High On Poker

As you know, it’s been brutal for me these last few weeks. I played in a home game hosted by the lovely ladies at I Had Outs on Friday, and lost one buy-in in the $30 Rebuy tournament. I was card dead, but did not try to push the issue and resigned myself to folding and folding and folding. I made some plays after the rebuy period was over, but was eventually caught on a necessary all-in given the blinds (which was also a semi-steal) with KQo. Dawn was kind enough to call with AQo and relieve me of my chips. The cash game saw me losing $20, mostly to, well Dawn again. I couldn’t stop bluffing into her pocket pair 9s. But, except for my two gaffs against Dawn (in the future, I will be more wary), my play was decent, given the opportunities presented to me.

On Saturday, I spent the day at a barbecue with family and friends. Partner-in-crime Dave Roose was there, and he suggested, jokingly, that we play some poker. I replied, seriously, that I had the chips and cards in my bag. We played three $5 three-person tournaments. I won one and broke even. The first game was between Roose, me and his father. I took that one down. The second and third were between Roose, me and his brother. His brother took those down. In both scenarios, Roose and my abilities far outshined the third player. But as we all know, luck is a part of the game, and Roose’s brother was able to make the most of it.

When Sunday rolled around, I still was in a poker-comatose state. I had been avoiding the game (notwithstanding the tournaments at the BBQ, which were little more than a diversion), but I was also starting to feel that it was time to get back into it. Yes, one day without a significant game of poker leads to this type of thinking. Sad, isn’t it.

After spending the day at the beach, wifey Kim and I returned home to relax. At 9pm, I had a freeroll at Nine.com, which I originally started playing at because of a VegasPokerPro.com promotion. This is one of the other side-effects of VPP promos. Along with the cash bonus from the site (I’m halfway to $150 at Nine), and the gift bonus via VPP (I’ve already received my 750 points, and used them along with another 750 for a $100 iTunes giftcard), there are often first-depositor freerolls (along with VPP sponsored freerolls).

I started playing by warming up with some 2/4 Limit at Nine.com. Unfortunately, I lost my last $40 there, due, mostly to bad beats and cracked Aces. I then lost another $10 or so on Poker.com and Stars playing PLO8. In other words, it felt like it was going to be another losing night, and I resigned myself to playing the $1000 freeroll and then calling it a night. To my surpsise, the freeroll only attracted 29 players…and the top 10 spots paid out. I started off strong, turning a nut flush in the first hand before pushing a player out of the pot with a re-raise. I had almost double my stack, but lost half of it on the very next hand when 33 cracked my QQ. From there, I played smart poker, picking my spots and playing tight. By the time we were down to 12 I was in decent shape with an average sized stack. And then it all slowed down. We must’ve been at 12 for 45 minutes. It sure as hell felt that way. I tightened up, happy to make the money (10th place was $20, and it went up by $10 for each place until you got near the top 4-5).

When tables combined and I knew I had locked in a win, I still kept pretty tight. There were some gamblers in the game, as well as a few big stacks, so it made sense to stay put and advance $10 at a time. Meanwhile, a player named MossMan (I appreciate the He-Man reference) was telling other players to “CALL” when players moved all-in. In one such hand, we were down to 9 players and a shortstack pushed from early position. I was probably 6th in chips, maybe 7th, and pushed on top with TT. So, when MossMan decided to coach the table, I took exception.

“How about you quit telling other players what to do, Moss?”
“Whatever, man. I can do what I want.”
“It’s called collusion, and it’s against the rules.”
“If I want to tell someone to call, I will.”

I was steaming. Who the fuck was this guy? I understand in the heat of the moment saying “call”. You want the game to end, you want to advance to higher money, and you don’t think it will affect anything. But it does, even if it is on a minute scale. Another player, SWB, jumped to MossMan’s defense, and by that time I had enough.

I clicked on LiveChat and asked the “floor” what they thought. Sadly, the guy was semi-clueless. He wasn’t sure if what I described was collussion, but he did think that something seemed wrong with it. I didn’t mean to be a snitch, but when money is on the line, keep your fucking trap shut. When I busted MossMan in 4th, I was super glad. I asked SWB what the deal was. Unlike Moss, SWB knew how to play a mean game of poker, which also suggested that he knew the rules. He told me that I was right, but not in a freeroll tournament. I replied, “It might be a freeroll, but it isn’t free to the guy on the bubble.”

My play excelled, and I eventually made it to the top 2. Heads-up was brutal. I was card dead, and SWB, my adversary, was aggressive. Eventually, I pushed with K9s. At that point, I had 7k with 1k/2k blinds. He had A2 and took down the tournament. Two freerolls, two 2nd place finishes.

