Workin' On Da Cash Money Tip

I must say, this has really been an up and down year for me, poker-wise. I've had some fairly decent successes (well, given my low buyin levels), and I've had at least my share of failure. But it's been an interesting year, to be certain.

Not too long ago, I took a look back at all of my records, those I've kept at home, as well as those from events recorded over at OPR and the like. As it turns out, I learned something I found interesting, and a bit unexpected. Of all of the best poker sites to make money over the long run, over all of the sites I've played on over the years, I've actually made more profit over at Full Tilt than at any other site.

I credit a lot of that to that long old chestnut of taking 2nd in a $16k guarantee ages and ages and ages and ages ago, (such that it doesn't even appear on OPR). Does my lack of ability to exceed that cash in the intervening time mean anything? I don't know, maybe I just got completely balls out of my skull lucky back then. But there were successes afterward, just not as much.

Which brings me to today...my tilt issues this year have been legendary, at least in my own home. So, I've taken a bit of time off of poker, and cashed out a nice chuck of what I had, in order to make The Good Doctor Mondo's birthday a lovely event. There's zero risk of tilt in that.

The most pleasant aspect of the whole deal was how fast the checks came in, especially given UIGEA. Of course, only one of them was in the four figures...and low four figures, at that, which probably helped.

Good luck on the felt, ya'll.

September Story

A picture is worth 37 words.



All the money went in on the flop. Villian called pf, I popped it x3 or so, villian called. I shoved the flop, naturally. Notice the number of chips in the middle, this was very late in the $32k Rush. So I go out around 65th for $114, instead of a deeper run towards four figures. Yup. Figures.

An awful lot of close calls this month, and pretty much nothing to show for it.

Brutality Hits More Than Once

Yeah, this was my exit hand. I bet roughly 3.5x pf from UTG, he called. I shoved the flop:



Okay, so that stuff happens, but not usually for a 1.5m chip stacks deep in the 3r, gah:



I'm still rather curious about that call. Yes, I was gambling that he didn't have an over diamond (or two), by representing a big diamond draw myself. But facing the all in from me, how do you call there with nothing but 3rd pair and an OESD, when there's already a flush on the board? Interested in any thoughts. Was that call proper?

Three times 5+ hours deep in that tournament, I'd managed to get a top 20 chipstack, but a rivered chop about 45 minutes before this, blue my chance to get a truly dominant stack. Oh well. Frankly, I'm far more pissed off at the Colorado Rockies blowing a five run lead against the "phoning it in" Dodgers.

So what about hitting more that once? Well, I also had a deep run going in the JokerStars 1/4 mil lottery today, until another sick suckout took me out in 608th, where winning the hand would have given me a top 100 stack. Bah.

Really close today. At least I eked out a very small profit on the day (had tons of non-cashes...)

Ending August On A High

Played my last session of the month this past weekend, and it was a pretty good one. Somehow, through hook or by crook, I managed to cash in seven of fifteen events. Most of them barely more than mincashes, except for one notable deep run, and one that was aided by my catching a most fortunate four outer on the river.

This was a $4.40 buy in NLHE tourney, limited to 1000 players. I've been playing quite a few of these $4.40/1000 max events on PokerStars lately. I like the somewhat-limited field size, insofar as NLHE is concerned, because on the rare chance I can survive the donktastic play long enough to make a final table, the entire event can still be done early enough for me to get a decent night's sleep. And yes, by "donktastic play", I can sometimes be referring to myself, as happened here.

This was a 4-max event. With only four players per table, it usually stands to reason that marginal hands can gain increased value, as you're unlikely to be running into monster starting hands as often. So I actually like AJo in this situation. With around 8-10 tables left, and me holding around 10BBs, I decided to shove my AJo. Oops, ran right into AKo. Doh. The K on the flop made things a LOT worse, but the ten on the flop also gave me a tad bit of hope. Wha? Queen on the river? BINK!

So yeah, I will fully admit that every payout jump from there to the end had more to do with a lucky ducky river four outer than anything else. Cool.

Well, eventually, I did manage to parlay some good cards and well timed bets to make it to the final table, but in a pretty woeful chip position, holding around 5% or so of chips at the table:



At this point, I really expected to make it no further, and I was okay with that. However, I was not to be entirely denied. After a few orbits at the final table, I got it in BvB, and found myself in a classic race:



And once again, it took another bink on the river to stay alive and double up:



To be fair, I had a lot more outs this time, as any ace, queen, jack, or nine would have given me the hand. But once again, I'm reminded that no matter how few seats there may be at the table, just having a couple of high paint is no guarantee of leading preflop...

