June 2008 Home Game & AC Update

Hosted the home game at my house for the first time. Some of the guys took advantage of the hot tub, and everyone loved the Thumanns dogs imported from New Jersey. Our two guests cashed, which is an accomplishement in this game. Overall a fun night.

Game #1: S.M. M.B. R.W.
Game #2: R.W. B.D. J.S.
Game #3: J.S. S.M. W.E.
Game #4: M.B. B.S. S.H.

AC was a disaster.
Trop: Busted A5 < AK down to 3 tables.
Showboat: new poker room is nice. Congrats to the SB donk who called with 25s against my A7 shove from BB and turned a 5 to bust me in 12th. With 8 places paid, I can't see how he makes that call blind vs blind and near the bubble, having me outstacked by only a few BBs.
Borgata: busted a SnG 88 < KK when bigtime bluffer wakes up with a hand.

June 2008 Recap

6/30/08
20/180
I was 1/60 and playing well. Was slightly overtaken in a tightly clustered leaderboard but then took a horrible beat to knock me to 33. Never really regained any momentum. Table was aggressive and didn't have hands to push back with. AK lost to 99 when I needed it to. Ultimately at 5BB ran KJ into JJ to bust.

0-3 in FTP 45s, all due to beats. What's the use of trying to improve if it doesn't result in wins?

6/29/08
whiffed 0-3. got floated by a kid to kill my stack. ruined my night. meanwhile homeys continue to get rich off the donks and i'm left behind.

6/28/08
1/18 ITM returned from vacation looking forward to playing online again. got a confidence boost after a disasterous showing in Atlantic City. Shorty down to three, I fought back to take it down.

9/27 pretty card dead. as shorty, ran QJs < 55 to bust.

6/18/08
ITM but so what. river busts me again. i am really on a bad run of beats. think i need some time away.


here's one hand that worked in my favor - can't see how he makes this call with no part of the draw.



6/16/08
3/45 ITM
anyone that does not believe that i lose every dominating hand, just watch this. poker is a waste and all of us that play are waste products.


6/15/08
I was riding a 90KO and a 45 to the final table when the bad beats started really hurting me. I can't go through this like I did in Jan-Feb. I don't need this right now.


6/14/08
I'm losing every 70/30 domination just like a prolonged period I recently came through. Not making for happy times.

6/12/08
11/45 my AT < A5. yeah i'm ill.

Played the FullTilt Daily Double for the first time in a while.
I bust Tournament A when villain turns a better flush.


48/914 ITM
I get off to a nice start in Tournament B, and ironically I'm briefly ahead of one of my online heroes.


Longer tournament, more opportunities for mistakes. Made a couple. Ultimately run A9 into AK.

6/11/08
6/45 ITM a rivered flush busted my straight
6/45 ITM a better rivered straight busted my straight
these two really hurt, as i was multi-tabling on different sites. one right after the other is just brutal.

6/10/08
3/45 ITM played well, some minor mistakes, no regrets.
13/180 ITM made one big mistake that cost me. also heavy preflop action prevented a good open-shove strategy from taking hold. no action with KK in SB at 13/31.

6/7/08
1/90 ITM
I finally have a first place to my name, and it was a nice cash considering all the KOs I netted. Probably my biggest cash to date. A real blogger would post some key hands and talk about the tournament, but I'm tired. I did flop quad Jacks and had AA and KK hold up when I needed them to. The big difference was my shove/fold strategy. Ultimately, it looked like the curse was going to overtake me yet again when lost a hand HU on the river when I was way ahead preflop. But irony of ironies as huge stack I call a shove with T3 FTW.


6/4/08
SBOP V private PokerStars tournament. the three highest average finishers among players having played all four prior tournaments are bdd67, daozi, and KingPrussia, yet neither of us has cashed. i do believe we are do to do some damage this month. check back for results.

EDIT: daozi bailed, bdd67 bubbled, and KingPrussia shoved 99 into AA. Not one of our homeys has cashed this after VCDuke won the first event. What's up with that?

