thebadbeat

More Isildur1 - From the Rail

2010-02-04T19:16:00.002-06:00

It looks like Isildur is really committed to climbing the stakes and building his bankroll quickly. I'm sure that he has backer(s) and all are looking to repeat his meteoric climb from zero to millions so they can cash in.

Today, Isildur sat down with a player that goes by 'luvtheWNBA' on FTP. According to PTR, luvtheWNBA is quite the cash game player, netting over $900k profit in 90,000+ hands of 25/50 and 50/100 NLH HU.

I think that I was able to capture some stats that are accurate about the session:

1283 Hands played at $50/$100 NLH HU
Isildur1 finished down $17525 - nearly 2 buy-ins.

From what I could tell, luvtheWNBA was a passive player, precisely picking spots and generally playing better premium hands. When Isildur would roll his $10k buy-in on one table up to ~$30k range, he would immediately close the table and start from scratch. He really wanted to bank those winnings and not leave them subject to getting taken in one hand at a NL table.

Interestingly, $50/$100 NLH HU is a game that Isildur historically had a lot of success at. Coming into the day, in just under 6,000 hands, Isildur had a profit of around $97,000. (8+BB/100). In terms of games that he has logged lots of hands at, $50/$100 seemed like one of his most profitable. At one point, it looked like Isildur was up a buy-in or two for the session.

There were a few decent sized pots toward the end of the session. One was worth nearly $10k - it went to the river and luvtheWNBA took the pot without a showdown. In another, Isildur managed to maximize his monster, when his pocket kings tripped up on the flop, and he turned a full house when the board paired a 3. He made pot sized bets up until the river, when he shoved for his last $9k. He got the call, and took down a $21.4k pot.

In a rare pre-flop 3 bet, Isildur raised it up to $1100 with pocket 10s. He got a call, and luvtheWNBA outflopped him, catching top pair with a K. A 60%pot bet by Isildur was called. Both players checked an A on the turn. When a 10 came on the river, luvtheWNBA shoved all-in and Isildur called, taking down the $22.4k pot with trip 10s.

Final interesting note from the session, at one point luvtheWNBA accused Isildur of trying to manipulate table position and gain more button opportunities by closing down tables and opening new ones. Isildur claimed it was just to get his growing stack off the table and re-start with $10k.

Hopefully more to come - maybe even tonight. I see that K0STYA_Spb is already back online and probably looking for more.

Isildur1 is back!

2010-02-04T02:22:00.002-06:00

I saw tonight on pokernews that Isildur has come back and is playing at lower levels, trying to work his bankroll back up (playing 25/50 NLH) on Full Tilt. I happened to be logged in at the time, and...lo and behold...Isildur1 was there, playing anywhere from 6-8 tables with a player that I've not heard of: K0STYA_Spb.

I went and checked things out at Poker Table Ratings, and by luck, I left the individual player screens up. This would allow me to open a new window and compare their winnings/losses to get an estimate of how the night went for these two.

Note - I didn't get to PTR right when they started, and I only hung out for about 3 hours, so I probably will not get the stats for the entire session. However, here is an idea of how things went:

1651 hands (again, not full session, just time period I tracked)
Isildur1 down $15646
Roughly -20BB/100

I'm sure another site will be able to come up with more thorough stats for the heads up battle. I never really saw Isildur take down too many pots, and saw him rebuying quite a bit. If what I was watching is right, the final totals for the night should significantly favor the Russian.

The other interesting thing here is that Isildurs opponent was seemingly a very weak 25/50 NLH HU player. Before their session he was a -2.57BB/100 player at that level, having lost a total of $172,000.

Oh well, at least it is fun for we railbirds to hang out and watch!

Another Deep Run...

2010-01-26T03:12:00.002-06:00

I played another $150 Freeroll on FTP tonight. I played it really well, being in the top 100 or so in chips for most of my run.

However, with a stroke of tough luck, I miss the cash again.

All folds to me in LP with T9h. I raise it up 3x, and only the BB calls. I had position. Flop comes 8-A-J rainbow. Flopped an open ender. BB lead out with a bet about half the pot. I flat called. Turn came 7. Hit my straight. BB lead out with another bet of 1/2 pot. I insta-shoved and he insta-called. I tabled my straight, he tabled a set of 8s. As luck would have it, he paired the board with a J on the river, and his 8s Full bested my straight. Despite being #20 in chips with 66 left, this guy had me covered. That pot goes my way, and I am chip leader.

Oh well...pretty frustrating to play all that long and really expect to make the cash finally, and go out that way...

WBCOOP

2010-01-25T15:00:00.001-06:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! Bloggers can register to play for free in the WBCOOP, if you don’t have a PokerStars account you can get your Free Poker Download at PokerStars

Registration code: 149901

WBCOOP is back!

2010-01-25T14:01:00.002-06:00

Wow - not sure how I missed this one (probably because I've been playing almost exclusively on FTP the past 9 months!)

After reading through more of Otis' wonderful writing, I stumbled to his "Up For Poker" blog (shared with Luckbox and G-Rob), and found the exciting news that the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker is back on PokerStars.

See more here: WBCOOP

Off to submit my entry and get into the fray!

Wish me luck...

RP: "The Real Cost of Having a Baby"

2010-01-25T13:57:00.002-06:00

My apologies, as this story is only loosely related to Poker. It is extremely important, along with hitting too close to home, so I feel compelled to plug it.

Brad 'Otis' Willis is a household name in the poker community, and an all-around good-guy. Prior to writing on poker, Otis was an award winning investigative journalist.

This is the story of his fight against the medical system when his latest child was born.

I can feel for this, as when our 2nd was born, despite having insurance, we faced a litany of strange charges and doctors that came out of the woodwork to claim 'present' at a procedure and charge us $1,000's.

Please read, share your thoughts, and should this blow up bigger, put your weight behind Otis:

http://www.rapideyereality.com/archives/2010/01/19/st-francis-hospital-the-real-cost-of-having-a-baby/

Cardrunners

2010-01-25T13:50:00.002-06:00

I have spent quite a bit of time (as previously mentioned) trying to come up with various ways to improve my game. I've heard a lot of good things about the Cardrunners crew, so I spent some good time on their site over the past few days to check them out.

First off - I have to plug this - their founder (Taylor Caby) is a fellow Alum of the University of Illinois. While he came a few years after me, its great to see such a successful Illini!

What I'm impressed with is the transparency of the strategy that these guys use. CR has players that are extremely successful in all levels and formats (SNGs, MTTs, high-stakes cash games) and they all seem to come straight with the knowledge.

Of course, this is my evaluation of the free content...not the paid stuff. Of course, the stuff that is supposed to lure you to subscribe would be good.

I'm toying with the idea of getting a membership. This would not only give me an avenue to learn a lot more, but CR also provides members with really nice analytical tools to help players improve their play and research.

What do you all think? Any CR members out there or someone who has another recommendation?

My recent play

2010-01-25T13:42:00.002-06:00

I've talked a little bit lately about my hope to focus my play and to set very tangible goals to strive for in my poker play. I've been pretty disciplined lately - and while I am sorting out what I want my goals to be, and how I am going to achieve them, I have stuck to playing freerolls.

There are cash freerolls on FTP nearly every other hour. The opposite hour there are freerolls to a 'round 2' tournament which runs weekly and has a $1,000 prize purse.

I've run pretty well in these lately, but due to the stingy and deep format of the freerolls, I've not cashed. I've made it to 2 Round 2 events (by placing in top 250 of 10000 in Round 1). However, I've missed playing in both of those round 2 events, since they run right in the middle of the day on Sunday - not a good day.

The $150 freerolls have been pretty good too. I've placed in the top 200 about a half-dozen times in the past few weeks - but as I said - no finishes in the cash.

