You can read all about the particulars of this ridiculous story at Poker News.
http://www.pokernews.com/news/2006/5/washington-state-online-poker-legislation.htm
The state of Washington has to be one of the worst places to live in the US. They can't hold a fair election or count votes, but they will nonetheless tell you where you can spend your time and money.
The person sponsoring this bill Margaret Prentice is a pawn for the Casino Associations in Washington that donate to her campaigns.
Maybe some lawyers out there will challenge this law in court for all of us.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Turbo Sit and Go's
Well, the experiment is well on its way. I have played in almost nothing but turbo SNGs for since the 15th of May and I have had wonderful success. Well, I have had great success on Poker Stars. Party Poker was much more of a challenge and I eventually withdrew my money out of that account after some great success followed by a roller coaster. Party is just so frustrating because the players are just so bad that they call too often when you are counting on them to fold.
It is amazing to me how many people are clueless on how to play the SNGs, and especially the Turbos. They think that they have to be playing all kinds of hands and they risk lots of chips early. I guess in an effort to try and build a stack, which they think, incorrectly by the way, will somehow help them later. What they inevitably do is build some chips, then lose them and gain and lose and on and on. They don't know how to change gears and they are far to risky in their play. The turbos put a lot of pressure on people because they constantly worry about the blinds going up soon.
I have had a lot of wins lately where I literally did not play a real hand until around the 24th to 30th hand of the SNG, and the blinds at 75/150. I have had severeal wins lately where I never even lost a hand at showdown. You say, wow, how lucky, or how can that be. Well, I will tell you that I had very very few hands go to showdown. And usually it was where someone was all in, and usually it was from someone calling all-in with a hand that was not really good enough to call an all-in with.
The TSNG (turbo sit an go) can be very frustrating at the lower levels because so many players will call with very weak hands when they should be folding, but they just are not good enough to know this and inevitably they do suck out on you, which happens a fair bit of the time, but we do want these donkeys calling, because the odds will even out and we will win against their bad calls. It is frustrating none the less having the best hand because somebody called with QJ or KQ and having them hit.
I really do love the format of the turbo. I just bide my time watching and learning what type of players are at my table and then when the blinds get higher I start putting pressure on them and before you know it I have built up some chips and am in the money.
Over the last week I have really picked up my closing rate to where I have placed first the last 6 times I have made the money. I had 4 thirds in a row before this run. I don't think I played poorly per se in the third place finishes. One I was extremely shortstacked where I had to call a push in the BB, and I made one bad call with A8s to a pushs, when I should have waited to be the aggressor against weaker opponents.
Position position is the key. Being the aggressor is what it is all about. This works even better against better competition because they will fold the 95% of the hands they should be folding when you push on them. Bubble pressure is key in SNGs because who wants to go out 4th and miss the money.
It is amazing to me how many people are clueless on how to play the SNGs, and especially the Turbos. They think that they have to be playing all kinds of hands and they risk lots of chips early. I guess in an effort to try and build a stack, which they think, incorrectly by the way, will somehow help them later. What they inevitably do is build some chips, then lose them and gain and lose and on and on. They don't know how to change gears and they are far to risky in their play. The turbos put a lot of pressure on people because they constantly worry about the blinds going up soon.
I have had a lot of wins lately where I literally did not play a real hand until around the 24th to 30th hand of the SNG, and the blinds at 75/150. I have had severeal wins lately where I never even lost a hand at showdown. You say, wow, how lucky, or how can that be. Well, I will tell you that I had very very few hands go to showdown. And usually it was where someone was all in, and usually it was from someone calling all-in with a hand that was not really good enough to call an all-in with.
The TSNG (turbo sit an go) can be very frustrating at the lower levels because so many players will call with very weak hands when they should be folding, but they just are not good enough to know this and inevitably they do suck out on you, which happens a fair bit of the time, but we do want these donkeys calling, because the odds will even out and we will win against their bad calls. It is frustrating none the less having the best hand because somebody called with QJ or KQ and having them hit.
I really do love the format of the turbo. I just bide my time watching and learning what type of players are at my table and then when the blinds get higher I start putting pressure on them and before you know it I have built up some chips and am in the money.
Over the last week I have really picked up my closing rate to where I have placed first the last 6 times I have made the money. I had 4 thirds in a row before this run. I don't think I played poorly per se in the third place finishes. One I was extremely shortstacked where I had to call a push in the BB, and I made one bad call with A8s to a pushs, when I should have waited to be the aggressor against weaker opponents.
Position position is the key. Being the aggressor is what it is all about. This works even better against better competition because they will fold the 95% of the hands they should be folding when you push on them. Bubble pressure is key in SNGs because who wants to go out 4th and miss the money.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
A wonderful story of success, Lance Carr
If you feel like being moved then you need to go to www.lancecarr.com a site that will truly inspire you. This site tells the story of Lance Carr a man afflicted with a terrible disease that has left him in a wheelchair his whole life. He has been told he has only a couple years to live several times in his life, but he has not given up.
He paints and even plays poker online. You can find him at Poker Stars playing under the name Gimpygod. He is very pleasant to be at a table with. I urge you to go to his site and read about him and if you can help him out with words of hope or more if you can.
