Thank You Mookie!

I would like to send a big thank you out to Mookie for my new banner. I clearly lack the artistic talent to create anything of the sort, so the new logo is very much appreciated.

Edit: Mookie is so cool, that when he noticed the original file was slightly over sized, he fixed it and sent me a new one. I didn't even realize there was a problem. Thanks again Mookie!


RF

H.O.R.S.E

I have been mixing it up by playing at the 3/6 H.O.R.S.E. tables as a break from my normal 1-2 NL games. Take a look at this web gem:


Full Tilt Poker Game #4342134908: Table Woodview - $3/$6 Ante $0.50 - Limit Stud H/L - 0:57:37 ET - 2007/11/30
Seat 1: semloh2 ($69)
Seat 2: lviceman ($149.35)
Seat 3: Keep_Walking ($42.25)
Seat 4: Lain ACF ($228.25)
Seat 5: anoniem ($172.90)
Seat 6: Rake Feeder ($170.25)
Seat 7: maxmotz ($59.25)
Rake Feeder antes $0.50
anoniem antes $0.50
lviceman antes $0.50
Keep_Walking antes $0.50
semloh2 antes $0.50
Lain ACF antes $0.50
maxmotz antes $0.50
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to maxmotz [3s]
Dealt to semloh2 [Qh]
Dealt to lviceman [3c]
Dealt to Keep_Walking [Ks]
Dealt to Lain ACF [8d]
Dealt to anoniem [5c]
Dealt to Rake Feeder [5h As] [3d] <-- A decent starting hand for a Stud H/L game
lviceman is low with [3c]
anoniem: yeah me too
lviceman has 15 seconds left to act
anoniem: NL hold'em
lviceman brings in for $1
Keep_Walking folds
Lain ACF folds
anoniem: I'm burned out a little bit
anoniem folds
Rake Feeder calls $1
maxmotz calls $1
anoniem: this doesn't really take and thought
semloh2 has 15 seconds left to act
semloh2 completes it to $3
lviceman has 15 seconds left to act
lviceman calls $2
Rake Feeder calls $2
maxmotz calls $2
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to maxmotz [3s] [7d]
Dealt to semloh2 [Qh] [4s]
Dealt to lviceman [3c] [Ah]
Dealt to Rake Feeder [5h As 3d] [2d] <-- Low is looking good
lviceman checks
Rake Feeder bets $3 <-- I bet my draw
maxmotz calls $3
semloh2 calls $3
lviceman calls $3
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to maxmotz [3s 7d] [4h]
Dealt to semloh2 [Qh 4s] [7c]
Dealt to lviceman [3c Ah] [Td]
Dealt to Rake Feeder [5h As 3d 2d] [4d] <-- Gin!
lviceman checks
Rake Feeder bets $6
maxmotz raises to $12 <-- Nice, he is raising for me
semloh2 folds
lviceman has 15 seconds left to act
lviceman calls $12
Rake Feeder calls $6 <-- Smooth call here, wait till next street to raise
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to maxmotz [3s 7d 4h] [Jd]
Dealt to lviceman [3c Ah Td] [Ad]
Dealt to Rake Feeder [5h As 3d 2d 4d] [Kc]
lviceman checks
Rake Feeder bets $6
semloh2: perfect for me
maxmotz raises to $12
lviceman calls $12
Rake Feeder has 15 seconds left to act
nekopaku sits down
Rake Feeder raises to $18
nekopaku adds $60
maxmotz raises to $24 <-- 3 way capped!!!
Rake Feeder calls $6
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to Rake Feeder [5h As 3d 2d 4d Kc] [Jh]
lviceman checks
Rake Feeder bets $6
maxmotz raises to $12
lviceman calls $12
Rake Feeder raises to $18
maxmotz calls $4.75, and is all in
lviceman raises to $24 <-- 3 way capped again!!!
Rake Feeder calls $6
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lviceman shows [7h 5d 3c Ah Td Ad 2s] a pair of Aces, for high and 7,5,3,2,A, for low
Rake Feeder shows [As Jh 3d 2d 4d Kc 5h] a straight, Five high, for high and 5,4,3,2,A, for low
Rake Feeder wins the high side pot ($7.25) with a straight, Five high
Rake Feeder wins the low side pot ($7.25) with 5,4,3,2,A
maxmotz mucks
Rake Feeder wins the high main pot ($91.40) with a straight, Five high
Rake Feeder wins the low main pot ($91.35) with 5,4,3,2,A
maxmotz is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $200.25 Main pot $185.75. Side pot $14.50. | Rake $3 <-- Scoooop!!!
Seat 1: semloh2 folded on 5th St.
Seat 2: lviceman showed [7h 5d 3c Ah Td Ad 2s] and lost with HI: a pair of Aces; LO: 7,5,3,2,A
^-- This guy is sweet, a pair of Aces and a 7 low!
Seat 3: Keep_Walking folded on 3rd St.
Seat 4: Lain ACF folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: anoniem folded on 3rd St.
Seat 6: Rake Feeder showed [As Jh 3d 2d 4d Kc 5h] and won ($197.25) with HI: a straight, Five high; LO: 5,4,3,2,A
Seat 7: maxmotz mucked [6d 3h 3s 7d 4h Jd 2c] - HI: a pair of Threes; LO: 7,6,4,3,2
^-- This guy is even sweeter, a pair of 3's and a 7 low!

With all that action I only expected half the pot, not the whole thing. Nice scoop for me!

Poker vs Black Jack

I don't know the first thing about playing Black Jack. I don't even care to learn about the game, it just does not interest me. I am sure there is strategy in taking the casinos money, but it is so impersonal playing against the house, I prefer to compete against other players. Besides, I find it much more fun to take other peoples money in the card room.

Sunday afternoon I went to Foxwoods with a friend of mine, he wanted to play Black Jack because he felt that he was not good enough to play live poker in the casino. He may be correct in the sense that he is not a very experienced poker player, but the room at Foxwoods is filled donkeys just like him. I told him that he would not improve unless he sat down at a table, and that a $2-4 or $4-8 LHE would be a good place to begin. He didn't listen.

I grinded out 1-2 NL for what would have been a nice profit except that I made the mistake of sitting down at the Black Jack table with my friend. I have no idea what the bankroll requirements are for playing Black Jack, but I was definitely short stacked at $25/hand. Do people actually make money at this game? Or do the stars need to align perfectly in order to book a win?

Nothing New Here

Since my last post I have been to Foxwoods twice, once booking a good sized win, and once booking a bad sized loss. That's a wash right? Many of the big name TV-pros were in town for the main event, some even donked it up in the lower limit cash games. My worst beat was raised, re-raised, and over the topped pre flop, resulting in my QQ losing to 43o flopping quads. WTF?!?

I donked up a nice little home game that I should have crushed. Wonka was there, I think he may have monied twice that night. I on the other hand was the second or third to the rail in the early game, and 3rd place in the late game. Remember that you cannot bluff the unbluffable, or outplay someone that will call you down with no pair and no draw.

I have not been playing much online so far this month, and have missed most of the blogger tournaments. I did finish 29th in the Full Tilt Iron Man promotion freeroll, thanks for the $150! The poker game really went out the window once the money bubble popped, any 2 cards were good enough to push or call an all-in.

The VA is being a pain in the ass. I drove into Boston this morning only to find out 11 minutes later that there is nothing they can do for my tinnitus, other than prescribe me some sleeping pills. Thanks, but I already have enough those from my PTSD shrinks. Yet another waste of my time.

Foxwoods - Again

I am a little disappointed that I missed tonights MATH tournament. The BBT2 is in full swing and I am coming off of 2 ITM finishes last week in the Mookie and Riverchasers. I have been missing Hoy's game for a while now, with Mondays being one of the days I try to visit Foxwoods.

