Thank You

Yesterday this blog received the most hits its ever gotten in one day (750). So I figure this is an appropriate time to say thanks to all for the support you've provided. At the tables I always get a couple of people saying that they enjoy the blog, and a number of people have emailed.

Haven't had a great day today but doing in the party super (its Fixed Limit tonight), hopefully I don't collapse like last night. 114/565 left ave of 25K and I have 45K.

I'll be off blogging for a couple of days because of the holiday of shavuos, be back for a big sunday hopefully.

Failure

I harp on this issue, probably a little too much. But after another night of getting close, but not getting there, I need to keep reminding myself. I just looked at my DB stats, and I have finally strung together 3 consecutive cashes at Stars. Out of my 868 tournies I've played there (just Stars, since Nov 05), I have never once before accomplished 3 straight cashes, meaning: that's a lot of failure to go through. Every day, I am busting out of multiple tournies, and clearly as a poker player, I am very competitive, and by nature find it difficult to lose. However, without accepting this component of the game, I would go out of my mind.

It was preety funny to watch the guy at the world series, complaining about playing "perfect" poker, and still getting bust out. Losing in a tournament often has less to do with your skill, than with the nature of the game; u simply cannot win every time. The sooner u appreciate that fact, the better it will be for your game.

In The Money

@ both Stars and Party $150. Hope I can make it far.

Update: Well, out in 10 at Stars. Still alive and kicking on Party with 106K, average is 92K, and we got 55/1017 left. Trying to make things work right at party where I have not done well historically.

Update 2: Very fustrating 15th. at Party.

Bodog

is my favorite site for many reasons. Besides the crazy overlays on most of their tourneys, this play certainly ilustrates another "special" quality of Bodog. I went all in on the river, because I felt if he had an ace, he'd definately call. Well, that certainly worked well.

Hand Number	282014736
Start Date	2006-05-29 22:31:37.0
End Date	2006-05-29 22:32:27.0
Pot Size	$2,780.00
Rake	$0.00
Game Type	Hold'Em
Play Mode	Real
Table Name	$10,000 Guaranteed
Structure	NL
Community Cards	A 5 2 6 A

Player Information

Screen Name	Seat Position	Cards Dealt	Start/End Amount	Total Bet	Win/Loss Amount
prich1030	1		$1,390.00/$1,390.00	$0.00	$0.00
squirrelz	2		$1,725.00/$1,725.00	$0.00	$0.00
walt228	3		$1,500.00/$1,500.00	$0.00	$0.00
nuts deep	4		$1,495.00/$1,495.00	$0.00	$0.00
ismokecigars	5		$1,500.00/$1,500.00	$0.00	$0.00
cusee	6	6 K	$1,390.00/$0.00	$1,390.00	$-1,390.00
ari	7	3 4	$1,500.00/$2,890.00	$1,390.00	$1,390.00
pickfour	8		$1,500.00/$1,500.00	$0.00	$0.00
TxCrawler	9		$1,505.00/$1,505.00	$0.00	$0.00

Hand Actions

Player	Action	Action Data	Timestamp
nuts deep	Set dealer/Bring in spot	4	22:31:37
cusee	Ante/Small blind	$ 5.00	22:31:37
ari	Big blind/Bring in	$ 10.00	22:31:37
prich1030	Card dealt to a spot		22:31:37
squirrelz	Card dealt to a spot		22:31:37
walt228	Card dealt to a spot		22:31:37
nuts deep	Card dealt to a spot		22:31:37
cusee	Card dealt to a spot	6 K	22:31:37
ari	Card dealt to a spot	3 4	22:31:37
pickfour	Card dealt to a spot		22:31:37
TxCrawler	Card dealt to a spot		22:31:37
pickfour	Fold	$ 0.00	22:31:37
TxCrawler	Fold	$ 0.00	22:31:41
prich1030	Fold	$ 0.00	22:31:52
squirrelz	Fold	$ 0.00	22:31:55
walt228	Fold	$ 0.00	22:31:55
nuts deep	Fold	$ 0.00	22:31:55
cusee	Call	$ 5.00	22:31:58
ari	Check		22:31:58
	Betting round completed	Last active pot = $20.00	22:31:58
	Card dealt to table	A 5 2	22:31:58
cusee	Bet	$ 40.00	22:32:03
ari	Raise	$ 80.00	22:32:07
cusee	Call	$ 40.00	22:32:08
	Betting round completed	Last active pot = $180.00	22:32:08
	Card dealt to table	6	22:32:08
cusee	Check		22:32:10
ari	Bet	$ 155.00	22:32:15
cusee	Call	$ 155.00	22:32:16
	Betting round completed	Last active pot = $490.00	22:32:16
	Card dealt to table	A	22:32:16
cusee	Check		22:32:18
ari	All-in	$ 1,255.00	22:32:24
cusee	All-in	$ 1,145.00	22:32:25
ari	Return uncalled portion of bet	$ 110.00	22:32:25
	Betting round completed	Last active pot = $0.00 Side pot 6 = $2,780.00	22:32:27
ari	Showdown	Show card: Straight 6 5 4 3 2	22:32:27
cusee	Showdown	Show card: Two Pair A A 6 6 K	22:32:27
ari	Hand result	$ 2,780.00	22:32:27