After a very well played game, chco9 lost his way soon after. Unfortunately, the near 600k in chips I had after that hand pretty much equated to my high water mark (though I would get back there when AK > the chip leader's A9o a couple orbits later.

In the end, with blinds and antes at 12500/25000/3125, I shoved my last 9 BBs on the with QJo on the button, and went down to K8s. The other two players each had six times my meager stack, so I was looking for a spot to get it in, and I was quite happy to just have two live cards at the time. But such is life.

Nevertheless, I once again set a personal best for most levels deep in a tourney (35), and really, how can anyone be upset about turning $4.40 into $280, especially given the four outer that should have ended my night at around twenty bucks?



So yeah, I'm pretty sure my August is done. I haven't done a great job of tracking month to month results. However, seeing as I've been pretty much a break-even MTT player at PokerStars, and yet this August saw me reach a 108% ROI and 30% ITM, I'm pretty sure this has to be one of my top three or four months ever, even if all of the actual profit came from two third place finishes.

Anyway, good luck on the felt, ya'll....and here's to August.

If It Weren't For All You Pesky AA's

I'd probably win more often.

Weird day. Truly.

Had AA eight times. Once got a walk with them in the BB. And once won a decent pot.

But also saw AA go down to JJ, 77, 33, 44, and in the ugliest example:

PokerStars Game #47587147383: Tournament #294420658, $4.00+$0.40 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXV (15000/30000) - 2010/08/01 18:41:57 MT [2010/08/01 20:41:57 ET]
Table '294420658 17' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: thepescis (141558 in chips)
Seat 2: Mondogarage (824833 in chips)
Seat 4: BadB19 (375429 in chips)
Seat 7: fudgeisback (359738 in chips)
Seat 8: Alphadoggg (1040442 in chips)
thepescis: posts the ante 3750
Mondogarage: posts the ante 3750
BadB19: posts the ante 3750
fudgeisback: posts the ante 3750
Alphadoggg: posts the ante 3750
thepescis: posts small blind 15000
Mondogarage: posts big blind 30000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Mondogarage [As Ad]
BadB19: folds
fudgeisback: folds
Alphadoggg: folds
thepescis: raises 107808 to 137808 and is all-in
Mondogarage: calls 107808
*** FLOP *** [4h 6d 7d]
*** TURN *** [4h 6d 7d] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [4h 6d 7d Tc] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
thepescis: shows [4d 5c] (a straight, Four to Eight)
Mondogarage: shows [As Ad] (a pair of Aces)
thepescis collected 294366 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 294366 | Rake 0
Board [4h 6d 7d Tc 8h]
Seat 1: thepescis (small blind) showed [4d 5c] and won (294366) with a straight, Four to Eight
Seat 2: Mondogarage (big blind) showed [As Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces

Notice the tourney's level number and blinds. Yes, this was the final table of a near 500-runner MTT. Wow.

Unlike the above hand, most of the instances where my AA lost involved me raising up anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 the BB, getting 3-bet, and then either having my 4-bet shoves called with far inferior hands, or me calling 3-bet shoves with AA, and seeing 4:1 dogs catch miracles.

So yeah, today was pretty gross, and I spent a lot of it on tilt, yet at the same time, pretty awesome in its own way, because after all the horrific beats, I was neverthess at the aforementioned final table, which by itself was a bit of a miracle.

From the final 24 players or so to the final table bubble, I was never more than 2-3 players from the bottom of the chip standings, but somehow managed to steal or catch just enough to not be the next man out. And then, with 10 players left, I was the low stack:



At was at this point (an orbit past the photo) where things really began to turn my way. First, I doubled up on arpoker35 when AKs beat either QQ or JJ (forget which), and the very next hand, I picked up KK UTG and, knowing arpoker35 might be on tilt and hyper aggro, I elected to flat call UTG. As I was sure he would, arpoker35 shoved, and my KK actually held, which brought us to the final table, and me in a much more comfortable position:



Eventually, we got to five handed, with all of us between 578k and 517k in chips, with blinds at 8.5k/17k/2.5k. The chip leader proposed a five way even chop, which I was okay with, but no one else responded, so we played on. And on. And on.

