High On Poker

I’ve entered into bets with AlCantHang and the PokerWolf regarding the upcoming Battle of the Blogger Tournaments. The basic bet is as follows:

I choose 4 bloggers first. Then ACH and PW can individually choose 8 bloggers. These are two separate bets, so they can pick the same players or not. It’s an even money bet, $10 vs. ACH and $20 vs. PW. Whoever chooses the player with the highest place on the leaderboard will win. Final rules, players cannot pick themselves and they cannot influence or interfere with the picks (paying off players not to play, fronting money so players can play, setting up bounties). So, let’s get to this. My picks:

Hoyazo
Fuel55
Lucko
GCox

I’ve chosen these players for some very specific reasons, but I will not divulge those reasons until Al and Wolf make their picks. So, make your picks, ladies. To be fair, I ask that you make your picks by 6pm on Monday, in advance of the first event, the MATH. I also highly encourage my readers to follow the link to the Battle of the Bloggers event, and take a look at the great job and point system that the organizers put together.

Until next time, make mine poker!

After last Sunday and my stunning success against the donkeys at NiceLook Card Club, my mood for poker has completely shifted. Online, I’m having the same issues, playing MTTs only to bust out late near the money. I was playing a $75 token frenzy and busted less than 8 from the money with hundreds of players. In that instance, I was going for a blind steal and ran into a pocket pair. Truth be told, it was an error on my part. So near the money, the correct spot was to fold and continue to fold. I was also playing a Razz MTT and busted less than 8 spots from the money as well. I was in 1st for a very long time, but eventually, I started hitting bricks, and I was sent home with nothing to show for it. At least in the Razz MTT, playing aggressive made sense when I did it. The last money spots were paid about $1 profit, so I was playing for first.

Alas, all that is behind me, and not an ounce bothersome except for the purely analytical aspect of my bad decision making in the token frenzy. My mind is already on the next game, and that’s tonight, my dear friends. I’ve decided to return to Salami for the $50+10 tournament, following wifey Kim’s change of plans to meet her gals for dinner tonight instead of brunch tomorrow. I doubt I’ll stick around for the cash game after the tournament, mostly because I want to get home to my blushing bride, but I’m damn tempted. I’m loving live poker lately, and I just can’t get enough.

You might notice that I can be a bit manic. I try not to let poker tilt me, but when it does, I also tend to avoid poker. I suppose to a larger extent it is part of my personality. I can think of more than one example of when I received some news and was instantly angry at a situation, only to cool off later and apologize for my initial reaction. That instantaneous reaction seems to last a bit longer in poker, and rather than challenge myself to get over it and get right back to playing, I find I’m better off letting it run its course.

Well, its run its course, and I even went so far as to say to wifey Kim last night that I need to find more time for poker. I felt like I should have played at least once this week. I still love the game, I still get high off of the excitement, and there is still money to be won.

Last note, a huge Good Luck to fairly frequent commentor Mr. Goss and his bid to enter the wild world of politics. To find out more about our Texan friend, check out his new site, HERE.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Exciting news for all you bloggers out there. AlCantHang, Mookie and Hoy are joining up to create a three month leader board, which will cover 36 tournaments over 3 months. Thats every MATH, Mookie and Riverchasers event out there. When I heard of it and the format, I immediately thought of a side bet. I sincerely believe that I can pick at least two people who are EXTREMELY likely to cash in one of the top three spots. (BTW, 1st gets an entry into a high-buy-in Sunday Guarantee, 2nd gets a Nintendo Wii and 3rd gets a Nintendo DS Lite). So, here is my offer to you all:

I am willing to take on bets up to $20, even money. I get to choose 4 players FIRST, and then you get to choose 8 players. Whoever chooses the highest ranking player by the end of the series (out of the 12 picks total), wins. You cannot choose yourself, and you cannot interfere with anyone else’s game (i.e., laying out bounties on players, paying people off not to play). I’m not looking to play against angle shooters here. I am fairly confident that I’ve already given you a HUGE edge by giving you 8 picks to my 4 with even money (a change from the 2 to 4 dynamic I originally suggested on Al’s comments). So, bring it beeches. BTW, I will be capping the bets at some point, and I won’t announce when or what the cap is, so if you are interested, accept my offer (up to $20) ASAP.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Let’s start off with a quick pic. You’ll notice the rolled up 6s, not an ideal hand in Razz. Luckily, I took down the pot preflop with my signature hand and a simple bluff raise. Of course, I showed.

I made a nice run in the Riverchasers Razz freeroll last night, placing around 28/200+. Lately, I’ve made it fairly deep in a variety on online tournaments, only to self-destruct right before the finish line. I find it mildly annoying, but not much more than that. After all, I just rationalize that its online poker, and not the real thing (to me, at least).

As it goes, I really enjoying playing Razz online. I kept two hand histories worth reviewing, so pull up a chair and enjoy the show.

The blinds are 60/120, with a 10 ante and 20 bring-in in the Riverchasers freeroll. I have 1422, and Hoyazo, to my immediate left, has 1619. The cards are dealt, and I have 29/5, a marginal hand at best. The rest of the table, starting with Hoy and moving around, have 6, 9, T, 8, 8, A, and 9 (followed by my 5). I have the best door card, aside from the Ace. The Ten brings it in for 20, I complete to 60, and Hoy raises to 120. Everyone else folds. Hoy is smart, no doubt about that, but I’m willing to see one card. I call.