6/1/08
21/1574 ITM in the 8pm on PokerStars. i usually beat myself up for poor decisions, but i think i played this tournament really well. i picked my spots, and most of my premium hands held up. i lost KK to AQ in a crucial spot (see below), and i busted AQ against 77 but the guy could have easily been weaker. if i win that race, i make the final table.

played with a guy from sydney, but he claims to not know P. Sherman from 42 wallaby way. i think he was either lying or just has good teeth.

here are some highlights:

it amazes me how people value top pair no kicker


set fills up nicely. back in 7th place


KK holds up nicely - 24/198 now


77 holds up to AK. this is a read-specific shove because i percieved my opponent to be weaker than AK.


KK loses to AQ at a crucial moment deep


another nice pot, but why does this guy call here? http://www.pokerhand.org/?2698884

May 2008 Recap

So I leave behind the month of May, a month in which I showed down 3 quads and a straight flush. I lost an AK "nut" flush to a straight flush (QTs called my 3xBB raise so go figure), and I folded a flop that hit runner-runner straight flush. There is no normal distribution in poker - variance is the operative adjective. Overall i'm up a bit for the month, but I gave too much back in the last few days and have been running bad - so much so that I literally said outloud "if i don't cash tonight, i'm quitting." well the hemoraging continues but i managed to cash one tournament (woohoo), so the ball and chain remains at least for another week. there are just too many people i know that are doing well, and although i've definitely improved in the last year, i just don't see the results and doubt if i really have what it takes to be a profitable player. i definitely fall on the side of intelligent, yet when i submit hands for review, i always ask myself "why didn't i see that?". so somehow i still can't process all of the information available to me to make wise decisions. i'll be adding some reading and video reviews to my schedule next month.


5/31/08
An unorthodox way to play AA on hand #2 in the 8pm. I only limped because I raised 88 from EP on hand #1 and hit a set. At least it worked out for me - wonder what the original raiser had.



5/27/08 Main Line Poker Club (aka our local home game)
I made a world-class call against bdd67 which induced tilting, the likes of which have not been seen since Action S.H. stormed out of the kitchen dropping the F-bomb on the entire neighborhood. Here is a recreation of the magical moment. Be aware that this play is read-specific, against a particular player. I do not recommend you try this move at your local home game.



Results:
Game #1: 1) MB & IB 3) SH
Game #2: 1) JS 2) IB & RW
Game #3: 1) JS 2) IB, MB & RW

5/23/08
1/18 ITM I'm usually weak heads up but I managed to overtake and outlast my opponent. I'm playing well at 2 & 3 table SnGs of late. Would like to resume my nice string of cashes in the 45s that I enjoyed a short while back.

Been playing with the WSOP steps and have found that it is exremely easy to get to step 3, but the problem at step 3 is making the assumption that the level of play is much different than levels 1 & 2. It is not, so all kinds of hands go to showdown and the suckouts are quite numerous.

5/20/08
i lost all my 70/30s and my big pairs ran into flopped Aces numerous times. almost quit after tonight - got slammed disproportionately.

a straight flush for no chips


5/18/08
18/306 ITM
i entered just to have a chance to play against lilholdem954 and shaundeeb (sat to his left for a while). i busted running 88 into AK. probably my best finish for a rebuy. i only posted the entry fee and the add-on. i admit to playing too passively near all three cash bubbles (folded 99, 77, AQo just to advance). when finishing ITM happens more frequently for me, i'm taking a stand in some of those situations.

made one key mistake here. i think i need to shove over the top (hand replayer seems to have a problem with this hand): http://www.pokerhand.org/?2631588

who is shoving this flop, and who is betting for value? leave a comment.


5/11/08
2/18 ITM had a 2:1 chip lead HU but lost it, then ran into AA.

