High On Poker

The greatest thing about PokerShare is that the name really does indicate the style of play. Whenever I sit down, especially at No Limit cash tables, my opponents insist on sharing their hard-earned money with me. I wish I could say that I have gotten into this spirit of giving, but Christmas isn’t till December, and I’m a Jew anyway.

Let’s get down to the bare facts. I started the night with a feeling that my $260 night would necessarily be followed by a bad evening. I started out at a $50NL table, buying in for the max. I’m sure people have their own opinions, but I like me a table with a bunch of shortstacks. It allows me to do one of two things in any given hand: (1) force a player to give me all of his chips when I have him dominated because, hell, he only has $10 behind him and my overbet of $12 into a $4 pot means I’m scared (PSYCHE!) and (2) gamble a bit more when they bet big and I have a draw because, hell I know my exposure right away and it’s not like he can price me out on the turn and make me fold.

So, I win $45 at the NL cash game, and then the table breaks. No problem for me, as I had entered a $10 10-person turbo on PokerShare and those turbos go fast. I was able to eke into the money by stealing when the blinds got silly-high. Two players were knocked out in one hand and I’m ITM. At that point, I begin stealing more. I didn’t have much of a choice. The blinds were 200/400 and I had about 1200 at most, and at one point, under 900. So steal, steal, steal with my All-Ins with Ace-high, King-high, whatever-high. I convince all of the players that I’m always going all-in, which is true, and they start folding their blinds to me. Then they start pushing all-in too. I finally called one with 88 vs his JT. I take him down. I’m now heads up and the chipleader. I get T8s and decide to see a flop. The flop is TT9. I check, and my conditioned opponent, used to my betting and my all-in precedent, pushes all-in. I call right away, and he shows QJ. Blank, blank, and I win. Booya!

I then decide to try another one, but lose when I push all-in with TT on an all-under board (235) and get called by A4, who had foolishly called my preflop raise. It was still early in the game, so I didn’t know he’d play such crap. 9 times out of 10 though, he misses the flop and folds to my continuation bet (assuming no Ace, because if there is an Ace on the flop, I slow down). But this was that tenth time.

I switch back to Noble, my old standby, and take down a Rio SNG after being as low as 300 in chips very early on. I then try another and lose. Still, it’s a net profit. Later in the night, I returned to PokerShare, where I eked out a meager $1.50 profit while two-tabling for 20 minutes or so.

Overall, I’m more than 30% done with the PSO bonus at PokerShare. If I stick around, I can also earn my initial deposit bonus of $300, but that would require 3000 points, instead of the 500 that PSO requires. In other words, it’s not looking likely, seeing as how PokerShare’s traffic, or lack thereof, still annoys me. Still, I have to thank PSO. I’ve turned $300 into $700 in three days at PokerShare, and that ain’t too shabby.

I’m playing poker at the I Had Outs tournament tonight in beautiful Brooklyn. Wish me luck, because it’ll be an all-star blogger crowd. Game report tomorrow…if you’re lucky.

You Decide #32

It’s been a while since I’ve had a “You Decide” post. For newbies, basically, I’ll go through a hand and give you all an opportunity to mock my play. If you want to see some prior examples, take a look at the You Decide Index. So here goes:

I actually discussed this hand with Waffle, and I hope to remember it well, but I promise nothing. Jordan and Recall aren’t necesarily a winning combination. Actually it is coming back to me. I held Ad9c made my usual (for this table) preflop raise to $1.50. I wasn’t overly aggressive yet , but I had been moving toward aggressive from my initial tight play, during which I get a feel for the table. I figured that the bet would get the pot started and maybe I’d pick up the blinds right away. If not, a post-flop bet could probably take the hand down.

So I bet $1.50 UTG+1 in a 5-person game and the Button calls. I didn’t have a perfect read on the Button yet, but I had a feeling he was playing loose with his call. All others fold. I miss the flop, but it’s all diamonds and I have the nut diamond draw. I decide to check and the button obliges. I figure the best move is to get a free card if I can, since if I make my flush, I might be able to maximize value against a weaker flush. I also feared a flush at the time, and lost to any pair. The idea of my opponent holding an AJ was another possibility, of course. Bottom line was that I wasn’t sure if I was ahead.

The turn is the King of hearts and I check again. To my surprise (or not) the Button decided to bet $1.50. I don’t totally get the bet at the time, but I know that it is a mere pittance compared to my stack, and I have great implied odds. It occurs to me that he might be trying to buy the pot. The other possibility is that he has a King, and hopefully the King of diamonds.

The river comes down and its a 9d. I’ve rivered my nut-flush and have to decide on a strategy. The Button only has about $28 in front of him and the pot is approximately $6. I decide to overbet, and bet $15 into the $6 pot. My opponent pushes all-in. I call. He has KdJx, for the second nut straight, and I look like a genius.

The overbet is a new strategy for me, but one that I am finding increasingly profitable against semi-intelligent players. I used to believe that overbets always meant that my opponent was scared or was trying to push me off of my winning hand (with either a crappier hand or an outright bluff). Unfortunately, this caused me to call several nut hands. My impression at the time was that these players were donkey morons who thought, “I have the best hand, so let me get as many chips into the pot as I can” without regard for getting value for their hands. I’m sure that was the case some of the time, but now I know that there is a different type of person who overbets. That guy overbets because he knows that the overbet looks like a bluff and wants to induce action. Hence, my play.

It’s hard to argue with the results of the play. I maximized my profit, without a doubt. But could I have played it better in a way that wouldn’t have relied on hitting the flush, but would have still been smart and profitable. You tell me, cause hell if I know!

The First Way to Win at Poker:

(1) Buy in to a full ring $100nl table with a bankroll of $1000, therefore placing 10% of your money on the line.

(2) Play conservatively, trying to feel out the table conditions.

(3) Get QQ in your first two orbits in the SB before you had a chance to get a good read on the table. Re-raise to $10, after the button raised from $1 to $3.50.

(4) Call the re-raise to $20 from the BB, after the button calls.

(5) See a 9-high flop with a flush draw and push all-in for your remaining $76 out of position. Get called by the BB and the Button. See that the BB has KK and the button has AK.