I had planned on leaving the casino in time to make it home for the MATH, but the "one more dealer change" game continued for several hours until I finally stood up. Had I left after 6 hours as I had planned, I would have booked a nice triple up but instead I settled a small profit after a long day. I suppose any profit is better than a loss, but my 12 hours of time could have been spent playing multiple tables online. I neglected to make adjustments and when turnover changed the table texture, and I began to bleed chips.

I did get a few decent hands, and of course I took some horrific beats. One particular player was on a roller coaster ride after buying in short for the 3rd time. He proceeded to win 9 all-ins while short stacked, and kept donking off his chips in between all-ins. He was nicknamed the all-in-master. Unfortunately I was the victim of his luck sackery 4 times over. KK cracked by Ace-poop, AK TPTK cracked by Ace-poop and then again by runner runner bottom 2 pair. Finally the flopped nut straight loses to runner runner flush. Good thing he was aways short stacked, each of the hands were only for $60 or so. He would double up off of me, then lose my money to the other players, and I would have to win it back from them in order to lose it to him again.

The World Poker Tour was in town for the Foxwoods World Poker Finals, and several well known pros were in the room. In the afternoon Survivor Castaway Jean-Robert Bellande was playing 10-25 NL. There was a small group of railbirds watching the action, and Bellande looked as if he had lost 100 pounds on Survivor. Later in the evening, Barry Greenstein was at the 100-200 NL table. A rather large crowd of 25+ railbirds was watching the game, with more than $200,000 on the table.

The Mook, The Dook, and The Spook!

Last night was the Triple Lindy of blogger donkaments ...

The Mookie had 114 participants, the BBT2 craze has sure pumped up the numbers. With so many new faces the play seemed uber tight for the first hour, and then turned into a steal, re-steal, push any pocket pair like it is gold festival. I did get lucky early on and knock Al out when I out flopped his TT with my AQ. Tight play kept me alive until the blinds were large enough to do some damage. I scrapped down to the final two tables and in the money. Everything was looking good until my 88 ran into 55 and a 4 flush on the river crippled me. Out in 15th place.

The Dookie has also been stacked with extra players since the onset of the BBT2. PLO H/L is not my normal game. I do play a fair amount of O8 limit, but tonight for some reason I was pushing my craptastic 1 way high only hands. Out early enough not to care.

The creme de la creme has to be the Spook! (Sorry Mook). This super donkfest had a whopping 52 participants show for the 11:59 pm start time on Halloween. Short Handed, Short Stacked, and Turbo - the only ingredient we were missing was re-buy. It was a push fest out of the gate, with several preflop multi-way all ins. I knocked out the host Instant Tragedy with my 66 vs his TT. Thank you for all the compliments live on the Buddy Dank internet radio show. It warms my heart to hear "Rake Feeder You Donk!" shouted repeatedly. At the final table Buddy decided to pick me to win. I listen to his show often enough to know that when he makes a pick, that person loses. The poker gods were on my side, I woke up with AA twice within 5 hands and 3 players left. I am the Spookie Champion! Scary Huh?

Playing with your nuts

This is a hand I was in earlier today:

FullTiltPoker Game #4024283060: Table Miragrande - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:26:28 ET - 2007/10/31
Seat 1: human eagle ($156.80)
Seat 2: Gilligan115 ($66)
Seat 3: Pardad ($50)
Seat 4: Coattails ($198)
Seat 5: BestCardInDeck ($51.15), is sitting out
Seat 6: premgolf ($222.90)
Seat 7: Rake Feeder ($219.75)
Seat 8: galaktiko ($100.60)
Seat 9: booboo7911 ($238.20)
Coattails posts the small blind of $1
premgolf posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Rake Feeder [8d 8s] <-- I am UTG, but I want to play my small pair.
Rake Feeder raises to $7 <-- Standard opening raise at the 1-2 tables.
galaktiko folds
booboo7911 calls $7
human eagle calls $7
Gilligan115 folds
Coattails folds
premgolf folds
*** FLOP *** [7h 8h 5c] <-- Top set on the flop, but there are flush and straight possibilities.
Rake Feeder has 15 seconds left to act
Rake Feeder bets $16 <-- Only a pussy would check here, I bet out 2/3 of the pot.
booboo7911 calls $16
human eagle calls $16
*** TURN *** [7h 8h 5c] [8c] <-- Now I have the nuts, unless someone rivers a straight flush.
Rake Feeder checks <-- I check to make it appear I had an overpair and was worried.
booboo7911 has 15 seconds left to act
booboo7911 bets $44 <-- This guy has made a booboo.
human eagle calls $44 <-- Wow, I did not expect 2 bettors, someone must have a boat.
Rake Feeder has 15 seconds left to act
Rake Feeder raises to $88 <-- I min raise here, thinking someone is going to jam their boat.
booboo7911 has 15 seconds left to act
booboo7911 has requested TIME <-- He tanked really hard.
BestCardInDeck has returned
booboo7911 folds
human eagle has 15 seconds left to act
human eagle folds <-- Bah, what did he flatcall with that he folds to a min raise?
Uncalled bet of $44 returned to Rake Feeder
Rake Feeder shows [8d 8s] four of a kind, Eights <-- I show screaming DQB!
Rake Feeder wins the pot ($201)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $204 | Rake $3
Board: [7h 8h 5c 8c]
Seat 1: human eagle folded on the Turn
Seat 2: Gilligan115 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Pardad is sitting out
Seat 4: Coattails (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: BestCardInDeck is sitting out
Seat 6: premgolf (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Rake Feeder collected ($201)
Seat 8: galaktiko didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: booboo7911 folded on the Turn

On the flop I bet my top set because I always do, and I did not like the straight and flush potential. On the turn I just have to check the nuts. I can understand why one player took a stab at it, but why would the second player flatcall with me waiting to act?

I min raise thinking one of the players must have a smaller set, or maybe the straight. Why not bump it up here on the turn? What could they have bet with or called with that they were not going to look me up?

I could have bet out on the turn, it seems $44 was the right amount. Or I could have just flat called the $44 and then bet out the river. Maybe I was up against pocket 9s and pocket 6's? Overpair and a flush draw?

HPT

Last night was first first HPT since June. I don't know why there was a 3 month break, something about kids and summer vacations. The fall season kicked off with a whopping 30 players committing resulting in 26 players actually showing up. That is a really nice turnout for a small town home game. Wwonka and Bdidde were in attendance, as were my friends Air Force Steve and Denise. 3 tables, T4000 chips, 20 minute blinds, and an 8 pm start time with hourly breaks made for a late night. It was nearly 2am when the action finally stopped.

I had the toughest starting table, and I know Wonka will agree with me. Around the table from my left were Phil who was wearing a "Players Tournament" jacket from some charity poker event, our host Mike, my boy ScottyDawg who took down one of the 11pm tourneys at Caesars in Vegas last spring, Air Force Steve, Joe the Vet, Ginger his Wife, and the eventual winner the other Mike who was wearing a "No Fold-em Hold-em" baseball cap.

ScottyDawg and Mike the Host were getting into it early on when the Dawg came over the top of Mikes preflop raises 3 times in a row. Mike was visibly annoyed to the point that he warned me about stealing his blind for the second time. I told him that it was his bad luck he was 2 seats to my left, and asked who else was I going to steal from? I was raising from every position anyway, I could have layed off his blind if I wanted to. They finally got it going when Mike raises 4x the BB, and Dawg min re-raises 2x his bet. Mike clearly has had enough and re-re-raises 6x Dawgs raise for a little less than half his stack. Dawg says he has to call, and everyone knows that someone is getting stacked or crippled here. The flop comes AKJ rainbow, Mike checks and Scott bets a minute 200 something like 5% of the pot. Mike check raises all in and is insta-called. Mike shows pocket kings for a set, and Dawg shows the Asian Jew for top and bottom pair. The thing about Dawg is he never thought that he might be behind in the hand. He had AJs, that is a monster right?

