High On Poker

As Commissioner of the Heads Up Challenge, I have admittedly been ignoring my duties. After realizing that I was not to advance to the second round, and in fact held the last place position after round one, I put the HUC at the back of my priority list. I liken it to my habit of closing an SNG window as soon as I lose. Even if I’m playing with the HUC crew, I still can’t get myself to stay put and watch them play. I might return in 10 minutes or so, but immediately I want to purge myself of my apparent failure.

When the HUC Preliminaries (aka Round 1) ended, several of the players were tied for the third and fourth Semifinals (aka Round 2) slots. GCox and SteelerJosh were a lock for Round 2, with a record of 5-2. Mourn, TripJax and DNasty were all tied at 4-3. Me (1-6), WillWonka (2-5), and DoubleAs (3-4) were out the door. [Note: At least I'm in good company].

As a result, DNasty, Mourn, and Trip are going to have to enter SUDDEN DEATH! All players will face off: D v. M, D v. T, M v. T. If all players end with a 1-1 record, we’ll start all over again. However, if one player gets 2-0, we have ourselves the third Semifinalist. Between the other two, one will necessarily have a 0-2 record, and the other will have a 1-1 record. The 1-1 is our fourth Semifinalist.

The Semifinals will consist of all players playing a best of three match against the other semifinalists. If GCox beats Steel in two matches right away, then GCox gets a win, for a 1-0 record (and not a 2-1 or 2-0). Steel, obviously, gets a 0-1. GCox, as all semifinalists, will have to repeat the best of three set against the Semifinalist 3 and 4. In the end, challengers will have a Semifinal score of 0-3, 1-2, 2-1, or 3-0. If more than one player ties, we will go to the players’ Preliminary win/loss record. If this is tied as well…SUDDEN DEATH!!

Once Semifinals are done, we will have our Grand Finale! The Finals will be pre-announced, with a set date and time for all you railbirds. The players will be locked in a no-holds-barred Heads-Up poker battle to rival all others. Stay tuned!

Your Commissioner,
Jordan

On the individual poker front, I may not have much time to play tonight. Maybe when fiance Kim is asleep, I can cram in some 2/4. Tomorrow, I am hoping to host a smaller homegame. Roose and Hole are in, as are Hafeley and Katzner. We need one more for a good game, and three more for a solid game. Cross your fingers for me. If you are interested in playing and are in the NYC area, the game is .25/.50 NLHE, with a $20 max buy-in and $40 max rebuy. Contact me by leaving a comment or emailing me directly.

Enjoy yourselves. And bluff a bit for me.

Well, the heading isn’t exactly right. I’m not really pissed off. But if you look a bit closer, you’ll see that the capital letters are: PSO.

Look, people. I am the world’s seventh greatest poker blogger. This is an undisputed fact. According to the wonderful people at BlogsOnPoker.com, their “most popular blogs” section is based on the amount of people clicking on my links on their page. Now, I might be beating this into the ground, but this is a BIG deal for me. I do not see myself as a force in the poker blogging community. But this is a sign that I do have a modicum of popularity or at least readability. This blog was originally for me, so that I could work out my poker thoughts. But it has developed into something more. It is a source of pride for me, and it has been a way to open up to a new community of people.

Now, why am I pissed off? Because why is the 7th greatest poker blogger of all time getting no love from his readers? GCox recently mentioned that he has 10 people who signed up on PSO through him. I have zero! Granted, he started sooner, but since I’ve started, none of my friends or readers have taken the plunge. I sound like a petulant child, I know. Well, baby needs his baba, and that baba ain’t a bottle (unless it’s Grey Goose). My baba is a iPod. How can I not have one of these. On the subway to work, I saw a 13 year old Latina girl, a 86 year old Greek man, a 30 something Black guy, and a two ageless homeless people rocking out to thier iPods. Homeless people! I also passed about 16 ads, on buses, buildings and elsewhere, informing me that if I get an iPod, I too will have a cool colored background, a rocking sillouetted body, and some dance skills! I’ll say it again: how can I not have an iPod!

