" group, West Side Nut Club, goes to local west side organizations. Schools, churches, civic and civil groups, and other charitable organizations around Southern Indiana as fit. I can't fathom the actual dollar amount generated from this event each year but I believe that some booths make upwards of $10-$20 grand for their organization. If you live in the region, it's definitely a must see.

It Might Be Time for a Drunk Post

2006-09-28T23:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, not so much drunk as "had a few beers, some muscle relaxers, Lortabs and am really tired" type of post. I made a bit of a SNG comeback starting the other night only to find that at UB they've eliminated the standard two maniacs previously required per table and filled those spots w/ "odd" players.

That's really the only way I can describe the play. It seems we have a table full of 10 players that seem passive. They'll call reasonable bets w/out odds but will fold to over bets. The MAJOR drawback here is that these same players choose the "slow-play" as their weapon of choice. Meaning they'll make weak calls w/out odds holding nothing but 2nd pair and NO kicker OR.... they'll make the same calls with top set or full.

However, and maybe I've just gotten unlucky, but it seems everytime I hit a HUGE hand I get NO action. Without looking you'd think that I must be doing something out of the ordinary to "warn" my opponent of impending danger. But going back over the HH I have played my big hands the same as my bluffs or any other hand for that matter. The difference being that the weaker hands are getting called down and sucked out on or my bluffs are getting called out.

Oh well, that's poker. Funny thing is that the bad beat really doesn't bug me at all anymore. It's the bad play and the bad calls BY ME that drive me nuts. I've just been card dead for the most part in a lot of the SNG's I've played the last few nights, except for one or two where I made ONE critical error each time causing my demise.

The problem is when you don't catch cards in these single table SNG's and you have players that are all VERY similar it's very hard to change up your strategy. Explain: when you have the typical set up with two maniacs, two calling stations, two weak-tight passive players, one wildcard and two solid players (then you obv.) you can manipulate your "image" w/ the other players simply by the pots you play w/ the players described. Since you'll play each player differently (focusing on the aggressor in multi pots) you can be "aware" of your table image to the "other" players. SINCE, you were playing your hand based on the player in the hand (or players) your style will be as different (or would be) as the number of different styles you encounter. THEREFORE, in a situation where you are facing 9 players w/ a TAG style you're ability to "mix up your play" is solely dependant on the situation and NOT the individual players. This creates a greater need for "luck". Luck doesn't come into play ONLY w/ YOUR cards but you must be lucky enough that your opponent catches a "good but not better than yours" hand when you enter a pot w/ them.

ANYWAY, this is my new focus. Working on mixing up my game when facing 9 "chairs" w/ similar styles. You know, it would be easy if they were more predictable, but these players I've encountered of late are.....wel, just odd. They seem to like to show their cards also, never understood that. Don't get me wrong "time and place" but they're showing hands for now reason. Altho' I did use one to my advantage tonight.

I had 8-10 of clubs from the SB and faced a small raise (may have been 3x unsure)from a player I deemed weak-tight. I called w/ the idea that 1) if I hit big and he had a hand I could bust him and 2) I knew I could out-play him post flop. on the flop I hit a flush draw. I checked to him, knowing he wasn't the type of person to allow me to steal the flop. He bets, so I call (small less than 1/2 pot) knowing I'll "float" the turn and semi-bluff him. Turn brings me a open-ended straight draw to add to my current flush. I have confidence that he has a weak-ish hand and would fold to a bluff here, but I also feel that if I can catch a cheap card and hit that I might be able to extract a few more chips on the river (I have him on an under pair at this point w/ 2 overs on the board). I check, he makes another weak-ish bet (same as pre so even smaller than 1/2 pot). river is a blank 6. Now I bet. He folds showing 77 (as I had him, med PP).

I then decide, since he'd been active in the chat, to tell him what a bad fold he made. He doesn't believe me and I offer to email the HH. He declines and calls me a "dikhead", ouch. He then proceeded to come after me after that, unfortunately I went so card dead I couldn't do anything, but his tilting got him busted after a short while. I pretty much blinded out after that as I couldn't find a spot to make a move nor did I catch anything to build chips with. Finally moved in w/ 9 BB left w/ J-10s. Got called by 99 only to see a flop of 7-8-9. Good right? beware the full on the turn. The mighty 8. Ball game. Could almost feel it coming, at least the guy that took my chips and had the advantage pre seemed pretty cool. So it goes.

