Hoppy Easter!

The best part of Easter is the day after, when all the candies go on sale! I picked up 12 Big Bags of Mini-Eggs at half-price this morning! That should last me about two months, or until I go into a diabetic coma.

It was a joyous weekend on the Poker front as well. Wife and I decided to go see a movie on Friday night, but it was about 8:30pm, and we missed all the 7:30 showings and didn't want to wait around for the 9:30 ones. So we tried to decide on which casino to head to... she wanted to hang out with our buddies at the Midway, and I wanted to try and take advantage of all the drunk idiots at the Silver Dollar Seatac. We compromised and headed south into Tacoma to find a new place to play.

We came across a Chips casino and got our names on the wait list (numbers 12 and 13) and ordered some food. After eating, our names hadn't moved up more than 3 spots, so we went down a block to the Silver Dollar Tacoma and got seated at the same table right away.

I had one of my best nights ever - the first hand I got involved in was with Ax of hearts and I rivered the Flush and my chip stack never again dipped below the $100 buy-in. Things really heated up when I got KK, and a flop of Q99. I played it hard on the flop, but then when I got raised on the Turn, I knew I was beat but called anyways. Then the third King hit the River, and I was able to steal the rest of the chips from the guy holding Q9. Ouch!

It was a full-kill game, so after winning the next hand with top-pair, I put in my $6 Kill blind. Was dealt T7o only to win again with two-pair. So this is what being on a rush feels like! And my 3-in-a-row didn't go unnoticed by the table. I justified it by telling them I never would have played that hand if it wasn't for the Kill button. My next blind was Q4, which flopped two-pair again! I tried to be nice this time and told everyone not to call, and I had two non-believers follow me all the way to the River. The fifth hand missed, and I was happy to fold and go back to stacking my chips.

The greatest hand of the night though was completing with 36c in the SB. Flop is 245. I check, BB bets, MP re-raises, I 3-bet and it gets capped. Turn and river were inconsequential, but betting was capped the whole way. I was really counting on one of them having A3 and the other flopping a set of 5s, and I wondered how I would contain my glee as I took all their money. The table had an audience at this point with so many chips out on the felt. I turn over my flopped straight, and the BB shows 36h and MP has 36d!!! MP had the best shot at the entire pot as he had 4 diamonds, but in the end, the dealer had to take 5 minutes to split the huge pot between us. Luckily we had a few poor saps who had come along for the ride, so it was still a profitable situation.

My wife got her fair share of good cards too, but, as she told me later, she was playing more loosely knowing I was so far ahead already. We had bought in for $200 total between us and cashed out at $420 (score!).

After spending the day on Saturday coloring eggs with the kids, I talked my wife into going to Seatac Silver Dollar for the evening. It was a reversal of the previous night as she scored big early on and never worried about having a down session, whereas I had to go all-in at one point. But the cards started coming back again, and it was nice to have some loosey-goosey guys raising and capping with their nut straight or King high flush when I've got the Ace high flush. That kind of thing does wonders for the chip-stack! After just a few hours, we happily left with a profit of $250 for the night.

Suffice it to say, we had a great Easter Sunday. Besides the extra nice Easter gifts, the kids got some quality time with the parents, as we had gotten a satisfactory Poker fill for the weekend. And, of course, I had made sure to put aside enough cash to be able to fund my Mini-Egg shopping spree!

Raise My Blinds, PLEASE!

Decided to hang out with the lunch crowd at the Silver Dollar today, and bought in for a measly $60. Nothing really playable, and then I had J7 in the blind. Flop a 7, SB bets, I call, as does everyone else. Turn is the Jack of Spades. SB bets, I raise, and still get a few callers. River brings a third Spade. I check, and there's a late position bet... nice runner-runner.

An orbit later, still nothing playable. The BB brings me 36o. No one raises and I get to see a flop... 457 rainbow. I checkraise my flopped straight. The Turn is a T. I lead out and get raised from MP! He raised his T5 two-pair, and then caught a 5 for the boat on the River.

Fittingly, I put in my last $10 and lost with AA.

I think I should just start mucking my blinds blind. Probably save me money in the long run!

The Seat of Death

PJ Pockets $25 buy-in tournament, 30 seated with 9 alternates. I'm in the 5s at table 3. After a few inconsequential hands, the 4s goes all-in with AK versus a pocket pair and loses. They send in the first alternate, who posts his dead blinds, and then makes a 3x raise on his very first hand. I look down at Pocket Aces and re-raise. The limpers fold before the alternate goes all-in over the top of me. I call... it's AA versus KK. Two people out in two hands, from the same seat.

