Riverchasers, MSOP and Sluts

Alright, in the last week or so I've been having a nice little run. At least in the SNG realm. At one point was 5 of 6 with 4 firsts and 1 second. These little runs are always nice and as always you need some luck to go with them especially with the turbo variety that I enjoy. Since all was going well, I had a little time this weekend with no real plans, and was a in a generally pleasant mood, I decided to get into the MTT game.

Thursday night, Riverchasers. I don't feel I played particualarly well in this. I got a bevy of cards early ( AA twice and KK once) and played them well enough to get people's stacks in. Made a couple of smooth calls with the aces that I don't normally do. This lead to getting people's entire stacks or getting my entire stack in, which may not have happened otherwise. Also they actually held up too, which is always nice. Through poor aggression in a few spots and some bad hands I was able to piss this away though. Fast forward to the final table and people are donating their stacks to Hoy. This makes it so much easier to play shorthanded, sigh. Down to 5 handed I managed to get lucky in a recockulous setup hand where I had QQ OTB and the BB had KK. The lady on the river saved me. Then got unlucky when I put the BB all in with A10 and he had A4 and won. Then got unlucky with A9 was less then K6. Then got lucky when A10 was > K9. See how this goes. Eventually I make the money 3 handed in third place. My death blow comes when in the BB of 800 the SB min raises and I shove for 5400 with 88. SB IN-STA-CALLS with A3. Flop is Q42. Turn J. River, wait for it, wait for it..........5. TY, GG, IGHN. I won't even attempt to understand the insta-call for 2/3 of his stack, so let's move on.


Saturday afternoon, MSOP Event #458302 or whatever, 15 dollar NLHE. I was bored. The kid was asleep. The wife was dozing. I decide to play. I double up twice early with AA and KK. The AA on an all heart board me holding the ace of hearts when JJ with the jack of hearts shoved to the all under board. This was a loose-ish call by me but in an event with 2200 people I am willing to take that chance with the redraw in order to get the big stack. Turns out I didn't even need it. Had it up to 9K then ran JJ into AA on an all club board. I had the only club and with only one over out there I put him to the test on the turn. He called with AA and no club. Didn't get there, but I like my play there especially with a big stack. If I get him to laydown, I'm up to almost 12K before the first break. As is I ended the first break with around 8K. By the second I was up to around 11K and in the top 150 stacks or so of the 800ish remaining. Then I could get nothing going. This happens to me more then it should. In the late middle stages of tournies I have problems accumulating chips. I pick the wrong spots to be aggressive or don't be aggro enough. Eventually my treading water catches up to me, I get move to the table of the 3 bet shove every hand. I go out racing with the JackAce soooooooted against 88. This was disappointing. I was on track to make a deep run in this thing and got derailed. Need to go back and read my Harrington for this stage in the tournies. I think my biggest problem is that I end up being the one making the first raise, not the big resteal second raise. Instead I am the one getting hit by the resteal.

Sunday night, PokerSluts, OM8 - the call of the donkey. I get the fortune of having 2 aggro players to my right. This makes life good but not great as I fold alot of marginal hands early that I may otherwise would have played. On the up side my big hands hold and I start to get a nice stack. I could bore you with some hands, but no one really cares and I can't remember that many. Two big hands back to back on the bubble (6 handed) where I had AA29 ss made nut nut and then with AK36 ss OTB flopped nut nut draw and rivered the wheel. Then shit went to hell in a handbasket after the bubble broke. 2 river beatings. 2 bad plays. I went from 2nd in chips to out the door in no time with the large blinds. Last night I felt I was playing pretty well then I half self destructed half got unlucky. This is a losing recipe every time.

All in all not a bad few days. Hopefully things continue in the right direction. Will almost certainly play Riverchasers on Thursday since there is no work Friday. I must keep my cash streak going. CHIMPS will be tough on Tuesday but we'll try to make that happen. And on another plus side my baller bankroll that was 27 dollars at Stars is now up to 48 dollars. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Pokerslut Tour Tonight

Since another member of The Corporation (notZooks) forgot to post it I will. Event #2 of Season #10 of the Pokerslut Tour is tonight.

Full Tilt Poker
21:00 server time
$5+0.50
Limit Omadraw 8
password: imapokerslut

I Have Joined Twitter

Yeah, I know. Can't believe it either.

http://twitter.com/snuffypoker

Razz Sucks

Wait. Let me elaborate.

Razz sucks ass.

There I feel much better now. Don't you?

I played the AIPS Razz event last night. My first 14 hands should have been a clue:

Dealt to gadzooks64 [6d 4h] [Kh]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [2h Jc] [Qs]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Tc 6h] [Td]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [2c 2s] [Qs]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [9s Kd] [5s]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Kc 3h] [8c]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Qs Kd] [9d]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ah Qd] [Qc]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [2c Qh] [Jc]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [8d Kh] [5c]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [7c 9c] [9h]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [8c 4c] [9h]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [9s 7d] [3c]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [5h 7d] [Kc]

Full Tilt Poker Game #6984451098: AIPS III Event #6 (49953119), Table 7 - 40/80 Ante 7 - Limit Razz - 21:20:25 ET - 2008/06/26
Seat 1: dhaga (1,459)
Seat 2: gadzooks64 (1,277)
Seat 3: Dante1126 (2,056)
Seat 4: Gambit727 (1,587)
Seat 5: godard (1,510)
Seat 6: ibcnu2 (912)
Seat 7: GapBand85 (1,713)
Seat 8: engstrok (981)
dhaga antes 7
gadzooks64 antes 7
Dante1126 antes 7
Gambit727 antes 7
godard antes 7
ibcnu2 antes 7
GapBand85 antes 7
engstrok antes 7
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to dhaga [3d]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ad 4s] [6s]
Dealt to Dante1126 [5s]
Dealt to Gambit727 [3s]
Dealt to godard [6h]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [Ts]
Dealt to GapBand85 [Ac]
Dealt to engstrok [Ah]
ibcnu2 is high with [Ts]
ibcnu2 brings in for 10
GapBand85 completes it to 40
engstrok folds
dhaga folds
gadzooks64 calls 40
Dante1126 folds
Gambit727 folds
godard calls 40
ibcnu2 folds
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ad 4s 6s] [6d]
Dealt to godard [6h] [Js]
Dealt to GapBand85 [Ac] [Qh]
godard bets 40
GapBand85 calls 40
gadzooks64 calls 40
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ad 4s 6s 6d] [8h]
Dealt to godard [6h Js] [Th]
Dealt to GapBand85 [Ac Qh] [9c]
godard checks
GapBand85 bets 80
gadzooks64 calls 80
godard calls 80
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ad 4s 6s 6d 8h] [5d]
Dealt to godard [6h Js Th] [8d]
Dealt to GapBand85 [Ac Qh 9c] [Jc]
godard checks
GapBand85 checks
gadzooks64 bets 80
godard folds
GapBand85 calls 80
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ad 4s 6s 6d 8h 5d] [9s]
GapBand85 checks
gadzooks64 bets 80
GapBand85 calls 80
*** SHOW DOWN ***
gadzooks64 shows [9s 4s 6s 6d 8h 5d Ad] 8,6,5,4,A
GapBand85 mucks
gadzooks64 wins the pot (866) with 8,6,5,4,A
The limits are now 50/100 with an ante of 10
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 866 | Rake 0
Seat 1: dhaga folded on 3rd St.
Seat 2: gadzooks64 showed [9s 4s 6s 6d 8h 5d Ad] and won (866) with 8,6,5,4,A
Seat 3: Dante1126 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 4: Gambit727 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: godard folded on 6th St.
Seat 6: ibcnu2 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 7: GapBand85 mucked [Kd 7h Ac Qh 9c Jc 2s] - J,9,7,2,A
Seat 8: engstrok folded on 3rd St.

So, let's recap: I took 20 minutes for me to play and hand past 3rd street.

I did love Gambit's comment:

Gambit: Did you ever think about raising after 5th street?
Zooks: Uh, I was just happy to have a hand.

The next interesting hand was this one:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6984543424: AIPS III Event #6 (49953119), Table 7 - 50/100 Ante 10 - Limit Razz - 21:27:30 ET - 2008/06/26
Seat 1: dhaga (1,687)
Seat 2: gadzooks64 (1,871)
Seat 3: Dante1126 (1,689)
Seat 4: Gambit727 (1,540)
Seat 5: godard (1,253)
Seat 6: ibcnu2 (600)
Seat 7: GapBand85 (1,571)
Seat 8: engstrok (1,284)
dhaga antes 10
gadzooks64 antes 10
Dante1126 antes 10
Gambit727 antes 10
godard antes 10
ibcnu2 antes 10
GapBand85 antes 10
engstrok antes 10
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to dhaga [Js]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [4d 6c] [7c]
Dealt to Dante1126 [Td]
Dealt to Gambit727 [Tc]
Dealt to godard [4s]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [3h]
Dealt to GapBand85 [Ah]
Dealt to engstrok [8h]
dhaga is high with [Js]
dhaga brings in for 15
gadzooks64 completes it to 50
Dante1126 folds
Gambit727 folds
godard folds
ibcnu2 raises to 100
GapBand85 raises to 150
engstrok folds
dhaga folds
gadzooks64 calls 100
ibcnu2 calls 50
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [4d 6c 7c] [3s]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [3h] [As]
Dealt to GapBand85 [Ah] [Jd]
ibcnu2 bets 50
GapBand85 calls 50
gadzooks64 calls 50
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [4d 6c 7c 3s] [8d]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [3h As] [9h]
Dealt to GapBand85 [Ah Jd] [2d]
gadzooks64 bets 100
ibcnu2 raises to 200
GapBand85 folds
gadzooks64 raises to 300
ibcnu2 raises to 390, and is all in
gadzooks64 calls 90
ibcnu2 shows [7s 5s 3h As 9h]
gadzooks64 shows [4d 6c 7c 3s 8d]

Let's take a moment to see where we stand.



