Finding ways stall and delay

Well, looks like my wife another way to keep me very busy and I have no intentions of complaining. Google Reader and the recap will just have to wait.

OhCountess has booked us 2 nights at the Treasure Island Casino to celebrate New Years Eve. With the grandparents watching the kids, we get have some grown up fun for the last few hours of 2008.

I'm actually doing my best to save time off from work so to accommodate going to a couple and maybe a few other meet ups in 2009. Yo! As strange is this may sound, I've driven back to work today for a nice little half day before taking tomorrow off in honor of forced PTO (paid time off). Why do we get New Years Day off?

***

Last night, we got the kids dropped off at the grandparents and headed to the casino for supper. This is an indian casino that has rockin' food. Must be a good way of drawing the suckers in to play the copious array of -EV games and machines. It also sports one of the smaller card rooms in the area. It's about the same size as Binion's. Maybe a little smaller and definitely darker. It's also smokier then any other room I've ever played.

Last night, the card room was really slow. They only had a single tables of $2/$4 and $3/$6 LHE (We only get limit here in Minnesota).  It took a while but a spot opened up at a new table of $2/$4. Since it was a school night, I only got to play for a little over an hour. Sometimes these little hit and run session can be very profitable, last nights was just a little profitable.  The play was really quiet. Lots and lots of calling stations...which means you usually have to catch a hand to take a pot.

I played only two hands in the first 30 minutes and one of those hands was simply a call from the LB. The cards were pretty crappy even for this kind of game. When I have a table full calling stations, I usually try to see more flops with connectors and small pairs. Those types of hands weren't coming either.

The first hand I played hard, I had AQc. The hand of the devil. A young kid had raise from UTG a few limpers joined the fun and I raise it up. 2 spots to my left is a guy with a lot of chips that had never not called. Now it folds back to the kid. He reraises. I'm really sure he's just trying to be a dick. The limpers in the middle now abandon their chips and it folds back to me. I have the hand of the devil and haven't really shown any signs of life for 40 minutes. "Dealer, I raise." The guy that's never not called calls and punk kid raises again. I think that was the cap. I call and so does the guy that never not calls.

The flop is utter garbage. Punk kid is first to act and raises. Still feeling the rush of the hand of the devil I of course raise again and mister weak/passive on my left calls. Punk kid looks at me and raises. Without blinking, I raise once more. Everyone calls. The turn comes and brings with it a 4th suit. This time punk kid checks (I told you he had jack and diddly). I raise. WP on left calls and punk boy folds. I'm still ace high. The river comes and it's yet another worthless looking card. There are no real draws completed. I raise...still feeling the power of nothing and this time WP on my left thinks for a while and folds. 

I had watched him do this on several occasions. I had a feeling he wasn't happy with his hand. I'm really not sure if this was a bluff. Ace high might have been good, but it does provide a good example of why table image and aggressiveness are important even in no fold 'em hold 'em. The punk kid knew that I wasn't going any where. The older guy on my left may have had a small pair, but he wasn't going to keep paying me off. As far as they were concerned I had AA which might have actually beat them.

A similar hand played out later. This time I had AKo. I played it exactly the same way as described above. Everyone dropping away this time by the turn, but unfortunately I didn't notice one guy was all in. My AK didn't improve and he pairs his 2. This absolutely sucked for me. I didn't show my cards, that might have been a mistake but I laid down the showdown to only a pair of twos. This made a few guys at the table a bit pissed and planted seeds of doubt in their head about my actions.

I finished out the session playing fairly solid ABC poker. I knew I had been caught with my hand in the cookie jar with something smaller then a pair of 2's. 

My plan is to tonight, spend a bit more time tonight raking chips from drunk kids. We are staying there again. Look for me if you are there :)

Yeah, what ever.

Repeating loudly a fellow blogger's request

I got the privilege of meeting VinNay at the gathering in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago. More on that when I get to finishing my recap...

On his blog today is a story of a friend of his. Check it out.

Help out if you can. This is the power of the blogasphere. Spreading the word. The story moved me. The video is heartbreaking. OhCountess lost a home to fire when she was a little girl. To this day I can't turn on "Murder She Wrote" when she is home. That was the show they were watching when they got the call their home was destroyed.

http://helpjeffout.blogspot.com/

Thank you

I know...the recap...

I should have been working on my Vegas recap tonight, but since I'm a poker junkie enthusiast, I fired up Poker Stars to try me some cheap MTT action.

The bankroll on Poker Stars is no where near what I'd like it to be, so you will quite often find me hanging out in the cheap seats. Tonight was no different. The $10 + 1 world record tournament is a much bigger chunk of my roll of Linolns then I care to wager.

My poison this evening was the $2 180 person sng. I've been venturing back to these MTT type games recently since I pretty much am a complete donkey suck at cash games.