(6) River a Queen, one of two outs, and rake a $288 pot.

(7) Hee Haw HEE HAW!!!

(8) Mock the sore loser BB with the hopes of making more money on his tiltage, but then realize that your table image sucks and leave the room with your profits intact.

I know, folks. It’s one hell of a way to make a bucket load of cash. But it worked for me.

The Second Way to Win at Poker:

(1) Sit at a short-handed $50 nl table, which comprises less than 5% of your roll (thanks to your earlier donkey play).

(2) Take your time getting a feel for the table. Sense tightness all around.

(3) Bet. Raise. Re-raise. If you hit two pair on the flop, bet the pot. If you hit bottom pair on the flop, bet the pot. If you hit a flush draw, bet the p0t. If you hit a belly-buster straight draw, be the pot.

(4) Keep betting and raising. Keep the pressure on your opponents. Take down more than 40% of the pots when playing 4-6 handed. Be the consistent bully, and have everyone react to you, rather than the other way around.

(5) Get dealt QQ, and play it like any other decent preflop hand, betting to $2. Get raised to $6. Re-raise to $12. Get flat called. See a flop of all unders. Let your opponent push all-in. Call with QQ and beat JJ.

See the difference? I probably am not doing a good job of explaining the 2nd way of winning. I was catching cards, which is always helpful, but even when I wasn’t I was consistently leaning on my opponents. After I psuedo doubled up (he had less than me, but not by much) with QQ v. JJ I kept the pressure on. I can only imagine how annoying it was for the others playing.

It actually reminded me of when I whooped ass at the perfect table in Atlantic City. I was controlling the tables. At that point, barring suckouts, its hard to lose. I get a feel for the action and I just know when a bet will take down a pot. I rarely have to reach a showdown because I no longer care about the money in front of me. They’ve all just become meaningless chips. So big bets to win a pot without seeing the river is fine with me. My bets are especially powerful on the flop, because with only 4-6 players at any given time, and probably only one or two calling my preflop raise to $2 (with anything from, at times, K9 suited to AA to low suited connectors), more often than not my opponent is not hitting that flop. I check down hands too, don’t get me wrong. But overall, I play the aggressor. That is why people slip up and push with JJ v. my QQ (which, of course, I can sometimes do too; See The First Way). But you get the idea, hopefully.

Overall, I won $260-280 last night. I’m not exactly sure looking back. This also included a bubble in a Turbo 5-person $10 SNG at PokerShare (terrible traffic on the site, but the action is good, since that is where I won most of my dough) and a loss at a $5 PLO SNG.

Whatever the case, that was a big night for me, financially, and I look forward to continuing it tonight. Wifey Kim seems to have standing plans on Wednesdays to have dinner and watch America’s Next Top Model with her friend, so I’ll have poker time until 9:30 at which point we will be watching some DVR’ed Lost. Good times, good times.

In other exciting news, guess who is going to AC again? Me, of course. I had already scheduled a day off at the office for Okie-Vegas. Unfortunately, I can’t go because of the price of flights. However, Showboat has been kind enough to send me another free room, and wifey Kim wanted to go. So the plan is to go down Thursday, June 8th, and stay at the Showboat. I don’t expect much poker, and, weather permitting, I do expect to spend a good amount of time at the beach with the wife. The second night, however, will be at the Trop, under their poker room rate ($112 instead of $250 or so). To get the rate, I have to play 4 hours of poker. Done and done. It’s perfect. A vacation with the wifey where I have no choice but to play poker. NOICE!

Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables.

I don’t smoke, so sometimes this here blog can act as a great cigarette break to clear my mind in the middle of the day.

Yesterday went by in a flash at the office. Today has been significantly slower. But I’ve been busy, and for that I am glad. Give me a busy day over a quiet day anytime.

Interesting random things happen in the Jordiverse. I’ve got a settlement conference in front of a judge in two days. It’s not even my case, so I’ve been boning up on the case yesterday and today. When I was talking to my team leader, I was getting excited for the conference. Basically, I have to present our reasoning for requesting our demand, which I currently estimate to be around $2.5 million. So, Team Leader tells me (mind you, its a team of 2, so its just Team Leader and me) that the Judge is going to try to bully me. He’s going to threaten to send me out to pick a jury (i.e., go right to trial, something I have no experience in). He is going to insult me because I’m young and tell me that I don’t know what I am doing. Meanwhile, my opposition is going to be playing his role, lowballing me and staying steadfast.

I had to admit, it got me a bit excited. Hell, I did admit it, telling Team Leader that I’m actually starting to look forward to the experience. “Of course,” he replied. “It’s poker.”Truer words haven’t been spoken.

I guess that is the blessing to what I do. As a lawyer, there are times where you have to read your opponents for tells. Is he stalling for a reason? Is he likely to settle? Is he hiding something? You might pick up on someone’s attitude, and how it changes when certain topics come up. Or, you may be able to buddy up with your opponent, kind of like how I do at times at the table, and from that ‘relationship’ exploit the hell out of their knowledge, knowledge regarding information not available to you, like what their insurance carrier thinks, and what their theories of liability are.

Besides catching tells and reading peoples, I’m also constantly sending out signals. Maybe I don’t call someone back right away, or I come on very aggressively. I might be bluffing, requesting things that aren’t necessarily the most important so that they don’t argue about something that is, to me, the real goal. Otherwise, I’ll put on my happy face, working with my opponent to finish a conference stipulation, but all the while I’m making sure that I get mine.

In the end, there is a winner and a loser. There are small winners and losers along the way, like losing a pot. But at the end, when you win a verdict worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars or even, dare I say, millions, that’s like busting the game. Getting near the end of the litigation (MTT) and wanna chop? Sure, let’s settle. You only have to pay me $.5 million, saving yourself $.5 million of your insurance coverage that the company may be afraid of losing at trial (heads-up). Meanwhile, I might lose the trial, so I’ll take the chop and accept the locked in profit.

I once heard someone say that litigation is the closest thing to sports without being a sport. I think it’s even closer to poker. I guess I’m just glad that I can see the connection.

