Weekend

I need to stop playing poker for at least one week. Although, I should probably take a month long hiatus. After taking third in that 180 SnG the other day, I played a ton of $5-10 SnG's and just hacked it around. Taking a third here and there, but more consistently getting my $$ in with the best of it, only to be sucked out on by the turn or river. It is so frustrating when you are running like this. My mind is all banged up in the cash games too, and the beats don't stop in SnG's as you probably know. Sets getting chased down by inside straight draws, Flopped straights run into pulled boats, etc, etc, etc. I have always been of the mindset to just play through it, or to play another game. Well, my ONLY other game is TD and I need at least triple my bankroll to get back into that game. So, maybe a break is exactly what I need. When I steam, I just end up giving more money back to the donkeys. Last night is a case in point. After bubbling or going out early in 4 straight SnG's, I figured, "hmmm...I need to play a $20 spot, that will get my head back on straight and make me more confident". Well, this wasn't your typical SnG, and way more aggressive than any other $20 SnG i've played. One guy was just getting so lucky and overbetting pots, driving people out of them. So I stick around, not getting many hands, and finally pick up AA. I think, perfect, this guy is playing overaggressive and super loose so I should be able to trap him. So here is how the hand plays out: I'm on the button and one player in MP (there's only 5 people left, blinds are 25/50) makes it $150 to go, and I call (mistake #1?). LAG is in BB and calls as well (475 in pot). Flop is horrible; JQK w/ two clubs (none of my bullets are clubs), and the BB fires out $600, MP folds and I am up to a decision, I have about 1250 or so left behind and am either pushing or folding? Well, I go ahead and JAM and he flips over T5o!! So basically he only has 6 outs. The best part about this hand is that I pull one of the last of the two aces in the deck on the river, and he makes his straight...good ole' Pokerstars. The thing that I keep telling myself is that I had the read right, I knew he was being overaggressive and would push hard with any big draw, I took into account my hand in that I had two of his outs if he was pushing with the naked 10, and made the correct decision in my mind.

So onward bound, break, break, break.

A day of football and poker...

Today was one of those days that just feels so damn good. You know...sitting on the couch, laying on the couch, laying in bed, etc, etc. All the while, watching the first full Sunday of the NFL. This probably won't be happening every week, but I felt like treating myself. I mean, i'm in two fantasy football leagues so I guess I was pretty excited for today. I feel like I have two really good teams, but one of them is a real contender, and its the one that means the most. Not that its for a lot of money, but because all of my closest friends are in the league, and my partner Chris and I have never won it. Sure, we've made the playoffs a couple times, but we always seem to have bad luck. Not that this year hasn't seen its fair share of bad luck. It seems that every year we are cursed with an injury to our first round draft pick. Luckily, we had two first rounders (yeah thats an indication how bad we were last year).

In my last update I obviously mentioned I put money on 'Stars (how could I play that tourney without it right). Well, I figured I would put a little on just to play SnG's and +1 tourneys. I'm not doing to bad in the SnG's, but a run of two and three outers that people are catching on me have been making me so frustrated that I had to make a whine post on the forum. It's really weird how bad it gets. I hate to contribute to the conspiracy theorists and the haters of pokerstars, but it's hard not to. That being said, I played a $4.40 180 man SnG and took down third place. I was the chip leader for most of the end of the tournament, and for the majority of the final table. I ended up making a bad call with top pair weak kicker that ran into top pair almost as weak a kicker but just good enough to scoop. About 10 hands later I made a standard raise w/ KJo, but had to lay it down when the chip leader put me all in (he showed T6s). I am not even complaining though since I basically doubled my bankroll. I think I'll keep playing the low limit SnG's and try and build a roll there like i'm doing on UB...Discipline, Discipline, Discipline.

+1 Tourney - Live Blog

I am going to try my hand at "live-blogging" this tourney...should be fun!

The +1 Players Club finally got off their asses and got a private tourney together...not a huge turnout but at least we have 3 tables..buy-in $10+1, almost a $300 prize pool.

Cards are in the air:

Hand 1 - AJo in BB....Zacklemm raises from MP to 60, I call...KT7 flop, I check, Zack bets 85 into 130 pot, I fold

Hand 8 - 77 utg +1, I limp, folds to sb (Powda) who completes, bb checks, flop is AQx all diamonds, Powda bets 60 I fold

Hand 15 - J9s, I limp from MP after 1 limper, flop a flush draw, checks to me I bet 3/4 pot, everyone folds

Hand 16 - 66 in MP, Supperpuppy limps, I raise to 60 he folds...

