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Thursday, September 29, 2005
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Thursday, September 01, 2005
Shorthanded NL is better than sex? Could be.
Played in a friend's shorthanded .25-.50 NL game last night. Buyins started at $20 (5 people), which may not sound like the makings of a large purse, but as the night wore on there were rebuys aplenty. After the first few hours, the standard rebuy amount was up to $50. I believe by the end of the night, the purse was somewhere around $600 or $700.
And I absolutely KILLED the game.
I played very aggressively, defended my blinds, and caught every single card I needed. I hit quads twice last night; First time was with pocket threes, and the flop made my hand. Didn't get as much action as I wanted, but I milked a couple of bets. Second time was with Kings, and when the board hit rags on the flop, I came out firing. Turn and River were both kings, and I actually managed to re-re-raise. You should have seen the looks on both of these guys' faces when I laid down the nuts. It was beautiful. This marks my biggest pot in a NL game to date ($230.50).
Long story short, I bought in for $20, and left with $560. It was really just an amazing night. Even though I did some bullying with my huge stack, I feel that all of my play was justified. I didn't make any stupid calls; I felt like my read was dead-on.
Whatever's left of my writing ability (was there anything to start with?) is gone, since I'm working on 1 1/2 hours of sleep from last night. It took me damn near an hour just to grind this post out. Best of luck to all of you, and the deepest of sympathies for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. My thoughts are with you.
And I absolutely KILLED the game.
I played very aggressively, defended my blinds, and caught every single card I needed. I hit quads twice last night; First time was with pocket threes, and the flop made my hand. Didn't get as much action as I wanted, but I milked a couple of bets. Second time was with Kings, and when the board hit rags on the flop, I came out firing. Turn and River were both kings, and I actually managed to re-re-raise. You should have seen the looks on both of these guys' faces when I laid down the nuts. It was beautiful. This marks my biggest pot in a NL game to date ($230.50).
Long story short, I bought in for $20, and left with $560. It was really just an amazing night. Even though I did some bullying with my huge stack, I feel that all of my play was justified. I didn't make any stupid calls; I felt like my read was dead-on.
Whatever's left of my writing ability (was there anything to start with?) is gone, since I'm working on 1 1/2 hours of sleep from last night. It took me damn near an hour just to grind this post out. Best of luck to all of you, and the deepest of sympathies for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. My thoughts are with you.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Almost
Don't feel much like a large post right now, but I'll give you all the latest.
Played in a NL $20+2 at Stars yesterday. 1054 entrants. I try to play tight in tournaments, but for this tournament, I thought I'd really try to patch all the leaks and just play the premium hands. No raising with AJ in early position (which I'm sure you all would slap me for). I folded for pretty much the first two rounds, then found aces on the button. Doubled up through a guy that made his top pair (8's) on the flop. And then... more folding. And some more. My stack hit average, then sank below. I got Hilton sisters in early position, and ended up knocking out someone with a slightly smaller stack. I never really managed to build up an impressive lead over anyone, just got my money in when I could and folded everything else.
After we got down to three tables (top 100 positions paid), I started loosening up a little bit, stealing blinds when I could.
One hand I remember had me on the button with T6. Mucked around to me, so I raised into two guys that had both been surrendering their blinds habitually. Both of them called. Flop came with a six and a ten. Check check. I bet out half the pot, and they both called. Turn came another Ten. SB bet out a quarter of his stack, BB folded, I had him covered and raised all in, and SB called me with pocket 6's. The river was inconsequential and all of a sudden my stack was looking decent again.
Down to two tables. I'm starting to get a little antsy. I've never done this well in a large field before. The poker gods must have sensed my anxiety and decided to punish me, because I didn't get another decent pocket all night. I ended up busting in 10th. I feel like I could have done better, but still good for $190. Too bad though, that's where the payouts really started multiplying in size. 1st got $5270. Oh well. It's a start. This is my first final table in a field of over 200 people.
"Hooray Beer!"
Played in a NL $20+2 at Stars yesterday. 1054 entrants. I try to play tight in tournaments, but for this tournament, I thought I'd really try to patch all the leaks and just play the premium hands. No raising with AJ in early position (which I'm sure you all would slap me for). I folded for pretty much the first two rounds, then found aces on the button. Doubled up through a guy that made his top pair (8's) on the flop. And then... more folding. And some more. My stack hit average, then sank below. I got Hilton sisters in early position, and ended up knocking out someone with a slightly smaller stack. I never really managed to build up an impressive lead over anyone, just got my money in when I could and folded everything else.
After we got down to three tables (top 100 positions paid), I started loosening up a little bit, stealing blinds when I could.
One hand I remember had me on the button with T6. Mucked around to me, so I raised into two guys that had both been surrendering their blinds habitually. Both of them called. Flop came with a six and a ten. Check check. I bet out half the pot, and they both called. Turn came another Ten. SB bet out a quarter of his stack, BB folded, I had him covered and raised all in, and SB called me with pocket 6's. The river was inconsequential and all of a sudden my stack was looking decent again.
Down to two tables. I'm starting to get a little antsy. I've never done this well in a large field before. The poker gods must have sensed my anxiety and decided to punish me, because I didn't get another decent pocket all night. I ended up busting in 10th. I feel like I could have done better, but still good for $190. Too bad though, that's where the payouts really started multiplying in size. 1st got $5270. Oh well. It's a start. This is my first final table in a field of over 200 people.
"Hooray Beer!"
