I played in my very first WWdN Poker Stars tourney on Tuesday. Out of the 6 others seated at my starting table, I saw two familiar faces. Wil was in the 3 seat and Jaxia was in the 4 seat as I sat in the 9 seat.
First hand: I am dealt QTo in the cutoff. UTG (cfinnn) calls, as do I and the SB (Wil), BB (Jaxia) checks and we are 4 handed to the flop. Ts 5h 6s hits the board, Wil leads out with 40 and it's folded to me. At this point the blinds are only 10/20 so there's 80 in the pot. With a 1/2 pot bet I figure he's made top or middle pair. With my top pair and Q kicker I decide that I am probably ahead at this point and call to make him think I am drawing to the flush or the straight.
The turn brings a 9h and now there are two flush draws and a possible straight on the board. If he checks I am betting, and if he bets I am raising. Try and win the pot right there in case he now has a draw. If he doesn't fold, I am probably still ahead in the hand anyway. Wil bets out 82. I don't like this bet. People normally only bet in unique amounts when they are very comfortable with their hands. For the first time, the possibility of him holding trips enters my mind, but I dismiss the thought quickly as I believe one of his bets would have been more than half the pot. I settle on top pair, maybe top two pair, and quickly raise to 175. His amount of time to call tells me nothing and we go to the river.
The Qc hits the board and I now have the top two pair. If my read on his hand is right I am gold. He bets 100. Crap! I don't know his playing style well enough to know if he dropped his bets from 1/2 pot to 1/5 pot because he is vulnerable, or because he's trying to induce a raise. I tank for a second and he types "i have a hand, i swear". Hmmm, more confidence in what he's holding. There goes my raising option. I think I have the best hand, but if he plays back with a big raise I am going to fold. Call.
Wil flips over his 9c 5s and for once the river is kind to me. It's not very often that I get help on the river when someone takes the lead on me at the turn, so this was nice to see. I pull in a sizable pot on the first hand, and I read the hand pretty well for having little experience playing against Wil. As a matter of fact, the most notable thing for me about his play at the Winter Classic is that he lost two consecutive coin flips with pocket pairs in the short time I played at his table. Not much to go on.
Wil excused himself to get his list and a pen. I guess it doesn't take that much to get on his list after all. I mean it's not like I put him out on the first hand. But wait, there's more.
Later that evening, very near the bubble, blinds are now at 300/600 with an ante of 50. I doubled through an opponent when my tens held up against AQ. Will pushes with QJo. He's second stack at the table, and unless I call from the button his tournament life is not at stake. With a QTo I don't feel like risking more than 1/2 my stack on the off chance that I could knock off the host. The guy I recently doubled through is short stacked and calls with nines. Wil is slightly less than 50-50 here going into the flop. Said flop knocked out any chance he had at winning when it came down 9-9-3, and Wil actually thought he was out of the tourney for a second. He was still in but with only 2550 left and the BB hitting him after only one more hand, he was desperate. This is where I step in.
Wil is in the BB, costing him 650 of his remaining 2500 with the ante. I have over 10k in my stack and look down to see ATc. Not too shabby, but I don't want to auto-push preflop and give any of the others a chance to hit me up, so I raise it to 1500 in hopes of getting Wil to push and he does so after everyone else folds. He flips over K8o, a hand that he deftly sucked out with earlier in the night against a K9 of all hands. I am a 2-1 favorite going into the flop.
Flop comes down 5s 3c 9h, and I am now a 3-1 favorite as Wil is yelling for a K. The turn card is....are you kidding me???....the Kc and I am instantly a 3-1 dog one card after being a 3-1 favorite. Sonuva! Well, at least it's a club and I have more outs than just an ace. My chat entry: "NOOOO".
The river card hits the table and it's a beautiful 5 of....wait for it....clubs. My chat entry: "YESSSSS". Wil's: "Crap". Sweet river of justice, how I love thee.
The symmetry of this all is just wonderful. Very rarely do things like this happen in your favor in a poker tournament. Starting and ending the host's tournament with hands where he was behind pre-flop and on the flop, ahead on the turn, and dead on the river just seems so rigged. This being online poker and all, maybe it was.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Endgame
I need to work on my late tournament play. Each of the blogger tourneys I've played in of late have seen me make a big run relatively early, and flame out toward the end. I can blame distraction and illness all I want for my performance in Sunday's blogger tournament, but I still have to live with a bad beatless 20th place effort. Out of only 48 players. From 4th stack at the points bubble (25 players). Crash and burn.
Last night I played a little better, but had a harder time reading the plays and players because I was caught up in the Pistons/Mavs game for most of the tourney, and at one point just posted and folded to watch the end of the game when I was big stack at my table. Entirely my fault, but I was OK with sacrificing a little of my performance to watch that game.
Not getting into it too much, I finished 7th out of 68 entrants. That was good enough for some money, but not a big payday. I also busted Wil in 11th place, and earned the honor of having next week's tournament named after my Poker Stars screen name (FFLPlague, the only site I don't use Table_Max).
Hopefully I'll have some time later to dissect and comment a little more.
Last night I played a little better, but had a harder time reading the plays and players because I was caught up in the Pistons/Mavs game for most of the tourney, and at one point just posted and folded to watch the end of the game when I was big stack at my table. Entirely my fault, but I was OK with sacrificing a little of my performance to watch that game.
Not getting into it too much, I finished 7th out of 68 entrants. That was good enough for some money, but not a big payday. I also busted Wil in 11th place, and earned the honor of having next week's tournament named after my Poker Stars screen name (FFLPlague, the only site I don't use Table_Max).
