Hella Hold'em

I was leaving Empress last night, and saw something that struck me as bizarre. I was walking through the parking lot to my car, and off in the distance, a handful of what appeared to be grown adults were tailgating in the parking lot. They had a blue cooler full of beverages, and tunes blaring from the open car doors. One guy sat on the trunk of his car, with his lady friend nestled between his legs, and another couple was making out like school kids against the car next door. The others were whooping it up and having a gay ol' time.

Tailgating outside a suburban casino on a Monday night... OK... is it just me, or is that weird?

The poker inside was loose and passive. I sat at the $5/10 game for about 2 1/2 hours. I was up a nice $140 until my very last hand - JJ. I raised the action preflop (and capped it when a raise came behind me), and bet out on the Q-high flop. My two opponents were a solid player across the table from me, and a loose "cool-guy" who thought he was playing for WPT millions, often pushing his 2nd pair like Aces. I was last to act, and the solid player was just calling calling calling. Cool guy popped me for a raise on the flop, but the Q-3-8 board just didn't look scary to me, and coming from him, his raise was nothing more than a bully move.

Both guys checked the turn to me (4), and I bet again. Solid guy looked decidedly uncomfortable but called anyway (he was pretty textbook - strong meant strong, weak meant weak), and Cool guy sighed as he called. He totally had AK. I had no doubt.

The river paired the board with 4's, and the solid player bet out excitedly. Mother Effer. Cool guy reluctantly folded, and though I knew I was beat, for one bet into a mountain of chips, I had to call to ward off the bluff. (You only have to win 10% of those crying calls on the end in big pots to make it profitable over the long run...) Had the other guy called, I would have folded, since I'd get to see the hand anyway, but there's no way this pot was getting shipped uncontested.

The solid player had 3-4 of diamonds. No wonder he made the comment after the turn that he never should have even been in this pot. The poker gods sure rained down on his river. No pair, no draw after the flop.. nice call, guy. He must be psychic.

So, that pot cost me $60 or so and brought my profits for the night down under $100. Just then I got called for a seat change (I was at the must-move table), and was so annoyed with the JJ loss that I decided to take my winnings and leave, lest I tilt off the rest at a new table.

+$87 (8.7 BB)/ 2.5 hours = 3.48 BB/hour

Average that out with Sunday's results:

7 hours, + 0 BB

Seriously. I left exactly even after 7 hours of play. I was never up more than $50 and was never down more than $50. If you count all of the diet cokes, I was probably up ten bucks on the day. Ugh.

So my two-day run came out to: .92 BB/hour

Ayayay.

No poker tonight. Must work. Maybe Wednesday.

Blame this guy.

the Idiot Savant (47% dark, 42% spontaneous, 42% vulgar)

your humor style: VULGAR | SPONTANEOUS | LIGHT You like things silly, immediate, and, above all, outrageous. Ixne on the subtle word play, more testicles on fire, please. People like you are the most likely to RECEIVE internet forwards--and also the most likely to save them in a special folder entitled 'HOLY SHIT'. Because it's so easily appreciated, and often wacky and physical, your sense of humor never ceases to amuse your friends. Most realize that there's a sly intelligence and a knowing wink to your tastes. Your sense of humor could be called 'anti-pretentious'--but paradoxically enough, that indicates you're smarter than most. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Johnny Knoxville - Jimmy Kimmel The 3-Variable Funny Test! - it rules - If you're interested, try my best friend's best test: The Genghis Khan Genetic Fitness Masterpiece

This test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 43% on darkness You scored higher than 28% on spontaneity You scored higher than 60% on vulgarity

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

My apologies for the song lyrics posted the other day. I know - very 9th grade of me. The observant amongst you might have noticed Randy's removal from the sidebar of this blog, and the song lyrics were my announement to that effect. (We broke up). I don't plan to speak any more of it here, except to say that by the time I see you all in July, I will likely be embracing single-hood once again. For now, I'm in recovery mode. So - that's all I have to say about that!

I headed to Empress yesterday for the first time in a week, thinking that my emotional state was at least back to the point where I could focus on poker on not the other trials and tribulations of my life. Thankfully for my bankroll I consciously avoided poker all of last week. I signed on to Full Tilt last night to play a bit online, and it seems that I'm not as able to focus at home as I am at the casino right now. I think it's the combination of being at home (Randy is still living here while finding a new place to live) and the iTunes factor. I was definitely off my game, and took a couple dings to the online bankroll as a result.

Not much happened at Empress. I played for 4 hours until the poker room closed for the night, and ended up down $47 (-4.7 BB) at $5/10. Not once did I go to showdown with a losing hand, but I very rarely found myself at showdown. If you figure that I saw about 3 orbits of play per hour, that's at least $21/hour spent in blinds ($5 big+ $2 small = $7 x 3). So, at least I outran the blinds.

I won two nice pots that kept me afloat. The two times in the 4 hours that I saw pocket pairs, they flopped sets: 3's and 5's. With the 3's, I cold-called a preflop raise in position. Four people had already limped into the pot, and the button and blinds were still to act after me. The guy that raised was immediately to my right, and was a solid player. Not too many players at Empress earn that designation - at least not too many I've played with. So I knew this guy had a premium hand. He was very TAG. I figured, though, if I could flop my set, I could probably crack him off, and because it's a general rule that if you limp into a pot you HAVE to call the raise behind you, I knew all of the previous limpers would come along for the $10. The blinds were also likely to call, so I was looking at a pot of at least $80 preflop, including my reds. With odds of 7:1 against flopping my set, the pot looked about right.

Glory be, I flopped my set. I was calling down to keep as many of the other people in the pot as possible (risky with a low set, yes, but there were no straight or flush draws possible). On the turn, the last of the former limpers folded, so I was heads-up with the original raiser. I raised him on the river, and he knew he was beat. He sighed and broken-heartedly folded. I showed him my 3's, and he patted the felt. "Nice hand," he said. "You had me all the way." I think he had AK, and flopped a K. I don't normally show hands, but I appreciated his pain, and he wasn't the type of player that I felt bad about giving the info that he made a good laydown. He was getting cracked off all night, and I hoped he could at least go home thinking that he played well despite his bad luck. We've all had those days.

Believe it or not, I'm thinking of breaking my "no live poker on Saturdays" rule today. Empress is closed on Saturdays, but Resorts isn't.... We'll see what the day brings.

Congrats to my friend Ed, who is on quite a roll with the $5/rebuy tourneys on PokerStars. I think Ed needs to start a blog and share some of his secret strategies :)

It would be wrong to ask you why
Because I know what goes inside
Is only half of what comes out
Isn't that what it's about?
To remind us we're alive
To remind us we're not blind
In that big, black hole
Comfortable
Digging the grave, I got it made
Let something in, or throw something out?
You left the door open wide

I know you have a reason why
The knot is better left untied
I just went and undid mine
It takes some time
And the shadows so big
It takes the sun out of the day
And the feeling goes away
when you close the door
Comfortable

Another weekend is upon us! Hallelujah, eh? I was up with the birds this morning for my bi-weekly Friday morning meetings at work, and while I'm no fan of the alarm clock going off in single-digit hours, it did ensure that I was conscious and upright in time to get to Empress for a few hours before they close for the weekend.

Yes, the poker room closes for the weekend. Crickets start chirping around 6pm Friday night, and the sharks do not awaken until early Sunday morning. Illinois' gaming laws are screwy, but hey. It's the midwest. I expect nothing less than ass-backwards.

I was seated at the 5/10 limit feeder table a little while after arriving at the boat. I think the guy running the room had a bit of a confidence problem, because there were 2 open seats in the main game when I arrived, and despite the dealer informing the floor man 3 times that he had open seats, I wasn't seated. The floor man just kept walking up to the feeder game, as if afraid to interrupt them to tell players to move. When he finally did approach the table, it took him 3 different halted half-sentences to get the guts to say, "Joe and Shmoe? Your seats are open in the main game."

It turns out that the wasted 15 minutes or so literally might have cost me money, because the table was just brimming with fishy goodness. Holy cow. Remember a few trips ago, when I spoke of the guy that donked off $500 in less than an hour, betting and raising all the way to showdown with bluffs? It was like that - except there were TWO of them! Even better - they were drunk out of their gourds, and very clearly members of the blue collar comedy fan club. The claimed to be Illinois residents from an hour or so south of here, but I'd put them in the back woods of the deep south any day.

I managed to pull a couple of lucky hands off of that table. Q9 offsuit from the big blind flopped me top two pair, and with Larry and his other brother Larry taking turns raising, the betting was capped all the way down on each street, and my hand held up. (I was against Q4 for one pair, and a guy who reluctantly folded on the river and mucked). I must have dragged $150 on that pot alone - with a measley two pair.