Monday, August 22, 2005
Avoiding the Pitfalls
Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've been uber-busy with work. Yes, that's right. Uber. Busy. Let me explain. I work in QA for a mid-sized software development company. Under optimal conditions, there should be: A manager, a lead, and three others who each have their own list of projects and work independently. For the last two months, two of the three "others" have been gone (I, obviously enough, am the third "other").
One of them, a 23 year old Japanese girl, just got married a few months ago and is awaiting her green card in the mail (Conveniently enough, she happened to get married a few days before her student visa ran out). She's MIA until the federal documents come knocking on her door.
The second missing person is a father of one of the troops that was deployed to Iraq. The kid saved his commanding officer from a grenade by throwing himself between the two, thus resulting in the quickest disappearing arm (and part of his left leg) act ever. It was a miracle that he even lived. The son was rushed home after receiving the proper medical attention, and like any good father, this guy was waiting for him at the gates. My heart goes out to him. It's hard enough to raise a child these days; when you throw in the amount of worrying this man must have done, what with the military and the missing limbs, it must have been a real head-fuck for him (As a lifetime resident of Eugene, Oregon he is obviously anti-military, and he didn't want his boy enlisting). But he stuck in there, and is trying to spend as much time as he can consoling his son, helping him move forward with his life.
Bug I digress.
These two people would have been at work this whole time (though now we can establish that they had valid reasons not to be) under normal circumstances, but since they weren't, I picked up both of their workloads. Then, to top it off, the lead on my team gets promoted to an Assistant Project Manager (big pay jump). All of a sudden, I'm the only guy left in QA, with the exception of my boss. Can we say 60-70 hours per week on salary pay? Bad times.
Good news is, when this evens back up, I should be due for a two week vacation (crosses fingers). I'm currently trying to decide if I want to spend that two weeks relaxing, or playing poker. Life is full of such tough decisions.
One of them, a 23 year old Japanese girl, just got married a few months ago and is awaiting her green card in the mail (Conveniently enough, she happened to get married a few days before her student visa ran out). She's MIA until the federal documents come knocking on her door.
The second missing person is a father of one of the troops that was deployed to Iraq. The kid saved his commanding officer from a grenade by throwing himself between the two, thus resulting in the quickest disappearing arm (and part of his left leg) act ever. It was a miracle that he even lived. The son was rushed home after receiving the proper medical attention, and like any good father, this guy was waiting for him at the gates. My heart goes out to him. It's hard enough to raise a child these days; when you throw in the amount of worrying this man must have done, what with the military and the missing limbs, it must have been a real head-fuck for him (As a lifetime resident of Eugene, Oregon he is obviously anti-military, and he didn't want his boy enlisting). But he stuck in there, and is trying to spend as much time as he can consoling his son, helping him move forward with his life.
Bug I digress.
These two people would have been at work this whole time (though now we can establish that they had valid reasons not to be) under normal circumstances, but since they weren't, I picked up both of their workloads. Then, to top it off, the lead on my team gets promoted to an Assistant Project Manager (big pay jump). All of a sudden, I'm the only guy left in QA, with the exception of my boss. Can we say 60-70 hours per week on salary pay? Bad times.
Good news is, when this evens back up, I should be due for a two week vacation (crosses fingers). I'm currently trying to decide if I want to spend that two weeks relaxing, or playing poker. Life is full of such tough decisions.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
A painful update
Well, I had a horrific run of cards these last few days, and have abandoned the $5 HU SnG challenge. I simply cannot continue. The main reason? In order to really do this well, I think I need to move up the scale a little bit, maybe to $10 or $20. I know that in heads up play your range should open up exponentially, but some of the shit these guys are calling with (to the river) are ludicrous. They just don't care. And who should? It's only $5, right?
Here's one HU SnG that really pissed me off.
Super LAG and I start with T1000 each. I resolve to play tight until I hit something, and then try and double up. Sure enough, about 4 minutes in (I'm down to about 950), I get pocket kings. He raises preflop, I call. Flop comes with a king. I check, he bets 300. I call. Turn x. He goes all in, I call. And we're at 1900 and 100.
Next hand I get AJ. He raises half of his stack and I raise him the remaining 50 to put him all in. He..... folds?!??
Chip count: Me: 1950 - LAG: 50
I get 8 5 off. He raises all in for 50 and I call. He has T 9 suited. I pair on the flop, he gets his flush on the river.
Chip count: ME: 1900 - Lag: 100
AT suited. He pushes again. I call. He shows 4 6 off. Hits a goddamn runner runner straight.
Chip count: ME: 1800 - Lag: 200
K8 off. He completes. I check. Flop is 8 high. He checks, I put him all in, he calls with 8 2. Turn brings a 2.
Chip count: ME: 1600 - Lag: 400
You see the direction this is going? Yes, he rivered his way through 5 or 6 hands in a row to even back out with me. This guy was literally hitting EVERYTHING he stayed in with. Didn't matter what it was.
The fateful hand.
He has a very tiny chip lead on me. I get JJ. He raises to 200, I raise to 600, he pushes and I call. He flips over 99.
Flop..... 9 9 J.
Can you fucking believe it?
Here's one HU SnG that really pissed me off.
Super LAG and I start with T1000 each. I resolve to play tight until I hit something, and then try and double up. Sure enough, about 4 minutes in (I'm down to about 950), I get pocket kings. He raises preflop, I call. Flop comes with a king. I check, he bets 300. I call. Turn x. He goes all in, I call. And we're at 1900 and 100.
Next hand I get AJ. He raises half of his stack and I raise him the remaining 50 to put him all in. He..... folds?!??
