up and down, but mostly up

Well today was a funny day. I have been playing and running pretty good all week as I have played a lot of poker, but today I could not win a race to save my life. I could have my opponent totally dominated AK vs. K3 and a 3 would hit and I would lose. It really was unreal. I haven't hit a set in about 2000 hands of poker as well, which is mind numbing. I had live cards all day today and I would miss constantly, or I would be up against someone and they would hit a set on the flop and I would be drawing dead.

I have been doing an experiment with taking $5 to a .10/.25 NL cash game and trying to double and then I take the 10 and move to .25/.50 and then if I double I move to .50/1.00 NL table and today I got to the .50/1 table with 23$ and when it was folded to the CO who raised it to $3 I figured I would push my pair of 88s from the BB and then the SB smooth called so I figured what a perfect time for a squeeze play. I reraised to 23$ and the CO folded and SB thought for a long time and then called, ugh. AK. I was ahead for about 2 seconds when the flop of xAA hit and turn K which I figured I was totally screwed and then the river came and the cards got flipped up an yes he had the nut full house. It was fun while it lasted.

I went to the store to get some materials for a home project and while I was eating lunch my alarm went off reminding me of the 12:00 Pot Limit Omaha tourney which I wanted to play in. I ran to the office and fired up the computer and entered it. It was only an $8.80 tourney. I wish it was 20, or better 50. I was down early to about 600 chips when I doubled back to 1200 and then I got a little stack and built it up nicely when I was outdrawn and left with 700 chips at the 50/100 level which is tough in Omaha.

I went on a little run and eventually got a pretty decent stack when I hit a straight on the turn. I had checked the flop and my opponent a total luck sack by the way, checked behind. I bet 11k on the turn when I hit my Q high straight. He reraised me and I went all in. Luckily I hit a flush on the river to become the chip leader which I head for a very long time. I entered the final table I think at 3rd in chips and eventually that is where I finished after playing very smart and watching the 2nd big stack implode to finish 4th. Pretty funny because about 15 minutes earlier he announced how he and the chip leader would finish 1, 2.

So when you can't win a race with 2 cards in NL maybe you need to switch to Omaha where you get 4 cards, much easier to hit something with the extra two cards. lol.

Movie Review - The Marine

This was one of the worst movies I have seen in some time. First off, it was out of focus and despite telling the guy in charge of the theatre, Lakewood AMC, they did nothing to fix the problem. Add to that two drunk idiots that sat down in front and the two talking children a row behind us and you have a recipe for disappointment.

This movie was incredibly pathetic. The Director of this thing should never be allowed to direct another movie. The special effects guy went out of his way to blow up as many things as he could with over the top explosions. It was like some little kid that was given the green light to go crazy.

The direction in this movie was non-existent. I mean how realistic is it that a guy gets hit in the stomach with a 10lb sledgehammer and is not phased by it at all. This movie was laughable because it was so bad. The acting and writing were on par with a really bad B movie.

Life happens

Well, I have not been this busy in quite some time. Usually when I have free time from work I can spend it pretty much as I please, playing poker or other things of interest, but for the past two weeks or so I have been working away on my house and on my 300zx.

First the house, we have wanted to replace the windows in the three bedrooms for a long time and we finally took the plunge and did it. While in the course of replacing the windows we found out that there was some rotten siding and even some framing that had gone bad underneath.

I am no carpenter, but I do pride myself on being able to solve any problem that I am faced with. I guess those years of Naval training and living and working on a submarine have paid off. I have to solve problems on a boat, you just can't rely on someone else or drive down to the repair shop and have someone bail you out.

I reframed the window and while I was at it replaced all the siding on the back side of my house. It had been in bad shape from when I bought the house. Knowing what I know today I would have passed on buying this house probably, but that is how it goes I suppose. To make matters worse, Lowes window department did a very poor job for me. I questioned them and requestioned them about replacing my windows. I gave them precise measurements and yet they did not as me critical questions that a lay person would not know to ask.

