High On Poker

Let’s start this off right, shall we? A HUGE congratulations to Hoyazo, who won the $40k guaranteed tournament on Party Poker. Hoyazo is an MTT specialist, and I am more than amazed at his MTT ability. He’s worked hard to win the MTT, and he deserves every minute of it.

Second, another HUGE congratulations, this time to CMitch of O-Poker. CMitch recently won a seat into the WSOP Main Event via Full Tilt. CMitch is one of the very few blogger-players who I list as one of Jordan’s Poker Role Models. It’s a small group, and I’d have to add DoubleAs, ScottyMcDreamy, and possibly no one else to that list. Why these three? Basically, I’ve seen them perform some amazing things with consistency. Sure, I’m leaving some people out. Don’t blame me! There are lots of great players out there, but what I’m talking about is something different. These are the players that I read about and think, I can actually learn something from these guys, and I should really pay attention to what they are doing.

So, here’s the part when I bare my soul to you all. I ask that you all be light on me, because what I’m about to say isn’t pretty, but it’s real, and it’s probably something you are all too familiar with yourselves.

I am jealous. I try to use the term envious, because, as Mama High says, envious means that you don’t want to take that thing away from someone else, it just means that you want the same for you. Well, I can’t split hairs at a time like this. When I hear about Hoy’s or CMitch’s wins, I can’t help but think, What about me? What about Jordan?

The thing is, I don’t begrudge these players their successes. I’ve met Hoy, and we’ve played together live. I like the guy, and I know that he deserves his success. CMitch was part of a past HUC, and I’ve always had respect for him.

I think it is just a natural byproduct of my competitive nature. When I see someone is able to reach a level of play or score a success, I wonder what that means about my inability to have done the same.

Realistically, my time will come. I just need to put myself in a position to win those large MTTs. The first step is to start playing them.

So, Hoy, CMitch, congratulations. Don’t hold it against me if I felt a tinge of envy at your success. It just means that I admire your success. I’d rather have you guys win a tourney rather than some joe schmo. In the end, whenever I read about a fellow blogger or friend winning, I feel something with that envy, too. It’s pride, pride that one of my fellow compadres was able to do something great.

There it is, my worst trait laid bare. I guess it ain’t so bad after all.

It’s high time that you sign up for DADI 6: Pot Limit Hold’em. If it wasn’t enough to play some poker with a roudy group of ne’erdowells, you also have a chance of winning some extra prizes.

Vegas Poker Pro has been kind enough to offer 2,000 VPP points, which are redeemable for a variety of poker related items or gift certificates at the VPP Store. The VPP points will be distributed as follows:

1,000 VPP Points to the 1st place Winner
500 VPP Points to the Bubble
500 VPP Points bounty on VPP Mark

The 500 in points alone are enough for a chip sets, gift certificates, or other merchandise. So, consider it an overlay and get in on the fun.

The game is scheduled for Memorial Day evening, so we could certainly use some help getting the word out. Thanks for everyone who has already signed up, and for the rest of you, I look forward to seeing you at the tourney.

Lost
If you are not watching Lost, you are one lucky bastard, because now you can watch Season 1 on DVD all summer long and catch up with Season 2 when it comes out on DVD (presumably, soon). If you do watch, I’m sure you were floored by yesterday’s episode. SPOILER ALERT. So, I have my own theory, which was certainly helped by the season finale. Here we go:

The island is and was run by the Dharma Initiative. Desmond’s chick’s father either funds the Dharma Initiative or is one of many contributors to the Initiative. Since he didn’t want Desmond to be with his daughter, he must have created a condition in which Desmond would be brought to the island. Maybe he had someone watch him and take advantage of the situation when Desmond was unconscious. The guy is uber rich, so the possibilities (especially on this show) are endless.

But let’s get to the island, shall we? The island is artificially (or naturally) surrounded by currents that only allow escape from one area/angle. We saw that yesteday, when Walt and Dad were told that they could leave the island if they took the boat away from the pier at exactly 325 degrees or whatever boat term was used. So, that explains why people can’t leave. We can knock out Desmond’s theory, that the rest of the world doesnt’ exist anymore, because we saw his girlfriend in the real world at the end.