I played my normal home game style of alternating between stealing from the blinds and limpers preflop, and stealing orphan pots when nobody seemed interested. I would call weak flop bets then check raise on the turn when a scare card fell. I doubled up short stack Dawg a couple times before finally busting him. In the few times I did actually have a hand, I made sure to show it when people began to question my raises. In all it was a nice way to triple up.

When I moved over to the new table there was a monster stack sitting on 20K+ early on. He must have been responsible for all the busts at his table. I lose some ground and then double up with 99 vs 55 for virtually all his chips. I watch the chip leader bust his wife after he limped with QQ with 4 people to act and then call her all in from the BB. His QQ vs her KK was gold when he spiked a Q on the flop and sent her to get him a beer. I took a big pot from the BB when it was limped around and a board of TTA fell. Everyone checked the flop, so I bet the pot when an 8 comes on the turn. Weak-passive Phil min raises me and everyone else folds. I am holding T5o, and I know this guy is an Ace-rag player so I call. The river is a blank and I bet the pot, which nearly puts him all in. He goes into the tank and considers putting the rest in. At this point I am concerned that he might have a Ten, but I still have enough chips to make a pushdonkey-lucksack-comeback if I have to. He calls showing A8 for 3 pair, a hand that does not beat my trip tens. When we hit the final table I have about 18-19K.

Six of the Eight players from my starting table have made the final table. The other 4 are Wwonka, ultra-aggressor Big Joe O, Football Steve, and LuckSack Phil. When it was limped around to me with A7o in the small blind, I tried to steal Wonkas big blind putting 3000 on top. He re-raises all in for 4500 more and I let him have it. Score 1 for Wonka, I tell him that I am going to push blind anytime it is folded to me again.

My final hand was an all-in with 99 from the SB. The blinds were 800-1600, and action was limped and min-raised in front of me, which I took as a clear signal to come over the top with my pocket pair. I put 13,900 on top of the min raise from the button. Min raiser digs deep for a while, he has me covered by half a blind. He calls with 66. It looks good until he spikes a 6 on the river after calling out the card. I hit the rail in 6th place, 10 minutes too late to get in on the side game. I spend the rest of the night sweating Denise and Air Force Steve at the side game.

In all a disappointing end, but I was happy with my play. I did get to talk shop with Byron for a while, hopefully he can make it down to Foxwoods sometime soon. Go read about his Barry Greenstein Project.

Massachusetts Casino Bill

...read the fine print!

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has introduced a proposal to the state legislature that would allow three resort-style casinos in the state. Revenue filtered to the government from the establishments would be earmarked towards roads and bridges as well as property tax relief for the state’s residents. Of course, any gambling proposal is polarizing, with strong opinions on both sides of the issue.

Interestingly, and perhaps disturbingly, one section of the proposal that has been getting no mention in the local press seems to outlaw internet gambling. Below is the relevant text, taken directly from the proposal:

(i) Placing, sending, transmitting, relaying wagers to another person prohibited under certain circumstances; penalties.
Any person who knowingly transmits or receives a wager of any type by any telecommunication device, including telephone, cellular phone, Internet, local area network, including wireless local networks, or any other similar device or equipment or other medium of communication, or knowingly installs or maintains said device or equipment for the transmission or receipt of wagering information shall be punished by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than 2 years, or a fine of not more than $25,000, or both.
This section shall apply to any person who, from within this commonwealth, transmits a wager to, or receives a wager from, another person or gaming establishment within or outside of this commonwealth and any person who, from outside this commonwealth, transmits a wager to, or receives a wager from, another person or gaming establishment within this commonwealth.
This section shall not apply to the use of a local area network as a means to place authorized wagers in a licensed gaming establishment, or use of said devices or equipment by the authority in it duties in regulating, enforcing, or auditing a licensed gaming operator.

Thus, internet gambling will be illegal if this proposal becomes law. What this is essentially saying is that unless the state can profit from your gambling, you may not do it. It remains to be seen how the government would ever know and if anyone would ever get sentenced to two years in prison, but it is sad that this provision is in the proposal, nonetheless.

-- Graciously ripped verbatim from PSO

BBT2

This looks like it will a lot of fun! I was a late arrival for the last BBT and missed half the season, hopefully I can do better this time around.

A-Town Home Game

I was fortunate to be invited to a home game in Arlington through my friends in the HPT. The hosts were the parents of one of the HPT players, and the participants appeared to be mostly family friends and co-workers. 19 players in total, ranging in ages from 20 something to 80 something provided a wide range of experience and style.

One of the things I noticed is that the host actually had a subscription to Card Player Magazine, not a casino copy but a delivered in the mail copy. This was a home were someone took their play serious enough to read about the game.

2 tables, $50 buy in gets T5000 in chips with a rebuy option for the first hour if you were felted. I knew this game was not going to play like an online rebuy, we only had one person rebuy, and he still was the first able to give full attention to the Red Sox ALCS game in the other room.

I was at table 2 with my friend D sitting to my immediate left. Normally this would be good, but she has really increased her aggression and confidence since we last played. I limped into the first hand with junk K4d and a few others came along. The raggedy flop was checked to me so I bet half the pot and the 80 year old man called me. Check the rest of the streets, he called me with no pair, no draw, and a J4o. Hmm...

A few hands later I flop the nut straight, and bet it since there were 2 flush cards on the board. 2 players call, and we see the turn with brings another flush card. 80 year old leads out so I muck, and the soon to be rebuying player calls. More action on the river and the result was middle two pair vs bottom two pair, nobody had the flush. I am pissed that I gave at least one of them credit for the flush.

The player 2 seats to my left is bumping the action vs multiple limpers, something I like to do. Everyone seems to be calling him anyway, so I decide to limp with the plan of re popping him, and take down a nice pot.

Back to D on my immediate left, she is primarily a 4-8 limit player at Foxwoods. She re-popped my flop bets 3 times in a row, re-stealing from my continuation bets and marginal hands. I have to give her credit, she normally does not chase or show aggression unless she has a strong made hand.

Five handed at the final table the blinds are 600-1200, we are on the money bubble and everyone limps. The small blind is all-in for 1100. I have A7s in the BB, not a very good hand. I border on collusion when I say I should raise here, but I will check it down in order to knock the short stack out with 4 other players in. A raggedy flop and the super donk across the table min bets. I have the 7 paired but there were 2 overs on the board. Well everyone folds and the super donk shows a gut shot. The shorty quintupled up and was still playing after I went out in 4th place. I would have made Aces up on the river. Everyone yelled at the super donk, he said he had a draw and wanted to make money if he hit it.

I find out on the ride home that D had been coached by my friend Air Force Steve who told her to re-pop my continuation bets. Thanks buddy.

Foxwoods Degenerates

I believe that I may have lapsed into the world of a poker degenerate. I just returned from a 20 hour session at Foxwoods. Several of the players at the late night tables said they had been there for 2-3 days straight.

