High On Poker

I’d suggest you follow the link on the right to the Poker Champ, if you want a laugh. I played against him in the first round of the DADIII HUC, and, well, I whooped him good. Of course, he believes that I played “like a fish LOLOLOLOLOL!” He also called all bloggers fish, generally.

There was one hand particularly that upset him. Here is the hand history with commentary:

PokerStars Game #4007260506: Tournament #19240675, Hold’em No Limit – Match Round I Level I (10/20) – 2006/02/17 – 21:00:18 (ET)
Table ’19240675 20′ One on One Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: HighOnPokr (1520 in chips)
Seat 2: TequilaMom (1480 in chips) (I give Champ credit for choosing a funny screenname and pic (see the screen shot, below).
TequilaMom: posts small blind 10
HighOnPokr: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HighOnPokr [7h Qd]
TequilaMom: raises 20 to 40
HighOnPokr: calls 20 (I call because it’s a minimum raise and the blinds are tiny. I will tell you now that he had 4d7d, so I don’t see where he gets his high horse.)
*** FLOP *** [Td 5d Jd]
HighOnPokr: bets 60 (The flop doesn’t seem particularly scary. I have a reasonably high flush draw for heads up play. I decide to control the action and/or find out where I am with a small bet. I do not know that he has a flush.)
TequilaMom: calls 60 (He flat calls, hoping to slow play me, I guess. His move is pretty bad because two things may be occuring. Either I have a better flush, which is not likely, or he is giving me free cards with which to draw to a higher flush. However, to be fair, he may think I had top pair and that I won’t give it up. Who knows!)
*** TURN *** [Td 5d Jd] [7s]
HighOnPokr: bets 200 (I hit my 7, which is nothing great, but since he only flat-called my flop raise, I may as well try to push him out of the hand. Plus, aggression is KEY heads up.)
TequilaMom: raises 400 to 600
HighOnPokr: calls 400 (The pot currently has 1000 in it. I have to call 400 to draw to my flush. I figure him for probably a draw to a flush, but I know that if he has me beat with a pair, I can always draw out on him by hitting my flush or two pair or a set. Admittedly, I’m not getting pot odds. But, it’s heads up play, and his play led me to believe that he didn’t have the flush, so at the very least, I have that out. It’s also very early, and I’m willing to gamble because I know if I loose a bit, I can recover later. His play also seemed a bit like a bluff re-raise. So, call I did. And then this happened.)
*** RIVER *** [Td 5d Jd 7s] [8d]
HighOnPokr: checks (I hit my flush, but I recognize the possibility that he has Ad or Kd. That was my read on him anyway.)
TequilaMom: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
HighOnPokr: shows [7h Qd] (a flush, Queen high)
TequilaMom: shows [4d 7d] (a flush, Jack high)
HighOnPokr collected 1400 from pot
HighOnPokr said, “suckout!” (I admit my suckout and announce it with joy to induce tilt.)
TequilaMom said, “nh, tourist.” (It works…)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1400 | Rake 0
Board [Td 5d Jd 7s 8d]
Seat 1: HighOnPokr (big blind) showed [7h Qd] and won (1400) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 2: TequilaMom (button) (small blind) showed [4d 7d] and lost with a flush, Jack high

Now, admittedly, it wasn’t my best hand. BUT this is heads up poker, so playing a wider hand selection and playing aggressively are assets. More importantly, Champ played very poorly from there on out. I’m not sure if it was tilt or what, but it wasn’t this one hand that won the game.

Champ wants to call me a Fish. Well, come fishing, Champ. I challenge you to a best of 7 HU series. I’ll let you choose EVERYTHING. Stakes, game, site. You can choose date and time, as long as I can make it. So, put up or shut up.

Champ has a huge ego and a false sense of reality, but maybe there was something else that inspired him to talk smack. Enjoy Jordan v. Champ, the greatest hits:

(Referring to Champ’s pic on his site, which actually isn’t Champ at all)
TequilaMom: i look like owen wilson i think.
Dealer: Game #4007327023: HighOnPokr wins pot (40)
HighOnPokr: with less teeth, a worse nose, and no money, right?
HighOnPokr: haha

Dealer: Game #4007408921: HighOnPokr wins pot (30)
Dealer: Game #4007412165: HighOnPokr wins pot (240)
Dealer: Game #4007416746: HighOnPokr wins pot (60)
HighOnPokr: i think your fold button is stuck

TequilaMom [observer]: thanks for the invite.
HighOnPokr: my pleasure
HighOnPokr: glad you could make it
HighOnPokr: it was like a bye in the first round

Yeah. I guess he does have reason to bitch and moan.