6/180 ITM
i held the lead for a decent amount of time but entered the final table in second. this was my first final table for a tourney this size. key hand i lost: i pick up AQ and raise 3bb, get 3-bet from an Opp that 3-bet the hand before and showed 84o when all folded. here he bets the same amount and shows AA. next hand i get AA so bad timing for me - it may have catipulted me to a nice lead, and would have been my best cash by far. very frustrating, as i humbly think i was one of the two better players of those remaining. all i can say is, after this empty feeling of being so close to a win and having to try to sleep after such an effort, thank God i can walk into my kids room and know there's more to life than poker.

some nice flops




apparently he doesn't know my 3-bet range:


another hand holds up nicely:


AA holds nicely:


5/10/08
2/27 ITM but the curse lives on. i gain a huge lead on the following turn against a dude overplaying small pairs and flops a set (don't know what's up with the replayer):


then i fight my way to the final table and get heads up against a successful player. the curse prevents me from getting a first on this beat:


5/9/08
6/27 bubble boy. in 2nd place i shoved JJ into CL AKo and of course lost the race. thought he would fold but he woke up with a hand. methinks the streak is around 15 or so now - i'm curious what my results will be when these start to hold up. hopefully they'll propel me ITM.

94/~1200 ITM played ok but not great.

5/7/08 SBOP IV
8/24 played OK, played 2 hands poorly but not much damage. story here tonight is that pp < AK twice to cripple me and bust me.

63/180 a total of 7 pp < Ax tonight. sickening.

5/3/08
1/18 ITM the river is your friend
got out to an early lead tripling up with AA and some other nice hands, held on for the win.



5/1/08
51/315 RB+AO
I'm growing more and more critical of the skill level of many players that have huge ROIs and yet get so lucky late in tournaments. Tonight I got busted by a guy playing 22 that hit a set against my two pair. He's won tens of thousands of dollars online but in my opinion he's a donk. Most players at my table had winnings in the high five figures and 3-bet what seemed to be ATC. Do people really win that way? This new generation fears nothing.

April 2008 recap

4/28/08 Home Game
A chip and a chair - that's all you need. Oh, and a lucky shirt. That's what host B.D. aka bdd67 needed to put on his SnG clinic, coming back from a meager 175 chips to take down first place with his lucky shirt hanging in the backdrop. Kudos to him for keeping up with the laundry and kids while his wife tends to business. B.D. went on to take a second and another chopped first, continuing the trend of first time hosts dominating all three games and sending his so-called welcomed guests home with nothing. bdd67 is also a multi-table SnG specialist online and continues to post a nice ROI on the virtual felt. He recently launched a monthly private tournament on PokerStars dubbed the Super Bowl of Poker (SBOP). When he's not pilfering blinds and antes, he can be heard on his weekly sports podcast at http://www.dilsmusings.blogspot.com/.

I'm happy with my results, although I can't take much credit for them. I was the underdog in some key showdowns that propelled me ITM, helping me take a first place and a chopped first. J.S. aka daozi cashed twice, and I.B. and S.H. cashed once each. The results for all three games are as follows:

Game #1: 1) B.D. 2) J.S. & I.B.
Game #2: 1) R.W. 2) B.D. & J.S.
Game #3: 1) B.D. & R.W. 3) S.H.

Next up is the SBOP on May 7. I'm 0-fer-3 but have a few tricks up my sleeve for this one. Come rail KingPrussia.

4/24/08
after a bit of a dry spell on PokerStars, I return to my home felt and cash two for two in some late night action.
5/45 ITM
24/434 ITM - a deep finish for me, but i gave it away on an overly-aggressive stand. unfortunate after having achieved 4th place on a major luckownage suckout:




4/14/08 Home Game
I arrived in time for games 2 & 3. We strayed from Holdem tonight. Game #2 was called Omaha Hi-Low. This was a blast and we got some good instruction from resident pro M.B. on starting hands and showdown rank. Down to 3 I was chip leader but we chopped due to the prolonged length of the game. Somehow I got the same as second place (a 25% reduction in payout) and short-stacked third got a 33% premium. In general I'm opposed to chopping, but at a home game I'm in favor due to those waiting to play the next game. However that said, I believe chopping should be fair, and only done heads up. The third game was an unknown variation in which you only need to use one hole card. Don't know the name for this but I bubbled. Fortunately the social aspect makes up for the money lost.

4/13/08
busted 2 tourneys deep set over set. bleh.

