I am back from Vegas. It was probably the worst gambling trip I have had in a long time.
I started the trip with the $500 Sinsation Poker Classic at the Imperial Palace. The girls were hot, but my cards were not.
The only time I had a hand was when one of the girls came over and started to massage my shoulders when the blinds were $50-$100. I looked down and saw pocket kings. I raised to $300 and got 2 callers. The flop brought J high rainbow. I think a bit, looking a little upset, then bet $300 again. I got one caller. The rainbow ace came on the turn, scaring me a bit. I had him on AK or a middle pocket pair. I checked it after some more thought, but tried to look less upset, hoping he would think I might be slow playing my ace. He checked also. I fealt pretty good that he did not have an ace. The river was a blank, and I bet $300 again, hoping to squeeze some more money from this guy. He folded. I was up to $3500 after starting with $2500.
Then a few hands later I got moved to a new table. I hate that. I had a good read on most of the players, and had to start all over again. I then got a long cold streak of cards. Nothing playable at $75-$150. Nothing at $100-$200. My only playable hand was 3-3 when the blinds were $150-$300, which I had to call a minimum raise just to play. The flop didn't hit me and I folded to a pot size raise. I tried to steal a few blinds, but kept getting raised and sometimes reraised. Most of the time, one guy, he big stack, kept raising preflop, and when everyone folded, he would show a monster. If anyone called him, he would bet on the flop, then show his nuts after his opponent folded. I did not try to steal anytime he was in the blind or if he limped, which he also did with monsters. I was able to steal the blinds with A3o, and KQs.
After 4 hours of play, the blinds had withered me down to $1800 with the blinds at $150-$300 and we were 14 minutes from breaking for the day. The blinds were going to start at $200-$400 the next morning. I was in Vegas with a young, hot, partier. I really didn't want to have to wake up early the next day after a night of partying, only to last 30 minutes, if that. I decided to try to steal the blinds from one off the button with an all-in KTo. The guy to my left immediately called. The blinds folded, and he flipped over AQo. A flop of JTQ gave me an open ender, but when the Q on the turn came, I lost 4 of my outs. None of my remaining 6 outs came, and I was done, feeling pretty shitty. I regretted that move and thought maybe I should have sacrificed a partying night, and hoped to get some better cards in the morning with my tiny stack.
After going to my room and replaying many of the hands over in my head, I went back down to the poker room. I got seated at a $1-$2 no-limit game. I immediately went into aggressive mode, and was rolling over everyone. I had increased my $200 buyin to over $300 in 30 minutes, rarely having to show my cards. Then Vinny Favarito sat down on my left. Vinny is the standup comic at O'sheas. He was hiliarious. I was still playing many hands, but noticed that he did too. I got A3o and raised to $15. He called. The flop came A3T. I bet the pot, $45. He called. The turn brought an 8. I bet $100. He called. The river brought a 7. I bet $100 again, he reraised me allin. I only had about $50 more, I called. He showed 9J for the straight. Ugh.
I rebought for $200. Vinny took the seat that emptied to my right so he can hit on the girl that was across from me easier. Later we get into another hand together. He limped, I limped with ATs. The flop came 78T rainbow. He checked, I bet the $20. He called. The turn came another T, giving me three of a kind. He checked, I bet $50. He called. The river brought a 6. He bet $100. I asked him if he had 9J again. He shifted his eyes to me after he heard me ask, but didn't say anything. After about 60 seconds, I muck my AT face up. He was shocked. He flipped over one of his cards showing an 8, and smiled. Then he showed his 9.
I still had about $130 left when I get Q9 in the small blind. I pay the extra $1 with 5 other players. The flop comes QKQ, giving me a set. A player bets $12 (the pot). I put him on a K. Everyone folds until me, I call, big blind folds. The turn came a 2. I bet $35. He thinks for a bit, then calls. The river came an 8. He goes allin. I curse, and lean back in my chair. There is no straight, no flush on the board. I put him on K8, or a busted straight. I call. He shows Q8. Vinny tells me where the ATM machine is, but I tell him that with the way my luck is running, I am done for the day.
