That charity tournament I keep yammering about is just about ready. AlCantHang has just about got it set up on the Full Tilt side and the lovely Katitude will get me the banners as soon as the details are final and I don't have to ask her to go back and do them again because I didn't really know the details. Please stay tuned!
On with the show!
Last Friday night, we had our May meeting of the Bourbonators. In case you forgot, that's my whiskey club. I'd link to it but it would appear that my former employer has taken down the website and we aren't exactly the most ambitious people when it comes to fixing that. I've linked to the all the posts I've labelled on that topic.This month, we were served a "white dog" or "white whiskey". The quick version is that a white dog is a whiskey that's not aged for very long in barrels. From the SF Gate article linked in this paragraph:
White whiskey is very dependent on the flavors of that with which it was made, as opposed to that in which it was stored," says Max Watman, whose new book, "Chasing the White DogIt's moonshine." (Simon & Schuster, $25)
The particular drink was Death's Door's White Whiskey made in Madison, Wisconsin. I found their corporate site to not be nearly as interesting as their blog. The link to their blog will take you to a post about this particular whiskey. The really crappy picture above is of the bottle. I took it with my iPhone in the hosts unfinished basement. Live with it. White whiskey on a white table in a poorly lit room using a camera phone is nearly an impossible shot.
The picture does show the color of the spirit. It was clear and colorless. We tried it this is my opinion. It was ok. It wasn't outstanding, it didn't suck. It tasted like whiskey without that smokey, smooth flavor many will be used to. I think I might like it better mixed, but neat it was definitely meh. I'm not a particularly big fan of a good burn on my booze. This definitely had that. I guess this is what I should expect from something not aged much. I'll probably try another one of these just to see.
When it comes to poker, I've been really trying to fight off that feeling of "...I'm gonna lose again..." every time I play two cards from the top half of the gene pool.(Picture on left...there's my beer next to some chips, they won't be there long)
A week ago, I returned to Brother's Bar and Grill after a 3 month hiatus to play some bar poker in the Minnesota Poker League. Probably the single longest stretch for me not playing live poker since, well, a pro won the WSOP main event. It felt good to get back to the felt. I stayed uber tight and patient all night, squeaking my way to a 7th place finish. Not to shabby. I think I played 10 hands all night. I ducked, I dodged and I avoided being at risk with anything less then the nuts.
I was looking forward to Friday night and the guys from Whiskey Club.
Most of the night Friday, I spent mucking hands that had gone from big favorites to super dogs with the turn of a card. My radar seemed to be working pretty well because I avoided putting extra chips in the pot when these cards came down, but it's hard to stay alive in a fast tournament when you raise pre-flop, continuation bet the flop and muck the turn because you know he just hit a flush...and your right. It gets kinda depressing after a while.
The typical hand of the night went something like this. Raise it pre-flop in middle position with AJ suited. Get four callers. Flop comes AJ9 rainbow. Early position raises and you sense they are weak. Raise it huge (you've got top two dambit). Player goes in the tank and calls. They are all in. You turn over top two, but feel sick. They have 9 10o, how can it possibly not come KQ? You're right, it can go no other way. Double ups-r-us becomes your new name. Sigh.
Even with suck outs like this, I still managed to eek out a third in the second tournament (we won't talk about the first one, I think I had KK and lost to 3 people holding ace rag when the case ace hits the flop. Super Le Sigh.
You know, poker runs like this. I know that. It's just really hard to avoid the mental trap and projecting a pattern on this and not turning it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Tonight, I returned to Brothers for some more fun. I had decided when I sat at the table to do a 180° turn with my game. At my starting table were a few of my favorite LAGtards, some tight players and a new guy (cue ominous foreshadowing music). Normally, I muck pretty much every hand I'm dealt for the first couple of hours. Seems to work to get you really close to the points mosts weeks, but tonight I really just wanted to either win big or...
I'm in the big blind, 5 out of the other 7 people that aren't me, limp into the pot. I look down and find the hand of the devil, I mean, AQo. The blinds are 25/25 (1st level). Remember, 180°. I raise it to 150. This clears out the deadwood of about 2 hands. Weeeeeeeeeeee. Maybe I shoulda made it bigger? The flop comes AKK. I check, new guy checks (now, I remember pre, he thinks about my raise and looks a little stressed about it) and the other caller raises to 300. Now Grant and I go way back. If Grant sees check, check in front of him, he's gonna bet. I'm pretty sure that this just stealing raise, so I make 1200 (leaving my 250 behind). By the look on Grant's face, he's got nothing. Yeah me! New guy suddenly starts counting out chips.
FUDGE!
He decided he's moving it all in and says, "If you have AK for the nuts, it's yours." My immediate thought is, "Yeah, well, idiot, the actual nuts if you have a king is Aces full with someone having AA..." but I bite my tongue cuz that's just being a dick. I'm dead to one of the two remaining aces which as we all know, are in the bathroom taking a break and ain't coming out on the turn or the river.
I do know that in the real world, this isn't really a bad beat. New guys are like books you've never read
still inside the box from Amazon.com. I played Grant and ignored the new guy. I didn't consider him and that was a huge mistake. I figure he's gonna stay weak/passive and let everyone else raise for him. If I call Grant and know he's just bluffing, I'll find out from the new guy if he's got a king or not by when he does. If he calls, I should probably consider he's just weak/passive and be worried. If he raises, I know I'm probably beat, but I really don't see him being the check raising kind of guy...how could I? I've only been playing him for 20 minutes.Lesson learned. Next table please.
In case you are interested, I'm cross posting now at the Minnesota Poker Magazine web site. Go check it out!