Still five handed, and I woke up once again:



Yes, that's the hand historied above. So gross. Instead of getting to 4-handed and being 2 BB shy of the chipleader, we had far more to go. At least that was the last time I had AA get cracked on this day. Of course, it was the last time I saw AA on this day...which was probably the only thing that allowed me to make it to a 3rd place finish.



I didn't stand much of a chance from that point:



So yeah, the day was both extremely frustrating and, by my standards, extremely profitable, probably my best day in nearly a year. And yet, my success was in one of my lowest buyin events. I had a very nice stack in the huge Sunday $3r get crippled (got kneecapped by my own AA yet again), and similarly in a couple other events.

But I still managed to nearly double my Stars roll (2nd place would have more than doubled it). And I do believe this is the first time I've made it as far as level 36 of an online donkament. Even the big FTP donkament I took 2nd in (for my all time high cash of about $1900) was over at level 26. So overall, I feel good...except for the level of tilt which caused the Good Doctor Mondo to have to leave the room. Yeah, it was bad at times...

So today was sunny, but with a few melancholy clouds on the horizon. Today, I'll take this. Next time, I'd like to order up the same, but without the side dish of tilt, please. And perhaps I can do without ever having AA....

Good + Bad =/= Indifference

Ahh, got a few tournies in tonight, and ended up with a fairly reasonable night.

Made one final table (in Limit Omaha 8, 'natch), though I went out fifth when I got my chips in on the turn, whiffing my draw on the river.

I was actually in pretty good shape at the start of the final table:



Entered the final table in 3rd, but was pretty much alternately whiffing, and card dead, for most of it. No complaints there.

However, I do think I've got Jestocost beat for teh sick of teh night. Yes, all the chips went in on the flop:



And, oh yeah, before I forget, nezzi77 on PokerStars can felch the runny turds out of my ass, 3-bet overshoving 74o preflop on me a few players from the bubble (catches the 4, of course), to knock me out about 15 players from the money. Of course, I'd been playing tight, never showing down junk, and had raised the hand UTG...and I had a stack that wasn't really close to being in the danger zone, so there was no reason to think I'd suddenly expanded my range. 74o, really?

Naturally, even after that donktastic douchebag move of his, he must have tried the same stunt again, because he managed to crash and burn his entire stack and go out only four spots closer to the bubble than I.

Jeebus fucking crisps, if you're going to play like a douchenozzle, and manage to get just lucky enough to actually pick up the pot, the least you can do is learn something from the hand and not piss it all away two hands later.

And yes, I even looked your ass up on OPR, and yes, you've actually hit five four-figure cashes over the last year. All I can say is, it must be fucking nice to have the easy button when you play as badly as you did tonight. Ahh, I can be more compassionate than that...maybe you're just a tilt monkey, given your single $12 cash amongst nearly 30 tournaments covering over $200 in buyins since yesterday....

Good Reason To Be Lazy

Yeah, for the last couple of weeks or so, I've been meaning to dash off one of those typical bad beat posts. You know, the kind that come after 2-3 weeks and all sessions of nothing but losing to river 2- and 3-outers, every KK getting cracked open like pistachios, going out on absolute bubbles on 70-30s, etc.

Because, truth be told, it certainly has been like that lately. In fact, my bankroll's down about half from the start of this year, which is pretty much the height of ubersucktitude, from where I sit.

But then came the last lil' crumbs thrown my way.

Last night, I managed to win a Badugi MTT, of all things. Ya, Badugi. Whouda thunk it. Actually, my heads up opponent and I chopped heads up, because it was getting late for me on a Sunday, and after playing down 300 fricking hands just to get to heads up in a 45 man tourney...jeez. But I was marginally ahead in chips, so got the credit for the win and the TLB points, yay me.

Of course, it was a $2.20 buyin with a small field, so ship the whole twenty-five bucks.

This was at the same time as I made the final table in Stars' nightly $330 triple shootout. (Of course, 88 < 33 AIPF, thanks to the flopped trey, but this is not going to be a bad beat post, after all.)

On the one hand, yeah, my bankroll is still down 50% from January. On the other hand, I've actually made three final tables in my last three tournaments, so at least it kinda sorta feels okay at the moment. Of course, it's never in the tourneys that actually pay decent money, but sometimes, you have to dine on the crumbs you find on the ground, ya know?

