Bouncing around a bit this morning in my neverending pursuit of truth, justice and poker perfection, I noticed Pauly had a piece in the online version of Poker Player Newspaper, where he admitted to playing a lot of turbos.
I do, too, for a lot of the same reasons. The busier I get --- and I've been very busy lately --- the less likely I am to want to think about spending four or five or six hours glued to the computer screen, which would happen were I to run deep in a normal-paced SNG. Last night, for instance, after working a long morning and sneaking in an afternoon nap, I finally said awfuckit and fired up Stars for a couple of turbos. I took one down, too, a $27, 45-player job, for an itty-bitty bankroll boost to my depleted Stars account.
A lot of people stay away from turbos because the structure necessarily dictates high variance and a lot of bad beats. The flip side, as Pauly duly notes, is that a lot of the players suck; these things draw action junkies who are there to get the chips in, often as soon as possible. Add in the fact that turbos are often a couple or three percentage points cheaper in terms of rake paid to the site, and these things can be very profitable.
I'm pretty similar to Pauly in how I play these; I look for a chance to pick up some cheap chips early, though I don't force the issue in the early levels as much as you might think. Amazingly, if I had to recommend one word for playing these things, it's 'patience.' Players tend to panic and jam their chips before they're really forced to, and if you watch for the players getting splashy and short, you can often get the chips in with the best of it. Here's the pivotal point: Would you rather get 1,500 chips into the pot in a pure coin-flip situation, or would you rather get 1,350 chips into the pot as a 2:1 fave?
A little patience makes all the difference. Seems odd to say that in connection with a format where the action is so forced, but I do believe it.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Taking Shots, and Taking Shots
Like I said, I've been taking higher shots lately. There is, of course, a huge difference between taking those shots and winning at them, which doesn't mean I'm any less determined.
At the very least, I'm getting knocked out by a better class of poker player, as evidenced by this screen grab from a recent try at the Bodog $100,000 Sunday Guarantee:
Yep, he got me. We were both deep here, inside the final 200 players with 63 cashing, and we were both relatively short-stacked, down around 4,000 with blinds at something like 150/300 or 200/400. We'd both been really quiet in the previous three or four orbits and had been ground down into the danger zone. I got the chips in bad, 'nuff said, after he opened from the cutoff and I moved in from the small blind. It happens. At least he used my chips to finish 16th.
At the very least, I'm getting knocked out by a better class of poker player, as evidenced by this screen grab from a recent try at the Bodog $100,000 Sunday Guarantee:
Yep, he got me. We were both deep here, inside the final 200 players with 63 cashing, and we were both relatively short-stacked, down around 4,000 with blinds at something like 150/300 or 200/400. We'd both been really quiet in the previous three or four orbits and had been ground down into the danger zone. I got the chips in bad, 'nuff said, after he opened from the cutoff and I moved in from the small blind. It happens. At least he used my chips to finish 16th.
Getting All Bodoggy for Bloggers
Dedicated readers might remember that Bodog hinted a few weeks back that they were going to upgrade their Bodog Blogger series... and now they have. Bodog's really kicked it up a notch with the relaunching of the Bodog Blogger Tournaments, starting tonight.
How big a notch, you ask? Let's just say this: With this series: Bodog becomes the third site ever to award a WSOP main event seat to some lucky blogger. Anyway, I plan on playing when I can, beginning tonight, perhaps, and anyone with a blog is eligible to join in and try their fun.
Here's the heart of the Bodog announcement:
Bodog Introduces Poker Blogger Tournament Series
-------------------
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series opened to any Online Poker Blogger. Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each week in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.
How it Works
-------------------
The Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series is composed of a series of 18 qualifying tournaments that run weekly beginning Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 to Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008. The top 30% of finishers in each qualifying tournament will earn points based on their finish. These points will be used to rank players over 4 months of qualifying. At the end of the qualifying series, the top 18 players on the Tournament Leader Board will play in the Final Tournament on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 with the first place finisher winning a $12,000 WSOP* prize package!
Prizes
Weekly Tournaments
Buy-in: $10 + $1
Prize Pool will be distributed as per Bodog's standard multi-table payout table. In addition, the top 5 players each week will also win T$109 to be used to buy-in to the $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament held every Sunday at 4:00 PM ET. The top 5 bubble players each week will win a free buy-in to next week's Weekly Tournament. (T$11 will be credited to these players' Bodog account within 24 hours after the completion of the tournament)
Final Tournament
-------------------
Buy-in: $0 + $0 (must finish in the Top 18 on the TLB to be invited)
Grand Prize: $12,000 WSOP* Prize Package with Team Bodog
2nd place: T$540 to be used to buy-in to (2) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
3rd place: T$379 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal and (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
4th: T$270 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
5th: T$109 to be used to buy-in to (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
Bodog Blogger Tournament Leader Board
-------------------
The Tournament Leader Board will be available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ throughout the course of the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series. It will provide the point totals for every player that has played in the qualifying tournaments. The top 30% of players in each tournament will receive points according to finish which at the end of the qualifying tournaments will ultimately determine who will move on to the Final Event. The top 18 players on the TLB at the end of the qualifiers will earn their way to the Final Event.
How To Register
-------------------
To register for the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series, poker bloggers must first go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they then must click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.
Bodog Blogger Tournament Host Site
-------------------
Bodogbloggertournament.com will host this tournament series and will provide poker bloggers with weekly updates on:
* tournament results for winners and losers
* announcements for special promotions or guest players
* the latest in Bodog Poker Room news and gossip
* tips on how to succeed at Bodog Poker
I do believe that with this event, the poker-blogger world will have a running series that might even approach the once-venerated Wheatie (hiya, Wil!) in terms of player participation on Tuesday nights. And why do I say that? Easy: The prizes are just too darned good to not draw a big crowd. Sure, it's a big marketing deal for Bodog, but I tend to speak highly of sites that do marketing right. They even want bloggers to run a banner pimping the series, which looks something like this, though I'm not sure I'm gonna run it yet:
Lame, I know. But I've been putting in plenty of very long days lately and my inspirational juices runneth low.
How big a notch, you ask? Let's just say this: With this series: Bodog becomes the third site ever to award a WSOP main event seat to some lucky blogger. Anyway, I plan on playing when I can, beginning tonight, perhaps, and anyone with a blog is eligible to join in and try their fun.
Here's the heart of the Bodog announcement:
Bodog Introduces Poker Blogger Tournament Series
-------------------
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series opened to any Online Poker Blogger. Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each week in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.
How it Works
-------------------
The Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series is composed of a series of 18 qualifying tournaments that run weekly beginning Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 to Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008. The top 30% of finishers in each qualifying tournament will earn points based on their finish. These points will be used to rank players over 4 months of qualifying. At the end of the qualifying series, the top 18 players on the Tournament Leader Board will play in the Final Tournament on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 with the first place finisher winning a $12,000 WSOP* prize package!
Prizes
Weekly Tournaments
Buy-in: $10 + $1
Prize Pool will be distributed as per Bodog's standard multi-table payout table. In addition, the top 5 players each week will also win T$109 to be used to buy-in to the $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament held every Sunday at 4:00 PM ET. The top 5 bubble players each week will win a free buy-in to next week's Weekly Tournament. (T$11 will be credited to these players' Bodog account within 24 hours after the completion of the tournament)
Final Tournament
-------------------
Buy-in: $0 + $0 (must finish in the Top 18 on the TLB to be invited)
Grand Prize: $12,000 WSOP* Prize Package with Team Bodog
2nd place: T$540 to be used to buy-in to (2) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
3rd place: T$379 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal and (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
4th: T$270 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
5th: T$109 to be used to buy-in to (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
Bodog Blogger Tournament Leader Board
-------------------
The Tournament Leader Board will be available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ throughout the course of the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series. It will provide the point totals for every player that has played in the qualifying tournaments. The top 30% of players in each tournament will receive points according to finish which at the end of the qualifying tournaments will ultimately determine who will move on to the Final Event. The top 18 players on the TLB at the end of the qualifiers will earn their way to the Final Event.
How To Register
-------------------
To register for the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series, poker bloggers must first go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they then must click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.