4/8/08
3/9 ITM nothing noteworthy here
31/1885 ITM my best MTT finish to date, will write more later.
no forum railbirds
I became aware of the few hands I was playing and started to wonder about my tournament statistics. Here are some notes I made during the session:


1885 entrants, pokerstars 10pm $11. i rebuy when i busted on a bad beat, 1 add on after first break.
my stack 200,052. blinds going to 3000/6000/600 Stack: largest 284680, smallest 9450, average 90560
Your current position is 12 out of 182
Time bank balance is 60 seconds
During current Hold'em session you were dealt 190 hands and saw flop: - 10 out of 22 times while in big blind (45%) - 8 out of 22 times while in small blind (36%) - 10 out of 146 times in other positions (6%) - a total of 28 out of 190 (14%) Pots won at showdown - 9 of 11 (81%) Pots won without showdown - 15

2:20am me 379,016 blinds going to 10,000/20,000/2000 Stack: largest 1293012, smallest 66888, average 374590
Your current position is 18 out of 44 During current Hold'em session you were dealt 270 hands and saw flop: - 12 out of 32 times while in big blind (37%) - 8 out of 31 times while in small blind (25%) - 16 out of 207 times in other positions (7%) - a total of 36 out of 270 (13%) Pots won at showdown - 12 of 14 (85%) Pots won without showdown - 21

Here is a read-specific play I made late:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (8 handed)

MP2 (t267410)
CO (t840033)
Button (t287258)
SB (t614470)
Hero (t417016)
UTG (t375672)
UTG+1 (t266108)
MP1 (t799012)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6d,6h .
6 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to t65000, SB raises to t614470, Hero calls t350016 (All-In).

Flop: (t1041486) 5s, 7h, 9h (2 players, 1 all-in)
Turn: (t1041486) 6c (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t1041486) Kd (2 players, 1 all-in)
Final Pot: t842032

SB has 3d Ac (high card, ace).
Hero has 6d 6h (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins t842032.

I busted with this hand, a good play but unlucky to run into a monster behind me:

MP1 (t232388)
MP2 (t935033)
CO (t213258)
Hero (t519838)
SB (t574672)
BB (t809548)
UTG (t999505)
UTG+1 (t744358)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7s, 7h.
4 folds, CO raises to t210258, Hero raises to t516838, 1 fold, BB calls t486838.

Flop: (t1231934) 4s, Ad, Jd (3 players)
Turn: (t1231934) Ac (3 players)
River: (t1231934) Kh (3 players)
Final Pot: t1231934

BB has Qd Qh (two pair, aces and queens).
CO has 5d 6d (one pair, aces).
Hero has 7s 7h (two pair, aces and sevens).


4/3/08
7/27 busted on a retarded move http://www.pokerhand.org/?2380056 after having achieved second place. i could have picked a much better spot against a weaker stack. it would have been easy to finish ITM in this one. i fit the definition of an idiot: someone who does the same thing over and over yet expects different results. i keep whining about how i'm just as good as these guys, but when it comes time to make good decisions, i blank. i'm just not a good player and that's the way it's gonna be.

2/8 ITM luskeament. it was student against teacher HU when I ran JJ into A4 and, well, gg NYRambler.

4/1/08
SBOP III private tourney had 26 entries - a very nice showing. Some players got off to great starts due to donations being made via all-in bluffs. Only one MLPC member at the final table, daozi, who finished 7th. SBOP I champ VCDuke ran QQ into KK, and SBOP II champ njnick busted relatively early. Host bdd67 finished 10th on the TV bubble. BulletsBL made an early exit despite admitting "i love my seat". 11:37pm idog27 took it down.

I frantically pulled things together to sit down for the earlier start time after a brutal day at work. I finished 13th after getting some strong hands down the stretch, but ran into better hands (KQ vs QQ, KQ vs AK, AJ vs JJ, 66 vs 99). The last three were against the same short-stacked opponent, so he benefitted greatly from my aggression. I couldn't get anything going in the middle levels, but I think I played well otherwise.

It was good to chat with the homeys since we missed our home game last month. Kudos to M.B. who dialed in from Puerto Rico to play.

I don't think this tournament is +EV for me, so I have to figure that into how I use my online time. Might feel differently if I play at Stars more and bump up the BR.

The next morning I noticed an extra bounce in my step due to the extra 15 minutes of sleep, so who knows, after three more of these tourneys I should recover all that I lost to daylight savings time.