As for the rest of the night, I won an SNG, and lost two. My total for the night was $1. In addition, Wil Wheaton placed 2nd in the DADIII event. Congrats Wil. I have to admit, I called my mom to brag how Wesley Crusher was playing in my tournament. She doesn’t play poker and she worries at times about my love (read: obsession) for the game. But she and I used to watch Star Trek: TNG together, so I had to do a little bragging.

First place went to Mark from The Flop radio show, airing in FL. If all goes as planned, Trip and I will be making an appearance on the show on Tuesday. I’ll keep you informed with the details.

Man, I got so much I want to write about, but I’ve got to go. Let me leave you with this. I was playing in an SNG with Trip and GCox. I have to admit, sometimes my reads are fantastic. I don’t mean to brag, but that’s exactly what I am about to do. I essentially set up a player, all the while talking to G and Trip, playing along with my ploy. There was some mindgames preflop, but I mostly remember that I hit the flop hard. Playing along with my deceptive poker action, I said to Trip and G (who knew what I had), “Oh no, I missed the flop. I’ll have to check. I hope he doesn’t push all-in with nothing, making me fold, because he knows I have nothing.” He raised all-in. I called with my set. He showed K-high. Trip and G cracked up. I played it to a T. This is what I love about poker…when you know you got it. That night, results or no, I had it. I pulled the verbal play-by-play twice and both times my opponents fell right into it.

My recent post and a post by Garthmeister got me thinking. I really wanted to offer a bounty for the DADIII contest, but I’ve decided to do something else instead. I am holding a DADIII Smack Talking Contest. All you have to do is copy and paste some of your smack talk dialogue and post it in a comment in this here blog entry! The winner will receive a super secret poker prize. In other words, I haven’t decided yet! Aw hell, this is what we’ll do. The winner gets a card protector sanctioned by High On Poker, or one of my used poker books! What a crappy prize! I suppose as an alternate, you can also have a new banner made for your blog, using my mad Photoshop skills. I can even put your ex-girlfriend’s head on a she-male’s body! I learned that skill in college!

So, there you have it. Let the smack talking begin!

Jordan Talks Smack to You!

Hey you little whiny bitch! You think you can beat me heads up? Hahahaha! You’ve got to be kidding me! Aw, don’t cry. Really. It isn’t your fault…that you SUCK!

Huh? You want a piece of this! Well you are about to get the whole thing. See you tonight at the DADIII Heads Up Championship. $10+1 at PokerStars at 9PM, ya panty waste. That’s Eastern Standard Time too, cause only prags go by the other time zones. And if you don’t know, the Password is BlogsAreGay, just like you. And don’t foget to bring a tissue…and a tampon, you whiny bitch!

Jordan Talks Smack to Others!
I had a great run last night. I won about $35 playing 1/2 on Bodog in about 20 minutes. I was smart enough to call it quits at that point. Meanwhile, I won a little less than $10 playing .25/.50 NLHE there. More profit! After, I switched to FullTilt. I did something that I rarely do and entered an SNG for a $24 token (to MTTs). I usually avoid Satellites because I’d rather win cash. It didn’t make a difference anyway. I ended up bubbling out. Even so, I played well throughout, so I’m glad with my play. I also played a $10 6-person SNG on Full Tilt, where at one point I held probably 90% of the chips. I ended up taking 2nd though, and while 1st would have been preferable, some suckouts were bound to happen.