The next day I head over to Hooters and get into the empty seat at one of their $1-$2 no-limit games. So many calling stations. The table next to me is loud and rowdy. Chips flying as much as the curses. My table is quiet. The other table was flashing wads of hundreds. They were ordering bottles of Dom at $300 a pop. They were going allin for $1000 with nothing. It looked like a crazy game. I asked the manager to move tables when a seat opens, and he replies that I am 3rd on the list. Later a seat opens and the only action guy at my table moves over. Shortly after, I see a security guy standing next to me. He radios for more security. They come in and escort one of the players from the other table out. Then all of the people from the table, rack up their chips, and cashout. Some of them had 4 racks of $5 chips. I am bummed I missed the game. It turned out one of the players that was not with the young rich crew complained about one of them cursing. What a moron. Listen to cursing, or take a few thousand from some rich kids? Hmmm, tough choice. NOT! I lose a bad beat, but roll over most of the table with aggressiveness and end up about even.
That is it for this trip. Not very impressive, but I have booked my next trip for February 23, and will be staying at Hooters. So look for me in the poker room if you are there, and we can bust some fools together.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Am I cursed?
I tried one of the Pitbull freerolls. I came in 65 out of 300, and never had to rebuy. There was a 0.25 addon at the first break, so no big loss here. I can do better. I will need to do better next weekend in Vegas.
I went back to FullTilt and joined a 6-man $30 SNG. Second hand I get AA. I raise and get the bigblind to call. The flop comes 8TQ rainbow. He bets, I raise, he goes allin, I call. He has JQo, an inside straight draw and top pair. The turn brings the 9 and I am out. I played another SNG, no luck. I then try a multi-table tourney to change things up, no money. Pot Limit Omaha SNG, nada.
The next day I played in the NPPL $2 tourney on Mansion. Lost. Then enter a 6 player turbo SNG on FullTilt, in the money, secondplace. Man, that was a long losing streak. I should have won, but headsup I was dealt 22, and being about even in chips and the blinds very high, I flop a set when my opponent, akaHorse, goes allin. I call and he shows A6o with a board of 29T rainbow. The turn brings a 7, and the river an 8. He gets a miracle straight and I scratch my head and wonder if I should be happy or disappointed.
On this semi-high, I went out to a local Amateur Series Poker tournament. Less than 20 people showed up. Most of the players were passive, so I was able to steal a great deal. Early on, I busted out the guy to my right and was bigstack. I started playing almost every hand, since no one was raising preflop unless they had a strong hand. One hand I played 45o, got raised by guy to my left, I called. Flop came with a 67T. I make a semi-bluff bet, he calls. The turn brings my 8, giving me the ass-end of the straight. I think back to his preflop raise and try to see if he could have the 9. I am confident he does not have 9J. Maybe A9. More likely AJ AQ. I make a bet, he raises me. It was only $500 more to me, to a $4000 pot, so I called. He turned over 99. I am no longer bigstack. I keep my aggressive style, stealing many blinds and limps. When it got down to 3, I was chip leader again. I raised 4x the BB UTG (under the gun) with JJ, SB calls,BB calls. The flop brings a J, the SB goes allin, the BB calls allin, I call. SB had AA, BB had AK. My set holds up and I will the tournament. I won bar credit and entry into the monthly $5000 tournament. Too bad I will be in Vegas for it. Hopefully I can use it another month.