On an entirely unrelated note, if you are in NYC and want to see a kick-ass local band, check out Giant Step, playing at I.C.U. Bar in Manhattan on Saturday night. Dave Roose, my gambling partner in crime, is one of the guitarists, and the ban is a refreshing mix of Coldplay lyrics with a jam band sound/sensibility. They won a battle of the bands recently, too, and as a prize will be in a battle of the bands on Sirius Satellite’s Jim Breuer Show on May 16th at 4pm. They’ll be playing at Kenny’s Castaways, also in NYC, on May 27th, and I’ll be there for that one.

I’m freaking exhausted. I’ve been staying up fairly late, trying to take some advice from DoubleAs. A while ago, he lamented that those who claim that they do not have time to build their bankroll should really prioritize. Lose sleep if you have to. Sounded like good advice, and I have to admit that I’ve followed it, and I still think it’s good advice. This poker struggle that we do, it doesn’t have to mean much. For some it’s a game. For others it’s a quick way to make a few bucks here and there. For me, I’m looking to build something, and that takes work, bottom line. So, yeah, I’m sleepy, but it’s because I’m dedicated. Dedicated to a stupid gambling game. And I couldn’t be happier.

Last night, while I cooked my dinner, I decided to finally get down to business and play some higher-stakes pokah, in an effort to run through my PokerShare PSO Bonus as part of the High On Poker Bonus World Tour (next stop VPP for one of several bonuses).

My online bankroll is at approximately $1k. It may be as low as $850, but let’s assume $1k (I got to check that out later…). So, I decide to play some 2/4 Limit to grind the bonus away. Great plan, asshole. In less than an hour, I was down $73 or so. Nothing was working. I’d hit a flush and be against a higher flush. I’d hit top-pair and get called down by Ace-high and rivered. But also, I wasn’t playing particularly well. I’ve been focusing more on NL and PL (Omaha) cash games, and they have such a different feel to them. I guess I didn’t adjust fast enough, and I was definitely on the wrong side of variance.

Quick side note. While I was playing, I see a player named Falstaff sit down. So I ask, “Fal, are you who I think you are?” “Yep.” Turns out that he, too, was playing the PSO promotion. He finished his remaining points and got the hell out. At least I gave him a good show, losing my money like it was my job.

Bummed about spilling $150 over two days, I resigned myself to switching to an SNG. It helped that our Shakespearean friend told me that they count toward the bonus (albeit rather slowly). Unfortunately, PokerShare has a lack of players, so the options weren’t many. I eventually saw a $10 5-person Turbo SNG, and seeing how nothing else was filling up in the $5-$20 range, I signed up for some SNG fun.

The Turbo structure at PokerShare is great. It wasn’t too fast that it was just a push fest, but as time wore on, the pressure to act was there. I was playing very well, although overall I didn’t have any good cards (it was the theme of last night, with me not seeing anything higher than TT). Even so, the table was tight enough that I could steal, steal and steal. I eventually lasted to 2nd place, and then lost to a river suckout. Oh well oh well. With $6.50 profit, I was at least making some headway into my $73 in limit losses.

Wifey Kim has been very patient with me. I seem to be falling back into the poker hole, spending a bit too much time in the trenches. It doesn’t help that she wants to watch the 2 hr special about a magician holding his breath for 9 minutes. Yes, 111 minutes anticipation. Is there nothing else worth airing nowadays. More on that subject later, let’s get back to the poker.

Eventually the wifey Kim gets a telephone call. Once that phone is up, I can assume I have a good 15 minutes, so, being the degenerate that I am, I immediately fire up the laptop. Back in a flash, I scoured the PokerShare’s meager pickings looking for my new table. Limit wasn’t working, and I couldn’t guarantee enough time for another SNG, so I perused the NL tables. I’m usually a .25/.50 NL type of guy (max buy-in $50). But my bankroll has never been to $1k before, so I was thinking that .50/1 could be more justified. In hindsight, I realize that I was putting 10% of my online bankroll (I have about $1k more for live games) on the line. For this, I need your help. Was this too much of a risk? I really have no idea. My intuition tells me yes, but my desire to continue moving up tells me no. Your thoughts?

PokerShare has an interesting framework. They have full tables, heads-up tables, 6-person tables, and 4-person tables. I settled on a 4-person, mostly because it was the only one that was open. At the table were three other players, one of which had a significant stack. The others were shortstacked, part of the reason why I chose the table. Yes, I prefer playing against shortstacks. Others don’t, but I just feel that I can force them to make mistakes more.

In little time, I was down $30+ when the Big Stack (BS from here on out) raised a big $25 on the river after I bet small the whole way. It was an early hand, and I hadn’t gotten a feel for the table yet. I think in NL especcially, getting a feel for your table is key. Once I had it, I never looked back.

The big hand was when I held AJh. I believe I was in the BB. BS was on the button. He raised to $3 or 4. The SB called, and I figured I had odds to call. AJh isn’t a bad hand four-way, but I had been losing, and was cognizant of the possibility that I was facing AK or AQ. So imagine my surprise when the flop came AdKd9x. What to do? I think I bet about the pot. I wanted to know if I was behind or not. BS called, and the SB folded. The turn was an offsuit 3. I must admit that I had thoughts of losing to AK in my head from even before the flop. The flop didn’t help, but the BS’s failure to re-raise on the flop led me to believe that I might be okay. I decided to keep the pressure on, and made a sizeable bet of about $24, leaving me with $30 or so behind. I was still fearful of the AK, and I wanted to see if he would re-raise. If he did, I don’t know what I’d do.

The river was an offsuit Queen. I didn’t even think of the straight. If he was drawing to the inside straight, so be it. I did, however, think of AQ. Whatever the case, if I was behind, I was behind. I checked it to the BS, and, as expected, he pushed. I thought for a moment, and then decided that I really had no choice. I called the rest of my $30. He showed, 7d9d. I took down the pot, and was up $60.

