Mookied I Did

Played the Mookie. Saw old friends. Lost all my chips. (LB)A2 vs (BB)32. A33 flop. Sigh.

Remember this - we call it a R-E-C-A-P: Mookie Style

Have you noticed, around the blogasphere, people are writing the death tome of the blogger tourneys? Hoy recently weighed in his opinion of the state of the blogger tournaments. His yadda, yadda, yadda and woe, woe, woe sounded like an old man, yearning for the days when the grass was greener, people worked harder, the Kaiser was crushed by the good ol' boys and the wheel had just been invented. Dude...you sound like AN OLD MAN whining in the barber shop.

You know, the Mookie doesn't draw like it use to and have you noticed who isn't there??? I mean besides Mookie. Just about everyone that's complaining that the blogger tournaments are dying. If these tournaments are to be missed and I'm supposed to feel your pain for their passing, at least show up at the hospital and say good bye. Geez.

I haven't been playing the Mookie much at all. Why? Mostly time. My kids are older, they go to bed later (and for the love of all things holy, this doesn't mean I'll play it if it's later...I'm old and need to go to bed before dawn) and as I just mentioned...I'm old. I like going to bed a little earlier then I used to but that doesn't mean I haven't had interest.

One thing I know for a FACT that's really been missing from the blogger tournaments that used to be the highlight of my Thursday morning, and I mean that, was the Mookie recaps everyone USED to write. Remember when we used to play poker and write about it? Hm. Wonder what went wrong...

So here it is. My Mookie recap from last night: (you ready for this...it's been a while. I think I'm rusty :-D )

My wife was working late last night and by some miracle, the kids were in bed, on time and no little feet were running about needing a stern holler, "For the last time, lay down and GO TO SLEEP!" I even managed to crank out and check off every damn thing on OhCoutness' honey-do list. With time to spare, I realized, holy crap! It's Wednesday, 8:30 PM (CDT)...I can play the Mookie!

I had just completed the Take Two promotion from Full Tilt and with that extra $50 about to hit my bankroll, I figured it was time to dust off a Hamilton and a Washington and play me some deep stack Mookie (Every Wednesday, 9pm central time on Full Tilt Poker. Private tournament $10 + $1 - Password: vegas1) action. I missed it.

Participation was light, which I figured might help me since it would be far few donkeys to wade through on the way to my second Mookie victory. I'm pretty much just good at playing sngs, so this is more or less what I'm used to. I didn't do a screen grab of the starting table because I'm lazy and woefully out of practice at this. Lightning36 on my left, with (as I remember) Mike Maloney on his, and some others at the table (which I could probably dig up from the hand history of it weren't for the laziness and the woefully out of practiceness).

For some stupid reason, I tend to change my play at the Mookie from what I normally play when I'm making money playing sngs. Which of course is stupid cause when it's ain't broke you aren't supposed to fix it, which I do every time I play the Mookie because for some stupid reason I'm trying to impress you people. Anywho. I steal some blinds to start a little above the 3000 chip starting stack. See, normally in a sng, I'll just sit there folding for the first hour and not show any signs of aggression, but this isn't my plan right now. Remember...dusting of a Hamilton and a Washington.

Things are chugging along nicely, I even stole some chips with AQo (for those of you that are new, it's the hand of the devil and should never be played because it's evil and can't possibly win). Of course there are no screen grabs because I'm lazy and way out of practice at doing these.

I'm pretty sure we were in the second blind level when I was dealt JJ in the BB. I remember this hand precisely because, well, you'll see. I think 25 people limped ahead of me, so, to disguise the strength of my hand, I just checked. (See, I'm being sneaky) The flop comes 2,3,4 rainbow (rainbow means one of each suit...kay?) I check. Here's where the details get fuzzy because some how, Lightning36 (remember - under the gun[UTG]) had limped and now bet pot.

Hindsight is a lovely 20/20.

It folds back to me. Do these people know something I don't? I think this through almost carefully in my head. I came to the conclusion that there is no way, he limps UTG with 56 or A5. Those hands are way to weak for his range to limp UTG. Right? I'm thinking he's got a medium pair or something like A6. Avoiding thinking about some other details that I should have, I get into a pot raising fight and we end up all-in.

I figure he's got no idea I've got a hand as big and powerful as I do and he'll lay down his draw/pair and oh, crap, he's got A5h. DAMN IT!

See moments earlier, he had said, "Damn, it's a bit nitty here." Which I promptly made some wise crack about the other tables guessing the sex positions that Jo and Buddy were doing on their honeymoon. Lightning36 is a damn good tournament poker player and I really should have read that as, "Damn, I should be limping more with a wider range of hands because no one is offering to show any aggression right now."

Next hand, I'm all-in because Lightning36 either didn't have the balls (which I'm sure he doesn't after spending the last few months with the White Sox kicking them) or he didn't have the chips to cover me, but this donkey went home on the next hand with King high and one Hamilton and one Washington lighter in the bankroll (which of course I just promptly turned around, played a $5 sng and got back)

Poop. (I know, doesn't count, but I don't really like Bud Light either)

So, there you have it. A blogger recap of the Mookie. This was actually really fun to write! Maybe you should try one. Let me know if you start recapping the blogger games again and we can have some fun listening to each other stories of playing poker together and laughing and teasing and laughing some more. I miss that.

For the love of the Mookie

Admit it. There's really only a few reasons we play the Mookie.

Reason #1

Reason #2

And the best reason of them all!

I shoved pre-flop...damn it.