Bodog Blogger Tournament Host Site
-------------------
Bodogbloggertournament.com will host this tournament series and will provide poker bloggers with weekly updates on:
* tournament results for winners and losers
* announcements for special promotions or guest players
* the latest in Bodog Poker Room news and gossip
* tips on how to succeed at Bodog Poker
I do believe that with this event, the poker-blogger world will have a running series that might even approach the once-venerated Wheatie (hiya, Wil!) in terms of player participation on Tuesday nights. And why do I say that? Easy: The prizes are just too darned good to not draw a big crowd. Sure, it's a big marketing deal for Bodog, but I tend to speak highly of sites that do marketing right. They even want bloggers to run a banner pimping the series, which looks something like this, though I'm not sure I'm gonna run it yet:
Lame, I know. But I've been putting in plenty of very long days lately and my inspirational juices runneth low.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Bloody Poker Weekend
Or, in "Friends" style, "The One Where When It Rains, It Pours."
Crummy weekend. I even had two stanzas of a poem written detailing the massacre, then thought better of it. The world does not need one more mediocre poet.
I decide to take a live shot again on Saturday, as much because I absolutely had to get out of the apartment as much as anything. I decided the 45-mile drive to Rockford and the games run by Rockford Charitable games was as good an excuse as any to get the new car out and up to freeway speeds for the first time, and it hums along okay, even at higher RPMs. It's never going to outrun a Ferrari, though, to be sure.
The Rockford experience was interesting. I played in a couple of small MTTs, $170 and $120, respectively, and cashed in neither. I didn't see much for cards throughout the day and despite making it halfway through the field or better in both, it was an uphill battle in each. In the first one I ended up short-stacked early, clawed back to above my starting stack, then exited after losing a race with fours against something like A-10. In the second one I also took an early hit after an all-in short stack connected with Q-10 against my waiting A-J, and then I clawed back again to get to the final table through frequent steals and one showdown where my A-K held against K-Q. Finally, though, I went out when I pushed with fives from EP with an M of about 3.5 and the SB called with pocket sevens. The funny part of this tale was the hilarious way the redraw was done for the final table. I recounted that in a post over at KickAssPoker for you all to enjoy.
The games were held in this old Italian-American community center on the east side of the Rock River, just north of downtown in an area I'd never been to before. It now also serves as a Rotary or Lions Club or somesuch, but I could look around the interior of the place with its high ceilings and inset stage on one wall and imagine an era when different types of political and social gatherings were held in its rooms.
Poker, though... blechhh. I returned home that night and went absolutely nowhere in a couple of late-night tourneys, and then Sunday, well, Sunday was worse. I didn't even get to play on Sunday thanks to one of my favorite sites screwing things up. Worse, when I contacted support for the site, I received a bullshit response, and I plan on going off on them in a day or two if they don't change their tune in a big hurry. (And, yoo-hoo, guys at as-yet-unnamed site, I know you read this.) To add insult to injury, the site in question locked down the complaint thread on their forum related to the problem.
So what that amounted to was waiting around for two hours for a site to fix a problem that they should have been able to fix, that they said they would fix... and that they didn't fix. Worse, the solution that was offered by support (in lieu of proper support) was and is unacceptable.
I expect to be going into excruciating detail about this matter in the near future. We'll see. And I'm going to make a few brief comments about a second newsworthy online site as well.
Crummy weekend. I even had two stanzas of a poem written detailing the massacre, then thought better of it. The world does not need one more mediocre poet.
I decide to take a live shot again on Saturday, as much because I absolutely had to get out of the apartment as much as anything. I decided the 45-mile drive to Rockford and the games run by Rockford Charitable games was as good an excuse as any to get the new car out and up to freeway speeds for the first time, and it hums along okay, even at higher RPMs. It's never going to outrun a Ferrari, though, to be sure.
The Rockford experience was interesting. I played in a couple of small MTTs, $170 and $120, respectively, and cashed in neither. I didn't see much for cards throughout the day and despite making it halfway through the field or better in both, it was an uphill battle in each. In the first one I ended up short-stacked early, clawed back to above my starting stack, then exited after losing a race with fours against something like A-10. In the second one I also took an early hit after an all-in short stack connected with Q-10 against my waiting A-J, and then I clawed back again to get to the final table through frequent steals and one showdown where my A-K held against K-Q. Finally, though, I went out when I pushed with fives from EP with an M of about 3.5 and the SB called with pocket sevens. The funny part of this tale was the hilarious way the redraw was done for the final table. I recounted that in a post over at KickAssPoker for you all to enjoy.
The games were held in this old Italian-American community center on the east side of the Rock River, just north of downtown in an area I'd never been to before. It now also serves as a Rotary or Lions Club or somesuch, but I could look around the interior of the place with its high ceilings and inset stage on one wall and imagine an era when different types of political and social gatherings were held in its rooms.
Poker, though... blechhh. I returned home that night and went absolutely nowhere in a couple of late-night tourneys, and then Sunday, well, Sunday was worse. I didn't even get to play on Sunday thanks to one of my favorite sites screwing things up. Worse, when I contacted support for the site, I received a bullshit response, and I plan on going off on them in a day or two if they don't change their tune in a big hurry. (And, yoo-hoo, guys at as-yet-unnamed site, I know you read this.) To add insult to injury, the site in question locked down the complaint thread on their forum related to the problem.
So what that amounted to was waiting around for two hours for a site to fix a problem that they should have been able to fix, that they said they would fix... and that they didn't fix. Worse, the solution that was offered by support (in lieu of proper support) was and is unacceptable.
I expect to be going into excruciating detail about this matter in the near future. We'll see. And I'm going to make a few brief comments about a second newsworthy online site as well.
Friday, January 25, 2008
All Quiet on the Poker Front
Speaking of fronts, we've had a couple of cold ones move through lately, which has kept me indoors the vast majority of the time in recent days. It's not that I can't tolerate the cold, but I also see no need to willfully subject myself to it when it's warmer inside. Older means wiser. Wiser means... warmer.
As for poker, it's been a very quiet start to the year, with a vast reduction in hours played compared to December, when I consciously tried to play enough to snag an iPod in the Merge Network holiday promo. I fell short in that quest, with the holidays doing me in. Maybe next year. I can buy the darned iPod, I guess. Maybe I will, too: the new Yaris has a little MP3 plug-in for just such a use. So far the month has been a mild down for me in terms of results, but it's more the result of indifference than anything else.
I've won only one tiny MTT since the year began, though I do have a secret goal in mind for the year. I'll share if I accomplish the goal. I've also shown up for a couple of the BodogBlogger tourneys and KickAssPoker league events --- both on Bodog, of course --- with decidedly average results. I think I've played perhaps seven of the blogger thingies and have made it to the 'cash' twice, including ten days ago. If you've played it, you quickly realize that the payout structure calls for some distinctive end-game strategy, assuming you're still around to have an end-game strategy. To me it plays like a super-sat, and I'm working to get to the top five and take my chances from there for whatever money remains in the prize fund.
The live games have likewise been scarce in January. The newfound home game has had only one get-together this month, where I was bounced early in the $55 tourney by a lucky fish. I also lost $20 in the last-longer pot, but wiped all those losses out and left just slightly up after a couple of hours of cash-game play. Yes, I already wrote about this once, which shows just exactly how slow it's been in poker for me. January has been a very busy work month for me, and more work means less poker play, especially since the work is poker and after several long days I have to get away from poker entirely for a couple of hours. I've been invited to a game for a while on Sunday afternoon, and since I haven't played much lately, I may go have a couple hours of fun.
I'm reminded of that ridiculous poker bust in California where it was a tourney with exactly the same structure that we played last time out, $50 for the event and a $5 community food donation for the food spread (and well worth it in our case, too). And the Sonoma County game contained undercover cops and was raided. My teeth hurt after reading that one. Pathetic. So pathetic.
The more distant horizon? A couple of possibilities have arisen for road trips, namely the Council Bluffs Circuit stuff in later February and similar happenings at Caesars Indiana in late March. I haven't made any decisions yet but I'll probably do one of the two, funds permitting. If I went to Council Bluffs, I'd probably time it to catch a couple of the smaller preliminary events, and maybe try a satellite or two to the Main. Anyone have any idea what size fields the prelim Circuit events are likely to draw? Drop a comment if you know.
