Saturday, January 31, 2009
Dabbling
I've decided to give ChipMeUp a try. I'm still figuring out the various bells and whistles so it may be a bit before I'm up and running on it properly. Anyone interested can e-mail me for details.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
No Poker Content
Just happened to be spinning the TV dials this morning and was reminded again of why Bobby Knight is and has always been the biggest jackass in the coaching world. "Mr. I Guy" was at again, translating what was supposed to be a live tribute to recently deceased NC State women's BB coach Kay Yow (who passed after a decades-long battle against breast cancer) into yet another who-gives-a-damn tale about his own coaching battles against Digger Phelps.
From the bottom of my heart: Fuck you, sir. One would think that such a widely acclaimed "leader" would someday pick up a clue as to what life is really about, but Kinght's in what now, his mid 60s? He'll remain eternally clueless and an embarrassment to everything he touches.
From the bottom of my heart: Fuck you, sir. One would think that such a widely acclaimed "leader" would someday pick up a clue as to what life is really about, but Kinght's in what now, his mid 60s? He'll remain eternally clueless and an embarrassment to everything he touches.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thank You, John
It was with considerable sadness that I learned of John Caldwell's decision to step down as Editor-in-Chief of PokerNews. John's stewardship of the PN site grew ever more impressive to me as I learned more and more about the operation, and the strengths that John brought as EIC were, I believe, things that all poker editors, writers, and poker media in general should strive for... even as the rest of us generally fall far short of those standards.
John's work ethic is legendary, as is his CrackBerry addiction. (Pauly's dream of a CrackBerry-free lunch with John, as noted over at the Tao of Poker blog, is a big funny. Prop bets?) John also shied away from the spotlight as well as any editor or writer I could name, always mindful that he wasn't the story -- it was just his job to cover it. And, no matter what stresses of the moment were at hand, you can always count on John to stay focused on the big picture.
Among other things, he's been a great mentor to all of us at PN, and he deserves my thanks and appreciation for that. So, thank you, John.
John's work ethic is legendary, as is his CrackBerry addiction. (Pauly's dream of a CrackBerry-free lunch with John, as noted over at the Tao of Poker blog, is a big funny. Prop bets?) John also shied away from the spotlight as well as any editor or writer I could name, always mindful that he wasn't the story -- it was just his job to cover it. And, no matter what stresses of the moment were at hand, you can always count on John to stay focused on the big picture.
Among other things, he's been a great mentor to all of us at PN, and he deserves my thanks and appreciation for that. So, thank you, John.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Oh, Yeah, It's 2009
Rumors of my demise have been somewhat exaggerated, though i did field a couple of e-mails of late wondering where the heck I was. "Busy times" is the short answer. I've desperately needed to spend some hours with friends and family of late, and the online poker swongs had eased a bit but were still trending generally downward.
I did finally arrange to get a few dollars back onto Full Tilt there, so I may play some of the blogger events under my supersekrit screen name there that no one knows, and maybe see if I can tilt Waffles. I did final-table the Daily Double B a week or so ago, which ain't really worth mentioning except for that at one point about an hour in, I was down to 75 chips with the blinds at 25/50. Yeah, I ran a bit better after that.
Stars has been a slowly ebbing trend but not enough to panic over; I've learned that online ranking services are widely inaccurate for all but the highest-volume players. In the past year, for example, OPR has shown my three-month ROI percentages as high as +93% and as low as -30%. That just tells me that the variance in my game exceeds their standard tracking period, and if does so for me, it must be similar for lots and lots of other players as well. Given, of course, that I've been back down to Bronze Star level on Stars since September or so, simply from not having the time to play. Maybe this month I can at least make Silver.
Maybe.
I've played at Bodog barely at all, and over at Merge I'd seen my biggest swongs, not helped by the fact that the bad-beat jackpot has grown so large that it's been worth dropping a few buy-ins to chase. But my bread and butter there, the smallish nightly guarantee MTTs, had been treating me... rather rudely. This week, though, I finally managed to not only make two final tables, but to take both of them down.
Maybe I'm due for an upswing.
Maybe you'll see at me a table in the near future; maybe not. As the saying goes, only time will tell.
I did finally arrange to get a few dollars back onto Full Tilt there, so I may play some of the blogger events under my supersekrit screen name there that no one knows, and maybe see if I can tilt Waffles. I did final-table the Daily Double B a week or so ago, which ain't really worth mentioning except for that at one point about an hour in, I was down to 75 chips with the blinds at 25/50. Yeah, I ran a bit better after that.
