Live 1/2 Slow Roll

I was playing 1/2 at Foxwoods the other night. New player at the table raises to $10 from UTG. It was my straddle, half the table calls $10 so I toss in the additional $6 with 34 crubs.

The Flop is 235 with 2 clubs, giving me middle pair and and an open ended straight flush draw. SB, BB check, I check, new guy bets out $30 into a $70 pot. Miracualously everyone else folds, and I decide to just call with the world for outs. I could have raised on my monster draw, but since the guy just sat down and raised his first hand I give him credit for an overpair, I put him on Queens.

The Turn is a non club 8, I check and he bets $45. For a moment I think maybe he has AK and just fired a second barrel, but I am fairly sure he has QQ. I call $45 like a donkey, still having the world for outs.

The River is a Jack and I check having missed everything and holding a 3 with a 4 kicker that cannot possibly be good. I say "Your Queens are good, I missed my draw", and hold my cards towards the muck waiting for him to flip his over pair.

Now for the slow roll ...

At Foxwoods, you have to show both cards in a showdown in order to take the pot regardless of whether the other player mucks or not. I genuinely dislike the showdown game of flipping one card at a time, and want to move on to the next hand. Normally I will announce and show my cards regardless of position when I know I am ahead, or even think that my hand might win the showdown.

I know that I am beat. He still hesitates so I show my 3 and say "I know this isnt any good". He says what is the kicker, I say its a 4. Then he says show it.

I know that I am not ahead and have all but surrendered, and he is demanding to see both cards. I have told him his hand is good, and showed him all I have is middle pair. Other players are now complaining so I table both cards and wait for him. He looks at me and slowly flips QQ one at a time. What the fuck?

I said thanks for holding up the game by intentionally slowrolling me, you could have just shown your friggan Queens and moved on. Other players at the table told him that it was completely uncool and not called for.

Does anyone agree or disagree with this behavior?

Quads over Quads

All I can say is ouch ...

Horsey

Played a couple HORSE tourneys this evening. 5th place in one and chopped 1/2 in the other. 4am is not the time to be playing split pot games heads up.


I am still pondering making a trip out to Vegas; I really need to just pull the trigger on a plane and hotel. Still on terminal leave, I have about 4 weeks left before I have to look at a real job.

Final Tabled Poker from the Rail

I believe this was my first time at a final table for the BBT5. The Hammer was good to double up when we were 8 handed, 27o > AQ! KOed Astin with T7h for a flush. AJ < QQ = out in 5th.

Listened to Buddy Dank Radio while playing; took the crews suggestion and played in the HORSE tourney. Chopped 1st/2nd with even stacks about 10 minutes into Razz. I must have had 80% of the bring ins. Neither of us saw any point going back and forth.


4am time for bed.

Yikes!

Put a big hurt on CK with this ridiculousness...



Money went in on the flop

^^ That is about the limit of my live blogging =)

Home Just in Time! .... for the BBT5!

Not sure how many of the events I will be playing in, but I will reload and see how it goes. Last year I had a TOC seat early on, but did not get to play it. No date set, but I am definitely planning to get to Vegas for a few days while I am on leave.

EDIT: Oh ya, a welcome back invite to the freeroll would be nice =)

Over the Hill

Went over the hill during demob. Technically we aren't supposed to leave the post, but AC is just an hour and a half away from Ft Dix, and my boss (a LTC) was driving. I would have preferred to finish my demob and go home, but we are stuck until Friday to finish medical.

Checked into Resorts and walked over to the Taj poker room. Kinda dumpy compared to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun imho. The tables seemed really close together, and the room appeared to be well worn.

Table one +550 after about 4 hours of play. Caught a set of 3s early on for a nice pot. Lost top two vs a turned set later on which sucked. Doubled up with an AK 4 flush all in on the flop. Doubled up again with a set of 7s and a rivered boat vs an over pair. Poker is easy when you run good.

Table two earned a few pots with some value bet bluffs and AK vs AQ. Never had a pocket pair larger than 99 the whole night. +450 for a nice +1000 total on the evening.

Tomorrow we have another nothing day and Friday I should be cut loose on terminal leave.

Update

My time in Iraq is getting short once again. If all goes as planned, I have a couple days left in Ramadi, a few days in Baghdad and Kuwait and then a few more at Ft Dix NJ. My best guess is I that will be back in the States by the beginning of April and on terminal leave by the middle of next month.
I am looking forward to getting home and seeing my family and friends - and of course hitting the poker tables at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Last time I was over here my friends went to Vegas for March Madness without me. Where are they this year? In Vegas again without me. Bastards!