Chip count: Me: 1950 - LAG: 50
I get 8 5 off. He raises all in for 50 and I call. He has T 9 suited. I pair on the flop, he gets his flush on the river.
Chip count: ME: 1900 - Lag: 100
AT suited. He pushes again. I call. He shows 4 6 off. Hits a goddamn runner runner straight.
Chip count: ME: 1800 - Lag: 200
K8 off. He completes. I check. Flop is 8 high. He checks, I put him all in, he calls with 8 2. Turn brings a 2.
Chip count: ME: 1600 - Lag: 400
You see the direction this is going? Yes, he rivered his way through 5 or 6 hands in a row to even back out with me. This guy was literally hitting EVERYTHING he stayed in with. Didn't matter what it was.
The fateful hand.
He has a very tiny chip lead on me. I get JJ. He raises to 200, I raise to 600, he pushes and I call. He flips over 99.
Flop..... 9 9 J.
Can you fucking believe it?
Friday, August 05, 2005
Quick Update
I'm going to be adding a section into the column on the right to show my progress with the SnG's this month. Feel free to check up on it regularly and/or leave comments. I'll update it in a few hours, as I have a full schedule at work for the next three or four hours.
* * * * Update * * * *
See what I'm saving up for here.
* * * * Update * * * *
See what I'm saving up for here.
I am a very bizarre person
A few buddies of mine from work play in a .25-.50 pot limit game every Thursday night with some laywers from around town. It's actually a pretty solid game, with the exception of one or two people who donate their money every week. The host is a rock, while his wife is the typical mother who thinks of this weekly game as her chance to socialize and get drunk. Fine by me, since she plays junk like Q3 all night. I've been a regular here for the past few months and have taken at least four or five hundred off them in that time.
About four hours in (we start at 9pm), I get red aces UTG. I've been folding for the past 30 minutes or so, and I open up with a max raise ($1.75 after I call the blind). I get two callers, one of which is the socializing wife. The host (a rock, as I mentioned earlier) thinks for a second, and re-raises $8.75. Both blinds fold, I call, one limper folds and the wife calls. Flop is ATx rainbow. I bet $4.00, and the wife absentmindedly mucks while talking to her neighbor about the price of paint at Home Depot. The rock insta-calls. Turn x. I bet $4.00 again. Rock pauses, looks at me, and fires out a $20 re-raise. I push for another $30. He has me covered, calls and flips over KK. River x. I win.
Here's the spooky hand of the night. I get the black Hilton Sisters in late position. UTG (very loose) raises, everyond folds to me, I call. Everyone behind me folds, including both blinds (Heads up for flop). Flop comes AsKs4c. UTG bets $3. I know you guys will think calling is a bad option here, but this guy's been bluffing shit all night, and I just had this feeling that I was ahead. I will admit that there is absolutely no rational reasoning behind this, I just couldn't put him on an ace or a king. Turn is a blank, and he bets $5. The feeling is still there, and I call (too passive?). River blank. He stares me down for a long while, and bet $10. Once again, I have no rational explanation for even holding cards at this point.
"If you have an Ace or a King, I'm fubar. But you don't have an ace or a king, you have pocket Jacks."
He just looks at me.
"You know what? I've more than quadrupled up, I'm tired, I think you're full of it, and.... I call." My chips go flying into the pot.
His head tilts to the side a bit, and I hear "You know, you're a very bizarre person.", and up come the pocket jacks. I leap up and almost tear the felt with my bitches as I throw them down.
And that's how you win a nice chunky pot in .25-.50 PL Holdem. I must be a huge donkey :)
About four hours in (we start at 9pm), I get red aces UTG. I've been folding for the past 30 minutes or so, and I open up with a max raise ($1.75 after I call the blind). I get two callers, one of which is the socializing wife. The host (a rock, as I mentioned earlier) thinks for a second, and re-raises $8.75. Both blinds fold, I call, one limper folds and the wife calls. Flop is ATx rainbow. I bet $4.00, and the wife absentmindedly mucks while talking to her neighbor about the price of paint at Home Depot. The rock insta-calls. Turn x. I bet $4.00 again. Rock pauses, looks at me, and fires out a $20 re-raise. I push for another $30. He has me covered, calls and flips over KK. River x. I win.
Here's the spooky hand of the night. I get the black Hilton Sisters in late position. UTG (very loose) raises, everyond folds to me, I call. Everyone behind me folds, including both blinds (Heads up for flop). Flop comes AsKs4c. UTG bets $3. I know you guys will think calling is a bad option here, but this guy's been bluffing shit all night, and I just had this feeling that I was ahead. I will admit that there is absolutely no rational reasoning behind this, I just couldn't put him on an ace or a king. Turn is a blank, and he bets $5. The feeling is still there, and I call (too passive?). River blank. He stares me down for a long while, and bet $10. Once again, I have no rational explanation for even holding cards at this point.
"If you have an Ace or a King, I'm fubar. But you don't have an ace or a king, you have pocket Jacks."
He just looks at me.
"You know what? I've more than quadrupled up, I'm tired, I think you're full of it, and.... I call." My chips go flying into the pot.
His head tilts to the side a bit, and I hear "You know, you're a very bizarre person.", and up come the pocket jacks. I leap up and almost tear the felt with my bitches as I throw them down.
And that's how you win a nice chunky pot in .25-.50 PL Holdem. I must be a huge donkey :)
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
HU SnG Day 1
Off to a good start for the SnG challenge!
Progress for today:
Win: 6
Loss: 0
Profit for the day: $30
Total Stats since 08/02/05:
Win: 11
Loss: 1
Total Profit: $50
I'll keep you all updated.