Stars has been a slowly ebbing trend but not enough to panic over; I've learned that online ranking services are widely inaccurate for all but the highest-volume players. In the past year, for example, OPR has shown my three-month ROI percentages as high as +93% and as low as -30%. That just tells me that the variance in my game exceeds their standard tracking period, and if does so for me, it must be similar for lots and lots of other players as well. Given, of course, that I've been back down to Bronze Star level on Stars since September or so, simply from not having the time to play. Maybe this month I can at least make Silver.
Maybe.
I've played at Bodog barely at all, and over at Merge I'd seen my biggest swongs, not helped by the fact that the bad-beat jackpot has grown so large that it's been worth dropping a few buy-ins to chase. But my bread and butter there, the smallish nightly guarantee MTTs, had been treating me... rather rudely. This week, though, I finally managed to not only make two final tables, but to take both of them down.
Maybe I'm due for an upswing.
Maybe you'll see at me a table in the near future; maybe not. As the saying goes, only time will tell.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Funny is Where You Find It
Among the elements of my daily grind is a sweep through Google News for items related to poker. I noticed this just today, as Google's compendium of popular search terms connected to poker:
If that's really the top six, words fail me.
If that's really the top six, words fail me.
Friday, December 19, 2008
And Off to a Sunday Million
While I've been a bit preoccupied of late, and have therefore missed two of the four WBCOOP qualifiers so far, there were the other two. In the first one, I ran well early and survived to get that Step 3 ticket, as mentioned last post. In the second one, I ended up at a table with both Irongirl and Bayne, but none of us seemed to be in much of a chatty mood. I was catching up on the news while playing, which semi-sorta explains my quietitude.
Not that it mattered. A Eurodonk -- :-) -- ran over the table, catching every draw, and I was out soon enough. The eight-game mix is today and I like my chances in that against a random selection of bloggers, anyway.
But, there was the matter of that Step 3 ticket....
After crashing out of the WBCOOP heat, I decided I'd give a Step 3 a whirl. I registered for one that had seven seats already full, and yet it still took another ten minutes for it to fill. Might it have had something to do with the lineup already seated?
Mayhap. I need to pay closer attention to that in the future, but in the short term, I'm stupidly willing to mix it up against just about anyone. After all, the cards can run well.
Two seats to my left I had "THAY3R" (Thayer Rasmussen), and there were two Stars Supernovas in seats to my right, plus two other screen names I recognized and suspected were also Novas or Supernovas, but like Rasmussen, were just not showing their accolades.
Steps get tougher up the scale, and they show a couple of distinct trends. The action tends to be slower early on at the higher steps, but once the blinds build a bit, it's war, with a lot of bluffing and aggro play.
Case in point, THAY3R. He was not one of the two who jumped out to early advantages once the first couple of wars finally unfolded; nor was I. I play the Step 3's a bit different than the 1's and 2's, because in the Step 3's the top two move on to Step 4, while spots 3-5 return to Step 3. So in my mind the Step 3 becomes a very reactive sit-n-go, wherein if a couple of players are willing to donk themselves out early, it's not necessarily a bad EV move to consider playing for the renewed Step 3, and hoping for a freeroll for the top two spots and the Step 4 ticket. Besides, perhaps you'll be one of the fortunate recipients.
I'm also a believer in first impressions. Against presumed tough opponents who probably have marginal records of my play, I don't mind folding in some crap spots early if it makes others think I might be overly weak-tight. I am a bit weak-tight by nature, but I consciously let a bluffer type two to my right swipe my blinds twice while also folding my button twice (also with crap) to THAY3R's big blind. Sometimes, after all, a plan comes together.
Unfortunately, none of the players wanted to go out early, and a pre-flop raise usually took down the pot, right from the outset. I didn't see much for cards early, and as I said, the situation didn't warrant pushing it. Soon enough, though, two players had been bounced while two others moved up to around 3,000, with the others, me included, all bunched between 1,300 and 1,700.
Then Rasmussen tried an all-in steal from the small blinds, with the blinds at just 25/50. He got called, by the big blind, one of the two leaders ... who showed K-6 off. Wow at that call. Wow again when it turned out he was ahead to Rasmussen's Q-5. Rasmussen, however, caught a five to double through to the lead.
Think he slowed down? Nope. With the blinds not yet even at 50/100, everyone was opening by jamming the pot. Into what type of aggro-fest had I stumbled?
The pushes kept coming. It turned out that the aggro switch had been tossed in four straight players, starting with Rasmussen's seat, and even though we were still at seven, the chips were going in light. Very light. Rasmussen got caught again on another pot-buy (one that seemed unnecessary to me), when he tried to pilfer with 10-5 or something similar and gave back half his stack.