My goodness, these things are packed to the rafters with complete donkeys. OhCountess was watching that movie about the guy from The Office trying to marry that pop singer turned actress from the Disney channel while Robin Williams tortures the pour guy (I don't know and don't really care what the name of the movie is...I'm setting the mood...geez!) I was doing my best to half ass pay enough attention to the movie to make the Mrs happy and participate in the tournament.

I'm just floating along practicing a little chip utility when suddenly I realize this movie could have been over an hour ago that there is only about 40 people left in this damn thing. WTF? Where did everyone go? Wait! I know, I've been half ass watching them walk dead on into traps and obviously stupid situations for 45 minutes!

Let's just zoom things along. The movie ends and the wife gives me a kiss and says she's going to bed. She worked a 12 hour day today and starts over again at 6 am tomorrow...the life of an RN. God bless her. This allows me to find a nice TV-MA on Cinemax and concentrate on the tournament. [cue time travel sound...nah nah nah]

As we blow past the bubble, I watched one poor sucker with 2 BBs left (and not the tournament shorty) shove 'em in calling 2 other players large raises with 10 8o on the BUTTON. Nothin like throwing yourself off a cliff to flush $2 down the toilet.

We are racing to the final table like Southerners to the parka store on the first 50°F day. More very "creative" play ensues. I shove 14 BBs in from under the gun and get called by the tournament leader. His AQc is no match for AA. Why people play the hand of the devil, I will never know. We switch tournament chip count positions.

More time passes by that I will never get back. (No refunds on your time for reading this far!)

I get heads up with the villian and we see this...lots of money goes in on the turn.sigh.

We battled for a couple more hands while and finally I get it all in with this hand...Not my finest moment...but it did end with a nice bump in the bankroll.

Now, if Poker Stars wants to sponsor an up and coming player...yeah right :)

Merry Christmas!

You betcha! This geek is working on Christmas Eve. Could be my most
productive day ever. Or not.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas.

I'm really loving that it's OK to wear a goofy tie today.

A bit nervous

The Main Event is about to start. The eldest OhPrincess is heading to a friends house, the youngest is laying down for a nap. OhCountess is heading out to do a little Christmas shopping.

Here's my starting table.

Good luck all!

---

Out in 289th place. Sucked pretty bad. Just could never get it going. Should have stuck with first instinct and folded, folded, folded.

I played PLO8 - hehehehehe

My plan for the night was to bust out of the Mookie - early, work on my Vegas Weekend Recap and get to bed early. Sounded simple enough. Crap. It's late, I got nothing written but I did bust out of the Mookie early. OhCountess was bubble girl...damn you, I forget who busted her cause I'm exhausted.

Looks like I will be playing in the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker on Poker Stars this Sunday. PLO8 is the bomb baby. Finished 29th tonight. Got a step 2 ticket (is that the same as saying I got a coupon good for roll in the hay with a hooker from the IP...yikes - what the hell do I do with that, the ticket, not the hooker, I'm happily married...geez?)

Just let it be known...before tonight, I've maybe played PLO8...once or twice, unless it was during the folding portion of a HORSE tournament.

How did I do it? I played tournament strategy poker. I raised crappy looking flops, and won the pot, or raised with a hand I thought might be strong (yeah, like I know what that is) and then continuation bet the flop hard when it looked crappy and disconnected. What exactly any of this means, I have no idea.

Thanks to Lightning, PokerFool and Scott25 and everyone else that railed me!

See ya Sunday!

I blame Waffles and Gadzooks...damn them to hell

American Cities That Best Fit You:

60% Austin 60% Denver 55% Seattle 50% Las Vegas 50% Miami

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

I really don't get this. It's like hitting the Midwest is damn near impossible. I want snow. I want cold and I sure as hell don't want to live in Texas. Miami? You've got to be friggin' kidding me. I want to ski. Skiing involves snow. Snow != Miami. How the hell does Chicago or Minneapolis not fit this damn thing?

Friggin' blogger memes are rigged. I did get Las Vegas...christ I'm tired. Calgon take me away.

I owe you

We are home from Las Vegas and the gathering.

I have so many stories I want need to write about but right now, I miss my pillow. Astin said it best, "Sleep is for the weak." Right now, I'm weak, but for 4 days...4 of the most adventure filled days of my life, sleep was truly not an option.

Tonight was private time with the kids. I really missed them. Kat - we gave them your hugs just like you asked. I might have given them extras too.

Tomorrow night, is a private tournament for my poker league. It could be another late night. We could hope.

For the D listers

I accomplished my goal. I cashed in the blogger tournament finishing
5th. So many stories. My internet connection is AWOL here at the hotel
so I'll leave you with this picture of the loot. .