So, what’s up with the girlfriend? As she said in the flashback at the stadium, with enough money and determination, she can find anyone. She knows about the electromagnetic properties of the island, probably through her father. So, she commissioned those French guys (and probably others) to always watch for electromagnetic anomolies, presumably, so she can triangulate the location of the island. As we saw from the end of the episode, mission accomplished, and we can expect her attempt to get to the island to be an important part of season 3.

As for the Others, I’m going to assume that they are Dharma scientists, who are continuing their experiments, albeit in a facility (island) that is showing a lot of wear and tear. There are still a lot of gaps left to be filled, so I’ll be eagerly anticipating next week.

So, why the Lost diatribe? Well, because I don’t have much else to write today. My poker revelations and strategy posts are fairly nonexistent lately. I’ve hit a stride, winning $69 last night effortlessly in .25/.50 NL at PokerShare. I plan on sticking around there for a little longer, since I’ve been fairly successful at their cash games of late. After that, I’ll be heading over to one of VPP’s new promo sites.

I did have a great time yesterday targeting a particular fish. As soon as I sat down to the shorthanded .25/.50 NL table, Ronnette the fish was raising every hand, usually to $3 or 4. Well, I know an opportunity when I see it. I played dead, folding away most hands, and choosing to call rarely. Finally, with KK, I made my move. I min-raised the preflop bet and got a call from Donkette. The flop was AhKhTh, and Donkette raised about $6 into the $10+ pot. So, I reraise, all-in, knowing that he doesn’t have a flush, but fearing that he is drawing to one. He called, with QJo, no hearts. He had the straight, but not the flush. The river was a T, though, and I made my full house. Not the prettiest way to win, especially against a player who I surmised to be an ATM, but I was glad to take it.

He left the table, and I went on another donkey hunt, eventually finding him at another .25/.50 NL table. As soon as I sat down, he played one hand and sat out. I guess he could sense danger afoot.

Here’s a very simple thought about seat selection. Any serious player should know how important seat selection is. At my recent 5-Diamond home game, after the tournament, I suggested that we draw for seats in the cash game. Players were shocked, under the impression that seat order doesn’t matter as much in cash games as it does in a tournament.

I whole-heartedly disagree. Obviously, you want the dangerous players on your right and the weak players on your left. For anyone new to this concept (and it is a VERY simple concept, so excuse me for you Level 4 thinkers), it is both logical and fundamental. You want the dangerous players on your right so that they almost always act BEFORE you. This way, you can get out of the way with your marginal hands when the strong player is in the hand or raising. You want weak players on your left because you can, presumably, take advantage of them, by raising on their blinds. Also, since they are not a threat, you can act effectively without that additional info of what they will do in any given hand. You probably already know, since they are a weaker player and are more predictable, through tells or through betting patterns.

So, why wouldn’t this be as important, if not MORE important in a cash game? In a tournament, it is a zero-sum game. You win or you lose. So, if you are in a crappy seat with a shark acting after you and a rock on your right, then you WILL struggle moreso than otherwise. BUT, you can still play a cautious game and get by, even if you don’t have the other skills necessary to succeed against these players. Eventually, tables will combine (in a large tournament) and your seat will change. If it’s a small tournament, as players are eliminated, I’d argue that the position becomes less important. Why? Because aggression becomes imporant, and being out of position may allow you to be the aggression leader in most hands. In addition, once there are only, say, 4 players, then you will be acting AFTER the player on your left in 2 out of 4 hands preflop (when you are in the blinds), and 2 out of 4 times post flop (when he is in the blinds). Suddenly, your seat isn’t as important.

Now consider a cash game. You are stuck to the right of a very tough competitor. You are forced to forego some hands you might otherwise play if you knew that he was already out of the hand. If you bust, you can rebuy back in, but you usually can’t (or don’t) change your seat at this point, so you are wagering even more money from this bad position. I don’t see any upside or minimizing factors either.

But what do you think? Maybe I’m missing something fundamental, here. I don’t know. So, give a holler, let your voice be heard, and have a lovely day.