I was pretty sure I was ahead at this point. He might have a draw but I was ahead.

*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [4d 6c 7c 3s 8d] [Ts]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [7s 5s 3h As 9h] [6s] As my buddy Compton would say, *dink*
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [4d 6c 7c 3s 8d Ts] [Qh]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [7s 5s 3h As 9h 6s] [Kh]
ibcnu2 shows [7s 5s 3h As 9h 6s Kh] 7,6,5,3,A
gadzooks64 shows [4d 6c 7c 3s 8d Ts Qh] 8,7,6,4,3
ibcnu2 wins the pot (1,475) with 7,6,5,3,A
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,475 | Rake 0
Seat 1: dhaga folded on 3rd St.
Seat 2: gadzooks64 showed [4d 6c 7c 3s 8d Ts Qh] and lost with 8,7,6,4,3
Seat 3: Dante1126 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 4: Gambit727 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: godard folded on 3rd St.
Seat 6: ibcnu2 showed [7s 5s 3h As 9h 6s Kh] and won (1,475) with 7,6,5,3,A
Seat 7: GapBand85 folded on 5th St.
Seat 8: engstrok folded on 3rd St.

Ok, I've been in worse spots before.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6984648914: AIPS III Event #6 (49953119), Table 7 - 60/120 Ante 10 - Limit Razz - 21:35:33 ET - 2008/06/26
Seat 1: dhaga (1,662)
Seat 2: gadzooks64 (1,136)
Seat 3: Dante1126 (1,744)
Seat 4: Gambit727 (1,415)
Seat 5: godard (1,103)
Seat 6: ibcnu2 (1,150)
Seat 8: engstrok (3,285)
dhaga antes 10
gadzooks64 antes 10
Dante1126 antes 10
Gambit727 antes 10
godard antes 10
ibcnu2 antes 10
engstrok antes 10
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to dhaga [Kd]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ac 5h] [3d]
Dealt to Dante1126 [As]
Dealt to Gambit727 [Qc]
Dealt to godard [5d]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [Qs]
Dealt to engstrok [7d]
dhaga is high with [Kd]
dhaga brings in for 20
gadzooks64 completes it to 60
Dante1126 raises to 120 Wow a 3bet? Orly?
Gambit727 folds
godard folds
ibcnu2 folds
engstrok folds
dhaga folds
gadzooks64 calls 60
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ac 5h 3d] [Qd] <--Brick, big pot I'm not giving up yet.
Dealt to Dante1126 [As] [6s]
Dante1126 bets 60
gadzooks64 calls 60
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ac 5h 3d Qd] [4h] Nice card
Dealt to Dante1126 [As 6s] [2h] Hopefully he paired

Had he paired I would have been a favorite.



Dante1126 bets 120
gadzooks64 calls 120
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ac 5h 3d Qd 4h] [Jh] Ouch!
Dealt to Dante1126 [As 6s 2h] [Jd] Ok, nothing's changed
Dante1126 bets 120
gadzooks64 calls 120
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ac 5h 3d Qd 4h Jh] [6d] *dink*
Dante1126 bets 120
gadzooks64 raises to 240
Dante1126 calls 120
*** SHOW DOWN ***
gadzooks64 shows [6d 5h 3d Qd 4h Jh Ac] 6,5,4,3,A
Dante1126 mucks
gadzooks64 wins the pot (1,410) with 6,5,4,3,A
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,410 | Rake 0
Seat 1: dhaga folded on 3rd St.
Seat 2: gadzooks64 showed [6d 5h 3d Qd 4h Jh Ac] and won (1,410) with 6,5,4,3,A
Seat 3: Dante1126 mucked [8c 4d As 6s 2h Jd 2d] - 8,6,4,2,A
Seat 4: Gambit727 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: godard folded on 3rd St.
Seat 6: ibcnu2 folded on 3rd St.

What was interesting about his hand was the chat afterwards. Dante gave me a hard time about chasing. Gambit and I reviewed the hand a determined that he must have paired his 2, but he insisted - after I confronted him about that - that he didn't pair until the river. Meaning, he 3 bet with 84A. Let me repeat that: HE 3 BET WITH 3 CARDS TO AN 8 LOW. Now I don't feel like such a donk. Besides, I was in get out and go home mode after that last hand and running so card dead.

Now you are probably wondering why I hate razz so much if I can suck out a hand like that? Let me show you how I managed to get crippled just before the break.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6984917493: AIPS III Event #6 (49953119), Table 7 - 100/200 Ante 15 - Limit Razz - 21:56:13 ET - 2008/06/26
Seat 1: dhaga (952)
Seat 2: gadzooks64 (1,586)
Seat 3: Dante1126 (1,379)
Seat 4: Gambit727 (2,400)
Seat 6: ibcnu2 (1,768)
Seat 7: JDog1999 (2,609)
Seat 8: engstrok (1,940)
dhaga antes 15
gadzooks64 antes 15
Dante1126 antes 15
Gambit727 antes 15
ibcnu2 antes 15
JDog1999 antes 15
engstrok antes 15
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to dhaga [9h]
Dealt to gadzooks64 [2h 4d] [7h]
Dealt to Dante1126 [As]
Dealt to Gambit727 [Jh]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [4s]
Dealt to JDog1999 [Jc]
Dealt to engstrok [Td]
Gambit727 is high with [Jh]
Gambit727 brings in for 30
ibcnu2 completes it to 100
JDog1999 folds
engstrok folds
dhaga folds
gadzooks64 calls 100
Dante1126 raises to 200
Gambit727 folds
ibcnu2 calls 100
gadzooks64 calls 100
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [2h 4d 7h] [6c]
Dealt to Dante1126 [As] [3c]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [4s] [3h]
Dante1126 bets 100
ibcnu2 calls 100
gadzooks64 calls 100
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [2h 4d 7h 6c] [Ah]
Dealt to Dante1126 [As 3c] [Kc]
Dealt to ibcnu2 [4s 3h] [8h]
gadzooks64 bets 200
Dante1126 has 15 seconds left to act
Dante1126 raises to 400
ibcnu2 has 15 seconds left to act
ibcnu2 folds
gadzooks64 raises to 600
Dante1126 raises to 800
gadzooks64 calls 200
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [2h 4d 7h 6c Ah] [Th]
Dealt to Dante1126 [As 3c Kc] [3d]



gadzooks64 bets 200
Dante1126 raises to 264, and is all in
gadzooks64 calls 64
Dante1126 shows [5s 4h As 3c Kc 3d]
gadzooks64 shows [2h 4d 7h 6c Ah Th]
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [2h 4d 7h 6c Ah Th] [Js]
Dealt to Dante1126 [5s 4h As 3c Kc 3d] [7c] *dink*
Dante1126 shows [5s 4h As 3c Kc 3d 7c] 7,5,4,3,A
gadzooks64 shows [2h 4d 7h 6c Ah Th Js] 7,6,4,2,A
Dante1126 wins the pot (3,163) with 7,5,4,3,A
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,163 | Rake 0
Seat 1: dhaga folded on 3rd St.
Seat 2: gadzooks64 showed [2h 4d 7h 6c Ah Th Js] and lost with 7,6,4,2,A
Seat 3: Dante1126 showed [5s 4h As 3c Kc 3d 7c] and won (3,163) with 7,5,4,3,A
Seat 4: Gambit727 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 6: ibcnu2 folded on 5th St.
Seat 7: JDog1999 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 8: engstrok folded on 3rd St.

I hate razz.

How To Lose A Big Pot

I hope that people like it when I post items like this. I don't just tell you when I win. This one goes down as one of the stupidest hands and biggest losses I have ever had. here it goes....

I went to WinStar last night. I got there around 5:30 and signed up for the 1/2 and 2/5 lists. I was called for the 2/5 list and bought in for the full $500. They play 9 handed and looking around the table there was only one person who had less than my $500 (which was $350). Guess they have been playing a while.

I limp my first 5 hands then pick-up A,A UTG and raise to $20 and get 4 callers. Shit. Flop comes 10,9,8 rainbow. I lead for $40 to see where I'm at and get one caller. Turn pairs the 8. Check, check. River is another 8. I lead for $60 and take the pot. About two laps later I get A9ss and limp. 6 ways to the flop of K,X,Xss. A blind leads for $35 and I am the only caller. Turn is a blank but bringing a second flush draw. Check check. River is an offsuit ace. I made a good value bet here of $50. The other guy thought for a minute and called with K,J. I really hate his check on the turn there. Worked for me though.