He has persevered and overcome so much and it would be truly wonderful if he could feel the love of total strangers raining down on him.
He paints and even plays poker online. You can find him at Poker Stars playing under the name Gimpygod. He is very pleasant to be at a table with. I urge you to go to his site and read about him and if you can help him out with words of hope or more if you can.
He has persevered and overcome so much and it would be truly wonderful if he could feel the love of total strangers raining down on him.
A note to Angie
You may ask yourself who Angie is. Well, Angie is someone I don't know who emailed me today. You wonder what she wrote me, well, I will tell you, but first a little background.
I recently bought a new steno machine for my work as my writer of 9 years suffered a failure on Monday so I had to get a replacement and quickly. Since I needed it fast that sort of put some parameters on my search for a replacement machine. I had in my bookmarks a place called www.Stenotrader.com so I went there first. I knew Stenograph would want my first young for a writer so they were my last resort.
Well, I found a writer and called Matthew up at Stenotrader and he was very polite and friendly and actually gave me information that he knew I might use to buy elsewhere, but he would not be deterred in his service to me. New steno machines can be over $4500. The one I picked was $2,450 recently marked down by the way, which I didn't know but Matt informed me. He also told me that a less expensive writer for $1,950 would be what I needed and that I didn't have to spend the extra $500.
My writer was overnighted to me as I requested and it got there the very next day in time for me to use it the very next day. What incredible service. The writer was in immaculate shape as were all the accessories. I have purchased 2 other backup writers over time on the Internet and not one of them has been in shape to use when it arrived.. I used my new writer yesterday and today and it is a Lamborghini as far as I am concerned.
Now, back to Angie. I posted a response on a court reporter bulletin board I belong too concerning someone looking to purchase a writer. I told them of my purchase and the price and how happy I was and what great service I received not to mention my warranties. I thought I had provided invaluable information to help others.
Then I receive an email from Angie:
Eric,
I think $1,950 for an 8000 is outrageous. I just sold one 8000 for $900 w/metal tray and new battery and traded in the other for $750. I bought both of these last year for around the same price. I replacing my StenoRam Ultras in the hope that the Passport would be coming soon. But I decided to get the Mira after training a new Eclipse user that had a Mira. Here in Southern California, they say the 8000s are worth only $500-$900 depending on the serial #.
Angie
This person has to be perhaps the most inconsiderate person I have ever received an email from. After all what is the purpose in telling someone basically that they got ripped off and were spent twice as much as they needed to. She says that she bought two writers the previous year and got rid of them within a year of acquiring them. Maybe the reason she had to get rid of them so quickly was because she got ripped off and got what she paid for. Just hilarious. She is telling me what they are worth, while proving my point that the reason you go to a reputable place like www.Stenotrader.com is to get a totally refurbished like new writer for half the price of a new writer.
Just a tip for anyone out there that wants to pull an Angie. If you think someone got ripped off, keep it to yourself. Nobody wants to know that they overpaid for anything, especially if it is true, which in this case, it was not. It is one thing to act like you know something, actually knowing what your talking about is another story. Maybe it is a California thing.
I recently bought a new steno machine for my work as my writer of 9 years suffered a failure on Monday so I had to get a replacement and quickly. Since I needed it fast that sort of put some parameters on my search for a replacement machine. I had in my bookmarks a place called www.Stenotrader.com so I went there first. I knew Stenograph would want my first young for a writer so they were my last resort.
Well, I found a writer and called Matthew up at Stenotrader and he was very polite and friendly and actually gave me information that he knew I might use to buy elsewhere, but he would not be deterred in his service to me. New steno machines can be over $4500. The one I picked was $2,450 recently marked down by the way, which I didn't know but Matt informed me. He also told me that a less expensive writer for $1,950 would be what I needed and that I didn't have to spend the extra $500.
My writer was overnighted to me as I requested and it got there the very next day in time for me to use it the very next day. What incredible service. The writer was in immaculate shape as were all the accessories. I have purchased 2 other backup writers over time on the Internet and not one of them has been in shape to use when it arrived.. I used my new writer yesterday and today and it is a Lamborghini as far as I am concerned.
Now, back to Angie. I posted a response on a court reporter bulletin board I belong too concerning someone looking to purchase a writer. I told them of my purchase and the price and how happy I was and what great service I received not to mention my warranties. I thought I had provided invaluable information to help others.
Then I receive an email from Angie:
Eric,
I think $1,950 for an 8000 is outrageous. I just sold one 8000 for $900 w/metal tray and new battery and traded in the other for $750. I bought both of these last year for around the same price. I replacing my StenoRam Ultras in the hope that the Passport would be coming soon. But I decided to get the Mira after training a new Eclipse user that had a Mira. Here in Southern California, they say the 8000s are worth only $500-$900 depending on the serial #.
Angie
This person has to be perhaps the most inconsiderate person I have ever received an email from. After all what is the purpose in telling someone basically that they got ripped off and were spent twice as much as they needed to. She says that she bought two writers the previous year and got rid of them within a year of acquiring them. Maybe the reason she had to get rid of them so quickly was because she got ripped off and got what she paid for. Just hilarious. She is telling me what they are worth, while proving my point that the reason you go to a reputable place like www.Stenotrader.com is to get a totally refurbished like new writer for half the price of a new writer.