Hopefully I'll have some time later to dissect and comment a little more.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Musica
This morning's breakfast soundtrack was a conglomeration of artists from the D. A little Kid Rock, some Eminem, a dash of Bob Seger, a pinch of Ted Nugent, and a side of White Stripes. D-licious!
With a light workload since breakfast, I've had a chance to listen to With Teeth on and off for a while now today. I honestly was unimpressed with this album when I first heard it, but the more I listen to it, and the more I feel it, the more I appreciate it. I should be flogged for thinking for one second that Trent Reznor was losing his touch.
With this in mind, Wil Wheaton has posted a great entry about Pink Floyd. Truth be told, I liked the post before I even read it beacuse of the album cover art picture that he posted at the top.
With a light workload since breakfast, I've had a chance to listen to With Teeth on and off for a while now today. I honestly was unimpressed with this album when I first heard it, but the more I listen to it, and the more I feel it, the more I appreciate it. I should be flogged for thinking for one second that Trent Reznor was losing his touch.
With this in mind, Wil Wheaton has posted a great entry about Pink Floyd. Truth be told, I liked the post before I even read it beacuse of the album cover art picture that he posted at the top.
Monday, March 27, 2006
20 of 48
Normally I would loathe that number, but in perspective it's not that bad of a number. This field of 48 is not your typical small tournament field. Very few weaknesses in the blogger lineup. My personal distractions and my wonderful weekend illness also played a factor. I was a little spaced out for most of the night. Add to that my decision to watch the Pistons/Nets game, and I'm surprised I wasn't one of the first five out.
All that being said, I should have done a lot better. My reads were very good on almost all the hands. My problem was my patience and discipline. More than once I knew it was a bad idea to call but still went ahead with it anyway. The hand that bothered me the most was when I called an all-in with JJ, even though I was sure he had KK or better. I even took the time to type "I shouldn't call" before I called.
I played very well in the beginning and was bouncing between 2nd and 4th in chips, but for some reason couldn't find it within myself to trust the reads and make the laydowns I normally would. I dropped from 4th in the tourney to one of the shortest stacks within an orbit and a half. Somehow I refocused and battled back up to 8th before I imploded again and ended the day in 20th, shortly after the 2nd break.
All in all I am OK with where I finished. I am 20th in POY points while playing in only 2 of the 3 events so far. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to play in at least 8 events to even qualify for POY, so I hope that I can stay in contention long enough to take advantage of a good run of cards and make a serious play for the top blogger spot. Although with poker being what it is, you never know until you see the river.
All that being said, I should have done a lot better. My reads were very good on almost all the hands. My problem was my patience and discipline. More than once I knew it was a bad idea to call but still went ahead with it anyway. The hand that bothered me the most was when I called an all-in with JJ, even though I was sure he had KK or better. I even took the time to type "I shouldn't call" before I called.
I played very well in the beginning and was bouncing between 2nd and 4th in chips, but for some reason couldn't find it within myself to trust the reads and make the laydowns I normally would. I dropped from 4th in the tourney to one of the shortest stacks within an orbit and a half. Somehow I refocused and battled back up to 8th before I imploded again and ended the day in 20th, shortly after the 2nd break.
All in all I am OK with where I finished. I am 20th in POY points while playing in only 2 of the 3 events so far. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to play in at least 8 events to even qualify for POY, so I hope that I can stay in contention long enough to take advantage of a good run of cards and make a serious play for the top blogger spot. Although with poker being what it is, you never know until you see the river.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
No Live Blogging Tonight
I had intended to try and live blog this week's WPBT event, but through this haze of medication and illness, I will need to keep my attention on playing if I hope to get any points this time around.
I'll have to post my finish and comments tomorrow.
I'll have to post my finish and comments tomorrow.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Chicago Trip Day One....finally
Now that I have the flu, or something very much like it, I have some time to write about our trip To Chicago. First off I gotta say that it completely blows that Mike hooked up with the sick girl, and I am the one that ended up getting sick.
So we got to Chicago about 2:30ish and were checked in to our "fabulous" room and drinking by three. My first two St. Patty's day drinks? A shot of Patron and a Corona. I love celebrating my Irish heritage. From there we walked around a bit, grabbed lunch at Quizno's where I had a tough time paying with a hundy, and got a couple more drinks at Sullivan's and headed back to our hotel for their free wine hour between 5-6. Sufficiently crocked at the end of the hour, Mark went back to the room to grab the bottle of wine he bought on the drive out. I initially said no to the extra wine so I could head upstairs and freshen up for our pub crawl with Cathy.
Not often do I have great advice for everyone, but here is one piece that I can't help but pass on: Don't shave when you are hammered! Not sure why this didn't occur to me before I tried it but hey, I was hammered and all.
Met up with Cathy and her friends at a pub called O'Hagans for some more beer. This time I believe I was drinking Boddington's, an English Ale, to celebrate my Irishness. My first impression of the bar was some random drunk chick resting her head on my ass as I stood in line for drinks and Cathy hugs. I heart drunk people. Why isn't St. Patty's day a monthly holiday?
After a couple of hours of more drinks and outlandish conversations with a whole bunch of people I didn't know, we filtered over to a pub called Blarney's. This is where things got a little interesting. By the time I made it in the bar and to our group, with a pit stop to break the seal, Mark was already "sleeping" on the pool table, much to the chagrin of one of the old ladies who must have worked there. I made a comment to the effect of, and mind you I was drunk too so the verbiage recall may not be perfect, "The only way you could wake him up right now would be to slap him in the face. Without hesitation, Cathy's friend Anna (Ah-nah, she's Russian) leaned in and gave him one on the cheek that had to sting, even in his state. Mark comes to, sees everyone standing there laughing and decides that I need to wear his drink. His aim was damn good considering how blown out he was, cause that thing hit me right in the face. Thankfully it was only water, because a deer dousing may have led to a bar fight.
