I suck, therefore I blog! MATH Recap!

My state of the poker address in one paragraph. I am good player with definite dumb azz donkey tendencies. I make some good laydowns and some horrendous calls. I make great bluffs and leave money on the table when I have made hands. At times I feel invincible at times and sometimes I am afriad to play in $5 sng.

That is the range of my emotions right now. I am having a hard time controlling my inner donkey

MATH Recap: I double up withing the first 23 hands of the tournament at the end of the first break I was sitting pretty:

Shortly after the break I was moved to a new table and hit my high water mark of 11,790. But it was there the wheels came off the proverbial buss. At my new table I didn't adjust my play, I hadn't earned the respect of this table and I tried to run over them with my big stack. Now mind you I wasn't raising aimlessly but I was trying to dictate the flow, however several smaller stacks decided that anytime I raised they were willing to gamble. I would raise 2.5 to 3x and get pushed in on for 7-10 times my raise. Frustrating to say the least.

I lost 4K in back to back hands and neither of us played them wrong. First hand I am dealt AK in MP blinds 100/200 I make 600 and cutoff goes all in for about 900 more with QQ and wins his race. Next hand I have Ac10c decide to limp after an EP limper. Flop is 10 high with 2 hearts. Checked to me and with about 1K in the pot I lead out to protect my TPTK one of the blinds pushes for an additional 800 with Kh10h and filled his flush on the river.

So at the end of hour 2 I am mid pack with about 29 or so to go. Shortly after we combined to 3 tables and I didn't adjust for the new big stacks at my table. We were safely in the BBT points when for some reason my inner donkey just took over. Here is how my busto hand played out. (Warning the following hand description contains Graphic Stupidity, please be advised)

I am in the BB 500/250/50 with Ac9c and WilWonka is UTG and raises to 1500 leaving about 4.6K behind, folded to HOP who smooth calls from the CO. Flop comes this

Decent flop for me and I feel like I am ahead but not for certain so for some reason I check.(mistake number one why I didn't lead out a 1/2 pot to gain information only my inner donkey knows for certain) WilWonka checks and HOP leads out a pot sized bet, which I somehow interpret as a mid level pair thanks to the Waffles/HOP war that took place a few weeks ago. (Dam you waffles even in your absence you somehow eff with my game) I push, WilWonka folds and HOP insta calls with AQ

The needless Q on the turn and GG all out in 21st. I was very disappointed with my showing last night. I am starting to doubt my sanity since I am doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. I am still 2nd on the BBT Leaderboard and 3rd in overall money won but I am nowhere near the level I was playing a few weeks back. Gotta get the leaks plugged fast I fly out for ME in 32 days.

Goals for the Week 6-4-07

• Apologize to Waffles for the Riverchasers Tirade
• Make the Points in Both BBT Tournaments this Week
• Final Table on the BBT Tourney
• Win a BBT Tourney
• Finish Reading FullTilt Tournament Guide
• Walk with the Family in the Evenings

So there are my Goals for the week. Lets get one of them accomplished right now. I owe Waffles an apology for my tirade during the Riverchasers Horse Event on Sunday. I told him: FU, I called him a classless douche bag, and I may have called him phucktard, dum azz bastard. I hope I didn't forget any. Anyways I do owe him an apology, I understand his taunting and off the cuff remarks are what make Waffles, Waffles. He is like a car wreck or picture of a decapitated body , you don't want to look but you cant help yourself. Waffles I am sorry.

The others are pretty self explanatory. I hope to catch Bayne_S on the BBT Leaderboard but I must say he is making it mighty tough. Very impressive sir.

See ya at the MATH tonight.

One Mistake is all it takes!

I am glad to see May go, it was a baaaaaaaaaaddddddd month. However, it sounds like a few others had a crappy month as well. So I guess it could always be worse.


It seems like every tournament I played was the same thing. Start off decent and then one little mistake would either wipe me out or start me on the road to ruin. So I ask you the question, Have you ever played a totally mistake free tourney?

Sure there have been times when maybe you played mostly mistake free or maybe your mistake didn't get caught but I doubt if anyone can ever say the played a mistake free tourney.

OK so I am cruising along in Al's Rvierchasers event last night, I am catching some cards and then I am dealt AA UTG, So I make a 2.5 BB bet and get called by one of the blinds, flop comes 96x rainbow and the blind fires a 3/4 pot sized bet. HMM .... did this guy hit a set, nah If he hit a set he would check and let me bet so I min raise back to feign a weak steal attempt and please when he calls. The turn is another blank and he checks so here I firmly feel that I am ahead, now here is where I want to set the trap, I check as well to firmly entrench that my weak raise was just that. River is another blank and blind fires about 1/3 pot bet, so I wait just a bit and push hoping that I have sold the AK charade and right on Que I am called by JJ and sitting numero uno.