Then again, I may not go at all. Middle age and cold weather is a bad combination for a decision-making mood. At the moment I'm longing for a good warm fire and a cup of hot chocolate, or maybe even a decent beer, well-chilled. That sounds like the immediate winner.
As for poker, it's been a very quiet start to the year, with a vast reduction in hours played compared to December, when I consciously tried to play enough to snag an iPod in the Merge Network holiday promo. I fell short in that quest, with the holidays doing me in. Maybe next year. I can buy the darned iPod, I guess. Maybe I will, too: the new Yaris has a little MP3 plug-in for just such a use. So far the month has been a mild down for me in terms of results, but it's more the result of indifference than anything else.
I've won only one tiny MTT since the year began, though I do have a secret goal in mind for the year. I'll share if I accomplish the goal. I've also shown up for a couple of the BodogBlogger tourneys and KickAssPoker league events --- both on Bodog, of course --- with decidedly average results. I think I've played perhaps seven of the blogger thingies and have made it to the 'cash' twice, including ten days ago. If you've played it, you quickly realize that the payout structure calls for some distinctive end-game strategy, assuming you're still around to have an end-game strategy. To me it plays like a super-sat, and I'm working to get to the top five and take my chances from there for whatever money remains in the prize fund.
The live games have likewise been scarce in January. The newfound home game has had only one get-together this month, where I was bounced early in the $55 tourney by a lucky fish. I also lost $20 in the last-longer pot, but wiped all those losses out and left just slightly up after a couple of hours of cash-game play. Yes, I already wrote about this once, which shows just exactly how slow it's been in poker for me. January has been a very busy work month for me, and more work means less poker play, especially since the work is poker and after several long days I have to get away from poker entirely for a couple of hours. I've been invited to a game for a while on Sunday afternoon, and since I haven't played much lately, I may go have a couple hours of fun.
I'm reminded of that ridiculous poker bust in California where it was a tourney with exactly the same structure that we played last time out, $50 for the event and a $5 community food donation for the food spread (and well worth it in our case, too). And the Sonoma County game contained undercover cops and was raided. My teeth hurt after reading that one. Pathetic. So pathetic.
The more distant horizon? A couple of possibilities have arisen for road trips, namely the Council Bluffs Circuit stuff in later February and similar happenings at Caesars Indiana in late March. I haven't made any decisions yet but I'll probably do one of the two, funds permitting. If I went to Council Bluffs, I'd probably time it to catch a couple of the smaller preliminary events, and maybe try a satellite or two to the Main. Anyone have any idea what size fields the prelim Circuit events are likely to draw? Drop a comment if you know.
Then again, I may not go at all. Middle age and cold weather is a bad combination for a decision-making mood. At the moment I'm longing for a good warm fire and a cup of hot chocolate, or maybe even a decent beer, well-chilled. That sounds like the immediate winner.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Gotta Give it Up for Lou Again
One of the things I've been remiss on lately is reminding people of the latest adventures of Lou Krieger, who I consider both a poker mentor and a dear friend and whose support I have always appreciated. Few people out there realize the extent to which Lou has nurtured and encouraged new people to come into the poker-writing world and experiment with their work, no matter their skill levels. I think Pauly may have been the first and the greatest, but I certainly received key encouragement from the man and continue to do so to this day, as have many others.
It's among the most selfless things a writer can do, you know, to go out of his way to keep on encouraging other writers over and over again. Lou's got plenty of his own work to do as well, and it's never easy to stay on top in as volatile a market as poker. But Lou seems untiltable, qualities that so many of the rest of us lack. He's also among the straightest shooters in the business... away from the felt itself, that is. He calls them as he sees them, and has for as long as I've known him. He also manages to do it in that neutrally objective voice that even the best writers find it so hard to maintain, as in his recent posts on a couple of major scandals and in his podcasts on same.
So while I've pointed it out elsewhere, I did want to dedicate a post here to the fact that Lou has moved his "Keep Flopping Aces" show over to Rounders Radio. It's still on Thursday nights, and it's always worth the listen.
It's among the most selfless things a writer can do, you know, to go out of his way to keep on encouraging other writers over and over again. Lou's got plenty of his own work to do as well, and it's never easy to stay on top in as volatile a market as poker. But Lou seems untiltable, qualities that so many of the rest of us lack. He's also among the straightest shooters in the business... away from the felt itself, that is. He calls them as he sees them, and has for as long as I've known him. He also manages to do it in that neutrally objective voice that even the best writers find it so hard to maintain, as in his recent posts on a couple of major scandals and in his podcasts on same.
So while I've pointed it out elsewhere, I did want to dedicate a post here to the fact that Lou has moved his "Keep Flopping Aces" show over to Rounders Radio. It's still on Thursday nights, and it's always worth the listen.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Searching for a New Car, Part 3
If there's one phrase that describes the first couple of weeks of 2008 for me, it's 'monkey tilt'. From this pain-in-the-ass search for a car to Internet and technical snafus that have made work a little bit less joyous than normal, it's been a tilty stretch.
Somehow, for what's it worth, I'm actually up a little bit for the year in the little bit of poker that I've played, though it should probably be much better than it is. When I get tilty and on edge my 'A' game goes away, I'm just a little too accepting of coin-toss situations and tend to get my chips in less good than normal. If there's a second theme to my early-year poker annoyance, it's having to deal with a couple of the modern-day poker snobs who only know how to play a NL cash game, and yet each always thinks he knows everything there is to play poker.
I was at my private game the other night listening to a couple of these so-called mixed-games experts argue over what alphabet acronym they should play. Some of them wouldn't play Omaha, but liked stud, and others were adamant that NL and Omaha were the -only- games that could be included. Razz was almost universally reviled, except by me and one other. And my offer to teach and deal some Chinese poker fell on deaf ears.
Pikers. Neophytes. Guess what they ended up playing? Me, I cashed out after a couple hours after doubling up early with the nut straight and a draw to the nut flush in an Omaha-8 hand with no possible low, dodging what I figured was a draw to a boat but turned out to be nothing but a lesser straight. (This was at a second table where we snuck in a few laps of NL/Omaha, with most of the others refusing to play even that.) For me, it was soon 1 am and I still had work to do by 2 am, such being the state of recent chaos.
But back to the car thing. I needed to buy something, and I knew I'd need to do so soon, after being pulled over one late night with my license-plate illuminator not working, due to the electrical problems in the rear end. Those of you familiar with late-night car patrols would recognize that America's fine officers use any such mechanical pretense to pull over a car to see if its operator is under the influence. I got off with the usual mechanical warning/non-ticket. But it was yet another reminder that the Saab's days were/are numbered.
I'd been looking at a couple of cheapie cars in particular, from Hyundai and Toyota. Hyundai crossed itself off the list due to an asshole dealership, so I finally returned to Pauly Toyota for a fourth time, and --- gasp! --- they had the Blue Yaris hatchback ready to drive. I took the thing out for a short buzz, running up its odometer from '2' to '10', and then went back to talk with my best friend in the world about the situation. We agreed that it was indeed time for me to get a different car, because the Saab had left me stranded on the highway twice in recent months and is just increasingly expensive to repair.
So on Friday, I transferred just enough money into the checking account to do the deal for the best numbers I'd been quoted, and headed back to Pauly to buy the thing. I wasn't thrilled with their salesmanship, and in an interesting segue the initial salesperson, who hadn't bothered to tell me about my rebate (or give me the best price), still tried to wheedle his way onto the official bill of sale as one of the two salesmen involved. That is until I told him to get his name off my title application or the deal was off, which I figured was fair payback for the guy snorting at me when I told him why I wouldn't deal with him any more. Maybe it was a good-cop-bad-cop ploy on their part, but I don't give a damn --- my senses told me the numbers weren't going any lower than what I got. They can also do whatever deals they want to behind the scenes, as long as they don't slap me in the face with it.
That little matter aside, it took about two hours to get the paperwork done and get an insurance card for the car faxed to the dealership. Here's what the new HaleyMobile looks like:
Yes, I'm going to water it in hopes it grows bigger, although it's still a half step up from that Tata Motors offering. Still, I got it with a decent interior package --- power windows and doors and such and even a plug-in for an MP3 player. It'll get me around and it is intended to just sip gas, which is what I want. I will bet that the price of gas hits $4/gallon before it again (if ever) goes back to $2.50... and $5-6/gallon is a very real possibility.