Just a tip for anyone out there that wants to pull an Angie. If you think someone got ripped off, keep it to yourself. Nobody wants to know that they overpaid for anything, especially if it is true, which in this case, it was not. It is one thing to act like you know something, actually knowing what your talking about is another story. Maybe it is a California thing.
What do you think of these cards for Poker Stars
This is a screen shot of the cards I use on Poker Stars when I play. What do you think of these?
Monday, May 22, 2006
The Da Vinci Code
We went and saw the Da Vinci Code this weekend. Tom Hanks was enjoyable as always. The movie is pretty long at 2hr 45m or so, and at times I did find myself thinking, boy, this is a long movie. There is some action here and there and a couple plot twists.
I can see how this movie angers Christians kind of like Passion angered Jews. Although, in a different sense. I could not understand the Jewish anger so much having seen the Passion 5 or so times. The truth is the truth and historical events are what they are. I don't think that movie was attacking Jews or blaming them for anything. The Jews know what part they played in the crucifixion of Jesus and that is their history, not all of the Jews turned their back on the Messiah, but certainly a great many in the mob did. This movie I think is pretty entertaining although historically I think pretty thin.
As a believer in Jesus and all that he stood for I take a movie like this for what it is, fanciful speculation, and in the case of a movie they want to make a buck or two. The idea that Jesus was married to Mary Madgalene is ridiculous to me. There would have been writings depicting such, some where there would be documentation of such. To me it really is silly. da Vinci a great artist and thinker had a great imagination. You can't be a great inventor without one, but that is all this story is fanciful imagination.
Don't get me wrong, is the possibility that a group of powerful men got together and formed the church and decided what was going to be right and wrong, well that sounds about right for man. But it is not the darkest con of man. The darkest con of man is that Satan is not real. I feel sorry for the non-believers and the simpletons that will take this movie as being some kind of historical documentary.
Jesus was more than a man. He was the son of God sent down to earth to die for your sins. He was crucified and rose from the dead as he foretold he would. He walked the earth and ascended to Heaven, and he will return one day to hold us all accountable. The Bible has it all, alpha to omega. If you want to know, all you have to do is read it. It may take you a little while as it is a big book filled with history, but it also spells out our future.
I can see how this movie angers Christians kind of like Passion angered Jews. Although, in a different sense. I could not understand the Jewish anger so much having seen the Passion 5 or so times. The truth is the truth and historical events are what they are. I don't think that movie was attacking Jews or blaming them for anything. The Jews know what part they played in the crucifixion of Jesus and that is their history, not all of the Jews turned their back on the Messiah, but certainly a great many in the mob did. This movie I think is pretty entertaining although historically I think pretty thin.
As a believer in Jesus and all that he stood for I take a movie like this for what it is, fanciful speculation, and in the case of a movie they want to make a buck or two. The idea that Jesus was married to Mary Madgalene is ridiculous to me. There would have been writings depicting such, some where there would be documentation of such. To me it really is silly. da Vinci a great artist and thinker had a great imagination. You can't be a great inventor without one, but that is all this story is fanciful imagination.
Don't get me wrong, is the possibility that a group of powerful men got together and formed the church and decided what was going to be right and wrong, well that sounds about right for man. But it is not the darkest con of man. The darkest con of man is that Satan is not real. I feel sorry for the non-believers and the simpletons that will take this movie as being some kind of historical documentary.
Jesus was more than a man. He was the son of God sent down to earth to die for your sins. He was crucified and rose from the dead as he foretold he would. He walked the earth and ascended to Heaven, and he will return one day to hold us all accountable. The Bible has it all, alpha to omega. If you want to know, all you have to do is read it. It may take you a little while as it is a big book filled with history, but it also spells out our future.
The weekend
Well this weekend was bitter sweet. I think that I played really well this weekend but had mixed results. Lady luck at times was not very kind to me. I am always shocked at how many really bad players there are online playing poker. I would think that if you were going to put up your money you might buy at least one book and learn a little about what you are doing, but I have a feeling that is too much work for people out there.
I think I have read at least 8 books on playing poker, and then there are the countless hours on poker forums reading posts about playing poker and analyzing hands, and if that was not enough I belong to Cardrunners.com and PokerXfactor.com. These are two sites that are mentoring sites where successful players share what it is that makes them succeed. I look at these as investment in my future poker playing.
In the future I am hoping to put together my own poker site that will have videos that I will put together of my own playing and share with people, along with articles and other lessons, but that is the long range goal. That will come only if I achieve my primary goal, which is to become a consistent winner online. The amazing thing about online poker is you don't have to win some huge tournament to be successful, but lots of ITM finishes and an occasional 1st will reap a lot of rewards.
I think I have read at least 8 books on playing poker, and then there are the countless hours on poker forums reading posts about playing poker and analyzing hands, and if that was not enough I belong to Cardrunners.com and PokerXfactor.com. These are two sites that are mentoring sites where successful players share what it is that makes them succeed. I look at these as investment in my future poker playing.
In the future I am hoping to put together my own poker site that will have videos that I will put together of my own playing and share with people, along with articles and other lessons, but that is the long range goal. That will come only if I achieve my primary goal, which is to become a consistent winner online. The amazing thing about online poker is you don't have to win some huge tournament to be successful, but lots of ITM finishes and an occasional 1st will reap a lot of rewards.