On 4th Street, I get a 7 and Hoy gets a K, for:

Me: 29/57
Hoy: XX/6K

In most instances, the player in Hoy’s position is going to fold to a bet, but I have a feeling that Hoy will be willing to call. He knows the fickle nature of Razz, and he also likely sees me as an action player. He knows the K won’t help him, but he probably has great cards underneath anyway, so he’ll gamble for one bet. Of course, even if I thought he’d fold, I’d still bet here, but I only add this analysis because at the time, I was fairly confident he would call with a K showing. He obliges.

On 5th Street, I get a Q and he gets a 3, for:

Me: 29/57Q
Hoy: XX/6K3

I bet, because I’m still ahead. Hoy raises me. Okay. I call, mostly because, while I am still ahead, I’m also fairly confident that we are now merely betting on the next card. If he bricks, I’m in great shape, and vice versa. I don’t want to raise the pot anymore because Hoy is a great player, and I don’t need to throw more money in just yet.

On 6th Street, I get another Q, and he gets a Q as well.

Me: 29/57QQ
Hoy: XX/6K3Q

This is where it gets interesting for me. Essentially, we both have Queen-high hands. We are also both looking to hit a low card on the river. Truth be told, he is ahead, as I am drawing to a 9-high and he is probably drawing to a 8-high or lower. But once again, we are no longer betting on where we are, but rather, where we are going to be. I decide to bet. Hoy gets cute here and bets. I guess he figures his Queen is good for now, and while it probably is, I raise, mostly because I am willing to bet an extra 120 that I’ll hit a better river than he is. That’s all I’m thinking about here. Do I wish to put another 120 on the line to bet that I hit a better river? Sure, let’s go for it.

On the river, I hit a 6. I don’t know what Hoy has.

Me: 29/57QQ/6
Hoy: XX/6K3Q/X

Its a tricky spot to be in, so when Hoy bets, I check. I’ve already made my bet (on 6th Street) that my river would be better than his, and the 6 is nice, but its no Ace. At showdown, I win with a 97-high hand. His hole cards (which are randomized by FT when they are displayed) are K, 5, and Ace. Most likely, he started with the A5 and was ahead on 3rd street. He disregarded the K on 4th street because he had three great starting cards, and he may have figured me for one weak card in the hole. The 6th street emboldened him with a sweet 6-high draw. I was still ahead at the time, but he had great possibilities at improvement. Hence, his re-raise with a K showing. It was right there for both of us to see, and I’m fairly sure he probably had me read too. That’s one of the things with Razz. Even though there are opportunities at deception, there are also hands that are just fairly obvious, especially when two logical players like Hoy and I are playing against each other. The 6th Street sorta screwed us both (albeit, he pulled ahead, but not by enough to be comfortable), but since we both knew that, we were ready and willing to go to the river to decide our fates. And then, I outdrew him. Hell, this whole hand ended up in a game of reverse War. He showed King (as his river) and I showed 6, and since we are playing reverse War, my lower card wins! Ka ching!

Now its time for the second hand. This will show more of the nuances of the game. Razz is a limit game, and in any limit game, the money is in the individual bets. If you can squeeze one other bet out of an otherwise folding player, those individual bets add up. On the flipside (although that will not be seen in this hand), if you can fold and save yourself one extra bet, those too will add up, and soon you’ll be sitting on a nice profit.

The blind level is now 80/160 with a 15 ante and 25 bring-in. I have 1827, and BigJay, a player I have been smacking around for a while, is sitting on my immediate left with 1221. He has the Godfather avatar, and I can’t help but associate that avatar with someone who is looking to show power, regardless of timing and nuance. Its an odd read, admittedly, and as with any avatar-based read, you have to play close attention that you are not fooling yourself, but his play seemed to support my hypothesis.

I am dealt 52/A, a beautiful hand. The rest of the table, from my left ending with BigJay, have 5, A, 5, Q, 2, 6, and 8 (BigJay).

Sneak, with the Queen, brings it in. It folds to BigJay, who calls the 25 with his 8 showing. I decide to raise it to 80, as I’m wont to do with any three 8-and-under cards. It folds around to Jay, who calls. I’m looking forward to this.

The 4th Street brings me an 8, and BigJay a 3.

Me: 52/A8
Jay: XX/83

I know I’m ahead, and I also know that Jay is slightly scared of me at this point from all of the prior abuse. I decide to check here, mostly because that is such a clear sign of weakness and with his 83 showing, I assume he’ll bet out and try to take the pot right here. He obliges and bets 80, and I check-raise to 160. Plain and simple, we have a situation where one of two things are happening: (1) either he has an 8-high draw right now, in which case my draw is probably in better shape, considering his failure to raise preflop [i.e., he doesn't have A2/83, or even 24/83, so I'm dominating right now] or (2) he limped with a crappy card in the hole, called because its me and Razz, and now is betting almost automatically to win the pot right away. By checking, I induce the bet in either instance. If I had bet out, he would fold if he paired the 3 (for instance), and just call if he had something like a 9 underneath. Instead, I check-raise and then he is in the, “its just one more bet” mentality. He has to call, and he does.

On the turn, I’m dealt a 7 and he is dealt a Jack.

Me: 52/A87
Jay: XX/83J

Now I’m definitely ahead, but I don’t want to check, because he’ll just check behind and get a free card. I bet out and he folds, and I win the hand. If I didn’t check-raise 4th street, I would’ve received one less bet. In my estimation, he likely had at least one crap card underneath, be it a 9, Ten, or 3 (pairing his otherwise “scary” looking 4th street. Sure, it would’ve been nice to earn more bets with my made 8-7, but if he had a 27 underneath and then drew an Ace, I’d be the one looking stupid. So, when I saw he was fishing, I tricked him into betting again and scared him by check-raising in a game where check-raising is not as common (at this level of play). Then, when he got his crap card, I drove the nail into his coffin by betting him out of the hand. If I had KK underneath, the play would’ve worked just the same. Ka ching!