Buyer's remorse? I dunno. I do know that all my liquidity has disappeared for the short term. Still, the need for dependable transportation is never going to go away, and I think this vehicle will do the job just fine. Now I have two tasks at hand, other than the normal grind: Read lots of car manuals... and get off monkey tilt.
Somehow, for what's it worth, I'm actually up a little bit for the year in the little bit of poker that I've played, though it should probably be much better than it is. When I get tilty and on edge my 'A' game goes away, I'm just a little too accepting of coin-toss situations and tend to get my chips in less good than normal. If there's a second theme to my early-year poker annoyance, it's having to deal with a couple of the modern-day poker snobs who only know how to play a NL cash game, and yet each always thinks he knows everything there is to play poker.
I was at my private game the other night listening to a couple of these so-called mixed-games experts argue over what alphabet acronym they should play. Some of them wouldn't play Omaha, but liked stud, and others were adamant that NL and Omaha were the -only- games that could be included. Razz was almost universally reviled, except by me and one other. And my offer to teach and deal some Chinese poker fell on deaf ears.
Pikers. Neophytes. Guess what they ended up playing? Me, I cashed out after a couple hours after doubling up early with the nut straight and a draw to the nut flush in an Omaha-8 hand with no possible low, dodging what I figured was a draw to a boat but turned out to be nothing but a lesser straight. (This was at a second table where we snuck in a few laps of NL/Omaha, with most of the others refusing to play even that.) For me, it was soon 1 am and I still had work to do by 2 am, such being the state of recent chaos.
But back to the car thing. I needed to buy something, and I knew I'd need to do so soon, after being pulled over one late night with my license-plate illuminator not working, due to the electrical problems in the rear end. Those of you familiar with late-night car patrols would recognize that America's fine officers use any such mechanical pretense to pull over a car to see if its operator is under the influence. I got off with the usual mechanical warning/non-ticket. But it was yet another reminder that the Saab's days were/are numbered.
I'd been looking at a couple of cheapie cars in particular, from Hyundai and Toyota. Hyundai crossed itself off the list due to an asshole dealership, so I finally returned to Pauly Toyota for a fourth time, and --- gasp! --- they had the Blue Yaris hatchback ready to drive. I took the thing out for a short buzz, running up its odometer from '2' to '10', and then went back to talk with my best friend in the world about the situation. We agreed that it was indeed time for me to get a different car, because the Saab had left me stranded on the highway twice in recent months and is just increasingly expensive to repair.
So on Friday, I transferred just enough money into the checking account to do the deal for the best numbers I'd been quoted, and headed back to Pauly to buy the thing. I wasn't thrilled with their salesmanship, and in an interesting segue the initial salesperson, who hadn't bothered to tell me about my rebate (or give me the best price), still tried to wheedle his way onto the official bill of sale as one of the two salesmen involved. That is until I told him to get his name off my title application or the deal was off, which I figured was fair payback for the guy snorting at me when I told him why I wouldn't deal with him any more. Maybe it was a good-cop-bad-cop ploy on their part, but I don't give a damn --- my senses told me the numbers weren't going any lower than what I got. They can also do whatever deals they want to behind the scenes, as long as they don't slap me in the face with it.
That little matter aside, it took about two hours to get the paperwork done and get an insurance card for the car faxed to the dealership. Here's what the new HaleyMobile looks like:
Yes, I'm going to water it in hopes it grows bigger, although it's still a half step up from that Tata Motors offering. Still, I got it with a decent interior package --- power windows and doors and such and even a plug-in for an MP3 player. It'll get me around and it is intended to just sip gas, which is what I want. I will bet that the price of gas hits $4/gallon before it again (if ever) goes back to $2.50... and $5-6/gallon is a very real possibility.
Buyer's remorse? I dunno. I do know that all my liquidity has disappeared for the short term. Still, the need for dependable transportation is never going to go away, and I think this vehicle will do the job just fine. Now I have two tasks at hand, other than the normal grind: Read lots of car manuals... and get off monkey tilt.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Searching for a New Car, Part 2
"I love me some Hyundai." --- John 'Schecky' Caldwell
Yeah, where was I in the last post? Hunting for new transportation, that's where. With my Saab having numerous mechanical problems and a March date with the emissions-testing center looming, I'd decided that the future was now in terms of me and a newer means of transport. I checked with Jo and Meg, who are really my family in this area, and heard reports of a decent dealership out on Randall Road in Algonquin, IL, several miles from where I live. The place was a new Hyundai dealership under the Rosen dealer name, with "Rosen" having several other dealerships in the area and known for flooding the Chicago market with cheesy commercials where they sing "Rosen, Rosen, Rosen" to the tune of "Rawhide."
By the way, major rants contained herein. Be afraid. Be very, very, afraid.
The stop didn't go that well. The salesman who greeted me didn't seem much interested in what I was saying, although this was still while I was still focused on a half-decent used car, and not a new one. I walked pretty quick, just as I did from nearly two dozen other dealerships in the following days, even though I did begin my refocus onto a possible new car when the lack of decent used ones at the right price became apparent.
A few dealers tried hard to sell me, while other didn't. Used-car places in general showed more interest in selling me, because I was driving a bomber to begin with and I tend to dress pretty raggy at times; working at home has its effects, y'know. But I figure my money should spend the same anywhere, right?
Not so at the side-by-side Spring Hill Ford and Piemonte Chevrolet dealerships in East Dundee, where I spent a combined five minutes. I couldn't even get waited on in the Ford place and when I asked the same simple question three straight times in the Chevy place and the sales guy would not answer me, I walked there, too. No loss; after a couple of days of shopping, it's plainly obvious why U.S. automakers are getting their asses collectively kicked.
After a couple days of frustration, I made a concerted effort at finding out what the best foreign ecomony cars were in my price range: cheap. That's when John expressed his like for Hyundais and a couple of other brands were recommended to me as well. I tried to do this while doing the normal work load of course, including plenty of Aussie Millions-related work, and several people pointed out that I didn't seem to be around Skype as much as normal.
Meanwhile I was considering going postal on several car salesmen. My final judgment is that they pretty much all suck eggs. Some were mediocre and some were really, really sleazy, at least in terms of how I rate 'em.
I went to another mostly new-car place called Pauly Toyota Scion, just a few miles up the road, and gave a serious look to the Yaris, the bottom-end car. After a long talk, I told the guy I wanted a specific set of very basic options and told him to give me a serious price, because I wasn't in the mood to mess around and planned on shopping elsewhere, too. The guy still wouldn't name a specific price, but hemmed and hawed around and finally gave me a rough figure on what I could pay if I wanted to pay cash and drive it away. I wasn't much impressed with the pitch, but I hadn't totally given up on the Toyota.
I checked out a VW Rabbit, a couple of different Nissans, and two or three others. Based on John's fondness for Hyundais, and my trust in John's judgment (because it's pretty good), I tried to take a really close look at a Hyundai Accent, but ran into a sales dude named Jasper who left a big negative mark on me; so bad, in fact, that I crossed the Hyundai off my list.
It was back at the Rosen, Rosen, Rosen place, and I asked the guy to quote me a very basic car virtually scripted right out of the sales brochure --- a hatchback Accent with a stick shift and a nominally powered interior. The sales brochure said it was an available combination, and Jasper said, "Sure, no problem, what color do you want?" and after I gave him three choices he did that "I have to go talk to the sales manager" thing where they disappear for a while and come back with a price.
Good ol' Jasper came back with a really, really good price. He got me happy, he did, and I was already pretty sure I was gonna like myself some Hyundai. And he tried to talk me into this option and that option and the next option and asked me if I was sure I wouldn't like something else, and why didn't I take this car for a test drive. And I kept parrying him off because he was trying to upsell me and I already knew what I wanted. After 45 minutes, he stunned me, saying, "Oh, by the way, the hatchback doesn't come in a standard transmission with a power interior."
"What? It says so right in the book!"
"Yeah, but it doesn't come that way. That's what our sales manager says."
