Just my same old hum drum life. I'm not flying out to the Gambling mecca of the US, nor has anyone exposed their breasts to me or come to think of it fondled my ass. And the PQ says it had best remain that way. But life does go on and so do I.
Well Tropical Storm Debbie is finally gone. It was weird how it just hung out off the coast for days while the wind blew and the rain fell. In one 24 hour period we got 12 inches of rain. The wind blew constantly between 30-40 mph for about 3 days. They closed the Sunshine Skyway bridge for more than 2 days straight.
While I have been not gambling or partying for the past few days I did find time to pick up a few books for my ereader. One of my Fathers Day Gifts was a gift card to Barnes & Noble. I have been wanting Arnold Snyders Poker Tournament Book for myself but it wasn't a Nookbook last time I checked. Well it is now and I own it. I also picked up a book that looked interesting titled "Holdem hands I played badly" by a guy named Michael Hesse. I'll start it tomorrow probably and see what I think about it. One final book I bought was Zen and the Art of Poker but that one I bought in paperback and it's being mailed to me.
While I got these poker books I also bought a short book by Craig Johnson. I've started watching a new series on A&E called "Longmire" Its about a older guy who's the sheriff of the least populous county in Wyoming and Craig Johnson wrote the series. I guess I am attracted to the sparseness and the stark beauty in the countryside not to mention how many of the people look as weather beaten as the land they live in. So I thought I'd try out one of his stories. Now I want to read the whole series. Hope the library has them all. After being surrounded by people all the time, I kinda want to lose myself out in the middle of nowhere.
Well it's bed time. Sorry for the lack of poker content as well as the non salacious nature of my post. Good night everyone.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Time to build the ark
Wow have we gotten a lot of rain today. Rain bands from tropical storm Debby, even though the storm is located about 150 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River. I thought about going to Home Depot and buying all their wood to start building a little ark to save the family but I was too late, the HD was sold out. So I just figured on going to one of the local marinas and hijacking a 40 foot sailer I've had my eye on. None of these animals 2X2 either. If I'm feeling generous I might let them bring the dog with em, otherwise the animals are on their own. Here is how it looked about a quarter mile down the road from my house today.
We went to my sis in laws house by the beach this morning for brunch. It didn't start really raining hard until we got there so no issues getting there but on the way back the road she lives off of that leads to the main road along the beach was pretty backed up. So I am driving ultra slowly through the water which extends for about 100 yds when some idiot in an Infinity comes out of a side street right in front of me, doesn't bother to slow down, never mind stop, at the stop sign, and turns left right in front of me. I'm praying the water he kicks up doesn't flood my engine while I curse him out but I made it. Of course since that road is the only way in or out of that area and he was proceeding further in, had my car been stalled out I could have hunted him down at my leisure. And I would have.
We got home without further incident and not long after getting home I finished up my post poker blog from last night and decided a nap was called for. Is there anything better than taking a couple of hour nap on a rainy Sunday afternoon? Not today there wasn't anyway. Wow the rain is really coming down again. It slows down and even stops for a little bit then starts back up. Looks like a quiet night at home tonight. Hope I'll be able to get to work tomorrow, I usually go right where that car went.
Too bad this isn't a blue Infinity
We went to my sis in laws house by the beach this morning for brunch. It didn't start really raining hard until we got there so no issues getting there but on the way back the road she lives off of that leads to the main road along the beach was pretty backed up. So I am driving ultra slowly through the water which extends for about 100 yds when some idiot in an Infinity comes out of a side street right in front of me, doesn't bother to slow down, never mind stop, at the stop sign, and turns left right in front of me. I'm praying the water he kicks up doesn't flood my engine while I curse him out but I made it. Of course since that road is the only way in or out of that area and he was proceeding further in, had my car been stalled out I could have hunted him down at my leisure. And I would have.
We got home without further incident and not long after getting home I finished up my post poker blog from last night and decided a nap was called for. Is there anything better than taking a couple of hour nap on a rainy Sunday afternoon? Not today there wasn't anyway. Wow the rain is really coming down again. It slows down and even stops for a little bit then starts back up. Looks like a quiet night at home tonight. Hope I'll be able to get to work tomorrow, I usually go right where that car went.
Robbed Again
After the way last weekends tournament went, after winning the Rays tix on Friday, I felt sure my luck had changed. So I was looking forward to the 1pm tourney the PQ and I were going to play today.
The tourney started out pretty well. I picked off one guy bluffing his unpaired A10 and took down a decent pot with my pair of 9s. I had a pretty good read on most of the players though I'm pretty sure I let one guy bluff me off a hand when I had middle pair. But I digress. After the first blind level, I got kinda card dead and missed a couple of really good draws as well so that by the time the blinds got up to 100-200 I was down from my 12000 starting stack to 8500 but I felt pretty good and was waiting to pick the right spot to start chipping up again.
It came pretty suddenly. I was in late position when a guy in early position pushed all in preflop for a bit over 7K. I'd seen him do this once before and put him on something like 10s or Jacks. I wasn't overly impressed by his play so far so when I looked at my cards and saw KK. It was folded to me and I pushed in over the top. Everyone folds and my opponent flips over 99. Oops, sucks to be him as I flip over my cowboys. Flop is garbarge, he gets up to leave and the turn is a 9. Oops sucks to be me. I turn to the guy next to me and say "I got Robbed again" Two weeks in a row now I have someone buried and get 2 outed. I was quite unhappy. Especially when I pushed in with A6 on an AJA3 board and the same idiot calls with A8. Can't get a 6 or a card bigger than 8 for a split on the river (of course) and I'm out while idiot boy who has no problem raising 35 big blinds preflop with a mid pair has all my chips.
I was unhappy but there was a pretty juicy 4-8 omaha hi/lo game going and I wanted to get in on that. Figured after the way my luck went last time I played, I was due for a turnaround at some point. Of course I thought that way about the holdem tourney and look how that went. But in this case I was right. OMG the fish were schooling. Now generally this game is populated by nitty old men and there were 3 of them there this time but the rest of the players were soft. Of course a number of them usually are but that doesn't mean they won't take me down too. This time was a different story. There was one guy who was obviously new to Omaha and used to Holdem. He kept pushing 2 pair and losing his ass. He had bad luck to boot as a number of times the river killed him. I sympathized, I was in the same boat a couple of weeks ago. But I took his chips none the less.
Things went pretty well. I kept it pretty tight and tried to pick the right spots. I made sure I played tighter than last time for the most part but I also hit some hands this time. My first hit was a king high flush. I stayed in a raised pot without the nut flush where sometimes I might fold it. But most of the people in the hand I knew stayed in with less. If I was unlucky enough to run into the ace so be it. But I didn't and even though it was a split pot, it was a big pot and half of that pot was almost $100 and a profit of over $60 for me. I was pretty reluctant to call with the king high flush but knowing who was in the hand I felt I was probably ahead and I was right. After that I stayed patient and made a few hands stand up. It would run in spurts where I'd hit a few hands then go through long stretches where I got nothing. As long as I didn't try to push anything then, I was fine. I would go throough 1 or 2 dealer changes and maybe play one hand outside of my blinds then a new dealer would come in and I would be in 3 of the next 4 hands and cash in most of them. I had 2 really good hands during that time. Both of them were kill pots.
This game plays a half kill where if someone scoops a pot (wins the whole pot, not a split pot) for over $60 the next hand would be played at $6-$12 rather than $4-8 and the winner is required to post $6 for the next hand. I played one hand with A334 with the A3 of diamonds. Flop is J 10 3 with the J-10 of diamonds. Well I like that. No one bets when it comes to me so I lead out for $6. And get 6 callers. Turn is a spade K which I don't like but since no one bets at it I decide to bet again. 4 people call my $12 bet. River is another J and when no one bets I lead out again for $12. Two people call me for some reason but can't beat my 3s full of Jacks which is a very nice $150 pot. There were 2 women and one guy who had to play almost every hand. One took a bit from me last time when she hit some incredibly ugly hands that stood up. This time I got a bit back from her and a lot more from the Holdem guy and the other woman. My best hand was against the holdem guy. Sitting with A2QQ with the A2 in clubs I saw a flop of 345 with the 34 of clubs. Bingo, nut low hand plus the straight flush draw. Holdem guy bets and I just call to keep as many people in as possible. Turn is perfect, the Q of clubs. Now I have the nut flush, nut low and I have no fears if the board pairs. He bets again and this time I raise. Unfortunately he is the only one to come along. River is another 5 giving me the full house. When we showed down he had A467 so he flopped the straight to the 7 but he couldn't get away from it and it cost him dearly when the clubs hit then the board paired.