I'll have some new blogs to P1MP in my next post, whenever that will be. And I'll be back grinding the Micros tomorrow.

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Almost forgot. There may be some life at CP yet. Some good posts w/ some nice debates lately. I may have been overly harsh on a newer poster complaining about the seer luck involved in the micros and the lack of skill. I apologized but it wasn't very sincere. He did seem to somewhat retract his statement and have an open mind regarding the ability to beat these games. I hope he sticks around, they need some new blood there. Anything to stimulate some good poker talk. A few posters I respect have made a brief return. Fritz has been posting like a whore there and over at ATE's site. He just got back from Europe and obviously is avoiding returning to "real" work at all costs. Can't say I blame him, drunken Eruo-trash (I really should put a smiley emoticon there but I don't do smiley's).

Back to Some Poker

2006-09-22T13:18:00.000-05:00

Tonight I plan on playing some poker. SHOCK! I've played a little this week and had some success getting back into HU matches. Again, I'm STILL trying to get that $10 on Party into something worthwhile. Tonight, however, I am going to "take a break". I might take a stab at a few $11 HU matches on there but plan on finding a nice cash game on UB to try to take down that bonus.

I feel that I've gotten complacent over the last several months with my poker game and haven't really put much effort into truely improving my game. I think this is a mistake a lot of average players make. We reach "plateaus". We climb in experience and success in the game and then seem to "level" out. This is in turn followed by a drop or "cold cards" or "bad beats" etc. Whatever it is, it's generally something we are doing WRONG and not the "bad luck" we tend to attribute to the game. Variance as we call it.

While poker in general is going to have ups and downs, the 30 portion of 70/30 is bound to rear it's ugly head on occasion; it's how we "adjust" and "adapt" during these times that truly separate the men from the boys. We begin to think that some simple principles and "beginner's mistakes" don't and can't apply to us. We get complacent, there's that word again. Mario Andretti once said "The moment we stop getting better we stop being good." That always stuck with me, not that I practiced it, but it stuck.

I think that's where I might be at now. That and the frustration that you KNOW you are better than your opponent(s) but can't seem to capitalize. The "deck is hitting him in the face guy and he doesn't know it" is the most frustrating. I've talked about ego and the game before but as I've started posting a little more back at Card Player I see that thought process more. They might realize their true level of play but are unable to manage it.

Poker truly is a game of decisions and long-term investment. Although each individual session is of extreme importance the true measuring stick is the cummulative.

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Blog P1MP, I've added some links to the blogs and a few links to my sidebar. Check some of these guys out, they are pretty incredible poker players. PBA is a new member at +1 so a hearty welcome to him is in order. I believe he is one of those "limit HE" players that exist although I can't confirm this. I have played with him when I was playing (poorly) in the Card Player weekly tourney's over the summer and had a good time giving him a hard time.

Fighting Through the Haze

2006-09-18T08:36:00.000-05:00

The back's still a recurring problem. I have enough pills to make the pain tolerable but they have dulled me. I played a home game a week ago and was having a difficult time computing simple math. Just adding my chips proved to be a chore (I required assistance on two occasions).

My decision making abilities have been affected almost as much as my ability to add. Case-in-point would be a little tourney w/ some friends over the weekend. We played for quite some time without anyone busting and I had somehow managed to build a modest stack having won only one real pot and a couple of little ones. A situation came up with T600 in the pot already another player pushed for his remaining stack of T800 (I'm sitting on approx. T2400). With T1400 in the pot and T800 to call my A-10 offsuit would normally be an auto-call as most players would push w/ virtually any 2 cards and I should be getting more than the right price against his "potential" range of hands. However, I was having a very difficult time calculating this. In addition, two things were taking place here that was clouding my decision even further.

The player making this move doesn't truly understand how to play a short stack, but is a rather solid player, and therefore w/ the blinds at T100/T200 would open up his range of "push" hands but not as much as he should. Therefore I needed to give him MORE credit than a "random" hand or a desperate play. ALSO, I had been VERY card dead going into this hand and had to lay-down some hands that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to play early on (correctly too I might add). So, I was going to have a real hard time laying down the hand if for that reason alone.