Well, screw the sales manager AND this dude for keeping me there for almost an hour after giving me what now seemed to be a great quote for an imaginary car... in other words, great pricing numbers that they never had any intent of living up to while they tried to bait-and-switch me to some other car on the lot.
Fuck that. As the levels of BS became more apparent, I told Jasper I was gonna check things out at another Hyundai dealership. He quickly told me that the nearest Hyundai dealership was in Rockford, another 40 miles off in the direction opposite where I live.
"There's not even one in Schaumburg?" I asked. Golf Road in Schaumburg is probably the biggest collection of car dealerships in the entire western Chicago suburbs.
"Oh, yeah, well maybe, there might be one there." Lying sack of shit. Worse, when I checked, I found that there was another Hyundai dealership in Elgin, only about 12 miles away and almost as close to my place as this dealership. You're a sleazy goddamn liar, Jasper, and fuck Rosen forever. You cost Hyundai a likely sale, too.
I was on poker tilt for two days after that. I don't deal with slimy salespeople well, I guess. But it wasn't like good 'ol Jasper was the only one.
I'd went back to Pauly Motors to give the Toyota Yaris another look. Fortunately, the first salesman wasn't there,and the second guy I talked to went in back to get me a quote after a short talk, and came back a full $800 lower, including a $500 rebate that the first guy never bothered to tell me about, likely in hopes of pocketing it himself. But Pauly salesguy #2 confirmed that the options I wanted did actually exist as a real-life car, and lo and behold, there was even one in the color I wanted sitting out back, fresh off the hauler.
I said I'd likely be back to give it a drive. I came back the next day, almost 24 hours later, and they still hadn't even taken the shipping paper off the top of the car or pulled the styrofoam blocks out from beneath the wheels.
Lord. Dear car dealerships: If you had someone express interest in a specific car, would you at least make some effort to do the 30 minutes of work to check that car in during business hours the following day, so it could be taken for a test drive?
The answer apparently, is no. So I left Pauly Motors in frustration, and filled out an online quote for a Yaris instead. That one was forwarded to East Elgin Toyota, a fraction of a mile closer to my place and, coincidentally, only a block or two from the Hyundai place my buddy Jasper from Rosen didn't want me to know about.
I got a call from East Elgin Toyota a few hours later, from a sales officer named Julie who insisted that they had exactly the car I had requested a quote for on the lot, and it was available for a drive immediately. I knew Jo had the day off so I asked for a ride down there, half figuring I'd buy it on the spot if I likedit.
Julie 'assigned' me to a young sales guy named Dana, who was way aggressive and if categorized on the poker scale would fall squarely under 'Tool'. They showed me my car.
It was fire-engine red. I'd asked for a quote on a blue one.
I took it for a test drive anyway, just to see how the stick handled and how the interior seemed. The dealer joined us on the test drive and allowed us to drive around one oversized block, a distant of about a mile and a half. When we got back, he reached into his desk, pulled out a paper, and tried to get me to sign a blank red sheet confirming my offer on the car, without even showing me any numbers. When I told him I wasn't signing anything without seeing some numbers, he gave me a dirty look and then came back with a "best" offer nearly $400 higher than Pauly's numbers for the same car. And thrust the offer sheet back under my noise.
Get lost, Dana.
As we departed, this overslick middle-aged executive sales guy rushed over, trying to save what he saw as a blown sale. This guy had carefully Brylcreem-ed hair and oozed smoothness. He didn't save the sale.
Boy, was I tilted from dealing with these slimeballs. I took two full days off from the car search.
Next time, Part 3 of all this joyousness.
Yeah, where was I in the last post? Hunting for new transportation, that's where. With my Saab having numerous mechanical problems and a March date with the emissions-testing center looming, I'd decided that the future was now in terms of me and a newer means of transport. I checked with Jo and Meg, who are really my family in this area, and heard reports of a decent dealership out on Randall Road in Algonquin, IL, several miles from where I live. The place was a new Hyundai dealership under the Rosen dealer name, with "Rosen" having several other dealerships in the area and known for flooding the Chicago market with cheesy commercials where they sing "Rosen, Rosen, Rosen" to the tune of "Rawhide."
By the way, major rants contained herein. Be afraid. Be very, very, afraid.
The stop didn't go that well. The salesman who greeted me didn't seem much interested in what I was saying, although this was still while I was still focused on a half-decent used car, and not a new one. I walked pretty quick, just as I did from nearly two dozen other dealerships in the following days, even though I did begin my refocus onto a possible new car when the lack of decent used ones at the right price became apparent.
A few dealers tried hard to sell me, while other didn't. Used-car places in general showed more interest in selling me, because I was driving a bomber to begin with and I tend to dress pretty raggy at times; working at home has its effects, y'know. But I figure my money should spend the same anywhere, right?
Not so at the side-by-side Spring Hill Ford and Piemonte Chevrolet dealerships in East Dundee, where I spent a combined five minutes. I couldn't even get waited on in the Ford place and when I asked the same simple question three straight times in the Chevy place and the sales guy would not answer me, I walked there, too. No loss; after a couple of days of shopping, it's plainly obvious why U.S. automakers are getting their asses collectively kicked.
After a couple days of frustration, I made a concerted effort at finding out what the best foreign ecomony cars were in my price range: cheap. That's when John expressed his like for Hyundais and a couple of other brands were recommended to me as well. I tried to do this while doing the normal work load of course, including plenty of Aussie Millions-related work, and several people pointed out that I didn't seem to be around Skype as much as normal.
Meanwhile I was considering going postal on several car salesmen. My final judgment is that they pretty much all suck eggs. Some were mediocre and some were really, really sleazy, at least in terms of how I rate 'em.
I went to another mostly new-car place called Pauly Toyota Scion, just a few miles up the road, and gave a serious look to the Yaris, the bottom-end car. After a long talk, I told the guy I wanted a specific set of very basic options and told him to give me a serious price, because I wasn't in the mood to mess around and planned on shopping elsewhere, too. The guy still wouldn't name a specific price, but hemmed and hawed around and finally gave me a rough figure on what I could pay if I wanted to pay cash and drive it away. I wasn't much impressed with the pitch, but I hadn't totally given up on the Toyota.
I checked out a VW Rabbit, a couple of different Nissans, and two or three others. Based on John's fondness for Hyundais, and my trust in John's judgment (because it's pretty good), I tried to take a really close look at a Hyundai Accent, but ran into a sales dude named Jasper who left a big negative mark on me; so bad, in fact, that I crossed the Hyundai off my list.
It was back at the Rosen, Rosen, Rosen place, and I asked the guy to quote me a very basic car virtually scripted right out of the sales brochure --- a hatchback Accent with a stick shift and a nominally powered interior. The sales brochure said it was an available combination, and Jasper said, "Sure, no problem, what color do you want?" and after I gave him three choices he did that "I have to go talk to the sales manager" thing where they disappear for a while and come back with a price.
Good ol' Jasper came back with a really, really good price. He got me happy, he did, and I was already pretty sure I was gonna like myself some Hyundai. And he tried to talk me into this option and that option and the next option and asked me if I was sure I wouldn't like something else, and why didn't I take this car for a test drive. And I kept parrying him off because he was trying to upsell me and I already knew what I wanted. After 45 minutes, he stunned me, saying, "Oh, by the way, the hatchback doesn't come in a standard transmission with a power interior."
"What? It says so right in the book!"
"Yeah, but it doesn't come that way. That's what our sales manager says."
Well, screw the sales manager AND this dude for keeping me there for almost an hour after giving me what now seemed to be a great quote for an imaginary car... in other words, great pricing numbers that they never had any intent of living up to while they tried to bait-and-switch me to some other car on the lot.
Fuck that. As the levels of BS became more apparent, I told Jasper I was gonna check things out at another Hyundai dealership. He quickly told me that the nearest Hyundai dealership was in Rockford, another 40 miles off in the direction opposite where I live.
"There's not even one in Schaumburg?" I asked. Golf Road in Schaumburg is probably the biggest collection of car dealerships in the entire western Chicago suburbs.
"Oh, yeah, well maybe, there might be one there." Lying sack of shit. Worse, when I checked, I found that there was another Hyundai dealership in Elgin, only about 12 miles away and almost as close to my place as this dealership. You're a sleazy goddamn liar, Jasper, and fuck Rosen forever. You cost Hyundai a likely sale, too.