Back at the Mookie

Finally got back to playing the Mookie, it's been a quite a few weeks. I figured I'd take a shot at it. Heck, if Hoy can win, I surely can win my second Mookie. But it just wasn't in the cards for me. Beside, watching the Twins right now isn't helping my mood any.

I had a ridiculous number of big pocket pairs early. Double up with QQ, got as high as 4th in chips, but just went to total card death. Hoy shoving the hammer several times was funny, cause, he had me beat. 23o and 62o were my two most common hands.

22nd in my first Mook in 6 weeks? I think it's my second of 2009. Geez. Shake off the cob webs...my coin flip shove was no match for the power of the 44. You just know that hand has to be good. I really like the part where I had 17 outs after the turn...nice touch. Wanna count them with me? Any ace, king, jack or nine. Sigh.

Oh Mookie...Flopped Set of Tens

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

Next stop - Vegas Baby!!!!!

Hmm...an overlay in the Mookie?

I'm quite sure most you read Waffles blog, if you don't, check it out. Funny stuff. On the off chance that someone is somehow reading my blog and not his or in case you get to mine in Bloglines first (again...the shock would be inspiring) - Waffles is putting up $109 to the winner of the Mookie if there are enough people in the Mookie to allow him, if he wins it, to win the side bets surrounding the Mookie. Intesting angle. Nothing like higher chip equity...is there.

Bar poker, poker crack and the Mookie

Tuesday night means live poker night for OhCaptain. Well, its bar poker, but it gets me out of the house to play some cards and hang out with grown ups that aren't wearing coats and ties.

Wednesday night means online poker for OhCaptain. Mooooookie!

Tuesday night, I went to the bar without fear. Just like in my previous post. This time, however, the ever popular Well-manicured Man found himself hit with the deck. Holy crap! The man never missed a 4 or less outer. Eek. I stayed afloat all night by stealing pots here and there. Never really had a hand. The closest I came was raising from the CO with QJh and hitting top two pair. W-MM missed completely and didn't feel the need to put any more money in. Would have been nice because all I got was my missed blinds back.

Attendance at poker league is way down. We used to average 80 people a night. Its down to 35-40. I may not be able to justify going to this much longer. Its the same people every week and frankly, the prizes are a bit weak. $20 in Gift Certificates for first place? Not much motivation.

As written about here and here, or having heard about players playing them here, here, here, OhCountess and I decided to go check out the new Full Tilt $3.50 + .30 Super Turbo 9 person sng.

I will tell you, they are fun, but they aren't for the faint of heart. Basically, if you aren't any good a short stacked final table play, you'll hate these. I love shorted stack final table play. Its probably the one area of poker I feel the most comfortable at. The play at these tables is really poor. People are waiting for big hands OR shoving everything. Figure out who each person is and then exploit there weakness. People waiting for big hands won't call you with just A or K high, so they fold a lot of blinds. People shoving with ATC's learn pretty quick that I'll call with over cards or a PP. Position is hugely important. Also keeping track of your M works well. If you work your stack up to an actual decent size to the BB, wait out some of the smaller stacks. If found it comfortable to just sit back at 10BBs and watch the little people kill each other.

Tragedy, the Mrs and I each won our first attempts at these. I'll probably trying a few more. My gut tells me that most people don't understand what it takes to play short handed final table poker. They aren't quite as big a gambleFest as people think. Use your head. Think about it. You start with 10BBs. Play good poker!

Tuned into LivePokerRadio last night. Buddy was back on the air! The move is on. Moving sucks. Moving soggy stuff sucks even more.

The Mookie last night was really disappointing. I sucked. I played poorly and went home early. This is probably the worst played hand in the history of poker...

Full Tilt Poker Game #6881549103: The Mookie (51608223), Table 5 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:44:55 ET - 2008/06/18
Seat 1: Evy35 (2,540)
Seat 2: Mike_Maloney (3,510)
Seat 3: corron10 (4,300)
Seat 4: turtle0314 (2,255)
Seat 5: OhCaptain (2,980)
Seat 6: cemfredmd (3,155)
Seat 7: mookie99 (5,805)
Seat 8: Jestocost (4,030)
Seat 9: columbo (7,745)
columbo posts the small blind of 40
Evy35 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [As 3s] <- Not my favorite hand, but I've been folding for a while so I'll mix it up
Mike_Maloney folds
corron10 folds
turtle0314 folds
OhCaptain raises to 280 <- Mixing it up. I haven't shown much strength
cemfredmd folds
mookie99 folds
Jestocost folds
columbo folds
Evy35 calls 200 <- Been playing a lot of hands and showing A LOT of aggression. Not really sure what the range is.
*** FLOP *** [2h 3c 4s] <- interesting flop. I've made middle pair and a gut shot straight draw
Evy35 checks <- OK...no idea yet
OhCaptain bets 600 <- pot size CB. This is stupid. I don't have a hand and Evy has been going over the top of people for a while, why would this change?
Evy35 has 15 seconds left to act
Evy35 raises to 2,260, and is all in <- Son of motherless GOAT! I have a pair, but its small, I have 4 outs to the straight. Why didn't I just check??????
OhCaptain has 15 seconds left to act
OhCaptain folds <-- What do you think? Should I have called? I know I'm dead to any pocket pair. I really doubt 45 not to mention that would have probably been just called. I can only beat a bluff here. Think Evy had it?
Uncalled bet of 1,660 returned to Evy35
Evy35 mucks
Evy35 wins the pot (1,800) <--Way nicer pot then it should have been. Son of BIATCH!