Good luck on the felt, ya'll.

A Worthy Cause, Donkin' For the Kids

In what is perhaps a beneficial fit of approaching middle-age self questioning (I keed, I keed), fellow blogger
Oh Captain has worked together with Full Tilt to put together a charity donkament for next Wednesday, June 16th.

So one last time, here's the details:
Date: June 16
Time: 9PM CDT (Same time as Mookie)
It will actually be running in place of the Mookie. BDR will be broadcasting it.
Charity: Ronald McDonald House
$5 + $5(Tournament, charity)
Password= vegas1
Tournament#= 164273435

Tossing around a few chips for a great cause, you can't beat that. I'm planning on being there, won't you join us?

Filling up the Dead Air

So Big Al's BBT5 series is starting to round the corner into the homestretch, and there's been some really strong blogger players finding their way into the Tournament of Champions. Congrats to LJ for being the latest to join the list, having taken down this week's marathon Mookie. I seem to recall having bought a tiny % of LJ's action in the WSOP a couple of years ago, and while it was fun rooting her on, everything came up in tears that time around. Perhaps this time, things will be different.

Congrats also to the Black Widow for running really deep in the Stars SCOOP Lo Stud event the other day. I know coming up short of the final table always hurts...believe me, I've had far more of that than the alternative...but surviving 95% of the field in any kind of stud event inherently requires a ton of skill. And the ability to withstand the pain of stabbing oneself in the forehead repeatedly with a fork, but I digress....

I've played on SCOOP event so far, last week's $500k guarantee. Things started out fine, and I almost doubled up during the first hour, but all it took was one bad play in hour two to force me to scrape along the bottom for the next couple hours or so. I think I managed to outlast about 70% of the field, but came up well short of the money. And I took a decent stack post-bubble in the quarter-mil bingo donkament, and overplayed AQo. Results haven't been great lately, and I'm trying to make up for it by being too aggressive in less-than-optimal spots.

One SCOOP event is one more than the number of BBT5 events I've played, since Mookie night just doesn't work for me, I guess. But good luck to the rest of you trying to nail down one of the last TOC seats. I'd love to see this guy there. Not only do I respect his game, he's clearly one of the good guys.

Okay, enough for not...need to work on some long time catch up posts on the Good Doctor Mondo and my a lil' bit of music.

Good luck on the felt, ya'll.

Oh well, I'll keep trying to play one big session a week for now, as that's all I really have time for in my life these days.

B(ad) B(ea)T Story Of the Day

BBT5 is here, and I never got an invite to the Blogger Invitational today. Guess I'm not much of a blogger. Oh well. I realize my actual poker blogging is pretty crappy, so I doubt I merited an invite, but it would have been fun.

Had a heartbreaking day today...made it oh so close in Early Daily Double B.



Bittersweet, really. Deepest I've ever made it through any Daily Double, but once I hit a high of about 80k chips in level 22, I went through about 6-7 orbits of nothing better than Q2s in early position with massive stacks to my left. The type of card death (93o, 74o, T3o), at a table where no one was limping in, that I just couldn't make a move. I managed to double up once with AK, back to about 60k with 25 players left, and picked up AK again in position, in a three way raised pot preflop, but the J on the flop help the KJ short stack shover keep me from gaining any more ground, and it was all downhill from there.

Still, I was able to semi min-cash the big afternoon $3r, and an $11 huge field event, and even the 1/4 mil today, but didn't go deep enough in those to make a meaningful bankroll difference. So to get oh so close to a final table in a large-ish field event...bah. Nevertheless, I managed five or six cashes today, and came out slightly above breakeven...which doesn't make me feel any better about missing the Invitational, but there you have it.

Good luck on the felt y'all.

18 Outs Twice?

No good, not for 250k chips. So sad.

Frankly, it's just been really refreshing to actually get back to playing some poker for the first time in two weeks. Managed five cashes, one absolute bubble (gack), one HORSE final table (but always in my smallest buyin, and out in 4th).

But a very fun session, all in all, even if I only managed to eke out a tiny tiny profit.

One reason it was so fun? Here it is:



My first ever Steel Wheel. Sure, it was Omatard 8, but a scoop is a scoop, no? Got paid off by both players, too...