The very next hand I am moved to a new table and that is where the wheels came off the wagon. Maybe two hands at the new table I dealt A9 suited in the BB and a MP player pushes all in for about 350 chips, the button smooth calls and SB folds and I make the mistake of putting a squeeze on the Button. The Button started the hand with about 2600, I have around 5900 so I push to trap the dead money and low behold the button calls and flips up AK. Very well played sir. I don't know if he planned it that way but it definitely worked out as he doubled I am now at 3200 chips, from there I just ran into one thing after another, my raises were re-raised all in, and then this hand came up. I get AK in the SB was folded to me I smooth call BB checks, the flop comes K7x I lead out BB calls, turn is a blank I check wanting to induce a bluff if he does have the K or even the 7, the BB fires pot sized I check raise enough to put him in and boom he insta calls with K7. NI HAND SIR. I don't think I did anything wrong and don't think there was anything I could do because the BB would have called a raise preflop at least I would have.

Now I am down to about 1100 and a about 9 hands later I am dealt AK yet again UTG I raise to 300, the button re raises and the SB goes All In. So what do you do? I can fold but I am at an M of less than 8 or I can make my stand here and have a chance to triple up. I just don't give either of them credit for either AA or KK and besides if I call it is likely the button might fold. So I call and the button does fold and I am happy to be in a race with 1010 but soon on the rail as I blank out.

All in all I don't feel real bad about the way I played except for the squeeze play. This was my one mistake since I didn't need to play a big pot in that spot. Looking back I don't believe I would have respected a squeeze by a big stack in BB either and I should have either called or even better just folded and let them fight it out and preserved my chips. Guess I didn't use good judgement and it cost me.
Ted Forrest made a profound statement in the Full Tilt Tournament Guide. The statement was it is easy to get a big stack but it is extremely difficult to keep one. Too bad I read that after the tourney.

My Poker Mantra and Thats Just Wrong Wednesday

Wippy has asked me to share my poker mantra. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so take a look at these thoughts and images and maybe add them to your poker repertoire.

Bluffing
Bluffing is a part of poker but it has to blend in, when you bluff make sure your bluff fits in with the way the hand has played out.


Patience and Enthusiasm

Patience is huge in Poker no one has ever won a MTT on the 1st hand of tourney. Lets face it poker is 95% boredom and 5% excitement. So do get so to excited when you are #1 at the end of the first hand, break, ect... There is a fine line between Confidence and Cockiness.

Be Prepared
Be in the right frame of mind to play, poker is mental and therefore you need to have an edge. Think back to your last poker score and try to recall your mindset. Odds are you were focused and ready to play.

Innovation

Don't be predictable. A good poker player can change gears, a great poker player can change their game.

Risk vs Reward

Poker is all about calculated risks. Always have a reason for taking a risk and make sure you will be rewarded for it.

Consistency

One thing is for certain change is inevitable. The most consistent poker players are the ones who change.

With my mantra out of the way lets have our weekly look at the pictorials of the weird, wacky and just plain wrong.


Speaking of Lesbians

Speaking of Kids and Pets

Speaking of Boobies and a Man's Brain

Dont forget about the M00K tonight.

MATH Recap!!

I played decent poker in the MATH but just couldn't get anything going, my raises were re-raised and re-raises were pushed. Just a ho hum type of tourney. No real big hands to speak of, I busted out when my AQ in the BB lost a race to the SB's pocket 10s. With a M of less than 8 there was no way I wasn't going to go all the way with that hand. Oh well that is POKAH!

The only bright spot is I managed to gain a little ground on IGGY and BAYNE in the BBT since I was able to outlast them both.

Three and Done!

I missed the first 15 minutes of the M00k last night due to business dinner, to bad I didn't have dessert. The first had I saw was the all in fest between IronGirl's KK, BoneDaddy's AA, and someone else I cant remember high pocket pair, and just like that I had Bone Daddy's monster stack on my immediate right. The next hand I was in the SB with Ax sooted. It is folded to me and I just call to see what the angry dwarf will do in the BB. Flop all blanks and none of my suite, check, check. Turn is another rag and I check fold. So I have played my first hand but have lost 20% of my stack due to being blinded out, no big deal. Third I see, it is folded to BoneDaddy who makes a rather big raise up to 140 (I think), I look to down to AhKh and I re-raise him to 450 leaving me 650 or so. BoneDaddy then tanks and then pushes, I put him on mid pair or weaker Ace, I call and he caught Aces for the 2nd time in 3 hands. NI Hand Sir. I should have just gone to bed because I was in a bad mood and that is good recipe for tilt. And tilt I did, I promptly signed up and bubbled 5 SNGs in row. Each one of these were at an increased buyin. Talk about a Donkey Barf, that is exactly what I did.

