Nothing too exciting to relate. I played a bit too much poker over the last three days, working off assorted bonuses as quickly as possible. I think when your eyes start bleeding it should be taken as a sign to give it a bit of a rest.
I'm a little conflicted lately, in regards to poker. I need to find a better middle ground, as far as the time it consumes. I seem to swing from extreme to extreme, playing too much or not at all. I need to find a good home game, methinks, as I always enjoy that much more than playing online. I enjoy playing online, true, but it only begets more time in front of a computer, which I do enough of, as is. I wish I lived near a B&M casino. Maybe someday.
The first round of bonus whoring was pretty profitable, leaving me up about +$250 over the weekend. I hit up Party, Empire, Paradise (reload bonus), and Intertops. I like playing knowing that a certain amount of profit is locked in, as long as I play break-even poker. I would have done better if I didn't insist on dabbling in Omaha Hi/Lo a bit too much. I like Omaha but I need to face up to the fact that I'm just not very good at it. I'm just not disciplined enough with the starting hands I play, wasting way, way too many antes on hands I should just muck. I still need to hit up Absolute for some bonus monies, then I'll probably settle back into one site for awhile. Not really sure where that'll be. I'm sort of fond of Paradise lately, so it'll likely be there. The games aren't that much tougher than at Party, plus I like the tournament offerings more, and there are much fewer asswipe monkeys that love to heckle and abuse people via chat.
Finally managed to break out of a mini tournament slump yesterday, placing 8th (out of 557) in a $5 MTT Paradise tournament and winning two $10 SnGs. It's nice to get a few breaks from the poker gods, having your hands hold up and catching some breaks here and there. Lately that hasn't been the case for me in tournaments so hopefully things are swinging back around.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Just got back from a quick jaunt to Port Aransas with the wife-to-be. Yeah, I'm stubborn and refuse to employ usage of the word fiancee. That's on the top of my list of dumbest words ever. I mean, first off, it's all Frenchified. But even more troublesome is that I always forget which word refers to which person (fiance or fiancee). So I just steer clear of it entirely.
Port Aransas was interesting. I have to say that despite my initial misgivings about moving to Texas when I first moved here, I enjoy it more and more. Not to belabor the obvious, but it's such a freaking huge state, with such diverse territory, from coastal marshes to the wastelands of west Texas, and anything and everything in between. We went to an open house thing the Marine Science Institute (which is part of the UT system) held. Pretty cool, as they took you out in assorted research boats and let you play with assorted sea creatures and plant life.
For some odd reason I really like those semi-decrepit, way past their prime Texas coast towns. Galveston is probably my favorite, but there's something oddly pleasing to me about hanging out in marginal places like that, with huge old-school buildings and architecture, surrounded by the schlockiest little tourist traps and shacks imaginable.
Nothing exciting on the poker front. I've been bonus whoring it up good, hitting Party last week. I pissed away a bit of it playing some satellites for their cruise package tournaments, but I ended up +$200 when I cashed out yesterday after getting back from the mini-vacation. I basically played off the whole bonus on Friday (something like 700 raked hands), so that ain't bad. Pretty easy to play tight and multi-table .50/1 and just grind through the necessary number of raked hands. I popped the money back over to Paradise for their September reload bonus, then I'm off to Empire next. Boring, yes, but pretty profitable, especially since I've been grinding .50/1 lately anyway.
Port Aransas was interesting. I have to say that despite my initial misgivings about moving to Texas when I first moved here, I enjoy it more and more. Not to belabor the obvious, but it's such a freaking huge state, with such diverse territory, from coastal marshes to the wastelands of west Texas, and anything and everything in between. We went to an open house thing the Marine Science Institute (which is part of the UT system) held. Pretty cool, as they took you out in assorted research boats and let you play with assorted sea creatures and plant life.
For some odd reason I really like those semi-decrepit, way past their prime Texas coast towns. Galveston is probably my favorite, but there's something oddly pleasing to me about hanging out in marginal places like that, with huge old-school buildings and architecture, surrounded by the schlockiest little tourist traps and shacks imaginable.
Nothing exciting on the poker front. I've been bonus whoring it up good, hitting Party last week. I pissed away a bit of it playing some satellites for their cruise package tournaments, but I ended up +$200 when I cashed out yesterday after getting back from the mini-vacation. I basically played off the whole bonus on Friday (something like 700 raked hands), so that ain't bad. Pretty easy to play tight and multi-table .50/1 and just grind through the necessary number of raked hands. I popped the money back over to Paradise for their September reload bonus, then I'm off to Empire next. Boring, yes, but pretty profitable, especially since I've been grinding .50/1 lately anyway.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Good Donkey
I was a good donkey last night. All I did was grind, grind, grind at the .50/1 tables. With a little $25 NL thrown in for a break here and there.
Nice solid profitable sessions. I like starting off the month in the Poker Tracker green. Get thee hence, red numbers.