I call and he turns over QQ. He doubles up and I am left w/ T1600 (approx.) and lose the very next hand when another player pushes his last T300 w/ KJ vs. my 22 and wins. Then a few hands later I push AK vs. 88 and get crippled (as if I wasn't already close to being crippled anyway) then lose a 40/60 to bust.

The call that steams me is the call w/ the A10. The problem was that at the TIME I knew my opponent well enough to know that he won't push until it's too late, so w/ that bit of info I may still have been getting the right price on his range of hands but it was MUCH closer than I had first thought. Therefore, the correct move there would have been to fold and let the hand go. Without doing the calculations or getting the info off of Pokerstove.com to see my equity, I guess I need to do that just to check; but I put my opponent on a range of hands 77+, AK-A8 (altho' he seemed pretty confident and usually only has confidence in pocket-pairs and fears AX, the AK-A8 range is probably incorrect) KQ, KJ is unlikely but possible. SOOOOO, if he makes that play w/ 1010-AA (which he would) then I am in trouble.

Complicating matters was a "maniac" that really disrupts the table. He makes some crazy plays and will re-pop you w/ ANY two cards. He truly does NOT understand what he's doing, BUT he knows that. It's funny really, he KNOWS that he doesn't "understand" the game and actually utilizes this to dirupt the "others" games. This causes the rest of the table to play super cautiously and then over play hands when he's not involved in the pot. So because of this dynamic alone, folding A-10 was the right play.

To make matters worse, I wasn't really "in the mood" to play cards. A big "no-no". This continued throughout the weekend as I had no patience and was easily iritable. Bad combination at the tables, very bad. Fortunately, I only played on Party on Saturday night and didn't lose so much that I can't make it back. I opted NOT to play on Sunday as I had been and took the "free time" to head to bed early. Maybe I'll be fresh tonight. But if i'm not, I won't play.

One Word: "PAIN"

2006-09-11T10:28:00.000-05:00

It's been a rather insane week. I threw my back out over labor day weekend and spent Sunday and Monday either laying on the floor, couch, or bed. How's this different from any ordinary weekend you ask? I was in pain this time, big-time pain.

Made an appointment Tuesday to see the Doc and spent the rest of the week hopped up on "goofballs". Add to that some big projects coming up for work and several soccer games for my daughter and you get: NO POKER.

Sucks too. last I left I had approximately $10 left on Party that on a whim I had decided to put into play, see if I could parlay it into a larger score or at least enough to cash out and combine with my UB bankroll. I sat at a 20 person $6 sng (man, PP really sticks it to you w/ the $1 at this level). Cashed 2nd (should've been first after I lost a 60/40 to lose the chip lead, oh well) and $40. That put me at $34 so I then played an $11 20 man SNG. That was good for 4th (just ITM) when my AA ran into the dreaded chip leaders J4s (I was 2nd in chips and the blinds were really up there compared to the stacks. I most likely would've pushed back here w/ maybe any Ace as he had been rather sill-aggressive. Everyone was pretty close in chips and he was NOT playing "big stack" poker.)

I believe that little win netted me $9 and I debated playing a $22 MTT that was getting ready to start or a $22 20-man SNG. I opted for the more rational and played another $11 20-man. Lady luck must caught up to me at this point, as well as a poor attention span in the wee hours. I busted out mid-way when I foolishly pushed a TAG back w/ AQ.

Anyway, I believe that $10 on PP is now in the $30 range and I should be able to put that in play at a $25NL table and get up to the $50 withdrawal minimun to consonlidate.

I haven't been keeping up over at CP's forum lately, but I understand that there has been some drama. A banning and some confusion as to who stole what from who. As I check that forum from time-to-time it truly astonishes me how the "general poker" public is truly un-intelligent. Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. The "general public poker forum" public is truly un-intelligent.

Too many of these "players" allow their ego's to get involved and want to prove to the world how "truly amazing" they are. Who cares? I want to get up from the table with more money than I sat and it is sometimes harder to do this when pegged as a "good player".

Hopefully, I can get my back straightened out and get back to the tables soon. Since my "rebuild" I've had a difficult time finding the "groove" I had prior and finding "my game." I see that changing for the better now.

Switching Games

2006-09-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

Realize it's been a while since I updated this "thingy", so I apologize. I've been trying to think of some actual poker content to post but have been too lazy to put it in print. Someday....someday.