Progress for today:
Win: 6
Loss: 0
Profit for the day: $30
Total Stats since 08/02/05:
Win: 11
Loss: 1
Total Profit: $50
I'll keep you all updated.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
I'm sure you've read about it a dozen times...
In light of my recent victories at shorthanded play (The last 6 live SnG's I've played in the last few weeks I've come in 1st; an astonishing track record) I've decided to undertake a HU SnG challenge. I will be starting off small, but that's the way it works when you haven't yet made any significant amounts of money from poker. Well, at least when you spend your winnings, and don't create any sort of definable bankroll.
Starting today, I played 6 $5 HU SnG matches. I won 5 of them. I will continue this pattern for the next month, posting regularly about my win/loss record. My bankroll and other info will also be reset at $0 profit, since I haven't really tracked it as much as I want to.
Back soon with more news.
Starting today, I played 6 $5 HU SnG matches. I won 5 of them. I will continue this pattern for the next month, posting regularly about my win/loss record. My bankroll and other info will also be reset at $0 profit, since I haven't really tracked it as much as I want to.
Back soon with more news.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
More Tournaments
After the very quick end to the rebuy tournament last week, I went all of about 15 hours before getting back on the old horse. I played in a $30 rebuy tournament (two $15 rebuys and a $15 addon), and made it into the second half with a massive chiplead. I think I was sitting with over 16k in chips in an average field about 4k. As soon as we hit the second half, we got the most obnoxious old idiot in the world. This 50 year old guy, wearing a straw hat and absolutely reeking of B.O. (remember, it's been about 95 degrees every day for the last week). As soon as he came to my table, I went completely card dead. I made a few steals at the appropriate times, but got into no battles with anyone.
And then the blinds starting going up faster.
What?!?!?! You're going to increase the rate of the blinds because this building has to be locked up in two hours? Bullshit!
So we played, and we played, and I finally got a respectable hand. Blinds are 500-1000 and I find [Jd Jh]. Not the best, but hopefully good enough. 3 people limped ahead of me, so I made a 4xBB raise. Folded to the big blind who called, and the 3 limpers all mucked. I had the big blind covered by at least 4 or 5 thousand.
Flop [8d Js 4s]
I thought for a while, and decided to make a minimum bet into this guy. I'm pretty sure he'll read me for weak and come back over the top. Sure enough, he looks at me for a few seconds and pushes his stack in. It's another 4k to me. I call and we flip up.
Hero: Pocket [Jd Jh] (Set of Jacks)
Big Blind: [8s 2c] (Pair of 8s)
Turn [ Ks ]
River [3s ]
Runner runner flush.
Very next hand, I get AKo. It's raised ahead of me, and I jam for 5k. Same asshole calls me with pocket 5's. No help on the board, IGHN.
And then the blinds starting going up faster.
What?!?!?! You're going to increase the rate of the blinds because this building has to be locked up in two hours? Bullshit!
So we played, and we played, and I finally got a respectable hand. Blinds are 500-1000 and I find [Jd Jh]. Not the best, but hopefully good enough. 3 people limped ahead of me, so I made a 4xBB raise. Folded to the big blind who called, and the 3 limpers all mucked. I had the big blind covered by at least 4 or 5 thousand.
Flop [8d Js 4s]
I thought for a while, and decided to make a minimum bet into this guy. I'm pretty sure he'll read me for weak and come back over the top. Sure enough, he looks at me for a few seconds and pushes his stack in. It's another 4k to me. I call and we flip up.
Hero: Pocket [Jd Jh] (Set of Jacks)
Big Blind: [8s 2c] (Pair of 8s)
Turn [ Ks ]
River [3s ]
Runner runner flush.
Very next hand, I get AKo. It's raised ahead of me, and I jam for 5k. Same asshole calls me with pocket 5's. No help on the board, IGHN.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Disappointing Results
No Limit Texas Holdem
$50 buyin with a maximum of two $25 rebuys.
115 players
Starting stacks: T10,000
The tournament got off to a loud start, and by the end of the first hand I felt like the kid who just got all his lunch money stolen and was left in some alley after getting kicked in the junk.
Hand 1
Blinds: 100-200
Seat 1: T10,000 *Button*
Seat 2: T10,000 *SB*
Seat 3: T10,000 *BB*
Seat 4: T10,000
Seat 5: T10,000
Seat 6: T10,000
Hero : T10,000
Seat 8: T10,000
Seat 9: T10,000
Dealt to Hero: [ Kh Kc ]
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 folds
Seat 5 raises T200 to T1000.
Seat 6 cold-calls.
Hero raises T1000 to T4000
Seat 8 folds
Seat 9 folds
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
Seat 5 raises T4000 to T10,000
Seat 6 folds
Hero calls T6000 (Pot is T21,300)
Seat 6 flips over [ Qs Qc ]
Flop [ 3h 5h 9c ]
Turn [ As ]
River [ Qd ]
Seat 6 wins T21,300.
And that's that.
$50 buyin with a maximum of two $25 rebuys.
115 players
Starting stacks: T10,000
The tournament got off to a loud start, and by the end of the first hand I felt like the kid who just got all his lunch money stolen and was left in some alley after getting kicked in the junk.
Hand 1
Blinds: 100-200
Seat 1: T10,000 *Button*
Seat 2: T10,000 *SB*
Seat 3: T10,000 *BB*
Seat 4: T10,000
Seat 5: T10,000
Seat 6: T10,000
Hero : T10,000
Seat 8: T10,000
Seat 9: T10,000
Dealt to Hero: [ Kh Kc ]
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 folds
Seat 5 raises T200 to T1000.