I ran my original $100 up to about $410 before I hit a cold streak but when the PQ came by after bubbling out the final table I cashed out for $330. Definitely a good night's work. So perhaps getting busted out of the tourney was a benefit and not a curse. I'm gonna believe that.
Well Neo needs a nap. Hope everyone is having a great weekend and that it's dryer where you are than it is here. It is coming down here, outer portions of a tropical storm apparently. Stay lucky peeps.
The tourney started out pretty well. I picked off one guy bluffing his unpaired A10 and took down a decent pot with my pair of 9s. I had a pretty good read on most of the players though I'm pretty sure I let one guy bluff me off a hand when I had middle pair. But I digress. After the first blind level, I got kinda card dead and missed a couple of really good draws as well so that by the time the blinds got up to 100-200 I was down from my 12000 starting stack to 8500 but I felt pretty good and was waiting to pick the right spot to start chipping up again.
It came pretty suddenly. I was in late position when a guy in early position pushed all in preflop for a bit over 7K. I'd seen him do this once before and put him on something like 10s or Jacks. I wasn't overly impressed by his play so far so when I looked at my cards and saw KK. It was folded to me and I pushed in over the top. Everyone folds and my opponent flips over 99. Oops, sucks to be him as I flip over my cowboys. Flop is garbarge, he gets up to leave and the turn is a 9. Oops sucks to be me. I turn to the guy next to me and say "I got Robbed again" Two weeks in a row now I have someone buried and get 2 outed. I was quite unhappy. Especially when I pushed in with A6 on an AJA3 board and the same idiot calls with A8. Can't get a 6 or a card bigger than 8 for a split on the river (of course) and I'm out while idiot boy who has no problem raising 35 big blinds preflop with a mid pair has all my chips.
I was unhappy but there was a pretty juicy 4-8 omaha hi/lo game going and I wanted to get in on that. Figured after the way my luck went last time I played, I was due for a turnaround at some point. Of course I thought that way about the holdem tourney and look how that went. But in this case I was right. OMG the fish were schooling. Now generally this game is populated by nitty old men and there were 3 of them there this time but the rest of the players were soft. Of course a number of them usually are but that doesn't mean they won't take me down too. This time was a different story. There was one guy who was obviously new to Omaha and used to Holdem. He kept pushing 2 pair and losing his ass. He had bad luck to boot as a number of times the river killed him. I sympathized, I was in the same boat a couple of weeks ago. But I took his chips none the less.
Things went pretty well. I kept it pretty tight and tried to pick the right spots. I made sure I played tighter than last time for the most part but I also hit some hands this time. My first hit was a king high flush. I stayed in a raised pot without the nut flush where sometimes I might fold it. But most of the people in the hand I knew stayed in with less. If I was unlucky enough to run into the ace so be it. But I didn't and even though it was a split pot, it was a big pot and half of that pot was almost $100 and a profit of over $60 for me. I was pretty reluctant to call with the king high flush but knowing who was in the hand I felt I was probably ahead and I was right. After that I stayed patient and made a few hands stand up. It would run in spurts where I'd hit a few hands then go through long stretches where I got nothing. As long as I didn't try to push anything then, I was fine. I would go throough 1 or 2 dealer changes and maybe play one hand outside of my blinds then a new dealer would come in and I would be in 3 of the next 4 hands and cash in most of them. I had 2 really good hands during that time. Both of them were kill pots.
This game plays a half kill where if someone scoops a pot (wins the whole pot, not a split pot) for over $60 the next hand would be played at $6-$12 rather than $4-8 and the winner is required to post $6 for the next hand. I played one hand with A334 with the A3 of diamonds. Flop is J 10 3 with the J-10 of diamonds. Well I like that. No one bets when it comes to me so I lead out for $6. And get 6 callers. Turn is a spade K which I don't like but since no one bets at it I decide to bet again. 4 people call my $12 bet. River is another J and when no one bets I lead out again for $12. Two people call me for some reason but can't beat my 3s full of Jacks which is a very nice $150 pot. There were 2 women and one guy who had to play almost every hand. One took a bit from me last time when she hit some incredibly ugly hands that stood up. This time I got a bit back from her and a lot more from the Holdem guy and the other woman. My best hand was against the holdem guy. Sitting with A2QQ with the A2 in clubs I saw a flop of 345 with the 34 of clubs. Bingo, nut low hand plus the straight flush draw. Holdem guy bets and I just call to keep as many people in as possible. Turn is perfect, the Q of clubs. Now I have the nut flush, nut low and I have no fears if the board pairs. He bets again and this time I raise. Unfortunately he is the only one to come along. River is another 5 giving me the full house. When we showed down he had A467 so he flopped the straight to the 7 but he couldn't get away from it and it cost him dearly when the clubs hit then the board paired.
I ran my original $100 up to about $410 before I hit a cold streak but when the PQ came by after bubbling out the final table I cashed out for $330. Definitely a good night's work. So perhaps getting busted out of the tourney was a benefit and not a curse. I'm gonna believe that.
Well Neo needs a nap. Hope everyone is having a great weekend and that it's dryer where you are than it is here. It is coming down here, outer portions of a tropical storm apparently. Stay lucky peeps.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Saturday Quickie
Just a few minutes to post this morning. All those people in Vegas have inspired me to try another go round. Also with all the trouble Mojo has had making a good hand stand up, I am hopeful my bad streak has come to an end or at least been transmitted somehow to someone else. I'm just gonna play my game and watch my aces crush someone else's AK and the chips come rolling in. I really wish I'd been able to hit Vegas this year with everyone else. But with all the work I'm doing and buying the house I just couldn't see how to take the time and spend the money to do it this year. Next year for sure.
It was another busy week at work but I really felt I got a lot done this week. I may go in tomorrow but even if I don't, I'm feeling better this week than I have lately about work. Got a lot to do though so maybe I will go in. I also had some good luck in a raffle being held at my wifes work. I won some tickets to the Rays vs Tigers on Friday. Great seats right behind home plate. This ought to be a lot of fun. Well let me wrap this up so I can get to Derby Lane. Good luck to all of us today
It was another busy week at work but I really felt I got a lot done this week. I may go in tomorrow but even if I don't, I'm feeling better this week than I have lately about work. Got a lot to do though so maybe I will go in. I also had some good luck in a raffle being held at my wifes work. I won some tickets to the Rays vs Tigers on Friday. Great seats right behind home plate. This ought to be a lot of fun. Well let me wrap this up so I can get to Derby Lane. Good luck to all of us today
Sunday, June 17, 2012
On second thought
After nearly 52 years on this planet I have come to the considered opinion that sometimes your first reaction is not necessarily the best course to take when you are posting something that could be around for quite awhile and read by those who know and don't know you. Like your wife and family for instance. Allow me to illustrate.
This is what I started to write about 1am today.
"Happy Fathers Day you Motherf****rs, because face it that's what you are or you wouldn't be celebrated on such a wondrous day as Fathers Day."
I was all prepared to go off on a rant about women and how I hate playing poker with those heartless witches because every time I do it seems I get hosed. Sometimes by the PQ. And then I fell asleep. Good choice.
Today it all seems just not that important in the grand scheme of things. There are better things to focus my time and energy on. Like breakfast, which I made for the PQ and daughter along with my sis in law and my 2 nieces and my younger son, his girlfriend and her kids. And dinner which I have in the crockpot as we speak and hope it turns out to taste as good as it smells.