The difference

between blind structures and play on the various sites, is something I believe most players overlook. Tonight I played a dise freezeout for the first time in a while. They haven't been attracting any decent sized fields, so I've skipped them, but tonight the "Atlantic" a $300 buyin, got 50 something people so I decided to play. It felt real weird, and i got knocked out early.

At Party, I rarely ever had success until recently modifying my approach to better reflect my less expreienced opposition.

In the past, I have had success at either Stars or Ultimate Bet, but rarely at both on the same time.

At this stage I don't go into a tourney in a particular site with a different game plan per se, but it certainly is one more factor in my decision making process, and sometimes can lead me to act in a way in which I would consider extremely stupid on other sites.

Anyways, just some ramblings, night session tonight, including UB 100, Stars 22R and 150, Dise 30R and Party "Super" 150.

Happy Memorial Day

and Thank you to all our soldiers and veterans.

Well,

I sorta predicted it, today was definately bigger than normal, but at the same time extremely fustrating. I made it deep in both of the big Stars tourneys, but didn't manage to final table either, so the money I took home was not great. Also I chopped the 100R on Paradise at night, to complete my first triple crown. (Stars 150, Bodog 25K, and tonight on Dise.)

A very bitter sweet day, as I was the closest I've probably ever been to a huge score. Name of the game, hope I can continue to make good decisions that put me in the position to one day take down a monster field. That's what tourney poker is all about, and all these smaller victories are just making me more hungry for a big one.

Big Day Today

A man can hope...

Chopped the 100R

today with RedSoxSox. Sheets was also there and took third. Clearly this table was as different from my Bodog table yesterday as can be. I was aware that none of them would stand for hyper-aggro play, so I played much tighter than I normally do. Poker is all about changing gears based on table conditions, there is no such thing as a succesful player who doesn't, so I am glad that I was able win/chop in both of these diverse situations.

I made one huge mistake when we were 4 handed. I raised preflop with j5, and got called by redsox who was 2nd in chips to me. (The other 2 were both much shorter.) The flop came q65, and it went check, check. The turn brought another 5, and when he checked, I bet about half pot. On the river 7, he leads out for a small bet, and I value raise a small amount. He then proceeds to go all in, at which point I am very much lost, but If I believe him, I am clearly not good. After much thought, I laid it down.

Won the

Bodog 25K guar. last night. It's a deepstack tournament with many weak players, and a big overlay. Nothing more to ask for from a site. Thank you Bodog. I managed to get a big stack in mid game, and was able to bully my way to the win. People were a tad bit too scared, and happened to push back at the wrong times. Basically, everything worked out, which makes it the most enjoyable kind of win. Unfortunately, I was deep in 2 others at the time, but didn't manage to go far in either.

In the 100R on Stars and 100 on UB, both with preety good stacks. Here's hoping to a good end of the week.

Didn't go deep

in anything today, but still alive in the UB 100 and Stars late night 50R.

I actually managed to catch this live,

and was very impressed with Congressman Barney Frank. Yes, I do watch C-span, and yesterday I was watching Mr Frank's talk about sugar subsidies. Apparently, the "Club For Growth" a free-market advocacy group was as impressed as I was. (Keep in mind, this is coming out of the mouth of democrat.)

http://www.clubforgrowth.org/blog/archives/039110.php

Congress/Government continue to amaze me with their brilliant ineptitude. This isn't a democrat/Republican issue, there are so many issues with both parties. But imo, the main issue is that they all believe they are soooooo great, and can fix all our problems. Get out of our lives Government!