When I got moved to the main game, I was disappointed, but only for a few moments, because Larry and Larry busted out of the feeder table shortly after (but not before rebuying a few times). Unfortunately, I wasn't catching any playable hands at the main game, and my AA got cracked off by Play-Every-Hand-Marge, so I took my money and ran after 3 hours or so, up $109.

I came home to find an amusing reply to an email I sent out the other day. As most of my fellow bloggers are probably used to, I get lots of spam email for various tournaments and freerolls and the like. I rarely read them, much less respond - but one caught my eye.

Why? Well, I was put off by the fact that the invitation directly insulted my profession (while simultaneously casting condescention on new players). I replied, wishing the tournament sponsor good luck with his game while mentioning that he might not want to insult people in his tournament invitations. (I don't know - maybe more people would actually play in a game where the sponsors came across as decent human beings? Just a thought). Apparently he took offense, getting all caps-lock on me and saying I should "chill." I'm still giggling, because it amuses me how people project their own ignorance and insecurities on others. Someone who can't take a bit of constructive criticism gets all uptight upon confrontation, then says everyone else needs to "chill." Ahhhh baby, I am cool as a cucumber :)

No matter, though - further investigation led me to realize that the sponsors of this tournament are members of the scum-of-the-earth search engine whore community, using self-described "shady search engine optimization tactics," like keyword stuffing and comment spam. I then found "informational articles" on their web site, describing link dumping techniques and tips for abusing cross-site scripting bugs and other exploits in your web pages. They also have affiliate links to those wonderful RSS-to-Blog programs that scrape our content and display it on shill blogs.

Good people, these black hats are! Good people!

I hope all of my fellow bloggers are wearing White Hats, for the sake of the ethical reputation of poker-blogger-kind. If it isn't OBVIOUS, I'm not a big fan of black-hatted [errrr hearted] people.

Not much going on over here...

The fishes took me for $45 Sunday night at the Empress poker room, over 7 hours' time. At one point, I called Randy, after about 5 hours and up $80 or so. I said, "I was going to head home, but the table just got reeeally good... I'm think I can milk a few more chips off this table." He wished me luck and I went back to the table. I watched in disbelief as the new guy at the table donked off just shy of $500 in less than one hour.

He was on the waiting list for the no-limit game (which is why he had so many chips at the 5/10 limit hold'em table). This guy amazed me. L-A-G doesn't even begin to describe him.

On one hand, on a flop of JJx, he re-raised after 2 limpers, a raiser, and a cold-caller. The turn and river were blanks, though he raised the whole way. At showdown, he calls his opponent's bet, and goes, "Do you have the Jack?" The other guy goes, "Yes," and showed Ace Jack.

The muppet goes, "Nice hand, I didn't think you had it," and showed Queen Four Offsuit for no pair, no draw.

WTF?!?!?!

This was not an isolated incident. He literally went to showdown with hands as strong as nine high, bluffing his bets and raises all the way down. Hand after hand after hand.

Unfortunately for me, I started catching big pairs, which don't hold up well against 8 opponents, and are even more costly when a LAG keeps raising to build monster pots.

On one hand, I had JJ under the gun. I raised, and the usual gaggle of monkeys cold-called two bets to see the flop. It came Queen high, and I bet out. I had one caller. The turn put a 2nd club onboard, and the river the third. I checked behind my call-me-down opponent and saved myself ten bucks when he showed 8 3 of clubs for the flush. I marveled at his gutsy chase of the backdoor 8 high flush with no pair, and... well, I did the unthinkable.

I tilted a bit.

A few hands later, in the cutoff, I saw 6 people limp into an unraised pot. With the button and blinds still to act after me, I raised. What did I raise with?

I'm almost embarrassed to say. 10-5 of hearts.

Mind you - I never, never, ever raise with junk. I hardly ever even PLAY junk, let alone raise with it. (The Hammer does NOT count as junk). I don't think I have ever raised a junk hand in a live casino poker room, ever. I play straight up, grind-it-out, profitable-over-time poker.

Anyway, so the flop comes 10-5-x. From late position, I went on a raising frenzy, and got paid off by a poor guy who had AA.

You see, it wasn't so much the 8-high club flush beat that tilted me. I'd been building up some frustration with my game. I was playing weakly preflop and missing bets because of it. I wasn't raising my big cards in position, instead limping with AK and AQ and TT and such. I'll limp with those sometimes from early position, but not from middle or late. I was angry at myself because when I'm playing passively, it's almost always a sign of a losing day for me. It's not like I'm an aggressive maniac to begin with, but when I'm in a pot, I prefer to be betting or raising, because it's not all too often that I'm in a pot. I play good cards and push my slight edges when I can.

So, the 8 high club flush just twisted the knife. After the 10-5 hand, which paid back most of what I lost on my JJ, I vowed to myself, "No more limping with big cards..." You see, if I put in the extra raise up front and get 4 or 5 or 6 or 8 callers, and then manage to hit my flop, that's $20 or $25 or $30 or $40 extra dollars in my pocket. If I miss the flop, I've lost an extra $5. You do the math. It's my new "thing" lately. Sunday, though, it just wasn't in me.

Funny - raising just one of my AK's that hit probably would have turned Sunday from a losing session to at least a break even one.

So then comes this hand:

The guy to my left was a decent player. Semi-loose aggressive. Raised preflop with any two cards 10 or higher, any pocket pair, and almost any ace (8 seemed to be the minimum kicker he'd raise with). Under the gun, I found KQ of clubs and - keeping with my mantra of not limping with big cards - I raised. He re-raised me, and the rest of the table folded. When it got back to me, I capped it, because it's unlucky to play for 3 bets. Honestly, I don't believe that, but if I'm playing a hand preflop for 3 bets, it damn well better be worth 4, and again - if my hand holds up, I make more money than I lose by putting in the extra bet early (assuming I have more than one opponent).

The guy then says to me in surprise, "You're capping it??!" I said, "Yup." He threw in another red chip and we saw a flop of Ace-clubs, rag rag. I led out, because I was the preflop aggressor, and if he was holding anything less than an Ace at that point, I might take the pot right there. He smooth called. Knowing that he doesn't play junk (and that he's also capable of raising preflop and then throwing away a hand on the flop when action stirs up), I'm not a big fan of that call. I figure I'm going to need to slow down.

The turn, however, brought a 2nd club, giving me the nut flush draw. Well, we all know the mantra - bet your draws hard! I find this to be useful especially in limit (particularly in big multiway pots where, again, if you hit, you're making a boatload of extra bets). So, I bet out with my flush draw. Again, he smooth called.

The river brought a 3rd club, and I bet out again. He raised me. I re-raised him. He sighed and said, "You've got the flush?" With some mercy, I shook my head and said "Yes," giving him the chance to save the extra ten bucks. (If I really meant to be merciful, I should have just called his bet on the end - so I guess this whole mercy thing is just a bit of creative storytelling. I really wanted the extra ten bucks). He tossed in one last red chip to see my flush.

The guys at our end of the table gasped, "Oh my gosh! Runner runner flush!" as my opponent turned up his pocket Aces, for the flopped set. Brutal. My opponent, who was getting killed by the fishes as well, said, "Nice hand," in a dejected tone. I looked at him and said, "I'm sorry man... I raised preflop so I had to put in the continuation bet on the flop, and then the second club came on the turn..." He said, "I know, you played it well. It was my fault for slowplaying the set and not raising you."

True enough. A raise on the flop would have likely gotten me to lay down the hand, with no pair and only the backdoor draw. In Tilty McTilt mode, though, who knows.

I felt so dirty after that hand! That and my 10-5 suited. It was as if I was possessed by aliens for the evening.

I probably shouldn't have been playing poker. I was pretty upset Sunday, after hearing news that a friend's husband died suddenly that morning, completely unexpectedly and at way too young an age. I was enjoying the distraction of poker, concentrating better than ever on players and their patterns, but my emotional state wasn't good at all (as was evidenced by my late-evening tendencies toward tilt).

I used to be a member of the frequent tilters club. That's how I got my nickname at the local home games - Shellmuth. After seeing though how much damage tilt can cause to my game and subsequently my bankroll, I've made great efforts to keep the tilt under control and remain emotionless and "in the moment" at the poker table. Sitting down to the poker table in an already emotionally unstable state, though, is a recipe for tilt disaster. I'm probably lucky that I escaped with only 4BB damage over the 7 hours I played.

I toyed with the idea of heading to the boats again tonight, but opted instead to watch the Flyers game on TV. (Each playoff hockey game I watch likely shaves a year off of my life due to the added stress and rapid heartbeat that ensues). That ended up being a total waste of time, as Esche got shelled and the Flyers ran around the ice like Mites on Ice, making dumb plays and taking stupid penalties. All that, and they didn't even have their Enforcer (Donald Brashear) on the bench to crack some skulls. If the Flyers are going to suck ass in-game, the least they can do is beat the hell out of some people for me. Come on, now, boys! Revenge will be ours in Philadelphia (particularly against Wuss Man Connelly for the hit on Umberger which, despite being a technically "clean" hit, still deserves some retribution). I still can't believe Hitchcock sat Brashear tonight. He had to at least suspect the possibility of requiring some fisted assistance.

