First Break

I still have chips. I'm also really not seeing any cards and when I do
no one else is. I may also being playing too tight. Thinking about a
gear shift soon. Hope no one at my table sees this.

Welcome to table 6 seat 9

Shuffle up & deal!

Good Morning Fargo

The sun is coming up, but doesn't seem to be doing much in terms of the tempurature. It's 22 below zero (-22° F). This is brutaly cold, even for a native Minnesotan. By the sounds of it, there is even snow down in Georgia and Mississippi. Good luck with that boys!

I slept OK. I was a little leary of this hotel when we got here. We were told when we were checking in that there was a big hockey tournament near here and a lot of people were staying here. I just didn't want to hear about a hotel full of kids. But as it turns out, they are 10-11 year olds...yeah! Kids that WILL sleep.

Registration for the tournament starts at 11 AM. This hotel is about a half mile away, so we are just relaxing. I think I'll be heading down for some free breakfast here shortly.

When we went to the venue last night, I tracked down some free wi-fi in the building. Oh how I love weak IT departments. There is an extremely good chance that some live blogging will be going on today.

Live poker will be awesome! We still have a few more hours if anyone has any good advice. Remember, if I win this tournament, you will all be invited to the party!

Listening to Kajaguru whine

After reading about our poor southern boy complain about the cold in
Omaha I thought I might share this with everyone.

OhCountess is still driving and I fell asleep listening to Ante Up. It
so cold my sock froze to the windshield.

Now that's cold! I don't want hear about it being in the 30's any
more. Now back to the hand of the week.

About half way to Fargo

OhCountess has taken the wheel. We are just passing through St. Cloud
Minnesota. It will be nice to get there and unwind for the night. I
think I will take short nap. Can you believe it is dark already?

2 nights of private tornaments

Last night was The Mookie. My first one since winning it the last week of December. I was excited to get back to the virtual felt with the other bloggers, but I just knew it was going to be one of those nights I should close the lid on the laptop.

My youngest daughter was up all night the night before with an ear ache. I hate excuses, but I also know that when I'm tired, I get a short fuse and do something stupid.

I was getting great cards all before the break. I had AA 3 times. Don't tell Chad. The best part of getting aces is of course getting them cracked. I called an all-in from a stack that wasn't that short, around 1000 chips. What a sight to see...the guy had ducks! Well, 3 of the first 4 cards were also clubs, I had the guy to a one outer...and of course the 2 of spades hits the river.

Shortly after that, I moved to a new table. I got sandwiched between 2 LAG players. I was still pretty much steaming from the aces getting cracked. With Numbono on my left and PirateLawyer on my right, I did something I knew was just plain stupid, while I was doing it. PirateLawyer limps from the button, I complete from the LB and Numbono raises one bet from the BB. We all call. I have 45o and catch a 5 on the flop. The flop has 2 clubs. PirateLawyer raises 2 bets, I re-raise to 1200 and Numbono calls. Did I mention he's also the massive chip leader? Needless to say a 3rd club comes on the turn. He pushes the all in button and I call...I call with bottom pair. WTF! Gawd! I didn't even want to play that hand and now I'm on the rail. Much swearing followed.

Let's move on to tonight. AIPS III Event #1. Limit Hold'em. Need I say more. I ran up the chips early. Moving up quickly and taken some nice pots...the donked it all away. Finishing 140th out of 155. Got a nice pot out of Lee Childs early on only to have him take me out later in the tournament. Not that you'd need to be scared of a guy 195 chips moving them all in when the blinds are 80/160. His pocket 3s flopped a set against my pocket jacks. Gawd! I love limit hold'em! At least I had Columbo on my left for most of the tournament.

I still had fun and look forward to more of these to come! I'm absolutely stoked for June...RAZZ! Next month might be good as well. Stud. I'm beginning to understand stud.

Stay tuned! Tomorrow OhCountess and I head to Fargo! Live poker!

In preparation for the State Poker Championship - I fold

Do you ever sometimes just know its going to be a long night?

It was back to the felt last night in what will probably be my last live session for sitting down for the Minnesota State Poker championship in the Minnesota Poker League. A lot of people wished me well last night, which was really cool. Unfortunately, the cards were pretty cool all night as well.

Early on, I had some cards and won some pots. Usually with top pair, nothing extraordinary. I hit the sucker straight once...I didn't bet it; out of position, it hit on the river, any jack would take it down and it was 4 way pot, but none the less, I had healthy looking stack at first break.

The night seemed to be foreshadowed by my first 3 hands. I drew the ace to start the night, so I get to deal. I dealt myself 92o. Okay...not interested. It was almost a family pot, but still, its 92o.

The next hand, I'm dealt 2 spades. A nine and a deuce. Sweet! I folded that one too.

The next hand I'm dealt 2 hearts. A nine and a deuce. Sweet! I folded that one too.

The next hand I'm dealt 2 black cards. One a spade, the other a club. A nine and another nine, but now I'm in middle position and a known LAG is in the BB. I just call. The flop comes AKQ all hearts. I folded this one too. Lots of betting. Chips are flying. I'm no where near playing that hand.

This pretty much sums up the night. When I was in position, there was usually at 3 raises a head of me and the ubiquitous 9 in the hole.

I've got no bad beat stories. No hero calls. Not even a "can you believe that donkey called me" hand. Just a long string of crappy cards.

Some nights are like this. I lasted about 2 and half hours and got home early. It was nice to see OhCountess before she fell asleep for the night. We watched some TV and I got to play a little online poker. I even made a little money.

Tonight, I plan on returning to the Mookie! I haven't had a chance to play it since I won it in December. Do you think it would tilt Hoy if I took it down in 2 of my first 3 attempts? OK, that would be hilarious. I doubt my skills are that good, but a guy can dream!