All Quiet (Mostly) on the Poker Front

Played a lengthy tourney session last Sunday, probably around 22 events in all. Meh. Lived up to the nickname my wife gave me "Almost". Five cashes, most of them of the true mincash variety. Bubbled one final table. Did manage to pull out a 2nd place finish in one tourney, though sadly (for my bankroll), it was only a $2.20 PLHE/PLO event with about 220 runners, so even winning it wouldn't have added a hundo to the roll. I think I managed to just about break even on the day.

Heads up in the PLHE/PLO was interesting, though. We came into heads up roughly even in chips, and went back and forth, back and forth, such that heads up was easily more than 100 hands.

Thought I was going to take a massive chiplead when I turned an 8-high straight flush in spades, during PLO level 26 or whatever it was. Unfortunately, I lost him on the river. At any rate, at one point I swung from down 4:1 in chips, to up 4:1 in chips, to back down 4:1 in chips...and eventually out. It was a very enjoyable experience, though, to be in a heads-up battle lasting that long. Both of us definitely had to change up our styles during it, to keep either of us from becoming overly predictable in our levels of aggression.

Anyway, not much else to report. I doubt you'll see me in any Mini FTOPS, as my Full Tilt roll's a bit low to take that on. Maybe I'll put in another session some time this weekend, but with the Good Doctor Mondo having scheduled a dinner out with friends, and several friends coming over, it may just not be in the cards. Heh. A pun.

Enjoyed reading the Mastodon weekend reports. Live bloggerments are f u n.

Good luck on the felt, ya'll.

Wow. Just Wow.

One way to successfully put me on tilt...

Deepish (well, just before bubble) in a huge field donkament...in this case, FTP's Daily Double A, when facing action from me...hem and haw in the chat box for about thirty seconds before deciding to call off all your chips in middle position with.........the mighty T6o.

Then proceed to flop trip sixes (I had ATs, by the way).

Then, berate me for the bad play of calling your bet. (Um, you, sir, acted after me in the hand.)

Then, proceed to brag about winning $300k online. When I checked, you are a lifetime -82% ROI on Stars, and while you have won a total of $26k on FTP, you've done so at a -13% ROI clip, and with nearly half of that lifetime total consisting of winning a WSOP ME satellite two years ago. Without that flukeament, your total lifetime losignitude is at least 50%.

Then, proceed to actually luckbox your way to 7th in the entire tournament, by having called off all your chips in middle position with..........the mighty T6o, for your only triple-digit cash of any kind since last September.

Well played, Chaconas, well played, sir. I can tell by your results since last weekend, you've put that money to good use.

A Toast to Skill

What is skill? And more to the point, where can one find it?

I did not find it in a mouse...the mouse that's made it's way into my car's battery compartment shitting all over the microfilter, leaving it's wake of stinkass ammonia behind...

I did not find it in a house...at least not in the Blair House this week, where all I heard was the same old bluster and hustle of the venal and vain who collect their own free taxpayer-funded socialized Viagra (Boehner wasn't outside smoking, he was in the stalls, shtupping!)

I did not find it in my drain...nothing but a few old soggy lettuce leaves, from the detritus of long gone dinner.

I did not find it in the rain...all I caught that day was a cold, that a full week later leaves me hacking all night and waking the neighbors.

I thought I found it in the bass...but no, the Rolling Stones declined to keep me on speed dial when Bill Wyman checked out to marry yet another 16 year old.

I thought I'd check again, just in case.

Ah, there you are.

Skill...oh mystifying skill, the ability to read not only your hand, but the play of your opponents. Knowing when the 4-bet shove with cards lacking paint, because you've studied and learned, and applied those lessons well. That one weaktight jackhole who won't go to war with anything short of Kings, and will lay down to a turn of the screws. Ah, there you are.

Is poker a sport? I dunno, maybe once lime tossing and beer pong have been awarded full Olympic status, and not only for hashing out negotiations between bent figure skating judges, but I digress.

What poker is, is a game of great skill, taking months to gain one's feet, often years to play truly well, and a lifetime to master. The game is always changing, nearly as often as a deck is shuffled or a chipstack riffled. New games, new playing styles, ever morphing and evolving. Rewarding, yes, but always a challenge, always, which is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill'

Typical, Yet...