I played 2 rounds of 1-2 NL sandwiched around a few hours of 4-8 Omaha H/L. My early session of 1-2 NL was marred early on by a flopped boat of 5's full of Aces with my A5s snapped by a donk pushing K8o on the turn to catch the running 8 for 8's full of 5's. What the fuck was that about? I took a break and came back to mix it up with some Omaha H/L. It was a strange game, we went nearly 2 hours without a single kill pot, then had 17 kill pots in a row including some 8 player pre flop caps. One old man miracle chaser would raise hands that should have been mucked, and limp call hands that should have been capped. The regulars all had little clouds above their heads with the letters "WTF ?!?!?!?..." Fast forward to late night and back to 1-2 NL, I managed to rebuild a small profit at the musical chair table that eventually placed 4 buddies at one end, and some nits like me at the other. I was glad to see them change seats to be together, one of them smelled like he had been sleeping in a bathroom stall. After 3 broken tables in less than an hour, I decided it was time to go. I couldn't see straight anyway.

My small victory, bad beats, and eventual turn around is not the story. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was reported to be in the house, upstairs signing autographs. Jonathan Papelbon showed up around midnight and took a seat at the 2-5 NL tables. He wanted to play a higher limit, but there were no seats open and he did not want to wait. I was going to try to move over, but the 2-5 list swelled to 15+ once word got out that the Red Sox star was in the room. The staff even played a joke calling out "lock it up for Mariano Rivera" at a fictitious open seat. Papelbon's table was surrounded by 4 ever watchful security guards to keep the railbirds at bay. Papelbon tried to sit down with $2000 in chips until the dealer informed him of the $500 max buy-in. On his first hand he gets it all in with pocket Aces and doubles up.

WBCOOP

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 5395649

Foxwoods Redux

I made my first pilgrimage of the month to Foxwoods yesterday, arriving about noontime. Open seating at the 1-2 NL tables allowed me a choice of the 10 seat at one table or the 2 seat at another. Seats #2, #3, #8, and #9 are my favorite. You are on the end, so you get a little more room and you get a clear view of everything that happens. The seats next to the dealer offer limited legroom and a restricted view of half the table, when I get seated here it the first thing I do is ask for a seat change button. Seats #4 through #7 offer a clear view of the board, but not all the players.

Hmm I think I will save smashing my knees into the drop box for another day, and sit in the #2.

Most of the table had average stacks ranging from $100-300, with the exception of the #9 seat that was sitting on $1200-1400. I have seen this player before, he tends to be aggressive vs multiple limpers, chases any draw even if the price isn't quite right, and is capable of bluffing when a scare card hits the board. The biggest piece of information I knew about this player is that every time he loses a big pot, he will make a big pre flop raise on the next hand. He plays poker like it is one of the table games upstairs, increasing his bet size when he has lost in order to gain it back quickly.

Normally I keep this sort of information to myself, but I decide to quietly share with my corner of the table. I plan to keep the focus across the table and away from me. We weren't playing together, but we were certainly playing against him. His stack melted away over the next several hours. By the time he left, he had been felted, re loaded a few hundos at a time and been felted again. His chips were spread out across the table, mostly at my end. About 2 hours after he left the poker room he came back down, and showed me a stack of $8k in chips he had won playing black jack. Too bad there were no empty seats at my table.

Net result for the day: + 1497

Foxwoods Report

I woke up this morning (yesterday) to the sound of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, ringing through my ears. Actually it was my buddy from Iraq calling me on my cell phone to say he was headed to Foxwoods. Great, I was planning on going anyway and it is always good to see a friend from over there.

Well ...

We both got smoked at the 1-2 NL tables.

There were a few players at my corner of the table who play on Full Tilt and Poker Stars; 1-2 NL guys that mostly play online but mix it up with a few days a month at Foxwoods. We talked about the 12 tabling nits, and how much better it was to play online with rakeback vs live games.

JB is an aggressive player, but I have seen him over play a lot of marginal hands. Net result down 2 buyins after 8 hours play. This is the first time I have seen him leave with less than $1000, chalk it up to variance or donkishness. The funny thing is each time he changed seats, his old seat became a card rack.

I mixed up my play, tight, loose, tight, loose, nothing seemed be working after 8 hours at the tables. QQ and top set loses to runner, runner flush. QQ and flush draw loses to 66 on the river and ties for the side pot vs QQ. AQ chops a QQ5 board with to runner runner boat vs Q2. AJ loses JJx to a KJ boat on the river. Need I say more? I knew I was doomed and even put my name in for the Omaha H/L game to change it up, but after 2 hours only moved from #8 to #6 on the list. Why can't they start a feeder table when there are 12 people on the list? Net result down 2 buyins in 10 hours.

I followed up my Foxwoods debacle with a solid 3 hours of drinking at the Tatnuck American Legion Post where I am a member. I think I will either head back to Foxwoods tomorrow, or perhaps open the Legion and start drinking at noon tomorrow.

A friend is hosting a home game on Saturday night, I am looking forward to that. Wonka will be there, along with a host of drunken donks that should mean an easy cash as usual. The next HPT is a few weeks out, again a good chance for an easy cash.

Never a first

Played the mookie tonight, and once again I came up short. Fourth place is somewhat respectable I guess, for a blogger donkament... Since I started playing these things when I got home from Iraq, I have had seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths - but never a win. Oh except for the dookie, I won the turbo HORSE a few weeks ago.


Foxwoods is on my schedule for tomorrow (today?). Hopefully I wake up early enough to drive down and make it to the 10am $100 NL tourney.

Home Game

I hosted a small game this weekend, comprised of a few friends from the HPT game, and few from the more local BCBombers game. Wonka was there of course, and I made every effort to stay out of his way. It's not that I was playing with him, but there are easier fish to fry without getting in his way.

On the second hand of the first game, I have AA in the SB vs an unknown player who raised pre flop. Being the first level, the blinds were 25-25, and the raise to 100 from MP looked rather benign so I re-bumped to 400. MP smooth calls after looking at her boyfriend. The flop comes KQx rainbow, I make it 600, MP makes it 1200. I think for a short moment and then push all in. If she had KK or QQ wouldn't she re-pop me pre flop? I mistakenly put her on AK but she calls with a monstrous top two pair, showing KQo. The board pairs 99 on the river and MP has to rebuy. Bad play by me, but there is little to no chance that I am throwing away AA on the second hand of a game if there is a rebuy option.

Middle of the 1st game I put in a standard 3x raise from MP with 44, BB smooth calls. The flop comes 4A5 with 2 hearts giving me bottom set. Knowing this particular player will chase flushes no matter how expensive, I bet out with a pot sized 1500, and get called. The turn is a blank and I push 1950 into the middle and make an "oh well speech" and get called. BB turns over KQd no pair, no draw, wrong suit. He said he thought I was bluffing because of my speech. Well good read friend, except I wasn't bluffing and even if I were you couldn't beat a bluff.

I go on to take 1st place, and Wonka comes in 3rd.

Second hand of the second game vs same player I got into it with in the 1st game. The blinds are 25-25 and it is raised to 100 from EP, and called all the way around to me in the BB with 67 suited. 5 players see the flop of 779. I check of course, MP bets out 500, and I call with my trip 7s bad kicker. The turn is a 2, I check again MP bets 500 and again I smooth call; there is discussion whether or not I am playing the hammer. The river is a Jack, and I bet out 1200 leaving about 600 behind. She smooth calls and shows pocket Jacks for Jacks full of 7s. Uggh; I wasn't going to get her off the Jacks without an over card on the board anyway.

A few hands later I limp from EP with 78d. Aggressive player on my left bumps it to 100. Everyone folds except for the BB on my right who calls, so I make a loose call. The flop comes 569 with the 6 and the 9 in diamonds. Sweet, I flop a straight with an open ended straight flush draw, this is going to be ugly. EP2 bets enough to put me all in, BB raises, I say all in, and EP1 goes all in. The turn and river are blanks, EP2 shows pocket 10s, BB shows QQ and I triple up. If the QQ in the BB had not called, I might have folded. If he had re-raised, I would have folded.

I end up going out early and playing dealer for the rest of the game.