After a lot of arguing about the incident between Mark and I, and even more between Mark and Mike, everything calmed down enough for one more drink before heading to the next bar. Not sure the name of the next one, cause we never got in. Cathy's friend....umm....Jeff?....the God of Biscuits....maybe. Anyway, him, was about to yak while we were in line and they decided to take him home. Once they left, we saw no reason to wait in line while we had a perfectly good O'Hagans we could hit again and skip their line because we were already stamped.
I believe it was on the way back to our first pub that I found out Mike was nearly in a fight with a bagpiper. As he was leaving O'Hagans for Blarney's, the bagpipe band was on their way in. I guess one of the pipers thought Mike was just being a bastard and pushing the guy while they were passing in the doorway. The guy started pushing as well, and at one point turned his body quick enough to slap Mike with the pipes. This is where I am thankful that I wasn't going with them at that time. Knowing how I am when I get drunk and people do things to my friends, I probably would have asked Mark for his pen, he's always got one you see, and I would have tried to pop the bagpipes. I wonder if that would have turned out good.
Back in O'Hagans we make friends with a girl all decked out in Guinness attire, at least a shirt anyway, her brother from Ohio, and his girlfriend. They turned out to be really cool people, especially Alexis the Guinness girl who bought me a beer, and we all exchanged info so we could possibly meet up again the next time we are in Chicago. At one point I was talking to Stephanie, the brother's girlfriend, and when she leaned in to hear something I was saying we noticed that the air duct below our table was blowing air super hard and her hair was all over. I said something about it looking like she was in a photo shoot, she posed a bit, I grabbed Mark's camera, and I now give you quite possibly the coolest picture I've ever taken.
So we got to Chicago about 2:30ish and were checked in to our "fabulous" room and drinking by three. My first two St. Patty's day drinks? A shot of Patron and a Corona. I love celebrating my Irish heritage. From there we walked around a bit, grabbed lunch at Quizno's where I had a tough time paying with a hundy, and got a couple more drinks at Sullivan's and headed back to our hotel for their free wine hour between 5-6. Sufficiently crocked at the end of the hour, Mark went back to the room to grab the bottle of wine he bought on the drive out. I initially said no to the extra wine so I could head upstairs and freshen up for our pub crawl with Cathy.
Not often do I have great advice for everyone, but here is one piece that I can't help but pass on: Don't shave when you are hammered! Not sure why this didn't occur to me before I tried it but hey, I was hammered and all.
Met up with Cathy and her friends at a pub called O'Hagans for some more beer. This time I believe I was drinking Boddington's, an English Ale, to celebrate my Irishness. My first impression of the bar was some random drunk chick resting her head on my ass as I stood in line for drinks and Cathy hugs. I heart drunk people. Why isn't St. Patty's day a monthly holiday?
After a couple of hours of more drinks and outlandish conversations with a whole bunch of people I didn't know, we filtered over to a pub called Blarney's. This is where things got a little interesting. By the time I made it in the bar and to our group, with a pit stop to break the seal, Mark was already "sleeping" on the pool table, much to the chagrin of one of the old ladies who must have worked there. I made a comment to the effect of, and mind you I was drunk too so the verbiage recall may not be perfect, "The only way you could wake him up right now would be to slap him in the face. Without hesitation, Cathy's friend Anna (Ah-nah, she's Russian) leaned in and gave him one on the cheek that had to sting, even in his state. Mark comes to, sees everyone standing there laughing and decides that I need to wear his drink. His aim was damn good considering how blown out he was, cause that thing hit me right in the face. Thankfully it was only water, because a deer dousing may have led to a bar fight.
After a lot of arguing about the incident between Mark and I, and even more between Mark and Mike, everything calmed down enough for one more drink before heading to the next bar. Not sure the name of the next one, cause we never got in. Cathy's friend....umm....Jeff?....the God of Biscuits....maybe. Anyway, him, was about to yak while we were in line and they decided to take him home. Once they left, we saw no reason to wait in line while we had a perfectly good O'Hagans we could hit again and skip their line because we were already stamped.
I believe it was on the way back to our first pub that I found out Mike was nearly in a fight with a bagpiper. As he was leaving O'Hagans for Blarney's, the bagpipe band was on their way in. I guess one of the pipers thought Mike was just being a bastard and pushing the guy while they were passing in the doorway. The guy started pushing as well, and at one point turned his body quick enough to slap Mike with the pipes. This is where I am thankful that I wasn't going with them at that time. Knowing how I am when I get drunk and people do things to my friends, I probably would have asked Mark for his pen, he's always got one you see, and I would have tried to pop the bagpipes. I wonder if that would have turned out good.
Back in O'Hagans we make friends with a girl all decked out in Guinness attire, at least a shirt anyway, her brother from Ohio, and his girlfriend. They turned out to be really cool people, especially Alexis the Guinness girl who bought me a beer, and we all exchanged info so we could possibly meet up again the next time we are in Chicago. At one point I was talking to Stephanie, the brother's girlfriend, and when she leaned in to hear something I was saying we noticed that the air duct below our table was blowing air super hard and her hair was all over. I said something about it looking like she was in a photo shoot, she posed a bit, I grabbed Mark's camera, and I now give you quite possibly the coolest picture I've ever taken.