From there, I had no fear. I called down BS with King-high, after an AA7 flop and two inconsequential cards. I knew he was bullshitting from the get go and when he showed his stone cold bluff and the cards went my way, I had a shit-eating grin on. I gave the guy an ass whooping clinic, taking out or scaring away the two shortstacks until we were heads up. At that point, I was up $110, mostly from BS, so I clicked Sit Out. It took me all of 2 seconds to realize that I had him so mentally beat that I couldn’t just leave. We battled back and forth, with me up $160 at my peak, but eventually, I dropped down to $220. He was raising preflop a lot, and I was happy to give him the $1 blind and wait for the big punch. It was a decent strategy, but eventually I realized that I had had enough.

I signed off and finished watching David Blaine with wifey Kim. Here is the thing. The poll from the last post wasn’t about wifey Kim v. me. It was actually about another friend. I was surprised that wifey Kim was even so interested in the magic at all. But I have to admit that it was pretty cool. Blaine uses camera tricks during his taped segments. He also uses plants, people in the “audience” who are in on the fun (according to my magic-loving friend). But the breath-holding thing was real. And the best part is that he failed. He held his breath for 7:02, instead of the requisite 8:59. And I must admit, I think he was better for failing. It showed people that striving toward something is sometimes a success in and of itself. It also showed dedication and commitment to be willing to try such a thing, live on TV no less. Impressive, Mr. Blaine, impressive. Someone has got to get him a fictional TV show though, like an Alias. That’d probably kick ass.

Wifey Kim, satisfied with the breath-holding excitement, turned in, and once asleep, I lurked onto the computer to find GCox hanging on Yahoo IM. I haven’t mentioned it here yet, but Okie Vegas is out for me. I had a devilish plan to fly there for uber cheap, but it didn’t work out. Apparently, to fly from NY to Oklahoma City costs around $500, and while I would love to be there, I just can’t swing it. But, we can still sling chips over the virtual felt.

With my new higher-stakes mood, GCox and I agreed to play a single table SNG on Paradise Poker for $20. G went out relatively early, but I was able to squeak into 3rd for an additional $18.50 profit.

Overall, I won $75 last night, after starting the night down $73. These new higher stakes are getting me to take notice a bit more. I think it is just what I need for my stagnant game. I’m avoiding limit like the plague, since I just can’t get into it, but NL has been good to me. PL Omaha, too, and I’ll be back at Noble playing that again soon enough, finishing the last $25 of my $100 bonus there.

Alls I knows is I love me some poker. Now, thank you for reading about all of my exciting exploits last night. Not a lot of useful stuff in this post, admittedly, but they can’t all be winners like me.

This month, we’ll be playing some Pot Limit. It’s close to No Limit, but has a little twist to keep things fresh.

VegasPokerPro has been kind enough to offer their support this time around. They are offering a total of 2000 VPP Points, which will be split up as follows:

1000 VPP Points for First Place.

500 VPP Points for the money Bubble.

500 VPP Points as a bounty on VPP_Dave.

DADI would like to thank VPP for thier generosity.

VPP Points can be used at the VPP store for a variety of poker related and non-poker related items, including gift certficates.

Other notes: The event will take place on Monday, May 29th. The buy-in is back to $10+1. The time has been changed to 10pm EST to accomodate some of the West Coasters. POY points will not be awarded for this event.

Check out the DADI Website for future Updates.

[Insert 5/4/06 Post Here]. Yep, I did it again. I played like crap.

Last night, I finally began playing late at night. I signed up for PokerShare via PokerSourceOnline, in the hope of finishing the 500 points (necessary for the PSO bonus) quickly. After that, I would get 9000 PSO points, which, along with my current 1000 points, would earn me a $100 gift certificate to Party Poker (immediately withdrawable). Yeah. Nice plan buddy. But it didn’t work out, because apparently, once you deposit on PokerShare, you then have to “transfer” your money from your Share account to the actual poker account. Whatever! I found this out this morning. At least their customer support was quick and painless.

In the meanwhile, I decided to fire up some Noble. They are still giving me the run around on some of my referrals, crediting me for 2 instead of the 5 confirmed referrals that I know about (and a sixth one that is apparently one of the 2 confirmed, but from an unknown person), but I’m hoping we work it out. That said, I can’t turn down their soft as stool action. Okay, bad mental picture. (On that note, if you decide to get in on Noble, please use my link AND bonus code HighPoker. I don’t mean to be repetitive, but the problems I’ve had so far have been so ridiculous that I just want to avoid future problems with them. I also don’t want to discourage people from playing there or at Titan. They share the same tables and the same fishy fish fish action.)

Side note, I noticed the Titan Poker commercials on TV. There is a couple of shots where they show the monitor with Titan running. If you look carefully one of the two players whose names you can read is: fckcongo. So apparently Titan Poker hates the nation of Congo. Can you blame them? After all, the Congo was previously a French colony. And if you don’t know the official High On Poker stance when it comes to them Frogs: “Fuck the French!” They do make good mustard though.

So, Noble. Unfortunately, my Omaha H/L games were empty, so I decided to play some .25/.50 NL. Lovely. I lost half of my $50 buy-in and left the room. The action was weird, I wasn’t getting a good feeling from it, and I had fired up a Rio. The Rio was going well, so I fired up a second one. I busted out of the money in both. -$72 or so last night. That pretty muched wiped out my hard-earned Saturday winnings and then some.

The usual problem, of course. I was anxious to play, but not into the game. I was watching the Sopranos and trying to fit in some poker. This does not make a winning combination. I guess I found my 2nd leak after sports betting: unfocused poker. I must work on both.

That’s about all I’ve got in my engine right now. On Thursday, I will be playing in a home game hosted by the ladies of I Had Outs. SoxLover was throwing around the idea of a home game on Memorial Day weekend as well, since Weak_Player would be in town, but that went the way of the dodo (apparently) because I have an engagement party. Nine times out of ten, I’d be pissed, but the part is for none other than Dave Roose himself, so I can expect some good food, booze and company.

These NYC homegames are really great. It reinforces the idea of the poker blogging community for me. I’ve never been to a WPBT event, mostly because of money and timing. I mean, how the hell do all of these people get so much time off from work, and can spend so much money traveling around. Color me impressed. All I know is that when I had the blogger tourney at my apartment, it was a great time.