For my trouble, I won $200! Even better, I won $200 worth of confidence. AC is coming this weekend, so I can use all the help I can get.

Now, it’s back to the weekly grind. In the meanwhile, make mine poker!

I’m in trouble, folks. Last night, I lost $100 on one hand, the first hand I played for the night. Tiltopolis, population: me.

Things have been rough behind the scenes lately. I’ve had a covert issue with someone close to me (not wifey Kim) and its been effecting my state of mind. Last night, I could barely eat dinner as I mentally stewed the situation over. I returned home and decided not to play so that I can avoid tilting away the dough. Time passed, I spoke to my little brother, who put things into perspective, and I thought I was through it. I decided to play a little, but only a little. I fire up Poker.com and enter a .50/1 NL room. The first hand, I’m given K2 in late position (posting the blind). The flop was KJ2, and I bet the pot ($5, 5 limpers). I got two callers. The turn was a Ten, and it was checked to me. I bet $15. One player called, and the other re-raised $39. I thought I was behind, but decided not to be paranoid. I called. The player in first position folded. The river was a blank. My opponent put me all-in and I called. He had turned the straight.

I knew it too. Bottom-line, I fucked myself. I was too anxious to play and I couldn’t let the reality of the situation sink in.

Poker is an amazing game because at times it directly correlates with you mood. Feeling good? Win some money, why don’t you. Feeling like crap? Donate it to the table. In this way, it is a lot like alcohol or drugs. It’s almost an amplifier of your emotions, because when after that hand, what was an undercurrent of unrest became a tidal wave of misery. Not only could I mull over the situation outside of poker, but I could now berate myself for throwing away $100 when I knew better.

This morning, I tried to leave it all behind. I knew what I did. I have a live game tonight hosted by the ladies at I Had Outs. It’s a $30 Re…re…re…rebuy. There I said it. I’m going to be budgeted, and my attitude/mood has already turned a corner. So, wish me luck. Tonight we see if my live game has degenerated as bad as my online game. If it has, I might just need an intervention.

By now, you may know that I rebought a whopping 14 times during the DADI 8 event. At first, I truly donked it up (or so it felt, I have yet to really review hand histroies). But later on, I suffered some brutal suckouts and couldn’t win a cointoss. Let me add that I do remember that I sucked out once during the tournament, so shit happens. I don’t mention these suckouts/cointosses for a woe is me post. Rather, I just think it will be fun to see the depths of my depravity.

With that in mind, I will do my best not to justify my play. I will, however, ask you to be kind. After all, I was throwing the damn tourney and I wanted to just roll with it. Of course, I went over my intended budget, but what can you do? It’s not like I could stop rebuying! I would be the laughing stock of the tourney.

PokerStars has sent me my hand history and I will now present to you the highlights:

Hand 2: My first all-in occurred during the second hand of the tournament. See? I had some self control. I limped with 4c6c and pushed when the flop came Ac3cTh. Everyone folded. Whoopdeedoo!

Hand 3: What’s a great way to follow up an all-in? With another one of course! This time, I held A3o. I pushed on the K22 flop. Silly, I know. But it was folded to me.

Hand 6: This is where I really got stupid, pushing preflop with KJs. GScottW called with AQo and I lose my first all-in of the night. This is also where I make my FIRST REBUY.

Hand 11: With 77, I raise to 100 preflop (10/20 blinds). DNasty calls. The flop is KK6 and I push. D calls with AJo, and I double up.

Hand 13: I call Iggy’s preflop all-in with KQo. I figured I was good for a cointoss. I was mostly right. He had AJo, and I lose.

Hand 16: Mowenumdown was one the other Rebuy-insane players at my table. I sucked out on him in Hand 16 when he pushed with TT after a 7-high flop. I called with Q7c and turned a 7. Sorry, Mow.

Hand 25: I guess I must’ve fallen asleep for a while, because I went an entire orbit without going all-in. We were 15 minutes into the tournament at this point. I have K6o and call a raise from 23Skidoo, who was right up there with me and Mow in the rebuy-madness. The flop is K-high and he bets. I reraise all-in and he calls with J8. I win. Go me!

Hand 31: Now this one is truly donktastic. I have Qx7c and the flop is 456, all clubs. So I have an open-ended straight-flush draw. I call DNasty’s all-in after typing: “Let’s Gamble!” It wasn’t a gamble. He had the K3c for the second nut flush and one of my outs. Fuck me! I lose. Truly a horrible play/hand by me. But it’s a rebuy!