A first reaction is likely to be - 'these are freerolls, what good are they'? To me, they serve a few purposes:
-- Learning more about myself as a player
-- Playing against a lot of styles, and still trying to make successful plays
-- Keeping me from playing anything else before I set my goals and determine my bankroll

The first two points here are pretty important to me. I've really focused on learning how I play, trying to mix things up and no matter the outcome, trying to make the right poker move. In the past month, I've taken a series of particularly bad beats, where I've gotten all the chips in with a dominating hand only to have an opponent hit a 1,2,3 or 4 outer. Oh well, its poker. At some point the karma will tilt in my direction too (and hopefully when the stakes are bigger!)

The other thing that I've realized out of this freeroll binge is that I really like Razz as a change of pace game. I like the stud format, and I also think that I'm pretty good at it. Always easier to like something that you're good at, right?

For now, off to keep plugging away at freerolls until I get my goals and bankroll sorted out. Anything interesting happens in them, I'll be sure to post it here.

Bankroll Management

2010-01-25T13:29:00.003-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about Bankroll Management lately. The most likely reason is that I have not at this point determined what I will stake my 'return' bankroll with. See, Over the last 6-9 months, my play online has been largely for fun and recreation. Don't take that to mean that I didn't play seriously and continually try to improve my game. However, my play did not have stated purpose (build bankroll to X$, make X tournaments, etc., etc.) My play was just because I like the game and purely because I wanted to play. Because my play was casual, my investment in myself was just the same. If I wanted to play in a $20 tournament, I would put $30-$40 into my account, and play the tournament and a SNG or two. This was good fun for the one night, but without a bit hit in a deep tournament, this strategy was highly unlikely to lead to a bankroll swell.

Back to now - I have loosely set some goals for my poker play. They aren't ready for publishing as of yet...I will do so in good time. However, one goal that I do have is to play in the 2011 WSOP.

To accomplish my goals, I feel that I need to stake myself to a decent bankroll and add a level of discipline and focus to my game that has been missing. Don't flippantly sit at a table or play in a tournament or SNG when I have only 10% attention to pay to it. Track my play, study my hand histories, trends, etc. - and try to become a better overall player.

Still not sure on the # for the bankroll. It will be a very conservative number...but one that I think that I can meaningfully devote my (little) spare time and energy to building.

Feel free to post thoughts on your bankroll management strategies in comments...

Dr. Pauly review of Rush Poker

2010-01-23T00:45:00.003-06:00

Pauly feels the same as I do about this Rush Poker deal...but he reviewed it in true Pauly style: http://bit.ly/8I0Tyo

Full Tilt "Rush Poker"

2010-01-20T23:14:00.004-06:00

Wow. As if the ability to 4, 6 or 8+ table online poker wasn't addicting enough, FTP had to go create the closest thing to digital poker crack as there is. If you haven't seen it, login to your FTP account and check out "Rush Play". The concept is that you don't play at a static table...you are part of a pool of players that sits at a table to play a hand, then the table breaks. This allows FTP to put people at a table continuously to play rapid fire hands. As well, you now have a Fast Fold button that you can click to fold before action is on you. FTP then zooms you to another table that is dealing. I played about a half hour, and here are some stats:

Statistics for 232 Hands
Street Saw Saw/Total
Flop 73 31%
Turn 43 19%
River 32 14%
Showdwn 29 13%

Street Won Won/Saw Won/Total
Pre-flp 3 1% 1%
Flop 8 11% 3%
Turn 3 7% 1%
River 1 3% 0%
Showdwn 17 59% 7%

I didn't have the guts to play this with real money as of yet. The action is beyond fast. I 4-tabled the free $ tables. I more than doubled my total buy-in, but in free play its nearly impossible to correlate chip stack to quality play. I really just did it to get a feel for the speed. If I really think I would play this with real money, I'd first spend more time playing the free tables, getting accustomed to the speed of things. Check it out next time you login to FTP. Crazy stuff.

Baby Zach!

2010-01-20T22:40:00.002-06:00

A new little poker fan has been brought into the world!

Our third child, and first boy, was born on 1/16. Zachary Daniel - 6lbs 7oz.

He's already watched football, basketball and online poker....fully initiated!

Proud Dad, signing off...

Back to Poker

2010-01-20T22:28:00.003-06:00

It is long about time that I write again about my various poker exploits. I've been putting it off for months now. To be honest, they probably aren't terribly interesting to the average reader, but there is a therapeutic selfishness somewhere in here. I promise (as has been the case in the past) there will be plenty of times that I pen things that 'entertain'.

I've currently got a job where I work some weird hours. It is a 'corporate stiff' job, but since my company is HQ in India, I find myself up at all hours, and still slaving away during the regular US work day. This has successfully gobbled up most of any free time that may exist once you account for family and work. The good news is that the poker world on the intertubes is a 24x7 affair. Combine this with my HD DVR that records lots of televised poker (Poker After Dark has been particularly good in the past year, IMO), and Poker has become about the only hobby of mine that I can make any time for.

I have also kept up attempts to run as many 'home games' as possible. The wives in our neighborhood run a monthly Bunco night...so the husbands try to get together for poker as regularly as we can. It winds up being probably once every other month. We like to run it on a night we can buy a UFC fight too.

I've had so many poker related thoughts and opinions over the last many months that I was just too damned lazy to get penned down. That stops now. I'll spare writing very much where I re-has old things (WSOP 09, Isuldur1, Poker After Dark cash game(s), etc.). I'll try to keep it current. The common thread will be my personal poker playing. This blog will play host to my written goals about poker. The one that I'll put here now is that I want to play in a WSOP event during the 2011 series. That may seem like a long way off, but it with a new baby at home, I will not have a ton of time dedicated toward building a bankroll for a while.

Inspiration from Dr. Pauly

2006-06-16T00:34:00.000-05:00

So, this post will be brief....but thanks to Dr Pauly at the Tao of Poker, I have dediced to once again blog some thoughts on the subject of poker. (For those that don't know, Pauly hung his poker blog up temporarily, until he found rejuvenated spirit for it)

When our home game died out, so did most of my blogging material. HOWEVER, those that know me know that I am never short of an opinion, and this was as good a forum as any to blast those opinions to the world.

So.....I'm back.

2005-09-16T14:39:00.001-05:00

Home Game @ Justin’s

So I am a little behind in getting this recap up….I told Justin that he needs to get wifi, so that I can sit at the table with my laptop and make live updates. Some of the things that have been coming out of peoples mouths for the last few weeks has been downright hilarious, and the lag in my posting this will almost certainly water the humor down. Oh well---here goes.
5 players tonight…missing a few of the usuals, and have a new face to add:

First position: Man’s Man
One More Card Justin
me
A. “Straight Outta” Compton (we’ll see if the name sticks…because I’m SURE it’s the first time hes heard it)
Supple Haunches in LP

So who is missing??? Well, if you remember, we lost Atlanta Eric---to---of all places---Atlanta. AND, Potty Mouth Mike is conspicuously absent tonight….more on that to come

So even before we started, it seems like someone put a quarter in Mans Man…hes all full of piss and vinegar. First he had commentary on why Potty Mouth is absent:

“…cleaning his house? He’s washing his damn vagina”. Nice

Then he has some commentary on his strategy for tonight:
(in best spacey blonde voice, clapping hands like Jock Jams) “Be aggressive…..Be Be Aggressive”. Wow---could have bet my first born that something like that would have never happened….maybe its setting up to be a strange night at the table. And---of course---his rants were poignantly followed by a “BLOG THAT, Mother Fucker!”. And it is done.