So what to do now. I am going to take a few days off from the virtual felt. I cant remember the last time I went 2 or even 3 days without getting my poker fix. I more than likely will not make the IronMan this month but I don't care. I am going to read two new books that I ordered last week, Phil Gordon's "Little Green Book" and the The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition also going to spend some time studying my poker tracker stats. The main thing I want to do is plug some serious leaks, preflop and post flop. I believe the next time I will play with be in the MATH on Monday. So until then have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend.

OMG!!! and That is Just Wrong Wednesday

First of all head of to king of luck blog and congratulate him on a sick run this week. Who else can turn his last two $26 tokens into $12K Main Event Seat, $5K Donkey Fest MTT Win and $1.5K 5th place. Congrats Chad! I think I speak for the rest of us that are non-enchanted by saying we hate you. : )

Here is a question for you who is the bigger donkey in the following hand. Let me give you a little background. 4 handed Fulltilt $75 satellite to the Thursday $1k ME, only the winner gets the seat. I had double up through the donkey about 20 hands early when my JJ flopped a set and turned the boat against his trip aces, so I have a decent image at the table. The donkey limps the SB fold and I mm in the BB and am dealt the "The Hammer", what do you do? You play em like Aces! So promptly pop it to $420, tardboy smooth calls.

The flop JsKcJd and I lead out with a pot sized bet that is over half his stack and he thinks, and calls. The Turn is Ac and I bet the exact amount to set him in and he insta calls and proudly flips .....................

A effn 10c5c ohh but they were sooted. He called off 1/2 stack on the flop with a 10 high. And then won the effn pot with a 10 high. After the pot he berated me for pushing with the hammer claimed he a soooo many outs that he had to call, yada yada. So I ask you who is the bigger donkey me or him. Oh by the way he won the seat.

Much like how the donkey above played his hand I will aimlessly and without any rhyme our reason post this weeks pictorial of the wild, weird and wrong. Enjoy!

Dont forget about the M00K tonight, I will be there and will hopefully pass the angry little blogger in the BBT standings.

MATH Recap 5-22-07

MATH recap not much to say except I am a HEE HAW! I didnt get many hands the first hour, chipped up nicely during the second hour with some speculative hands that hit the flop hard and allowed me to climb into the top ten with 3 tables left. Then for some reason I decided I needed to play K9 sooted in the BB to TripJax raise on the button. We both started the hand with about $7500. I knew he wasn't strong on all rag flop so I fired the pot (about $750) and he called, the turn was a Q and fired the 3/4 pot($1800) and he waited and waited and called again. Now I figured the Q had helped him and I most likely put on AQ-KQ but if another rag hit the River I was going to fire the third bullet. The river was a J and I knew a jam would be easier for him to call than a 1/2 pot bet that screamed set value bet. So I fired about $2900 into $5600 pot leaving him fold equity him but showing him that I was committed and begging for a Jam from him as I have now pot committed myself. We he made a good call and i was down to about $2700 in chips and lasted a few more orbits.

Looking back on the play I don't really regret it, I wasn't catching many cards and I believe that I played this hand the best I could other than not playing it at all. TripJax made some really tough calls and was rewarded for his reads. I succeeded because I gave myself the best chance to win the pot with cards and situation I was in. Next time it maybe a set that I play the exact same way.

I was able to gain one spot (2nd) on the BBT Leaderboard since Bayne nor Iggy were able to garner any points. (This fact also lead to my decision to play a little looser and go for the win) Next stop of the BBT is the M00K on Wednesday at FullTilt (Bonus Code OSU)

Final note if any of you drive a vehicle like mine you can appreciate this picture.

3rd Sucks, But 2555th Blows!!!!!!