Anyhoooo, I think I might head to Empress on Wednesday night. We'll see. I've got to make right those errors of Sundays past...

No fun at Empress tonight. Four big pocket pairs got cracked (twice by blind hands chasing gutshots to the river). That is the prescription for dropping 20 big bets in 4 hours. Such is the game some days...

I came home and had similar luck online, and played a bit longer than I should have trying to catch up. That is never a good idea.

Not a fun day. I hope the felt was more kind to you guys. Better luck tomorrow...

Welcome back to the felt, Baz!

So, I hit up Empress last night for some poker, and who should come sit down about an hour into my session but the man, the mystery: Baz. At first I did a double-take, because - well, it was a Wednesday night. Yup - that's Baz alright. Cool! I said hi, but didn't want to make it obvious to the table that I knew him, so I let the boy settle in and see a few hands.

The table had been a bit grumpy, which means - the fish were not paying off bets, and instead did a lot of folding in disgust. A woman had arrived a little while before Baz, and was seated to my left. She was a very jovial type of person, and her chatter was helping to liven up the table a bit. Then, a kid from down south sat down. He was a self proclaimed bible-belter, and was up in Chicago for work. He was quite conversational, talking all about his work and his son and his ex-wife (though saying nothing bad) in a thick southern drawl. By now, the table was loosening up and things were getting fun.

When the woman to my left decided to leave, Baz got a seat change and moved across the table. One thing we marveled at was the frequency of which Hammer boards came out. I have never in my life seen a more Hammer-friendly table. I couldn't get my hands on a Hammer to save my life, but Baz was sitting in the Lucky Seven's seat, so I had high hopes for him. The woman that sat there before him literally won every single pot where a seven was on the board. She hit two full houses with K7, one with Q7, a boat with pocket 7's, and various other monster hands involving 7's. Twice, Baz was in hands where he raised preflop and Hammer boards came out, and I prayed that he had a Hammer to show down (since I was not in those pots!) Unfortunately, he didn't have Hammers, and the times he did see a Hammer in the Hole, he was not graced with a coordinating board. It sure would have been funny to tilt the remaining Grumps with a Hammer win, though.

I can't recall too many hands from last night. Pocket 3's hit a set for me, which paid off well. Big pocket pairs got crushed at every opportunity. I saw KK once, JJ twice (3 times if you count the misdeal... grrrr), and AA once. None held up. 'Twas brutal. Baz had similar luck with his large pocket pairs.

After playing for 5 hours, I was up $100 and decided to take my nice, even number and go home. Baz stuck around after I left, and if I'm not mistaken, he was up when I left, so hopefully he cleaned out the remaining Grumps before heading home himself. :)

Card Player Magazine has one of those fill-in-the-blank letters that you can have sent to your representatives opposing the bills that propose outlawing online poker playing for money. Do your part - contact your representatives. It literally takes less than 2 minutes to fill out. Maybe even less than a minute.

... just as she’s about ready to cut it up, she says, "Wait a minute honey - I’m gonna add it up."

Add it up... add it up... add it up... add it up... add it up... see whatcha got... you gotta add it up...

This beautiful day brought to you courtesy of the Violent Femmes. I'm getting ahead of myself a bit here, so let me go back to the beginning.

I headed out to Empress, as mentioned in my last post. I arrived around 1pm, just in time for a new table to start up. Exxxxxcellent... The game was 5/10 limit holdem. Nothing too exciting happened at the feeder table, and within a half hour or so I was moved to the main game.

The fish were out in full force this afternoon, and no amount of tapping the glass was scaring these little buggers. I was seated in the 10 seat (they play 11 handed at Empress), and the two guys to my left (the 11s and 1s) played every hand. The guy to my right was a regular, and a good player. To his right was an any-ace-or-face guy who liked to gamble it up. The 7 seat was the any-two-suited elderly woman, and to her right was a ginormous man who was very passive (ie. check-call the nuts) but played decent starting hands (VPIP of maybe 25%). The 5 seat was a very serious Mexican guy who rebought... a lot. The 4 and 3 seats were older guys - regulars - who were neither good nor awful players, and the 2 seat was a regular who was decent but prone to tilt, and a bit passive (ie. limps with JJ).

Bring it on, guppies!

I continued to be conscious of my leaks, and avoided making those mistakes. Early on, I caught a couple hands where top pair held up for me, and was up $100 fairly quickly. I lost a bit of it back when my AJ flopped top two pair, and I bet it all the way (UTG). The guy to my left rivered a flush with 3-5 of clubs, a hand which on the flop had only the backdoor flush draw going for it. Nice. Hand. I almost got tilty after that one, but instead took a walk and reminded myself that it would all come back to me in due time.

Then came this gem: if I wasn't on the list already, I am now DEFINITELY going to hell. I limp under the gun with pocket Ten's. 7 people come to an uncoordinated flop of K-10-7. I bet. Call x7. Turn is a second club. I bet. Call x5. River is the third club, and pairs the board with 7's (giving me a full house, ten's full of seven's). I bet. Fold x4, and the 7 seat raises me. I raise her back. She calls. She had flopped two pair, K7, and rivered the smaller boat, seven's full of king's.

Remember who the 7 seat was? Yeah. The elderly woman. AND she was in a wheelchair.

I think popping an old lady in a wheelchair for a river re-raise qualifies me for a one way ticket to hell, don't you? That was after her 9th or 10th rebuy (though she only bought in for $40 per).

Is it getting warm in here?

I digress. My favorite hand of the day was one that I might have folded, had I not been conscious of my leakiness and what exactly defines my personal leaks. I had KQ of hearts in the big blind. Middle position raised, and I called the raise (along with 4 other people). 6 of us saw a flop of 10-7-2, one heart. I checked, and the original raiser bet out. 3 callers (including myself), and 4 of us saw a turn.

Now - I mentioned in an earlier post how one of my leaks was calling to overcard draws on boards that are coordinated against my favor. In this case, I was careful in considering my call. The board had no real coordination for any straight or flush draws, and gave me both backdoor flush and straight draws with my overcards. I discounted the overcards by a couple outs, in case the original raiser had KK, QQ, or AA, but based on the guy doing the raising, I wasn't much afraid of that.

The turn came a 9, giving me the gutshot and the overcards. I didn't make a flush draw, and with everybody still in the hand, I didn't really think my overcards were any good now. However, I was getting more than 10:1 on my money to see a river card, so - bring it on.

The river brought a glorious Jack, giving me the straight, nine through king, with no flush possibilities onboard. I risked missing a bet and went for the check-raise. To my surprise, the fish to my left bet out! Then, the original raiser raised him. I 3-bet it, and the guy to my left folded (???). The original raiser capped it, and I called.

He had J9 sooooted for 2 pair. (Interesting raise preflop?) The nut straight won me a monster.

I just about tripled my $200 buy in by the time I left, proving once again that Sundays are indeed my best day for poker.

I left the casino after only 3 1/2 hours - much shorter than my usual session. But, I'd lost back to back pots at the end there, and decided that if the cards were going to turn cold on me, I would take my profits and run. As I walked outside and headed for the parking lot, the 55 degree weather felt like a glorious heat wave, and it was hard to suppress a grin as I hiked to my car. As I approached the car which I truly adore (it's an 03 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT convertible), I grinned even more. I climbed in and rolled down the windows, and headed towards I-80, bopping along to the Violent Femmes and singing way too loudly for my skill level.

It was a good day. :)

Besides my nose, I've discovered a bit of a leak in my play lately. My stats don't show it; my VPIP in PokerTracker is right where I want it, and I've begun concentrating on my post-flop aggression as opposed to obsessing over preflop aggression. It has been working.

BUT...

I'm getting involved in some hands I shouldn't from bad position. The Negreanu favorites have leaked into my favorites (T-8s, 9-7s, low to mid suited connectors), and I'm playing them from early and mid position. Not usually the best plan. I shouldn't even play them from late position if there aren't already a few limpers in the pot. I'm not going to stop playing those hands altogether, as they're my "mix it up" hands (if you've seen me play, I'm a bit rock-like), but I need to be more wise in when I choose to play them. To my credit, I've been very good with counting odds and outs, and only chase viable draws when I have odds to do so with those hands.
However...