I was on poker tilt for two days after that. I don't deal with slimy salespeople well, I guess. But it wasn't like good 'ol Jasper was the only one.
I'd went back to Pauly Motors to give the Toyota Yaris another look. Fortunately, the first salesman wasn't there,and the second guy I talked to went in back to get me a quote after a short talk, and came back a full $800 lower, including a $500 rebate that the first guy never bothered to tell me about, likely in hopes of pocketing it himself. But Pauly salesguy #2 confirmed that the options I wanted did actually exist as a real-life car, and lo and behold, there was even one in the color I wanted sitting out back, fresh off the hauler.
I said I'd likely be back to give it a drive. I came back the next day, almost 24 hours later, and they still hadn't even taken the shipping paper off the top of the car or pulled the styrofoam blocks out from beneath the wheels.
Lord. Dear car dealerships: If you had someone express interest in a specific car, would you at least make some effort to do the 30 minutes of work to check that car in during business hours the following day, so it could be taken for a test drive?
The answer apparently, is no. So I left Pauly Motors in frustration, and filled out an online quote for a Yaris instead. That one was forwarded to East Elgin Toyota, a fraction of a mile closer to my place and, coincidentally, only a block or two from the Hyundai place my buddy Jasper from Rosen didn't want me to know about.
I got a call from East Elgin Toyota a few hours later, from a sales officer named Julie who insisted that they had exactly the car I had requested a quote for on the lot, and it was available for a drive immediately. I knew Jo had the day off so I asked for a ride down there, half figuring I'd buy it on the spot if I likedit.
Julie 'assigned' me to a young sales guy named Dana, who was way aggressive and if categorized on the poker scale would fall squarely under 'Tool'. They showed me my car.
It was fire-engine red. I'd asked for a quote on a blue one.
I took it for a test drive anyway, just to see how the stick handled and how the interior seemed. The dealer joined us on the test drive and allowed us to drive around one oversized block, a distant of about a mile and a half. When we got back, he reached into his desk, pulled out a paper, and tried to get me to sign a blank red sheet confirming my offer on the car, without even showing me any numbers. When I told him I wasn't signing anything without seeing some numbers, he gave me a dirty look and then came back with a "best" offer nearly $400 higher than Pauly's numbers for the same car. And thrust the offer sheet back under my noise.
Get lost, Dana.
As we departed, this overslick middle-aged executive sales guy rushed over, trying to save what he saw as a blown sale. This guy had carefully Brylcreem-ed hair and oozed smoothness. He didn't save the sale.
Boy, was I tilted from dealing with these slimeballs. I took two full days off from the car search.
Next time, Part 3 of all this joyousness.
Searching for a New Car, Part 1
[Poker content: A little, down a bit.]
No, no, no, I haven't died quite yet. Truth is, I've had time for not as much poker the past few days since I've spent at least portions of five recent days searching for a new car. My current transportation, a '96 Saab 9000 CSE, has been an okay car but is reaching that stage of its existence where it's getting silly expensive to repair, and Saabs are by their very nature very, very expensive on the parts side.
By way of explanation, not long after buying this as a hand-me-down from my sister and her husband, one of the rear outside door handles broke. On this model, it's a known weak spot in the design. The car part alone was $247. The same handle broke again a few months later. I still haven't fixed it.
But there are lots of things wrong with the car, now, from a recently cracked windshield --- thanks, gravel-truck pebble and cold snap in the weather! --- to problems with the rear-end electrical system and the computer chip that runs the car's electronics, and that latter might have to be fixed before the car would face a mandatory emissions test in March. Another of the door handles is broken on the inside, the special inset lights to illuminate the rear license plate are either burned out or plagued by the electrical demons (and I got pulled over for that a week ago), the front-end headlight-washer blades are snapped off and dangling, and when I insert the key in the ignition there's this brief, odd, mechanical winding-down noise that I have yet to figure out. Oh, yeah, the right-front brake caliper is rusty and needs to be be replaced, too.
The car has 237,000 miles on it. You'd have issues, too. But on old Saabs, all the issues tend to be expensive ones, and I've reached the point of not caring.
So while this was a very decked-out older car --- its first owner, I later learned, was former Detroit Lions QB Scott Mitchell --- it's time to go to the other end of the spectrum, for something newer and (out of necessity) a lot more basic.
Enter the car jaunt. At first I planned to spend $6,000 or $7,000 or $8,000 on a small used car, but by and large those cars don't seem to exist. There are, however, veritable seas of 12-MPG SUVs on the market. Living alone as I do, I tend to value gas mileage, and that is something that remains a primary focus. After about eight used car lots I resigned myself to the fact that I may as well start looking at inexpensive new cars, too, if just to take advantage of the new-car warranty and all that other stuff.
There's a lot more to the search, including having to deal with some sleazoid car salesmen. I'll save those entertaining hijinks for the next post.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, on to poker. A brief bit of history: When I first started playing on teh Interwebs, I tended to play limit cash games --- some Hold'em, some stud games, maybe a little bit of Omaha on occasion. I'd play the occasional tournament and I'd all right in those, and in the last year, year and a half, I've unconsciously slid over to playing tons of SNGs and MTTs and very little in the way of limit cash games. I've experimented with NL games and found it's an area where I need to improve... and I'm working on that.
But old-fashioned limit? A couple of years ago, I used to content myself with playing tight ABC poker and grinding out unimpressive win rates, augmented by signup and reload bonuses. I didn't get rich at it. The style, though, that I used back then, doesn't seem to be how I play today; recent weeks' experience at a handful of limit tables has taught me that. Several thousand NL donkaments have changed my game into something where I'm far more aggressive at a limit table and willing to put other people to the test far more often. I might be three-betting something I wouldn't even play before, especially at a short-handed table, which is something I also didn't do much of in my earlier existence. Then again, I might not play certain hands at all, too.
In a nutshell, I used to stay in a comfortable shell and save a lot of bets. I don't seem to be that way any more, nor do I care if someone rocks me for a couple of bets in a given hand because I usually figure I'll get it back with interest later. Am I still controlled by the math? On a lot of hands, definitely so --- I'm chasing my draws when I've got the right numbers and I'll almost always get away from underpairs in a multi-way pot. But the difference is earlier in the hand, before the odds properly dictate the play: I'm far more often trying to dictate to my opponents how the hand itself is going to be played out, from blatant late-position steals and sneaking into hands with crap, to just firing back at people with air when I suspect them of the same.
Yes, the variance is much higher, and the single bets don't matter or hurt as much as they used to. And as I'm sneaking into higher limit levels on occasion, too, this new, slightly looser but far more aggressive game seems also much more effective. At the least, I've posted a few decent sessions of late.
* * * * *
Back to the car tales. But not 'til next time.
No, no, no, I haven't died quite yet. Truth is, I've had time for not as much poker the past few days since I've spent at least portions of five recent days searching for a new car. My current transportation, a '96 Saab 9000 CSE, has been an okay car but is reaching that stage of its existence where it's getting silly expensive to repair, and Saabs are by their very nature very, very expensive on the parts side.
By way of explanation, not long after buying this as a hand-me-down from my sister and her husband, one of the rear outside door handles broke. On this model, it's a known weak spot in the design. The car part alone was $247. The same handle broke again a few months later. I still haven't fixed it.
But there are lots of things wrong with the car, now, from a recently cracked windshield --- thanks, gravel-truck pebble and cold snap in the weather! --- to problems with the rear-end electrical system and the computer chip that runs the car's electronics, and that latter might have to be fixed before the car would face a mandatory emissions test in March. Another of the door handles is broken on the inside, the special inset lights to illuminate the rear license plate are either burned out or plagued by the electrical demons (and I got pulled over for that a week ago), the front-end headlight-washer blades are snapped off and dangling, and when I insert the key in the ignition there's this brief, odd, mechanical winding-down noise that I have yet to figure out. Oh, yeah, the right-front brake caliper is rusty and needs to be be replaced, too.
The car has 237,000 miles on it. You'd have issues, too. But on old Saabs, all the issues tend to be expensive ones, and I've reached the point of not caring.