Hand 32: No rest for the weary. Mow pushes all-in preflop with AQo and I call with AKo. I double up.

Hand 37: I push preflop with AKo UTG and take down the pot.

Hand 39: HEE HAW! I call DNasty’s all-in with my QJ with a KJX flop. He has AK. I’m stupid.

Hand 40: My K7 sees a KJ7 flop. Using my loose image, I push. HCR33 calls. He has KJ. I lose again.

Hand 45: Preflop, its my TT v. Astin’s AK. The AAQ flop seals my fate. Rebuy!

Hand 46: I finally get respect and everyone folds to my all-in. Unfortunately, I also finally get a real all-in worthy hand, QQ. Fate laughs at me.

Hand 59: This must’ve been when I started to realize that I was projected to go over budget ($50). 13 hands without an all-in? I raise preflop from 100 to 300 with 66. HCR calls. The flop is QQ8 and I push. He calls with 89o. Fate doubles over in laughter. HCR catches another 8 on the turn to add insult to injury.

By Hand 62, I realize that I’m already over budget.

Hand 63: Screw the budget! I push in the SB with Q6o, hoping to get Wonka to fold. He doesn’t. After all, why would he. He has AKo. This is the height of donkitude. But really, couldn’t fate have given him 49?

Hand 69: My AQo v. Skidoo’s ATo preflop. I double up.

Hand 76: I call Skidoo’s shortstacked all-in, since I was in the blinds and he was playing anything. His A4 holds up against my K3. DNasty comes along for the ride with KQ, so I’m drawing pretty slim anyway. All donkey by me here.

Hand 77: I successfully re-raise Astin preflop all-in with A2o, pushing him off of his hand.

Hand 78: Three hands in a row! We must’ve been near the end of the rebuy period. My ATo is called all-in preflop by Skidoo (QT) and Astin (QQ). Astin takes it down.

Hand 112: That can’t be right?! I must’ve really been playing scared to not go all-in on almost 25 hands! Whatever the case, I pushed after turning two pair with 67o on a T967 board. It was scary, but I got Wonka to lay it down on the turn all-in after he called my large flop bet.

Hand 129: Up until this hand, you can see that I was not playing poker. I was playing roullette. But in this hand, I played it perfectly. I was dealt TT with over 14k in chips. Preflop, DNasty raises from 200 to 600. I reraise to 2000. At this point, I was playing to win, and I didn’t want to see a flop. He called though, probably because of my loose image. The flop is all unders and I check out of position (I was in the blinds). He pushes for 5500. I call, knowing I’m ahead. He has KJ. The river is a K though, and I lose! I guess this is why I was damning my luck, because before this hand, I deserved all of my losses. But suckouts happen. I did something I haven’t done in months. To calm myself down, I closed my eyes and meditated. It barely worked. From here on out though, I play much better.

Hand 151: I’m not sure if the rebuy ended yet, but I think so. I remember post-rebuy period I really promised myself to play smart, but not scared. After all, everyone else would be tightening up, and I had to take advantage of the situation. A table-change was also good for me. I raise from 400 to 1200 preflop with AJo and continuation bet all-in on a Q-high flop. I take down the pot.

From here on out, I just played poker. I had to make plays, since the blinds were astronomical. I eventually went out 24th, which isn’t terrible, considering that I entered the post-rebuy stage at the lower end of the 50+ competitors left. But overall, it was a slaughterhouse, and I have no one but myself to blame. I’m not too unhappy about it, I guess. I had to keep rebuying, since I couldn’t ditch out of my own tourney. Plus, it was about loosening up and playing for fun, even if it was a high price tag. Looking back, I guess I didn’t even get that unlucky. There were a bunch of times where I was a 60/40 dog that I missed, but that is how it goes sometimes. The only catastrophic hand was my TT getting rivered by DNasty, and maybe the K7 v KJ (two-pair beaten by a better two-pair). So, pity party is over.

Thanks everyone for playing…and don’t expect another rebuy DADI for at least 2 months. In the meanwhile, would anyone be interested in Stud or Stud H/L? It’s just a thought.

Man, I just want to bury my head in the sand and tell you all to go away. But I don’t have that luxury. Instead, its time to announce the winners and losers of DADI 8!

Congratulations to bdrweb. I must admit, I don’t know who this is. But with bloggers having 8 names between their site, real name, various poker rooms and IM programs, who can tell nowadays. That said, bdrweb won an addition 800 VPP points for his/her efforts, so contact me via email [ HighOnPokr AT yahoo DOT Commissioner Gordon].