The first orbit of the night started out with a bang. I caught A10c, and everybody folded to me in the small blind. Had a few options, but in the spirit of being consistent in my betting to mask the strength of my hand, I raised an average amount. BB called me, and board came J-10-7-Q-2, rainbow. My AJ held up, with marginal betting along the way. One More Card was the BB that hand, and he had some words of wisdom for the table following that beat…I assume they applied to the hand he just lost.

“Don’t play those damn middle pairs---they bend you over the table---and squirt it on your back”

Well---all B&D aside, I pulled down a decent pot for this early in the night.
Things stayed in relatively high gear, as we moved into the 2nd level of blinds. We were still early in the night, and had quite the showdown hand. I was on the button, and had J9. There were 4 calls of the BB, and I checked to see the flop---everyone still in the hand.

The flop came J-8-J. I just hit the JACKpot! AND…I’m in position, so if there is a thief out there, I can slap his hand with a strong re-raise. Straight Outta Compton bet out 100 (pretty significant bet at this point)…and in first position, a potentially dangerous move without having made a hand on a flop like that. Supple quickly raises 3x. WOW! What action for my trips. Maybe they slow played a monster, KK/AA, and they think that its great right now. Then---Mans Man CALLS. One More Card didn’t live up to his name, as the pot got too rich for his blood. He folds out. I like the action, but with a low kicker, am a little nervous about the other J taking me out. Can’t fold the hand---I call. Compton quickly folds. 3 handed action, with a huge pot brewing. Turn comes a 7, and there is nothing to mention of a flush draw on the board. This looks like gold to me. Supple bets another 300, Mans man calls---and I decide to make my move. I’m ALL IN. I get both guys to call…..WHATTA POT! We turn our cards over in preparation for the river……here is what we have:

Board: J-8-J-7
Supple: J6
Mans man: 77
me: J9

DAMMIT!

All that betting and Mans man turns 7’s full on fourth street. ARRRGH! Only 2 cards can help me now, and 8 or a 9. Of course, the river comes K---and I am crippled. Supple is out, Mans man has a huge stack.

So I’m crippled---but not dead.

We’re 4 handed, and relatively soon after that monster hand, I was dealt 55. I raised (who am I kidding, at this point by raising, I was pot committed). I managed to get 4 callers, which I thought was a good thing…I thought people were playing loose. The flop came Jc-10-5c. I worried about the straight and flush draws—but as I said, I was pot committed, so I went all in. Straight Outta Compton called me, and showed his KK. I was actually really happy to see that, since he had fewer outs than if he were drawing for the straight or the flush. Turn and river came A-2, and I nearly quadded up.

This knocked Straight Outta Compton out, and we were down to 3.
Here is where I get distracted, and I am not sure what happened to some of my notes…but I do know that Compton went to playing with his Skytel pager…muttering:

“Oh Minesweeper, how many craps have we shared?”—referencing the fact that he takes his company issued pager into his 2nd office when nature calls. They have a very sweet relationship…

Again---apologies for the time jump in here, and there are undoubtedly good stories about how Mans Man lost his stack---but heads up wound up being One More Card Justin vs. me. I had him just barely covered, and immediately, he offered a split. I didn’t take him up on it—I told him that I don’t get the chance to play him heads up often, and wanted to see what I can do.
As I have made plenty of references to previously, Justin is easily the hardest player to read that I consistently play against. We have all agreed that if any of us were to get entry into a major tournament, that he would have the best shot at advancing far. I think I am a pretty solid player, but he definitely gets into your head, and works the whole “play against the player, not the cards” angle to his advantage.

We had a pretty intense 25-30 minutes, where we pushed about 40% of the chips back and forth across the table, until we were right about back at even. We got to a hand where the flop came 9-2-3 rainbow, and he moved all-in on me. I was a little bit worried, because I didn’t have a particularly strong hand, but with 8-9, I did hold top pair. I decided to call, and things looked pretty good. Justin flipped up J-3, holding middle pair, and with a turn and river of 8-4, my hand actually improved to two pair, and I took down what worked out to be the final pot. I had Justin covered by a tad bit, and I brought home my first title in some time. I was on a pretty rotten dry streak, and this one felt pretty good—especially in beating Justin.

All for now—we haven’t played since. Definitely not the same without E…damn Emory University.

Bad Beat Classic Tournament

2005-08-27T01:07:00.000-05:00

As promised...here is some of the information for the upcoming first edition of the Bad Beat Classic NL Tournament:

(sorry, this tournament is invite only----you will know if you got the invite in email)

---Saturday, October 22nd. Doors open (with food drink) @ 7:00pm. Cards will be in the air at 730, and all those who confirmed will still owe their buy-in and will have their blinds placed for them if they are late.
---Max of 28 players (4 tables of 7...could grow to 4 of 8)
---total buy-in of 75 pinto beans, 60 pinto beans to prize pool---balance goes to dinner, snacks, booze, etc.
---all basic tournament rules will apply...but to be more clear, I will be posting comprehensive ones at some point.
---blind structure:
730-800: 10/20
800-830: 15/30
830-850: 25/50
break until 900
900-920: 50/100
(color up removing 10s)
920-940: 75/150
940-1000: 100/200
1000-1020: 150/300
(color up to smallest denomination of 100)
1020-1040: 200/400
1040-1100: 300/600
(break until 1110)
1110-1130: 400/800
1130-1150: 500/1000
1150-1210: 700/1400
1210-1230: 1000/2000 (blind cap)

--- Pinto bean payout structure: (anticipated, subjet to change....approximate)
1st: 70% of total pinto beans
2nd: 20% of total pinto beans
3rd: 10% of total pinto beans

That should do it for now...will follow up on this blog for updates to tourney...Q&A (with response), rules, etc. Be sure to check back EARLY and OFTEN.

Home Game @ Justin's----Atlanta Eric's Last Hurrah

2005-08-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

8-4-2005:

So--the usual suspects are probably not quite usual to most readers yet, but we are already losing one. The reason Atlanta Eric has the name he has is because he is leaving home (the Chicago suburbs) with his Wife Laura to head to Atlanta and get his MBA at Emory. Congrats to Eric! However, this will be his last poker home game with this crowd for a little while.

The night started out with the usual pungent mix of local cheap fast food. Taco Bell seems to be a favorite---especially since the re-introduction of a classic. More to come on that one for sure.

The players for the night:
Seat 1: Mike "Potty"
Seat 2: Justin "one more card"
Seat 3: Hoosier Jeff
Seat 4: me
Seat 5: "Mans man" Brett
Seat 6: Supple Haunches
Seat 7: Outgoing Atlanta Eric

In the first orbit, Justin raises from late position..."I've got 7-3" he proclaims. Of course, I already had him on mute, so I didn't hear a word he was saying. It was as good as the Mom from Charlie Brown: "Wahh wah wuh weh waaah". Oh well, nobody had the stones to call him, so his 7-3 steal held up.

Play seemed really tight for a few orbits...with 7 people playing, everyone must want to get their share of the larger than normal prize pool. What wasn't tight tonight? Everyones stomachs...especially those who visited Taco Bell. The re-introduced favorite? Well....this quote should tell all

"Mans man": Whoa! The Chili Cheese Burrito juice is dancing in my stomach!

Thanks for the visual of that one.....no TBell for me for a while

I finally decide to get involved in a pot and it looked a little treacherous. I bet out 4xBB with JJ, and the flop comes 10-6-4...but all diamonds (both my jacks are black). I made a potentially weak play, and checked the top pair...getting to see the turn for free, and catching my Jh. Trips looked nice, but the diamond still worried me. However--I bet out, and the river came 9h...phew, no 4th diamond. It was just Mans man and myself left to the showdown. I don't think he put me on a hand, because he smooth called my final bet. My trips held up, to which his response was:

"You just very nonchalantly took a lot of my money" Not bad for the first major pot I was involved in.