A couple of choice pics:

A nice summer day!

This one can apply to playing poker for long hours

My window Christmas Eve 2009

Go Sox!

See you all soon!

Home, Mohegan, and a new paint job for my car

My R&R odyssey was completed last Saturday in just about the minimum time possible for the mid tour leave program. I would like to say a very big Thank You to the passengers on the Atlanta to Hartford flight who gave up their first class seats for soldiers coming home on leave. We all had spent about 4 days in transit, including a 15+ hour flight from Kuwait to Atlanta via Germany. Your kindness is certainly appreciated.

Saturday afternoon was spent running errands, re-stocking my condo with the essentials, and a new iPhone - yay.

Sunday morning I called Wonka, asking where everyone was watching football, and we decided Mohegan Sun was a good place to both watch the games and play some cards. We arrive about 1pm and get seats at seperate tables after a short wait. I hover between +100 and -100 for a couple hours until I run Aces Full into Aces Full. I had played with my oponnent before, and we both knew it was going to be a split pot on the turn. The board was A3A3 and after a series of value re-raises we both said "Ace" with the intent of moving along to the next hand. Both hands are tabled and there was no more action. Funny thing is neither of us were paying attention, nor was was the dealer. She split up the pot and was about to pass it to each of us when she flipped the river. She was about to muck all the cards when someone from the other end of the table who was not in the hand said the other guy hit his low card and has a bigger boat. -200 for me, ouch.

I take a break and reload up to full buy in. I still had a little over a hundred left, but want to have a full stack to play with rather than play a short stack game.

After the Pats game, Wonka moved over to my table. I had planned on leaving early but a few more hours passed and it was after midnight - 8am Iraq time. I made some good reads vs a couple of AK donkeys building my stack to about 1200. Wonka had been drinking Crown and Cokes all day. I finally dragged him away from the table about 2am, thanks for the nice streak of puke out my window on the highway.

Coming home

I am coming home on leave for 15 days sometime next week. I should be back for a few days before Thanksgiving, and for a week or so afterwards.

Almost no poker for me where I am at. Managed to walk into a random game with some of the PRT cats a couple weeks ago, but it was very social, and an extremely deep structure. 8 players, 2000 in chips and 1/2 blinds to start. Everybody was seeing every flop and calling the entire way down. 6 players to a showdown, and you can imagine how frustrating that type of play is.

We talk about getting a regular game going with a select group, but never manage to get the game off the ground. Something always comes up - there is still a war going on after all...

I see there is a Winter Vegas event scheduled, but unfortunately I will be back in country by the time it kicks off. Too bad, I am so jonesing for Vegas. I doubt that I will be able to play any online poker while I am home. My house has been closed up and everything shut off. That being said, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are both on my target list.

Booom!

No, not that type of Boom!

Played in the Free MWR game this past week and came in second place. No prize for first.


As expected with no reward and no investment the game was horrendous. I would imagine the low stakes / free online games would play better than this. 30 minutes into the game 4 players call a 4 bet and go to the flop. 872 rainbow. Check around to the 4 better. He pushes (AK donkey), next player pushes (QQ), third player pushes (77), 4th player pushes (22); last player calls (85o). Turn is an 8, river is a 5. The result is me and my linguist friend are now 3 handed versus SGT 85o. Too easy.

Still no poker

I have not played any poker since the "for fun" game a couple weeks ago. There have have been a few whispers of a game, hopefully I can get myself an invite. Work has been business as usual for the most part over here, although things are definitely changing post June 30th. You wouldn't know it from the media, but the Iraqis are definitely taking the lead and moving forward. Overall this is an entirely different experience than last time I was here.

Broke my camera a couple days ago, the view screen is cracked limiting the functionality of it. I am probably going to get a new one at the PX, I just hate shelling out cash for something that is sure to get messed up in this environment. The sand and dust gets into everything.



. . The Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders were here for an appearance.


This is the last photo taken before my camera broke:

Poker in Iraq

Getting a real game going is probably going to be impossible. There is a Sunday night game at the MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) tent. Last week I walked over there and there were only 6 names on the list and no prize for the winner other than a certificate. During my last deployment the MWR game had prizes such as a $50 PX card or phone card. Not that I ever had time to play.

There is this policy in Iraq called General Order Number One. It prohibits all sorts of activities, including gambling. I am sure there are games going on here and there but the risk is far greater than the reward. I would rather not face a letter of reprimand (or worse) for conduct unbecoming than play in a $5 game.