Nothing really remarkable about any of the sessions or individual hands. I pulled in a $40 pot in .50/1 with the nut flush, when one guy kept re-raising with a low straight. Board was Kd 6d 7c 8d 9s, he had Q5o, I had A10d. Capped betting on every street. Umm, okay. Thanks for the money, partner.
Not that such play is all that unusual or horrible, but lately I'm struck by the odd nature of fish gambling online. I mean, okay, say you blow through fifty bucks at a .50/1 table in a night. Not the end of the world, by any stretch of the imagination.
But that same fifty bucks is two or three months salary in some parts of the world. That's a mind-blowing, ginormous amount of money for some people. Last night I cashed out $500 of my Paradise winnings to go bonus whore at other sites. I didn't think much about it, but that's someone's yearly wage, shifted from one online casino to another in a blink of the eye. So that I can see more pixelated cards flip around, hopefully in a way that makes me even more money.
Which is cool by me. I'm not lamenting the fact that some people live in mud huts and pray to live to be fifty. I'm damn glad I'm not them. It's just odd, the whole online poker thing, and how quickly we become abstracted from the root nature of things.
Completely cashed out of Pacific (what a craptacular site, Jebus), bonus whoring back at Party now. I'm still keeping most of the online bankroll at Paradise, as I do like their tournament offerings and I keep making money nearly every time I sit down at the .50/1 and $25 NL tables.
Nice solid profitable sessions. I like starting off the month in the Poker Tracker green. Get thee hence, red numbers.
Nothing really remarkable about any of the sessions or individual hands. I pulled in a $40 pot in .50/1 with the nut flush, when one guy kept re-raising with a low straight. Board was Kd 6d 7c 8d 9s, he had Q5o, I had A10d. Capped betting on every street. Umm, okay. Thanks for the money, partner.
Not that such play is all that unusual or horrible, but lately I'm struck by the odd nature of fish gambling online. I mean, okay, say you blow through fifty bucks at a .50/1 table in a night. Not the end of the world, by any stretch of the imagination.
But that same fifty bucks is two or three months salary in some parts of the world. That's a mind-blowing, ginormous amount of money for some people. Last night I cashed out $500 of my Paradise winnings to go bonus whore at other sites. I didn't think much about it, but that's someone's yearly wage, shifted from one online casino to another in a blink of the eye. So that I can see more pixelated cards flip around, hopefully in a way that makes me even more money.
Which is cool by me. I'm not lamenting the fact that some people live in mud huts and pray to live to be fifty. I'm damn glad I'm not them. It's just odd, the whole online poker thing, and how quickly we become abstracted from the root nature of things.
Completely cashed out of Pacific (what a craptacular site, Jebus), bonus whoring back at Party now. I'm still keeping most of the online bankroll at Paradise, as I do like their tournament offerings and I keep making money nearly every time I sit down at the .50/1 and $25 NL tables.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
El Burro
I'm such a donkey. Couldn't resist firing up the laptop while watching the ESPN WSOP coverage last night. Which led to me playing the $30,000 guaranteed Paradise MTT last night. Which eventually led to me bubbling out at 71st place. Which led me to say, "Dude, you're such a donkey", seeing as I'm unable to kick the MTT habit.
I can't gripe too much, though. I should have gone out 150th or so, but managed to catch runner runner for a straight with my mighty pair of nines, up against a set jacks. I also made a pretty horrendous call with top pair (aces) but a crappy kicker that I knew was beat but couldn't let go.
I did, though, manage to bust someone out in amusing fashion. I had AK in early position, raised 3BB, folds to BB, who calls. He's been playing pretty aggressively, bluffing pots and showing his rags, etc. Flop comes 8 8 A. BB bets 400 (blinds were something like 400/800, we each had about T8000). I just called, waiting to see how he played the turn. Turn is a 2. BB bets 1000. I'm a little concerned, but I just don't see him playing the set that way, putting him on something like A10 (or A any, really). River is another harmless brick. He immediately pushes all-in. He's got my slightly covered, by like T200.
So I ponder for a bit. He could have flopped the set and been setting me up with the small bet on the flop, larger bet on the turn, etc. He is in the BB and could be playing any sort of junk, given his previous play. But I just didn't see it, as that would have been a perfect hand to slow-play, with the A on board and no flush or straight potential to worry about. We're almost to thr first break, too, so worst case scenario I can rebuy if I'm wrong.
I call and he flips over 35o, and immediately goes ballistic, going on and on about why do fucking morons like myself even bother playing in tournaments, how can I call that, how can I remember to fucking breathe, being the moron I am, yada yada yada. The best part was when he remarked "You've been noted, fishie." As if that's supposed to strike the fear of Jebus into me. All I said the whole time was "Nice bluff" which set him off again.