After the tournament, it got me thinking that Razz is really only accessible to me via online poker. I may just go back to the Razz cash games at FT with my remaining $60 or so and see what I can drum up. But all in moderation, of course.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Since the WSOP Circuit, I’ve been intentionally and not so intentionally avoiding live poker. My successful Wednesday return to Roose’s homegame saw me winning the first tournament outright, and falling short in the second. While it offered me a modicum of success, more importantly, it wet my appetite.

On Sunday, wifey Kim had plans to join future sister-in-law Jen for some bridal party dress shopping. Seizing the opportunity, I text messaged Chris, a player I met through SIF’s homegame. Chris had gotten me into the Extra Big Bet card room, a more exclusive room to Salami. EBB required a membership card, and if you weren’t a member, you’d have to find a member to get you in. Security was tighter also, but it was well worth it. Whereas Salami has three tables and only a 1/2 crazy deepstacked game, EBB had probably 12-18 tables, a variety of games, and equally bad players.

When I texted Chris, I was hoping for some company. If he couldn’t make it, I would go solo, but if I’m heading down, I figure there is no reason not to invite some company. Frankly, when I’m playing, the first thing I do upon leaving is think of who I can tell about my success or failure. I guess it is the same reason why I blog, and probably one of the themes throughout my life. To me, if no one else knows about it, it may as well not have happened.

As it turned out, Chris was free, but he had an even better idea. Since I had last seen him, Chris had checked out NiceLook club and proclaimed it to be a huge step up from EBB. As long as they had poker, I was game, so we made loose plans to play sometime on Sunday.

Sunday morning, I met up with my brother Keith and headed for bagels before hitting the local movie theatre. We saw 300, and by way of a quick review, it was fucking awesome, but only because of the visuals and action sequences. Frankly, though, that was all that I was there for, so I left happy. Keith and I killed some time in his apartment and then I headed out about 3pm to meet Chris at 3:30. On my way to the subway, I passed by the folding tables where random immigrants sell their wares. One table in particular had an array of small statues, the location where I purchased my two identical buddha statue card caps. I looked at the selection and felt the gold and red buddha in my pocket. Buddha hadn’t been holding up his end of the good luck bargain, so I decided it was time to start fresh. I grabbed a red elephant statue, sitting on its rear with one foot up and the trunk extended into the air. Word to the wise, if you are going to buy an elephant statue, make sure his trunk is up in the air. It’s good luck, and anything else, frankly, is considered bad. With token in hand, I went to the immigrant and paid him his $3. I then hit the 2/3 subway and made my way to the club.

Here I’ll point out that I was wearing a pair of dark jeans, a navy polo shirt, a white hooded sweatshirt, and a thin black jacket. I also had on a random baseball cap. The key was, I didn’t wear my usual poker gear. The decision was semi-conscious. I have been trying to break free of the mental boobytrap that is lucky clothing, but I also wanted to try out a different look at the table. Overall, though, it was a semi-conscious move as I was glad to just leave on my semi-preppy wardrobe rather than suit up.

Part of me, I must admit, still decided to not wear the usual garb BECAUSE of luck. The logic went, I was starting fresh with this session, free of the stench of bad luck that occurred weeks ago at the Lost Weekend in AC. It was the same inspiration that caused me to buy the elephant card cap. But ultimately, it was the little piece of me that said, “Just go play some fucking poker and don’t even think about what you are wearing,” that won out. I’m sure a bunch of you are thinking that too, and you are right. Onto the poker.

I met Chris outside, and we entered the innocuous building lobby together. We exited on the third floor into a room with three black bouncers. They were lounging around and barely gave us a second glance as we walked into the club.

The NiceLook has probably the same amount of tables as EBB, but considerably more room. There were about 6-8 tables running, and we made our way to the front desk to get me a membership card and secure seats and chips. I noticed a familiar face, Joe, a poker dealer who was some form of management at Salami when I first started playing there. In fact, in the first Salami tournament I played, it was Joe, me and a luckbox in the top three spots, and only two spots paid. Joe wanted to make a deal, and I told him I rather play it out, because I’d beat him. As it turned out, I lost, but we had fun joking around at the table. I had heard rumors that he had gone busto and even that he was out of poker altogether, but at least the second one was false. He was now in some sort of management position at NiceLook, and while I recognized him, I never quite spoke to him. After all, I doubt he’d remember me, and I was too busy playing poker.

Chris and I were seated in a 1/2 NL game at Table 1. I took the 1 seat. Most people hate the 1s and the 10s because they are right next to the dealer. I guess this means that they have less room, since the dealer is always reaching around, but in my estimation, those are my two favorite spots. I don’t have to worry about flashing my cards, since one side of me has no player, and I have a good view of everyone from the 2s to the 8s, and often the 9s. The biggest shortcoming to me is that it is hard to see the 10s or 1s (depending on which you are in), and therefore, you can’t get tells as well from a player who you’ll be playing the blinds against a lot. Also, the 1s is often where the dealers tip box is placed, so it can be hazardous to your knees if you are not careful. But alas, for all those shortcomings, I like the security of not worrying about flashing my cards, so I gladly took the 1s as Chris took the 5s.