Feeling better about my poker game, and life, I head downtown early for a suprise birthday dinner for my friend Natalie. I have my van, since my car battery died, and I think the computer needs to be reset when I recharged the battery, and it is too cold outside to work on it. I pull into the parking garage closest to the restaurant. I barely make it under the 6' 6" clearance sign. I make it down into the garage and the ceiling looks awefully low. I hit a hanging sign. Luckily the sign swings, so it doesnt do any damage. I round the first corner, and proceed to get wedged under the ceiling. I can not go forwards or backwards. I am blocking the car behind me from getting through since it is a one-way garage. I really did not feel like letting the air out of my tires, but knowing no other way I can get out, I hop out of my van. The guy behind me gets out of his car and tells me he will stand on the back of my van while I try to reverse back out. My van doesnt move, but as he begins to jump up and down on my van, I hear the ceiling tear and I am free again. I try to go around the other way to see if I can find an exit. GOing very slowly, I hit the ceiling around the other corner. Luckily I was going slow enough not to get stuck. I go back to the gate where I came in, and call the attendant. He comes down, and after arguing with me that I could not get stuck if I made it under the clearance sign at the entrance, he opens the gate and lets me go back up the entrance.
I could be cursed, but I will always smile and laugh through it. At least everyone at dinner found the humor in it also. I am ready to Bust Some Fools tomorrow.
I went back to FullTilt and joined a 6-man $30 SNG. Second hand I get AA. I raise and get the bigblind to call. The flop comes 8TQ rainbow. He bets, I raise, he goes allin, I call. He has JQo, an inside straight draw and top pair. The turn brings the 9 and I am out. I played another SNG, no luck. I then try a multi-table tourney to change things up, no money. Pot Limit Omaha SNG, nada.
The next day I played in the NPPL $2 tourney on Mansion. Lost. Then enter a 6 player turbo SNG on FullTilt, in the money, secondplace. Man, that was a long losing streak. I should have won, but headsup I was dealt 22, and being about even in chips and the blinds very high, I flop a set when my opponent, akaHorse, goes allin. I call and he shows A6o with a board of 29T rainbow. The turn brings a 7, and the river an 8. He gets a miracle straight and I scratch my head and wonder if I should be happy or disappointed.
On this semi-high, I went out to a local Amateur Series Poker tournament. Less than 20 people showed up. Most of the players were passive, so I was able to steal a great deal. Early on, I busted out the guy to my right and was bigstack. I started playing almost every hand, since no one was raising preflop unless they had a strong hand. One hand I played 45o, got raised by guy to my left, I called. Flop came with a 67T. I make a semi-bluff bet, he calls. The turn brings my 8, giving me the ass-end of the straight. I think back to his preflop raise and try to see if he could have the 9. I am confident he does not have 9J. Maybe A9. More likely AJ AQ. I make a bet, he raises me. It was only $500 more to me, to a $4000 pot, so I called. He turned over 99. I am no longer bigstack. I keep my aggressive style, stealing many blinds and limps. When it got down to 3, I was chip leader again. I raised 4x the BB UTG (under the gun) with JJ, SB calls,BB calls. The flop brings a J, the SB goes allin, the BB calls allin, I call. SB had AA, BB had AK. My set holds up and I will the tournament. I won bar credit and entry into the monthly $5000 tournament. Too bad I will be in Vegas for it. Hopefully I can use it another month.
Feeling better about my poker game, and life, I head downtown early for a suprise birthday dinner for my friend Natalie. I have my van, since my car battery died, and I think the computer needs to be reset when I recharged the battery, and it is too cold outside to work on it. I pull into the parking garage closest to the restaurant. I barely make it under the 6' 6" clearance sign. I make it down into the garage and the ceiling looks awefully low. I hit a hanging sign. Luckily the sign swings, so it doesnt do any damage. I round the first corner, and proceed to get wedged under the ceiling. I can not go forwards or backwards. I am blocking the car behind me from getting through since it is a one-way garage. I really did not feel like letting the air out of my tires, but knowing no other way I can get out, I hop out of my van. The guy behind me gets out of his car and tells me he will stand on the back of my van while I try to reverse back out. My van doesnt move, but as he begins to jump up and down on my van, I hear the ceiling tear and I am free again. I try to go around the other way to see if I can find an exit. GOing very slowly, I hit the ceiling around the other corner. Luckily I was going slow enough not to get stuck. I go back to the gate where I came in, and call the attendant. He comes down, and after arguing with me that I could not get stuck if I made it under the clearance sign at the entrance, he opens the gate and lets me go back up the entrance.