By the end of the 2nd level, two more alternates have taken that seat and been killed... and no one else originally seated at the table has busted out yet! There were no more alternates to fill the now infamous "Seat of Death" so things reverted to normal tournament seating. I get moved to table 1 and pick up a few pots to keep alive with an average chip stack. As more people bust out, I get moved back to my original seat at table 3. A hand later, the tournament director tells me he made a mistake and I have to move over 1 seat... into Seat 4! The others who had been at the table since the beginning say their goodbyes to me, "It was nice knowing you man...."

The seat lives up to its reputation as I bleed away a quarter of my stack when my good starting hands miss and someone else got aggressive before I could. I manage to keep alive before I get tapped out and moved over to table 2. I had survived the Seat of Death! But now I was short-stacked at my new table. I amazingly double up with an Ace high all-in; and then again when I'm heads-up and catch an Ace on the flop, then trap my opponent by checking through to the River and calling when he pushes with QQ.

It gets down to the final table and now I'm in 2nd or 3rd place, and when we draw for seats back at table 3, I say out loud, "No 4, no 4!" and of course, I draw the 4. Much laughter from the rest of the crowd, but little did they (or myself) know that it would be I that would have the last laugh! The 4s decided to do a complete 180 for the final table... it was tired of giving away chips and now wanted them all back.

My ass planted firmly in the Seat of Death, I take out 5 people at the final table.

A3s on the button and I come in with 2 short stacks, one of which had made a small raise and was now all-in. Flop comes 236. Other short-stack checks, I look over and asks how much he has left. I put him all-in for only about 1/5 of my stack. They show AT and KJ. Turn is an 8, River is a close-but-no-cigar Q and my pair of treys take out two people. "Gutsy move," I'm told. Not much later, my pocket Tens hold up against a smaller pair and some overcards and another two bite the dust.

I'm feared now, and proceed to make a nemesis in the 6s when I have 9Ts in the BB and the flop comes A25. The blinds are 400/800 and the SB is already all-in with only 300 left. I throw out a T1600 bet, figuring the 6s doesn't have an Ace as he was one who would raise with it pre-flop. He reluctantly calls. I catch a 9 on the Turn and throw out T2400.

The 6s hems and haws and counts his chips and looks at his cards. I'm holding my cards as if I'm ready to flip them over. "You'll get to see my cards, there's an all-in," I tell him. He finally sighs and flashes me A6 before he mucks. I chuckle and joke, "I had you outkicked," as I show him my 9, and then have to show the accompanying 10. He bangs the table as I rake in the side pot... SB had 25o and the river filled up his boat!

"That's the one and only time... you won't get so lucky next time," the 6s says. I think he's joking but when I look over at him, he's seriously pissed at me! He's in 2nd place behind me now, so I decide to stay out of any pots with him until I have a monster and then use his tilt to my advantage.

I limp in with the 9s holding KTh. Flop is all hearts and I check-call his All-in. Add another notch on the belt as my King-high flush beats his QJ flush! "Wow, I'm going to remember that hand for a long time," he says. I would too... that was a rough beat, especially one that takes you out on the bubble! The other two short stacks thank me for carrying them into the money... for one of them, it was his first live tourney.

I sit back and let the other three duke it out. The first-timer is happy with 4th place and $120 so he ends up giving his chips to the 3s, the one who was blinded all-in with 25o and tripled up on it. Armed with some chips now, the 3s actually whittles down my nemesis quite nicely, almost taking him out at one point! Unfortunately the River saves him, and a few hands later the villian makes a comeback and busts out the 3s, who leaves with about $180.

So we go into heads-up action pretty much even. A few hands back and forth, I see we might be going at it for awhile, and so I offer up a chop. It was close to $540 for first and $300 for second, so we would both take home about $400 (after dealer toke) and call it a day. He considered for a long while and finally agreed.

One the way to the cashier's cage, he told me he almost didn't want to split, that he was holding a grudge against me for making him toss his Ace. I told him there was no way he could have beat me. I was in the 4 seat. :)

The AlCan'tHang Home Game

http://www.wagenschenke.ch

For those not fluent in German: after it loads and you click Start, your mouse pointer disappears and all you have to do is move left and right and see how far you can get!

Welcome to TV Land

Not being much of a basketball fan, I don't get caught up in all the March Madness Mayhem. But every season, the damn games still affect me... they have to bump Survivor up a day!!! Do you realize how many important moments in Survivor history I've missed because I didn't tune in a day earlier? Thursday nights have become our family's regular teriyaki night, so we can all eat rice along with our favorite castaways. And now we have to shuffle our weekly schedule just so millions can watch some college kids bounce an orange ball around the gym? Outrage!

I probably would have forgotten again this time around as well if I hadn't been watching The Amazing Race and been constantly reminded that Survivor is on a "special" night. Rob and Amber kick ass. The producers will find some way to keep them in until the end because there wouldn't be much of a show left without them.

Speaking of which, my wife and I were once part of a local reality show, based around gambling of course.