Congratulations to WeakPlayer for taking second place. For his efforts, he not only wins 400 VPP Points, but he also has won his way into the HighOnPoker poker role models club, along with the illustrious DoubleAs, CMitch and Scott McDreamy. Welcome to the club! Now, can I be you for a day? Weak, shoot me an email and we’ll discuss your VPP Points!

While we are discussing VPP Points, let me give a hearty congratulations and a big middle finger to the bane of my DADI existence, DNasty! Once I get my tournament history, I’ll go through my many losing hands last night in excutiating detail with all of you. Whatever the case, you can be sure that DNasty played a starring role in many of those hands. So, screw you D, but also congratulations, because you busted VPP Dave and won his 400 VPP Point bounty. You know my number!

And the winner of 400 VPP Points for bubbling? Ironically, VPP Dave! I’m pretty sure he can arrange the transfer of points from himself to himself without my help. Congrats Dave, for finally sorta moneying in one of these events. I knew it was only a matter of time.

Now, the most important award of the night. The winner for most rebuys, totalling 14 plus an add-on, for a net loss of $75.50 in a $5.50 tournament goes to……………………goes to……………………ah, crap. It’ s ME! FUCK! WHAT THE HELL!

I know what you are thinking. He rigged it! He intentionally lost $75 to win his own $5.50 booby prize for most rebuys. I wish, buddy. I couldn’t win a cointoss to save my life. I got sucked out on more than Motley Crue in their heyday. It was just a clusterfuck of massive proportions with me on the losing end.

I’ve contacted PokerStars and they are usually good with providing hand histories. Once I get it, I’ll be glad to post my all-ins and major hands here and you will see what I am talking about. For all of my crap though, I was playing really well once I got over the intentional rebuy donking (somewhere around my 6th rebuy). I even placed 6th out of 45 in a 45 SNG. I still have a ways to go before reaching the money in the 45 SNG Challenge. Man, all this poker is bumming me out.

Tune in later, and bask in my donktastic play and bad luck! Until then, make mine poker!

Don’t forget, DADI is tonight!

It’s a good thing too. Poker has been a real struggle lately. I was able to take $50 off of the .25/.50 NL blogger-heavy table last night, but that was after over $100 in losses eariler in the night.

Nine.com is no longer as fun as I originally thought. I’ve kept away from the obscure games, but I got hammered (and not the 72o variety or the Colt 45 variety) at their cash games last night. I could recount the bad beats and second-best hands, but I’m not feeling up to writing it, and I’m sure you aren’t feeling up to reading it.

Interestingly, a couple of poker blogger bretheren seem to be MIA lately. I almost wish that I’d join them on a little poker hiatus. I keep trying to keep my eventual goal in mind, to become a top player, but that goal is a bitch to reach. The game is made for ups and downs, and I’m in one of those downs that feel practically hopeless. My yearly profits are down to about $1050, which is simultaneously cause for concern and cause for joy. On one hand, $1050 isn’t much money for all the time I spend playing. On the other, $1050 is still a profit…for all the time I spend playing.

But I won’t get too bogged down in this crap. Right now, the plan is to take what little dough I have left at Nine.com and do my best to reach the $150 cash bonus. I’m about halfway there. I already completed my VPP bonus, but the planets have aligned such that I feel obliged to work toward that $150. It’ll be tough though, since I’m desperately short at Nine.com now. One thing is for sure though, I ain’t redepositing there. I know better.

My brain has been stuck on AC lately. I’m leaving next Friday and but I’ve been there in my head for two weeks already. Once I get there, I’m flicking off the self-doubt switch and kicking into smart poker mode. Let’s hope my switch still works.

I’m leaving it at that today. Thank god the DADI is a rebuy. I look forward to letting out my frustration (and my bankroll) on all of you. See you there.

I shall start by saying that if I were a smarter man, I would have made up Anonymous King a long time ago. He’s the Poker Champ of his time! But I didn’t make him up. He’s just a reader who happens to moonlight as a prick. But for all of the acerbic comments, at least he’s a fellow Devil’s Advocate. Even better, he gets me to think and Jordan likes him some thinking.

Yesterday, Anonymous King was kind enough to ask this question:

Dear Jordan,

You call your play with a 7-2 a gamble???

Lets call a spade a spade….this was not gutsy, it was a gimmick. I allow you to pull the horseshoe out of your ass.