Well, the job is almost done, all the outside work is basically done, just a touch up brush here and there and it is all complete. I have to finish all the new trim pieces for the inside, but when I do finish it off it will look even better than ever. What is the saying, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

I am pretty much down putting in a whole new car stereo system in the 300z as well. I replaced the speakers and the head unit and added an amp. The first speakers I got were not as nice as I had hoped so I returned them to Circuit City and got some Kicker 6 1/2 speakers, which sound wonderful. I made the mistate of going for bigger peak rating than RMS, which I corrected and now it sounds incredible. I have to re-run one speaker wire as it is getting some interference I think from the power cable that I ran for the amp. All and all it was a pretty nice job and well worth the effort to do.

Internet Gambling

This is a response that I got from Norm Dicks-D from the state of Washingtong concerning Internet Gambling.

Quote:

Thank you for contacting me to express your opinion about gambling on the internet. I appreciate your comments on this issue.
Americans wager more than $4 to $6 billion a year on online . But virtually all servers that maintain websites that provide gambling online are located outside of the United States, and are effectively unregulated by any entity, including the United States. However, many of the financial transactions that support these operations originate in the U.S., which can be regulated by Congress.
Earlier this year, I supported H.R. 4411, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, which calls upon federal regulators to devise and implement a regulatory scheme to identify and block financial transactions related to illegal internet gambling. I am hopeful that by constricting the supply of money to offshore casinos, Congress will be able to effectively halt gambling over the internet.
This bill is now under consideration by the Senate. Should it return to the House for any reason, please be assured I will recall your comments.

end quote.

What a total moron. Congress has effectively governed anything, yet, Congressman Dicks thinks that they can halt gambling over the Internet. What a Baffoon. Why should Americans be able to do what they want with their own money. Why aren't they regulating the Porn industry over the Internet? lol

NFL season is underway

Well, it is here at last the new NFL season. I look forward to this time of year more than any other. If summer has got to go, that is okay in my book because it means football season is here.

Last night we had to suffer through a putrid game between the hapless dolphins and the steelers. How lucky are the steelers to get to open up against the fins at home. I mean, the dolphins looked pathetic. Who out there still believes Dante Culpepper is a good quarterback? lol. Culpepper is a second tier quarterback at best. How many times did he miss wide open receivers where all he had to do was play catch with a guy just standing there waiting for the ball and miss. He has one of the worst deliveries and he throws an ugly ball. The ball seems to sink as it gets to the receivers. The two interceptions were right in line with what was expected of him as well. he should have been picked about 4 times. Just a pathetic performance.

How about Nick Sabin? That guy is an idiot. He waits and waits and waits to throw this challenge flag on a play that was obvious was worthy of review. How dumb do you have to be to throw the flag 6 feet behind the ref so he can't see that you threw it out there until after the extra point is kicked? Why wait so long? Is the dolphin coaching staff so inept that nobody so the first of the 4 or 5 reviews before the extra point attempt that showed the guy stepped out at the one yard line?

Hey what about that dolphin defense that was supposed to be so good. They couldn't contain a third rate QB in batch. It is going to be a long season for the fins. Last year was a fluke that they finished off strong. Sabin is an idiot and the front office blew it when they brought in Culpepper when there were other better QBs out there.


The Steelers looked anything but super, but thank goodness that Al Michaels is still living in the past so that he could keep reminding us of their victory in XL. From the looks of things last night it could be a very long season for both of these teams. The steelers defense was pathetic. The dolphins won the battle at the line of scrimmage all night long, if only they had a QB or a coach that didn't have his head inserted somewhere.

Well, this weekend loos very promising with the Huskies taking the Sooners, which undoubtedly will be a good butt stomping, but, hey, it is on national television. Then the night cap. Ohio St. versus Texas in HD, be still my beating heart. Hopefully, the longhorns can take care of business again. Then the Seahawks are in Detroit Sunday morning, priceless. I hope they just beat the hell out of the lions.

