So my wife and I went to see the Detroit Tigers play the Chicago White Sox last night. Since the team has been on fire all season getting tickets is hard these days. I picked up the only available ticket in town which was Standing Room Only (SRO). No big deal, can stand anywhere on the place and if your legs are strong enough to hold out for 3 hours you are guaranteed a great seat for a low price.
We got there and decided to stake out our spot. We ended up in the lower level against the wall on the first base side. We were pretty much right between 1st base and the right field wall. Not bad.
Just as the first pitch was about to be thrown a gentleman comes up to us and asks if we would like to have our seats upgraded by one of being the fan of the game. Okay, sure, why not. Hope the seats are decent.
We follow him to a special area designated for I guess this promotion and wait till the end of the 1st inning. Once it was time we headed over to our section where they announced me as "The Fan of the Game" and put my name on the scoreboard and on the videotron, my wife and I being escorted to our seats by Paws, the Tigers mascot. That was that. Easy as pie. Just a little camera time and my name as big as a mack truck out in left field and we move from SRO to 24th row directly behind home plate. Can't beat that, can ya?
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Bikers Annoy Me
It's bad enough that all good US bikers(we are talking bicycles here, not Harleys) dope themselves up with stuff to make them win but the amateur one's at least in my area of the world tend to think they own the road over cars. Do you think you are a pedestrian and have the right of way? Sure hope you realize you don't before I run over your skull because you ignored the big red sign that says STOP!
On my way home from work I cut through a nice little subdivision that seems to have been modeled after some Jan Karon novel. They close half the street down every other Friday to have some large wholesome blockparty where families get together and enjoy each others recipes and child raising practices. On the off days everyone is walking their perfectly groomed dogs and jogging/running/bike riding to maintain their stellar bodies. It's just a little odd. But I am sure it is a great place to live. But the problem in that little utopian community is the fact that all the cyclists think they have the right of way and own the roads. You don't. You just don't. Cyclists are to obey the same traffic laws as motor vehicles. That means, Yield when you see a Yield sign and Stop when you see a Stop sign. I personally have almost killed 3 cyclists at one of the 4 way stops. I would stop, the car across who got there first would go and then I would proceed and zoooooom, a cyclists blows the stop sign to my left and just misses bashing in the front end of my nice car. If it wasn't for the damage that would be caused I would gladly run the bastards over. You have a stop sign. That means stop. It doesn't mean ignore all the cars and blast through. It also doesn't mean that you can ride your little huffy down the middle of the road at 15 mph. Move to the side or go 25.
I now just expect them to blast through so I watch out for them and give them their way. I make sure to give them a bit of a scare when I go pass them by revving my motor (which is loud thanks to my aftermarket exhaust set-up). It doesn't do much for me but maybe one day they will realize that they are being idiots.
So if you are a cyclist. Obey the traffic laws as you are expected to by law. It could save me an insurance claim on getting a new front end and you blood off my cars nice paint job.
On my way home from work I cut through a nice little subdivision that seems to have been modeled after some Jan Karon novel. They close half the street down every other Friday to have some large wholesome blockparty where families get together and enjoy each others recipes and child raising practices. On the off days everyone is walking their perfectly groomed dogs and jogging/running/bike riding to maintain their stellar bodies. It's just a little odd. But I am sure it is a great place to live. But the problem in that little utopian community is the fact that all the cyclists think they have the right of way and own the roads. You don't. You just don't. Cyclists are to obey the same traffic laws as motor vehicles. That means, Yield when you see a Yield sign and Stop when you see a Stop sign. I personally have almost killed 3 cyclists at one of the 4 way stops. I would stop, the car across who got there first would go and then I would proceed and zoooooom, a cyclists blows the stop sign to my left and just misses bashing in the front end of my nice car. If it wasn't for the damage that would be caused I would gladly run the bastards over. You have a stop sign. That means stop. It doesn't mean ignore all the cars and blast through. It also doesn't mean that you can ride your little huffy down the middle of the road at 15 mph. Move to the side or go 25.
I now just expect them to blast through so I watch out for them and give them their way. I make sure to give them a bit of a scare when I go pass them by revving my motor (which is loud thanks to my aftermarket exhaust set-up). It doesn't do much for me but maybe one day they will realize that they are being idiots.
So if you are a cyclist. Obey the traffic laws as you are expected to by law. It could save me an insurance claim on getting a new front end and you blood off my cars nice paint job.
Vote! Vote Now! Tell Your Friends!
My wife is a Policy Drafter for Nancy Skinner who is campaigning for Congress in Michigan's 9th District. She has some great ideas that she wants to bring to Congress that will benefit us in these terrible times. I ask that if you are browsing my blog to take the 2 minutes and vote for Nancy in the first link. ProgressivePatriotsFund will donate $5000 to the campaign of the candidate who gets the most votes by Aug 23rd. Thank you.
Link to vote:
Vote Here!
Nancy Skinners Site:
Nancy Skinner
Big Policy she is working on and my wife's work if you are interested:
Policy
Link to vote:
Vote Here!
Nancy Skinners Site:
Nancy Skinner
Big Policy she is working on and my wife's work if you are interested:
Policy
Monday, August 14, 2006
Home Game Woes
I don't think I have talked about it but I frequent a home game. We have roughly about 15 or so guys who get together on the 2nd Saturday of each month and play poker. We have a thing called the Grand Prix. Grand Prix is a leaderboard type setup where you get points based on your finish and number of players in the tourney. We run this for 6 months where we play 12 games and you take the best 8 finishes so that if you miss a month it won't hurt you that bad. The buy in for each tourney is $25 and 10% of the prize pool is pulled out of all 12 games and then divided out to the top 3 point leaders at the end of the 6 months. Then we start all over. This past Saturday was games 11 and 12 of this Grand Prix. I went into game 11 about 12 points behind the leader and about 4 points ahead of 3rd place. Only 8 people showed up for game 1 so it was known that Mark had solidified his spot at number one for this season. Now it was a race for 2nd and 3rd between myself, Kevin (3rd) and John (4th). So let the games begin.
Game 1 started well for me. I was hitting some good cards and slowly building my stack. I was dealt T8 of clubs and limped from MP. There were a couple of callers and we went to the flop. 5s 8s 3d. Okay flopped top pair on an ugly board. So I bet out and Matt next to me raises all in. Now Matt is good but Matt is a maniac. When he does this early he has one of two thing, the nuts or nothing at all. It's folded back to me and I start thinking this out. Against Kevin or Mark I fold and move on. Against Matt I am willing to think long and hard about it. His all in will cost me about 600 on chips and if I call and lose I am still left with 1000 which is what we started out with and it is early, 2nd round I believe. If I win I take him out and be sitting good. I eventually put him on a draw and decided to take the plunge. I call and flip over my T8 and he flips over AQ no spades. Turn and River both miss him and I win.
Shortly after I get into a pot with Kevin. 2nd place vs. 3rd place. I limp in MP with Jc8c. It gets to him in the sb or bb, can't remember and he raises it up. I call hoping to hit that miracle flop and he likes to push me around a lot. He knows I think he is good and when we get heads up he knows how to push me into submission. I admit it, he has my number. But tonight I wasn't going to be pushed around. Anyway, the flop comes Qc 9c Xh( I can't remember). So I am looking good. He bets out the pot and I call immediately. Turn is a Xc. Didn't the straight flush but had a Q high flush. He checks and I bet half the pot. He thinks for awhile and eventually calls. River is a Q. He checks and I bet close to half the pot. He folds. Yay. Now I am looking really good. But a couple hands later Kevin goes all in vs Danny for a 2000+ chip pot and wins and he now has me covered.
From there is goes all down hill. I start trying to attack the small blinds and get it all in with AJ vs. A6 and TT vs. QQ. Soon I am shortstacked and end up pushing with KJ of diamonds and run into the BB's AA. Out in 6th. Kevin goes on to finish 1st and now holds a 1.07 point lead on me for 2nd going into the final game.
I lost composure in this one. I was still steaming over the last game and couldn't get my head into it. I tried something I have never done and that was flat out bluff. I was dealt 43o in MP and raised. 4 of us went to the flop which was AK. Checked around to me I and bet out. 1 folded, 2 called. 5 on the turn. Checked to me so I bet out. 1 called. 6 on the river, checked to me, I bet out and he called flipping over AQ. BAH! At that point I was down to about 300 in chips. I tried, I failed and I didn't care. I liked being short anyway, big stack in the previous game didn't work so maybe being short early would be good. So I tightened up and waiting for monsters. I can't remember but I got back up to 650 by stealing blinds and got it all in and lost and was down to 150. I was in the small blind with 75 of that and it was folded to me and I put my 75 in and flipped over 96o. BB showed AdJd. Flop hit 78T and I went on to double up to 300. Got 99 in the BB and reraised the SB and he folded and was now sitting on 750.
Blinds are 75/150. UTG raises to 450. I look down in UTG+1 and see two Kings. I go all in for 675 total. Folded around to the SB(Matt) who takes a long time and calls putting himself all in for 675 as well. UTG calls the 225 and we flip the cards over. Matt has Ad 3d. I have KK and Mark shows AQ. John and James both say they folded an Ace so Aces are no longer a worry card. I can get back in this and be sitting on stack of 2175 in chips and back in it. But of course two diamonds hit the flop and the river completes it. I go out in 8th out of 9.
Matt goes on to win game 2 and we are done. I end up 3rd in the Grand Prix and take home an extra $60. Oh well. We start over again next month.
Game 1 started well for me. I was hitting some good cards and slowly building my stack. I was dealt T8 of clubs and limped from MP. There were a couple of callers and we went to the flop. 5s 8s 3d. Okay flopped top pair on an ugly board. So I bet out and Matt next to me raises all in. Now Matt is good but Matt is a maniac. When he does this early he has one of two thing, the nuts or nothing at all. It's folded back to me and I start thinking this out. Against Kevin or Mark I fold and move on. Against Matt I am willing to think long and hard about it. His all in will cost me about 600 on chips and if I call and lose I am still left with 1000 which is what we started out with and it is early, 2nd round I believe. If I win I take him out and be sitting good. I eventually put him on a draw and decided to take the plunge. I call and flip over my T8 and he flips over AQ no spades. Turn and River both miss him and I win.