In between hands, I quietly got up and took notes in my cell phone via the recorder option. Because of this I have details on every significant hand I played. For your enjoyment, here we go:

In my first hand, I was dealt K7c. I was in the CO, and there were a lot of limpers, so I limped as well. The flop was K-high with two hearts, and it checked around to me. I made a near pot-sized bet ($12), since the button was the only one left to act and everyone had seemingly given up on the hand. The button called, and I knew that I needed a miracle card to take the lead or at least be comfortable enough to fire a second bullet. If I checked the turn, the button raises almost automatically and I fold, looking weak. The turn was the 7h, giving me two pair, but completing the heart flush. I decided to keep pushing my hand. Two pair was decent, and as long as he didn’t have the flush, I was likely ahead (or he’d fold to the bet, fearing I had the flush). I bet out $35, and he called. The river was a Ah, making a four-flush heart board. I figured I was done for. If I bet and he reraises me, I have to fold, so rather than waste any more money, I decided to check. He checked too, and showed K8, for top pair, shitty kicker with no heart. I took down the pot with my two pair and had a nice cushion. I also, hopefully, had built a loose image, and I made a mental note to try to take advantage of this later.

A little while later, I am dealt JJ in MP/LP. Someone bets 15 from EP/MP, and gets a few callers before it gets to me. I decide to raise it big, so I’m not facing a bunch of players out of position. I pop it to 50. I get two callers, including one of the early position limpers. This guy looked like a real lunkhead, like a construction worker who was beyond his years. The guy was probably only in his late 40s or early 50s, and looked worn out. Still he was cordial enough. He had a horrible habit of bitching about his bad luck, even when he won a hand. Lesson to my readers: complaining about your bad luck will only cause other players to go after you harder. It will also get them to call you more since you are “so unlucky.” Meanwhile, in your self-pity, you are making worse plays AND getting called more, so you keep losing more money and then blaming it on bad luck. Whatever ths case, this foolish EP limper now calls $50 cold. I don’t get it. The original raiser calls and everyone else folds. The flop is something like T92 with two spades. I decide to bet 150, a very high bet, but not so high considering it was less than pot. I didn’t have anyone on an overpair, and my only concerns was a possible set or a flush draw. The raise would potentially push out the flush draw, induce a re-raise from a set, and cause everyone else to fold. I was happy with folds, since for all I know, one of these monkeys were playing KQ and was about to turn a Queen. Sure enough, my bet worked and they both folded.

On the very next hand, I decided to invest some of my newfound capital. I was still in late position with Jx when I decided to limp (there were more than a few limpers before me and I had position). There was a loose Asian player sitting two seats to my left. Usually, its preferable to have the loose players on your right, but I spent a lot of time watching the player out of the corner of my left eye, and saw ways that I could exploit him given my position. He was definitely a gambler, a calling station, and a maniac, all rolled into one, not to mention a tilter. At one point, he racked up a full rack ($500) and had at least another $150 left over. He was going to leave, but after angrily folding two hands (one of which was preflop!, so what was he angry for??), he unracked his chips and decided to stay. I’m pretty sure the table shared a collective sigh of relief. It’s guys like this one that make a game. So the Crazy Asian, or lets just call him Crazian for now, hasn’t gotten up to leave yet. He has been playing crap cards and sometimes getting lucky (raising preflop from the blinds with 23o to hit two pair on the flop), and I’ve decided that he’s likely a fine mark.

So, preflop, action gets to me preflop and I limp in LP. Crazian decides to raise it up ($10 on top, I think), and since I just won $100+ easily in the JJ pot, I decide I can see the flop after two other players call, including the Construction Worker. The flop was AhKxQh, so I’ve got just an inside straight draw (need the 10) and there is a flush draw out there. In other words, I’m good as dead. It checks to me and I oblige. We see the turn, another blank card. It checks to me again, and I decide I may as well take a stab at the pot, given my position. I bet $35, which is fairly close to the pot. I figured that no one had anything decent. Construction calls and everyone else folds. The river is a blank, and Construction checks to me. I think for a moment but not too long before betting $75. I felt like a tool while doing it, but I had to at least try for the pot at this point. He folded and showed KTh, for the nut flush draw and an inside straight draw. I mucked and gladly took down the hand.

In hindsight, I guess I got into a lot of hands with the Crazian and Construction. A little while later, I was in late position, probably the CO or button, when I’m dealt ATo. There are a bunch of limpers (mind you, this wasn’t a limping game) and I decided to just call. I was conisdering betting, but even in position, I didn’t want to start something that I couldn’t necessarily finish with my marginal hand. The flop was QJx, and when it checked to me, I decided to buy the pot. I bet out $10, expecting to either induce a re-raise (at which point I fold for relatively cheap) or induce a bunch of folds. I get two callers, not too surprisingly the Crazian and Construction. The turn is a blank and I decide to bet out $30 after they both check. Crazian slams his cards down and the chucks them across the table. Construction calls. The river is a blank. Construction checks to me and I decide to check. I’ve likely lost this hand, and if he isn’t folding for $30, I am not taking any chances at a high bet bluff. I tabled my busted inside straight draw, and he tables his cards, 9To, for an open ended straight draw. If that King came, I would’ve felted him, but really, I guess I was just fortunate. He was playing so badly and I was reaping the benefit. I believe position had a lot to do with my success in this hand, and frankly, I was actually trying to focus on position for most of the session. Moving along…

Here is where the fun begins. Literally begins, because this next short hand really is just the on ramp to the insanity freeway that came next.

I’ve been bitching about being card dead for a while. Even though I won 4 Salami tournaments in a row (or was it 5?) I had been doing so with no premium hands. The card deadedness continued in AC. Yesterday at the club, though, I received pocket Jacks on three occassions within 2 1/2 hours. Notably, I never received any other pocket pair other than dueces on one occassion, and I didn’t receive an Ace higher than ATo, so I’m still not sure if one would consider it card dead.

So I’m dealt JJ and I’m in the SB or something because by the time it gets to me, there are something like 8 limpers (including the BB) in the pot. I don’t want to play JJ out of position against all of these players, so I raise to $22 total. It folds around to me and we get ready for the next hand.