Sincerely,
Anonymous King

Thank you for that fine question, A.K. The thing is, the hammer is at first glance, a gimmick. But it is really so much more. Set aside the obvious points that people make. Yes, it does help to put people on tilt when you show.

Yes, it builds a loose manic table image rather quickly which can be advantageous (although, this clearly works only when people are not in on the hammer play). Yes, its a sign that you are ‘in on the joke,’ someone with a deeper poker awareness beyond the WPT/WSOP.

What makes the hammer an actual legitimate play is that it serves as a bluffing randomizer. Without a doubt, you cannot be a fully competent poker player without utilizing the bluff at some point. It is often a situation-specific move. You see an opportunity and you bet. But it doesn’t just have to be those situations.

There is money waiting there to be taken. The hammer is my way of keeping my bluffs random. When a hammer comes, play it like Aces. Why the hell not? If you have a good feel for the table, you know how to fold. But a lot of times, they just assume you have good cards. They fold when its late in the game giving up buckets of blinds and antes, or they call only to fold on the Ace-high flop. Either way, you can win a lot of pots if you are smart enough to know when you are cooked.

I do add this caveat: go all in with the hammer at your own risk. The bottom line is, the hammer is a great bluffing randomizer, but you don’t want to bluff for your entire stack at random, no matter what the street or your read. Use caution. This is a hard learned lesson.

Also, there are those who think that the suited hammers are unhammerly. I am a fan of the suited hammers, but only because I play an aggressive game. So bluffing does not concern me. I should probably cut down, so reverting to the unsuited hammer requirement could significantly reduce your bluffing, which is a good thing more often than not.

Finally, it is okay to limp with the hammer (or lead out, which does not need to even be mentioned, really, does it), but it IS NOT alright to call a raise preflop unless you are stacked. Just because you are holding the hammer, it doesn’t mean that every hand is a nail.

With that knowledge, try playing the hammer for the sole purpose stated above. And then show and get the reaction from the table. You’ll see real quickly why the hammer is more than a gimmick.

Plus, its a great gimmick as gimmicks go.

Lovingly,

Jordan

DADI 8 is fast approaching. It’s a rebuy, so bring your wallets. I, personally, plan to rebuy moreso than usual, of course, only if necessary. I’ve offered up $5.50 (your initial buy-in free!) to the person who rebuys the most. I’m not going to be popping around, since my number one goal is to whoop some ass, so you are all to be on your best behavior. Let me know if you see some truly donktastic rebuying.

And if it’s a DADI tournament, you know there are some great prizes.

PokerOnAMac.com has added $100 into the prize-pool!

VegasPokerPro.com has offered 2000 VPP Points, split amongst four DADI participants. First place gets 800 VPP Points. Second place and the Bubble get 400 VPP Points. Whoever busts VPP_Dave gets 400 VPP Points as a bounty!

—————-
Poker was good and bad this weekend. On Friday, I made the board on the 45 SNG Challenge, placing first out of 45 players to win $140+ in profit. It was a turbo game, which actually plays into my gambling style. At one point, with blinds of 300/400/50 or so, I was down to under 200 chips. The very next hand, I got pocket Aces. If that wasn’t enough, the hand after that, I got the Diamond Hammer, 72d. Conservative Hammerists believe that suited hammers are pure garbage, but I say thee nay. Rather, you can’t crack the Diamond Hammer and this case was no exception. A player pushed in EP/MP. I decided to call. I hoped he’d isolate me and I could take a chance heads up, but someone else called. The two players both had Ace-high, and the rivered 7 made me a winner! I had some chips at that point, but I was still within the rule of 10 (less than 10 BBs). Some players may have thought that such a call was foolish, but I had a good read on the original pusher and I could put him on two high-cards. My real fear was a pocket pair acting after me, but to win these larger multi-table turbos, you need to have a little gamble in you.

I then lost $80 or so through the course of the night, leaving me with $60 profit. Nine.com through VPP has been rough lately. I’ve fallen on hard times at the Limit Tables, where suckouts are fairly common. Some of the blame, though, rests soundly on me. Also, I’ve been dabbling in some of their more obscure games, like Big 2 and Chinese Poker. I’d explain the games to you, but my track record indicates that I know jack shit. Whatever the case, from here on out, I’m putting those games (which are played against other players) in the Table Game category and are summarily banning them. No more leaks! Overall, I lost another $150 on various games over Saturday and Sunday. Woe is me!

But se la vie or whatever. I need to keep my focus, work on my game, and avoid these god aweful leaks. I believe that Chip Reese said that a good player only wins about 65% of his sessions, so I guess I’m still ahead of that curve. Unfortunately, I’m lagging in my overall goal of reaching $2,400 in winnings by the end of the year (adjusted after my past boom from $1,800 for the year). One long session, though, right?