About a half-hour of mucking hands later I picked-up A,A again and raised to $20 UTG+1. I got two callers to a flop of A,9,7hh. I lead for $40 and they both folded. As Zooks would say, sigh. Then the big blow-up hand comes. First some background.

A new guy sat at the table and bought in for $500. On his first hand in a straddle he called a raise to $50. Heads-up to a flop of 8,5,2. Raiser bets $60 and he raises to $160. Other guy shoves and he insta-calls with A,8 off. Nice call pre-flop. He got runner runnered with when the other guys J,4ss flushed him.

Now to my hand. Straddle pot. New player is the straddle. Two limpers, I limp on the button with A,J and the straddle checks. 4 to the flop of J,10,4ss. New guy straddle leads for $50 which means pretty much nothing. Next player min-raises to $100. This doesn't mean much to me either cause he saw how that guy played. I re-raise to $200 for some information. Straddle insta-mucks and now the min-raiser takes 30 seconds and shoves which has me covered. What could he have in this spot. He limped pre. A set could be likely but I would think he would want to trap the straddle so I ruled that out. It has to be some kind of vulnerable hand like 2 pair or top pair or possibly a flush draw. If I fold here I still have around $440 and can fight. There were plenty of soft spots on the table which I could pick on. I took a solid 5 minutes......

and called like a fucktard. $440 to win about $1400. I have to be good only about 1 in 3 times. The problem is I'm on my only bullet and really can't take that kind of swing. We didn't show and the turn was the 3s. Well the flush got there now I'm fucked if he has that. River is an off-suit 3. He shows K,K which is good. That is actually one of the hands I hope he shows me if he is ahead except for something like bottom 2. All I know is if I limp with K,K there I always get fuckin crushed. Alas it was not meant to be and I lost the big pot. I got up and left the room. Bye bye Oklahoma.

Does anyone make that call? I hope not!

By the way, AIPS Razz is tonight. I will be playing trying to make my 2nd straight final table. See you there!!!!

CHIMPS Event #6 Tonight

on Full Tilt
21:00 server time
Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better with Rebuys
$1+$1
password: anteup

Vegas Vacation Part IV

Ok the end I promise. I've now officially milked these posts for 2 weeks since I've been back. And let's be honest they haven't been that good to begin with. Mmmmkay, Tuesday was the OM8 tourny at Caesar's at 3. I slept in, got some breakfast and got over there by 2 to register just incase they were going to cap it with the Noon tourny going as well. This was the one where Snuffy was doing well, I railed him for awhile, caught up with Zooks and BlindGuy when they made it over, then it was time for the tourny.

I should not have played this tourny. Yes there were 50 minute levels. Yes you got 5K in chips to start (not great but not awful). Using my bext Stephen A. Smith imitation, however, the bilnds rocketed in this thing. By level 5 they were 400/800. Of course no significant number of people are out by this point so the average stack is about 5700. But I digress. The hands. Lost my first big pot when I had AA26 in the hijack with and early limper. Raised, got 5 callers. Flop came 10107, checks to me, I bet, get raised, call raise fold turn. Chick limped with 101034 UTG, flopped quads, obv she had a feeling. Picked up some hands to maintain through most of the first break and was up about to about 5400. Shortly after the break I pick up AA36 ss. I raise and get four calls. This time the flop is J74 wih two spades. Check check I bet, call call. Turn is a King, I think, another high non spade. I bet, call call. Of course the river is the Ace of spades. Guy now bets out, called, and I call with the hope of a low. Guy shows flush and the chick (same 101034 one) shows a pair of jacks and a 35 low. This crippled me. A little more then doubled the next hand to get back to about 2400. Then raised with Q234 ds. Guy to my right 3 bets, BB calls and I call all in. Flop was 936 rainbow. Turn 4. River 6. Guy to my left shows KQ95, which is always good for a 3 bets. The BB had nothing, so my counterfeited 2 pair and busted low draw get fucked one last time. Moving on.

After this we met up with Virge and Bleu. That's when the awful WPT Hold'em poker pit game started. This game is serious -EV, but there were beers, albeit slowly, but beers. This is when I met up with Bam Bam and Pebbles. They sat, saw this was shitty and went to Let It Ride. This was all the enticement I needed to get off this game and went over there to lose money. Played for awhile until the table essentially broke and they headed to bed. Which reminds me, BamBam next time you are in Philly area, I owe you a beer. The debt will be happily repayed. Then went to lose money at Pai Gow with Snuffy and BlindGuy. Lost there. Then went to lose money at BlackJack. I actually got almost to even here and should have walked away, but didn't. Still left with a few ducats in the pockets though. And I did have a nice time talking with Madonna while I played.

Wednesday saw not much of anything before the flight. Enough comps for a free breakfast buffet at Harrah's, at least I can leave on a winning note. Then wandered to the Rio for some WSOP gear and sweated a few tables of the 5K event that was going on. Yes I can confirm, Liz Leiu is still hot as a red head. Flight got back a few minutes early and that's that. All in all a good trip but wish the cash games could have gone a little better. Also wish I has skipped the OM8 and just played one of the mega stack NLHE's at Caesar's. Live and learn. There's always next year.

When You Are Beat

Just before my massive purge of brain cells in Vegas I experienced a horrible run of bad luck at the poker table. Go figure.

Even though I was only playing 2/4 limit poker, or maybe BECAUSE I was playing limit poker I paid off the idiots that outdrew me. I knew I was beat. KNEW IT. And yet I could not help but throw my chips in.

I'm thinking now that I wanted to show down my hand just to prove that I wasn't betting with air. Or maybe I wanted people to realize that they had outdrawn me and/or gotten lucky. Regardless, it was stupid. These people weren't going to give me more action just because I paid them off AND paying them off was just costing me $.

At one point, when I was in mid cran-ka binge, I was chided for laying down the second nut low draw and no high draw at a 3/6 O8 table. Turns out the bettor did indeed have the better low and who knows what for a high draw. Granted I was 2.5 sheets to the wind when I did it but boy did I catch hell for it. YOU NEVER FOLD THAT THERE! Well, WHY THE FUCK NOT? It's my $ and I knew I was drawing to half the pot IF I WAS LUCKY and clearly I wasn't being very lucky.

By the end of my Vegas adventure I had laid down an overpair to the flop when I got a lot of action and was giving grief about it too even though I was lead to believe I was behind. What is it with people giving me grief for saving my money when I was already on a cash game spewing binge? Why is it wrong to fold when you know you are beat?

By the end of my trip I was folding so many hands that would have cost me a HUGE pot had I played them. I felt oddly good about this. It's bad enough to be on a horrible run at cash games but to told that you are playing like shit on top of it doesn't help the old morale at all. The mantra of limit is, "A bet saved is a bet earned." I saved myself a ton of bets while losing a crapload of $$$ playing limit poker in Vegas this trip.

Maybe next time I need to spew at a no limit table. Just sayin.

Reading Souls

One good thing after coming back from the WSOP every year is that the local games seem to be soooo easy. I was able to get in a quick 1 hour session after work yesterday and played some 1/2. I picked-up KK on the third hand and raised to $12 after 3-4 callers. I caller to the flop and I took it down. On another hand I limped with 65cc and saw a flop of Q105cc. I lead for $10 and got 1 caller. Tuirn is an off-suit 2 and I check and he checks behind. River is another off0suit deuce and I check. Opponent fires $10. Really strange bet there. $10 seems too small fro a value bet. If he had a Q or 10 I think he bets the turn. I make the hero call and he says busted straight draw. I ended up winning $45 in the short session.

I looked back on ll of my sessions in FL since the beginning of the year and I am 11-5 showing a profit of $818. I sessions are always of the short variety, usually less than three hours. I am going to try and make an effort to play a MINIMUM of once per week. Try and get that roll back up in time for next year.

You fold that?

I promise I'll finish off the Vegas write ups soon. No really I will. I don't have time to do the entire Day 4 yet and I wanted to get a quick one up from Riverchasers last night. I've been having a nice little run in the past fwe days, including grabbing some $T for sat'ing into the 50/50 which I had no intention of playing in. Anywhore, played Riverchasers last night. Finished just in the money. Really went card dead when we got to the final table and with Hoy and Peacecorn open shoving to my right for about 6 orbits it made for a slow bleed. Believe me when I tell you A-rag would have looked like gold if I only could have found it.