On the very next hand I’m dealt JJ again. Great! Chris, in EP, raises to $12. Now, Chris is tight, and if you follow that link from the top about the last time I played with him, he took all of my profits and a lot of my chips the last time we played on one of the very last hands of that session. I hit a great hidden straight, and he hit the full house. Alas, I had already decided to leave at 6pm, and it was 5:45pm, so I wondered if I was going to see a replay of last week.

Chris has raised to $12 and I’m a tad nervous because he is a tight player. I guess no one else noticed because there were three callers before it got to me. Well shit, man, what’s a JJ to do? I decided to thin the herd a bit with a raise to $50. I thought that would get me heads up, but I thought WAY wrong. Everyone and their sister called me, with the exception of Chris. At least I had that going for me. By the time it got around to the SoxLover lookalike (I’ll call him SoxBrother) and the sole female at the table, a pretty attractive pretty aggressive Asian girl named Esther, they had odds to call with any two, I suppose. In total, there must have been at least 5 players to the turn, with at least $260+ in the pot.

The flop started with a K and I mentally gulped hard. The next two cards were a J and a Ten, for a flop of KJT, with two spades. I didn’t have a spade in my hand, but I did have middle set. I figured it would hopefully check around, I’d bet big and take down some easy money.

Two or three early position players checked to SoxBrother, a smart-looking guy who had his poker wits about him. With complete calm, he grabs a stack and bets “$115.” Okay, I think. Now what? Before I can act, Esther makes her move, pushing all-in for $305. SCREEEEECH! That’s the sound of my mental car stopping short.

This was building into the biggest pot I’ve ever been in. There was $260 at least in the pot preflop, now with an extra $420 more. I really didn’t think that over at the time. What I did think was this:

Should I fold this? What could have me beat? AQ and Q9 would give a straight. KK would be a higher set. Someone might be playing the flush draw hard. WTF!! They don’t have KK or they would’ve raised preflop. Okay. They probably don’t have AQ for the same reason. Fine. Q9!? People have been playing that crazy. Fuck, she has Q9. Shit, I have to fold. She is not pushing with crap cards facing a bigger bet than we are used to. Wait! GOD! I can’t fold. I have middle set! I have redraws against the straight. This is the fourth best hand right now. I don’t want to lose to a flush draw! Fuck, she is on Q9s or Axs!? Fuck! AW GOD! FUCK! Okay, okay. okay.

“I’m all in.” I started to push my chips out front, but the dealer stopped me when I knocked a stack over. In total I had $460+ left behind me, and all players folded to SoxBrother. He paused for a moment and thought it out. In the interim, Esther called to me from behind the dealer and asked something about running business. As a rule, I used to abhor things like running business (I’ll explain that later for those who don’t know what it is) or chopping blinds, but I’m starting to see the benefits of both plays. In fact, in the very early goings, I chopped the blinds with SoxBrother in a hand. Chris noticeably perked up at this, probably because he has read about my no-chop stance, but I didn’t want to be seen as an asshole, as I didn’t think it would be advantageous to this table (yet).

So, Esther is asking me about business and I have to politely tell her, “There is still a player in the hand.” She turned to SoxBrother in surprise and we went back to waiting. Somewhere in there, Crazian, now down from $650 to under $100, starts calling for time. Less than 2 minutes has passed and everyone including the dealer tell him to shut up.

Brother finally folds, and Esther stops the dealer from putting out the turn and river. “I’m okay with running business,” I tell her. I’ve read her as having a flush draw and I figure that I could probaly take 2/3 or at least 1/3 of the pot. “No,” she replies, “you have to show each other our cards first and then we decide.” Now, I don’t usually run business, but here’s a quick explanation. Basically, it means that you run the rest of the cards (in this case, the turn and river) multiple times. Usually its done 2-3 times, and you split the pot up accordingly. So, if I win 2 out of 3 of the runs, I get 2/3 of the pot and she gets 1/3. I figured this is good for the flush draw, because she’ll probably miss it at least once, and hopefully twice. This was a huge pot, so I could work with that. But now we have to show our cards first? Whatver, lady. We flip over our cards. I have JJ and she has…red King Ten. The crazy bitch has two pair, with no flush draw, and suddenly I’m doing some quick math. There are two cards that she needs to win, the remaining Kings. I decide in an instant that I’ll give her two chances to hit it (turn and river) and not six (turn and river dealt three times for business).

“Okay, I will do business” she says. “No. No business. Run the cards.” I was short and curt with my statement. She wanted to have it her way, and now she’s going to have to live with it. I’d run business against a flush draw and a straight, but not against a two-outter. I liked them odds. The turn was a spade, the river was a spade, neither were Kings and I won a pot over $1000!

WOOHOO! The adrenaline was corsing through my body. I slowly started to stack my chips. Esther took it in good stride, and 15 minutes later, as I racked up, I had almost 4x my starting stack in front of me. When I stood up, a couple of other players followed suit. The table broke, but Chris decided to stick around, since the action was that good.

Me, I was fucking high on poker. I cashed out, without even a second thought as the cage handed me a bunch of unlucky 50s, and headed out the door.

What a fucking game! That session wiped out the WSOP Circuit loss and the cash game losses from that weekend. I wasn’t down the entire session, and while that last hand was fortuitous, even if it didn’t come, I was till up a nice sum. Poker is one hell of a game. It truly is a fickle bitch, one day treating you like you are her one and only, and the next ignoring your phone calls and shacking up with your archnemesis. But frankly, she can be as fickle as she wants, because no matter what the bitch does to me, I love her and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oh, and for the hell of it, SoxBrother had KQ, with no spade, so I was in even better shape than I thought.