We did it last summer, and while it's nothing I'd put on my resumé, it was a fun experience and occassionally we get recognized, mostly by the casino-going crowds. And thinking back, it's actually the reason my wife and I got so into Hold'em.

It all started when a co-worker sent me this link. Basically, the premise is 10 teams of 2 compete in a series of table games: Blackjack, Roulette, Bacarrat, and Hold'em. And like every good reality show, there'd be eliminations until only one team remained, and that team won the chance to spin a wheel for a million dollars. Yes, you read that correct, you don't necessarily win the money... you win a spin for the money. It was a local show, what'd you expect?

Being the degenerate gamblers we already were, this sounded like the perfect competition for me and my wife! The Tulalip Indian Casino is about an 1.5 hour drive from home, and seeing as we can get to the Muckleshoot in just 10 minutes, the Tulalip was not one of our usual hangouts. But we made the trek out there the night before open-casting-call day, got a nearby hotel room, and checked out the facility (a beautiful place!). We got back there early the morning of, and there were only 3 or 4 other teams waiting, so we got our initial interview done and over with really early. The audition was open all day and they ended up seeing about 200 couples throughout the day.

The interview consisted of two minutes in front of a producer and a camera answering questions about what we like to play, why we make a good team, etc. Our spin was that we were yin and yang when it comes to gambling. I play by the book and know the odds and strategies, she plays on her intuition and gut feelings. But we always play as a team and are supportive of each other, and usually end up covering each other in terms of win/loss. So we break even for the night but we have a good time doing it.

Since we were done so early, we hit the casino floor. At this point in time, neither of us had played Poker at a live table, only a little bit online. We stuck to the craps and baccarat tables and found ourselves playing side by side with one of the other teams that tried out that morning. They were a fun, loud and boisterous mother/daughter team, and when we started chatting about the show, we told them the only game that worried us would be Hold'em. At that, they whisked us out of the Tulalip to a nearby Silver Dollar, and being the regulars that they were there, got us all seats for our first ever live game. The rest, as they say, is history.

Anyways, back to the show: a few weeks later, we got our first callback. There were about 25 teams called back, but unfortunately they didn't include the mother/daughter that had taken our Poker virginity. We were gathered in a conference room at the TV station where they laid out felts for each of the games and had casino dealers playing mock games with everyone. It was kind of surprising how many people didn't know how to play Blackjack or Roulette, and it seemed we were the only couple who knew how to play Bacarrat. I guess everyone else was just there to be on TV. The producers took teams aside to do more in-depth interviews and had us record sound bytes to be used in the commercials.

After another few weeks, we hadn't heard back so assumed we didn't make the second cut. But then two weeks before the first day of taping began, they asked if we would be available. Apparently, the producers narrowed it down to 11 teams they liked, but since there was only room for 10, they wanted to pit two teams against each other for that tenth spot. You know, kick off the show with a little more drama and excitement. Obviously, we were one of those two teams.

You can read the episode recaps at the official Tulalip Casino Night website, but here's my summary, with some behind the scenes commentary. The "Play-In" would be us, The Pocket Rockets, versus A Pair of Queens, and it consisted of a completely random hand of Texas Hold'em. Both teams got their cards, face-up, and we'd see a flop, turn, and river. Whoever had the best hand won. No playing, no skill or strategy, just pure luck.

The whole concept of the Play-In was kind of dumb, but what really irritated my wife was that the team we were up against, the Queens, was a team that we didn't see at the open casting call nor at the first call-back. She figured that they must be friends of one of the producers, and because they were flamboyantly gay, they would make for good TV. Or at least they would be needed as the token gay couple on the show. She voiced her opinion, loudly, to some of the other teams as well as the producers, and we were told they were a team that just couldn't make the callback and had other interview times and arrangements. We felt it was hardly likely that the Queens had even sent in an application... they knew nothing about gambling, so why would they even be interested in doing the show?

Anyways, it took almost half the day to get things set-up and have practice runs and make sure everyone was oriented before the cameras started rolling. By now, my wife was fuming - we invested all this time and energy and came all this way, just for an opportunity to lose to a team that was there purely for camera time, rather than for the love of the games (and money).

We ended up winning the Play-In (I don't even remember the hand, it was that random), but in their exit interview, the Queens called my wife a mean bitch. It was kind of funny because when the show aired, there was absolutely no history shown on us or them, and the negative comments just seemed to come out of nowhere. But as it is with reality TV and editing, within the first 15 minutes of the first episode, our image as the trouble-maker team was cemented.

The casino had partitioned off their no-smoking section for the show's use, with a table for each of the games and a few slot machines. The competition consisted of a Frenzy round, where each team took their $10,000 in play chips and hit any of the tables/slots for 15 minutes to build up or lose their bankroll. Then there would be a round where all teams played Roulette together, and then a round of Blackjack, etc. Bankrolls would be counted after each round and challenges and eliminations ensued based on standings.

