deposited my homegame winnings into my online account. I used western union b/c of my upcoming refinance/bank statement review.

What a fucking rip off western union is. I thought the 9% juice charged by Neteller was excessive. It cost me $22 to deposit $135 into my pokerstars acocunt. Just plain rediculous.

I played a $3r to the $1mil sunday, and made it down past 75% of the field, I got sat at a table with a donkey with a big stack. To make a long story short, I had AK, he had JQ, reraised my raise from the SB, the flop came out small cards and he pushed. I knew he was making a move b/c I had seen him do it before and his TA was 5.7. I was only into the game for 4 buyins total, so not a big loss. I think next time I take a shot I am going to do the double shoot outs or the $39's I just hate playing with the idiots sometimes. Sure they pay you off, but they suck out plenty too.

I ended up playing 4 tabling NL ring games for a little bit but didnt lke playing without a bonus to clear or rakeback, so I cashed out and deposited $100 onto UB picking up another $25 in bonus dollars. I'm going to continue to play the $0.05/$0.1 NL games to build my BR. I'm enjoying playing NL cash games these days, even if it is at such a small level. I want to keep my BR protected, and I can build up my BR at a pace similar to $11 STT's, if not faster. I usually only put $5 on a table, and leave when I hit $20. Sometimes that only takes 10 mins. I just wish I could play 4 tables at once on UB instead of 3. I did notice that they have NO MAX NL tables now, I dont know when they added them but I just noticed them. Thats a great thing for an online site to do.

Well I'm tired its late and I'm going to bed. I'm happy now that my online BR is back over $200,and I didnt have to reload (outside of my poker funds). I am shitty that I had to donate $22 to Western Union out of my poker funds, but hopefully its the last time.

Boosted my Homegame Bankroll

So my homegame profits for the year were sitting at $135. I went to play yesterday afternoon. We were supposed to play a $20 game and then a $50 game. When I showed up there were only 5 other people there, others had called and siad they would be late.

We decided to start a short handed game with 1400 chips, blinds starting at 25/50 and 20 min levels. I didnt start out to well when I had one player to my left always coming over the top of my raises, even though I had hands, I didnt have a strong enough hand to call him. I ended up down to the felt early. Some how I squeeked out a comeback and ended up being the chip leader. When we were 3 handed the blinds were about 200/400. I was on the button and dealt 5s3s. The bb had been raising every time he was on bb for 2x. I decided to call figuring if the flop hit me it would likely miss him. Wham flop 5cJs3c, bb bet out 800, I paused and the nraised it to 1600, he called. turn was a Qh, bb went allin, I was really concerned, I knew there was a possibility he had hit top 2 pair. The way he played it, that was certainly what I thought he held. I also gave him some credit for AQ giving him TPTK. I decided to call, he showed Qc8c and didnt improve on the river.

We normally play winner take all when short handed but I offered the last player his buyin backfor 2nd, he jumped on the offer immediately, considering I had him out chipped at least 12 to 1. So I took down an $80 profit on that game. After this game finished up we had 4 more players show. We couldnt talk them into playing for higher stakes, so we played another $20 game, paying 60%/30%/10%. I was down to the felt early when trying to make a move on a hand. I was on the button, UTG bet 2x bb, and everyone called all the way around. I had Ah8h, and made it 500. We had started with 2000 in chips, and the blinds were 25/50. I ended up getting one caller. The same player who was coming over the top of me in the first game. The flop came out and missed me, I bet another 500 into it and he pushed all in. I had to flod, I dont know if he could beat A high, but I couldnt afford to find out.

I was down to 100 chips in the sb when the blinds were 100/200. I won the main pot of 700 when every one called. I had kd8d, and ended up floping a K and a K on the river. those chips didnt last long, and by the time the bb was back to me I was allin again, this time with Qd9d, I had 3 people in the hand, and won the pot. I was back in the game before I knew it. In fact I was second in chips with 5000 vs 5800. the blinds were up to 400/800 I was one off the button. UTG+2 opened up for a raise of 2xbb. This put 2800 in the pot. I look down to KsJs. The player who was UTG+1 was the same player who I had been dealing with all night. I decided to push hoping he would fold his hand since he had the chip lead. I thought about it and CALLED! showing KhQd. The board missed us both and I was out.

We played another game after this one for $30 this time. 3 players had left. we started this game with 3,000 in chips. I took down a couple big pots in the first few hands, but before you knew it I was back into a nother HU pot with the same clown. He kept tellin me he had a vendetta against me, but I let teh ass monkey have his buyin back in the first game.

Anyway I had KK in LP and he was on the bb, I made it 3.5xbb and he called. flop was 7s7h4c. He bet out a small amount and I went allin. He turned over 7c8c.... and I was drawing to 2 outs, and didnt improve.

So that game was over for me, but before you know it that guy was done 2. Then he asked me if I wanted to play heads up for $20. Me Heads up? Hell YA! bring it on, but I told him I would only play him HU Limit Cash for 50/1. I had brought my NJ chips and we both bought in for $20. I busted his head so quick. So he bought in again for $20. Didnt take me long to clean that out either. So that helped bring my profits back up. He didnt want to play anymore after that. It was a quit enjoyable experience for me to take him down for some extra cash. He's a pretty cocky little punk anyway. He actually started out in the lead when we first started but it didnt take me long to comeback and reclaim my $. All the HU games I have played really payed off, the chance to take him down was worth more than I lost last week.

Anyway, I scrapped out a $70 profit and had a good time hanging with friends. One of the guys told me about another home game with an $80 buyin and the play mixed games. He invited me to it, but its on monday nights, so I might not be able to get there.

Well this could turn out not to be such a bad thing after all....

I am actually building my bankroll back up, slowly but surely, playing donk bingo... I dont know why I am so exciited about having a $30 bankroll. Considering I was playing $33-$55 sitngo's a few weeks back. O well I cant afford to look back, and have to keep my eyes focused.

I think all of my Tournament play and limit play acctually improved my NL cash game skills. I can lay down hands I never could before, Its like the first hand of a tournament every hand, except I have info on my opponents already. I have learned patience playing the MTT's and how to set traps.

I'm no longer playing the top 4 hands with a push or fold strategy. I am playing fairly tight and after 1k hands I have a VP$P of 18%. Honestly that is probably the tightest I have ever played. I am usually up near 26%. An online freind of mine who is a professional online and live player were talking poker strategy about 6 or 8 months ago. When we were talking about NL cash games he told me that NL cash games are easy, just never bluff off all of your chips. That doesnt mean you cant take a stab at a pot when you have position, or a solid draw. I dont know I have been thinking about alot of the things we discussed then while I am grinding it out in the copper mine. Of course he plays the highest limits on prima that are nothing like the games I am playing. Playing these ultra-micro stakes is even more reason not to bluff. So I have just been playing solid poker.

I was reviewing my hand histories and charts for the last 2 weeks, and am just dissapointed in myself. I really need to start playing with some sort of stop loss in place. My plummet resembled the face of El Capitan, it was straight down, with only the minor and insignificant rebound. Over my last week tho0ugh its shown a nice steady increase.

I am really proud that I have been able to grind my bankroll back up. OF course its only a fraction of what I lost, but I was able to humble myself and go down to limits I've never really played at except to steam. I think a the point where I realized I had to stop, my bankroll on UB was about $5.31. That was about monday night, currently my UB bankroll is $30.61. I also picked up some rakeback of $26.44 today. I swapped that on FTP to stars with one of the good guys at pfox so that I can play the members tourney tonight on stars, but right now I am to tired to play, and dont want to put 25% of my bankroll on the line when I am so exhausted. I have had good luck in the members tourney's lately, and could use the added bankroll boost. Its nice to play a sitngo with agroup of guys who know whats going on and dont make all kinds of crazy donk moves. Unfortunately I am going to have to exercise some sort of sanity, and not enter it when I am not in a position to play optimally.

So anyway I'll continue to grind the penny tables at UB at least until I clear off my bonus $'s. Right now I have $23 in bonus $'s left. I figure thats going to take me about 3k hands to clear. The bonus isnt to bad though playing 3 tables at once. I always sit at the tables with the highest avg. hand value, and its clearing faster than the blinds are hitting me. Doesnt seem like much but right now every little bit counts.

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I got my Nevada Jacks Chips today, I am really torn on whether I should keep them or not. They are real nice but the ebay value on the is about $125. I dont know just cant decide, I dont really want to get rid of them though.... desicions, desicions.

Enough babbling, I'm going to bed

Today is a good day.

Had some rakeback come thru that I forgot about. My bankroll now stands at a whopping $44.13 +$22.5 T$, and I have another $35 in the piepline from rakeback. Thats squeeks my over $100. I might even hang on to my nevada jacks chips that come today. It depends on how nice they are.

Thats all move along....

Boy this is excrutiating... I am never going to donk off my bankroll again.