.... and then a Royal

If anyone reads my blog, you would know that this morning I flopped a straight flush, a rare event for most poker players. Well tonight I turned a Royal, the rarest of hands!! My last Royal came on July 1st, and according to Poker Tracker it was only 40,000 hands ago.



The odds of getting a straight flush are 1 in 72,193
The odds of getting a Royal are 1 in 649,740

I somehow managed to get 2 Royals and 1 straight flush in 40,000 hands. Pretty sick huh?

Unfortunately, my card rack luck didn't carry over to to the Mookie, and I donked out after committing myself with AKs and calling an all-in vs QQ.

I did buy a lottery ticket today, what are my chances of winning that?

Straight Flush

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than to be good. Luck in being dealt good cards, luck in hitting flops or catching on the turn or river. In this case, luck in flopping the nuts while each of the opponents also made big hands.


Full Tilt Poker Game #3468525272: Table Revere - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:04:34 ET - 2007/09/05
Seat 1: MrDougTn ($65.70)
Seat 2: DrNotes ($168.80)
Seat 3: Forzzen ($200)
Seat 4: zinger82 ($129.40)
Seat 5: Laak39 ($146.80)
Seat 6: Rake Feeder ($210.85)
Seat 7: pattimac ($470.70)
Seat 8: Hillbilly Jr ($164.70)
Seat 9: RascalKing ($314.20)
pattimac posts the small blind of $1
Hillbilly Jr posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Rake Feeder [Qd Jd]
RascalKing has 15 seconds left to act
RascalKing folds
MrDougTn calls $2 <-- Limp from EP
DrNotes folds
Forzzen folds
zinger82 folds
Laak39 folds
Rake Feeder calls $2 <-- Easy limp with QJ sooted
pattimac calls $1
Hillbilly Jr checks
*** FLOP *** [Kd Td 9d] <-- Gin and Juice!
pattimac checks
Hillbilly Jr checks
MrDougTn bets $8 <-- Looks like a probe bet
Rake Feeder calls $8 <-- I flopped the nuts!
pattimac calls $8 <-- Hmm
Hillbilly Jr folds
*** TURN *** [Kd Td 9d] [8s] <-- I hope this helps someone
pattimac checks
MrDougTn checks
Rake Feeder bets $8 <-- Please call me!
pattimac raises to $22 <-- I put him on the flush here
MrDougTn calls $22 <-- I put him on a good piece of the flop
Rake Feeder has 15 seconds left to act
Rake Feeder has requested TIME <-- I have mad online acting skillz
Rake Feeder calls $14
*** RIVER *** [Kd Td 9d 8s] [5s] <-- Blank, not that it mattered
pattimac bets $38 <-- He thinks this is a value bet
MrDougTn calls $33.70, and is all in <-- Pot committed
Rake Feeder has 15 seconds left to act
Rake Feeder raises to $178.85, and is all in <-- Push for value
pattimac has 15 seconds left to act
pattimac calls $140.85
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Rake Feeder shows [Qd Jd] a straight flush, King high
pattimac mucks
Rake Feeder wins the side pot ($290.30) with a straight flush, King high
MrDougTn mucks
Rake Feeder wins the main pot ($196.10) with a straight flush, King high
MrDougTn is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $489.40 Main pot $199.10. Side pot $290.30. | Rake $3
Board: [Kd Td 9d 8s 5s]
Seat 1: MrDougTn mucked [9c 9h] - three of a kind, Nines <-- Bad timing to flop a set
Seat 2: DrNotes didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Forzzen didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: zinger82 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Laak39 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Rake Feeder (button) showed [Qd Jd] and won ($486.40) with a straight flush, King high
Seat 7: pattimac (small blind) mucked [8d Ad] - a flush, Ace high <-- Ouch
Seat 8: Hillbilly Jr (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: RascalKing didn't bet (folded)
DrNotes: holy crap
Hillbilly Jr: vnh rake
Forzzen: wow
Forzzen: nh
Rake Feeder: good flop for me
pattimac: i couldnt fold
DrNotes: good is the wrong word
Rake Feeder: nothing you can do with that patt
DrNotes: he flopped the nut flush
DrNotes: u had the ONLY cards in the
deck that could beat him
DrNotes: that was just sick

Sunday at the Woods

I have been Jonesing to get back to Foxwoods for a few days, and finally woke up Sunday morning and just drove down by myself. I have had a very good run at Foxwoods since returning from Iraq, nearly every session has been in the positive, +500, +900, +1200, etc. Sure there were a few sessions that were break even or minor losses, but nothing that bothered me. Until yesterday...

I would like to say that I was cold-decked, but I did get a few premium hands, AAx2, QQx2 (all cracked). Unsuited 5 gappers were the norm and looked like gold. I had QQ cracked by 24o and 34o after making it $40 to go pre-flop. AA was cracked by TT on a flop of KJ8. I had re-raised two $17 pre-flop bets to $65 and one came along. I pushed on the flop, and the TT player was proud to get it in behind claiming he had a straight draw - runner, runner of course!

3 times I got it all in with at least a 4-1 advantage, and every time I was runner runnered for miracle suck outs. Enough of the bad beat stories, nobody wants to read about someone else's misery.


Live poker is rigged.

Bovine Scatology

This is the kind of shit that Full Tilt has been killing me with:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (9 handed)
UTG ($224.70)
UTG+1 ($220.75)
MP1 ($76.10)
MP2 ($201.75)
MP3 ($97.20)
CO ($230.55)
Button ($127.25)
Hero ($200.40)
BB ($49.40)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Qh, Kd.
7 folds, Hero raises to $6, BB calls $4.

Flop: ($13) Ts, 9c, 2s (2 players)
Hero bets $12, BB calls $12.

Turn: ($37) Jc (2 players)
Hero bets $18, BB calls $18.

River: ($73) Ac (2 players)
Hero bets $14, BB calls $13.40 (All-In).

Final Pot: $99.81

Results below:
Hero has Qh Kd (straight, ace high).
BB has 6c 5c (flush, ace high).
Outcome: BB wins $99.80. Hero wins $0.59.


Granted, I did not have a huge hand pre flop, but whatever possessed this guy to call the flop and turn bets with a bad draw? He hand to go runner runner in order to beat my turned straight and rivered broadway. I supposed I could have put him all-in on the turn, but my gut tells me he would have called.

An open letter to Full Tilt support

Dear Full Tilt,

Please flip my boom switch back to the winning position. I need to catch more sets that turn into boats vs runner runner straights and flushes.


Thank You,


Rake Feeder


p.s. While you are at it, please stop counterfeiting my top 2 pair vs an over pair.

Iron Man Final Table

Last month I played on Full Tilt nearly every day, qualifying for the Full Tilt Iron Man promotion and entrance into the $30,000 freeroll. When I played in the Gold level freeroll there was quite a bit of dead money, about half the players did not even show up. Such was not the case at the Iron level game, I am sure there were a few no shows, but on my tables every player was present.

With 298 players and a $30,000 prize pool it was essentially a $100 tourney for free! Of course my MGR will take the hit and my rakeback will suffer, but IMHO it is worthwhile to opt-in to the Iron Man promotion.

I was chip leader for quite some time after the bubble broke, up until the final two tables. With 12 players left my QQ was cracked by a donk open pushing UTG with K6o for 17,000 vs my 60,000. The blinds were 800/1600, I understand he was short stacked but there really is no need to push UTG with that kind of hand. The hits just kept on coming, and my stack dwindled to 12k until I doubled up with pocket sixes.

I was talking to wwonka on the phone, when the final table popped, and the very first hand I get AA in the BB with a raiser from LP. I have 24,000 in chips facing a 3x raise to $7,500 with the blinds at 1200/2400. I insta push of course, and he insta calls.


