Friday Night Lights Week 9

Cal had been told he will be the starting tailback last Friday night. But the weather had been horrible with constant rain all day Thursday and Friday. The coach had told me that they were concerned with Cal's fumbles earlier in the season, so it was no surprise that they didn't start him. The fullback was sent in as the feature back, but Cal's team couldn't get a drive past their opponents 40 yard line.

On their third possession (game still tied 0-0 and in the 2nd quarter now), they put Cal in. This wasn't like they usually use him (maybe 1 or 2 carries in a half). They were actually giving him the ball to move the team down the field. And he DELIVERED. With all the mud and slop, he had a hard time breaking into the open field but he pushed his way down the field on a couple of rushes and a couple of pass receptions. The last one of the drive he caught would have been a touchdown, but he slipped in the mud at the 3 yard line. No worries though, as the next play was a completed pass for a TD to the WR.

On the next drive, he caught a pass and was able to get into open field. 27 yards later = Touchdown!

Even more importantly, he never fumbled or even bobbled the ball. He protected it perfectly.

In the fourth quarter Cal was rushing the ball well again. He took one for 15 yards and slipped while making a juke at the 1 yard line. The coach brought the fullback in to finish the job and get the TD.

Overall, it was a great game- a win 28-0. Cal was called upon and he did not disappoint. Final stats were 8 carries for 52 yards and 3 receptions for 48 yards and 1 Touchdown. Official stats are here. He led the team in total yards and made the big plays when they needed them.

**Of course the coach made it clear to Cal during film reviews that he didn't hit the cutback lanes properly. He didn't select him as player of the week (but he did pick an offensive lineman- so that is a good thing). He also moved him back to 3rd string. Cal said he found out that they started him because Troy (#1 back) had gotten detention last week. Although Troy got to play, he was punished by not starting at tailback. He did start on defense.

Cal said it just felt really good to be given the opportunity and to not only not let them down, but to play really great. I concurred that he did great and I am proud of him.

Final game of the year is this Friday night. They are playing a 1-8 team so it should be fun. Will Cal play or not? We shall see.

These can't happen all the time

Sick beat #1---all in after the flop











Sick beat #2---all in after ther flop






Why can't I get more action on these:

Token Frenzy's are Easy

Well, I didn't get one here, but this shows how loose the calling is. This was all in pre-flop and we were close in chip stacks.

Up and down in poker

I've been grinding my bankroll up little by little. But to be honest, it gets soooooooo boring. I've been playing at the .25/.50 level (no limit) and can consistently make money in the ring games.



So Sunday night, I stepped up to the .50/1 level. I was two-tabling and within the first 15 minutes, I was up a buy in. Hey, I might as well jump right up to 1/2 or even 2/4. Why bother with these "micro" levels. I'm so good that I can broaden my range of cards I play. I will just outplay opponents after the flop. I am so good that...... OOPS, lost a big pot. OOPS lost another one. I'll just make it back with a $33 SNG. OK, that sucked. How about another? Lost that one too. At the end of the night, I am down 2 buy ins at the .50/1 level.



Moral of the story: Stay patient. Move up slowly. I should have focused on one table and made sure to read the betting patterns at the table. Although not much different, there is a difference between the play at the .50/1 level and the .25/.50 level. I have a very good feel for the .25/.50 level, but obviously I don't know the .50/1 level yet. I will get it.



So last night, I donked out of the MATH early. I was actually playing like an idiot. I think I was still sipping my own kool-aid, believing I was better than everyone. And, I'm glad it happened. I took about a half hour off and then went back to the tables. And this is what happened:


The smiley face is me getting my token for the Big Game on November 18th (I used a $26 token so I am in the Big Game for $6.60). And the circled donkeys are me getting another $26 token and winning 2 buyins at the .25/.50 NLHE level (although in the picture I am only up just over half a buy in).


Poker sure is a lot more fun when you are winning. And I have a lot to learn. Most importantly though (at least for me) is to stay patient. I don't need to play sooooooted connectors from any position on the table regardless if I have a maniac behind me. I can fold KK when an Ace comes on the flop. I don't need to automatically go all in with JJ or QQ.

I am only a few pages from completing Harrington on Hold'em Volume I. I will post my review in the next week or two. I have also started the FTP Tournament Strategy Guide. I've heard great things about it.


Don't forget about the Mookie tomorrow night. I am 50/50 to play since I'll have 3 kiddies on sugar highs and a teenager out roaming the streets looking for mischief.


Check out Miamidon's Blog and congratulate him on a deep run in the Sunday $750K on FTP. And there is a great story here about Jordan's big Cash that he got the seat from kajagugu.

Stay patient...

Week 2 of the BBT2

Tournament: Mondays at the Hoy
When: Every Monday. 10pm ET
Game: NLHE Deepstack
Buyin: $24+2
Password: hammer

Tournament: The Mookie
When: Every Wednesday. 10pm ET
Game: NLHE Deepstack
Buyin: $10+1
Password: vegas1

Tournament: Riverchasers Online Poker Tour
When: Every Thursday. 21:00 ET
Game: NLHE Deepstack
Buyin: $10+1
Password: Riverchasers

4 BBT2 tourneys down

I managed to play in 3 of the first 4 tournaments. I missed Monday night MATH. I only finished ITM once but did manage to make the points in all 3. Didn't do me a lot of good though, since they are resetting the points each week. No long term prize? Boo hoo. So it looks like to win something from the points, I will have to finish first in one of the weekly tournaments. The top two this week won one of the tourneys. Astin did a good job making 2 final tables so finished 3rd in points for the week. But he was still a good distance behind JJOK and Lucko who each had a tournament win this week. Maybe three final tables could have taken it?