Congrats to Home Game Captain

Congrats to home game captain M.B. "DoyleB" on PokerStars for his WSOP main event seat. He satellited in the old-fashion way. I was railing but couldn't even show my support as, alas, you can't chat at PokerStars unless you can cover the buy-in. I lasted until 12:40am down to 26 with 22 getting the seat.

Look out Vegas - here he comes!

GoGoGoGoGoGoGoGoGo M.B.

Dealing With Disappointment - David Eisenstein

this is a cut-and-paste of an article orginally posted at but it has so revolutionized my thinking and character that i want to have a personaly copy kept around long after it's outdated and purged from the host site. i'm hoping the author will understand that i'm not stealing anything, but rather i'm honoring him with this tremendous article.

Dealing With Disappointment - David Eisenstein. March 18, 2008
When I was eight I wanted a Hot Wheels racetrack set for my birthday. I made very sure my parents knew I wanted this by reminding them every day for months beforehand. I could hardly sleep the night before as I imagined playing with my new toy. I raced through the day, hardly pausing to breathe much less enjoy my party and my friends and relatives who gathered to celebrate. After the cake I ripped up wrapping paper as quickly as I could but a small hill of paper and a few boxes later I was done and there was no Hot Wheels set. I think I moped around the house whining and crying "Why me?" for at least a week afterwards.

When I was twenty-five I met the girl of my dreams. I was living in Los Angeles and I worked part-time as a private tutor for some children of movie biz insiders and so I got to go to some big deal parties. I met her on a magical night at a house overlooking the Pacific Ocean and after spending a few hours talking and dancing we spent some quality time together on the beach. I drove home ecstatic making wedding plans in my head. When I called her the next day I got a Mexican family who barely spoke enough English to tell me I had the wrong number. I called Mrs. TV producer and asked about the girl at her party but there were a lot of young actresses there and she couldn't help me. I hit the wall and screamed at the sky, "Why me?"

Last week I was deep in the $11 rebuy on Stars. The night before I had played the same tourney and ended up in 29th when my AK lost to an all-in call by an AQ and I felt I was due some good luck at the end of this one. With twenty-two left I had an average stack and was patiently waiting for a good hand to double up with and I found it when I got pocket queens on the button. The big stack was in the big blind so I thought I would just make a standard raise so it would look like a steal and maybe get him to push. It worked just like I wanted and he pushed with A9 off and I insta-called. I liked my odds a lot until the flop came 992 and two cards later I was out in 22nd. I took a deep breath and as I let it out whispered, "Why me?"

I typed in "gla" and exited as gracefully as I could, but inside I was eight sitting in a mound of wrapping paper and twenty-five hanging up the phone again. I wondered if I had learned anything about coping with disappointment in 45 years or if I just learned to act like I didn't care. The truth is that unless you have hardened your heart so much that you are completely unfeeling, you are always going to be upset if you don't get what you want. It's hard to fight human nature.

There is an old saying that goes, "Fight a battle you can win." So, if it is impossible not to feel the disappointment, then allow yourself to feel it. Instead work on how you react to it. Instead of lashing out at the player who sucked out on you to send you to the rail, have enough self-control to say "gla" and leave. Then, away from the table, console yourself with the truth that you played well and that over the long run those donkey calls by bad opponents will win you many chips.

The worst thing you can do is allow things you cannot control to affect things you can control. I won't lie to you and pretend that it is easy. Patience and self-control are hard things to master, but well worth the effort. Once you can take the disappointment in stride and still be on top of your game three things will happen. First, you will feel better about yourself and those good feelings will help to ease your pain. Second, you will be better able to see life and poker in the long-term, big-picture kind of outlook that both require for success. And lastly, once you achieve that success, it will be all the sweeter for you lack of bitterness about the past. As for me, I now play with my son on his Hot Wheels set, I have a beautiful wife who loves me, and I'm hoping to have my good hands hold up this summer in the WSOP main event.