Shortly after I get into a pot with Kevin. 2nd place vs. 3rd place. I limp in MP with Jc8c. It gets to him in the sb or bb, can't remember and he raises it up. I call hoping to hit that miracle flop and he likes to push me around a lot. He knows I think he is good and when we get heads up he knows how to push me into submission. I admit it, he has my number. But tonight I wasn't going to be pushed around. Anyway, the flop comes Qc 9c Xh( I can't remember). So I am looking good. He bets out the pot and I call immediately. Turn is a Xc. Didn't the straight flush but had a Q high flush. He checks and I bet half the pot. He thinks for awhile and eventually calls. River is a Q. He checks and I bet close to half the pot. He folds. Yay. Now I am looking really good. But a couple hands later Kevin goes all in vs Danny for a 2000+ chip pot and wins and he now has me covered.
From there is goes all down hill. I start trying to attack the small blinds and get it all in with AJ vs. A6 and TT vs. QQ. Soon I am shortstacked and end up pushing with KJ of diamonds and run into the BB's AA. Out in 6th. Kevin goes on to finish 1st and now holds a 1.07 point lead on me for 2nd going into the final game.
I lost composure in this one. I was still steaming over the last game and couldn't get my head into it. I tried something I have never done and that was flat out bluff. I was dealt 43o in MP and raised. 4 of us went to the flop which was AK. Checked around to me I and bet out. 1 folded, 2 called. 5 on the turn. Checked to me so I bet out. 1 called. 6 on the river, checked to me, I bet out and he called flipping over AQ. BAH! At that point I was down to about 300 in chips. I tried, I failed and I didn't care. I liked being short anyway, big stack in the previous game didn't work so maybe being short early would be good. So I tightened up and waiting for monsters. I can't remember but I got back up to 650 by stealing blinds and got it all in and lost and was down to 150. I was in the small blind with 75 of that and it was folded to me and I put my 75 in and flipped over 96o. BB showed AdJd. Flop hit 78T and I went on to double up to 300. Got 99 in the BB and reraised the SB and he folded and was now sitting on 750.
Blinds are 75/150. UTG raises to 450. I look down in UTG+1 and see two Kings. I go all in for 675 total. Folded around to the SB(Matt) who takes a long time and calls putting himself all in for 675 as well. UTG calls the 225 and we flip the cards over. Matt has Ad 3d. I have KK and Mark shows AQ. John and James both say they folded an Ace so Aces are no longer a worry card. I can get back in this and be sitting on stack of 2175 in chips and back in it. But of course two diamonds hit the flop and the river completes it. I go out in 8th out of 9.
Matt goes on to win game 2 and we are done. I end up 3rd in the Grand Prix and take home an extra $60. Oh well. We start over again next month.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Finally, a little MORE hope!
Played yet another $4.40 180 man SNG today to see if I can keep the streak alive. Started out the usual, building my stack up nice in the first hour and sitting in the middle of the pack come the first break. No big hands to speak of, nor that I remember, just some small ball and picking up pots here and there and avoiding any crazy situations. That seems to be the key.
2nd hour was good as well. I was on a pretty passive table and used some aggression to push people around and when it got down to 11 things got interesting. UTG I was dealt 33. I limped as I do with most small pairs hoping to see a cheap flop. This table was not very scary in terms of skill so I was willing to call a raise if I felt it was a player I could play post flop against. Only the SB and BB went to the flop unraised. Flop came TJ3. Whoo hoo hit my set. SB bet 2400 and I raised to 4800 hoping to do one of two things. Take the pot or hope he hit something and he will reraise me. He did the latter and went all in for 15.5K more. I called and had him covered. He showed a J9 and my set hung on for the win and we went to the final table and I was the chip leader with around 55K.
I started playing tight once we hit the final table due to not wanting to screw up and just get a feel for how everyone was playing. Yesterday the action was brutal so I hoped to see a few people exit quickly. That was not the case. I started playing some hands and was really getting pushed around. There were 7 players left and UTG raised to 6400. I was next looking at AK and decided to not be pushed around and made a donk move of going all in for my remaining 38K. Folded around to the BB who pushed with his remaining 24K and UTG called with his remaining 25K. Damn!
UTG showed AJ and the BB showed JJ. Luckily an Ace hit the river and I was sitting pretty with 5 players left.
When it got three handed I was second in chips but only about 10K behind the chip leader. I made some really bad decisions and at one point I was down to 40K but then this hand came up...1500/3000 blinds, `50 antes, BB with KK. Both players call and I raise to 9000. Button calls and SB folds. Flop comes 256. I check and the button bets 9000 and I reraise all in and get a call. That puts me back in second near the chip leader.
Then a crazy hand I was glad to have gotten out of. Button calls 3000. I raise to 9000 with 99. BB reraises to 15000, button reraises to 24000 and I fold. Button calls and the flop comes 7d 6h 8d. BB checks and button goes all in (shortstack). BB calls and shows Ah Qh. Button shows KK. Th on the turn which would have given me a straight but then the 5h hits the river and we are now heads up but I am now a shortstack.
Couldn't get much going. The cards finally went cold for me. I hung on for about 30 hands but ended up losing with K4 vs 43 on the flop of 234. So all in all I am happy with the finish. Great to be back on a final table after just one day and hopefully the upswing will be here for a little while longer. Thanks for reading!
2nd hour was good as well. I was on a pretty passive table and used some aggression to push people around and when it got down to 11 things got interesting. UTG I was dealt 33. I limped as I do with most small pairs hoping to see a cheap flop. This table was not very scary in terms of skill so I was willing to call a raise if I felt it was a player I could play post flop against. Only the SB and BB went to the flop unraised. Flop came TJ3. Whoo hoo hit my set. SB bet 2400 and I raised to 4800 hoping to do one of two things. Take the pot or hope he hit something and he will reraise me. He did the latter and went all in for 15.5K more. I called and had him covered. He showed a J9 and my set hung on for the win and we went to the final table and I was the chip leader with around 55K.
I started playing tight once we hit the final table due to not wanting to screw up and just get a feel for how everyone was playing. Yesterday the action was brutal so I hoped to see a few people exit quickly. That was not the case. I started playing some hands and was really getting pushed around. There were 7 players left and UTG raised to 6400. I was next looking at AK and decided to not be pushed around and made a donk move of going all in for my remaining 38K. Folded around to the BB who pushed with his remaining 24K and UTG called with his remaining 25K. Damn!
UTG showed AJ and the BB showed JJ. Luckily an Ace hit the river and I was sitting pretty with 5 players left.
When it got three handed I was second in chips but only about 10K behind the chip leader. I made some really bad decisions and at one point I was down to 40K but then this hand came up...1500/3000 blinds, `50 antes, BB with KK. Both players call and I raise to 9000. Button calls and SB folds. Flop comes 256. I check and the button bets 9000 and I reraise all in and get a call. That puts me back in second near the chip leader.
Then a crazy hand I was glad to have gotten out of. Button calls 3000. I raise to 9000 with 99. BB reraises to 15000, button reraises to 24000 and I fold. Button calls and the flop comes 7d 6h 8d. BB checks and button goes all in (shortstack). BB calls and shows Ah Qh. Button shows KK. Th on the turn which would have given me a straight but then the 5h hits the river and we are now heads up but I am now a shortstack.
Couldn't get much going. The cards finally went cold for me. I hung on for about 30 hands but ended up losing with K4 vs 43 on the flop of 234. So all in all I am happy with the finish. Great to be back on a final table after just one day and hopefully the upswing will be here for a little while longer. Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Tigers vs Twinkies
Went to the ballpark last night for the Tigers vs the Twins. It was a fun game as usual at the Copa thanks to the impressive season our little Tiggers having. As usual the crowd was large, I believe they said 35,870 which is better than the last few years where a Monday night game would get about 8,000.
Sun was beating down on the Left Field sections so we took refuge in the lower level under the concourse and watched the first 3 innings. After that we headed up to our seats in section 340 to watch the rest of the game. This blog will remind me not to ever sit in that section again for a regular season game since it seems people in this section get out of their seats through the whole game making the experience kind of difficult. There are much better seats but they had a special this week were it was buy one get one free.
The game was good due to the matchup of Miner, one of our rookie pitchers, against the hot rookie for the Twinkies, Liriano. But looks as if he is going on the DL since he got pounded for 10 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings. Twins made a nice comeback to put them back in the game at 4-3.
Then the Twins brought in this side-arm guy who made us look like chumps for 2 straight innings but were kind enough to pull him and put in another guy who in 2/3 of an inning gave up 4 walks and 4 runs. We ended up winning 9-3 and now have a 10 game lead over the Sox in the Central and are now 76-36. 40 games over .500! Wow. It's been an amazing year and I can't wait to see how it all pans out!
Finally, a little hope!
Played in a $4.40 180 man SNG at Pokerstars. As usual when I play this SNG I get through the first hour in good shape. Quickly picking good spots and accumulating chips to be sitting in the top 30 at the first break. Felt good, was playing smart, didn't get stuck in any bad situations.
2nd hour things went a little sour when I made some bad calls and got nailed. For most of that second hour I was sitting around 2300 in chips which is no good. But then I hit a nice rush and some helpful rivers to pull out of my hole and into the top 10. Twice I was all in with AJ and both times after the flop hit I was behind only to catch an Ace on the river each time to take down the pot. From there I was sitting on about 9800 in chips and cruised while people dropped out. Found the players who I thought were good to steal against or bluff against and used that to maintain my stack and even build on it. I never got into any real confrontations the latter half of the second hour. Played small ball and stole blinds and antes when I could.
Finally towards the end of the second hour I made it to the final table and was 4th in chips with 23K thanks to a large pot I won when I flopped two pair against someone who caught top pair with a K kicker. As usual the cards went cold but luckily this table was completely LAG that in no time we were down to 5. I was in the BB,1000/2000 blinds +100 ante( I believe). I held QcJc. UTG folded and the chip leader bet out to 6400. all folded to me and I called. This left me with about 18K in chips. Flop came Qs6h6s. I bet out 9K and he raised to 18K and I called. I figured he had the flush draw or AQ. I was right, AsTs. So it was a race. Turn was an Ace. River was another Ace. Oh well. Finished in 5th and that is all right by me. Been a while as previously mentioned in a past blog that I have not reached a final table in quite some time. So I am happy for the finish and have now finished in the money two times in a row in this SNG (finished 15th yesterday).
2nd hour things went a little sour when I made some bad calls and got nailed. For most of that second hour I was sitting around 2300 in chips which is no good. But then I hit a nice rush and some helpful rivers to pull out of my hole and into the top 10. Twice I was all in with AJ and both times after the flop hit I was behind only to catch an Ace on the river each time to take down the pot. From there I was sitting on about 9800 in chips and cruised while people dropped out. Found the players who I thought were good to steal against or bluff against and used that to maintain my stack and even build on it. I never got into any real confrontations the latter half of the second hour. Played small ball and stole blinds and antes when I could.