As I mentioned before, we noticed that not everyone that made the show was a gambler... most teams had one casual gambler and their tag-along friend/cheerleader. One team played nothing but slots and barely knew blackjack. We'd made mention, on camera, that we thought our team had the best shot because we both knew all the games and were regular players of them all. Somehow this comment got turned into us being all high and mighty, and other teams saying in their interviews how they thought we were annoying and so full of ourselves!

We ended up being on the chopping block again at the first elimination as we ended the round in 9th place. This elimination would be based on the spin of the roulette wheel. The 10th place team picked Red, and when the ball landed Black and we got to stay, it gave us an even bigger target on our backs. There was an occassional "Challenge Bet" where the last place team could challenge any other team for a chunk of their chips, either via a spin of the wheel or a deal of 2 blackjack cards. Of course we would get picked and of course we would win... and we never had a say in any of it, luck just went our way!

By episode 3, we had won 5 challenges, suriving 3 eliminations. Everyone was out to get us at that point! And on air, those first episodes we nicknamed the Steve and Shawni show, as it was all about us squeaking by. On the episode we finally got booted off, they had thrown in a twist. First place after the last gaming round would get to choose which teams went up for elimination. Now instead of just trying to stay out of the bottom, the goal was scrambling for the top. Our nemesis team, one that had challenged us twice and lost both times and therefore really wanted to get back at us, was leading the pack and we were at the bottom.

So we tried to make a deal with one of the other trailing teams (this was all on-camera of course), where we would pick them for a Challenge Bet so that we would be basically dumping our chips to each other no matter the outcome, and that if we could work our way back to the top with those extra chips, we would keep each other off the block. They wouldn't agree to it, we ended up losing our chips to another neutral team, they couldn't do anything with it, and so we were picked for elimination and our lucky streak ended.

Anyways, the point of all this is that we were the only team that made good TV, like Rob and Amber are doing for The Amazing Race. All the other teams were too lovey-dovey and just plain outright boring. We stirred up trouble and caused drama... so much so that we were brought back for the final episode, in a shocking suprise twist of course, where we got to grant immunity to one of the last 5 teams and send them directly to the the final table, which would consist of only 4 teams. The producers loved it that my wife wanted to have each team plead their case to us as to why we should give them the immunity. She really didn't care what any of them had to say, as we had decided to give it to the Old guys already, but again... it made for good TV!

So there you have it, my dark dirty little secret. Like I said, sometimes we get spotted while sitting at a table. "Hey... weren't you on that show?" And it seems the small viewing audience that did tune in were rooting for us, being the underdogs that we were. "That sucked that everyone was picking on you!"

And while we didn't win a million dollars (the winners got their spin and actually hit it!), and we aren't being flooded with endorsement deals or recording contracts, we owe a lot to this experience: without it, my wife and I may have never found our way to a real Hold'em table and become as addicted as we are to the game. Okay, so maybe that's not such a great thing. :)

Time to go pick up the teriyaki and settle in to just watching reality TV.

To Lay Down or Not Lay Down?

Unfortunately my Sunday was booked weeks ago for a birthday party, so I couldn't attend the HORSE festivities. Despite the busy weekend, I was able to squeeze in some Hold'em, and now I have two more hand histories to file away in the "Never Make That Play Again" mental cabinet.

I was at the Cascade on Saturday for their 3:00pm tourney. Got JJ early on and called someone else's preflop raise. Flop had both an Ace and a King, so I folded to a small bet. Of course the turn was a J. Few hands later, raised with QQ and got no action. Called a short-stack's all-in with 99 and they held up against his A8, so I should have had plenty of chips to ride on for awhile. A few more rounds of nothing playable, I'm at T2500 with 200/400 blinds, and then I get QJc in the SB. I figure I can take this pot with just a small raise, as the two who've limped in so far were passive and easy to push off post-flop. Action gets to me, I'm considering my raise amount, when the BB announces a raise. He had just been moved to the table and had less than T1000, but had already doubled up twice in a row with pretty random hands, so I couldn't really put him on a hand.

The dealer pushed his chips back and told him the action was still on me. Isn't that the ideal Poker situation? Knowing ahead of time what your opponents are going to do and base your decisions on that information? Now I know he's going to raise to T1500, which is what I was just about to do, so he's going to call me anyways. So I should have just laid down that marginal hand, but instead I push all-in, I guess in hopes that would make him fold. Nope. He calls, as well as both of the limpers (!) who were short-stacked anyways. BB had KTo, and both the limpers had pocket pairs (tens and sevens). All I needed was a Q or 3 clubs and I'd be good. No such luck - K on the flop gives BB the side pot and the main pot went to the set of Tens spiked on the River.