I wasn't seeing any cards anyway. Didn't mind watching it to see if carnage would develop. Still, while there were three or four collisions, the short stack kept winning, and ten or twelve minutes later I'd paid another round of blinds and we'd only lost one more player, and we clicked over to 100/200.
Well, I'd been patient long enough. You can't back into the pay spots against this level without taking some risk somewhere, so when I found a suited A-7 from the cutoff, I jammed with it. Folds all around. I'm happy with buying the blinds, of course. The next hand I find 9-9 and do it again, and again it's folded around.
First impressions paying off?
I don't care -- my stack is near 2,000 and a couple of players are down around 1,000 and 1,200. If one of them goes away, my Step 3 refund is assured and I'm freerolling. Meanwhile, the player three to my right seems to be out-aggressing even Rasmussen; he's in there way weak twice, and manages to win to move out to the lead. I'm thinking that all I need to do is catch a wonderful hand and have it hold up....
And, just a few hands later, with six players still in the running, I find K-K. Blinds 100/200 and I have 1,840.
I jam. Seems like the money play if someone is getting suspicious of my newfound swiping ability. Rasmussen calls with A-Q... essentially, just what I wanted. For once, my kings hold up. THAY3R's gone and I'm in second in chips.
Just three hands later, with blinds still at 100/200, the super-aggro player pushes all-in for almost 5,000. I have 3,400 or so. I also have Q-Q in the small blind. I call, and he shows a suited Q-4.
Lovin' life, I am, when I double through to nearly 7,000.
But this guy just keeps shoving, and he manages to double up himself and swipes enough blinds to stay around. He's still there when we're down to three, and while I've lost 1,200 despite getting it in good against a short stack, I'm still ahead. Second place is to my left and has about 4,600; the aggro player has the rest. We're finally up to 200/400.
My big blind, and he shoves on me. I have A-4 of diamonds. Not much of a hand to call with, but this player hadn't shown an off switch yet, so I call real light. And... he's in there even lighter, as I'd guessed, with K-4. My hand holds up again, and we're down to two. It's a Step 4 ticket for me... meaning a regular-entry Sunday Million at some future date.
It's the best thing poker-wise for me in a month. I am pleased.
Not that it mattered. A Eurodonk -- :-) -- ran over the table, catching every draw, and I was out soon enough. The eight-game mix is today and I like my chances in that against a random selection of bloggers, anyway.
But, there was the matter of that Step 3 ticket....
After crashing out of the WBCOOP heat, I decided I'd give a Step 3 a whirl. I registered for one that had seven seats already full, and yet it still took another ten minutes for it to fill. Might it have had something to do with the lineup already seated?
Mayhap. I need to pay closer attention to that in the future, but in the short term, I'm stupidly willing to mix it up against just about anyone. After all, the cards can run well.
Two seats to my left I had "THAY3R" (Thayer Rasmussen), and there were two Stars Supernovas in seats to my right, plus two other screen names I recognized and suspected were also Novas or Supernovas, but like Rasmussen, were just not showing their accolades.
Steps get tougher up the scale, and they show a couple of distinct trends. The action tends to be slower early on at the higher steps, but once the blinds build a bit, it's war, with a lot of bluffing and aggro play.
Case in point, THAY3R. He was not one of the two who jumped out to early advantages once the first couple of wars finally unfolded; nor was I. I play the Step 3's a bit different than the 1's and 2's, because in the Step 3's the top two move on to Step 4, while spots 3-5 return to Step 3. So in my mind the Step 3 becomes a very reactive sit-n-go, wherein if a couple of players are willing to donk themselves out early, it's not necessarily a bad EV move to consider playing for the renewed Step 3, and hoping for a freeroll for the top two spots and the Step 4 ticket. Besides, perhaps you'll be one of the fortunate recipients.
I'm also a believer in first impressions. Against presumed tough opponents who probably have marginal records of my play, I don't mind folding in some crap spots early if it makes others think I might be overly weak-tight. I am a bit weak-tight by nature, but I consciously let a bluffer type two to my right swipe my blinds twice while also folding my button twice (also with crap) to THAY3R's big blind. Sometimes, after all, a plan comes together.
Unfortunately, none of the players wanted to go out early, and a pre-flop raise usually took down the pot, right from the outset. I didn't see much for cards early, and as I said, the situation didn't warrant pushing it. Soon enough, though, two players had been bounced while two others moved up to around 3,000, with the others, me included, all bunched between 1,300 and 1,700.