Friday, May 19, 2006
English the national language
How ridiculous is it that the Senate of the US has been debating and holding votes to decide if English is the national language or just the common language. First they held hearings on steroids in major league baseball, not this.
Does the fact that they are taking time to hold this debate now mean they have solved all the real problems with America? Does this mean that they have solve the problem with ever rising gasoline price gouging by the major oil companies? Thank goodness they finally solved the problem with healthcare in this country for children.
I mean, things must really be going well in the US Government that we can waste time on this bit of silliness. What a bunch of bafoons. Put it to a national vote and be done with it. Odds are it will fail anyway, because too many Americans don't bother voting and the Hispanic vote would rule the day.
The funny thing is America is under attack right now. What you say. Well, we are being invaded. It really is the most brilliant strategy that another country has ever undertaken. Given enough time, eventually there will be more Hispanic people in American than English speaking people. There will be a rise in Hispanic political candidates across the country and before long there will be even more legislation aimed at helping our neighbor to the south.
Yes, it is true. Eventually Mexico will absorb the US. It is already happening. All it takes is time and the lackadaisical attitude that Americans have to accomplish this. I mean, it is so mean to want to control your borders so that people can't illegally enter your country. Eventually the Liberals will be the downfall of this country with their touchy-feely approach to serious problems.
So, be prepared. Learn Espanol. We should be debating if Spanish should be the national language, that way we could start preparing our children for the future that will be there's.
Adios
Does the fact that they are taking time to hold this debate now mean they have solved all the real problems with America? Does this mean that they have solve the problem with ever rising gasoline price gouging by the major oil companies? Thank goodness they finally solved the problem with healthcare in this country for children.
I mean, things must really be going well in the US Government that we can waste time on this bit of silliness. What a bunch of bafoons. Put it to a national vote and be done with it. Odds are it will fail anyway, because too many Americans don't bother voting and the Hispanic vote would rule the day.
The funny thing is America is under attack right now. What you say. Well, we are being invaded. It really is the most brilliant strategy that another country has ever undertaken. Given enough time, eventually there will be more Hispanic people in American than English speaking people. There will be a rise in Hispanic political candidates across the country and before long there will be even more legislation aimed at helping our neighbor to the south.
Yes, it is true. Eventually Mexico will absorb the US. It is already happening. All it takes is time and the lackadaisical attitude that Americans have to accomplish this. I mean, it is so mean to want to control your borders so that people can't illegally enter your country. Eventually the Liberals will be the downfall of this country with their touchy-feely approach to serious problems.
So, be prepared. Learn Espanol. We should be debating if Spanish should be the national language, that way we could start preparing our children for the future that will be there's.
Adios
Monday, May 15, 2006
Turbos what fun
No, not that kind of turbo.
I think I may have stumbled into a gold mine or sorts today when I decided to play a $6.50 Turbo SNG. I normally have shied away from these types of tournaments because I thought that I would do better if I had time to let my skill play out over, what I hope to be lesser skilled opponents.
While I was playing this SNG a guy at my table commented that one of the players was in 14 other SNGs. As it turned out I did a search to find him, and he was in about 8, maybe 10 other SNGs at the same time, all turbos, which was amazing to me. They looked like they were all $6.50 turbo SNGs.
Well, after I was doing the tournaments I was in I tried out this method of playing SNGs and entered 4 at one time, and to my joy, they have more of these started per minute than the normal ones. They fill up so fast that there is up to three to enter, if not more I suppose, but I entered three before the first one even started. The experiment worked rather well at that level of buy-in. I moneyed 2 out of 4, one second and one first. So out of five turbo SNGs at the 6.50 buy in I was ITM %60 percent.
As is the case at the lower levels, they just don't pay enough for your efforts. I decided that I would move up to the next level, which I believe are the $16 Turbo SNGs. I played two to start with to see how I liked them. I finished in second in one and missed the money in the other. The nice thing with the turbos is how quickly they start up more and how quickly you can play them. They generally take about 50 minutes to complete if not sooner, but no much longer.
My next experiment was to do three at once. This went really well and if not for losing a coin flip on the last hand, I could have won 2 out of 3, but I will take the seconds. I am definitely going to concentrate on playing the turbo SNGs.
I have a theory on why they are a good thing, and that is instead of having to wade through a lot of hands and possible bad beats, you can concentrate more on the important hands. There is also certain SNG principles the come into play much more quickly as the blinds rise in relation to the stacks that, frankly, many if not most at the low limits just don't understand. There was a guy at one of my tables today that was getting upset because another player(the guy playing 10 SNGs at once) and me were pushing all-in often. This put incredible pressure on him and I am sure he made mistakes because of it. Needless to say, our confused friend did not make the money.
As with any low level buy-in game there will be times when higher level moves are not successful, because the players don't realize calling an all-in with QJ just is not a good move, or 24 suited. With the turbos though there are less opportunities for the bad beat, not that you still don't get them, but with few hands you don't have to avoid as much trouble.
I think I may have stumbled into a gold mine or sorts today when I decided to play a $6.50 Turbo SNG. I normally have shied away from these types of tournaments because I thought that I would do better if I had time to let my skill play out over, what I hope to be lesser skilled opponents.