The very next hand I was dealt 8-9 UTG. I decided to fold em, and to my shagrin, the flop came 10-J-Q. Oh well, maybe next time.

I chose to get involved in another hand not too long after the trip J's (don't worry, most of the rest of this post wont be about me). I was dealt 6-6, and caught my set on the flop. I had 1 caller after the flop, and since the flop was A-3-6, I put Hoosier Jeff on Ax. Even 2 pair was solid for me...I had him beat. The turn came 2, which still didn't worry me too much...he called my pre-flop raise, so 4-5 or something of the like was probably out of the question. A river 5 came down...and again, not a terrible worry, but now there was something out there that would beat me besides AA. I bet marginally (but was nearly pot committed at this point because of all the past betting)...Jeff went over the top all-in on me...and I had no choice but to bend over and call. He showed his A-4, giving him the straight to the 6. DAMMIT! Well...this left me crippled. I had Jeff covered, but I was down to less than 20% of my starting stack.

Pretty soon after, I was dealt AQh, and thought it opportune to get all my chips in the middle...hoping someone would call. I got my wish, and Supple and I went head-to-head. My AQh looked to dominate his A8o pre-flop.......UNTIL the board became littered with spades...4 of them to be exact. AND his 8 happened to be a spade, so he beat me. We all did get a good laugh, however, when he flipped his hand and called out his hand as a pair of 8's (he did have a pair of 8s, but also had the flush). Too bad I didnt catch an A or Q.....I could have been a stroke and said that the took 8s as his hand......but no such luck for me. First out sucks!

I was bitter about my loss...but what can you do? These things happen---and too will pass. But now the question--how do I kill time while taking notes for the blog? I got really bored, really fast. Until...

Chaos ensued when Supple forgot that he was the BB, and folded pre-flop with no raise ahead of him. The cards were about to be dealt up when he noticed...and the table, almost in concert, yelled NO! They denied him his cards after he mistakenly mucked them when not forced to make a play. We can be dicks when it comes to $$.

Action slowed again, possibly stunned by how quick I managed to find my chips donated to the masses. But Justin and Eric decided to tangle...and for some reason, I decided to open my big mouth.
After raises and calls, they were the only 2 left in the pot...and the flop came 8-4-6 rainbow. Justin thought for a minute and went all in. Now--as you might have been able to grab from previous posts...Justin can be the bullshitter of the century. He might have easily have 27o here as AA. AND...I decide to talk Eric into calling him (maybe in some unconscious way to be able to see Justins hand). And that I did...Justin had 10-10, Eric K9. The turn and river came 7-9...actually giving Justin the straight to the 10--which he didnt need. Eric was now crippled.

I found another way to amuse myself. Most of us playing all play in the same hyper-competitive Fantasy Baseball League...and Justin happened to be logged into his team on the PC right by the card table. I was trying to convince Potty to drop all Justins best players (Justins running away with the league...) By the time we quit hemming and hawing, Justin was back from the bathroom, and logged himself out. Oh well---time to find something else to pass the time.

Another hot hand woke me back up...Justin makes a raise, and the table foldes to Supple----who smooth calls Justins bet. The flop comes 8-8-5, and induces Justin to go all-in. Supple looked him up, and as it turns out, had him pretty well dominated. Supple showed his KK vs. One More Cards AK. Both the turn and river were blanks, and Phil doubled up (leaving Justin crippled---$115 in chips).

The very next hand, with blinds 50/100, Justin gets dealt A2, and pushes all in, Supple called, and Eric was BB, so he was in the hand. It got checked down to the river, and when a 9 spiked, Eric's 9-2o won the hand. At least now I had more company on the outside looking in.

We managed to start more commotion not the least bit remotely related to cards. We used to have problems with people watching too much TV instead of playing their cards (Mike watching BC/Army football games, and Supple glued to the Presidential debates or anything on the History Channel). Well, tonight the problem was: WHAT TO WATCH. We had a channel monkey (forget who) who couldn't decide on what to keep tuned to. Over the course of channel flipping, we saw 4 options...: Flight of the Navigator (great movie!), Womens Professional Softball (with Jenny Finch), Senior Golf (Champions tour), and Tin Cup. This sounds like a great poll....CAST YOUR VOTE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. We actually decided on Tin Cup...but let it be noted that it was close, and I think truth be told, Flight of the Navigator won. Oh well.

Action on the table again grinded to a halt...but there was one fun hand that wasn't. Supple Haunches folded 3-4d from the small blind (with no raise ahead of him)...and the flop came A-2-5....ALL DIAMONDS. Sorry Supple.

That must have fired ole boy up, because a big 3-way pot sparked up. Supple came in with a raise to 400, called by Eric---and Mike goes over the top for 1400. He got both to call, with Eric being all in (Supple was not covered by Mike). Cards were:
Supple: QQ
Eric: 66
Mike: AA
Damn---lots of pairs for a 4 handed game. The board came 8-2-4-9-4, giving it to the Aces up of Mike. Eric is out...down to 3 (sorry, I missed some action in here and people going out trying to amuse myself)

Mike proceeded to try to annoy everyone. He was determined to use the smallest denomination chips to make huge bets. "It prolongs the game, and I love y'alls company," he said. "I hate you" retorted Mans man...as he goes to sleep on the table.

We got down to heads up between Supple and Mike...and Supple pulled a few straight all-ins to steal quite a few chips from Mike. He obviously thought Mike was still alright, because he said:
"Its no problem, you've still got way more blancas than me"----except he was trying to say black chips---the highest denomination.
"You're dating a mexican and you don't even know how to say black in spanish, how dumb are you?" Mike commented.

The last hand was not much to write about---Mike won. AND, somewhere in here, I missed a beat Mike put on me where I had KK, and he flopped trips with 88 and beat me----bastard!

Mike took the winners portion of the prize pool....oh well, even a blind nut squirrel finds a nut sometime.

Farewell E----we're all coming down for Cubs/Braves games next year and sleeping on your floor.

All for tonight....maybe I'll have the chance to post our most recent home game tomorrow.

Meeting Phil Gordon

2005-08-25T22:34:00.000-05:00

A very cool event came to Chicago two nights ago. Degree deodorant for Men is putting on a series in 6 US cities, where Phil Gordon comes to the ESPN Zone and puts on a 1 hour "Poker School". He goes through some strategies for No Limit that are beyond the beginner stuff. AND---to sweeten the pot, it is free to the first 250 or so attendees, free food and booze, AND there is a drawing for a FREE seat to the 2006 WSOP main event. I wish I could say that I won---so I'll throw that out there now...no suspense, no seat for me......yet.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the presentation Phil gave. Of course his public presence and speaking ability are great---he has plenty of experience, and seems to be a pretty good guy overall. But he put together some strategies, lessons and tips that probably truely advanced the skills of many in the audience. For me, it really made me reflect on the way that I play, and I'm going to try some of the things he suggested (of course I'm not going to say what....cmon now). He even put together a very easy to follow demonstration of Pot Odds and Implied Pot Odds---topics that most novices have only heard some of on TV, or are completely ignorant to. I think most of the crowd got it.

All in all it was a pretty good event. Justin "one more card" was supposed to come too, but he wussed out when he remembered he had a Cubs ticket that night and couldn't end up selling it in time. I'll keep torturing him by reminding him that with his luck, he would have won that seat---and would have undoubetedly turned it into $1M+ in winnings at the 2006 WSOP.

Phil even dealt with the sometimes pushy Chicago crowd members who don't know when to:
A. wait their turn, or
B. shut up.