And don’t forget: DADI 6: Pot Limit Hold’Em, May 29th. And I just realized for the first time that it is the evening of Memorial Day. Christ!

You know, it’s been another tough day at the office. I just spent 3 hours preparing our Guyanan client for trial. But, it’s fun doing this lawyer work. It can be stressful, too, but I’m really hitting my stride.

I lost again last night. I think that is two nights in a row. I’m not complaining though. In fact, it doesn’t bother me in the least. I’ve said this before, but it’s really sinking in. I am finally getting it. Losing for a day is okay. It’s how I’m doing overall that matters.

And here’s the thing: I’m where I want to be. I can actually feel that I have developed my poker game more. My cash game has been more profitable that tournaments, and I feel that it is just another sign of my progression. Tournaments are fun, but in the big leagues (which I am nowhere near) the big money players make their dough in the cash games. I like placing 2nd for $450, but I’m just as happy winning $50 on nine different occassions at a cash game table. Too roads to the same place, but whereas tournaments are full of dead ends, the cash game is like driving offroad in a Hummer (by the way, I think Hummer owners should be ashamed of themselves, not because of the effect on Mother Nature, but because I don’t like giving money to Arab nations…oh yeah, I said it!).

My cash game is better. My bankroll is solid. I’ve already hit $1900 in profits since Valentine’s Day (now probably around $1850), and my goal was to hit $1800 by year end. So, now what?

Well, I’m going to AC very soon. I’m looking to sneak away from wifey Kim for a bit and see if I can keep my AC success streak going. I’m taking more pride in my play, moving away from my personal perseption that my poker is somewhat of a vice, and starting to see it for what it is, a skill, maybe even a talent. I’ve mentioned my $450 win to some people in my office, and the response has been essentially shock, both that I would play online poker and that I would win. But I don’t try to hide it. Instead, I bask in the glory of what it is.

I love the game. I’ve said it a million times before, and I still mean it. It excites me to no end, and my success only reinforces this love.

So where am I at? I’m just where I want to be. Playing poker, making money, and loving every minute of it.

And what’s the point of this post? I suppose it’s my way of drawing a heart with an arrow poking through it on the inside cover of my Trapper Keeper, with the names Jordan + Poker. I’m crushing hard.

I sent out my plea for help yesterday, and received a bevy of advice from a slew of bloggers. Thanks to Fluxer, Simon from 9-2 Offsuit, Ten Mile, the Rank Amatuer, and anyone else I may have overlooked. The eventual help actually came from Fluxer, and he did a nice job of circumventing the issue by using a pop-up comments box with wavy word. For his troubles, I’ve tossed him some funds which the IRS will never find out about, even if they shock my nuts with a car battery (they’ve tried it before). Muchos gracias, Fluxer.

Also, a big thanks to Simon from 9-2 Offsuit, who offered to webhost this humble AWESOME site. I may take him up on his offer in the future and toss some well earned dollars and cents his way. I suggest that if you are looking to update your blog design and/or clean some things up, you contact the man himself. I’ve checked out his sites (he has a site that, can ya believe it, isn’t a poker blog), and he clearly knows what he is doing.

In poker news, I finished my PSO Pokershare promo yesterday by losing $30 while trying to earn 3 pts to finish the 500 pt requirement. Doh! Overall, though, I won about $220 from Share, and I plan to leave some dough in there for the future.

I also played in an SNG with TripJax and GCox, going out in 5th, while my two compadres were still in it. I guess pushing with 27o into TT is not the smartest move, but noone ever accused me of being smart…except for that one time, but I made him pay good!

I have to admit some wife tilt. We were playing at UB, home of the slowest SNGs around, seemingly (and by slow, I mean blinds and/or length of game, and not software issues). We were well into the tourney with still 5 players, and wifey Kim, still recovering from some nefarious illness, wanted to lie in bed. At that point, I got a case of the awfukkits, and the hammer was the perfect time to just push and hope for the best. Highlight of the game was taking down a hand earlier with the hammer against Trip, only to have him take down the next hand against me with the hammer. Of course, I talked some aweful smack at the table. When we sit at a table together, there is no collusion, but there is often some play acting. This time, it was me playing the role of pissed-off self-proclaimed pro who insults Trip, the hapless player, for calling an all-in from another player with Trip’s AQ v. 77 and flopping an Ace. Of course, my response is, “I hate playing with these lucky donkeys. SUCKOUT!”