I should also probably say this: SoxLover has really been challenging me with my game. He convinced me (rather easily, even though I put up a stubborn fight) that I need to finish Harrington Vol. 1 and read Harrington Vol. 2. I stopped reading them because I was getting bored with all poker all the time. I prefer my train rides to be for escapist literature or mindless magazines. But he is right. Even if I don’t use the strategies, 30% of the field is using them, and if I have their playbook, I’d be an idiot not to read them. Oh, and I probably will use the strategies. One of the things I noticed when I was reading Vol. 1 was that I use a lot of Harrington’s techniques, even before I knew that he used them. Other things were new and helpful. So, back to the books.

Aside from that, Sox is just willing to talk about the game in an open way. And I trust what he has to say, even if I did whoop his ass at my homegame tournament and cashgame (oh sting!).

So, thanks Sox, and thanks readers. I’m out!

Hi folks. I find that blogging while I play actually helps me make more responsible decisions. It may have to do with the fact that I have stuff to do between hands; it may have to do with a feeling of accountability. Whatever the case, I’m currently in the 10am $5 Rebuy MTT on Noble, and the action has been fishy as ever. I lost a hand early when I flopped 2-pair and check-raised all-in. The table has been loose, and someone called with an overpair. He runner runner two-paired to beat me. I had 170 and raised all-in with 66. I was called by a bunch of players, flop the 6 and had 985. I’ve since then chipped up, mostly by preying on the weak. I called all-in with KQ preflop in one hand because one push monkey had pushed in several hands in a row and showed 68s and the like. He had QJ this time and I doubled up. So here we are. I have 4k or so, and I’m one of the table chip leaders. We are almost an hour in and I’m back to healthy.

10:58- Someone pushes for $2500 right before the add-on break and I call with JJ. He has TT and I’m at 7,125, with only one other player near me in chips. The rest have 3,500 or less. Feels good. I plan on tightening up until the break (maybe 2 hands) and then kicking it in gear after, when everyone has tightened up. Meanwhile, wifey Kim has called me to ask me to buy some tickets to Kelly Clarkson. /sarcastic/ Yeah! I’m going to Kelly Clarkson! /end sarcastic/ (Meanwhile, as she calls, my heart is beating out of my chest, and I’m all, “CAN WE DISCUSS THIS LATER!”)

10:59- My AA changes my plans. I push after someone makes a 3x raise. I push all-in and get called by a player with 3,850. He has KT and fails to improve. I’m now the table chipleader with just over 10k. Oh yeah, and wifey Kim called back. Thankfully, she got her friends to agree to go, so I’m saved! Looks like I’ll be playing some poker July 12th. Although, once again, I’m all, “RIGHT NOW!!”)

11:00- It’s add-on time, and I opt to pay the $5 for 1k in extra chips. It’s probably unnecessary, but what the hell. What do you think? Skip it here? We started with 236 players, and are down to 136. I’m in 4th! Go me. Top 30 pay, but the good money starts at 9th place.

11:09- I fold my small and big blind to huge bets. I expected players to slow down. Now I don’t know what to expect. Blinds are 100/200. I hav 11,600.

11:11- KQ in the CO. One limper, and I raise to 4x the BB (800). BB calls. The flop is all unders. I bet 1k (he has 2200 left) and take it down. 12,700.

11:16- Blinds are 150/400. KQs UTG, and I limp. If I raise someone is going all-in. Their stacks are too short. 1500 raise from the button, and I opt to fold. UTG+1 pushes for 4k. Button calls and he has KQh to UTG+1′s J9s. Suckers. The Q hits, and the button doubles up.

11:19- QJ on the BB. Button calls, SB folds. I check. Its a Q-high flop and I check. He bets the minimum and I raise to 4x the BB (1200). He folds. I’m at 13k after I fold my SB.

11:20- 88 in the CO. It’s raised to 1800 by the time it gets to me by the guy who raise big with KQh. I fold, just to be safe. Everyone else does too. Just bought Kelly Clarkson tickets. Ticketmaster is the devil, charging about 8 different hidden service charges. What service do they provide anyw

11:26- 200/400 blinds. 36o in the BB and one limper (the SB folded). There is a 3 on the J-high flop and I bet 600. The limper folds. I fold 37s in the SB facing a min raise. 89o on the button. I take a long time and min raise, trying to look like I’m milking from the blinds. BB pushes, and I look the fool. 12,450. No more bluffing.

11:33- I limp with KQh UTG. The button is in the hand too. All low cards on the flop. I call the SB’s min bet after the BB calls. The turn is a third spade, and I fold to the min bet from the SB. So does everyone else. 11,250. 87o in the BB, which I fold to a MP all-in. I would’ve straighted against JJ and QQ. Oh well. KJo in the SB, and a loose player min raises. I want to play it. CO calls. Let’s gamble. I call. I fold once I miss the flop. 10,450. I try to remind myself that these losses are minor, but I need to start collecting more chips. I chicken out and fold A3o on the button, instead of raising.

11:38- 300/600. I raise to 2400 with 55 in CO+1. One caller has 90 left, and 93o. He hits his 9, but I river a 5. 11,440. Min raise with A8o in MP. I take it down. Aggression is key. 12,340.

11:42- ATo in the SB. I’m 2nd chip leader. Most players are severely short stacked. Checks to me and I push. The BB calls with 2,910 and QT. I win. 15,250. I’m moved to a new table. Damn! I’m 3rd chipleader here, but most players have over 10k. 56 players left, and I’m at around 12th place.

11:47- 400/800 blinds. I get Q5o in the BB. One limper and the SB. 247 flop, and I bet 1600. I get one caller. I bet 2400 and he calls on the 8 turn. The river makes a flush possible. I check, he bets, I fold. NO MORE BLUFFING! At least the river made it look like maybe I had something and got scared. I was trying to represent 2-pair the entire way. 10k. ATo in the SB and I push when it folds to me. I have the BB covered. He folds. 11,250. 49 left, and I’m hoping to make the money now, but I really want to chip up and make a move for the good dough.

11:51- ATo in CO+1. I min raise. BB is shortstack and flat calls. Ace high flop. He calls with 2nd pair (89, 9 on the board), but turns 2-pair. 6,722. I’m in the Rule of 10. 45 players left. I’m in 36th.