A little pimpage for Phil for a job well done:

http://www.philgordonpoker.com

And see if this tour is coming to your city: (Denver, Anaheim, Atlanta still to come)

http://www.degreedeodorant.com/poker_events.html

I'm Back

2005-08-25T22:29:00.000-05:00

Well...it has been a while since I posted. I feel kind of guilty---some have been bugging me to write, and I really do have lots to write. I have notes from play online, home games---all kinds of fun stuff. First something cool that I read today. On a friends blog: www.houseinprogress.net Aaron had a similar feeling to me right now. He neglected his blog (not nearly to the extent that I did mine)...but wondered aloud in his post if there should be a verb to describe blog neglect. Food for thought. If I come up with one, I'll be sure to let you know. But I digress...I am going to put my thoughts in individual posts tonight....hopefully I have enough time to get them all in. They may not come in chronological order, but oh well.

Its good to be back!

WSOP Final Thoughts

2005-07-16T21:56:00.000-05:00

The six weeks of insanity has finally come to an end....and what a late night it was for those still around at Binions when the 2005 WSOP Main Event World Champion was crowned. Joe Hachem, an Aussie, was crowned this years champion..."Aussie!, Aussie!, Aussie!, Oy!, Oy!, Oy!" was the cry you could hear from his railbirds whenever he scooped a pot. Wonder how much they had left in the tank when he scopped the final pot after running for nearly 14 hours---ending after 6:40am local Vegas time.

First I have to give it up for DrPauly---without whom I would have been relegated to trolling other lesser sites hoping to get little nuggets of the action. Instead, I was armed with his railside (and even closer at times....you have to go read about his bathroom experience with Hellmuth and Matusow during the final night) musings, and I couldn't be more appreciative. I came across his blog shortly before the WSOP, but his writing ability and sense of humor have hooked me as a 'post WSOP' reader. I can't wait for his book to come out!

SO---check his site out: http://taopoker.blogspot.com

First recap of the WSOP will be around my 3 predictions...to recap:
*Farha not at the final table
*Raymer and Ivey at the final table
*Remaining 7 at final table relative unknowns

So, the first prediction came through. I just had it in my gut that Farha hadn't adapted his style enough to avoid the pitfalls of playing against potentially very loose players

Raymer and Ivey both made VERY good runs, making it to the second to last day. Raymer finished 25th, Ivey 20th...both taking home a cool $304,680. For a few days straight, it really looked like these two were going all the way. While my prediction was off...they both put up good showings, and I don't feel like I was far off the mark.

The final table had a makeup similar to what I had predicted, except in the place of Raymer and Ivey, your only "name" pro was Mike the Mouth Matusow. This was a bummer for me, since I'm not his biggest fan. However, I knew he would bring a little bit of flair to the final table if nothing else. I have to say that I was disappointed to see him get knocked out relatively early in the final day in 9th place. A $1M payday---not bad for a weeks work.

Some other overall observations:

Far reaching group of talent:
This years expanded field of over 5600 players really showed the far reaching attraction of the WSOP, and poker in general. Not only did you have a very diverse field---Men, Women, International players, all ages, etc.---but you had just as diverse a group of spectators and press (from what I can tell in reading about the event...I was not in attendance, unfortunately) From the "Aussie!, Aussie!, Aussie!, Oy!, Oy!, Oy!" chants heard from Joe Hachem's followers, to the big contingent covering the Irish players---and especially Andy Black---this is becoming a Global event for ALL to follow.

Races were the name of the game:
Of all the big hands that were reported on, it seemed like 70-80% of them were races....with neither player having more than a 55/45 advantage or so. This is interesting to me. One thing that it goes to show you is that now, more than ever, the player very skilled at stealing blinds/bets for free, and luring players into post-flop betting into their strong hand has more of an advantage than ever. These are not easy skills to come by, and are generally traits of the top professional players. These players that can maximize their winnings on marginal pots without having to risk races can find themselves in a position late in the game where a few lost races won't hurt them (or knock them out). I really think that from here on out, most big tournament winners will be the ones that set themselves up with a chip cushion such that they can gamble with a few races and not be crippled.

How big can it get?:
With a field of 5600+, this years main event was monstrous. It had a day 1 that was really 3 days (and caused its own controversy), and more players and spectators that the Rio could seem to comfortably hold. Poker Stars alone sent 1,100 players to the main event. Not sure what will happen for next year, as the top online sites are sure to start qualifiying satellite winners starting immediately. Can it get to 10,000 entrants, for a $100,000,000 purse? If so--I think the tournament directors have a great deal of planning to do to make sure they can comfortably accommodate a tournament of this size. My gut tells me that groups may have to play at different casinos until the field gets paired down into a manageable number.

First place payout only $7.5M?
With a field more than double the record field of 2004, this years grand prize payout was only 50% more than last? This doesn't make much sense to me. Last years $5M grand prize was roughly 20% of the overall purse. This years prize wasn't even 15% of the total. The one argument that I heard is that Harrah's wanted to have more people running around with $12,500 or more in their properties after they got paid. I know its their tournament, and they can payout however they like, but my humble opinion (and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone) is that a $10M first prize or greater would have made for manic press. $7.5M is still big, but 8 figures+ would have been tremendous.

That's all from me for now.

One more thing---I got my first ping from a current poker blogger. Be sure to check out Chasenfold @
http://chasenfold.blogspot.com
For another quality poker blog. I am going to make a list soon of those poker sites/blogs that I recommend and add that list to the right hand side. I am also considering spotlight on a poker site of the week....we'll see.

Final thought:
(taken from Pauly's blog)
WPBT "Charlie" Tournament = This Sunday!!

If you don't know the story... feel free to read: A Guy named Charlie.

Here is the tournamnet information (thanks to BG):WPBT "Charlie" Tournament

When? 6PM EST Sunday July 17th
Where? PokerStars... Check under the Private Tournamnet Tab
How Much? $20 - every penny goes to charity

What Do I Get When I Win? The comfort of knowing you're doing something good for someone else. No, Really... No. Really.

All proceeds to go to wherever Charlie Tuttle's family wants them. The tournament is open to bloggers and readers.

First Home Game Entry

2005-07-14T20:21:00.000-05:00

OK....first order of business....we don't have a name for our 'weekly home game'. I put that in " because we hardly ever pull off playing weekly. In fact, I think this is the first time we have played in a few months. At any rate, lets set the stage with the players.

We have 7 guys who qualify as 'regulars', and I think this is the first time that we have had all 7 at the same game. Pretty regular, right? The suspects are:

Justin--"One more card"
Phil--"Supple Haunches"
Brett--"Man's man"
Mike--"Potty Mouth" (and trust me, there is a better story to this one than swearing a lot)
Atlanta Eric
Hoosier Jeff
Me

Tonight's game started out waiting for Hoosier Jeff. He was late, so we were left to entertain ourselves....bad idea. For some reason, all everyone could do was blurt out ridiculous porn sites to test out and see if they exist. I think that the worst one had something to do with something or someone "Gurgling" some other stuff.

Then, Potty Mouth (after having been drinking for 90 minutes already) decides to emphatically offer up his personal favorite---"My mouth is a potty dot com". I've never seen someone more adamant about strangers bathroom dealings in my life. Hence, the new nickname, as of tonight.

Supple also asked that I come back and mention that we spent quite a bit of time searching for The Star Wars Kid, and Triumph videos. Hilarious stuff!

Triumph: "So (to someone in Darth Vader suit), which button do you hit (on your suit) to call your parents to come pick you up?"

When we started playing, it was like everyone had withdrawals and had to see every flop. A table full of limpers each time.