Why do I do this? I don’t know. It just makes the game more fun, I guess.

Onto other things. Friday is the home game at casa del SoxLover, and I couldn’t be more excited. Monday is DAH DAH DAH DADI 6: Pot Limit Hold’em. It’s going to be a certifiable good time, with some extras thrown in by Vegas Poker Pro. If you win the tournament, you get 1000 VPP points. If you bubble, you get 500 VPP points. If you knock out VPP Mark, you get 500 VPP points. And all of it is good to be used for poker merchandise or a variety of gift certificates.

Last thing. I expect to get a $200 gift certificate to Nevada Jack.net, a site that sells chips and other poker-related items. Frankly, I have chips, and there is nothing that I need from their site. I don’t know if the gift certificate is transferable or not, but regardless, I’m looking to get rid of it. So, if you want to offer some cold hard cash for it, or perhaps a bartered item, maybe we can work something out. If it is non-transferable, then I’ll make the purchase for you and have it shipped directly to your address.

That’s it for today! See you all around the bend!

Hello, my name is Jordan, and I am an E-tard. When I started this humble blog, I used a generic template from Blogger. After a while, I saw that some other bloggers had neat-o templates, and I thought it was time to renovate. TripWebMaster was kind enough to lend his help, installing the present template and all of it’s unique styley goodness.

But TripWebMaster is only one man, and I cannot ask him to spend all of his precious time (and admitted limited experience) finding new ways to make this site a better place.

This is where you come in. I need help. I constantly get comments from bots leaving ads from everything from Viagra to Home Mortgages. They go after older posts, mostly, so I don’t notice them until way later, and then I spend hours working on cleaning it up.

Please, if you think you can implement some sort of wavy word program or some other system to prevent these bots, email me at HighOnPokr AT yahoo DOT you know the rest or leave a comment. I’d be glad to barter or pay for the service. Just let me know what you have in mind, and if I can afford it, done and done. If you want, I am offering my $200 Gift Certificate to Nevada Jacks. But I’ll do cash. I’m eager, willing, and desperate. Okay, not that desperate. Shoot me a price, and I’ll get back to you. I can’t promise I’ll accept, but I’ll thank you heartily just for the offer.

-Jordan
Handi-capable Blogger

Yesterday, before leaving the office, I got some interesting news. “Jordan, can you come in here?” My boss and team leader were both waiting for me in the bossman’s office. “Yes?” “You are covering the R______ case tomorrow. You’ll need to get X, Y, and Z together. It’s a pre-trial settlement conference, but it won’t go to trial tomorrow. Just know the case, explain the insurance information, and the judge will give us a trial date. Don’t have the date be between June 3 and June 13th.” “You’ve got the right man for the job!” Yep, I really said that.

As often happens, no matter how much you prep, things always happen that are outside of the expected parameters. In this case, our opposing counsel and I sat in the court room awaiting our turn to see the judge. My opponent was a heavy-set attorney who liked to tell stories of some of his odder cases. Most notable was the case about the mother who sued a sperm bank for trying to destroy her son’s sperm after her son passed away. Pleasant.

When we were finally called, opposing counsel and I had a good rapport going. We were both expecting little or nothing to happen, foregoing progress for a new, later court appearance. During the interval, my opponent would be working on finding his client some insurance coverage. Word to the wise: if you are going to own two large buildings on which there will be some construction, get some insurance. If you don’t, expect to mortgage the property after my firm whoops your ass in a ladder-fall litigation.

As usual, I stepped into the Judge’s chambers and politely introduced myself. “So, what has happened since the last conference?,” the Judge asked. My opponent jumped in, “We are trying to get insurance coverage, Your Honor, and we need some more time to resolve this issue.” I, meanwhile, readied my speech about how insurance coverage was not going to happen, and that we wanted to go to trial, preferably in mid-to-late June. I didn’t get a chance to speak though.