...the truth is, I do consider Stud and Stud 8 to be my worst games, so I'm not going to complain. Well, at least not much. They way I went out was pretty sick. AA underneath, and a nice low draw by 4th. Filled up to two pair and a qualifying low that would have scooped until 7th street not only gave villian a straight, but also busted my low.

Losing day overall (PokerStars was absofuckinglutely brutal to me today), but a final table is a final table.

The Winter Of Our Long Discontent...

....is over. Spring Training camps open today. Woot. Hell yeah, hope springs eternal. Yes, even for you Mets and Cubs fans.



Frankly, for the first time ever, the Colorado Rockies come into camp as legitimate contenders, or even favorites, to win their first ever NL West crown, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Questions abound, to be sure. Will Jeff Francis return to his pre-2008, pre-surgery form? Will Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzales continue to develop? Will the increased attendance after reaching the playoffs in two out of the last three seasons make the line at the garlic fries line intolerably long? Did Jason Giambi agree to share his golden thong to the team if it dips into a batting slump?

We shall see. But for now, PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT. Hell yeah.

The Rockies are coming off a franchise-best 92 win season, with a roster not very much changed, and still quite young (if you don't count bench players Giambi and Melvin Mora).

Got my opening day club level tix for April 9th, just hope I can use them.

Finally got back to some tourney poker the other night, with only two mincashes to show for it. One of them hurt. After breaking the bubble in a $5 PLO8 with 500 or so runners, I was sitting okay in about 60th spot when my combo draws hit the flop for a nut flush, and then lost to runner runner QQ on the turn and river for a sick sick boat. Oh well. It was fun to actually donk around a bit, but overall, I didn't really have a lot of momentum on the night.

Whatta Rush

So the hot new action in the online poker realm is a new twist over at Full Tilt Poker, called Rush Poker. Essentially, Rush Poker allows a player to auto-fold hands they don't want to play, and the software then rushes you off to a new table in time for a new hand. Instead of sitting at a table (or 2 tables, 4 tables, whatever volume you play), you enter a pool of players, anywhere from hundreds to a couple thousand. And then, all those players simply go from table to table, hand to hand, and say, if you're in mid position holding that 92 offsuit you can't wait to trash, you can simply quick fold and move on.

There are three obvious main developments this leads to, the first of which is, a player can play many more hands per hour than otherwise. Whereas, in my limited ring game play, I may 2-table for an hour and see 150 hands, I saw roughly 2000 hands in my two hour experiment 2-tabling (or would that be 2-pooling) with the 10NL Rush Poker fish.

The next obvious development is this, you're not going to get reads on players, because you're leaving the table at the end of every hand. Now if you're in a pool for any period of time, you are likely to run into players now and again that you've seen, but unless you've actually played a hand out with that person, it's very hard to gauge things such as how they play position, level of aggression, whether they'll fold to a c-bet, etc. And because you're moving so fast, it's quite difficult (if not impossible) to take effective notes.

Finally, the third development is a clear economic boon to Full Tilt. After all, if hands are wrapping up that much more quickly, and more players are playing more hands so quickly, they're collecting that much more in rake. More power to'em, I suppose.

In my own experiment, I played roughly 2000 hands of 10NL, most of it at full ring tables. Around 250 hands of that came at 6-max, where I lost a full buyin, and I managed to win two buyins at the full rings. This was even with KK going down three times. Once to AA, once when 99 caught a set on the turn, and the other when I slow played a flopped set and allowed villian to runner runner broadway on me. Still, I managed to find around 5 BB/100 hands, when it could have been even better.

I think the idea is to play straight up, solid, semi-ABC poker. Bluffing doesn't really seem to work in Rush Poker, at least not at the 10NL level, but being the first to open raise will often cause everyone else to quick fold. What I've found in my admittedly small sample is that preflop aggression can work to pick up small pots, but whiffing the flop and c-betting often doesn't. Why? Because most players will quick fold the trash hands preflop and move on, so any flop with big cards is more likely than not to have actually helped your opponent.

Anyway, I'm going to play around with this some more as I get time, but I've been working 12-13 hours a day all this week, which is forecasted to continue for some time. I may be away from the tables for a bit.

In fact, I'm missing the entirely of the WBCOOP (thanks for the ticket, Stars, but do you have to always place such a bad beat on Mountain Time Zone by starting events at 4pm?!?!?)...

Good luck at the tables.

Bah, A Wee Bit Short

Bah.

