Finally did something in my monthly tournament. It is the 5th of 13 so I still have time, but I finally made the final table. I was hitting cards last night. Bummer was that I didn't get paid off on them.

At my first table I hit a set of Kings, two pair with AK, a nut flush on the turn, and a set of 2's. Not once did I show down. Every single time, I won with a bet. I have felt like everyone calls no matter what I bet over the last 4 tournaments, but last night was the opposite. I never had to show anything.

I ended up going out 7th with A2 sooooooooooted, when I shoved into AKoff. I had maybe 3 big blinds at the time and was getting killed by ante's.

Hawkette finished 6th. She is now in 1st place. <------ check that. YES. She is in 1st place out of 36 people. Taking it to the dudes! After 5 tournaments, she has more points than anyone else. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Way to go honey!

I even made money in the cash game afterwards. It was a very good night for me indeed.

Hope the tables are treating you right.

"There was one?"

What an incredibly awesome quote from a movie I haven't seen in probably over 10 years. Do you know it? The line before it is: "Son; There ain't no draft no more".

Anyway, I've been super swamped with fooball and life. I got home last night from football at 9pm and the whole house was dark. My wife and toddlers had already gone to sleep. I hate that. It sucks to leave for work early in the morning and get home after everyone is asleep. Maybe once in a while isn't bad, but 3 nights a week I do it now.

Of course, I volunteered so it's my own fault. Coaching is fun. I love watching these kids learn. It's fun to see how far they can go. Most of my kids have never played football; a lot of them have never even watched it. So to see them go out and run plays now, is awesome. I just hope we can be competitive on the field. We have 6 out of 22 kids that have played before and most of the other teams we play have the opposite ratio (6 new kids and 22 experienced). But we are progressing.

Tomorrow night is my 3rd "wannabe poker series" tournament. I fared better in the 2nd one lasting all the way until 12th. Hawkette finished 5th and is now ranked 8th on the leaderboard. It's a long season, so no worries here. Wish me luck.

Did anybody do any good on Fulltilt Poker this weekend? It seems a lot of people did. I increased my bankroll by 75%, I have a friend that hit a big tourney for 7K, and another that won almost $1200 in a $75 SNG. It's great to hear when people are doing good.

I just drafted for fantasy football. It was so bad, I'm not even sure I can post it on here for critique this year. I'm in two different leagues and it appears I will do poorly in both. But..... I made some great waiver wire moves last year and took FIRST PLACE in one, so who knows what will happen.

Hope the tables treat you right! Stay patient....

Main Event Seat

2 tournaments to go. These last two will be tight, tight, tight.... Points winner gets WSOP main event seat and 2k travel expenses. I just need to hold position now to win.

BACK TO BACK

I won my monthly "Wanna Be WSOP" tournament. 10 tournaments so far and I have taken 1st in the last 2. It pushes me clearly into 1st, but I still have 2 more tournaments to finish to get the 10K buy in.

Wish me luck....

Getting closer to the WSOP

Only 3 tournaments left to determine who gets the seats to the WSOP. First in points gets $10,000 seat and $2,000 spending cash. 2nd and 3rd get $1500 seats and some spending cash. I am the money leader but not the points leader. Damn these points based tournaments.... LOL

Domo Arigoto Mr Roboto

The internet is truly amazing. I want to build my itunes library with more songs from my high school days, including one hit wonders. I just google search classic rock playlists from 1980-1985 and *POOF*: I have it. Lists of songs, some of which I have forgotten (and some I will forget again).

I've played almost as much live poker as online over the last few weeks. How's it going? Let's see:
1)18 players -finished 9th
2)13 players -finished 1st
3)27 players -finished 12th
4)20 players -finished 18th

The 27 player tournament is my monthly WSOP wanna be tournament. We have played 8 of 12 tournaments and I am ranked 4th (disappointing to say the least). Top 3 spots will get a buy in to the WSOP this year (1st gets the Main Event -the other two get $1500 buy ins). It's an interesting series to say the least, because you have to focus on winning the monthly tournament, but also try to get as many points as possible each month. Sometimes your decisions will be different depending on which you are focusing on at any given moment. I have won enough money to cover 10 of the 13 buy ins, so that helps. We finish up in April with a "2 tournaments in one day" extravaganza.