While I was playing this SNG a guy at my table commented that one of the players was in 14 other SNGs. As it turned out I did a search to find him, and he was in about 8, maybe 10 other SNGs at the same time, all turbos, which was amazing to me. They looked like they were all $6.50 turbo SNGs.
Well, after I was doing the tournaments I was in I tried out this method of playing SNGs and entered 4 at one time, and to my joy, they have more of these started per minute than the normal ones. They fill up so fast that there is up to three to enter, if not more I suppose, but I entered three before the first one even started. The experiment worked rather well at that level of buy-in. I moneyed 2 out of 4, one second and one first. So out of five turbo SNGs at the 6.50 buy in I was ITM %60 percent.
As is the case at the lower levels, they just don't pay enough for your efforts. I decided that I would move up to the next level, which I believe are the $16 Turbo SNGs. I played two to start with to see how I liked them. I finished in second in one and missed the money in the other. The nice thing with the turbos is how quickly they start up more and how quickly you can play them. They generally take about 50 minutes to complete if not sooner, but no much longer.
My next experiment was to do three at once. This went really well and if not for losing a coin flip on the last hand, I could have won 2 out of 3, but I will take the seconds. I am definitely going to concentrate on playing the turbo SNGs.
I have a theory on why they are a good thing, and that is instead of having to wade through a lot of hands and possible bad beats, you can concentrate more on the important hands. There is also certain SNG principles the come into play much more quickly as the blinds rise in relation to the stacks that, frankly, many if not most at the low limits just don't understand. There was a guy at one of my tables today that was getting upset because another player(the guy playing 10 SNGs at once) and me were pushing all-in often. This put incredible pressure on him and I am sure he made mistakes because of it. Needless to say, our confused friend did not make the money.
As with any low level buy-in game there will be times when higher level moves are not successful, because the players don't realize calling an all-in with QJ just is not a good move, or 24 suited. With the turbos though there are less opportunities for the bad beat, not that you still don't get them, but with few hands you don't have to avoid as much trouble.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Ultimate Bet, worst customer service on the web
If you have a choice of places to play, and you do, I would recommend not depositing a dime into UB. Their customer service is by far the worst of any site that I have played on. You are lucky if they ever respond to you at all. They will email you telling you that you can deposit more and more money there, but they will not answer requests for Hand histories.
I have asked them four times for my hand histories and all they do is ask me for the answer to my secret question. I guess it wasn't enough that I provided my screen name and the game numbers, oh, and sent it using the email address that is on file with them. I guess these geniuses were worried that someone hacked my email account, knew my screen name and just happened to know what games I had played, and they wanted to know what cards I played. Even if it were true, who cares, it is not national security issues.
UB how not to run a business.
I have asked them four times for my hand histories and all they do is ask me for the answer to my secret question. I guess it wasn't enough that I provided my screen name and the game numbers, oh, and sent it using the email address that is on file with them. I guess these geniuses were worried that someone hacked my email account, knew my screen name and just happened to know what games I had played, and they wanted to know what cards I played. Even if it were true, who cares, it is not national security issues.
UB how not to run a business.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
CardRunners.com League
This week on 5/3/06 was the first tournament in the CR league. It is a 6-max table NL format. There will be tournaments every other week for 4 months. Points are awared based on number of entrants in any given tourney, i.e. week 1 had 80 entrants so first was 80, second 79 and so on.
This was my first ever 6-max table anything. I had never played that either SNG or MTT. It seemed very aggressive at times. I have a very aggressive player to my right who raised relentlessly.
Before I played in this tournament I watched a couple 6-max videos on CR to get an idea of the style of play and strategy to employ. I found it very enjoyable and the level of play for the most part was very exceptional. I say quite a few people lay down very big pairs on scary boards and in the face of big bets. I have to say, that I have seen so many people call down with underpairs that this was a very nice change of pace. I had to lay down AAs once when the board came QJT and it was checked to me and I bet 1/2 the pot and one PF caller folded but then I was check/raised 2-3 times my bet. I thought for a little bit and mucked as I figured it was either a set or two pair with KQ and quite possible AK, which in the end it was AK.
I did not have very good luck as far as the table dynamics were. I had the biggest stack at my table and it was 3-handed. The other table was 4-handed and the other shortstack was at that table. Even though we were playing hand for hand and the same number of hands, I was paying the big blind once every 3 hands and he was paying it once every 4 hands, which is obviously a huge advantage. And the other thing was his table had 3 decent stacks and then the short stack, so there wasn't one huge stack that could run over the table like at my table where he raised 5 out of every 6 hands at a minimum. After surviving for about 3 or 4 orbits and realizing that I was getting pummeled and at a severe disadvantage I made a move with K6o when the big stack min raised me. I suppose in hindsight I should have just waited and waited and if I blinded out so be it. He had KQ and I bubbled. This was very frustrating because there really was nothing I could do to overcome my positional table disadvantage. Nobody's fault, but mine I guess for not having enough chips, but it sure doesn't make sense to me in terms of table balancing to have it the way it was. I finished 7th ahead of many top CR players so I have to be very happy about that, but hitting the money and a final table is what I really wanted.