I think I know what I want for my birthday and Hannukah (yes, I’m a member of the tribe): a buy-in to a $300 or $500 event. Simple enough, isn’t it.

Good night and good luck. See you all at DADI 8.

By now, I hope we all learned one of the fundamental tennets of winning and losing at poker: Winning begets winning, and losing begets losing. I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to The Circuit, Cardplayer.com’s Podcast, hosted by Scott Huff (previously incorrectly identified as Scott Huffman on this blog), Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok. Overall, the show is great, and it gives me another opportunity to reflect on the game.

Chip Reese was a recent guest, and when he was asked about his strengths, he made an interesting statement. According to Reese, when he was younger, he was able to play long sessions when he was winning. That, out of all of the things he could have chosen, was his answer. Further, he said that it is also Phil Ivey’s strength. Phil fucking Ivey, people! The man is stone cold at the table, cool, calculating, and dangerous. But his greatest weapon is stamina? How could this be?

But I’m guessing Mr. Reese is right. I mean, he’d know a heck of a lot better than I would. When I reflect on it, it seems to make even more sense. When I sit at a table, be it cash or tournament, and I win a hand, I get confident. I play better. My decisiion making is sharper. My table image is stronger. And the losing players are conversely weaker. They are tilting or they are playing scared. They are damning their luck while giving into a case of the awfukits or trying to play better and therefore tightening up too much.

It’s natural. And it’s poker. So, maybe there is something about this stamina thing. If you are doing well, don’t let the clock tell you when to stop. Case in point. Earlier this week, I won $130 at a 2/4 Limit table. I eventually left, but felt that I could have won more. So, when I returned hours later, I went back into it. I lost my first hand, and then proceeded to lose $75. I was constantly playing from my back foot. Maybe I should have stuck around longer in the first session. And maybe, on the flipside, I should have left the second table a lot sooner.

Does that make sense? If you lose a hand, maybe you should pack it in. If the table is soft, then obviously not. You want to stay in there and ride out that wave. But if you aren’t lookng at the rest of the action and thinking, “What the fuck are these donkeys thinking?” then maybe you are better off packing it in for 10 minutes. I suppose this is where stop-loss numbers come in. I don’t like the concept of stopping once I’m down x amount of dollars, but I do find myself doing it on the spur of the moment, like when I’m in the hole: “I either break even or lose $50. Whichever comes first, I’m out.”

Ah, what the hell. I guess, bottom line, its really just one of those things. Hold onto a good game. Winning helps a game get good. So, when you are winning, stick around till you have all the chips or the mood shifts. Seems simple enough.

While we are on the topic of soft games, the Reader who is following my bonus whoring guide has just about finished his third promotion. I’ll give the reader a name, let’s go with Reader X. So, Reader X is kicking some ass. He took some tough losses at bodog, but did well at Royal Vegas and Poker.com. After finishing bodog, he should have 2250 VPP points, enough for an iPod nano. I do believe that was less than a month. Whatever the case, he is already planning his next bonus, so good luck to him.

Interestingly, he was surprised by how soft the competition was at the new sites he was playing at. Like many of you, Reader X used to stick with the big sites, Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Party. That’s part of the best thing about the Bonus Whore World Tour. You get to visit far away lands, like the land of PokerShare, where local custom requires players to share their money with you by playing horribly at .25/.50 and .50/1 No Limit. Don’t forget to visit Sun Poker, where the whether is always sunny and the fish are out in full force.

There is a venerable cornucopia of sites out there waiting to be explored, each one with their own personalities. While we are on the topic, why don’t you share a little. Surely, we’ve all tried a site or another and thought, this site is full of ________. So, you tell me, what personalities do particular sites have.

For instance, Stars is a great poker room because of the size and the ease with which you can start a game. But the players are fairly good. I would say that Full Tilt has even better players, maybe because those players go to FT because of the pros’ involvement, and so you have more informed players who want to reach that status. I’m sure other people will say that FT is full of fish for the same reason.

That’s all for today! Poker away!

I’m heading to Atlantic City for August 4th weekend to celebrate Ilan’s bachelor party. Davey Roose and I are heading down Friday night to get a head start on the festivities (i.e., to have time to play poker without distractions). Everyone else will be arriving on Saturday. If you are going to be in AC hit me up with an email before that date and we can swap digits or something. I’ll probably be pretty busy, but busy = poker and I’m sure you have the same idea in motion.