I won’t leave it up to you, fair readers. I am very grateful that you waste your time reading my drivel, complete with mispelled words used in the wrong context (my SAT-tutor mother would kill me!). I am going to transfer some money out of Noble and move to a new PSO promotion to receive the 6000 PSO points. This should take 2 days or so (Noble is slow with Neteller withdrawals), at which point I will attempt to earn the 6000 PSO points at three different sites. That will leave me with 18,000 PSO points, mathemagicians! But, with the iPod costing 21,500 points, I could sincerely use your help. Please, if you find my blog worthy, are a fan of the 7th greatest poker blogger in the universe, want to make money and win additional prizes through PSO, or need a charity tax write-off, sign up at Poker Source Online through referral code HighOnPoker.

If you are signing up for PSO through referral code HighOnPoker, I offer a few suggestions. Sign up for Bodog, as the site starts you with 50 Bodog points, and you only need to earn an additional 150 for their promotion. I’ve done this and it was very easy. If not Bodog, try Absolute Poker. The bonus is easy, but I suggest you start at the 1/2 limit or higher, since the bonus is based on hands with a 25 rake. Here’s another tip to getting yours from Absolute: sit in a full table 1/2 room (or higher), and only play premium hands while you play your usual game. I suggest this because Absolute counts ANY HANDS are your table that covers the rake requirement, even if you DID NOT PUT A DIME into the pot! So, I three-tabled, with my usual 6-person table, and two 9 or 10-person tables. Ingenuity at its best.

I will be starting my bonus whoring at PokerRewards, unless someone has another suggestion. For that matter, any suggestions regarding the PokerRewards bonus would be helpful, such as soft games or tricks like the Absolute Poker trick I mentioned above. I have already completed Bodog and Absolute via PSO, and I already had accounts on Golden Palace, Full Tilt, Empire, PokerRoom, and Party, so those sites are off limits (although I’m thinking of opening new accounts at Party and PokerRoom).

There you have it. I have a plan, but I’d like your help. If you can find it in your hearts to help a blogger on his iQuest of an iFree iPod, please sign up at Poker Source Online with referral code HighOnPoker. And you can pop my affiliation code cherry! (I will also pimp your blog or whatever else you’d like, if that will entice anyone).

Poker? Why not!

Last night, I was able to play two rounds of poker. The first round went well. I played some 2/4 while fiance Kim did whatever it is that she does right after we returned home from our favorite Mexican restaurant, Baby Bo’s. The session was definitely in the hit-and-run category. When it was all said and done, I was up to $475, nearing my $500 neo-August goal.

The second session, on the other hand…I signed on around 10:30 or so, and found GCox online. He was just starting up Noble, so we decided to play in a room together. He left the choice up to me, so I stuck with 2/4. I don’t have much in the way of details. When it was all said and done, I gave away about $30+. It was fast and furious, and mostly due to poor hand selection. I think I was also tryin to show off in front of GCox. In one ill-fated hand, G was on the button and I was the SB with the hammer. We re-raise each other pre-flop until its capped. The flop is AQJ. I think I bet, he raised, and I folded. It was worth a stab, or so I thought. As it turns out, GCox had no intention of folding his pockets Aces! Nice timing, hammer!

After the 2/4 table broke, GCox and I decided to play some .25/.50 NL. I was just giving my money away. After 4 hands, and -$18 or so, I closed the window fiercely. I shot an IM to G: “I’m done for the night. Can’t tilt anymore.” I was, in fact, on tilt. I could feel it running through my veins, and directing my loose and weak action. What to do when on tilt? Run and hide. Better to live another day, or something like that.

All in all, I think I am down to $430 ish. This isn’t catestrophic, and I look forward to playing tonight, when I return from dinner with an ex-coworker to an empty home. Fiance Kim will be in the Long Island suburbs getting her wedding dress fitted, so I’ll have the time and ability to concentrate for about an hour or so, if all goes well.