From there the night winded down and the bar closed at 3ish. I decided that we needed more beer and I would lead Mark and Mike to a bar about 4-5 blocks away that I knew was open later. On the walk their, the others called no joy and hailed a cab about a block away from the bar. After a little arguing I got in the cab with the understanding that we'd try and find the bar which the other two said wasn't even there to begin with. I get in and give the driver easy directions, three consecutive lefts since we had to deal with one way streets. He nailed the first two turns, but passed the third and we ended up right where we started. The three of us argued a little about the accuracy of my directions, using the cabbie who messed them up in the first place as an arbitrator. It's then decided that the cab will go back to the hotel, so I duck out at the first stop sign and make my way to the bar, just in time for last call.
On my way out of the last bar I somehow end up talking to three local girls and we end up going to the Mexican place across the street to get some bad food. The whole thing is a little fuzzy at this time, but I know that two of the girls were drunk, one looked like Lisa loeb and the other was a cute Asian girl that Mark would have loved, and interested in hearing what I had to say about how often guys use fake back stories in bars. I guess they had run into a group of guys from Michigan claiming to be fighter pilots that night, and asked me if I was with them. The conversation was light and virtually disappeared when the food came, with no drinks. Not even a water. I finished quicker than they did and got up saying I needed to find my friends and head back to the hotel, wished them well and left....sticking them with my tab.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Manic Morning Ramblings
My iPod effing rules! After months of hemming and hawing, I finally broke down and got a new Dell desktop and a 30GB iPod. I've had it a couple weeks or so, and use it every morning to break through the lethargy that encapsulates me in the morning. This morning was extremely bad as I fell asleep on the shuttle between the Joe Louis Arena parking structure and the building I work in. I came to when the shuttle stopped to drop us off, and realized that I needed something a bit more upbeat in my ear and flipped it straight to The Prodigy. As I stepped inside from the frigid morning air of the first day of Spring, Smack my Bitch Up began to play and I walked a little faster than normal. I progressed from The Prodigy to some Foo Fighters, then NIN, and a little bit of Led Zeppelin. That made me a little manic, and gave me a shot in the arm to start out the day.
Luckily I don't get anything like Wilkie when I get manic. As a matter of fact it's pretty hard to tell when I am because my actions and voice tend to be a lot like Steven Wright with a hangover. I may still move a little slow and talk a little less than in the afternoon, but there is no way I am going to fall dead asleep as I walk through the hallway. Maybe, I'm not manic....maybe I am just actually awake for once.
Luckily I don't get anything like Wilkie when I get manic. As a matter of fact it's pretty hard to tell when I am because my actions and voice tend to be a lot like Steven Wright with a hangover. I may still move a little slow and talk a little less than in the afternoon, but there is no way I am going to fall dead asleep as I walk through the hallway. Maybe, I'm not manic....maybe I am just actually awake for once.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Back From Chicago
Many great things this St. Patrick's weekend in Chicago. Seeing Cathy again for the first time in months was definitely the highlight. Just hanging out with her and her friends on Friday and Saturday night was worth the exorbitant amount we paid to stay in our tiny hotel room with pink wallpaper for two nights.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Free Agency Thus Far
I took yesterday off from everything but work to catch up on my sleep after the WPBT event on Sunday, and hanging out until the wee hours on Monday night/Tuesday morning with my cousin who was visiting from Florida, and Wilkie. Both of whom drank a lot more than I realized while we were at the OPAC, more on all of that later.
Right now I need to focus on catching up with the NFL trades and free agent moves over the last few days. Of course I heard about the trade that will send Daunte Culpepper to Miami if he passes a physical, Drew Brees heading to New Orleans (who's gonna block for him?) where he is going to find himself in another tough division with a tough non-divisional schedule that includes Baltimore, Cincinnati, Philly, and Washington all coming to NOLA and a trip to Pittsburgh, as well as stops in Dallas and NY for the Giants. Personally, I think that the Giants should give up this home game against the Saints to make up for their Katrina "home opener" last year. If anything, the city could definitely use the added influx of visitors and cash as it is still struggling to get back on it's feet after last year's problems. This is all assuming that NOLA doesn't get hit by another big hurricane early this season.
Arizona now has The Edge at their disposal. Will the Cards continue to be where RBs go to end their career, much like the Lions with head coaches, or can he help them turn it all around in the desert?
My Skins have been quite busy so far, spending LaVar Arrington's money. I first saw the signings of Adam Archuleta and Andre Carter while I was with Michael and Wilkie at the OPAC, and everyone was wondering where my sudden giddiness came from. They also signed Antwaan Randle El and acquired Brandon Lloyd from San Fran for a 3rd round draft pick this year and a 4th rounder next year, which looks like a steal to me right now considering Lloyd was the only bright spot I saw from the Niners in 2005. This is great news for Santana Moss who made it to the Pro Bowl last year despite seeing double and sometimes triple coverage throughout the season.
Coach Gibbs' crew also re-signed The Rock and Khary Campbell (both great special teamers), inked Christian Fauria and Todd Collins to free agent deals, and brought John Abraham in for a visit, although it would seem that Abraham is no longer an option now with the signing of Carter.
The one thing I did notice is that there were no OL signings. Having Jon Jansen and Chris Samuels at the tackles is wonderful, but the interior of the line was bad enough last year that 87 year old Ray Brown started 14 games at guard before retiring this off season. At the very least they'll have to find someone to fill in for Brown, who is the only offensive lineman in history to have a jersey number that was less than his age.