Then Rasmussen tried an all-in steal from the small blinds, with the blinds at just 25/50. He got called, by the big blind, one of the two leaders ... who showed K-6 off. Wow at that call. Wow again when it turned out he was ahead to Rasmussen's Q-5. Rasmussen, however, caught a five to double through to the lead.
Think he slowed down? Nope. With the blinds not yet even at 50/100, everyone was opening by jamming the pot. Into what type of aggro-fest had I stumbled?
The pushes kept coming. It turned out that the aggro switch had been tossed in four straight players, starting with Rasmussen's seat, and even though we were still at seven, the chips were going in light. Very light. Rasmussen got caught again on another pot-buy (one that seemed unnecessary to me), when he tried to pilfer with 10-5 or something similar and gave back half his stack.
I wasn't seeing any cards anyway. Didn't mind watching it to see if carnage would develop. Still, while there were three or four collisions, the short stack kept winning, and ten or twelve minutes later I'd paid another round of blinds and we'd only lost one more player, and we clicked over to 100/200.
Well, I'd been patient long enough. You can't back into the pay spots against this level without taking some risk somewhere, so when I found a suited A-7 from the cutoff, I jammed with it. Folds all around. I'm happy with buying the blinds, of course. The next hand I find 9-9 and do it again, and again it's folded around.
First impressions paying off?
I don't care -- my stack is near 2,000 and a couple of players are down around 1,000 and 1,200. If one of them goes away, my Step 3 refund is assured and I'm freerolling. Meanwhile, the player three to my right seems to be out-aggressing even Rasmussen; he's in there way weak twice, and manages to win to move out to the lead. I'm thinking that all I need to do is catch a wonderful hand and have it hold up....
And, just a few hands later, with six players still in the running, I find K-K. Blinds 100/200 and I have 1,840.
I jam. Seems like the money play if someone is getting suspicious of my newfound swiping ability. Rasmussen calls with A-Q... essentially, just what I wanted. For once, my kings hold up. THAY3R's gone and I'm in second in chips.
Just three hands later, with blinds still at 100/200, the super-aggro player pushes all-in for almost 5,000. I have 3,400 or so. I also have Q-Q in the small blind. I call, and he shows a suited Q-4.
Lovin' life, I am, when I double through to nearly 7,000.
But this guy just keeps shoving, and he manages to double up himself and swipes enough blinds to stay around. He's still there when we're down to three, and while I've lost 1,200 despite getting it in good against a short stack, I'm still ahead. Second place is to my left and has about 4,600; the aggro player has the rest. We're finally up to 200/400.
My big blind, and he shoves on me. I have A-4 of diamonds. Not much of a hand to call with, but this player hadn't shown an off switch yet, so I call real light. And... he's in there even lighter, as I'd guessed, with K-4. My hand holds up again, and we're down to two. It's a Step 4 ticket for me... meaning a regular-entry Sunday Million at some future date.
It's the best thing poker-wise for me in a month. I am pleased.
Monday, December 15, 2008
At PLO, Yet
Had a couple of hours to kill Monday afternoon so I fired up the first WBCOOP event, which was PLO. It's perhaps my weakest game, but it had a great entry fee -- free (thanks, Stars!) -- so in true what-the-hell fashion I gave it a go.
I had some good cards early, getting it in ahead a couple of times and having the lead hold, and then I just kind of worked it in toward the guaranteed seats, which were the top 72 out of something like 460 entries. We were almost there when I realized that we were actually playing for more than just qualifying seats for the final; there were some pretty nice prizes for the final-table players, in particular.
I didn't make it that far, bowing out in 24th at the hands of this dude. He'd better win after sucking out on me to bounce me, not that I had any chips left at that point. Go get 'em, Tom. I also saw that I was being railed by this blogger late, who I'm not sure I know. But in any event, thanks for the rail. I'm happy enough with the Step 3 coupon and the guaranteed seat in the final.
Best of luck to all of you.
I had some good cards early, getting it in ahead a couple of times and having the lead hold, and then I just kind of worked it in toward the guaranteed seats, which were the top 72 out of something like 460 entries. We were almost there when I realized that we were actually playing for more than just qualifying seats for the final; there were some pretty nice prizes for the final-table players, in particular.
I didn't make it that far, bowing out in 24th at the hands of this dude. He'd better win after sucking out on me to bounce me, not that I had any chips left at that point. Go get 'em, Tom. I also saw that I was being railed by this blogger late, who I'm not sure I know. But in any event, thanks for the rail. I'm happy enough with the Step 3 coupon and the guaranteed seat in the final.