Anyway, happy Labor Day!! The end of summer is nei, sad. So sad. Got a weekend planned of beer, pork shoulder, beer, ribs, beer, mushroom-swiss burgers (my specialty), beer, and probably some poker. Okay, definitely some poker.

I started playing more Omaha eights or better lately. It made me realize where I went wrong on my "downslide" this year. I'll go into more depth on this at a later date. Knowing what "not to do" and actually NOT doing it are two different things.

Anyway, lately when I've been running cold in Hold'em I've been trying to fight through it. This has caused me to push hands that shouldn't be pushed and to fold hands that shouldn't be folded. Execution. Confidence. Very important.

Something Scott Fischman wrote a while back and advocates is switching games when you're having a dry run of cards. This allows you to refocus on a different game while taking a "break" from your "normal" game. So, I've been playing a little Omaha and some stud. In the past I would check out the tables of all the games to find the softest game availabe whether it be stud, omaha, or hold'em.

I'll try to post more. also, check out a new poker forum www.adamtheexpert.com. Adam was a normal (don't think he's ever been referred to w/ that word before) contributer over that the CARDPLAYER forums. He has a unique style, that's for sure. He tends to be right a lot. I would like to see some traffic on his site.

Speaking of Cardplayer, there has actually been some real discussions on their lately. Nothing groundbreaking, but better than the:

"you're an idiot"

"you suck"

posts that had taken over there recently. Most of the disussion is still pretty elementary and you have your handfull of morons that don't understand some of the more simple concepts, but it's not bad.

Football, Boobies and Bubbles

2006-08-24T15:54:00.000-05:00

The Colts preseason game was just that. Found out the other day that we lost James "Mongo" for the season. Not a BIG loss, but he was depth and that is important. I couldn't find a taker for the final ticket after trying to practically give it away to anybody and everybody in Indy. However, the requirements where that they had to be a friend of a friend or have big boods. I found neither.

I met up with WC and Trutildeth, as well as a buddy of Tru's, at Smokey Bones BBQ before the game. I probably should have eaten something, as the Blue Moons went down rather quick and coupled w/ the few I had before arrival I had a nice buzz going into the game. I really had to be back at work the next day, but the lure of more beer and WC's persistence to see boobies brought that plan to a screeching halt.

WC called me at the half, he has tickets in another location, to tell me that we were leaving and heading a few blocks to the "Red Garter". I wasn't sober enough at this point to resist. Plus I figured I really needed to crash in Indy for the evening as opposed to attempting the 3 hour drive home.

The "Red Garter" looks like a dive from the outside but it was actually a classy joint. A classy joint w/ a pizza buffet. Having had nothing to eat prior to the game a pizza buffet at a strip club is just what you need to suppress your appetite.

Watching WC work a stripper is akin to watching Roger Clemens pitching against the Pirates. I sat back against the wall and listened to him break down each stripper. Suprisingly he hadn't slept w/ any the "employees" there.

After a few hours and a few more bud lites we call it a nite. I followed WC to his place and crashed in his spare room. It was lovely, decorated in "Dora The Explorer" for when he has his daughter. Got up about 6:45 and drove home.

Thanks, WC, for the place to crash.

On the poker front, I've now rolled all my "dough" (that was bad) into one site. I now am exclusively at Ultimate Bet, aside from about $10 on Party. I've been trying to focus on what I've had the most success w/ and that is their Sit-N-Goes. It's not going particularly well, however. I have finished 2nd in one and have bubbled in two others. The other two I finished in 5th & 6th respectively.

Suprisingly I have either been totally card dead or coolered in most of these. My most recent bubble saw me go from chip leader w/ 5 to go, to out in 4th in a matter of 4 hands. KK vs. 78s. AJ vs. AQ (push preflop OOP. oops). Fold. Push w/ A9s vs. KQ, he spiked a Q.

So we'll see. Time has been an issue as school has now started and after getting the daughter's homework done, dinner made, then kids to bed, I have had to attempt to complete some normal household "chores" before playing. Plus, I've been tired. I've told myself I am not going to play "just to play". I must have the mindset, be sober and somewhat alert to proceed. Hopefully I'll maintain my discipline.

Football, Beer, Wings and No Poker...