Another leak: I'm being too optimistic sometimes in my counting of outs. If there are 2 of a suit onboard, and a bunch of people in the pot, I need to consider the chance that my out of that suit is not really an out. Same with all coordinated boards. I'm not properly discounting my outs based on flop texture, and I think it's leading to some chasing that shouldn't be going on. I've also been lured into chasing overcards - such as, I hold KQs on a board of 2-5-10, and I'll call a small bet to see the turn. Granted, on an uncoordinated board, sometimes I'll have odds to do this (6 outs to top pair/good kicker), BUT... I have to avoid doing this on coordinated boards, and when I am heads-up and don't have appropriate odds to call the small bet.

I've also concluded that I must play a minimum of 3 tables when playing online - preferably 4. Otherwise, I end up surfing the web, or reading a book, or watching TV in between hands, and for some reason, that's when I start chasing and making bad decisions. With 4 tables open, I am required to be completely absorbed in the games I'm playing, and I tend to make better decisions. From now on, when I'm playing poker, I'M PLAYING POKER. End of story.

I'm so excited at how well I played yesterday (ran up $100 profit at 1/2 limit, to boot) that I kind of want to just play online today. However, Empress calls out to me, her wiley ways luring me back to the felt. How lovely it is to shuffle chips, watch people, and marvel at all of the fishy Sunday afternoon goodness that can only be a 5/10, 11-handed game at Empress.

Off I go. Here's to plugging those leaks and playing my best game!

Besides the fact that I love their software, Full Tilt Poker is one of the funnest places to play poker online - or just watch. This afternoon, I watched John Juanda play against a guy with a donkey avatar head-up at a $25/50 blinds NL cash table. No pot went limped. If John was first to act, he'd raise to $150. If his opponent simply completed the small blind, he'd pop back up to $150. No pot went unraised. I didn't see John check a single time in the 15 or so minutes I watched, nor did I see him call a bet. He always bet or raised.

It was quite a display. Sometimes, of course, John's opponent would wake up with a hand and raise back. Sometimes, John would fold. Other times, he would re-raise. All I know is - I would NOT want to be John Juanda's opponent due to the simple fact that you are ALWAYS under fire. He forces his opponent to constantly make decisions about their hands - on EVERY street.

On one hand, JJ raised to $150, as per usual, and his opponent called. The flop came Jack high, uncoordinated. JJ's opponent checked, and Juanda bet the pot, $300. His opponent quickly called. The turn came a 10, and the guy checked. Juanda popped it to $650. The guy thought a while, then smooth called. The river came a blank, and the donkey guy fired out a minimum bet of $50. Juanda pushed all in. His opponent tanked, and finally folded. Juanda showed K4 offsuit. (No pair - king high).

Yowzers! I can't imagine sitting down on a Saturday afternoon and throwing five grand around on a king high bluff. Then again, everything is relative. It sure was amusing to watch - if not a bit frightening!

Good stuff.

Knocked out when I flopped a straight and pushed. Got called by 2 people drawing to flushes. The flush hit on the river.

Oh well. Maybe next Saturday...

Good luck to Change100, who is also playing (and faring better than I did so far!)

In about 10 minutes... (5pm eastern, 4pm central) - Full Tilt is running their weekly $24+2 ladies-only tournament. Top prize is a $1500 prize package with a seat to the ladies NL event at the WSOP.

Let's go, girls! :)

I've been running quite well in the $20 SnG's on Full Tilt the past couple weeks - so much so that I thought maybe I should stick to those online, since the low limit cash games seem to kill me. Then, for some reason, I got the itch to play some ring games. What I really had an itch for was to go to Empress, since Wednesday nights are my 2nd most profitable nights there, but I got home a little too late, and some Chinese food made me thankful that the bathroom is nearby the computer at home. Not so at Empress.

So I pulled up Full Tilt Poker and went against my urges; I started a $20 SnG. I was reminded quickly why I hate playing the first hand. I limped into a 4-way pot with pocket 9's and flopped 2nd set. I bet the pot on the flop, and got called. There was a K onboard as well, so I put the guy on a pair of kings. (There was no raise preflop). Long story short, turns out he limped with KK and flopped top set. Sets are gold, right? Jebus Priced. Out in 9th place on the first hand.

My rule is, bust out early in 2 SnG's in a row, and I'm done with SnG's for the day. So, I tried another. Was it an omen that the first person to bust out in that tourney was again, set over set on the first hand? In the second hand, I had AA in position on my lone opponent. The board was Q-J-4-2, and he called my bets all the way. I had notes on him that he liked to chase, and his stats in Poker Tracker were those of a loose/passive calling station. I put him all in on the turn. He called with his gutshot straight draw, and hit. We had the same amount of chips (being only the second hand of the game), and I was out in 8th place.

I hate hate hate playing big hands early. They're just soooo not worth it compared to the value of the blinds. However, doubling up early almost guarantees that I make the money (in my experience), so I don't avoid playing if I've got a monster. Play to win, right?

I should have logged off for the night, but was really in the mood to play, so I pulled up a 3/6 limit holdem table. There I found DonkeyPuncher and a cool cat named Oven. I chatted with the boys and caught up on my blog reading while single-tabling the 3/6 game. This proved only as more evidence as to why I have much more success when I multi-table and focus strictly on the games I'm playing, as opposed to single table while reading or responding to email or other non-poker-related tasks. I got myself stuck pretty quickly, falling in love with top pair too often and calling too much. (In my defense, I was running into wacky 2-pairs left and right, but still... I was calling too much. Calling down with QJ on a J-high flop is not the smartest thing in the world. KJ beats me, AJ beats me, sets beat me, and the variety of 2-pair combinations all beat me, and still I called called called).

I realized I was bleeding profusely, and closed down Bloglines and opened up a 2nd 3/6 table. This helped my focus, and I was doing alright on both tables for a while. DP then bid me farewell, taking a nice profit off of the table, and I hunkered down to make back my losses. Then came just plain ol' bad luck. At one point, I told Randy, "If one more dumbass calls down my bets with a gutshot and catches, I'm going to scream." (Of course they were calling without odds to chase the river - and of course, that's where the miracle card always came). Such is life in poker, though, and I eventually gave up, $150 in the hole and quite dejected.

I have an hour and a half before I need to leave for work today, and I think I'm going to hit up FTP and get some of my money back.

Champ of Poker am I.

And I am a freaking comedic genius.

I need some advice.

There's a mantra around bloggerville that "sets are gold." I tend to agree. A well-concealed set usually pays off big.

But how do you defend against them? Is there any way to see them coming? (It's obviously difficult, which is why sets are gold!)

This is how most of my losses to sets go.

I flop TPTK and bet or raise. I get called. Normally, at that point I'm putting my opponent on TP-weaker kicker. On the turn, I bet out. I either get called, or popped back with a raise. (Sometimes my opponent waits till the river to pop back). If the card that came inducing the raise doesn't coordinate the board or match up with typical hole card holdings for a 2 pair, I still think I'm good. At showdown, I'm no good, falling victim to a set made from a low to mid pocket pair.

Of course, there is a ton of information that goes into each street's decision, including any notes I might have on the player, stack sizes relative to the blinds, etc. I can usually smell a trap pretty well, but there are so many players that overplay their top pair, weak kicker that generally, it pays to grit your teeth and push forward. On the other hand, I can be accused of overplaying TPTK in these cases.

How do you tell when you're up against a set? Is there anything that tips you off?

ROFL!!! Go see Slashdot.

I stopped by Empress last night after work to play some poker. As I arrived, the parking lot was more full than I'd ever seen it, causing me to have flashbacks to last weekend when I had to wait 2 hours for my seat. I wondered, "What on earth is everybody doing here on a Wednesday night?" I read all of the promo posters on the way in, looking to see what prize or giveaway had the masses flocking to the boats in the middle of the week. I could find no indication of their motivation, but was pleasantly surprised when I reached the poker nook. I was 2nd on the list to sit down in a 5-10 limit hold'em game. Excellent.

I headed to the cashier cage to get some chips and bought in for my usual $200. At Empress, sometimes they give you a rack at the cage, and sometimes they just give you the chips. I usually ask for a rack, but since I knew I'd be called to sit soon, I didn't bother. I did what the boys do, and shoved my chips into my coat pocket.

I sat for a few minutes on the bench next to the poker room, surfing the web on my Blackberry. I checked out a program called MyCast that sends weather updates, live radar pictures, storm warnings and lightening strike data right to the Blackberry. I might have to get that one. (I'm a weather geek). Before I could commit another $3.95/month to my phone bill, though, my name was called in the poker room.

I took a seat at the feeder game and was glad to see it was nice and loose/passive. Everyone was in a good mood, too, which makes for those nice, "Ahh, you've got me but I'll pay ya off" calls, and the ever popular, "What the heck, I'll donate" calls. I sat down in the big blind, and what do I see but pocket Queens?