“Okay. I’m sending you out to pick a jury, then.” WHAT? Now, I’ve never picked a jury. That’s something that I don’t expect to do for, oh, say, 2 years at the very least. Immediately, I’m thinking of my contingency plan. Should I subtely reach into my pocket and begin text messaging someone in my office to give the bossman a heads up? Should I request 24 hours from the judge, and if that fails, 30 minutes at the very least? Would I be faced with choosing from a pool of the client’s peers like some Grey’s Anatomy psuedo doctor performing a surgery that I’ve only read about.

As nervous as I was, I didn’t show it. My opponent, well into his fifties and seemingly experienced, was in a panic. “Please, Your Honor, just a couple of weeks?” “No, today, counselor.” “Please, Your Honor, my wife was just in a car accident!” “No, you should be ready for today.” “PLEASE, Your Honor, I don’t have any of my witnesses ready.” “Look, counselor, you see this sheet?,” he held up an otherwise innocuous looking sheet of paper. “According to this, you are my 7th Oldest Case. SEVENTH! And I got this from the Administrative Judge because I need to move these cases out! If I don’t move these cases out, they move ME out!”

I did what I do best in these situations. I remained quiet and planned. “PLEASE YOUR HONOR!” Finally, the Judge had enough of the groveling. “Friday, and not a day later.” I let out the breath that I had held in during the 4 minutes of begging. Dodged another bullet, I thought to myself. As I left the Court, I called the bossman. “The trial is set for Friday.” “Great, good job.” “Thanks.” I’m the best keep-silent-while-the-action-happens-around-you guy on the block! Go me!

Of course, when I returned to the office, the effect of the Judge’s Friday deadline hit me. Hence, I’ve spent the day readying a case for trial…a case that, up until yesterday, I had never seen before in my life. Thems the breaks.

Poker, huh? Ugly night yesterday. I lost $50 playing 2/4 limit, and then $11 playing an PLO8 SNG with TripJax. I told Trip and GCox that I’d be back in 20 minutes, never to return. Wifey Kim was sick, and I wanted to spend some time with her. I did, however, lurk back online to win back $20 in some NL tables. Not too bad.

I’m probably 95% done with my PSO PokerShare bonus. After I’m done, I plan on removing almost all of my money from that site. I did the math. It took me 500 points to earn a PSO bonus worth about $90. It’ll take 3000 (or an additional 2500 points) to earn PokerShare’s $300 bonus. Do the pot odds, and you’ll see that it is not worth it.

I never received my cut of the rake from Share. If you know how this works, please share, because I’m clueless. I think I have to play for three months first, with play in each of the three months. So, I’ll leave a little bit of dough for their juicy, but tiny MTTs (with garaunteed tourneys creating overlays on the weekends) and so that I can play once in the next two months. Frankly, I’ve turned $300 into about $550+ there, so it has been a fairly profitable site. But I have to continue my Bonus Whore World Tour, and the next stop is VegasPokerPro, proud sponsor of DADI 6: Pot Limit Hold’em.

I may be losing that Noble banner on the right. I only get referral fees if players use my deposit code (HighPoker), and frankly, I’m starting to realize that while some ads are ok, those that require referals are not in the best interest of me or my readers. Frankly, they shorted me on 4 different players, losing me dough that I deserve, and I may go forward with a no-affiliate advertising policy (barring PSO and VPP, which have always been good to me). Let’s hope the folks at Noble who set this up can do right by me. I love the site no matter what. Hell, I just redeposited there for the bonus. If you do decided to sign up, though, use that bonus code HighPoker. Wifey Kim will thank you.

There is nothing better than spending a lazy Sunday slinging cards and chips in the comfort of your own apartment.

Yesterday, wifey Kim was on Long Island at a baby shower, so I took it upon myself to utilize this opportunity for a home game. A Sunday afternoon game isn’t the most common format, but it definitely has its advantages. For one, it is done relatively early (I threw everyone out at 8pm), so I could have the night to unwind with wifey Kim. Also, it makes Sunday feel a lot less like, well, Sunday. It helps when you win some money too.