I have been playing the $0.01/$0.02 NL tables at UB. The play is terrible, I have been playing at about 18%VP$P, and not protecting my hands too much b/c most of these idiots will call with any Ace, Kxs, and a host of other ragged holdings.

I have ben able to scrap my pennies together and with clearing my bonus a penny at a time, I have edged up to $15 , I actually peaked a little higher but caugh some nasty river beats from the donkposse. Its all good though I rather expect it. I hope in the long term it helps me to improve my NL cash game.

I checked out my rakeback account and have about $35 showing so far, but tis on a delay so I am not sure what I can expect but maybe $35-$50 around the 10th of next month. Hell if I keep up my pace I might be over $100 by then.

Its tough for me since at the end of last year I was playing 2/4 comfortably, and even after I threw away my bankroll on xmas eve, I was able to recover with a small deposit and take down the 2k win on bodog. Now I am playing penny bingo. Just a bummer for the most part.

I am playing a home game this weekend and might slide one of my friends a couple $'s to transfer me on an online site, or even sell my Nevada Jacks chips to one of the guys for an online transfer. Its kinda dissapointing b/c I would like to have some nice chips for home games, but havent hosted any other than games for fun, b/c none of our couple friends are willing to throw down for a buyin. Thats a whole different story though, maybe later. The short is they suck anyway and I own them everytime we play so I cant blame them for not wanting to gamble on the games.

I probably wont be playing any freerolls like I planned either, just b/c the expected value is so minor even if I take it down. Over a four hour span I cna probably make 10-20 playing $0.01/$0.02 NL bingo. My strategy is simple, buy in at 32bb and play tight, and hit and run. Its a crude concept, and I have never been one to do the hit and run tactic, but drastic times call for drastic measures.

I am actually following a safe bankroll management to. I have 24 buyins at the level I am playing. It sucks buying in less than the max, but most of these guys playing these tables are playing on short stacks too. I have been sitting at the tables with the highest average hand value too. Most of them have been $1.25 to $1.75. This helps me clear my bonus at an extra penny or so per rotation... sarcasim....

This journal could turn out to be a rather interesting history of how I go from my $3 to $xk. We'll see how that goes, only time will tell. I do have some change sitting on bodog and $20 some $'s in T$, but those are about worthless at bodog, unless I want to sat my way into the 100k, or a WSOP qualifier.

I guess thats enough rambling about my bankroll woes

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Only 2 weeks until I turn 30, or the tragedy :-p

It came out today that mister multi-account cheasting bastard JJProdigy is only 16, in fact he just turned 16. What a waste of talent, in somone who doesnt understand accountability. If you dont have honour, and integrity what the fuck are you ever going to be? Sure politicians get great rates on hookers, but can you really stand to look at yourself in the mirror knowing how sleazy and dishonest you are? I could never pull of some shady shit like that. I dont think that I could have done that shit even when I was 15-16, I have always been a man of my word, I gues they dont teach ethics in school these days.

I'm not going to beat the dead horse though, I hope the kid recovers from the experience, and in a couple years has a profitable poker career.

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I dont think I'm going to be able to play in the WSOP sat at ceasars in march unless I take down one of the homegames. Unless I can boost my bankroll enough to play a sat on stars and sell my T$'s.

I'm tired and feel like I am at the point of babbling, so enough is enough.

l8r

So I grinded out a minor profit yesterday, I signed up for several freerolls, but never really got into the m and my wife was getting pissed at me so I blew them off jsut as easy as I had singed up for them.

I have some small rakeback credits coming soon, so hopefully I can hold out until those come in. I am grinding on the smallest of small stakes. O joy, I actually decidedto conduct an experiment with my meager bankroll. The following was posted on pokerfox yesterday, and although I had seen it before, I thought there was no better time to give it a shot.

"I worked on this game theory, just for kicks. I worked out a guaranteed way to win $28 an hour in Vegas, which is a decent living for a lot of people, but it doesn’t really interest me much. But I needed to see if it would work.

There are so many maniacs at the casino. A lot of people watch TV and think they have figured out poker because they’ve watched it for an hour. They don’t realize it’s 12 hours of shooting and they’ve edited it down to an hour. All you see is bluffs gone bad and maniac moves that go well – and that’s not real poker.

So I worked it out with millions of simulations on the computer and then went and did it for a seven month period, five days a week, and it came out at $28.64 an hour. Here’s how it works. You play the low blind games. I would say the best ones to play are the $2/$5 games. In a low blind game, a bunch of chips is not strength, it’s vulnerability – unless you’re one of the best players around (and if you’re one of the best players around you wouldn’t be playing the $2/$5 games!). Too many people want to look at a flop and anybody playing the $2/$5 has only a certain level of ability. That means that their big chip stack in front of them, if they stay there long enough, is gonna get sucked out from under them.

What is the only move a pro would make if he was on a short stack? He would go all-in if he had A-A, K-K, Q-Q or A-K. So I’ve simplified the game down to one move, because that is the move the best pro in the world would make.

So, you buy in for $140 – let everyone else have the big stacks. You sit there and wait for one of those four hands. If you’ve got a maniac to your left, you limp in and let him raise it and go all-in when it comes back to you. You’re going to see one of those combos on average once in about 43 or 44 hands. So, say you’ve blinded down to about $120. If no one calls you when you go all in, you’ll have probably picked up about forty dollars. So now you’re at $160. Then you’ll blind down another $20 or so (your original buy-in), before you get a shot at it again. If someone does call you the first time, and you win, you’re at about $240 and you’re $100 ahead, so you cash out and put your name back on the list, or walk across the street to another casino and do the same thing.

It’s just money management. You cash out and buy back in for $140 and do the same thing again. It’s foolproof. It’s chump bait, because if you’re down to $140 and there are all these big stacks, and there’s already $60 in the pot, someone’s going to call you with a KJ suited or whatever.

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson – who’s a good friend of mine – took a dollar and turned it into $20,000 over a five-month period using my system – just for a lark in his spare time. Isn’t that funny? They’re a little tigther online than they are in Vegas, so what you want to do is play four screens at the same time, each with sixty dollars. Doing that will actually make you more money. That comes to $37 per hour and some change."

I gave this a shot at the $0.01/$.02 No Limit Tables, Man I have never in my life played so tight. Not much action when your only playing top 4 hands. I did sway from the system a little bit, If I was in the blind and it was checked to me and I had a h top ten hand I would bet it. I would limp into an unraised pot with AQ, JJ, TT, 99, and play it if I floped a setor paired my A or Q.

I was only dealt AK twice, AA once, KK twice, QQ once in the short time I played. 3 times the players laid down thier hand, 2 times I was paid off, and one time my KK was cracked with A8o.
I bought into the games at $0.60 and showed a small profit for the 100 hands or so that I sat. I did clear some bonus $ too at the same time. I will probably continue this little experiment for the next couple days and see how it goes. I will also look back at my pokertracker stats and see what the results are once I have more data. I only wish that Ultimate bet allowed you to play more than 3 cs htables at once....

---

I did talk to one of my home game friends who is new to online poker, he was asking me about different sites, so far he has only played stars and bodog. I sent him a little summary of my favorite sites (stars, fulltilt, and UB) and some referral links. If he signs up through UB for rakeback I will get a $50 bankroll bump, and if he goes to FTP I will get a $65 bankroll bump.

If you dont play on those sites you can help out a bankroll degenerate and give me a little boost.
UB rakeback link , Full Tilt referral link

Of course I am not above begging and if you want to just send me a handout (or backing if you prefer) I play on:
Stars- scaryjerry1
FTP - InYourHead
UB - pokahplay3r

That about all I have right now, having no bankroll really sucks! I have ~$25 on bodog, <$1 on FTP, $9 on UB, and thats its. I am going to ebay my Nevada Jacks poker chips that I am getting for free from PSO and hopefully will net ~$100 on them. I cant have any $ transfers from my personal bank account right now b/c I am refinancing my mortgage and have to show my bank statements to the lender :-( Anyway I hope you enjoyed the littel pity party I threw myself. I leave you with this

FUCK ONLINE POKER MULTI ENTRY TOURNAMENT CHEATERS!

Dogs Play poker Bulldogs Cheat

gg bankroll management

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Had a bad run this weekend, played in 2 tournaments and a couple stt's, the total buyins were equivalent to hald my bankroll. I only cashed in one that was a WSOP satellite, and didnt make it through the next satellite.

I also tooled around with some kill games on UB, I enjoyed them but took some bad beats along the was and they ended up costing me. Throw in the fact that they wre a higher limit than general bankroll guidlines allow for and it was a formula for disaster.

Disaster struck, and now I am stuck.... its not a great feeling. I have a miniscual bankroll now not really enough to do anything worthwhile with. I can stand the thought of grinding the super-micro's because I have too. Its ok when I have other options, but when I am forced to, it sucks.