2006-08-20T10:31:00.000-05:00

It's been over a week and as I write I am staving off the distractions of a room full of people. Family if you will. I started out actually working on the computer and "gave up". It's rather hard to concentrate when your wife decides that it is more important to know what new store is located next to the "Payless".

I've tried to institute a speak only when spoken to policy at the home, but chose to live instead. Before long Sunday's will once again be the domain of MAN and not of mindless chatter filling every nook and cranny of the home. The one thing my wife does understand is that Sundays are sacred, between September and February.

Tonight is the first home preseason game for the Colts, and I plan on attending. Nevermind the large bid that I must have complete by mid-morning on Monday. Work can wait.

It's about a 3-1/2 hour drive to the stadium and I will be making the trek alone. Looking forward to it after a morning of an 8 year old daughter, WITH her friend, a 14 month old son that has discovered the art of foot-travel, a mother-in-law who's career is embedding "design" ideas into my wife's head (aka. "hey, I got a project for you"), and my wife (see above "Payless" reference).

I have 4 tickets to the game and will be meeting a buddy and his friend from Louisville. Prior to the game we will meet up with a few more friends, native Indy-ites, for some wings and beer. A football season staple.

I'm Working on It.

2006-08-13T17:44:00.000-05:00

It has been brought to my attention, rather rudely I might add, that I haven't updated this thingy since my last drunken post. So for AA, here it is in all it's sober glory.

As you might have been able to tell my last "post" might have been "chemically enhanced". I tend to do that. Funny thing was when I was playing HU on UB and hit my royal flush I was a bit "tipsy".

The humor actually comes in the fact that I was having difficulties recalling the blind level at the times. THEN, struggling to calculate my raise, math is hard. THEN difficulty finding the keys, it was dim in my defense. THEN actually keying in my bet/raise/etc. By the time I had made it to the last step it was too late. The "warning ring" was going off and I was forced to just click "Raise", "Check" or "Fold". So there was a lot of min-raising in that game. The competition is week enough that, though "spiffed" as Jimmy Stewart would say, I came out triumphant.

I played a little more HU later in the week, no idea why I got away from these games, and did rather well. One session in particular I flopped trip Kings w/ a strong kicker (KQ) and was getting check-called by my opponent. He had rather been weak/tight and a calling station at times, so I was not suprised by this. On the river I push. At this point he starts typing the usual "wow! you bet out w/ a K?", "hmmmmm.....", "i have a good hand, don't see laying it down". Finally he calls. turns over K-8 for a rivered full.

Slow-rolled online. The pinnacle of dickness. What to do in that situation? Challenge them to a second match, of course. This second time though I knew that he was aware that I'd be gunning, maybe even "tilting". So I just attacked and attacked. The thing is, knowing what he knew I'd do allowed me to give him a nice false sense of security. When I folded to him playing back at me I would type something like "i had you until that point" or "i don't want to race you as you are so lucky". Playing up my role of the vengefull maniac. Wasn't long and my aggression built me a bit of a lead and allowed me to buy some time waiting to catch a huge hand. I did and busted him.

Revenge? Not yet. Step two: goad your opponent by trash-talk. "see, you just got lucky the first time", "you can't outplay me", "luckbox". The beauty was that the hand I took him out with was the perfect hand for me. A strong drawing hand but not an incredibly strong HU hand. I caught my flop and he attempted to make me pay. So I certainly appeared lucky, although in actuallity I had put myself in a position to GET lucky.

So after two games we were tied. After four, he was down three. GG, me. I think I'll go play more.

Oh, I need to post a new link for my softball page. Our team "administrator" has created a blog for the team in addition to the regular web-site. I'll add that to my "links" in a few days. Too much work for a Sunday.

edit: NEW SOFTBALL "BLOG" LINKED and ready for enjoyment. Prepare to be moderately dis-satisfied.

Rizen Owns & I'm Not So Bad Myself

2006-08-08T23:12:00.000-05:00

CON-FRIGGIN-GRATULATIONS TO ERIC "RIZEN" LYNCH on his 24th place finish at the ME. Not only is the guy an incredible card player, but a really good guy. I've ONLY had the chance to chat w/ him on the +1 forum, but he seems VERY humble and a good family man. EVERYTHING that should be promoted in Poker. I hope to provide a link to his blog in the future, as it is know i'm too lazy (and perhaps drunk, you'll never know). He has a few interview on Cardplayer and Fox Sports that you should check out. I'll have links in the future (see previous drunk/lazy reference).