The original plan was to have a $60 tournament at a game that consisted mostly of bloggers. Too ensure that we’d have a sufficient amount of people, I decided to send out a wife player net, asking a variety of my old home game crew, NYC bloggers, and some interested parties to join the fray. Sunday afternoon being what it is, the group wasn’t as blogger-heavy as I expected, but I can’t complain one bit. Lately, it had been a chore to get the troops in line to play, so I thought I needed a blogger-heavy turnout to make it work. Little did I know that the home game crew would turn out in spades.

The game started out with 9 players: me, F-Train, Dawn from I Had Outs, Dave Roose, Robbie Hole, Scotty, Peter, Matty Ebs, and bro-in-law Marc. There is a wide range of players there, from the serious F-Train to the fun-time-guy combination of Scotty and Pete. Scotty, always generous, catered the event, ordering a platter of Subway sandwiches that didn’t go to waste. A HUGE thanks to Scotty, who is always a class act.

I had a couple of cancellations, including Mikey Aps, Platinum, and Law School Dan (with Law School Craig), but we had enough other players to make it work. Platinum and D-Root would stop by later for a cash game. The players who were present were largely part of the ole Hole Home Game, where they play $15 turbo tourneys, so, to accomodate what players we had, the buy-in was dropped from $60 to 40.

The game started off pretty loose, and remained that way for the entirety of the tournament. I think I saw Dawn’s eyes light up when I sat back down at the table after setting everything up while the first few hands played out. If I wasn’t mistaken, those eyes said, “WTF did I miss and where did all this action come from?” I’m sure it was also the look of a shark eying its prey.

I wish I can say that I played well in the tournament. I didn’t though. I folded repeatedly, and then crippled myself against F-Train when I held TT. I believe that I was in the BB, or maybe UTG and I limped. He was on the button and raised. I called. The flop was KQ3, and I check-raised, sensing weakness. He must have sensed the same thing, because he re-raised me all-in quickly and confidently. I folded. He showed his A3, for bottom pair. We rabbit-hunted, and I would’ve run.

I then pushed my short stack with QJ on the button, only to be called by Petey who had KK in the SB. Hence, my early exisst. The final three were F-Train (3rd), Dawn (2nd), and Petey (1st). If you’ve read about Petey before, you know that he isn’t the best of players. In fact, he is easily the least experienced, and, I must admit…sorry Petey, the worst player of the group. But he was hitting cards, and he DID play well. So congrats Petey.

After the tourney, we decided to play a .25/.50 NL cash game, with a $40 max buy-in. I lost my first $40 against Petey. I held K2o on the button, so I limped with the passive preflop crowd. The flop was Kc3c3s. It was checked to Pete (CO) and he overbets $10. He was catching cards in general, and his overbets were getting common. I decided to put him to the test. I push all-in for another $18 more. It folds to Pete and he calls with Jc8c, a flush draw. As I dealt the turn, I yelled “fuck”, expecting a club. I was wrong. When I dealt the river, I yelled “fuck” again, expecting a club. I was right. The Ace of Spades! I rebought.

Then something happened. I’m sure most of the table will attest that I was my usual joking self. I like to have fun at the table, so I was making my usual wiseass shtick. But as I was doing it, I slowly started chipping up. I don’t even remember any specific hands. I know I busted Scotty with J8o when the flop was AJJ and he had an Ace. I doubled up off of Hole with my AQ vs his AK after the flop came down AQx. I always get action from Robbie Hole!

Somewhere in there, Petey and Scotty left, and D-Root and Platinum jumped in. I continued to chip up, and finally called the game end at 8pm (in fact, it ended at 7:45 after I busted Matty Ebs).

I ended the cash game with the most cash on the table, $170. With my $80 in buy-ins, that was a $90 profit in the cash game, and $50 profit overall, when considering the $40 tourney loss. Another successful live game in the books, and I started the day playing horribly.

As a result of the home game, I missed the WPBT event last night. Twas a shame, but a man can only poker so much, especially when the Sopranos and (gag) Desperate Housewives are on.

Thanks to all of the players that came out. I’m now looking even more forward to the SoxLover blogger home game this Friday. Should be fun! And don’t forget DADI 6: Pot Limit Hold’em. It’s one week from today, and VPP has offered some additional prizes besides the cash prize pool. Be there, or be elsewhere.