Congrats to Instant Tragedy for winning the Mookie! Job well done sir!

Love to hear your thoughts on the new Super Turbos or how badly I played this hand!

Don't forget about TripJax and keep him and his family in your thoughts! I know he really appreciates all of our efforts. TripJax - still have you in my thoughts!!

Mookie me, mookie my - Philanthropy for dummies

It's Thursday morning, and for the first time in a while, I'm really tired. That can me only one thing. A deep run in the Mookie. What, you didn't see my name in lights? Of course not, the Mrs played. OhCountess was the first out after the bubble. Congrats hon!

So thus begins my story of philanthropy.

I was seated in the Mookie and immediately had that feeling of, "Holy Schmidt Big Mouth!" As Julius_Goat so aptly put it, "Who here HASN'T won a Mookie?" The silence was deafening. With MiamiDon, and Loretta8 on my left and Surflexus and Julius_Goat on my right, I realized that having won only ONE Mookie, I was the soft spot.

The dealer wasted no time in dealing me a nice long streak of completely less than marginal hands. Boys, I hate to tell you this, but position was all I was raising with. I had aces only once and you gosh darn nice fellas walked it to me.

Since busting from the Mookie 43rd never quite satisfies my poker desires, I headed over to the .05/.10 cash game and continued to give away my money. Fishes everywhere were enjoying the spoils of my ill gotten gains. Got top pair - called that all-in raise! You know its good! Come on - its OhCaptain there...he's never got a hand. Got an ace, stay to the river, because you'll hit aces up! After dropping two buyins in about 5 minutes, I was heard muttering, "Son of motherless goat!"

I got into the blogger cash game and found new and exciting ways to fold 93o. Left handed, right handed and sometimes I even closed my eyes. I think someday, there should be a National Folding Championship. Easy money picking me to win the thing! I rocked the fold button!

Before I go back to filling out the IOU's to people that didn't get any money from me last night, I'd like to change gears to a little more serious side.

Donkette finished here series of posts today on her recovery. Its amazing story of strength and resilience. We know here story isn't over - she's with us today and her life is just beginning! If you haven't read a post yet, do. If you know someone that needs to find a way out of addiction, slips this under their nose.

I talked to her last night about changing the tags on the posts so they are now easy to group. Here's the link to the entire series. Since I realize that my blog is without a doubt the most read popular biggest draw blog you are currently reading, I'm asking you to share the link. Cut and paste it if you want. I know a few of you that read this get a much bigger audience then me. Share it. Thank you very much!

http://donkettesride.blogspot.com/search/label/Road%20To%20Recovery

I'm exhausted. Post Mookie Thursdays suck. Anyone seen my pillow?

How the heck are ya?

OK smarty pants. I took this picture this past weekend. Anyone know what or at least where it is? I took a lot of pictures in Las Vegas. I sometimes dabble in the artsy side of the camera. I'll be posting the lions share of the photos on my photo blog, so GO CHECK IT OUT!

The trip to Vegas has left me just wiped out. We packed a lot of together time into just a few days. No kids can turn Mom and Dads into party animals.

The Mookie was tonight. I signed up, you may have missed me. I played the hand of the devil and found out it was no match for K8o. I remember why I had been sort of avoiding the Mookie. With the BBT3 on, there are just too many people looking to suck out early to go deep. No biggie. I came back a little only to find out that when you shove with top pair on a 237 rainbow board, A8o is a perfectly reasonable hand to call with. The 8 on the turn sealed my fate. Such is poker.

Poker tonight just wasn't working for me. I dropped into a $5 SNG after the Mookie to find out that calling a shove with KQo is a good idea. It flops a straight when OhCaptain has KK. Eek. I run g00t!

Have you figured out what the pictures is yet? I'll give you a hint. It was taken in Las Vegas, NV.

The Weekend at Mookies sounded like a total blast. I wish I could have been there. I'd like someday to make it to a blogger gathering. Heck, I was even thinking that it could happen here, in southern MN. I have a nice, hand made poker table and a fold up spare. We even have a casino, wait, its far away...never mind. No...what we do have is a very large hospital. That's always a good thing. Not sure if you knew this but Minnesota is actually a hot bed of golf. My hometown of 16,000 people had 2 golf courses in the city limits and there are probably 8 courses within 20 miles. Rochester has, crap, a lot. (what do you expect in a city with more MD's per capita then any other city in the world). This idea is so squishy, not sure why I'm bringing it up.

Time to go relive my live poker glory from the weekend. Ahh...the serenity of the Stratosphere. Go check out JamyHawk's sleep research study. Good stuff there. Let me know if you are playing poker and trying to break my record for not sleeping. Bark! Bark!

Julius Goat has new blog too. FilmCraw. A Cool site about old movies. We all know how good his poker blog is.

Oh yeah, went to poker league last night. Folded for over an hour. Shoved with the hammer. It went poorly. Went home. I need to find some place else to play cards regularly.

I sold my account...so...that really wan't me last night

I suck.

I wish I could claim I sold my account to someone else and they sucked. But that would be a lie.

I played the Mookie last night like some drunken teenager popping the strap on his first date's bra. Only I didn't figure out that clasp was in the front.

Made almost a buyin in 19 hands at a cash game, granted, FTP doesn't offer lower stakes than the table I was sitting at, but that's not the point. The point is, I sat down at the Mookie and threw two years of poker experience out the window and played the game like an idiot. Who really tries the min-raise bluff? This moron.