Do not see THE WICKER MAN

Well, I just went and saw "The Wicker Man" with Nicholas Cage and it was one of the worst films I have ever seen, which I stopped counting at 1000. If you want to waste your money and your time to be pissed off at the ending then go for it.

This is a movie about a police officer devoted to helping others who thinks he is helping an ex-girlfriend/fiancée find her/his daughter. Instead it is all an elaborate set-up so that they can sacrifice him. Just as he finds and saves the little girl they reveal to him it is all part of a big festival where they are going to kill him so they can have a nice harvest.

To cap things off they first break each of his legs and then pull him by those legs up into a huge wicker man that they have constructed with lots of animals in it to sacrifice with him. And the best thing is his own daughter is given the torch to come light it on fire.
What fun watching the hero of the movie burn to death. Doesn't everyone want to spend their money to watch that.

Computers

Well, this week kind was filled with unexpected things. On Monday my Compaq laptop, a Presario that was only a year and a half old stopped working. As I use my laptop for my job and I could not tolerate a meltdown on the job I had to go buy yet another laptop. I am still trying to figure out of my old one is salvageable or not. Nothing is more frustrating than having computer problems. I was experiencing the blue screen of death.

I went out and bought an HP Pavilion, which happened to be $300 plus less than my old compaq just a year ago, and yet, of course, it is even better. I guess that is the silver lining in this situation.

I have purchased some utility software and am going to stay up on keeping my Laptop in fit condition, and I recommend to you all that you go out and purchase some type of software complex that will scan for everything under the sun and keep your machine in top working order. I had the Norton stuff and a spyware program on the other laptop, but I can't help but feel that I suffered some sort of an attack, but I won't know until I reformat my old Laptop.

It is well worth the investment to stay on top of things. I had hoped to buy a big wide screen laptop, but I just couldn't bring myself to doing it. I will probably purchase a huge widescreen one down the road, but I won't use it for work, at least not the work I do outside of the home. I saw a 21" screen laptop and it was awesome, HD screen and all, but it also weighed 15 pounds which is a bit much to lug around, but when I get my office redecorated maybe I will think about it, lol, or maybe just buy another 19" widescreen monitor and put it on the other side of my laptop and have 3 screens.

I missed out on the monthly PXF tourney which I forgot was even happening. Of course it happens on the day my other computer goes down, thus distracting me from the other tourney.
Oh, well, next month.

Take care and back up and clean up your machines.

Things I have noticed

I have had some thoughts that I wanted to put down for a little bit and so here goes. I have had some improved success the last couple of weeks and I have been trying to pinpoint what has changed about my game that has allowed me to go deeper in MTTs than before. I think there are a couple factors that have helped to take my game to the next level.

One of the things that I think I am doing more of is pushing my edge, or perceived edge anyway. In the past I would not commit my chips to a hand that I probably had the best hand and I allowed more aggressive players to take pots from me. I think it is very important to take advantage of those moments where it is most likely that you are ahead. This has meant that I have overbet some pots where it was a draw heavy flop in order to protect my hand. Sometimes you take it down right there, and other times someone calls you with a drawing hand or second best hand and I double through, and then there will of course be those times where they hit and you go out, which sucks, but that is how it goes.

I have also tried to not let any beat bother me, and yes, it is difficult, but what I have tried to do is focus and remember the hellacious bad beats I have put on people instead and really enjoy them. The cards all even out and so as much as it pains me to see my KK cracked by someone with TTs, at least 3 times this week, it is the call we want and that is the fact of the matter. We want the under pairs and drawing hands to call so we can double up.

