Dreamsicles

Happy New Year to those of the Asian Persuasion. It's the Year of the Dog, so you know what that means... yup, the underdog SeaHawks are winning the big one! But I have a confession to make - I had a dream that the 'Hawks lost, and lost big (44-3). Then the next night I dreamt they lost by just one point (34-33). Both times, I remember thinking, "Geez, how'd I miss the game?" 'cause I didn't know any details of the game, just the score. The second time though, as I was waking, I realized the 1-pt game meant the Hawks covered the spread, but I was still bummed they lost. Weird, because it ain't gonna happen!

Maybe the depressive thoughts are being conjured up due to the onslaught of torrential rain we're getting up here. The sound of the rain literally woke me up at 4:00am this morning.

In other wild and wacky news, we went grocery shopping at Albertson's, and right as you walk in, there's an overly pink and red display of all the Valentine's candy available. But smack-dab in the middle of it all was a very familiar yellow and blue square... no, it can't be... why, yes it is!!! A box of Cadbury Mini-Eggs!!!



Easter candies aren't usually out until the day after Valentine's day. Feb. 15th is by far my favoritest day of the year... it's the day I start putting my pancreas into overdrive in an effort to stave off diabetic shock for the next 3 months! This Albertson's must have gotten a misshipment or something, because they had a few boxes of the mini 1.5oz bags out, but none of the pounders. I, of course, grabbed as many as my wife would allow me to and I've been happily snacking on the egg-shaped balls of chocolately goodness all week! W00t!

Gawd, even the smell of the candy coating is enough to make me have an incident in my pants. Yes, I'm an addict and probably need an intervention. But admitting the problem is the first step towards recovery, right? Now give me my chocolate and nobody gets hurt!

As for my other vices, I've been loving the HORSE SnG's on Full Tilt and actually scoring a few bucks in them. The best part is when it goes from Razz to Stud... there's always some fool who misses the notice and starts re-raising their made 8. Mwahaha!

I was invited to a home-game $10 tourney on Saturday through a friend of a friend. It sounded like a regular thing, and the host was only a few blocks away from home so I thought I'd discovered a new fishing pond. When talking to the host though, he claimed it was only the 2nd time they'd done it, and they'd do it once every 2 months or so if it was a success. It was a pretty well-organized event for something that had only happened once before. They had Dr. Neau's Tournament Manager running and even had the monitor projected onto the wall so everyone could see the time and blind levels. After paying the entry fee, I got a little Ziploc bag with my allocation of chips, and each of the 4 tables (only 1 poker table, the others were just buffet tables) had a printout of the blind level structure and chip values taped to it for quick reference.

There was a list of 40 players, but only 32 showed up. I got seated to the left of the friend who invited me, and there was another player who knew what he was doing to the right of him. The other 5 were obvious newbies or novices. The first 2 levels (20 minutes each) took forever, and we only went 2 or 3 orbits that entire time, because one guy really didn't know what he was doing - checking pre-flop, not raising enough, etc. - but he still took 2 minutes to make any decision. Sometimes he would just stare at the board and look at his cards and stare at the board some more. "Your action, dude!" "Oh yea... uhh.... uhh.... uhh... I guess I'll check."

Definitely a test of patience here. No use trying to bluff at a table full of rookies. I saw calls at the River with Q high (?) and figured I'd just have to wait for the nuts to get paid off. Except the couple of times I did have the nuts, everyone folded or I had to split. Then I had three hands in a row that I tried to see a flop with: A2s, A9o, and QTs; but either my friend or the guy to his right raised or re-raised before me. The only 2 people I was worried about at the table just had to get in on my action so I folded pre-flop. Those hands would have been winners, each and every one of them.

Shortly after a break, I was down to 7x the BB, so pushed with ATs UTG. The button called, and I was a bit worried because I had only seen her play pocket pairs or two paint (she had good hand selection, but was pretty much a calling station post-flop). I was pretty surprised when she showed K7o. She had the deck and dealt the Flop cards one by one. The first card off was of course a K, but that was quickly followed by an Ace. The third card was a blank and I felt this little tingle of hope, but I knew it wasn't going to be that easy. Of course the Turn was a 7 and the River didn't help me any so I was out in about 15th place.