Had a bit of a food fiesta this morning but it wasn't without a couple of missteps along the way. I burned some bacon (still getting used to the heat levels on this stove) and some biscuits as well. The bacon made it kinda smoky in here too. But it wasn't an epic fail and I did get my act together enough to make omelets with cheese, bacon, sausage, onions and mushrooms along with unburnt biscuits, home fries. The burning occurred because my attention was so divided having a stove that actually cooked the way it was supposed to and even hotter than I expected that it only took a little inattention to turn something from well done to crispy critter. But I managed to work my way around the issues and everyone seemed leave here satisfied after breakfast. I then collapsed in my chair and took a nap while the gang went to plunder Costco.
The great thing about crockpots is that you put the stuff together then you can set it and forget it. I actually put together dinner and got it started before I got to work on breakfast. I did get to use a present today as my son bought me an electric skillet. So instead of tying up one of the burners on the stove, I made the homefries in the electric skillet instead. Worked like a charm and the potatoes turned out great.
This stove has some nice extras I made use of as well. You can link the front and back burners together on one side and put down one of those long griddles and cook on the whole thing. Makes it great for cooking things like a bunch of bacon (when you aren't burning it) and I can't wait to try it for some other stuff. When you link the burners together there is a control that heats up the area between the burners. I guess I expected it not to be as hot as cooking on regular burners but they were hotter if anything. I started the burners out at 4-5 and took them down to about 3 after the first disaster. Also the stove has a warming drawer at the bottome where you normally have a draw to store pans and such. That was cool. After the bacon and biscuits were done I put them in the drawer while making the omelets and everything stayed hot. I do love this stove.
The nap was necessary because last night the PQ and I played a bit of poker at Derby Lane again. We got into the 8pm tourney and everything started out pretty well. Early on I was dealt 2 red aces in late position. I raised and this loose aggressive guy in the big blind called. I had a good read on him so I knew he could have just about anything. Flop is Queen high and all diamonds. He checks and I bet about 3/4 of the pot. I thought he might dump it there but he called. I was wondering if he was sitting on something like the K of diamonds, maybe K Q off so he had top pair and the flush draw. I didn't think he hit 2 pair as the flop was pretty disjointed and my only worry was if he had the flush already. Turn is a a 5 of clubs. He surprised me by betting out 1500. I stopped and looked at him while I thought. He then announced he had about 3500 behind him. I was thinking he seemed awfully confident about his hand which really got me thinking he might have the flush already but I just didn't think so. I was still leaning toward KQ and putting me on AK. River is a lovely J of diamonds. He checks to me and I put out 2000 which he surprises me by calling. I flipped over the nut flush and he seemed surprised I had AA in my hand the whole time. He mucked so I don't know what he actually had but he had to have either the K or 10 of diamonds I think to call my river bet.
I went from 10K to a bit over 15K in one fell swoop and I was pretty happy with that. I lost some chips on an AQ that I raised preflop only to have 3 callers with A5 off, 57 off and 22. The flop was 345. Another hand I flopped top pair on a KJJ board but I was able to avoid the carnage on both hands when the betting started going and I dumped them. The 57 made a straight when a 6 turned and the KJJ hand got pretty hectic on the turn as the other 2 jacks were in the hands of my opponents. But I was still sitting pretty good when the first hosing happened.
All 3 places to my left had women in them. The one right next to me I had played with before and she didn't concern me too much. The next gal was paying more attention to her sudoku book than the game. I knew she was playing ABC poker and I just avoided her whenever she put a decent bet out. The third girl was pretty aggressive and had lucked into one hand when she floated a guy post flop who had a pocket pair then turned her ace to win the hand. She had built up a bit of a stack but I wasn't overly worried. I was sitting in mid position and we were just in second blind level (50-100) when the shortie in seat 10 went all in for 825. I looked down at 99 and decided to just call and see what developed. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately a couple of others called including the gal next to me. Flop was pretty with K95 with 2 spades. It's checked to me and I checked as well. Gal next to me puts out 2000. Folded around back to me and I decided to either get her out or get her chips right there. She had about 4K left so I raised to 5500. That stopped her for a second but she pushed all in with K-10 of spades. I called and flipped up my set of 9s. Turn was a diamond 5 but river was the 4 of spades and I lose. That hurt but I still had a bit over 6K which was 60 big blinds still. I was a little pissed because I felt I had played it right and gotten unlucky but she did have a number of outs and unfortunately one of them hit.
So I shook it off and buckled down. A bit later I tangled with the guy I had taken that chunk off with AA. He was the one who had tripled up with 5-7 after I crippled him. He had a bit more in chips than I did now. I was in the small blind with A9 and he called in early position. One other guy called and I debated raising but hated being first to act after that so I just called as did the big blind. Flop was A88. I check as does the big blind and he bets out 800. Folded to me and I just opt to call. Turn is a 7. I check again. I doubt he has an 8 and I'm not afraid if he has an ace as my read is an A10 or better would have been a raise out of him even in early position. He checks behind me. River is a queen. Since I still think I'm ahead I check again. I think if I bet he folds it but if I check he'll take another stab at getting me out of the pot. It works when he bets out 2000. I debate raising him but figure he will only call if he does have a set so I call. He asks if I have a pair and flashes up his hand but I don't see it. So I decide to make him show because my view is if I call your bet, I have the right to see your cards as I paid for it. I motion to him and say "Lets see em" and he flips over J10 with a disgusted look. Sorry dude but you don't get to not show me. I flip over my ace and collect a nice pot which gets me back to just over my starting stack of 10K.
My final hand came on the next go round. Blinds at 75-150 and I get AA in the big blind. Gal 3 places to my left has about 20K now and she raises to 750 preflop. It gets folded to me and I decide to disguise the aces and try to get a big double up off of her. Flop is 10-6-3. She bets out 1000 and I pause for a second then call her. Turn is another 6. Well I think I'm pretty safe here, I doubt she raised A6. She bets out 3000. And I start thinking. I figure she has either JJ or QQ or possibly KK as it looks like she wants me out of this hand before a draw hits and thinks she's ahead of me pretty well. I look at my stack and a call will only leave me 4500 or so. So I push all in. Now she starts thinking but she calls after a few seconds and asks if I have 10s. I flip over aces which really surprised her and she shows queens. And the bastard dealer turns over a queen on the river.
Did I mention how much I hate women poker players? It's Fathers Day and I can rant about women if I want to. I wished everyone luck and went off to the bar and had a couple of beers to cool off for a bit while the PQ kept playing. She went out 11th, just before the final table and I quit playing 1-1 no limt then so we could head home down just a little (no hands to speak of there but at least no major suckouts against me) and that brings us to here. Well enough ranting.
Happy Fathers Day to all you dads. If your father is still living, I hope you connect with him today. I often wish my parents were still alive as I'd love for them to have met the PQ and our kids. My dad had struggles in his life but he did well to get over it and I really enjoyed the time we spent together after my mother died. He was one of the smartest guys I've known too. It would be nice to call him today and wish him a Happy Fathers Day. Well I'm off to take a shower and start preparing the rest of dinner. I hope everyone was luckier than me this weekend. Monday is coming all too fast.
This is what I started to write about 1am today.
"Happy Fathers Day you Motherf****rs, because face it that's what you are or you wouldn't be celebrated on such a wondrous day as Fathers Day."
I was all prepared to go off on a rant about women and how I hate playing poker with those heartless witches because every time I do it seems I get hosed. Sometimes by the PQ. And then I fell asleep. Good choice.
Today it all seems just not that important in the grand scheme of things. There are better things to focus my time and energy on. Like breakfast, which I made for the PQ and daughter along with my sis in law and my 2 nieces and my younger son, his girlfriend and her kids. And dinner which I have in the crockpot as we speak and hope it turns out to taste as good as it smells.
Had a bit of a food fiesta this morning but it wasn't without a couple of missteps along the way. I burned some bacon (still getting used to the heat levels on this stove) and some biscuits as well. The bacon made it kinda smoky in here too. But it wasn't an epic fail and I did get my act together enough to make omelets with cheese, bacon, sausage, onions and mushrooms along with unburnt biscuits, home fries. The burning occurred because my attention was so divided having a stove that actually cooked the way it was supposed to and even hotter than I expected that it only took a little inattention to turn something from well done to crispy critter. But I managed to work my way around the issues and everyone seemed leave here satisfied after breakfast. I then collapsed in my chair and took a nap while the gang went to plunder Costco.