I must admit a quirk in my play. I absolutely HATE playing the very first hand I'm dealt. It feels too much like going in blind. I don't have a clue as to the temperature of the table, and honestly I'm not a big fan of coming in, guns blazing (though it would probably be better for my image than folding for an hour - what typically happens to me). Anyway, it was raised and re-raised ahead of me, narrowing the fishy field, and I just called. The flop came out undercards, and I bet out. The original raiser raised me, and the 3rd guy re-raised. Crud. Could I be running into the cooler KK or AA? Time would tell. The turn was a blank, and I bet out again. Second to act folded, and the button just called. The river put a third club onboard, and I held onto my hat and bet out. The button folded. I took down the pot without a showdown. The guy across the table from me laughed and said, "Nice! You sit right down and scoop a nice pot!" I smiled and went about my business of stacking chips.

Not a bad way to start the night.

That pot gave me enough cushion to fold for the next hour, as I was seeing nothing but junk hands. By the time I got called to move to the main game, I was only up $20 or so. I sat down at my new table and did a quick scan of the crowd to see if I recognized anybody. Nope, not really. One guy was obviously the reigning table captain. He was about my age (ie. early 30's), and while cards were out, acted like there was a million dollars at stake. If looks could kill, out table would be a bloody, mushy mess. This kid stared at each person as he/she looked at their hole cards, literally turning his head to make it obvious that he was watching. Most people seemed intimidated by it, and would immediately turn away if they made eye contact. Me - I had to keep from laughing out loud, and stared right back at him, dead in the eyes until he looked away. (I'm the staredown champion of 1979).

I'm not the bully type. I, too, watch each player as they look at their hole cards, but I am a bit more subtle about it. I don't turn my head. I let my eyes follow the action, while attempting to appear disinterested. I don't want people to think that I'm paying attention. I don't want people to know that I'm watching them. I want to blend into the scenery as much as possible and quietly stack my mountains of chips.

At any rate, this guy was over the top with his attention to detail. The ironic thing, though, was that between hands, he was the king of complimenting other players, laughing and joking about things and playing the role of "happy guy." It struck me as a bit schitzo. It kept the table happy, though, and that's always a good thing.

In the end, this guy was deemed slightly loose/aggressive. He was a good player, as I might have guessed based on his extreme efforts to pay attention. However, he probably could have gotten a few more calls out of me if he hadn't advertised his strength so much. I don't think his table image worked to his advantage, because it was too accurate, and he never showed down a hand that went against his image.

I didn't catch many playable cards until one little rush streak. About 2 1/2 hours into my night, I limped into an 8-way pot with pocket 7's. I flopped a 7, and from UTG+1, bet it all the way. I lost a couple players on each street, but took 2 with me to the river. The river paired the board with 10's, so that the board looked like Q-7-2-10-10 with 3 clubs. I bet the river, and opponent #2 folded. Opponent #3, however, raised me. I hoped he had a 10 or the flush, and hoped he didn't have QT. I re-raised, and he popped me back. I knew I could still be good, but I also knew it was not unlikely that he'd be holding QT. It fit his profile. I just called. He showed KT for the trip ten's, and my full house held up. Very nice pot.

A couple hands later, I looked down UTG to find AK of spades. Now, this table was a table of huge hands and huge pots. We all joked that straights were no good here, because the minimum hand required to take down a pot seemed to be a flush. Flushes, boats, and quads were plentiful. Straights were even getting killed. There was one pot where the 4 people to showdown had the nut straight, a weak flush, the nut flush, and a rivered full house. It was nuts. So I look down at my AK, knowing that I'd need to hit my flush to make this happen, because top pair was not going to cut it. With my tight image (that staredown boy had already openly and loudly discussed with the guy next to him - how I only play premium hands), I knew a raise would thin the field. So I did the unthinkable. I limped. NINE people came to a flop of K-x-x, two spades. I bet out, and a bunch of people called. Late position raised (he wanted his money back from my boat), and everybody called. The turn gave me the flush. I bet out, and we lost a couple people, but the button again dutifully raised, and since we still had 5 people to act after me, I just called hoping to bring them along. They came along. The river was a blank, and did not pair the board (whew). I bet out, and 3 people folded. The rest came to showdown with me.

Staredown boy was VERY impressed with my hand, and gave me all kinds of kudos. My nut flush took down an insane pot - probably the biggest pot I've ever won in a limit game. Of course, after showdown, Staredown boy said to his neighbor, "See, what'd I tell you? She only plays good hands but she makes it work!" Well... I don't think there was anything particularly brilliant about how I played that. It was a weak-ish play, really, but I was trying to get the most bets in the pot as I could, and knowing that the table was very adverse to preflop raises, and knowing my table image, I think I played it the best way I could in that situation. It definitely worked out.

At this point, I've got over $400 in front of me, and was just marvelling at the fact that within 2 hands, I'd erased my deficit and more than doubled my money. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - you really don't have to win a lot of pots to make money in these fishy games. You just have to avoid being unlucky.

The very next hand, I was in the big blind with A7 offsuit. I saw a free flop of A-7-x and bet it all the way. I took 3 people to the river and 1 to showdown with me, only slightly fearing the fact that the board paired 4's on the river. My top two pair won the pot, and my chip stack creeped over $500.

I watched a couple orbits go by, and it appeared that my rush had ended. I donated $20 or so back to the table, seeing a few cheap flops on the rush to see if anything came of them. Nothing did, and when the dealer change came, I decided not to mess with the evening's poker karma. I grabbed a rack and collected my chips to leave. The table was sad to see me go (despite being generally quiet, I'm also generally pleasant to have at the table), but the Staredown boy nailed on the head why they really didn't want me to go. I heard him say as I walked away, "There was no way she was giving those chips back, anyway."

No sir, I wasn't. Good read.

Results for the night:
3 hours
90 hands
BB/hour: +10.6
BB/100: +36.2

Cumulative B&M results at 5/10 for 2006:
BB/hour: +1.2
BB/100: +4.04

Full Tilt Poker is running some ladies-only WSOP satellites in April, for a run at the 1k buy-in ladies event on July 9th (the weekend of the WPBT Summer Classic 2006). I think I'm going to give it a go. The FTP tourneys are $24+2 events, and they've got a point system for people playing in all of the April satellites. The top finishers in points get qualified into satellites for the WSOP main event. How cool would it be to play in the WSOP for Full Tilt? Sweet.

I am often conflicted when it comes to ladies-only events. For one, I'm not a big fan of stereotypical "woman stuff." The catty chatter, gossip, dirty looks, general bitchiness... nope, don't like it. I mean, I'm most comfy in jeans and a hockey jersey - not your typical feminine garb. The girls I do like are strong, independent gals who would rather be smart and accomplished than fit into the pretty girl mold. (Well behaved women rarely make history). I am not a "pretty girl." That is not what I "do." So, the thought of spending hours at a table with a bunch of women who are more likely to be the kind of girls I *don't* like than the kind that I like - not appealing.

(I'm probably being overly stereotypical, though, as I'd probably meet some very cool people at such an event).

The other thing that bothers me about gender-separation in poker is that I don't believe it should exist. Poker is a mental game, and I'm of the belief that the smartest woman in the world is just as smart as the smartest man. I think poker is the type of game where the playing field really is level for both men and women. That's not true for all games or sports. I'm thinking back to high school, when we had to run the mile in gym class. Men and women had different time requirements, because our bodies are just different. In cases like that, where physical differences dictate different standards for each gender, I can understand gender separation. But I don't think poker is one of those types of games.

That, and I just like hanging out with guys. :)

All of that aside, though... these qualifiers on Full Tilt are online. I won't have to listen to any catty chatter or girls pulling each other's hair, thanks to the mute feature in chat. And if I happen to win my way into the WSOP ladies' event, I'd be glad to play in it just for the experience (lack of men and all).

So, I think I'm going to try these Full Tilt satellites and go for the Ladies Only WSOP Bracelet Race on FTP.

I'd be curious to think what the rest of you girls think. Are you for or against ladies-only events in poker?

All I can say is, I'm cracking myself up over here with the sharpie and big ol' box of Crayolas (and a little Photoshop action!)

I decided to play in one more $20 SnG on Full Tilt. When it got down to 2 players, I had 10k in chips to my opponent's 3500. He/she proceeded to push all in on every single hand. I folded the likes of 9-2o and J4o, figuring that I'll be damned if I'm going to double him/her up just for the sake of not laying down to her raises. (It was a female avatar, but "she" sounded like a man to me).
After a couple hands of this, I paused and typed into the chat box, "What, you don't know how to play actual poker? You can't handle playing heads up? Gotta make this an all-in luck-fest, eh?"

No comment, and for a while he/she started folding. Then the all-in's came back, and I said, "Wow, this is the most horrible heads-up play I've ever seen."

Then, the usual - "I'd rather be lucky than good."