The other thing that I would suggest people try and do is to slow down. You have X amount of time to act for each hand, and unless you know that you are folding without a doubt, use that time to think about what other people have, not just your hand. If you look down at TT and are in LP with a raise and reraise in front of you, a hand that you would have liked to play now becomes an unplayable hand, and for the most part you should be mucking your hand.

Take the time to think about what hands other people have and are playing, and why they are calling raises and not reraising, re-evaluate your hand on the flop and think, think, think. Just because you have AK does not mean you need to mail it in preflop, especially to a reraise of you raise. You should be asking what type of player this person is, tight, loose, would they reraise with AQ, AJ, or is it more likely AA, KK, maybe QQ and JJ, but you must think.

I have learned a great deal this week playing, and in the coming week I am going to change up a few things, because I believe that I have figured out a couple things about my own game and about how a lot of people are playing.

The third thing that I learned this week was to be more aggressive late, and to play back at aggressive players. I allowed myself to get bubbled due to not being defensive when I could and falling into the trap of thinking I need a hand to play back with, which I don't think is true at all. After all the guy that is raising every other hand is doing it with any two so why not reraise with any two if you have the chips to do it. I am not talking pushing all-in, although that is certainly an option, but instead I am talking a big reraise to find out if they are serious, and then re-evaluate the flop based on what happens. I am going to try several techniques in the future that I have seen in the past and that have given me trouble. Keep the pressure on, keep putting pressure on other people.

The final thought is playing against that loose donkey at your table. I think it is important to try and sucker them into bad situations, i.e. not raising some hands so that when you hit that big hand you can trap them with their non existent kicker, or play back at them with made hands, big pairs, and not just big drawing hands AK, AQ and the like. Keep an eye on the fish that calls down bottom pair and remember their betting patterns when they did so. Were they min betting that bottom pair, do they bet out on a flush draw hoping to build a big pot when they could have taken a card off and kept the pot smaller.

Pay attention always, and if you don't have Poker Ace HUD or something like it, I would recommend getting it to help you evaluate your table. What a great tool.

Back to Back Final Tables

Well, I have not had a lot of success in MTTs. I have had some, but it has not been a major part of my game. I generally have played SNGs and had success with those. Until this week I would say it has been very limited as far as cashes go with one here and there.

My best cash finish was the $109 MTT that I finished 9th when my JJ got cracked by a guy with A5o who hit runner-runner. I have had great success on Ultimate Bet this week and even the Poker Stars $3 rebuys which I have monied the last two times I played them. I went for a big stack and got busted with AK or who knows how far I could have gone.

I bubbled the 6-max on UB and then came back and monied it the next day after busting when my KKs got cracked, but it was a nice tourney nonetheless. I have really enjoyed the 6-max and plan on playing it everyday that I am able. It has a nice overlay and not a big field at all. After having a couple deep runs on UB I decided to play the $30 MTT with the $6000 guaranteed prize pool. It has had about 200 people yesterday and today.

Yesterday I played what I consider a solid game making moves here and there and folding some hands that really hurt. I went into the final table short stacked and ended up at one point 3 handed with a decent stack. I had a great suckout with 33s when I doubled but two hands later I raised all in to the two limpers and one called with 66s and it held up. It was a really nice cash in third, which to date was my single biggest payday in a single event.

Today I played in the same tournament and had another great run. I was down early when I had JJ and ran into AA, but luckily he couldn't help min-reraising me and I ended up folding, and of course he showed his Aces. Later I had AQ, which I had an incredible number of times today, and he min raised again preflop. An ace flopped and he minraised me again. On the turn another minraise and I shut it down and folded and he showed AA for a set, again. he saved me a lot of chips with his ridiculous min-raising, and I was thankful.

I made some huge laydowns and suffered several donkey moves, like min-raising preflop which I called with QQ, the bigstack bets pot and I repop him back 2x and he calls. The turn is a K and he checks. I think of betting out, but decide to check behind and then an Ace hits on the river. he checks and I check behind and he shows his suited Ace that he hit on the river. This guy was a big stack for a lot of the tourney and he busted before me.