I was looking at Party Poker the other day, which is one of the best UK poker sites on the net. I heard a rumor that they might be opening up play to the United States players again. We still talk about how "juicy" it was playing there. . Anyone else heard anything on this?

Anyway, looks like it's back to work. Stay patient....

Live poker is so RIGGGGED!

So rigged. I played in my monthly WSOP wannabe tournament last night. I was card dead for the first hour, but managed to stay right at my starting stack amount. There were several "good" players at my starting table, but what tilted me was the calling station. She was calling every pre-flop raise and then most post flop bets. Worse than that, she was getting slapped on the ass by the deck. It was banging her hard!

I'll save the miserable details of the 5 straights and 1 flush she hit. The first big hand I lost to her I had AQ and bet preflop and every street. She called every bet and then bet out on the river. I had to call to see, and she flipped over 84off for a rivered straight.

A few hands later, I picked up QQ UTG+1. Blinds were 100/200 so I raised to 700 (that left me about 900 in chips). She was in the SB and was my only caller. The flop came Q106 rainbow. She checked and I did as well. Next card was a J. She bet into me and I re-raised all in. She quickly called and said "I hope you don't have a Queen". She flipped over 108 off for the pair of 10's. The dealer flipped over the river 9 and started pushing the chips to me. I pointed out the straight as I threw up all over the table.... BLECHHHHHHHHHHHH.

OK. So I didn't throw up, but I wanted to. She was out of the tournament a few rounds later, as she couldn't suck out every time.

So I ask: Is it more frustrating to get outplayed or to get sucked out on?

I say getting sucked out on. If someone outplays me, shame on me. I will learn from that though. If I outplay someone and then get sucked out on, I learn NOTHING! So frustrating.

And the worst news of all of this, is that I drop to 2nd place overall in the standings. I can make it back up. I just hate to lose... As I'm sure you do too.

Stay patient....

Live tournament time again

Tonight was the once a month live tournament that I play in. I really don't want to bore you with details: I finished 5th, and stayed in first place overall after the first 3 tournaments.

But I did want to discuss a couple of hands. I hit a set of 4's twice. The first time there was a 349 rainbow on the board. I checked and (super loose) player bet into me. I think it was about 1/2 the pot. I had him covered but not by much. Now here was my tough decision. I put him on two overcards. Do you call and hope he hits a top pair, or re-raise in case he has the straight draw and take him out of the hand right there or race him for your tournament life if he calls? That's question #1.

Question #2: Player under the gun (super-aggro) bets 2x BB and I was BB with 44. I called. Flop is KQ4 rainbow. I check, he checks. turn is an 8. Do you bet here or try to induce a bluff from the super-aggo that probably bets on 90% of the pots he is involved in? And if you bet, how much (I have him covered by a margin of about 2-1)?

Question #3: This is an easy one. 5 handed and you have 12K in chips. UTG player has 13K in chips and bets 4K into 1k/2k blinds. You are next to act with JJ. You are 4th in chips with 5th at about 5K in chips. What do you do? Raise all in? Call? Fold?

You can answer what you would do now and then comment on what you think about what I did.... Scroll down for results of the hands











Question 1 result: I called and then checked the turn 6. He checked behind. The river was a 5 completing the straight draw and I bet all in (dumb on my part). Anything I beat won't call, anything I will instacalls. But he folded and I won. It did disguise the fact that I slow played a set from the flop.

Qeustion 2 result: I checked the turn and so did the super aggro. River was a 3 and I bet 4K. He tanked hard and couldn't figure out how that card helped me so he called with Ace high.

Question 3 result: I said easy answer because looking back, I could have called the UTG raise putting him on several Ace or King combinations and try to see the pot. My read on him was any Ace. I actually raised all in, MP called with QQ and UTG called with AK. Flop produced an Ace and I went out 5th.