I finally pushed with A2 suited, and she had me barely covered. Her King Ten suited (also hearts) hit a King and she won the tournament, leaving me in 2nd place.

At the end, she said, "Good game." I said, "Wish I could say the same - you didn't play a good game, just a lucky one." She said, "I know."

Whatever.... I totally want to tell you her name, as he/she was just awful - not only heads-up, but throughout the tournament. I'll hold back my slander, though. Feel free to email or IM me if you'd like a new fish to add to your list, though :)

Maybe I'm just offended that someone who made it to the money in a tournament - something I take a bit of pride in - would go and shit on it, tarnishing the whole "accomplishment" factor by making it into a lottery.

Anyway... ITM again, and I think it is time for bed! Nite, all.

It's over... I took 2nd place - all with only sucking out one time on someone (KQ vs AK, board came 9-T-J).

My head is spinning back and forth between last night's "I suck at poker" to "holy shit, I just won a thousand bucks."

Literally, spinning.

WTF... insanity.

I was going to head to Empress tonight but I think I need to watch paint dry for a bit. Holy cow.

Not bad for a $26 investment. (254 players)

Right now. OMFG

So much for the rush.

-400 for the night, meaning - I'm actually down $26 for the week. Unless I can win $1,026 tomorrow, the rush for 1k is more like "how to waste one week, 35 hours, over 1,00 hands, and a bunch of money pretending you know how to play poker."

What a fucking night.

After I finished berating myself for the first 40 minutes of my drive home, I started thinking about the night and the hands I played and how they went down. What went wrong?

The biggest problem was that I had a LOT of playable hands, but not a single draw came in. By "playable," I mean - big suited cards (AQ was popular for me tonight), suited connectors over 7-8 (from late position only - button, cutoff, or cutoff plus one), mid-pocket pairs... I was also at a decently loose table (6 people average to every flop - sometimes more, sometimes less) with a handful of calling stations that sweetened the pots by calling down with bottom pair. With most of my drawing hands, I had odds to see the flop and turn, and sometimes even the river. Not a single straight or flush came in. None of my pocket pairs flopped sets (I counted 9 pocket pairs 5's or higher).

In addition to my playable drawing hands, my big pairs got crushed (early and often). No sense rehashing, since it was mostly like I said in my last post.

OK.. so I bled a lot of chips chasing draws, in addition to the suckouts. But - was I playing any differently than normal? Was there anything I could have done, short of changing my starting hand requirements (which are straight out of Sklansky/Malmuth's Small Stakes Hold'em)? Maybe I was playing differently because I wanted too badly to have a winning session for my Spring Break Rush.

I did play a few extra hands. Let's play Rank-a-Leak. I'll tell you what I did differently than I normally do, and you tell me how big of a leak you think it was. (Big leak, small leak, or not a leak).

• Hand #1: A2 of clubs, big blind. 2 limpers, and the button raises. I called the raise to see the flop. Flop gave me a gutshot wheel draw and a backdoor flush draw (plus the overcard ace). It checked around to the button, who bet out. I called the small bet. The turn failed to complete my straight or give me the draw to the flush, so I check-folded.
  

Big leak? Little leak? Not a leak?

• Hand #2 (well, 2 hands) - Twice: I saw flops in multiway pots from late position with small suited connectors - 4-5 suited and 5-6 suited. (My typical standard lowest connectors I'll play are 7-8 suited). I folded after the flops missed me.
  

Big leak? Little leak? Not a leak?

• Hand #3: I played AQ offsuit from UTG+1, limping instead of raising. I hit a Q on the flop and bet it all the way. I was called down by a calling station who played every hand he was dealt, until he popped me on the river with a raise when the third spade hit the board. I called his raise. He had AQ of spades for the flush.
  

Big leak? Little leak? Not a leak?

• Hand #4: I raised UTG with pocket 10's (somewhat out of frustration... I normally limp from early position with 10's and lower in loose games, knowing that any overcard is going to beat me when 6 people come to the flop, unless I hit a set). I got no action and won the blinds. Maybe the set of 10's was coming?
  

Big leak? Little leak? Not a leak?

• Hand #5: I played T-9 offsuit on the button when 6 people limped ahead of me and the blinds had yet to act. 9 people saw the flop. I flopped an open ended straight draw on a board of 7-8-K. I called a flop bet and a turn bet. (Everybody saw the turn, and 6 of the 9 players, including myself, came to the river). I didn't hit my draw and folded to the river bet.
  

Big leak? Little leak? Not a leak?

I've calculated how much I think I could have saved, had I folded the hands that I feel were the biggest leaks preflop. I'm curious what you guys think though. I'm not sure if I'm encouraged or disheartened by the fact that the bets I would have saved hardly affect the end result.

I'm trying not to fall into a self-pity pit here, or slip into the "I suck at poker so why do I even bother" mindset, because all of that crap is counter-productive. I know that I can't judge how well I play based on the results of ONE session. I know that part of poker is losing, and that bad luck is different than bad play. I know that the cards have no memory, and just because today's session was awful doesn't mean that the cards will be awful to me forever, or even tomorrow. I know that I cannot blame the math of drawing to outs for my losses tonight, and that I must believe in the math in the LONG RUN, not just over one session. I know that I do want some fish at my table, even though the suckouts are painful.

I know all of this, but it sure is hard to reconcile what I "know" with the fact that in one 4 hour session, my 2006 results at 5/10 limit have gone from an average profit of 1.7 BB/hour and 5.69 BB/100 hands to a dismal profit of 0.4 BB/hour and 1.48 BB/100 hands. In. One. Session. Granted, I only have 8 sessions and a total of 38 hours logged (just over 1,100 hands), but for someone who puts such faith in the math behind this game, the math of my results makes me want to throw up.

I know, I know... I could win that all back tomorrow and then some.

I'm going to end this rambling pep talk to myself and make tonight's mantra: you're still playing at a profit. Tonight was one bad night. Tomorrow will be better.

In the meantime, feel free to be honest in ranking my leaky hands. As much as I could use a pep talk to counter the negative voices in my head, I think it's even more important that I don't make the same mistakes in the future, and I could really use someone else's perspective but my own right now.

Thanks in advance, everybody. Your input is invaluable. Have a good day....

I'm pseudo-live blogging my trip to Resorts tonight on my Blackberry. I'm way down the waiting list, and already dropped my max-allowed 40 bucks into the quarter video poker machines. Damn machines.

I'm on the list for 5/10 holdem. I stopped at Arby's on the way here, and the loaded potato bites are to die for.

Just got called - back in a bit.

---

Got into a little altercation. A loose player made a late position raise on my BB. I has AK. I called. He bet all the way and I didn't think he had shit. I called him down. He has AJ, and I won. He said, "jeez, promise me you'll call down with nothing all night." I said, "sure, promise me you'll bet with junk." Boy, he got pissed!

Waiting for the cage to come with a fill.

---
8pm. The fishes are catching. KK and QQ got cracked on the river to 97 and 96, respectively. Both guys were calling my bets (or raises in the case of the KK, as I was in late position) with 2nd pair to the board. I'm reloading and will get my money back, as I am a master when it comes to patience. Better news coming soon.

---

I was ice cold at the poker table last night at Resorts. 7 hours and hardly any hands played.

QQ for a raise preflop got me no action (because even the fish can tell when someone has been sitting for 4 hours folding). I thought of limping for that precise reason, but decided it unwise to risk taking those ladies to a 5-handed flop. (That was our table average last night, so it was a slightly tighter game than previously). Something Doyle said in SS2 always rings in the back of my head in situations like these: with those big pocket pairs, you'll usually either win a small pot or lose a big one (when they get cracked). Since I've seen that to be true time and time again with my own eyes, it has really helped me to value those pairs highly preflop, and reconsider carefully on every street (which is really how every hand should be played). Early on in my poker playing, if I had QQ, I was pounding like a maniac on each street to showdown, mostly regardless of the board. I mean, hey - I had queens, man! Not so anymore.

JJ got cracked off when, as expected, and Ace showed up on the river. I was being chased down by A6 suited, no pair no draw.

When those guys at Empress were saying that the 5/10 game at Resorts was harder, I don't think it's because of better players. Sure, last night's game was tighter than the typical 8-or-9 way pots at Empress, but the players were equally "bad" in the same way I'd classify most small-stakes games as "bad" - too many players playing too many hands, and hanging onto them for too long. Loose/passive calling station types are everywhere.

I ran into Heather up at Resorts, who arrived before I did and left after I did. I missed having dinner with her, as I couldn't help taking advantage of the fact that they provide table-side food service at Resorts. It is so cool to be able to eat without leaving the poker table. I had a chicken wrap, which was decent but not really "good." The convenience was worth it though, and $6 isn't so bad for a chicken wrap and some chips (2 wraps, actually). A kind doctor at my table gave me a pass to get into the high limit noodle bar, which he explained had the most excellent Chinese food. I will definitely check that out at some point. Food = gooooood.