Seat 6 cold-calls.
Hero raises T1000 to T4000
Seat 8 folds
Seat 9 folds
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
Seat 5 raises T4000 to T10,000
Seat 6 folds
Hero calls T6000 (Pot is T21,300)
Seat 6 flips over [ Qs Qc ]
Flop [ 3h 5h 9c ]
Turn [ As ]
River [ Qd ]
Seat 6 wins T21,300.
And that's that.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Huge re-buy tourney tomorrow
Tomorrow will mark the first tournament I've ever played in with a prize pool over over $10k. About 110 players, most of them trust-fund babies. Can't ask for a better opportunity. Apparantly this tournament is held once a month, but the location varies. Have to make sure I get some good rest the night before. I realize for some of you this tournament is probably peanuts, but we all have to start out somewhere. Maybe in a few years I'll be chewing it up with the big dogs. Wish me many well-placed reads.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
WSOP and other poker news
Well.... I haven't exactly been as faithful to this blog as I should be. I've been on a recent binge of tourneys lately. Played some rebuy tourneys, a few shootouts, and way too many NL cash games. All said, I think I broke about even, maybe a little up. I'll try to be more reliable in the future, even though I highly doubt anyone's actually reading this...
WSOP updates at the end of day 4:
01 Tim Phan $ 3,244,000
02 Mike Matusow $ 2,561,000
03 Farzad Bonyadi $ 2,402,000
04 Steve Dannenmann $ 2,143,000
05 Phil Ivey $ 2,027,000
06 Tex Barch $ 2,025,000
07 Tiffany Williamson $ 1,992,000
08 Johnny Howard $ 1,806,000
09 Scott Lazar $ 1,629,000
10 Tuan "Tommy" Vu $ 1,571,000
Raymer was doing pretty well until yesterday, but suffered a 500k hit when he got into it with Bart Rice. Raymer had KQ and was outkicked by Rice's AQ with a board of 7235Q.
I'm putting my money on Ivey at this point. If he makes the final table *crosses fingers*, I think it's pretty much over. But, we'll see.
WSOP updates at the end of day 4:
01 Tim Phan $ 3,244,000
02 Mike Matusow $ 2,561,000
03 Farzad Bonyadi $ 2,402,000
04 Steve Dannenmann $ 2,143,000
05 Phil Ivey $ 2,027,000
06 Tex Barch $ 2,025,000
07 Tiffany Williamson $ 1,992,000
08 Johnny Howard $ 1,806,000
09 Scott Lazar $ 1,629,000
10 Tuan "Tommy" Vu $ 1,571,000
Raymer was doing pretty well until yesterday, but suffered a 500k hit when he got into it with Bart Rice. Raymer had KQ and was outkicked by Rice's AQ with a board of 7235Q.
I'm putting my money on Ivey at this point. If he makes the final table *crosses fingers*, I think it's pretty much over. But, we'll see.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Institute for Data Trauma
Gratz to Andrew for finding this awesome vid.
John Cleese makes a case for the Institute for Data Trauma (Flash player required)...
Watch it. Trust me.
John Cleese makes a case for the Institute for Data Trauma (Flash player required)...
Watch it. Trust me.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Linkalicious
I don't know why I'm doing this, considering I currently have zero readers. That's right, zero. Not that you'd know that, since you're not reading my blog. If you want some great info on the WSOP, check the links below (or any other poker blogger's site).
World Series of Poker Live Blog
World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker News
World Series of Poker Podcast
World Series of Poker - Pokerstars Live Blog
World Series of Poker Live Blog
World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker News
World Series of Poker Podcast
World Series of Poker - Pokerstars Live Blog
Monday, June 20, 2005
Kissing about $10k goodbye.
We had a thunderstorm this weekend. A huge, nasty thunderstorm. It's Saturday morning, I'm taking my Integra in for an oil change and it's about 70 degrees outside. Beautiful and sunny. I pull into the shop, and my buddy Rich goes out for a smoke. I linger by the car, always watchful for the presence of that one bastard mechanic who will "accidentally" jab a flathead screwdriver into some tender area of my car and then explain that the hole was already there, but that I shouldn't worry because they can fix it for $100.
As I'm standing by my car, I hear the all too familiar sound of rain on sheet metal. Not much of it, yet. Richie's cigarette isn't even burned down halfway (For those of you who don't smoke, an average cigarette takes about 5-6 minutes to finish). It's still sunny out.
[Editor's note] The next three minutes have been removed, as they are completely boring, and would be a waste of your time to read.
Richie's cigarette is now finished. There are torrents of water rushing down the sides of the road, and my oil change is done. (6 minute oil change. Kickass.) We get in the car and start the 15 block journey back to my apartment. Most of this drive was done in a state of blindness, due to the fact that the windshield wipers couldn't respond fast enough to the vast amounts of water that seemed magnetically attracted to them.
I flick on the right blinker to pull into the apartment complex. The right front tire touches the outer limits of the parking lot, and as if synchronized to some all-powerful weather device, the rain stops. No, I didn't say it was drizzling, or that it slowed down a little. There was no longer any water falling out of the sky. None. By the time we get to my parking spot (about 40 seconds later), the majority of the sky was blue. How much a mindfuck is that? Seriously.
So I come into work today at 9:00 AM, and nothing works. Hm....... call IT.
I pick up the phone and dial the extension.
-----
IT: "Yeah, what's up?"