I have no one but myself to blame for a really, really bad call. :(

Moved over to the live game. Flopped a set twice, but lost once to a turned higher set and another to a rivered Flush. No amount of raising scared these guys off. Came back to about even after taking a number of smallish pots, and was getting ready to leave as the blinds got close. I get AA UTG+1 and raise. Everyone but the button folds. Flop is K59. I bet, get called. Turn is 6. I bet, get raised! 78 good for the straight? River is a 7. Wonderful. I check, he bets, and I tell him to take it as I toss my cards face up.

I try never to get married to my hand. I can bring myself to lay down high pocket pairs or TPTK when there's an obvious straight or flush on the board. A pair is just a pair, right? And after the nasty burns I've taken the last four times I've had AA, it was an easy laydown.

The guy gives a wry smile as he turns over his KQ and scoops the pot.

All I could do was shake my head and rack up with half my buy-in. I done got outplayed. I should have been playing consistently, and I would have won this time. The other four times in a row AA lost for me, I called a raise and still called the river just to see I was beat. Or even better, if I had learned my lesson in the first place, I would have laid down to a raise immediately and not have found myself in this predicament. But the one time I deviate, the one time I think I'm making the right move, the opponent is nice enough to let me know what a sucker I am. No one but myself to blame....

What Goes Down...

Why do I even bother? I ramble on about bad beats and post a vow to stay away, yet later that evening I stop at the Midway anyhow... just to see what's going on, yeah, that's it, really. I buy in for $60 and promptly lose it. No bad beats, just paying blinds and seeing flops. I shake my head in disbelief and pull out the last $60 of my monthly allocated Poker cash. Might as well blow it all now if I'm not playing for the rest of the month, right?

Three hours later, I've recovered my first buy-in, as well as an additional $250. The Poker Gods must have seen my threat to join the dark-side of fishiness, as I folded crap hands and didn't have to see them hit, and I would get one decent hand every other orbit that would hold up. That's the way it's supposed to work, right?

There were two MAJOR hands for the night. The first one, I have to give thanks to all the bloggers out there that post their thoughts and strategies on outplaying opponents and on how to milk every last bet possible. I can't name any specific names, as I skim a lot and click around randomly on my blogroll over there; but when there's strategy talk, I pay close attention and assimilate the data presented. And I was glad to be able to finally put it all into practical use last night!

I raise QQ in LP and get a flop of AQ3 with 2 clubs. I know Aces are gonna call, clubs are gonna chase, but one guy bets out before me. I raise him, some callers in between, and the bettor re-raises me. I take a thoughtful pause... I know he's a pretty tight solid player, so he would have raised preflop with AK and definitely reraised me with AA, so I rule out a set of Aces. He wouldn't be so aggressive if he was just chasing clubs, so it's either gotta be two-pair (AQ or A3 as he wouldn't play Q3) or a set of 3s. Whichever it was, I had him beat. I just had to dodge clubs, and as much as it'd be nice to have the board pair for a Full House, it could give him Aces full to beat my Queens full, or potentially Quads. It happened earlier with KK vs. 88 and a board of K8x8x. Huge pot, KK was pale as a ghost when he saw the Snowmen. At this point, I was happy with set over set or two-pair.

So here's where I considered something I read about that someone called the Third Level (or was it Fourth level?) of Poker playing. Beyond the ability of just reading your opponents.. this is the step where you make your opponent put you on a hand, incorrectly of course. Since I had been playing tight as well, my pre-flop raise most likely indicated AK or Pocket A/K/Q. If I had re-raised him and capped it on the flop, he knows he's up against AA or QQ and I'd only be serving to slow him down, forcing me to lead out on the Turn and River. I know TPTK is usually no good when you get re-raised, and I knew he knew it, so I decided to represent AK with just a call to his 3-bet.

Turn was a blank. Same pattern as the flop: I only called his 3-bet... let him keep thinking his hand was good. River was another airball, thank goodness. Here's where I turned it on and re-raised him. He looked shocked and had to call my bet... even though I was first to show, he flipped over his Pocket 3s before I pulled the chip off my cards. Perfect.

Guy next to me asked why I only called on the Flop and Turn. I shrugged and told him I thought he might have been slowplaying AA. Heh.

I'm not at the point yet where I can easily keep track of BBs during a hand, or anytime while at a table, so I took a little break after that hand and went out into the lounge and tallied up the bets on the back of a receipt to see if I played that the best I could.

A three-bet on the flop (1.5BB), 3BB on the Turn, and 4BB on the River got me 8.5BB out of his stack. If I had capped it on the flop (2 BB), then I most likely would have had to lead out and just been called on the last two streets for a total of 4BB. If I played it where I called the flop (1.5BB) then capped the Turn (4BB), I would have only gotten 1 more out of him on the River for a total of 6.5BB. So yeah, I took the best course of action I think I could have. And then there was the gravy from the other callers who got stuck in the middle. :)

Wow, I have one good night and I turn into a babbling fool. Seriously though, it felt nice to be able to get a hand, and then be able to take what I've learned, what I've read about, what I've thought about in traffic, what I have wet dreams about, and put it to good use at the table.