I'm not sure what I am going to do at this point. My bankroll is ~$140, but spread around, and I cant transfer it b/c of min. withdrawl/deposit requirements. I am thinking of taking a week off. or only playing freeroll MTT's. I have some alright one's that I can play in that will net me a little $.

I played off some of my UB points in the ring games this morning, loosing ~2000 of those in the 10/20 limit game. Man some of those guys are sic gamblers. They chased any drawing hand they had. And most of them rode a rush right through my chips.

Redepositing is not an option for me either. I am going through a financial process where the lender needs to review my bank statements. Its probably in my best interest not to have any gambling transactions on those statements.

I am just a little dissapointed in myself right now, I've been down this road before, and should know better by now. I thought I would knockout a couple $11 sitngoes on UB to build back up, well my first one I had KK and ran into AA, the guy had been playing alot of hands and I put him on a draw when the board showed two clubs, and the turn was a blank. I had less than the pot but we were even stacked, I think we both had 1000, and there was 1700 in the pot. I pushed he called the rest is history.

.... I was interrupted while writing this entry, I hav elost my train of thought and rather than let this entry site in my drafts folder I have decided to post it as is, b/c It defines where I am at right now.

creeping along

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Still going at the 6max game. I actually didnt play very much tonight. In fact I just checked my PT stats and I havent played much at all lately. I guess the good thing is everytime I've played I have had a winning session.

I only have 1500 hands played at UB and I think thats for just about a week. Not many hands at all. I only have 300 at the limit I am playing now, but am showing a 25bb/100 win rate. Unfortunately that is offset by my losses at the NL tables, and a losing round of hands at a lower 6max game. I am only showing a 25bb profit (at my current level) when taking into account all of my games. A profit is a profit though and I will take it.

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I was online today checking out the nearest casino, which is a Ceasars. Apparently they run a NLHE Tournament with a $200+20 buyin every saturday. The tournament is limited to 250 ppl and they include 3 WSOP main even entries in the prize pool. I sent the tournament director an email asking if this was added to the prize pool or is paid for out of the prize pool. In any event, I think that as my birthday present to myself I am going to make a trip to the casino and take a shot at it.

i read some reviews on their cardroom which was recently remodeled to host a WSOP circuit event. All of the reviews were positve except for one by some jackass who was crying about being on a waitlist and getting skipped because of some miscomunication on his part.

I will probably play some of the cash games too, because they open up tournament signups to the cash game players first. I asked them to send me a starting chip size and blind schedule too, obviously if this was an obsurd schedule I will have to pass. I have read about cardrooms hosting tournaments with crazy blind structures that are intended to end the tournament fast and get the players into the cash games. Anyway I'm excited about the prospect of going down there and playing, and hopefully I can build my bankroll up and not have to pay out of pocket. Something I was thinking about doing is playing the $5r to the stars $530 thats coming up and if I place sell that to one of the sites or individuals that pay for T$'s. Basically a satellite into that tournament.

---

I got an email from Nevada Jacks about my chips. I am planning on upgrading them to a 500pc set and picking up ~100 extra chips so that I can have enough chips for a home cash game and 10 man tournament. I'm probably going to submit my order with them early next week, I still cant decide if I want the skulls chips or the desert sands.

I did read a good review on them at chiptalk. They are said to be good chips, and I'm sure they will be better than my made in china dice chips that I got on ebay @ $40 for 1k. Now I will have to get around to building a poker table to splah them around on.

ggggggg G-Unit

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G as in grinder. I'm falling back into my 6 max limit game. Its all coming back to me now. I like 6 max so much better than full ring. And of course I like HU the most, more than 3 handed for sure.

I guess it has to do with my ADD and needing constant stimulation. I just cant stand waiting for a full table to act when playing limit. I can tolerate it a little more when its no limit, because studying your opponents is so much more crucial.

Anyway I started the night playing at the .5/1 table, actually lost about 40bb b/c I had some guys at my table who would call down anything, and were getting pretty good at catching with it. I dont really mind, but wasnt getting cards, and when I was, I was getting beat on the river.

I stepped up and started playing 1/2 6 max, and ver looked back, I made made back my 20bb (accounting for limit difference) and strapped up another 30bb profit for a short session. I also cleared about 12% of my pending bonus $, and scraped up a little rakeback. So not to bad.

I am watching the WPT on the travel channel. They are airing a limit tournament (which is rare) with Paul Darden and Michael Gracz. Darden is one of my favorite players b/c he came from the streets and the pool hall. I actually hussled quite a bit in the pool hall when I was growing up and like Darden I worked as a street pharmacist for a while. I like Gracz too b/c he has some natural talent, and is a solid player. Of course he catches some slack on this episode for sucking out, but hey thats part of the game of limit holdem. Its definetly a different game than NL, and each takes a different strategy. A limit tounament takes luck and skill to win. My best Limit Tournament finish was 4th, and it was one of my toughest MTT's.

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I think I am getting together with some friends to play a home game next week for a $50 buyin. I was listening to an interview with Steve Dannemann and he was talking about their home game. They start out with 5k in chips and play 20 min blinds based on the WSOP blind schedule, which includes antes. He said they used to play more of a crap shot tournament, and would try to squeeze in 2 games. Now they just play longer better game that allows for more skill. I threw this idea out to my friend who hosts the game most of the time, and he said he would be up for that. So we will see how it goes. Hopefully we'll have enough players to pay out a couple of positions since the stakes are higher than normal for this home game.

---

I have a ton of Player credits on different sites and I think I will try to use them to play in some MTT"s. I have enough on PokerStars to try to satellite into the 750k about 6 times, a bunch on Absolute, some on UB, lots on FTP, and I have a free entry to the Paradise Millions. I think I am going to stick to this level of buyin to get my MTT fix for the rest of the month. Although I dont know when I will even get around to or have enough time to sit down and play one of these MTT's. Thats one advantage to shifting back to cash games, I can fit it into my schedule easier, and my expectation is higher most of the time.

Swimming in the kiddie pool

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So I have been screwing around on UB playing with my $2 rakeback. I managed to play it up to a whooping $15 playing .05/.1 6 max.

Well the novelty has wore off rather quick. I just cant stand playing at that level. It wouldnt be so bad if thats what I was bankrolled for, but thats just not the case. So what I have won 130 bb's in the last 2 days. It doesnt amount to squat.

So I have gone ahead and transfered some cash over to UB, not much but enough to be comfortable playing .5/1 6max limit. At this level I can clear my bonus at a reasonable rate, and earn rakeback. The competition is pretty soft with only the occassional good 6max player. I plan on sticking around at least long enough to clear my bonus. It will probably only take me thru sunday to clear my bonus account, and then I plan on moving to a different site to bonus whore, possibly Absolute.

So I make my deposit, play a little 6max limit, and decide that I might give 6max NL a shot. I sat down at a .1/.25 NL 6max table, and managed to lose $50 or so after about a half hour of play. I decided maybe I better hold off on the NL until I am bankrolled a little better. I was actually down ~$80, but managed to scoop a couple good pots.

So I started a full ring .5/1 limit table to boost my bonus clearing. I was killing the HU and shorthanded game, but once the table filled up I lost about 15bb of my profit. I decided to drop that table and go to a 6max.

I started a 6max table. I dont mind starting tables b/c my bonus clears 25% faster and I am more than comfortable playing HU and shorthanded. In fact I prefer playing HU limit cash games more than any other game. The only reason I dont play them more often is b/c I hate it when I am stuck a little and some jackass decides he's going to hit and run. Pussy ass motherfuckers know that they will get out played. So when it comes to the HU I prefer the sitngo NL matches. NL is a much quicker game to complete than limit so I go that route. I have sat and played a ton of HU limit sitngos, but the hrly rate just isnt the same vs. risk. If I was bankrolled to play 100 hu I might go the limit route.

Anyway, I sat at a 6max as the first player. Wouldnt you know that I was playing a guy HU for about 5-10 mins before someone sat down. I ended up busting the original player so its me against the new player now. He hit a flush draw on the river and scooped a big pot to my flopped straight. The jackass hit and ran, I should have know it was going to happen when a guy sits with 12.5bb he's probably on his last bit of change anyways.

I didnt let it phase me and still scrapped up a profit. I erased all my NL loses and ended up 2bb for my session.

I need to learn to stay focused on what I am good at, and not squander off my $ at other games. Then again its hard to improve your game if you dont take shots. I want to take the shots, and often do, I am a little apprehensive though playing NL cash games. When I first started playing online I only played NL cash. I did quite well, but then I would get greedy and move up to a higher limit than I was bankrolled for. Usually taking 1/4-1/3 of my bankroll to the table. This proved disasterous on so many occasions. I think I have a mental scar for these experiences, and its going to be a hurdle for me to get past.

For now I am going to focus on the 6max .5/1 limit game. I might toss in an occassional NL session but its going to be at the supermicro level if I do.