Barney Frank will be on the next pocketfives podcast, discussing his role in opposition to the "Make Poker Illegal" lobby. Thank you for your efforts, and keep them up.

Had One

of my better nights in a while. First I made it to heads up in the 150, and we even chopped it. At the same time I made the final table of the Paradise 30R, but couldn't outlast 2 hyper aggresive players, who through a combination of aggresion and cards were able to make my life a misery. I finished 3rd there. WacoKid, a top player, also made the final table, and although it was clear that we were the 2 best at that table when it became short, the other 2 hyper aggresive players, won out. That's poker, I'll gladly put all my money on the line with the best hand.

Also finished 4'th in the 100R on Stars in the afternoon. All in all definately a good day.

Omaha Hi Lo Tip of the Day

If you are holding 66xx on a flop of aq6 (2 sooted) you're hand is so vulnerable, that even if you think it is best at the moment, it is ussually correct to fold it. Almost never should it be played fast.

Relatively Similar to Yesterday

I got deep in the Party $100 40K guar, and almost broke my final table drought there, but bubbled the ft, when my 22 couldn't hold to the chip leaders a7. He had earlier had a medium stacked and reraised my early postion raise (when I was pot commited) with k4 soooted. I made the auto call with aq, but he caught his flush. He proceeded to get lucky a number of other times, and then started playing relatively smart, ie: hyper aggresive with his huge stack. The blinds were preety large relative to most of our stacks, and he was making auto calls with kx.

Also had a real short stack stack in the 100R and managed to nurse it for a long time, but ended up bubbling in 22 (18 paid). Sitting in 50/144 in the 30R on Dise, after being short there also most of the way. The good is that I'm learning to play more patiently at times, switching gears etc.. but the bad is that well, I'd obviously like to have a big stack, and the flexibility to make more plays. Sometimes you just gotta work with what you're dealt.

Had an OK day

Went deep in the UB and Party tournies, but not far enough. Bubbled PokerRoom and Horse at Full Tilt. I'd like to believe it's just a matter of time before I have a nice score, as I keep puttin myself in contention. Gotta work on playing the A game at all times, and still many errors of course, but slowly...

It doesn't get too much worse than this

This guy disgusts me: Chomsky

Ever Since

I have had internet and used it regularly, I have been a regular reader of the blogosphere. Nowadays, (and I do consider myself a little of a news junkie) I never read newspapers or watch the news on TV (unless u count Colbert Report, which is definately more informative than your average network news station.)

I play on all the major sites with variations of Ari or BodogAri, and it works out preety well. But after getting called down with 17'th pair bottom kicker for the millionth time- w/ them being good- I began to wonder what having an anonymous name would be like. Therefore, as new sites began to offer some good promotions, I signed up with them, but used a generic name. Last night, I finally had my first good score, taking down a decent sized tourney. It was amazing to see the flexibility that not being "Ari" allowed me to have.

On the other hand, many top players complain/are extatic, about the loose action they receive because they are a named player and people want to knock them out. This remains true at times, like in the 2nd level of a stars 100 yesterday, a guy raises triple the blinds from UTG and gets flat called by the 3rd to act guy, I'm sitting there in late position with aa, 1500 chips, and about 100 chips in the pot. I just push in there and JJ auto calls. That's loose action that I want. However, with my style of play, I would love if I never had to showdown my hand for the rest of my life. One of those things that I'll have to give a little more thought to. I already have accounts on party and pokerroom skins, where I could play under different names if I so choose.

Big day Sunday today, I "know" I have to limit the amount of tables I play at one time, and I'm gonna try maxing out at 4 from now on. Chances are... I fail, but it's def something that I eventually need to work on. It's preety clear to me now that playing 7-8 tables at once is not something that is good for me or my bottom line.

I was watching the espn show "Bonds on Bonds" and found what he had to say about competition and the moment to apply very well to poker. Now it's preety clear to me that this guy isn't someone who is very noble, but you can learn from all. I was watching late late last night finishing off a couple of sng's before bed, so I don't remember exactly his words, but he was talking about how for a split second, you know exactly what the other guy is gonna do, and you just gotta act on it.