At any rate this hand comes up before the final table.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6893889165: Riverchasers Online Tour (52238517), Table 3 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:12:34 ET - 2008/06/19
Seat 1: DDionysus (9,265)
Seat 2: hoyazo (5,149)
Seat 3: peacecorn (7,640)
Seat 4: ElSnarfGrande (3,880)
Seat 5: TheCloserX5 (1,990)Button
Seat 6: pebble78 (3,010) SB
Seat 7: DaBag (3,740) BB
Seat 8: cndycarr10 (2,566)
Seat 9: a104l9 (3,648)
pebble78 posts the small blind of 60
DaBag posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ElSnarfGrande [Qs Qd]
cndycarr10 folds
a104l9 folds
DDionysus folds
hoyazo raises to 360 Hoy raises from late middle, this means he has 2 cards or at least that's my read
ElSnarfGrande has 15 seconds left to act
ElSnarfGrande raises to 1,080 Why eff around
TheCloserX5 has 15 seconds left to act
TheCloserX5 raises to 1,990, and is all in my initial read is that this is AK at worst, but i'd be damned to fold for only 1K more
pebble78 folds
DaBag folds
hoyazo raises to 5,149, and is all in well this makes it harder. I really thought this could be an attempt to isolate with some kind of middling pair, 1010, JJ. It could be KK which seemed more likely the AA cause I suspect Hoy could/would/may smooth call with AA here
ElSnarfGrande has 15 seconds left to act
hoyazo: OH PLEASE
hoyazo: GET IN HERE paying no attention to this
peacecorn: hoy . . . i need you to avenge me if neccessary.
ElSnarfGrande has requested TIME
hoyazo: haha sry charlie
cndycarr10: lol
ElSnarfGrande: QQ no good huh
peacecorn: quit @$%@ign around
ElSnarfGrande folds In the end i think there is a likely chance that I am up against at least an AK and maybe even KK with it. I don't think I need to risk my tourny with the blinds only at 60/120 on what could be worse then a flip.
hoyazo shows [Ac Kh] right hand wrong player
TheCloserX5 shows [8c 8d] I dont get this push at all
Uncalled bet of 3,159 returned to hoyazo
*** FLOP *** [Js Kd 6s]
*** TURN *** [Js Kd 6s] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [Js Kd 6s 6h] [Jc]
hoyazo shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
TheCloserX5 shows two pair, Jacks and Eights
hoyazo wins the pot (5,240) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
TheCloserX5 stands up

In the end I take forth and manage to cash. I was a little better off preflop then I had thought. the funny thing if one of them pushes and the other folds I may end up calling either but the 3rd player in really changes the dynamic. I'm assuming Hoy put me on a pretty wide range with a resteal there and thought the AK was easily ahead, I really don't get the push with 88. Even if I am restealing with complete air I may have to call that bet with 3000+ in the pot for only 900 more. In the end I'm not sure if I'm a nit or made a good laydown.

WSOP Reflections

After the 4th straight year of pissing away money at the WSOP its time to reflect on my game. Lets take a look at my results this year:

Pits/Slots - +430
NL - 288
Sats -525
Limit -120
Tourneys -915
Megas -1390
Omaha -200
-----------
Total Loss of $3008


I pretty much played like shit in everything I did. I will say that my NL game was better than the results show. I took two flips (read: 36%) and lost them both. If I am on my game and not looking to gamble it up I never even take those spots and would have shown a profit. The #1 thing that I need to cut out of the list is the mega satellites. Even if I do play these there is no guarantee of getting any return on investment unless I cash. Number two on the list is tournaments. I don't even want to count how much I have lost on tournaments over my lifetime.

Here is my plan over the next year. PLAY ONLY CASH GAMES. The only tourneys I am planning on playing are ones with my friends online. Thse are small amounts and I can usually break even in them. I also may play the random step tournament at Stars as well. I have a little over a grand in my bankroll for live play. That should be enough to start grinding the $100 max games around town. I will also be able to add some money along the way through tax return money etc. I figure that I will probably need to make $5k over the next 12 months in order to have a full $10k roll for the 2/5 games next year. I am also going to play online more seriously. I have around $700 online and am going to try and really grind that up over the next year. That part I'm not so confident in but I'm going to try.

Next year I think I want to stay over at the Rio. This way I am at where I want to play and if I am tired or want to take a couple hours off I can go hang out in the room. The next few months should be interesting and I will have to re-evaluate my plan around the end of August and see where I am. Should be a fun ride.

Vegas Vacation Part III

4 Hour meetings retard poker blogging. It's not an excuse, just sayin'. As you were soldier.

Somehow after managing to sleep for only 5 hours I was awake by 1030AM on Monday morning. Blindguy and I tried to wander to Ceasar's for breakfast but were over taken by this massive covention of tools. Not tools the tools, tools the people. Anywhore, we wandered across the steet to Margaritaville for breakfast complete with margarita's. After that, headed back to Caesar's where we were in time for the opening of a new 4/8 table that everyone voted to make a full kill table. I was really hoping to clean up here. It was good table with some fun people and some definite dead money, but alas the theme of the trip holds, can't win the big pot. Case and point. I limp early with 57h. 3 calls to the button who raises and 6 of us see a flop of 862hh. I bet, get called, get raised, reraised, and I cap. Turn is the lovely 4s. I bet and only get called. And of course the river is the 3rd heart and knowing my flush is no good I have to check call. Guy had A10h and I lose close to a 200 dollar pot. Did manage to win a little from there, and even get up a little bit. Then couldn't hit a hand for the last 2 hours and ended up down about another 100. Pretty disappointing really.

From there we went to the Palms to eat at some Mexican place that I can't remember the name. What I do remember is the giant 25 dollar margarita's we drank. In our defense we had no idea they cost this much and they were easily the size of 3 regular margarita's. So that made dinner goot. It was pretty good on it's own. Stayed at the Palms for a little after that and lost some money in the pits at Pai Gow and Blackjack. Almost made it all back at a Blackjack and should have walked away, but didn't. Such is life.

From the Palms the old people went to bed. BlindGuy and I headed to the Piano Bar at NYNY which is always a fun time. We paid way too much for drinks there, but had fun and didn't lose money gambling, which was a plus by the end of the night for the both of us. Also there were random drunken (aren't they all) Canadians there who kept pulling me into their pictures. That was weird but fun. Unfortunately the girl with the white see through dress and the tiny thong was not Canadian nor did she want my picture.

Final report tomorrow. Promise. Because I'm already tired of doin this. Then probably a post mortem. That's all I can drag out of this for the time being.

Tuesdays With The CHIMPS

I know some of you who read my blog might not be aware of my weekly poker series:

CHIMPS POKER SERIES

Its tonight at 9pm eastern on Poker Stars. This week its NLHE Heads-Up matches. $5 +$0.50 and the password is anteup.

Come join in the fun!

Vegas Vacation Part II

Last we left our hero he was actually winning something. Let's put an end to that shall we? Sunday was the PLO at Binion's at 4PM. BlindGuy and I headed to try and get some poker in at the Bellagio. The room was a mobscene at 12 and only had one 4/8 table with list out the ass. Also some dude making out with his girlfriend in front of the podium. WP. NH. GG. From there we got sidetracked at Bill's Gambling Hall and Saloon for 10 dollar Pai Gow. A few drinks and lies later I'm down 40 bucks. Not bad, was entertained, off to Binions.

The structure for the PLO was reasonable, 5K in chips, fairly slow structure. 25/50, 50/100, 100/200, 200/400, 300/600 etc. I don't get much playable early. Win a nice pot to A8d67 when I flopped the nut flush draw then bet the 2nd nut striaght on the turn with no callers. In this hand the PFR was behind me and I was hoping to get the big check raise in on his c-bet but he did not oblige. On the turn it checked to me with only him to follow so I fired about 2/3 pot and took it down. Bled for awhile, didn't play and AAragrag hand aggressive enough and it cost me some chips. This is a leak. I see a hande like AA39 no suits and I'm not looking to jam. I need to get over that. Then the hand that essentially crippled me. Folds to me OTB and I look at K8dQJ and open for a raise to 500 with blinds at 100/200. I didn't want to discourage action from the blinds in position. Maybe a small mistake there. SB folds and the BB calls. Flop come Q107 rainbow with 1 diamond. BB checks and I fire 1K in the 1100 pot. BB now checks raised to 4200 essentially putting me all in. Now I KNOW he has a set of queens. It's the only hand that makes sense. AAxx he reraises preflop. KKxx he's going to bet out for info, I would think, that would be a pretty strong move with just KK. In the end feeling almost certain he had a set I laid it down, leaving myself with only 2500. After he tells me he had the queens. I'm curious what some of you other omatards do in this situation. I never really pick up a hand from there on out and jam JJ108 into AAxx, outflop with a Jack and then turn is an Ace. IGHN.

OK, out of the tourny by 7 but won the last longer between DraN and Snuffy. Jump into the 3/6 OM8 game with a full kill (any scoop over 50). Proceed to then get about 3 A2 hands and about 3 A3 hands most of which were conterfeited. It was 5 hours of card dead with complete omatards at the table. It was painful. All said and done I lost 100 at the table. On the plus side I did have many coronas and watched Zooks get belligerently drunk on double vodka and crans. Also Lusky played with us and we had fun laughing at Zooks. Against better judgement Lusky decided to take on the -EV play of driving us back to the strip. Why you ask. Well when drunks are in fast moving cars on freeways then sed car slows down on the strip, their stomachs get twisty turny. What happens next you ask. Well the window gets rolled down and many people on the strip turn and point going, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" and "Hahahahahahahahaha", ans Snarf laughs and laughs after calling shotgun. Best +EV move of the trip.

