It's All Fours And Sixes...

Post #164

2006-10-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

The end of an era

2006-09-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

With school back in full swing and me actually attempting to have a life outside of my computer monitor/TV, I have decided to make this my last post here. I may have to come back at the least to make the obligatory post #164 though. The poker scene at home has slowed to a halt pretty much. I still plan on playing when and where I can, of that have no doubt.

To recap the end of my LA trip a couple weekends back: Waking up to a flat tire was sweet; looked soft before I left so I added some air but apparently the trip down killed it as it went dead overnight. Nice when the first thing you get to do in the morning is crawl under your car and jack it up and change a tire. Fucking nails on the roadways, I swear it's a goddamn tire company conspiracy. I think I was last talking about having some fun with Scott on a table, where I was performing my very best mock Asian accent. Until my THC-laden brain registered that 75% of the room was in fact Asian. Hey, I ruzz jus joking ferrahs, come on. No traffic at midnight, about the only good time to drive in this congested hellhole. Fed a squirrel right out of my hand; Amy & Stu have been feeding him and even named him "Squirreltime," I was also told there was another who met an untimely fate unfortunately.

The tournament I came down for didn't go so well. Level 2 and I was out already. QQ, set on the river, but also gave the flush to my opponent, who didn't even realize it until another player pointed it out. Fabulous; not even an hour for my $330. I wasn't doing too bad: AK, flop top 2; 77, make the call, 95% sure I'm good, which I was; picked up an extra 600+ in the first level. Still better than the poor guy who busted in the first 15 minutes with AA v JJ when the Jacks called and turned a third. Huge turnout, they passed the 720 cap. I later heard 1st paid out in excess of $80K. Each hand of mine cost me $110-sweet.

Frank, that fucker, got me good. As we had never met before and I had no idea what he looks like, he sat down next me and starting asking me about FCP. I thought he was the player who was in the seat next to mine until he let me in on it. Goddamn bastard, it was funny though. Good poker face-"Who's Negreanu?"!!! Played the cash games afterward till the sun came up and left a loser. Fell down and then got most of it back but then somehow pissed it all away again when a player who couldn't miss sat down at my table and destroyed everyone.

Bonnie Raitt and Keb Mo concert was great, realized though I am now becoming middle-aged as I looked around at the rest of the audience.
Bought a new desktop with AMD Athlon 64 Dual-Core technology for $1500 because it sounded bad-ass and Daron put it together for me. So big it wouldn't even fit on my desk. It does have a drawer though.
Mullets & Nachos: what ballgames are all about. A's clinched their division, not for me though, as they were unable to do so either of the 2 games vs the Angels I went to. 3rd out of 8 my first FCP Superstars match, 1st my 2nd! Bummed that the new Neg-O Mixed Games League is on Tuesday nights during my Biology class. Saw a VW Cabriolet with only 1 rear wheel, centered in the back-there are some wacky hippies in this state, let me tell you (and I know a lot of 'em!).

Two tickets @ $25 a pop, PLUS $8.30 EACH for a "convenience" charge, then another $4.60 on top of it all for order processing. So I ended up spending like $71 for the 2 tickets after all was said and done-buy 2, pay for 3?!?. Fuck Ticketbastard.

I love California in the Fall...

NACPC

2006-09-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

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The Bike Sucks, Commerce Rocks

2006-09-18T22:36:00.000-07:00

Hit the Bike first off. Before I launch into my tirade, the above sign outside the doors should have served as a warning for the crap I was to encounter inside. Got there early afternoon, started off in a $40 10-player SNG. Busted 9th when I made an ill-timed move.

Played a bunch of $1/2 NL and ended up down after more of the same. One more SNG before the $230 I came to play @ 7PM. Down to 5 and I am the chip leader by a wide margin. I fold, flicking my cards toward the dealer and one card falls to the floor. Joanna, my dealer, tells me to pick up the card. I am sitting directly across from her and the card is by her feet so I assume she is joking. Even though she has had no humor in her demeanor since minute one.

Then she says I get a 20 minute penalty away from the table. I am in disbelief, as I have never heard of that before, and a floorman comes over. Prior to both of my SNGs I was told about some rules by another floorman but definitely not that one. This floorman then proceeds to essentially tell me I am a liar, because my dealer and this other idiot at my table say we were told. 20 minute penalty, we are down to 5, we only started with 500 apiece and blinds are 100-200. Not to mention levels are only 15 minutes. This is the most absurd bunch of bullshit I have ever seen, are these people fucking serious?

Blinds are now 200-400 and we are down to 3. OK, I made the money. But I'm still not happy because this match should be mine and now I'm the shorty. I now have one single 50 chip and the lady goes all-in and the kid calls her. She's out, what a stupid idiot. If she had waited one more hand, she would have been guaranteed 2nd. Dumbass.

I collect my winnings and tell Joanna that I hope she is involved in a horrific auto accident this evening, being the dumb Thai hooker that she is, on my way to the cashier. The floorman standing nearby says, "What did you say?" as I am walking away and I might have given him the bird, I was so enraged by this garbage. If I had been informed of the rule beforehand, I would have been OK, despite the fact that it was an accident as well. And this was right before the tourney that I had originally came to play was going to start. Needless to say, I will never go back to the Bike again. The Bike and their 20% rake on tournaments can eat a fat dick.

Called Scott, my old H/U teammate from FCP who was going to meet me there, and said I was heading to the Commerce. We met up over there, had a brew, and he showed me around, since it's his home hunting ground. The place is ginormous, two huge rooms for poker downstairs with another big one for table games, then another biggie upstairs as well for tournaments.

We hopped on a $3/5 NL table (he plays mainly $20/40 limit but said he was down for some NL, which is my pref). Had a bunch of fun, even came up over $300 for just a few hours. He also helped me get a discounted poker room rate on my stay since he is a regular.

Los Angeles-Fake Tits & Stretched-Out Faces

2006-09-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

There was some serious fire damage around Castaic and Pyramid Lake visible from the freeway going through the Grapevine. The smoke rising into the air reminded me of the first time I ever came to California and we were coming over the pass on the 80 and there apparently was a huge forest fire and the sun was setting and all the resulting smoke was obscuring the sun and if I just had had a camera, maybe I could have gotten a National Geographic cover-winning photo.

Speaking of photographic excellence, Amy was recognized as one of the 10 best young photographers in the U.S. recently in a magazine. Got into town and off the road just as rush-hour traffic began really setting in, thank God. Their house is a slice of New England down amongst the palm trees. Property values in this state are insane: Amy said their home was worth probably a mil now, nearly double what they bought it for five years ago-Julio said the same about their place out on the Delta; roughly double as well, but they've also put a lot of work into it as far as I know. Will I ever be able to afford property here?!?

Ate at Asanebo, a kick-ass sushi joint in Studio City, opened by one of Nobu's partners. Incredible food; had some amazing toro, actually enjoyed the uni, the in-house pear sorbet was delish! Went for the off-menu gastronomical challenge: "hoya", this foul-smelling, crazy red, alien-looking clam-crustacean creature that had the chefs all grinning 'cause we ordered it. It tasted like a handful of sand wiped off the heel of a dead hooker floating off the New Jersey shoreline; absolutely disgusting.

District B13

2006-09-18T04:18:00.000-07:00

Ubercool French martial arts action film, set in a futuristic ghetto. Makes Jackie Chan almost look soft. The dubbed dialogue is pretty lame but the action sequences are out of control-the initial chase scene is off the hook!

Blue is Gone; now it's push-button goodness

2006-09-18T00:36:00.000-07:00

Old Blue has been retired; in its place is a brand-new '06 Air Nautique. Keyless ignition, hull seating, underseat iceboxes, draining drinkholders (so you can keep your beer on ice!), a push-button ballast system, cruise control, this baby's got it all. What 6 stacks of High Society'll getcha-some serious good times in Discovery Bay. On the other hand, Julio & Tracy's pup, Disco, has proven to be a real troublemaker as you can see-besides my sandal, he grabbed my Bluetooth headset, Tracy's cell phone, mail off the counter; the little bastard eats anything and everything. They did teach him to climb the swim ladder onto the boat dock though which is pretty slick. He's still a little monster though.

2006-09-11T12:20:00.001-07:00

2 B+'s and a C for the summer-I'll happily take it. $300 for a belt & pulley & new spark plugs for da jeep-boo.

Life is full of surprises

2006-09-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

Just received a text message on my phone saying to go out to my mailbox and lo and behold, there really is $380 in it from Andre Parishan. He says 3 weeks from now and I'll get the other half as well. Almost a year later is better than never.

Luckiest Loser

2006-09-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

Took down the FCPHUL Lucky Losers freeroll this morning! Woke up extremely groggy but came through at the end to win not only my $500 entry fee for next season but a $20 sidebet with Gary when we got H/U. And he thought he could beat me with my own magic on the last hand-bah. CC Riders Rule!

2006-09-10T04:50:00.000-07:00

Took 2nd out of like 30 in a Qualifier for a $100+8 ticket off a $16 buy-in @ FCP. Then proceeded to pick up an extra hundy or so playing short-handed at the house again. FCPHUL Lucky Losers freeroll in the AM then the Protege Seat 8 Qualifier in the afternoon. Got a little dough riding on the Giants (vs Colts) tomorrow night as well.

2006-09-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Started off back online at SportsInterAction with $50 that my Life Of Sports rep sent me for referring some other college workers to him. Bubbles and bad beats all over again-ugh. A healthy 6 hour short-handed sesh at the house more than made up for it though.

Made a res at the Crowne Plaza hotel at the Commerce Casino for the night of the tourney. Been perusing the daily tournament schedules of the local casinos, looks like some inexpensive buy-ins to be had for me.

Kind of pissed I didn't even realize the WSOP Circuit at Tahoe was the same week. Been wanting to hit Commerce and the Bike though.

No Poker

2006-09-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

Been a very refreshing reprieve from the seemingly nonstop poker of the past year or so. Saturday morning is the monthly CardPlayer freeroll which I plan on using as my re-entry capsule. Followed by a game here at the house is the plan since the natives have been restless with no action as of late. Sunday are the FCP freerolls: the FCPHUPL Losers Tourney and a Protege Seat 8 Qualifier. Get in some online MTTs for warm-up and Tuesday or Wednesday it's off to LA for the CSPC.

Went to a DMB gig at Raley Field in Sacramento last night. Good time but the heavy police presence sweeping the pre-show was a buzzkill. Great seats though, 2nd section, 4th row back, with a Full Moon overhead. Robert Randolph played a mean pedal steel. New guy with Dave on tour, a mountain with a trumpet. Shoreline tomorow night for more Dave. Been having fun spending time with an old friend whose vacation happened to coincide with mine in a manner of speaking. Showed me her new property and it's real nice; gotta say that's quite an accomplishment with prices the way they are in this area (and it's probably the only person I know who would wear a jean skirt while mowing their yard). Had a pedicure, hell yeah you heard me right, it was worth the foot & leg massage alone. Got me to even donate blood for the first time.

4 days of no smoking cigs, except for the few shared at the concert last night. I think I can do this. But Lord, a cigarette sounds good right now.