Best of luck to all of you.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Hunting for My Mojo
Totally gone at the moment. Managed to catch K-K three times in the space of 20 hands in separate MTTs and SNG's last night. Got it all in pre-flop all three times, was up against aces all three times. Sheesh. Worst month ever by a wide margin, and the run shows no signs of breaking.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
More Lovely Variance
Another 0-7 in 90 minutes of supposed fun time, re: Stars turbos. The one-outer when I got it all in with kings against jacks and a third player folded A-J was just the coup de grace. Elsewhere, A-J went down in flames to A-4, 10-10 never had a hope against 5-5, and A-Q went another 0-3 in forced races... except the time I went against it with 7-7.
You hear me, Stars RNG??? I'm coming after you with this thing, you miserable pile of electron carriers:
* * * * * *
Whoops! Bonus hand!!
This happened 60 seconds after I clicked "post". I don't really need to recount the action, do I? I'll just let the picture tell the story:
You hear me, Stars RNG??? I'm coming after you with this thing, you miserable pile of electron carriers:
* * * * * *
Whoops! Bonus hand!!
This happened 60 seconds after I clicked "post". I don't really need to recount the action, do I? I'll just let the picture tell the story:
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
The Odd Thing About This Game
...is that when you think you've seen the best and worst that variance can bring, the game itself says, "You ain't seen nothin' yet."
Just as I ran ungodly well this summer, I'm now running ungodly bad for the last month. Won't describe the beats, of curse, but the sheer number and frequency of them is beginning to tilt me to the point that it's affecting my game.
It'll break. It always does. The problem is that I just feel... lost... right now. Whatever I try doesn't work, and posting about it isn't a barrel of monkeys, either. Thus comes the definition of "running bad".
Depressing. I always get a bit blue around the holidays, too, so this sort of fits the general mood.
Just as I ran ungodly well this summer, I'm now running ungodly bad for the last month. Won't describe the beats, of curse, but the sheer number and frequency of them is beginning to tilt me to the point that it's affecting my game.
It'll break. It always does. The problem is that I just feel... lost... right now. Whatever I try doesn't work, and posting about it isn't a barrel of monkeys, either. Thus comes the definition of "running bad".
Depressing. I always get a bit blue around the holidays, too, so this sort of fits the general mood.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Death to Ace-Queen
I consider A-Q to be the unluckiest hand in poker, or at least I'm cursed by it. I hate the hand, but there are times, particularly late in tournaments, that one has to go to war with it.
I'm of course on another typical run with A-Q, per my standards: Of the last 16 times I've played it for all my chips, AND gotten the chips in either ahead or in a race against an underpair, I've now lost 14 of my last 16.
PokerTracker tells me I've lost four times as much with that hand than with any other two-card combination, and it's simply a matter of just running dreadfully, dreadfully bad over a long run with those two cards.
But just so there's no mistake about my feelings.... Die, ace-queen!! Burn in hell!!
....
That feels better, thankyouverymuch.
I'm of course on another typical run with A-Q, per my standards: Of the last 16 times I've played it for all my chips, AND gotten the chips in either ahead or in a race against an underpair, I've now lost 14 of my last 16.
PokerTracker tells me I've lost four times as much with that hand than with any other two-card combination, and it's simply a matter of just running dreadfully, dreadfully bad over a long run with those two cards.
But just so there's no mistake about my feelings.... Die, ace-queen!! Burn in hell!!
....
That feels better, thankyouverymuch.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Lucky Poker Socks
'Tis true. I admit to being a bit superstitious.
It had been several weeks since I've been able to find a few hours free to join in a home game of any sort, but I found myself with an afternoon and evening more or less free on Sunday. I worked in the morning and knew I'd have something waiting for me late that night, but in between the two I thoroughly enjoyed watching my Packers* dismantle Da Bears, then headed up to McHenry, IL, to a private tournament I'd received an invite to earlier in the week.
Yep, I wore one of my two pairs of lucky poker socks -- the powder blue ones with the little penguins. They're kinda like the ones in the photo, though mine are more anklets, not those calf huggers. When I'm wearing these and put a cooler on someone, I mean it literally.
Anyhow, ever hear of a 16-player tournament where the money was chopped five ways? That's what happened in this one. I was one of the five after getting a lot of chips early and then basically hanging around.
Problem is, one of the socks has a hole in the toe, darn it. Or not to. That's the question....
*"my Packers" meant literally, since I own a share of Packers stock. However, I'm unofficially and very personally boycotting all NFL merchandise as of right now, given the NFL's underhanded efforts to take away a game that I love. I don't bet on sports, but I won't tolerate the NFL's efforts to dictate or limit how I spend my discretionary income. I do hope they have someone who Googles the terms "National Football League" and "boycott" and someone reads this. Go to hell, Roger Goodell! And take your 24% merchandising and licensing fees with you!