I took in a few decent pots after that but never built much of a stack. Cards were cold until just after the second break, when I got KK in EP. Blinds were 2K/4K and I had about 14K. The table was super-tight, as we were near the bubble, but we also had two of the top five chip leaders. Pretty much any raise was taking the blinds. My first instinct was to push all-in but I decided to ease back a bit and try to get some action. I bet 8K, folds to the SB (who has about T 20K), who thinks for forever and finally calls. Flop comes A 10 4. Shit. I had this horrible feeling that I was doomed but fired out my remaining chips. He called, turned over A5s, and that was that.
I kicked myself later for not pushing all-in originally, but I'm not sure he wouldn't have called anyway. He'd called with worse hands previously in similar situations, but he may have folded in that case since we were on the bubble. Who knows. I felt like I needed to risk a bit to double up more than I needed to take the blinds down, so I don't really regret it.
Feel like I'm playing decently in MTTs, despite having little to show for it in the last few weeks. I've just been on one of those bad streaks where my pre-flop favorites never seem to hold up, despite the maths being on my side. But that'll turn around, eventually, if I keep putting myself in favorable situations.
That WSOP episode with Matusow busting out was priceless. I don't wish ill will on anyone, but that toolbox had it coming in a big way. The best part was that he seemed to think he'd gotten a bad beat when calling Raymer's all-in, when Matusow only had middle pair, with no kicker. Granted, he was ahead at that point, but raymer had enough outs to be the favorite. Matusow didn't have to be in that hand at all, though, much less basically bet his tournament on such a dodgy call. I especially enjoyed his pep talks after losing that hand, about how only he had the heart to make that call, only a champion could make that call, etc. Umm, okay Mikey. And nice crying, too, on that last bad beat. Yeah, that one stung, and we all hate bad beats, but most of us don't get down in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, crying on national television. Heart of a champion, baby.
I can't gripe too much, though. I should have gone out 150th or so, but managed to catch runner runner for a straight with my mighty pair of nines, up against a set jacks. I also made a pretty horrendous call with top pair (aces) but a crappy kicker that I knew was beat but couldn't let go.
I did, though, manage to bust someone out in amusing fashion. I had AK in early position, raised 3BB, folds to BB, who calls. He's been playing pretty aggressively, bluffing pots and showing his rags, etc. Flop comes 8 8 A. BB bets 400 (blinds were something like 400/800, we each had about T8000). I just called, waiting to see how he played the turn. Turn is a 2. BB bets 1000. I'm a little concerned, but I just don't see him playing the set that way, putting him on something like A10 (or A any, really). River is another harmless brick. He immediately pushes all-in. He's got my slightly covered, by like T200.
So I ponder for a bit. He could have flopped the set and been setting me up with the small bet on the flop, larger bet on the turn, etc. He is in the BB and could be playing any sort of junk, given his previous play. But I just didn't see it, as that would have been a perfect hand to slow-play, with the A on board and no flush or straight potential to worry about. We're almost to thr first break, too, so worst case scenario I can rebuy if I'm wrong.
I call and he flips over 35o, and immediately goes ballistic, going on and on about why do fucking morons like myself even bother playing in tournaments, how can I call that, how can I remember to fucking breathe, being the moron I am, yada yada yada. The best part was when he remarked "You've been noted, fishie." As if that's supposed to strike the fear of Jebus into me. All I said the whole time was "Nice bluff" which set him off again.
I took in a few decent pots after that but never built much of a stack. Cards were cold until just after the second break, when I got KK in EP. Blinds were 2K/4K and I had about 14K. The table was super-tight, as we were near the bubble, but we also had two of the top five chip leaders. Pretty much any raise was taking the blinds. My first instinct was to push all-in but I decided to ease back a bit and try to get some action. I bet 8K, folds to the SB (who has about T 20K), who thinks for forever and finally calls. Flop comes A 10 4. Shit. I had this horrible feeling that I was doomed but fired out my remaining chips. He called, turned over A5s, and that was that.
I kicked myself later for not pushing all-in originally, but I'm not sure he wouldn't have called anyway. He'd called with worse hands previously in similar situations, but he may have folded in that case since we were on the bubble. Who knows. I felt like I needed to risk a bit to double up more than I needed to take the blinds down, so I don't really regret it.
Feel like I'm playing decently in MTTs, despite having little to show for it in the last few weeks. I've just been on one of those bad streaks where my pre-flop favorites never seem to hold up, despite the maths being on my side. But that'll turn around, eventually, if I keep putting myself in favorable situations.
That WSOP episode with Matusow busting out was priceless. I don't wish ill will on anyone, but that toolbox had it coming in a big way. The best part was that he seemed to think he'd gotten a bad beat when calling Raymer's all-in, when Matusow only had middle pair, with no kicker. Granted, he was ahead at that point, but raymer had enough outs to be the favorite. Matusow didn't have to be in that hand at all, though, much less basically bet his tournament on such a dodgy call. I especially enjoyed his pep talks after losing that hand, about how only he had the heart to make that call, only a champion could make that call, etc. Umm, okay Mikey. And nice crying, too, on that last bad beat. Yeah, that one stung, and we all hate bad beats, but most of us don't get down in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, crying on national television. Heart of a champion, baby.
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