11:55- 500/1000 blinds, and I’m in a bucket-load of trouble. Here goes nothing. I push all-in with AJh UTG. I get one caller, AKo. I lose, 42nd place. I don’t dislike the move. The game for me fell apart when I was sucked out AT v. 89. That is part of tournament poker though. Of course, the bluffing was a mistake too.

Time for the Deep Stack tourney on Poker Stars. Catch you all later!

Michael was the kind of guy who you didn’t notice, unless you were in a bad mood. Then he was ever present, and usually ready to take whatever wallops were waiting for him. He wasn’t there at the start of the bad mood. Well, he was, but he wasn’t noticed. But once the bad mood happened, Michael was clearly there and usually in the way.

Michael didn’t see it that way though. He didn’t think much of himself, really. Maybe it was how Fay, his mother, would sit him at the table after school and weep to him about her tragic life. Maybe it was because of the way his father would not talk to Michael unless it was to order him around or set him straight with the back of a hand.

It was nothing new to Michael, then, when he was brought out of the casino on a stretcher, tubes coming from his mouth like he was some man-made cyborg. He had walked in hoping not to lose his money. That’s how Michael thought. Don’t lose your money, Michael. You’re going to need that money for food. Michael had enough money as a techie in a mid-sized company, but he still felt that the money he played with was money for food. Don’t lose your money Michael, or all of those things that happened to you were meant to happen.

Michael walked into the casino and slowly walked the periphery of the room. He was on vacation with his girlfriend Rachel. She was back in the hotel room still sleeping. It was 1 in the afternoon. After a late dinner last night and two bottles of wine, Rachel wanted to go dancing. Michael wanted to go to bed. He had only drunk two glasses, but that was enough for him. Combined with the jet lag, Michael just wanted to call it a night, but when Rachel wanted something, she got it.

“Let’s go Michael,” she said in her whiney, drunken voice. “We are in Vegas. I don’t want to go to bed.”

Upstairs, Michael had a bottle of champagne chilling. It wasn’t his idea. It was hers, and occurred 2 months before the trip. He made the arrangements though. All she had to do was say, “Wouldn’t it be nice to get to Vegas and have a bottle of champagne waiting for us in the room? It would be so romantic.”

Michael and Rachel hadn’t been romantic in some time. In fact ‘some time’ was two and a half months, ever since that incident where Michael couldn’t perform. He was stressed from work and an argument with his brother who was upset that Michael couldn’t lend him a thousand dollars for his mortgage payment. Michael’s brother has just purchased a new car, and money was tight. He had also just purchased a new X-box, skis, a $500 suit, and a vacation to Aruba.

Michael sat there as Rachel went through the cycle of disappointment. First she acted like it didn’t matter. Then she rolled over and pretended to sleep. Then she gave up on pretending and sat up, shooting glaring looks at Michael. Then she took out her dildo and went to work, all the while with Michael a half a foot away from her in their queen sized bed. Michael could have been a mile away though. She didn’t look at him once.

Two and a half months, and when they got off of the plane, had their late dinner (with more wine) and hit the hotel room, Rachel immediately passed out. He didn’t blame her. Their flight was delayed 6 hours, and Rachel, who didn’t like to read, was unhappy that Michael spent the time on a paperback novel. She eventually went off to explore the airport, and when he found her, she was at the TGIFriday’s bar with a glass of some alcohol and cola and a table of three fraternity guys. She was also drunk. Very drunk. He quietly approached and tapped her arm. “I think it’s time to go.” “I want to stay. You go. I’ll be there by the flight.” The frat guys got up. Their flight was boarding soon too; something like Cancun or some other frat guy destination. They said goodbye to “Bree”, as they called her, and walked off laughing and patting each other on the back. “You chased them away! We were just having a drink. It’s not like I was sucking them off!” He quieted her down and went to the bar for a glass of soda. He had done this before. When he returned she was gripping the glass of cola and some unknown alcohol tight. When she relaxed her grip, mostly due to the motions associated with drunkenness, he quietly switched the glasses.

By the time the late night flight touched down in Vegas, Rachel was already hung over. The three mini-bottles of White Zinfandel on the flight didn’t help either. They had a quick dinner and some more drink. They got to the room and the champagne was forgotten. So while Michael unpacked, her stuff first, then his, she slouched off into bed and passed out. They slept next to each other, but they were world’s apart.

The next morning he decided not to wait any longer for Rachel. He got dressed in the bathroom after she yelled at him for turning on the damn lights. He quietly closed the door after he left a note on her side of the bed underneath her contacts case.

When he entered the casino he felt a touch of excitement. Michael wasn’t much for excitement though. It felt too much like fear. He made his way over to the poker room and looked at the list. 1/2 No Limit Hold’Em was the popular choice for the smaller casino/hotel. There were several tables going, and Michael, experienced from television, some play-money sites online, and a couple of free bar games, asked to be placed on a list. His table was already opened, and he felt a bit of nerves as he inched closer to the table.

As Michael sat down, he reached into his pocket for his travel Velcro wallet. He pulled out a single one-hundred dollar bill. His budget was $300, but he didn’t want to lose it all at one place. He put it down on the table and waited for the fat Hispanic dealer to give him chips. To his right was a big man, probably over 6’4”, but Michael couldn’t tell with him sitting down. He was built like a Brick house, although clearly age had softened the sharp edges a bit. Brickhouse had a stack of about $300 in front of him, which was about in the middle of the pack, but Michael could tell right away that he was the center of attention at the table. A drink with a small umbrella sat in front of the Brickhouse. He was wearing a white long-sleeved t-shirt with a stripe across the middle, and blue jeans. His boots were timberlands. His hair was short, but his goatee was scruffy.

Michael sheepishly put out $2 as a post. The dealer looked at him sideways and pushed the chips back. “No need to post. This is no limit.” Michael didn’t know that it made a difference. In his first hand, he looked down at his cards: 55. Michael looked up as it was his turn to act. He pushed his $2 back into the middle of the table and looked around to see what was happening. Brickhouse was also in the hand, as well as a few others. All were limpers. The flop came down AK5. The action was checked to Brickhouse, who bet $10. Michael had three of a kind, fives, but didn’t want to be too aggressive. He had just sat down and wanted to lose his money slowly. He decided to just call. No other players stayed in the hand.