---

I havent posted my bankroll in a while. I kinda feel uncomfortable doing it anymore. I think I might start posting my results, but in a bb format. maybe bb's for the day/week/month. I think that might be something I can be more comfortable with. My bankroll hasnt changed much in the last 2 weeks, even though I have taken some stabs at the big MTT's

---

So the big MTT's, I dont know if I will be playing any of them anytime soon. After the issues raised at 2+2 and p5's about JJProdigy and being exposed for cheating. I dont know that I want to risk going up a against a pro playing multiple accounts. It really is bullshit. gg grandma! I bet his grandma wouldnt be proud of him knowing that he is willing to cheat and break the rules to win. Obviously poker is about pushing edges, but creating edges by cheating is wrong. Is no differrent than having a mechanic deal your home game, palming chips, or any of the other ways to cheat. In order for the game to survive there needs to be some sort of integrity, or people will stop playing. I hope that somehow the sites come up with a way to at least slow this down.

---

If you are interested in getting rakeback at UltimateBet click the rakerebate.net link in my right column.

gg MTT's

---

Did horrible in the 150k guaranteed. In fact I think it was my worst showing ever. Maybe its the 4 redbulls I drank before the tourney began. I tried to stay out of the game, but just couldnt. I tried to make some moves with medium pocket pairs, and didnt have the nuts to follow thru on them. I ended up finding my self with about half my starting chips and dealt QQ UTG. I bet out 3.25x the bb, and found 4 callers. Flop showed an Ace and a flush draw. I should have let my hand go. Everyone checked. Turn brought the flush card. I had the Q to the flush and had about 1200 in chips, there was about 700 in the pot. there were 2 players to act behind me and 2 in front. The two players in front checked. I thought about it and decided to make the movepush, unfortunetly one of the players behing me had J9 to the flush. I didnt catch another heart and was knocked out 801 of 890. Just a terrible and feeling knowing I should have let the hand go when the A came.

Anyway, I went ahead and cashed out my paradise account. I wasnt real found of the site, and unless they are running some deposit bonuses I wont be playing there in the near future.

I decided to go and mess around on bodog since I had about $70 on there still. I played a $11 STT and went out in level 4. I then ditched that site, b/c playing the STT reminded me why I hadnt played there in a while. They really need to work on their software. Apparently they have made some improvements, but its still crap.

I then went to check on my UB account. I had $2.27 on their from rakeback from a month or 2 ago that was deposited after I cashed out. I figured I couldnt do any harm playing with that and sat down at a 6 max 0.05/0.1 limit table. O the drama.

I felt kind of rediculous playing that low of a limit table but decided to make a challenge of it. I had about $70 in bonus $ that I hadnt cleared. I statrted a table so that I earned 25% more UB points than normal, and started grinding away. I actually managed to get it up to $5 before my table broke. I also cleared $2 in bonus $. I took a break to eat some dinner and then sat at another table. It was another 6max .05/.1 limit table. I played for a little bit and when I quit my UB bankroll was a whopping $9.49. I think I might mess around and see if I can clear my entire bonus before moving on. If I can get up to $25 I will move to the .25/.5 table so that I will earn a little rakeback while I'm at it. I'm earning rakeback at the .05/.1 limit but I'm sure its something rediculously miniscule. I havent checked my stats, but at 300 hands with an average rake of $0.03 at 6 max with my 28% rake I would earn $0.42. Woohaaa time to retire.

---

I noticed that pokerstars had a 5500 person field today in the 750k, which put it over 1 million. The field was so largethe software couldnt handle the payout structure and resorted back to 50/30/20 for first second and third. Pokerstars owns the online tournament market.

The revised payouts are posted online

The winner is set to take down $173k. Thats just unbelievable.

I dont think I will be playing any MTT's for a while after my latest results. My game seems to go in cycles. I think I am in the ring game cycle right now, maybe when I get back into MTTs I will take another shot at the largest online weekly tournament.

Right now I am going to be focusing back on bankroll building through cash games, and primarily focus on limit games and bonus whoring with rakeback.

---

Something else thats been on my mind lately is that In less than 4 weeks I will turn 30! Man how time flies. I honestly never thought I would live to be 30 when I was younger. I grew up in the inner city ghetto and in the hood nobody lives that long. I can remeber being 16 running around being a thug, getting shot at or doing the shooting. So many of the guys I grew up with died at a young age, or are spending the rest of their life in prison. I always felt like I might be shot the next day, and really came to expect it.

I feel privlidged that I was able to escape that environment, and mentality. I worked hard and was fortunate enough to have a few people who ended up being role models and positive influences in my life. I actually got in some serious trouble when I was 17 , and even after I turned 21. There was a real chance that I was going to be joining those friends in prison. I managed to dodge the bullet and get a second (or fourth, or fifth) chance to do the right thing.

I went to school and earned a college degree to keep myself from being involved in the activities that had put me in that predicament.

Anyway looking back now I realize how lucky I was, and am glad that I am going to be bale to enjoy my 30th birthday with my family friends, and children. Even if I am going to be the subject of over the hill jokes, its better than the alternative.

oops I fixed the link

ok someone help this fool save his finger

save my finger dot com

Not much to post since Tuesday

---

I haven't actually played much this week. I tried my hand at a Stars 750k sat on wednesday or thursdays. I made it pretty deep but the payout was limited to only 20 people. When we were down to ~120 people I tried to isolate a short stack with a semi vulnerable hand from the button. The short stack had a M of 3-4 there was a min raise from UTG. UTG had me covered by <1k with both of us sitting with 25k in chips. The SS was in LP and had 4k, that put ~7k in the pot. I pushed with Ks9s. SS showed JT, and UTG called with AKo. Flop showed an K and two spades. I turn was an A and river was a 9.

It wasnt the best play on my part, I had a vunerable hand, but was willing to take it against the SS. I really should have folded and waited for a better spot to pick off the short stacks. It happenes though.


Other than that I have played a handful of HU matches on Paradise. I feel like I am becoming an extremely strong heads up player. In the last few weeks I have played 33 heads up matches at paradise and won 24 of them. I have only been playing $10's HU's and 3-$20 HU's.


I have been reading more in this past week since I havent been playing. Reading through some Chapters in supersystem, and HOH2. I been purusing several articles online to. Pokerfox, pocketfives, twoplustwo, betthepot, and cardplayer all have had some good reads lately.


Tonight I am playing the 150k guaranteed on paradise. The fields are pretty small compared to stars and what I have been used to playing. I am expecting a field of 600-800 players. I am fairly confident that I will show a profit in this event. I only have to show a prize of $20 to have a profit. I am going to turn on my A game and see if I cant mae a better showing than I did in last weeks Stars 750k.


I have only played ~6 MTT's on Paradise. They have some really aggressive blind schedules, but for thsi event you start out with 2500 chips and have 20 min blinds. Right now there are only 200 people registered for this event, but 36 of us are sat winners from pocketfives, so that definelty makes the field tougher.


After the 150k I am going to cash out my account on paradise. I have completed my hand requirements to get my chips from pokersourceonline. I am going to consolidate my bankroll and work on clearing some of the bonuses that I have laying around. I am going to go back and work on my cash game. I will be playing .5/1 -1/2 limit games, and .1/.25 NL games. I have bonuses sitting on 4 sites that are coming close to expiring. I also get rakeback on these sites, so it wont hurt me to try and clear them out. Clearing my bonus at paradise has helped me get back into my cash game mode.


Unfortunetly paradise doenst allow pahud, and in order to use pokertracker you have to download handhistories. I have been slacking on this at paradise, and have incomplete records. The other sites have much more streamlined processes and I can use my pahud.


pokersourceonline has a league starting up next week. They play $5 buyin games, and have prize added events. They will be playing on absolute so I plan on leaving some $ over there. You dont have to have signed up through PSO affiliate link to qualify, and you dont have to have completed any pso promo's to play. So if you want a shot at some cheap MTT with prize added I encourage you to signup. I doubt many of the players there have a strong MTT game, because in order to clear the promos its better to play limit ring games, and I know thats what a majority of them play.


If you do sign up would you sign up through my referral link HERE after you setup an account go to the poker forums and create an account there. They currently have 2 no deposit required promotions where they give you free $. one at party poker and one at titan poker. you can check out that promotion HERE


If you dont have an absolute poker account you can get rakeback through this site. Rakerebate is very trustworthy and recommended by the folks at twoplustwo.

I hope to see you in the league!

Took Down The Pokerfox.net Weekly Tournament

and to top it off won the TLB (at least based on my calculations, no official word yet)

I ended up going heads up against Fox ("The Man Himself"). I guess I should start this off by saying that I have nothing but respect for Fox, and have learned alot by being a member of his site. But I flat out OWNED him! Ok maybe not but I wanted to say it anyway :p

My endgame preparation pays off!

I almost set up my camtasia to record it , but had several other poker clients running, so I will have to leave you with the hand history from my perspective. Obviously the last hand was speculative, but I had a gut shot straight if he had a hand.

Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (11,520)
Seat 8: InYourHead (7,980)
VulpesVulpes posts the small blind of 100
InYourHead posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [Qs Tc]
InYourHead: tough group
VulpesVulpes: gg
VulpesVulpes calls 100
InYourHead: gl fox
pitchx (Observer): gl
InYourHead checks
*** FLOP *** [9h Qd 8s]
InYourHead: ive been working on HU
InYourHead bets 400
VulpesVulpes calls 400
*** TURN *** [9h Qd 8s] [7c]
InYourHead bets 800
VulpesVulpes calls 800
*** RIVER *** [9h Qd 8s 7c] [2s]
InYourHead bets 1,800
VulpesVulpes folds
Uncalled bet of 1,800 returned to InYourHead
InYourHead mucks
InYourHead wins the pot (2,800)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,800 | Rake 0
Board: [9h Qd 8s 7c 2s]
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 8: InYourHead (big blind) collected (2,800), mucked



Full Tilt Poker Game #426515738: Pokerfox.net (2718148), Table 2 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:54:21 ET - 2006/02/07
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (10,120)
Seat 8: InYourHead (9,380)
InYourHead posts the small blind of 100
VulpesVulpes posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [As 8h]
InYourHead calls 100
VulpesVulpes checks
*** FLOP *** [Ks Tc 7s]
VulpesVulpes checks
InYourHead bets 400
VulpesVulpes raises to 1,200
InYourHead folds
Uncalled bet of 800 returned to VulpesVulpes
VulpesVulpes mucks
VulpesVulpes wins the pot (1,200)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,200 | Rake 0
Board: [Ks Tc 7s]
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (big blind) collected (1,200), mucked
Seat 8: InYourHead (small blind) folded on the Flop



Full Tilt Poker Game #426516878: Pokerfox.net (2718148), Table 2 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:54:54 ET - 2006/02/07
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (10,720)
Seat 8: InYourHead (8,780)
VulpesVulpes posts the small blind of 100
InYourHead posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [Jh Ah]
VulpesVulpes raises to 600
InYourHead calls 400
*** FLOP *** [5h Jd Kc]
InYourHead checks
VulpesVulpes checks
*** TURN *** [5h Jd Kc] [7h]
InYourHead bets 800
VulpesVulpes calls 800
*** RIVER *** [5h Jd Kc 7h] [7s]
InYourHead bets 1,800
VulpesVulpes calls 1,800
*** SHOW DOWN ***
InYourHead shows [Jh Ah] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
VulpesVulpes mucks
InYourHead wins the pot (6,400) with two pair, Jacks and Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,400 | Rake 0
Board: [5h Jd Kc 7h 7s]
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (small blind) mucked [9c 9s] - two pair, Nines and Sevens
Seat 8: InYourHead (big blind) showed [Jh Ah] and won (6,400) with two pair, Jacks and Sevens



Full Tilt Poker Game #426518146: Pokerfox.net (2718148), Table 2 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:55:32 ET - 2006/02/07
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (7,520)
Seat 8: InYourHead (11,980)
InYourHead posts the small blind of 100
VulpesVulpes posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [3h 9d]
InYourHead calls 100
VulpesVulpes checks
*** FLOP *** [Qs 7h 4d]
VulpesVulpes checks
InYourHead bets 400
VulpesVulpes raises to 1,200
InYourHead calls 800
*** TURN *** [Qs 7h 4d] [8h]
VulpesVulpes bets 1,800
InYourHead raises to 4,800
VulpesVulpes: I hate poker
VulpesVulpes folds
Uncalled bet of 3,000 returned to InYourHead
InYourHead mucks
InYourHead wins the pot (6,400)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,400 | Rake 0
Board: [Qs 7h 4d 8h]
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 8: InYourHead (small blind) collected (6,400), mucked



Full Tilt Poker Game #426519739: Pokerfox.net (2718148), Table 2 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:56:21 ET - 2006/02/07
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (4,320)
Seat 8: InYourHead (15,180)
VulpesVulpes posts the small blind of 100
InYourHead posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [7d Qc]
VulpesVulpes calls 100
InYourHead checks
*** FLOP *** [7s Ks Td]
InYourHead bets 400
VulpesVulpes calls 400
*** TURN *** [7s Ks Td] [5c]
InYourHead bets 800
VulpesVulpes raises to 3,720, and is all in
InYourHead folds
Uncalled bet of 2,920 returned to VulpesVulpes
VulpesVulpes mucks
VulpesVulpes wins the pot (2,800)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,800 | Rake 0
Board: [7s Ks Td 5c]
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (small blind) collected (2,800), mucked
Seat 8: InYourHead (big blind) folded on the Turn



Full Tilt Poker Game #426521161: Pokerfox.net (2718148), Table 2 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:57:04 ET - 2006/02/07
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (5,720)
Seat 8: InYourHead (13,780)
InYourHead posts the small blind of 100
VulpesVulpes posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [Qd Jc]
InYourHead calls 100
VulpesVulpes raises to 600
InYourHead calls 400
*** FLOP *** [9h 2s 4h]
Rufus (Observer): he hasn't snatched the pebbles fromn your hand yet
VulpesVulpes bets 1,200
InYourHead raises to 5,200
VulpesVulpes: he's about to
VulpesVulpes folds
Uncalled bet of 4,000 returned to InYourHead
InYourHead mucks
InYourHead wins the pot (3,600)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,600 | Rake 0
Board: [9h 2s 4h]
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: InYourHead (small blind) collected (3,600), mucked



Full Tilt Poker Game #426522480: Pokerfox.net (2718148), Table 2 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:57:44 ET - 2006/02/07
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (3,920)
Seat 8: InYourHead (15,580)
VulpesVulpes posts the small blind of 100
InYourHead posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [3d 6h]
VulpesVulpes raises to 600
InYourHead calls 400
*** FLOP *** [7d 7s Qs]
InYourHead checks
VulpesVulpes checks
*** TURN *** [7d 7s Qs] [4c]
InYourHead bets 1,200
VulpesVulpes raises to 3,320, and is all in
InYourHead calls 2,120
VulpesVulpes shows [Kd 8d]
InYourHead shows [3d 6h]
*** RIVER *** [7d 7s Qs 4c] [3s]
VulpesVulpes shows a pair of Sevens
InYourHead shows two pair, Sevens and Threes
InYourHead wins the pot (7,840) with two pair, Sevens and Threes
VulpesVulpes: rofl
VulpesVulpes stands up
InYourHead stands up
Rufus (Observer): no shame in losing to inyourhead
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,840 | Rake 0
Board: [7d 7s Qs 4c 3s]
Seat 7: VulpesVulpes (small blind) showed [Kd 8d] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 8: InYourHead (big blind) showed [3d 6h] and won (7,840) with two pair, Sevens and Threes

Improving my endgame

Well I have had some dissapointing returns in the last couple of MTT's I've played. Not making the $, and suffering bad beats, well kinda. I was playing in the FTP 16k on monday. and the following hand came up...

edit:

Ok I dont know what I was thinking or not thinking for that matter. but I just looked over my blog and the HH I posted wasnt even close to the right game.

I had T7 on the bb, UTG+1 min raises to 720 (180/360 antes ~25) folds around to me. I call flop comes T7J I min bet, he raises 4x, I push, he calls and shows JJ, turn 7, river T.... he had me covered by 200 chips.

This hand crippled me and I didnt make a comeback. Sometimes you get lemons sometimes you get lemonade.

Anyway I was playing hte $3r sat to the stars $215 last night and had the big stack at my table when my table was broke. I woke up to find myself at the table of giant stacks! I was surrounded by big aggressive stacks. These players didnt accumulate these chips by being weak. I learned a lesson (only a $15 lesson though b/c thats all I had invested). Do not try to semi-bluff a big stack with a draw. I put myself in a bad position and ended up having to laydown my hand with a lot of chips committed to the pot. At this point I wasnt in good shape. I made a stab at the pot (antes and blinds) with KQs in late position and was called by AJo. Flop was nothing but blanks, A on turn, and I was out.

I dont know what is going on but I am going to regroup and focus and try to make a final table by sunday. I dont know how many MTT's I will be playing but I will probably take a crack at a couple $20+2 180's on stars. I have the $150k on paradise coming this sunday. I checked and last week they had 618 ppl. Its not a huge field , but I am sure the super bowl had something to do with the overlay. Fuck the Shittsburgh Squellers!

Sunday I watched Chris Moneymaker play heads up against the TLB leader. I had no idea he was gonna be a gankster. World Poker Champion, Chris Moneymaker, Cashes in on Poker Craze and Teams ....Suge Knight

So speaking of Headsup play, I havent been runing so bad myself. I have only been playing low level HU games but. 2/3 $10's I took down, and took down 1/1 $20 last night. Get some of that shit mofo!

