Back to the Party

We resumed our home game this week after what I think was a weeks off. The night started abysmally. I kept running into good boards that never panned out. Top two beat by straights at the river, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I was down a buy in when things finally started to turn around and my hands held up. We had a couple crazy boards. In back to back hands, a flop of 333. Maybe I don't play a lot but that's pretty crazy. In the first hand someone had the case 3. Unfortunately, it wasn't me. Fun night which was a nice change of pace as we had a couple of pretty quiet games in weeks past.

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Yesterday, I made it back to Party for the first time in quite a while. I played 3/6 for a couple of hours. All in all, a bad night. On my first table, I overplayed a couple of big hands where I overvalued my top pair. It drives me crazy when I go into that mode of just not believing that the other people at the table might have a hand. Anyway, 2 blown hands and a bunch of failed attempts when I did get cards and I ended down a bit. I think it was 10 BB or so (no PokerTracker at work). After a disconnect, I moved to a new table where I was able to focus better and pulled out a win. Mostly good hands held up. The only particularly interesting hand involved a board with a straight on it. I started out the hand with a slopped top pair which eventually turned into the straight. I had the next card up though and took away a nice win. My opponent ended up having A high throughout the hand and called it all the way down. I'll be back at the tables tonight, trying to stay focused. That remains my biggest issue when playing online. In live games, I have no problem but online I get bored or distracted and lose the little focus I have. No need to rehash the same topic I've mentioned before though.

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I've been thinking lately of trying out some of the card rooms in NYC. Though I have some reservations. If one of these places gets busted while you are there, what kind of problems does this cause for the players? Do they get busted too? Where do you find these places? Anyway, I am going to email asphnxma and see if he has any advice. If anyone is reading this (I doubt it at this point), and you have some thoughts, drop me a comment.

Good Poker Friday

Borgata

Since I had the day off and my girlfriend was stuck at work, I went down to the Borgata on Friday. I got there around 10:30 and was happy to see that there was no wait for the 6/12 game. I bought some chips and away we went. I was in the 6s which I kind of like even though I don't have a good view of the 4 or 5 seats. The table started out loose aggressive preflop with very passive post flop play. I started out getting horrible starting hands. T3o, 92o, etc. In the three orbits, I only played my big blinds. At some point in here, the loud mouth in the 1s asks me is I am getting horrible cards or if I am really THAT tight. This seemed to help out quite a bit as the entire table took notice and I took away some big pots over the next hour. I would simply limp preflop and raise on the flop or turn and take down the pot. Eventually, I got called after doing this a few times and I changed gears to take advantage. All in all by lunch time I was up about 250. Not bad for 3 hours or so. After a quick break for some chicken fingers (thank you Borgata comp dollars), I headed back to the tables where I went card dead for a long time. I basically stayed around +250 for a few hours as I would win small pots here and there to sustain paying the blinds. Then, evil bluffing Danny came to visit. Two or three bad beats in a row and my aggression factor turned up. Slight tilt mixed with boredom I guess. I started ramming and jamming any pot I was involved in. With a few orbits of that coupled with the bad beats I was hurting. Down to about a little below even.

This is when the day turned for the second time. At this point, I was the player who had been there the longest. A series of new faces were gathered around. I guess the early morning weekday crew switched to the weekend crew. Anyway, no one remembered my earlier tight image. I had vanquished that with my LAG play in the last hour and the new players only saw me as a LAG. The 1s sucked out with JJ against my AT flopped two pair to spike a set on the river and commented on how he couldn't respect my bets with all the bluffing. That's what finally triggered me to get back into my game. I started playing my A-game again, and since I had a loose table image (weird feeling for me), I won some big pots. I played until about 8:30 PM and booked a $106 win. Not much considering how long I played for and my lack of concentration in the middle of the day. But an up day is an up day.

This was my second trip playing in the 6/12 game at the Borgata and it was as I remembered it from the first time. I think its an easier game than the 3/6 tables and with double the stakes a good bit more profit. If you aren't trying this game because you think it will be significantly harder than their 3/6 game you are dead wrong.

Vegas - Memorial Day

I finally booked my first trip to Vegas. Unfortunately, the plans started before the June WPBT tourney was announced so I won't be able to make that as I am taking off on June 1. Anyway, I am heading out there May 25 - June 1. I can't wait! If anyone has suggestions on what games I can't miss please let me know.

By the way, I haven't posted in quite some time (Jan 22nd!). It's not that I haven't been playing its just that I have not had anything remarkable to write about. This was my first live play since January. Hopefully, I will have some more stuff soon. If you are still stopping by (god knows why), thanks.