The great thing is, we get to find out next week. See you there!

**EDIT** Al rocks by the way. Can you imagine that one guy cares enough about all us effin bloggers to put something like this together? I mean really! Why even bother? I'm sure as hell glad he did bother! And Al just informed me that the leaderboard will continue throughout the tournaments. Points. I love me some points.

Friday Night Lights Week 7 and 8

I didn't post last week about Cal's football because I was just so frustrated. I keep going back and forth on this. Last you saw, Cal had run back a kickoff for a touchdown. Well, later that week, the coach told him he got "Lucky" because he didn't follow the wedge properly. I couldn't believe it...

The next game they won 33-0. Cal had 3 rushes and 1 reception. He was barely in the game. But nobody complains when the team is winning. They beat the 9th ranked team in the state and everyone was giddy.

So the next week they lose to a team that is probably even with them in talent. If they played their A game, then they should have won. But they got it handed to them, which is fine. Now the coach tried getting the ball to Cal a little more in the 4th quarter, when they were down 18-0. He hadn't played the whole game, and now they were throwing to him or handing him the ball in an effort to get a "big play" to spark the offense. It just drives me crazy when they don't play him the whole game and then they are up against the wall so they throw him in to try to make a big play all by himself. I don't know... I would just rather put your playmaker in the beginning of the game to get the momentum swinging in your favor.

But an interesting thing happened. The father of the starting tailback talked to me at halftime. He said he just doesn't understand why the coach doesn't play Cal more. He said "don't get me wrong, Troy (his son) is good, but your son has so much more speed. If he was in on some of those plays in the first half, he would have scored." (They were able to catch Troy when holes broke open). He went on to say "I think the coach must have just forgot how good Cal was last year before he broke his leg. He made several big plays and was keeping us in that game before he went out."

I of course, complimented him on his son's work and accomplishments this year and said I didn't really know why the coach isn't playing Cal. I told him that the best I can figure is that the coach is trying to prove something. What, I don't know. He won't start him, but does throw him in there on 3rd and long and then expects him to get the 10 or 15 yards for a first down. And he does sometimes, but when he doesn't, it makes it worse that that was his only chance to prove he could do it. And when he does get the first down, he pulls him back out and puts Troy back in.

The conversation with Troy's dad did make me feel that I wasn't the overzealous dad that is the only person on the planet that thinks his kid should get more playing time. And I thanked Troy's dad for the kind words.

So, I decided to call the coach again. And much like I am in poker, I tried to be diplomatic about it but still get what I wanted out of him. At first, I talked to him about the procedures to get game film to colleges we are thinking of visiting. Then I asked him again how is Cal's attitude and work ethic. He said it has been great and he is pleased with Cal stepping in when they ask him to. I asked him what things I could work on with Cal to improve his chances of getting back to starting -since this is the first time ever he has not been the starting tailback and big playmaker for his team (<---and I used those words with the coach). I asked if he has picked up the schemes any better (this was his excuse after 3 weeks in the season on why he wasn't getting much playing time -that he didn't know the schemes well enough).

He said he does have the schemes down, but "to be quite honest, he was hurt during the first two weeks of the season. And then he fumbled in 4 of the first 5 games. That really hurt his playing time. I think he has that all worked out now. I would say just keep working hard and make sure to protect the football. He also has a tendency to run to east and west. He probably outran everyone at younger ages, but now he can't race all the way down the line and then turn up the field; he needs to get north and south sooner. "

The first one threw me off, because he was hurt during the summer,but not by the start of the first game. He was 100% ready by then. But the rest was fairly valid. I could argue that the fumbling was not critical and a couple of times were on the QB, but he was involved in them so I didn't. I didn't argue with him at all, but rather said I will continue helping Cal improve and if there is anything else he can tell me, then that would really help. He didn't have anything else, but did say they expect more from him next year, especially because they are losing several Seniors on defense.

I told Cal about the conversation, and had a long talk about his speed and running north and south more.

Cal went to practice the next day, and they bumped him up to starting tailback. I asked Cal why, and he said he didn't know. They just ran him with the first team and told him he will be starting this week.
How 'bout them apples? Weird.

I guess we will know more tonight. The prediction is for more rain (it has been raining for 24 hours) and 54degrees. That's a high probability for fumbles, folks. Tune in next week to see or you can click here anytime Saturday or later.

Another Mookie

So, I finished 5th in the Mookie last night. Again, no hand histories or screen shots as I was still on Hawkette's laptop. I did access my old laptop last night. My motherboard is fried. I took the harddrive out and connected it through a HD Enclosure that basically makes it into an external harddrive. Awesome, because I now have access to all of my pictures, data files, email, etc....



About last night, I laid down a ton of hands. I am certain I was ahead at least 50% of the time, but I did not want to get sucked out on. OK, maybe not 50% of the time, but I laid down AQ, KK, AK, 99, and JJ. I was just reading my opponents right (IMO). I also won pots with well timed bluffs, two pair (with flush boards), and sometimes with just top pair. Again, I was playing those hands based on reads I got from the tables.