I'm still in first place overall after 3 tournaments, with the top person after 13 tournaments getting a Main Event buy in next year and travel expenses. Hope the tables are treating you good!

Stay patient....

Some hands from a live game

Last night was round 2 of our 13 tournaments to win a buyin to the WSOP ME. 27 players, once a month, half the money is paid out at the tournament, the other half is paid out as prize packages at the end of the year.

Some notable hands last night for me:

-2nd hand of the tournament, I am on the BB with QQ. 5 limpers to me and I make it 5xbb to stay in. I get 1 caller from the SB: Chasing Charlie. Flop comes Jack high with 2 spades and no straight draws. He leads out for 3/4 of the pot, I min raise him which basically commits me to the pot with the small amount I leave behind (I have no intention of folding; I'm trying to draw him into the pot). I am barely a favorite if he has the A or K of spades soooooted, but well ahead if he has any pair. I think AA or KK reraises me preflop -although in these tournaments, everyone tries to be sneaky and slow play. He tanks forever -keep in mind it is 2nd hand only and finally comes over me all in. I call and he shows KJ no flush draw. He doesn't improve and I double on the 2nd hand.

-A few of hands later, I raise from the Cutoff with KJ soooooted and the SB calls. Flop comes AKJ with no flush draw. SB raises, I reraise him all in, and he insta calls with A8 off suit. My two pair holds up and I am now the chip leader of the tournament.

-I ride this chipstack for quite a while. This is a hard tournament to run over the table because there are very few people that can lay down a hand. So you better be able to beat 2nd pair and make sure your opponent doesn't hit a draw to win a hand. I actually have several hands hold up with top pair to beat draws and this helps me make the final table. I am in the middle of the pack chipwise.

-The final table took what seemed forever for the first player to go out. Every time someone would go all in, they would end up doubling up. My stack went up and down, but eventually I managed to catch a couple of thieves trying to steal blinds and took them out with Ace high hands.

-Down to the final 2, and the chip leader has me 3-1. I begin maximum aggression and go all in almost every hand. She folds to every all in until I have almost a 2-1 chip lead. I go all in with 1010 and she wakes up with QQ. Queens hold and I have to work to chip up again.

-I decide to slow things down a bit and see if I can outplay her post-flop and it works. I see a few pots and bet aggressively after the flop and get the chip lead again. Then on a KQ3 flop, I go all in and she calls with Q9. I show Q6 and drop down again. I managed to get a chip lead again and we both limp in to see a J56 flop. I'm holding 107 and check as she does behind. Turn is a 7 and I move all in. She instacalls with 89: the straight. This pretty much crippled me to 10,000 in chips with 2500/5000 blinds.

-Very next hand, I go all in for 10,000 with A8off, and she calls with 96 off. 9 on the flop and I go home 2nd place. I was disappointed but overall, happy that I did finish 2nd.

-I saw QQ once, JJ once, and 1010 once. I had AK once, AQ twice and several AJ. I won big hands with 33 twice, KJ sooted, QQ, AJ, A5sooted and K2 sooted. I never had AA or KK.

After finishing 2nd and then 3rd last tournament, I am in 1st place in the standings. Only 11 more tournaments to go. Yikes! Gotta stay patient...

Saint Louis at the Final Table

Congratulations to one of my "locals" from Saint Louis: Dennis Phillips. He made the final table of the main event.



No. I don't know him, but I'm sure over the next 16 weeks, I'll find the 6 degrees or less I know of him.

In other weird news, check out this story. Here's a small snippet from the Pokernews website:

"In fact, PokerNews was looking forward to and expected a large number of sponsorship offers from the world's biggest poker rooms – Tiffany's career was about to explode and we could not have been more proud for her. Therefore, we are incredibly disappointed with Tiffany and her agent's lack of respect and professionalism. We are currently seeking legal council on this entire situation and potential damages to PokerNews."

Oh the drama the WSOP brings...

