Seeing Things

I've been given a sign from above! I will be winning this Sunday! This was in an email from my mother-in-law:



Just stare at the center 4 dots for 30 seconds, then turn your gaze to a blank wall and blink and you will see the face of Jesus!

And if you're loony enough, he'll even talk to you and tell you anything you want to hear, like the fact that you'll be winning the 2nd Blogger's WSOP Satellite. And if you don't, it's your own fault because you're a sinner for gambling anyways...

Yea, like the powers that be in our world wouldn't have anything better to do than stack the deck in my favor. Obviously, I'm not a religious person. The funniest part of the email was one of the responses from the multitudes of forwarding this email went through:

"I don't know how this works, but I'm totally spooked. Everyone in the office saw the same thing I did. Spooookkkyyy!"

It saddens me that there are people out and about that are actually that stupid. And using email no less. It's called an optical illusion honey... I'll admit, it's a very well done one, but I knew even before reading the instructions what I was going to be seeing.

Here's a neat one to try: stare directly at the sun for 30 seconds, and then tell me what you see on the walls!

I wish someone would put this inverse-color after-image effect to good use. Here, let me give it a shot.

If you really want to see the savior, stare at the button in the middle of this picture for 30 seconds, then... ummm... then you... uhhh... yeah....



See you on Sunday!

When Bloggers Attack

All of the parties involved in play criticism have kissed and made up. We sure can bitch about bad plays and suckouts from the fishies, but when you play in a tourney of bloggers-only, be careful who you berate cause they can bite back!

Funny thing is, if either of the plays in question had involved THE HAMMER... there would be nothing but much rejoicing! :)

I've had a hell of a see-saw week. I won my friend's home-game, $20 buy-in tourney on Saturday. But I could only claw my way to 19th at the WSOP satellite on Sunday. I put the rest of my PokerStars minimum buy-in at a NL table, and promptly lost it in the first orbit when my AA hit their set, and lost to a runner-runner flush. I money'd in the Monday night tourney; and then gave it all away to the lunchtime crowd on Tuesday. Didn't I just say something about staying away from the Peter and Paul situation? *sigh*

I didn't know how today was going to go, but I got my answer during the drive to work. I rear-ended someone... coming downhill, light just turned green and I saw other vehicles moving, I turned my head for a split second, not expecting to have to come to a complete stop... but the lady in front hadn't started going yet, and BAM!

My hood and grill are a little bent up, and I did nothing more than paint their bumper. Of course, as we exchanged IDs and insurance cards, she took down my info with a hand on the back of her neck. C'mon lady, it was a little love tap... your fat-ass had enough cushion for you to not feel anything. As I talked to the claims agent later in the afternoon, she said that there was already an injury claim in place.

If this little fender-bender causes me more grief than it has to, I'm gonna head over and make sure her injuries are well-justified! FOX can follow me with a camera and they can film the pilot episode of "WHEN BLOGGERS ATTACK!"

Speaking of TV, just got done watching the Atlantis episode of the WPT. Fun to watch and see the actual hole cards that went along with the betting that Otis blogged about! And what's up with the WONDERCAM? I've had dealers say they can't Foxhunt or they'll lose their license... maybe they could do it because this wasn't regulated by US gaming laws? Or am I completely wrong and we'll be seeing the WONDERCAM in future episodes? Have they done it before and I just missed it? The WPT brought televised poker into the mainstream, so I guess they can do whatever the hell they want!

With the way things are going this week, I don't know where I'll be, physically and mentally, on Sunday. Here's to hoping I'll be in a calm enough state of mind to take another stab at the satellite. And if I do show up, be warned, it'll be with both swords swinging!

Defending My Blind

There's been lots of posts out there about not getting the cards during the WPBT WSOP Satellite... so in that respect, I guess this is an anti-post! I saw every pocket-pair 9-A: 9s flopped a set, Ts and Js were worth the blinds and a limper or two, Qs took out Derek, Aces held up even with 2 Kings on the board, and of course, Ks ran into As and busted me.