Played a very small batch of tourneys last night, three in total. The FTP $5 LO8, the $4 4-max PLO8 on Stars, and the $4 1000-max NLHE at Stars. Came up empty. Bah.

$5 Limit O8 - finished 45th of 221 (27 paid). Twice I had to bail two massive combo draws in big pots after scary rivers. The one I remember saw me holding AA54 double suited clubs/spades and a flop that brought two clubs and a deuce and a trey. The red king on the turn didn't help (I check/called), and the non-club K on the river hurt worse. So the low never filled, and all I've got is a pair of aces. The river fold was correct, I am certain, pot odds be damned, but it left me crippled.

The upsetting part to me of this is that I did not raise from the SB with this hand. I got a bit gunshy raising PF in this tourney, because the field seemed so loose that every late position raise saw either five callers or TWO re-raises on top by players who limped in early. My hope, preflop, was to pick up exactly the kind of draws on the flop that...well...that I did pick up. But if villian's caught virtually any part of that board by the river, I lose that hand.

$4 4-max PLO8 - finished 74th of 599 (60 paid). This one hurt, to the extent that I managed to overcome losing 1/3 of my stack in the first couple of levels, and played pretty tight afterwards, but as the blinds caught up and I found myself short, I shoved from position to get called by a mixed-bag hand. The flop gave him top pair, but gave me bottom two pair. Of course, it's Omaha, so nothing's a sure thing, but the turn gave him trips.

$4 8-handed 1000-max NLHE - finished 196th of 1000. This one hurt real bad. At first, I thought it would be a really really short tourney for me. Third hand in, I see a couple of Jacks staring at me from one of the blinds. Nice. Early position raises, and about four players (besides myself) come along for the ride. Now, I considered re-raising to isolate, but at these buyins, with the quality of players at this level, I'm likely to still see the flop at least 4-handed, so I elect to call. The flop was all low cards, maybe 9-high. I didn't want A-rag to get there, so I bet out, and the original raiser shoves...it's early enough, I haven't invested time, so I call. He's got QQ. Bah. But the J on the turn saves my bacon and sets me up for a long run.

I'm not playing a lot of hands at all, but saw KK once and QQ three times, and picked up nice pots with all of them. Given my rate of reasonable cards, I didn't feel the need to get out of line by trying to steal too often, and that strategy seemed to be working.

I manage to spend the entire first hour in the top 10 in chips, eventually falling backwards a bit through card death. But with 200 players left, I'm still something like 60th-70th, with a just above average chipstack, when we get to the last hand before break. Then this happens....and where the Mondo learns a powerful lesson.

I'm in the SB holding KQs, blinds are either 150/300 or 200/400, I forget. The BB is in the top 5-10 in chips, with 3x my stack. Folds around to the hijack who calls. (I have about 15k chips, he has about 11k) I hate this spot. I like raising here, but for the massive stack on my left, who has been pushing around a bit. The hijack could have anything, medium to big ace, middle pair, who knows. So I elect to call (the BB checked). The flop was great for me. Q54 rainbow, yeah. I think I'm good here, because AQ in that spot most likely raises preflop. So given possible holdings, I look like I have a monster here.

So I check, hoping to CR any kind of continuation bet. The hijack spot bets 1100, essentially just short of pot. Doesn't tell me much. So I raise to 2700 to show strength. I suppose I could have shoved, but that would have shown weakness, and I do think I have a monster here. Until he smooth calls. Dammit, dammit, dammit, I tell myself as the inconsequential turn comes out. He's got to have a set of fives, he's just got to. Why didn't I raise preflop, I ask myself as I donkey shove the turn. Actually, he had pocket fours, for the flopped bottom set, and I'm crippled.

I misplayed this so many ways...when he called my flop CR, I *knew* he had a set (only error was which set). So why do I shove myself to certain death there? Why did I not raise KQs from my spot preflop? Even with the huge stack on my left, I have a lot of FE in that spot that possibly makes up for the loss of showdown value of my hand?

Any suggestions how to avoid this type of leak? I know, I know, sometimes, you've just gotta actually trust your reads. Shoving into what I know is a made set is probably a worse blunder than not raising PF in that spot, but I'm interested in your thoughts.

So instead of a healthy stack at break, I'm 195 of 200, with about 8.5 BB left. Bah.