I could be cursed, but I will always smile and laugh through it. At least everyone at dinner found the humor in it also. I am ready to Bust Some Fools tomorrow.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Creeping up
I busted out on the bubble in a $30 SNG, but then took second in a $22 turbo SNG. I should have taken first, but had some bad luck. Here are some of the hands that took place heads up against Tenbucks. We started out, me with $10,560, Tenbucks with $2340. I win the first hand taking his blind of $600. On the next hand, he goes allin with 69o and I call with Q7s. A 9 flops and he doubles up to $3480. We trade blinds until I flop top pair with my JQo and he goes allin with A3o. I call and an A rivers giving him $5760. Very next hand, I have A6o, he has JQo (look similar?). I raise 3x BB, he reraises allin, I call. A J on the turn hurts me. He has $9920, I have around $3000. We trade blinds again until I get QTo and raise allin. Tenbucks calls with 89o and with no improvement by wither of us, I double up to $8760. We trade more blinds and the blinds up to $500/$1000. I raise with J8s, he reraises allin with 78o. I have him dominated. Flop comes 29T, and the turn, a J, gives him his straight doubling him to $7480. When the blinds get up to $600/$1200, I am getting desparate and fustrated, and go allin with 67s. He calls with J7o and makes his straight.
I decide to try the Pitbull interface with a small safe .05/.10 NLH game. Not bad. I leave in 20 minutes with a $1.21 profit.
2007 Performance: +$460 live -$104.14 online
I decide to try the Pitbull interface with a small safe .05/.10 NLH game. Not bad. I leave in 20 minutes with a $1.21 profit.
2007 Performance: +$460 live -$104.14 online
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Performance Update
I played in a few online SNGs, but not winning. It seams that I am cursed against the three outter.
I finally won a lower limit SNG, but still not feeling great about my online performance. I then played in a small private online 7 card stud limit tourney and won. I got tremendous cards after the halfway point. I would start out with a pair, get a set on fourth street, then the rest of the cards would either be all of the same suit giving me a flush, all in a row giving me a straight, or pair up giving me a boat. I then played in a 9 player $30 SNG and won. Feeling better, but still down on the year online.
Signed up for Pitbull Poker. They have an awesome offer IMO. They give you $10 free, no deposit required. They just call you on the phone and then they put the money in your account. Who can pass up free money. They also offer 100% match on your deposit immediately. There is no requirement to play like mad just to get the money put into your account $5 at a time. I deposited $50 and now I have $110 in my account. Use the link in my blog or on my site, All Poker Blogs, for my referral, and use referal code APG. They also have poker leagues which I will look into when I have more time.
Played in my first Amateur Series Poker tournament on Monday and again on Tuesday at a local bar. Lost both times. Man do I need to improve my multi-table tournament game. I purchased a couple of books online to help me adjust my game to multi-table format. After busting out on Tuesday, I went over to a local cash game I know about and sat down at a table just starting. I started with $200, and an hour later, cashed out for $450. Feeling great about my cash game. Just need to work on my tournament game.
I signed up for the most expensive poker tournament I have ever entered, the Sinsation Poker Classic. The buyin is $500. It is at the Imperial Palace and seems to be sponsored by a porn company. Should be interesting. I have 10 days to shape-up my multi-table tournament game, and start BUSTING SOME FOOLS!
2007 Stats: +$460 live -$111.50 online
I finally won a lower limit SNG, but still not feeling great about my online performance. I then played in a small private online 7 card stud limit tourney and won. I got tremendous cards after the halfway point. I would start out with a pair, get a set on fourth street, then the rest of the cards would either be all of the same suit giving me a flush, all in a row giving me a straight, or pair up giving me a boat. I then played in a 9 player $30 SNG and won. Feeling better, but still down on the year online.
Signed up for Pitbull Poker. They have an awesome offer IMO. They give you $10 free, no deposit required. They just call you on the phone and then they put the money in your account. Who can pass up free money. They also offer 100% match on your deposit immediately. There is no requirement to play like mad just to get the money put into your account $5 at a time. I deposited $50 and now I have $110 in my account. Use the link in my blog or on my site, All Poker Blogs, for my referral, and use referal code APG. They also have poker leagues which I will look into when I have more time.