Not much I could do there. I properly laid down my inferior hands which would have outdrawn and come out winners, and then someone else made a bad call and outdrew me. Fortunately, it was a short trip home and I was able to quickly drown my sorrows in my heaven-sent ambrosia. Mmmm... I must still be dreaming!

One Spade Shy...

Busy, exciting weekend for me. So much so, I called in sick on Monday for a mental relaxation day. :)

Obviously Sunday was a big day for the entire city of Seattle. The wife put out the chips and dip and BBQ meatballs and we had a rocking time watching the game. We made the kids join us to watch history in the making... the 15 year old was unimpressed, but the 4 and 7 year olds were jumping and cheering right along with us. In fact, the 4 year old was so inspired by the "Sea-Fence" she started tackling her sisters.

Yup, my wife and I both agree, we'll be grooming our little bruiser to be the first female drafted in the NFL. Salaries should be up in the gajabillions by then!

Back to the bayou for all you Panther lovin' pansies... sit back and enjoy the show as the Steelers get held back and ripped apart! Final score of SuperBowl XL, 'Hawks: 33-17, with 7 of those points by the defense.

The other adrenaline pumping occurrence happened at the Poker table, of course. It wasn't as big as hitting a six-figure win... hell, it didn't even involve winning. It was being one card away - one Spade away - from $40,000.

Was playing at the Muckleshoot, where their Bad Beat Jackpot was up to $170,000, Quads or better beaten. I had been playing 4/8 Full-Kill for about 2 hours, just not getting any cards. I'd win the occassional pot, just enough to keep my butt planted in the seat. Things started going south halfway through that third hour... I hit two-pair with AQ and was betting right into slowplayed AA, and if I tried to represent a hand on a coordinated board, sure enough someone else actually had it!

I was down to $30 of my original rack buy-in and I see QJ of Spades in the CO. I limp in behind 4 others, figure I'll see a flop and then decide if it was worth putting the rest of my chips in. I rolled my eyes when the BB raised, but followed along with everyone else.

Flop is 9sTsTd... wow, helluva draw I've got! Definitely got to get it all in now. BB bets, a few callers. I raise and he re-raises, scaring everybody else off. I re-raise for the last of my stack and he calls. I look around to make sure that no one else is in the hand, and the dealer confirms it by saying, "Okay, go ahead and turn 'em up."

I flip my cards over and show off my monster draw with a shrug. The dealer says, "Wow! Let's see some pocket Tens..." This is the usual spiel when there's a "Jackpot Board" - two pair, pair and straight flush draw, etc. The board looks pretty, but usually no one is even close. The dealers like to count the time between the Bad Beat Jackpots: "I usually deal one every two years, so I'm due!" or telling oh-so-close stories.

The dealer's eyes light up as the BB shows his Tens.

One of the regulars stands up and leans over the table, practically drooling. Someone else starts calculating what the shares will work out to be. Someone calls their friend over from another table to watch, and the floorman and other off-duty dealers stop by to huddle over the table. One lady had turned around to eat her food and was completely oblivious to the commotion.

The dealer rubs the felt as he burns and turns... everyone is chanting: "C'mon 8 of Spades, c'mon K of Spades!!!" . The Turn is absolutely nothing, I can't even remember it.

Burns the next card, rubs the felt, and deals the River.

Spades.

The 7 of.

HORSE Poo

Things were a bit hectic at the office, and then I had to wait at KFC for 20 minutes for the drumsticks to finish cooking, so I didn't get home and logon to Full Tilt until about 7:30 (10:30 ET). I was already down to T900 and we were in the Stud level... great, the one game I haven't ever really played yet!

I somehow manage to win a few pots... one of the first hands I had K/K, but someone was showing an Ace and betting the whole way. That probably should have been a clue that he had another Ace in the hole, but I didn't get the memo and it turned out my Kings were good! I was up against a shortstacked Mean Gene who had two pair, 8s and 9s, but with just the pair of 9s showing. I had K/K and then the river paired my 3 for a bigger two pair.