March 2008 Recap

3/29/08
tried a little cash game for a change. managed to double up, then took these three beats (not saying they were "bad" beats or that i played them right):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2351784
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2351786
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2351788
but was fortunate to get it all back and more on this hand:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2351862

3/28/08
3/45 ITM
brought my "A" game to this my favorite tournament. made some key lay downs to make it deep. down to 3 i pick my spot perfectly against an Opp that has raised all in 9 out of the last 10 orbits as the big stack. here's the beat: http://www.pokerhand.org/?2347327. sorry blogfans, i can't play any better than this. i just won't ever win one of these things.

busted a couple of token satellites while watching the Kansas-Villanova game.

3/22/08
112/1258 ITM
was doing well with an above average stack, then this horrible beat by a total donkey http://www.pokerhand.org/?2309179. then another beat, but i have myself to blame. if you want to know how NOT to play a set against two pair / flush draw, take a look http://www.pokerhand.org/?2309185
2/18 ITM token
3/18 ITM token

3/18/2008
2/45 ITM
played well. getting KK and AA down the stretch is always nice. had some other tough decisions with medium pairs that i laid down - not sure if the forum gurus would agree with this. heads up i was out-stacked 4-1 and fought back to near even, but lost on a horrible beat with a dominating hand on the river. i never came back. of course i've still never won one of these. gg to my foe who played HU great.
3/45 ITM
this final table was tough, with all 6 having great stats. very fun chatting, and the guys came to the other table to rail me. it was a riot actually having fans root for me.

played good poker tonight. finishing ITM concurrently sure does make the game fun again. think i'll take a few nights off to finish my taxes.

3/17/2008
whiffed 0/3 tonight.

3/16/2008
Finished ITM 3/4 tries last night. Not high finishes however. Still losing as the favorite, and disappointment abounds. I am continually on the lookout for articles that relate poker to real life, and today I found this article very helpful http://www.realpokertraining.com/articles.php?blog=view&id=74 but I'm not sure if one needs to register in order to read it. Give it a try.

I'm very happy for a buddy's buddy taking down the WSOP circuit event at Caesar's Atlantic City. A short write up is here: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2008/03/wsopc-atlantic-city-day-3-sheets-eric-haber-wins.htm.

Homeys M.B., B.S., and B.D. continue to pull off nice sized wins both online and live.

3/4/08
SBOP II
i came into tonight's game nearly asleep, having put my son to bed just five minutes prior. there were some new faces, and the chatting was lively. some key hands/observations:
1. from SB i complete with J8o, and i check 88x flop with two others. i check-raise the turn and take the pot from BB. however BB then goes on a maniacal streak of raising me nearly every hand. i have not seen him before and have no idea what his range is. he bet me off of 5-6 hands, but finally VCDuke came to my rescue and busted him. when i finally got to see some hands he was playing, i realized his range and knew i was ahead most of the time.
2. i called a daozi shove with TT - there's no way i'm doing that when my head is clear. i have to know i 'm behind there, but somehow i just clicked the mouse. i have no other explanation. i turn a set to beat his QQ to occupy first place, but i played this hand poorly.
3. blinds 150/300, EP (nemesis) calls, LP calls, I shove AKs. EP big stack calls, LP folds. EP shows 66 and it holds up. i bust at 10/21.

we were delighted to have online pro "sheets" join us, and his sidekick JohnnyBax made a cameo appearance to plug http://www.pokerxfactor.com/. sheets played quite well, losing heads up with this bad beat http://www.pokerhand.org/?2214924 to my grammar school buddy njnick, who tanked for a very long time before calling. the heads up match lasted very long for online standards, and both held 2:1 chip leads at various times. VCDuke defended nobly by cashing third. there were two notable absences from the Main Line Poker Club: "squasher" and "ITT PlaysYa".
1. njnick 2. sheets. 3. vcduke
looking forward to april.

3/2/08
whiffed 0-3 starting the month off poorly. homeys continue to win online.

poor joe shambles - the guy plays down to heads up out of 20,000 entrants to face Annette_15, and is good on the turn. hey, i've taken some bad rivers, but never for a 10K prize differential.

Annette_15: raises 599999 to 999999
joeshambles: raises 2200001 to 3200000
Annette_15: raises 34913020 to 38113020 and is all-in
joeshambles: calls 18606980 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Th 9d Qh]
*** TURN *** [Th 9d Qh] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [T 9 Q A ] [6 ]
*** SHOW DOWN *** joeshambles: shows [A T ] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
Annette_15: shows [6 6 ] (three of a kind, Sixes)

So I've been playing less and watching some online pros more. I haven't noticed anything spectacular - they lose with the same hands I do, they choose their spots the same as I do. I have some new ideas of when to get my chips in from these observations.