Sorry to say, I was pretty embarrassed and grateful that my laptop was not happy either. If it wasn't for laptop technical issues, I might just have thrown up on the date creating a legend of Biblical proportions. Julius - I think my hands from last night could be used for the video companion to Stupid/System.

No Mookie tonight...I just couldn't pull the trigger

I seem to have caught a lovely case of strep from my kids. Figured I'd save the buy in for when I can stay awake to play.

Good luck all!

OhCaptain, my Captain - where have you been?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Besides the complete lack of time, a little poker tilt mitigation has been going on. For a moment there I realized that the only poker I was making money on was my weekly trip to the Mookie. Weird, huh?

I didn't even play the Mookie last night. A lot of lifetilt and even more exhaustion made me think I could save the $11 for another day. There was no way I could go deep enough not just piss it away.

In poker's place, I had replaced the time with Guitar Hero III on the Wii. In the words of John Lennon, "I've got blisters on me fingers!" Three and a half hours logged on Sunday alone and man was that FUN!!! Drizz and Bodie25, seriously...bring it on over the wi-fi. You got tilt, GHIII has the cure. Anyone else out there interested in hooking for a little axe play...let me know!

Tuesday night is normally the night for free poker at Brother's Bar and Grill. Bodie25 and I opted for another option her in the Med City. We journeyed to T N D Billiards for some free poker action. This is a weekly event run by Big Doc. We've played some of his events in the past. He does a good job of running them, although after playing there just one night, I don't think I'll go back there again for cards. It was simply some of the worst poker I have ever seen.

The first hand of the night, I get the button and deal the cards. UGT opens for a 3X raise. Every player at the table calls. Well, I didn't. I have thing about playing A9o in a family pot with a table full of people I have never played before. It's just asking for trouble. That many people in the pot, I figured someone else had an ace too. The flop comes A2A. The UTG player raises again and thins the field down to 5 players. See, somebody out there has got a hand. The turn and the river both get checked...huh? Somebody most be slow playing a monster! The last 5 players turn the over...and the winner is??? King high. You've got to be shitting me. King high???? No one actually had a hand. King high was in actuality K7o. He was sitting in UTG+1. I think we see where this game is going. Look ma! I've got two cards!

I folded every hand for the next hour and half. In that time, I only get two more aces, no kings, no suited connectors, and one pocket pair (3s). I really figured the only way to win a pot was to show it down. There might have been 3 hands in that hour and half that DIDN'T show down.

Amazingly, it folds to me. I squeeze 44. I raise it up. The first sign of life from me in an hour and half. I got one caller. The guy on my left. The flop comes Q63. I put out a pot size bet. Oh, the original raise, it was 1/3 of my stack and half of his. OK, this flop doesn't look all that good. Sure, he could have a queen, but I'm REALLY bored and sick of looking at crappy cards and bad play. I put it all in on the river. I never improved my 44. I turned to him and asked, "Do you have a real hand this time?" He said, "Yeah, I started with a pretty big hand." He tables 66. Yep, a pretty big hand is 66. I try to play it against the tightest player in the room as often as I can.

IGH - Guess I'm still looking for live poker in the area I don't have to drive far to get to. Anyone want to build a new casino and card room here in Southern MN? I'll attend regularly...I promise!

Nice run OhCountess!

So proud of the wife, she finished 7th in Mookie tonight!

Great job honey!

Poker league, The Mookie and Black Magic Woman

I just don't know where all the time goes! Holy crap, I just don't know how I got this busy.

I'm watching OhCountess play the Mookie right now. She's 2nd in chips at the second break. That's my wife, suckas!

Go get'm girl! Corn Vegas! I'm there!

Last night, I returned yet again to the free poker at Brother's. Bodie25 and I were seated at the same table. This is the first time we've spent any time at the same table in a long time. We also had some real questionable players at the table.

As much as I love to get AA in a tournament, I got them twice in the first hour. Not the best time. No one was into gambling yet so it was like pulling teeth to get any money with them. The one thing it did give me was fear of being hot by other players. I took advantage of that I took some pot that no one wanted.

Last night I focused on playing situations. In one particular hand, the blinds were at 300/600. I opened in MP for 1800 with 66. I got 2 callers. The flop comes JJ2. The BB checks. Now, by the reaction of the button caller, I was pretty sure, this flop missed him. The BB is the type of player to bet the set and I'd seriously doubt he'd be in the pot with a 2. I moved all in for my last 1000 and every one folds. Almost a triple up and I never showed my hand.

Dang, my wife is about to cash in the mookie!

Well, the night moved on in free poker land. I kept playing position, taking small pots. I watched Bodie25 bust out when the blind squirrels kept finding nuts. And basically folded my way to the final table.

Something that really sucks about bar league poker is the blind structure at the final table. 300/600, 400/800, 500/1000, 1000/2000. This starts getting really stupid. After this, the blinds go up by 1000 for a while. You go from 20 BB to nothing in a very short period of time and the ShoveFest begins.

There were no cherries in the window of my slot machine and I busted in 6th place. For those of you scoring at home, AQo was the hand I was holding when I pushed my 7000 chips in. With blinds of 2000/4000 - ATo was the favorite to win the hand. Friggin' hand of the devil, I tell you.

The wife is still playing in the mookie. She's solidly in the top 4!

So my Mookie tonight was well, disappointing. Surflexus raised his short stack into my button. I reraised with AJ only to find the LB shoving everything in the middle. Unfortunately for me, it was for a wee bit more than my raise. Surf folds, and I call. KK vs. AJ...no love.