I left my cell in my friends car the other day, and he was saying how I never mention any of them in my blog. Thomas Jefferson, bring me back my cell.

Some may ask, why what was I doing "out"? During my year in Isreal after high school, I had 3 roomates, TJ, Jeremy, and Benny. Congrats to Benny who got engaged on Thursday (and Jeremy who will be getting married next month), and of course that is the answer to todays question of the day.

Here's to a good Sunday.

Congrats

to Devin Porter aka Tranquil Chaos, who has entered into exactly 2 WPT events, and made the TV final table both times, just finishing 3rd at the WPT mirage. Simply an amazing feat. Congrats, and looking forward to seeing it on TV.

Bad Game me

So everything is going all nice, and then I get KK in mid position with one limper right before I acted, blinds are 100-200, and I make it 800 to go. Shulman calls from the button as does the limper. Flop comes 1064 (2 diamonds) and it goes, check, bet 2K by me, button call, and limper folds. Turn is a black 5, and I bet 3600, and get raised 5K more (he has 5K left). I think for a while, and I'm so confident that he didn't flop a set, combined with "push over" factor, I think I have the best hand, so I go all in. Well, I'm drawing dead w/ 78, overplayed my big pair, big rookie mistake.

I'm left 7K, work my way up to 9K, and an early position guy makes it 600 (same blinds), I have a read on him that he is weak, and I have 99 on the button, so I make it 1800. Chip in the BB thinks for a bit, jokes around and then goes all in. The early position autofolds, and I'm left with a tough decision for the rest of my chips. Don't know exactly how/why I decided to call, but he flips over ak sooted, and I'm slightly ahead till an ace comes on the flop. Always next time.

First Break

Please ignore prior post, sitting to my left in order, jan sorensen, chip jett, barry shulman. Jason Lester is also at the table. Not that Weak. lol. I'm up to 25K. Hopefully I'll rem. hands later.

WPT Mirage

10K tourney starts today. I won my way into this through full tilt's $200 winner's choice tourney. As part of the prize, they let u have "dinner with pros", which was scheduled for last night. However, (believe it or not, I know it must be shocking...) I wanted to play online, so I skipped the dinner (where I wouldn't have eaten anyway- it obv. was not at a kosher restaurant) and decided played in 2 100R's, 2 100's and 1 150 (which was the only one i cashed). Came into the ft with tiny chip lead, but after I had ak, raised triple the blinds, got reraised, and then pushed all in (there were many short stacks, thought he would def. consider folding to move up). Well, the guy had aa, so he wasn't going anywhere, and then I slowly lost a couple of more chips till I went out in 6 or 7 (or 8).

I don't really know much about the structure today, but I'm assuming its relatively deepstacked. Obviously in these deepstacks, there is no pressure to play hands early, and in theory you can preety easily "chill" and make it into day 2. However, once the later days come around, u obv. need chips, and by that time, most of the weaker players have been eliminated, making it very difficult to accumulate. I don't have any game plan per-se, but i'm definately going to try and find the weaker $ at my table early, and give myself a legitimate chance at getting it.

I hope to provide a "tourney report" at the end of the day. Wish me luck.

Edit: Supposedly, pokerwire will be tracking all the full tilt qualifiers.

Different Styles

Poker can be done in a succesful aka: profitable manner using many different styles. Mostly, people assume that the tight approach is best, and for alot of people, and more importantly against alot of people it is.

However, once you start playing against thinking opponents, you are more free to implement any style you choose. People have pointed out plays by me when I was in one of my hyper aggresive modes. (Thereby my opponents having weaker requirements to raise me) and made some questionable plays.

Today I saw an amazing hand that will make me look much more like the tighter player that I am.

It gets folded to PokerHo in late position and he makes a raise about 3-4 X BB, the BB Tmay flat calls. The flop comes out 762, and tmay check raises Ho's continuation bet. Ho immediately goes all in, and tmay eventually calls after a delay and shows 1010. HO has q8, and somehow catches a q on the turn. The point is that PokerHo, who has an extremely successful track record, made a play that most of us would consider poor, and yet that his style, and it works. The more open minded I can be to taking a little from everyone and be able to shift gears from very tight to "PokerHO" obviously, that will make a better poker player.