Tonight I am playing the last of 10 pokerfox.net tourney's. Top 3 points earners get a little change. I am currently in third place so I need to defend my position. We playing NL Holdem, and I would speculae that we will have 15-18 players going at it. The top 6 positions or so are pretty tight, so I think anyone can still take down first. Its always a tough group to play with. I am more confident in my NLHE game against them than my HORSE/OM8, a couple of those guys specialize in OM8 and stud.

I only have about 350 more raked hands at paradise to clear b4 I can get out of their. I havent done terrible at the 1/2 5 max. but those guys are playing $20 bingo every hand. Its tought when you get rivered 5/10 times when you have the best hand. So many guys have caught runner runner on me, I cant see what excuse they would use to justify calling ... I dont criticize them though, I just hope I am the one to bust them out to get a little satisfaction for my troubles.

My First Shot at the Stars $750k

Well I didnt take it down, my wife asked if I was dissapointed. Honestly I cant say that I was. I felt I played well and went out 1523 of 4197. so I made it farther than 63% of the field. I'm not dissapointed because I took a shot, and I definetly plan on taking another shot when the oppurtunity presents itself.

My table never broke, and their were very few seat changes during the 2 hours that I played. This meant that there were not a lot of chips in play at my table. Everyone was playing fairly tight aggressive, and everyone had low M's after the first hour.

Anyway I saved key hands as they happened. Good or bad. So here they are:

This was an early hand. I put this guy on a big hand (QQ or better) when he reraised my raise. If I didnt hit top set, I would have let this hand go. The blinds were low, and I would have had plenty of chips left. I was concerned about him catching a higher set, but it worked out.
PokerStars Game #3874114874: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level I
(10/20) - 2006/02/05 - 16:38:44 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: scarabe (2610 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (2350 in chips)
Seat 3: socalsinner (2430 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (2510 in chips)
Seat 5: GrandCentral (2450 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (2290 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (2610 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (2610 in chips)
Seat 9: Goofy (2640 in chips)
socalsinner: posts small blind 10
JHRose: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Kc Ks]
GrandCentral: folds
beanbag9666: folds
scaryjerry1: raises 40 to 60
Doctor_Snot: calls 60
Goofy: folds
scarabe: raises 240 to 300
PinchMaster: folds
socalsinner: folds
JHRose: folds
scaryjerry1: calls 240
Doctor_Snot: folds
*** FLOP *** [Kd 2h 7s]
scaryjerry1: checks
scarabe: bets 2310 and is all-in
scaryjerry1: calls 2310 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Kd 2h 7s] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 2h 7s 5h] [6s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
scaryjerry1: shows [Kc Ks] (three of a kind, Kings)
scarabe: shows [As Ad] (a pair of Aces)
scaryjerry1 collected 5310 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5310 | Rake 0
Board [Kd 2h 7s 5h 6s]
Seat 1: scarabe showed [As Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: PinchMaster (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: socalsinner (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: JHRose (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: GrandCentral folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 showed [Kc Ks] and won (5310) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot folded before Flop
Seat 9: Goofy folded before Flop (didn't bet)

As you can see from my chip stack, I hadnt played many hands between the last hand
and this one. All of the chips I won were in uncontested pots, and all small. My
opponent in this hand had been playing some rags, and very aggressive. Unfortunetly
for me this time he had the hand to back up his LAG style, and I got stcuk when
trying ot make a play at him.


PokerStars Game #3874588973: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV
(50/100) - 2006/02/05 - 17:20:32 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (1465 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (2545 in chips)
Seat 3: socalsinner (2600 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (2415 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (1990 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (3410 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (6840 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (3505 in chips)
Seat 9: Goofy (2080 in chips)
beanbag9666: posts small blind 50
scaryjerry1: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [9c 9h]
Doctor_Snot: folds
Goofy: folds
kalla84: folds
PinchMaster: raises 200 to 300
socalsinner: folds
JHRose: folds
bigman24: folds
beanbag9666: raises 200 to 500
scaryjerry1: calls 400
PinchMaster: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [6c 8s Qh]
beanbag9666: checks
scaryjerry1: bets 800
PinchMaster: calls 800
beanbag9666: folds
*** TURN *** [6c 8s Qh] [Ac]
scaryjerry1: bets 1300
PinchMaster: calls 1245 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [6c 8s Qh Ac] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
scaryjerry1: shows [9c 9h] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
PinchMaster: shows [8h 8c] (a full house, Eights full of Queens)
PinchMaster collected 5590 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5590 | Rake 0
Board [6c 8s Qh Ac Qd]
Seat 1: kalla84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PinchMaster showed [8h 8c] and won (5590) with a full house, Eights full of
Queens
Seat 3: socalsinner folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: bigman24 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (big blind) showed [9c 9h] and lost with two pair, Queens and
Nines
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Goofy folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This is a fairly large pot that I took down a few hands later. Unfortunetly for me
my opponent (beanbag)got irritated at me playing at him, and verbalized it later
on. In one of my later hands he told me to stop overplaying, and told the table I
was bluffing.For the most part I didnt bluff, I did do some semi bluffs but had the
chips to do so.

PokerStars Game #3874659109: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV
(50/100) - 2006/02/05 - 17:26:51 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (1315 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (5440 in chips)
Seat 3: socalsinner (2900 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (2415 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (1990 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (2710 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (4745 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (3305 in chips)
Seat 9: Goofy (2030 in chips)
socalsinner: posts small blind 50
JHRose: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [6h 6s]
bigman24: folds
beanbag9666: raises 200 to 300
scaryjerry1: calls 300
Doctor_Snot: folds
Goofy: folds
kalla84: folds
PinchMaster: folds
socalsinner: folds
JHRose: folds
*** FLOP *** [4h 9h 8h]
beanbag9666: bets 700
scaryjerry1: calls 700
*** TURN *** [4h 9h 8h] [4d]
beanbag9666: checks
scaryjerry1: bets 1100
beanbag9666: folds
scaryjerry1 collected 2150 from pot
scaryjerry1: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2150 | Rake 0
Board [4h 9h 8h 4d]
Seat 1: kalla84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: socalsinner (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: JHRose (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: bigman24 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 folded on the Turn
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 collected (2150)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Goofy folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This would be one of the hands I consider a semi bluff. I took down a reasonable
sized pot. I probably made a mistake of showing it.

PokerStars Game #3874692249: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV
(50/100) - 2006/02/05 - 17:29:53 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (1215 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (5440 in chips)
Seat 3: socalsinner (3250 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (2365 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (1840 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (1610 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (5895 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (3305 in chips)
Seat 9: Goofy (1930 in chips)
beanbag9666: posts small blind 50
scaryjerry1: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [5d 6d]
Doctor_Snot: raises 200 to 300
Goofy: calls 300
kalla84: folds
PinchMaster: folds
socalsinner: folds
JHRose: folds
bigman24: folds
beanbag9666: folds
scaryjerry1: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [7d Kc 8d]
scaryjerry1: checks
Doctor_Snot: bets 300
Goofy: folds
scaryjerry1: raises 1100 to 1400
Doctor_Snot: folds
scaryjerry1 collected 1550 from pot
scaryjerry1: shows [5d 6d] (high card King)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1550 | Rake 0
Board [7d Kc 8d]
Seat 1: kalla84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PinchMaster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: socalsinner folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: bigman24 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (big blind) collected (1550)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot folded on the Flop
Seat 9: Goofy folded on the Flop

I thought that if my opponent had Ax in his hand he would have bet lower in order
to get a caller. I was right but unfortunetly he caught one of his outs.


PokerStars Game #3874782592: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level V
(75/150) - 2006/02/05 - 17:38:13 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (1215 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (5665 in chips)
Seat 3: socalsinner (3250 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (2365 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (1840 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (1560 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (6770 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (2555 in chips)
Seat 9: Goofy (1630 in chips)
Doctor_Snot: posts small blind 75
Goofy: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Ah 4h]
kalla84: calls 150
PinchMaster: folds
socalsinner: folds
JHRose: folds
bigman24: folds
beanbag9666: folds
scaryjerry1: calls 150
Doctor_Snot: calls 75
Goofy: checks
*** FLOP *** [9c As Qs]
Doctor_Snot: checks
Goofy: checks
beanbag9666 has returned
kalla84: bets 1065 and is all-in
scaryjerry1: calls 1065
Doctor_Snot: folds
Goofy: folds
*** TURN *** [9c As Qs] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [9c As Qs Kc] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kalla84: shows [Ks Kh] (three of a kind, Kings)
scaryjerry1: shows [Ah 4h] (a pair of Aces)
kalla84 collected 2730 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2730 | Rake 0
Board [9c As Qs Kc 2c]
Seat 1: kalla84 showed [Ks Kh] and won (2730) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 2: PinchMaster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: socalsinner folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: bigman24 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (button) showed [Ah 4h] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: Goofy (big blind) folded on the Flop

Here beanbag bets back at my bluff. It was obvious to me at this point that he
knew I was playing my chips more than my cards. It cost me a significant % of my
chips.