Played in my first Amateur Series Poker tournament on Monday and again on Tuesday at a local bar. Lost both times. Man do I need to improve my multi-table tournament game. I purchased a couple of books online to help me adjust my game to multi-table format. After busting out on Tuesday, I went over to a local cash game I know about and sat down at a table just starting. I started with $200, and an hour later, cashed out for $450. Feeling great about my cash game. Just need to work on my tournament game.
I signed up for the most expensive poker tournament I have ever entered, the Sinsation Poker Classic. The buyin is $500. It is at the Imperial Palace and seems to be sponsored by a porn company. Should be interesting. I have 10 days to shape-up my multi-table tournament game, and start BUSTING SOME FOOLS!
2007 Stats: +$460 live -$111.50 online
Monday, January 08, 2007
Back From First Vegas Trip
The year started off rough. I played 4 SNGs on Fulltilt and got bad beat in all 4. I am down $135. Most of my loses came on the river. I am feeling very unlucky.
On the night of the 4th, I flew to Vegas. Thr next morning I entered a 30-player $60 tourney at the Flamingo. It normally paid out 3 spots. When we got down to 5 players, I was low on chips, so before I was the big blind, I offered a deal. Most players didnt understand, so they played another hand since the clock was running. Luckily I won the hand and brought up the deal again because the blinds were so high. I was tied for third, well behind second, and we struck a deal. I grabbed $270.
Later that day I played in the Harrah's JanuaryInvitational. It was a shootout, with the top 2 players at the table advancing to the next day. There were 55 tables, and 4 flights. I started off too aggressive to my liking, trying to steal blinds, and bluffing on low card flops, but always got raised. I tightened up, but got knocked out in 4th at my table. Oh well, it was free.
A bunch of my friends flew out, so I played table games with them the rest of the trip. I made decent money and ended the trip ahead (+$550), even after flight ($180), hotel ($0) and meals/drinks ($170).
I am back home, and trying my luck on Fulltilt again. I got knocked out first in a $50+5 SNG on a very bad beat. I called it a night.
Today I played in a $20+2 and came in 2nd ($54). Feeling better. Played in a $50+5 and was in the chip lead with 6 players left when I got my Kings cracked on the river when an ATs raises preflop, then re-reraises me allin. The A came on the river. I then get knocked out when my 66 got beat by an AKo.
Played in one more $20+2 and came in 2nd again.
2007 Stats: +$210 live -$181 online
On the night of the 4th, I flew to Vegas. Thr next morning I entered a 30-player $60 tourney at the Flamingo. It normally paid out 3 spots. When we got down to 5 players, I was low on chips, so before I was the big blind, I offered a deal. Most players didnt understand, so they played another hand since the clock was running. Luckily I won the hand and brought up the deal again because the blinds were so high. I was tied for third, well behind second, and we struck a deal. I grabbed $270.
Later that day I played in the Harrah's JanuaryInvitational. It was a shootout, with the top 2 players at the table advancing to the next day. There were 55 tables, and 4 flights. I started off too aggressive to my liking, trying to steal blinds, and bluffing on low card flops, but always got raised. I tightened up, but got knocked out in 4th at my table. Oh well, it was free.
A bunch of my friends flew out, so I played table games with them the rest of the trip. I made decent money and ended the trip ahead (+$550), even after flight ($180), hotel ($0) and meals/drinks ($170).
I am back home, and trying my luck on Fulltilt again. I got knocked out first in a $50+5 SNG on a very bad beat. I called it a night.
Today I played in a $20+2 and came in 2nd ($54). Feeling better. Played in a $50+5 and was in the chip lead with 6 players left when I got my Kings cracked on the river when an ATs raises preflop, then re-reraises me allin. The A came on the river. I then get knocked out when my 66 got beat by an AKo.
Played in one more $20+2 and came in 2nd again.
2007 Stats: +$210 live -$181 online
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