I think Hoy's post was right on in saying "Tightydonk early works in the blonkaments". At least it worked for me last night.

2 tourneys of the 27 and 2 times in the points, 1 time in the money. I need to final table more times...more on that later...

My answers to the three questions:
1)AA, KK
2)AA --- I can definitely fold KK here.
3)AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010 and even 99

Why so little poker posting lately and a Question

First off: don't forget this!

Looks like we could have 100+ playing with the excitement of BBT2 (I'm not sure who I have to pay for using that? Or is that only for BBTwo, or BBToo, or BBTue?). You can now check points at this link here: BBT2 Blogger Points .

I haven't been posting many hand histories lately or screen shots because I have been using Hawkette's laptop to play. She has an HP and any of you techies out there probably know, there is a big difference between HP and Dell. Needless to say, just posting screen shots is much more difficult on the HP and the hand histories are hard to convert, so I have just been NOT doing it.

I did get another laptop (not a new one) so I hope to have that up and running soon.

One question I have been pondering lately is when do you go all in pre-flop? I have started to think that to get from an average skill level to a very good skill level, you need to understand the +EV of pre-flop all ins. Of course, everyone will say: AA pre-flop is ok to go all in after you have been re-raised against. But is it always? What about 10 players left and the money kicks in at 7th place. You have a middle of field chip stack. Do you risk your tournament if someone has you covered and pushes all in? Obviously, reading your opponent comes into play, but is there a time you NEVER go all in? Is there a time you ALWAYS push with AA?

I'll even break it down into 3 different periods. Beginning of tournament, Middle to late rounds of tournament (including the bubble), and final table (or after bubble). Alan addresses here, a hand where he folded JJ to an all in, early in a tournament. I can definitely see that. But do you call with QQ? KK? AA? I posted recently about a hand that I did go all in with and lost just before the bubble. I had JJ and my opponent took me out with QQ. Was that a bad call on my part? Hindsight is, of course, 20/20. So I look back and think it was a bad call. But he could have been pushing on me with 99 and then it would look like a brilliant call. Fuel says here that "When you raise, get reraised and then the reraiser get rereraised you MUST fold all hands other than AA." Really? Always? I am not sure I agree with that.

In an effort to simplify this issue, I will post just three questions. You can answer each and then feel free to add explanations. All three questions will have to assume some things. You are playing in a no-rebuy NLHE tournament. Your opponent has you covered. You have an average chip stack (not short stacked). You are down to heads up in the betting and it is you folding (and your opponent wins the hand) or calling all in. Your opponent is semi-aggressive.

Question 1)In the first hour, 80% or more of the field is still playing, what hands will you call a bet putting you all in pre-flop?

Question 2)Getting close to the bubble, between 10% and 25% of the field is still playing, what hands will you call a bet putting you all in pre-flop?

Question 3)You are in the money, you have right at the average chip stack, what hands will you call a bet putting you all in pre-flop.

Thanks for posting on this and I will post my answers as well tomorrow or Friday.

Until then, stay patient....

Online Cheaters Update

Well they caught the culprit involved. Turns out it was a current employee who hacked into the system. I believe he said he was doing it just to prove a point, which is a likely story to say after being caught. Here is the full story: click here. Thanks to Jordan for originally posting that link.

Downfalls of new technology

What makes you think I want to listen to YOUR favorite song every time I call you? Could there be a more self centered act than to put YOUR favorite song out there, and force me to listen to it every time I call you. And it's not like caller ID, where it only works for certain callers. It also plays for your loan officer when he has to call you 3 or 4 times in a day. Give me a headache.

I actually had a customer that had a Larry the Cable Guy Poop joke on it. Do you really want everyone that calls you to hear that? And I had to hear it 7 or 8 times during the week I was dealing with this customer.

Come on! Some things should have never been invented. I want to hear a tone so I know the connection is still there, not some Pop Star that I would turn off the Radio in a nanosecond if I heard come on. Give me a break.

Night of the Queens

I played in the Blogger Big Game last night. It was the first of 27 tournaments over the next 8 weeks in BBT2. If you haven't heard, you can play in these tournaments and if you win one of them, you get into a FREEROLL for a shot at and $18,000 Aussie Millions prize.



It was all about the Queens for me. The first big hand was when I called a 3x BB bet with AQ sooooooted. Flop comes AQx. I have top two pair when someone bets into me. I re-raise, they re-re-raise all in and I insta-call. My opponent flips over QQ for a set and it looks like I am going home early..... until the A on the river and I suck out for a huge pot. This pot made me the chip leader at the first break and I would remain that way for almost an hour.



Then I was dealt QQ at least 5 times. No big pots came from them but I usually took the blinds and antes, so the beetches were building my chipstack. I should have known they were just lurking nearby so they could stab me in the back later.



We were down to 10 players and I think I was in 5th and the player to my right (lifesagrind) was in 4th. He had been fairly aggressive and was buying blinds on a regular basis. I look down to JJ when he puts in a 3x BB bet. I re-raise to hopefully take down the pot pre-flop, and he goes all in. . . Now let's stop right here. This is where I play the worst. I have said it before and I will say it again: I can play up until about 50% of the field is gone, and I can play after we are in the money. But, I suck in between there. I feel like I bubble or get close to the bubble and then go out a lot. Or I go out somewhere in the middle to late rounds. This hand is a prime example of why. I cannot lay down JJ here. I instacall, and here are my beetches smiling at me. QQ holds up and IGHN. Terrible play by me. I mean really, what could he have shoved with that I was dominating? 1010? 99? AK? If he has AK, I am only a 57% favorite. Not a huge advantage to put my tournament on the line with 1 place left to the final table and 3 left to the money. You tell me if you think it would be too passive to lay down those Jacks. I think I should have evaluated longer and I could have thrown the fishhooks away. Oh well.