Next thing I know, I've built myself back up to over 2500 and I've got some ammo for the Limit Hold'Em round. Both Mourn and SirFwalgman are on the brink of elimination, and I get some nice hands to try and bust them with; but they both outflop me and I end up paying them off and relegate myself to short stack status again.

I play pussy poker during the Omaha round, throwing away at least 2 huge winners. I'm all-in with my first hand of Razz, 34/6, and I'm up against 23/5 and he draws an Ace and I don't improve much.

I don't know what it is with Tourneys right now, but I am either the first to go, or invest a few hours just to bubble out. Very first hand of a SnG, I get Aces - UTG raised 3BB and I made it about 10BB... he calls and I push on the 78T rainbow flop. His pre-flop raised J9 (sooted!) held up.

Okay, let's try an Omaha SnG. Wow, I flop a set of Kings and have the nut flush draw, but the runner runner fills someone else's straight instead.

Back to a Hold'em MTT? Make it past the first break, only to immediately lose 3 races in a row for a whopping $0!

Somehow I manage to keep a paltry bankroll by racking up $20 sessions at the .05c/.10c PLO tables, which of course I feed right back into Tourneys in the hunt for the Big Score. For some reason, being a nickel and dime (literally) grinder just doesn't sound all that sexy, but it's paying the bills, so to speak.

Well, I'm pretty exhausted trying to look the Poker HORSE in the mouth, so I guess I'll go around back and give the ass end of the HORSE some more play time. Ummm... by that, you sickos, I mean I'll probably be playing less HO and more RSE. I hope the poo on that side isn't as thick, but somehow I have the feeling I'll be knee deep in it.

GO SEAHAWKS!

Miscount!

The worst bad beat you can ever take is the one you put on yourself. Making a bad read, mistiming a bluff, making that call when you know you're beat. That's all part of the game - take your beating, lick your wounds, and move on.

But what about those really stupid mistakes? Rookie mistakes, the ones that should never happen more than once in your poker-playing lifetime?

Thinking you have the Nut Heart Flush when you're actually holding the Ace of Diamonds - check.

Proudly displaying your four-card straight - check.

Mucking your Pocket Aces when someone shows K8 on a K822x board - check.

Miscounting your tournament chips and busting out because of it - check... and check.

Yup... I did it again. I never wrote about the first time I made a chip count mistake because it happened before this here blog existed, so I'll go ahead and lay out some of that ancient history.

I'd only been playing 3/6 for a few months, and this was maybe the 4th or 5th cheapy tournament ($25 buy-in) I'd ever been in. Never made it too far, but I was learning and having fun. I had just recently found out about Poker Blogs and digested lots of tidbits that helped my game and got me all the way to the final table out of ~30 entrants.

The blinds were up to 500/1000 and we had colored up to just using red chips worth 500 each. At some point earlier in the level, someone announced their raise to "Five." The dealer, who had just pushed in, asked: "Is that 500 or 5000?" At least two people chimed back: "We're at 500/1000, the minimum bet is 1000 so it's obviously 5000." The dealer backtracked and defended himself: "Okay okay, but still, you should be clear about your raises."

It didn't take long to get down to the last 3 players. I was on the button with 21 chips, with 1 and 2 chips as the blinds. I looked down at 9Ts and decided to raise. 3x the BB would cost me 6 chips - I figured it was worth the attempt, it wouldn't cripple me and I could easily let go if needed and still have enough to play with.

I grabbed a stack of ten chips, reached forward and dropped two. "Raise," I said as I moved the stack in my hand over and cut off another two. One more cut would complete my 6-chip raise. With the dealer's reprimand about verbally announcing raise amounts fresh in my mind, I said out loud and clear: "6 thousand..."

As I dropped the last two chips, I realized my mistake. There were my 6 chips out on the felt, which is what I wanted to do, but that only amounted to 3 thousand. I was thinking 6 chips, but had announced and was now verbally committed to putting out 6 thousand - a total of 12 chips, over half of my stack.

I got a caller, and he pushed on the flop. I caught a 9 for middle pair, and figured I was pot-committed and made the call. Hey, at least I cashed.