The great thing about crockpots is that you put the stuff together then you can set it and forget it. I actually put together dinner and got it started before I got to work on breakfast. I did get to use a present today as my son bought me an electric skillet. So instead of tying up one of the burners on the stove, I made the homefries in the electric skillet instead. Worked like a charm and the potatoes turned out great.
This stove has some nice extras I made use of as well. You can link the front and back burners together on one side and put down one of those long griddles and cook on the whole thing. Makes it great for cooking things like a bunch of bacon (when you aren't burning it) and I can't wait to try it for some other stuff. When you link the burners together there is a control that heats up the area between the burners. I guess I expected it not to be as hot as cooking on regular burners but they were hotter if anything. I started the burners out at 4-5 and took them down to about 3 after the first disaster. Also the stove has a warming drawer at the bottome where you normally have a draw to store pans and such. That was cool. After the bacon and biscuits were done I put them in the drawer while making the omelets and everything stayed hot. I do love this stove.
The nap was necessary because last night the PQ and I played a bit of poker at Derby Lane again. We got into the 8pm tourney and everything started out pretty well. Early on I was dealt 2 red aces in late position. I raised and this loose aggressive guy in the big blind called. I had a good read on him so I knew he could have just about anything. Flop is Queen high and all diamonds. He checks and I bet about 3/4 of the pot. I thought he might dump it there but he called. I was wondering if he was sitting on something like the K of diamonds, maybe K Q off so he had top pair and the flush draw. I didn't think he hit 2 pair as the flop was pretty disjointed and my only worry was if he had the flush already. Turn is a a 5 of clubs. He surprised me by betting out 1500. I stopped and looked at him while I thought. He then announced he had about 3500 behind him. I was thinking he seemed awfully confident about his hand which really got me thinking he might have the flush already but I just didn't think so. I was still leaning toward KQ and putting me on AK. River is a lovely J of diamonds. He checks to me and I put out 2000 which he surprises me by calling. I flipped over the nut flush and he seemed surprised I had AA in my hand the whole time. He mucked so I don't know what he actually had but he had to have either the K or 10 of diamonds I think to call my river bet.
I went from 10K to a bit over 15K in one fell swoop and I was pretty happy with that. I lost some chips on an AQ that I raised preflop only to have 3 callers with A5 off, 57 off and 22. The flop was 345. Another hand I flopped top pair on a KJJ board but I was able to avoid the carnage on both hands when the betting started going and I dumped them. The 57 made a straight when a 6 turned and the KJJ hand got pretty hectic on the turn as the other 2 jacks were in the hands of my opponents. But I was still sitting pretty good when the first hosing happened.
All 3 places to my left had women in them. The one right next to me I had played with before and she didn't concern me too much. The next gal was paying more attention to her sudoku book than the game. I knew she was playing ABC poker and I just avoided her whenever she put a decent bet out. The third girl was pretty aggressive and had lucked into one hand when she floated a guy post flop who had a pocket pair then turned her ace to win the hand. She had built up a bit of a stack but I wasn't overly worried. I was sitting in mid position and we were just in second blind level (50-100) when the shortie in seat 10 went all in for 825. I looked down at 99 and decided to just call and see what developed. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately a couple of others called including the gal next to me. Flop was pretty with K95 with 2 spades. It's checked to me and I checked as well. Gal next to me puts out 2000. Folded around back to me and I decided to either get her out or get her chips right there. She had about 4K left so I raised to 5500. That stopped her for a second but she pushed all in with K-10 of spades. I called and flipped up my set of 9s. Turn was a diamond 5 but river was the 4 of spades and I lose. That hurt but I still had a bit over 6K which was 60 big blinds still. I was a little pissed because I felt I had played it right and gotten unlucky but she did have a number of outs and unfortunately one of them hit.
So I shook it off and buckled down. A bit later I tangled with the guy I had taken that chunk off with AA. He was the one who had tripled up with 5-7 after I crippled him. He had a bit more in chips than I did now. I was in the small blind with A9 and he called in early position. One other guy called and I debated raising but hated being first to act after that so I just called as did the big blind. Flop was A88. I check as does the big blind and he bets out 800. Folded to me and I just opt to call. Turn is a 7. I check again. I doubt he has an 8 and I'm not afraid if he has an ace as my read is an A10 or better would have been a raise out of him even in early position. He checks behind me. River is a queen. Since I still think I'm ahead I check again. I think if I bet he folds it but if I check he'll take another stab at getting me out of the pot. It works when he bets out 2000. I debate raising him but figure he will only call if he does have a set so I call. He asks if I have a pair and flashes up his hand but I don't see it. So I decide to make him show because my view is if I call your bet, I have the right to see your cards as I paid for it. I motion to him and say "Lets see em" and he flips over J10 with a disgusted look. Sorry dude but you don't get to not show me. I flip over my ace and collect a nice pot which gets me back to just over my starting stack of 10K.
My final hand came on the next go round. Blinds at 75-150 and I get AA in the big blind. Gal 3 places to my left has about 20K now and she raises to 750 preflop. It gets folded to me and I decide to disguise the aces and try to get a big double up off of her. Flop is 10-6-3. She bets out 1000 and I pause for a second then call her. Turn is another 6. Well I think I'm pretty safe here, I doubt she raised A6. She bets out 3000. And I start thinking. I figure she has either JJ or QQ or possibly KK as it looks like she wants me out of this hand before a draw hits and thinks she's ahead of me pretty well. I look at my stack and a call will only leave me 4500 or so. So I push all in. Now she starts thinking but she calls after a few seconds and asks if I have 10s. I flip over aces which really surprised her and she shows queens. And the bastard dealer turns over a queen on the river.
Did I mention how much I hate women poker players? It's Fathers Day and I can rant about women if I want to. I wished everyone luck and went off to the bar and had a couple of beers to cool off for a bit while the PQ kept playing. She went out 11th, just before the final table and I quit playing 1-1 no limt then so we could head home down just a little (no hands to speak of there but at least no major suckouts against me) and that brings us to here. Well enough ranting.
Happy Fathers Day to all you dads. If your father is still living, I hope you connect with him today. I often wish my parents were still alive as I'd love for them to have met the PQ and our kids. My dad had struggles in his life but he did well to get over it and I really enjoyed the time we spent together after my mother died. He was one of the smartest guys I've known too. It would be nice to call him today and wish him a Happy Fathers Day. Well I'm off to take a shower and start preparing the rest of dinner. I hope everyone was luckier than me this weekend. Monday is coming all too fast.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
This is her world
And I get to share it with her. Last weekend the PQ played in a women's poker tourney which was part of the High Heels Poker Tour. They are a group that tries to get more women into poker and they conduct periodic tourneys around her. The PQ did pretty well but got Robbed when they got down to 2 tables when her KK was beaten after getting all in against A-10 when an A hit the river. She was not happy about that but unfortunately, that is what happens too often when you play those two losers. Earlier in the tourney she had made a big double up with the same 2 cards when she busted out another gal. Anyway we were looking at the HHPT website and there was a picture of her in the tourney. I tried to reproduce it but the site wouldn't let me but you can see it here under the Derby Lane pictures. She is just sitting there (without her crown) looking at the at the flop with a "We are not amused" look on her face. Trust me I have seen that look from her on many occasions. I even deserve the look sometimes.
But not today. I just completed feeding the family plus my oldest niece who spent the night with one of my patented Sunday morning food fests. Gave the new stove/oven a nice workout when I made bacon, home fried potatoes, omelets with cheese, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and baked up some biscuits. Add in some coffee and pineapple/orange juice and you got yourself a nice start to the day. The sun is shining, it's warm outside and all is right in the world.