The Lions have decided that there is no need to have a starting QB when you can carry 4 back-ups, and signed Jon Kitna after the much ballyhooed signing of Shaun King, who didn't even play football in 2005. I like Kitna and all, but is another quarterback controversy really what this team needs? He's already yapping about coming here to be the starter because he was unhappy as a backup. Didn't Jeff Garcia say the same thing last year? At least Garcia was dating a PMOY, what's Kitna bringing to the table?
Right now I need to focus on catching up with the NFL trades and free agent moves over the last few days. Of course I heard about the trade that will send Daunte Culpepper to Miami if he passes a physical, Drew Brees heading to New Orleans (who's gonna block for him?) where he is going to find himself in another tough division with a tough non-divisional schedule that includes Baltimore, Cincinnati, Philly, and Washington all coming to NOLA and a trip to Pittsburgh, as well as stops in Dallas and NY for the Giants. Personally, I think that the Giants should give up this home game against the Saints to make up for their Katrina "home opener" last year. If anything, the city could definitely use the added influx of visitors and cash as it is still struggling to get back on it's feet after last year's problems. This is all assuming that NOLA doesn't get hit by another big hurricane early this season.
Arizona now has The Edge at their disposal. Will the Cards continue to be where RBs go to end their career, much like the Lions with head coaches, or can he help them turn it all around in the desert?
My Skins have been quite busy so far, spending LaVar Arrington's money. I first saw the signings of Adam Archuleta and Andre Carter while I was with Michael and Wilkie at the OPAC, and everyone was wondering where my sudden giddiness came from. They also signed Antwaan Randle El and acquired Brandon Lloyd from San Fran for a 3rd round draft pick this year and a 4th rounder next year, which looks like a steal to me right now considering Lloyd was the only bright spot I saw from the Niners in 2005. This is great news for Santana Moss who made it to the Pro Bowl last year despite seeing double and sometimes triple coverage throughout the season.
Coach Gibbs' crew also re-signed The Rock and Khary Campbell (both great special teamers), inked Christian Fauria and Todd Collins to free agent deals, and brought John Abraham in for a visit, although it would seem that Abraham is no longer an option now with the signing of Carter.
The one thing I did notice is that there were no OL signings. Having Jon Jansen and Chris Samuels at the tackles is wonderful, but the interior of the line was bad enough last year that 87 year old Ray Brown started 14 games at guard before retiring this off season. At the very least they'll have to find someone to fill in for Brown, who is the only offensive lineman in history to have a jersey number that was less than his age.
The Lions have decided that there is no need to have a starting QB when you can carry 4 back-ups, and signed Jon Kitna after the much ballyhooed signing of Shaun King, who didn't even play football in 2005. I like Kitna and all, but is another quarterback controversy really what this team needs? He's already yapping about coming here to be the starter because he was unhappy as a backup. Didn't Jeff Garcia say the same thing last year? At least Garcia was dating a PMOY, what's Kitna bringing to the table?
Sunday, March 12, 2006
First WPBT Circuit Event Live BLog
Since this is my first time back on the (digital) felt since December, I've decided to live blog it in the interest of eyeing my play and comparing it to the others in the tourney.
9:22pm....We are eight minutes from the start and here come the butterflies. Right about now, I wish I had more PLO experience.
9:28pm....Just seated and I have Donkeypuncher to my right in the 2 spot with Derek in the 5 spot.
9:31pm....3 hands in and I've only seen one flop, completing from the small blind then folding. Live blogging a tourney you are in is a lot harder than I thought.
9:36pm....Took down 3 consecutive pots and am now big stack at my table with T2240.
9:40pm....Moved to another table. Donkeypuncher is at this table with me as well, as he was for a bit at the WPBT Winter Classic.
9:46pm....Currently 2nd in chips. Feeling a little better about my PLO game, but I am lamenting the fact that I never played on Poker Stars before today....not used to the software yet. I am a little slow at times.
9:57pm....Just took out Maigrey and DeadMeek on a hand where I flopped a full house then checked and called all the way to the river, where I check-raised them both all in. I am way out in front with T7245. Resetdave is second with T3610.
10:03pm....Flopped another full house and took out GCox25 this time. T9160 and way ahead of the pack. Luck seems to be with me tonight.
10:05pm....Pauly just got moved to my table along with Change100. Badblood is sitting between them and Iggy is on Pauly's right.
10:09pm....resetdave is still building his stack and is up to T7015. I'm at T9060.
10:20pm....I've had to slow down to make sure not to get that maniac image I tend to get when I have the big stack, usually because I am playing like a maniac. I'm also getting my keyboards confused as I am using my old computer to blog and my new computer to play. I need to get some motivation and set my shit up proper.
10:26pm....35 players left and I am still firmly ahead in chip count. Blinds are currently T50/T100 and I am holding T9810.
10:29pm....I just broke the 10,000 mark at T10,010! Second place is under T6,000.
10:31pm....We are on a break now. Lizard draining time....
10:36pm....Blinds are now T75/T150. Chops here just sucked out on me on the river knocking me below T9000 for a bit. Now sitting at T9105. Effing river.
10:42pm....Just dropped two hands in a row. Time to slow down. No longer chip leader. T7145. Can't play table captain now.
10:49pm....Just hit runner runner to put Change100 out and got moved before I could say sorry. So if you find your way over here Change, I am sorry to suckout that bad on you. And Pauly, I am sorry that you had to hear from her about how much of a donkey I really am.