At this point I was looking to further my buzz and Blindguy and I try to play some Pai Gow. In one of the sickest runs ever I watch him lose 140 at a 15 dollar Pai Gow table in about 40 mins. People this is hard to do. He was on Pai Gow tilt and went to be a little before 1AM. Snuffy called me from the Rio and said he wanted to play the 2AM at Planet Ho. I said why not and he met me back at IP and we headed over. We both had a shitty first hour, then we both got some stacks going. I get moved off my original table and get crushed at the new one. Crippling hand. Blinds at 300/600. Folds to me in hijack and I raise to 1500 with A3os. Button calls. Flop AK7 all spades. Check check. Turn 3. I bet 2K. Button calls. River 6. I check, button bets 4K. I call. He shows 910s for the flopped flush. Go out a few hands later when I have barely 2BB and find KK and it can't hold up against 4 other hands. Stay up for no good reason to watch Snuffy cash. Good karma maybe? Ha I wish.

More tomorrow.

Snuffy's Day 8 - This is The End!!!

Last day of play for me this year. I started out at the Wynn. I haven't played here in a couple of years. I was seated on a 1/3 NL game fairly quickly. One thing I really hate about their game there is that they play with these ghey $3 chips. I takes some getting used to that's for sure. I didn't win a pot for the first hour or so and was down to $260 from my original $300 buy-in. My first pot I won was calling a raise to $9 from the BB with K,7dd. 5 ways to the flop of j,x,xdd. I called a bet of $24. Heads-up to the turn when the flush got there. Check check. The river was a brick and I lead for $45. HE thought and thought and finally called. My hand was good. Not many other interesting hands in the short 90 minute session and I left the table with a $52 profit.

During the day I was waffling on whether to play the razz event or the mega-satellite. I ended up opting for the mega for two reasons. If I make day 2 of the razz I have to stay another day and the mega is $500 cheaper. The mega got a total of 31 people for two seats and around $9600 cash for 3rd. The very first hand I picked-up Q,Q UTG and raised to 200 and received no callers. That would be the last hand I won the whole time. The rest was a comedy of errors. Draws didn't come in, to pair would lose to a turned two pair, etc. I ended up busting at the end of level three.

That ends the '08 version of Vegaspalooza. Thanks goes out to the usual suspects (Snarf, Zooks) and other new people I met (BlindGuy, DrawNDead, Columbo, KatoKat, Mr.KatoKat, Virge, Lusky, everyone else I missed).

I will put together a wrap-up and some closing thoughts together over the next couple of days along with a plan for next year.

Snuffy's Day 7

The first thing played on the day was the 2pm $80 at Planet Ho. 50 some people paying 6 spots. I hat the stack up to around 6k at the first break. Near the end of the second hour and a stack of 4500 and 500/1000 blinds it was a luck fest. The average stack was 6k. I got my money in with Q,J and managed to suckout vs AA. With 12 people left I was a big stack then went through the blinds. When the final table sat I pulled a bad card and had to go through the blinds again right away. That knocked me down to 1.5 BBs and was knocked out in 9th. They made an 8-way chop when I was knocked out. Fuckers.

I went over to the Rio after that and signed up for a $125 satellite. I worked the stack up to 1800 with 5 people left. I was in the BB with K,6 and called a min-raise to 400. Flop came A,K,x and The guy led for 400. He was really active and I thought I was good there. I ended up dumping it and on the very next hand I get K,10 from the SB and he does the same min-raise. I called with K,10 and the flop came K,10,x. I checked, he bet, I shoved and he snap called with A,K. My hand held and I had about 3500. The very next hand there was a shove for 1100 and I called with J,J. The stack to my left with 700 shoved. The hands were AA and QQ. A 4 flush came and I had a the flush but the QQ had a better one. Back down to 1600. 4 handed I get 10,10 and call a shove from the same person who had QQ. She had JJ this time and I was out the door.

That was all of my poker for the day as I opted not to play the mega. I am contemplating playing the Razz event today. I may try a satellite and then decide what I want to do. If I do play and make day 2 I would have to reschedule my flight. Not e of wife if you read this. You will get something in return.

Vegas Vacation Part I

I'm really not sure how many parts this will be, but definately more then one. Let's start at the high water mark for this trip, Day 1. Awesome isn't it?

Airport was a breeze at 12:30 on a Saturday, wh0 woulda guessed. Room wasn't ready yet, unless I was going to share a king bed with BlindGuy. Since neither of us hit for that team we decided to wait and go play poker at Ceasar's. Caesar's poker room was an unmitagated disaster with the Mega-Stack tourny going on. Lists out the wazooo for everything. Luckily we had the good timing to be on the front of the 4/8 list and got sat when the new table opened. As per Zook's recount there was 1 lagtard and 1 'middle pair is gold' donkey at the table. Finished this session up. The only one of the trip. It coulda been alot better if a few of the big hands went my way. That's kinda the summary of the trip right there, but I'll expand, don't worry. Being that this is Friday and a multitude of braincells have died since Saturday I can't recall any specific hands. From there got some dinner over at the Rio and checked out the cash game situation. No dice there, waitlists out the ass, and 1 table of 4/8 going. Zooks and DraN decide to be old and go to bed, so Snuffy, BlindGuy and myself head to the Mirage.

Mirage table almost died on three seperate occasions but managed to stay afloat. We took 3 available seats to fill it, then there was a fair amount of turnover from there. Other then going 0-5 with AK on this table, well technically 1-5 because a pushed BlindGuy off a hand when I was bluffing with the best hand post flop. The hand of note that could have made this a winning session was where I raised 44 for value into 2 lagtards in the blinds knowing I would get paid if I hit. Sure enough, hit a set on a flop 974. SB check, BB bets, I call, SB calls. Turn is a 2, check check to me I bet, they call. River a 5. SB leads, BB folds, I raise, SB reraises, GO FUCK YOURSELF, I just call. She had A3 for no pair, no draw, and the river wheel. The she proceeds to mutter something about that's poker while she giggles. Yes you dumb bitch playing with no pair and no draw and pulling a river our of your ass is poker. Of course she spews off 70% of her stack and then leaves before I can get the rest of it. Still this was only a minor losing session, but theme of the week holds, can't win the big hand.

From there it was back to the IP for some drunken Pai Gow. This was the biggest win of the week, seeing me take down 170 at the table. Snuffy clobered a striaghtflush with the 5 dollar bonus bet and I seem to not be able to lose a hand. Blindguy made off with a profit as well. I managed to stay awake until 3:30 or so which was pretty good for the first night. Well since the other parts of this trip cannot end on such the upnote I will end this one on it.

Part II will feature Binion's PLO, Zooks booting on the strip and late night Planet Ho. I know, I know, you're fucking riveted.

Day 6 Conclusion

There were 55 people in the 11pm tournament. I lost 400 of my 4000 starting stack on hte first hand for a good start. Still in the first lap I flopped a flush but didn't get paid and flopped a set and got paid a little. The rest of the tournament was pretty boring. With 4 tables left and 200/400/50 blinds I had an easy shove with a stack of 2900 and AQ. One of the limpers took a full minute before calling with K,K. Sure as hell looked liek a slowroll to me. Slowrollers get what they fuckin deserve.

Blinded down again with two tables left and 400/800/100 I limped with Q,J knowing I am shoving my 5500 stack if anyone else does. A LAG shoves and I call. He has Q,9 and I get the double again. With 14 people left I had A,Q and there was a 1000 limp. With my stack of around 11k I should have just shoved there. I raised to 4k with AJhh and got a the limper to call. Flop comes Q,x,xhh. I shoved and she calls with Q,10. I pick up a straight draw on the turn but miss everything and was out in 14th.

Day 6 Interim Report

Figured i would pound out a few words so I have less to do tomorrow. I was pretty much on my own today so I spent all of the time over at the Rio. I played a $225 satellite this morning I got my stack to 1600 with 7 people left and 100/200 blinds. I raised to 600 with 4,4 and had one caller. A stack who had us both covered shoves. If I fold that leaves me with 1000 and only a few hands to choose from I shoved and the caller decided to shove as well. I was up against AK and AQ. Flop 755 turn K and I am done. If I win that one I have 4400 in chips with 6 left and one critical stack. I could almost walk to a chop there.

I played in the $330 mega. It had around 85 people and gave away 2 seats and some cash to 3rd. You get 2k in chips and 1/2 hour levels so you really have to play fast. I got my chips in early and my 9's held vs K,Q and had 3600. Very next hand I get A,Q in BB and call an UTG raise. Flop comes Q,X,X and I check raise to 1100 and he shoves. I make the easy call and he had kk. I didn't last much longer and busted with 6 tables still going.

After that a little later in the day I played a $175. I was never able to get anything going and ended up calling a shove with Q,J on a 9,8,x board. I busted in 7th. Time to move over to the cash games.

I bought into the 2/5 for the full $500. Within a lap around the table I was down to $400 when my top pair was run down by the bettor in the hand's runner runner straight. I sucked down all the way to $200 when I shoved with top pair to get to $250ish. I then played the biggest pot of the day and ACTUALLY WON IT! I had 10,3dd from the SB and called a raise to $20 from a straight forward player and one lag tard. Flop comes J high with two diamonds. I check call a $40 bet. The turn gives me the flush. I check raise a $70 bet all-in for around $170 more and he calls. The lag was all in for less than $70. My flush was good and now i had a decent stack. I worked it up to $815 before all of the easy money was off of the table. It started getting nitty and I left.