I'm sorry to the players involved in those hands that I didn't link to. If you post a comment here, I will link you. I was so upset at going out 10th, that I immediately deleted all the screen shots and hand histories that I had been saving. What can I say? Frustration.

Congratulations to jeciimd for taking down 1st place and earning the first seat into the Tournament of Champions.

Don't forget to play tonight at 9pm on FTP:

Online Cheaters?

Today, I read on Alan's site about a situation at Absolute Poker where a player wins a $1,000 tournament and may have know everyone else's hole cards throughout the tournament.

Check out this article and this blog.

This is some scary SHIT! I am not sure if I should believe it yet or not, but it definitely makes me want to NOT risk any real sizable money in online poker.

Donkey is me

Since Friday night, I am right at breakeven from poker. Although I do have a $75 token now for the Big Game Sunday night. So I guess I am up $75.

I tried to get this token first in the token frenzy last night. A loose player at my table who liked to steal the blinds raised 3xBB from middle position while I was on the button. I look down to A10o/s. This is definitely a hand I do not want to see a flop with. I am only going to play this hand 10% of the time I get it. But I knew this raiser could be on ATC, and most likely I was ahead here. In an effort to take the pot down and not see a flop, I shove. SB folds and BB folds. The loose player thinks and finally calls. We were just about even in chips, but he had me slightly covered. He flips over 10d8d. I am dominating here (66% favorite) and can't believe he called. One diamond comes on the flop. One more diamond on the turn. And one more on the river takes me out of the tournament. GG. BM (that's Beeee lowMe).

I played a TierII SNG for $26. Top 5 of 18 win a $75 token. I finished top 5 so now have my token for a total cost of $41. Not bad.

I donked up the Mookie last night (out before the first break) and then donked some chips off at a cash table with LJ, Alan, and some other bloggers. In one hand, I raised with JJ and Alan re-raised me all in. I put him on KK, but like the donkey I am, I could not find the fold button. I did find the call button and made a nice donation to the "RecessRampage for president" campaign fund. And yes, he did have KK.

The night before, I donked off a nice stack to Buddydank. I sometimes think I play different when I'm with bloggers. More aggressive? Too much chasing? Assume they are pushing with air? Whatever it is, it costs me a lot to sit at those "VIP" tables.

Luckily, last night I was playing .25/.50 on another cash table, sans bloggers. I managed to run $50 up to about $180 and paid back all my losses for the week. So now I am break even for the week, plus I have my buy in for Sunday night's Big Game. Overall, I am up 625% since loading into FTP in June. Hope the streak continues.

Don't forget to check out this site for all the details on BBT2. Hope to see you there...

I just found this picture really funny

Monday night live poker

A friend of a friend had a "fundraiser" tournament Monday night that I played in, along with Hawkette. 56 players, $55 buy in. Pays top 3 places. Normally, I would not play somewhere that doesn't pay top 10% but this was a fundraiser, and I knew several of the players from the industry I am in. They also raffled off several donated prizes and had free beer and food for the first hour.



Now, if you have ever played in a charity or fundraiser tournament (I play in 2 or 3 a year), you know it is very different from any other tournament. You have players that are uncles or friends of the organizers or "donors", that will pay the money as a donation and then sit and "learn" hold'em as they go. There is nothing wrong with that, except when they play 23 o/s all in and beat your KQo/s. . . Actually, I Keeed. They are great to have at your table because you can time your plays right to win big pots and build your chip stack with relative ease.

In these same tournaments you will have the "shark-wannabees" that show up to prove that they should be playing with the pros in Vegas and will just have to take down this little tournament in the meantime. They can be very annoying with their raise 5x BB 8 out of 10 hands in a row. Again, you can take down some nice pots when you do get some cards.

At my first table, starting on my immediate left, we have Mr. Mouth ("man, I love these cards, but not enough to call that big bet"). Miss Knows-how-to-play-but-not-how-to-bet. A Weak Male player. A Calling Station. An Online Donkey complete with ipod and earbuds. An Aggro-idiot. And then an Aggro-donkey. Now this last player, the Aggro-donkey was actually a pretty decent player. He ended up telling me he lived in Vegas for six months and tried to go pro, but he couldn't limit his spending in Vegas. He couldn't have been older than 24. He would raise a minimum 4xBB and most times 5 or 6xBB. And he raised early and often. I was fortunate he was to my right and not left. He definitely ran the tempo of the table. When he would leave to smoke and miss 4 or 5 hands, the whole table slowed down and actually saw some flops.

Some notable hands: I got Kc3c from cutoff and I bet 3xBB to steal the blinds. Calling station does what he does best: calls. Flop comes Ac10c3d. CS bets out 1/3 of pot, and I raise to a pot sized bet to attempt a steal, again. The CS thinks for a long time and eventually folds. Must have had a 10?