Hand 19 - Interesting Hand! I raise OTB w/ 68o, after HD limps, flop is AQT w/ 2 clubs, checks to me , I bet 100 into 200 pot, everyone folds...PPs?

JUST NOTICED...Chipleaders after 15 mins (blinds just raised to 15/30) Sydrome w/ 4K, Mag w/ 2300...big shocker there...JMILL is first out...

Just moved to other table w/ Mag and Feng who has taken over 2nd place...they are on my right...thankfully...

No hands for a while...finally pick up AA in EP, Raise to 90, cbal calls from BB...flop Q high w/ two diamonds, I bet 120 into 195 pot, he folds...

Lost an extra 100 from the bb, w/ ATs, utg raises 3x bb, feng OTB calls, I call getting about 3-1, Flop an ISD, but it gets bet and raised before I can make a play (Which I wasn't really planning on doing)

More air: UTG +1 I raise 3x bb w/ 89s, UTG+2 calls, Flop is 57Q w/ 2 hearts, I bet 200 and he folds after a bit of thinking

Oh yeah, and blinds are 25/50 now

Didn't get much of anything that last round...its pretty tough spot to be at when you have mag to your immediate right, feng to his right, and another big stack to my left...Blinds at 50/100

I picked up AJo UTG+1 and raised 3x bb, stole blinds :( Guess thats exactly what i wanted out of the hand tho...

PokerStars hand: Feng raise 3x bb utg, mag calls, Cardsfan moves in for 1220 (i fold 66 after Mag calls), Feng folds, mag thinks and calls w/ 55, Cards has AQ, board reads 88x99 and cards takes it down

Break time...sitting at 1345 :(

Blinds 100/200
WOW!! Two more Pokerstars hands!
I have ATo OTB, I JAM my 1345, guy to my right JAMS, we flip: he has AK, I'm drawing thin to say the least...Flop Q8T, I figure a J will come, but it doesn't and I double up...next hand I get TT, and raise to 600 ferris only has 36 and I flop a set

Next hand: guy I sucked out on goes all in w/ 77, gets called by cards w/ 66, he flops a boat...ugh

Good hand by me i think...lucko raises to 450 and cardsfan calls, I have TT in BB and re-raise 1200...lucko folds, and cards calls...flop is K high...I wait and then JAM...he folds...big pot!

BIG LAYDOWN...AQo in Mid-Late Pos...I raise to 450...Lucko calls OTB, Cards raises to 1200 (basically the same move I made on him), I take some time bank but fold...Lucko slowrolls cards and puts him all-in w/ AA...he has to call w/ T7s, he flops an inside straight draw, but this time the best hand wins...

This is the type of thing that I screw up all the time!
A6 utg 5 handed, I bet 600 but feng in the bb only has 1140, he wakes up w/ AQ and pushes, forcing me to call...he doubles up through me

A couple hands later I pick up JTo, Feng raises me from the sb, I JAM knowing he is stealing, he of course folds...

Next two hands I steal blinds (JTs, and A7s)

I am being way to aggressive I think at this point...gotta be careful, I think sportfreak knows it...

WOW...perfect scenario...I am looking real LAGGY..I get QQ in sb...folds to me, I min-raise sportfreak, he re-steals and I JAM...he folds!! Big pot

And now we're at the final table!! Top 5 pay...

Well...Lucko finally got me...he raises to 600, syndrome calls, I JAM w/ TT from the BB, Lucko insta calls w/ KK...I flop an inside straight draw, but it doesn't come...down to 970 (blinds 100/200 w/ 25 ante)

Chipp is constantly raising so I have no fold equity...i'm moving in w/ whatever...

Out 7th...I move in w/ 67o, cbal calls me for only 570 more (he's getting almost 2-1) w/ 45o...he flops inside straight draw, but hits a 5 on the turn to bust me...oh well...pretty pissed right now!!

Discipline...I have none!