Until next time, make mine poker!

The following is a paid review of TripJax.

If you are looking for a cool blog, with lots of in depth poker reporting, strategy and higher level thinking, written by a blogger with sharp poker and writing skills and more than an ounce of humor, keep looking! Because TripJax.com is DEFINITELY not it.

Reading TripCrap’s most recent post, a live-blog of the fall of the Berlin wall, really reminded me how crappy a blog could be. Sure, I was happy reading the craptastic postulates of other bloggers, but once I got knee deep in the horse shit that is TripSux, I learned a new respect for wasting time, braincells and electrons on utter claptrap.

It’s not that TripDookie actually sucks. It’s that he doesn’t even rise to the level of suck. Cliche’s abound, like the TripWife, TripKids, TripMobile, TripTrip, TripTurnips, and TripHackWriting.

But if one crappy blogger is not enough, stay tuned, cause there’s more. If TripLoser’s once-a-year posts aren’t meaty for you, enjoy some of the lush companion pieces written by blogger caddy to the stars, DNasty. DNothing, short for Do Nothing, has joined the cast at TripShit, giving you two poor poker players, writers, and excuses for human beings for the price of one…the price being free, although from my vantage point they should pay me to read this crap.

So, strap on the nipple clamps and cram that dominatrix’s high heel right into your apple sack, because if you are sitting down to some JipTrax, you’ve got to be a masochist.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Until next time, make mine anything but TripJax!

Disclosure: This has been a paid advertisement of TripJax.com. Both TripJax and High on Poker are subsidiaries of American Entertainment Pavilion, Corp., a subdivision of AOL/Time Warner. All opinions expressed throughout this post have not been influenced by the financial relationship between TripJax and High on Poker.

Jordan needs a new round of self loathing!

So, folks, today we’ll be discussing CompatiblePoker.com, a poker site that has a nice angle to it. Seizing opportunity, CompatiblePoker.com has focused on the various online poker rooms and their accessibility given the state of online poker.

For Americans, CompatiblePoker.com lists all sites that accept US players, from major sites like Full Tilt and PokerStars to more obscure sites like StanleyVippoker.com. Hell, take a look for yourself, since CompatiblePoker makes bonus whoring possible again for US players who were stuck with the major sites for months. Even more useful, CompatiblePoker.com also provides a long list of e-Wallets, along with their stances on US players. CompatiblePoker.com is updated regularly and marks all updates with a red date, so you can also get a feeling for how things are developing. And along with all of this, Compatible also has some useful info on the legality of online poker in the US, videos related to the subject, and a slew of archived updates that trace the history of the UIGEA’s effect on the industry.

Want more? Ok. If you are one of those elitish artsy types who live for your Mac, or if you are one of those nerds who live for Linux, Compatible has sections for both operating systems that provide information on compatible poker sites.

So, there you have it. CompatiblePoker.com lives up to its name. Its actually a pretty decent tool if you are looking to play poker and want to see what options are available to you. Enjoy, people.

I played poker yesterday, and played it well, no less. A couple of weeks ago, the Boss Man told me that I would be driving to Albany yesterday to attend a Court conference for my ex-Team Leader (who is still with the firm, but now Of Counsel, aka part time with the firm and part time working for himself). I love a good drive, especially since I don’t have a car, so I was game for the 3 hour drive (each way). I left my apartment at 7am, got the rental car, an upgraded Jeep because my Chevy Aveo wasn’t available, and then hit the road by 7:15. I finally made it to Albany at 10:10 or so, and then stumbled my way around the city until I found the correct building and made my appearance.

Everything went well and I was back on my way to NYC within an hour or so. So, three hours there, an hour with the judge, and then three hours back, plus a little more for NYC traffic in the late afternoon. I contemplated returning to the office since it wasn’t 4pm yet, but I had already worked enough for this guy, and instead retreated home. On the way back, I realized that I had the car overnight, and contemplated whether I should go to one of the more remote homegames I used to frequent on Wednesdays. The options were Rooses’ or Dawn’s, but I wasn’t sure if Dawn was running her Crackhouse game, and it had been a while for me at Roose’s, so I called up Robbie Hole, coordinated our plans, and after 1 1/2 hours at home, set course to Roose’s apartment in Queens with Hole in tow.

To change things up, I intentionally did not bring my card caps and changed my baseball cap from the usual to a NBC HU Poker Championship promo hat I got free thanks to the resemblence that HoP has to a legitimate poker media outlet. I also donned the Flash shirt that I wore at my last trip to Salami where I lost three tournament buy-ins in under 30 minutes. I felt like tempting the fates, while also trying to break my mental attachment material things as a source of luck.

When I arrived at Roose’s, we started the waiting game. Roose isn’t exactly the best at hosting. Don’t get me wrong, he has a great poker table, and can get a good amount of players to show up. It’s the details that are difficult, like coordinating when players arrive. I was there at 6:30, along with 4 other people (5 total), but the first tournament didn’t start until 8:15 or so, and even that took some strong-arming. We were waiting on 3 people with no clue as to when they planned to show up, and I was definitely jonesing for some poker when I force Roose to relent and get the party started. I don’t knock Roose for this, really. It’s just one of the inevitabilities of homegames. Why be the first one there and wait for people if you can be last and have everyone wait for you. The problem occurs when this becomes a pandemic amongst several of the players, and suddenly the 7:30 game doesn’t start until 9.

That said, I love Roose, and I really don’t blame him entirely. He even mentioned that he was looking forward to moving and ending his homegame. It ain’t easy being the house when there is no rake.