I went and watched about an hour of the 2/7 final table. It was 4 handed with Matusow, Lindgren, Lisandro and Greenstein. Not the most exciting thing in the world but there were a ton of pros watching it. I sat near Rich Belsky who is Matusow's manager. Talk about a full time job there. Matusow came over and said this game is worse than razz. I couldn't agree more.

I am taking off to play in the 11pm tourney over at Caesars. Hopefully I can rap this day up good. Tomorrow's plan
is to play the 2pm tourney at the Ho and then some cash games / single table sats at the Rio afterwords. Depending on how it goes I am going to play the 9pm mega.

Snuffy's Vegas Adventure - Day 5

After actually getting before midnight I was able to get a good 8 hours of sleep. I walked over to Venetian to see if they would run any satellites for the Noon. There were not enough signed-up and it wasn't going to get going until after the Noon event started. I went over and signed up for the $300 Noon event at Caesars. Same structure as the $200 one but 12.5k in chips to start.

After what I did in the $200 event I was going to be patient in this one early and pick my spots. In the first level I limped in late position with K7dd and say a 5 way flop of A,J,6dd. One of the blinds lead for 200 and I was the only caller. Turn was a king and he bet 200 again and I called. The flush comes on the end and now he decides it a good idea to raise it to 1000. I bumped to 2300 and he makes the crying call with A,6. He played that one pretty bad. He would show later how bad he really was and busted out fairly early.

At the first break I had it up to around 17k. In the second level (50/100) I picked up K,K and raised it to 350 and got 2 callers. Flop come 8 high and I lead for 900 and get one caller. This guy played fairly straight forward but I did not have any specific reads. The turn was a Q and I saw that he had around 7k left. I bet out 3500 marrying me to the pot if he shoves and he did. I called and he showed Q,J. That hand got my stack to around 28k. Later in the level I picked-up K,K and put a lot of pressure on the turn and got a guy to fold leaving him 5k. The very next hand the same guy raises and I call with A,Q from the BB. Flop comes Q,x,x. I check and he shoves. I call and he has 10,10. After that hand I was up to 42k.

The player to my immediate left when I won a big pot he did shortly after that. The seat 2 to my left was filled by a 30k stack. So in the 3rd level I had 42k, one to my left had 38k and the next had 30k. Everyone else at the table had no more than 15k. Luckily we were fairly early in the breaking order. We pretty much traded chips amongst each other. I had to make the occasional 3-bet bluff to stay afloat. When our table broke I was still around 40k.

Moved to the new table and I doubled up an 8k stack when A,K lost to A,A. That knocked me down to 30k. I then tried a semi-bluff on someone who doesn't fold which was bad. I fired on the flop with an open ender and checked the turn. I fired on the end when i missed and was called by 2nd pair. I actually had 14 outs. After that hand I was down to 14k and in deep trouble.

I was moved again to a new table but was not able to pick anything up early. I was blinded down to 11k with the blinds at 600/1200/200 and I shoved with the first ace I saw. My A,6 did outrun K,K and I was bounced 6 1/2 hours in.

After the tourney I sat with Zooks in a 4/8 game and was able to win around $120. After that we met up with Snarf, Blind Guy, Virge and Bleu and went to the IP for some table games. I played this ghey WSOP game and dropped $200 in about 20 minutes. Waiting for my drink I decided to play another $100. I got it back to even but left the table down $150. I went to sit with Snarf at a Let it Ride table and won back another $50. Finally the Pai Gow table opened up and we sat there. The first 5 hands I won a bonus and after a couple hours I ended up the night with a $90 profit.

A losing day overall but not really that bad. I am going to play in the $300 mega over at the WSOP this afternoon. I may play some single table satellites as well.

Snufy's Day 4

Well it didn't go a whole lot better on day 4. Money wise I didn't lose nearly as much as I did the day before. I played the Noon $225 at Caesars. Great structure, 7500 in chips and 50 minute levels. When we started we had only 6 people at our table. 4 of the other 5 played standard 10 handed poker so me and the other guy traded off winning the dead blinds. I got my stack to around 8500 when I played my absolutely worst hand of the trip.

Still in the first level of 25/50 I limp on the button with A,K and we see a flop 4 ways. Flop comes K,J,2. The SB leads for 250 and its folded to me and I raise to 900. He re-pops for 3k. HE was a very solid player and right then and there I should have dumped or shoved. The dump would have been the clear line but I ended up calling. The turn bricked and he shoved. Now this is CLEARLY a fold in this spot. I decide to call and he has K,2. Terrible terrible play. I guess I wanted to pick up some chips.

Down to 675 I picked-up Q,Q the next hand. There was a raise to 150 and I shipped it in. One player behind overcalls before the next player shoves. The original raiser fold along with the overcall. He had A,K and the board bricked pout and I more than tripled-up. I pretty much didn't play another pot for the next 45 minutes. I was down to 1075 and was in the 100 BB with Q10dd. There was a raise to 450 and a caller. I have zero FE and will have to face 2 others. I fold only to see the A,K,J flop. Just for good measure I picked-up the FD on the turn.

About 3 hands later I picked-up 2,2 and was up against A,Q. Flop comes A,A,K and I am out the door.

After busting I sat in a 1/3 NL game and worked the stack to a little over $400 from a $300 starting stack by running one good bluff and getting K,K to fold on a J high rainbow disjointed board when I held K,J. I was down to around $270 when I decided to gamble with A4cc on a K83cc board. The other guy had K,8 and I missed.

That was it for poker for me for the day. We went to eat at some Mexican Restaurant at the Palms and played some Pai Gow after. Including dinner I profited $5 there WOOT!

I am signed up for the $330 at Caesars today. If I bust early I am going to play the 3pm Omaha8 event there or possible a mega-satellite at the Rio.

Snuffy's Day 3 - Plunge Into Hell

Guess I will start with the non-poker gaming.

-200 at the IP in PaiGow and 3 Card Poker
-150 at Binion's playing various table games (got free t-shirt WOOT)

No on to some poker. The first thing of the day was the 4pm PLO tourney at Binion's. $160 buy-in got you 5000 in chips. At the end of level 3 I worked my stack up to 7200 and was playing fairly solid/tight. The first bug hand was against a player who was making a few moves and betting non-nut hands strong. I hand Qxxxhh from the big blind. Flop came K,10,6hh. He checked I bet, he bet pot and I put him in. He had the Axhh. Down to around 3k when my final hand came up. I had AQxxcc. Flop comes j,6,6. Check Check. Turn Q with a 2nd club check check. River club. He bet 1/2 pot. I pot it and it all gets in. He has J,6.

There was one interesting hand in the early going I had 9,8,7,6 sscc. Flop comes 10,6,3ss. He fires 1/2 pot and I call. Turn is the 7. I check knowing he is firing here. He checks behind. I know here is a play I know I did bad just because of inexperience. River bricks and ace. I bet $1100 and he makes the crying call with 10,10xxss. He had me crushed on the flop but managed to lose the minimum.

After the tourney I played in a 1/2 PLO 1/2 PLO8 $1/$2 game with $200. Every hand I played in PLO8 I bricked off and lost it all. After that I decided to head over to the Rio to play some 2/5 NL. $600 later I left.

Snarf and I walked down to Planet Ho for their $60 2am tourney. Surprising they had 44 people. They paid top 6. At the break and 200/400 I had 2500. 1st hand back I have QQ and ship and get called from 66. My hand holds. I got moved to Snarf's table but he was moved quickly to balance the tables out. Down to 20 people I picked up QQ, JJ and KK to increase my stack. We make it to the FT and I am an average stack. I am playing to win because limping into the money for a pittance is not an option. I got AA in the BB but there was only one limper. I checked to the turn when I fired 3500 into a 2500 pot and was raised to 7500. I shipped for my last 15k or so and he tanked and folded.

7 handed I tried picking up pots only to have the CL to my immediate left come over the top twice. Blinded down I got it in with 10,10 on a 9 high flop only to see 10,10. The short stack busts and then the blinds kick up to 2k/4k and i have 19k. I have A3ss from UTG and shove. Folds to BB with 14k who calls with QQ and now I'm crippled. I bust the next hand and finish 6th for $126 plus the $20 last longer with Snarf

So far today I have played the $225 tourney at Caesars and the 1/3 NL games. More about that tomorrow. Needless to say if I am typing this now I did not do good in either. Two pots in the last two days for $700 and $600 not going my way.

Holla

Snuffy in Vegas - Day 2

The first thing of the day was the TOC at 2pm. Our table was playing fairly small in the early going. About 1/2 hour in I picked-up 4,4 and played a limped pot. Flop comes 3,2,2. Check check. Turn is something like a Q. Checked to me and I try and take to pot with a 2/3 pot bet and get called. River is a 4. First to act leads out. I raise, he re-raises I shove and he calls with 3,3. D'oh. That got my stack up to 6k and was able to see a lot of hands after that.

In the second hour I picked-up J,J and raised. I was 3-bet and decided to flat it. The flop comes 9 high. I check raise and he shoves. I make a really bad call. I really don't know what I could beat here. 10,10 would be the only thing and that is unlikely. A completely terrible play by me. He had K,K but FT decided to love me and the turn was a J. After that hand I was up to 11k and the chip lead. Fast forward to the final two tables and I have around 14k good for a top 3 stack. I get 10,10 and raise and was 3-bet. I called and we took a J,9,8 flop. I bet out he raised and I shoved He called with K,K. I will take this shot here. 10 outs for a monster stack. I didn't improve and was knocked all the way down to 3k and 14th/18.