The second major hand was a no-brainer. I call a pre-flop raise with AK. Flop is AKJ, with the A and J being hearts. Too many players in and too many ways to be beat, so I avoided the Fancy Play Syndrome and just called the bet or two that was put out on each street. Turn is a blank, and the River is the King of Hearts. Everyone ooooohs at the possibility of the Royal Flush and the $2500 Monte Carlo, but no one has it. Someone did flop a Straight though, another caught their Flush on the River. Inital pre-flop raiser has KJ. Nice hands, but I take the pot.

So the night started off slowly... okay, it started off rather poorly. But damn am I glad I rebought and stuck it through! I'm kind of scared now, though. I know what goes up must come down, and what goes down doesn't always necessarily make it out of the hole that it dug itself into (I'm reminded of a recent personal Blackjack tragedy). I got lucky last night and it seems to be a really nasty roller coaster ride right now. I'm not even technically up for the past few weeks, so should I be happy with almost breaking even now, or ride out the potential rush I'm on?

Guess I'll just have to buckle back up and see which way I'm heading. Any bets on how soon before I quit again? :)

You've Got To Be Kidding...

I really, really, REALLY should have stopped playing for the month like I said I was going to. I'm such a bad quitter.

I was down at PJ's around midnight to sign in for the 1:30am tourney. Sat down for their 4/8 half-kill game while waiting. Played tight, mucked a couple of winners - 58o for the full house, 74o for the straight, and they were nice pots too because someone would have two pair or a set. But like with the 95c for a flopped Straight Flush, I can't bring myself to fishily play them. And then when I play decent hands like KQ or Ax suited, the board completely misses me.

Then it happens - I see two Red Aces in LP. I raise and the limpers call. Three Spades flop. I bet out on the flop, get to check the turn, and have to call a bet on the river. J5s wins.

Then, four or five hands later, the blinds haven't even gotten around to me yet, I get AcAd. Raise, and get all but one to fold. Flop comes 2 Spades, and can you guess what the Turn was? I lose, again.

I end up placing 4th out of about 25 in the tourney, win double the buy-in, but I'm still in the hole $150 from the live game and those damn Aces.

Today was the first day in about a week that I got a chance to take a lunch... not having to work through it or run errands (like renewing car tabs!). So I swing by the Silver Dollar and settle in for a rack. Again, played tight and spent more time enjoying my comped order of chicken wings. Near the end of the hour, I see those cursed Aces in LP. I raise and the limpers call. Hmm... deja vu. This time though, no flush opportunity and a really raggedy board. But wouldn't you fucking know it, 36 (they were suited!) flopped two pair. How come everytime I flop two-pair against an overpair, the board pairs to give them top-two? I can't get no love.

The guy is a regular, and apologizes and sounds like he's guilty for putting that beat on me, but he's still raking in the chips. I tell him it's okay, that it's the third time in less than 12 hours that I've had AA destroyed.

Then, four or five hands later, the blinds haven't even gotten around to me yet, I get AA. I knew I was going to lose again, but I had to play it. Raise, a few callers. J-high flop. A deuce on the turn gives J2o the win.

Deja fucking-vu? If I was knew I was going to blow that kind of cash, I would have rather spent it at the Deja Vu strip joints!

Twice in 10 minutes beat by flush. Twice in 10 minutes beat by two-pair. I guess I understand the theory behind calling ANYTHING in a 3/6 game. When you catch those lucky boards against "legitimate" pot-building hands, you can really rake it in. But I still cannot bring myself to feel good about playing like that. I don't want to have to buy in two or three times to catch those monster pots that will just break me even. And even if I caught them early, I have a bad track record of not being able to rack up and walk away after just getting started.

*sigh*

Maybe after a few weeks off (seriously!), when I can't resist the urge any longer, I'll come back and be able to play totally fishy. I'll chase all the way to the river, win with something like T3o, and I'll feel damn good about it.

Or maybe I'll just keep losing, again.

Relapse

Thanks to Iggy the Enabler for pointing out ESPN's Poker Club, with the free WSOP qualifiers. I'm a sucker for these mulit-level entry qualifiers, and the ones at ESPN are just the right price. :)

Despite my resolve to stay clear of even the virtual felt, I registered and downloaded the software and started playing at about 9:00 PST. The SnG tables filled up quick and it was a crapshoot as to whether you could get a seat or not.

Over the course of the next 4 hours (in between watching The Apprentice and Jersey Girl), I managed to get onto enough tables to actually win the 5 of them I needed! You get 6 points per win, and need 30 to enter the Sunday qualifiers. You can get 30 points for winning the MTTs that start every 20 minutes, but those fill up right away as well and I was too busy chasing open seats in the Single Table tab.