As5s from button, and again I attempt a steal. CS calls me. Flop is 2s3sJc. I have nut flush draw and straight flush draw. I bet pot sized bet and CS calls. Turn is Ad, so I now have TPWK so I bet pot sized bet, CS calls. River is a Qd which scares me that he was chasing the straight. I check, he checks and shows KingJackoff for 3rd pair. I win the pot with Aces.

I get KQo/s on the button and CS (UTG) limps in. Online Donkey (UTG +1) limps, fold, fold, I bet 3x BB. SB folds, Miss Knowhowtoplaynothowtobet (BB) calls and is all in. CS and OD fold. She flips over 23o/s. 3 on the flop holds up and I miss out on a $1600 pot while blinds are 150/300.

One hand, I get 82o/s in SB. Easy fold hand, but in these tournaments I really should broaden my range when given an opportunity to limp in. CS limps, fold, fold, I fold and Mr. Mouth (BB) checks. Flop comes 8K2 rainbow. CS bets, Mouth calls. 2 on the turn. I almost fell backwards out of my chair. CS bets big now (surely on a very strong K10) and Mouth folds. I miss another big pot opportunity.

Online Donkey was first one to go out when he realized we had a calling station and got "caught" all in with 2nd pair. CS had top pair -not a drawing hand as the OD thought. Buh-Bye.

I try to limit my aggression to when the Aggro Donkey is on breaks. Luckily, he took a lot of them. I did try to push back on him once when he was stealing my BB from the SB and he simply went "all in". He had me covered and I had to fold my re-steal with junk hand.

AD took a big hit when he got caught stealing against the CS. CS was playing A2 when two 2's hit the flop. AD put the CS all in and then doubled him up when his draw from the flop did not improve over the set of 2's. That was a 19,000 pot to the CS. Surely, I could work some of that out of his hands. Consequently, the AD was out very soon afterwards.

I took Mr.Mouth out when I limped from the SB with A2o/s. Flop comes AAQ and I check. M&M goes all in and I instacall. He says "oh no. you must have one of 'dem bullets. you tricked me." His 88 does not improve.

The people running the tournament had no experience and struggled to keep the tournament running efficiently. My wife's table actually played 3 hands over a 45 minute period (while we played several hands) and they ended up skipping an entire blind. Some people were getting ignorant and complaining. I let it go, since it was a fundraiser. By the time we got down to 13 players, we had been playing for 4 1/2 hours. From 56 to 13 in 4 1/2 hours was just way too long. I was getting shortstacked relative to the blinds (1500/3000). The guys running the tournament sped up the blinds because it was lasting too long. A knee-jerk reaction which made things worse, IMO. I think the average chip stack at our table now was 15,000 and so we were just pushing chips back and forth to each other. "All in", fold, fold, fold then deal again. This happened several times as few people wanted to risk a 1/4 of their stack just to see a flop.

I have a new guy to my left who is short stacked and goes all in with AJo/s and does get a caller. Caller has 88, but an A on the flop doubles the short stack. A couple of hands later someone raises to 3x BB (6000bet) and guyonmyleft goes all in and buys a nice pot. Now he is chip leader at our table. The very next hand, I am in the cutoff and look down to see 33. With 10,500 in chips, I can't see calling or minraising to see a flop, so I shove and guytomyleft instacalls with AQo/s. Ace on the flop and I am out 13th. Don't you play 33 there also? I figured I only had two orbits left in me and could possibly steal the blinds here. Only the Calling station and the Weak Male Player were left from my original table.

Hawkette actually lasted a few hands longer than me. She had been sitting to my immediate right when we got down to two tables. She had 2500 in chips when the 4000 BB came to her so she went all in with "the Doyle". She was not as fortunate as Mr. Brunson so went out in 10th place.

We were actually glad to be going home as it was almost midnight and we told the grandparents we would be home around 11pm to get the kids. All in all, it was a long night, but we were happy the money was going to help some kids sports team.

World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

Hand I went out on: I am on the button(9000). There is a Super loose player in BB (40,000). UTG limps, player to my immediate right (30,000) limps and I go all in 10xBB with QQ. This is really a steal attempt with the exception that the BB may call me with ATC. SB folds, BB instacalls, UTG folds and player to my right thinks, but eventually calls. Flop comes AK3. I know I am dead. The other two throw chips back and forth and at showdown: Superloose in BB had K10o/s and player to my right wins with A9o/s (pair of Aces won).

Now to the good stuff. Freakin'amazin'AL has hooked us up (by saying "us", I am assuming I will be winning a blogger tourney in the next 8 weeks).

Click here for all the details. The bottom line is extra free goodies from FTP for playing in the blogger tourneys. So cool! So if you like to earn points like this guy and I do and if you want some extra prizes on top of your winnings, then make sure to play in the BBT2 Aussie Millions Challenge.

First game is this Sunday: Check it out!

10 Things you didn't really need to know

1) I had my first child (a boy) when I was 17. I never married his mom (I agreed to, but her mom said no- as she was afraid she would not finish high school if she got married), but he has been in my life ever since. He is 21 now and drives to get me beer when I need it.

2)I got my girlfriend pregnant right at college graduation. I thought the right thing to do was to go ahead and agree to marry her (Wife #1). We lived together for less than a year. That child (Boy #2) has been in my life ever since. He is now 16 and he has physical skills I could never have imagined to possess.