Yesterday's chill set me back on my Spring Break Rush for 1K, and I've got only today and tomorrow left to push this over the top. Now, I will actually need an honest to goodness rush to make my goal. That's OK - I can do it :)

Last night's results:
7 hours
210 hands
-1.3 BB/hour
-4.4 BB/100

Spring Break Rush for 1K:
+374
Left to go: 626

Randy and I checked out the Resorts poker room last night in East Chicago, Indiana. Randy had been there previously when it was owned by Harrah's, but not since it changed hands.

My first impression of driving there was that the signage wasn't so good. I think I'd have gotten lost if I was driving there myself, for the first time, at night. They could definitely use more signs with arrows. That, though, only affects a person's first few trips to the casino, so I guess I can forgive it.

We had called ahead for seating at the $5/10 limit hold'em game, and arrived to the casino about 20 minutes early. We stopped and got player's cards, and headed up to the poker room. The poker room is on the top floor of the boat, and escalators are available to shuffle gamblers between floors. That was nice, though wandering around the place, I felt like I was always on the verge of getting lost. I'm glad I didn't go to Resorts alone for my first trip. I'd probably have stressed myself out so much getting lost finding the place and getting lost inside that it would have been an awful session. :)

Once we got up to the poker room, we saw that our names were in the top 4 on the board. We checked in, and that put us next up on the list. About 10 minutes later, though, 2 people who had called before us checked in, and their names got moved above ours. Is that how most lists work? I was under the impression that the order you CHECK IN is what determines your final seating order. (ie. it shouldn't have mattered that the 2 guys called in before us, because we checked in first). Not so at Resorts. That was a bit annoying, so after standing around for a while, we asked for pagers so that we could go roam the boat. If you have a player's card, you can get a pager, and the poker room will buzz you when your seat becomes available.

The check-in system is very nice at Resorts. It reminded me a bit of MGM in Vegas. There's a flat panel monitor by the front desk, listing all of the games, names on the waiting list, and whether those names are phone-in's or waiting. I'm not sure how much Resorts comps poker play, but you can give your player's card to the desk when you check in and they will swipe it. When you leave, they'll swipe it again, and that is how players get rated.

If I'm not mistaken, there were 14 tables in the Resorts poker room. It was a nice sized room. The tables were decent (but what's up with places not having cup holders? I much prefer tables with cup holders. Empress doesn't have them either). Most of the dealers were good. They reminded me of Trump dealers (errr Majestic Star 2) - except that the dealers at Trump are so much... I don't know, cooler. More personality. Friendlier. Something like that. Trump has the best poker dealers in the Chicagoland area, between Trump, Empress, and Resorts. That's my opinion so far, anyway. It was nice to play in a game where the dealers kept the action going and pointed out proper poker etiquette to the players while enforcing table rules (ie. English-only when in a hand, no showing your hole cards to your neighbor, etc). Empress is SO annoying in their lack of dealer control of the game.

The best thing about Resorts: THEY ALLOW iPODs! Woohooo! I didn't use mine last night, since Randy was there at my table and I could chat with him, but I will definitely take advantage of that allowance in the future.

The bathrooms are slightly inconvenient, located down one level on the boat. They are, however, near the escalators, which are near the entrance to the poker room, so you just have to go outside the poker room, down the escalators, and the bathrooms are right there.

Drinks were speedy enough for my taste.

What you're all waiting for... the poker stories. The other night at Empress, I had overheard a couple people talking about the 5/10 game at Resorts. They were talking about how it's a tougher game than Empress, and that the players are better. I went to Resorts last night with that expectation.

I did not find the same to be true.

My table for most of the night looked like this:

1 seat: newbie - as in, you could read her lips as she counted straights on the board and compared them to her hand, looking back and forth from the board to her hand 8 times before making any decisions. She didn't understand the "best 5 cards" rule and why some pots got chopped. She played EVERY hand. She showed down ANY pair. Fresh as a newborn baby, she was.

2 seat: Asian gambler kid who played a lot of hands but knew what he was doing. Slightly loose with selective aggression. I didn't care to be in many pots with him.

3 seat: Asian gambler's friend who really should take some lessons from his buddy. Any ace or face. Notable starting hands: K4 suited from UTG+1, A4o (cold-called 2 bets). etc.

4 seat: Tight aggressive. Good player.

5 seat: Donkey. J4o, any two suited, and two connected (suits irrelevant), any face card, any ace. Bet and raised with junk.

6 seat: WPT wanna be kid. Randy thought he was a good player, but I had a little extra information on him. He wasn't too careful about protecting his hole cards, so I got to see a lot of the hands he was playing (when I was out of the pots). He checked his cards constantly. He played a lot of suited face cards (like J7 suited, Q6 suited, etc) and would call down to the river with 2nd pair and muck when he lost. He went through 2 buy-ins, and was highly prone to tilt.

7 seat: me (and you already know that I rule). ha!

8 seat: a black man of maybe 58 or so. I thought initially that he was a gambler-type, as he kept buying in short-stacked for $55. He played a lot of hands (suited face cards with disregard to kickers, any ace, suited connectors), and often tried to collect orphan pots when the table showed weakness. He got lucky on a few hands, betting his overcards on ragged flops and then catching a pair, flush, or straight on the turn or river. He got out of pots when he was beat, and rarely showed down losing hands. I decided he was one of the better players at the table.

9 seat: Randy

10 seat: Fish. A man in his 50's or so who played lots and lots of hands (offsuit connectors, 1-and-2 gappers, any ace, any face - basically, any two cards). Had no problem calling down to the river. Raised when he hit 2 pair or better. Predictable.

That makes 10 seats, and we were only at a 9-handed table, so I must have one extra person in there who left and was replaced by someone else. At any rate, there were 3 people at the table who I thought to be decent (though only 1 I was really concerned about in terms of what he would raise preflop with). 4 were awful players. Plenty of fish available to pay off big hands to the river (and they did).

Randy and I both got on early rushes, and within an hour and a half or so, were each up over $100. We probably should have taken our money and ran... Over the next hour, Randy got himself stuck $100, and I was back down to even. As the clock approached midnight, though, three of the good players left, leaving me, Randy, and the barnyard animals. I was loving the look of things: a shorthanded table full of fish. I now had no doubt whatsoever and Randy and I were the best players at that table. Now to catch some cards...

I opened up my starting hand requirements a bit and saw some flops. A6 suited from the button flopped me two pair, and I bet it all the way down. The river counterfeited my 2 pair, pairing the board with 8's, but my Ace was good and I collected a nice pot. In another hand, I saw a flop with KJ and flopped 2 kings. I got paid off on all streets but my last river bet. I won a couple other pots, bringing my profits back up over $100, and with that, we called it a night.

Randy considered it a "nice little rush" I went on in the last half hour or so, but as soon as those few people left the game, I practically started to salivate. I had reads and hand pattern tells on every player at the table, and I just needed a few cards to get my money back. It worked out well.

Other hands... AK did nothing for me. KK got cracked by A4o (the Asian gambler guy saw my raise from the small blind). I saw pocket 8's four or five times and never hit a set. Early in the game, I had A2 suited on the button and flopped 2 pair. I raised the early position bettor, who called. The turn made his straight (he had QJ on a board of A-2-T-K) and he check-raised me. I called the hand down and lost. At that point, I didn't yet know anything about his play, but in retrospect, I'd have called him down anyway, as he was likely to bet and raise with anything (regardless of his actual hand strength), and his starting cards usually sucked.

I had my one-hand-donkey-leak again last night. GRRRRR. I need to stop and listen to myself before acting. I call down one hand per night that I KNOW is going to lose. I know it WHILE I'm doing it. CONSCIOUSLY. And I do it anyway. One hand per session. Guaranteed. This one was a biggie too. From the small blind, I had 67 suited in clubs. Lots of limpers, and the guy to my right on the button raised. I'd seen him raise with anything from monsters to A2 of diamonds UTG, so his raise didn't put too much fear in my soul, and I was actually glad to have suited connectors in this situation. My cards were likely live, and I'd have more odds than I'd ever need when the rest of the table completed the raise. It got most of the way around the table, when someone 3-bet it. Ugh. I called the bet, and the guy to my left capped it. (I should have capped myself, as it's one of the things I do... it's unlucky to see a flop for 3 bets instead of 4! I don't know where that came from. I just made it up. But that's my rule). Everyone came along for a 7-high flop, one club. I had top pair/weak kicker, a gutshot draw to the straight if an 8 fell, and a backdoor flush draw. I checked, and the guy to my left bet out. Lots of people called, including myself. Turn was a blank (no club). I ended up putting in another bet to see the river, and one more on the end because the pot was so huge that I couldn't get Sklansky out of my head... "Even if you know you are beat, you shouldn't fold for one bet on the river in a big pot, because you only need to win at showdown 8% of the time to make the call profitable." (Or something like that - it's a concept out of Small Stakes Hold'em). It sure was a big pot. The guy to my left had the straight with 8-9 of spades. At best, I was drawing to a split pot with him (once my redraw to the flush went down the drain). Ugh.