This was my first ever 6-max table anything. I had never played that either SNG or MTT. It seemed very aggressive at times. I have a very aggressive player to my right who raised relentlessly.
Before I played in this tournament I watched a couple 6-max videos on CR to get an idea of the style of play and strategy to employ. I found it very enjoyable and the level of play for the most part was very exceptional. I say quite a few people lay down very big pairs on scary boards and in the face of big bets. I have to say, that I have seen so many people call down with underpairs that this was a very nice change of pace. I had to lay down AAs once when the board came QJT and it was checked to me and I bet 1/2 the pot and one PF caller folded but then I was check/raised 2-3 times my bet. I thought for a little bit and mucked as I figured it was either a set or two pair with KQ and quite possible AK, which in the end it was AK.
I did not have very good luck as far as the table dynamics were. I had the biggest stack at my table and it was 3-handed. The other table was 4-handed and the other shortstack was at that table. Even though we were playing hand for hand and the same number of hands, I was paying the big blind once every 3 hands and he was paying it once every 4 hands, which is obviously a huge advantage. And the other thing was his table had 3 decent stacks and then the short stack, so there wasn't one huge stack that could run over the table like at my table where he raised 5 out of every 6 hands at a minimum. After surviving for about 3 or 4 orbits and realizing that I was getting pummeled and at a severe disadvantage I made a move with K6o when the big stack min raised me. I suppose in hindsight I should have just waited and waited and if I blinded out so be it. He had KQ and I bubbled. This was very frustrating because there really was nothing I could do to overcome my positional table disadvantage. Nobody's fault, but mine I guess for not having enough chips, but it sure doesn't make sense to me in terms of table balancing to have it the way it was. I finished 7th ahead of many top CR players so I have to be very happy about that, but hitting the money and a final table is what I really wanted.
Huge Saturday Night
Well, last night I was home by myself as my daugther was at a friend's house and my wife was at some tupperware party or something. I had not had a great afternoon of playing and was looking for some real play. I happened to notice that there was a $109 MTT that was starting up in a little bit and there were only 42 signed up for it. I thought about it for about 35 minutes on whether to play in it or not. I have always wanted to play in the big tourneys, but my bankroll is not huge and so I have not done so.
I had won $200 a couple weeks back to play in the big million dollar Sunday tourney on Stars, so I decided that I would play the Saturday night $109 and then not play on Sunday. I went for it and played the tourney.
I just played solid poker nothing spectacular. I did not play any speculative hands to speak of and kept my position in mind at all times. When I had hands that required raising I raised. I did not get out of line all night long really. I took notes on everyone and looked up every player I played against in an online database to see their results to get an idea of their skill level so that I would have a frame of reference as to what they might be capable of.
I made one move early on at the 10/20 level when I had raised with AK and got called by one good player and one loose caller. The flop came AQ7 and I bet about 1/2 the pot and got called by the good player, the turn was a 7 and I tried to think what hands he might have that would call preflop and just call on the flop. His stack was down to about 550 and any bet I would make would pretty much have him pushing all-in. I thought that he had AQ and that I was behind but the pot was huge and I had him covered, so I put him all-in and he called with AQ, I hit the K on the river and he was gone and I was up to 2500 chips at level 1.
My next big hand was when I had AA and reraises the guy to my right who raised to 3BB to 9BB. He called and the flop came AKK. He checked it to me and I checked behind hoping to induce some action on the turn. The turn was a 2 and he checked to me. the pot is 585. I bet out 185 which was very very weak. I was hoping that he would come over the top of me, or at least call. He reraised me to 370. I paused a long time and then called. The river was a Q and he pushed all in for 1550. I quickly hit call and he showed KQ for a smaller full house. I was at 4600 chips and it was level 2. I was off and running.
I had AK later and got all in against two short stacks, one had 44 and the other had QQ. I hit the K on the flop but a 4 came on the river and I lost 25% of my stack, which I quickly got back from the lose caller who raised in early position and to 300 and I reraised to 750 with AQ. He called and the flop was J high. He bet out to ckd to me and I bet about 3/4 of his remaining stack and he folded, as I thought he would. This guy had called with 34s earlier and had shown a propensity for raising any two suited and lots of other hands and calling raises with nothing. I was going to go to the river against him because I knew he was very very weak.
I made a play way later when the blinds had gotten up there. I think we were 7 handed and I had A8 of clubs UTG and raised 3BBs. I had hardly played any hands and had not actively stolen any blinds. When I raised most times people gave me credit for big hands, and they were smart, because for the most part that's what I had. I the big blind pushed all in against me. The BB had shown that he was a very aggressive player and had played many weak hands very aggressively. I was getting great odds to call against him. I did not think he had a big hand and his raise all-in was very big in relation to my raise. I did not think he had anything so I called. He had something like KT. My hand held up and he was gone.
I misplayed AAs one time UTG+1 when the UTG shortstack went all in for less than 1BB and I made a normal raise to 3BB. I should have limped in and prayed that a big stack came over the top of us. My bad. As it was it would have been very good to build a sidepot on this hand, because I lost 1bb to the shortstack who sucked out. I suffered about 3 or 4 suckouts in this tourney when I was the big favorite.