I entered the FT with a very small stack and ended up finishing 5th for another great payday. In two days I have really had some fun in this tourney. I don't know what to attribute my many cashes this week, but I think it is a combination of a greater understanding of the game.

I also cashed but just missed a 100$ sat seat to the Aruba Tournament, which would have been nice. As long as I keep winning money and increasing my bankroll I am happy. I get great final table experience and I have been getting great MTT experience as well as Rebuy MTT experience and my SNGs have gone well for me too. All and all it has been a tremendous week for me and I hope that it will continue, which I have confidence that it will. I feel that I have turned the corner and I am ready to take the next step up.

Eric "Rizen" Lynch and the WSOP

You might not have heard of this man, but in the next few months I am sure you will, especially if you watch the WSOP on TV as he will undoubtedly garner some air time.

He is currently 5th in the main event with about 32 people left. Yeah, that's right, he is kickin butt and taken names.

Good luck to Eric in his quest to take down yet another big tournament. You can see videos done by Eric at www.Pokerxfactor.com if you are a member that is.

Seahawks

Well, camp opened today and I am really excited. I can't wait until tomorrow when single games tickets go on sale.

Maybe this year we can get the job done. I think that our team will be even better this year than it was last year.

The offense will be even better, yes, better, if that is possible, and the defense will be even better with more speed and experience.

So watch out NFC the Seahawks are coming and it isn't going to be pleasant for your team.

Update, thoughts on math.

Well, today is the start of the WSOP main event and I wish everyone good luck that are playing in it. This year I did not really try that hard to win a seat and I am kind of kicking myself a little. Next year it is going to be my number one goal and I think that I will start setting aside some of my bankroll just for WSOP qualifiers. I got close in one satellite and was disappointed.

I have really been crunching numbers and working on different spreadsheets and such to look at different situations in tournaments. One situation that I have been working on is the blind defense where you have someone that is stealing your blinds aggressively and what kind of stack do you need and cards to play back. It is very interesting to me when I looked at different situations and how the numbers work.

I took Ms of 10, 8, 6, 5, 4. For those of you that don't know what M is, it is your stack divided by the preflop pot size. small blind plus big blind, plus antes would make up the pot, divide this into your stack and you get M.

M is a very important number as it takes into account what it costs you to play a round. It is more telling than your BBs, because it takes into acount antes and the small blind that you have to pay. When used in conjunction with your BBs it becomes a very valuable tool.

No limit hold'em is a game in which aggression really is rewarded. You can win a hand several ways. One, your opponent folds to your bet. Two, you have the best hand come showdown. When you fold you cannot win, obviously, but you also cannot lose anymore, and it is often important to remember that.

I played in a tournament today where I watched people call down with hands like KJs and ATs when they had nothing, not even a draw. They just kept blindly calling down bets and throwing their stack to the wind.

You need to have a plan of attack when you play a hand. You need to be willing to let go of AK when you miss, other times maybe you make a play with it, maybe sometimes you reraise to that weak flop continuation bet, but there is no crime in folding an unimproved AK hand especially on the turn when faced with a big bet. Now, if you have a very short stack you should look to get all your chips in pre-flop with a hand like AK. This illustrates that you cannot play one hand the same way, as this is poker and it is always evolving depending on table dynamics.

I have had an ephiphany this week and it has given me a great feeling of confidence when playing. It is always dissappointing to lose a hand at a key moment because of a "questionable call", but in the end it is just the cards evening out. We cannot get caught up in the bad beats. There are no bad beats. The cards just come as they will come. Today, I had 76s which I limped from the button in an opned pot. The board came 7K6 and I bet 2/3 of the pot. I was called by the SB and then the 2 comes on the turn and he bets all in. I should have realized that he had a set, as this is my custom to think set when people shove like that, but I had a read on this guy that he was not the most solid of players watching him bet 500 in a 60 chip pot earlier, so I called with my two pair. My call in hindsight probably was poor when looking at his bet. I actually closed the table when I saw his set of 2s thinking, oh, well, that is how it goes. I clicked back a couple minutes later just for fun because I had a feeling that something wasn't right. Sure enough I hit a 6 on the river and won the hand. The cards just evened things out.