“You sure you want to be in a hand with me, kid?” Brickhouse asked. “Um, yeah, so far,” was all that Michael could spit out.

The turn was a 4. Brickhouse bet $15. The bet seemed good to Michael and he counted out $15. He looked down at his stack and saw that he only had less than $75 left.

Then it happened. The river was a 5. Michael had hit four of a kind. Brickhouse didn’t even look away. He just gruffly stated, “Thirty dollars.” Michael looked at his chips. He pushed them all in the middle. “All-in.” Brickhouse didn’t hesitate, shoving his own chips forward with his big ham hands. Brickhouse flipped his cards, AQ, two pair. Michael showed his four of a kind. The chips were pushed his way.

”What a hand kid!” Brickhouse’s voice was a mix or excitement and anger. “I’ve got to watch out for you, huh?” “I just got lucky.”

Brickhouse took a long stare at Michael. He was slumped over in his seat. He was too thin, and fumbled when the chips were pushed his way. An ever-present fear was plain on his face.

Two hands later, Brickhouse bet preflop. Michael looked down and saw AT. He called. The flop came down TTT. He had hit another four-of-a-kind. Check from Brickhouse and Michael had to bet. He pushed out $20, about the size of the pot. Brickhouse thought for a while and called. The turn was an Ace, and Brickhouse paused before pushing $40 into the pot. Michael saw an opportunity. He raised $40 more. Brickhouse pushed, and Michael called.

“DAMN KID!” His excitement was even more heavily leaning towards ire. “You must be sitting on a horseshoe.”

What could I do?, Michael thought. He now had over $400 in front of him. He never expected to win at all, and already his winnings were higher than his original budget! With this came a bit of confidence, and Michael started getting into the game.

Brickhouse, meanwhile, reached into his pocket. The dealer took his $300, the maximum buy-in, and handed Brickhouse his chips. “Here you go, Carl.” Brickhouse, or Carl as he was better known, was clearly a regular.

Michael proceeded to post and fold. Finally he looked down to see King-Queen, both of diamonds. He called a small raise, as did Carl before him. “You again kid?”, and in a mumble, “Should I be worried about four of a kind?”

The flop came down Jack of diamonds, Nine of diamonds, 3 of hearts. Brickhouse bet, and Michael called. Another player called as well. The turn was a Six of diamonds, and Michael had hit his flush. Brickhouse bet. Michael raised all-in. Brickhouse called. They flipped their cards. Brickhouse had Ace and Duece of diamonds for the best possible flush. The river came down, Ten of diamonds. Everyone stood still for a moment. Carl had a grin. Then he saw it. The straight flush. “WHAT THE HELL!” Carl was irate. “This is a fucking joke! Who the fuck is this kid!”

The dealer jumped in, “Carl, you can’t curse in here. I’m going to have to warn you this time.” “Warn me. Fuck that! This is fucking bullshit!” Michael sat quietly stacking up more of Carl’s chips. He had mixed feelings. He was lucky, but he wasn’t used to feeling this way. He still felt a bit scared.

After that Carl began taking up more and more space at the table. His sharp elbows poked out, nudging Michael and squeezing him out of his position. Michael, for his part, leaned back and avoided any physical contact. He knew better than to do anything to stroke the anger inside of Carl. He’d seen looks like that before from his father and other random guys. It was the look of a man with a lot of anger and no where to put it. Michael didn’t want to volunteer.

The last hand of the day, Mike thought. His stack of chips was pretty high, and he wanted to leave on a good note. Carl was still steaming, playing most hands and gifting his chips to the rest of the table. He had continued to spread himself to the point where he may have been two men sitting at the table. All of this made leaving a lot easier. Any minute now, (it was 3 o’clock) Rachel would be waking up with a dry mouth and a sharp tongue. He’d be better off waiting for her to awake, rather than waiting for her to find him gambling.

Last hand, and he looked down to see KK again. Both black. One of them was holding his sword through his head. The other one had a blank expression on his regal face. Michael’s decision was easy. An early player raised from the $2 blind to $15. Carl huffed and pushed out the rest of his chips. There were a mere $50 in total, and Michael had no choice but to call. Carl peaked to his left, eying Michael with a look that said, “Come get it.”

The original raiser saw an opportunity and raised all-in, adding another $90 or so to the pot. Michael held the second-best possible hand. He felt that he was facing the best, AA. But he resigned himself. Here it was. Last hand. He called.

In most cash games tables, you don’t have to show your cards if you are all-in. Michael didn’t know this and showed his KK right away. The original better had QQ. He wouldn’t be a problem. Carl had AA. He was red with excitement and heat was coming off of his body. Michael could feel Carl’s big elbow poking him further. It was the type of contact that said, “Yeah I’m here, but I’m not acknowledging you unless you got a problem.” Michael didn’t much like to bother people, so when the card showed, he just leaned back.

The flop came down Ace of spades, Queen of hearts, Three of spades. Michael’s heart sank. He was behind Carl and the original bettor. Carl jumped up, “YEAH! Take that luckboy!” Michael sunk lower in his chair.

The turn was dealt. Four of spades. Michael looked at his shortened stack. He was still up a good amount. Most of that money would be spent on Rachel. He noticed some jewelry she might like in the shopping area of the hotel. He could go there immediately and surprise her, but she’d probably not like whatever he chose. Better to let her choose it out herself.

The river was a six. Of spades. There was another moment of silence, and then it hit Michael, a flush. A fraction of a second passed. The next thing to hit Michael was a little harder than a flush. Carl’s fist took Michael broadside on his right cheek. Michael fell off of the chair fast. He hit the floor, his face already warm from the force of Carl’s big hands. Next came a flurry of kicks, mostly to the stomach, some gravitating to his groin. Michael immediately curled up, his natural reflex from beatings on the school yard or at his house. He felt the feet on the crown of his head, his exposed shoulders and his shin. One slipped through and kicked him in the mouth. Blood mixed with his loose teeth. He peaked an eye open, only to see a chair come down.