Wow...my wife made the final table in the Mookie. In fact, at this moment, she's in the final 8 and 2nd in chips.

So, tonight's Mookie tonight has been the fun of watching the Mrs play so well! Go honey! This is pretty cool. I just told the guys at BDR...lots of chuckles.

Our family warm up for this here mookie? We finally beat Santana - Black Magic Woman on the Guitar III. Here's something totally funny. My wife, OhCountess, is totally into GH3. We've been playing it quite regularly in Co-op mode. Fun times! Santana had been kicking our butts, but tonight, we broke on through and finally ROCKED!

I gotta get back to watching the Mrs....bring it home honey!

Confessions of a two face monster

To all of my loyal readers, those of you who have stumbled upon my blog and in particular bayne_s and Kajagugu, I have a confession to make to all of you. I have deviated from the path of righteousness and travelled down the road unsavory.

I played AQ. And I won.

I know how I have travelled these here intertubes declaring this hand as evil. Going so far as to call it the hand of the devil. I still believe this. This is the hand should never be played. But alas, I did play it.

Lets examine the reasons why I might have chosen to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.

FullTiltPoker Game #5337976538: The Mookie (40010845), Table 4 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:26:02 ET - 2008/02/21
Seat 1: emptyman (9,970)
Seat 2: ZowieZ (30,774)
Seat 4: surflexus (31,169)
Seat 5: Mean_G (5,617)
Seat 7: NewinNov (11,081)
Seat 9: OhCaptain (25,389)

We are at the final table and into the money. As you can see, I'm 3rd in chips and EmptyMan has an M around 10. The table walks to us in the blinds.

OhCaptain raises to 2,250 <--I'm gonna raise here. I have a large stack. Blind vs blind, AQ is theoretically a favorite to two random cards.
emptyman raises to 9,895, and is all in <-- This is not unexpected. In a way, I assuming he's gonna either fold or push. His range of hands to push with falls within expected parameters to call with AQ
OhCaptain calls 7,645 <--Is there anyone here that would not do this very same thing? I know, the hand of the devil, but you see, I rarely go to church any ways. Let's face it, I'm an agnostic.

Now, Card Player's Hold'em Odds Calculator says QQ should win this hand 68.97% of the time with a 1.33% chance of a chop. AQ is a pretty good dog here. There is 2700 in the pot after my raise. After the all-in, there is 12195 in the pot and I need 7195 to call. That's roughly 3:2 pot odds. But what range of hands would a short stack push with in this situation. Any pocket pair, almost any ace or king. The vast majority of these hands, I'm way ahead. Its only the other bigger hands I'm behind. Heck, even JJ is giving me the right price. I just don't see how I could fold this hand...even with the devil pulling the strings.

*** FLOP *** [Ad Kd Js] <--Its a Mookie Miracle! But wait! I need to dodge a 10 for a split.
*** TURN *** [Ad Kd Js] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [Ad Kd Js 5h] [2h]
emptyman shows a pair of Queens
OhCaptain shows a pair of Aces
OhCaptain wins the pot (20,240) with a pair of Aces

This is not proof to me that this hand is worth playing. I did it here because frankly, I loosen my standards way up in this situation. I'm gambling. But faced with this same situation, who out there would fold this hand? I figure the axiom remains, if you NEED to win a hand, never play AQ...it's certain doom. If you don't need to win the hand, glory, glory hallelujah, we've found the promise land.


Did I play this hand that I speak so poorly of. Yes, I confess that. Will I do it again? Yes I will. I hate this hand with a passion, but at the end of the day, sometimes you just throw caution to the wind and say screw it. I want to win the friggin Mookie!

What? Where does the time go?

Wow, I finished 3rd in the Mookie last Thursday and then somehow looked around and figured out its Sunday. I even had a live session of poker on Friday night, and still no posts. I really had hoped to post a detailed synopsis of the play that was the Mookie, but alas, I haven't had the time. I got tons of screen caps...even got the hand where I actually won with the hand of the devil. AQ can win...I still don't believe it, but it did.
Thanks for noticing bayne_s!

I think I have been running pretty well in the Mookie lately. This is my third deep run in 2 months. I'm not the most confident MTT player. Probably because I play so many SNGs and don't get the chance to play many bigger tournaments. The Mookie is different for me. The level of play is better than I'm used to in the micro SNGs. I know, I know...its a donkey fest for some of you. I still really enjoy it. Creative, tight/aggressive play is doing me well there. Most of the Mookies I've gone home early, I know I made a mistake to bust.

This past week, card death was the status quo. The Mookie, not so much. What did I go 600 hands without aces or kings? The Mookie, I got aces. More than once. One of them didn't pay when the table walked to me. But the way I got the most chips? Calling bluffs when I had the cards. Its been my experience that sitting around and letting people impale themselves on my stack usually pays well. Many Mookie players don't think through their aggression and will just throw their chips away. Be there when it happens. Even the great and almighty Hoy will over play 99.
Friday night was Bourbonators. Not much poker to talk about there. 12 runners showed up this month. 2 guys fairly new to me. 1 guy was back after a 2 year absence. I bubbled the first game and then the booze started kicking in on the second game. Man did I get loose! I blew a ton of chips trying to get tricky. Not a good plan when there were times I thought I had double pocket pairs and was playing Omaha. Oops. This month, the host doesn't live all that far from me, so I wasn't worried about getting home. Drink up bitches!