Finished 3rd in the 50R earlier. Had a huge stack in the Party super approaching the bubble and got 2 outed on a monster pot, and yesterday also bubbled party super, (Wed-Limit). Flying out to vegas tommorow morning so the 100R on Dise is probably my last for a bit. Sitting 13/26.

Had a bad start to the afternoon

but now its looking up. Sitting at the Final table of the small UB 100 tourney (77 players) in 4/8. Also, i'm chip leader in the 30R with 147 people. Won a couple of big pots there (obv). One of them right after the break (I had bare minimum for me at break - 5500) where I tripled up with qq against jj and 55. Then later on I called a min raise from the button with 66, and one of the blinds called to. The flop came a76, with a flush draw, and it went, bet hard, all in, all in by me and all in by third player. They had a7 and kq (nut flush draw). I held and "quaded" to a river 6.

As I typed this, I called a min raise from late position with 44, and 5 saw a flop of 974. The preflop raiser bet out and i raised enought to put him all in. He called with kk and I held extending my CL.

I'm also doing preety well in the Stars 50R, where I'm 3/78. Still a while to go before big money, so now with all the pressure, lets hope I don't collapse... GL me.


Edit: out at UB in 7, when I limped from the SB with a9 soooooooted, and the huge stack BB raised, I decided to go all in to see his ak. GG. Now I gotta win these 2 rebuys.

Thank You

all for the congrats wishes. An interesting observation with help from a post by bel0wab0ve. He talks about Paradise's 9% rake on buyin, rebuys and addon and contrasts it with the industry standard- only taking rake from initial buyin. Basically, if my win last night had taken place on Stars rather than paradise, I would have won an extra $1800. On the other hand the Bodog tourney I won, gave me an extra $1800 because of their overlay. Which business model do you think will survive best going forward? I sincerely hope (and think) that providing better value is the long term way to go, and it is one of the many reasons I plug Bodog so hard. (They provide me with no direct compensation-of course, as long as they keep their pokerroom open, and provide the value that they do, well, that is plenty compensation for me.

After talking with tiltyjoker and other players, and thinking about it for a while, I've decided to cut down on the # of tables I play at one time. (Micheal1123's (an amazing player, who doensn't play as much as most ranked players, but has some incredible results) post that he never plays more than 3 tables at a time also contributed.) Therefore, I'll now have more choices on what tourney's I want to play. Up till now, I just register for them all, and worry about it when they pop up. I will do my best to limit my play on Dise, until they fix their ridiculous rake charges. I mean, there are sites now with 0 rake, 9% on everything is just way too much.

Something wrong with the landlord's ISP, so they are coming today to fix it, which means I'll be out of commision again for the afternoon session. I won't complain if I simply match yesterday's output. (Of course, that will put me in a rough situation, where I might have to consider playing less to make more- an idea championed by my father and Brsavage among others.)

This deserves a post

I won 2 decent sized tournies tonight. The $40 deepstack 25K guar on Bodog (which had an 8k overlay) and the 100R on Dise late night. Not sure what to say, but it feels great. Obv. got lucky a bit.

Now I gotta win one more for the Pocket Fives triple crown. Although I chopped the 100R on Stars on Friday, but that doesn't count as officially I finished 2nd. I def. don't mind, any extra incentive to win a tourney is good, as it is hard enough as it is.

In the 25K, I had a big chiplead most of the stretch, and although at times it lookeed like I might collapse, I held onto to it with preety aggressive play (but far from hyper).

The 100R was the exact opposite, i was 10/12 and then came to the Final table and they were in a big hand where 2 guys got knocked out. I was then 7/8. I basically played preety tight but went all in and stole the blinds to slowly creep up, and then doubled up w/ kk vs a3 4 or 5 handed, and was back in the game. I didn't realize at the time but the person to my right (who appeared to be a person I did not know) was really redsoxsox, whose has one of the best records on stars in the 100R. We got 3 handed, and he was exploiting myself and the other shortstack's unwillingness to go out 3rd very well. I finally got tired of that "exploiting" and went all in to his raise with k4 soooooooooted. He called with aj and after a blank, blank, blank flop a lovely king appeared on the turn. Great time to suck out. I was then chip leader, and called his allin shorly after with ak vs his k10 and held. Heads up I had a huge chip lead and easily took the victory.