Thursday is a game at Hole’s Poker Emporium. Hole’s homegame has become my new hot-spot for the live game fix. I tried throwing two homegames recently, but all to no avail. This is much easier. Unfortunately, Hole’s games are often slowed down by the namesake and distractions. Also, I have not playing my best poker there, generally. But this shall change and victory will be mine.

No one is in my office yet, and I’ve been here for 40 minutes. Looks like I’ll have to change my schedule in the future.

Pokers Up!

When I was younger, a popular saying in my household was, “Change is hard.” This is coupled with the general proposition that I and others in my family don’t deal with change well. “Change is hard.” This line has been used in a slew of settings. I lose my first girlfriend and 20 lbs. due to a loss of appetite. “Change is hard, Jordan.” My brother goes to college and is having trouble adjusting. “Change is hard, Keith.” My dog passes away and my mother is heart-broken. “Change is hard, Ma.”

Change IS hard. It’s hard for me at least. Here I am in my new office, dealing with enough changes to shake up anybody’s world. You’ve heard it before. New job, wedding coming up, new apartment. New new new. And all changes from what I am used to.

Work has been very difficult for me. It’s not the day to day stuff. Sometimes I leave here and I think, “I really like what I’m doing.” But Sunday night, preparing mentally for the week ahead, I can’t help but feel a sense of dread. The law that I am working on is new. The environment is different then the old firm. The expectations of me are higher than they used to be. These are all things I can surmount. I know this. But it doesn’t made the struggle any less tough.

Breathe.

Ah.

So, poker stuff. I won $20 today while sitting on my ass. To be more accurate, I received $20 from my $60 deposit bonus from Noble. In total, I’ve received $30 of the $60. I’m almost dreading when I’ve received the entire $60, because, frankly, I like the idea of earning bonuses. I know they will probably have a reload bonus in September, so I need to withdraw some Noble money back to Neteller so that I can reload it back into Noble when the time is right. I should probably also consider signing up at another site through PSO, but I’ve grown very comfortable at Noble. Also, I seem to lose everywhere else. One reason to diversify sites is to spend more time playing with the Heads-Up Challenge bloggers. I cannot express how much more fun poker is when you have your friends with you online. It’s the 2nd best thing about this blog, behind being ranked 7th Most Popular Poker Blog! (Have I run this into the ground yet?) Of course, the 3rd best thing are the women. Love those blogger groupies.

So, that’s it for my mid-day post. Get back to work you miscreants!

I’m dealing with some obstacles, but I’ve circumvented them to get to a very warm and successful place. The major obstacle has been my computers. I have three computers in my apartment. One is my desktop, another is fiance Kim’s laptop, and the third is my old lawschool laptop, which may as well be a rotary computer (and for you kids out there, rotary refers to the oldskool phones with the rotating dial used to…well, dial). Man, I could bitch and moan about the computer scenario for a day and a half, but I’d rather just get to the bottom line. Both my desktop and my laptop are unable to get Internet via their wireless cards OR the LAN line. I don’t know who I have to sleep with to get my computers fixed, but I’m all prettied up and ready to go!

As a result, I hooked up my old laptop, and surprisingly got a connection. I spent a while on the phone with Dell and RCN (my ISP), and neither could help me. Tomorrow, I’ll drop my laptop off at a repair place, where they will charge me $75 for the first hour, and $30 each additional half hour. If the ads I’ve seen on the TV are any indication, I should probably just buy a new computer. I think I found out who I’m going to have to sleep with, and it’s a computer nerd making $75 an hour. God damn!