Oldboy, a Japanese movie I got from Netflix, is a pretty crazy film-if you like really twisted plotlines, I suggest checking it out.

And I missed out on the Mansion.com promo bet on the Steelers/Dolphins game. Minimum bet: $1100. Pittsburgh wins, you score an extra thou. They lose and Mansion refunds your initial bet. They are paying out some pretty serious cash right now.

And speaking of gambling and odds, I have been reading Savage Inequalities, a book about our nation's children and their schools. I'd say a poor, black child growing up in one of country's inner cities' ghettos has about the same odds of "making it" as a regular shmuck like me had of winning this year's WSOP. It's a frightening look at education in the U.S. in the 20th century. Thank God I have had the opportunities which my adoption offered me, as opposed to what might have been.

Poker Vacation

2006-09-03T04:38:00.000-07:00

So this is what I've become in my old age? Saturday night and I spend it home alone, reading a book on the couch. And then watching a chick flick (ironically enough, it was titled "Failure To Launch") to boot (I didn't choose it, my friend brought it over FYI). The book, The Kite Runner, was actually a good read, passed on to me by an old friend. The movie was entertaining albeit cheesy; Hollywood in a nutshell. But aside from all the reading for school I've had to do (or not), I can't remember the last time I sat down and immersed myself in a novel (that wasn't a poker strat book!). Something I used to really enjoy. What with all the poker I've been playing, after the other day of frustratingly repeated online bubble-pain, I decided to take a week off before the LA trip to reset and regroup my game.

2006-09-02T03:03:00.000-07:00

Another bubble out of over 800 this time when my AK loses to JT-raise pre-flop and hit an Ace and he calls my bet again. Turn K which also gives him Broadway. Goddammit.

2006-09-02T00:13:00.000-07:00

5 off the money in a 400-man MTT when Q6 of spades raises from the button and I move all-in from the BB w/KQ. Of course the 6 comes on the flop and no K anywhere.

At least I got to flop QKQ w/KK earlier, spiking the case K on the river.

Later I had 77 all-in pre-flop vs TT, both flop sets, I turn quads.

Small consolation.

Variance is a Bitch

2006-09-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

Dude hits his 2-outer on the river to knock me out 2 outside the money in a 500-man MTT. Doom on me.

I don't know why I still play online tournament poker because all it's been doing lately is fucking me in the ass.

Breaking News Flash

2006-09-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, Yahoo delivered these hot news stories today. God bless the Interweb.

Khagendra Thapa Magar, 14, dances, as his mother Dhana Maya Thapa Magar looks on, in Baglung village, 270 kilometers (169 miles) west of Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, April 17, 2006. Magar, who is only 20 inches (50 centimeters) tall and weighs 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds), is waiting for word from the Guinness World Records, where he has applied to be named the shortest in the world, his supporters said on Wednesday.

This photo released by the Capla Kesting Gallery(CKG) shows a sculpture purportedly cast from 19-week old Suri Cruise's first bowel movement. The work by controversial artist Daniel Edwards, is to be auctioned off for charity on eBay next month.

Seven Deuce SOOTED and Pocket Rockets

2006-09-01T00:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes poker treats you well. Sat down and within 10 minutes I came up 180 BB. OK, it was a quarter-fifty cent NL table online. I stuck around for over another hour though. Left intact too.

One of the first few hands I limped with 72 of diamonds and it was raised behind me but I was getting 3-1 to call on my money so I did. Flopped 2 diamonds and I led. Yes, I'm being honest here, once in while I like to get a little loose with this hand. Because if it hits, nobody'll ever see it coming. I might be in trouble against higher diamonds but I'll find out. Spike my flush on the turn and I bet again, but not too much. No 4th diamond on the river so when my opponent bets, I slam the pot. He goes into the tank then mucks, I show my hand, to which the chat box pops up with "You played that shit for a raise?" I am silent. Very next hand I look down at AA and I raise. It gets re-raised behind me so I re-raise. Call. Flop QJx and I want to see how my opponent plays it, with every intention of moving if there is a bet. There is. I do. Called by Q6 offsuit. Turn A. Thank you. Showing that crap helped me get paid on that one boy.

So I've started tracking my play again. The past 10 days put me up a little over $500. I've been killing the cash games but getting eaten up by online tourney play (+$719 ring, -$196 tourneys).

2006-08-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

Skool's out-WOOHOO! Little less than a month off but boy am I stoked! And look how nice, when I get down to my car, this card is waiting for me on my windshield...

Thoughtful and all, but wrong car Aunt Jan.

Don't Do Drugs Kids...

Do Microwaveable Burritos!
(from the snack bar on campus)

DMB twice next week, LA the week after for the Cal State Poker Championships, then back for Bonnie Raitt and Keb Mo.

New camera phone is fun.

2006-08-31T01:08:00.000-07:00

A good sesh at the house last nite. 2 classes down, History final manana and that's a wrap. It'll be good to not have to worry about rattlesnakes anymore. "Kidnapped" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" are two awesome shows coming out on NBC this fall from the looks of their respective pilot episodes I must say. Found out an old friend had a baby-whoa. Oakland is heading into the post-season while San Francisco and Boston both struggle!

2006-08-26T01:29:00.000-07:00

Like I said previously, after Vegas, poker hasn't been treating me too kindly at all. August was a big downswing as a matter of fact; very few wins, scattered around. A good night at the house this week and another solid sesh at FCP (with a bonus cleared!) made for a nice reversal of fortune recently. English final is done with, now just a final project and my History final as well as some loose ends and it's another quarter in the bag. Looking forward to a month off but not the next quarter-17 units, 4 days down in Hayward, ugh. Plans to hit SoCal for a poker tournament in a few weeks. 2 DMB shows and Bonnie Raitt/Keb Mo in Concord. Sci-fi fans, check out Night Watch-Star Wars meets the Matrix in Moscow. And Inside Man was good too. Found a new late-night soul food spot in Oaktown, The Home of Chicken & Waffles. A 1/4 chicken, Southern-style and smothered with gravy and onions and a side of cheese grits and a hot biscuit-mmmmmm good. Another shot at a GWD freeroll this weekend-just outside the money last time.

EDIT: OK, I spoke too soon. Back to bullshit-AA snapped by JTs all-in pre-flop. After an all-in and a call (by me), this guy still calls. Alright, they were SOOTED...

2006-08-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Donked out after Daniel in the Neg-O SNG; my JJ was re-raised and I knew I was beat but I got it in there anyways. Bleh, no Negreanu, whatever. The Cuke ended up taking it down (There ya go Dave).

Poker has been kicking my ass as of late. Getting fuct repeatedly-getting it all to the center with the best of it but getting murdered on the goddamn river. Gotten AA snapped at least 3 times alone in the past 2 days DEEP in tournies online. Opponents hitting ridiculous 2-outers and such. Unfuckingbelievable. Just now I flopped 2 pair and moved on a pot and got called by top pair-who of course hit his card right after. It's been like that again and again and again. Help me Tom Cruise.

Comment of the Week: "You don't look at the top man, you look at the sides." Joey Pulley, when asked why the paint on the hood and roof of his car were all messed up while the sides were pristine. Yeah, if you're trying to pick up Oompa Loompas you idiot.

Poker face paid off in spades tonight when I got pulled over for driving a little too fast with no license plate light and had to answer a few questions asked me by Johnny Law. Could have been really bad for me let's just say. Really bad. Thank you sir, I will accept your verbal warning and drive straight home under the speed limit and change my underwear at once. And God bless the great state of California.

Picked up a new phone and service from Verizon. Only problem is the reception here at my house is less than desirable. Motorola Q is pretty fucking sexy though. Full color screen, runs Windows Mobile 5.0, digital video camera, voice recognition (which works like a retarded Chinaman), Bluetooth, etc, etc, probably a ton of other shit I haven't even figured out yet. Was surfing the Web and watching cable TV while driving down the freeway. Not very safe and I really don't understand how they can call it a "smartphone."

EDIT: Shortly after, AQ v TT, get it all in on an A flop, what do you think comes on the river?

TEN.

Doom on me.

Online with Daniel

2006-08-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

Just received an email from Alan about making the top 9 in the 2nd quarter of this year's Negreanu Open. He & Patty scheduled the Championship SnG with Daniel for this Thursday August 17th at 7:00 PM (an hour earlier that same night is the Golf with Daniel Promo Freeroll I also qualified for!). This is a restricted freeroll where the 9 of us will join Daniel whose going to fill the 10th seat and we will be playing for bragging rights and $200 winner take-all real money. Since I didn't get to play DN H/U, I am totally stoked for this!

Heads-Up

2006-08-11T04:21:00.000-07:00

Creaming $10 & $20 H/U matches-won 2 $20s and 4 $10s and lost only 1 $10!

Jamie Gold defeated Paul Wasicka heads-up for the 2006 WSOP Championship and $12 million (Allen Cunningham placed 3rd).

2006-08-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Up $160 @ FCP over the last 24 hours, plus cleared a $70 bonus. 2 weeks till finals then I have September pretty much off. Got some concerts lined up and plans to head down to Commerce for the California State Poker Championships-they have a bunch of $330 and $540 tourneys, culminating with a final $2580 event-and meet some SoCal FCP crew. Bought another new tire for the Jeep since the rear right tread was all but gone-like hitting the street in a new pair of kicks-'cept these cost $300. And it's time for an oil change. Scored an A on the English midterm, waiting for my History-don't think it's gonna be anywhere near as good unfortunately.

2006-08-07T04:23:00.000-07:00

This is much better than boring poker crap.

Thank you Mom & Dad for this wonderful digital camera.

Daron & Marcie are still so damn cute together.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

End of My Vegas Saga

2006-07-31T00:52:00.000-07:00

Here's the end of my trip...

Binion's 2AM tourney, buy-in with the bonus buy and re-buy ended up costing a total of $110. 40 players, 6 places pay. Start off with this mouthy, pompous older guy to my immediate left. He acts like he knows everyone and some people seem to know him. Talks like he's running the show, blah, blah, blah. Early on I limp with J9 of spades late in position, flop K68, all spades. Checked around to me, I bet, button re-raises me, I call. Turn 9 of clubs, I bet. I tell the button his Ace of spades is no good, it's not coming. Plus, my straight is good right now. He thinks more, finally goes all-in. I call, he shows KT, T of spades, so he's drawing dead. Good start. AQ of hearts, I call UTG raiser, cut-off behind me calls as well. Q high flop, UTG bets, I move all-in, cut-off calls with less, UTG folds, cut-off flips AA. OMG, I'm fuct. Until the turn spikes another Q!!! Little later, I raise with 99, Mr. Big Shot moves all-in over the top, folded back around to me, I ask for time, Mouthy says Time, blah, blah, blah, time for you to get a watch, blah, blah, blah, to which I respond, No, time for you to shut the fuck up. In my politest voice of course. 'Cause at this point, I'm tired of his big mouth pretending to be the tournament director. He retorts he's gonna get me penalized for my f-bomb, like it's the goddamn WSOP, blah, blah, blah, so I rest my cheek on my hand whilst giving him the bird. He explodes, saying he's gonna make sure I never set foot in Binion's, in Vegas again, blah, blah, blah, a floor man comes over, starts counting down from 1 minute, I let him get all the way down and the dealer mucks my hand. Mr. Fucking Poker then eliminates 3 players in about as many hands. So essentially I'm handcuffed by this chip leader acting immediately after me. And it's the King of Motherfucking Vegas to boot. I do find out later from a dealer that he went heads-up with Thunder Keller in an event a couple years ago. He does look vaguely familiar off TV, and his raspy Boston accent rings a bell. Make it to the FT, then out in 5th for +$110. Sort of weak pay-out but any at this point on my trip is better than none. And it's not a bad way to end my vacation. Breakfast in the cafe then off to bed for a few hours sleep before I've got to head to the airport...