It had been several weeks since I've been able to find a few hours free to join in a home game of any sort, but I found myself with an afternoon and evening more or less free on Sunday. I worked in the morning and knew I'd have something waiting for me late that night, but in between the two I thoroughly enjoyed watching my Packers* dismantle Da Bears, then headed up to McHenry, IL, to a private tournament I'd received an invite to earlier in the week.
Yep, I wore one of my two pairs of lucky poker socks -- the powder blue ones with the little penguins. They're kinda like the ones in the photo, though mine are more anklets, not those calf huggers. When I'm wearing these and put a cooler on someone, I mean it literally.Anyhow, ever hear of a 16-player tournament where the money was chopped five ways? That's what happened in this one. I was one of the five after getting a lot of chips early and then basically hanging around.
Problem is, one of the socks has a hole in the toe, darn it. Or not to. That's the question....
*"my Packers" meant literally, since I own a share of Packers stock. However, I'm unofficially and very personally boycotting all NFL merchandise as of right now, given the NFL's underhanded efforts to take away a game that I love. I don't bet on sports, but I won't tolerate the NFL's efforts to dictate or limit how I spend my discretionary income. I do hope they have someone who Googles the terms "National Football League" and "boycott" and someone reads this. Go to hell, Roger Goodell! And take your 24% merchandising and licensing fees with you!
Friday, November 07, 2008
Geo-blocked
It turns out that Microgaming isn't just turning down business from 13 US states (and the District of Columbia). They are geo-blocking them... errr... us, and that includes the corporate site as well.
Here's what a person in the 13 states sees when visiting microgaming.com:
So, after visiting a couple of anonymizing web-surfing portals -- and discovering that I needed to delete a cookie or two from my own machine, since Microgaming is checking for those as well -- I found that by using the anonymizer, I could see the site just fine:
I'm pretty insanely pissed about this at the moment, this being the supposed land of the free and all, and since this is Microgaming's response to the KY domain seizure. What a fucking joke my country has become.
Here's what a person in the 13 states sees when visiting microgaming.com:
So, after visiting a couple of anonymizing web-surfing portals -- and discovering that I needed to delete a cookie or two from my own machine, since Microgaming is checking for those as well -- I found that by using the anonymizer, I could see the site just fine:
I'm pretty insanely pissed about this at the moment, this being the supposed land of the free and all, and since this is Microgaming's response to the KY domain seizure. What a fucking joke my country has become.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
WSOP-C Hammond, $345 H.O.R.S.E., Day 2
It's a lot faster drive to and from the NW Chicago suburbs and the Hammond Horseshoe at 2am than at any other time of the day. When I'd come over the first day I'd swung around the outside of Chicago on the Tri-State Tollway, but the eight-mile drive north to the shore turned out to be single-lane construction for half the distance, so since then I've been suffering the Skyway toll-bridge ripoff and rough traffic for the opposite trip and still coming out better on average. In the middle of the night, though, I did the 70 or so miles in, well... less than you might think.
I figured immediate sleep was a lost cause, so I worked on a couple of stories until 4am, then set my alarm for 8 am. But I tossed and turned and woke up for good at 7am, so I went back to work for a few hours, checking the headlines, working on site things and so on.
I had an interesting choice to make. I was scheduled to do a brief phone interview with November Nine member Ylon Schwartz at noon my time and I had to figure out how best to get it done. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that trying to do it from my place and then trying to rush over to a 2pm start would be stressful at best, and perhaps impossible if any sort of midday traffic tie-up occurred. So, I figured I had two options -- drive all the way over to the Horseshoe and do it from there, or drive around on the Tri-State again and look for an oasis with wi-fi service. I have a ham-radio quality headset and the software for recording VOIP calls, so the problem was to find decent enough service.
That's the plan I went with, as it turned out. Though, dear Ylon, if you ever read this, your interview was done from the South Illinois Tri-State Tollway oasis, with complimentary wi-fi service provided by Progressive Auto Insurance.
I'm pretty sure I couldn't have imagined that combination of circumstances ten years ago.
I even had some old fart come by after I was done to ask what brand of headset I was using. I must have been a sight. As to anyone wondering why I didn't go ahead and drive over to Horseshoe and do it from there, it had more to do with the rigors of checking in and out from security. All the business visitors there, including dealers and staff, received the same sort of small "Visitor" clip-on badge, and there is a very strict rule about not gambling while one of these is in one's possession, or even appears to be in one's possession, having been issued. There's an entire "Time In / Time Out" check-in procedure to go through. Unclipping the pass and going over to a table to play would be a pretty whopping big no-no. So I didn't want to risk any type of situation at all, and opted not to be an official press person at the Horseshoe on Tuesday or Wednesday during the duration of my play.