The plan, as I see it, is to play a tournament at Showboat (official AC casino hotel of HighOnPoker) on Saturday morning at 11am. It’s 50+10, 5k starting chips (if I’m not mistaken) and 20 minute levels. I bubbled in it once, lost when we were down to 20% of the players another time. So, I like it a lot.

But here’s the fun part. I’ve always wanted to tell people at the poker table that I am a comic strip artist. I don’t know why. I just like the idea of making up some random identity. However, when the time comes, I usually let out the truth.

This is where you come in. I want to come up with a new “back story” at the table. Who am I? What’s my job? Do I have any whacky stories about my life and experiences?

So, I’m taking submissions. If you have an idea of how I can make an ass of myself at the table or otherwise deceive or confound my table mates, let me know. Thanks!

It’s not as bad as it sounds, people. The $300 is actually the $260+40 Shootout event at the Foxwoods in the fall. I was toying with the idea of making my first foray into live casino tournament poker beyond the usual under $100 buy-ins to which I’ve grown accustomed. Unfortunately, the date of the event is Tuesday, October 31st, aka Halloween. I didn’t anticipate this to be a problem. After all, Halloween is on a Tuesday so most celebrating would be done on the weekend before. But wifey Kim thought differently, and, frankly, she is worth a whole lot more than $260+40 and she rarely hands out bad beats. So, those plans are thwarted and replaced with the plan to probably hit Foxwoods the weekend after, circa November 4, to meet up with some fellow bloggers like Bone Daddy and Drewspop, and play in some of the side cash games. Maybe I will even gather my balls and go for a satellite into the $1200 event, but that is yet to be seen.

Onto the up $70. Nine.com is one helluva site. The traffic is light, but there is always two 2/4 Limit games going, although rarely are they both full. I like to jump into the one that is more empty and just wait for the fishies to announce themselves. They usually do it pretty quickly, calling someone down with K-high only to go runner runner flush or the like. Once that is done, I settle into Make Money Mode and its been working out quite well. Last night, I took $47 off a table in about 10 minutes. It’s mostly ABC poker, but I play more hands and I play most hands pretty hard until I sense resistance. Then, I’ll generally slow down, but not to the players who I’ve seen re-raise bluff with crap cards. Okay, sometimes to them too, but only because I know I can make that money back in no time.

Once again, bonus whoring is paying off big time. Not only am I working on a $150 bonus, but I’ve also got the VPP bonus coming my way. Add to that the fact that I found a new room with soft action that I would otherwise never know about, and it’s a great thing. A great thing, indeed. I’m more than halfway through the VPP bonus. Next stop on the bonus whoring tour will likely be back to PSO, since I have ran through all of the VPP bonuses. I thought I had one more to go, but alas, it looks like they’ve removed one of the rooms from their list. Fortunately, PSO has added Dream Poker. Ever hear of it? Me neither. But I’m sure the fishies have!

Hey, and while we are on the topic, remember that Reader who I sent the bonus whoring guide to? Yeah, well, he finished the first promo in 7 hours and has finished his second promotion already. At this rate, he will have enough for an iPod nano compliments of VPP in 2-3 weeks TOPS! It’s great to see, since amassing this bonus whoring knowledge took months of trial and error. I might not be able to use the info I learned to my advantage (fully), but I’m more than glad to pass it along.

After the $47 win, I took some time off to spend the evening with wifey Kim. Earlier in the evening, we met a coworker and his girlfriend over at Butter, a trendy restaurant in the East Village which recently hosted a private Prince concert, with guests like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. The food was adequate. The atmosphere was nice. The company was good. The check had a 20% gratuity included. Now, it’s Restaurant Week in NY, so a bunch of the nicer restaurants are offering $35 price fixed menus. But, come on! Four people and you are going to include the tip on the bill! Tres tacky!

But back to poker. At about 9:55pm, I decided to go for the Mookie. Wifey Kim had settled into some Live with Regis and Kelly and was nodding off. I jumped into a shark-filled table, including CJ from Up for Poker. Throughout my tenure here at High on Poker, CJ has always been a good guy. Up for Poker is probably one of the premiere poker blog sites. One of the sites most creative features is how it shows what blogs in the blogroll were recently updated. Aside from that, it hosts a triumverate of great writers and poker players. CJ particularly has popped into High on Poker to drop a comment or give his take on how I misplayed a hand (we all enjoy that, don’t we?). Well, I thank him for it, because he’s not a sheep following the masses (and by that, I mean his comments are generally more than, “Yep, I agree” or “NH!”) and I respect his luckbox of a game and writing skills immensely.