But wait! The name of this post is obstacles overcome, right? Right! I’m glad you are paying attention. You see, now that I have the Internet running, I’ve been playing poker. What a surprise, right? I lost about $40 on Sunday, but since then I’ve been riding STRONG. I reached $375 earlier tonight, and took a break. When I returned, I realized that I was ready for the $2/4 tables, according to the Limit Challenge framework. I played about 4 hands at a severely short-handed table (3-4 people), and I was down $26! Damn, these 2/4 sharks are tough! Or so I thought. I came back, and just finished up $55. With $430 on Noble, I’ve reached my August goal, and now am fighting for the illustrious $500 mark. At this rate, I’ll pay for the computer repair, um, I mean new TV, in no time.

That’s it for now. Fiance Kim wants to use the comp, and since this is the only one with Internet…well, let’s share, shall we.

Rock on people! Your 7th favorite poker blogger thanks you.

I may not be able to win the Heads Up Challenge, but I’ve apparently won a popularity contest over at BlogsOnPoker.com. My blog is listed among the top 10 most popular blogs, along with such heavy hitters as personal favorite Tao of Poker, Iggy’s Party Poker Blog, and the link swapper, himself, Bill Rini (just joking Mr. Rini). Quite an honor.

So, check it out. I finally won a popularity contest (you know, I came in second for UB’s homecoming king…damn antisemitism).

I originally had hoped for a home game at the 5-Diamond (i.e., my apartment) tonight, since fiance Kim was other busy doing some wedding stuff. Unfortunately, a lack of responses caused the game to fold. As a backup, Robbie Hole and I planned on hanging out. This, too, fell through, as something came up in casa del Hole. No harm done though. Before this occurred, Hole and I scoured our collective social circles for any chance at some hot poker action. No such luck. At one point, we floated the idea of driving 3 hrs to AC and back, but reality got the better of us. I found a Poker Home Game site through Stabby McFoldsalot, but in the end, I’ve decided to hold off a bit before contacting strangers. I also thought about checking out a NYC illegal card room, but once again, I have to pace my poker-loving self.

So, without Rob or a 5-Diamond game, I realistically could make some phone calls and do the usual bar thing with the guys. However, after my first week at a new job with newer, longer hours, I’m beat, and looking forward to a night of peace and quiet. My plan is to finish out the day here (it’s 5:30pm) once I finish summarizing some medical records. This has taken up most of my day, but since I have nothing to rush to, I want to finish it before I leave. Then, I’ll order some Chexican delivery (Mexican food made surprisingly well by Chinese people), and settle in for some MTT action. Fiance Kim has been busy on the only Internet-ready computer lately, so my online poker intake is light. I’m just below the $370 I need to move up to $2/4 limit, according to the Limit Challenge Structure, so if I can beat that, I’m moving on up into respectable waters. After all, I was playing 2/4 at AC for 8 hrs straight, so playing those stakes online (as opposed to my baby stakes) is an accomplishment for me. Separately, I have bootleg copies of Aviator, Million Dollar Baby, and The 40-Year Old Virgin, in case the poker needs a break. Who are we kidding. I ain’t doing nothing but poker.

If you are going to be playing online tonight at Noble Poker, shoot me an IM. My AOL IM screenname is BrodyBanky. I’d love to meet up with some fellow bloggers or readers in an SNG, ring game or MTT.

Last night, I left work at 6:30pm and headed straight to dinner for my brother Keith’s fiance’s birthday. We ended up at Bistango, and Italian restaurant at 29th and 3rd, which is across the street from my old apartment. The food was fantastic, and the service even better. The top dog, Anthony, owner and manager, has always been nothing but kind and SINCERE. Sincerity is a rare trait, so my hat is off to him and his array of delicious food.

Where was I? Oh, then we went to Maker’s, a dive of a bar that is also across from my old apartment. Good times had by all. By the time I got home, it was 10:30pm, and I covertly hopped online. “Don’t start a game,” I heard from the other room. Grumble. I haven’t been able to play as much as I’m used to for a while now, thanks to my Internet connection problems and fiance Kim’s uber-wedding mode. She can sit on the computer for 3 hrs editing a two page program for the ceremony. God bless her, because she is doing a great job, but all work and no poker, makes blah bee blah blah blah.