I held AQo in the BB. It folds to the GabboAA, the SB, who raises from 100 to 300. I reraise to 700 to determine if its a steal or a legitimate hand. He reraises me all-in for about 2.5K more chips. So, I fold. He has something legitimate, I’m sure. He shows AA. And then he realized that he was a tool and gives me an excuse to talk some smack:

GabboAA: i might have saved you some chips there
HighOnPoker: ill take full credit for saving myself chips
HighOnPoker: a lesser man would’ve called
GabboAA: haah, if i smooth call there you lose alot more chips
HighOnPoker: you’d think so

On the next hand, I call his preflop raise with 46s, hoping to hit. The flop is 347. He checks and I push all-in. I know he didn’t pair his high cards. As soon as I push, we have this exchange:

GabboAA: i knew you were pushing
HighOnPoker: you know a lot
GabboAA: and you dont have anything
HighOnPoker: call me
GabboAA: i have A6 suited
HighOnPoker: pay to play
GabboAA: but i’ll let you steal
HighOnPoker: thanks
HighOnPoker: does it feel good
HighOnPoker: letting me steal?
GabboAA: eat a &&!$
HighOnPoker: hahaha

Foolish mortal! When will they ever learn…

I had a great night of poker last night. I was able to place 2nd, 1st and 2nd in the three tournaments we played. I thought that the quick blinds would be problematic, but I was dead wrong. If anything, they helped my game, forcing the action around me.

My strategy was to keep to good hand selections. The competition was loose preflop, but could be scared off afterwards, and I used that to my advantage time and time again.

In the first hand of the third tournament, I held AQo in the BB. All players had limped before me. I raised from 50 to 300 flat. I had two callers, Ilan, who plays a decent game, and Ian, who is still learning the ropes. The flop was Q high. Ian, in the SB, bet 500. With only 2K to start, I decided it was time to make my move. I pushed all-in, expecting to have Ilan fold and face Ian, who probably held a weaker Queen. Ilan folded and Ian called hesitantly. The poor guy only had pocket 6s, but he thought I was just bluffing hard. I guess that was the image I wanted to portray, so I was successful. Having doubled up after placing in the first two tournaments helped my table image a lot. Clearly, I was a force to be reconned with.

So, if there were 2 things that stood out about yesterday, they are these: (1) I need to work on my negotiating strategy when it comes time to chop, and (2) poker can be a lot of fun if the chemistry is right.

When the first tourney was down to 2, I had about 4K in chips and Roose had 10K. We were playing $15 turbo tourneys (10 min blinds), with payouts of $75/$30. If Roose and I chopped by chip count, I’d receive $30. Roose proposed this and I laughed, explaining how I was essentially freerolling for 1st place. I then proposed, because of the anxious onlookers, that Roose give me $35. It was a minor difference, but enough for me to mentally book a $20 win, with some added benefit than playing it out. In hindsight, I should have asked for more. Even though he had me outchipped, anything could have happened. I was playing well, and with one double-up, I’d be the chip leader. I guess I’m just too accomodating. Next time, I’m going to be a lot more careful with deals.

To my credit, when I got to the end of the 2nd tournament, I was against Hole with the same deficit. I had just short of 4K, and he had a little over 10K. We decided to play it, much to the dismay of a couple of late parties who wanted to start a new tourney. As it turned out, I finished him in a few hands, with my AJ v. AT preflop, and after hitting two pair with 26o against his one pair with 24o.

The third tournament involved more players, and in the end, it was down to Robbie Hole and I again. We discussed a deal, but again decided to play it. Oddly, I had about 4K to his 10K. I guess that is what selective aggression will get ya! Anyway, after much debate, we player all of one hand. I had 99 and he had A3o. He hit his Ace on the river, and that was that.

All in all, I made a profit of $105 (2nd for $20, 1st for $60, 2nd for $25). I placed in each of the three tournaments, and had a great time, to boot. After being knocked out of a game, Ilan dealt for a while. I was showing him my cards here or there because it was a friendly crowd. I bluffed a newbie player off of a hand with K high, although truthfully I think I had him. I then claimed that I hit my straight (there was a 4-straight on the board). Ilan busted me when he checked my cards after the hand.

Normally, this would piss me off. Admittedly, it did just that for about 5 seconds. But then I figured, fuck it. Here was a group of mixed amatuers and reasonably skilled players, and I was there to get inebriated and have fun. I started sharing a lot of my cards with the railbirds. I didn’t worry about giving up strategy, and, in fact, openly discussed strategy while we played.