For the most part, I believe that my money went in with the best hand all but 2 hands. I finished 9th making the final table, outlasting my mentors along the way and many, many poker pros, which really validates my skills in my eyes. This was my biggest poker win in terms of payoff and competition faced. I really had a great time. If not for a suckout at the end when I had JJ and was against A5o I might have gone even deeper, but it was a good run. I even played against the 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, who busted out 28th and was the bubble boy for this tournament. I wanted to bust him, or put a move on him, but I had a big stack to my left and could not get to him.
That was another thing about this tourney that I had to overcome. I had a huge stack to my left for a big portion of this tourney which severly limited what I could do in terms of even trying to steal blinds.
I had won $200 a couple weeks back to play in the big million dollar Sunday tourney on Stars, so I decided that I would play the Saturday night $109 and then not play on Sunday. I went for it and played the tourney.
I just played solid poker nothing spectacular. I did not play any speculative hands to speak of and kept my position in mind at all times. When I had hands that required raising I raised. I did not get out of line all night long really. I took notes on everyone and looked up every player I played against in an online database to see their results to get an idea of their skill level so that I would have a frame of reference as to what they might be capable of.
I made one move early on at the 10/20 level when I had raised with AK and got called by one good player and one loose caller. The flop came AQ7 and I bet about 1/2 the pot and got called by the good player, the turn was a 7 and I tried to think what hands he might have that would call preflop and just call on the flop. His stack was down to about 550 and any bet I would make would pretty much have him pushing all-in. I thought that he had AQ and that I was behind but the pot was huge and I had him covered, so I put him all-in and he called with AQ, I hit the K on the river and he was gone and I was up to 2500 chips at level 1.
My next big hand was when I had AA and reraises the guy to my right who raised to 3BB to 9BB. He called and the flop came AKK. He checked it to me and I checked behind hoping to induce some action on the turn. The turn was a 2 and he checked to me. the pot is 585. I bet out 185 which was very very weak. I was hoping that he would come over the top of me, or at least call. He reraised me to 370. I paused a long time and then called. The river was a Q and he pushed all in for 1550. I quickly hit call and he showed KQ for a smaller full house. I was at 4600 chips and it was level 2. I was off and running.
I had AK later and got all in against two short stacks, one had 44 and the other had QQ. I hit the K on the flop but a 4 came on the river and I lost 25% of my stack, which I quickly got back from the lose caller who raised in early position and to 300 and I reraised to 750 with AQ. He called and the flop was J high. He bet out to ckd to me and I bet about 3/4 of his remaining stack and he folded, as I thought he would. This guy had called with 34s earlier and had shown a propensity for raising any two suited and lots of other hands and calling raises with nothing. I was going to go to the river against him because I knew he was very very weak.
I made a play way later when the blinds had gotten up there. I think we were 7 handed and I had A8 of clubs UTG and raised 3BBs. I had hardly played any hands and had not actively stolen any blinds. When I raised most times people gave me credit for big hands, and they were smart, because for the most part that's what I had. I the big blind pushed all in against me. The BB had shown that he was a very aggressive player and had played many weak hands very aggressively. I was getting great odds to call against him. I did not think he had a big hand and his raise all-in was very big in relation to my raise. I did not think he had anything so I called. He had something like KT. My hand held up and he was gone.
I misplayed AAs one time UTG+1 when the UTG shortstack went all in for less than 1BB and I made a normal raise to 3BB. I should have limped in and prayed that a big stack came over the top of us. My bad. As it was it would have been very good to build a sidepot on this hand, because I lost 1bb to the shortstack who sucked out. I suffered about 3 or 4 suckouts in this tourney when I was the big favorite.
For the most part, I believe that my money went in with the best hand all but 2 hands. I finished 9th making the final table, outlasting my mentors along the way and many, many poker pros, which really validates my skills in my eyes. This was my biggest poker win in terms of payoff and competition faced. I really had a great time. If not for a suckout at the end when I had JJ and was against A5o I might have gone even deeper, but it was a good run. I even played against the 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, who busted out 28th and was the bubble boy for this tournament. I wanted to bust him, or put a move on him, but I had a big stack to my left and could not get to him.
That was another thing about this tourney that I had to overcome. I had a huge stack to my left for a big portion of this tourney which severly limited what I could do in terms of even trying to steal blinds.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
What has the world come to? Jesus offensive?
Recently I opened an account at Absolute Poker. They allow you to upload a picture to be used as your picture on their site when you play. I uploaded the picture that I use at Poker Stars which goes along with my screen name of JC_Saves, which is a picture of Jesus wearing the crown of throwns after the scourging. So yes there is a little blood and some sweat on his face. I also use this picture at Pocketfives.com on my profile page there.
The actual one at Absolute is smaller and does not show the entire head shot. it shows his face more.