For the first time

in a while, I took the afternoon session off, hope my boss doesn't fire me:) Was feeling lazy, so lounged around watching some adult swim reruns. (Obv, if u don't feel like playing u shouldn't.)

Buttt, as usual it didn't last too long, I'm back for regular night session. Hope that 5 hour break brings out the best of me.

Weak Day

but trying to salvage it in the late 100R on Dise. On the 3rd break now and 4/14. Just folded 55 in the BB when 2 short stacks went all in with aq and jj, flop is a55. lol. Glad I made a good fold, I was tempted to put them on both on high cards, before I stuck with reason.

Had

an okay day, and although I don't keep records (which is about to change, hopefully, although, I've said that a couple dozen times already) I'm preety sure I was up for the day. And yet, the day ends in fustration. There is just so much losing in poker, its still hard to get used to. But, I know I have to, and as hard as it is, slowly... At least, I'm doing well in general.

I leave on Friday morn to Vegas, and the tourney I'm playing starts Sunday. I'm hoping I can win a few decent sized tournies this week, so that I can go into the live tourney on a little bit of a run. It would also be fun to get a drunk old guy to double me up in the first level.

So annoying

I really don't play as much on party as other sites, and the main reason why is that I simply have horrible results on Party. Finally, tonight, I was doing really well in their huge $200 (over 1k people) but I lost all my chips on a series of tough beats/breaks. Notg, but it certainly is no fun. I really feel the need to do something on Party and this was a great chance. Can't complain too much, because things have been going real well recently.

Paradise has started offering 2 100R's a day now, and I really like it. However, I keep bubbling them. Today it was 34th when 30 paid, after i lost aq vs 88 for 60% of my chips with 38 left. My k5 at the end didn't bad beat 1010.

I was on TV tonight, but missed the show. Got the landlord to tape it, so I'll eventually get around to watching. Can't imagine they make me look too good, as I busted relatively early. (Obv. it was a freeroll, so hard to complain, but it was one of the fastest blind structures i've played, that combined with a winner take all prize, made hyper-aggresive bordering reckless play a neccesity imo.)

My biggest win ever came in a UB 200 a couple of months back for 36K. Since then I haven't won a major, only ft'ling 2 of them, (finishing 3rd at Bodog and 8th at Pokerroom). Hopefully, tommorow is the "big day" all us MTT players dream of.

100R

was going very well, with about 30 left, I had probably the 8 or 9 th biggest stack. Well then I raised a couple of times, got reraised, and had to fold, called someones all in with 66 when they had kj, and I found myself tiny stacked all of a sudden. I chipped up a couple of times by stealing the blinds, and then reraising all in (when he was probably pot commited) with kq, he actually had a hand, 10-10, but i got a king on the flop. Next hand I reraised an early position player with 99, and he laid down. About an orbit later, we're down to 24, (I'm prob around 14 in chips), an early position raiser triples it, i reraise triple, and he goes all, i happily call with my kk to see his qq. q on flop gg.

Sitting 1/5 in the 60 person UB 100, and decent stacked in both 50R on stars, and 30R on Dise.

Coninuation

of the last post. I'm going deep in these tournies, just not winning them!!! (Top3, whatever the goal is) I finished 11 in the stars 100R, 4 in the UB 100, and 77th (70 paid) in the Dise 30R. I'm not as mad (although that is def not the correct word) as I ussually am, bec. I'm preety sure that I'm playing well, and I have had some wins, so I figure If i keep puttin myself in good situations, the wins will come in. (Wouldn't mind if it comes just in time for the mirage tourney)

On the agenda: Dise 100R and 30R, Stars 300 and 150, Bodog (p5's tourney), 25k guar, and I'll prob. play the late tourney 100 tourney on UB. (However, until 1030 there is no need for me to even check UB, one of the side-benefits of their recent addition-by subtraction methods.)

I've started playing some more full tilt tourneys. Specifically, I'm liking their $75 tourneys, which have varying guarantees, but ussually exceed them. (I was chip leader in one of them yesterday for a bit, before collapsing and not even cashing.)