I'll be frank, I didn't get to play much poker this weekend online either. Between being exhausted from the new job. The late nights because of the Mookie and Bourbonators, I think I'm maturing and knowing when its bad for me to be getting my money in. I'm tired and pre-tilted. I railed of few of you, that was fun. I even figured out about some of these other big $$$ MTTs. I might even try a few of these. Look out! I might actually try one...maybe.

The home game returns to our house Friday night so OhCountess may have me busily getting ready for the guests. For some reason, she also scheduled us to host a Pampered Chef party this week. Ugg! I can't wait for the card game. Live poker, in my basement.

Suck, Re-suck, Re-Re-Sucklexus - He does it again!

It's pretty late and I have to work in the morning. I gotta feeling I'll be writing much more of a post in the morning, afternoon or evening...maybe Friday.

Congrats to Surflexus! He took down his 7th Mookie and he took me out in 3rd again. Yes, I took 3rd in the Mookie. I know believe this is the only tournament I can cash in.

Thanks Mookie for a great time! Again, I had a ton of fun. Thanks also to BuddyDank for not only the great but I'll be damned he picked me with his first pick!

NewinNov fough a great battle as well. We were at the same table most of the night. Congrats on losing to the "Tiger Woods of the Mookie."

I just realized, the final 3 were all previous Mookie winners. Goooooo Team!

I'm exhausted. See you in the morning. Here's the screen cap of my horrible beat. Enjoy!

Tis' Wednesday - A recap and a loose ends

Since today is Wednesday, memories tell me that yesterday might have been Tuesday. Tuesday usually means live poker at Brother's. I went. I folded for an hour. I got bored. I flopped top two pair. Kept betting, called an all-in on the river. I didn't think two pair, tens and nines, were any good, but called any way. Yep, he hit the straight on the river. Sigh. RaisingCayne is right, poker for points is ghey, but this part of the northwoods, its about all we got. When I feel like playing to win a live tournament, I can keep myself motivated to stay on top of my game, but then there's last night...not even Zuppa could keep my attention.

There were no magic hands last night, no questionable plays (by me, several people did some crazy stuff...but that's nothing new).

In other news, if you do one thing I say in this blog - it had better be this. Go check out Julius Goat's series of excerpts from his upcoming book "Stupid/System: Poker Strategy For Huge Donkeys." I love this stuff! Its pure online poker GOLD! Julius and I actually stumbled into the same SNG this weekend. Kinda funny. That marks the first time I'd ever just stumbled upon another blogger I recognized in a SNG. Julius, if you are reading this...tag these posts so we can link to the series! I promise to link to the tagged search!

Tonight, we had back down to the Mookie. The highlight of my poker week. 9pm CST on FTP. Sure to be a tournament of sick beats and questionable decisions. I'm hoping that many of the high rollers are distracted by the start of FTOPS Event #1 that they won't notice they are losing chips to me in the Mookie. Well just have to see!

A "D" Lister's Mookie Recap

Well, last night, the bloggers of the Internets gather once again for the Mookie. I love playing this tournament because it gives me an opportunity to play with some very experience players for not so huge a buy-in. With 4 hours of sleep and a whole days worth of working. I apologize for any moments of poor judgement or fractured speech.

I didn't recap last weeks tournament, I meant to, I just really didn't have time. Its been pretty crazy around my life, but the FUD is starting to clear and I'm quickly becoming excited for the new opportunities!

I enjoyed being the underdog again last night. While the picks were going on, only Buddy picked me with the last pick of the night. Which, I have to say, was better than my last deep run.

The guys from BDR were hilarious as usual, but I gotta I do have a bone to pick with them. When we got down to three handed, not sure who, but one of them asks, "Does OhCaptain have a blog yet?" Thanks! I won this thing a month ago, you didn't bother to click the link since then? And the answer is "Yes, I do I have a blog now."

In my morning perusal of Google Reader, found a few interesting posts about the Mookie. Not too surprising to find Hoy is now complaining that he can't win it because the format is gear towards Maniac aggressive luckboxes. Hoy, you need to examine your game. Here's what he had to say:

In my view it takes two main things to have a solid shot to win a Mookie, due to the large fields and due to the low buyin of $11 which means a lot of players who are not the tight-aggressive style normally indicative of the higher-bankroll guys. It takes (1) aggression to get through this big field, and (2) luck, moreso than in the other tournaments due to the large field and large number of passive and loose players.

I think that his impression of the tournament and his arrogance in how poker should be played results in his inability to win the Mookie. Anyone that has played me will probably not call my game lucky agressive. I can be about as tight as they come. I don't have the pedigree of Hoy, but when he says "...a lot of players who are not the tight-aggressive style normally indicative of the higher-bankroll guys." it tells me that he's only comfortable playing players that are TAG. Therein lies his weakness, his inability to adjust his game to different styles.

Come to the table to win. You've got to beat everyone. Don't just play the people that you know how to beat.

The other blogger I found interesting this morning was LJ. I sat next to LJ all evening. She doesn't remember the hand she busted out on. Probably because she busted out on a hand I was shocked at how bad she played. In the course of 2 hands, she went from a comfortable stack to out, handing all of her chips to me. I appreciated the effort! But watching her play last night, I'd have to guess she was very distracted or lacked G.A.S.

Enough ranting. I probably get demoted to the "E" list, but this is my blog.

I settled into my usually Wednesday position. Got snuggled into the couch with a blanket (it's -20°F here...it ain't girly to get cold at that temp). I get the headphones on and fire up BDR. I even get the IM chats going with PokerFool and Bodie25.