Given that these are freebies and a person can play as many as their heart desires, you can just imagine the kind of hands people were going all-in or calling all-ins with. And since the site is sponsored by Degree, there's a cute little "DEGREE ALL-IN MOMENT" pop-up icon on the table when someone pushes.

People were a little more cautious when I first started, when it was harder to get a seat; but roll around midnight my time, multiple tables were open at once and you actually had to WAIT for one to fill up and start.

That's when it got amusing, as half the table would go all-in on the first hand. What the hell, right? Lose and move on to the next table. Win, and you've quintupled up. I mostly tried to stay out of the cluster-fucks and actually play poker, but I did join in on the first-hand-frenzy once with KT and won. T6000 and I demolished the remaining 4 before round 2 even ended. Another table had everyone (but me) going all-in, and I was heads-up on the second hand. I couldn't overcome his 9-1 lead, but hey, at least I didn't end up investing that much time into that one!

Instead of thinking of this as a relapse, I'll consider it good rehab. I'm getting to play, it's not costing me anything, and it could potentially reap some great benefits.

Hmm... I wonder if the all-in first hand tactic will work at the WSOP?

It's Official

I'm going cold-turkey. No more cards, real or virtual, for the rest of March. Or until I can't stand it anymore - which shouldn't be more than about 5-6 days...

Tuesday night, I saw a few nice hands that missed the flop, and then someone else would take a shot at the pot before I could, or raise me so I that I had to let it go. Round 2 and I have yet to take a pot... blinds are coming around and I have a feeling I'm going to get too short-stacked to try and be aggressive later.

UTG+1, first card is the King of Spades. Okay, maybe this is the hand I make my move. Second card, the King of Clubs. Wow. But as much luck as I have with the Kings (none at all), I consider just limping in and letting go if an Ace flops. But I never have to make that decision as the chip-leader UTG goes all-in and he has me covered.

Why do I keep breaking my own stupid rule? Why? WHY??? I call, as well as the button! UTG has ATh, Button has AKd, and I show my KK. There's a lot of commotion at the table, and I'm up on my feet. Three are Kings out, as well as two Aces. As much as I'm hoping for a 10-high flop, I already know the outcome... an Ace on the flop, a T on the turn, and two seats are open.

My wife actually lasted through the night and took 2nd place for a $175 payout. There was a nice sense of satisfaction when she took out the ATh guy, after chopping with him about 4 times with Ace-rags. She'd never been in a heads-up situation before, so she wasn't as aggressive as I might have been. I kept mouthing to her, "raise it" or "push all-in!" but she wouldn't have it. Fortunately, the other guy wasn't too aggressive either and allowed her to limp in and catch a lot of flops. They were about even when he pushed all-in w/ Q2s and she was tired of the back-n-forth and called w/ K6o. She caught a 6 on the flop, but the River dropped a Queen.

Oh well, that's poker. At least she money'd, unlike her loser-no-more-poker-playin' husband.

Falling From Grace

Wow... January started off so nicely. I had felt the power of the Poker Gods behind me... my hands were guided by them and I could do no wrong. But somehow, somewhere, somewhen, they turned their backs on me and now I am no more than a blind mouse, skittering around for scraps....

On Friday, I get to the Midway after work, and they have the 10/20 game going with half a dozen on the wait list. I watch for about 45 minutes, just salivating at the piles of red chips moving back and forth, and finally get my name called. I buy-in with $400 and get placed in the 1s just after the button, so I'm dealt in immediately... first hand is pocket Jacks, Hallelujah! Two limpers before me, and as much as I hate being aggressive on my very first hand at a table, I don't want to fuck around with this gift given to me, so I raise. The BB makes it 3-bets, one limper and myself call. Flop hits with a K and a Q. It costs me another two bets to see the turn, which just ends up completing the flush for the first limper.

My next hand is Presto, 55. It costs me another 3 SBs to see it to the Turn. I miss and have to let it go. What is going on here? All this temptation laid before me and absolutely no fruit to bear!

Not 10 minutes in and I'm down $80. I try not to think of it in terms of dollars and tell myself I've still got 3 full stacks of chips to do holy battle with. The only problem was that I could not get ANY cards to take with me on this crusade.

K3, J6, T2, 94, 83, and on and on... it got to the point where I was ready to play the next two s00ted cards I got, but the Gods didn't even have the decency to grant me that! Of course, they tease me when I muck T6 and TT6 flops. I flash the dealer my fifth or sixth 94o before I fold, and the flop comes 94x, making even the dealer jump in her seat.

Okay, this means things are turning around, right? I'm being smiled upon and I need to take advantage of it, right? Nope. I get a playable hand like KJ and hear distant laughter overhead as I get outkicked by AJ. I turn two-pair with JT, no straight or flushes possible, but the river pairs one of the blanks so that I lose to KK (which of course is the way it's meant to be, right?).