Of course, I scouted the situation. Fiance Kim was in the bathroom, door open, working on something or other that involves intense staring at close distance from a mirror. “How long will you be?” I asked, hoping for a clean 10 min. “5 minutes or so.” Done! In fiance Kim speak (heck, in any chick speak) 5 minutes is roughly 15.

I immediately go through my online poker setup. AIM, check. Noble Poker, check. Internet Explorer, check. They all loaded up and I was ready to play. As soon as AIM was up and running, I received a chat invitation from none other than DNasty himself. DNasty whooped me something good a couple of days ago in the Heads-Up Challenge. I congratulated him again, with utmost sincerity. I must admit, it was the best matchup I’ve had so far. We chatted a bit, with random comments from DoubleAs. By way of update, Steeler lost to DoubleAs, and DNasty beat him (I think that is right). The HUC has been a success overall (except for my 8th seat standing), and for that I’m proud. Anyone interested in the next HUC should get comfortable. This one should end in about 2-3 weeks, and I can’t imagine starting another for months…not to say I don’t want to.

Ah, so here we go. After some light chat, I sat at two $1/2 tables. My Noble bankroll has been steadily, but slowly climbing. My goal is to reach $400 by August 31, and I’m now at $367, a $27 uptick thanks to my stick and move technique. In all honesty, it’s more out of necessity than technique. With everything going on, I’m usually only able to play for about 15-20 minutes lately. Fortunately, in that short span of time, I’ve been hitting hands and then booking the hell out of there. Thank god for loose players. I can’t say my play has been exceptional. But when you hold KK, and the board is J high, AND two players call you down, one with top pair but a shit kicker and the other with middle pair and an unsuited Ace kicker, you really don’t have to do much. Even so, hand selection has remained key. I could just as likely be getting crappy hands over 15 minutes and leave a loser. However, if I have good hand selection, I’m liable to be down $5 after running cold, instead of $15 after playing loose. Hand selection folks. It can make or break your game.

This is a rambling post, so excuse the lack of cohesiveness, insight, or, for that matter, anything of interest.

My home game is busted for tonight. I only had two responses. Mental note: Not homegames on Fridays. It’s great for me because fiance Kim will be on Long Island tonight, but usually most of the guys are busy with their girlfriends and such. I can’t blame them, as the mostly don’t live with their girls and some of them only see them on weekends. That said, Robbie Hole’s joy, Joy, is away or something, so Hole and I will be prowling the streets. Did someone say, “illegal card room?” Oh, I guess not. Turns out they said, “A seagull’s hard doom.” But even so, Aquarium is a possibility. I haven’t been there yet, but now is as good a time as any.

In other weird news, my 5 lawyer firm has 4 people out of the office today. Do the math. DO IT. Now you see…I’m the only lawyer left. So, in my first week as an attorney at the new firm, I’m in charge! I plan on making the secretaries do a cheerleader pyramid later. I love abusing what little power I have. Unfortunately, with only two secretaries, the pyramid won’t be much to look at. Brain storm coming….I get to be the peak!

Blah blah blah. Sorry I wasted your time with this posting. At least you didn’t waste your time with “productivity!” Productivity is -EV.

Poker time.

As the Commissioner of the Heads Up Challenge, it is with a heavy heart that I must state that this challenge sucks! I’m already out of the running for round 2, after DNasty made a comeback and a stunning suckout defeat. I can’t blame him for the suckout, as I made two suckouts earlier in the 100+ hand matchup. The final hand saw me pushing pre-flop after his raise. I held Ah2h. He held Ks9c. The flop came down with three spades and an Ace. The turn was an Ace, giving me three of a kind. The river was a spade, and I go home crying.