3)When I was 25 I met a woman who turned everybody's head in every room she entered. We ended up dating. She begged me to marry her and I finally agreed (wife #2). She had said she would be open to having children (I wanted kids that I could spend every day with - not every other weekend). Shortly after we got married it was obvious she did not have the patience for kids (not even for every other weekend kids). She was jealous of the time I spent with my kids. Then she said she never wants to have any of her own and the marriage fizzled from there. She was the one who said "Lester: you’re gonna spill beer on the couch."

4)5 ½ years ago, I met a girl through work and really had a weird (good) feeling about her. She had a 1 year old son (Boy #3). The night of our first date, I knew I wanted to marry her (wife #3). She was the first woman I ever asked to marry me (the others asked me, or we said "I guess we better get married"). We have been married for 4 years now and I still think she is the most beautiful and sexy woman I have ever met!

5)I had another child (#4 boy) when I was 37. My wife was so happy, she started persisting how badly she wanted another and I said it better be now or never. So now I have a 2 year old and a 1 year old (child #5 and Girl #1). I love them both dearly, but I tell everyone to wait 3 years or more between children. I change diapers and then change diapers and then change diapers. I don't know how people with twins or triplets do it.

6)I have worked in the financial industry doing 100% commission sales for the last 16 years. For the last 6 years I have been doing residential home mortgage sales. If you want the inside skinny on your mortgage loan, email me. I know all the tricks and BS that loan officers play.

7)My dad worked as a salesman his whole life. I always said "I will never be a salesman, like my dad". Now I am the top "sales" loan officer in my company of 22 loan officers and I *edited*. I make more money than any other salesperson in the company and I cannot wait to *edited*. My company will *edited*, though.

8)My job has always been to listen to people, figure out what they REALLY want, and then give them what I want them to have and make it appear to be what they want. That is just what “sales” is, but I am really good at reading people. That helps me in poker, of course. I think that is why I enjoy poker so much, because you have to read your opponent and give them what you think they want to see. I love figuring out what someone has and then they are like "how did you know what my cards were???". Duh!

9)I used to feel that I was good at many things but not great at any one thing. Now I feel I am GREAT at being good at many things...

10)I don’t get hangovers. Really! I can drink all night (15-20 beers), go to sleep at 2am, then get up and go to work at 7am. You would think that is great, but it is really a curse. You know how people say “I was so drunk last night. I am not drinking again for a MONTH!”? That never happens to me. I did drink for 24 hours straight one time in college and then my whole body “ached” for 2 days. I don’t do that anymore.

I think everyone has done this, but in case you haven't, I'll tag jusdealem.
I have to say that I really enjoy reading everyone that I linked to on my site. If you stumbeled onto this site, you should really be reading MiamiDon, Alan, Waffles, LJ and the others.

Stay patient...

These hands really happen

Full Tilt Poker Game #3829931471: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (29165005), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:30:51 ET - 2007/10/12 Seat 1: gbaby13 (1,140) Seat 2: water54 (3,070) Seat 3: jamyhawk (2,340) Seat 4: bakz98 (1,515) Seat 6: mattymay (935)
water54 posts the small blind of 40
jamyhawk posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jamyhawk [8c Ah]<-- Not a premium hand by any means.
bakz98 raises to 185<--Stealing my blinds. Has been doing it the whole tournament.
mattymay folds
gbaby13 folds
water54 folds
jamyhawk calls 105<--I'll see a flop and assume any Ace puts me ahead.
*** FLOP *** [2d 7s As]<--I like it. I don't like the two spades, but I believe I am ahead here.
jamyhawk checks<--intend to check raise.
bakz98 bets 560<--his usual overbet to take the pot down. 560 bet into 410 pot?
jamyhawk raises to 2,090<--take that, villian. You're not stealing from me this time.
bakz98 has 15 seconds left to act
bakz98 calls 770, and is all in<--uh oh, he might actually have an Ace.
jamyhawk shows [8c Ah]
bakz98 shows [6s 6h]<--SWEET! What an idiot. 3rd pair? And he puts his tournament on the line? Very nice!
Uncalled bet of 760 returned to jamyhawk
*** TURN *** [2d 7s As] [6c]<--Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh! The insanity!
*** RIVER *** [2d 7s As 6c] [4c]
jamyhawk shows a pair of Aces
bakz98 shows three of a kind, Sixes
bakz98 wins the pot (3,070) with three of a kind, Sixes <--At least I still have chips and now I know I can take him down. If he will call all in with third pair, I just need to be patient and will take him down. ***I ended up donking out in 5th place. He finished in 4th. I'll get him next time.
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,070 Rake 0
Board: [2d 7s As 6c 4c]
Seat 1: gbaby13 (button) didn't bet (folded) Seat 2: water54 (small blind) folded before the Flop Seat 3: jamyhawk (big blind) showed [8c Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces Seat 4: bakz98 showed [6s 6h] and won (3,070) with three of a kind, Sixes Seat 6: mattymay didn't bet (folded)

Mookie Money

Well I finally cashed in the Mookie. I had a lot of fun. I did suck out a couple of times, but also took a big hit on this hand: I played QQ all in preflop to 10Jo/s. Flop comes with a Q, but villian gets his straight. I also made a lot of laydowns. I folded 55 to an all in bet when I already had a third of my chips in the pot. Pot odds may have been screaming to call, but I wasn't putting my tournament on the line with 55. Sorry fuel55. I just couldn't do it. At least in this situation, I just felt I was beat or would get sucked out on.