Me: "Yeah, not sure if you guys know or not, but the entire server seems to be down..."
IT: "Uh, yeah. I just noticed it. [Laughs]"
Me: "So..... why isn't it working?"
IT: "Ya know, I was just wondering the same thing."
Me: "Do we have an ETA?"
IT: "Well, like I said..... oh, hold on, I got someone on the other line."
[Editor's note] The next two minutes have been removed. Chris spent the majority of this time staring at his computer screen, drooling slightly on his keyboard. He may need a TardGuard(TM).
IT: "You still there?"
ME: "Yeah, what's up?"
IT: "I guess the air conditioning in the server room broke last night and the temperature is pushing 105 degrees. All the machines are blown. We think it's because of the thunderstorm yesterday. Probably won't be fixed until tomorrow."
-----
Even though I got the distinct impression that the IT person I was speaking to had an IQ similar to that of a fruit fly, I have to give the rest of his team credit. They managed to find and replace the fried parts in all of the machines that weren't completely blown and get them up and running by mid afternoon. That, along with the server boxes they had to completely replace, and the air conditioning system took the company for about $10k. And I got to go home early.
As I'm standing by my car, I hear the all too familiar sound of rain on sheet metal. Not much of it, yet. Richie's cigarette isn't even burned down halfway (For those of you who don't smoke, an average cigarette takes about 5-6 minutes to finish). It's still sunny out.
[Editor's note] The next three minutes have been removed, as they are completely boring, and would be a waste of your time to read.
Richie's cigarette is now finished. There are torrents of water rushing down the sides of the road, and my oil change is done. (6 minute oil change. Kickass.) We get in the car and start the 15 block journey back to my apartment. Most of this drive was done in a state of blindness, due to the fact that the windshield wipers couldn't respond fast enough to the vast amounts of water that seemed magnetically attracted to them.
I flick on the right blinker to pull into the apartment complex. The right front tire touches the outer limits of the parking lot, and as if synchronized to some all-powerful weather device, the rain stops. No, I didn't say it was drizzling, or that it slowed down a little. There was no longer any water falling out of the sky. None. By the time we get to my parking spot (about 40 seconds later), the majority of the sky was blue. How much a mindfuck is that? Seriously.
So I come into work today at 9:00 AM, and nothing works. Hm....... call IT.
I pick up the phone and dial the extension.
-----
IT: "Yeah, what's up?"
Me: "Yeah, not sure if you guys know or not, but the entire server seems to be down..."
IT: "Uh, yeah. I just noticed it. [Laughs]"
Me: "So..... why isn't it working?"
IT: "Ya know, I was just wondering the same thing."
Me: "Do we have an ETA?"
IT: "Well, like I said..... oh, hold on, I got someone on the other line."
[Editor's note] The next two minutes have been removed. Chris spent the majority of this time staring at his computer screen, drooling slightly on his keyboard. He may need a TardGuard(TM).
IT: "You still there?"
ME: "Yeah, what's up?"
IT: "I guess the air conditioning in the server room broke last night and the temperature is pushing 105 degrees. All the machines are blown. We think it's because of the thunderstorm yesterday. Probably won't be fixed until tomorrow."
-----
Even though I got the distinct impression that the IT person I was speaking to had an IQ similar to that of a fruit fly, I have to give the rest of his team credit. They managed to find and replace the fried parts in all of the machines that weren't completely blown and get them up and running by mid afternoon. That, along with the server boxes they had to completely replace, and the air conditioning system took the company for about $10k. And I got to go home early.
Friday, June 17, 2005
The pot limit laywer's game
A friend of mine at work swings by my desk yesterday, so excited he can barely breathe (He's a very heavyset individual). After several minutes of waiting for him to catch his breathe while he tries to form coherent sentences, he finally gets it out. There's a pot limit .25-.50 game on the other side of town that a friend of a friend of a friend is hosting, and it's apparantly filled with a bunch of wealthy fish. They're all laywers. After mulling and pondering, I finally decide to check the game out. I pick up a completely different friend (For the purposes of this story, we'll call him Richie) and we both head over to this guy's house. Armed with Powerade and cigarettes, we bust through the garage door to find the host (a foreign guy whose name I can't pronounce) and Hal (My overweight friend). Oh well. Guess I'll smoke half my pack waiting for the rest of these jokers to show up. I check my watch. 8:30 PM. I have to get up at 8:00 AM. *sigh*
Finally everyone shows up and we get the game underway. Richie and I buy in for $20 each. I've decided that since at this point I have no idea who most of these people are, I'll be better off playing extremely tight until I see what kind of players they are. Yeah.... about 5 hands in I realize that they're all draw-chasers. Every last one of them. 6 high flush draw on the turn? No problem, I'll call your $4 bet and raise you $12. And to top it off, after they river their flush, they start prattling on about how they played the hand SO perfect and wondered how I could call them down with trips with an ace kicker. I kindly excuse myself, go outside and proceed to smash as many windows as possible in 2 minutes, then like the gentleman I am, go back inside and pretend like nothing happened.
One hand in particular that comes to mind.
.25-.50 PL 8 handed.
I'm dealt ATs on the button. It's folded to MP (foreign guy), who limps along with MP1. I raise it up to $2, small blind folds, big bling (Hal) calls, MP and MP1 both call.
Flop Tc Td 4c. Hal bets $1, MP raises to $3, MP1 folds, I re-raise to $10. Hal immediately calls, foreign guy thinks for a minute, and folds.
Turn Qs. Hal checks, I bet $6, he thinks for a long time and raises to $12. I go into the tank.