Boom! Aces cracked by KJo. Out in 9th place.



Sure I am happy anytime I get $450 for free, it just sucks to go out like that.

Mookie Donkout, Dookie Win!

My buddy Wonka called me tonight to remind me about the Mookie. I had spent much of the afternoon and evening drinking beer at the local American Legion Post, of which I am the newest (and youngest) member. There was a small game in the back room, but it was only a $5 buy in, I was not going to waste my time. I was tempted, as I had not played any poker at all since my Saturday pilgrimage to Foxwoods. My live play has been great, but my online cash games at Full Tilt have left much to be desired. I have been getting pounded by runner runner straights and flushes when I flop top set and bet out.

It was clear early on that tonight was not going to be my night at the mookie. In the 1st level I have AA in LP with a few limpers followed up by a 4x raise from Irongirl in front of me. I re-raise the pot and she mucks. I am very happy taking it down a nice little pot without seeing the flop. The next orbit, I have AA again (card rack). There are a few limpers and once again a raise by Irongirl. I re-raise the pot, she pushes, I insta-call and a 9 on the flop gives her a set of 9s and leaves me with only 800 chips very early. She said that she was tilting from another tourney. I tell her it is all good, I knew there must be a reason for her going to the well with pocket nines so early in the tourney. I manage to work back up to a decent stack, mostly due to a suckout with 56s vs AK, followed by a double up off of MiamiDon with KK. I ended up donking it all back to him with AQ vs his AA in the BB. Out in 16th or so.


The dookie was a HORSE event, something that I have very limited experience in. I do not play much limit hold em, my style prefers to take pots down long before the turn and river. I do however enjoy playing Omaha H/L, it used to be my favorite bonus clearing game. Razz and Stud are not in my normal list of games to play either. Net result for the night = +$26, yay.

Weekly Pilgrimage to Foxwoods

One of my buddies from Iraq lives in CT, he and I have been making a weekly pilgrimage to Foxwoods for a while now. First of all, it is nice to be able to keep in touch with a friend from over there. After an 18 month call up with 12 months deployed to a combat zone you get to know people better than friends you have had for years. It was surprisingly difficult to get a game going over there, General Order #1 prohibits gambling of any sort and although poker games did happen, they were almost always small 4-6 player tournaments with a very low buy in. Early in the deployment we did manage to get into a game with the unit from the 82nd that lived next to us. All of their money ended up in either my pocket or my buddy's pocket and they never let us play with them again. What were you doing with $1000 in the desert anyway? The MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) tent sponsored a tournament once a month, "for fun" with $50 phone card or PX gift certificate prizes. Unfortunately, I never had the time to make it to one of the legal games.

I arrived at the reservation about 930am, and was 10th on the list for the 1-2 NL tables. My buddy had been there for about 30 minutes, and was quickly up about $200 after some aggressive play. I was called for a brand new table, locked up seat 8 and proceeded to the cage to get my chips. On the way back a seat opened at my buddy's table, and the nice floor lady let me move to sit with my friend.

The play was typical for the 1-2 NL tables at Foxwoods; everyone was limping into as many pots as possible, pre flop raises from $7-15 only juiced up the pot, and only large ($25-35) re-raises would take it down pre-flop. I limped with KK UTG, everyone limps around to the button who makes it $10 to go. The blinds fold and I re-raised to $35, big stack from MP calls and the button calls. The flop is K93, I have top set and bet out $40 expecting at least one caller. Both muck claiming small pairs, I show my Kings and my table image earns some credit.

I take down a few pots pre-flop with decent pairs and re-raises from the BB, I build my stack rarely going to show down. After 5 hours I am up $900 and in need of a break. My buddy has lost some ground, a flopped Aces full to a rivered AK bigger boat, and some questionable calls with second pair. He is sitting on about $400 after re-loading a hundo and breaking even. I decide that I am going to take my chips off the table and rat-hole my profits. There is a long list for 1-2 NL, I put my name in before heading to eat. Lunch at the 5th Street Cafe is on me, I have enough player points to cover both of us.

It is about 3pm, my buddy heads back to his table, and I check the list. My name must have been called while we were eating, I have to get back in line. No worries, 1-2 NL is so popular, they seem to have 25-30 tables running and still opening new tables. I get called for a new table, and once again on my way back from the cage I notice an empty seat at my friends table. The floor lets me move and I am back in the same seat. Evidently my replacement had bought in for the minimum twice and spread his chips around the table. Strangely, everyone was glad to see me back.

In retrospect, I should have just left my money on the table and taken my break. I had been successful at the table, had built a good stack and earned a good image. My post break game was not nearly as successful as my morning session. Most of the table has been here all day, with stacks built from the never ending stream of tourists buying in for the minimum 2-3 times, busting out and leaving. I no longer have the stack to move people off of hands. I am card dead for an eternity, re-loading 3 hundos each time I dropped below $200 and considering leaving. At about 8pm I say to my friend that I need to double up soon or I am going home. I have a little more than $300 in front of me, and the very next hand I have AKs in the BB.

Limpity, limp, limp around the table to the button who is sitting on about $1500 raises to $15. The small blind calls $15, and I bump it up to $30 hoping to drive out the rest of the field. It works and we go 3 way to the flop with about $100 in the pot. The flop is an absolute dream for me. K73 with 2 spades. TPTK with nut flush re-draw. The SB checks, I bet out $60 and the button raises to $120. The SB folds and I think about it for a minute. I know the huge stack has a very wide range of hands after 10 hours at the table. I have seen him make this move with KQ before. He knows that I don't have my big stack from the morning session. If I jam, I expect he will call as he has been running very well, he can afford it, and I am short enough to price him in if he has a decent hand. If he had AA or KK, he would have come over the top of my pre-flop bump. I am more afraid of him having 73 than 77 or 33 based on his previous holdings. I push, putting $170 on top of his raise and he calls, showing AKo. Nice! At worst we are chopping and I have the only re-draw. The dealer wastes no time in putting another spade on the board, and after the dust settles I am blessed with nearly $700 in chips, back on top by $100 after my 3 hundo reloads. After the hand he said he thought I might be on a set of 7s, but he couldn't get away from TPTK.

Final tally, 12 hours for $1000 profit. Plus free lunch.

Cash Games, Daily Double, and the Mookie!

I played in a few tournaments and 1-2 NL cash games on Full Tilt tonight (last night?). I was in my normal 4 table grind and breaking even, until I ran my AA into AA and KK. The action was raised to $8 from MP, I re-raised to $18 from LP, the BB came over the top and made it $40 to go. The MP raiser flat called and I pushed all in. Everyone came along for a nice chop of $131 to each of the pocket Aces.


I played in The Daily Doubles at 9pm and of course the Mookie at 10pm. I was run out of the Daily Double A when my flopped trips and flush draw was beat by a flopped full house. I really should have gotten away from the hand when my flop bet was re-raised. I did manage to cash in the Daily Double B for a whopping $22.44 which nearly covered my buy-in for both games.


My big hand on the final table was a 3 way all-in between me, ScottMc and Mike_Maloney. I had about 15,000 and wake up with QQ UTG. I am looking for action and I put in the standard raise of 3x the blind to 3600. ScottMc goes all in from MP for about 11,000, and Mike_Maloney pushes for 15,000 from the BB.


I was prepared to call one all-in with my QQ, but 2? I easily could have been up against AA or KK in this spot. I pushed and hoped that one of them was on a medium pocket pair, and the other a big Ace. If I have any readers, comments are welcome on my play.