Going deep, but not far enough

Last night, I finished 19 in the 10R and 5 in a UB 100. It's not that I'm upset with this, its more like I'm disappointed. It's not every day that I can go deep (especially in those 1K+ fields) so when I finally do manage to go far, I really want to win it. If there are 6 people left in a tourney, it sucks coming in sixth place.

I've decided to use my Full Tilt "winners choice" seat for the WPT mirage tourney, so I'll be heading to Vegas in less than 2 weeks.

Stars 100R and UB 100 under way, more rebuys etc... to start soon.

Morning session

was weak, bubbled the $30 when i guy called my reraise with a7 for half his chips, and all mine. I had k4 and didn't get lucky.

Afternoon rebuys dise 30, stars 100, 50 have begun... also UB 100 and stars 50.

Wow

I was examing the pokerdb records of a bunch of top online tourney players, and I found something interesting. At first, I was a little shocked/disappointed when i noticed that I have never had an "in the money" streak of more than two tournies in a row. (In the advanced DB, Nat has created a "streak" list, in which it shows how many games in a row u cash/bust. My longest out of the money streak on Stars is 35 tournies.)

However, as I looked at other players profiles this noone seemed to ever cash many times in a row. (Granted most of them had better than 2 cashes in a row as their max, but noone had streaks of 8-10 in a row, which is what I had been expecting.) This all goes back to the back to the fear of failure thing, u really can't gotta be expecting to not cash most of the time in order to make any real money in MTT.

Starting off my day early today, with some 11AM tournies; stars 100 pot limit holdem, and a Dise 30 NL freezeout. Early into both of them, and not doing too well in either.

An interesting perspective

on the war, by David Blue: here . Not sure if I agree with everything he writes, but at the least its original and thought provoking.

For more variations of "I hate Bush" or "President f#%#ing up the country", no need for any links, just pick up your local paper.

How do you play the nuts?

I'll come out betting, and keep playing it strong the whole way many times. This is one of them. If I start pulling checkraises etc. I don't think there is any chance that I win a 1470 chip pot.

RGULFBREEZE8 is at seat 0 with 1805.
James Taylor is at seat 1 with 2650.
slickrick417 is at seat 2 with 3495.
Teach027 is at seat 3 with 2185.
mastertran2 is at seat 4 with 2370.
kentuckykev is at seat 5 with 2485.
Anomander is at seat 6 with 2365.
Stinger885 is at seat 7 with 2485.
philippe13 is at seat 8 with 2675.
wild american is at seat 9 with 2485.
The button is at seat 0.

James Taylor posts the small blind of 5.
slickrick417 posts the big blind of 10.

RGULFBREEZE8: -- --
James Taylor: Tc Kc
slickrick417: -- --
Teach027: -- --
mastertran2: -- --
kentuckykev: -- --
Anomander: -- --
Stinger885: -- --
philippe13: -- --
wild american: -- --

Pre-flop:

Teach027 folds. mastertran2 folds. kentuckykev
folds. Anomander calls. Stinger885 folds.
philippe13 folds. wild american folds. RGULFBREEZE8
raises to 20. James Taylor calls. slickrick417
calls. Anomander calls.

Flop (board: 8c Ac 5c):

James Taylor bets 80. slickrick417 folds. Anomander
folds. RGULFBREEZE8 calls.

Turn (board: 8c Ac 5c 6h):

James Taylor bets 165. RGULFBREEZE8 calls.

River (board: 8c Ac 5c 6h 4d):

James Taylor bets 450. RGULFBREEZE8 calls.



Showdown:

James Taylor shows Tc Kc.
James Taylor has Tc Kc 8c Ac 5c: flush, ace high.
RGULFBREEZE8 mucks cards.
(RGULFBREEZE8 has Ad 3d.)


Hand #31477548-9 Summary:

No rake is taken for this hand.
James Taylor wins 1470 with flush, ace high.

Sundays- A closer look

All week, us online players all wait for Sunday, and all the big buyin, large fields events that come with that day. Unfortunately, given the nature of tournament play, it is almost inevitable that Sunday evening is not gonna be too great.

My dad will be heading back to NZ tommorow, so I'm not gonna play much today, probably just the 100R on stars and 100 on UB. Be back to normal tommorow, and of course, looking forward to Sunday....