Finally towards the end of the second hour I made it to the final table and was 4th in chips with 23K thanks to a large pot I won when I flopped two pair against someone who caught top pair with a K kicker. As usual the cards went cold but luckily this table was completely LAG that in no time we were down to 5. I was in the BB,1000/2000 blinds +100 ante( I believe). I held QcJc. UTG folded and the chip leader bet out to 6400. all folded to me and I called. This left me with about 18K in chips. Flop came Qs6h6s. I bet out 9K and he raised to 18K and I called. I figured he had the flush draw or AQ. I was right, AsTs. So it was a race. Turn was an Ace. River was another Ace. Oh well. Finished in 5th and that is all right by me. Been a while as previously mentioned in a past blog that I have not reached a final table in quite some time. So I am happy for the finish and have now finished in the money two times in a row in this SNG (finished 15th yesterday).
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Random Thoughts
I am bored. Which as you might now guess is a common state of mind for me. But if it wasn't for my boredom you wouldn't have anything decent to read. lol
- So Full Tilt has it's own little WCOOP going on. Might try and get into one or more. Probably a lost cause but you never know. I am due for a huge win and winning or placing high in one of these events could make life easier on the poker side of things. So I will keep you up to date on how that goes.
-Reality TV is just crazy. At 8pm last night I was flipping through the guide to see what else was on instead of House (which btw is a fantastic show!)and it was nothing but reality shows. America's Top Model, Supernova, and America's got Talent. Come on, isn't it going a little overboard where 75% of primetime TV on the local stations are reality shows? Don't get me wrong, I like many of them, Survivor, Amazing Race, Hell's Kitchen, Top Chef, and sometimes Big Brother. But sheesh, there are just so many on. People said it would die down but it has only gotten larger. I guess it is cheaper to make. Instead of paying some top actor $600,000 a show for 24 eps in a year it is cheaper to pay one person a $1,000,000 after a season.
-Internet is Serious Business. Yup, seems that is still true. I used to be a moderator at GameFAQs, a very popular and good resource for video game help and decent message boards. Problem is that people can not control themselves in a respectable manner on the internet. That's fine but the stupidity on that site is horrendous. The site has very strict posting rules and for a good reason. When your site caters to 13-16 year olds there is going to be a lot of inappropriate content that is not needed on a message board for kids. Then when a user gets their message deleted you get this crazed topic like someone killed their parents and then ass-raped them in their sleep. Jesus, it's a deleted message. Big freaking whoopdeedoo. This is the stuff that kids and some select adults waste their energy on, fighting over a deleted post that broke easy to understand and clearly defined rules? Seems the educators in the world today have also taught these children how to argue in circles. Another sad but true thing. Nothing more pathetic then someone who can't argue without ignoring everything around them. RKIGS is a good term for them.
-Man it was hot the last few days. Each day over 100 and humid as all get out. Luckily things have gotten a bit better today and should be good tomorrow and the weekend. If you think Global Warming is a myth and all these scientists are making it up you must be pretty out of touch with reality. You probably believe all the 911 conspiracies too. Face it people, each year the weather changes dramatically. I have been lucky, or unlucky, to live in the same area for 29 years. Summers are drastically different now then they were then, same with Winter. We also used to have a real fall and spring but that has changed over the last 10 years. Just get your head out of your ass, stop watching FNC and use your head for a day and see what is really going on. :P
-As stated in other posts, I work for an apartment complex. It's funny sometimes. Recent funny moment for me was when I was trying to get $335 of late payments out of this tenant. We send an invoice when it is time to sign a new lease and they need to pay their balance due, if any, before renewing. She got all huffy and asked why we wait till the end of the year to collect the late fees and why haven't we told her she was late when it happened. I explained that we do it this way and have for years and why would we have to tell her that she was late when she mails the payment on the 12th when the payment is to be in the office by the 1st. Obviously you know you are late. Why do we need to tell you that your rent is $625 but 2 months this past year you only sent us $500. You know damn well you didn't send in the full amount. Did you think that we would just ignore it? No. You want to live here another year then you need to pay what you decided on your own not to pay. It's really not that hard. I mean are people stupid enough to think that if they pay 2 weeks late or short on their rent by $125 twice that we would never catch it? Come on. People continue to prove to me that they are stupid. Bah!
-Guy in apartment puts pot on stove to boil water at 3am in the morning. Wakes up at 5am to find the apartment is full of smoke and the fire department are at his door because the tenants call them. No damage, just a ****ed up pan. Calls me 3 days later and tells me his carpet smells like smoke and he can't get the smell out, what am I going to do about it? Me? Nothing, I didn't boil water at 3am then fall asleep and almost set fire to the apartment complex. You? You are going to call a carpet cleaner and pay for them to try and fix it. Other than that, I got nothing.
-Dealerships. My mom has a 99 Acura Integra. She had another one before it for like 9 years. Love's them and back in the day the people at the dealership were normal considerate human beings. I guess that has changed after I talked to her last night. Her battery died yesterday morning. She took it in to Wal-Mart and got a new one. Not bad either $44 installed! Guess Wal-Mart is good for one thing. Anyway, she is driving to work and tries to turn the radio on. Won't work. Can't play a CD either. She goes to work and looks in her manual. It tells her to pull out her Anti-Theft card and punch in the numbers into the radio to unlock the device. Okay. So she has that in her wallet and it is 7 years old and the first 2 numbers have faded away. She can barely make them out. She thinks she has it and finds out after 3 tries that it isn't the numbers she thinks it is. Now she has to wait and hour or something. She tries again in the morning and it still won't let her punch in the numbers.
So she calls Acura when she gets in and gets some bitch with a lack of customer service skills. The woman is not amused at the predicament and tells her that they don't keep records dating over 4 years. According to her most people don't drive the same car for more than that. Heh. She then yells at my mom for not writing the number down in the manual. That is just stupid and I will address that in a bit. She eventually tells my mom that they need to pull the radio out to get the serial # and then they can search another database. Anyone knows the time it takes to remove a car radio is no more than 15 minutes. But Acura is going to charge my mom $95 for those 15 minutes. The woman pretty much continues to unhelpful, insulting, and retarded. Nice letter they will be getting.
Back to the issue of 1. having an anti-theft device on a radio that makes it inoperable without the code and 2. writing that number down in a manual.
1. It's stupid. So the person takes my radio but he cannot listen to it because once disconnected to a battery source you would need a code to unlock it. Big deal. He has my radio and I don't. I don't care if he can listen to the radio or not, I STILL DO NOT HAVE MY RADIO. I could care less if he throws it away or sells it for $500000. I still have no radio. The anti-theft device does nothing for me the car owner. I still need to go buy a new radio.
2. Oh, so put the number to unlock the radio in the manual which is where? In the car. So the guy stealing the radio just needs to take the manual with him and he can use and/or sell it and it will work. That's some serious brain power at work there.
Moral of my blog today I guess is that people are idiots.
Carry on.
- So Full Tilt has it's own little WCOOP going on. Might try and get into one or more. Probably a lost cause but you never know. I am due for a huge win and winning or placing high in one of these events could make life easier on the poker side of things. So I will keep you up to date on how that goes.
-Reality TV is just crazy. At 8pm last night I was flipping through the guide to see what else was on instead of House (which btw is a fantastic show!)and it was nothing but reality shows. America's Top Model, Supernova, and America's got Talent. Come on, isn't it going a little overboard where 75% of primetime TV on the local stations are reality shows? Don't get me wrong, I like many of them, Survivor, Amazing Race, Hell's Kitchen, Top Chef, and sometimes Big Brother. But sheesh, there are just so many on. People said it would die down but it has only gotten larger. I guess it is cheaper to make. Instead of paying some top actor $600,000 a show for 24 eps in a year it is cheaper to pay one person a $1,000,000 after a season.
-Internet is Serious Business. Yup, seems that is still true. I used to be a moderator at GameFAQs, a very popular and good resource for video game help and decent message boards. Problem is that people can not control themselves in a respectable manner on the internet. That's fine but the stupidity on that site is horrendous. The site has very strict posting rules and for a good reason. When your site caters to 13-16 year olds there is going to be a lot of inappropriate content that is not needed on a message board for kids. Then when a user gets their message deleted you get this crazed topic like someone killed their parents and then ass-raped them in their sleep. Jesus, it's a deleted message. Big freaking whoopdeedoo. This is the stuff that kids and some select adults waste their energy on, fighting over a deleted post that broke easy to understand and clearly defined rules? Seems the educators in the world today have also taught these children how to argue in circles. Another sad but true thing. Nothing more pathetic then someone who can't argue without ignoring everything around them. RKIGS is a good term for them.
-Man it was hot the last few days. Each day over 100 and humid as all get out. Luckily things have gotten a bit better today and should be good tomorrow and the weekend. If you think Global Warming is a myth and all these scientists are making it up you must be pretty out of touch with reality. You probably believe all the 911 conspiracies too. Face it people, each year the weather changes dramatically. I have been lucky, or unlucky, to live in the same area for 29 years. Summers are drastically different now then they were then, same with Winter. We also used to have a real fall and spring but that has changed over the last 10 years. Just get your head out of your ass, stop watching FNC and use your head for a day and see what is really going on. :P
-As stated in other posts, I work for an apartment complex. It's funny sometimes. Recent funny moment for me was when I was trying to get $335 of late payments out of this tenant. We send an invoice when it is time to sign a new lease and they need to pay their balance due, if any, before renewing. She got all huffy and asked why we wait till the end of the year to collect the late fees and why haven't we told her she was late when it happened. I explained that we do it this way and have for years and why would we have to tell her that she was late when she mails the payment on the 12th when the payment is to be in the office by the 1st. Obviously you know you are late. Why do we need to tell you that your rent is $625 but 2 months this past year you only sent us $500. You know damn well you didn't send in the full amount. Did you think that we would just ignore it? No. You want to live here another year then you need to pay what you decided on your own not to pay. It's really not that hard. I mean are people stupid enough to think that if they pay 2 weeks late or short on their rent by $125 twice that we would never catch it? Come on. People continue to prove to me that they are stupid. Bah!
-Guy in apartment puts pot on stove to boil water at 3am in the morning. Wakes up at 5am to find the apartment is full of smoke and the fire department are at his door because the tenants call them. No damage, just a ****ed up pan. Calls me 3 days later and tells me his carpet smells like smoke and he can't get the smell out, what am I going to do about it? Me? Nothing, I didn't boil water at 3am then fall asleep and almost set fire to the apartment complex. You? You are going to call a carpet cleaner and pay for them to try and fix it. Other than that, I got nothing.