I was able to play the short stack and win all of my flips to make it to the final table. I believe I was 7/9 going in. I managed to work my stack back to 15k or so good for 4th or 5th/7 left. The CL who was raising almost every hand made a standard 2.5x raise UTG. The short stack shoved for around 8k and I re-shoved from the BB with A,K. The CL called and showed 5,5. Really a terrible play IMO. Best case scenario you are facing 3-4 overs and worst case you are completely crushed. The short stack had A,9. Flop comes blanks, turn 9, river blank and just like that I am done. I win that hand I am on 38k and the CL with 6 left and I REALLY good shape for at least a 2k package. Oh well, 3 hours while in Vegas down the drain.

I walked over to Caesar's where everyone else was and sat in the 4/8 game. I bought in for $200 and promptly dwindled it down to near dust. I got the last of it in with J,10 vs A,K and K,x. I hit the jack and tripled up. I made a late rally and ended up losing only $80. After that we headed over to the Rio cause I wanted to play some single table satellites. The line was out the fuckin door so that was out. I sat in a 2/5 NL game and immediately when I got chips the rest of the crew wanted to leave. I stayed for about three laps and won a total of $125. That 2/5 game was golden. The standard raise was $15-$20. Really small for a game like that. Wish I coulda stayed in that one. One play I made in that one was from the BB with A,J. UTG raised to $15 and got 4 callers. I made it $75 to go and everyone folded. Yep, good game.

After we got back we went over to the Mirage and played 3/6. I donked off $120. Note to self, STOP FUCKIN PLAYING LIMIT. While Snarf and Blind Guy were still playing I wandered in the casino and sat at a 3 card poker table. After about 5 hands I squeezed A,A. I didn't look at the 3rd card. The dealer flips over trips!!! Good for a little over $300. I ended up leaving with that $300 profit. After we left Mirage we went back to the IP to play Pai Gow. About 10 hands in I hit the straight flush for $250. After playing a couple hours I walked away up $270. Games of chance are my friend.

Off to my toy store today, the Gamblers General Store, for lots of shit that I don't need. I might try and play a single table sat before we head to Binions for the 4pm PLO tourney. My plan is to play at least one tournament the rest of the week now.

Laettner

Vegas Day 2

After figuring out that my both of my roommates snore I gave up on sleeping and just laid there for a while. I knew we were going to play cash games at Caesar's while Snuffy played the BBT3 TOC for a chance at a WSOP ME Seat. I was looking forward to playing some live cash games with non-effer/non-blogger types. I was sure it was going to be interesting.

Snarf and Blind Guy made it to the IP where we met them for some lunch before heading over the Caesar's. The poker room was packed when we got there. A tournament was taking up almost all the tables; what few were left were cash but there sure weren't many. We heard the floor staff discussing which tables would be breaking next and what games they were going to spread on them as soon as they opened.

It wasn't too long before we were seated at a new 4/8 limit table.

Seat 1: Snarf
Seat 2: Complete Lagtard
Seat 3: Easy money that decided to move to a 2/5 NL table
Seat4: Yours Truly
Seat 5: Blind Guy
Seat 6: ImaBetaBot
Seat 7: Decent Player
Seat 8: Decent Player
Seat 9: Snoop Doggy Playa
Seat 10: Albino Black Guy

I knew this wasn't my usual effer/blogger cash game when Seat 3 showed J2c from UTG in the first hand. He, of course, left a few hands later to go buy in short at 2/5 nlhe table where I'm sure he was eaten alive.

It soon became obvious that Lagtard was enjoying the fact that he was tilting Snoop and the rest of the table by 3-4-5 betting with total shit cards. Snoop was one of these "I don't believe you so I'm going to call", "Don't try to bluff me cause I'm going to check-call your ass all day until I have to rebuy" kind of guys. We sat there in utter amazement at these two guys.

I played all of 3-4 hands willingly of which only the first one was truly a playable hand.

1) I raise UTG with AQo and get one caller. Flop comes 8 high with two clubs. I lead and get raised. Calling that was my first mistake. The turn was an A (woot, right?). I check intending to check raise but he CHECKED BEHIND. The river was a blank so I lead and HE RAISED ME. WTF? I call. He had hit a set of As on turn. D'oh. Minor spewage the way it played out so I guess I can't really complain.

2) After folding literally a Brazillian hands I decide I'm going to call Lagtard's UTG raise with KJc. Next thing I know ImaBetaBot is 3-betting it and Lagtard is 4-betting. Well shit. Damnit I want to see a flop here so like a blithering idiot I call two bets cold and end up calling a total of 5 bets preflop at that's Caesar's structure for limit games. The flop is AQX. Crappy flop for my hand but I do have a really shitty draw. I call Lagtard's lead and ImaBetaBot raises. Well shit. It get's back to me and I give up on the hand. The turn? A Ten. Yep I would turned the nut straight in a huge pot. Sigh. Turns out ImaBetaBot had AA for top set and Lagtard had complete trash I'm sure. I should have just folded when it got back to me preflop.

3)I pick up QTs and call a Lagtard raise. Well this time Seat7 decides to get involved and 3bets it. At this point it was obvious that players really wanted to get into hands with Lagtard because if they hit anything they were likely to win a HUGE pot. I ended up in a capped preflop hand with QTs. Yet another donktastic move on my part. Flop was 9TJ rainbow. Ok, I flopped middle pair and an oesd. That's about as good as it's going to get for my hand. Betting goes crazy and I'm in for the ride. The turn was an 8. Woooot, right? I just hit the second nut straight. SECOND NUT STRAIGHT, BABY! Lagtard ends up all in and the river is capped between me and Seat 7 who turns over KQo for the flopped joint. This guy capped it with KQo because he knew he was way ahead of the Lagtard's range - in this case KTo. Another D'oh moment brought to you by your favorite Donkidiot. I'm here all week. Try the veal.

Snoop and the good players were really trying to get into pots with the Lagtard and I don't really blame them he was spewing chips at an alarming rate. Snoop himself was spewing as well. The beneficiaries were pretty much everybody but me.

At one point the Lagtard told me that he had played the WSOP $1500 Limit event the previous day and had finished 200th. He even said, "I played just like this and built up a nice stack then donked it away." LMAO!

I decided to walk it off at the Forum Shops when I get a text saying that Mimi Rogers showed up in the Poker Room for something related to the WSOP Ladies event the next day and ImaBetaBot wants to get my picture with her! Details can be found at my other blog.

Vegas Day 1 - 6/6/08

My flight got in around 4:30pm. Believe it or not it took me 5 hours to get in the first game on the trip. I had to wait for Zooks and DrawnDead to get in. Zooks any myself went over to the Rio to get safe deposit boxes before we had to head back for the airport.

First up was the blogger get together at MGM, They were playing a 2/4 mix game. The list when we got there was about 10 deep. I got onto the 1/2 NL list and was seated in quick order. I bought in for $200 and quickly found the table to be pretty aggressive. Opening raises were in the $12-$15 range. I worked the stack down just below $100 by calling raises and then missing. I bought for another $100 and saw that bleed down to $110 again. I decided to get it all in on a flush draw and gutter and missed and was down $300.

It was only 11:30, ah what the hell, $200 please. This $200 worked a lot better and I slowly increased my stack winning some smallish pots. The two big hands on the night were flopped trips and turned boat and A,A. The A,A hand I raised to $10 and got 4 callers before the BB raised to $50. I reraised to $115 and took the pot down there. I finally got up from the table with $520 in front of me for a $20 profit.

Other sites around Vegas from last night:

• I saw Dmitri Nobles playing $1/$2 at MGM. He was the hyper-aggressive dude from the ME either last year or two years ago.
• When me and Zooks were walking to the cage I smelt something horrid. I said what the fuck is tha...... oh. Eskimo Clark was walking right in front of us. Another year without a shower I guess.
• I met Columbo at the blogger gathering and wished him luck in the TOC today at 2pm. Let me run good and get that main event seat. Either that or let me bust out and get to Binions in time for the 4pm shootout.

Laettner

At The Airport

About an hour away before my flight leaves and a quick 4 1/2 hour flight and I will be in Vegas. Can't wait to get there. Looks like the first stop will be at the Rio to get the safe deposit box squared away. Not a big fan of carrying thousands of dollars around with me. I may get some 1/2 in before the blogger mixed game gets together at the MGM Grand around 9pm.

As I here John Skank being called over the intercom I guess that means that its time to go, or that someone is being really funny this afternoon.

See you in Vegas!!!!

Everyone Else is Doing It

Well everyone else is on twitter, so I might as well give them more shit.

I'm signed up. This is pry only a Vegas thing cause I can't imagine being bothered with it at any other time. But since I do play in the occasional big tourny in AC why the fuck not right? I mean if everyone else can do it, why can't I?

Plane leaves tomorrow at 10:20AM EST. Figure some updates after I land.

Follow me. What the fuck else are you doing anyway? You're reading this.

http://twitter.com/TheBigSnarf

Are We There Yet?