Anyway, back to me. "I love me some me". Hit my first Royal Flush tonight. It was made better by being a Heads Up match. AND made better by the fact that I was FREEROLLING.

Allow me to explain; My opponent had been VERY weak-tight. I could put any amount of money in the pot and he wasn't calling unless he had at least top pair. THEN when he did hit his top pair he usually bet the minimun. I picked up on his style early and began making a min-bet EVERYTIME I was on the small blind. Since he hadn't shown the abiltiy to adjust his style I knew that if I kept this practice up preflop I would set him up for later.

SOOOOOO I get Q(spade) 10(heart)in the small blind and min-bet. He calls. Flop was K(heart), J(heart), 8(club). Nice, I have the open-ended and perhaps my two cards are live. He min bets, telling me he has a piece. Turn A(heart). I make my nut straight w/ the second nut straight draw and/or royal draw. He bets, I raise, he re-raises (weak play) I push, he calls. He shows Q(club)10(club) for the nut straight to tie my straight. But now I realize I am freerolling to the flush here. River is the Q(heart) using my 10(heart) to complete the royal flush. GG, me.

So congrats to Rizen for winning a ton of cash and being a good dude; and congrats to me for being an overall badass and owning the micros. If I keep this pace up and have to keep cashing out when I reach a certain point to fullfill "financial" obligations" I should via for the "prince of micros" title. On second thought, we'll put it to a vote.

Another $1 MTT Cash and a Decent Cash Game Night

2006-08-06T01:23:00.000-05:00

Not much to report, but had a decent night tonight. Went to a "bier stube" last night and was a little "dehydrated" this morning, still a little "dry". Just finished playing another $1 MTT. I can't decide whether I am wasting my time w/ these or not. I've cashed in 5 of 7 of them but nothing big. When analyzing my play in these I feel it's just the enormous fields that these things draw that is so difficult to weed through. Although I did bust tonight underplaying KK, then couldn't get away as I hadn't allowed myself sufficient information on my opponent.

Chip leader called my 3x bb raise from LP flop came three to a straight. I had JUST gotten to this table (I was moved 5 times, that didn't help) so I had now idea how he built his stack. I felt I had to give him credit for a hand, but not better than KK. Because the blinds were so high (300/600 w/ 50 ante, I had T26,000 and he was about T35,000) I thought a bet of 1/3 of the pot would help me out. He called and the turn brought 4 to a straight (5-6-7-8). now i was a little uncomfortable and was out of position, 99 was a very likely hand here but I felt I still had to lead out and felt I was still ahead. NOW here is where I made my mistake and what my problem has been over the last few months online, I lead out T3000 into a T12,000 pot. Not smart. He calls and the river is a 9. Now I'm a little worried and hoping it's just a split pot. However, I check the river and he bets T10,000. I go ahead and push w/ just T12,000 remaining and bust when he flips over 10-10 for the completed straight. What bugs me about the hand was I was so scared of being behind I didn't allow myself to gain any information from my opponent. As small as my bets were he could have stayed with several hands that I had dominated like 10-10. I think fatigue was a factor here though as I was wearing down at the time. Oh well. 3 hours work = $1 ROI, I think I'll wait a week to turn pro.

Was playing a cash game as well and had taken three buy-ins off the player to my left. Each time he had big hands. Twice I hit my set to his overs and the third time I flopped two-pair to his weaker two-pair. He wasn't real happy. If I hadn't been so tired I would have stayed as he kept reloading and was prett close to tilting. I, obviously, wasn't helping matters in the chat box when responding to his comments of "you are a lucky MF" or "must be nice to suck out on me everytime" and my favorite "WTF? you were like a 9-1 dog". My 66 beat his JJ when I flopped a set and turned a full, my QQ beat his AA when I hit my set on the turn, and my A9 beat his A7 when I flopped two pair and he turned his. My comment of "see I was ahead that time. you need to learn to play from behind" didn't help his mood.