I'm down to $50... half a stack... and pretty much resolved to go all-in with QQ. Another guy is all-in for about $15... there's all sorts of callers and side-pots going on. The board is only J-high and the Hilton Sisters hold up to win the big side-pot bringing me back up to $200+... but I still can't get all the glory as the smaller all-in rivered a Flush and he takes the $75 main pot.

The same thing happens again a few hands later, when my AK holds up for a decent side pot, but a K6 hits two-pair and takes the main pot. What cruelty... I have this juicy carrot dangled in front of me, and am only getting to nibble on the tip.

At this point, somehow I've got my 4 stacks of reds back, and then some... I'm up a whopping $40! Whoever came up with the idea of using casino chips was a genius. The psychology behind it all is amazing... playing a 3/6 game, I'd be pretty happy with being up $40. Two full extra stacks of chips... I could easily rack up and leave. But when that $40 is represented by a paltry 8 chips, how can I be satisfied with that? I know there's more in store for me... I know my celestial destiny has yet to be fulfilled.

Honestly though, I was prepared to keep things in scale... I would have racked up with +2 stacks... hell, I only bought in with $400, and I would have been happy being able to just fill up a rack. But even trying to get one measly extra stack of chips is a near impossibility, at any level, when you've fallen from grace like I apparently have.

Near the end of the night, one guy sat down with just $200. He hit 4 monster hands within 2 orbits and was up to $600, and wisely left after the next round. How dare he be that lucky? Whose virgin daughter did he have to sacrifice to have the light shone upon him like that? Myself, on the other hand, stuck around and just got myself stuck for another $200 before the table finally broke at midnight. How ironically fitting that my final hand was JJ... no overcards on the board this time... but instead I run into AA. Sheesh.

I'll admit, it was a really good game. Pretty solid, consistent play with minimal river beats. I just wish I had been blessed with some cards...

Unfortunately this bad run got me playing scared during the WPT Satellite freeroll at Cascade on Saturday. There were only about 36 people... I knew I could handle that. I tried to tell myself it was a new day, new cards. But I forgot to say my prayers, and I continued getting the same crappy hands. I was too pussy to try to make any moves when I easily could have... I went ultra-tight, limped in once an orbit (if even that) and folded to any bet. I mucked A7o in LP when I could have seen the flop for cheap. Two Aces on the board and King-high wins the pot. I raised with pocket 7s, but was re-raised all-in by the chip leader and couldn't bring myself to call. Suffice it to say, I didn't last very long, and after getting blinded down a few more orbits, my T500 push with AK didn't scare anyone off.

Last night, the wife and I hung out at the Silver Dollar, as they were doing a Ford Truck giveaway, and you had to be present to win. We didn't win the truck (surprise!), and couldn't win at their 3/6 game either. It was odd, having the previous two days worth of Poker playing be at the 10/20 and tournament level, and then coming back down to a 3/6 must-move table and seeing hands like J3 and T6 take down pots. The Overlords of the Cards are a fickle lot.

The killing blow for me was having AK lose to 83 (they were s00ted of course!) with a board that went Kxx, 3, 3... and that wasn't even the worst part. The bad beat was the one I put on myself, when the very next hand was 95c UTG. I mucked it right away and just wanted to cool down. Flop is 678c. I would have flopped a fucking Straight Flush! But how could I bring myself to play a shit hand like that? I mean, I'd seen 95o win twice at that table when they hit their straight, but I'm a better Poker player than that, right? The Monte Carlo jackpot for a Straight Flush was almost $100. I would have played 97s or even 96s to see if I could get close to the Straight Flush... but 95 flopping the triple-belly-buster-inside-back-door-gut-shot-Straight-Flush completely? What are the fucking chances of that??? What a nasty sense of humor somebody has.

I busted out two hands after that and I can't even blame it on being on tilt. Pocket 7s flop a set and I'm all-in only to lose to a runner-runner straight. Is that a tilt play? No, that's a "getting goosed by the higher-ups" kind of play.

I made it over to PJ Pockets for their 1:30am tourney, but was tenth on the alternate list. They go through as many alternates as they can within the first two rounds... alternate #9 got a seat just before the 2nd round timer went off. Geezus, I'm not even playing at a table and I'm still getting smited (smote? smitten?)!

PJ's added a Tuesday night tourney to their calendar, so I pre-registered for that and hope to snap myself out of this funk and turn things around before midnight tonight.

Seriously , if I can't money in tonight's tourney, I'll have to make the rest of March a poker-free month. Focus on some other back-burner projects... catch up on blog-reading... and of course, work on my prayers to the Poker Gods so that maybe they open their arms and accept me in their warm embrace once again....