Last night we hit Derby Lane again for the 8pm tourney. Actually I hit the room in the afternoon while the PQ went and ran some errands and spent some girl time with our summer resident back from college also known as our only daughter. I wanted to get in some quality time at the Omaha tables. I should have spent the day sleeping. Early on I made some nice chips when I scooped a pot after making a full house on the river. It was ahead with 2 pair at that point and the river made it official. It was about the last time anything I made held up. I spent the next 4 hours looking at crap hands and dumping them or having good hands, seeing bad flops and dumping, or on a rare occasion, getting a good hand and seeing a nice flop only to have the turn and river crush me. It got awful. One hand I had A256 with the A2 of spades. Flop comes out 34K with two spades. I have the open ended straight draw, the nut flush draw, and the nut low draw. Turn and river are 9-10 without a spade. I bet the whole way and all I do is lose. After the flop I have 8 outs for the nut flush and 9 others for the nut straight. Another 4 give me the non nut straight (a 5 or 6) that may not hold up but at least makes my low. Also 3 more 8s that make my low as well. So if we're scoring at home there are 24 cards, to make anywhere from part to all of the winning hand and in 2 shots I got nothing.
This is the way Omaha hi/lo goes sometimes but for more than 4 hours it continued this way. I never got any more winning hands outside of a couple of small split pots and even when I hit hands, the turn or river killed me. I flopped a grand total of one set when I had a pair in my hand and managed to lose that to a runner runner straight. Now I felt good after my hour long massage earlier in the day but this taxed me sorely. Especially watching these moronic players who were trying to donate their funds but instead were taking the worst cards imaginable and making hands with them. Some days it sucks to play Omaha.
When the PQ arrived and signed up for the 8 pm tourney I gave her some cash to sign me up too. I was done with losing my ass in ring games and figured a tourney was a place I could lose my ass and it would cost me only a fixed amount. That probably saved me some money right there.
The tourney started out slow and I began observing my fellow seatmates, especially the 2 on my left. I was in seat one. In seat 2 was a gal in Rays gear. She was fairly aggressive and I saw her tangle with one guy and stay in with an A7. The other guy had A5 and she won a nice pot. I bluffed at a pot early on with 42 and she called my post flop bet. Then when an ace hit the turn she reraised me and I let it go. She would float hands hoping for an ace and really didn't give her opponents credit for an ace. Usually she was right and she made some nice chips but I got her pretty good a little later when I had A-10 and an ace flopped. She called every street with a weaker ace and gave me a couple of thousand chips.
The guy to the left of her was very aggressive and would make big moves when he felt he was ahead. He won a few mid sized pots early on then lost most of his gains when he pushed at someone who flopped 2 pair. I was in the small blind and he was first to act. He raised to 350 when blinds were 25/50 which I thought was a pretty big raise. I put him on AK, AQ, AJ or a mid pair from 7s to Js or Qs. One guy calls and I look down at my hand to see KK. I figure with the way my day has gone so far, its time to get Robbed again. I raise to 1350. Rays gal next to me calls. Not surprising there but then the original raiser goes over the top all in. He has almost as many chips as I do at this time. The first caller folds and it comes back to me. Sometimes this is an easy call but early in a tourney when I still have my whole stack I really don't want to risk it all with anything less than AA. Then again opportunities to double up early with a monster hand like KK don't come around all that often. So I thought for a bit about my opponent and his betting and how he had just taken a beat and may be apt to push a less than stellar hand in. So I call for almost my entire stack. Luckily Rays girl folds and we're heads up. I'm sure this guy hoped I had something like AK but he was very sad to see KK when he flipped over JJ. He did not improve and I doubled up to 22 K.
Rays gal then went on a tear and I had a little bad luck when my AQ could not beat a shorty's 10-10. At the first break I'm down to about 16k and she is well over 20. The PQ is on the table next to mine and she catches a guy making a move when she flops a set of kings. Next thing you know it's buh -bye for him and she is up to 24K.
A new guy moves into the seat to the left of the Rays gal and man is he aggressive. He tangles Rays gal and she takes a chunk off him with a semi weak ace but he ends up getting her back a bit later. He is raising in all kinds of positions with just about anything but he gets AQ and she pushes at him with A6 Unfortunately I am card dead and can't make him pay. I know he is raising up on crap but I am getting 9-4 and J-6 a lot. I had to bide my time. I lost another chunk when an A9 beat my AJ when a 9 hit. I was sitting on 5300 with blinds at 400-800 when I looked down at K9 in the small blind. Everyone folded to me and I was sure if I just called, Mr Hyper Aggression would raise me all in. I knew I had a better than average hand so I figured to call him. As expected he raised to 8K and I snapped called him. I flipped over K9 to his Q6. I caught a 9 and he never improved doubling me up to over 12K. Our table broke soon after and both he and I were moved to the next table over. I look to my left and lo and behold, there is the PQ directly on my left. And directly on my right where I prefer him to be is Mr Hyper Aggression.
The PQ is sitting over 30K, Mr HA is sitting over 100K and I'm at 12. Average stack is 23K so I need to get to work but with mostly new people to deal with, I kinda have to feel my way. So I keep it tight. I do manage a couple of preflop steals to keep my chips up but I don't have much to talk about yet. Then I tangle with Mr HA again. First the PQ takes a big chunk out of Mr HA when she takes him on in a multi way pot. She raises preflop and a shorty to her left pushes in for a bit more. Mr HA calls and so does the PQ. Flop is 652 and HA pushes in. She snap calls him and flips over 99. He has AK and the shorty had AJ. Neither improves and the PQ near triples up which was good as she had been losing chips up to then. She is up to near 40K after that. The next hand I look down at 99. I was down to just under 13k with blinds at 500-1000 so I can't fool around. A couple of limpers and it comes to me in the big blind when I push all in. It goes around to a mid stack a few seats to my left who goes into the think tank. The way she is thinking I am pretty sure I'm ahead but I don't know if I want a call or not. I figure not but she surprises me by eventually calling. She flips over 66 and is unhappy to see 99, especially after the wife had it the previous hand. She doesn't get better and its score one for the good guys as I am now over 30K. Not out of danger but a lot better.
Mr HA on the other hand is going the wrong way. He feels it's his duty to take out the shorties except he is usually behind when he calls. A couple of times he calls on races and loses but a couple of others he is well behind and doesn't get his card. He is down from 100 to 45K when I raise to 5400 under the gun. It folds to him and he pushes all in. I can't sit around on JJ and call him. He surprisingly flips over A5 suited and doesn't improve. From 100K he is now down to 15K. Yes he didn't have much luck on some calls but he really didn't need to play table captain and try to knock out everyone. Hell 100K was over 20% of the chips in play. He could have sat around waiting for big hands and just used a little controlled aggression to keep his stack even but instead pissed it away. Not that I minded as the PQ and I were big beneficiaries.
A little later I picked up 99 again and when he pushed in for his last 15K I took him out though I cannot remember what he had. I had a run of good cards and good results and got myself up to 68K. Unfortunately I found it hard to keep that as well.
I called a shorty's all in with AJ but he had JJ and I didn't improve. I tried a couple of steals and got called and raised out. With blinds and antes increasing and my hands decreasing I had a hard time keeping chips up. The PQ didn't and she kept between 35 and 50K as I kept losing. One hand really cost me when I was in the big blind and 4 of us saw a flop of K55. Yes. Everyone checks the flop and the turn is a 9 putting 2 spades and 2 clubs on the board. I make a near pot sized bet and get 2 callers. River is an ugly 3 of spades. I check and the last to act bets 8K. I thought about folding but called and he flipped over 2 little spades to beat my trips. Damn I should have just bet the flop and taken down a decent little pot rather than trying to get a big pot going. That cost me. Finally we get down to 1 table but I am the short stack while the PQ is in okay shape at 45K. I manage to keep the same seat I had but she is moved 2 seats to my right.
Nothing happens for a bit but with blinds and antes, no one can wait around too long. Early on one lady pushes in with AK but runs into KK and does not Rob him. And we're down to 9. The PQ whacks one guy and I manage to chip up a bit when I bluff out 2 guys with 78 suited. Can I help it if they give me credit for a real hand? We get down to 7 people and it really becomes a grind. I'm down to about 18K when I pick up AK in the small blind. I push all in to take down the blinds and antes. That doesn't sound like much but with 2500/5000 blinds and 500 antes that's over 10k. I get AK the very next hand and push again. No one calls and I'm now over 40K. Next hand 3 of us see a flop of 10-8-6 of hearts. I'm sitting on 99 with the 9 of hearts. I should have pushed in for 37K right there as I was on the button but only bet a little less than the pot. Of course one guy calls and another heart hits. If it was the 7 of hearts I would have been thrilled but it was the 3. He pushes in and I think really hard before finally folding. I showed my heart 9 and he showed the Q so it was a good fold but I shouldn't have given him the chance. He had a good sized stack but I doubt he calls an all in there for near half his stack. Or maybe I push all in preflop and take another 10k there but figured I'm gonna get called if I push a 3rd time and 99 is really vulnerable if more than one person calls me. Bad play on my part I think now.