A few nights ago one of my neighbors had a small for fun only game in his trailer. We had 4 players (which sucks), 2 of whom had never played before. They were all US-Arab linguists, and there was no chance of enforcing the "English only at the table" rule.

One of the players is a regular in the San Diego area card rooms and plays in Vegas on a frequent basis. So he and I were teaching the new players about the game. We played for a couple hours NLHE tournament style. Of course the 2 players who had never played won the games. I did make a nice laydown in a hand vs the experienced players. Action as follows:

I over bet the pot pre-flop with AA in the BB. Everyone calls. Pot the flop JT2 and only the experienced player stays. I look at him and figure he is strong, but lead out for 2/3 on the turn. He says all-in. I tell him his 2 pair was good, and fold my aces face up, he shows his 2 pair JT.

At least I was able to play a little, even if it was just for fun. Maybe I will check out the MWR game again tonight.

Shamal

For the past few days there have been some minor shamals or sandstorms in the afternoon and evening. Normally the sky would turn orange-ish and there would be a fair amount of sand flying around, just enough to be an annoyance. Yesterday afternoon it seemed a little stronger than the previous days. This picture doesn't do it justice, but from from the time we entered the chow hall and finished eating the sun had been blotted out and you could not see more than 5-10 feet in front of you.


What is normally a 5-10 minute walk took about 25 minutes blind, and everyone was coated with a thick layer of dusty sand. Think about your normal north eastern snow storm and change the nice fluffy flakes to flying beach sand. Some of the local Iraqis said they had not seen one like that for 20 years.

Greetings from Al Anbar

I finally made it to what could be called home for my second tour in Iraq. So far I have spent a week living in tent city in Kuwait conducting mandatory in country training and briefings. Follow that up with another week in the transient tents at Camp Victory coordinating with higher and waiting on a helo.

Last week I arrived at the place where I can dump my duffel bags out and begin a year of groundhog days. Welcome to Camp Ramadi. This is what it looks like:

All we need is a some neon lights, a few casinos, and someone to hand out flyers for hookers to make this place the Vegas of the middle east!

Welcome to Kuwait

I have been here for a few days now. Imagine feeling the rush of hot air when you open an oven and that is how it feels all the time here. Over a 100 degrees before 8am.

So far it has been Army business as usual here. Training on various military tasks, much of it death by powerpoint, and of course drinking water like a horse. Everyone is looking forward to heading up north as soon as possible.

This is my new transient quarters:


Tents like this are lined up in every direction.

Does anyone know when exactly the BBT4 TOC is? Will we be auto magically registered for it?

My new pad

This is my quarters for the next month or so. A stylish 10 x 10 room fitted with 2 double bunks, a couple of lockers and chipped paint peeling from the walls. A first class upgrade compared to the open bay WWII-era barracks I lived in last time. Luckily my roomate has a Sprint Internet card so a crossover cable allows me to leech his bandwidth.


No, I do not have to make my bed.

Justification for my bad play

As I said in game chat. My apologies in advance for all the gross suckouts I may inflict before I leave this weekend. As Smokkee put it, I have been running like Zeus.

There is never really justification for terrible play but I do have other things on my mind.

In a few days I will be back on active duty preparing for my second tour in Iraq.

I expect to be at Fort Dix NJ for about a month before going overseas. If I can somehow manage a weekend pass, I do plan on heading to AC, since I have never been there.

When I am over there I will try to post some updates within the boundaries of OPSEC.

Got a letter in the mail ...

You are ordered to Active Duty as a member of your Reserve Component unit for the period indicated unless sooner released or unless extended. Proceed from your current location in sufficient time to report by the date specified. You enter active duty upon reporting to unit home station.

Operation Iraqi Freedom tour of duty number two coming up.


This must be why I have been running like Zeus.

Close but no Cigar

I have had jury duty all this week. #75 on the list, and the damn lawyers manage to excuse 61 people just so I could be the last one to sit. Lucky seat #7.

In the Skillz game I made the FT but got KOed in 4th place. I managed to put a bad beat on Don when he limped with 33 5 handed. I complete the small blind with 87. Flop 773, and we 4 bet the turn when a deuce comes. It's not like I am folding without a fight here, but the 4 bet had me concerned. Of course I run like Zeus (Thanks Smokkee) and another duece saved me on the river.

It was all downhill after that, though I managed to KO F-train with Ace-rag vs QJ in a battle of the blinds.

Mookie tomorrow (today) night!