I find out his name is James Sousa from the Wonderful World Wide Web. And it was 3rd place. I still think he's a douchebag.

Oh, and the National Deaf Poker Tour was at Binions when we were-came down into the poker room and like 60 people were all busy signing away! My question is, what about collusion-still only spoken English at the table or what?

I can't wait till next year.

Riders Finish 7-8

2006-07-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

I took down our team's last match of the regular season in 10 minutes. I was very disappointed to say the least that DN wasn't playing. But I guess the ME is a pretty legitimate excuse. I took an early 2-1 chip lead then it boiled down to this: Waffles raises pre-flop w/77, I call w/K6 of spades, flop 7 and 2 spades, I check, Waffles bets, I check-raise (also have inside straight draw), Waffles re-raises, I move over the top, turn spade, river brick. So I finished with a 2-1 personal record.

Full Tilt Deep Stack this morning: KK, flop top set, river card is flush card, good-phew! AA, snapped by 22 when a 2 flops. 77, push pre-flop, nail in the coffin when a 7 hits the river vs AQ. QQ all-in before the flop, AK calls, flop A, river A. What a fun game poker is.

2006-07-29T00:28:00.000-07:00

Flopped Broadway in a MTT @ FCP in late position w/JT, checked to me, I bet, called by both blinds, turn 6, making a flush draw for the river, checked to me again, I bet again, SB re-raises all-in, I fold. I FOLD?!? WTF?!? The drawbacks of online poker. I was steamed because it's happened a few other times since I've been back, in big pots at important times. But Bob is the best, and that's why I love FCP-he credited me $40 in real money and $50 in bonus. That's the kind of personalized care from FCP that I bragged about in Vegas-any other site would simply say, "Sorry." Thanks Bob and thanks FCP.

The 2006 WSOP Main Event began today. Over 8,000 players. and Norm MacDonald was chip leader for a brief moment. Joe Sebok dressed as Robin due to a losing bet. Jennicide is out on Queens, after a late start. Action Dan got busted by Mike Sexton's re-draw. 88 vs 55, flop 55, 88 catches perfect cards to river a straight flush-OMFG. Clonie Gowen out. Tobey Maguire is out already, as is James Garner. The first player to bust was 7 minutes. How the fuck do you blow through 10,000 chips in 7 goddamn minutes?!? And how lame is this new "all-in" button?

Watched Sarah Silverman's "Jesus Is Magic." If she isn't the most outrageous, irreverent, cutest little thing in the whole wide world, I don't know what is. Please marry me so I can tell my Grandma I met a nice Jewish girl. Totally offensive but absofuckinglutely hysterical.

Eeek!

2006-07-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

OK, after watching Daniel's video blog, and hearing how he spent $49K in a $1000 re-buy event and a mil in the Big Game over 21 hours, I don't feel so bad.

English midterm was open book, open notebook. That's good news.

Boston @ the Coliseum. Big Hurt drilled a couple. A's win. Manny Ramirez is a douchebag. I got reprimanded by the father of a kid wearing a Red Sox hat and jersey who kept walking by and I kept hassling. Not like I singled him out or anything, any Sox fan in my general vicinity was fair game. He just kept walking by. I didn't know he was 13. So I'm an asshole; that's nothing ground-breaking. OK, my bad.

More LV

2006-07-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday 1AM: Back to Binion's for a private FCP "Army" game, 3 tables for us; the staff of Binion's really went out of their way to accomodate us. 1 big table of $2/4 HE, 2 smaller $2/4 mixed game tables. Somehow shots of Jack Daniels start coming around, and quite frequently as well (I guess me asking for them every 4 minutes might have had something to do with it also). The two hands I remember were turning a boat and a friend picking up a straight flush on the river to scoop the pot, then right after that he turned quads (another friend would have made the boss full w/KK, luckily he abandoned ship beforehand). We had a super-fun table-those who were there, I had a blast. I went down, came back up, went down again, then got some back from this wanna-be thug from Jersey that sat in with us later, drunk as hell also. I don't remember exactly 'cause I was drunk, but verbal conflict began between the two of us, he wanted to arm-wrestle, then go outside and fight, of course I wasn't being helpful I'm sure since I'm a natural smart-ass but eventually we got back to business playing some short-handed $1/1 NL HE and his chips started sliding my way. Now one big reason why I don't drink alcohol anymore that much these days is because I get stupid and boisterous as you all know. And I love to scrap. This situation could have escalated but at least I have the sense not to start a fight in a casino-that's just pure stupidity. I'd rather fleece him on the felt which is what I started doing until he once again wanted to get physical. Michael had sat down with us, he started in on him, and at one point they both stood up, and my chair flew backwards instantly, and they broke the game. Binion's was totally cool with our crew; they didn't realize numb-nuts wasn't with us, and like I said, they were great about it all. So we headed over to a craps table, which was ice-cold, them moved to a blackjack table. Five of us proceeded to have a blast until I decided 8:30AM was my cut-off point; I was faded.

2PM: Last day in town. Head down to the Strip to meet up with some friends who are doing the whole "tourist" thing. Start off at the Monte Carlo, then over to Coke World and M&M World. MGM and the lions. New York New York for a winning blackjack sesh. Bellagio for the fountain show (a guy trying to take a photo of his fam falls into the bushes backing up for the shot!)and check out where "The Big Game" goes down-Deeb is eating in there, see Chau Giang as well, and apparently/unfortunately I missed Gus. In-N-Out for those who haven't yet had the pleasure, Animal Style all the way. Back downtown, sign up for the 2AM NL HE tourney @ Binion's...

Part Three-2006 WSOP Event 31 $2K NL HE

2006-07-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

Friday 8AM: Wake-up call, shower and shave (hah). Decided to rent a car because, personally, $60 for 2 cab rides so far blows ass. Breakfast at the Rio then head down to the Convention Center to register early for the tournament and beat the lines. Nervous but excited; this is my first major after all. Find out Robin placed 30th and made a little extra dough, Sol made it into the top 100 as well. Action Dan is in the house as are even more pros that I didn’t see the day before.

12N: Cards are in the air. Start off with $2K in chips, blinds are $25/25, 1 hour levels. There is one pro at my table, the young Asian guy who was on FSN’s Superstars II, can’t remember his name for the life of me though. 2nd hand in I look down at AK in the BB. Flat-call after the pro raises it up from middle position. Miss and fold when he bets on the flop. AJs a bit later I elect to raise a bit from UTG. Pro re-raises me, I decide to gamble a little, especially since he pushed me out of that last pot. Jack high flop, I check, he bets, I call, turn is a blank, I check again, he checks as well. At this point I should have put out a value bet on the river because my Jack is probably way good. But I don’t, I check, and so does he, and my hand is good. Another player’s 44 flops quads in the BB, UTG had QQ and didn’t once raise to try to protect his hand, the lock puts a little bet on the river is how we find all this out. My folds becomes monsters; J7s flops flush, K2 turns boat. The pro gets eliminated from our table as the remainder of his stack disappears into another player’s.

Table change. 99 flops overs and I drop it. Limp w/66 in early position, raised behind me, 1 caller, I call as well. Flop A6x, I check, raiser bets, caller behind again, I push all-in. First AQ folds after deliberation, 2nd AQs calls. Turns the flush draw but bricks on the river and I gain a big piece of ground (the guy who called me someone said he was on TV before and I vaguely remember him but a name is way out of the question). A3 on the button, I limp to see a cheap flop with position on the one other limper who called before me, flop AAx, BB checks, early shoots, I call, 6 turn, shoots again, I call, blank on river, check, check, turns over 66 for a boat. I got off cheap on that one, it could have been real expensive for me but then again I probably could/should have pushed him out by raising the flop.

Table change again. Get moved to Kathy Liebert’s table, she is 3 seats to my left. First thing she says after looking at my stack is that she can double through me, to which I reply that she’s welcome to try. She’s actually a lot of fun today. The guy behind me has a banana and offers it to Kathy (doesn't anybody else find that thoroughly amusing?). 88 I raise in early position, Banana re-raises behind me, I fold after thought (he tells me a little later he had TT). 88 again a bit later, I limp, Banana again raises me again but another player behind moves over the top for an easy fold for me. I look down at AA and raise it to no action. Short-stack moves all-in, folded to me in the BB w/AK-I call and lose to a 62 when a 6 hits the table.

Moved again, this time to table 66, seat 6. Another AJs that misses the flop.

Table change yet again. Brett “Gank” Jungblut is 2 to my left, John Bonetti and David Williams behind us. Gank is hassling Bonetti and Williams is chiming in. A KQ of spades takes down a big one, as I am UTG and take a flop with 2 players behind me, flop Txx, 2 spades. I check, 2nd to act bets, and I have already decided to check-raise all-in, so after 2nd moves, I start to push, saying "all-in" but the other player in the hand before hadn't folded, which I thought he did, and he was also about to do the same thing with a smaller stack but then he saw me start action and froze. A floorman is called over and tells the player that he must at least make the min raise as he was caught in a foreward motion with his chips. So he does, asking me if I got a set and I am now all-in over the top of both with a shrug. Both fold, original raiser said AT, the guy who was going to go all-in said QT and I take a nice pot. Gank gets called on a move pre-flop and busts out. An AQs gets nada so I toss it.

The final #s for the event are: 2050 players, $3.7 million prize pool. I am not sure of my exact exit # but it was around 425, putting me in the top 25% of the field roughly. So to those who staked me, sorry I couldn't flip your money for you, and thanks for letting me try. I'm going back next year, and dammit, I'm gonna make the money.