I didn't get many hand histories or screen shots, since I was playing on my wife's HP Laptop. I hate HP (at least compared to my Dell's I have owned), so I try to just do the minimum I can while I am awaiting a new battery for my Dell.

Congratulations to Perticelli55 for taking down 1st, millerd33 for taking 2nd, and kaellinn18 for taking 3rd.

Hope to see you all there next week.

I have been on a roll lately and have doubled my bankroll in the last week. Prior to that, I had taken a 25% downswing. The real key to increasing your bankroll was said best by MiamiDon (I believe it was him): Maximize your winnings, and minimize your losses. We will all get sucked out on, and we will all win a coin flip half the time (or should be half the time). But if you can get the most money into the pot when you have the nuts, and get the least amount in to see your draws, you will come out +EV. I know this is obvious, but I have really been focusing on this and it is paying off. A bad week and I take a 25% downswing and then a good week I take a 100% upswing; now that is +EV.

Really think about that. Are you pushing all in with 2 players ahead of you already all in and the nut flush draw. Hoping to hit your draw and stack 2 donkeys does sound appealing but it is not +EV. Are you pushing all in with TPTK because you are playing a maniac? Learning to check and to control the size of the pot is one of my new focuses and it is really paying off for me. Don't get me wrong, I don't play TAG, and good steals are essential to profiting in ring games, but learning where the fold and the check buttons are has helped me move in a positive direction.

Thanks for tagging me Alan. I'll have to work on that one later....

Stay patient.

Friday Night Lights Week 6

This week, the coach finally decided to make Cal the featured kickoff returner. The first kickoff, he returned for 30yards; a respectable return. Then on the next one, he did what he does best: 94 yard return for a touchdown! It was nice to see. This was only the second kickoff return he has had all year and he took it to the house.

Unfortunately, the team they were playing ran all over them. By halftime, the score was 34-7. After Cal's big return, the other team started kicking away from him. He did get to run one more back in the 4th quarter, but was held to only 15 yards.

He had 2 rushes in the game for 11 and -3 yards. He also had a 14 yard pass reception on a 4th and 11. He is a playmaker, yet they are still barely giving him the ball. He touched the ball 6 times and had solid yardage and one touchdown. This was definitely his best game yet.

The other team smoked them, 41-21. They got burned on big pass plays and big runs. They don't have any speed in the secondary, so as soon as a running back gets past the line of scrimmage, no one can catch them. The coach acknowledged that at practice Monday and moved Cal to starting cornerback. They need someone with speed that can keep up with the receivers and run down a speedy running back and save a touchdown. When I coached Cal, he always played Safety as our speedster that could save a touchdown if someone ever broke loose. He is familiar with that role, but will have to adjust to the positioning necessary to be a successful cornerback.

Oh, and then there was this:

Free Song downloads

Have you seen this? Click here for the story of a Minnesota woman who was convicted of "illegal file sharing". Basically, she was using Kazaa (or limewire, or bittorent, or etc...) to download songs and upload songs to other users of that software.

The great thing about these types of software is that only 1 person has to go out and purchase the song, then they make it available to everyone else to download for free. That's right: FREE. The bad thing is that the label companies are only getting paid for the song once instead of potentially 100's of times from the other users that would want to listen to it.

Now PC's were just becoming popular when I was in college, so I bought every "record" I listened to in high school. I did occasionally record a song from the radio onto my cassette tapes and then played them back later, but the quality was poor at best. And I certainly didn't mass produce the tapes for all my friends to take home and enjoy. So I always paid for a song if I wanted to listen to it over and over and not wait for it to come on the radio.

What I really find interesting is today's kids (12-18yrs old) have always had computers and they have always shared files. Unless some parent figure or role model told them specifically that it is wrong, they have downloaded files from these software programs for free. And to be perfectly honest with you, I never thought to have that conversation with my kids. Now I am starting to look at this and it is obvious that I have to pick a side and make a stance and make it known to my children which side of the fence we will (or should) stand on.

I see that the label companies lose money (they estimate billions are lost just from illegal file sharing of music files), but that really doesn't bother me. I think more so about the artists themselves. If you are busting your ass to get a CD out there, and make a living as a musician, doesn't this cut into their profit? Many file sharing advocates will argue that they will find artists for free that they would never had heard if they had to go into a store and buy a CD unheard. And then they will see a band live, even though they have never "purchased" a CD from them. The artists will still make money from touring and merchandise.

My thoughts right now are to choose not to download files from these "sharing" programs. At least my family won't be running any out of my house. But I do believe that there will be a big shift in how music is sold/shared/or distributed because of what I am seeing in the kids growing up today. Maybe the label companies could drop the prices on a CD to make it more accessible to a broader market. I do like the fact that you can now buy individual songs, instead of having to get the whole CD. Anyway, what do you think? I'm very interested to know.

22

Here they are. The first 4 were within 8 hands of each other (and about 15 minutes). They were all during one session (over only 2 hours) and I only lost with 1 out of all of them. I thought it was weird, but it just kept coming....

Depends on the RNG

With K4sooooted, my opponent raises 4x BB. Flop comes 844 and I have to put him on over cards. I check, he checks. Next is a Q that matches me and I lose a few more bucks for matching up, but had the cards fell as a girls best friend, I would have stacked him. With A high flop, I take an early pot. You just never know...