-Dealerships. My mom has a 99 Acura Integra. She had another one before it for like 9 years. Love's them and back in the day the people at the dealership were normal considerate human beings. I guess that has changed after I talked to her last night. Her battery died yesterday morning. She took it in to Wal-Mart and got a new one. Not bad either $44 installed! Guess Wal-Mart is good for one thing. Anyway, she is driving to work and tries to turn the radio on. Won't work. Can't play a CD either. She goes to work and looks in her manual. It tells her to pull out her Anti-Theft card and punch in the numbers into the radio to unlock the device. Okay. So she has that in her wallet and it is 7 years old and the first 2 numbers have faded away. She can barely make them out. She thinks she has it and finds out after 3 tries that it isn't the numbers she thinks it is. Now she has to wait and hour or something. She tries again in the morning and it still won't let her punch in the numbers.
So she calls Acura when she gets in and gets some bitch with a lack of customer service skills. The woman is not amused at the predicament and tells her that they don't keep records dating over 4 years. According to her most people don't drive the same car for more than that. Heh. She then yells at my mom for not writing the number down in the manual. That is just stupid and I will address that in a bit. She eventually tells my mom that they need to pull the radio out to get the serial # and then they can search another database. Anyone knows the time it takes to remove a car radio is no more than 15 minutes. But Acura is going to charge my mom $95 for those 15 minutes. The woman pretty much continues to unhelpful, insulting, and retarded. Nice letter they will be getting.
Back to the issue of 1. having an anti-theft device on a radio that makes it inoperable without the code and 2. writing that number down in a manual.
1. It's stupid. So the person takes my radio but he cannot listen to it because once disconnected to a battery source you would need a code to unlock it. Big deal. He has my radio and I don't. I don't care if he can listen to the radio or not, I STILL DO NOT HAVE MY RADIO. I could care less if he throws it away or sells it for $500000. I still have no radio. The anti-theft device does nothing for me the car owner. I still need to go buy a new radio.
2. Oh, so put the number to unlock the radio in the manual which is where? In the car. So the guy stealing the radio just needs to take the manual with him and he can use and/or sell it and it will work. That's some serious brain power at work there.
Moral of my blog today I guess is that people are idiots.
Carry on.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
What Poker Means to Me
I was bored so I thought I would post about what Poker means to me and my life. Where I have been, where I want to go with it. Should be a boring read but maybe not. Guess you will just have to read it and go from there.
I started getting interested in Poker when most people did. During the 03 WSOP. Watching that donktastic Moneymaker win it. I didn't like him then and not a fan now but watching that got me intrigued about the game. So I started playing on Pokerroom around Sept of 03 I believe. Play money and freerolls. Never played much poker growing up except for maybe 5 Card Stud. This Hold Em thing was completely alien to me. So after some months of dilly-dallying I decided to take my first step into online gambling. I can be a very paranoid person at times and if not for my fear of something going awry like people always tell you I might have been playing for real money sooner.
So I deposited $40 and started playing $5 SNG's and MTT's. No success. Lose it and wait till next month and try it again. Watched a lot of poker on TV and read some stuff in books but never really was terribly serious about it. Then on 10/28/04 I had $11 in my account and decided to play a $10+1 SNG and call it quits if I lost. Luckily I had won and was now sitting on a massive $50 bankroll.
From there I was just tearing it up. I was on such a nice upswing that I didn't deposit more money into an account for over a year. By the end of 05 I was up $2K. Not all that impressive when compared to some of these young phenom stories you see on poker forums, but for a guy playing strictly .25/.50 LHE, and $5 SNG and MTT's. It's not that bad. I won a few MTT's but the best for me was a 397 player $5 MTT that I won for $500.
06 has been a different story all together. I play a lot more than I did but I am not getting better results for the most part. I have moved up and am playing .50/1 or 1/2 LHE. I play $10 MTT's and lots of satellite tounries. I have not won a MTT all year. Best was a 7th in a 2000 person tourney but the payout structure sucked so hard I only tripled my buy in if I remember correctly.
I am part of a large home game that I look forward too each month. Great competition and good times. I do well in that game. I also play 3/6 LHE at Casino Windsor from time to time and am up in that game as well.
At one point this year I was down to $14 online and $50 for live play. And within a month I grinded it out to $800. Felt good about that. Sadly the poker trip that is one of my blog posts cleaned out $350 of that. Still sitting on about $350 online and $50 off but I am just not happy.
I talk poker with other players a lot. I read a lot of strat posts on FCP and Thunderkellers site. I have my hands analyzed and I analyze other peoples hands. I love the game. But I feel like I am in a total rut this year. I need that one big win to get me feeling better but if you are looking for that one big win you might overplay and then play worse.
Where do I want to go with poker. I guess right where I am at. Not looking to go TP/MM (Turn Pro/Make Millions for you non-FCP'ers). I am looking to do well enough not to dive into my bank account and have fun. So far so good I guess, but I know I am better than what my 06 results show me. But I gotta keep grinding away and see what happens. Luckily I have a few good efriends who talk poker with me and are honest with me and I have a very supportive wife that is there cheering me on every step of the way.
So that's it. A brief history of my poker career. Flame away. :P
I started getting interested in Poker when most people did. During the 03 WSOP. Watching that donktastic Moneymaker win it. I didn't like him then and not a fan now but watching that got me intrigued about the game. So I started playing on Pokerroom around Sept of 03 I believe. Play money and freerolls. Never played much poker growing up except for maybe 5 Card Stud. This Hold Em thing was completely alien to me. So after some months of dilly-dallying I decided to take my first step into online gambling. I can be a very paranoid person at times and if not for my fear of something going awry like people always tell you I might have been playing for real money sooner.
So I deposited $40 and started playing $5 SNG's and MTT's. No success. Lose it and wait till next month and try it again. Watched a lot of poker on TV and read some stuff in books but never really was terribly serious about it. Then on 10/28/04 I had $11 in my account and decided to play a $10+1 SNG and call it quits if I lost. Luckily I had won and was now sitting on a massive $50 bankroll.
From there I was just tearing it up. I was on such a nice upswing that I didn't deposit more money into an account for over a year. By the end of 05 I was up $2K. Not all that impressive when compared to some of these young phenom stories you see on poker forums, but for a guy playing strictly .25/.50 LHE, and $5 SNG and MTT's. It's not that bad. I won a few MTT's but the best for me was a 397 player $5 MTT that I won for $500.
06 has been a different story all together. I play a lot more than I did but I am not getting better results for the most part. I have moved up and am playing .50/1 or 1/2 LHE. I play $10 MTT's and lots of satellite tounries. I have not won a MTT all year. Best was a 7th in a 2000 person tourney but the payout structure sucked so hard I only tripled my buy in if I remember correctly.
I am part of a large home game that I look forward too each month. Great competition and good times. I do well in that game. I also play 3/6 LHE at Casino Windsor from time to time and am up in that game as well.
At one point this year I was down to $14 online and $50 for live play. And within a month I grinded it out to $800. Felt good about that. Sadly the poker trip that is one of my blog posts cleaned out $350 of that. Still sitting on about $350 online and $50 off but I am just not happy.
I talk poker with other players a lot. I read a lot of strat posts on FCP and Thunderkellers site. I have my hands analyzed and I analyze other peoples hands. I love the game. But I feel like I am in a total rut this year. I need that one big win to get me feeling better but if you are looking for that one big win you might overplay and then play worse.
Where do I want to go with poker. I guess right where I am at. Not looking to go TP/MM (Turn Pro/Make Millions for you non-FCP'ers). I am looking to do well enough not to dive into my bank account and have fun. So far so good I guess, but I know I am better than what my 06 results show me. But I gotta keep grinding away and see what happens. Luckily I have a few good efriends who talk poker with me and are honest with me and I have a very supportive wife that is there cheering me on every step of the way.
So that's it. A brief history of my poker career. Flame away. :P
Monday, July 31, 2006
$12,000 Guaranteed @ Full Tilt
So this is the largest Tourney I have ever played. Had a few $26 tokens and decided to give it a shot since my SNG game has been on fire as of late. Winning 3 or my last 4. Felt confident, playing good solid poker, not being a donk. So I registered for last nights 8pm tourney.
Started off blah. Not getting anything good. First hand I played outside the blinds was 56 suited. It was folded to me in the 6th spot and I raised raised 2.5xBB. Only the SB called. Flop came 988. SB checked and I bet 100. He called. Spiked a nice looking 7 on the turn and bet 250 and he called. River was a blank and he checked and I bet 475. He used up most of his time and called(A9). That put me in a good confident mood.
Few hands into the 3rd round I picked up JJ in UTG+1. UTG raised 3xBB and I called. I hate jacks. I looked at the paper I have taped to the wall that says "Smart, Disciplined, Aggressive, Patient, JACKS SUCK!". Two other people called and we went to the flop. JdJh8c. Nice. Now how can I get the most money out of this? SB checks, UTG bets 235. I take some time and call. Everyone else folds. I put him on AK, AQ, medium pp. Turn comes a Qc. He checks. I check quickly hopefully showing him weakness and he will take a stab on the river. River comes a club. He thinks for sometime and checks. I take some time of my own thinking how much I can bet and get a call. I gotta hope he at least has a piece of this. Hopefully AQ or a flush. I bet out a litter over half the pot and he calls. He had AK.
Took down a few more posts with AA, KK, and TT twice and was sitting pretty well at 5000 at the first break. 666 people started and now I was in the top 60 with 272 left.
Then the cards went cold. 82,J3, Q2, K2, 23, 25, 27, 74, 83, etc. Bah! Soon I was down to 3200 in chips with the blinds at 200/400 and an ante of 50 I think. Things were getting ugly and I moved to a very maniac table. Every pot seemed to be raised 3-5xbb preflop and some odd holding were being show down. One of the maniacs raised UTG to 900. Folded around to me, I held two black 6's. I figured he could be stealing as he had been the previous 10 out of 20 hands and put it all in. It was folded to back to him and he called with about 2 seconds left on his timer and showed TT. Bah! Nothing good hit and I was out in 166th.
Not bad I guess for my first shot at a non $5 tourney. I played really well in the first hour. I made some good bluffs at pots with good reads and maintained an above average chipstack. Sadly the cards got cold and the players got maniacal. What can you do. Still have more tokens so maybe next time.
Started off blah. Not getting anything good. First hand I played outside the blinds was 56 suited. It was folded to me in the 6th spot and I raised raised 2.5xBB. Only the SB called. Flop came 988. SB checked and I bet 100. He called. Spiked a nice looking 7 on the turn and bet 250 and he called. River was a blank and he checked and I bet 475. He used up most of his time and called(A9). That put me in a good confident mood.