One player, Scotty, who used to be one of the loosest players I knew, had improved his hand requirements and was playing a totally new game. He was shocked when I made plays with K8c, or other mundane hands. He was learning, mostly from watching me, that tight was right. I explained to him how he should stay tight until he gets the swing of things. Eventually, though, you have to play the table and make moves when the time is right. We also discussed the concept of picking up blinds, a relatively simple concept for us blogger/readers, but an advanced topic for a casual player. In my AQ double-up hand, one of the low-level players said that I bet big because I wanted to pick up the blinds of all of the limpers. I explained that I knew in a loose table like this, I wouldn’t get everyone out. I also explained that I can get away from my hand if I don’t hit. Simple strategy, really, but interesting when you can openly share your philosophies and plays while you are making them.

All in all, it was the most fun I had playing poker in weeks, if not months. Comraderie is the best part of the game, and watching my friends improve is a joy.

I love that poker! And if you do too, I expect to see you at DADIII tomorrow. Need details? Click HERE.

Well, I lied. I didn’t take a day off of poker. Wifey Kim is having some coworkers over today after their NYC meeting, so I have the night to spend with Mistress Poker. The plan is to head over to Robbie Hole’s apartment after work for some Turbo tournaments. I haven’t been to Hole’s homegame in a while, but apparently they have 8 minute blind tournaments for $15. Now, I don’t get the $15. $20 would be so much easier. I don’t really get the 8 minutes either, but apparently, this allows them to have 3 tourneys from 8pm to midnight or so. I know there will be some dead money there, but with blinds moving so fast, it will probably be a crapshoot. No complaints from me, though. A little live action is just what the doctor ordered.

So, last night, after Valentine’s Day dinner, wifey Kim and I returned home so that I could prepare the spread for her guests. As the chef of the house, I don’t mind this in the least. I prepared my usual party-fare, a vegetable platter artfully prepared with onion dip, and a nicely arranged cheese platter. Wifey Kim was envisioning some hot food, but we decided that, for simplicity’s sake, cold was the way to go and would compliment the wine nicely.

Once that was done, and I helped clean the apartment, wifey Kim decided to do an entire cleaning overhaul of our bedroom. So be it. Fortunately, she gave me time off to relax, and relax at my home means poker.

Not knowing how long wifey Kim would need, I decided to take a swipe at Bodog. I wanted my revenge for the -25BB ($50) in losses there while bonus clearing. The deck decided to hit me in the face. I had 97o in the BB and flopped T97. I was a little cautious after I was check-raised and reraised on the flop, but the turn was a 9 and I filled up my boat again. I felt gunshy, fearing that my opponent held TT or T9, but I just kept betting, hoping that those possibilities were as remote as they seemed. I was right, and was paid off nicely.

I flopped a 966 when holding pocket 9s for a full house. I check raised and reraised my way to a fat pot. On the river, an Ace came. I bet out and my opponent folded. He typed, “you got me on the river.” I didn’t respond. “what did you have?” I had to respond to that. “pay to play btch!” He didn’t know what hit him.

I did lose a hand or two. AQs had a nut flush draw on the flop. I bet the whole way until I missed on the river and checked. He bet and I folded. I have a feeling he was also on the flush draw, but at that point, I decided a cut-and-run approach was for the best. If he had the tiniest piece of the board, I was toast. In hindsight, the pot was about 13$, so a $2 call may have been wise, but I was going on intuition. I figured him for top pair of Ks after some analysis. Oh well oh well.

The end result is $26 profit playing 1/2 limit. I’ve decided to keep a spreadsheet with daily wins/losses. I’ve tried to do this in the past, but I inevitably stop keeping track because after I am done playing, I just want to get up and leave. Also, my old spreadsheets were too detailed. The new ones have 4 things to enter: date, site played on, type of game (stakes included) and win/loss. This will hopefully provide some much-needed perspective.

I also have PokerTracker registered and up and running. I have to register AceHud. I’ve been using the demo version and I like it overall. Once I get into the swing of things, I plan on focusing on a site where PT will work and help my decisions. I’m probably going to use it mostly for limit games, because I can see how PT could cause me some problems and errors in a NL situation. I haven’t played in a NL cash games in a while, so no harm no foul, anyway.

I want to play a big MTT, but I have no time. Maybe I’ll enter one during/after the DADIII event this Friday. I can’t believe it’s so soon. I’m excited.

