Majestic trip

I went to play some poker at Majestic Star casino in beautiful gary, indiana over the weekend. Rather would have been in Vegas, but oh well. The weather was bad but who cares, poker had to be played.
So, I get to the room (best in chicagoland until/unless Horseshoe opens up a new one) and check in--I had called ahead. I got my $100 max chips and sat down and was immediately scurred. There were some big stacks at the table, I mean some stacks approaching $1000. At a 100 max table. Hmmm. Either there are sharks present or there are fish present, probably both. But I held my own.
First big hand, I'm in sb w Q8. A couple of limpers, so I complete. Flop brings a Q, I check-call, and its heads up w BB. Turn is 8. I check, he bets 20-25, so I go all in and double up....pretty standard.
Another interesting hand I limp w A2 clubs. SB raises, BB calls, I call. Flop comes all clubs; i.e. the nuts. SB checks, BB bets, I smooth-cold-call, SB calls. Turn is another 5 (a 5 was on the flop). check, bet, I just call again, call. River is a J. So the final board is J5x5J w three clubs. Now sb bets $25, and BB goes apeshit and tosses his cards saying he flopped a flush and got rivered. Hmmmm. SB had a nonchalant look to him. He kept check calling throughout and then bet 25 on the river leaving himself less than 50. with the pot this large, wouldn't he just go all in? I of course am priced in to call 25 and sb flips QQ lol. funny thing is i thought about just putting him all in because at this point why not. oh well. i still won a nice pot.
I also won a nice pot w trip 22, one of my fav hands. ALso, had KK and flopped a boat with them.... so i'm up over $400 in a couple hours and can now understand why there were such big stacks to begin with.
But of course it would not last. what a shock. So i have AQ and raise to 15 in mp. sb calls and two others call. flop comes AQ5... uh ok. sb immediately goes all in for around less than 100. uh ok. i say soemthing like "i have to call you" and show my cards to him... now in retrospect that is bad luck something i learned from high stakes poker. never show your cards until after the hand, gotcha. because the turn came another 5 and he flips some bullshit like 57s for trips. great. so right after that i get 66, raise and say im on tilt. i get 18 callers. flop comes something like 7105, i fire, two callers. blank turn, i go all in. im only up against a big stack who is weak and predictably folds, and a "short" <100 stack who moved over from 3-6 limit. he was an older asian guy, and he called me. he has 88, and says he put me on AK or whatever. yeah i played it bad and didnt have to lose that much to the donk. anyways, i still ended up with a 200 profit for a few hours. next time im up 4 or 5 hundy, i'm racking and running.

Meh

Had a good T-giving. Lots of rest. Won $200 and then lost it playing online. I think I should try and move up levels to $50nl. I "took a shot" at the $100nl level, two tabling. It didn't work out. This hand make me realize I still suck.

EP raises and I reraise in MP w JJ to like $12 ( I don't remember exactly just roughly). Flop comes A A blank. EP checks quickly (at the time, I actually noted that he checked VERY quickly). I made a CB of around $20. EP calls. So, at that point I'm thinking maybe he has a pp too. Turn is a blank, EP checks, I check (good move by me--control pot size and losses in case he has an A). River is another blank and EP bets 30-something. I call and he has AQ. I have NO reason why I played it that badly--did I even play it bad? There were no straights or flushes out there. So he hit his A, I guess it happens. Funny thing is that if only one A hit the board, I prolly would have bailed. Anyways, I don't like the thought of losing a hundy in one hand so I will stay down at the micros for awhile longer.

Couldn't get a wireless signal last night so I didn't play -- I hate when that happens. So ghetto is I.

Another one

Again. Oh, both this hand and the hand from the previous post were the FIRST HANDS of the SNGs. I'm folding AA on the first hand next time... I promise.


PokerStars Game #13202310379: Tournament #66997280, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2007/11/12 - 17:47:59 (ET)Table '66997280 1' 9-max

Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: BigCheese187 (1500 in chips)

Seat 2: MinDaddy (1500 in chips)

Seat 3: donbarney (1500 in chips)

Seat 4: maladroit G (1500 in chips)

Seat 5: elsamisam (1500 in chips)

Seat 6: time2start (1500 in chips)

Seat 7: Herrumm (1500 in chips)

Seat 8: Snowboardguy (1500 in chips)

Seat 9: LUCKY13TRACI (1500 in chips)

MinDaddy: posts small blind 10

donbarney: posts big blind 20

*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to MinDaddy [Ah Ad]

maladroit G: folds

elsamisam: folds

time2start: folds

Herrumm: folds

Snowboardguy: folds

LUCKY13TRACI: raises 40 to 60

BigCheese187: folds

MinDaddy: calls 50

donbarney: folds

*** FLOP *** [9c Js Tc]

MinDaddy: checks

LUCKY13TRACI: bets 80

MinDaddy: raises 140 to 220

LUCKY13TRACI: raises 1220 to 1440 and is all-in

MinDaddy: calls 1220 and is all-in

*** TURN *** [9c Js Tc] [Qd]

*** RIVER *** [9c Js Tc Qd] [6s]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

MinDaddy: shows [Ah Ad] (a pair of Aces)

LUCKY13TRACI: shows [Kh Kd] (a straight, Nine to King)

Bad Beat

Here's my bad beat of the day. I would love for this to play out the way it did (except fo da riv, of course) 99.99 out of 100 times.