Soak it up while you can Trip, because this is the last of the well-armed kitty pictures you’ll be seeing on this blog…at least until I’m cat-sitting again.

Funny thing happened on the way to the bar. I won $450 and a $200 Nevada Jack gift card!

Here’s how:

So, it’s 9:01pm. I had signed up for the PSO blogger freeroll, but later in the week, I had received an email from good pal Dave Ruff. Well, his birthday was that week, so Saturday (last night) we were all going to meet up at a bar in NYC for his birthday.

With this in mind, I decided to skip the freeroll. To me, since it was free, it was essentially worthless. BUT, if I could have a bit of fun before going out, then why the hell not.

So, 9:01pm and I’m grinding a bit at PokerShare (400 out 0f 500 points completed for my PSO bonus, another 2500 after that for the $300 PokerShare bonus), and Kaellinn hits me up in the girlie IM. “You playing the freeroll?” Oh shit, I forgot about that. So, I fire up Absolute and get a girlie IM from DuggleBogey, and next thing I know, I’m in a chat room that would grow through the night. Other members included DrewsPop, GCox, Katitude, Mookie, Little Acorn Man, and definitely some others that my mind is blanking on currently. Weak stopped by late, but let’s get to all that in a moment.

As I said, I had plans, and lil’ Danny Platinum was supposed to meet me at the subway at 9:30 to head to the bar. So, I decide to push all-in, on every and any hand. And I did just that. I think it was K2o, and they folded to my all-in. Then it was J5o. Same deal. Next was Q80, and I pushed after a raise. Sure enough, my opponent had AQ and I readied myself to head out. Fate would have another plan. My 8 came on the flop, and I had doubled up. OK, but I still had some chips to lose, so I amped it up. QJo, all-in, and I’m called by AK. Queen on the flop, and I bust the guy. Wha?, I think. This losing is a lot harder than Veneno makes it look (I keed, and by the way, she was in the chat room too). So, I totally donk out with an all-in with 35o, and get called again by AK. 255 flop, and by the turn, he’s drawing dead.

I decide to take a look at the effect of my carnage. I held over 7500 in chips. 2nd place was around 3000. Shit man, I’m the dominating chipleader.

I toyed with the idea of continuing my push monkey ways, but then I saw the prize money. Anywhere in the top 5 was decent scratch, ranging from $150 to 540. Now, I’m all for unearned opportunities, but only when they are in the abstract, such as when you are starting a 118 person freeroll with plans that night. When you are in a dominating position though, the chances of winning shoot up like a junkie with a fresh bag.

Something else happens too. First, a lot of the players get mad at you. One in particular decided to stick around and talk smack. I talk smack with the best of them, and challenged him to a $100 Heads Up match (we eventually agreed on $250). Of course, I had no intention of following through, but this is the mental torment that I am obliged to put sore losers through if they dare question the Chosen One. According to this D-bag Supreme, I was a disgrace to poker! I didn’t know being a disgrace could be so profitable.

The other players were tilting too, and many were scared of me, mostly because I’d still push all-in with wreckless abandon at times. I pushed all-in facing a raise and was called by AK. I had 66, and my pocket pair held up. I knew what he had, and I was glad that my read was right and my luck held up. Of course, I was in a position to lose without fear, as I did with AJ v AK (all-in preflop, hit the J on the flop, and he hits the K on the river).

So it went. Duggle and Falstaff were at my table for a good period of time. I believe I busted Staff, probably on one of the many suckouts I was handing out. And while the game advanced, I continued to use my big stack and began playing better poker. Meanwhile, I’d call Platinum every 20 minutes to buy more time. I didn’t expect to be the chipleader with over twice as many chips as the nearest competitor. But that was my lot in life, and I had to accept it.

Now, did I just luckbox my way into the money? Certainly I had a luckbox head-start. I won’t deny that. But I was also playing smart once I had that big stack. Some may have seen me gambling a bit much, but that IS big stack poker, at least when you aren’t trying to just fold into the money. Remember, I wouldn’t mind losing, as long as I did it fast. So, I put the pressure on my opponents. I made some big raises. I also began to fold more as we neared the money.