10:53pm....27 players remain and I am bouncing back and forth between 1st and 2nd stack. I just made a bad move, betting exactly enough to put Byron all in, hoping to push him off this pot....still waiting to see if he calls. He did, I have nothing....and he hung on beat me and double up.
11:00pm....Lack of sleep and the prospect of getting up at 4:30am for work has aided in my donking off a good portion of my stack in the last 30 minutes. I am now sitting at T6130, and that's only because I took out BobRespert and TheFilmGeek when I hit a nut flush. 20 players left and I sit in 6th place.
11:05pm....Just took out Byron with another nut flush. Money was all in on the flop, with me drawing for it and a gutshot straight, and I turned it. Had pushed him in with the draw because he was pretty much committed and only had T880 left before my bet. 19 left and I am 3rd in chips with T7210. Blinds currently at T150/T300.
11:10pm....My online poker stamina isn't what it used to be. We're not even two hours in and I'm already getting tired. Chip leader, Vegaas, is on my right now with T10,148 and I sit with only T6460. 18 players left and I am card dead the last 5 minutes.
11:17pm....Guess I need to complain about my cards more often. Just flopped a full house again and pulled in a pot of T2540. Would have been more but CraigNY hit a better boat on the river to pull in T480 of it to stay alive.
11:20pm....Sitting in 5th (which is where I finished in the Winter Classic) with 17 players left and T6500. Blinds just went up to T200/T400 and I'll be in the big blind next hand.
11:26pm....CraigNY's luck has finally run out....15th place for the blogger that refused to die.
11:30pm....My status continues to fall as my cards have taken a turn for the horrible. I've never seen this many four suited hands in such a short span. I now have the chip leader (lucko21, T15,390) to my left and the number 2 stack (Vegaas, T9948) to my right. Blinds still at T200/T400 and I've got T5300. 14 players remain.
11:37pm....Players are on break. 13 remain, with 9 making the money. Points bubble has come and gone long ago. I now sit in 8th with my T4500. Haven't had a decent enough hand to get involved recently as the smaller stacks are pretty much forced to push lately. Blinds will be at T300/T600 when we return and I'll be looking for that very special hand to marry myself to. Haven't seen anyone take down a pot with any form of the hammer yet.
11:48pm....Listening to Dark Side of the Moon now to help me focus a little more on the game. Subsequently went on a mini rush up to T5700 now, but still in 8th with 12 players remaining.
11:52pm....So I can turn off the Floyd because I just ate it in 11th place. Made a terrible move on the chip leader (lucko21) when I read his 3x raise as a position/stack raise and tried a stop and go to push him off the pot after a flop that I thought wouldn't help him. I was wrong, he made trips on the flop and insta-called when I pushed. Dumb move, putting me out as the double bubble boy.
11:57pm....Final table time as Double Dave and voodoopoker bust out in 9th and 10th respectively. Final eight are spiderk in seat 1 with T2830, Chops here 2nd seat with T5660, Iggy seat 3 with T1,782, a104l9 in the 4 spot with T8600, Vegaas in seat 5 with T6808, S.t.B has T6970 in seat 6, Lucko21 is way out in front with T29,470 in the 7 spot, and Boobie Lover has T6680 in the 8 spot.
12:03am....spiderk moves into second with two consecutive pots. One of T5200 and the next with T3200. He's now sitting on T13230 chips. Hold on, make that three out of four to put him at T14430 after a pot of T2000.
12:06am....lucko21 is flexing the big stack and pushing others out pre-flop. As the leader he now has over 34k, more than double the second stack.
12:08am....Chops here is out in 8th. lucko21 took him out with a straight over trips. He takes home $50.40 for the effort tonight.
12:11am....Confession time. I am now addicted to live blogging this event. I need to be up for work in a shade over 4 hours and I can't stand the thought of going to sleep without watching this play out.
12:14am....Vegaas just doubled up with his 6-10 straight versus lucko21's kings. After another all-in which went uncalled, he's now sitting on T10,616 chips.
12:16am....Iggy doubles up against lucko21 as well and now has T11,164.
12:17am....lucko21 finally takes out someone on their all in. Boobie Lover finishes in 7th, taking home $61.60
12:18am....Vegaas is out in 6th. spiderk took him down, boat over boat. $72.80 goes to Vegaas.
12:21am....Iggy busts out in 5th, taken down by spiderk and his kings. Iggy will be credited $89.60
12:22am....a104l9 gets rivered out by S.t.B in 4th place and grabs $112 on his way out the door.
12:25am....S.t.B doubles up against lucko21 and takes the chip lead, pole vaulting up from 3rd. He now has T36,740, spiderk has T34,010, and lucko21 drops to short stack with T11,450.
12:27am....Blinds are at 1k/2k now and spiderk just knocked out lucko21 with a boat over locko21's turned nut flush. S.t.B and spiderk are pretty even in chips heads up. lucko21 takes $134.40 away from the game for third.
12:33am....We have a winner! S.t.B outlasts the field of 56 to win the first ever WPBT Circuit Event! The key hand was a double up for S.t.B with a 6-10 straight over a 5-9 straight for spiderk. A pot of T82,280 that crippled spiderk and left him with only T1720 in chips. He doubled up on each of the next two hands, but ran out of luck on the hand after that. On the final hand the money was in pre-flop and S.t.B hit a set on the flop which held up against spiderk's kings. 2nd place money is $224 for spiderk, and S.t.B receives $336 for first.