8:30 PM: After coming back from the dinner break the antes were up to 50 and the blinds were 200/400, making my M a nip over 4 (I will go a little more into detail later about my last 10 hands). Suited 9T in the cut-off, folded around to me, I’m hoping to either take down a pot that will increase my stack by 1/5 without any confrontation, or if I get a call, at least I should have live cards. And that’s only if the button, the SB, or the BB wake up to a monster as it’s still a pretty solid raise. BB finds AK and calls from a big stack, K hits the board and it’s all over. All in all, I had a great time, it was a helluva experience-in fact I think this just became an annual outing for me. I outlasted many pros-Cloutier, Arieh, Chip Jett, “The Mouth,” Hellmuth, Huck Seed, Gavin Smith, “Bear,” Jennifer Harman (she is so cute!), “Fossilman,” Kenna James, and Kathy. (Post-note: Mike Caro and Jen Tilly made the top 200 in the money, Action Dan got as far as 23, and Justin Scott was the 1st place finisher, taking home $842,262)

9:30 PM: Voodoo Lounge, top of the Rio. Some friends are at the door when I get over to that side of the resort; apparently the bouncer won't let one in with jean shorts. I argue, the bouncer is a dick, a few minutes later we watch him let in someone else with the same attire, so I call him out, he finally gives up and lets us past. Without paying the $20 cover charge-so screw you bub. The hottest elevator ride ever takes us to the top of the Rio, where the FCP Army has gathered in full force. I actually have a couple beers to settle my system after blowing out of the tourney an hour prior. The view from the balcony of the entire area is pretty sweet. Daniel shows up and hangs for a while, as does an inflatable sheep. Much revelry ensues. I leave early, as my mind is still going over my play somewhat, and I'm not a big bar/club kind of guy anymore really anyways as most of y'all know. As I get all the way almost to the parking lot, I realize I left my credit card without closing my tab. As I am walking back I see Harry Demetriou, who tells me unfortunately he won't be attending the festivities at the Voodoo Lounge with us, as John Gale just won the PL HE bracelet and they're on their way out to celebrate. So all the way back to the lounge, and as I'm re-entering, DN is on his way out and I pass on the news of Gale's win. And as I'm once again on my way down and out to my car, Fidler is at the door, trying to get in and I tell him that Daniel had left already and he decides to pass on the 40-deep line waiting to enter. While I'm searching for where the car is parked, I come across a couple of young women with a rent-a-cop trying to use a wire hanger to unlock their door. I offer my assistance and after numerous tries am able to free the lock for the girls. My instant karma unfortunately isn't some hot 2-on-1 action but rather that my car is only 2 cars away from theirs. Oh well, a guy can hope, right? Drive back to Binion's and opt to blow some steam on the craps table, as well as a bunch of money. Finally hit the hay between 6 and 7AM, with the intention of playing the Caesar's daily NL tourney at noon...

Saturday 11AM: Wake-up call for the tourney, I am still in bed, enjoying my slumber, so I pass. Two minutes later, I am up and running down the hall to see if I can catch my party before the elevator. Nope. I hurriedly throw on some clothes and run downstairs to see if I can catch 'em at the front desk. Nope. I run into the parking garage and the car is still there. They show up moments later and we all head to the Strip. Some others are there already and we sign-up for the NL tourney. $130 total buy-in, which includes the re-buy/add-on. A pretty good tournament structure all in all, I don't make it exceptionally far, but one of us goes pretty deep but unfortunately runs into an AA in the BB w/his AQs UTG. Learn the basics of Badugi, which is Triple Draw with 4 cards and different suits. Back to Binion's before the big FCP Army dinner at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba with Patty, Daniel's assistant and FCP Forum mod. I found the service and food to both be very good. The young pro who busted off my first table the other day is also at the restaurant while we were-still can't remember his name.

Back Home

2006-07-25T03:04:00.000-07:00

Back on FCP last night, getting royally fuct. Enter the Oil and get a great stack w/AA v AK right off the bat and pump it up to over 7K then flop top pair w/top kicker as well as the nut flush draw but the wrap draw spikes a higher pair on the turn and my draw bricks. Get into a big pot and get folded due to a lag in the software. One more hand to play and I'm out just like that. Get no love in a ring game either, as I river 2nd nut straight, nut straight hits with same card in the pot. AKs v QQ, flop 4-flush but brick out. Another MTT snaps my 88 with a Q on the river vs 2 KQs. Back on the downswing. Goddammit.

Tonight had a game at the house, made back a couple hundy. AA picks up a nice 3-way pot towards the end of the session. AT at the very end snaps Jiddy's KK-wooHOO! Got very lucky though. Moran takes an early beating from his favorite game. Mateen busts out in like 15 minutes, seriously, slow down son for godssakes. His buddy didn't make it too much longer. Colin's QQ gets snapped by Todd's 68s when he rivers a flush. Todd then gets busted by Eli's Wheel on the turn over his flopped 1 pair w/AK. Marty Bacardi joins the game after a long absence from the table. Colin's KK gets cracked when Eli flops quad snowmen and rope-a-dopes Jiddy, who leads pretty hard on the flop and turn, until Eli pushes all-in and busts Jiddy's ill-timed ploy. Felt like I was back in Vegas when once again Colin dared Jiddy to shotgun 4 beers in 5 minutes. After 3, he sprayed beer all over my ceiling when he couldn't keep it all down, like the fountains at Bellagio. After 4 he sprayed my floor, continuing outside. Attaboy, you're good for the entertainment Da Vinci you assclown.

I'll try to post Day Three (my event) from Vegas tomorrow evening-'cause it's Boston @ Oaktown at noon...

Part Deux

2006-07-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

(These are the only photos that came out halfway decent as my camera decided to be uncooperative)

Thursday 12N: A few FCPers are playing today in the $5000 NL HE Short-handed event. Pros are EVERYWHERE. It’s tougher to say who I didn’t see than who I did. Annie Duke and Kristy Gazes to Shannon Elizabeth and Jennifer Tilly. Evelyn Ng is Amazonian! Was gonna ask to get a photo with her but my face would be like even with her chest. And not like that’s a bad thing but it might make for a goofy picture. Tables of 6-one had Erik Seidel, Mark Seif, and Scott Fischman; another has Men Nguyen, Chris Ferguson, and Mimi Tran. Hellmuth enters in typically late fashion and is seated next to Chan. Gavin Smith and Griffin. Juanda and Huck Seed. Marcel Luske and his upside-down glasses and Phil Gordon. Watch "The Grinder" make some moves. Say hi to Carlos Mortensen and have a quick chat with Sheiky (who told you about this game Shawn?). Tony G. Seidel. Cunningham. Devilfish passing out cards for his online site. The list goes on and on. Met Jennifer Leigh, aka Jennicide. Theresa got Norm MacDonald's autograph: "Don't Do Crack." Check out Ted Forrest and Mike Sexton at a ring game after they exit the event (got to meet him briefly earlier too!). Fidler, the Negreanu Protege, gets busted early unfortunately. Robin, the brother of Sol, a Protege runner-up, gets sandwiched between Howard and Blair Rodman. He eliminates Rodman; earlier watch him raise Howard and Howard thinks for a few before moving all-in and Robin folds (I find out the next day that later in the day his AA eliminated Howard’s KK-from Howard). David Williams gets into some unfortunate circumstances as I watch him bully w/A8 on a JJ8 flop and J? calls and even rivers the case J (later, Williams is eliminated w/QQ by AQ when an Ace hits the board). Introduce myself to Rich Belsky of CardPlayer magazine, since he gave me a rep job, and he in turn introduces me to Jeff Shulman. Get caught mouth agape staring at Dolly I'm in such awe of the man.

3PM: PL HE event from the day before continues play; Daniel, Matt Matros, and a friend of Daniel’s from Europe are still in the hunt. Get to briefly talk to DN again before the event re-starts. 3 of the 4 FCPers are still in it, Robin having a particularly good-sized stack, are still playing in the short-handed event. Head back to Binion’s, where a few more FCP crew have arrived with their respective others and are playing downstairs, as are even more already.

6PM: $1/2 NL HE @ Binion’s. Live straddle of $2, I raise $30, SB and BB call, flop 762 w/2 clubs, SB checks, BB bets $30, I move over the top for another $130, SB folds, BB calls w/KQ of clubs, rivers a motherfucking King. Looking at it now, he had a lot of outs-any club, and any King or Queen as well. Still, fuck him. Actually, fuck me, because I’m now stuck pretty damn good.

11PM: I’m going to sleep since I’ve been up since Wednesday around noon. And my event starts at noon tomorrow.

Vegas/WSOP Part 1

2006-07-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 10PM: Slot machines in the airport-what a town. Theresa and some other FCPers are on a table at Binion’s when I arrive. I walk into a ghetto-ass room, in the old section of the hotel. Whatever, that’s why it’s so cheap. We head over to the Rio; Johnny Chan is walking out as we are walking in. Meet up with Mike from FCP to pick up my gear. Thanks Matt-the button-down is smooth, lemme tell ya, and so is the polo! Enter the WSOP room and head over to the PL HE event going on, where we meet up with another couple from FCP. Freddy Deeb is standing behind us, talking to another fellow (wow, is he tiny). At the tables we see Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert, and DANIEL!!! He gets up immediately at his first opportunity to come over and greet us. Greg even snuck in a handshake before DN realized what he was doing (see DN's video blog)! Daniel knows me by my screenname at FCP and my avatar (of bouncing breasts) and apparently his mom didn’t necessarily approve of such. Showed him the one-of-a-kind Oker hat. My first impression of Daniel in person is “what a nice guy.” Really. I mean, he is in the middle of a WSOP event but comes over to the rail to talk to us-repeatedly. I watch him for a few minutes when he goes back to his table and he keeps an eye on us, really giving me the feeling that he does genuinely care about his fans. Or he’s just making sure we’re not (real) crazies. You the man, Danny Boy. Glad to see you back at the Rio bruddah. Next stop, the Venetian. Meet up with yet another FCPer, grab some grub and open up a $3/6 Omaha 8/b table. Not my first choice but I go along. Play like a retarded monkey with a cash donation but at least it’s amongst friends. Worth seeing the one “outsider” who dared join us squirm in frustration in response to a lot of my stupid play though. And learn a whole new ballgame with the “Mississippi Straddle,” where the button raises in the dark and is a live straddle and the SB acts first. The rest of the crew calls it a night.

Thursday 3AM: I switch rooms to the newer section. It’s like a whole different hotel on the other side-my new room is a deluxe suite compared to what they first tried to stick me in. Even got a little mini-fridge. Head back downstairs for some HOLD EM. 2 hours of short-handed $4/8 sticks me for a good beating, as I’m constantly run down: turn a flush, beat by the boat on the river; trip 6s, A kicker, beat by J6 when a Jack falls on the river. Or 3 players chop a huge pot with AK, the case K on the board. I am obviously weaker at Omaha Split, and just Limit games in general. Poker room rate ($30/50) for my hotel room at least and a comped breakfast in the café-thanks Benny. No Limit here on out.

8AM: Head to the Rio again for some morning satellite action. Cabs suck out here BTW. 5th in a $125 10-way and 8th in a $175. Guy flops quad Aces in my 1st one (TG it was someone else in the pot and not me!)!!! Too fast of a structure for me-like a Turbo SNG-and a crapshoot at best. I decide to just buy-in directly tomorrow.

2006-07-19T02:25:00.000-07:00

Took down another $10 SNG for $50. 34th out of 134 I think in a $30 for nada. Top 20 in a $5 out of over 300 I believe for $20. Staying in the top 25% of my fields pretty much though. Playing good-making the right calls at the right times, the right moves at the right times, for the most part. Superman Returns-not bad. Not great either though-entertaining. Sitting in class today and it just stinks like burnt weed. Stinks. Finally figure out it's the roach still stuck to my sole after I stepped on it. I'm in Vegas in like 17 hours!!! WOOHOO!!!