The first game finally got started with 5 players, with 3 players joining before the 2nd orbit was done. In the first three hands I was dealt pocket pairs, 66, 33 and QQ, and raised preflop each time. I took down the last two pots (I had to fold the 66 when the JKx flop was bet by another player post-flop), and quickly got a reputation as being aggressive and loose. So be it.

I actually kept the selective aggression up, really pushing it when I found that the blinds were getting prohibitively high. I actually love high blinds, mostly because I am good at choosing my times to push. Most of the times, I had something as innocuous as K5d, but when the time is right, that’ll do, as long as you have enough chips to scare away the blinds. By the time we were down to 5 players, I was probably one of the two short stacks, but I kept pushing and picking up blinds. 5th place fell and I ramped up my aggression even more. 4th went and I was suddenly in the top three with Randy Hole and Two Diamond Phillips. I kept the pressure on when I could, especially since we were all relatively short considering the blinds. I found myself in an ideal situation. Randy was on my left. If I was the SB, I could usually just push with any two, since he was not going to call with anything less than Ace-high. If I was in the BB and 2d Phillips didn’t raise, I could push all-in and take his blind, which was a decent amount of chips by then. I continued to steal chips until 2d Phillips called my all-in preflop with his AT to my KQ and I hit two pair by the river. When it was just Randy and I, a couple of other latecomers showed up and were antsy to start game 2. I suggested a deal that would see me with 80 and him with 60, a weighted chop of 1st ($100) and 2nd ($40), but someone suggested that we play three hands first and decide. I said fine and within three hands, I saw that I could win it. No offense to Randy, but I was a bigger stack and ready to gamble. Eventually, by hand 6 or so, I got my opportunity, raising all-in with Q6o in the SB in an attempt to steal the 1k big blind (there were only 16k in play). He called with Kx, I hit my Q and the rest was history.

In game 2, two of the players (2d Phillips and his friend Scott) were replaced by J.R. and Scotty. The game was going fine, but I felt antsy, as though I was ready to go. I didn’t mind if I busted earlier. I eventually made my stand when blinds were 100/200 and I had about 1200. I was in the BB with 94d and there were 4 or so players in the hand. The flop was K9x with one diamond, and I decided to push 1000 or so. Only Roose called with A9, and he took me out of the tournament. It was a fine call by Roose, and I hope he won it all. I don’t know though, because I was out the door and heading home in my rental Jeep.

Once home, wifey Kim had just finished watching Lost. We watched Top Design (we are fools for reality TV competitions) and then she headed to bed. I sat down for Lost and was rewarded for staying up late. That show really has refound its stride and the episode has been one of the best, if not the best, of the last two seasons. I then joined wifey Kim in slumberland, where visions of check raises and submarines danced in my head.

Another day, another dollar.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Boy, its been a distracting time here at HoP. I’m still sorta licking my wounds from the WSOP loss and the Salami debacle before it, but its only a matter of time before I am beyond it and ready to resume my duties as a degenerate gambler. In the meanwhile, I had a meeting yesterday with two friends, one of which is the husband to one of wifey Kim’s best friends. There is an interesting thing that occurs between guys who are dating/married to friends. On my end, its a real crapshoot. Case-in-point, on at least one occassion, I got along very well with a boyfriend of wifey Kim’s friend, only to have them get dumped. I mean, sure, the guy(s) was a sleazeball pothead with no ambition and even less class, but he was fun to hang out with. The replacements are rarely as fun, but I guess stability is fine, if nothing else than for the sake of wifey Kim’s friends. All that said, I like me some low brow company, so I’m always crossing my fingers when one of wifey Kim’s many friends shack up with a new dude.

So, this guy, Chris, is top of the line. He’s one of those people who is a doer (do-er) as opposed to a talker or a thinker. It’s a personality trait that impresses me, largely because I would be in one of the talker or thinker categories, at least as far as I see it. Chris is also, conveniently, not some straight-laced borefest, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of his friends as well. Long story short, Chris, his friend Marc, and I are working on a new venture, and while I thought this would go the way of the dodo like some of my other grand ideas (including a group poker blog and a poker book, the details of which I cannot share lest you actually run with the idea), it seems like my idea is actually a possibility now. I wish I could give more details, but sadly, I cannot. All I can say is that it is not poker-based, but still could be very interesting, and I may need some of your help when its up and running to at least look it over and maybe even participate a bit. But I’m ahead of myself.

It’s a nice feeling to see new exciting possibilities ahead. In the meanwhile, I spent the rest of my Sunday at a very White Trash Wedding. I’m almost hesitant to write about it here, but fortunately, I don’t expect the new married couple to ever find this site, largely because they barely know me.

Weddings in NY are definitely different than weddings in other areas. Suburban NY weddings are usually lavish affairs with upwards of 200 people, fully sit-down catered, usually with a band or sometimes a DJ, in a fancy banquet hall done up to the works. Yesterday’s wedding had most of those things, actually, but just seemed…rushed. I suppose the fact that the bride was 5 months pregnant can do that. The food was good and all, but the DJ seemed to gravitate to some less than ideal music. Hell, the bridal party came out to some cheesy techno song, and the bride and groom came out to…get this…the Star Wars Storm Trooper March song. I mean, wha? I expected the bride to be sporting Princess Leia hair and the groom to be dressed in his best Darth Vader mask.

Man, I wish I could remember more details, but excessive alcohol consumption will do that to you.

Part of me feels like the poker thing has petered out for me. I know that this is NOT true. The reality is that I’m just a bit burnt out and I’ll get back on track when I get my second wind. I just love gaming too much, and poker is the rare type of game that could make me money.

So, until next time, make mine poker…eventually!