Based on the way he's been playing I can put him on a pretty wide range at this point. He's been bluffing at some pots pretty heavily all night. On the other hand, he knows how tight I've been playing, and I don't know if he has the balls to try and bluff when he thinks I'm already made. So. What could he possibly have? Based on how quickly he called the flop raise, I have to assume that he hit the flop in some way. Possibly pocket 4's? I don't think so. T4? I don't think so. An overpair? Unlikely, he would have re-raised me preflop with 9's or better. I'm pretty sure I have him beat at this point, but I decide just to call.
River 7c. Hal checks, I go all in for another $14.50. Hal calls without hesitation (Pot is now around $70) He flips over 6c8c for the rivered flush.
How do you think he played this hand? Feel free to leave comments.
Finally everyone shows up and we get the game underway. Richie and I buy in for $20 each. I've decided that since at this point I have no idea who most of these people are, I'll be better off playing extremely tight until I see what kind of players they are. Yeah.... about 5 hands in I realize that they're all draw-chasers. Every last one of them. 6 high flush draw on the turn? No problem, I'll call your $4 bet and raise you $12. And to top it off, after they river their flush, they start prattling on about how they played the hand SO perfect and wondered how I could call them down with trips with an ace kicker. I kindly excuse myself, go outside and proceed to smash as many windows as possible in 2 minutes, then like the gentleman I am, go back inside and pretend like nothing happened.
One hand in particular that comes to mind.
.25-.50 PL 8 handed.
I'm dealt ATs on the button. It's folded to MP (foreign guy), who limps along with MP1. I raise it up to $2, small blind folds, big bling (Hal) calls, MP and MP1 both call.
Flop Tc Td 4c. Hal bets $1, MP raises to $3, MP1 folds, I re-raise to $10. Hal immediately calls, foreign guy thinks for a minute, and folds.
Turn Qs. Hal checks, I bet $6, he thinks for a long time and raises to $12. I go into the tank.
Based on the way he's been playing I can put him on a pretty wide range at this point. He's been bluffing at some pots pretty heavily all night. On the other hand, he knows how tight I've been playing, and I don't know if he has the balls to try and bluff when he thinks I'm already made. So. What could he possibly have? Based on how quickly he called the flop raise, I have to assume that he hit the flop in some way. Possibly pocket 4's? I don't think so. T4? I don't think so. An overpair? Unlikely, he would have re-raised me preflop with 9's or better. I'm pretty sure I have him beat at this point, but I decide just to call.
River 7c. Hal checks, I go all in for another $14.50. Hal calls without hesitation (Pot is now around $70) He flips over 6c8c for the rivered flush.
How do you think he played this hand? Feel free to leave comments.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
What a great hand. For him.
Here's a hand that made me want to grab the guy, rip out his eyes and tongue, messily remove his arms and legs, so that he might live the rest of his life blind and mute, only able to hear the children scream as they run from his horrific, unsightly form. (Gratz to The Princess Bride for that one)
.25-.50NL 6 handed.
I'm the small blind with KK. Everyone folds to MP, who raises to $1. I re-raise to $3. Big blind folds, MP calls.
Flop K59 rainbow. I bet $2, MP raises to $4, I re-raise to $20, MP pushes all-in (He had $65 at the beginning of the hand), I have him covered. I call (Pot is $130, which constitutes the largest pot I've been in). MP flips over 55.
Turn blank.
Do I have to say it?
*sigh*
He rivered quads.
On this note, with absolutely no faith in the universe, I advocate strongly that the various hardware companies, specifically the ones who make keyboards, include a new key just for us poker players. The key will only be sold to poker players who have proven themselves capable of walking and breathing at the same time, only to be used in the most dire of circumstances. The desperation one feels when he or she is repeatedly sucked out on; the overwhelming desire to find the person that could have been capable of this idiotic, horrific act, and remove their ability to have children. All of these feelings can be abated with just one key. The key that removes our choice. The key that will fix the world.
.25-.50NL 6 handed.
I'm the small blind with KK. Everyone folds to MP, who raises to $1. I re-raise to $3. Big blind folds, MP calls.
Flop K59 rainbow. I bet $2, MP raises to $4, I re-raise to $20, MP pushes all-in (He had $65 at the beginning of the hand), I have him covered. I call (Pot is $130, which constitutes the largest pot I've been in). MP flips over 55.
Turn blank.
Do I have to say it?
*sigh*
He rivered quads.
On this note, with absolutely no faith in the universe, I advocate strongly that the various hardware companies, specifically the ones who make keyboards, include a new key just for us poker players. The key will only be sold to poker players who have proven themselves capable of walking and breathing at the same time, only to be used in the most dire of circumstances. The desperation one feels when he or she is repeatedly sucked out on; the overwhelming desire to find the person that could have been capable of this idiotic, horrific act, and remove their ability to have children. All of these feelings can be abated with just one key. The key that removes our choice. The key that will fix the world.
$30 Rebuy
This happened yesterday.
A friend of mine told me about a tournament that a local bar was hosting, so I figured, what the hell? How bad could it possibly be? I find out the tourney is starting on Tuesday night at 6pm, so I make sure to get off a little early to make enough time for registration. I pick my buddy up and we make our way over there, arriving at about 4:45 (registration was at 5:00). My impression up to this point was that the tournament was a $20 shootout. I go and ask the head bartender and he tells me in no uncertain terms that I'm very wrong. It is in fact a $30 rebuy. (Unlimited rebuys for $30/starting stack up until the end of the first half, at which time you may purchase an add-on for $30 regardless of current stack size) Grumbling under my breathe as I sign in, I take a peek around the room to see what sort of competetion I've got. Old guys, old guys, an old mexican guy, a few more old guys, and one young white trash girl that's letting a bunch of random guys spank her with a paddle. Yeah. No joke.