2006-07-18T04:57:00.000-07:00

Back to FCP. $10 SNG. 33, flop A33, turn A so I know I'm getting full value-BWAHAHAHA!!! Limp w/AA in the SB, flop AQA! 1st for $50. QQ, 2 Aces on the board so I feel OK and I'm up another $50 on a $.25/.50 NL HE table. Slide some then JJ v TT with us both flopping sets for a huge $123 pot for me! On that note, I'm outta here...

Poker is fun

2006-07-18T02:57:00.000-07:00

Screw around at CD Poker on a $.10/.20 NL HE table, $15 buy-in. Play a T2s for fun, flop Q and 2 spades, QQ moves on it, I call, another caller as well, spike my flush. TT v QQ, opponent says, "Sorry," flop comes with a T, I say, "No prob." KQ on a QT9 flop, I move, AJ calls, Qs hold. +$40 on a micro-limit table!?!

I move over to a 6-handed $.25/.50 NL HE table and less than 10 minutes in I get AA, UTG raises to $1, I re-raise to $3, SB calls also. Flop 652, SB bets $3, UTG calls, I re-raise all-in for another $30+, SB calls w/79, turn 7, river 7. Wow. Buh-bye earlier profits.

Move to a full ring game and get blown out when I flop top 2 but 3s flop a set. Buh-bye freeroll winnings.

Buh-bye CD Poker.

2006-07-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

This heat is disgusting. Almost makes me want to puke. For real, unfortunately. Not sure which is worse: wasting 4 hours on a freeroll today (1200 registered but a lot of sit-outs, $500 for 1st), or placing 9th and only getting $35. I guess it's $35 more dollars than I had, and it's not like I was doing fuck-all today. Makes up for pissing off the end of my UB bankroll on stupid Assjack.

2006-07-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was semi-FCP with Matt and Michael. Even busted out a deck of FCP Copags for the occasion. Matt did pretty well for himself but Michael didn't fare quite as well on their first outing to the DMZ. I also made a sizable donation unfortunately, starting well then falling by the wayside. I hope you enjoyed the previous post Jiddy, and that you are also finished menstruating. Riders slide to 5-8 with Mathias' loss to Rhinestone and Broccoli. 2 matches left-Scott vs Team Arenas and myself facing off against the Thieves to end the inaugural season of the FCPHUPL. Went pretty far in some online MTTs, building some solid stacks, but then busted out outside the money-frustrating. One of the goddamn cats pissed on my clean clothes out of the dryer goddamnit. Oakland takes 2 out of 3 from the Bosox in Beantown, outscoring them by 23-11! 106 degress today. Can't wait for Vegas-for the air conditioning! Wheels up in 55 hours!!!

2006-07-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

Jiddy says, "DON'T TOUCH MY CHIPS FUCKERS!"

2006-07-15T01:41:00.000-07:00

You know I'm online way too much when I get satisfaction out of emptying the Spam folder of my Inbox. Went to a home tourney down in Pleasanton, a kid who I thought I went to school with (but found out we don't) has been running tourneys for the past few weeks. A friend was going down there so I tagged along for the $25 buy-in. They have a website, East Bay Poker, and it says there that they are "a non-profit organization... We return 100% of the collected money in terms of poker chips, cards, poker tables, and freeroll tournaments." There were 32 players, so that makes $800 ($25 X 32), but the payouts were as follows: 1st-$298, 2nd-$119, 3rd-$89, 4th-$60, 5th-$30. Add that up, it equals $600, unless my brain is broken. So where the fuck did $200 go?!? We were trying to figure this out as we drove away and actually thought about it all. I had brought down a PokerPadz mousepad as a bonus for the 1st place finisher since I had thought the kid was part of the school poker club I created (and have subsequently done crapola for); after figuring out this discrepancy, I sure wish I had taken it back. Had fun though. It was mostly young kids, as we were definitely the oldest there. 9th place when I went all-in w/QQ UTG, JJ called behind, AK raised all-in over the top, and KK called from the SB. JJ made a straight on the river. Two things that this tourney brought to my attention-1. I am a ton better at restraining emotion after getting beat, ie. shrugging it off and moving on, and 2. I have gotten a ton better at playing post-flop. I offered some friends a piece of my World Series attempt and have gotten as much as 45% offered to be staked. Never thought I would honestly get that much (or even any really), so it feels good knowing that some of them have faith in me as well. Or they're just degenerate gamblers like myself. I think 30% will be the cut-off on my action. But nothing would be more satisfying than to be able to hand those who "invested" a nice little return, you know what I mean? Last game at Checkpoint Charlie's tonight before Vegas, so I can get a few days rest before my trip. Michael says he's gonna come cross the Bay for the game and another FCPer, Matt, lives right here in town and may come also...

$20 X 93=$372 for me!

2006-07-14T05:43:00.000-07:00

JJ snaps AA by spiking a Jack on the flop to propel me to the top 10 for the duration of the entire tourney pretty much. Another Glenn Chervin on the flop, with a pair of sixes to boot. 77 calls a short-stack's all-in and their QT gets a T on the turn when we're under 20. Down to 12 and it's folded around to me in the BB w/QQ-argh. AA-I min. raise on the button, no action. Grrrrr. Start playing a little too tight. AK takes the blinds. 83 flops 2 pair and my trap attempt almost backfires when a 4-flush hits the river. My Aces hold vs ATs (even with a scary-looking inside straight draw on the flop)! 3s have to make a value call but 9s win. 6s double me up, with a set on the river even. AK, no action. QQ loses a big one to AJs. This makes up for losing all my earlier profits back on a $1 table when I flop top pair, big kicker but opponent flops set. 46 flops a wrap draw and calls in position, 3 RIVER!

$372 for 2nd. I'm going to bed.

I love snapping Aces...

2006-07-14T03:03:00.000-07:00

...with a 46.

NO_LIMIT TEXAS_HOLDEM $5+$1 (Real Money), #717,499,786
5+0.5 NL Holdem Multi Table Tournament, 14 Jul 2006 5:53 AM ET
Seat 1: Mr.Edman ($2,390 in chips)
Seat 2: XX44466XX ($1,380 in chips)
Seat 3: xUGLYTUCOx ($1,060 in chips)
Seat 4: Grambo2 ($1,240 in chips)
Seat 5: Troymahn ($1,460 in chips)
Seat 6: slottet8 ($1,170 in chips)
Seat 8: cbaden ($1,450 in chips)
Seat 9: Stian-H ($1,460 in chips)
Seat 10: paavo13 ($3,390 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Stian-H posts blind ($10), paavo13 posts blind ($20).

PRE-FLOP
Mr.Edman calls $20, XX44466XX calls $20, xUGLYTUCOx calls $20, Grambo2 calls $20, Troymahn folds, slottet8 folds, cbaden folds, Stian-H calls $10, paavo13 checks.

FLOP [board cards QD,10H,4D ]
Stian-H checks, paavo13 checks, Mr.Edman bets $80, XX44466XX calls $80, xUGLYTUCOx calls $80, Grambo2 calls $80, Stian-H folds, paavo13 calls $80.

TURN [board cards QD,10H,4D,4S ]
paavo13 checks, Mr.Edman bets $200, XX44466XX calls $200, xUGLYTUCOx bets $960 and is all-in, Grambo2 folds, paavo13 folds, Mr.Edman calls $760, XX44466XX bets $1,080 and is all-in, Mr.Edman calls $320.

RIVER [board cards QD,10H,4D,4S,10S ]

SHOWDOWN
XX44466XX shows [ 6H,4H ]
xUGLYTUCOx shows [ KD,9D ]
Mr.Edman shows [ AH,AC ]
XX44466XX wins $640, XX44466XX wins $3,400.
SUMMARY
Dealer: cbaden
Pot: $4,040
Mr.Edman, loses $1,380
XX44466XX, bets $1,380, collects $4,040, net $2,660
xUGLYTUCOx, loses $1,060
Grambo2, loses $100
Troymahn, loses $0
slottet8, loses $0
cbaden, loses $0
Stian-H, loses $20
paavo13, loses $100

BWAHAHAHA! The 46 is taking the WSOP by storm bitches!!!

2006-07-14T01:04:00.000-07:00

Slept for 15 hours straight. Mmm, good. Got repeatedly screwed in a $5 re-buy WSOP tourney. At least I made back 80 BB @ the 50 cent NL table and 30 BB on the $1 table. Plus I cleared a $40 bonus. Nothing but Vegas on the brain. Matt called from FCP and he's gonna hook me up with one of those sweet long-sleeve button-downs for my event. You the man Matt! Anybody want a piece of my WSOP action?

Edit: I almost lost the 30 BB on the $1 table until I turned the nut straight w/a 46 vs a set! WOOHOO! And I got a Glenn Chervin earlier!

2006-07-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

Did something I haven't done in ages this morning: lit the wrong end of a cigarette. I was driving, it was real early, I hadn't slept at all that night-but it wasn't dark. Oops. That, combined with being one of the first donk-outs in the Neg-O again this week, is the worst thing that's happened to me today. So I guess you could say life is good. I've decided to play the $2K NL HE in the WSOP on the 21st. I'd like to satellite in if possible for $225 but we'll see how that goes. My plan is to play under the FCP banner. I'm a little nervous and a lot excited. 1 week from now I will be boarding a plane, next stop, Sin City...

Jiddy

2006-07-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Aka 5 Card Draw 10s Wild. The game originated way back when we first started playing at the house I think, the very first time it was played was between Jiddy & I; he had quad Jacks, I had 4 Aces, he was very unhappy to say the least, thereby naming the game in his honor. It's become somewhat of a House classic and last night we played it 3 times. I had AA and picked up 2 Ts the first one, Spence hit quad As the 2nd, and the third I kept AT and got 2 more Aces on the draw!?!

2006-07-12T03:47:00.000-07:00

Spence & I ended up killing the table tonight. Made some big hands and only a few mistakes. Stuart-welcome back. Mateen-slow down. Blackjack was not your ally tonight B. Steve-you're a trooper, your win is coming. Vegas is a only a mere week away!!! Saw Dead Man's Chest-2 thumbs up.

Golf With Daniel Qualifier

2006-07-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

43 entrants, top 3 get a seat in a freeroll with a prize of a golf weekend with Negreanu (funny when my friend called him Negeanru earlier today) in Vegas, top 10 get an autographed FCP hat.

Premium hands (AA back to back for example) propel me to the FT, AA right off the bat eliminates AQ on a Q high flop. Then luck, or divine intervention, or Bob, but something helped get me $172 off the $11 entry fee, as I was in 3rd with under 10K while #1 and #2 each had over 20K, then I river higher 2 pairs like 3 times. The AK v 55, flop KKK, between #1 and #2 helped also. The winner: K7 v 47, 4 on the flop, 4 on the river. Theresa-thanks for railing too BTW! (My teammate from the H/U league and friend from FCP, she also has a blog with other links too) Funny thing about the match too, I was 15 minutes late and lost almost 100 to blinds before I sat down because I was thinking 9PM PST not EST!