My first table include Martyr99, AlCantHang, DaBag, LJ, IlkkaK, Lucko21, OhCountess (relation - the Mrs, fellas). AlCantHang starts accumulating chips with some rather dubious calls and raises. It was apparent to me that he came to gamble.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5060341374: The Mookie (37226882), Table 7 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:08:23 ET - 2008/01/30
Seat 1: Martyr99 (2,985)
Seat 3: AlCantHang (5,925)
Seat 4: DaBag (3,270)
Seat 5: pvanharibo (3,045)
Seat 6: IlkkaK (2,955)
Seat 7: OhCaptain (3,045)
Seat 8: lucko21 (375)
Seat 9: OhCountess (2,805)
AlCantHang posts the small blind of 15
DaBag posts the big blind of 30
AlCantHang: wow. thought i was dead and going to bed <- Hmm...do I sense a bit of self-doubt?? The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [Kd Kc]
pvanharibo folds
IlkkaK folds
OhCaptain raises to 105 <- a simple pot size raise
lucko21 folds
OhCountess folds
Martyr99 folds
AlCantHang calls 90
DaBag has 15 seconds left to act
DaBag calls 75
*** FLOP *** [Qs 7c 3s]
lucko21: i was willing to gambool, i know u rr me light sometimes <-referring to the previous hand. Al had just won a monster pot. I figure he's still rolling from it.
lucko21: nh
AlCantHang has 15 seconds left to act
AlCantHang bets 175 <-This bet seems small. I just raised preflop for 105. I also think about the fact that I'm new, no one knows me. So he's leading into a raiser. I sense a trap, but I seriously doubt he hit a set here. Besides...look at the flop!
DaBag has 15 seconds left to act
DaBag calls 175
OhCaptain raises to 1,015 <--If he's flopped a set, I'm dead here anyways, but if he didn't, he's gonna push all in with AQ, KQ or another pocket pair. I really believe that.
AlCantHang raises to 5,820, and is all in <-- There it is. I think if he has a set, he just smooth calls me.
DaBag has 15 seconds left to act
DaBag folds
OhCaptain calls 1,925, and is all in <-- KK should be ahead. I now need to hope I holds up.
AlCantHang shows [As Qh]
OhCaptain shows [Kd Kc]
Uncalled bet of 2,880 returned to AlCantHang
*** TURN *** [Qs 7c 3s] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 7c 3s 6d] [5h]
AlCantHang shows a pair of Queens
OhCaptain shows a pair of Kings
OhCaptain wins the pot (6,370) with a pair of Kings <--Sweet Jesus! No aces!

As has been my Mookie life the last 2 weeks, I say here, around 6000 chips for what seemed an eternity. The next time my chip stack made any kind of up or down motion was almost an hour and a half later.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5061353558: The Mookie (37226882), Table 7 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:30:20 ET - 2008/01/30
Seat 1: KillinKegz (8,245)
Seat 2: pokerpeaker (2,415)
Seat 4: DaBag (1,530)
Seat 5: pvanharibo (6,880)
Seat 6: Astin (4,746)
Seat 7: OhCaptain (6,134)
Seat 8: IlkkaK (1,775)
Seat 9: OhCountess (6,815)
Astin posts the small blind of 100
OhCaptain posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [7c 6c]
IlkkaK folds
OhCountess has 15 seconds left to act
OhCountess folds
KillinKegz folds
wwonka69 sits down
wwonka69 adds 1,720
pokerpeaker has 15 seconds left to act
pokerpeaker folds
DaBag has 15 seconds left to act
DaBag calls 200
pvanharibo folds
Astin folds
OhCaptain checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac 6d 6h] <--folks, this is why we raise before the flop. Life only gets worse for limpers.
OhCaptain checks
DaBag bets 500
OhCaptain raises to 1,000 <--I see a lot of people do this weakass reraise with junk, lets see if he bites..
DaBag raises to 1,330, and is all in <--There it is! I've gotta call this. I'll bet he's got an ace.
OhCaptain calls 330
DaBag shows [Qh Ad] <--No one ever listens to me. This is the hand of death. It should never be played. Its is cursed.
OhCaptain shows [7c 6c]
*** TURN *** [Ac 6d 6h] [Qs] <-- OK. That's not funny. Knock it off *** RIVER *** [Ac 6d 6h Qs] [3s] <-- Ahh.
DaBag shows two pair, Aces and Queens
OhCaptain shows three of a kind, Sixes
OhCaptain wins the pot (3,160) with three of a kind, Sixes
DaBag stands up

It was a bit later, that LJ gave gave me all of her chips. I seem to have misplaced the hand histories. She gave them away in 2 hands. One on a steal attempt gone bad, but the last one, that one still makes me thing. We are the only two in the pot. She limps and I'm in the BB. I don't remember both cards, but I do know I had a K. I think I had K6. The flop comes KKQ. Wow...again with the flopped set for a BB special. This time, I checked to her. She did a candy ass raise, I reraised and she pushed all-in. Again, I'm not laying down top set and I have no reason to believe she's got a bigger kicker or QQ. She turned over Q5, I think. I still wonder what she was thinking. At this point, I was still playing rock like and folding almost everything.