So I go outside and smoke something like 10 cigarettes in a row. 6:00 rolls around, and I go in to see how the set-up is doing, where I find out that the tournament has been pushed back another hour because the turn out was much larger than expected.
...
FUCK!
BULLSHIT!
... I need more cigarettes.
...
10 cigarettes and 5 games of pool later the tournament starts. I hit pretty much nothing for the first 1/2 hour or so, then look down and see red 2's on the button. Everyone (Yes, everyone) limps in, so I raise to 40. Flop comes As 2s 4c. SB checks, MP bets 40, MP1 raises to 100, everyone folds to me. I call. Turn is a blank (something like an 8d I think). MP bets 40, MP1 calls, I raise it to 200. Both players call. River is a 4h. MP bets 50, I raise it to 200. He calls, and rolls over Ks 4s (had the flush draw on the flop, made trips on the river). Too bad I have a full house. Easy way to almost double up.
Another 30 minutes or so go by and I look down at aces. Problem is, I'm the big bling, and everyone else thinks it's the right time to fold, so I don't even get an opportunity to check them.
1 hour later. Best hand I've seen since the bullets is A8 off. I look down and find AKs. Long story short, I played them a bit too hard (Yeah, I know.)and ended losing to trips. Still had about 800 in chips.
Here's the last hand. Everyone folds to a known bluffer, who makes it 200 to go. Everyone folds to me. I look down and see black 7's. I decide to call. Flop comes 37K rainbow. He deliberates for barely a second and throws out a bet of 250. I spend a long time looking at him and I notice something interesting on his face. Up in between his right eye and his forehead there's a vein that's throbbing a mile a minute. I figure this means one of two things. Either this guy snorted a few pounds of speed, or he's nervous. Why would he be nervous right now? Unless..... he doesn't want me to call him.
"All in!" I proudly announce, and shove my remaining 600 or so chips towards the middle of the table.
And before I had barely finished my statement, he almost fell out of his chair in an attempt to shove his stack in as well. Oops. He flips over pocket kings. Set over set, and I didn't improve. Next time I see a vein pumping that much blood to a dumbass's miniscule brain, I'll take another second to think about it.
Time to get drunk and watch the Family Guy.
A friend of mine told me about a tournament that a local bar was hosting, so I figured, what the hell? How bad could it possibly be? I find out the tourney is starting on Tuesday night at 6pm, so I make sure to get off a little early to make enough time for registration. I pick my buddy up and we make our way over there, arriving at about 4:45 (registration was at 5:00). My impression up to this point was that the tournament was a $20 shootout. I go and ask the head bartender and he tells me in no uncertain terms that I'm very wrong. It is in fact a $30 rebuy. (Unlimited rebuys for $30/starting stack up until the end of the first half, at which time you may purchase an add-on for $30 regardless of current stack size) Grumbling under my breathe as I sign in, I take a peek around the room to see what sort of competetion I've got. Old guys, old guys, an old mexican guy, a few more old guys, and one young white trash girl that's letting a bunch of random guys spank her with a paddle. Yeah. No joke.
So I go outside and smoke something like 10 cigarettes in a row. 6:00 rolls around, and I go in to see how the set-up is doing, where I find out that the tournament has been pushed back another hour because the turn out was much larger than expected.
...
FUCK!
BULLSHIT!
... I need more cigarettes.
...
10 cigarettes and 5 games of pool later the tournament starts. I hit pretty much nothing for the first 1/2 hour or so, then look down and see red 2's on the button. Everyone (Yes, everyone) limps in, so I raise to 40. Flop comes As 2s 4c. SB checks, MP bets 40, MP1 raises to 100, everyone folds to me. I call. Turn is a blank (something like an 8d I think). MP bets 40, MP1 calls, I raise it to 200. Both players call. River is a 4h. MP bets 50, I raise it to 200. He calls, and rolls over Ks 4s (had the flush draw on the flop, made trips on the river). Too bad I have a full house. Easy way to almost double up.
Another 30 minutes or so go by and I look down at aces. Problem is, I'm the big bling, and everyone else thinks it's the right time to fold, so I don't even get an opportunity to check them.
1 hour later. Best hand I've seen since the bullets is A8 off. I look down and find AKs. Long story short, I played them a bit too hard (Yeah, I know.)and ended losing to trips. Still had about 800 in chips.
Here's the last hand. Everyone folds to a known bluffer, who makes it 200 to go. Everyone folds to me. I look down and see black 7's. I decide to call. Flop comes 37K rainbow. He deliberates for barely a second and throws out a bet of 250. I spend a long time looking at him and I notice something interesting on his face. Up in between his right eye and his forehead there's a vein that's throbbing a mile a minute. I figure this means one of two things. Either this guy snorted a few pounds of speed, or he's nervous. Why would he be nervous right now? Unless..... he doesn't want me to call him.
"All in!" I proudly announce, and shove my remaining 600 or so chips towards the middle of the table.
And before I had barely finished my statement, he almost fell out of his chair in an attempt to shove his stack in as well. Oops. He flips over pocket kings. Set over set, and I didn't improve. Next time I see a vein pumping that much blood to a dumbass's miniscule brain, I'll take another second to think about it.
Time to get drunk and watch the Family Guy.
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