FCP WSOP Fantasy Pool, 130th out of 472 after 12 events with 2888 points.

Justin Pechie finished 3rd for $206,207 in Event #13 after he got it all to the center before the flop w/66 and his opponent showed 88. Both flopped sets, the case 8 also falling on the river! Congrats Looshle!!!

Riders Out Of It

2006-07-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Chris lost to Zimmer today, sliding us down to 5-7. Thieves and Cigars both lost as well but still are tied at 7-5. Broccoli is 4-7 going into this week. No chance for the playoffs but at least we get to participate in the perfect attendance tourney as well as maintain eligibility for next season (as long as we don't miss one of our last 3 matches). Italy beat Francois in PKs to take the 2006 Cup!

2006-07-09T04:45:00.000-07:00

Started off slow and went on a huge run at the end of the game, ending up regaining 5/6ths of my tilt-off from last time. Sweeeet. Chris faces off against Zimmer today in Week 12. 10 days till Vegas baby...

2006-07-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

Positive: A FCPer, Looshle, Justin P. (CT boy!), is in 2nd (behind the Mouth) in Event #13 on Day 2 (you can actually find out more about him on my MySpace page). Good luck bruddah!

Negative: I just broke my bong-argh.

2006-07-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

Free $20 from CD Poker for no reason and $15 at UB AND Bodog for the July Card Player freeroll. Can't get past Stage 1 in the ONPC-won a Stage 1 ticket from a SNG and twice in a row I placed 2nd, which gives me back my original ticket + $7. Other MTTs online I just can't get a grip on as I am able to build a respectable stack early then blow it in the middle to later stages. Hot again, over a hundy-ugh. Tried PKR.com's software but it just clogs my system if any other apps are running. Some cool features though. Met Michael, aka Pogue from FCP, as he lives across the Bay from me. Real nice guy-hopefully we'll see you (and Alan!) back at Checkpoint Charlie's next week. Or at Binion's apparently. If you ever get the urge to rent the movie Ultraviolet that just came out, DON'T. Horrible futuristic "thriller", she did have some cool guns though. Got to see Scott (sloshr from my H/U team) play on Live @ The Bike online.

OMFG!

2006-07-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

Bad news: I went on tilt the other night here and steamed off way too much money.

Good news: My brother Josh is engaged. Whoa.

Oh yeah, and Kenneth Lay died. What a sad day for America.

2006-07-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

Quick post before I have to actually do some homework since I'm gonna throw a 4th of July game tonight. Fucking bubbled (143rd, 130 out of 1000 paid) in a Frenzy tourney-can't really bitch since it only cost a total of $4. Dial For Men soap-it's about time we got our own soap. Seriously though, marketing thinks they are so clever. Well I did buy it after all-but only because it was on sale for 3 bars for a buck. Price slashing-that's the real way to move some goods. Live and online play combined for around 2 thou for the month of June. Only 2 or 3 losing sessions. And the mothafucking jersey baby. One last thing: I love Firecracker popsicles. But sometimes the jokes are so completely retarded that you want to jam the stick into your own eye just to stop the stupidity of it all.

Thanks FCP!

2006-07-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

Couple AKs and I ain't walkin' anywhere but right into 1st place w/4 left. AA traps 33 w/3 left. KK traps H/U for $150! Great way to start off this breezy, sunny summer day, eh?

2006-07-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

Started off the holiday weekend out on the Delta for some wakeboarding and a sunburn. Tried this snowboard-like board with slip-in bindings that Stuart had but it was way too squirrelly for my uncoordinated ass. Not as crazy-busy as I had anticipated. Julio and Tracy's new puppy is adorable, Disco, a chocolate lab. Game last night had Jiddy taking half the pot and Joey and I splitting the other half. Brian managed to not go totally broke with ACES FULL against Jiddy's JJJJ-man, I would have gone broke twice on that hand! Theresa played a great H/U match against Gary2121 today which unfortunately ended in a loss but she played really well I thought. She took an early lead but then a flush made her the shorty but she battled back twice before a another flush undid her straight. So the Riders are 5-6. Playing in the FCP Newsletter Freeroll, 1st place pays $150 out of 162 entrants. Somehow still in it, making key suckouts. 4s v 6s, snag a 4. KJ v 66 against same player, flop J6x, I get running JK!?! AQ has AJ dominated on an Ace-rag-rag flop. T2s in the SB flops 2Q2 and gets AK to commit to the flop. Re-raise all-in from the BB w/AQ and the second the original raiser re-raises all-in as well I know I am beat already by AK but I score a Q on the turn!!!

It's Official!

2006-06-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

I get an autographed FCP Custom Jersey for my devilish (4th place, 666.72 pts) finish in the 2nd quarter top 9! I also get to advance to the end of year Tournament of Champions Date/Time TBA as well as also earning an entry into a $200 winner take all freeroll where Daniel Negreanu will join in as the 10th man. This tournament date and time will also be TBA and most likely after the WSOP.

Alan listed a few 'fun facts' about the 2nd quarter in the forum .....

-There were 563 unique players this quarter.

-There were a total of 1661 total buyins this quarter (I made 12).

-There were 296 people that only played 1 tournament (Thank you all for juicing the points pools).

-There were 14 people who played all 13 tournaments and 6 of those 14 made the top 9 (I missed one).

-Daniel played in 5 of the 13 (holes at TPC Summerlin) tournaments this quarter.

2006-06-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

Third to donk out of the Neg-O in the last one of this period, 87th-ha. Suited AQ, open for a raise and it is re-raised behind me, call, even though I fear AK, flop an Ace and check-raise all-in anyways, and my dumb ass was right. I blame it on the hash. Regardless, I still believe I should finish in the Top Nine for the period. If not, I should be banned from FCP and possibly poker in general. If I do win, I wonder if I can switch my prize to whoever played Eric Bana's wife in "Munich"-sweet Jesus, perfection is possible...

2006-06-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

Bunch of luck and loose play as the night progressed nets me about $250, help in paying for my lodging in Sin City. Start off by re-raising Mateen pre-flop w/KK, who brings it in for $5, I kick it to $10. Flop QJx, all spades, Mateen bets out $20, I call (with 2nd nut flush draw) and he says he's all-in before the turn falls and I call. He flips AK of hearts and another spade locks it for me. A few 46s boost my stack throughout the night. A Glenn Chervin. Leaning on Eli w/the Perkins, verbally announcing it, knowing he'd fold to my re-raising him all-in. Jiddy, 10-4 good buddy.

Quote of the day, from the mouth of Eli "Eeyore" Stanley: "I've been short-stacked my whole life." This was after he complained how he had just folded 25 and would have made 2 pair. I get 25s right after and raise pre-flop, flop 46s, 10s completes my flush on the turn for a nice pot. But it was also before I sucked out an unbelievable 2-outer on the river to steal a very large pot from him. So if I was to respond, "It's the fight in the dog, not the dog in the fight," it might be considered uncouth, but after all, it is the "Home of the Loose Call."

Room reserved @ Binion's, 5 nights, $300. Poker room rate may even lower that while I'm there. No wireless access in the rooms other than dial-up with AOL-WTF is that?! Guess the Nugget across the street has it though.

The 2006 World Series of Poker has begun!!! Event #2 $1500 NL HE has my #20 pick from the Fantasy Pool, Carlos Mortensen, with the chip lead right now (I removed Devilfish from my list and he is at #6!).

Maybe I should spend some money on some groceries instead of a vacation?

2006-06-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Last Neg-O of Session 2 manana-50 points over 5th and 1 point behind 3rd. Dropped $50 online. That's what I get for playing in class.

2006-06-27T04:36:00.000-07:00

ONE new tire: damn near $150. After a crippling suck-out in a ring game @ UB early this morning, I somehow manage to FT a $15 NL HE MTT w/74 entrants. Stupid Blackjack-your mere presence is an evil thing. DN and Mike Sexton trading punches for the TOC crown.

1st place paid me a little over $300! Flight to Vegas: PAID FOR.

VEGAS!

2006-06-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

Oakland takes 2 of 3 from San Fran!!! Oakland-.547, SF-.493! Suck it J&J!! Just booked a flight to Vegas, leaving Wednesday the 19th, 5 nights, returning Monday the 24th, $222. Now need to find accomodations for my stay...

2006-06-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Riders back at .500 with a win by Mathias over Bayside. A half-hour battle that had our player on the ropes early but he came back with a fury to win in the end-awesome job Matty!!! Thieves also take a win putting them at 6-4 now. Nothing like waking up in the morning to a flat tire. Sucks especially considering I am now seriously contemplating a Vegas trip during WSOP time...

2006-06-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

A's beat the Giants yesterday; today's lead just cut by 2 to 7-4. Went in to buy a fan, came out with an 8500 BTU A/C unit. 30% off and I couldn't say no. Big game again last night-10 again. Mateen, from homepokergames.com, brought 2 friends. Remembered their faces from a house tourney/game I went to in Pinole awhile back. Mateen and 50/30 (Jiddy) were the winners for the night, while I ended up breaking even after all was said and done. Did make a Steel Wheel in 7 Card though! And quad 4s the hard way with 466? in Omaha...

2006-06-22T23:32:00.000-07:00

I have decreed that the 46 now be called "Happy Hour"-because Happy Hour is from the hours of 4 to 6. And while a pair of deuces in the hole may be referred to as "AFLAC," making a set on the flop is called a "Glenn Chervin," aka "The Piano Man." Can never get anywhere in the Oil dammit-JJ runs into AA of course. Neg-O is Top Nine, not Ten. Mike and Cass and Kristin stopped by on their way to Waterworld-first time since I've lived in the East Bay that that bastard has come visited my home. Summer school is a total drag. First time I did it was right after high school, and not only did I have to ride my bike but it was while my friend's parents were out of town and right about every time I was supposed to go to class, the beer would show up. Suffice to say, it didn't work out well. Then I did DVC a few years ago with a good friend and that made it sort of tolerable. No fun this time around though.

2006-06-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

14th, GrinderMJ's 6s sucked out a set on my 8s. Think that still ought to be good for 2nd place on the board. So long as the impossible doesn't occur next Wednesday, I should have secured a jersey from this session. $143 in, $442.50 out (unless I can FT the last game!), plus my Top Ten prize. 2 FTs, 1 top 20 finish, and 4 top 30 finishes out of 12 games, out of usually a little over 100 entrants each tournament. I'm calling it a positive poker achievement in my book for sure. The Neg-O crew is a solid group of players and I'm definitely proud to be amongst the ranks. Forecast for tomorrow-104 degrees. Swell.

2006-06-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

Playing the Neg-O in 90 degree heat-ugh. Bounty on Bob and FidPoker but no Daniel. 1st hand find QQ but an Ace on the flop. Push with 77 and make a boat vs AK to double up early. AJ wins one then loses one. 99 would've made another boat but I knew I was beat on the flop. Flop Aces up to eliminate another Ace. Up to 4K so it's looks like I'm gonna pass on our last softball game of the season. OMG, is it hot. Final hour double up w/88 through KTs. Looks like I will lock in a Top 10 finish for this session with one more game to go; a FT tonight might even put me at #1 going into the last week! Made some key laydowns (99, 77) pre-flop where a year ago I probably would have called all my chips off on those medium-strength hands.