Meanwhile, my ill-gotten stack was getting some good competition. One player finally caught up and surpassed me by a long shot, only to eventually be humbled. Even more interesting, though, was that our entire chat room was doing disprortionately well. The final table included me, Duggle, Kaellinn, DrewsPop and Katitutde, and GCox was out just outside of the money.

At the final table, I was back to a dominating position. I was dealt the Tourist (A7) about 4 out of 5 hands in one stretch, and pushed each time. I was eventually caught by A8, but why care, I had more than the rest of the table combined.

With 500/1000 blinds (with antes), I took out Duggle with J8o in the BB (I had to call 1800 more). Duggle had 55. I may’ve taken out DrewsPop too, but I think someone else had that honor. I took out Kaellinn with a decent, but unremarkable hand. Suddenly, we were down to the final 5, and Kat and I were still in it. She doubled up off of me, but I still had more than the rest of the table combined. I took out 5th place, and then took out Kat in 4th. I lost a chunk of chips to BRUIN4Life, a player who had sat on my right for the entire game (a tough place to be, I’m sure). He had doubled up as a result and was near 50k to my 70k. When we took out 3rd place, we were running fairly close.

And then it was heads up. BRUIN never bitched a moment during my luckbox beginnings and my intentional effort to appear like I was still a maniac. We played heads-up for a hella-long time. It was probably 40 minutes at least. There was even a 5 minute break in the middle (thanks to the tourney structure) during which we exchanged pleasantries. “Bruin, no matter what happens, it’s been a pleasure playing with you.” And I meant it, sincerely. I love this game.

As it happens, BRUIN survived my Ace-high against his King-high when he was shortstack and launched a comeback. At one point, I was down to 18,000 against his 100,000+, and came back to about even. But, yep, I lost. I was card dead, and he counteracted my aggression well. I took solace in the fact that 2nd place was just $90 less than 1st, for a whopping $450 profit.

So, what am I doing with the winnings? Paying bills, mostly. But I’m also going to make a transfer. Ruff, I’m sorry I missed your birthday, but when I played, I thought to myself, “I’m doing this for Ruff. If I win, I’m giving him a cut.” So, expect some nice dough in your PokerStars account.

I’m going to post a to do list, and I haven’t conferred with the people mentioned herein. It’s more like some ideas I have that I’d like to try, so if the people listed are game, please let me know.

1. Play a Heads-Up match against Sir Waffle, preferably with girlie voice chat, and have fun ripping into each other at the table and in voice chat. I’d like to think that Waffle and I have an interesting relationship. On one hand, he is one of the few players that can insta-tilt me, although I querry whether this is still the case. He is also one of the few players (although not SO few) that I really respect, pokerwise. I like his ability to challenge the normal conventions of the game and I think that he shows, at times, the innate intelligence to be a superb player. I say “at times” because we all have our less-than-golden moments. So, Waffle, the guantlet has been thrown.
2. Play a Swansea ($1, 6person SNG) with BloodyP on Noble without looking at my cards. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I plan to cover the cards with a post-it and play it blind, using position and careful analysis of my opponents. Clearly, though, my confidence is not high, as it’s a cheap SNG. I would love to do it at the same table as BloodyP, mostly because he’s good company at the table and it would be fun to get a witness.
3. Remind everyone to chill the fudge out! Why does everyone seem on edge lately. SoxLover is pissed at Waffle, Bone Daddy is pissed at Waffle, Waffle is pissed at Duggle, Duggle is pissed at everybody. Even Felicia Lee seems pissed, although there is nothing new there. Look people, I know I had my recent flame conflict (much like Vietnam, I will not call it an official war), but it’s really all a waste of time and energy. Please chill out.
4. Play in a Shootout tournament for the first time. Any suggestions or info as to when these are scheduled?
5. Use my $24+2 token at Full Tilt this weekend.
6. Play poker in Battery Park in NYC, where there is free wifi.
7. Keep the ongoing plethora of NYC blogger tournaments going.
8. Play at the DADI 6: Pot Limit. Can’t wait!