For about a half hour, there wasn't much action, until Justin tangled with Eric. Justin is the kind of guy that doesn't quit talking at the table....things like "well, I've got a full house of suits" can often be heard thrown about. This time, with a board of 10-x-J-x-Q, he proclaims, "Well, I made my straight......I'm all in" This really meant nothing....there was equal chance that he had nothing as that he had the straight. After only a few seconds, Atlanta Eric called him, and proceeded to pull his heart out through his gut. Justin showed 8-9, and Eric showed his straight, 9 to the K. Justin, the first out tonight. More to come in a later post about how in our first 10 or so games, Justin was out first probably 8 times. Then, miraculously, he pulled off a winning streak of 6 or 7 straight games.

We were down to 6. And we didn't last long there. We were still on the first round of blinds. The board came up with a 3rd diamond on the turn, and Potty Mouth (still ranting drunkenly, earning him ridicule from the table) went all in. Supple pondered, and made the call. Potty turned over his A high flush, Supple was heartbroken with his low flush...he was drawing dead. Supple wanted to make sure that we call out that it was a bad move to call, since Potty Mike only makes bets like that with the nuts.

We had just made it to the 2nd round of blinds, and I was playing very conservatively. The only pot I played in was an initial bluff, raised up with 3-5. When A-K came on the board, I bet like I had it, and got flat called. BUT, I caught the wheel on the turn, and should have backed off....but I kept the pedal on the floor, and pushed Atlanta E out.

The next hand that I got into I had KK. Raised big pre-flop, and got 2 callers. Flop came 8-9-Q, and Mike bet BIG into me. I put him on AQ, and didn't learn the lesson from Supple. I went over the top all-in, Mike called. He showed me his set of 8's...my hand didn't improve...and I was pissed. I played conservatively when the table was loose, and got kickered in the balls. Oh well...my night is over, so I decided to come over and blog some of this.

Man's man was next to head out...and I think again before the blinds went up again....man, quick friggin action here. Not sure of the hand.

We were down to 3, in the 3rd or 4th round of blinds. Hate the fact that if I would have just folded everything, I had a good chance to go heads up to win.

Next big hand saw another elimination---this is getting crazy.

Atlanta Eric: AK
Hoosier Jeff: KK

Pretty solid hands pre-flop, and they both went all-in. Jeff had Eric covered....table came:
10-Q-6-Q-2

KK held up, and we were down to 2. Hoosier and Potty Mouth heads up.

Game has slowed as somehow the Outdoor Games made its way onto the TV. Way too many people VERY interested in this...OK, good....back to the WHite Sox beating the Tribe. I'm a Cubs fan myself, but its funny to give Potty Mouth shit about his Indians (hes from Cleveland) losing.

Very little action on the table. Potty Mouth just told me "Fuck you, put that on your blog" as I laugh at the drunk Irish Mick and his sorry ass Injuns.

Finally some action. Potty Mouth flops K high flush on flop, Indiana Jeff had top pair. Jeff his trip kings on river, and thought he had Mike.....hes all in. Damn Potty Mouth actually won....at least his Indians lost. Maybe I'll go home and put more thoughts down about this.

WSOP Updates

2005-07-14T11:07:00.000-05:00

Action has been fast and furious over at the Rio these past few days. It's been near impossible to keep up with all the players that have been knocked out. Again---I'll pimp Pauly's site--to get the best blow-by-blow coverage of the event, check out http://taopoker.blogspot.com

So, lets revisit my predictions of a few days ago:

#1--that horse already came through. Despite his big chip stack early on, Sammy Farha was knocked out relatively early.

#2--Nothing is a sure bet right now, but with the chip stacks that both Ivey and Raymer have right now, they look like they are in very good position to bring this prediction home. (see chip counts below for beginning of play today--3pm).

#3--So far I'm pretty close here. The only pro besides Ivey and Raymer in the top 10 is Mike the Mouth Matusow. This pains me. I'm not the biggest fan of The Mouth---and frankly, I hope Raymer pulls a 3 outer on him and sends him home. I'd imagine that ESPN is pulling for an Ivey/Raymer/Matusow final table---but I can do without. All said, though, this prediction is still pretty on target...very few pros to be at the final table.

1. Mike Matusow (Las Vegas, NV) $5.14M
2. Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, NV) $4.635M
3. Steven Dannenmann (Severn, MD) $4.3M
4. Tex Barch (McKinney, TX) $3.9M
5. Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer (Stonington, CT) $3.84M
6. Brad Koudrachi (Kingston, PA) $3.16M
7. Joseph Hachem (Melbourne, Australia $3.125M
8. Scott Lazar (Studio City, CA) $3.025M
9. Michael Kessler (Spotsylvania, VA) $2.7M
10. Daniel Bergsdorf (Umea, Sweden) $2.55M

A few other reactions to the play of the last few days:

**Kudos to Tiffany Williamson, the lone remaining female in the field. She starts the day with $1.125M in chips, but this could have been much worse. She made a poor call on Raymer yesterday, when he went all-in pre-flop. She had him covered, pondered her move for a few minutes, and called his KK with A-J. Tough thing about it is that if she had spiked an A, history would be looking a little more differently on her today. She had a legitimate chance to knock out the current world champion, and she took a stab at it. Good for her for having the guts to do it---but hindsight shows that the call wasn't the right one. If it weren't for doubling up soon after her loss to Raymer, she may not have lasted until today, and she certainly would have been a short stack at best.

**With Raymer's run this year, all the critics are coming out of the ductwork. Many criticize his play, and attribute his winning to a great deal of luck. (You can see all the haters on Pauly's comments sections) I like to look at it this simply: Luck is certainly involved everywhere in this game---there are few 100% situations. However, Raymer has played the hands in front of him, avoided any elimination chances, and gotten the job done---in back to back record fields! You can attribute as much of his success to luck as you like, but I consider it no coincidence that he, Ivey and Matusow are still left with good chip stacks----they are PROS, and have SKILLS.

All for now, I'm sure to be back with some updates based on today's play, taking the field from 27 to the final table of 9----EVERYONE at the final table guaranteed a pay day of at least $1M!

First of three predictions has come through...

2005-07-11T22:50:00.000-05:00

So---it was probably the least impressive of the 3 predictions I made this morning.......but with the chip stack that he had, and the field left, many considered Sammy Farha a favorite for the final table. But--unlike many of the well-stacked pros today--he has busted out.

From Dr. Pauly @ http://taopoker.blogspot.com (the BEST coverage of the WSOP):
8:20pm... Sammy Farha was busted in 316th place. He had 7-7 and John Falconeer flopped a full house with 5-5. Both players got the money in on the turn. 305 players are left.

1 of 3 has come through...if I were a baseball player, I'd be a Hall of Famer. Maybe I should retire :)

More WSOP rants...and some predictions!

2005-07-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well—here we are after days 1a, 1b, 1c and day 2. It has been quite the rollercoaster ride so far. As I mentioned in my previous post, the notable names that didn’t last 48 hours is incredible. This is a phenomenon I’d like to look further into—Pro’s Busted. Now, this is not to discount the skills and abilities of those professionals—their track records, bracelets, bankrolls, etc. all speak for themselves. However, the game (at least the big tournament game) has definitely changed. The influx of young, brash, internet players is tipping the game on its side. Many tend to throw hand odds, and all “common sense” out the window—only to be rewarded by catching their 3-outer to make their hand. This is not to say—however—that ALL the new young players don’t have talent in their own right. The likes of Scott Fischman, Dutch Boyd, and many others are proving that their success was not fleeting—rather that they may be players to be reckoned with in all venues from here on out.