2006-06-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

Played 6 or so hours @ the house, 10 players, ending the sesh up around $450. That's wonderful, moreso because I started off on a downer, about -$200. The nut flush on the turn vs the 2nd nut flush vs 2 pair(?!?) to get me all the way back plus. Then some good cards and nice pots did the rest. Even some Blackjack helped overall I think. The funniest thing ever was when Colin and Brian dared Jiddy to shotgun 3 beers in 5 minutes which he did, then 3 more in the next 3 minutes. The first 3, no prob, the second 3, well, we all saw the "I'm gonna blow" face and man, did he ever. Funny as hell.

2006-06-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

First day of classes at the Concord campus. Which consists of some parking lots and like 2 big buildings in the middle of the hills out there. Thank God they're new buildings with A/C. Walking up to the classrooms there is a sign posted that warns people of rattlesnakes in the area. For real. First day of essentially a "grammar" class, teach says, "funnest." Excellent. Went and saw Nacho Libre to get some A/C and escape the sweltering heat (and it's not even "officially" summer yet).

2006-06-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

$2.95/gallon and I'm sort of happy?!? WTF? When I was a kid growing up on the East Coast we could just cross the state line and gas was $0.99/gallon. Only a little over 10 years ago. Grades came in for last quarter-good news: I passed all my classes, bad news: only makes for a 2.5 GPA. Missed Chris' match against the Cigar Lovers because I was on the road; we are now at 4-5, tied for 2nd in our division. 3 months almost I've had my Jeep and I've paid off about $3000 on it. Plus the $200/month insurance payments for the complete coverage since it covers a vehicle bought on loan. Ugh. Put almost 6000 miles on it already. Is that a lot? Averaging around 2K a month? Nothing beats coming home to a big pile of catpuke. Marcie's cats were just gonna be here while she was in Vegas for her birthday. That was 2 months ago. Don't mind 'em, they're cool. Even'll miss 'em when they go, which apparently is soon.

2006-06-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

A's go 10 straight!!! Took down the weekly FlopTalk game, knocked out Ryan to go heads-up with Vatche. Missed my up-and-down straight flush draw on the flop with a suited 46 to go bust in the Stars Blogger Tourney. Summer quarter begins today and grades from spring quarter are released as well...

2006-06-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

I am so out of place at the gym. First round lasted a mere 20 minutes. Thursday night at the house was all about Moran pummelling through rounds of Blackjack. And a pair of Eli's friends for some wild randomness. At least I broke even. Found out we had to forfeit our game on Wednesday. Took down a 25-person qualifier for a $54 ticket off $8. Half-dollar NL HE table @ FCP: A9 v AK on a 9 high flop helps gain a little ground. KK helps some more. The best though is a set of 8s on the flop v QQ, the case 8 coming on the river. An hour and I'm a little over double for +$50. 2 1/2 hours @ a $1 table and I double again for the most part, plus $55. Went down for a while till I made Broadway and it was good from there. Bust out of a 1+1 $10 Rebuy MTT in 14th for a little disappointment and -$30. Aces go 1 for 3; cracked once in the MTT to a garbage hand that trips on the river and again in the ring game to KK on a KKQJA board, the one winner I make sure to shut down the pot on the flop in the ring game for a few extra bucks. Another misclick costs me $5-gotta stop doing that. Lose 3 $20 freeze-outs in a row against Jer and Josh but then win 3 in a row, the last 2 for double stakes, ending +$140. And I honestly haven't been playing that much poker. Congrats to cfinnn for winning a WSOP seat and Brian Fidler for his stellar performance in the Circuit event in Tahoe!

2006-06-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

Stopped into Kelly's when I was in the area and it was pretty dead. It was a Monday afternoon but still it was sort of sad-looking. But of course there was one $3/6 table going with an empty seat so of course I took it. Even though $3/6 is a sucker's game and I told myself I won't play it anymore. Started off by making the runner-runner nut flush. Then I got run down for $100 to a bunch of crap by a bunch of bums. Like the $30 NL HE MTT @ FCP I just got bumped from in the first 5 hands. AQ, call UTG, button raises to 5X the BB, 3 other callers, flop Q-rag-rag, w/2 diamonds. I bet about half the pot with top pair, top kicker, raised behind me, 1 caller in front of me, I push over the top, re-raiser folds, BB calls, shows flush draw with baby cards AND HITS ON THE RIVER. Remember, this was 5 hands into the tournament. New X-Men movie wasn't quite as good as all the hype. Dr. Crane as Hank McCoy was cool but what a lack of character development for Archangel!? The Juggernaut's catch-phrase was worth it all. Stayed through all the credits at the end so the producers could leave it open for a sequel-lame. New Superman looks pretty good. Squeezed into the top 30 of the Neg-O last night even though I was at my roommate's sister's graduation, keeping me in the #4 slot of the leaderboard. Way to go Alicia! Wonder how the Trombone fared...

2006-06-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday: Sat around the house and watched 3 movies-Aeon Flux, Date Movie, and Underworld Evolution. Aeon and Underworld were alright for sci-fi action, as far as Date Movie goes, I want the hour and a half of my life back. Then I lost a little money on the NL table online when my JJ ran into AA and 88 to 99. Today: Signed up for a 24 Hour Fitness membership. There's a first for everything. Still 3rd on the Neg-O leaderboard. Happy Birthday Mom!

Riders hit .500!

2006-06-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

After a grueling back-and-forth battle that lasted almost an hour, unable to close after taking the lead a few times, then going under and coming back, the deciding hand came as I sucked out a 3-outer after the flop. The Thieves as well as the Cigar Lovers both suffered losses so our 3 teams now are tied with 4-4 records while Broccoli is 4-3 going into their 8th game. Go Cheap Shot Artists!

2006-06-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Friday night picked up maybe an extra $20-30. Saturday night's marathon session that ran for almost 12 hours netted me around $600.

Disgust: Dedicated to Mr. English

2006-06-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

2nd time in a month that I have been bounced from the Neg-O while holding AA. Sucked out on both times by Jester. Both times it has been when we have gotten under 30 players and he is sitting on a much bigger stack and I raise and he puts me all-in; this time his 88 spikes a boat on the river (another 2-outer for the clown). Aggravating to say the least. Especially when he is hot on my heels on the leaderboard. Look both ways when crossing the street you bastard. 3rd going into this week, wonder how I'll look tomorrow. Everyone says I am a shoe-in but I am still a little nervous. Bad officiating and a missed pop fly by me to put a loss on the Trombone's record. Last 2 finals tomorrow and I have a week off before summer quarter kicks in.

2006-06-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

Decided to play some more. Bounced out of a MTT when AJ raises, I move, called behind me by QQ and KK and another AJ, and an Ace makes its way onto the board. Go for some H/U practice, 0-2. 1st one lasts awhile and we get it in when I'm over 60% favorite. But my opponent flops a higher pair. 2nd one lasts all of maybe 7 hands-I get it in as a slight underdog but opponent flops a set. Qualifier for a $30 tourney ticket for $5-in the lead by over 13K at the break w/5 remaining. Like I can't miss a flop. The rest of the chips on the table don't even amount to what I have-I could just sit out for the rest...

2006-06-07T03:02:00.000-07:00

Been playing a little tourney poker online and have been going from chip leader to bubble boy repeatedly, after making some donktastic moves. $1 NL has been a little better this morning online, playing pretty tight, 1 major hand to double me up in the 1st hour: AK v A3 on an A3K flop. Plus it's cashed my next $40 bonus. 2nd hour turned the nut flush and flopped a set of deuces but couldn't get paid off on the river; lost that profit back on a weak pair of Aces and a couple misses. Like my 72s that flops a pair w/the flush draw (but I knew if I hit I would get paid by the top pair). And a misclick that thankfully only cost me a few dollars. Get sucked out on a couple times and then make a poor bluff moving into hour 3. Keeps going further south as more pocket pairs flop overs and big cards get no help. Flop top & bottom pair and I check-raise to $25 into a pot of almost $15 with 4 players. 1 caller and the middle card pairs on the board and fucks me in the ass. AK tries to buy a pot without a pair, putting me all-in on the river w/TT, doubling me back up to $100. Same player calls my top pair, big kicker down for a little more. And again when I make trip Aces on the flop. Bet a flush on the come that spikes on the river. Then I flop quads w/44 the very next hand. Flop a set w/33. JJ very next hand. I leave after 3 hours +$70. That covers the online tourney buy-in losses of late. Watch AA beat KK for a $130 pot as I'm leaving-that is always the worst. A $90 pot, same winner/loser again, moments later, QQ v AK. 2 finals down, 2 to go. Thinking about doing a couple days down in Carmel/Big Sur on my break.

6/4/06

2006-06-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

The title says it all. Figured it out the 2nd to last hand I played tonight (this morning). I bumped it pre-flop on the button, flop 357. You bet your sweet ass I had a suited 46! Threw away the right card to flop the 2nd nut flush in Pineapple (not Crazy mind you) to bust both Jiddy and Steve at once and end our short-handed game. 5+ hours at the house for +$100. 2 hours right before that at the Grand to come up almost $500 on the $6/12 table. Right off the bat I make the nut flush. Then I get my Queens in the hole run down by a jackass who calls me all the way and makes 2 pair on the river with a stinkin' 24. KK-flop 3JJ against 33 and Jx, turn K and I take down a nice pot when I raise on the river. Trip 8s gets me another decent one. JJ, flop 456 with a flush draw, heavy action commences, turn 6, still heavy betting. I pray for a river Jack and WHAM! there it is! I was up against a flopped straight all along, someone made trip 6s on the turn but I managed my miracle 2-outer for a huge pot!!! WOOHOO!!! Made 2 big suckouts to win the FlopTalk's weekly as well. The 4th day of the 6th month...

The Cheap Thieves also lost today against Gilbertology, creating a 3-way tie for 1st in our division, with us in 2nd. At least we can say we're in 2nd now. It's up to me to bring us to .500 hopefully with a win against the Posse next weekend.

2006-06-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

Wow. Here's a good one. Raise going to the flop w/AQ. 2 callers, flop K-rag-rag. 1 player moves, I hit the wrong button and go all-in over the top. Opponent shows a King, I need 1 of the 3 remaining Aces in the deck to appear. Or runner-runner hearts for the nut flush. Holy schnike. 67 of diamonds flops a pair and a flush draw so I call an all-in to double up and also take down another big one with KQ. My AK loses to KK but I make a good steal on the river for a solid pot in a subsequent hand. AQ eliminates AJ. AJ makes top pair with Jacks on the flop but gets snapped by a King high straight on the turn then my 22 falls to an Ace on the flop and a King on the turn vs an AK and it's over just like that for me. Should have been over well before that so I guess I should just consider myself lucky. Just not lucky enough to go all the way.