The better understanding you have of the math of situations the better your play will be. Today I shoved in the face of several weak limps and was rewarded by taking down pots and keeping my stack where it was or chipping up. You have to be able to make these moves.

I feel as though I am on the verge of something very nice, time will tell.

Satellite Seat won

Well, yesterday was a mixed bag of sorts. Although I did not have a hugely successful day in terms of cashes, I did feel like I played very well. I thought that my play on the whole has been very solid for the last week, although I have not played a lot.

I really enjoyed taking some time away from the tables and getting some perspective on poker and the ups and downs and loses that come from it. It is perhaps the hardest lesson to learn if you want to be a poker player. I still find myself not making some moves that I know I should be making due to courage I guess. Especially in SNGs where you need to push with perhaps any two in certain situations. It helps a lot more now that I have set up a pretty cool spreadsheet that will analyze the numbers on the fly as it were and help with some of the decision making process, or at a minimum, it can help show that a certain play was correct or incorrect after the game is over and you can sit down and crunch some numbers.

Crunching numbers can be a very gratifying experience when it shows you in black and white that you need to do things that you are not doing. It was a great comfort yesterday after I finished 3rd in a SNG when I had thought that I let some situations pass me by, but in reality I played pretty flawlessly. I thought I should have pushed all-in a couple times, but in reality, my cards were just not good enough to do it due to my opponents stack size at the time. It was very reassuring having concrete evidence that you played it correctly, instead of wondering.
Sometimes we just finish 3rd and there is nothing we can do about it.

Last night I played on Titan Poker for the first time in a Free roll set up for PokerXfactor subscribers. The prize was the final table got a ticket to play in a qualifier today that sends the top 5 on to a big tournament tomorrow. It really was a lot of fun and I think I played about as well as I could play. I made some incredible laydowns, that is if the people were truthful with what they had after the fact, which I believed most people, or I actually got to see the cards for myself.

Thinking back, and also at the time, I didn't have the feeling of, dang it, I really played that wrong. I made some plays that I thought were just outstanding. I had raised with KQss and got reraised by the big blind to 5bbs. I just called due to the fact there was so much money in the pot now. The flop came Js Xs and a card of no consequence. The BB puts in a bet that represented about half his remaing stack of which was almost 1/2 pot bet. From the time the flop hit I had thought that I was going to push all my chips in if he checked it to me, because I had two over cards and the 2nd nut flush draw. I thought I had a pretty strong hand, plus the back door straight, and straight flush draws still. Because he bet half his remaining chips and the pot was sitting at about 2900 chips now and I only had 1600 left I shoved them all in. He thought about it for a while and folded. That was a really good hand for me.

Later on when it got down to the final two tables I doubled through the chip leader when he raised and I shoved in the BB with 55 and won. I had to hold on and I did not play another hand the rest of the time. Luckily there were several people that just did not have a clue on satellite tournaments at the end and busted out by going all in when they didn't need to. There were several really short stacks left, and I am happy to say we both made it.

Final tabling any tournament is a great feeling for sure, and winning a little money and advancing is icing on the cake.

Playing poker can be very brutal

I read a lot of posts where people are constantly trying to figure out how to avoid bad beats, which is kind of funny. In order to suffer a bad beat you have to have the best hand and have somebody make a bad play, which is the essence of poker. You want people making dumb plays.