So, that’s all people. No complaining today. Just good ole poker joy! Have a good one!

I posted earlier about crossed queens. Well, I suppose I should take a second to discuss my queen of hearts, wifey Kim. I can bore you all with general statements about how great she is, but I’ll cut the crap and lay it out for you. I’ll keep it poker focused.

Wifey Kim does not play poker. She is not interested in the least. Yet, she has always encouraged me to follow my dreams. I mentioned this here probably in my first 3 mos of blogging: One time, I was sitting in bed and wifey Kim (then fiance Kim) was standing at the wall mirror doing one of those things that girls do when staring at a mirror. Out of nowhere, a thought popped into my head. “Kim…ah, nevermind.” She asked me to continue, so I did. “I know this might sound stupid, but I want to be a professional poker player.” Now, as an aside, let me say that my recent run of bad luck/play (I’m inclined to think that it has been 90% luck, 10% play), has not deterred me. I think I have the base skills to make money playing poker. But I plan on taking a very slow approach, earning my way up the ranks.

“I want to be a professional poker player.” What an absurd statement. Her response: “You should go for it.” I couldn’t believe what I heard. My (then) future wife was encouraging me to gamble with our combined future. “Are you serious? I mean, are you just saying that because you know I won’t follow through.” “No, I mean it. You can do it.”

I’m still floored when I think back to this conversation. She is so supportive, even when I crawl into bed feeling dejected after losing a mere $20. This is (one of the reasons) why I love wifey Kim. She loves me enough to understand where I am, where I am going, and how I want to get there. And she encourages it all.

That, and she bakes me cookies.

I suppose it doesn’t hurt that she’s a piece of ass, too.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

As Eddie Murphy and Danny Bonaduce can attest, you don’t want to come across a Crossed Queen. She’s likely to take you money, rough you up, and leave you with a bad story to tell the cops.

That was my evening, yesterday. I was minding my own business keeping to good cards in my $10 45-person SNG and $10 6-person SNG, when a cross Queen fell into my hands and saw me for the sucker I am. Take a look at these hands and marvel at how stupid I was, or how cruel fate was.

I am playing tight in a 45-person SNG on Stars. We are down to about 27 players and I have about my starting stack. I’ve been very patient so far, but the table has been pretty loose, as in terrible loose, as in terrible players playing terribly loose. In the BB, I am dealt Q6o. There are a couple of limpers, so I check. The flop is Q high. I believe that I bet about the pot, which is rather small. One player in late position calls. The next card is a blank. I make about a pot-sized bet and get called. The river is a blank. I check. He pushes all-in. I think for a minute and decide that it is a ridiculous move for him to push. He must think that I am weak with my check and is trying to win with an under pair or mid pair. I call. He has AA. Who woulda thunk!? I chalk this one up to bad timing and a well played hand on his part. G said that he slowplayed me perfectly. To me, it wasn’t the slowplay that did it. It was the all-in. He was a big stack and it seemed like a blatant bluff. Well played sir!

I took a steam break. When I returned, G and I jumped into a 6-person SNG on Full Tilt. Yeah. Well, its down to 3. One guy has 5000+ in chips. Another guy has about 400 in front of him. I have 1500 or so. I have Q8o in the BB. The chip leader decides to min-raise. I call. The flop is Q high. Sweet! It is checked to me. I bet the pot. He minimum raises. Now, I’m no fool. I remember what happened last time, so I just call. I think I might be ahead, but I’m scared of the over-pair or being out-kicked. The turn is an 8, making my two-pair. I bet small, hoping for a re-raise. He pushes all-in. I decide that I’m ahead and call. He has AQ, for TPTK. I got lucky on the turn. The river though, Ace. His two-pair beat mine and I bubble out of a tourney that was pretty much a lock if I sit back and wait.

Now, I will take the blame for the first one. But remember that the top pair was gifted to me by the blinds, and that all-in raise on the river really mind-f’ed me. But I will take the blame regardless.

The second hand, though? I bet and made a wise call, hoping to improve. If I don’t improve with the 8, I slow down or fold to any significant raise. I certainly don’t allow myself to go all-in on the bubble. I hit the 8 and get him to push me all-in, which was ideal. I thought I was ahead and I was right. Then he hits one of his 3 outs and I’m the fool. My 8 was a three-outter, too. I don’t deny that. But I rather miss my 3 outs if this was what was going to happen.