From that day forth, I make sure to count my chips and separate them before pushing them over the line, and make sure I know what I want to say before I say it. So how did I end up with another miscounting situation? This time, I don't have the excuse of being a newbie as it just happened the other day. It wasn't quite the same circumstances, but it falls into the same forehead-slapping, ass-self-kicking category.

A buddy called me near the end of my workday, saying he heard of a $30 buyin tournament that starts at 6:30. The place was only about 5 miles from the office so I told him I'd be there. It was a nice place and the 30 seats filled up pretty quick. I was looking over their tourney flyer and was amazed that players started with 6000 chips! But then I saw the blind structure began at 100/200 and pretty much doubled every 15 minutes. Okay, this should be interesting.

Chips came in denominations of 100 (5 blacks), 500 (5 yellows) and 1000 (3 reds). In a span of two orbits, I saw a face card once but it had nothing to back it up. I was up against a raise and reraise when I finally saw two paints, but it was only QJ so I let it go. I raised once with pocket 8s, then folded when my continuation bet was check-raised on an AQ2 board. He showed A2.

We were now deep into the 2nd level (200/400) and there was only about 3 minutes before it went to 400/800. I looked down to see what I had left: 2 red chips and a black. I wanted to ask my neighbor to make some change for one of my reds, so I wouldn't feel so short-stacked, but he was involved in a hand. Then the next hand was quickly dealt and I was UTG.

I really wish I would have gotten the change, because it would have helped me avoid the mental lapse that kicked in when I tried to calculate my stack size relative to the blinds. At the other places I regularly play, red chips are 500. So having 2 reds, I counted up 1100, just under 3x the BB, a push or fold situation. I had A3s so I put my remaining 3 chips in the middle. The dealer announced it for me, "All-in." What I wasn't expecting to hear was the "2100 to call" part...

The only caller had AK. I flopped the Wheel draw, but it never came and I was shaking my head in disbelief at the move I had just made. I thought I was much more desperate than I really was, when in reality I could have seen at least one more round of cards. Or if I had just limped in, I could have made a stop'n'go move when the flop missed AK.

Maybe I've been playing too much online and am spoiled by having all the numbers displayed right in front of me; or maybe somedays I'm just an idiot.

Favorites

The Seahawks are now the odd-makers favorite to win the Superbowl. Huh? Even the Rain Gods had to stop their deluge the day after the game to scratch their heads about that one. Funny thing too, my family was coming back from a trip from Thailand and had a 12 hour layover in the city... the one day it hasn't rained all year.

I was rooting for the Bears, because it would have been an easier team for the 'Hawks, and I would have enjoyed winning whatever wager would have been placed with DonkeyPuncher. Now the Panthers are coming to town instead. They were my favorite team to pick playing NFL Blitz in the arcade only because Tim Biakabutuku was on the roster. Nothing greater than giving him the ball every other play just to hear the announcer yell out his name.

Yes, I'm easily amused.

When It Rains....

... it pours, especially in the Northwest. We're now on our 26th straight day of rain, and the forecast is for at least another 5 days worth. Ahh, basking in the glorious Seattle Sunshine! It should make for an interesting Playoff game. Go Seahawks!!!

Happy Friday the 13th to everyone! As much of a Schleprock that I am, this day is usually the lucky one for me. Too bad I'm not going to get a chance to test my luck at the poker tables tonight. The next Friday the 13th is way out there in October, so I hope I can survive the bad beat rainstorms until then!

Omalympics

Over the last week I've been playing a lot of PL Omaha (Hi), both in prep for the Omalympics and just for a change of pace from the Hold'Em ass kickings I'm used to. Right off the bat I'm hitting Quads and Straight Flushes... I scored 2nd place in the first PLO SnG I played, and had a +200BB session at Full Tilt - too bad it was only at the .05c/.10c tables.

I got myself out of work an hour early so I could get home in time for the DADI Special Omalympics. I'd been in training for a week and was ready to go for the Gold. I had missed the first dozen hands (which the Hand History shows I had a lot of chances to chip up!), and the first hand I play after logging in, I flop a set and lose to a rivered straight. Luckily, there was a flush out there so the betting action wasn't that heavy.