Few hands into the 3rd round I picked up JJ in UTG+1. UTG raised 3xBB and I called. I hate jacks. I looked at the paper I have taped to the wall that says "Smart, Disciplined, Aggressive, Patient, JACKS SUCK!". Two other people called and we went to the flop. JdJh8c. Nice. Now how can I get the most money out of this? SB checks, UTG bets 235. I take some time and call. Everyone else folds. I put him on AK, AQ, medium pp. Turn comes a Qc. He checks. I check quickly hopefully showing him weakness and he will take a stab on the river. River comes a club. He thinks for sometime and checks. I take some time of my own thinking how much I can bet and get a call. I gotta hope he at least has a piece of this. Hopefully AQ or a flush. I bet out a litter over half the pot and he calls. He had AK.
Took down a few more posts with AA, KK, and TT twice and was sitting pretty well at 5000 at the first break. 666 people started and now I was in the top 60 with 272 left.
Then the cards went cold. 82,J3, Q2, K2, 23, 25, 27, 74, 83, etc. Bah! Soon I was down to 3200 in chips with the blinds at 200/400 and an ante of 50 I think. Things were getting ugly and I moved to a very maniac table. Every pot seemed to be raised 3-5xbb preflop and some odd holding were being show down. One of the maniacs raised UTG to 900. Folded around to me, I held two black 6's. I figured he could be stealing as he had been the previous 10 out of 20 hands and put it all in. It was folded to back to him and he called with about 2 seconds left on his timer and showed TT. Bah! Nothing good hit and I was out in 166th.
Not bad I guess for my first shot at a non $5 tourney. I played really well in the first hour. I made some good bluffs at pots with good reads and maintained an above average chipstack. Sadly the cards got cold and the players got maniacal. What can you do. Still have more tokens so maybe next time.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Go Get Em Tigers!
Ahh, what a day. Tigers win 2 straight against the powerful White Sox. Hopefully the monkey is off their back now. 3-6 vs the Sox this year and have plenty more chances left to get some more wins against them. Now we are 5.5 games ahead of them in the AL Central.
I was at the game last night. What a shot by CMo in the 5th with the Grand Slam. There was a Sox fan behind us who wouldn't shut up most of the game. When the Tigers were hitting single after single on their way to filling the bases she got all uppity and asked how we could be happy about singles. Her team is all about the long ball! After CMo hit the GS I eventually said something to the effect of , "Wow, too bad we kept getting all those crappy singles". She shut up after it was 5-2. But when it got down to the final out, all the fans are on their feet cheering, and Jermaine Dye hits a single the place goes quiet and then you here from her, "Yeah motherfuckers! Base hit!" Too which everyone gladly pointed to all the small children around her. Then I remarked loud enough for her to here, "It was only one of them measly singles". Next batter was out and Tigers win!
Good times here in Motown. Hope they can keep it up.
I was at the game last night. What a shot by CMo in the 5th with the Grand Slam. There was a Sox fan behind us who wouldn't shut up most of the game. When the Tigers were hitting single after single on their way to filling the bases she got all uppity and asked how we could be happy about singles. Her team is all about the long ball! After CMo hit the GS I eventually said something to the effect of , "Wow, too bad we kept getting all those crappy singles". She shut up after it was 5-2. But when it got down to the final out, all the fans are on their feet cheering, and Jermaine Dye hits a single the place goes quiet and then you here from her, "Yeah motherfuckers! Base hit!" Too which everyone gladly pointed to all the small children around her. Then I remarked loud enough for her to here, "It was only one of them measly singles". Next batter was out and Tigers win!
Good times here in Motown. Hope they can keep it up.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
4 Days of Poker
This past Friday I headed up with some friends from my monthly home game for a little relaxation and poker. Well, mostly poker as I am sitting here on Tuesday dead tired from the weekend.
Kevin, John, Mark, and I headed up north on Friday around 1:30pm and got to Kevins Dad's log cabin around 6pm. Got the tour of the beautiful log cabin and the surroundings. We were right on the lake and away from civilization. It was really a great place. So we headed out to Leg's, a nice polish restaurant in the area. Kevin's dad was with us and said this place had a great beer and an excellent view. He was right. There back of the place was an outdoor eating area on this grassy terrace overlooking Lake Michigan. Good food, great beer, and beautiful scenery.
We headed back to the cabin and got ready to go play poker in St. Ignace. This is a small reservation casino. The poker room had about 5 tables and only one going when we got there. 2/5 NL $100 max was the only game being played. With us 4 there and some others signed up they opened up a new table. Let the crap begin...
I don't play NL cash games. When I play at a B&M I play limit. NL cash games, especially in small casino's are donk havens from what I have seen in the past and this place was one of them. First hand was shown down and the winner had T3s. I knew this was going to be interesting. So play tight and push hard with my good hands. First decent hand I got was QQ. I raised to $15 and got zero callers. Great. Got into some hands and never hit flops and I was down to about $65 out of my $100. Got dealt AK in the SB. 4 limpers in front of me. That was odd to me. These guys raised almost every pot pre-flop. So I went all in. Kevin was the BB and wasn't too happy to fold his hand. Everyone folded and I picked up about $25. One guy had AJ, another had 99, and Kevin folded QQ. Wow, I cannot believe he folded that. He explained later that the last few games he played up there he lost a ton of money early playing large pocket pairs and wasn't in the mood to go through that again. Oh well.
Last hand of my night was I was in the BB. Few callers and I checked blind. Flop comes A 8 x, 2 clubs. I look to see what I have and I have A8. I bet the pot and I get one caller. Flop comes another club. I put the rest of my money in (like $17) and he calls and flips over AT with the ten being a club. He of course hits the club on the river. Oh well, what can you do. I find a comfy chair and hang out for an hour or so when they are done playing. Kevin is the only one who left up and that was for $210.
We headed back to the cabin and got ourselves situated in the bunk house. We decided that even though it was late we needed to play more poker. So we played .50/1 NL on a small cooler. John ended up winning that when we got heads up and I lost with my two pair to his rivered straight. So that is now twice I lost money on hitting two pair. It was about 3am so we went to bed. I didn't get much sleep as John was snoring most of the night. I think I got about 2 hours of decent sleep.
Got up around 10am and headed out for Breakfast. Had burnt pancakes which didn't help my hangover. Headed back to the cabin and called to see what games they were running if any. Today they had 1/2 NL $100 max. Well that should make me last longer than last night. Heh. We get there and we make it so they can open up a new table. This table sucked. It had no personality and bad players. I won a couple small pots but nothing big and I got dealt AhQh and raised it to $10. Got one caller, Kevin. Flop comes A 3 6. He checks and I bet $15. He calls. Turn comes Q, giving me top two pair. I bet $25 and he raises to $50. Hmmm. I figured he had and Ace or A6 or A3. I called leaving me with about $9. River is a blank and I put the rest of my money in and he calls. Damn. Okay, show me the set. And he did flipping over two 6's. Again, two pair kills me. That was about an hour in. I sat there for another 4 hours till they were done playing. I had $100 left of my poker money and another day to play. Kevin again ended up the winner and took home another $62. Though he played for about 4.5 hours.
We head back to the cabin and pick up some brats and go grilling. After a couple hours we head back to the casino to play. This time they have 2/5 and 1/2 NL going. John and I hit the 1/2 and Mark and Kevin hit up the 2/5.
I pick up 99 on my 3rd hand and raise it up to $10. I get a couple callers. Flop comes J9x. I bet $20 and get one caller. Turn is nothing too wonderful. I bet $15 which puts the guy all in. He calls and flips over 35 for absolutely NOTHING. I win the pot and now up over $150. Cool. First time this trip I am up. Sure that will change.
I get dealt QQ. I raise it to $15 and the blinds call. Flop come 678. I bet 20. Both call. Turn comes a 5. Bah! They check and I check. Turn comes a blank. One guy bets $20, the other raises to $60, I fold my QQ. One had a 4T the other a 93.
I get dealt 27 in BB. I check. Flop comes 534, one club. All check. Turn is a 6 of clubs. All check. River is a 8 of clubs. I bet $15 and one guy raises to $30 and John moves all in for $58. I of course fold cause I know I am beat. The guy calls and shows J3 of clubs. John shows KT of clubs and takes the pot.
From there I just get cold decked and get up before I am the BB. I leave with $75 of my $100.
On the 2/5 table Mark was knocked out early when his pocket 5's hit a set on the flop but the other guy hit a set of 7's as well. He had one a decent pot earlier and was up over $100 and lost it all in that one hand. John was getting tired and got up from the table about 7 hands after I did. He told Kevin all three of us were done and he decided he was up and would leave in a couple hands. He ended up going all in on his last hand and lost. I don't remember the circumstances but it was not pretty. So John left that session the winner being up $50.
John was leaving the next morning so he took the couch as him and Frank were going to head out at 7am. I slept till about 11am. Got up and took a shower and watched some TV. I was tired and had a killer headache. Mark and Kevin went to eat breakfast and returned and called the casino. They were not running any poker that day so we decided to play poker at the cabin, outside. We set up a table and chairs by the fire pit and started a $50 tourney. We started with like 3800 in chips with 30 minute blinds. It was a crazy game. I don't think I can beat either one of them regularly. Kevin and Mark are the two best players at the home game. So I knew I was screwed. Picked up some good pots early and made a huge river bluff on Kevin that I was happy with but then it all fell apart. I went out about 4 hours into the game. They played heads up for another 30-45 minutes till Mark called Kevins all in with Ah 7d vs Kevins Kd Qd. Marks hand help up for the win. That started a heated argument on which is the better starting hand. Eventually I called my wife and had here check out the %'s on my Poker Academy program. I couldn't stand the fighting anymore.
So now it was about 6 and talk of another game was at hand. But I only was willing to play for $50 and Kevin wanted to play for $100 so he could get his $100 back from the last game. So he said, I put up $50 and they each put up $100 on a side bet. This lasted for about 40 minutes and then at the restaurant for an hour where it sounded like we decided not to play cause Mark was only willing to play for $50, $75 tops. This was not acceptable to Kevin. So we went back home and sat on the couch and watched TV. I think I fell asleep for awhile. I don't remember. I took some Wal-dryl and was completely out of it.
At around 11 they decided to play. I got up and went to the table and said, I hope a deal had been made. Of course, there wasn't. Blah! By that point I no longer wanted to play. Well I did, but not for $50. I was drugged up and drowsy. I agreed to $25 and they each played for $50. If I win I get $25 each from them and the 2nd place player gets the extra.