Down another $22. I think tonight I’ll skip poker all together. Maybe a day off will help.

Thank you for signing up for VPP. I had a couple of new signups lately. You people will hopefully keep me from busting out entirely. So, consider it your good deed of the day. If you are signing up via VPP, I highly encourage you to do the Royal Vegas or PokerTime promotions. They are easy to clear. And if you feel like throwing a little more love my way, feel free to mention my name on the Royal Vegas site when they asked who referred you. It’s HighOnPoker. I have terrible luck clearing those referral bonuses. I’m 0 for 2. But hell, at least it doesn’t feel like real losing, even though I play with my all.

Sign up for DADIII, people! We currently have 17 players signed up and it’s a great crowd. I almost hope that we keep this one low in numbers, but that hope is subordinate to my desire to hang with as many blogger/readers as possible. Spread the word. I thank those who already have. I’m considering putting bounties on other people. I just need to figure out what I am giving. The who is pretty clear in my head though.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be the guy bleeding the chips at the table!

I’ve spent the day working away. I guess coming in on Saturday for 4 hours proved to be a good idea. Today I am less than overwhelmed and have been able to finish some back burner projects in record time.

But my brain is on poker. And poker is killing me inside.

The $50 loss on 1/2 at Bodog sure does suck. I just don’t get what I’m doing wrong. I guess I could pay attention more, but how the hell are players openning 8 tables and raking in the dough. It’s probably a little bit of variance too, but I just can’t get over it lately. I need to spend more time playing, but I just don’t have that time to give.

Regardless, when you are not having good results, does it make sense to push forward? Does it make sense to try to play MORE than you are currently playing?

I’m trying to even out the variance and give myself more experience to draw upon, but it just isn’t happening.

Another thing. WeakPlayer recently was playing a $33 satellite SNG. I told him that I couldn’t play in those because it is above my bankroll. He was shocked. This is nothing new. SoxLover also is shocked that my bankroll doesn’t allow jaunts to the $250 live MTT at his underground club. All of this, and I can’t seem to get above $300 online lately. I intentionally don’t even check anymore amongst my various sites, because I’m scared of what I might find.

Which brings me to another question. I made some dough recently through referrals, but I withdrew almost all of it. I needed this money for various household expenses, and I don’t want to let my bankroll grow through referrals. I want to earn it damnit. But next month…well, the referral dough is likely going to stay online. I need that dough online now more than at home. Sad, indeed. (And if I get 2 referrals on PSO, I can get a $100 gift card to Party Poker…pretty please…). By the time I get that, it’ll probably be doubling my bankroll.

One last thought. I am a lawyer in NYC. I must make a lot of money! I must have money coming out of my ass, for which I will buy lots of glamorous things like a honeymoon in Tahiti or a cool apartment downtown. Yeah, well, not so. I make good scratch, but it goes fast in this expensive city. One of my pay checks each month goes to rent. The other goes to expenses and paying off student loand and credit cards. Wifey Kim and I consequently live off of her pay checks and dip into the money that should be going to credit cards and such when needed. Tahiti didn’t come cheap and my wedding and rent don’t either. I guess I’m saying this: if you assume I have dough, you are wrong. I just want to get that out so I don’t have to explain why I’m sweating playing a $20 SNG online.

There it is. Another bitch fest post. Man I need some poker.

Oh, it’s on! In my never ending quest for legitimacy, I have purchased the rights to HighOnPoker.net. So, I encourage people to save 8 keystrokes and link to HighOnPoker.net rather than that old craggy highonpoker.blogspot.com. Either way though, the content is the same.

I just finished grinding away a bonus on Bodog. $50 bonus….after $50 of losses at 1/2. Treading water sucks ass, and I really want to stick it out with Bodog for a while, so that I can (a) prove that I don’t suck and win back my money and (b) work on my limit game. There’s something else keeping me there too. I kinda like the software.

The site has been revamped and I believe Kipper reviewed the site on his blog. If memory serves correct, Kipper said that the new site is aweful, but I must disagree. After all, it’s what I do as the self-proclaimed Devil’s Advocate of Poker Bloggers.