I immediately get moved to a table with Iggy, Veneno, GCox and on_thg. The first hand I get involved in on that table, I hit two pair with AJ, but see some chips go to GCox who only has an Ace. I'm scratching my head as I look over the hand history, and see that he won the Low.

Oh yeah, we're playing Hi/Low split... I totally spaced on that aspect of it! "Now I'll be coming into EVERY hand!" I say. Sure enough, I am able to pick up a couple of low halves with hands I would have totally mucked if I had still thought we were playing only Hi. Then things started really going my way:

Dealt to skitchorama [6h Ac Kc 3h]
*** RIVER *** [4c 8c 9c 3c] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
skitchorama: shows [6h Ac Kc 3h] (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 6,4,3,2,A)

Dealt to skitchorama [5s 5d 2h Ad]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 8h 3d Kd] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
skitchorama: shows [5s 5d 2h Ad] (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 5,4,3,2,A)

These happened within 5 hands of each other, and both times I got paid off by ScarKnight who had a lower flush. Now that I had some chips, I decide to have a little fun with this hand: "Dealt to skitchorama [2s 7d 8s 2c]" and raise it to 72 and get callers. The flop:



Yea, nobody paid me off on that one, but I did get to drop DQB and HAMMER in chat! A few hands later:



It came runner runner Duece, but I had to let it go when the turn was a 3rd club.

I get this in the BB:

Dealt to skitchorama [3d 6h Jd 2d]
*** FLOP *** [7c Jh Ah]

I led out betting, but got raised and reraised... I folded and watched the other two get themselves all-in:

*** RIVER *** [7c Jh Ah 6s] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
willythewise: shows [2c 4h 2h 5c] (HI: two pair, Aces and Deuces; LO: 7,6,4,2,A)
grupper: shows [Ad 5d Js Ac] (HI: four of a kind, Aces)

Ummm... I would have had A,2,3,6,7 for the Lo and taken willythewise out. I guess it was a good laydown though, wasn't it? If a 3 had fallen, it would have counterfeited mine and I would have lost to his Wheel. Having the A,2,3 was giving me the nut low draw, but with no Straight or Flush draw, my lone pair of Jacks wasn't strong enough for me to keep going, especially in the face of TWO all-ins. Is my line of thinking correct on this?

Dinner was cooking, and since I was up near the top ten I considered sitting out to protect my chips and let the rest of the Omatards take each other out. I was going to play through my button and then head out. I get this in the SB and complete:

Dealt to skitchorama [9h 3d 7h 4d]
*** FLOP *** [4h 9d Td]

I bet out and ScarKnight, whom I'd taken plenty of chips off, raises enough to let me know he's going all in. I started with about 2000 and he had 800. Everyone else folds and I go ahead and grant his wish:

*** RIVER *** [4h 9d Td 2d] [9s]
skitchorama: shows [9h 3d 7h 4d] (HI: a full house, Nines full of Fours)
ScarKnight: shows [Th 8d 9c 8s] (HI: a full house, Nines full of Tens)

Yea, he flopped the bigger two pair, but I turned the Flush only to lose to the bigger Full House. Great. Back down to 1200. Now I'd have to bring dinner to the computer desk so I wouldn't miss out on the hand that would bump me back up. I thought this might be this one here:

Dealt to skitchorama [Ah 5h 4d As] - but when the board came 998J with no flush possibility for me, I was resigned to let it go. It got checked around to the River, where a third Ace fell.



Nut full-house no good. I was thinking it was fortunate that on_thg only had 500 chips starting that hand. That left me with 700 to try and make something of. It turned out it didn't matter, because precisely 2 hands later, my BB no less:

Dealt to skitchorama [4s Kd 2h 4c]
*** FLOP *** [3c 5h Qc]
GCox25: checks
skitchorama: checks
yosoyveneno: bets 100
mowenumdown: calls 100
GCox25: folds
skitchorama: calls 100
*** TURN *** [3c 5h Qc] [6h]
skitchorama: bets 534 and is all-in
yosoyveneno: raises 79 to 613 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [3c 5h Qc 6h] [Td]

So I had the 6 high straight... a possible scooper hand. I might lose the high to a 7-4, or lose the low to a A2 or A4. With Veneno betting the Flop, I figured she hit a set, or maybe had the A2 or A4 for the low draw. She had the A4, plus a 7 for the scoop:



Well, I guess it benefitted Veneno that I didn't lose all my chips to on_thg, as he busted out shortly afterwards. She, on the other hand, was able use my chips to make a comeback run all the way to the final table.