Congrats to Cardsfan04 who busted "Rocks & Rings" Antonio out of the WSOP ME. Pretty cool story for your first time. Eric "Rizen" Lynch is doing good so far in the ME. He is part of a forum I am a member and although I haven't had the chance to spend much time speaking w/ him he seems like a very good guy. Awesome player, already has one FT at the WSOP when he finished 3rd in the #3 event $1500 PLHE. Congrats to all my friends that played out there, they all played well and made some extra cash at the ring games.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back..

2006-07-30T14:59:00.000-05:00

That Paula Abdul is a philosopher if nothing else. After several strong runs at the cash games and tourneys the previous week, this week was marred by mediocrity and bad moves. Over confidence can be a detrimental as confidence can be rewarding. My MTT runs were OK. Nothing to really brag about. I took a stab at a $5 PLO MTT w/ 809 players last night only to finish just out of the money. I had been playing pretty well and amassed a nice little cache of chips when a bad beat followed by a bad call put me in the danger zone. Like most players I am not looking to "just cash". So when my "M" gets dangerously low, I go.

When it gets to "bubble" time I see so many players try to ink into the money only to bust shortly after. While something can be said about cashing, something can also be said wasting 3 hours of your time to only get back your buy-in or double your buy-in. This does not make for a good hourly rate. The thing that doesn't frighten me at these points is that the larger chip stacks will most likely call in an attempt to "elminate another player". With this philosophy you are more likely to get called by a mediocre hand and although sometimes behind you are rarely dominated.

In addition, by not playing scared and continuing to attack; you gain a TON of fold-equity from the smaller-medium stacks.

anyway, long story longer; I didn't cash and wasted about 2 hours of my time. I will play another PLO tourney sometime soon as I felt my play was rather solid, but my cards were rather cold. The play was absolutely terrible, which was good considering this was my first PLO tourney.

I left work a few hours early Friday only to come home and lose money sitting at the tables. Good move. I lost about $20 in a four hour session. One was a poorly timed push that I am still trying to convince myself was a good move. It wasn't. Other than that it felt like I was back to where I was about a month ago. Making guesses instead of decisions, cold cards, no action on my solid hands, missing set after set, ill-timed aggression.

I'm debating playing the CP Tourney tomorrow night. It might be just the thing to get me back on track and my tourney play has been rather strong as of late; hell until Friday so was my cash game play. I'll probably try to play a bit tonite to create a "cushion" in my BR to make my decision easier. Not sure what game to play, but I imagine I'll end up sitting at a $10 NL table on Stars. PLO is an option but I need to regain that confidence, get back on the horse if you will.

On a positive note, we are going to start a weekly home game "league" with several very soft players, mixed in with a few solid players. I have never felt uncomfortable playing live and have never had a problem getting a "feel" for the game like I do online. If I could just establish enought to play weekly at the casino............

Climbing Steady

2006-07-25T14:18:00.000-05:00

As I stated in my previous post I wisely stayed out of the CP league last night to focus on rebuilding my BR. Although I did rail the tourney, man there are some idiots at that forum, but I played at a $10 max NL table w/ the tourney window open. When play got down to three players, no comment on their play at this time, I decided I had seen enough and it was time to get serious.

My chip stack was fluctuating like Riki Lake's waistline while I was railing the CP tourney. Not sure if it was because a majority of my focus was bringing the egos of the "lesser-good" players down (sounds better than shitty players) or just table-swings. Either way, I opened another table and sat down to focus.

Going into the night I had right at $38 and some change on PS and was unsure as to how to risk it. Cash or tourney, SNG or MTT, NL or limit, Hold'em or Omaha? Decisions, decisions. As I stated previous I sat at a $10 max NL table. When I went to multi-table I debated switching games or tables. I decided to go ahead and "sit" at another $10 max table and then scout other tables.

Before long I had gotten up to $22 at the first table, where I had been bouncing between $18-$12 for about 2 hours. The table then "broke-up". I noticed that it was two players and me, with about three players "sitting-out". Time to leave. I found a nice table that looked very inviting so I put my name on the list, tables like this cause a line.

Nothing eventfull really, except that at the original table I wasn't getting paid on my good hands; but conversly wasn't getting hands that were difficult to play either, someone would show either great strength or weakness w/ my marginal hands making for easy decisions.

For the night I ended up $24. I'll take it. I really have felt good w/ my play as of late and emotions have not been a factor. I have been shrugging off bad stretches of cards and bad beats like an old T-shirt.