My overall hypothesis is simple: Each profile of player will have its place in the future of poker. The way I see it, I count three distinct profiles:

“Internet Newbie”: The newest breed of poker players, raised on Party Poker, Poker Stars, and the like. The majority of these players do not have the level of seriousness, dedication and intestinal fortitude to become key players on the main stages of poker. However, many will find this success—and I guess the opinions will be left up to us as to whether it was ‘luck’ that got them there, or good ole’ poker ability.

Grizzled Veterans: Thanks to mass media coverage of poker, you know all the familiar faces here: Doyle Brunson, TJ Cloutier, Barry Greenstein, Chip Reese, etc. They all have—very literally—written the book on big-time poker. No matter the game or the stakes, they have seen most everything you can throw at them. These players will continue to be the brightest stars amongst the highest of high stakes cash games. However—their inability to adapt to their surroundings—may cost some of them the legacy they have so desired (read: Phil Hellmuth may never win a another bracelet)

Poker Hybrid: This group—in my opinion—is best positioned to find great success in future large tournament settings. I believe that a prototype for this player is 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer. Those who don’t know Greg’s story should read up more on it—but it is this simple: Greg is very seasoned at beating both Internet Newbie’s at their game, and Grizzled Veterans at their game—and his overall method of play has grown out of this experience and success. The subsequent style of play that Greg has adopted truly lends itself to great success in settings like a 5600+ entrant Main Event.

Now that I have bored you with my thoughts on the state of the game, how about a little bit of fun. I know that it is a little late to be making predictions—but based on the way the Main Event has run so far, here are a few predictions (probably sure to go wrong):

Sammy Farha will not make the final table. Call it my gut, or whatever you will, but I don’t think he can escape the clutches of the unpredictable “call-anythings” that are still lurking in the waters. I will say this—the longer he lasts—and the more inexperienced players he outlasts—the more I like his chances. This may sound like a DUH! type comment, but what I am getting at is I like his chances more against his own kind (Grizzled Veterans in the vernacular I established above), than against the Newbies.

Greg Raymer and Phil Ivey will make the final table. You can probably see from above why I would say this about Fossilman—so I’ll tell you more about the Ivey pick. Despite not really being a member of the Hybrid group (in my opinion), Phil has done a GREAT job of avoiding any high-risk situations for all his chips against a loose cannon. So long as he can continue this pattern, I like his chances against anyone left.

NO other “name” players will make the final table. This may seem like another weak prediction, with so many Pros already out. BUT—quite a few are still left, and with pretty significant stacks as well (read: Farha, Watkinson, The Grinder, Layne Flack, etc.). However, similar to Farha—I’m not sold that their style of play has adapted enough to the free-wheeling players that they may run up against. If they can use the free-wheeling nature to their advantage along the way—they may likely prove me wrong. I would like to see it (and I’m sure ESPN would as well), because I think it would make for a far more entertaining TV run.

That’s all for now—have some fun with me and post some reactions to my predictions…either ahead of time (cmon, go out on a limb)…or as they are proven positive or horribly wrong. Let me have it!

First rants on the WSOP...

2005-07-10T09:26:00.000-05:00

Well kids---I've been silent for a few days...but now that the first 3 waves of play are done at the RIO, I have a few reactions.

** Lots of big names going out on 'day 1'. Doyle, Negreanu, Hellmuth, Jen Harman (she seemed to come in so strong, and got crippled with an absolutely crazy beat). The list goes on and on. Many of the favorites have already hit the road.

** Seems like this tournament has almost gotten too big for its britches. According to those in the room--there is no room to move, and the spectators are rude as can be. Maybe already in need of a new venue for 2006?

** 1100+ entrants from Poker Stars? Thats crazy. Congrats to them on getting so many people to pay in and play in their qualifiers...hope they didn't lose their shirt adding money to all those tourneys. Speaking of losing their shirt--it sounds like everywhere you turn on the floor you see a pokerstars shirt, jersey, hat, etc. Must look kind of funny.

Thats all for now, I'll keep it simple.

BUT--one more plug for the best coverage on the WSOP:

http://taopoker.blogspot.com

--MB

About the blogger...

2005-07-07T22:43:00.000-05:00

I think that in the spirit of interesting blogging (and following Pauly’s rules of engagement), I should tell you all more about me. Tell you about me personally, and what my motives and purposes are for my blog.

I am in my mid-20’s, and reside in the Chicago suburbs. I have lived around Chicago my entire life. My beautiful wife of just about 1 year and I have a townhouse that we share with our 2 dogs, Wiggum and Cooper. Within the next 2 years or so, we will hopefully share our abode with another little one—but this one will probably not have a name quite like the 2 dogs. We are both proud grads of the University of Illinois—Oskee Wow Wow, Illinois! My career has taken me many places at a young age, and I am currently in Corporate Sales. It’s very challenging and generally keeps me on my toes. It should be obvious by now that one of my pastimes (I’d hate to call it a hobby since I feel that I am getting pretty good) is playing poker. I have played ‘poker’ since I was 3. It probably sounds like a fish tale, but I have witnesses who can corroborate. My Grandfather operated Video Poker machines in taverns, and I grew up working in his business and industry. When I first came around his office, the first thing I was given to pass the time was a video poker machine. You can see it many ways—potentially inappropriate, to encourage an impressionable youngster with poker. Or—you can see it as a very good way to stimulate mathematical and strategic skills.

An early exposure to the game of poker led to my interest in versions of the game that involved greater skill and far more advanced thinking. Hence—games like Texas Hold ‘Em.
Like many, I have the semi-regular home game(s). I play in some larger live tournaments, and have gotten into playing online. My first foray came with a referral bonus on Pacific Poker. I got in during the $100 referral period. My first 2 tournaments yielded about $600 in winnings, and I was on my way. What happened next is pretty ironic. My wife ribs me, telling me that it’s like something out of a movie—like a Rounders (I love that she can equate something to that movie now…I recently turned her on to it. I also got her into playing cards—another story for another time!). My car broke down—and it wasn’t cheap. My clutch went out, and my bill was $1300. I took my bankroll on Pacific Poker, and went to earn my $1300. I played at cash tables; ranging from 5/10 limit up to 30/60. Within another 4 days or so, I had taken my $700 bankroll up to over $2500. Once I hit that level, I did the safe thing, and pulled $1300 out to fix my car. Glad I did it, because I hit a very terrible run of cards, and went bust. All this was against the better advice of a friend—Justin “One More Card” (I’m sure its only a matter of time before we have some quotes from him on here—or he has his own blog). He saw that I was getting antsy and a little bit on tilt. His advice was to only break into a cash table with what I was comfortable losing that night. I did that first, but that $300 went REALLY quick. I went against his wise words…and continued to lose almost all the rest of my bankroll.

I am now busted (only in Pac Poker, not overall J)—hence the play recently in the free roll tournaments.

But my experience has taught me something (I think it—nobody else really has to)—when I stick to my game and remain disciplined, I really can play. SO—I have set a goal for myself, and I think I will try to track some of my progress toward this goal on this blog. I want to play in the MAIN EVENT at the WSOP next year. I don’t have a specific detailed plan—but my overall plan does include refreshing my online bankroll, and using that same disciplined play that paid off my car to gain entry to the main event. I’d also like to be able to play a WSOP NL event prior to the main event, just to have that experience before I play for $10+ million.
So—what will you see on my blog? You will primarily see my experiences with the great game of poker…my home games, tournaments, online play, etc. You will also see commentary about other games—ones that I watch, read about, etc. Things like the WSOP, WPT, etc. And—read frequently enough, and I bet you will find a funny story about my wife, or dogs, or something of the like.

I hope you are entertained, enlightened, or moved in some way by my writings. Hopefully I can be a positive contributor to a very healthy poker blogging community. I am proud to join, and hope that I can make all the veterans proud with my insights and writings on the game.
AND—if you see me playing online (mainly at Pacific Poker—handle=Hexum311 and Party Poker—handle=Bradstreet31), give me a shout!