Before I go any further head over to Hoy's and Cmitch's and NewinNov give them three a shout out for their 101st, 215th and 318th placement in the FTOPs ME. Some nice chaa ching going on over there, Hoy would probably still be playing if some tard didn't call his ALL IN re raise with a QJ, jeez, and Cmitch did a daily double with a nice cash in the Stars Million. Way to go guys. As for yours truly, I am overrated, overrated!!!! I chipped up pretty nicely with KK with in the first 30 minutes and was in the top 100 when I pulled a classic HEE HAW move and couldn't get away from AK on A6x flop when it was obvious the guy had flopped a set and that knocked me down to about 1.5K in chips. I hung around for almost 2 hours, clawed scratch and even got back to an above average stack when I violated cardinal sin numero uno, Never take things personal at the table! I had a tard that just was popping my blind every time and I finally said enough with pocket 10s. Now I could have made the same statement with a normal raise but NO not me I must make a statement, and that statement is I SUPER Donk will gladly risk my tournament with pocket 10s, OH by the way your pocket aces are a nice hand sir.

Please head my warning poker is not personal, the cards could care less if a tard is pushing ATC, when you make mistakes you will be sent to rail more times than not. That is the beauty of poker.

Now on to the Big Game hosted by Miami Don. I was not in the right frame of mind to be playing, In fact I was in FBT (full blown tilt) and it showed. However there are some key hands we can look at and hopefully learn from my mistakes.

The first key hand was against Cmitch . I was UTG and make a standard raise with QdQc and get called by Cmitch on the button. Flop J57 rainbow and I lead a 1/2 pot sized bet and get smooth called, at this point I am still liking my hand and put him on J, 98 or Ace big. Turn is 6d, which completes a straight for the 98 and puts 2 diamonds on the board. I fire another 1/2 pot sized bet and again get smooth called, at this point I am only about 50/50 on the hand. The river is an absolute ugly card for my hand, the Ad. I check with the intention of jettisoning the hand if the bet was to big but was pleased to rake the pot when my Ladies held up against his J10

Next key hand was the very next hand. I am in the BB with AQ ScottMc makes a 3x raise and RecessRampage calls on the button, flop comes 9c4sAs, and I check with intention of check raising, ScottMc obliges but RecessRampage smooth calls. Now this should have set off alarm bells, but I am in full blown tilt mode so It didnt and I pop the hell out of the Blonkeys too the tune of $2200, Doh! nice hand RecessRampage , should have known better.



So guess which donkey is dead last with about 41 or the original 49 runners still left. Hee Haw!!

I don't know what it was about that loss, but for some reason I jarred me from my tilt induce hazed and I played LDP (lock down poker). I was card dead but was able to win a few scraps but for the next 80 hands I didn't get above 1400 chips. On hand #105 I was in the BB (80/160) with AdQh and it is folded to IronGirl who makes a 3x raise for me this was a no brainer push and I guess IronGirl felt pot committed and make the call Qd10h.

Somehow I manged to avoid the suckout and voila I am up to 2860, only 140 less than I started with.

A few hands later I lost 1/4 of my stack on a button steal attempt with a Q10 soooted, I had to abandon this hand when the Ace hit the flop and and the SB fired. Back down to 1800 and in the cellar again.

About 10 hands later I raise 3x with pocket 88s and pushed the flop when only one over card hit. Chip count now 3120. Then 11 hands later I got my first and only pair of AA in SB, ScottMc made a push with the Hiltons for all of his 2400 chips and I was more than happy to call and excited when they held.

From this hand to the final table it was ABC poker, I did get cute Iggy on one hand but dammit I was tired of the little dwarf min raising my blind. Oh chit see rule numero uno above. When we got to the final table I was real close if not dead last in chips, but to be honest there were 3 monster stack and about 6 small stacks. Now believe it or not I had not suckout one time the whole tourney until this hand#247. 6 Handed I am UTG (800/1600/200) with 9.6K in chips I looked down at KQ off and push, Chad makes an isolation AllIn push and I immediately type "I need a suckout" as soon as the cards are flipped and I was obliged with Q on the flop and the unnecessary K on the river.


A few hands later I get most of Chad's chips with my JJ

GoatBoy took a horrendous suckout (go read about it) to get us down to three handed. On the very first hand of three handed my to counterparts got it all in and the short stack (and eventual winner) caught runner runner flush to win the hand and pull even.

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda, Oh well. We played 3 handed of monkey push poker for almost 30 hands, with me actually taking the chip lead at one point but on hand 315 I found A8 and called and All In push from twoblackaces with pocket 5s and the race was not mine to win and out in 3rd again. Dam one of these days I will win a freakin race when it gets to three handed.

Don't forget about MATH tonight I will be looking to inch up one more spot or two on the BBT LeaderBoard . See ya Then.