This woman to my left is really getting low and eventually pushes all in to a 3 way pot. Her AJ doesn't beat another guy's AQ and she is gone and we're down to 6. I'm back to being the shorty but determined not to just hang around. I manage to keep my stack but everyone seems content to wait me out. I push in with A6 in the small blind but the big blind calls me with AK. I'm out until a 6 hits the flop and I make a key double up. Eventually 2 guys tangle and one walks away with the chips while the other walks away with the bubble (and my thanks). Everyone chipped in $20 so the bubble boy got his money back but I'm the happy camper who made it to the money. The PQ is looking good in 3rd place and though she is nowhere close to the chip leader she has plenty to keep going with. With blinds at 3k/6k I can't wait around. In the big blind the UTG raises and the big stack calls. I look at J9suited which isn't terrible and maybe I can get lucky triple up here so I call for all my stack. Unfortunately one guy had JJ and I'm gone in 5th for $300
After I'm gone the table keeps playing the the PQ starts abusing these guys. She suggested a chop but one guy didn't want too so she goes to work on them. As tight as she has usually played, they give her credit for hands she doesn't always have and she starts chipping up nicely. One guy with AA folded to her turn bet all in when the board ran out Q9Q7 telling her he was sure she had a Q. She not only had it, she had the 9 too for a flopped full house. Later I told her checking the turn was the perfect strategy there as she may have gotten him to push her all in either there or on the river. The dealer showed the river card. It was the last Q!. Anyway one other guy gets knocked out in 4th place and she continues to abuse both of the other guys some more until they finally decide to split it up. Her take was nearly $1000 so a profitable day was had by us both. I made her buy me food on the way home too.
In other news the watch whore struck again. I was looking at some stuff online and saw this watch on sale. I liked the looks of the billiard ball numbers at 12, 3, 6, & 9 so I bought it. I haven't been disappointed since I got it and when I went to Derby Lane yesterday I had forgotten to put a watch on. For me to be without a watch is like a stripper to be without a tattoo. I just feel lost without one and since I don't wear any jewelry except a wedding ring so I guess a watch is my only way to accessorize. And when I see a watch I like that looks a little different, I look for a good price on it. If I find it in my price range, I buy it. Anyway I asked the PQ to bring a watch with her when she came out to play poker and she brought this one. After improving my results so much, I think I will have to wear it everytime I play.
Well that's enough for today I think. I just kept going on and on and on. Some chick in Massachusetts probably will stop reading about 8 paragraphs ago cuz this got too long but too bad for her. If you made it this far, congratulations, I feel for you. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Stay lucky folks, hope your A6 can suck out on AK too.
But not today. I just completed feeding the family plus my oldest niece who spent the night with one of my patented Sunday morning food fests. Gave the new stove/oven a nice workout when I made bacon, home fried potatoes, omelets with cheese, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and baked up some biscuits. Add in some coffee and pineapple/orange juice and you got yourself a nice start to the day. The sun is shining, it's warm outside and all is right in the world.
Last night we hit Derby Lane again for the 8pm tourney. Actually I hit the room in the afternoon while the PQ went and ran some errands and spent some girl time with our summer resident back from college also known as our only daughter. I wanted to get in some quality time at the Omaha tables. I should have spent the day sleeping. Early on I made some nice chips when I scooped a pot after making a full house on the river. It was ahead with 2 pair at that point and the river made it official. It was about the last time anything I made held up. I spent the next 4 hours looking at crap hands and dumping them or having good hands, seeing bad flops and dumping, or on a rare occasion, getting a good hand and seeing a nice flop only to have the turn and river crush me. It got awful. One hand I had A256 with the A2 of spades. Flop comes out 34K with two spades. I have the open ended straight draw, the nut flush draw, and the nut low draw. Turn and river are 9-10 without a spade. I bet the whole way and all I do is lose. After the flop I have 8 outs for the nut flush and 9 others for the nut straight. Another 4 give me the non nut straight (a 5 or 6) that may not hold up but at least makes my low. Also 3 more 8s that make my low as well. So if we're scoring at home there are 24 cards, to make anywhere from part to all of the winning hand and in 2 shots I got nothing.
This is the way Omaha hi/lo goes sometimes but for more than 4 hours it continued this way. I never got any more winning hands outside of a couple of small split pots and even when I hit hands, the turn or river killed me. I flopped a grand total of one set when I had a pair in my hand and managed to lose that to a runner runner straight. Now I felt good after my hour long massage earlier in the day but this taxed me sorely. Especially watching these moronic players who were trying to donate their funds but instead were taking the worst cards imaginable and making hands with them. Some days it sucks to play Omaha.
When the PQ arrived and signed up for the 8 pm tourney I gave her some cash to sign me up too. I was done with losing my ass in ring games and figured a tourney was a place I could lose my ass and it would cost me only a fixed amount. That probably saved me some money right there.
The tourney started out slow and I began observing my fellow seatmates, especially the 2 on my left. I was in seat one. In seat 2 was a gal in Rays gear. She was fairly aggressive and I saw her tangle with one guy and stay in with an A7. The other guy had A5 and she won a nice pot. I bluffed at a pot early on with 42 and she called my post flop bet. Then when an ace hit the turn she reraised me and I let it go. She would float hands hoping for an ace and really didn't give her opponents credit for an ace. Usually she was right and she made some nice chips but I got her pretty good a little later when I had A-10 and an ace flopped. She called every street with a weaker ace and gave me a couple of thousand chips.
The guy to the left of her was very aggressive and would make big moves when he felt he was ahead. He won a few mid sized pots early on then lost most of his gains when he pushed at someone who flopped 2 pair. I was in the small blind and he was first to act. He raised to 350 when blinds were 25/50 which I thought was a pretty big raise. I put him on AK, AQ, AJ or a mid pair from 7s to Js or Qs. One guy calls and I look down at my hand to see KK. I figure with the way my day has gone so far, its time to get Robbed again. I raise to 1350. Rays gal next to me calls. Not surprising there but then the original raiser goes over the top all in. He has almost as many chips as I do at this time. The first caller folds and it comes back to me. Sometimes this is an easy call but early in a tourney when I still have my whole stack I really don't want to risk it all with anything less than AA. Then again opportunities to double up early with a monster hand like KK don't come around all that often. So I thought for a bit about my opponent and his betting and how he had just taken a beat and may be apt to push a less than stellar hand in. So I call for almost my entire stack. Luckily Rays girl folds and we're heads up. I'm sure this guy hoped I had something like AK but he was very sad to see KK when he flipped over JJ. He did not improve and I doubled up to 22 K.
Rays gal then went on a tear and I had a little bad luck when my AQ could not beat a shorty's 10-10. At the first break I'm down to about 16k and she is well over 20. The PQ is on the table next to mine and she catches a guy making a move when she flops a set of kings. Next thing you know it's buh -bye for him and she is up to 24K.
A new guy moves into the seat to the left of the Rays gal and man is he aggressive. He tangles Rays gal and she takes a chunk off him with a semi weak ace but he ends up getting her back a bit later. He is raising in all kinds of positions with just about anything but he gets AQ and she pushes at him with A6 Unfortunately I am card dead and can't make him pay. I know he is raising up on crap but I am getting 9-4 and J-6 a lot. I had to bide my time. I lost another chunk when an A9 beat my AJ when a 9 hit. I was sitting on 5300 with blinds at 400-800 when I looked down at K9 in the small blind. Everyone folded to me and I was sure if I just called, Mr Hyper Aggression would raise me all in. I knew I had a better than average hand so I figured to call him. As expected he raised to 8K and I snapped called him. I flipped over K9 to his Q6. I caught a 9 and he never improved doubling me up to over 12K. Our table broke soon after and both he and I were moved to the next table over. I look to my left and lo and behold, there is the PQ directly on my left. And directly on my right where I prefer him to be is Mr Hyper Aggression.