For me, it's back to the gym...

Finally!

At long last, I get in a post for the year 2006! And the Seahawks finally make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs! Game tix went on sale today, and I tried to get a pair to make a quick turnaround on eBay but Ticketmaster wouldn't let me through. Ah well, guess I'll have to stick to making money the old fashioned way.

New Year's was great - a few months ago I just happened to run into an old friend who I hadn't seen in about 5 years. He was setting up a New Year's party, and told me that he had recently got a hold of some other people who had fallen off the radar over the years. It made for quite the get-together, the "old gang" all in one place! My cell phone contact list practically doubled overnight and an uber-email list was compiled for future party invitations.

I had to keep my alcohol consumption to a minimum and give myself enough time to sober up for the drive home. I was surprised my body lasted until 5am, considering how I had spent the anniversary with wife just two nights prior. We had been at it for a full 17 hours... and by 'it' I mean poker playing. I told her I was going to take her into town for a nice steak dinner, but having just recently returned from New York, she said she was tired of the fancy, stuffy restaurants as that's all she ate at while she was out there. How nice for her, while the kids and I enjoyed Mac n' Cheese or Jack in the Box on a regular basis during her absence. But I didn't put up much of an argument when she said she'd rather put that money towards a poker buy-in!

We mosied over to the Muckleshoot late Thursday night, got ourselves some discount casino food and were both seated at a 3/6 game just around midnight. We rode the wave as our chip stacks went up and down, and watched as a myriad of drunks and regulars came in and out of the game. Wifey finally hit the felt at around 5:30am and I was stuck about $20. I told her I wasn't leaving until I got one of the donuts that they bring out at 6:00am. I'd put my time in, and I wanted my free donut, dammit!

I scooped a pot as the donut tray came around - there were no chocolate creme filled so I settled for a good ol' maple bar. After scarfing that down, I saw I was back to even so racked up and cashed out. On the way to the door, the cash-out found itself cashed back in at a Craps table. :) The shooter was hot and I was up another $50 within a few rolls! Unfortunately myself and my wife were not so hot and we found ourselves back down with just $50 left. Since the pit boss couldn't cash our chips, and the cage was sooo far away, I split the chips with the wife and we took two seats at a Pai-gow table. A few hands in, she hit Quads, but with only a dollar on the bonus. Of course, the other old asian ladies at the table were shaking their heads in disbelief as their $50 bonus bets were swept away.

As it is with Pai-gow, we got to play for almost an hour, and amazingly found that there was now about $200 between us. Back to the Poker room? Sure, why not! I don't really remember what time it was at this point, and our only clue that it was around normal waking hours was when the Poker room was filled up and the waiting lists were getting longer. We had ourselves breakfast at the table, and made sure to get up and stretch the legs and get some fresh air every now and then. Despite being awake and at a casino for over 12 hours after a full day of work, I was really enjoying the cards and the company.

Before we knew it, 5:00pm rolled around and we were both feeling the gas tanks starting to empty. She was back to even and I found myself up $250. I told her once I broke $300, we'd leave... and wouldn't you know it, I went on a downswing and blew through $200. Most of it was in a huge kill pot that just completely deflated me, so we racked up and left shortly after. Made it home and got a good 12 hours of sleep before having to get up and get ready for the New Year's party that night. Not an impressive BB/hour rate, but a fun way to end the year!

As you can imagine, we got quite our fill of casino action and haven't been back to play yet this year. But when we do, I have to try harder to give up the fun and social aspect of it and remember to get out of there with as many chips as possible. I guess I could consider that a New Year's Resolution, but I'm pretty sure I said the same thing last year, so I think it's just me finally getting around to fulfilling an Old Year's Resolution. :)