I will say that I couldn't tear myself away from the live coverage of the final 3 tables. Everyone at Pokernews did a great job. And a special congrats on a job well done to Change100 who I know from the blogger tournaments as well. I will definitely look forward to next year's coverage through Pokernews.


I play my 2nd tournament of 13 tomorrow night for a chance to get my buyin for 2009 WSOP ME. Wish me luck...

Stay patient...

Going to the Main Event (in 09)

S0me friends of mine put together a WSOP wanna-be contest and I decided to give it a try. The basics are this:
-1 tournament each month for 12 months at $110 buy-in and 1 wildcard tournament
-27 people commit to playing in every single tournament (or sending a sub)
-1/2 the money is paid out to each tournament's top 5 players
-1/2 the money is pooled for prizes based on total points after all tournaments
-prizes include WSOP packages: 1 ME seat and travel money and 4 $1500 seats plus travel money
-WSOP players will split winnings from the WSOP events (above the original buy-in amount) 50/50. 50% to player and 50% divided to 26 other tournament participants

I figured I am not going to buy in the Main Event. I may satellite in, but even then, I might take the cash if I could. This WSOP WB contest will force me to play if I win the seat. Conversely, if I don't win, it gives me some more people to follow closely (other than the bloggers I plan to follow this year).

I was concerned about playing a tournament each month and only being able to cash out half the winnings. If I don't finish with one of the prizes, then I wasted my buy-ins for tournaments with 1/2 the payouts I should be getting. But ultimately, I am a gambler and decided that I am going to win a WSOP seat. So I decided to play.

The intangibles are that I know a lot of the players and it will be fun. I usually can hold my own with them so have a decent shot of getting a lot of points. My goal is to win 2 of the 13 tournaments (the 13th is a wildcard tournament played the same day as the 12 tournament), and have all my buy-in's paid with my winnings. We will see.

So last night was the first one: I played pretty basic poker. Very positional, steals (no re-steals), and TAG. I had one huge pot just after we condensed down to two tables.

I'm dealt A6 in the BB. It folds around to the cutoff who is a new guy to my table. I have no idea who he is but he has a HUGE stack in front of him. He puts in a 3x BB open raise. The button (another new guy from the other table with a medium stack) calls and I decide to call with Ace rag. I probably should fold with the button calling, but I figured that gave me better odds to call (3-1) and I could get ahead with any Ace if these two guys have the wide range I think they do.

Flop comes AJ3 rainbow. I decide to raise and find out where I am. I put in a 90% pot bet and get called by the cutoff. Button folds.

Turn brings a 3. I bet 1/2 pot. He instantly shoves. Now I tank. For a long time. I'm thinking of the hands that re-raise my flop bet: AK, AQ, AJ, A3, JJ, or 33. He could be on a draw, but I'm not believing a shove to risk 3/4 of his stack would be wise this early in the tournament. He could even have a 3 in his hand which would make sense for him calling the flop bet, but that was a lot of chips to call for 2 outs. If I was in his position, with Ace rag I would shove. I convince myself that he is on an A10, A9 or some other Ace rag and I can't fold a split pot. I call and he shows:

K3

Damn! I hate when aggressive players get paid off -unless it's me.
As all of the air is leaving my body, the dealer flips the river over to reveal the Ace of clubs, giving me Aces-full and I double up. This was a HUGE hand that gave me $11,000 in chips when the average stack was $3500 (info courtesy of Tournament Director). SUCK OUT FOR ME! BOOOOOM!

I rode that stack of chips to the final table. A few steals, a few won pots and I finish the tournament in 3rd place. I was seriously card dead over the last hour of play. The eventual winner who sat to my immediate left was a card rack. He got pocket Kings 3 times at the final table, AK, AQ, KQ, and KJ. He also took players out with 47, J9 and eventually won the tournament with 68 sooted against QJ off. Congratulations Mr. Wallace for 1st and to Mrs. Loveless for 2nd.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. I'll keep you posted to see if I am going to the ME next year for free!

Check out WilWonka's site for other "better to be lucky than good" hands.

Until then, stay patient...