I negotiated the crummy construction zone again and got up to the "The Venue" venue about 1:30. The few other players who were there and I all agreed that it was a crapshoot at this stage, with such a low average "M" (around 3 or 4, if you figure out some way of computing it for the stud games), that it was just a matter of cards now. I knew I'd need to catch a double-up early to have any sort of chance at all.
We started with our remaining three hands of stud hi/lo, and I saw three more hands to match the unplayable stuff I'd finished up with the previous night. After just one more hand of hold'em, we'd lost two players to move down to 16 and another redraw and game draw, and we jumped over hold'em and Omaha and went to razz. We also moved to the two tables just below the stage, while the final table in the previous day's first event was underway up above.
The glare was awful, due to the angle of the stage lights above us, and it turned out we were just there temporarily as they put the chairs in place around the other two tables up on the stage, where we'd soon move again. "Temporarily" equaled one hand, as it turned out.
We grabbed our chips and moved again, up the stairs. I was sort of glad I didn't have one of the deep stacks, for all the reracking going on.
For most of the players up there, playing poker in a stage or studio setting was a first-time experience; I'd been through it once before, so I wasn't bothered by that part of it. All I needed was a hand good enough to lose with, but I kept getting worthless rags that I couldn't even play. The entire rotation of razz passed by and I never saw anything. One time I had an ace up; the first ace was to my right and completed, and I looked underneath and saw K-Q. One time I saw a deuce (but with both an ace and a three to my left), and underneath I had pocket queens. Other than that, nada.
We moved into stud and I'd been whittled down to 17,600 against my own will. We'd lost another player by then, putting us at 15 and up one spot on the pay scale. Then I was dealt an ace up in stud (hi only), and a player with a six up three seats to my right completed. I peeked and saw another ace underneath, though I would likely have reraised here anyway. I was all in by fifth, and I made aces up while the original raiser doubled me up after not improving on his starting pair of sixes. I swiped two more pots in the stud round, one after completing with a split pair of tens and getting no callers, the other with a jack up and ace-seven underneath -- true crap -- that the bring-in called but gave up on after catching a second rag on fourth.
I'd snuck back up to 43,000 as we entered stud hi/lo, which had been good to me the entire previous day. Could I make it work again?
Not in these eight hands. A steady diet of nines and tens and jacks for up cards, though I did keep dodging the bring-ins. We did lose another player, but I was down 8,000 just on my antes.
We jumped another level just as we moved back to hold'em, so instead of a 1,000 ante in the stud games, I caught a round of blinds and had six more hands of crap. Raises in front of my button and cutoff and ugly cards precluded a steal attempt. It was my big blind again, with 27,600 in front of me, when I squeezed and found a pair of shiny red aces. Across the way, Doug Lorgeree, a funny and good-natured guy from Mississippi that had gone on a rush, looked at my shrinking stack from the cutoff and made it 10,000. I gave it some pretend thought, then made it 15,000. Doug called.
Flop 8-9-Q. I bet. He called. Turn was a ten. I hate it, but I don't even have a full big bet remaining so I push in my remaining chips. If he has a jack, so be it. He's calling me down here with any pair, to be sure. And as expected, he called.
He didn't have a jack. He had 7-6 off for the turned straight. I had four outs to the chop but the river was a queen instead. My aces are duly cracked and I'm out in 13th, for $984. I get the handshakes and compliments and all, but out is out. I could have waited for one super-short stack at the next table to bust, thereby giving me another $133 jump in pay, but I wanted to final-table that thing. If it wasn't going to happen with aces, it wasn't going to happen.
There's always next time, right?
I figured immediate sleep was a lost cause, so I worked on a couple of stories until 4am, then set my alarm for 8 am. But I tossed and turned and woke up for good at 7am, so I went back to work for a few hours, checking the headlines, working on site things and so on.
I had an interesting choice to make. I was scheduled to do a brief phone interview with November Nine member Ylon Schwartz at noon my time and I had to figure out how best to get it done. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that trying to do it from my place and then trying to rush over to a 2pm start would be stressful at best, and perhaps impossible if any sort of midday traffic tie-up occurred. So, I figured I had two options -- drive all the way over to the Horseshoe and do it from there, or drive around on the Tri-State again and look for an oasis with wi-fi service. I have a ham-radio quality headset and the software for recording VOIP calls, so the problem was to find decent enough service.