After this, my stack reaches 20,000 chips. I loosened up a bit her for a while I also turned up the aggression. It was not uncommon for the table to walk to me in the blinds. I was tournament chipleader and seemingly on a rush.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5061850785: The Mookie (37226882), Table 3 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:14:23 ET - 2008/01/31
Seat 1: heffmike (10,329)
Seat 2: schlepp571 (12,100), is sitting out
Seat 3: MiamiDon (9,495)
Seat 4: OhCaptain (20,303)
Seat 5: CheckinMyAA (6,991), is sitting out
Seat 6: lightning36 (9,270)
Seat 7: Schaubs (4,490)
Seat 8: Donkey Shortz (6,520)
Seat 9: mookie99 (2,710)
heffmike antes 50
schlepp571 antes 50
MiamiDon antes 50
OhCaptain antes 50
CheckinMyAA antes 50
lightning36 antes 50
Schaubs antes 50
Donkey Shortz antes 50
mookie99 antes 50
CheckinMyAA has returned
OhCaptain posts the small blind of 250
CheckinMyAA posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [9c Ac]
lightning36 folds
Schaubs folds
Donkey Shortz folds
mookie99 folds
heffmike folds
schlepp571 folds
MiamiDon folds
OhCaptain raises to 1,950 <--With a walk to me, I raise it up. I know this will look like a steal, but calle me crazy, I like a good suited A9 to go the races with CheckinMyAA raises to 6,941, and is all in <--This is most likely a resteal. But I'm also way ahead in chips. I believe he could do this with any ace or two painted cards, I call.
OhCaptain calls 4,991
CheckinMyAA shows [2c As] <--I love it when a plan comes together.
OhCaptain shows [9c Ac]
*** FLOP *** [Th Tc Jc]
*** TURN *** [Th Tc Jc] [5d]
schlepp571 has returned
*** RIVER *** [Th Tc Jc 5d] [6c]
CheckinMyAA shows a pair of Tens
OhCaptain shows a flush, Ace high
OhCaptain wins the pot (14,332) with a flush, Ace high <--OK Stupid, now whatcha going to do?
CheckinMyAA stands up

I screwed up a hand a bit after this and did something totally stupid. What I remember of it is I made 2 pair on the river. The board has flushes and straights coming out the wazoo. For some stupid reason I raised 6000 on the river. 2 pair was no good.

The time between bubble and 3 way action was not long at all. People were flaming out like crazy. I did my best to just stay out of the way. I was pretty card dead and fools and their money were quickly being parted, but before I knew it, we were down to Surflexus and Mookie.

It was quite clear, I was not the railbirds favorite. Mookie had that. What I had was patience and desire. Apparently not enough, but they were there. We battled for more than 30 minutes. 3 way poker. My observation was that Surf was actually playing tight and Mookie was applying the pressure. I used this too my advantage and decided I was going to selectively attack Mookie. Surf was only entering pots with strong hands, to fight with him could end in disaster. Mookie on the other hand was raising almost every button or LB, but he was also afraid of protecting against the resteal.

With that information, it went like this. Mookie - raise, OhCaptain would steal. Mookie - raise, I fold, Surf Folds. Surf - raise, Mookie and OhCaptain fold. Surf - raise, Mookie call, OhCaptain fold. Small squirmish. Mookie down in chips. Fold, Fold, Fold. Mookie raises, OhCaptain folds Surf calls. Small quirmish, Mookie has chips. Fold, Fold, Fold. Anyone seen if this deck has ranks or suits on them

I battled my way back from the starting size of about 30,000 chips, up to 90,000 chips and the lead. I felt really comfortable, but dang! This was intense poker. We battled and fought until finally I went for a steal of Surf's blinds. I had A4, not a horrible stealing hand, but surf tables A9. I never improved. This brought me below the 40,00 chip mark. I also get dealt a long string of hands with 2's in them. 32, 62, 62, T2...absolute crap. I wanted to get something with a shot at showing down. And when I saw this, I had hope in my eyes again....

Full Tilt Poker Game #5062884601: The Mookie (37226882), Table 3 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:04:04 ET - 2008/01/31
Seat 4: OhCaptain (2,656)
Seat 6: surflexus (143,528)
Seat 9: mookie99 (87,816)
OhCaptain antes 600
surflexus antes 600
mookie99 antes 600
surflexus posts the small blind of 2,500
mookie99 posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to OhCaptain [Td Ts]
OhCaptain calls 2,056, and is all in <--Yeah...this sucks
surflexus calls 2,500
mookie99 checks
*** FLOP *** [Kh Kc Ks]
surflexus checks
mookie99 checks
*** TURN *** [Kh Kc Ks] [Tc]
surflexus checks
mookie99 bets 5,000
surflexus folds
mookie99 shows [Ad Kd] <--Sweet mother...he flops friggin quads! I'm drawing dead.
OhCaptain shows [Td Ts]
Uncalled bet of 5,000 returned to mookie99
*** RIVER *** [Kh Kc Ks Tc] [9c]
mookie99 wins the side pot (5,888)
mookie99 shows four of a kind, Kings
OhCaptain shows a full house, Kings full of Tens
mookie99 wins the main pot (7,968) with four of a kind, Kings
OhCaptain: gg
mookie99: gg
OhCaptain stands up

Yep. I lost to Mookie's quad kings. Watcha gonna do?

I had a blast! My hats off to Mookie and Surflexus. That was about as much fun I've had short handed!

The Mookie been very good to me

It's early on Thursday morning. Well past my bed time. But it also means that I played the Mookie and if I'm up this late...

Didn't win it this time, but I did finish 3rd! W00T! W00T!

Congrats to Surflexus and Mookie. Mookie!!!! So close!!!!

Well done guys! I gotta be up for work soon...more post tomorrow.