The Good, the Bad, and the Really Ugly

I started out my weekend with some really ugly play. After hanging around Friday night not doing much, I was in a bad mood and decided to fire up Absolute for a short session. Now, alarm bells should have been going off all over the place. What the hell was I thinking sitting down at a table like that. From the moment I sat down, I might as well have asked everyone to pick on my stack. Luckily, the cards weren't so bad so I wasn't able to piss away too much money. I think it was 12 BB (though I don't have my spreadsheet with me).

Saturday was poker free. I did get to check out the new MoMA. If you live in/around New York, you should definitely check out the new museum. There are many great pieces in there though the crowds are a bit much right now. I also watched some football (Steelers game) and went out to a good seafood restaurant.

Sunday was back to poker. After watching 6 hours of football, we settled down to our weekly home game, aka the Bad. As we were waiting for a couple of players we started playing a little 1/2 LHE. Nothing very exciting though I was up a bit. Once everyone had arrived, we played a $40 NLHE Tournament. The tournament went alright. There were only 6 of us and I dropped in 3rd place (top 2 paid out). Unfortunately, Bluff-every-hand-until-my-stack-is-gone Danny came to play. I hate when he shows up. When I busted out, I went all in with 2 overcards to the flop after I thought I sensed weakness. Turns out he had top pair and I didn't get any help. Once we had finished up the tournament, we continued with some more LHE (2/4 this time). I was up again enough to cover my losses in the tournament and leave me slightly up for the night. Proving once again how much I suck at NL. I really have no sense of what size bet to make. I think I am giving away a lot of information in the size of my bet. Something I have to work on if we are going to play NL at my home game.

Yesterday, I had the day off since I work for a bank. My girlfriend had to work, so I thought it would be good time to spend the day in Atlantic City. I headed down there with my roommate and his girlfriend. As we drove up to the Borgata, it didn't look too crowded so I thought we were in for a short wait. I should have known better at the Borgata. Anyway, the wait for 3/6 and 2/4 was pretty crazy so I put my name on the 6/12 list which was only 12 players. I was a little nervous about it since I had never played anything higher than 5/10 and I had not played much at that level. Anyway, I was soon called for a new 6/12 table. Since it was a higher stake, I decided to play basic poker until I figured how tough the competition would be. Turns out it was not any better than 3/6. It was a loose and very passive table. I can easily count on the number of times there was a raise on the turn or river (most of which were either me or my roommate). I don't think I ever saw a reraise there. Me and my nervous hands, shot up quickly as the deck was hitting me over the head. I could do no wrong. Pocket Jacks and Aces flopping sets. K5s in the big blind getting a 4-flush including the A on the flop to which I raised and caught the nut flush on the turn. You get the idea. I quickly jumped up. Within 1 hour I was up 200 (16 BB or so). I hovered around there for a while as my cards cooled down but then it started again and I was up 350 by the third hour. Around this point, I heard my name called for a 3/6 seat. Ridiculous 3 hour wait. Anyway, I stayed at the 6/12 table, obviously. By the time the table broke up and it was time for me to go home (6.5 hours after I sat down), I was up 425 (35 BB).

So all in all it was a good weekend in terms of poker. The game on Monday really made me think of my Limit game and I think I am going to try to return some of my game to the basics. I don't want to be too results oriented especially with 1 session but I am going to try out a few things in reducing the number of "fancy" plays I incorporate in to my game. I am also going to start taking notes during my games so I can go back and reexamine some hands. I do a decent job of that now with PokerTracker for my online games but need to incorporate that into my live play as well. Thankfully, the ugly play came out at 3/6 and not the 6/12 game.

Bad way to start

After a lot of drinking for New Year's, the resulting cold, and a weekend visiting my girlfriend's family, I played in our first home game of the year. Needless to say I was very tired going into the game. As I have mentioned on several occasions before, this is one of the worst states of mind for my game. Anyway, to make a long story short I started off the night with lots of bad plays. I was cold calling, missing possible flushes and straights on the board, and missing obvious opportunities to take down a pot at signs of weakness. At one point, I decided to bluff the blind off his hand and popped it up preflop only to forget that I was bluffing by the time the flop rolled around. I looked down to check my cards and checked still wondering why I had played that garbage hand. Anyway, I later realize what I was doing by the turn and try to continue my bluff again. I think its clear that didn't work and I lost 3 BB for nothing. That's the kind of mindset I was in anyway.

One interesting hand, I am dealt 66 and call. Flop comes AQ6. I threw in a bet and get called by 1. Turn is an A. At this point, I know I am set. I figured he either had a Q or the case 6. I bet out and he raises me. I didn't think he had AQ or QQ as he didn't raise preflop or my flop bet and I didn't think he was trapping me. So i reraised and he just calls. At this point with just a call, I am sure he has a Q and didn't put me on an A. The river brings us another Q and I know I am screwed. He bets and I make a crying call to see him turnover QJ. Oh well. Fairly large pot but nothing I should be upset about. I think I played it correctly. I didn't slowplay or allow him to go on cheaply at any point as I was betting/raising whenever possible.

