It seems like updating this here blog has been harder and harder lately, due to a lack of general blog topics (aside from the usual recap of my recent action), and the welcome distractions of holiday season. But, as Dr. Pauly told me a long time ago when first starting this endeavor, the best thing you can do is blog daily. So, here we go.
Yesterday I held a make-shift tournament at my apartment. Dubbed the November to Remember tournament, Me, new player (at my game) Ebner, Mikey Aps, Robbie Hole, and Dave Roose played 6-handed. I, as usual, didn’t go far in my home game, going out in fifth place. My tourney play wasn’t particularly golden, but I do think I had the best of it when I finally pushed. We played deep-stacked (5K in chips, 25-50 starting blinds) with 15 minute blind intervals to force the action. The winner, Mikey Aps, had the nerve to show up about 45min late and still win the damn thing. You can say a lot about Aps, but it is hard to deny that he knows how to play a fine game of poker. Ebner took a well-deserved second. Hole was first out, followed by me and Roose.
Interestingly, it seems like when Roose/Hole do well, the other of the two do well. And, as yesterday showed, vice versa. This, mind you, is only at my home game, as the Hole home game is a whole other story, or so I’ve heard. It’s been a while since I’ve been at a Hole game.
So, after losing the tourney, we set up for some mixed games. Roose and Hole aren’t as familiar with the wide variety of games, so we kept it to PL Omaha, NLHE, and Stud (high only). Roose struggled with some of the mixed games. As he said, “I hate playing games I don’t know.” I thank him for being such a trooper. It’s rare when we have enough players for these things. And Roose, this will help you learn the games. After all, there is more to poker than hold’em, right, WSOP? Ah, who are we kidding!
Hole stuggled a bit too, and eventually it was just me, Aps and Eb. Suddenly we threw all games in the miz, adding Razz, Stud high/low, and Omaha high/low. I had a nice chip stack which I donked off, mostly due to tricky hands. In one PL Omaha hand, I held KcKxAxTc. The flop was AxAcJc, so I had the nut flush draw, the straight flush draw, made trips with a solid kicker, an inside straight draw, and several full house draws. On the flop, all of the money was in the pot between me and Eb. He held JJ, for a made full house. We dealt the turn and river 3 times! I lost them all. Damn me! I knew he had the JJ!
In my defense, I made two huge river bluffs in Stud against Ebner, each time having absolutely nothing. In one hand, Eb even considered calling me with his Ace high. When he folded, I showed my King-high. In the other hand, Eb considered calling with his exposed pair of sixes, only to fold to my stone-cold bluff.
In the end, I won back $20 in the mixed cash games after losing $40 in the tournament. My home game record isn’t too great, mostly because I have difficulties excelling at home. But, twice in a row, I’ve reclaimed half of my tourney losses through mixed games. Last time it was limit Omaha. I have to say, mixed games are working for me. It might be that other players are less experience. It might be luck. I hope that it is that I am getting a good grasp on these games and playing good staring hands.
Online, I’ve been spreading it around. I’ve been playing a lot of random games on Full Tilt (see banner on the right). FT is a great site graphically-speaking, but DP is right when he mentions that the limit games are hard to beat. FT definitely has superior players. But if you are looking to improve your game (or play Stud, Stud h/l, or Razz), check Full Tilt out. I’ve already donked off more than half of my initial $100 deposit, so get there while I’ve still got chips to hand out!
I’ve also started a new $50 BestBuy giftcard promotion via Vegas Poker Pro. I’ve set up shop at Hollywood Poker, which has 5-card draw. It was going well there until I went card dead. I’m down about $40 or so from my initial $200 deposit. I’m not too concerned though. The competition seems weak, and 5-card draw seems to be a game where streaks happen. The VPP promotion should be no problem. In what little amount I’ve played, I’m already at least 10% done. I’m putting the over/under on 2 1/2 weeks. Then I get my gift card (as well as $100 more in BestBuy cards from Poker Source Online after I get my PSO points from the Carribean Sun promo). So, the new question is, what do I spend this $150 in BestBuy gift cards on? My current choice is to use it to subsidize a surround sound system to match my new TV (which has still yet to be ordered). Second choice is Sirius radio, followed by an iPod. Man, with this much consumer electronics waiting to be had, I better get back to playing my PSO and VPP bonuses. I’ve got about 3 left to go after Hollywood is done. After that, who knows!
Goonies never say fold!