PokerStars Game #3874869880: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level V
(75/150) - 2006/02/05 - 17:46:15 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (2505 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (7940 in chips)
Seat 3: mdefilip (6225 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (2290 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (1540 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (3510 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (6005 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (1805 in chips)
Seat 9: Goofy (1255 in chips)
Doctor_Snot: posts small blind 75
Goofy: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Kc 8c]
kalla84: folds
PinchMaster: folds
mdefilip: folds
JHRose: folds
bigman24: folds
beanbag9666: calls 150
scaryjerry1: raises 450 to 600
Doctor_Snot: calls 525
Goofy: folds
beanbag9666: calls 450
*** FLOP *** [2c Jd 9s]
Doctor_Snot: checks
beanbag9666: checks
scaryjerry1: bets 1200
Doctor_Snot: folds
beanbag9666: raises 1200 to 2400
scaryjerry1: folds
beanbag9666 collected 4350 from pot
beanbag9666: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4350 | Rake 0
Board [2c Jd 9s]
Seat 1: kalla84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PinchMaster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: mdefilip folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: bigman24 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 collected (4350)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: Goofy (big blind) folded before Flop

I seriously considered folding this hand, but the other tow players were short
stacked with very low M's. I knew that they were feeling under pressure, and the
range of hands they could push with was high. I was getting 3 to 1 on my call, and
if I won the hand I would be in a great position on the table. My opponent turned
over AA, and was back in the game.

PokerStars Game #3874984495: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI
(100/200) - 2006/02/05 - 17:57:14 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (3060 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (7415 in chips)
Seat 3: mdefilip (5350 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (1890 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (2215 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (4505 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (5655 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (3460 in chips)
Seat 9: jcast (1735 in chips)
bigman24: posts small blind 100
beanbag9666: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Qs Jc]
scaryjerry1: raises 400 to 600
Doctor_Snot: folds
jcast: raises 1135 to 1735 and is all-in
kalla84: folds
PinchMaster: folds
mdefilip: folds
JHRose: raises 155 to 1890 and is all-in
bigman24: folds
beanbag9666: folds
scaryjerry1: calls 1290
*** FLOP *** [2c 9d 4h]
*** TURN *** [2c 9d 4h] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [2c 9d 4h 4c] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
scaryjerry1: shows [Qs Jc] (two pair, Fours and Deuces)
JHRose: shows [Ah Ac] (two pair, Aces and Fours)
JHRose collected 310 from side pot
jcast: shows [Th Tc] (two pair, Tens and Fours)
jcast is sitting out
JHRose collected 5505 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5815 Main pot 5505. Side pot 310. | Rake 0
Board [2c 9d 4h 4c 2s]
Seat 1: kalla84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PinchMaster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: mdefilip folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose (button) showed [Ah Ac] and won (5815) with two pair, Aces and Fours
Seat 5: bigman24 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 showed [Qs Jc] and lost with two pair, Fours and Deuces
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: jcast showed [Th Tc] and lost with two pair, Tens and Fours

I was in late position and was making a stab at the pot. I bet a typical 3x bb bet,
I was reraised and shrot stacked. I gave it some thought and thought maybe this
player saw beanbag come back at me and force me to fold. I decided if I went out
this hand, I would accept it. It wasnt a good play on my part, it worked out, but
I got lucky.

PokerStars Game #3875016296: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI
(100/200) - 2006/02/05 - 18:00:20 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (3060 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (7715 in chips)
Seat 3: mdefilip (5350 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (5815 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (2115 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (5205 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (2765 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (3260 in chips)
Seat 9: tralaira (2360 in chips)
Doctor_Snot: posts small blind 100
tralaira: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Tc Ad]
kalla84: folds
PinchMaster: folds
mdefilip: folds
JHRose: folds
bigman24: folds
beanbag9666: folds
scaryjerry1: raises 400 to 600
Doctor_Snot: raises 2660 to 3260 and is all-in
tralaira: folds
scaryjerry1: calls 2165 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [5d Ah Td]
*** TURN *** [5d Ah Td] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [5d Ah Td Qd] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Doctor_Snot: shows [9c 9d] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
scaryjerry1: shows [Tc Ad] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
scaryjerry1 collected 5730 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5730 | Rake 0
Board [5d Ah Td Qd Qh]
Seat 1: kalla84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PinchMaster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: mdefilip folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: bigman24 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (button) showed [Tc Ad] and won (5730) with two pair, Aces and
Queens
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (small blind) showed [9c 9d] and lost with two pair, Queens and
Nines
Seat 9: tralaira (big blind) folded before Flop

Here is the hand where beanbag made a comment to me. What I dont get is I didnt
enter many pots with him, unless I had a hand. Anyway I intenetional overbet the
hand after the flop based on his comments. Unfortunetly for me my hand was dominated.
and I didnt catch my 1 outer. F Lee Jones!

PokerStars Game #3875131224: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII
(100/200) - 2006/02/05 - 18:11:34 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (4160 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (6970 in chips)
Seat 3: mdefilip (5525 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (4290 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (2715 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (2980 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (6630 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (315 in chips)
Seat 9: tralaira (4060 in chips)
kalla84: posts the ante 25
PinchMaster: posts the ante 25
mdefilip: posts the ante 25
JHRose: posts the ante 25
bigman24: posts the ante 25
beanbag9666: posts the ante 25
scaryjerry1: posts the ante 25
Doctor_Snot: posts the ante 25
tralaira: posts the ante 25
JHRose: posts small blind 100
bigman24: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [4d 4h]
beanbag9666 said, "jerry u need to stop overplaying'"
beanbag9666: folds
beanbag9666 said, "u are killing me"
scaryjerry1: raises 400 to 600
Doctor_Snot: folds
tralaira: folds
kalla84: folds
beanbag9666 said, "hes bluffing"
PinchMaster: calls 600
mdefilip: folds
JHRose: calls 500
bigman24: folds
*** FLOP *** [4s 9c 5c]
JHRose: checks
scaryjerry1: bets 2600
PinchMaster: folds
JHRose: raises 1065 to 3665 and is all-in
scaryjerry1: calls 1065
scaryjerry1 said, "nh"
*** TURN *** [4s 9c 5c] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [4s 9c 5c 9d] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
JHRose: shows [5d 5h] (a full house, Fives full of Nines)
scaryjerry1: shows [4d 4h] (a full house, Fours full of Nines)
JHRose collected 9555 from pot
JHRose said, "ty"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9555 | Rake 0
Board [4s 9c 5c 9d Js]
Seat 1: kalla84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PinchMaster folded on the Flop
Seat 3: mdefilip (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose (small blind) showed [5d 5h] and won (9555) with a full house, Fives
full of Nines
Seat 5: bigman24 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: beanbag9666 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 showed [4d 4h] and lost with a full house, Fours full of Nines
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: tralaira folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I consider this a key hand b/c I ws short stacked and called a min raise for the
blind against the player who had me dominated the last hand. I considered betting,
but couldnt get myself to commit anymore chips to the pot.

PokerStars Game #3875157192: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII
(100/200) - 2006/02/05 - 18:14:13 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (4085 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (6295 in chips)
Seat 3: mdefilip (6175 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (9505 in chips)
Seat 5: bigman24 (2340 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (2405 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (2615 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (240 in chips)
Seat 9: tralaira (3985 in chips)
kalla84: posts the ante 25
PinchMaster: posts the ante 25
mdefilip: posts the ante 25
JHRose: posts the ante 25
bigman24: posts the ante 25
beanbag9666: posts the ante 25
scaryjerry1: posts the ante 25
Doctor_Snot: posts the ante 25
tralaira: posts the ante 25
scaryjerry1: posts small blind 100
Doctor_Snot: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Kh Qs]
tralaira: folds
kalla84: folds
PinchMaster: folds
mdefilip: folds
JHRose: raises 200 to 400
bigman24: folds
beanbag9666: folds
scaryjerry1: calls 300
Doctor_Snot: calls 15 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [9h 7s 4c]
scaryjerry1: checks
JHRose: checks
*** TURN *** [9h 7s 4c] [8s]
scaryjerry1: checks
JHRose: checks
*** RIVER *** [9h 7s 4c 8s] [5s]
scaryjerry1: checks
JHRose: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
scaryjerry1: shows [Kh Qs] (high card King)
JHRose: shows [Ac 2h] (high card Ace)
JHRose collected 370 from side pot
Doctor_Snot: shows [8c 2d] (a pair of Eights)
Doctor_Snot collected 870 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1240 Main pot 870. Side pot 370. | Rake 0
Board [9h 7s 4c 8s 5s]
Seat 1: kalla84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PinchMaster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: mdefilip folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose showed [Ac 2h] and won (370) with high card Ace
Seat 5: bigman24 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (small blind) showed [Kh Qs] and lost with high card King
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (big blind) showed [8c 2d] and won (870) with a pair of Eights
Seat 9: tralaira folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I was trying to pickup the blinds and antes here without looking obvious doing it.
The bb had a calling hand, and the rest is history.