I'm very happy to have played in and blogged this tourney. I will update this tourney blog to show names and link to everyone's blog that I possibly can. Since this is my first time on Poker Stars I could only catch a few names from the screen names, so if you see your screen name up here and would like it replaced with your name/blog name and a link send me the info at Table_Max@yahoo.com or put it in my comments for a quicker update since I can't access my yahoo account from work.
Thanks to Byron for setting this all up. It was my supreme pleasue to bust you in this first event!
9:22pm....We are eight minutes from the start and here come the butterflies. Right about now, I wish I had more PLO experience.
9:28pm....Just seated and I have Donkeypuncher to my right in the 2 spot with Derek in the 5 spot.
9:31pm....3 hands in and I've only seen one flop, completing from the small blind then folding. Live blogging a tourney you are in is a lot harder than I thought.
9:36pm....Took down 3 consecutive pots and am now big stack at my table with T2240.
9:40pm....Moved to another table. Donkeypuncher is at this table with me as well, as he was for a bit at the WPBT Winter Classic.
9:46pm....Currently 2nd in chips. Feeling a little better about my PLO game, but I am lamenting the fact that I never played on Poker Stars before today....not used to the software yet. I am a little slow at times.
9:57pm....Just took out Maigrey and DeadMeek on a hand where I flopped a full house then checked and called all the way to the river, where I check-raised them both all in. I am way out in front with T7245. Resetdave is second with T3610.
10:03pm....Flopped another full house and took out GCox25 this time. T9160 and way ahead of the pack. Luck seems to be with me tonight.
10:05pm....Pauly just got moved to my table along with Change100. Badblood is sitting between them and Iggy is on Pauly's right.
10:09pm....resetdave is still building his stack and is up to T7015. I'm at T9060.
10:20pm....I've had to slow down to make sure not to get that maniac image I tend to get when I have the big stack, usually because I am playing like a maniac. I'm also getting my keyboards confused as I am using my old computer to blog and my new computer to play. I need to get some motivation and set my shit up proper.
10:26pm....35 players left and I am still firmly ahead in chip count. Blinds are currently T50/T100 and I am holding T9810.
10:29pm....I just broke the 10,000 mark at T10,010! Second place is under T6,000.
10:31pm....We are on a break now. Lizard draining time....
10:36pm....Blinds are now T75/T150. Chops here just sucked out on me on the river knocking me below T9000 for a bit. Now sitting at T9105. Effing river.
10:42pm....Just dropped two hands in a row. Time to slow down. No longer chip leader. T7145. Can't play table captain now.
10:49pm....Just hit runner runner to put Change100 out and got moved before I could say sorry. So if you find your way over here Change, I am sorry to suckout that bad on you. And Pauly, I am sorry that you had to hear from her about how much of a donkey I really am.
10:53pm....27 players remain and I am bouncing back and forth between 1st and 2nd stack. I just made a bad move, betting exactly enough to put Byron all in, hoping to push him off this pot....still waiting to see if he calls. He did, I have nothing....and he hung on beat me and double up.
11:00pm....Lack of sleep and the prospect of getting up at 4:30am for work has aided in my donking off a good portion of my stack in the last 30 minutes. I am now sitting at T6130, and that's only because I took out BobRespert and TheFilmGeek when I hit a nut flush. 20 players left and I sit in 6th place.
11:05pm....Just took out Byron with another nut flush. Money was all in on the flop, with me drawing for it and a gutshot straight, and I turned it. Had pushed him in with the draw because he was pretty much committed and only had T880 left before my bet. 19 left and I am 3rd in chips with T7210. Blinds currently at T150/T300.
11:10pm....My online poker stamina isn't what it used to be. We're not even two hours in and I'm already getting tired. Chip leader, Vegaas, is on my right now with T10,148 and I sit with only T6460. 18 players left and I am card dead the last 5 minutes.
11:17pm....Guess I need to complain about my cards more often. Just flopped a full house again and pulled in a pot of T2540. Would have been more but CraigNY hit a better boat on the river to pull in T480 of it to stay alive.
11:20pm....Sitting in 5th (which is where I finished in the Winter Classic) with 17 players left and T6500. Blinds just went up to T200/T400 and I'll be in the big blind next hand.
11:26pm....CraigNY's luck has finally run out....15th place for the blogger that refused to die.
11:30pm....My status continues to fall as my cards have taken a turn for the horrible. I've never seen this many four suited hands in such a short span. I now have the chip leader (lucko21, T15,390) to my left and the number 2 stack (Vegaas, T9948) to my right. Blinds still at T200/T400 and I've got T5300. 14 players remain.
11:37pm....Players are on break. 13 remain, with 9 making the money. Points bubble has come and gone long ago. I now sit in 8th with my T4500. Haven't had a decent enough hand to get involved recently as the smaller stacks are pretty much forced to push lately. Blinds will be at T300/T600 when we return and I'll be looking for that very special hand to marry myself to. Haven't seen anyone take down a pot with any form of the hammer yet.
11:48pm....Listening to Dark Side of the Moon now to help me focus a little more on the game. Subsequently went on a mini rush up to T5700 now, but still in 8th with 12 players remaining.
11:52pm....So I can turn off the Floyd because I just ate it in 11th place. Made a terrible move on the chip leader (lucko21) when I read his 3x raise as a position/stack raise and tried a stop and go to push him off the pot after a flop that I thought wouldn't help him. I was wrong, he made trips on the flop and insta-called when I pushed. Dumb move, putting me out as the double bubble boy.