The PQ is sitting over 30K, Mr HA is sitting over 100K and I'm at 12. Average stack is 23K so I need to get to work but with mostly new people to deal with, I kinda have to feel my way. So I keep it tight. I do manage a couple of preflop steals to keep my chips up but I don't have much to talk about yet. Then I tangle with Mr HA again. First the PQ takes a big chunk out of Mr HA when she takes him on in a multi way pot. She raises preflop and a shorty to her left pushes in for a bit more. Mr HA calls and so does the PQ. Flop is 652 and HA pushes in. She snap calls him and flips over 99. He has AK and the shorty had AJ. Neither improves and the PQ near triples up which was good as she had been losing chips up to then. She is up to near 40K after that. The next hand I look down at 99. I was down to just under 13k with blinds at 500-1000 so I can't fool around. A couple of limpers and it comes to me in the big blind when I push all in. It goes around to a mid stack a few seats to my left who goes into the think tank. The way she is thinking I am pretty sure I'm ahead but I don't know if I want a call or not. I figure not but she surprises me by eventually calling. She flips over 66 and is unhappy to see 99, especially after the wife had it the previous hand. She doesn't get better and its score one for the good guys as I am now over 30K. Not out of danger but a lot better.
Mr HA on the other hand is going the wrong way. He feels it's his duty to take out the shorties except he is usually behind when he calls. A couple of times he calls on races and loses but a couple of others he is well behind and doesn't get his card. He is down from 100 to 45K when I raise to 5400 under the gun. It folds to him and he pushes all in. I can't sit around on JJ and call him. He surprisingly flips over A5 suited and doesn't improve. From 100K he is now down to 15K. Yes he didn't have much luck on some calls but he really didn't need to play table captain and try to knock out everyone. Hell 100K was over 20% of the chips in play. He could have sat around waiting for big hands and just used a little controlled aggression to keep his stack even but instead pissed it away. Not that I minded as the PQ and I were big beneficiaries.
A little later I picked up 99 again and when he pushed in for his last 15K I took him out though I cannot remember what he had. I had a run of good cards and good results and got myself up to 68K. Unfortunately I found it hard to keep that as well.
I called a shorty's all in with AJ but he had JJ and I didn't improve. I tried a couple of steals and got called and raised out. With blinds and antes increasing and my hands decreasing I had a hard time keeping chips up. The PQ didn't and she kept between 35 and 50K as I kept losing. One hand really cost me when I was in the big blind and 4 of us saw a flop of K55. Yes. Everyone checks the flop and the turn is a 9 putting 2 spades and 2 clubs on the board. I make a near pot sized bet and get 2 callers. River is an ugly 3 of spades. I check and the last to act bets 8K. I thought about folding but called and he flipped over 2 little spades to beat my trips. Damn I should have just bet the flop and taken down a decent little pot rather than trying to get a big pot going. That cost me. Finally we get down to 1 table but I am the short stack while the PQ is in okay shape at 45K. I manage to keep the same seat I had but she is moved 2 seats to my right.
Nothing happens for a bit but with blinds and antes, no one can wait around too long. Early on one lady pushes in with AK but runs into KK and does not Rob him. And we're down to 9. The PQ whacks one guy and I manage to chip up a bit when I bluff out 2 guys with 78 suited. Can I help it if they give me credit for a real hand? We get down to 7 people and it really becomes a grind. I'm down to about 18K when I pick up AK in the small blind. I push all in to take down the blinds and antes. That doesn't sound like much but with 2500/5000 blinds and 500 antes that's over 10k. I get AK the very next hand and push again. No one calls and I'm now over 40K. Next hand 3 of us see a flop of 10-8-6 of hearts. I'm sitting on 99 with the 9 of hearts. I should have pushed in for 37K right there as I was on the button but only bet a little less than the pot. Of course one guy calls and another heart hits. If it was the 7 of hearts I would have been thrilled but it was the 3. He pushes in and I think really hard before finally folding. I showed my heart 9 and he showed the Q so it was a good fold but I shouldn't have given him the chance. He had a good sized stack but I doubt he calls an all in there for near half his stack. Or maybe I push all in preflop and take another 10k there but figured I'm gonna get called if I push a 3rd time and 99 is really vulnerable if more than one person calls me. Bad play on my part I think now.
This woman to my left is really getting low and eventually pushes all in to a 3 way pot. Her AJ doesn't beat another guy's AQ and she is gone and we're down to 6. I'm back to being the shorty but determined not to just hang around. I manage to keep my stack but everyone seems content to wait me out. I push in with A6 in the small blind but the big blind calls me with AK. I'm out until a 6 hits the flop and I make a key double up. Eventually 2 guys tangle and one walks away with the chips while the other walks away with the bubble (and my thanks). Everyone chipped in $20 so the bubble boy got his money back but I'm the happy camper who made it to the money. The PQ is looking good in 3rd place and though she is nowhere close to the chip leader she has plenty to keep going with. With blinds at 3k/6k I can't wait around. In the big blind the UTG raises and the big stack calls. I look at J9suited which isn't terrible and maybe I can get lucky triple up here so I call for all my stack. Unfortunately one guy had JJ and I'm gone in 5th for $300
After I'm gone the table keeps playing the the PQ starts abusing these guys. She suggested a chop but one guy didn't want too so she goes to work on them. As tight as she has usually played, they give her credit for hands she doesn't always have and she starts chipping up nicely. One guy with AA folded to her turn bet all in when the board ran out Q9Q7 telling her he was sure she had a Q. She not only had it, she had the 9 too for a flopped full house. Later I told her checking the turn was the perfect strategy there as she may have gotten him to push her all in either there or on the river. The dealer showed the river card. It was the last Q!. Anyway one other guy gets knocked out in 4th place and she continues to abuse both of the other guys some more until they finally decide to split it up. Her take was nearly $1000 so a profitable day was had by us both. I made her buy me food on the way home too.
In other news the watch whore struck again. I was looking at some stuff online and saw this watch on sale. I liked the looks of the billiard ball numbers at 12, 3, 6, & 9 so I bought it. I haven't been disappointed since I got it and when I went to Derby Lane yesterday I had forgotten to put a watch on. For me to be without a watch is like a stripper to be without a tattoo. I just feel lost without one and since I don't wear any jewelry except a wedding ring so I guess a watch is my only way to accessorize. And when I see a watch I like that looks a little different, I look for a good price on it. If I find it in my price range, I buy it. Anyway I asked the PQ to bring a watch with her when she came out to play poker and she brought this one. After improving my results so much, I think I will have to wear it everytime I play.
Well that's enough for today I think. I just kept going on and on and on. Some chick in Massachusetts probably will stop reading about 8 paragraphs ago cuz this got too long but too bad for her. If you made it this far, congratulations, I feel for you. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Stay lucky folks, hope your A6 can suck out on AK too.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Now don't be too surprised
But yes I am posting once again. What has gotten into me? I guess that 4 day weekend over Memorial Day actually did me some good in the rest department. And I actually have more poker content to blog about.
So far I had played on both Friday and Saturday night but the PQ had not played at all. So she wanted to play on Sunday in the 7pm tourney. Poker 3 days in a row? Sign me up. We both got into the tourney on time. $85 entry fee with $10 for every knockout. Not that I saw any of that.
My table was difficult at best. I had 2 raising machines to my right and another one on my left. I was not getting anything worth playing, even the 2/4 failed me. It got old looking at people raising and never getting cards to go to war with. I made a few position raises to keep from being run over. First time I get reraised and then a somewhat shorter stack pushes all in. Ok, I'm out of this one. Pocket 10s go up against AA and lose. I chose discretion over valor and folded. Good choice as the aces would have taken me out too.
Not long after I get AK in early position and raise 4x the big blind. A guy across the table reraises and the very aggressive guy next to him pushes all in over the top. He had done this before and I was pretty sure I was ahead of him but the reraiser I was not so sure about. It gets folded to me and while I'm thinking about whether to call or not I see the guy across the table cutting out chips to call. I felt like he had a big hand and that the aggressive guy probably had something like AQ. If it was just the 2 of us I call but I was sure I was up against a big pair so I folded. Turned out the guy across from me had QQ and the aggressive guy turns over AK as well. And of course flops a K to win the pot. I felt like I made the right read and play but damn it still worked out wrong for me.