Rachel woke up and looked around the room. When she didn’t see Michael, she crawled into the shower. As she threw on her nicest outfit, she grabbed the champagne from the bucket, where warm water had taken the place of last night’s ice. If he was going to go off and have fun without her, she was going to do the same. After a couple of disdainful swigs, Rachel left the room. She didn’t even bother to put on her contacts. It didn’t matter how anything looked anyway, and the dry dessert air and constant smoke made the contacts an unpleasant option. She found the bar in the middle of the casino. There was a pair of young guys having a beer. She left her money upstairs, as planned, and sat at their table flirting until they bought her a drink.

Michael was in an ambulance. All he could think was, “Lucky me. Lucky me.”

I’m no mathlete, but I likee me some sports betting action. Every rare once in a while something will catch my eye as bet-worthy. To me, it’s little more than a prop bet. I don’t have the depth of knowledge to make any highly-informed decision, and rely mostly on intuition and a little bit of research.

This week’s leak is the Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga v. Oscar De La Hoya fight, this Saturday night.

My pick: Ricardo Mayorga

Now, since I know its a bankroll leak, I’m only betting chump change. My two bets are $10 for Mayorga to win by knockout, TKO, or DQ (paying $45), and $10 on Mayorga by decision (paying $75).

I consider this almost an easy bet. My father once told me that you could see who would win in a boxing fight by the looks on their faces before the fight. I know what he means. Even though it is days before the fight, Mayorga has the look of a killer. De La Hoya, on the other hand, looks scared. And, well, he should. You never know what is going to happen in that ring, but this match just seemed destined for Mayorga.

Boxing is a sport where focus is of utmost importance. Even with my shallow depth of knowledge, I can think of a couple of champions that fell off once they became distracted by things outside of the ring. It happened to Mike Tyson. It happened to Roy Jones, Jr. It’s already happened to De La Hoya, and it’s going to happen again. (For someone who stayed focus until the end, see Lennox Lewis, who retired before moving onto other things).

De La Hoya last fought in September 2004 against Bernard Hopkins. De La Hoya went down in the ninth when he crumpled to the floor after a body shot. Since that day, he’s won a Latin Grammy. Let me say that again for emphasis. A. Latin. Grammy. Boxers do not win Grammy’s. At least not good boxers.

On the flip side, you have Mayorga, a chainsmoking, beer drinking streetbrawler who grew up dirt poor in Nicaragua. And he is the reigning champion! People discount him on account of his loud mouth and brawler (as opposed to boxer) style, but it can’t be denied that he is the current champ. Even worse, De La Hoya’s first match back is against a champion, which is insulting to the sport and is just another sign of De La Hoya’s arrogance. Mayorga has only had one fight in 2005, but he won it, god damnit!

So, I leave you now with some quotes from Mr. Mayorga himself:

• “Oscar’s washed up. He was great at one time but logic and Mother Nature tell you he’s washed up now.”
• “I have been sparring with live chickens as they emulate ‘chicken’ De La Hoya best. They run just like he does. Most people don’t understand that of all the fighters in boxing, Oscar is the one I like least. He’s a pretty boy and it makes me want to defeat him.”
• “He shouldn’t have gone down from that body shot that Bernard Hopkins threw. Everyone knows he took a dive in that fight.”
• “I don’t have to prepare mentally all that much for this match because I’m always ready to fight. That’s what I am, a Nicaraguan street fighter. Oscar is the one that needs to prepare mentally to face me.”
• “My strategy is to have a larger punch output and knock Oscar out. I don’t want to hear him back out of the fight because his butt hurts or he hurt his pinky finger. I want him to come to fight.”
• “My motto for this fight is: I’ll live and die for my championship. De La Hoya is coming into my danger zone.”
• “It takes discipline to become a champion and even more to remain a champion. I am being disciplined in my training camp. I have even tailed off the drinking and cigarettes.” (Okay, now THAT is dedication.)

Oh yeah, and I won $3 playing poker yesterday. Yeah!

I should not be playing poker when I’m not feeling it. I’ve been trying for weeks to attend the Wednesday Mookie tournament, and I finally had my chance yesterday. I should’ve just skipped it though. It’s not that the Mookie isn’t a good time. The crowd is great. It’s just that I was trying to watch Lost with wifey Kim and my play was rushed and half-assed. I ended up bluffing away most of my stack to an obvious calling station and then pushing with poop just to get it over with. What a waste of $10.

But it doesn’t stop there. Earlier in the evening, I bubbled in a Rio, for another $23 loss. I then played a Full Tilt HORSE SNG with GCox, only to bubble in 4th. Up for some more fun, I played a single table NL SNG with TripJax on Full Tilt only to, you guessed it, bubble in 4th.

So, lesson learned? I guess. It isn’t a lesson that I haven’t “learned” a half-dozen other times before. Sometimes, I’m just not into playing. I still play though, and as a result, I lose. Total losses last night equaled $50+, so I’m super glad for the $72 profit from the night before.

I’ve been working some things out with Noble, the only site where I am an affiliate. I’ve discussed the site here a lot in the past, and I’ll keep doing it because the action is so soft. Well, apparently some of my referrals weren’t credited to me. To resolve this, if you decide to sign up on Noble via the links in this post or the banner on the side, remember to add Coupon Code HighPoker (no “on”). I can even throw it a little something extra for you, if you email me first. The email address is HighOnPokr [AT] yahoo [DOT] com (no “E”). I have about a half-dozen email addresses though, so if you know another one, that’ll do too.

I also encourage you to sign up for VPP and PSO (referral code HighOnPoker).

Anything that I pimp here, I use and I sincerely like, so no bullshit from me.

The DADI site has some teasers regarding DADI 6, and it involves some prizes provided by Vegas Poker Pro, so check that out too, if you get a chance.

Last but not least, I’m working on a short story as my follow up to Message in a Bottle, which was e-published in the e-zine Truckin’ by e-editor e-Dr. e-Pauly. The new story is entitled “Lucky Me” and takes place in a Vegas casino. Keep an eye out, because I think I got a solid one, and I may be posting it over the weekend.

That’s all folks. Enjoy your Thursday and have a swift Friday.