We traded chips around for a while, I sucked out a couple times, and we were finally heads up with a slight chip advantage in my favor. On the first hand heads up my opponent bonehet timed out on the button. He had been having disconnection issues all evening, so when the next hand was dealt, I quickly raised thinking he was disconnected. Yes, it was a cheap play but thats the way it is online. Unfortunately I did not raise enough for the value of my hand AJ, and he returned in time to call my min raise with 53s. The flop was 53J and I was crippled. Oh well bad karma on me. On the next hand he put me all in for 13,000, I insta called with Ace-poop, he showed Q3s and caught a Q on the turn, game over.

Thanks for the radio show to BuddyDank and his crew!

I am Iron Man!

I did see Ozzy play live back when I was a teenager, but that is not the Iron Man I am referring to...


The Full Tilt Iron Man Challenge promotion has got to be the biggest pain in the ass VIP program of any site. If it were not for the fact that I just got back from Iraq and have not returned to a normal person's daily grind yet, I doubt that I would have the time or energy to qualify.



Last month I had a late start, I did not sign up for Full Tilt until the 5th of June or so, and really did not get going until the latter half of the month. I did qualify for Silver, and cashed in the freeroll. If the Iron freeroll plays anything like the Silver, it should be another easy cash.

Foxwoods has been good to me, variance on Full Tilt has been rough, but I am still ahead for the month. I have begun to spread out my play to other sites; Absolute (yuck) and Ultimate Bet - where I have a rake back account through PSO.

I would like to say thanks for the Kudos to Hoyazo. I think that bullying the short stack with A7s from the CO is an ok play if you can afford to do it and you think the shorty will fold to your raise. Defending your big blind heads up with J9s and 5 big blinds remaining might be an ok play as well.

Friday at Full Tilt

Friday night I played in 3 tournaments on Full Tilt, the two Daily Doubles, and the Katitude Donkament.

There is not to much to say about the donkament, with only 10 players, it took about 30 minutes to break down to the final table. I finished in 3rd place for the massive payout of $12.60, netting me a $7.60 profit after a couple re-buys and the add-on.

In the Daily Double A, I donked out soon after the first break, AQ vs 44, TPTK vs a flopped set. Oh well.

In the Daily Double B, I managed to survive until 13th. My final hand was 88 vs 33, of course he flopped a set.


FullTiltPoker Game #3011174813: Daily Double - B (22427345), Table 35 - 4000/8000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:44:46 ET - 2007/07/21
Seat 1: shadywestie (134,828)
Seat 3: ejbadger (318,634)
Seat 5: Rorschach (127,490)
Seat 6: j2the6th (331,588)
Seat 7: Rake Feeder (167,168)
Seat 9: apology7 (312,944)
shadywestie antes 1,000
ejbadger antes 1,000
Rorschach antes 1,000
j2the6th antes 1,000
Rake Feeder antes 1,000
apology7 antes 1,000
Rorschach posts the small blind of 4,000
j2the6th posts the big blind of 8,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Rake Feeder [8d 8c]
Rake Feeder raises to 30,000
apology7 folds
shadywestie folds
ejbadger folds
Rorschach folds
j2the6th raises to 330,588, and is all in
Rake Feeder calls 136,168, and is all in
j2the6th shows [3s 3c]
Rake Feeder shows [8d 8c]
Uncalled bet of 164,420 returned to j2the6th
*** FLOP *** [2h 2d 3d]
*** TURN *** [2h 2d 3d] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [2h 2d 3d Jc] [7c]
j2the6th shows a full house, Threes full of Twos
Rake Feeder shows two pair, Eights and Twos
ejbadger: wow
j2the6th wins the pot (342,336) with a full house, Threes full of Twos
ejbadger: gg
Rake Feeder: gg
apology7: yow
Rake Feeder stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 342,336 | Rake 0
Board: [2h 2d 3d Jc 7c]
Seat 1: shadywestie folded before the Flop
Seat 3: ejbadger folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Rorschach (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: j2the6th (big blind) showed [3s 3c] and won (342,336) with a full house, Threes full of Twos
Seat 7: Rake Feeder showed [8d 8c] and lost with two pair, Eights and Twos
Seat 9: apology7 folded before the Flop

Nothing new here

Wow, I have not posted for over a week. Not that it matters, nobody reads this blog anyway. I have played 1-2 NL on Full Tilt every day this month, with no forward progress. My account balance is in constant flux, up $500, down $600, down $1000, and back up to even. Variance is an ugly whore, and she keeps hitting me in the jimmies. I suppose that I really should not complain, most of the big pots I drag are sets vs over pairs, and the big pots I lose are over pairs vs sets and drawn out flushes. Like many players, I find it damn difficult to throw away my premium hands on what appears to be a safe board. Someone teach me the secret to not going broke with AA please.

Yesterday I went to Foxwoods with wwonka and his brother who was home from California. He plays quite a bit of 3-6 Omaha HL in the LA card rooms. We arrived in the early afternoon, and put our names in for the 4-8 Omaha HL with half kill game. I was planning on spending some time with my friends until the 6pm tourney started. Well the list filled up and we sat at what was supposed to be "must move" new feeder table. Unfortunately half the list did not show up, and the table broke before it got going. I decided to just play 1-2 NL since there were more than 20 1-2 NL tables with open seating. I manage to sit near the Omaha table to keep an eye on my friends, just in case I want to switch.

The 1-2 NL game at Foxwoods has changed since I went to Iraq. It used to be $100 max buy in with a $5 time every 30 minutes. How can you beat this game losing 10% of your stack every hour? The new game has a much more appropriate $300 max buy in, and plays much looser than the online games I am used to at Full Tilt. A standard 3-4 times the blind preflop raise entices a family pot instead of raking the blinds. Unless someone opens for $20, half the table is going to come along. Even a $15 pre flop raise would often have 5 players see the flop.

The first table was filled with tourists who should have been playing 2-4 Limit. They like to buy in for the minimum $60, play every hand to the river and reload. There was one big stack bully, who was constantly asking the question "How much do you have left?", which was soon followed up by "I put you all in". He seemed to be playing quite a few pots with opportunistic drawing hands. Suited connectors, suited Ace-poop, and was getting paid by the tourists. I did manage to suck out one pot on him. I raised enough preflop to get him heads up with QQ. The flop was Ace-high, but I bet out anyway and he called. The turn was another Ace which was checked to the river. A beautiful Q came, and I nearly doubled up with my rivered boat. Needless to say he was unhappy to see his A2s trips losing a $200 pot.

The table broke, and I moved to the next table over with about $600. Tourist to my left complained that I was bringing too much money to the table, and asked why I did not have to post the blind or pay the time. He did not understand that I was coming from a broken table.

At the second table, I became a card rack. I think I had Aces full twice and got paid off by AK and trip 10s. I had KK hold up 2 times, and a few small sets good for stacking the minimum buy-in tourists. I did get AA cracked by a set of 4s, but that was only for $60. Two hands later my pocket sixes stacked the same player on a 446 board, he was holding A4s.

Eight hours of play at the tables cost me $80 in time paid to the casino. I cashed out $1300 for a smooth grand in profit. I am planning to head back to Foxwoods tomorrow with one of my buddies from Iraq. If I do well, you can read about it on Thursday or Friday; if not I will pretend it never happened and probably not post for another week.

Foxwoods Daily 10am Tourney

My friend Scott called me 2 days ago and said that I had committed to going to Foxwoods with him on the 5th of July. I don't recall committing to anything, but sure I was game and made the drive down. The daily $100 ($80+$20) tournaments get about 150 players, T5000 chips and 20 minute levels. Six and a half hours later I finish in 4th place for a $931 payout.

Miracle suck outs can and do occur live just like online. Short stacked on the final table bubble I go all in preflop for T27K with pockets 9s. The blinds are 3000-6000 with a 500 ante. Mega big stack at T150K calls with K9 clubs. The flop comes all clubs giving him a flopped flush. The turn pairs the board, and I call for the case 9 which of course comes on the river. I catch my runner runner boat and double up.