After that, I did win a few other big hands to negate my bad play early on and finished the night dead even. Not a great way to start the new year, though it could have been much worse with that mindset going in.

On another note, I played at Absolute for the first time. The software seemed ok. Pretty standard I guess though a very busy screen. The only bad note so far is the number of players. There was 1 full 3/6 table and 2 other tables about half full each. On top of that, my roommate was playing on one of the tables at the time so I only had 2 choices.

Destruction, Christmas, and a Happy New Year

Tsunamis

Check out the following links:

BlogAid - Donate some Affiliate and Ad dollars to the relief effort

Map redrawn - The quake was large enough to displace some of the islands by a few meters.

Pictures - Woman goes after her group as the tsunamis are seen in the distance.

Aerial Photos - Aerial photos of the damage.

Photos/Graphics - NY Times photos (these are pretty graphic)

Miami

I just got back from Miami. What a great way to spend Christmas. Most people are always looking out for a White Christmas but its the sandy ones I'll take anyday. While the midwest was getting blanketed in snow, I enjoyed 8 days by the pool/beach. 70 perfect degrees. Anyway, I guess I should stop rubbing it in. You can check out my girlfriend's moblog pictures from the trip here.

Poker

Nothing really to report on that front. I did not have any internet access while in Miami (gasp!). Not that I would have played any poker there when I could be outside. They should get some WiFi access by the pool areas. I will be trying Absolute poker this week now that I am settling back into the routine. I am also hitting up some more Casino bonuses. More to come on that. I will also be able to make it back to the weekly home game this weekend.

Happy New Years to all! May the poker gods treat you well in 2005!

Same old

Not much to post. I haven't been playing too much online lately. I know I said work would quiet down by now but that plan seems to have gone out the window. I am busier than ever. On top of that, with all the holiday shopping, parties, and the now in full swing ski season poker has taken a back seat. I got in two full days of skiing a couple weekends ago which was a nice warm up to get my body reacquainted with exercise. I will be up at Killington, VT again this coming weekend. Next week, it's a full dose of family. My girlfriend and I are heading down to Miami to spend Christmas with my parents on the beach. Since it is currently snowing outside, I am very much looking forward to a few days bumming around the beach. Beautiful weather in Miami next week.

To get back to gambling, I have been playing a little bit. I finished up the OIC at the gaming club up 75 whole cents. I almost busted out. When I was down to $15, I went into maniac mode but ended up doing well and came back up to 50. I ended the challenge in 55th place out of 175.

I've been playing exclusively at PStars lately and decided that I should try out some other sites. I think I will try Absolute next week. In the mean time though I have been playing some blackjack. Thanks to scurvydog for posting a guide to casino bonuses. I have done, a couple of the sites and am working on the third. The first one went well, I was up over the 800 hands I played. The second one on the other hand was a disaster. I was doing $2 bets again and ended up losing all the bonus and most of the deposit. Oh well. I am still profitable on the whole thing.

Well, that's all for now. It was good to read all the trip reports from the blogger excursions to Vegas. Wish I could have been there. Unfortunately, I have never made a trip to sin city. Next spring.

A good day

I finally got to play again today even if it was only for a short while. I was playing 2 tables, 2/4 on PokerStars and .5/1 on TGC for the OIC. Speaking of which, what is with the enormous waits for 3/6 on Stars lately? There are easily 20 people waiting yet no one will start a new table. Very annoying. Anyway, the line for 2/4 was much smaller so I jumped on one of those tables. I think I only played like 100 hands on each site. Both went well though. At the Stars table, I was +20 BB. Both great cards and good play. I was making great reads on weak plays and punishing it. We had a couple No-fold-em-until-the-river-fold-em players. Needless to say these were very profitable. At one point I get dealt the hammer in the CO and it folds around to me. I popped it up and continued to bet it through the river when the BB finally folded. I had been getting a lot of respect for my raises before this (mostly due to the great cards I was getting early on) so I showed him the 72. He was not pleased and went on a tirade about how I could bet so much with absolutely nothing. Fun to watch. On the TGC table, I had more modest gains of 10 BB. Nothing interesting there though. Since its .5/1, I really have to play my best. We had like 5 players to the SD at one point. Anyway, being patient helped that out a lot. I think the 2 tabling prevent bad play due to boredom. This has been a real issue for me in the past. Maybe I should do this more. The OIC is a good opportunity to do it since its so little money right now.

After Day 2:
$57.25 (+10.25)
Level: .5/1
107th after Day 1

This weekend I will be off for an early Thanksgiving dinner and some early season skiing so probably no poker until the home game Sunday. Finally, ski season has arrived! Hopefully, there is some decent snow. Thanks for stopping by.