So while this was a very decked-out older car --- its first owner, I later learned, was former Detroit Lions QB Scott Mitchell --- it's time to go to the other end of the spectrum, for something newer and (out of necessity) a lot more basic.
Enter the car jaunt. At first I planned to spend $6,000 or $7,000 or $8,000 on a small used car, but by and large those cars don't seem to exist. There are, however, veritable seas of 12-MPG SUVs on the market. Living alone as I do, I tend to value gas mileage, and that is something that remains a primary focus. After about eight used car lots I resigned myself to the fact that I may as well start looking at inexpensive new cars, too, if just to take advantage of the new-car warranty and all that other stuff.
There's a lot more to the search, including having to deal with some sleazoid car salesmen. I'll save those entertaining hijinks for the next post.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, on to poker. A brief bit of history: When I first started playing on teh Interwebs, I tended to play limit cash games --- some Hold'em, some stud games, maybe a little bit of Omaha on occasion. I'd play the occasional tournament and I'd all right in those, and in the last year, year and a half, I've unconsciously slid over to playing tons of SNGs and MTTs and very little in the way of limit cash games. I've experimented with NL games and found it's an area where I need to improve... and I'm working on that.
But old-fashioned limit? A couple of years ago, I used to content myself with playing tight ABC poker and grinding out unimpressive win rates, augmented by signup and reload bonuses. I didn't get rich at it. The style, though, that I used back then, doesn't seem to be how I play today; recent weeks' experience at a handful of limit tables has taught me that. Several thousand NL donkaments have changed my game into something where I'm far more aggressive at a limit table and willing to put other people to the test far more often. I might be three-betting something I wouldn't even play before, especially at a short-handed table, which is something I also didn't do much of in my earlier existence. Then again, I might not play certain hands at all, too.
In a nutshell, I used to stay in a comfortable shell and save a lot of bets. I don't seem to be that way any more, nor do I care if someone rocks me for a couple of bets in a given hand because I usually figure I'll get it back with interest later. Am I still controlled by the math? On a lot of hands, definitely so --- I'm chasing my draws when I've got the right numbers and I'll almost always get away from underpairs in a multi-way pot. But the difference is earlier in the hand, before the odds properly dictate the play: I'm far more often trying to dictate to my opponents how the hand itself is going to be played out, from blatant late-position steals and sneaking into hands with crap, to just firing back at people with air when I suspect them of the same.
Yes, the variance is much higher, and the single bets don't matter or hurt as much as they used to. And as I'm sneaking into higher limit levels on occasion, too, this new, slightly looser but far more aggressive game seems also much more effective. At the least, I've posted a few decent sessions of late.
* * * * *
Back to the car tales. But not 'til next time.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Delivering a New Year's Morning Headache
Wait, it's New Year's Eve here, and I'm writing a New Year's Day tale? Ahh, the joys of international online poker. It's the $900 Guaranteed ($10+1 w/ rebuy) donkfest on the Merge Network, said tourney which I took down the day previous. (And still finished loser on the day, after taking a couple of high-dollar shots.)So I'm back in the thing on a whim, and the player to my left, a UK chap, is wishing everyone a Happy New Year as it just turned to 2008 in England. And in the first five minutes, he gets stacked by a bad player and makes his rebuy and tries again. Meanwhile I chip up a couple of hundred.
A few hands later, I find the marvelous 7-2 off in UTG +1. Blinds are 10-20. UTG limps. I say, "What the hell," and make it 90 to go. UK chap on my left smooth-calls, and we pick up two more callers on the way around.
Flop comes 2-2-7, with two spades. UTG checks, I check... it's checked around. Rats.
Turn comes the ace of spades, putting the possible flush on the board. UTG checks again so I make a post-oak bet of 20 to see who's interested. UK chap on my left makes it 100, and it's folded back around to me. Spade flush, I hope?
I min-reraise to 180, and sure enough, he pushes. He shows K-10 of spades, which is totally dead to my HammerBoat. A 'ffs' curse appears in the chat window and he is gone.
That poor guy's New Year just got off to one ugly start, poker-wise. I'm guessing his hangover's already started.
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Poker Weekender
Excepting token appearances at Bodog and Stars the last week, the only hours I've spent pursuing the online game recently have been over at Merge, chasing points in their darned Santa's Sack promotion; I've already secured my $50 checkmark and am moving toward better prizes... an iPod is next in my sights. Here's weird: Buying an iPod would be way down on my list of things to do, but trying to win one has me entertained and incentivized. Darned competitive nature, anyway.
And of course, it means sneaking in a few tournaments and sit-'n'-goes late at night or as time allows. I had been worried I'd grind down my bankroll on the site by chasing points for the promotion, which would've been counterproductive to the whole process, but back-to-back good showings in MTTs on Friday and Saturday nights boosted me enough to where that's no longer likely to be an issue.
After grinding out a second place in the Friday night $32.50-entry, $2.5K tourney, I followed that up by taking a shot at the $10+1 rebuy donkament early Saturday eve. It was more on a whim, since I rarely play rebuys, but I was already in two SNGs and was killing some time before heading out to a live game.
I never made the game, and did one of those donkament sins that I've pulled my hair out when I've seen it pulled off by others. Yes --- this is a confession.
With the SNGs complete, I was still alive in the rebuy, but needed to get ready in the next few minutes if I was going to go play live. There was also a good snowstorm here so I was still a bit undecided that way, too; it was blowing and drifting quite a bit, with about five inches of fresh stuff on the ground.
I decided... to let the poker gods decide. Next time I found a halfway decent starting hand and caught a bit of a flop, I check-raised to get myself all in. I sucked out and won. Hrmmm. Then I doubled through again, playing A-J all in preflop absolutely for the hell of it and cracking the chip leader's pocket queens. (What he called me shall not be repeated here. I deserved it, too.) But all of a sudden, despite more or less trying trying to depart, I was the chip leader. I still wasn't totally sure I wanted to stay, and I then gave a chunk right back to the player I deposed, who then taunted me into saying he knew I'd do so.
Heck, it was miserable outside. "Game on," I chatted back, or something similar. Three hours later I took the thing down, and as I said, I rarely play rebuys. I'm not sure what kismet was working there, but I was certainly intended --- and yes, that's phrased correctly --- to play that online tourney and not play live instead.
* * * * * * * * * *
As for the Secret Santa SNGs on the site, which I've also been playing, those have been interesting as well. Merge (Carbon and pokercs.com) ran a Turkey Day promotion last month which focused solely on SNGs, but this month the SNGs have been incorporated into the larger Santa promotion. In November, all SNG's featured half-priced juice, with players accumulating points toward leaderboard spots, but I did not have the time to chase the top 100 spots on the site and move on.
This month the twist is that, at random, a given SNG will open up with a special table design for the 'Secret Santa' promotion, and pay out double the listed prize money. Playing in one and winning one are both tasks in the Santa's Sack scavenger hunt as well, so it definitely draws the traffic. Problem is, they don't show up all that often. Had they been at the same ratio as what the site was offering, juice-wise, for the Turkey Day promotion, I'd have expected a Secret Santa table once every 20 or 30 tries. It seems like it's more like one in every 50 or 60, based on anecdotal evidence. I've found one, to date; I won it, though, which was cool. It was a $10+1 SNG, and when all of a sudden the players discovered they were playing for $20+2 money, it became the weaktightiest SNG you ever did see. Who knows... maybe three or four of the players rarely ventured into the land of $22 SNGs, and therefore squeezed it down here. In any event, no one wanted to do any more than limp in early or attack pots post-flop with anything less than a monster. Therefore, I volunteered to do just that, and swiped enough early pots to coast into the money and take down the eventual $100 win.
Then I had a solid run in the normal $22 SNGs. Good weekend. Along with the MTT fun, a real good weekend.
And of course, it means sneaking in a few tournaments and sit-'n'-goes late at night or as time allows. I had been worried I'd grind down my bankroll on the site by chasing points for the promotion, which would've been counterproductive to the whole process, but back-to-back good showings in MTTs on Friday and Saturday nights boosted me enough to where that's no longer likely to be an issue.