I try and not get upset at the bad beats, but it is hard because we are human and it is tough to control our disappointment. I have wanted to punch holes in walls or kick my footstool across the room many, many times, but I don't because it is poker.
I just try and count to whatever and take a breath. I also try and avoid letting the person that just sucked out on me know what I think of him, but it is hard for sure. lol


Good hand gone bad

this is an example of what I am talking about. I hope that this link works. You might have to sign up for a free membership, but it is pretty harmless.

This hand would have put me in great position as chip leader in a WSOP qualifier. It was devastatingly disappointing losing this hand. I made a perfect read on this guy and I am a huge favorite and bam, thanks for playing. lol.

Family

What would we do without family? I am eternally thankful for the family I have right now, for they are loving and supportive as a family should be. Life is too short to get bogged down with the trivial things that people worry about. I would recommend to anyone out there to get rid of the things that are not positive in their lives, and if that means letting go of friends, and I dare say, family members that have a negative influence on your life. I will always be there for my family, no matter how they have treated me in the past or present, if they needed my help, all they have to do is ask for it. Blood is blood and I would always be there for my family, whether they were always there for me or not. That is what family is for.

So if that son or daughter that has been a pest to you for all these years suddenly comes to their senses and calls or comes over, welcome them with open arms for one's family is sacred.

Back home

Well, I am back home now after a week in Las Vegas. It was a good trip with just a few minor problems. Word to the wise, leave your cellular phone in your room when you go down to the pool. lol Yes, we did have a phone get wet and go on the fritz, and if that was not enough the next day I made the mistake of trying to see if the battery was bad by putting it in our good phone which caused it to go bad. The sad thing was the phone that went in the water works fine with the battery that didn't get wet, but the phone that stayed dry is forever ruined. Oh, well, we were going to upgrade our phones in November so we just did it earlier.

The sad thing about getting a new phone is all the new gadgets you have to buy for them, chargers, cases, memory cards, hands-free devices. What is really sad is I purchased the Verizon music kit so I could link my phone to the computer and I loaded everything and it doesn' work. I am fairly computer literate and I spent hours trying to get this thing to work and nothing. Pretty sad.

Well, I did not play any poker this weekend as I was a little tired. We didn't get home until 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning and then there is all the catching up to do and unpacking, and then my daughter was coming in at 3:00 p.m. so back to the airport I went.

Sunday I watched the World Cup which was a pretty awesome game, although, France lost, it was still pretty good. I wanted Italy and France to make it to the final so it was pretty nice.

Live play in Las Vegas

If you think that you are getting burned too often online, I have a thing or two to say to you.

I was watching the WSOP and a guy had limped AA and let the BB come in for free with 72o and hit a set 77K on the flop. On the turn he waited and waited and shoved all his chips in and the guy, Rafe Furst, called off all his chips and then proceeded to suckout on the river.

Later Rafe had A8o and raised all in and was called by AK and proceeded to river a Jack to double pair the board and chop the pot again and survive. he later went on to win the bracelet.

I was playing in a tournament and got all my chips in with 88 and lo and behold this old timer woke up for the second time in 3 hands to have JJ and I was knocked out.

Today, I had AA in the BB and two limpers and then a guy goes all in. The pot is about 2700. I have 2100 left after posting the bb of 400. I made a mistake and just called meaning to go all in to get rid of the limpers, but they folded anyway.
I was HU against a local casino employee and he had 99. needless to say, he spiked the only remaining 9 in the deck(one guy said he folded a 9 preflop). I lose over half my stack after having that guy crushed.

The next hand I am in the SB with about 900 left after posting SB of 200. I have AJo and shove all in. The BB calls showing down AK, imagine that.

So the point of this is that even live you get rivered and your monster hands run into bad luck and that is poker. Just forget about it and move on. I can honestly say that when my AA got cracked I didn't think twice about it, because that is life and we all need to accept what we cannot change.

as a sidenote, I watched a donkey tourist fold the nuts against someone that was all-in because he was not paying attention in a multiway pot and when the one person folded he thought he won and did not turn up his hand but mucked it instead and lost a huge pot because he was not paying attention. It was one of the most ridiculous things I have seen in live play. He assured his demise by being unobservant.