The weekend trip to AC started off like any other. Roose came earlier than expected and I was left scrambling to change from my work clothes into my civvies. I headed out, hopped in his car around 3pm, and hit the road. Along the way, we listened primarily to Howard Stern, someone who I have listened to since I was all of 12 years old. Traffic was relatively light once we got out of NYC, and we made it to AC by 5:30.

We checked in to AC and I requested a room in the Orleans Tower, as opposed to the Bourbon Tower. From what I remembered from last time, construction was still ongoing in the brand new Bourbon Tower, and I thought I was being clever by avoiding the morning construction noise. The Orleans rooms aren’t bad, but in hindsight, I plan to change it up next time. According to Karol, the Bourbon Tower rooms are fantastic, akin to the much more pricey Borgata rooms. Noise is a beyotch, but since she didn’t have a problem when she stayed there, I figured I could make it work. After all, I was sharing a room with Roose, the human bandsaw.

I should mention, we were 30 minutes outside NYC when Roose told me that we had another roommate. I love Roose like a brother. Our fathers knew each other since they were kids and when they introduced our mothers to each other, they took to each other immediately as well. So, we grew up together since we were practically fetuses. Growing up with someone like that, there is a natural bond, sometimes one that is even stronger than blood. I say this as a precursor to the following statements about Roose. Roose sometimes is clueless when it comes to invites. I had no problem, ostensibly, with inviting his friend (and mine through Roose) Greg to join us. He’s a fun guy and loves poker. Greg was going to come with one of his friends, so it would be four of us in a room, something that I am also able to adjust to. But, well, it would’ve been nice to have been involved in the invite. I mean, it was sorta my room. And Roose essentially offered our room up for free. Silly Roose! At least he arranged it so I had my own bed. In the end, it all worked out though. Greg stuck around the entire trip and paid for brunch and some odds and ends, his buddy lost his $300 budget the first night and left before sleeping, and we all had a good time. (As an aside, there is a much better story about Roose inviting someone without thinking it through. Randy Hole’s birthday party this year was a large surprise affair thrown by his family. Roose forwarded me an e-vite, and I RSVP’ed that wifey Kim and I would come. There was just one problem — we were not invited! Long story short, we crashed the party anyway).

So, we get to the room and dump our stuff off. I arranged for a key to be left for Greg, so Roose and I decided to head to Caesars after dinner at the Mansion Cafe to get our registration done.

The line at Caesars for registration was about 10 people deep. Hoyazo touched on this in his blog, but I repeat it here: the WSOP has the worst planning. First you wait on a line to register. Then you go to another line to pay. I mean, come on, folks. Can’t we just do it all in one place. Whatever!

We skipped the temptation of a satellite, mostly because of the math involved. The satellite is $38+12, and the top spot gets a buy-in to the $340 event and $40 in cash (at least that was how it was for Harrah’s WSOP Circuit). So, there is a 1/10 chance of getting into the tournament for $10 ($50 offset by the $40 cash that comes with 1st place) and a 9/10 chance to essentially pay $390 ($50 for satellite and $340 when I buy in directly). Ergo, fuck it. I’ll just buy in.

So we did. We thought about playing something while at Caesars, but to be frank, Caesars sucks. It looks nice, but their table games are more expensive and their poker room isn’t too great. It’s on the casino floor off to the side, but still open to the ding and bells of the nearby slots. We hopped in Roose’s car and headed back to Showboat. On our walk back to our room, Roose pointed out something. “Dude, we’ve been here for hours and we haven’t gambled on anything yet.” It struck me too. I guess we were maturing in our old age. Or perhaps it was the fact that we saw the WSOP Circuit as the main focus and all other gambling was merely a time killer. Or perhaps it was the fact that we were gambling a whole lot, but only prop bets. And for the record, I went 0 for 6 on props this weekend.

We finally decided it was time to play and headed to the poker room. I saw Karol right away and stopped by to say hi. She was in a $100 tournament and I contemplated joining late, but ultimately decided against it. Alceste was also in the tournament and I got to his table just in time to see his set of 4s cracked by some donkey’s Q3h rivering a flush. Dawn was in a cash game, due in large part to the fact that she was using a fake i.d., so I decided to grab some chips for some 1/2 NL.

Hmm…no real notes here folks. The truth is, it was a horrible session for me. I couldn’t get anything going. There were a lot of limpers at our table, and everyone was fairly well versed in the game. The result was a tight-ish game. I bluffed off over $75 in one hand when my opponent slowplayed quad 5s. At showdown, he showed down first and I mucked quickly. It is one of my major leaks, betting $25 on a flop and then $50 on the turn. I always think the 50 will scare my opponent, but most often they just call and I’m left to check the river and lose in shame. At least I’ve identified the leak. Now, to plug it.

The table was so boring, I decided to change it up. A seat opened at Dawn’s table and I took it. She was on my immediate left, and Alceste was on my right. I proceeded to play fairly tight and won back a little of my money. Finally, I realized that I was just plain bored. That’s no way to poker, so I racked up and left the room with Roose. I was down $125, which overall wasn’t bad considering my play.

If memory serves, Roose and I headed to Pai Gow, but the tables were full. In fact, they were full all fucking weekend. I convinced him to play some Chinese Poker and we headed upstairs. Somewhere in there, Greg and his friend showed up. I lent Greg $340 for the Caesars buy-in and sent him on his way, assuming that it would be too busy the next day. When he came back, Roose and I were playing Rummy 500. We hung out and did little else, eventually deciding that even though it was only 2am, we ought to get some sleep before the big game.

More to come…

[Actually, no. There isn't more to come. It's now November 2009, and I refound this post and wondered where is part 2? The answer: I have no idea. So don't even look for it. It may have never existed...]