The only other hand I had worth speaking about was KK under the gun. The table had been so aggressive I felt safe just calling the blind and letting someone else raise it up. Unfortunately no one helped me out and 5 of us see a flop of A76. Immediately the lady to my right bets and it's good bye cowboys. I really felt like I was Robbed again but maybe it was for the best. If I raise, I'm sure one of the weak aces calls me and after that flop I'm dead. I at least remembered not to go broke with KK when an ace hits the flop. Something one of my table mates did not remember. And he took the walk of shame from the table when he lost to A9.
I did manage to chip up on a bluff when 3 hearts hit the board. I also managed to make a hand with JJ to get myself a little over starting stack but the blinds kept going up. Eventually I got AK of clubs and raised in late position. The big blind had a big hand I knew (he tried to raise when he was the blind) but unless he had AA or KK, it's worth it to me to push in and hope. Of course he had AA. I did flop a K but no clubs and no other K hit and it was good night to me.
I had an entry to a free roll tourney at 9 that night and since I was knocked out just before 9 it was handy for me. The freeroll paid top 6 places and had either 6 or 8 tables. Got off to a slow start but this was a quick tourney with 10 minute blinds so there was no time to mess around. Lady 2 seats to my left was extremely aggressive willing to push in on marginal hands and draws but she got lucky a couple of times and chipped up well. Any decent ace was good enough for her. I kept it tight but took some shots and chipped up myself. There were some pretty weak players at the table and I abused them enough to keep my stack up. Blinds moved fast though. I did manage a nice double up when I called a raise with 66 and flopped the set. Original raiser pushed in after the flop and was very disappointed to see my set. I was hoping someone else would call as well but everyone else folded.
Made it to the final table but got card dead at the wrong time. Everyone got more and more aggressive as the blinds accelerated. Finally I pick up A9 in the small blind. Big stack makes a big raise which signalled to me he had something from 10s down to 5s or so. I was ok to push into that especially as short as I was getting. So I called and saw he had JJ. Damn. No ace for me and I was done.
After a short break to lick my wounds, I joined the PQ at a 1-1 no limit table. She had final tabled the first tourney we were in but got knocked out when her KK was run down by A10. Why don't we ever get to do that? But the 1-1 table was a good place to lick our wounds. Fun table with a lot of back and forth. I managed to finally make a few hands and also get people to bet into me. One guy decided to push all in over my continuation bet on a 10 high flop. He figured I raised a big ace and he could take it away from me post flop when it didn't hit. Too bad for him my original raise was with QQ. I thought a second and called. He didn't like flipping over AJ and losing all his chips. That was a good decision. I managed to make a few hands though the PQ got me with of all things, KK. But we both walked away winners from that table. Not enough to cover the cost of my tourney buy in but a pretty good gain none the less.
So nothing great to report still it was a fun weekend all in all and restful to boot. Since then work has been the usual grind. Almost 16 hours of OT this week alone and I'm going in on Sunday to boot. Lucky me. Still it pays the bills and leaves me some extra cash for poker, just not as much time for it. Gotta wrap up now as I better hit the showers. The PQ and I are scheduled for a massage at 11 then I play on playing some Omaha 8 this afternoon. Tonight the daughter is having friends over so we're playing in a tourney tonight. I hope everyone has a good weekend and a profitable one too. And if anyone does really well, how about buying me a new fridge?
So far I had played on both Friday and Saturday night but the PQ had not played at all. So she wanted to play on Sunday in the 7pm tourney. Poker 3 days in a row? Sign me up. We both got into the tourney on time. $85 entry fee with $10 for every knockout. Not that I saw any of that.
My table was difficult at best. I had 2 raising machines to my right and another one on my left. I was not getting anything worth playing, even the 2/4 failed me. It got old looking at people raising and never getting cards to go to war with. I made a few position raises to keep from being run over. First time I get reraised and then a somewhat shorter stack pushes all in. Ok, I'm out of this one. Pocket 10s go up against AA and lose. I chose discretion over valor and folded. Good choice as the aces would have taken me out too.
Not long after I get AK in early position and raise 4x the big blind. A guy across the table reraises and the very aggressive guy next to him pushes all in over the top. He had done this before and I was pretty sure I was ahead of him but the reraiser I was not so sure about. It gets folded to me and while I'm thinking about whether to call or not I see the guy across the table cutting out chips to call. I felt like he had a big hand and that the aggressive guy probably had something like AQ. If it was just the 2 of us I call but I was sure I was up against a big pair so I folded. Turned out the guy across from me had QQ and the aggressive guy turns over AK as well. And of course flops a K to win the pot. I felt like I made the right read and play but damn it still worked out wrong for me.
The only other hand I had worth speaking about was KK under the gun. The table had been so aggressive I felt safe just calling the blind and letting someone else raise it up. Unfortunately no one helped me out and 5 of us see a flop of A76. Immediately the lady to my right bets and it's good bye cowboys. I really felt like I was Robbed again but maybe it was for the best. If I raise, I'm sure one of the weak aces calls me and after that flop I'm dead. I at least remembered not to go broke with KK when an ace hits the flop. Something one of my table mates did not remember. And he took the walk of shame from the table when he lost to A9.
I did manage to chip up on a bluff when 3 hearts hit the board. I also managed to make a hand with JJ to get myself a little over starting stack but the blinds kept going up. Eventually I got AK of clubs and raised in late position. The big blind had a big hand I knew (he tried to raise when he was the blind) but unless he had AA or KK, it's worth it to me to push in and hope. Of course he had AA. I did flop a K but no clubs and no other K hit and it was good night to me.
I had an entry to a free roll tourney at 9 that night and since I was knocked out just before 9 it was handy for me. The freeroll paid top 6 places and had either 6 or 8 tables. Got off to a slow start but this was a quick tourney with 10 minute blinds so there was no time to mess around. Lady 2 seats to my left was extremely aggressive willing to push in on marginal hands and draws but she got lucky a couple of times and chipped up well. Any decent ace was good enough for her. I kept it tight but took some shots and chipped up myself. There were some pretty weak players at the table and I abused them enough to keep my stack up. Blinds moved fast though. I did manage a nice double up when I called a raise with 66 and flopped the set. Original raiser pushed in after the flop and was very disappointed to see my set. I was hoping someone else would call as well but everyone else folded.
Made it to the final table but got card dead at the wrong time. Everyone got more and more aggressive as the blinds accelerated. Finally I pick up A9 in the small blind. Big stack makes a big raise which signalled to me he had something from 10s down to 5s or so. I was ok to push into that especially as short as I was getting. So I called and saw he had JJ. Damn. No ace for me and I was done.
After a short break to lick my wounds, I joined the PQ at a 1-1 no limit table. She had final tabled the first tourney we were in but got knocked out when her KK was run down by A10. Why don't we ever get to do that? But the 1-1 table was a good place to lick our wounds. Fun table with a lot of back and forth. I managed to finally make a few hands and also get people to bet into me. One guy decided to push all in over my continuation bet on a 10 high flop. He figured I raised a big ace and he could take it away from me post flop when it didn't hit. Too bad for him my original raise was with QQ. I thought a second and called. He didn't like flipping over AJ and losing all his chips. That was a good decision. I managed to make a few hands though the PQ got me with of all things, KK. But we both walked away winners from that table. Not enough to cover the cost of my tourney buy in but a pretty good gain none the less.
So nothing great to report still it was a fun weekend all in all and restful to boot. Since then work has been the usual grind. Almost 16 hours of OT this week alone and I'm going in on Sunday to boot. Lucky me. Still it pays the bills and leaves me some extra cash for poker, just not as much time for it. Gotta wrap up now as I better hit the showers. The PQ and I are scheduled for a massage at 11 then I play on playing some Omaha 8 this afternoon. Tonight the daughter is having friends over so we're playing in a tourney tonight. I hope everyone has a good weekend and a profitable one too. And if anyone does really well, how about buying me a new fridge?
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