PokerStars Game #13182138982: Tournament #66898193, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2007/11/11 - 17:37:17 (ET)Table '66898193 1' 9-max
Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: MinDaddy (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: StripeySox1 (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: hobbo1981 (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: concreterob (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: echocw (1500 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: pietla (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Leonclub (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: porkster1 (1500 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: Xilef030 (1500 in chips)
StripeySox1: posts small blind 10
hobbo1981: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to MinDaddy [Ad As]
concreterob: folds
echocw: folds
pietla: folds
Leonclub: folds
porkster1: folds
Xilef030: folds
MinDaddy: raises 60 to 80
StripeySox1: folds
hobbo1981: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [9h 3h 7d]
hobbo1981: checks
MinDaddy: bets 150
hobbo1981: calls 150
*** TURN *** [9h 3h 7d] [5d
]hobbo1981: checks
MinDaddy: bets 1270 and is all-in
hobbo1981: calls 1270 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [9h 3h 7d 5d] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hobbo1981: shows [Kh Th] (a flush, King high)
MinDaddy: shows [Ad As] (a pair of Aces)
hobbo1981 collected 3010 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 3010 Rake 0 Board [9h 3h 7d 5d 8h]
Seat 1: MinDaddy (button) showed [Ad As] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: StripeySox1 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: hobbo1981 (big blind) showed [Kh Th] and won (3010) with a flush, King high
Seat 4: concreterob folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: echocw folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: pietla folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Leonclub folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: porkster1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Xilef030 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Post

Havnt been playing a lot lately. Kids are sick, I'm sick, it sux. I couldnt even go to Majestic with a buddy... I know I would have made some coin there. oh well. When I have played online, it's mostly microlimit NL. I'm really not "playing poker." I'm just in it to make some money. Str8 forward ABCD poker. No special moves or bluffs or plays. Just hit a hand and maximize value. It helps that the fish try to make moves and make mistakes! It's really just wait and pounce. It's sad because I like to make plays but when they reraise or call, you know they have something. But as long as I still enjoy playing and making smart decisions and lay downs, it's all good.

I tried playing microlimit HORSE last night. That is a very fun game. No stupid allins and suckouts (mostly). I held my own, but those 8 or better games kill me. Just too confusing analyzing my hand for high and/or low and trying to put others on a hand. But it was challenging and fun. I like RAZZ. I want to play more tourneys, but my connection can go at any time.

Played a turbo SNG last night. Fell asleep and woke up almost blinded down...not good when it's a turbo. Wasn't even drinking either. But I made some plays and took it down for a few bucks. Seems like EVERYONE playing sngs now know the formula of playing those... so challenging. Still you get some fish here and there. Poker is fun for everyone.

No Soup For Me!

Well I wanted to play in the Stars blogger tourny today but they didn't let me. Boo. Eff it. They said I just made the blog up for this tourny. They said the blog wasn't old enough. Hmmm. I made the blog in April 2007. It's now October 2007. That seems like 6 months to me. I made the blog back when i was in Philly to capture my poker exploits in the Chinatown game and at AC. Then I immediately moved to Chicago so I had no time to find a game, update, etc. That's ghey. I should go to FTP but I got no money there. Oh well. I'll still let Stars sponsor me at next year's WSOP.

First loser

Well I had some free time today so I played pokah:

PokerStars Tournament #63980978, No Limit Hold'emBuy-In: $4.00/$0.40180 playersTotal Prize Pool: $720.00 Tournament started - 2007/10/13 - 15:14:11 (ET)Tournament finished - 2007/10/13 - 19:30:16 (ET)

1: jcashx36x (Honolulu ), $216.00 (30%)
2: MinDaddy (Shedd Aquarium), $144.00 (20%)
3: 16021975 (ribnitz-damgarten), $85.68 (11.90%)

I'm ashamed of my stats so I won't post them. I played so weak tight. Got dissed by the rail for my weak play. But I didn't listen to the haters. Just played my game and outlasted as long as I could. HU jcash just had too much of a stack for me to overcome. I should have played better HU. Oh well, I'll just take it down next time.