This is the email that I was sent by Absolute Poker:
This is a friendly note to let you know that your recently uploaded image has unfortunately been declined. At Absolute Poker, we have an obligation to only allow images that are not offensive to any of our players or don`t contradict any of our policies. In order to remain consistent when making the decision to approve or decline an image, our Images Department uses the following criteria to decide whether or not to accept an image: Players will not be allowed to upload images that are in any way obscene, offensive, or inappropriate. This includes, but is not limited to, images that contain the following: •Each player is entitled to change the image uploaded only once. Any further uploads will automatically be deleted • Nudity • Death and dismemberment • Disgusting body fluids or other bodily secretions • Sexual Positions or innuendo • Lewd gestures or hand signals • Inappropriate cartoons • Offensive Remarks or provocative slogans (i.e. Racist remarks, Religious connotations, etc.) • Pictures obtained from Absolute Poker screenshots • Pictures of cards that may be deceptive or confusing to other players • Advertisements
Sincerely, John Ethan Team Absolute ~ Support Support@AbsolutePoker.com
As you can see by this email, how is it possible that Jesus could violate any of these? Unless maybe they are really just anti-Christian people. Perhaps Mr. Ethan is Jewish or his team members are and they have a bias against the Messiah. But whatever the reason it is obviously unacceptable, and I would not recommend playing there to anyone that believes in Jesus Christ. I certainly will take my business elsewhere. I am so thankful that I waited to deposit any money there.
The actual one at Absolute is smaller and does not show the entire head shot. it shows his face more.
This is the email that I was sent by Absolute Poker:
This is a friendly note to let you know that your recently uploaded image has unfortunately been declined. At Absolute Poker, we have an obligation to only allow images that are not offensive to any of our players or don`t contradict any of our policies. In order to remain consistent when making the decision to approve or decline an image, our Images Department uses the following criteria to decide whether or not to accept an image: Players will not be allowed to upload images that are in any way obscene, offensive, or inappropriate. This includes, but is not limited to, images that contain the following: •Each player is entitled to change the image uploaded only once. Any further uploads will automatically be deleted • Nudity • Death and dismemberment • Disgusting body fluids or other bodily secretions • Sexual Positions or innuendo • Lewd gestures or hand signals • Inappropriate cartoons • Offensive Remarks or provocative slogans (i.e. Racist remarks, Religious connotations, etc.) • Pictures obtained from Absolute Poker screenshots • Pictures of cards that may be deceptive or confusing to other players • Advertisements
Sincerely, John Ethan Team Absolute ~ Support Support@AbsolutePoker.com
As you can see by this email, how is it possible that Jesus could violate any of these? Unless maybe they are really just anti-Christian people. Perhaps Mr. Ethan is Jewish or his team members are and they have a bias against the Messiah. But whatever the reason it is obviously unacceptable, and I would not recommend playing there to anyone that believes in Jesus Christ. I certainly will take my business elsewhere. I am so thankful that I waited to deposit any money there.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Tidbits
Well, I learned one thing that I hate about Party Poker yesterday and that is that they will let you deposit with Firepay, but they will not return your money to your Firepay account, but you can use Neteller. This is totally opposite the other sites, in that, whatever site you deposit money with is where your money goes back to. So I ended up having to cashout to Neteller deposit on another site, tell them to close my Neteller account at the poker site and then I can withdraw out to Firepay. What a pain in the, well you get the idea. Also, Firepay charges a $10 fee to withdraw money, so it looks like I will have to do deposit my money and then move it into my Neteller account for free transfers to the bank.
I took all of my winnings and cashed out of Party Poker, once again. I just hate that site. Their software is terrible, their players are terrible, which does make it easy to make money there, but all in all the site is just terrible. I do not have any confidence in their card generating software either. I am not a conspirator theorist, but I have to get away from the endless bad beats that they have dealt me. The last straw was when I had KK and pushed all in and this guy at my table slow rolls me and then turns over AA. This past week I suffered no less than 7 horrific bad beats when I had my opponents dominated on Party Poker. I need a break from their BS.
I opened a Full Tilt account and spend quite a bit of the day playing SNGs there. I have mixed emotions so far. Nice to see my bad beats did follow me over here so I wouldn't be lonely. I have had a break even day and after playing five SNGs I am about even with two 2nd place finishes.
I also had a pretty good day on Stars cashing in all four SNGs I played their, which is really nice. I did not do great in the Double Shootouts that I played today, but they were like freerolls given my SNG success today so that is pretty nice. My new 19" LCD arrived today and that is really nice to play on.
I also joined Cardrunners.com today and am going to give it a try as well. It is a site like PokerXFactor with some very well known pros doing videos and instruction there.
I took all of my winnings and cashed out of Party Poker, once again. I just hate that site. Their software is terrible, their players are terrible, which does make it easy to make money there, but all in all the site is just terrible. I do not have any confidence in their card generating software either. I am not a conspirator theorist, but I have to get away from the endless bad beats that they have dealt me. The last straw was when I had KK and pushed all in and this guy at my table slow rolls me and then turns over AA. This past week I suffered no less than 7 horrific bad beats when I had my opponents dominated on Party Poker. I need a break from their BS.
I opened a Full Tilt account and spend quite a bit of the day playing SNGs there. I have mixed emotions so far. Nice to see my bad beats did follow me over here so I wouldn't be lonely. I have had a break even day and after playing five SNGs I am about even with two 2nd place finishes.
I also had a pretty good day on Stars cashing in all four SNGs I played their, which is really nice. I did not do great in the Double Shootouts that I played today, but they were like freerolls given my SNG success today so that is pretty nice. My new 19" LCD arrived today and that is really nice to play on.
I also joined Cardrunners.com today and am going to give it a try as well. It is a site like PokerXFactor with some very well known pros doing videos and instruction there.
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