I got to show down the great hands, allowing me to make lots of open-raise steals. I even showed a 23o for the heck of it. I tried raising with the Hammer once, but got re-raised all-in... I couldn't do it. :(

But my personal favorite play was K8o in the BB, and it was folded around to the SB who raised. I called, and flop came Axx. SB bet out, and I raised. There was a long pause... time bank went into effect, and finally a Fold! That was the first time I think I've ever consciously and successfully defended my blind with a completely missed flop.

Now it looks like I have to play defense again. I alerted TripJax to the fact that Dragonystic had some choice words about one of his plays; and then I came across some criticsm about one of my plays!

From Big Slick Nuts:

=-=-=-=-=-=

[Temper Tantrum Begins]
Now, I have never, ever, criticized another blogger by name before... and I won't start now (which is why I won't post the hand history). But dude, if you're reading this, you DO NOT re-raise someone that has already called an all-in with K-3o. Re-raising means you think your hand is good enough to isolate - and it WASN'T. Not on any day of the week. Not at that table in this tournament. Not, Not, Not... {BSN stamps his feet and punches the air}

Yes, my AJ would have won the hand and busted someone out. But it isn't nearly strong enough to call an isolation move like that. Instead, Mr. K-3o doubled the other player up.

I probably could have re-raised the all-in to isolate also, but in a winner-take-all event like that I didn't think it was prudent. I wanted the all-in player OUT, but I wasn't strong enough and WANTED to see others call so we could check it down and remove another obstacle to the prize.

I don't know if you're a reader of this blog or not, but you broke my heart. {sniff} Please, please, please tell me what you were thinking??? I mean, if you were first to act, ok, but re-raising???
[TEMPER TANTRUM ENDS]

**********************************
Ok, enough whining. I admit it, I made a mistake in not calling when I would have been getting about 3.5:1 calling the re-raise. But, honest to God, I read KK or AA. Those were the ONLY hands it made sense to make that move with. So, my read that I was, what, a 4:1 dog at best?

Guess, I still had some whining to do. I can't help it, I was in the top 5 at that point, and as you can easily tell, I've been steaming ever since. Just couldn't let it go. I managed to get back where I was in chips, but my heart was pretty much gone.

At least I lasted longer than Mr. K-3o.

=-=-=-=-=-=

Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm Mr. K-3o. I'm waiting to see if BSN will post the Hand history (if he has it), so I can properly defend myself. Below was my response on his site, and I've got nothing against having an open discussion about what I did... I admit, it wasn't a world-class play, but it seemed to really strike a nerve!

=-=-=-=-=-=

I'm pretty sure I'm the one who broke your heart... I'd love to see the hand-history to make sure my story is straight, but if I recall, the all-in raise was pretty small. I had a pretty large stack at that point and only made a minimal raise.

It wasn't meant as an isolation move... for all intents and purposes, you basically limped in, so I was looking to build a sidepot (hence the smallish raise) and try to outplay you for it post-flop. I stole and bluffed with a lot worse hands through-out the tourney, and if you had come on strong I would have let you have it.

As it was, I ended up only against what I figured was a desperation all-in, and you're never that much of an underdog heads-up.

I brought my best game and played my way to the top as well... just had an unlucky hand to bust out in 19th.

No hard feelings? I'll be sending you a dozen roses and a box of chocolates to help ease the pain. ;)

Mr. K3o

=-=-=-=-=-=

Will you take my case, Mr. Cochrane?

No One Remembers 19th Place

Wow, what a great event! It was an honor and a pleasure to play on the WPBT circuit and face opponents with some actual skill. Been playing too much at the local casinos with TV-trained yahoos who think calling 2 all-ins with Pocket Dueces is a good idea. So that's what it feels like to steal the blinds and have re-raises respected!