11:57pm....Final table time as Double Dave and voodoopoker bust out in 9th and 10th respectively. Final eight are spiderk in seat 1 with T2830, Chops here 2nd seat with T5660, Iggy seat 3 with T1,782, a104l9 in the 4 spot with T8600, Vegaas in seat 5 with T6808, S.t.B has T6970 in seat 6, Lucko21 is way out in front with T29,470 in the 7 spot, and Boobie Lover has T6680 in the 8 spot.
12:03am....spiderk moves into second with two consecutive pots. One of T5200 and the next with T3200. He's now sitting on T13230 chips. Hold on, make that three out of four to put him at T14430 after a pot of T2000.
12:06am....lucko21 is flexing the big stack and pushing others out pre-flop. As the leader he now has over 34k, more than double the second stack.
12:08am....Chops here is out in 8th. lucko21 took him out with a straight over trips. He takes home $50.40 for the effort tonight.
12:11am....Confession time. I am now addicted to live blogging this event. I need to be up for work in a shade over 4 hours and I can't stand the thought of going to sleep without watching this play out.
12:14am....Vegaas just doubled up with his 6-10 straight versus lucko21's kings. After another all-in which went uncalled, he's now sitting on T10,616 chips.
12:16am....Iggy doubles up against lucko21 as well and now has T11,164.
12:17am....lucko21 finally takes out someone on their all in. Boobie Lover finishes in 7th, taking home $61.60
12:18am....Vegaas is out in 6th. spiderk took him down, boat over boat. $72.80 goes to Vegaas.
12:21am....Iggy busts out in 5th, taken down by spiderk and his kings. Iggy will be credited $89.60
12:22am....a104l9 gets rivered out by S.t.B in 4th place and grabs $112 on his way out the door.
12:25am....S.t.B doubles up against lucko21 and takes the chip lead, pole vaulting up from 3rd. He now has T36,740, spiderk has T34,010, and lucko21 drops to short stack with T11,450.
12:27am....Blinds are at 1k/2k now and spiderk just knocked out lucko21 with a boat over locko21's turned nut flush. S.t.B and spiderk are pretty even in chips heads up. lucko21 takes $134.40 away from the game for third.
12:33am....We have a winner! S.t.B outlasts the field of 56 to win the first ever WPBT Circuit Event! The key hand was a double up for S.t.B with a 6-10 straight over a 5-9 straight for spiderk. A pot of T82,280 that crippled spiderk and left him with only T1720 in chips. He doubled up on each of the next two hands, but ran out of luck on the hand after that. On the final hand the money was in pre-flop and S.t.B hit a set on the flop which held up against spiderk's kings. 2nd place money is $224 for spiderk, and S.t.B receives $336 for first.
I'm very happy to have played in and blogged this tourney. I will update this tourney blog to show names and link to everyone's blog that I possibly can. Since this is my first time on Poker Stars I could only catch a few names from the screen names, so if you see your screen name up here and would like it replaced with your name/blog name and a link send me the info at Table_Max@yahoo.com or put it in my comments for a quicker update since I can't access my yahoo account from work.
Thanks to Byron for setting this all up. It was my supreme pleasue to bust you in this first event!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Oscars Schmoscars
The Academy Awards lost what little respect I still had for them a few years back when they got so effing PC that they couldn't say, "And the winner is...." anymore. Give me a break. And how come the hypocrits of the academy announce the people who have gotten an Oscar as an Academy Award WINNER??? I thought there were no winners or losers. Shouldn't they be addressed as an Academy Award Recipient since they never won it in the first place? Unless of course they won the award when you were still allowed to actually win it, and not just receive it. Those actors would be grandfathered in as winners.
So I watched just enough of the show to see Philip Seymour Hoffman get the naked little gold guy (that statue always reminds me of Goldmember) for best actor, Reese Witherspoon get hers for best actress, and Jennifer Garner nearly tumble after tripping over herself or her dress. Now I think Hoffman is a great actor, and he did a tremendous job in Capote....but there is no way you could convince me that he deserved the Oscar over Joaquin Phoenix. I really don't remember who else was nominated, or if I even saw the movie they were in, but I know Joaquin did better with his part than Hoffman did, so logically he shouldn't have won it. Maybe that's just it. Maybe they don't say winner anymore because they know that not every recipient truly deserves to win....hmmm. I probably should have thought about that a long time ago.
So that happened last night. And the NFL extended their agreement deadline another 72 hours....again.
Saturday night the Pistons completely crumbled in the second half against the Lakers, after struggling to beat Seattle the night before, getting a clutch bucket from Rip with 0.2 seconds left in the game. But at least I got to go out and watch both games with some good company, even though I had to work this past Saturday AND Sunday.
So I watched just enough of the show to see Philip Seymour Hoffman get the naked little gold guy (that statue always reminds me of Goldmember) for best actor, Reese Witherspoon get hers for best actress, and Jennifer Garner nearly tumble after tripping over herself or her dress. Now I think Hoffman is a great actor, and he did a tremendous job in Capote....but there is no way you could convince me that he deserved the Oscar over Joaquin Phoenix. I really don't remember who else was nominated, or if I even saw the movie they were in, but I know Joaquin did better with his part than Hoffman did, so logically he shouldn't have won it. Maybe that's just it. Maybe they don't say winner anymore because they know that not every recipient truly deserves to win....hmmm. I probably should have thought about that a long time ago.
So that happened last night. And the NFL extended their agreement deadline another 72 hours....again.
Saturday night the Pistons completely crumbled in the second half against the Lakers, after struggling to beat Seattle the night before, getting a clutch bucket from Rip with 0.2 seconds left in the game. But at least I got to go out and watch both games with some good company, even though I had to work this past Saturday AND Sunday.
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