Scott started off good against Czario then slide down to half his starting stack. Doubled up 30 minutes in. Battled back and forth, Scott staying on top this time, ending it with a pair of 4s with a wrap draw vs a higher wrap draw and a flush draw, 4s hold. Scott brings our team to 3-4 with his 2nd victory-way to go Scotty!

2006-06-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

Finally back on the winning track. $1K Gtd. NL HE w/18 entrants, creating a $100 overlay. Take the lead at the FT all the way down to 3, where my 55 gets snapped by an Ace on the turn after we get it all-in pre-flop vs AT and that leaves me with the short stack. End up in 3rd for a $145 win after 3+ hrs.

2006-06-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

Started off good then blew it. Last night, had quads 2X w/JJ (Jer also had quads w/33 and 77-he ended up owning the table pretty much), boss full with/AA, 4 Queens in Jiddy, then ended up -$200. J quads w/33 and 77. My WSOP Seat MTT today, increase my stack by more than 50% then get busted on a T98 flop w/QQ v KK v A9 to put me out early. Doom on me. Did get my schedule for the summer and fall squared away though-12 units in the summer and 17 in the fall.

2006-06-02T01:56:00.000-07:00

The Trombone took a loss with only 8 players on the field. Wouldn't have mattered even if I had shown up because there were only 4 girls.

Last day of classes was today. Got both my final assignments in on time for English and Sociology. Didn't get any sleep at all but that was my fault. Exams next week.

Down from a pack a day/2 packs every 3 days to a single cigarette yesterday and 4 today. And a tin of the Bear which just didn't do it. I guess it's a start.

2006-05-31T16:25:00.000-07:00

3 cases of energy drinks, free from Student Life at school. Totally unnecessary but free is free, right? CRV is +EV for me; I don't even drink anymore but 12# of cans from my buddies from the past few weeks is another free $15. Tried to up my rank @ PSO by trapping with flopped trip 5s but another King came on the river of course to stymie my attempt. Missed the A's game today-Daron had free tix, 6 rows back from the A's warm-up mound. Unfortunately stuck at home, trying to hammer out my final assignments for the quarter, which I've of course procrastinated to the very last minute. Went to Casper's for a Chili Cheese Dog anyway. What a great invention-up there with the Bacon Cheeseburger. Which I had one of yesterday at the Elite Grill on campus. Which very soon all of the food vendors at school will be replaced by Aramark. Corporate America-God bless. Negreanu Open in an hour...

Busted out early of the Neg-O this week. That's gonna hurt me in the standings. Bleh. No DN, but Bob put a $54 ticket bounty on his own head and Royal offered a bounty on himself as well.

2006-05-31T02:30:00.000-07:00

Played some more @ PSO. Started in the Bronze League (up to 10 MTTs) at #4 on the list, bumped up to the Silver League (10-19), #6 @ 83.22% from 12 tourneys. Took 1st in a 5-person Limit 7 Card Stud match. 2nd out of 9 in NL HE. Another 1st in a Limit HE w/18 entrants! Top 3 in every League get Sponsorship Points every month-apparently 500 convert to a $500 live tourney buy-in. Last day to break the top 3 that means. Fun hand: after playing some 4-6's and showing, I type in chat that I've got my favorite hand once more. Someone behind me raises and I call from one of the blinds w/72 actually, flopping Q37 and once again typing 5!5!5! in chat, 2 comes on the turn and I raise, blank on the river and QJ is beat for a nice pot. Not fun hand: I have JJ and move on a pot, JJ calls and so does KQ. Flop undercards but turn a K. Hey, guess what? No more Jacks coming! Playing a freeroll today, 7 of the 10 at my table are stting out. So I'm stealing every single blind I can. But dig this: another player actually checked it all the way down to a player sitting out. And lost. Twice. Hello?!?

2006-05-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

$750 Gtd. Late Night Fifty @ Bugsy's had a $250 overlay 2 minutes before it started. It dropped to $50 in those 2 minutes. 14 people, more like SNGs these MTTs are at Bugsy's really. But it took over 3 hours. AA creamed QQ to help me, then my QQ held up in an early 3-way pot too. Made a great Ace high call-down in the 2nd hour. Throw away a pair of Aces on the flop to a set when we were down to 3 as well. Final hand 92 v 57, flop 955, turn 5, river 2. 2nd nets me $170. Been playing at PSO as well, I signed up for a month (nothing really worth it as far as I can see); yesterday I won 2-27 and 21 entrants-and tonight I took 2nd out of 51 in a pretty solid competition. Top of my game tonight baby.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 1672833

2006-05-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

6 hours at the house for -$100. Not a good one. Another addition from Homepokergames.com or whatever it was I listed on, Steve. Finally a MTT win online. Granted it was a $3 buy-in and there were only 30 people, but whatever, I'll take it (and the $33 prize) after the past month I've had in MTTs online. After 4 months of screwing around in the FCP forum, I have accumulated over 1,000 posts and "Veteran" status. Talk about productivity.

2006-05-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Riders slide to the bottom of the division as Mathias takes a loss to Lost Leader. At least the Thieves lost too, what little consolation that may be. I grabbed an extra $50 for outlasting 258 entrants in a freeroll at Bugsy's, busting 5th when I slammed into Rockets.

2006-05-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

FCP has been bastardizing my bankroll as of late. This weekend was nothing but one giant suck-out on me; so bad I think I'm only gonna play the Neg-O there for a while. Hell, it's the online tournaments that have been killing me over the past month as a matter of fact. Last week of classes coming up before finals. Watched "The Ringer" and "Grandma's Boy". The Special Olympics movie had some funny moments but the video game tester one had me rollin' quite a few times.

2006-05-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ended up playing a few hours of 3-way. Action has sort of been stagnant around here last 2 weeks. Even went on to play about an hour H/U w/Jiddy. Finished +$100 for the night. Watched the remake of Fun With Dick & Jane. Cute but nothing special.

2006-05-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

Redeposited some loot @ FCP only 'cause they got the bestest Poker Room Manager in the Whole Wide World there! But then AA crushed my KK for $50 at the $1 NL table and then again late in a MTT. Bleh.

2006-05-26T02:57:00.000-07:00

8 weeks down, 5 to go in this session of the Negreanu Open. I've FTed 2X, donked 2X, missed 1, and made the top 30 3X. 2nd, 117th, 29th, 160th, 3rd, 23rd, 22nd. Man, if I hadn't missed that 1 week I could be in 2nd-still maintaining 3rd after Jawa and the Cuke. Same familiar faces every week but with growing random fields. Just gotta be steady...

2006-05-26T00:36:00.000-07:00

Bonds is claiming racism has interfered with his breaking the Babe's record. If you were White Barry, I'd probably hate you even more. So shut the fuck up. My teacher finally fixed my grade. Yes, finally, at the end of the subsequent quarter. After losing my final paper. Which I actually submitted early. Who's the slacker? I ended up with a little better than a 3.0 for the winter quarter, so on paper, it sure ain't me! Powe is leaving the Bears for the NBA. Oh well, not like he was there to help the squad last season really. His talent will be missed though. Taken the past week off from playing poker for the most part and it's been good for my head I think. Little down-time and I'm ready to get back in the game again now. Why are squirrels so stupid? Sitting on on the opposite side of the road, I slow down just to make sure it doesn't dart in front of my tires, and the dumb creature does anyway at the last second. I should of smushed the little retard. I'll tell ya, theres's nothing like seeing the ol' Red & Blues flash on right behind ya in the rearview to get the blood pumping while I'm making like Henry, rolling down the mountain, going fast, fast, fast! Got some exciting news but I'm gonna save it till it's official-I so hope it works out...

Wednesday!

2006-05-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

TT knocks AAsnake out early on a 9 high flop. Looking at the results from last session, I ended up in 67th, my best finish was the first time I played (16th). Still with yet a month to go, I am doing enormously better this time around. KK in the SB, opt to flat-call a raise pre-flop, flop comes all spades with a King (as well as a straight poss.), pre-flop raiser moves, I decide I have to call, I'm good. Knock out J9 when he moves with his short stack and I call w/AJs. A9s in SB, flop nut flush draw, pair my 9 on the turn, spike flush card on river for a big 'un from Sol (Shahmat). DN sure has to battle hell these days with the bounty on his head and the way players go after it. Almost nice never having him at my table so I can play my regular game, you know? 3rd @ the break w/6K. Get rid of a hand that would have broke me-good job Ben. QQ in the BB, 2 players go all-in, I should just fold but I err, AT, KK, A on the flop damn it. I push w/QQ pre-flop again over a min. raise, no calls. QQ again, push over the top again, no callers, s'OK though! Toss an out of position AJ to a solid raise pre-flop. Back up to 5K. KQ out of position gets thrown as well. Is that too tight? KK v AQ holds v j2k99. Limp w/AK early and get a suited K high flop-thank goodness Alf had garbage. QQ, folded to me in the BB-ugh. Out in 22nd (1 better than last time!), AQ v AT, flop 2T2, turn T.

Rusty Trombone (our softball team) goes 5-1 after defeating the only undefeated team in our league tonight! Granted we have 2 wins by default, I was told we really whooped 'em up last week, and this week we had another helluva game! A missed deep fly and another blundered easy ground ball were made up by my hitting tonight: 2 RBIs my 1st at bat to bring us into the ballgame and make it 2-3, then driving in the go-ahead run as well. Exciting game, came down to the wire, our 10-7 lead holds at the end. Even almost had a fight!

2006-05-24T04:44:00.000-07:00

$50 @ Bugsy's and all I have to show are a few MTT entry tickets: a WSOP Seat, 2 $1K freerolls, and a DE Qualifier for a $10K. FCP has been kicking me in the nuts as of late. Hope I can manage a decent finish in the Neg-O today. The Cuke pushed me down to 3rd with his big win last week and it's an extremely close race behind me. Qualified for the next round in UB's Million Dollar tourney. Used 50 points to enter a 23 entrant match, 10 move on, when we got to 10, I was in 1st with almost double of the next player. Saturday is the next stage.

Riders go 2-3

2006-05-22T23:06:00.000-07:00

After a grueling 40 minute back-and-forth battle, Chris triumphed over Rhinestone Cowboy of team Broccoli-way to go! So all teams with the exception of (of course) Negreanu's Thieves are tied in our division. But then again, it hasn't been DN winning their matches but rather Jayboogie as a matter of fact. In other news, I qualified for a $110 seat by winning an 8 person $5.50 tourney, the winner of the next stage walks away with a $10K seat at the WSOP. Can't believe Jack fell for the "call from Kim" at the end, even I saw something fishy about it. Now we have to wait until January to see WTF is happening to Jack in China?!?

2006-05-21T03:22:00.000-07:00

I deposited at Bugsy's yesterday to see if you get more play for your money-10K starting chip stacks for MTTs instead of usual 1-2K. But the blinds start at 25/50 and increase every 10 minutes and the betting is proportionate so there really is no difference. Dropped $300 in about 3 hours at the house last night playing short-handed. Disgusting. Couldn't really get anywhere in the FCP Redeposit freeroll with a $1K prize pool and a $6500 1st place WSOP package today.