I started off playing somewhat aggressive, and it seemed to work out for me. Along the way, I got bullied around by BadBlood, I got Hammer'd by Helixx, and I got up as far as 2nd place (just behind HDouble) with 23 players left. I shoulda taken a screen shot cause T9000 was the best I would get to... I made a few too many loose calls and then blew another 2000 on a busted bluff attempt. And then this:

PokerStars Game #1580251159: Tournament #7037849, Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2005/04/24 - 20:51:32 (ET)
Table '7037849 10' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: jerge88 (5325 in chips)
Seat 2: hdouble (13807 in chips)
Seat 4: skitchorama (6786 in chips)
Seat 5: badblood44 (14587 in chips)
Seat 8: phillsievers (6818 in chips)
Seat 9: peacecorn (3071 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to skitchorama [Kh Ks]
hdouble: folds
skitchorama: raises 1600 to 2000
badblood44: folds
phillsievers: calls 2000
peacecorn: folds
jerge88: folds
*** FLOP *** [9c Qc Qd]
skitchorama: bets 2400
phillsievers: raises 2393 to 4793 and is all-in
skitchorama: calls 2361 and is all-in
skitchorama said, "uh oh"
hdouble said, "oof"
badblood44 said, "wow"
*** TURN *** [9c Qc Qd] [4s]
heL1xx [observer] said, "wow"
spm1024 [observer] said, "wow momma"
heL1xx [observer] said, "wow"
homersolo [observer] said, "wow"
*** RIVER *** [9c Qc Qd 4s] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
skitchorama: shows [Kh Ks] (a full house, Queens full of Kings)
phillsievers: shows [Ah Ad] (a full house, Queens full of Aces)
phillsievers said, "gg man, ul timing"
Donegal [observer] said, "yyesh"
phillsievers collected 14272 from pot

Those frickin' Cowboys ALWAYS get me into trouble late into major tournaments. Why can't I ever follow my own damn rule about them??? What's ironic is that when he raised, my pointer was hovering over the fold button and I almost clicked... but I considered the fact he could be bluffing, that if he had a Queen he would probably slowplay it. I was right - he didn't have a Queen. At least Phil went on to put those chips to good use!

Despite my double-digit finish, it was quite a confidence booster for me to know that I can hang in there with the best of 'em.

Awesome tournament - when's the next one?

Robbing Peter...

Another week, another post. My cubicle-mate is still out of the office, and another co-worker is down in LA on a business seminar... guess who his back-up is? My wife is out of town as well, across the country in NY. Her producer-boss is working on an off-broadway show, and having been what basically amounts to his PA for more years than she's known even me, he flew her out there to help out with songs and casting, etc. Every few years or so he's got a project he's working on and my wife gets whisked away for days at a time. He trusts her opinion, and she has a way of getting things done that need to get done, allowing him to keep his own hands clean. I'm okay with it, especially as she always comes home with a nice wad of cash!

Of course, being out in NY, I had to get some card-club recommendations for her from Pauly and asphnxma. Coming from WA state where there's a damn cardroom around every block, she's excited to be playing on the fringes of the law, and that there'll be the possibility of her game getting raided!

But just because I'm doing triple-duty at the office and playing Mr. Mom at home, doesn't mean I haven't gotten out to play some Poker myself! But hey, I'm not addicted or anything!

Ever since I discovered PJ Pockets and their $25 buy-in tourneys on Sunday afternoon and midnights Monday and Tuesday, I've been able to get in a lot more tournament play. Everyone knows limit ring-games and NL Tournaments are two completely different beasts, and I find myself in the unfortunate pattern of robbing Peter just to pay off Paul. A few weeks ago I money'd in 2 tourneys to profit about $150, then promptly gave it all back to the River chasing monkeys at the 3/6 table. The next week, I follow Paul around at another 3/6 table and manage to sneak away with $100. Enough to pay back Peter and get myself into 3 tournaments... where I didn't even last into the 2nd round.

How's this for some bad play: I open-raise w/ QJs in LP and the BB calls. Flop comes AKx. Checked to me and I fire at the pot. He reluctantly calls. Turn brings me four to the flush to add to my gut-shot, and I bet enough to put him all-in. He does a "What the hell, I'm ready to leave," call and shows JJ. None of my outs hit and I don't last much longer after that. I'm still trying to figure out if he was the idiot for calling, or if I'm the idiot for giving him too much credit to actually lay down a pocket pair with a pre-flop raise and overcards on the board. I'm sure his buddies gave him "Good read!" praises.