I'm resting for Tuesday night private PokerStars tourney with "friends" - that is, they are friends until they bust me. I'm also resting for WSOP circuit event Friday at Caesars.

3/1/08
I'm thinking of trying a new format - just one monthly recap including online, home game, and casino tournaments. I'll add the newer stuff at the top, in reverse-chronological order, so that people stopping by will know right away if there is something new. If this doesn't work I'll revert back to a single post for each event.

Main Line Poker Club 10 March 2008

Results:
Game #1: 1) W.E. 2) J.S. 3)
Game #2: 1) D.O. 2) R.W. 3) J.S.
Game #3: 1) J.S. 2) 3)
Game #4: 1) J.S.

Atlantic City March 7-8 2008

I was gifted an entry fee into event #3 of the WSOP Circuit Event at Caesars (action photo here) . Although I was still in the throes of coping with Brett Favre's retirement, I was well rested and full of confidence. My table was nothing short of horrible. I've never seen such bad play at this buy-in. One player, who seemed vaguely familiar from other tourneys I've played, was playing what seemed to be any two cards. A few young kids were just ghastly.

After level 1 I had built my starting 4K stack to 5K. A new arrival took a beat and was left short stacked. He limps UTG and I wake up with KK from LP. I raise 5BB to put him nearly all in. He thinks it over and calls with TJo. He flopps trip tens and fills up on the river - I'm down to nearly 4K. A few hands later in the same orbit I get KK again and raise it 3.5BB. Mr. ATC calls. Flop comes 86x two diamonds. I put him on a flush and/or straight draw, and bet the pot - he calls. The turn is blank and I'm not feeling comfortable about the draw, so I shove AI. He calls and shows 86 for two pair. I'm crippled at 250. The very next hand I pick up JJ only to run into AA and I'm out in just 80 minutes.

I quickly race over to Showboat to enter the 2pm. A small field of only 54. I'm super tilting, so very first hand I get a LP limper and I raise with ATd in CO. There are two callers to see a flop of A8A. LP caller bets, I RR, and LP caller goes AI. I call and she shows A8 for a boat. Turn is no help but river is a ten. I double up on the very first hand. I play fairly straight-forward and stay above average stacked. Down to two tables I race my JJ against AK and double up. I later triple up when JJ holds up against AK and 88. I reach the final table in reasonable shape. Things go up and down for me until we're on the bubble. I pick up QQ in the small blind and want the big blind to commit chips. Rather than shove I make a small raise. BB says she reads me for weakness and shoves Q6d, my QQ holds up. We pay off the bubble and we then slug it out for a good
while. At four, we are all tired and starving so we chop, albeit not as equitably as it should have been. Two of the regulars give me a hard time about taking care of shorty, who walks away with more than he should have. I have a slight chip lead so I technically take first, a milestone for me and a good confidence builder. I would have liked to play it out but my true love, eating, was calling.

I bolt over to the Taj for my reservation at the Indian restuarant. Homey I.B. is late so I'm there alone - literally, I'm the only one in the place. I would soon find out why. My tomato soup was actually Campbells (I know that taste) with some red pepper in it. The vegetable samosas were not fresh, and the lamb saag was bland. Two enthusiastic thumbs down for Royal Albert's Indian Palace.