The Challenge has been especially challenging to me because of some horrible play in my first four matches. Some was due to suckouts, but the truth of the matter is, I played those first four matches one after another while on namesake. I like namesake, no doubt, but it doesn’t help my poker game, and it wrecks my heads-up game. I mean totally wrecks it. I promised myself before the challenge that I would only play when I’m in top condition, without distractions or intoxicants. No such luck there, as I missed the first couple of days while in A.C. Consequently, when I was on namesake and itching to go, I didn’t think twice about playing those first four matches. If I could do anything over again, it would be to avoid that scenario.

Que sera, right? I still have one match against SteelerJosh. He and I are on a smack-talk buildup, so it should be an interesting match. One of the great things about the HUC is that even when you essentially out of the tournament, you still have impetus to play future matches. Being the steaming soar loser that I am (in poker only, interestingly), I would be prone to say, Screw it, and let Steel take a win. However, since there necessarily will be $5 on the line, I see it as an opportunity to win $5 and humiliate Josh with my expert play. See? Much better.

In other poker news, I’ve earned my first $10 bonus (of 6 coming) from Noble. I played for about 10 minutes of $1/2 last night and won about $10 thanks to an AQ which hit and A on the flop. It was a 10-person table, and I was in EP/MP, but I bet, even though I was scared that one of the 4-5 limpers had AK or Ax with two pair. The turn was a blank and I bet out again. I had about 2 callers. Finally the river came, and it was no help. I thought I was screwed so I checked. Monsters under the bed, folks. One guy had 77 and the other had J7, for an inside straight draw on the flop! I quickly typed in the players’ notes, “Loose” (77) and “Retarded” (J7). Those accurate descriptions will hopefully pay dividends in the future. My Noble bankroll is at $350, so I’m inching toward that $400 goal (hopefully by the end of August).

On the computer front, my desktop won’t recognize it’s Ethernet card anymore, and my wireless router won’t work either. I put in an order at J&R Music and Computer World, and expect a new Ethernet card and wireless router in a matter of days, all for less than $50. Not too shabby. Here’s crossing my fingers.

I have to get back to the grind. I’ll see you all later.

Poker, anyone?

For whatever reason, I could not get onto Noble Poker last night. It was driving me up the wall. I decided to play some .25/.50 NL on UB, the only other site where I have money. I can’t use that site anymore, because I lost my $10 buy-in, which was admittedly too small to sit with. I still have about $11 on UB, but I plan on using that for my Heads Up Challenge matches against SteelerJosh and DNasty. I formally challenge Steeler yesterday for a 9pm matchup, but he no-showed. Chickenshit. I won’t let you off that easily.

I decided to hook up my wireless router, which mysteriously stopped working right before my move about 3 weeks ago. Well, the wireless router just doesn’t work, so I’m going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new one. I hate spending money.

To complicate things further, I was unable to get my Internet to work, once I re-hooked it up to the desktop computer. It’s still not working, but I set up my laptop to the cable modem, so I do have Internet, thankfully. It just sucks that I have no idea why my desktop isn’t connecting to the Internet. The problem with computers is, there are so many opportunities for problems. If it was a calculator, it would work fine, but the more complicated things get (in general), the more opportunities for errors or malfunctions. That’s why no computer I’ve ever owned worked without a glitch for more than a year. Once that year rolls around, the font gets screwy in Internet Explorer, or popups appear whenever I start up, telling me that the computer cannot find Program X, a program I’ve never used or knew of before the notification.

Onto other things, the new job is going well. The firm is a lot smaller than I expected, with only 5 attorneys, soon to be 6. The rest of the floor is owned by the firm, but subletted to other attorneys or professionals. The fun part is figuring who works for who. I didn’t get an especially detailed orientation, but I’m used to learning on the job. Now, I just have to keep up my long(er) hours (8am to 6:30pm) for the time being, until I can settle into a routine. It’s been doable, but I am a man of leisure. In the end, I know that this conditioning is good for me.

That’s it for now. Keep working hard….at poker!