Lots of trash talking in that game. It was pretty cutthroat. I ended up heads up with Kevin and was the shortstack. I doubled up twice and got back into it. I picked up JT. We saw the flop and it came 7TJ. Ahhh, two pair. Wow. I know what is going to happen. So I bet, he called. Turn comes, nothing major. I bet, he raises, I am committed and go all in and he calls showing the 98 for the flopped straight. No J or T on the river and he wins. Big surprise. I now officially hate two pair.
It's now about 3:30am and we crash.
We get up around 11 on Monday and decide to head home. On the way home I pull out some cards to play solitaire and Kevins demands we play a tourney. I am hesitant since Kevin is actually driving us home. But we end up playing. $1000 in chips, 15 minute blinds, $10 buy in. Wow. I don't know how but I win it. So for the weekend I finish down $280.
It was fun though but poker is really annoying to me right now.
Kevin, John, Mark, and I headed up north on Friday around 1:30pm and got to Kevins Dad's log cabin around 6pm. Got the tour of the beautiful log cabin and the surroundings. We were right on the lake and away from civilization. It was really a great place. So we headed out to Leg's, a nice polish restaurant in the area. Kevin's dad was with us and said this place had a great beer and an excellent view. He was right. There back of the place was an outdoor eating area on this grassy terrace overlooking Lake Michigan. Good food, great beer, and beautiful scenery.
We headed back to the cabin and got ready to go play poker in St. Ignace. This is a small reservation casino. The poker room had about 5 tables and only one going when we got there. 2/5 NL $100 max was the only game being played. With us 4 there and some others signed up they opened up a new table. Let the crap begin...
I don't play NL cash games. When I play at a B&M I play limit. NL cash games, especially in small casino's are donk havens from what I have seen in the past and this place was one of them. First hand was shown down and the winner had T3s. I knew this was going to be interesting. So play tight and push hard with my good hands. First decent hand I got was QQ. I raised to $15 and got zero callers. Great. Got into some hands and never hit flops and I was down to about $65 out of my $100. Got dealt AK in the SB. 4 limpers in front of me. That was odd to me. These guys raised almost every pot pre-flop. So I went all in. Kevin was the BB and wasn't too happy to fold his hand. Everyone folded and I picked up about $25. One guy had AJ, another had 99, and Kevin folded QQ. Wow, I cannot believe he folded that. He explained later that the last few games he played up there he lost a ton of money early playing large pocket pairs and wasn't in the mood to go through that again. Oh well.
Last hand of my night was I was in the BB. Few callers and I checked blind. Flop comes A 8 x, 2 clubs. I look to see what I have and I have A8. I bet the pot and I get one caller. Flop comes another club. I put the rest of my money in (like $17) and he calls and flips over AT with the ten being a club. He of course hits the club on the river. Oh well, what can you do. I find a comfy chair and hang out for an hour or so when they are done playing. Kevin is the only one who left up and that was for $210.
We headed back to the cabin and got ourselves situated in the bunk house. We decided that even though it was late we needed to play more poker. So we played .50/1 NL on a small cooler. John ended up winning that when we got heads up and I lost with my two pair to his rivered straight. So that is now twice I lost money on hitting two pair. It was about 3am so we went to bed. I didn't get much sleep as John was snoring most of the night. I think I got about 2 hours of decent sleep.
Got up around 10am and headed out for Breakfast. Had burnt pancakes which didn't help my hangover. Headed back to the cabin and called to see what games they were running if any. Today they had 1/2 NL $100 max. Well that should make me last longer than last night. Heh. We get there and we make it so they can open up a new table. This table sucked. It had no personality and bad players. I won a couple small pots but nothing big and I got dealt AhQh and raised it to $10. Got one caller, Kevin. Flop comes A 3 6. He checks and I bet $15. He calls. Turn comes Q, giving me top two pair. I bet $25 and he raises to $50. Hmmm. I figured he had and Ace or A6 or A3. I called leaving me with about $9. River is a blank and I put the rest of my money in and he calls. Damn. Okay, show me the set. And he did flipping over two 6's. Again, two pair kills me. That was about an hour in. I sat there for another 4 hours till they were done playing. I had $100 left of my poker money and another day to play. Kevin again ended up the winner and took home another $62. Though he played for about 4.5 hours.
We head back to the cabin and pick up some brats and go grilling. After a couple hours we head back to the casino to play. This time they have 2/5 and 1/2 NL going. John and I hit the 1/2 and Mark and Kevin hit up the 2/5.
I pick up 99 on my 3rd hand and raise it up to $10. I get a couple callers. Flop comes J9x. I bet $20 and get one caller. Turn is nothing too wonderful. I bet $15 which puts the guy all in. He calls and flips over 35 for absolutely NOTHING. I win the pot and now up over $150. Cool. First time this trip I am up. Sure that will change.
I get dealt QQ. I raise it to $15 and the blinds call. Flop come 678. I bet 20. Both call. Turn comes a 5. Bah! They check and I check. Turn comes a blank. One guy bets $20, the other raises to $60, I fold my QQ. One had a 4T the other a 93.
I get dealt 27 in BB. I check. Flop comes 534, one club. All check. Turn is a 6 of clubs. All check. River is a 8 of clubs. I bet $15 and one guy raises to $30 and John moves all in for $58. I of course fold cause I know I am beat. The guy calls and shows J3 of clubs. John shows KT of clubs and takes the pot.
From there I just get cold decked and get up before I am the BB. I leave with $75 of my $100.
On the 2/5 table Mark was knocked out early when his pocket 5's hit a set on the flop but the other guy hit a set of 7's as well. He had one a decent pot earlier and was up over $100 and lost it all in that one hand. John was getting tired and got up from the table about 7 hands after I did. He told Kevin all three of us were done and he decided he was up and would leave in a couple hands. He ended up going all in on his last hand and lost. I don't remember the circumstances but it was not pretty. So John left that session the winner being up $50.
John was leaving the next morning so he took the couch as him and Frank were going to head out at 7am. I slept till about 11am. Got up and took a shower and watched some TV. I was tired and had a killer headache. Mark and Kevin went to eat breakfast and returned and called the casino. They were not running any poker that day so we decided to play poker at the cabin, outside. We set up a table and chairs by the fire pit and started a $50 tourney. We started with like 3800 in chips with 30 minute blinds. It was a crazy game. I don't think I can beat either one of them regularly. Kevin and Mark are the two best players at the home game. So I knew I was screwed. Picked up some good pots early and made a huge river bluff on Kevin that I was happy with but then it all fell apart. I went out about 4 hours into the game. They played heads up for another 30-45 minutes till Mark called Kevins all in with Ah 7d vs Kevins Kd Qd. Marks hand help up for the win. That started a heated argument on which is the better starting hand. Eventually I called my wife and had here check out the %'s on my Poker Academy program. I couldn't stand the fighting anymore.
So now it was about 6 and talk of another game was at hand. But I only was willing to play for $50 and Kevin wanted to play for $100 so he could get his $100 back from the last game. So he said, I put up $50 and they each put up $100 on a side bet. This lasted for about 40 minutes and then at the restaurant for an hour where it sounded like we decided not to play cause Mark was only willing to play for $50, $75 tops. This was not acceptable to Kevin. So we went back home and sat on the couch and watched TV. I think I fell asleep for awhile. I don't remember. I took some Wal-dryl and was completely out of it.
At around 11 they decided to play. I got up and went to the table and said, I hope a deal had been made. Of course, there wasn't. Blah! By that point I no longer wanted to play. Well I did, but not for $50. I was drugged up and drowsy. I agreed to $25 and they each played for $50. If I win I get $25 each from them and the 2nd place player gets the extra.
Lots of trash talking in that game. It was pretty cutthroat. I ended up heads up with Kevin and was the shortstack. I doubled up twice and got back into it. I picked up JT. We saw the flop and it came 7TJ. Ahhh, two pair. Wow. I know what is going to happen. So I bet, he called. Turn comes, nothing major. I bet, he raises, I am committed and go all in and he calls showing the 98 for the flopped straight. No J or T on the river and he wins. Big surprise. I now officially hate two pair.
It's now about 3:30am and we crash.
We get up around 11 on Monday and decide to head home. On the way home I pull out some cards to play solitaire and Kevins demands we play a tourney. I am hesitant since Kevin is actually driving us home. But we end up playing. $1000 in chips, 15 minute blinds, $10 buy in. Wow. I don't know how but I win it. So for the weekend I finish down $280.
It was fun though but poker is really annoying to me right now.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Just Tell Me, Don't Make it a Game
So we have this tenant in the apartment complex I work at. Type of guy you love and hate all at the same time. You love him because he has no life whatsoever so he has time to sit in front of his apartment window with a gallon of OJ and watch what everyone is doing and call the cops the minute something happens he dislikes. But you hate him because he is the type of person who snoops all day and calls the cops or me for any little damn thing that happens.
So today he stops by the office to tell me someone in the building next to him is playing music too loudly at 3pm in the afternoon. Okay. So it's not even in your building but you are going to complain. All right. Went over there, no biggie. If it was 2am maybe it would be too loud but barely.
20 minutes later he stops back after he walk around the complex.
Tool: Since when is the pool available for non-tenants
Joyce: It isn't
Tool: Are you sure about that?
Me: Yes, we are sure, as it states in the lease, the pool is for tenants only.
Tool: Oh, so I have to follow the rules but other tenants don't. That is nice.
Me: *sigh* Are you trying to tell me something Bob?
Tool: Yeah, I want to know why other people can break the rules around here but I cannot.
Me: Obviously you see non-tenants at the pool. I am in the office and so is Joyce, we can't be two places at one time. If you see non-tenants at the pool then just tell me. I will gladly go kick them out. But I don't appreciate what you are trying to insinuate here.
Tool: What am I insinuating?
Me: You know what you are doing. As I said, all you have to do is let one of us know and we will take care of it. We don't need to go through this, "they are allowed to break rules but I can't" game.
Tool: *storms out of office*
So Joyce goes to the pool to check it out. Ha! Little back-story here. These two gentleman lived above the Tool. The Tool was in here week after week complaining about the noise they made while showering,vacuuming, music, TV, etc. There were threats between the two and it got ugly. We moved the two guys to the other side of the complex away from the Tool. Even when they were moved, Tool demanded to know which apartment they were in for some reason. Maybe to harass them more. I don't know. We never told him.
Well at the pool was the two guys with a few of their friends. They were asked to leave and did so without confrontation.
Tool only complained because it was the two guys he hates. Petty idiot.
So today he stops by the office to tell me someone in the building next to him is playing music too loudly at 3pm in the afternoon. Okay. So it's not even in your building but you are going to complain. All right. Went over there, no biggie. If it was 2am maybe it would be too loud but barely.