Next day, new tourney, we're only in the 2nd orbit and I get KK in EP so I raise to T200 (4xBB). The guy to my left, whose friend told the rest of us to just call Napoleon Dynamite cause he had the same look and mannerisms, re-raised me to 400. This was immediately followed by two short-stack all-in raises to 700 and 900. I push the rest of my stack to make it 1400. It would cost Napoleon another thousand to call, leaving him with only about 500. "Wow, that's a big pot," he says, sounding an awful lot like the movie character. He makes the call, I flip over my hand and say, "I want to see Aces everywhere!" and I do... AQs, AKs, and Napoleon completely dominated with the worst of all: AJo.

Jack on the flop, and the case Ace on the turn. First to worst, worst to first. Someone who knows the math - did he have the odds to call? Obviously, like Waffle's recent beat of the Geek, it turned out to be the right decision; but I think I would have easily laid down AJo to 3 all-ins.

The last tournament of that week, I get TT in the SB and call the button's min-raise. Nine high flop, I bet and get raised. At this point, I know he's got a bigger pocket pair, I just know it. But my mind is numbed from the previous beats and I reraise all-in. He shows QQ.

I took a few days off from playing, and even skipped this last Sunday's tourney and spent the day with the kids (aka sleeping in the theater through the movie Robots). Finally, on Monday, I made my first lunch trip in awhile back to the Silver Dollar. They changed their comp policy - no free lunch until you've played for at least an hour. So I couldn't get my chicken wings, but I went back to work $80 richer!

On the way home, I stopped at PJ's and put in my $25 for the midnight tourney. I wasn't expecting much of it... I had a good live session so I figured my tourney chances were pretty slim. But something was different that day. My mad ninja skillz were at full blast as I not only robbed Peter at lunchtime, but I was kicking Paul's ass that night as well! I made all the right decisions, and minimized my losses on the beats. I had perfect reads on everyone, laid down two pair when necessary and bluffed with 92o when the opportunity arose. Got heads-up and played back and forth for 15 minutes before agreeing to split it for $200 each. I made it home about 3:00 am, but was on such a Poker high I couldn't get to sleep for another hour.

Tuesday was a repeat of Monday... had a profitable lunch and placed in the money in the midnight tourney! It feels good to be playing well and having it pay off. I'm going to ride out my rush and will be signing up for the WSOP qualifier... it'll be my first time playing against other bloggers and I hope to get Hammered!

And congrats to our Poker Blogging Idol for surviving yet another week!

VOTE!!!

As much as I try to avoid watching American Idol, I do catch glimpses of it when my wife and daughter are watching it. The first time I spotted this guy, I was sure I knew him from somewhere...





Then it dawned on me that I did know that HUGE HUMAN HEAD:





C'mon now people, a fellow poker blogger was on the brink of elimination tonight! Be sure to tune in and vote next week!!!

Epidemic

Two weeks can go by real quick. Especially when my coworker's newborn son is sick and she's taking an emergency medical leave of absence, leaving me to cover her corner of the cubicle for an unspecified amount of time. Since I work in Export, things are time-critical and have to get done during business hours, meaning I can hardly even get any overtime for my double duty.

Doesn't help when my own daughters are taking turns at home being ill. The 6 yr old caught the creepies just before her Spring Break, so she got to spend her week laying under blankets on the couch watching TV and playing video games. Which is what she probably would have chosen to do anyways, but I wish she could have enjoyed it without being drugged up half the time.

Then the 3 yr old had a fever that spiked after a few days so we took her to the emergency room that evening. After an hour of waiting for the doctor, the fever had come down quite a bit - mostly due to the fact that they overdosed her on the Children's Tylenol and Motrin because the nurse had written her down as 36 Kilograms instead of 36 pounds. Luckily the doctor caught this before writing out the dosage for her antibiotic prescription.

And to top it all off, I just can't seem to win at Poker right now. Just this weekend, my wife and I finally got a chance to go out and play. I was involved to Showdown in a total of 3 pots before I busted out: 55 that flopped a set, AK catching a K, and QQ with all undercards... I rammed and jammed all of them only to lose to runner-runner flushes each time. Not to mention my two tourney attempts, both in which I got crippled thanks to AK versus QQ.

Fortunately my daughters are on the fast track to wellness and just have a few sniffles to get over. I, on the other hand, need someone to write me up a prescription for some winning sessions!