I hook up with I.B. and we play ring games at the Trop until I drag him away at 1am after my KK loses to 88 to bust me. I'm unable to convince I.B. to get some sleep, so in the spirit of Stu Unger, he pulls an all-nighter at Caesars. His average nightly sleep over the past week is about the value of Pi to 7 decimal places - there must be a team of scientists somewhere dying to study this grinder. I commit to playing the 11:15 Trop tournament (86 entrants) and I convince I.B. to join me, who agrees in his vegetated state. However at this point I don't know if his yes means yes or if he even understands the question. I see him register, but then he's gone, and then I see him sitted at the next table. I bare down and commit myself to not playing a single hand until the antes kick in at round 4 (ala Stu Unger), but I'm reading the table so well that I make good strides even with nothing. I pick my spots well and my premium hands hold up when I need them, and I make a good lay down or two. Down to 22 I have a reasonable 65K but at 18 I'm at 45K. At 14 I'm at 28K with blinds at 3000/6000/1000 when I pick up QQ. I shove all in and I get no callers, putting me back up to ~46K. I show the QQ. Next orbit there is a button raise of about 20K from an Opp who has picked on my blinds for the last couple orbits. I know him from our original table and he has shown down both quality and wide ranges. I look down at A9s and decide I want to play for the win and come over the top. He deliberates then calls with 22, which holds up and I'm out. The players pay the bubble which soon pops and the final table of 10 is set with I.B. in the chip lead. He and the others eventually chop at 5. The ride home I think about the A9 vs 22 and making the final table. What does it mean to "play for the win" if you know there will be a chop at 3 or 5? With nearly 4-5 equal stacks to mine, I wonder if a shove there is right, especially considering the 11th spot (just 3 away) was paid bubble money. I guess I have to live with my decision. 14/86 isn't bad, but finishing ITM twice would have been a nice way to wrap up the trip.

The Polish Open starts March 10, and I am not happy that I have to miss that event. I have such fond memories of Poland and was only able to see Warsaw briefly in 1988. The situation there at that time was much different than it is today. I'll never forget one man's solution to reversing his country's dire situation, as he shared with me these two easy steps:
1. Declare war on the United States
2. Surrender the next day
He told me that the Polish people wanted all of our generals to come into Poland - General Motors, General Mills, General Foods. Well, it took a long time but at last they're there. But I'll have to wait for another time to enjoy their humor and borsch - until then, I have a home game tonight.

Main Line Poker Club Feb 18 2008

Results from tonight's home game:

Game #3: 1) I.B. & R.W. 3) M.B.
Game #2: 1) B.D. 2)B.L. 3) M.B.
Game #1: 1) B.L. & R.W. 3) B.D.

I've forgotten nearly everything I wanted to write about. Aside from chopping first two times, which is a great outcome for this game, I can say that for me poker is fun right now, and I can't get enough. Maybe winning has helped, but I think I'm making reasonably good decisions, and when my chips go in, I'm usually the favorite. Not all outcomes are in my favor, but I'm playing each hand the best I know how and I'm growing in my understanding and reading ability. I experienced a major growth spurt during tonight's session by
1. calling an all in without looking at my cards because I knew I was priced in with ATC
2. calling an all in with a weakish holding (A8o) after having estimated OP's pushing range (actual hand here A7o). this nearly backfired as one player behind me (nemesis) woke up with a hand (99) and I was behind until the turn but I hit runner runner 8s to knock him out. A particularly bad beat for him since it was precisely the nature of beat that knocked him out of the Borgata tournament from the prior day. I faintly heard his contempt for my play over the jingle jangle of his championship bracelets dangling from his wrist. From my perspective, I had reason to believe I was ahead of OP1 and did not think OP2 (nemesis) would play the hand given the action before him. Hey, I'm entitled just like anyone else. The good news is I used this outcome to finish ITM.

I also recall limping with AA from a blind while eating a sandwhich with 4 limpers ahead of me. Had I been thinking I would have raised to isolate, but luckily the flop came xKx and J.S. to my left bet out and it folded back to me. I pushed AI and was called by his paired K, but my AA held up. Not the way to play it but it worked out for me.

Another consistent showing for B.D., B.L., & M.B. Finishing ITM more than once is not easy to do in this game, not to mention cashing regularly month-to-month. Recently only J.S. has had this strong of a showing.

Homeys M.B., B.S., and B.D. continue to do nicely online. J.S. seems to have a new-found interest in the 45s, winning one and placing second in another

I'm getting a poker table from craigslist with free delivery! Maybe one day I'll get to host the game. Many thanks to W.E. for finding this gem. Here's the original craigslist post:
Original price was $500. Still in box - never used.
Cup holders and poker chip trays at each seat. pecan solid wood finish, with tan grained leather center.
This is a great table with retractable legs to store away when needed.