I don't believe it, but I'm 2 for 2 playing poker tournaments in Vegas.

And two became one

Having a blast!

OhCountess and I are having a blast!

I'm making notes for lots of recaps. This experience may take some time to fully express in writing. I've met so many cool people and finally put faces to so many of my fake internet friends.

For those of you not here, we miss you.

I even got to play poker last night...in Las Vegas. Go figure!

Oh yeah! Cue the geeks!

About 10 of us have made the journey to the pinball hall of fame.

Wow

Ah! We made it to the room!

Now it's time for beers down in the Geisha Bar! Al, CK, Jo, Buddy, F-
Train, CAApril, PirateLawyer...

We must be in the back row

That's right. We've boarded! Bose Quiet Comfort 3's engaged. Cleared
the mechanism. We will be in vegas shortly!!!!

In 4 hours, please have a beer waiting for me at the geisha bar!!!

Oh Mookie...Flopped Set of Tens

Some days you just can't hit a the full house draw.

Next stop - Vegas Baby!!!!!

Before we move on to Vegas

Only 3 more days until I hit the relative warmth of Las Vegas. 10-12 inches of snow here today. Ya think I'll be ready for the heat? (I know, it's only supposed to be in the 60's. But Sweet jeebus! That's' about 50 degrees warmer then here)

I don't know that I have really posted true poker content for a while. This is a poker blog...

My little experiment with Limit Hold 'em was kind of a big meh. I'd go up fast and then down fast. My most valuable lesson from the experience was that I need to avoid playing when I can't be patient. Forcing the action just doesn't work at the micro stakes I play at. When I'd lose to a stupid calling station, I'd tilt and push even more chips into bad hands. Never good.

The bankroll has been sliding for a couple of weeks. Not steeply, but sliding none the less. I decided to switch back to my bread and butter and relearn how to play patient. Single table sit-n-gos.

I think I'm getting back into the swing of these. I bubble a couple but cash in a few more. I'm not quite getting all the way to winning these on a regular basis. Hands like this one certainly take the wind out of your sails:

Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Seat 1: OhCaptain ($5,500) - -
Seat 2: Villain($3,500) -


PRE-FLOP:

OhCaptain posts small blind $50
Villain posts BIG blind $100
Dealt To: OhCaptain


CALL OhCaptain ($50)
CHECK Villain


FLOP:

Pot: $200
   

BET runaway350z ($200)
RAISE OhCaptain ($400)
CALL Villain($200)


TURN:

Pot: $1000
     

BET Villain($3000)
CALL OhCaptain ($3000)


RIVER:

Pot: $7000
      



SHOWDOWN:
Villain:

OhCaptain:


Villain collected $7000 from main pot with two pair, Queens and Eights

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $7 Rake: $0

Final Board:
     

Seat 1: OhCaptain small blind showed [Ac Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces - Net Gain/Loss: ($-3500)
Seat 2: Villain big blind showed [8s Qc] and won 7,000 with two pair, Queens and Eights - Net Gain/Loss: ($3500)
  

Well, letting this guy catch two pair is disappointing. I'd played him for a while. He liked to bet into you to push you off pots. I'd let him do this time after time for just this moment. He would have bet the river like this hit or miss. Unfortunately, he hit.

The sng ended with a better example of how he rolled.

Seat 1: OhCaptain ($1,500) -
Seat 2: Villain($7,500) - -


PRE-FLOP:

Villain posts small blind $50
OhCaptain posts BIG blind $100
Dealt To: OhCaptain


RAISE Villain($200)
CALL OhCaptain ($100)


FLOP:

Pot: $400
   

BET OhCaptain ($1300)
CALL Villain($1300)


TURN:

Pot: $3000
     



RIVER:

Pot: $3000
      



SHOWDOWN:
OhCaptain:

Villain:


Villain collected $3000 from main pot with two pair, Aces and Queens

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $3 Rake: $0

Final Board:
     

Seat 1: OhCaptain big blind showed [8c Qd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens - Net Gain/Loss: ($-1500)
Seat 2: Villain small blind showed [Kh Qc] and won 3,000 with two pair, Aces and Queens - Net Gain/Loss: ($1500)
  

I'm really not sure I under stand his calling with KQo there. My guess is I want him to do this EVERY time. I have no problems with the way I played that hand. Near as I can tell, he hit his 6 outer to win it. That's exactly how I want him to play...drawing to a really thin deck.

I know, I slow played my aces and lost. I rarely slow play them. It seems every time I do, I end up losing.

Did I mention that Vegas is just 3 days away? I really can not express how excited I am. I'm meeting some guys for a trip to the Pinball Museum on Friday. If you haven't heard of this and are going to the gathering, let me know. I'll hook you up with the details...I mean a pinball museum! How friggin' geeky can I get? I'm gonna love every minute of it!