Bodog’s new software is different. That is for sure. But it has some great advantages. You can see up to three screens at once, with one screen large and the other two on the side in a smaller format. The smaller format is still set up like a poker table, with the players arranged in a ring, as opposed to Ultimate Bet’s mini view, which arranges all players in a line. I never could get used to the UB mini view, but as TripJax has told me, it probably just takes some time.

On that note, let me encourage people to sign up for Bodog via PSO. The requirement for the bonus is a mere 200 Bodog points, and Bodog gifts you 50 to start. If you play an hour nightly (for instance), expect the promo to take a week or so. For your troubles, I suggest you take the 6000 PSO points and use bonus code NEWYEAR to get 9000 points. That’s enough for any of the usual prizes ($50 giftcards, poker table, chips, books, etc.) AND then some.

I also heard from the lovely Karol of I Had Outs that Joe, a dealer at Genoa, knew that he was mentioned in a blog. She asked which one and he named High On Poker. And to think I didn’t even know that he read this tripe. He probably was just searching for anything that mentioned Genoa, but hell, it’s still kind of interesting to find out that people that you ‘know’ have read your blog. I better stop talking shit about him though….ah, who are we kidding! (By the way, I don’t believe I ever talked any smack about him at all).

That’s it folks. Sign up for the DADIII event. Need details? Check a couple of posts before this or click on the banner on the right. I’m too lazy to make a hyperlink for ya.

CONtent or conTENT? I guess a little of both.

CONtent wise, I don’t have much for you. I’m a bit burnt out at the office. I’ve been in this job for about 6 months, and only a few weeks in, coworker N_____ told me about how she is always overwhelmed and people keep piling it on. I was shocked and remained shocked for several months, able to complete work within a reasonable amount of time with only short bouts of madness.

That’s changed! Even with a new guy starting, I’ve been taking the brunt. My two co-workers at the same level as me have finished their case evaluations and I haven’t finished a quarter of mine! And the hits just keep on coming. Tonight I’ll be on Long Island so that I can wake up at a reasonable hour and get to my LI deposition tomorrow. A whole day will be wasted listening to nonsense. I can’t wait!

Meanwhile, I player a little poker last night. I bummed myself out with a poorly timed push in a $16 turbo. The blinds were 75/150 and I had about 1100 or so. I was in the BB with 56d and the button min raised. SB called. Usually, I’d say push or fold, what with the Rule of 10, but I felt like seeing a flop and making my choice then. The flop was K63. SB checked. I decided to make my move. I pushed all-in for about 800 more. The button folded and the SB called….with TT.

I then played a 4-person HU tourney in preparation for the upcoming DADIII HUC. I won the first match in no time. I then goded the other players as they finished their match. When we got to the finals, I was taking swings but constantly missing. I wasn’t concerned though. Once I saw my shot I’d take it. I min-raised with K3. The flop was K77. He bet, which was nothing new. I re-raised big. He pushed. I called. He had T7. The truth is, I never really was thinking when I called. I’ll be a lot more careful at the DADIII event.

Bummed, I took a break. I went back later and found Trip and GCox as well as a slew of other players. Trip was the only one looking to start an SNG, so we settled on a $10, 10-person turbo SNG on UB. I don’t know what was up with Trip, but he got caught with AT v. AA. I think he wasn’t playing his A-game, and I’m fairly sure he’ll agree. But at least we had fun. I took 3rd, making a little bit of dough.

I also played some 1/2 limit and won about $25. This made it a winning night for me. A barely-winning night, but I’ll take it!

Of course, I’m forgetting the .05/.10 limit game I played with DNasty early in the evening. I hadn’t seen D in a while, so when I saw him on Ultimate Buddy I had to say hi. UB no longer allows railbird chat (bullshit!) so I joined up. I thought it was NL, but I was wrong. I had a great time pretending like I was brand new to online poker. D and I never officially recognized each other in the chat box, so he had a good time too, playing into my donkey play. When I won two in a row, I announced, “One more time and I’m on fire!” D followed up: “NBA Jams.” “Can’t buy a bucket!”

Ah, being a fool is a fine thing. That’s it. I’m conTENT with my CONtent. Have a good one.