After grinding out a second place in the Friday night $32.50-entry, $2.5K tourney, I followed that up by taking a shot at the $10+1 rebuy donkament early Saturday eve. It was more on a whim, since I rarely play rebuys, but I was already in two SNGs and was killing some time before heading out to a live game.
I never made the game, and did one of those donkament sins that I've pulled my hair out when I've seen it pulled off by others. Yes --- this is a confession.
With the SNGs complete, I was still alive in the rebuy, but needed to get ready in the next few minutes if I was going to go play live. There was also a good snowstorm here so I was still a bit undecided that way, too; it was blowing and drifting quite a bit, with about five inches of fresh stuff on the ground.
I decided... to let the poker gods decide. Next time I found a halfway decent starting hand and caught a bit of a flop, I check-raised to get myself all in. I sucked out and won. Hrmmm. Then I doubled through again, playing A-J all in preflop absolutely for the hell of it and cracking the chip leader's pocket queens. (What he called me shall not be repeated here. I deserved it, too.) But all of a sudden, despite more or less trying trying to depart, I was the chip leader. I still wasn't totally sure I wanted to stay, and I then gave a chunk right back to the player I deposed, who then taunted me into saying he knew I'd do so.
Heck, it was miserable outside. "Game on," I chatted back, or something similar. Three hours later I took the thing down, and as I said, I rarely play rebuys. I'm not sure what kismet was working there, but I was certainly intended --- and yes, that's phrased correctly --- to play that online tourney and not play live instead.
* * * * * * * * * *
As for the Secret Santa SNGs on the site, which I've also been playing, those have been interesting as well. Merge (Carbon and pokercs.com) ran a Turkey Day promotion last month which focused solely on SNGs, but this month the SNGs have been incorporated into the larger Santa promotion. In November, all SNG's featured half-priced juice, with players accumulating points toward leaderboard spots, but I did not have the time to chase the top 100 spots on the site and move on.
This month the twist is that, at random, a given SNG will open up with a special table design for the 'Secret Santa' promotion, and pay out double the listed prize money. Playing in one and winning one are both tasks in the Santa's Sack scavenger hunt as well, so it definitely draws the traffic. Problem is, they don't show up all that often. Had they been at the same ratio as what the site was offering, juice-wise, for the Turkey Day promotion, I'd have expected a Secret Santa table once every 20 or 30 tries. It seems like it's more like one in every 50 or 60, based on anecdotal evidence. I've found one, to date; I won it, though, which was cool. It was a $10+1 SNG, and when all of a sudden the players discovered they were playing for $20+2 money, it became the weaktightiest SNG you ever did see. Who knows... maybe three or four of the players rarely ventured into the land of $22 SNGs, and therefore squeezed it down here. In any event, no one wanted to do any more than limp in early or attack pots post-flop with anything less than a monster. Therefore, I volunteered to do just that, and swiped enough early pots to coast into the money and take down the eventual $100 win.
Then I had a solid run in the normal $22 SNGs. Good weekend. Along with the MTT fun, a real good weekend.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Sleighing Away at Merge
I noticed another half-correct story over at PokerListings recently, detailing how Carbon Poker has a nice 'scavanger hunt' holiday giveaway spanning the month of December. It's half correct because the Poker.com (actually pokercs.com now) folks are doing one too, and for all I know PokerNordica is doing one as well. PokerNordica is another skin on the Merge network, run by the same folks... and no, I haven't checked if more than the two skins noted above are involved.
As I've mentioned before, I've always been fond of the network, for numerous reasons. They also seem to be running special promotions on a monthly basis, of late; these are participatory in nature, meaning that because I'm spending so much time working elsewhere I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of earning the higher prizes, though I can still have fun with it. At the outermost possible extreme, I might get to the iPod level, though a $50 cash reward is much more likely.
Still, I'd have to pick up the pace --- I'm barely a sixth of the way to the iPod and the month's a third over. Perhaps I'll have some time at the holidays to make a late run at it; perhaps not. Still, it's a unique promotion with a bit of seasonal fun attached, and there's little harm in trying.
As I've mentioned before, I've always been fond of the network, for numerous reasons. They also seem to be running special promotions on a monthly basis, of late; these are participatory in nature, meaning that because I'm spending so much time working elsewhere I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of earning the higher prizes, though I can still have fun with it. At the outermost possible extreme, I might get to the iPod level, though a $50 cash reward is much more likely.
Still, I'd have to pick up the pace --- I'm barely a sixth of the way to the iPod and the month's a third over. Perhaps I'll have some time at the holidays to make a late run at it; perhaps not. Still, it's a unique promotion with a bit of seasonal fun attached, and there's little harm in trying.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Second Loser
If the actual bubble in the HPT sat I tried would be 'first loser,' then I finished a second loser. 80 runners, 16 $2,700 seats, and I went out in 18th. In other words... poop.
I was fortunate to stay in it earlier, and never could get to any point where I had an above-average chip stack. At the end it became a total crapshoot due to wild blinds and antes, and when we were at 20 players, I would have finally had enough chips to coast if only my A-J sooted held up against an even shorter player's 8-7, also sooted. My luck, good 'til then, ran out. Flop came 8-7-3. Mind that I had an M of about 3 before the hand, to give you an idea of the situation.
The last few chips went away soon after, when, all but blinded out, I had to play any two from the small blind and had 9-5, and the big blind turned over... 9-4. A four flopped, and bye-bye me. No chance for better odds in the few intervening hands, either, as people made pre-flop stabs and I caught rags.
As I promised, I gave it a hell of a fight. I played very tight for the most part, pushed the couple of big hands I found hard, and got myself into a position where I could have won a seat. Early on I had a few chances to put a hurt on people with a friendly flop and never connected. It just didn't happen. One hand shy, y'know?
I was fortunate to stay in it earlier, and never could get to any point where I had an above-average chip stack. At the end it became a total crapshoot due to wild blinds and antes, and when we were at 20 players, I would have finally had enough chips to coast if only my A-J sooted held up against an even shorter player's 8-7, also sooted. My luck, good 'til then, ran out. Flop came 8-7-3. Mind that I had an M of about 3 before the hand, to give you an idea of the situation.
The last few chips went away soon after, when, all but blinded out, I had to play any two from the small blind and had 9-5, and the big blind turned over... 9-4. A four flopped, and bye-bye me. No chance for better odds in the few intervening hands, either, as people made pre-flop stabs and I caught rags.
As I promised, I gave it a hell of a fight. I played very tight for the most part, pushed the couple of big hands I found hard, and got myself into a position where I could have won a seat. Early on I had a few chances to put a hurt on people with a friendly flop and never connected. It just didn't happen. One hand shy, y'know?
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
And... Off!
But not to the fun in Lost Wages, sadly. While I would love to be there, it just couldn't work right now. Falstaff's declaration that I'm wussing out aside (lol), it's just been a pretty rough, busy work stretch in recent weeks. It's been a dawn-to-dusk ride for quite a few days lately, not that those are exactly the hours I keep....
What I am going to do, in lieu of the long trip, is take a short one. I'm heading over to Majestic Star in Gary, IN tomorrow and will try to satellite in to this weekend's Heartland Poker Tour championship event. I'll know several players there and I also picked up a SooperSekrit backer for a chunk of my buy-in. (Many thanks, SS! I hope to your reward your faith in me!) 20% of tomorrow's entrants move on to the $2,700 ME, so it's a good combination of a buy-in I/we can still manage and a structure that may work okay for me. One thing's for sure: you never know unless you try, anyway.
I'll drop a note in when I return. If it's good news I'll move on to the main. If not, I'll have given it a damn good run and say I tried my best.
What I am going to do, in lieu of the long trip, is take a short one. I'm heading over to Majestic Star in Gary, IN tomorrow and will try to satellite in to this weekend's Heartland Poker Tour championship event. I'll know several players there and I also picked up a SooperSekrit backer for a chunk of my buy-in. (Many thanks, SS! I hope to your reward your faith in me!) 20% of tomorrow's entrants move on to the $2,700 ME, so it's a good combination of a buy-in I/we can still manage and a structure that may work okay for me. One thing's for sure: you never know unless you try, anyway.
I'll drop a note in when I return. If it's good news I'll move on to the main. If not, I'll have given it a damn good run and say I tried my best.
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