But why am I talking about CJ? Well, it should be of no surprise to any of you that I love action. So as soon as I saw the luckbox, I offered an $11 last longer bet. He agreed, and I went about playing some poker.

Overall, I played a solid game. I made, what I would deem, a very impressive play early on in the tournament. I had 83d in the small blind and limped in. A loose player in the BB decided to raise. I don’t remember the player’s name (sorry), but I was watching the game carefully and saw that he was in a lot of pots and was willing to steal. So, I made the call, hoping to flop big. Many of you are groaning right now. Groan away. It was a ballsy play, considering the last longer bet, but there comes a time when you have to leave the rule book and make your own path. I saw something and I went for it. The flop was 872, rainbow. I now had top-pair weakest possible kicker. But I was fairly confident that the original bettor did not have a pocket pair, so unless he held a better kicker or lucked out with two low cards, I was ahead. I bet, hoping to take down the pot. I believe the pot was at 180 and I bet 120. The short-stack (but not desperate) Original Bettor decided to push. I believe he had 565 more. I thought for a moment, and decided that he was probably on two overcards. Whatever the case, I wasn’t buying what he was selling and I decided to make the call. He showed 62o, for bottom pair, terrible kicker. I waited for the turn and river, and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t catch up. And then they moved me. Fucking A! I make a sweet call and then they move me? Sweet Jesus!

So, I’m at a new table, and I’m trying to stay afloat. Whereas I was one of the big stacks at my old table, this new table is packing a lot of punch. I play a bit tighter and are able to steal a bit. But I’m also not getting any cards. My KK is folded to. Otherwise, I think my best pocket pair was 88 (I folded it to a big preflop raise from early position) and 66 (ditto). I held AKs once and made a strong play in the BB when Will Wonka in MP/LP raised from 100 to 900. I was probably at about 2700 to 3200 and decided to re-raise to 900. He laid it down preflop and I breathed a sign of relief. On the next hand, he was busted by DNasty, when Wonka’s 99 lost to DNasty’s AK when they both were all-in preflop. AK was not good for WW.

For a while, I stayed the shortstack at the table, scraping by as best I could. I was able to make up some ground with aggression when blinds and antes were in the 100/200/25 range, but I was still short, without a doubt. We were down to 11 when Veneno was moved to my table on my left. She was the uber short stack with about 1k after blinds (in the particular hand she was the BB and I was the SB) to my 1800 to 2400 (somewhere in that range). The table folded around to me, and I virtually look down to 49o, a real monster! Now, if Veneno has two unpaired cards, I’m really not too far behind. Plus, if I can bet her off of the pot, I can win an easy 600 or so, so I bet 600 (we were still at 100/200/25). She contemplates and then pushes. Well, that’s just another 450 or so, so I figure I’ve got to call. Hell, I was willing to go all in on her anyway. At least I wasn’t the shorter of the two stacks. She flipps over A2o, but I wasn’t the least bit worried since online poker is rigged to make shortstacks lose. I was about a 60/40 dog until the flop came with a glorious 4. The turn and river lacked Aces, and I busted the V. She thanked me for trying to gift her some chips, but we all know better, don’t we. Some might question this play, but I needed chips to make it into the decent money spots and I was willing to risk it on a weighted coin toss (I refuse to call 60/40 or anything short of 51/49 a coin toss).

In a few hands, we were at the final table, and I was maybe second to last in chips. I stole some, and eventually found myself in the top 6, still as short stack. In MP, I decided to push all-in with 2700 or so and 200/400/50 blinds. The other shorter stack called and I had to show my Q8s. I’m sure people were scratching their heads, but you just have to try to steal here and there, and what better target than the other shorter stack. Of course, he had JJ, so I was sent packing. In the end, I made $32.50 in profit, thanks in part to outlasting CJ, who held on to about 16 or so. He was on the shortstack for a while and just didn’t bust. But eventually, his A-high faced KJ preflop and the K came out, ensuring my victory.

That’s a lot of poker content.

I want to play live desperately. I have dinner plans with el Jefe and J-Dubs, two of my close buddies and former college roommates, tonight, so Genoa is out. But I’m looking for opportunities, and as soon as one arises, I shall make my return. Until then, make mine poker!

PS- Is it just me, or is Wavy Word getting harder? I mean, can’t they give me 4 letters? Everything has 18 letters all of a sudden, and they usually are indecipherable. I’ll need a computer program just to read Wavy Word if this keeps up. Hrumph.