This was my best finish in a Foxwoods tourney. Historically when I go to Foxwoods, I donate my $100 buy in, and then move over to the 1-2 NL game and make my money back. I am quite pleased with a decent live finish.

Blogger Big Game

Sunday night I played in the blogger big game for the first time, and managed to survive enough races to eeek out 3rd place. I was not going to play, but my buddy Wwonka talked me into it. I had played in a satellite earlier in the day but fell short of a token, and ended up paying cash.

The hand where I accumulated enough chips to make the final table came after the first break when my KK ran into AA and QQ. All the money went in before the flop, but I spiked a King on the turn to knock out smizmiatch and crippled Zeem.

A while later I was one of the big stacks at the table I raise with TT and get called by Smokkee who limps UTG. The flop is 456 rainbow so I bet the pot and he calls. Bells go off for some reason. I am giving him credit for a good hand because he limped from UTG and smooth called my raise and flop bets. The turn is a Q and we both check. The river is another 4 and he bets out 3600, after some thought I muck what turned out to be the best hand, he showed A8h. I felt that at that point in the tournament it was not worth it to lose the chips.

I basically fold my way to the final table going from chip leader to average stack. I took some small pots, nothing of note though.

At the final table I get real short on the money bubble and begin pushing like a donkey in order to stay alive. The blinds were so high I had no choice if I wanted to remain in the game I needed to steal and get lucky. I keep on getting Ace-poop in the SB when it is folded to around and push on Smokkee's blind. I manage to do this 4 or 5 times when he says he will call with any two cards if I do it again. I wasn't trying to pick on him, I was desperate for chips and he was to my left. Well the next blind is folded to me, I push with A5o and he is a man of his word and calls me. He calls with 82 suited and I double up. A5o is gold!

Three-way it was me, Hoyazo and TripJax, what a brutal game. Each of us was short stacked, dead even, or 2-1 chip leader multiple times. My hat is off to Hoyazo and TripJax for a great match.

Royal Flush

Since poker blogs are a dime a dozen, it is fitting that I post my lame ass Royal Flush. I am playing 1-2 NL on Tilt, hovering a little below my $200 buy in. I have been playing tight, and pretty card dead. My preflop bets are generally getting called by 2-3 people. I open for $7 preflop and get one caller.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (9 handed)

MP3 ($102)
CO ($251)
Button ($189)
SB ($224)
BB ($200)
UTG ($189.90)
Hero ($183)
MP1 ($85.70)
MP2 ($207.85)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Ks, Qs.
1 fold, Hero raises to $7, 1 fold, MP2 calls $7, 5 folds.

Flop: ($17) 7h, Js, Ts (2 players)
Hero bets $12, MP2 calls $12.

Turn: ($41) 6c (2 players)
Hero bets $15, MP2 calls $15.

River: ($71) As (2 players)
Hero bets $45, MP2 calls $45.

Final Pot: $161

Results below:
Hero has Ks Qs (straight flush, ace high).
MP2 has Ah Jh (two pair, aces and jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins $161.


I figured he had the jack, but I thought that I just might get paid off if I managed to hit my draw. I suppose him having top 2 was why he called, maybe I should have bet more on the river. Anyway it is nice to hit a Royal and get paid when there is no progressive.

For the record this is my 4th Royal Flush. My first was in a MTT on Party a couple years ago, then I had a couple playing Omaha (but they dont really count), and then this one.

HPT

A good friend of mine began playing in a regular game while I was in Iraq, and hosts a nice home game every month or two. The players are mostly from the town he lives in, a few play online or visit local card rooms on a regular basis. Some are solid players, some not so good; it is an average Joe garden variety home game.

On Friday night the game was a 2 table tourney, 17 players T6000 and 20 minute blinds starting at 25-25. A nice slow structure that lets everyone play for a few hours before becoming beer delivery agents. Wwonka drove out with me, and as usual those of us with the longest drive are the only ones on time and ready to play.

I started at the small table with 8 players, lucky for me two of the better players are to my right. I have played with most of the crowd before, and have a reputation of being Tight Aggressive so I intend to capitalize on it and mix up my play. The general play at my table is weak tight, and I know who to lookout for, so I open up to a large range of starting hands and begin stealing from the limpers. I know they are limping with junk, any ace, two face, so pot sized raises are stealing chips from the passive players.

The table seems to know that I am raising with junk, but I continue to build my stack as they miss their draws and I keep chipping up. Then I wake up with AA in the BB. The action is min-raised to me with 1 other caller. I decide to play passively and smooth call. Yes of course this is dangerous, I check call their min bets all the way down and bet half the pot on the river and get paid off showing my pocket AA.

Flopping a straight with Q9 from the SB on the next hand out adds more chips to my stack, and allows me to continue making moves, nobody wants to play a hand with me. I have more than doubled up only showing down 2 hands.

Once the players says that she knows I am bluffing and asks me to show a bluff so I promise I will show my next bluff. What a better hand to accomplish this than the hammer! I raise from the button with 72o and drive out everyone except my soon to be bluffed friend. A pot sized bet on the flop gets her to fold and I show my hammer. Everyone at the table is pissed but I have a monster stack and nobody can stand in my way.

Air Force Steve limps from the SB and I check my option with 83o. He is a solid player, but like everyone capable of making a mistake. The flop comes 832 rainbow, great news for me! He checks, and I check behind. The Turn is another rag, he bets 1000, and I raise to 3000. He pushes all-in and I call, cracking his pocket jacks JJ with my rags and sending him to the rail. He wanted to get some value for his JJ, and it turned out to be a disaster. I am the overall big stack as we consolidate to one table.

The final table has 6 small to average stacks destined for trouble with the ever increasing blinds and 3 big stacks. The big stacks begin pushing the small stacks around while trying to stay out of each others way.

With the blinds at 500-1000, I raise to 3000 from MP with TT, and a short stack goes all in for 6ooo, Bigstack3 calls a quarter of her stack from the SB, and I call after getting a chip count. The flop is J8T rainbow, the action is checked all the way down. Blank on the turn and another Jack on the river. I value bet 3000 with my boat Bigstack2 calls with QQ. Bigstack3 is now known as Smallstack3 and I have a monster lead. I learn the the guy I knocked out was last weeks winner, and there was a nice bounty that I collected.

The remaining short stacks all get knocked out by Biggestron, and now our stacks are nearly equal as we enter heads up play. Heads up vs Biggestron only takes about 10 minutes. We are close in chips, the plays are raise-fold, raise-all-in-fold, etc. until we both get it all in with my AT vs his KQ. I double up and he has about 8000 left. A few hands later my King-rag spikes the flop to beat his Ace-poop and the game is over.

2nd Post!

I am new to blogging, though I have certainly spent a lot of time reading other peoples blogs while donking it up. Poker blogs are a dime a dozen, why would anyone want to start a new one, and who would actually read it?

I have recently returned from a tour in Iraq, I was called up in November 2005 and spent 6 months training at Fort Bragg before deploying to the desert for a year. Say goodbye to 575 days of my life, but that is another story...

Maybe writing a blog will help with my self diagnosed PTSD. Since returning, I haven't done shit except play poker. I have gone to Vegas once, and Foxwoods 6 or 7 times during the two months that I have been back. I just started playing online poker again, mostly on Full Tilt.

I am in no mood to go back to work as an IT Consultant, and after a year in combat I deserve a little slack time while I get my life back in order. The nice thing about going to Iraq is there is nothing to spend your money on over there. I managed to save up enough money to fund a modest bankroll and pay the bills for a while.

First Post!

Coming soon!