I have saved a few hand histories and may post them later. Tonight I have a softball game, please check the link, and am attempting to coordinate a game afterwards. Drunken poker among friends, good times.

Going to Miss the CP League Tonight

2006-07-24T19:46:00.000-05:00

Cardplayer was the poker forum where I began posting about 9 months ago. I learned a lot there from some of the more respected members but around February I was invited into a "secret forum". It's essentially a break-off from CP that is cleaner, less spam and no "trolling" or "flaming". Most of the "veteran" players that were on CP's forum from it's inception created this forum. It has been very beneficial to me, as I've met some new friends and learned a LOT about poker.

Anyways, I tend to stray off the point could be why I'm such a fan of Hemmingway, tonight is the regular CP Forum League on Stars. I really, really would like to play in this but feel it is wise to step-aside for a week or two until I am more comfortable with my current bankroll situations.

It was nice to get "staked" for a couple of weeks by a friend and forum member, but now that I am making some headway w/ my BR I feel it is time to "leave the nest". I had planned on being ready to play tonight but unfortunately my good friend "bud" persuaded me into a few too many post last night in a $.25/$.50 O8 game. D'OH! Actually I ended the night up about $5 but was up almost $20 at one point. Got a little silly and chased a hand or two I should not have. So it goes.

Even though the game will most likely still be beyond my current BR situation I feel that if I am running good I should at least take a chance. The players are SOOOO poor that it really should just be a matter of time. I've played five of these and bubbled in 6th the first two; played the other three during my "dark period". (and if these comments sound a little one-sided, watch the play sometime if you get a chance. very little true understanding of the game.)

So off I go to try to find a soft game for tonight to work on the BR. I may play another 45 man $1 SNG on Stars as I've been running good in those lately, but if there is a soft NL cash game I will definitely sit.

Working The Micros Trying to Rebuild.

2006-07-21T23:20:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting here at home, having a beer, working the micros. Trying to get back to where I was before. I ran into some bank roll problems not so long ago and am trying to build back. I originally deposited $20 on Pacific and swore that would be the only deposit I would make. To date, it is. However, about a month ago that $20 (that was in the $200 range after a withdrawal) was in serious jeopardy of extinction.

I was playing in games slightly over my head when I was running bad, trying to "get it all back at once." Add to that pushing and trying to force marginal hands into good hands and second guessing my play. My execution was lacking and I found myself not "pulling the trigger" on several occasions. Lack of confidence can be a bitch. Because of my lack of execution I would then talk myself into making bad calls as I would assume a player "couldn't have that hand" when it was rather obvious he did.

SOOOOO, after taking some time off and venting to a few friends (plus a little confidence boost from two posters on my "home" forum) I have found myself playing some VERY solid poker as of late.

It's amazing how easy it is to take a bad beat or to clearly analyze a bad play when you are thinking clearly and running well. I played in a $1 +$.20 45 man SNG on Stars tonight and finished 3rd. I made one mistake and I can't even recall what that was now. I saved the HH so I guess I'll have to go back over it again. Anyway, third paid $7 and my BR could use that now.

I was VERY close to "throwing in the towel" on online poker. My strength has always been my reading opponents and their tendencies. While you can still do this online, it doesn't carry near the power as it does live. With a casino almost with-in walking distance I am now focusing on the goal of building the roll large enough to sit and play live on a regular basis. That is my new goal and one that I am shooting for the first of the year. Short term I just want to be back to where I was about 2 months ago. Playing $5 sng and $25 max NL, w/ a little $.25/$.50 O8 and $25 PLO thrown in for good measure.

We'll see how this persists. I am heading to Bloomington, IN tomorrow to spend time w/ my relatives. Much beer to be consumed and I have a smoked pork shoulder ready to go, mmmmm....PORK!

I'm tired and my buzz is gone.

Links

2006-07-21T11:03:00.000-05:00

I am going to attempt to add links to some friends of mine, please stop by them. Some of them are preparing for the WSOP so wish them "luck".

So here I am

2006-07-20T22:54:00.000-05:00

here I is; butchering the english language, running over common grammar and doing other stuff that makes the women and chitlen (I can't spell either) scatter.

I will post on poker mostly but will provide some junk for your trunk here and there. After all, it's my party and I'll cry if I want to.