Hee-haw.

The night ended well for me, but not so well for Randy. We once again had the conversation that his game is much better suited for no-limit, and that he should try the NL game.

My results for the night:

3.5 hours
105 hands
+3.3 BB/hour
+10.9 BB/100

Spring Break Rush for 1K:
+ $466
$534 to go

3 days left....

I'll be heading out to Resorts again this afternoon, since Empress doesn't spread poker on Fridays or Saturdays. I'd like to visit Trump again, now that it is Majestic Star 2, but they'd have to be running the 6/12 game because there's no way I'm hitting up 3/6. I hesitate, though, because most of the regulars in the Trump limit games were rock tight players. I doubt that has changed, and I'd rather play a more fishy game than spend 5 hours trying to bleed chips from a stone.

Head over to April's blog for some big news on the WPBT Summer Classic 2006!

Woooohoooo!!! Sooooo freakin excited. I want to book NOW. Cannot wait.

I spent 4 hours at Empress this evening, after having a productive afternoon that included a delicious Fuddrucker's burger, an oil change, and driving around with a container full of gasoline in my car after Randy's car ran out of gas.

It was a good night.

I had some very good dealers tonight at the 5/10 game, including one who just finished dealer school. Speedy as heck (putting a few of the other dealers to shame), and kindly washed the cards after each and every hand before shuffling. (There are no automatic shufflers at Empress).

The only down side was sitting at the same table as the ignorant moron from the other week. I can't even begin to tell you how awful it is to play with this guy. I'm not easily offended, but some of the things this guy says are just out of hand. A supervisor stood by at several points in the evening waiting for him to slip and say something rude, so he could kick him out. (No such luck). I mean, this guy talks trash about various ethnicities, "jokes" about homosexuals and people who have AIDS, drops F-bombs left and right, talks openly about his sex life (or lack thereof), degrades women at every chance he gets... my favorite story was one about a black man who wanted to fight him the other night. He told the guy to "go get some rubbers so he could f--- [him] up the ass, since [he] hadn't had sex in 3 years." I mean, come on. This is a 51 year old man saying this.

There was one story I must tell. Ignoramous had a piece of Starburst candy in front of him. He kept calling bets with his piece of candy. The guy holds up the game enough as it is, talking nonstop and failing to pay attention to the action, and wasting time calling bets with the candy was pissing everybody off. (This is where the lack of dealer control of the game at Empress gets really annoying). Finally, an older gentleman at the table reached out to the center of the table (where the Starburst was) and took it. He yelled, "Play your hand, [jerk's name here]!" The jerk actually stood up and started screaming, "Give me back my candy! I want my candy! FLOOR - HE TOOK MY CANDY!"

I'm not kidding. My little cousin is less juvenile, at a ripe 2 years of age. The floor person came over and told him to sit down and be quiet. He should have been asked to leave, as this was not the first time the floor had been called on his bad behavior.

Instead, they comped him ten bucks to get dinner from the deli.

Where is the justice in this world?

In terms of poker, things went well for me. There was nothing really exciting - just some decent hands that held up. Pocket 6's hit a set and turned a boat, and I got paid off. The jerk-guy paid me off when I caught the ass end of a straight with 4 to it onboard. He was betting his overcards all the way and hit his pair on the river. AJ was nice to me, and my pair of aces was good. AA held up for me one time.

Tonight's results:
4 hours, 120 hands
+5.3 BB/hour
+17.5 BB/100

Here's how my Spring Break Rush for 1k is looking:

+352

648 to go...

4 days left. Do ya think I can do it?

Mostly unscathed... mostly.

Yesterday's trip to Empress came after a virtual bloodbath online.

I logged into Full Tilt Poker for a little afternoon delight. The waiting lists on $1/2 LHE were 3-deep, so I said, eff this. If you build it, they will come. I started up a new room, and within moments, had 4 opponents. Before the table could even fill up, I was up $20, thanks partly to pocket rockets on my first hand. I thought to myself, "I should just hit and run and log out now!" Then I reminded myself, "Don't walk away from a rush... if the cards are coming, ride it out."

Ride it out I did - except that in the first hand I played on the 2nd table I pulled up, my KK ran into AA and I lost nearly the maximum possible. My opponent was a Purple on whom I'd logged nearly a thousand hands. (In my world, I tag the Maniacs purple). He sure was a maniac, but this time with good reason to be.

I 4-tabled for a couple hours, with disastrous results. Huge hands came in for me, to huge beats. They went a lot like this: I've got pocket 9's and flop a boat when the board comes 9-7-7. I bet like a champ all the way, and on the turn, when the Ace hit, one opponent went nuts raising me. The river brought a third heart, and he continued raising. I figured I had him crushed, since there was no raise preflop.

He had 77, to beat my boat with 4 of a kind. I was drawing to 1 out the whole time.

Nauseating.

I figured my bad luck could be cured by a trip to Empress. This time, I called an hour ahead, hoping not to have to wait an hour to get seated. I called in, then stopped at Subway for a sandwich. When I arrived at Empress, I was 5th on the list. Ugh. The waiting there is really annoying, considering I have no desire to gamble to pass the time.

I finally got seated at the feeder 5/10 table, and discovered a new variation of fish. This table was loose as usual, with most players playing all manners of junk hands (63 offsuit under the gun, for example) - but they weren't paying off. They were seeing flops and folding if they didn't hit. Pots were small, and I didn't see myself making any money at this table. I figured it wise to tighten up, play the nuts, and pray that my call to the main game came soon (as it was much juicier).

Luckily for me, I was completely card dead, so folding was easy (if not a bit tiresome). I played one hand voluntarily in 3 hours - AJs from the button. Flop came J-x-x, and it checked around to me. I bet out, and got one caller. Turn came a 10. My opponent checked to me, and I bet. He raised. He was a bit egomaniacal, so I resolved myself to my fate of seeing the hand to showdown as cheaply as possible. (I thought he might be running a move on the only girl in the cardroom). I checked the blank on the river, and he bet out. I called, and said, "Jack ten, eh?" He turned over the aforementioned cards with a surprised look on his face (duh, of course you have JT). From that point on, he stayed out of my pots. Ha!

I folded about half of my small blinds and completed about half of them, so that 3 hours cost me: 3 hours x 30 hands/hour = 90 hands. 90 hands / 11 handed table = 8-ish rounds of blinds. (5+2)*4 + (5+5)*4 = -68. Add that to my AJ loss of (5+5+20+10)= 40... I'm down $108. Subtract a few bucks for diet coke...

3 hours in, I hadn't won a hand yet. I had decided to go home when the blinds got to me, since I was 4th on the list to move to the main game, when a seat opened up over there, and oddly enough, the 3 people ahead of me declined the seat and left. I decided to give it a go at the main game.

My cards were a little better, but with bland results. I flopped a straight with KJ on a board of 9-10-Q. I raised and bet it all the way down, and was called down by a guy who called UTG with K4 of diamonds. The river came a Jack, so we split the pot. Then, the guy explained that the only reason he played the hand was hoping to hit the straight, so when he flopped a gutshot, he "hit what he was looking for" and there was no way he was going away. I immediately thought of Felicia's post on how to think like a fish.

In another hand, I raised preflop from middle position with pocket ten's. I got a few callers, and flopped a set on a board of T-Q-K. The turn came a J, and the river an Ace. I was chased down by a guy playing A7 offsuit, and we split the pot with the onboard straight. Ugh.

I managed to leave the cardroom down thirty bucks, so considering how horrifically cold my cards were for 5 hours, I am considering myself lucky for my lack of luck. I was disappointed not to have made any progress in my Spring Break Rush for 1k, but at least it wasn't a huge setback.

Also, I managed to catch my once-per-session donkey leak. I completed from the small blind with J2s (deja vu), thinking that I should have folded it, but due to the multiway action, figured I'd hope to see some hearts. I flopped top pair jacks with one heart, and check-called. The turn didn't give me the flush draw, and I realized my donkey ways and managed to fold on the turn. So, I didn't leak as much as I usually do on my nightly donk hand, but I still have some work to do to get rid of the hand a bet earlier. My signal really should be - any time I get the urge to check-call, drop it, because that is my donkey hand.

I plan to head back to Empress tonight. Randy has offered to possibly take me to Resorts on Thursday, so I'm definitely looking forward to checking out their cardroom.

Spring Break Rush for 1K:

+142

858 to go...