Mookie and Dookie

First the Mookie. I really suck when I get down to the final 20% of the field. Especially if I have a lot of chips. Does that make sense? I tend to get overly aggressive and end up in too many pots. I figure people will start folding to get through the bubble. Not the case. I was chip leader briefly with around 13 players left, and I went out 10th. Very disappointing.


Congratulations to SoCo Al for taking down first! See everyone again next week.



The Dookie was a different story. Turbo Razz. I really like Razz but Turbo is hard. You have to just get in as much money as you can with any 3 starting cards all 8 and under. For example, if your starting cards are A58, start raising hard. You can always back off, since it is a limit game. Also, pay attention to what cards are showing for your opponents. You can steal once in a while with a hand like KK2, if your 2 is face up and everyone else's up card is 8 and higher. Like any tournament, you have to luckbox a few hands to win (or take 2nd). I did win a Razz hand with quad 4's (that wasn't what I used for the low, of course).
Congratulations to leftylu! He has won in consecutive weeks the Mookie, the Mookie, and the Dookie. . . I think from now on I shall call him the MooMooDook.

DQB

I've registered

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 8725394

See you there!

Don't forget tonight

http://www.buddydank.com/radio/playing.html

Would you fold this?

I couldn't and therefore, was out of the MATH 12th... Arrrrrrrggggghhhhh!

Friday Night Lights Week 5

Cal's team lost a close one on Saturday. It was their homecoming. Once again, the coach didn't play Cal until the 4th quarter. His team was down 14-10, and the starting running back was limping, so the coach put Cal in, and put in the second string quarterback, Pierce (a running QB). The other team had been jamming the middle with their entire defense and the outside runs were open all day (only the coach wasn't calling the outside plays). So they had been struggling to get a good running game going; up until this drive.

Pierce ran 4 times for 31 yards, and Cal took one outside for a 13 yard run, and they were driving the other teams defense backwards down the field. Then Pierce handed the ball to Cal on an option play, but Cal thought Pierce was taking it back and he fumbled. He never clamped down on the ball, and the other team recovered. Of course, Cal was devastated. The coach quickly chewed his ass out, and never put him back in the game.

In reality, it had little effect on the outcome. The defense stopped that drive, so no points were scored on the turnover. The offense drove down (with several big passing plays) and scored the go ahead touchdown on the next possession. Then the defense gave up several big passing plays, allowing the other team to kick the game winning field goal with 7 seconds left in the game. They lost 16-17.

Cal still felt he caused them to lose the game. He has never had a problem fumbling before, but I know he puts so much pressure on himself to be perfect on every play since he gets so little playing time, that he isn't playing his best. Does that make sense? This has been such a reversal from previous years.

One thing I think it obvious, is that these coaches are not going to play him on his skills (speed) alone. He needs to work harder than he has in the past, to get playing time. Just doing the practices is not enough. He needs to show initiative, prove that he is trying to learn, and sell himself to the coaches. I have always taught him to let his actions speak for him, but he also needs to let the coaches know that he is confident and able. Coaches in the past have built their offenses around him because they knew that giving him 20+ carries a game will get them 2-3 TD's. Now he has to work hard to just get some playing time and also overcome the reputation as a fumbler.

His friends and him say how the coach is a "Dick" and that he plays his "favorites" regardless of who is better in that position. But I think this is a good lesson for Cal in that you need to overcome all odds to be successful, and sometimes that is more than just being better than the competition. You have to work harder and smarter. And you need to find a way to work "WITH" the coach, not against him, regardless of how much of a dick you think he is.

I also told Cal that he should go to the coach today and tell him: "I will not fumble again. It will not happen, so you can trust me." Cal said "I don't like talking to the coaches". That right there is the attitude that is keeping him from starting. I don't think he is disrespectful to the coaches, but he is not showing them that extra effort that makes them say "He's not the biggest, he's not the fastest or the strongest, but he's going to give you all he has." (that's an actual quote from the head coach two weeks ago in the suburban journals about the starting running back). I bet they can sense that Cal doesn't respect/like them. That is why they don't play him until they have to, or they pull him quickly when he makes a mistake.

I told Cal last night that he only has 5 games left this season and he still has his own destiny in his hands. He can turn things around by not only working hard at performing, but also working hard at building a relationship with the coaches so that they will trust that he is "playing for the team". "And believe me: it will be a long senior year if you are still bitching that the head coach is playing favorites, even though you are more talented than the other starters."

It will be interesting to see how he reacts over the next week. I plan on talking to him quite a bit about how things are going in practices. I sure do miss when I was coaching him and could see everything going on. I'm sure I will bore you with the details. Next up is a road trip to play the Spartans of Hazelwood East -MiamiDon's Alma Mater.

Oh, and congratulations to elljay for taking down the Friday night Donkarama. A first place finish in a blogger tournament should still be a nice feather in the cap, even for a playa' like elljay.

I went out of the raketherake freeroll early with TPTK to AA. I am such the donkey. Usually, you see a lot of trash played in the freerolls. I can't tell you how many 2nd pair or top pair with shitty kicker hands I saw people winning with. Then I run my top pair all the way to the river, only to lose to slow played pocket rockets. That asshole will lose more times than not, playing AA that way. Oh well. I'll get 'em next time.

Until then, stay patient...