PokerStars Game #3875250988: Tournament #18430351, Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII
(200/400) - 2006/02/05 - 18:24:02 (ET)
Table '18430351 8' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: kalla84 (3510 in chips)
Seat 2: PinchMaster (4820 in chips)
Seat 3: mdefilip (8150 in chips)
Seat 4: JHRose (10150 in chips)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 (2980 in chips)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 (2345 in chips)
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (890 in chips)
Seat 9: tralaira (4800 in chips)
kalla84: posts the ante 25
PinchMaster: posts the ante 25
mdefilip: posts the ante 25
JHRose: posts the ante 25
beanbag9666: posts the ante 25
scaryjerry1: posts the ante 25
Doctor_Snot: posts the ante 25
tralaira: posts the ante 25
tralaira: posts small blind 200
kalla84: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [7c Jc]
Hogan is connected
PinchMaster: folds
mdefilip: folds
JHRose: folds
beanbag9666: folds
scaryjerry1: raises 1200 to 1600
Doctor_Snot: folds
tralaira: folds
kalla84: raises 1200 to 2800
scaryjerry1: calls 720 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Kd 8c As]
*** TURN *** [Kd 8c As] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 8c As Td] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kalla84: shows [Qd Kh] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
scaryjerry1: shows [7c Jc] (a pair of Eights)
kalla84 collected 5040 from pot
cjhudgin13 is connected
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5040 | Rake 0
Board [Kd 8c As Td 8h]
Seat 1: kalla84 (big blind) showed [Qd Kh] and won (5040) with two pair, Kings and
Eights
Seat 2: PinchMaster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: mdefilip folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: JHRose folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: beanbag9666 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: scaryjerry1 showed [7c Jc] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 8: Doctor_Snot (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: tralaira (small blind) folded before Flop

Pregame warmup

Well I'm not talking about Super Bowl XL either. I am just 2 hours out of playing my first ever Stars 750k tournament. It will be the largest buyin tournament I have played to date. I've cleared it with the wife, and will be holed up in my home office taking my shot at the big prize.

I've gone over a couple different chapters in supersystem II, and Harrington OH I&II. I've read a couple thread and articles on cardplayer, pocketfives, and twoplustwo. I took a shot at a large field MTT the other night. 2200 people, and I finished 26th. I played another a 1k field tournament last night on paradise and I finished in the 20's. So I am as ready as I am going to ever be (well at least for today).

I'm going to have a little lunch before I play, drink a guiness or 2 to clear my nerves, and go for it.

I've been going over my personal poker mantra getting ready for the game. These big games are about trapping so I am going to be the trapper, and try to extract maximum value for my premium hands. I am going to acoid going broke with one pair. I feel it is a smaller mistake to fold a winner than call with a loser. I am going to play the game 1 hand at a time, and carefully observe each opponent at my table. I amgoing to treat the game as one extended sit and go, and chip away at my opponents when the oppurtunities present themselves.

I am going to eliminate distractions, I wont be watching any television (gg SBXL), browsing any internet, or any of the other things that provide distraction. I am going to listen to rhapsody while I play and just focus.

So I am ready for the game, bring it on!

I am kind of optimistic that there may be an overlay for the first time ever. Pokerstars chose this weekend as the one to boost the guarantee from 500k to 750k, but it coincides withthe superbowl. Right now there are 1881 players registered, with 2 hours and 30 mins until gametime. In order for pokerstars to clear the guarantee there needs to be 3750 players. So they are just half way there. I dont know how the signups go closer to game time, maybe there will be a mad rush, I've seen it before. I guess only time will tell.

On another front.

I have given up playing the .5/1 limit tables at paradise to clear my bonus. I suffered so many bad beats from the idiots I think it is barely a break even EV. I have switched to the 1/2 5 max tables, and have recouped all my previous loses, and shown a slight porfit. I only have 1100 more hands to go to clear my bonus. I've been following a similar strategy as Fox outlines (on pokerfox.net) for 6 max. Its proven well, and I knew it would. I used the same approach to clear bonuses on Absolute Poker. I actually prefer playing short hand games now over full ring. Its even more useful when playing a site like paradise where PAHUD cant be incorporated.

Well, the next post will either be me recapping how I busted out of the 750k or how I took down a big win and what I might allocate my winnings too.

back to basics

Well since I just signed up for paradise poker I have a bonus I need to clear there. I signed up to take a shot at the p5's satellite overlay. Being the bonus whore I am I tried to find a rakeback prgram for paradise. Unfortunetly I dont think they exist except in a covert environment.

So I did the next best thing and signed up through pokersourceonline. They have incentive programs for variouspoker websites. I decided to go for the Nevada Jack 300 pcs chip set. It requires 1000 raked hands at $0.25 ($5 pot).



I played for less than half an hour last night at the $.5/$1 limit game. It was pretty uneventful, I ended up down $2 2-tabling. Now only 950 more hands to go!

One interesting hand did come up while I was playing. I wasnt involved in the hand, but took a screen shot.


Well I doubt I will be playing any tonight. If I get the chance I am going to play the paradise millions freeroll that I qualified for. I am not sure how I qualified but had something popup when I finished the p5's sat.

We have soem friends coming over for idiot poker tonight. I call it idiot poker b/c none of the idiots know how to pla. With the exception of my friend who I gave a lesson too. There will be no $ on the line, andI am sure it will only be slightly better than playing play $ at party.

Hopefully everyone will be gone by 9 or 10 and I wont be blinded out of the paradise game.

Only 2 more days until my first shot at the stars $750k. I'm really looking foward to it.

Missed a couple days...

I had actually started writing an entry, but changed my mind on it before I finished writing it... ADD at its finest.

I played a couple MTT's last night, and played in the pokerfox.net HORSE tournament.

I was also playing a $5 MTT and a $3r. I dont do so well playing more than 2 tables at once. I decided to get aggressive in the $3r and if I busted out so be it. Well thats what happened. Not to long after I went out about 5th in the pokerfox game. We only had 8 registered this week so no big deal.

I did go on to do pretty well in the $5 MTT. There were 1644 players and I finished 24th, for about $25. The payout was weak, but I was playing it more for experience in a large field.

I was sick today, and stayed home from work. When I woke up I tried my luck at a double shootout sat. to the stars 750k. I made it thru first table, and ended up finishing 5th, with 2 players winning sat. It was the first time I had ever played a double shootout, I think I might try to go that route again to qualify for the 750k.

So I dont know what my previous posts said, but I know I had talked myself out of playing the 750k, but the more I thought about it the more I feel like I have to give it a shot.

I'm excited about playing in it, and am registered to play. I am not excited in a way that I am going to be nervous, or scared of the competition. I am excited in the sense that I have seen many sat. players take down nice paydays. I know I can compete on that level and am looking foward to the oppurtunity.

Tonight I played the pocketfives sat to the 150k on paradise. Paradise added 15 seats, and there was a $20 buyin. The top 36 players won sat seats into the 150k. It starts 30 mins after the stars 750k, so it looks like I am playing 2 big games this sunday b/c I made it through the field of 223.

I dont know what to think of paradises software. It was the first time I had been on that site. I thought it was kinda gimmicky, and the blind levels increased at break neck speeds. I was lucky to hit some key hands at the 75/150 level and the 100/200 level. I pretty much coasted after that. I was in third place when I was put at a new table with a sattelite terrorist. HE had me covered by 4x and noone else was even close. He blatantly pushed on everyone, and never lost a hand. I decided not to play any more hands b/c there was no danger in me not making the payout, unless I got into a confrontation with him.

Prior to this I won 2 key hands, and didnt get to see them go down. I had bet into a large pot against a short stack with top pair/top kicker (AQ) and all of a sudden I didnt have a link with my wireless router. I tried to figure out what was up but couldnt get anything. I was picking up a couple of my neighbors wifi connections, but they are encrypted and I cant connect thru them.

I eventually pull out my PCMCIA card and plugging it back in, when I got paradise fired back up, I had more chips so I guess the guy folded or they had allin protection. No less than 5 mins later I had a power surge in my house and my tv and lights, etc. went down for like half a second. Well this killed my router and modem, or one or the other. I think one of them is plugged into the UPS, but not the other.

Anyway I had just pushed in on a pot and the other guy called. I thought great I dont even get to see what happens. The other guy had me covered by ~1k in chips. I had to go reset my modem and router which took me about 5 mins or so.

When I got back onto paradise I was expecting to see myself with the "out" notation but I was still in it! I knew at this point I was golden.

Well thats all I have on my mind right now. Hopefully I'll be at a final table about this time in 4 days.