20 minutes later he stops back after he walk around the complex.
Tool: Since when is the pool available for non-tenants
Joyce: It isn't
Tool: Are you sure about that?
Me: Yes, we are sure, as it states in the lease, the pool is for tenants only.
Tool: Oh, so I have to follow the rules but other tenants don't. That is nice.
Me: *sigh* Are you trying to tell me something Bob?
Tool: Yeah, I want to know why other people can break the rules around here but I cannot.
Me: Obviously you see non-tenants at the pool. I am in the office and so is Joyce, we can't be two places at one time. If you see non-tenants at the pool then just tell me. I will gladly go kick them out. But I don't appreciate what you are trying to insinuate here.
Tool: What am I insinuating?
Me: You know what you are doing. As I said, all you have to do is let one of us know and we will take care of it. We don't need to go through this, "they are allowed to break rules but I can't" game.
Tool: *storms out of office*
So Joyce goes to the pool to check it out. Ha! Little back-story here. These two gentleman lived above the Tool. The Tool was in here week after week complaining about the noise they made while showering,vacuuming, music, TV, etc. There were threats between the two and it got ugly. We moved the two guys to the other side of the complex away from the Tool. Even when they were moved, Tool demanded to know which apartment they were in for some reason. Maybe to harass them more. I don't know. We never told him.
Well at the pool was the two guys with a few of their friends. They were asked to leave and did so without confrontation.
Tool only complained because it was the two guys he hates. Petty idiot.
World Cup Soccer
So the World Cup is finally finished. Now I have to wait another 4 years to watch one of my favorite sports because America, as with most anything these days, has its head so far up its egocentric ass to televise any of the great international matches that will start up in August.
I love listening to local sports radio and reading threads on various internet sites about the World Cup and soccer in general. I love it when someone points out that the world is so engrossed in this spectacle and the US is not. The usual reply from the "experts" is something to the tune of, "The world is a bunch of idiots and the USA is smart not to care about such a horribly boring sport." Wow, what an ignorant statement to make. Yeah, the World seems to enjoy this game but since American's don't then that means the rest of the world is a bunch of retards. That is what makes this country so...stupid. Maybe the real reason we hate it is because we absolutely suck at it? That might be it. But lately we suck at everything.
World Baseball Classic- Heh, our national past-time and we got our butts handed to us.
World Cup Soccer- US media overhyped a crappy team led by a even more crappy coach and we didn't win a single game.
Basketball- When was our last gold or anything in regards to international play?
Hockey- Heh, yeah, that was another pathetic performance by an American team in the last Olympics.
So what do we have? Football. Well there ya go people. We rule the world when it comes to Football. Whooooohoooooo!
Some of the threads on the intraweb were funny. Many Americans think there should be a 3-point line in soccer. That way the scoring would be higher. *sigh*, yeah, cause god forbid a game ends 1-0. Americans feel better if the final is 3-0 even if it was just one goal. Yup. We actually did this at one point. In regards to Indoor Soccer, they created I believe a 1 point, 2 point, and 3 point line. So games that might be 3-2 would be 8-6. Wow, amazing how much more interesting that must make it.
So, I will say it, Americans are egocentric, whiny, narrowminded boobs. Don't agree, that's cool. But until the people around me stop acting that way, I will continue to think that way.
I love listening to local sports radio and reading threads on various internet sites about the World Cup and soccer in general. I love it when someone points out that the world is so engrossed in this spectacle and the US is not. The usual reply from the "experts" is something to the tune of, "The world is a bunch of idiots and the USA is smart not to care about such a horribly boring sport." Wow, what an ignorant statement to make. Yeah, the World seems to enjoy this game but since American's don't then that means the rest of the world is a bunch of retards. That is what makes this country so...stupid. Maybe the real reason we hate it is because we absolutely suck at it? That might be it. But lately we suck at everything.
World Baseball Classic- Heh, our national past-time and we got our butts handed to us.
World Cup Soccer- US media overhyped a crappy team led by a even more crappy coach and we didn't win a single game.
Basketball- When was our last gold or anything in regards to international play?
Hockey- Heh, yeah, that was another pathetic performance by an American team in the last Olympics.
So what do we have? Football. Well there ya go people. We rule the world when it comes to Football. Whooooohoooooo!
Some of the threads on the intraweb were funny. Many Americans think there should be a 3-point line in soccer. That way the scoring would be higher. *sigh*, yeah, cause god forbid a game ends 1-0. Americans feel better if the final is 3-0 even if it was just one goal. Yup. We actually did this at one point. In regards to Indoor Soccer, they created I believe a 1 point, 2 point, and 3 point line. So games that might be 3-2 would be 8-6. Wow, amazing how much more interesting that must make it.
So, I will say it, Americans are egocentric, whiny, narrowminded boobs. Don't agree, that's cool. But until the people around me stop acting that way, I will continue to think that way.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Higher Pay for Fast Food Employees
Yup, you read that right. I want to see fast food employees get paid more money. There are stings attached to that and I will get to those in a minute.
I am tired of getting "mal-orders". That is my word for it. Sort of like malpractice when the doc doesn't do his job right, well getting the wrong order from a fast food restaurant is a "mal-order". L
Last night I got a pretty creative mal-order from the Taco Bell down the street. I pull up to the drive-thru window and state my order:
Bean Burrito
Nacho Supreme
Burrito Supreme, no tomatoes
Nacho Bell Grande, no tomatoes
Large Pepsi
This one had one of them nice screens that shows your order and as with every visit I make sure the screen is correct. It was. So I get to the window, pay, and drive home.
I get home and we start dishing out the food. I take the Bell Grande and the burrito that says Burrito Supreme on it and my wife takes the burrito that says bean burrito and he Supreme Nacho's. Minutes later she says, "I think this burrito is yours, though it has tomatoes". What? No way. Idiots. Then I take it and I take a sip of my nice cold Pepsi and it is Dr. Pepper. I hate, despise, loathe, Dr. Pepper. I grab the receipt to see what is up and it isn't even my receipt. *sigh*
So here is the run down of the mal-order;
Burrito Supreme, no tomatoes, is wrapped in a Bean Burrito Wrapper and has tomatoes.
Bean Burrito is wrapped in a Burrito Supreme wrapper.
Pepsi is a Dr. Pepper.
So, whatever. Stuff happens. No biggie. But it got me thinking. We need to pay fast food employees more so this stuff doesn't happen. Pay then $15-$20 an/hour and you need a college degree to get hired. That way you will greatly reduce the amount of mistakes that occur because you won't have uneducated, high school drop out donks taking and filling your orders. The pay is good enough to get intelligent people to apply and might actually take their job a little more seriously than that burn-out pot smoking, 8th grade education, tool bag.
Just an idea.
I am tired of getting "mal-orders". That is my word for it. Sort of like malpractice when the doc doesn't do his job right, well getting the wrong order from a fast food restaurant is a "mal-order". L
Last night I got a pretty creative mal-order from the Taco Bell down the street. I pull up to the drive-thru window and state my order:
Bean Burrito
Nacho Supreme
Burrito Supreme, no tomatoes
Nacho Bell Grande, no tomatoes
Large Pepsi
This one had one of them nice screens that shows your order and as with every visit I make sure the screen is correct. It was. So I get to the window, pay, and drive home.
I get home and we start dishing out the food. I take the Bell Grande and the burrito that says Burrito Supreme on it and my wife takes the burrito that says bean burrito and he Supreme Nacho's. Minutes later she says, "I think this burrito is yours, though it has tomatoes". What? No way. Idiots. Then I take it and I take a sip of my nice cold Pepsi and it is Dr. Pepper. I hate, despise, loathe, Dr. Pepper. I grab the receipt to see what is up and it isn't even my receipt. *sigh*
So here is the run down of the mal-order;
Burrito Supreme, no tomatoes, is wrapped in a Bean Burrito Wrapper and has tomatoes.
Bean Burrito is wrapped in a Burrito Supreme wrapper.
Pepsi is a Dr. Pepper.
So, whatever. Stuff happens. No biggie. But it got me thinking. We need to pay fast food employees more so this stuff doesn't happen. Pay then $15-$20 an/hour and you need a college degree to get hired. That way you will greatly reduce the amount of mistakes that occur because you won't have uneducated, high school drop out donks taking and filling your orders. The pay is good enough to get intelligent people to apply and might actually take their job a little more seriously than that burn-out pot smoking, 8th grade education, tool bag.
Just an idea.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Thomas "Thunder" Keller
So I am an active poster on Thunder Kellers site and one of the moderators. It is a great site to talk and learn about poker. It's not as large as FCP, Negreanu's site but the main difference btw the two is that Thunder's site is friendly. While many of us post on FCP and 2+2, tk.com is void of flaming and trolling. We all get along great and we all learn from each other whether one of us a pro or one us is a novice starting out. So if you are looking for such a friendly atmosphere then please check it out. I trust that you will find it enjoyable and beneficial.
Anyway, we hold Squadron Tournaments every Tuesday night at 10:05pm EST. Our first "season" we played about 16 NLHE tournies. I was very lucky to do well in almost all of them despite playing against some very good players. I just received my prize for finishing 1st in that season.
Really cool of Thomas to do that. Being a semi-signed and hard to find book collector, I am pleased to add this to my collection of signed Martin Amis and Alex Garland books. And many uncorrected proofs.
Now we are currently in the second season. This season is a ton more difficult due to it's structure. We are playing 8 rounds of what we call the TSSOP (Thunder Squadron Series of Poker). Here is the run down:
1. NL Hold'em
2. PL Omaha (High)
3. Limit Hold'em
4. Limit Stud/8
5. PL Hold'em
6. Limit Stud
7. Limit Omaha/8
8. NL Hold'em
We are having round 5 next Tuesday. It's been fun so far. Currently in 2nd behind the ever powerful Ray. I will get him though. I promise. :)
The Smash Strategy
This came up yesterday at Kellers site and I thought I would blog it as I find it interesting and funny. Smasharoo is a poster on www.fullcontactpoker.com (Daniel Negreanu's site). He created a strat for playing low limit NLHE online. Here is the gist of it...
You know those plastic birds with the red liquid in them that bob up and down if you put water in front of them?
Putting a mouse in front of one of them instead of water would work against many online games.
Here's a strategy:
Play only Ax suited and PP.
Move al in with AA and KK pre-flop regardless of position or anything else.
Limp with everything else.
Fold if you don't flop a set or a flush draw.
When you flop a set or complete a nut flush draw, bet a lot.
Count your money.
Done.
Doing that will make you more money than 90% of people who beat NL online because the game's so stunningly bad and somehow come to the conclusion that it's because they're raising 78s multiway pre-flop.