Make the Pilgrimage to the WSOP, if you can

After checking in today at the Grandview in Las Vegas, which is pretty nice, I check out the forum to see what was going on at the WSOP and caught the Rizen post. My wife and I were going to go grab a bite as it was almost 4:00 and we had not eaten all friggin day, but lo and behold I see Rizen is at the final table.

Well, we jump in the car and run over to the Rio. Going to the WSOP was one of the coolest things that I have done in a very long time. Railing Rizen was also great fun. I had never met him before, but I felt like he was my friend, a family member almost. It was with great pride and admiration to root him on.

Walking around the WSOP hall is one of neatest experiences a poker player can ever have, outside of sitting at a table with Doyle, or Ivey and the like at a big event like this. It was just too damn cool standing next to Phil Gordon or listening to Greg Raymer discuss a hand. And then you can bump into Daniel Negreanu coming out of the bathroom or brush past Eric Lindstrom or Barry Greenstein, or Matusow, D'Agostino, the list goes on and on and on, and with each star sighting I kept thinking how cool is this.

I mean this was like the Academy Awards of Poker with all the stars that you see out and about. I even saw the guy that came in 2nd at the Bellagio WPT final that was just on TV this week. Seeing Chris Ferguson without his hat on was also kind of a wierd thing, scary looking dude, lol.

I would highly recommend that if you can come to Las Vegas during the WSOP run it is well worth it. I felt like a kid at Christmass all day long and then I also got to meet Santa, I mean, Rizen and he was just as nice as can be.

I know that this has just furthered my determination to play in some of the events at the WSOP whether this year or next year. It is without a doubt my number one goal and after today, and after today I will not forget how incredible it really is to be here and play. Now I just have to get the play part down and it will be even more magical if that is possible.

Time away

Well, this past week I have taken some time off just to decompress from the incredible run of bad beats I took last week. Poker is an incredible game and no matter how many right plays you make, you can still lose. And even if you have played perfectly, losing still takes an effect on your mental state. I am sure the longer a person plays and the more success a person has, the less of an effect a down swing will have on their mental outlook. This probably is one of the last things a winning player has to overcome.

It is just human nature to start to doubt one's ability when you are not having success, even though nothing has changed. A big problem is that often we start to get frustrated and make plays that we would not make had we not had such a bad run. I mean, they can't always hit the flop, and they can't always have a hand that beats us every time they push over the top of us, but when you are running bad it seems they do, and that brings the snowball effect where it gets bigger and bigger and before you know it you are playing bad poker.

I took some time away from playing because I just found that I was not enjoying what was going on and playing was not fun. I played some free SNGs on a new site to me and won, which was nice. I think I only played a couple real money SNGs this week and I did win two out of the three that I played and the other one I bubbled with AK, which I can accept.

All in all, by not playing and just studying up on my game you can reset your mind and come back with a fresh perspective and get back to your game. I would encourage anyone having a bad run to stop playing for a week and just read and visit forums and look at hand histories and watch other poker without playing, and then come back refreshed ready to win.

Cynthia McKinney Liberal Disgrace

Grand jury declines to indict Rep. McKinney
A District of Columbia grand jury declined to return an indictment against U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who was accused of assaulting Capitol Police Officer Paul McKenna in an April altercation.

Doesn't this just sum up the Democratic party. Here you have McKinney attacking a police officer and then her liberal pals in DC don't indict her for assaulting this guy.

Then add in :

The House voted Friday to remove Rep. William Jefferson, who's mired in a federal bribery probe, from his seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.


Yes, the democratic party are beaming examples to our youth. Yes, the lesson learned. You can do anything if you are a powerful politico take bribes, punch police officers.

No wonder Hillary is your next candidate for president, stock swindler is perfect.