That's the plan I went with, as it turned out. Though, dear Ylon, if you ever read this, your interview was done from the South Illinois Tri-State Tollway oasis, with complimentary wi-fi service provided by Progressive Auto Insurance.
I'm pretty sure I couldn't have imagined that combination of circumstances ten years ago.
I even had some old fart come by after I was done to ask what brand of headset I was using. I must have been a sight. As to anyone wondering why I didn't go ahead and drive over to Horseshoe and do it from there, it had more to do with the rigors of checking in and out from security. All the business visitors there, including dealers and staff, received the same sort of small "Visitor" clip-on badge, and there is a very strict rule about not gambling while one of these is in one's possession, or even appears to be in one's possession, having been issued. There's an entire "Time In / Time Out" check-in procedure to go through. Unclipping the pass and going over to a table to play would be a pretty whopping big no-no. So I didn't want to risk any type of situation at all, and opted not to be an official press person at the Horseshoe on Tuesday or Wednesday during the duration of my play.
I negotiated the crummy construction zone again and got up to the "The Venue" venue about 1:30. The few other players who were there and I all agreed that it was a crapshoot at this stage, with such a low average "M" (around 3 or 4, if you figure out some way of computing it for the stud games), that it was just a matter of cards now. I knew I'd need to catch a double-up early to have any sort of chance at all.
We started with our remaining three hands of stud hi/lo, and I saw three more hands to match the unplayable stuff I'd finished up with the previous night. After just one more hand of hold'em, we'd lost two players to move down to 16 and another redraw and game draw, and we jumped over hold'em and Omaha and went to razz. We also moved to the two tables just below the stage, while the final table in the previous day's first event was underway up above.
The glare was awful, due to the angle of the stage lights above us, and it turned out we were just there temporarily as they put the chairs in place around the other two tables up on the stage, where we'd soon move again. "Temporarily" equaled one hand, as it turned out.
We grabbed our chips and moved again, up the stairs. I was sort of glad I didn't have one of the deep stacks, for all the reracking going on.
For most of the players up there, playing poker in a stage or studio setting was a first-time experience; I'd been through it once before, so I wasn't bothered by that part of it. All I needed was a hand good enough to lose with, but I kept getting worthless rags that I couldn't even play. The entire rotation of razz passed by and I never saw anything. One time I had an ace up; the first ace was to my right and completed, and I looked underneath and saw K-Q. One time I saw a deuce (but with both an ace and a three to my left), and underneath I had pocket queens. Other than that, nada.
We moved into stud and I'd been whittled down to 17,600 against my own will. We'd lost another player by then, putting us at 15 and up one spot on the pay scale. Then I was dealt an ace up in stud (hi only), and a player with a six up three seats to my right completed. I peeked and saw another ace underneath, though I would likely have reraised here anyway. I was all in by fifth, and I made aces up while the original raiser doubled me up after not improving on his starting pair of sixes. I swiped two more pots in the stud round, one after completing with a split pair of tens and getting no callers, the other with a jack up and ace-seven underneath -- true crap -- that the bring-in called but gave up on after catching a second rag on fourth.
I'd snuck back up to 43,000 as we entered stud hi/lo, which had been good to me the entire previous day. Could I make it work again?
Not in these eight hands. A steady diet of nines and tens and jacks for up cards, though I did keep dodging the bring-ins. We did lose another player, but I was down 8,000 just on my antes.
We jumped another level just as we moved back to hold'em, so instead of a 1,000 ante in the stud games, I caught a round of blinds and had six more hands of crap. Raises in front of my button and cutoff and ugly cards precluded a steal attempt. It was my big blind again, with 27,600 in front of me, when I squeezed and found a pair of shiny red aces. Across the way, Doug Lorgeree, a funny and good-natured guy from Mississippi that had gone on a rush, looked at my shrinking stack from the cutoff and made it 10,000. I gave it some pretend thought, then made it 15,000. Doug called.
Flop 8-9-Q. I bet. He called. Turn was a ten. I hate it, but I don't even have a full big bet remaining so I push in my remaining chips. If he has a jack, so be it. He's calling me down here with any pair, to be sure. And as expected, he called.
He didn't have a jack. He had 7-6 off for the turned straight. I had four outs to the chop but the river was a queen instead. My aces are duly cracked and I'm out in 13th, for $984. I get the handshakes and compliments and all, but out is out. I could have waited for one super-short stack at the next table to bust, thereby giving me another $133 jump in pay, but I wanted to final-table that thing. If it wasn't going to happen with aces, it wasn't going to happen.
There's always next time, right?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)