So he had pocket JJ

So it's confirmed that Yang had JJ when Childs folded his QQ. Amazing. It's so easy to criticize from my futon. I'm not the one at the ME FT playing for millions. But... I'm not sure. What the hell did he put him on? First, I think Yang and Childs clashed a few times before the FT. Even then, Childs laid down to Yang's overbets and reraises. Second, I believe Yang started the FT going aggr-donk-funky with raises PF on half the hands at the beginning of the FT. Third, Yang is a donk, moreso than Gold, Moneymaker, Varkonyi. One poker guy surmised that Yang just couldn't get away from TT or JJ... he was right. Childs played scared poker = bad poker. If Yang had a set, AA or KK, would he really reraise allin? Yang just made the wrong moves at all the right times. I don't even want to think about the plays made by "pros" Hilm and Watkinson. Risking your ME on those hands? They forgot that Yang is a donk who wont lay anything down. The only one who I felt played well was Kravchenko. He won a bracelet, and I think in his interview he said he played around 30 events!! Da.

But someone had to win, so congrats Yang. Praise God. Bulldozer!

Take Two

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 5262548

What's up my Blogga?

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 5949771

Work Station

I love reading poker blogs. At work. At home. Anywhere. I just need to get my fix of reading others' play, stories, and suckouts. I especially like Pauly's blog. Very entertaining. His recent post is about having the proper set-up while playing online. No distractions. Well, alas, that is rarely how I play. Such is my playing life. I look at pics of others' set-up/play stations, and I wish I could be as lucky. Double screens. New desktops. Den/office. The only thing I do have is a nice big leather chair. Too bad I can't use it when I play. I guess that is what I get for refusing to pay for cable internet and "borrowing" wireless from "I don't know who really." Eventually, if or when the wireless cuts out, I will cave in and give $ to Cumcast. I am tempted to get a broadband card from one of the phone companies tho, we'll see. The only place I get reliable connection is on my bed in the bedroom. By reliable I mean when the connection lasts 2 minutes at a time, and of course it always cuts off when I have a big pocket pair. I'm sure this is costing me tens of dollars. Because of this situation, I cannot play what I consider my bread n butter: low limit SnGs. Oh, and I do have some other distractions that affect my play, namely my wife and two kids. Sheesh. Family comes first yeah yeah but all the married w kids folk out there know that when playing poker, one just wants some alone time. While some wifeys are supportive, mine ... ain't. I had to leave the apt yesterday and headed to the local library (free wireless) to get some alone (poker) time. Played some sngs and won two and bubbled one when at the endgame, my JJ lost a coinflip to 55. Of course, right before that I sucked out with 99 v. TT, but sucking out feels better than the other way round. So even though my current playing situation is less than ideal, I will keep playing and having fun and trying to get better at this game. And when I eventually do get set up properly, watch out you low limit donkeys.

Majestic

Well I ventured to Majestic Star recently. First of all, for a city of Chicago's stature, there should be more and better venues for gamblers (just my opinion). But the poker room at Majestic is fine with me. Nice big room with lots of tables. Plasma TVs. Decent dealers. All this on top of a boat....amazing. It's still a drive from where I live, but it's cool. Before, if I wanted to get to AC from SJ, it would be about an hour drive or train ride.

Very soft players at Majestic. I'm a terrible player, but wow, money can be made there. The baby 100max 1/2 is def my style. Yummy.

Back in the Chi

Well I been back in the Chi (Chicago) for a few months now. Work is great and family and friends are great. Poker is great too, although it's really getting too consuming for me (not that it's a bad thing). My job now is to find some places to play in this great city. I feel I should "regularly update my blog" right about now (for reasons a blogger would know).

Philly home game

I played in my weekly Phila home game in Chinatown last night. Due to inclement weather, not too many peeps showed up. We played two short-handed SNGs, winner take all. I was runner up in the first, got first in the second. Final hand of second game: I'm on the button with dueces so, of course, I go all in (blinds are ridiculously high at this point). Villian instacalls with 6-6. And, just as if I was playing on Pokerstars, I river the duece. It's always best on the river. Good game me. I'm really going to miss this homegame here in Philly. But I'm sure I will find some good ones in da CHI.

I just love pocket dueces preflop--it's a sniper hand if you can trip up. Quack Quack.

Birth of a new poker blogger

To all in cyberspace,

Greetings, and welcome to my new blog of all things me. This is going to be either stupid and short-lived, or REALLY stupid and VERY short-lived.

Ten things about me:

-In NJ now, but will move (back) to Chicago in May 2007.
-I'm a lawyer, husband, and father of two daughters.
-Love poker.
-I love AC, and will miss it dearly.
-I play at the lowest possible limits at Pokerstars' cash and SNGs.

Well, I guess I will just stop at five.

To those who can answer, am I an official poker blogger now?

Holla back!