Either first or 2nd hand after break, the even shorter stack on my right shoves. I see 99 and overshove -- he could have anything, but with 8 BB left and an M of about 4, I'm not folding here. Well, two to my left overshoves. Gross. The shortest stack had 77 (putting me well ahead), but the big stack had QQ. Can I beat the mighty QQ again with a smaller pair, like I did in the first orbit?

Ummmm....nope. The Q of hearts on the flop nearly sealed my fate. The heart turn on the two heart flop gave me hope for a backdoor flush (I held the only pocket heart), but the river smited me, and IGHN. This one hurt. Bah.

Three tournies, beat at least 80% of the field every time, but zero cashes. Bah.

The Cruel, Cruel Mistress

Ah poker, how I hate you so. Sometimes. So after my last post, I've managed to put in two lengthy tournament sessions, with the expected horrendous results. As the Good Doctor Mondo reminds me, at least I'm doing a far better job of not letting emotional tilt ruin my days post-poker.

But my last two sessions have resulted in 15-18 tournies per session, with only a single min-cash each time, usually in my lowest buy-in of the day. Out on the absolute bubble twice, both times on 70/30s, losing on the river each time.

Had a nice stack in one of the early Daily Doubles yesterday, about 100 spots before payouts begin, when I picked up KK in the small blind, where I reraised an EP raiser. Bet out the Q high flop. Bet out the turn (which didn't improve the board and left no draws; call the overshove raise to find I'm up against KQo of all things. Naturally, the 2-outer Q hits the river, so fuck it, I piss off my stack in the other early DD about 40 spots short of $$$.

Go out the absolute bubble boy in a $10 NLO8 tourney on Tilt, when my A842 double suited (yeah, not great, but I was short) was called off by A862, who naturally hits trip 6s by the turn and left me with less than one BB in the BB.

Naturally, given my terrirunbad these days, on the absolute bubble of a $5 LO8 tourney, and the final remaining tourney I'm in, Full Tilt decides to polish off the day by sending its software tits-up. At least I got to share in the prizepool in that one.

Oh yeah, made a couple bad plays, shoved KK on the river into a QQ high board (had him on AK) when villian held....QQ. D'oh. This was in the Stars 1/4 Mil after tripling up early. Also went out near the bubble of the World Record (well, I guess finishing 31,000-something can be considered the bubble of 30,000 get paid and 160,000 started)...when I lost another 95% hand on the river. But not going to whine about a 10 FPP tourney.

Yeah, poker sucks for me these days. I won't even play Bodog given the abuse it's given me, though I've got a few hundo left there. No more whining.

Christmas was actually a pretty wonderful time in the Mondopad. The Good Doctor Mondo's dad came out last Wednesday to join her mom, who's been here for five weeks. The Good Doctor Mondo received a Wii for Xmas, which has been invaluable in her continued rehab, for balance and fitness reasons. She used one in her rehab hospital, and it's been a real aid in parts of her recovery. Of course, we both agree that Rock Band must be on the horizon. ;-)

Not much else to report. After 44 years on the miserable hunk of rock, I'm actually giving a half-hearted attempted at growing a pathetic beard. We'll see how it goes...

Happy New Year, and to 2009, don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.

Number of The Beast

It ain't 666, because that would be one too many. Effin' 66...goddamn I hate that hand. Played a few turbos tonight, after the Good Doctor Mondo went to bed. Seven of them, in fact. All my play in and out in less than two hours.

Ran into 66 three times, in AIPF situations.

First time, AJ lost to 66 when the devils held up.
Second time, AQ went down when the ace in the door was followed by the case devil (another player noted he folded one devil).
The final fucking of the night? AK lost to 66 in the worst way. Ace on the flop, but two diamonds. Diamond on the turn. Diamond on the river. Yup, he held the fucking devil of diamonds.

Now up to 18 straight non-cashes in a row. I know that's hardly a long streak, but it's pissing me off. Especially as some of them have included large stacks, only to go out just a few spots off the bubble. JokerStars hates me these days.

I guess it's a good thing after all that I'm not in the WPBT Last Longer competition. Given how JokerStars is putting up the mobnies, I'd be sure to screw whatever team I was on.

Edit: Of course, right after I type this, I break my non-cash streak...with the mini-est of min-cashes, a whopping $3.52 in a $2.20 PLHE/PLO turbo MTT...naturally AA78 double suited couldn't keep up with 6543 rainbow in PLO.