It sounds like a crazy strategy but I have a feeling that it can work. It can work at low limit tables like .02/.04 where the players are just so terrible.
So I decided to try it. I got $20 free at Titan Poker for some reason or another and decided to play 6-Max .02/.04 NLHE and only use the Smash's method. It's the most boring poker you will ever play but it seems to work well.
I have been dealt AA 4 times. One time it was in the BB and folded to me and I got nada, the other 3 times I went all in per Smash's advice and got at least one caller each time and the hands were marginal at best. I think the best hand that called me was JT. Other hands were like K3o, A2o, 85o. That is bad play.
So give it a try sometime if you are bored. Right now I am averaging about 190BB/100 hands which is crushing. Just be prepared to be bored.
You know those plastic birds with the red liquid in them that bob up and down if you put water in front of them?
Putting a mouse in front of one of them instead of water would work against many online games.
Here's a strategy:
Play only Ax suited and PP.
Move al in with AA and KK pre-flop regardless of position or anything else.
Limp with everything else.
Fold if you don't flop a set or a flush draw.
When you flop a set or complete a nut flush draw, bet a lot.
Count your money.
Done.
Doing that will make you more money than 90% of people who beat NL online because the game's so stunningly bad and somehow come to the conclusion that it's because they're raising 78s multiway pre-flop.
It sounds like a crazy strategy but I have a feeling that it can work. It can work at low limit tables like .02/.04 where the players are just so terrible.
So I decided to try it. I got $20 free at Titan Poker for some reason or another and decided to play 6-Max .02/.04 NLHE and only use the Smash's method. It's the most boring poker you will ever play but it seems to work well.
I have been dealt AA 4 times. One time it was in the BB and folded to me and I got nada, the other 3 times I went all in per Smash's advice and got at least one caller each time and the hands were marginal at best. I think the best hand that called me was JT. Other hands were like K3o, A2o, 85o. That is bad play.
So give it a try sometime if you are bored. Right now I am averaging about 190BB/100 hands which is crushing. Just be prepared to be bored.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Oh! The Horror!
I love horror movies.
Why?
I don't really know. I hate to be scared myself. I don't like the sight of real blood or seeing an actual dead body. But I love horror movies. Makes no sense.
But I am extremely picky on what horror movies I watch.
Scream is not a horror movie.
Scream is the worst type of horror movie ever made. Why? Look at it. It's too clean. It's too crisp. Horror movies should be dark and grainy. They should look dirty and dull. Sadly movies like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer ruined the horror movie genre for a few years. That was the new way to make scary movies, by turning them into glitsy Hollywood movies with top tier actors and actresses. Blah! Blah I say!
But now things seem to be looking up with people now going a little more old school. Getting back to the grainy and dark looks of past films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead. Even some of the "Hollywood" type movies are getting more dark and...good.
Some of my current favorites are movies like High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, Hostel, Creep, Dead End, House of 1000 Corpses, and Devils Rejects. I could really go on and on. High Tension is probably at the top of my list right now. That movie has a beautiful look and is non-stop excitement with a great twist at the end. I recently watched Creep that was pretty decent. Nothing terribly original, just some psycho mutant guy killing people in the London Underground, but it was fun to watch.
I would love to write a horror movie. I have ideas. Maybe I will someday when I figure out how the hell you write one. Till then I will just watch them. If you have any favorite horror movies, let me know, I will watch them.
Why?
I don't really know. I hate to be scared myself. I don't like the sight of real blood or seeing an actual dead body. But I love horror movies. Makes no sense.
But I am extremely picky on what horror movies I watch.
Scream is not a horror movie.
Scream is the worst type of horror movie ever made. Why? Look at it. It's too clean. It's too crisp. Horror movies should be dark and grainy. They should look dirty and dull. Sadly movies like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer ruined the horror movie genre for a few years. That was the new way to make scary movies, by turning them into glitsy Hollywood movies with top tier actors and actresses. Blah! Blah I say!
But now things seem to be looking up with people now going a little more old school. Getting back to the grainy and dark looks of past films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead. Even some of the "Hollywood" type movies are getting more dark and...good.
Some of my current favorites are movies like High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, Hostel, Creep, Dead End, House of 1000 Corpses, and Devils Rejects. I could really go on and on. High Tension is probably at the top of my list right now. That movie has a beautiful look and is non-stop excitement with a great twist at the end. I recently watched Creep that was pretty decent. Nothing terribly original, just some psycho mutant guy killing people in the London Underground, but it was fun to watch.
I would love to write a horror movie. I have ideas. Maybe I will someday when I figure out how the hell you write one. Till then I will just watch them. If you have any favorite horror movies, let me know, I will watch them.
First Casino Poker Tournament
So Tuesday I ventured over to Canada to play in a NLHE Tourney. I have played hundreds of tourneys but never played in a Casino. I have logged many hours playing online and then there is my Monthly Home Game that is only 10-14 people. This was a $55 6 table tourney, top 10 paid. The structure was a little less than stellar but I could handle it. 2000 starting chips and blinds started at 25/50 and increase every 20 minutes. So it was accumulate chips fast and hope to have a decent stack by the 4th level when the blinds were 200/400.
So I sit down at my table. Table 6 seat 6. Seems like a friendly group of guys. First hand is dealt and I am in MP and it is folded to me. I look down at Ks Qc. First mistake in this hand was I limped. I generally HATE playing the first hand because I have no info on the players at my table yet. Button called, SB completed, BB checked. Flop comes Q J 9 (suits unimportant). SB and BB check. I bet 150. Button fold, SB calls, BB folds. Turn comes a K. SB bets 300 and I call. River brings a 6. SB bets 600. Second mistake on this hand. For some stupid reason I missed the straight possiblility. Totally missed it. Never in my entire time, even when I was new to the game did I ever miss anything so freaking obvious. I called and he showed T2 for the K high straight. I just fell apart. I couldn't believe how utterly donkish I was in that hand. 1. If I raised like I should have then he would not have called with that hand even in the SB. If I paid any attention I could have not paid him off at the end. I might have put him on a straight on the turn and paid the 300 to hit a K or Q for a boat, maybe, but I sure as hell would have held on to that 600 on the river.
So I am now in bad shape and need to find a good hand to double up. When down to 325 in chips UTG raises to 300. MP reraises to 800. Folded to me on the button. I look, already pissed that two players have shown some serious strength, and see two Kings. Sweet! I push in my 325. SB, BB, and UTG fold and it is me and the reraiser. He shows two 7's and my hand holds up and I more than triple up.
Cards go dead cold. In the span of 6 hands I have 84o three times,94o, and 83o. I finally get down to 600 when I am moved to a new table. 3 hands in I get dealt 99 and push all in UTG. I get two callers. QJ when he flopped the straight. Bah! Finished 42nd out of 60. Eh, that was all my fault. Better luck next time.
So I sit down at my table. Table 6 seat 6. Seems like a friendly group of guys. First hand is dealt and I am in MP and it is folded to me. I look down at Ks Qc. First mistake in this hand was I limped. I generally HATE playing the first hand because I have no info on the players at my table yet. Button called, SB completed, BB checked. Flop comes Q J 9 (suits unimportant). SB and BB check. I bet 150. Button fold, SB calls, BB folds. Turn comes a K. SB bets 300 and I call. River brings a 6. SB bets 600. Second mistake on this hand. For some stupid reason I missed the straight possiblility. Totally missed it. Never in my entire time, even when I was new to the game did I ever miss anything so freaking obvious. I called and he showed T2 for the K high straight. I just fell apart. I couldn't believe how utterly donkish I was in that hand. 1. If I raised like I should have then he would not have called with that hand even in the SB. If I paid any attention I could have not paid him off at the end. I might have put him on a straight on the turn and paid the 300 to hit a K or Q for a boat, maybe, but I sure as hell would have held on to that 600 on the river.
So I am now in bad shape and need to find a good hand to double up. When down to 325 in chips UTG raises to 300. MP reraises to 800. Folded to me on the button. I look, already pissed that two players have shown some serious strength, and see two Kings. Sweet! I push in my 325. SB, BB, and UTG fold and it is me and the reraiser. He shows two 7's and my hand holds up and I more than triple up.
Cards go dead cold. In the span of 6 hands I have 84o three times,94o, and 83o. I finally get down to 600 when I am moved to a new table. 3 hands in I get dealt 99 and push all in UTG. I get two callers. QJ when he flopped the straight. Bah! Finished 42nd out of 60. Eh, that was all my fault. Better luck next time.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Steve Yzerman Retires
Well a huge day for Red Wing fans. Steve Yzerman, who played here for 23 years, retired this afternoon. It's the end of an era. I grew up watching the Wings and Stevie play for 3/4's of my life and it will be very odd to watch the Wings without him on the ice.
He became a Wing back in 1983 when I was 11 and retires today when I am 34. Wow. That just blows my mind. I have so many fond memories of him and the Wings. The best was sneaking into Game 7 against the Blues in 96 (I think). We hung out in Standing Room Only (since we had no tickets) behind the Zamboni end net. Regulation ended in a 0-0 tie. By the start of the 2nd Overtime period we saw a few seats open up in the 10th row. We ran down and grabbed them and within 5 minutes Stevie was streaking down the right wing and took a shot flew past the goalie and we won! It was crazy. IT was amazing and one of many great Wings experiences I have had. (Was there for the record breaking 62nd win in a season, was in DC for their second cup).
Stevie will be missed by me and this city, but he did what he needed to do and I respect it. I am glad he got out now instead of playing well past his ability and looked foolish. He was one of the all time greatest NHL players to play the game and I am proud to have been able to enjoy watching all 23 seasons of his stellar career.
He became a Wing back in 1983 when I was 11 and retires today when I am 34. Wow. That just blows my mind. I have so many fond memories of him and the Wings. The best was sneaking into Game 7 against the Blues in 96 (I think). We hung out in Standing Room Only (since we had no tickets) behind the Zamboni end net. Regulation ended in a 0-0 tie. By the start of the 2nd Overtime period we saw a few seats open up in the 10th row. We ran down and grabbed them and within 5 minutes Stevie was streaking down the right wing and took a shot flew past the goalie and we won! It was crazy. IT was amazing and one of many great Wings experiences I have had. (Was there for the record breaking 62nd win in a season, was in DC for their second cup).
Stevie will be missed by me and this city, but he did what he needed to do and I respect it. I am glad he got out now instead of playing well past his ability and looked foolish. He was one of the all time greatest NHL players to play the game and I am proud to have been able to enjoy watching all 23 seasons of his stellar career.
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