Freeroll comings and goings

2005-07-07T14:21:00.000-05:00

OK—so freerolls aren’t that exciting, right? And you’re probably wondering why I’m wasting my time with them, right? That issue is definitely a whole other story of its own—surprise, surprise—you can read that story soon in an upcoming post!

So a few nights ago I was playing a 2000 person freeroll on Pacific Poker—by the way, probably my 2nd ranked place to play online. It was pretty late at night, and I had a relatively long day (tourney started at 10:45 central time). The entire thing was pretty uneventful to say the least—in fact, I was playing 2 other tables at the same time: PLOmaha, and 7Stud. There wasn’t much ado, until with about 250 people left, I caught AA. Now, many times when this happens in a tourney like this one, AA seems to win about as much as 2-7o…but it was about 12:30am, my eyes were heavy, and if the rockets lost—I could deal with it. I went all in (prob 5-6k in chips, blinds 500-1000), and I found 2 callers (both of whom had me covered). The subsequent flop was some kind of miracle from the sky…A-A-K. HUH!? I had just flopped quad A’s with a K—pretty unbelievable. In fact, I was so tired, I initially didn’t believe it. Pretty interesting how the hand played out, because I was able to sit back with all my chips in the middle, and watch the other 2 guys represent A’s knowing they didn’t have them. They continued to bet at one another (making me really wish I had significantly more chips to win with). Of course nobody caught that (if someone had made Royal, it could probably go down as the worst beat ever), and I went on to triple up.

From there, I hit a little bit of a rush, amassing a stack of about 80,000 chips in the next 20 minutes or so. And as quickly as I built it up, it all seemed to vanish.

I hovered right around the 80,000 chip mark for the next few hands, until from the BB I caught top pair. It was only a pair of jacks, and my kicker wasn’t great, but I still bet out. It came down to me and one other guy, who kept calling my bets. He winds up catching a K on the river, and his K-6o end up beating me. NOT sure why he stuck around, but I guess dumber things have happened. Because my kicker wasn’t that great, I didn’t push all-in, so I had about 40,000 in chips left.

At this point, blinds were up to something in the ballpark of 3000-6000 or 4000-8000, so I had to make a move soon. (down to about 25 guys…top 10 cash) The very next hand I was dealt 44. 2 guys made minimal raises ahead of me (to either 12k or 16k)…and I decided to make my stand: All in.

I actually got both raisers to call, and as I had guessed, they had high cards, no pairs. I was a slight favorite. The flop came 9-8-7…which most times would look really crappy, but since I was up against A-J, and K-Q…it seemed like I just needed to avoid those cards, and a 10. The turn came with an 8—still lookin good with 2pr. Then the river—a 7. Yuck! 2 pair on the board, and the guy with AJ had the top kicker…what a kick in the teeth. That busted me, and I finished 19th…still pretty respectable out of 2000 (even though its pretty loose since it’s a freeroll)…but I really wanted to cash. Oh well. Time for bed.

As I am a glutton for this type of punishment, I ended up on Full Tilt last night on their $20 freeroll. In my opinion, they need some higher stakes freerolls…but I really just wanted the competition. There were 900 entered. This one didn’t turn out as great as the Pac Poker one, but there were 2 hands worth noting. Karma seemed to come around and give me a few comebacks myself. Again it was late, and I was caring less if I busted, because sleep was looking better and better. I was dealt AJ, only someone with the Hilton’s stayed. With a flop of J-4-3, he went all-in, and I called. I figured he had me beat…but I wasn’t drawing dead. As if I called it to come, my J came on the turn, and a river K didn’t help him. I had doubled up. Just like the other night, this sparked a pretty good run. I didn’t turn it into a cash, or even a top 10/20 finish…I guess the lack of sleep caught up with me. But I did have one more memorable hand before it was all said and done. I have never made an opponent so mad, not even at a $30/$60 cash table, or high-entry tournament. It was pretty amazing how pissed this guy got at a free tourney. I was dealt AJ again, and had 1 caller of my raise. The flop came AA9, and I checked it…looking to see how he would play it. He made a pretty strong bet at the pot, and I came back over the top—all in. He must have been licking his chops, because he called immediately, and flipped over his flopped full house 99 with 9AA. Pretty nice hand. I really didn’t stand much of a chance. BUT…what would come on the turn…my J: giving me Aces full. THEN, and this is the card that turned the knife as it stuck out of his back, the river came with another J. It was flagrant spit in his face—and all I could do was laugh, because its not like it happened with high stakes. My opponent proceeded to weasel every profanity he could into the chat, even if he had to type them in one letter at a time to keep Full Tilt from blanking them out. I could only imagine how furious he was, and what he looked like at the time. (Animal from the Muppets is the first visual that came to mind)

Inaugural Entry

2005-07-05T13:01:00.000-05:00

It’s happened to nearly everyone who has become addicted beyond the point of “casual poker player”. It’s probably even happened to those casual folks as well. AND—this event (coupled with other factors, like religiously reading DrPauly’s excellent blog)—has prompted me to put my thoughts to virtual pen. What is this antagonist? The Bad Beat.

A little bit of stage setting. I was playing in a small weekend game with a few buddies. Instead of having one marathon session, we decided that a few smaller stakes winner take all NL events would work out better. I didn’t mind either way, I figured I would be leaving in the black regardless. In the first of these games, I felt like I played fairly well, amassing a nice stack, and making the final 2 heads-up. My demise in that game was a legitimate beat—one that probably would have drawn commentary like “Well Vince, they both played that hand out as it should have been played, and to the victor go the spoils”. I was dealt 77. Raised (2-3x BB) pre-flop. And the flop came 2-2-5. I bet hard into this flop, expecting that my opponent didn’t stay with those little cards. If I’m being honest—based on his play all night, I put him on A-x (with the x being a middle card: 9 or 10). The turn came 8, and I had to make a play. I figured this didn’t help his hand, so I moved all-in. He quickly called, and showed me his pocket JJ. Doh! The river was a blank, and that was that.

Now—the second game is where the fun was. I was really hard pressed to pick up any hands worth playing. Some might say that makes the game easier…your decisions are basically made for you. However, its significantly less fun to not splash around. I was proud however, that I stuck to solid play, and scratched out what pots I could. One guy sitting across from me, the “new” guy—fresh out of college, started scooping up pot after pot, and had a very nice stack built. I felt pretty good about my chances should I last long enough to battle him heads up. I felt my experience in heads-up play would bode well. So—the “new” guy puts the 3rd place finisher out of his misery, and the matchup is set. I was significantly short stacked, but I still felt confident. Within about 10 hands I had leveled the playing field…we had nearly even stacks. Then I struck gold. I had won many of the preceding hands with nothing at all…and now had the ammo to back my raising up: KK. I did my usual raise of 2x BB, and he thought for a second (its probably important to mention that I think I had gotten him on tilt by taking a bunch of hands from him)…then he went over the top all in. At this point, I only feared AA, and maybe AK. The hell with it—I called him. He turned over his 77, and I thought this game was going to go to me. The flop came 3 blanks—rainbow. The turn helped nobody, which left me needing to avoid only a 7 on the river to win. AND—wouldn’t you know it—a 7 spiked on the river. I’m sure I looked pretty shellshocked. As I said in my open—it wasn’t the first time I’ve taken a horrible beat—and I’m sure it won’t be the last. But for some reason, this one stung particularly bad. When we counted out the chips, he had me barely covered, and took the full purse. Oh well—at least it makes for a good story, right?

And hence—the name of this blog for here and forever will be—the Bad Beat Blog.