So here's the deal...You should never sit at any table, no matter how fishy, with 1/4 to 1/2 of your bankroll on it. How many times do I need to have a bad night (or week, or month!), and realize that I need to work my way up? I know I have gone over this in the past, but I am now going to stick with it...no more triple draw, until I build up a bankroll proper. I am punishing myself and have cashed out all but $50 on UB. Basically, I am back to where I started in May. And, now its the end of the summer, and I didn't reach my goal (which was to work my way back to my original roll that I almost lost back in May). I was about 2/3rds of the way there too. Pretty sick huh? I am actually feeling ok about this, and even though this sounds like another one of those ridiculous rants, which it is, I am happy about the decision. Sooooo, I am now going to try and pull a "Jesus" or this:
CHRIS FERGUSON
Full Tilt Poker Podcast #2
Money Management
Chris Ferguson turned $1 into $20,000 at the online poker tables. Find out how you can too.
Lofty goals ehh?!! Basically, the object is to never sit down with more than 5% of your bankroll on the table. Whenever you have 10% or more of your bankroll sitting at the table, you wait for your big blind and get up. Sounds easy right? Well thats what i'm doing with my $50. So far, I have done well, considering the stakes, I mean playing for pennies isn't very "sexy", but winning is. The difference between Chris Ferguson's "experiment" and my own is that A) I don't have as much time on my hands to play poker all day and night to see if I can turn nothing into something. B) I will not be doing hardly any multi-tabling. Chris says he was playing 5 tables simultaneously...yeah, my screen isn't big enough for 2!

It's been a while since I have updated this here non-read blog, so i'll go ahead and talk about a few things going on since the last post.

I saw a really great show in early August. The Acoustic Planet Tour at Wolf Trap, featuring Marc Broussard, Umphrey's McGee, and headlined by Bela' Fleck and The Flecktones. I really love Wolf Trap for various reasons, but also really hate it, and you'll see why. Firstly, this venue is located in a beautiful area of Northern Virginia, tucked back in the woods. The acoustics are probably the best around, and maybe sound better than any other amphitheatre type venue on the east coast. The coolest thing about this place is that you can bring in your own alcohol and food in coolers and such. The lawn is where it's at really. Unfortunately, the security is god awful, and because the venue sells "season passes", it attracts some rather uppity old folks. So here I am having a good ole time with my buddies Brian and Mike, drinking beers and listening to some good tunes. I couldn't wait to see UM. They are by far my favorite touring band right now. The neat thing about this "Acoustic Planet Tour" is that it is non-stop music. Once Marc Broussard came on, the music kept on going until the very last notes of the encore were played by the Flecktones and the rest of the bands (A SICK version of Marvin Gaye's What's Goin On). It was about 4+ hours of non-stop tunes. So once UM came out to segue out of Marc Broussards set, we hit our "pavilion" seats. The frustrating thing was, everyone was just sitting there. Here is Umphrey's McGee, probably the finest progressive, jamming rock bands on tour right now, tearing it up, and everyone is sitting in their seats twiddling their thumbs waiting to fall asleep to Bela' Fleck. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the Flecktones, and am in awe by Victor Wooten's bass solos, and the excellent interplay between the rest of the band. And, I was excited to settle down for that after this rocking set by UM...so I got up and danced my ass off! I didn't care, maybe I thought by me standing up, maybe the rest of the house would get the idea! Well, after about 30+ mins of shakin it, I get a tap on my side. I look down and this guy sitting to my right is pointing behind me, I turn around and some shmuck is telling me to sit down. So I roll my eyes and sit, and all of the sudden the whole crowd behind me starts cheering! I was a little embarrased I guess, but wtf you know? A couple seconds later I get another tap on my shoulder and this time someone is pointing me over to the left side of the venue where a bunch of "heads" are motioning me over to join them in their own booty shakin! I guess Brian and Mike were taken aback by my stylin, but they said it was quite funny.

On Monday Mo and I are heading up to Atlantic City. Believe it or not, it was Mo's idea!! Not that it wasn't on my mind, but she must be able to read it. I guess that goes with the territory of being married, or shall I say, marrying the right woman. We don't have any real plans other than taking it easy and playing a little poker. I am thinking about possibly playing the 7:15pm $50 tourney, but we'll see how things go. I definitely will be playing some low limit cash games though, if only to get the reduced "poker rate". Also, one of our favorite restaurants is at The Tropicana. It's called Red Square, and it is a MUST if you like good food and good vodka.