Only one more day till Vegas. While browsing through the updates this morning I see that Chris Falconer is currently 9th in chips with just 10 people remaining in the $1500 Omaha8 event. I met Chris in the Chicago airport on the way over to Macau. We hung out a little over there and managed to snap the picture over on the left. Hang in there Chris! If he makes the final table I will be there one day late. Damn it.

Tuesday night I played CHIMPS which was Stud8 and The Booze Cruise which is 1/2 PLHE and 1/2 PLO. The attendance was disappointing as there was only one table for each. I ended up finishing 3rd in the Booze Cruise for a very small cash ($3.50 profit WOOT!). CHIMPS went a little better. I was able to accumulate chips slowly and got heads-up with 3-1 deficit. I was able to battle back and take the lead when the following hand comes up:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6685069209: CHIMPS 3 - Event #4 (48190934), Table 1 - 500/1000 Ante 100 - Limit Stud H/L - 23:09:43 ET - 2008/06/03
Seat 4: warrendc73 (4,708)
Seat 5: scottc25 (7,292)
warrendc73 antes 100
scottc25 antes 100
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to warrendc73 [9s]
Dealt to scottc25 [Qd As] [3h]
scottc25 is low with [3h]
scottc25 brings in for 150
warrendc73 calls 150
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to warrendc73 [9s] [Ts]
Dealt to scottc25 [Qd As 3h] [8s]
warrendc73 bets 500
scottc25 calls 500
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to warrendc73 [9s Ts] [6d]
Dealt to scottc25 [Qd As 3h 8s] [4s]
warrendc73 checks
scottc25 checks
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to warrendc73 [9s Ts 6d] [2d]
Dealt to scottc25 [Qd As 3h 8s 4s] [7c]
warrendc73 bets 1,000
scottc25 raises to 2,000
warrendc73 calls 1,000
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Qd As 3h 8s 4s 7c] [Th]
warrendc73 bets 1,000
scottc25 calls 1,000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
warrendc73 shows [5d 4d 9s Ts 6d 2d 3d] a straight flush, Six high, for high and 6,5,4,3,2, for low
scottc25 mucks
warrendc73 wins the high pot (3,750) with a straight flush, Six high
warrendc73 wins the low pot (3,750) with 6,5,4,3,2
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,500 | Rake 0
Seat 4: warrendc73 showed [5d 4d 9s Ts 6d 2d 3d] and won (7,500) with HI: a straight flush, Six high; LO: 6,5,4,3,2
Seat 5: scottc25 mucked [As Qd 3h 8s 4s 7c Th] - HI: Ace Queen high; LO: 8,7,4,3,A

That one hurt a ton. I was busted shortly after that one was over.

I have been playing a lot of PLO8 lately. I love this game. In the handful of sessions I have played so far the game does not seem to have as big a swings as PLO. Maybe I haven't played enough hands yet, we will see. I deposited $200 onto Cake last night on the advice of Gambit. I played $0.10/$0.20 PLO8 last night and was up $10 in short order before I played in a tournament.

Also last night Gambit, deadmoney, Snarf and myself played a 90 player $3 knockout SNG. When we got down to 36 people Snarf, Gambit and myself at the same table ALL IN A ROW. We all made it to the final two tables but only one of us cashed (Gambit). I was busted in 11th. I was crippled when AQ<AJ all-in pre-flop. Meh.

I Hate Poker

Hate it.

Me: oh shit
Me: I hope I don't get fucked here
deadmoney: some of us have to work
Snarf: zooks please announce both hands before you play them
Me: QQ on AQ6 flop
Snarf: nice
Snarf: OMG
Me: yep
Snarf: OMG
Me: fucked by AA
Me: so fucking rigged
Snarf: case ace and case queen
Gambit: wow..rigged obv

The other day I lost with AA twice on the same table:





My only hope is that live poker is less rigged than online.

Mr. Quads

I played in a $45 (yep, $35+$10) yesterday in Jacksonville. There were 21 people. We started out table 11 handed. They decide to do this the minute they start the tourney. Getting people squared up, getting another chair and and getting chips too 3 minutes off of the clock and only 18 minute levels. Thanks fuckers. I received an early double-up when I limped with 4,4 in about a 17-way pot. Flop came A,10,4. All the money got in on the flop and I was up against Ace rag. Turn 10. River 4 for the unnecessary quads and I am up a little over 4k right away. Over the next couple of levels I get K,K and A,A and busted one more.

When we break for the final table I have 8k in chips with the average stack a touch over 4k playing 200/400. I draw the button and don't get a playable hand in the first lap. Fairly quickly we are down to 6 people. The tourney only pays top 2 and there is one massive stack with around 20k. He promptly knocks out all but one of the rest and we are 3 handed with stacks of 25k, 10k and 7k. I bleed a little then get it in with A,9 and am facing the CL's Q,Q. Before this hand happens they get a calculator and figure out what a 2 way chop would be once I'm eliminated. I told the, poker karma is gonna fuck them for that move. Flop 9 turn 9 and I am in 2nd.

Still 3 handed and 400/800 the cooler comes. I have 9,9 in the BB and the CL limps from the button. The SB folds and I check. Flop comes 8 high and i lead for 1600 and get min raised. I shoved and he calls with 10,10. Bubble bitch I am and get nothing.

I go sit at the cash games and after a couple hours I am down to $32 with $150 invested. I flop a set vs two pair and get a double-up. I work the stack back to around $150 and hold steady for a while. When we drop to 5 handed I fall to around $110 but when the table fills again I am at $150 when the title of this post comes into play.

I pick-up A,A UTG and raise to $10 and get 3 callers. Flop comes AQ4hh. Checked to me and I bet $15 and get 2 callers. Turn quads me up and its checked to me and I bet $15 again. One fold anfd the SB check raises to $45 and I Hollywood and call. There is a bad beat jackpot here of $30k when Aces full of jacks are beaten by quads or better. Please have the Q,Q here. The river is the best card in the deck....Q! He leads for $50 I shove over the top and he insta-mucks. Fuck! Thought we had it there.

In the same lap I get presto (5,5) in MP and the same player raises to $10 UTG. I call along with 3 others. Flop comes 9,5,5. He leads for $10, 1 caller and I call. Turn is a K bringing a 2nd heart. He leads for $10 again, 1 caller and I min-raise to $20. He calls and the other player folds. The river is the Kh and he check calls my $25 bet.

Quads 3 times in one day live huh? I ended up cashing out of the game for $340 for a good profit on the day.

One other interesting hand came up in the first 10 minutes I was at the table. I think I probably played it bad on every street. Wait till you hear the end of this one. I get K,K UTG and limp. Unfortunately nobody raises and we see a 6-way flop of A,J,6. I lead for $8 and get 1 caller to my left. the 8 hits the turn and I check. He bets out $15 and I decide to check raise to $35 and he snap calls. The river pairs the 6. I check and he takes about 3 minutes and puts me all in for my last $45. I start talking over the hand and say how badly I played it. The dealer asks me to be quiet during the hand. I'M IN THE FUCKING HAND!!!! Apparently its not allowed here. What's up with that. I thought I was in Jacksonville and not Europe. I fold showing him the Kings and he turns over.....9,3 off. What!

I know I played this hand really badly but WTF was he doing. Let's go through the hand from his perspective. He limps UTG+1 with 9,3 off. 6 to the flop he calls an $8 bet with air and 4 people left to act. He then bets the turn when I check which I think is fine but when I raise to $35 how does he possibly think I am going to fold to anything on the river? The only way he can win on the end is with a shove. Just wow. I think there were about 37 wrong decisions between two people in that hand.

Pokerslut Tour & Blogger Big Game

Last night was the season finale of the Poker Slut Tour. I had an outside chance to win it all but Zooks and Lillian had to bow out early. There were 15 runners. I was lucky as both of them were eliminated before the final table and points. I now needed a 2nd place finish to tie to the season and a win to win it outright. I played super super tight and was able to slowly chip up. The downfall hand was when I had (K,K)9 and we got it all-in by 5th street vs (x,x)K and he had the split kings. Neither of us hit two pair and I lost on the kicker to be knocked out in 4th. A small profit at least.

In the Blogger Big Game I had nothing playable for the first 4 levels. I think I tried making a play twice at the pot and was picked off both times. I was still at my starting stack of around 3k but lost two pots before the break and was down to 1900. I was able to maintain just a little after the break and then finally hit a set of 7's on a 8,7,4cc flop. All the chips got in and I was up against A,8. After that hand I had around 4k. About 2 laps later I opened from MP with 9,9 and then faced a 3k shove. I decided to pass but really needed a hand now. With 2700 or so I got A,A in MP. There was a raise to 700 (playing 120/240 I think). I shoved and after some time was called and he had 8,8. The board bricked......till the 8 hit the river and I was done in 31st. If my hand holds there I am sitting on around 5k and am in around 14th/31 left and in good shape to make a deep run. Alas it was not to be.

I am in Jacksonville till tomorrow. I am going to hit the poker room here tonight and maybe the Hard Rock on the way home tomorrow.

T minus 4 days baybeeeee.

Weekend Poker Action

Well the stars aligned a little for me this weekend and I was able to squeeze in a little poker. Friday afternoon I returned to the 6max PLO tables for the tune of a buy in and a half. This was a nice treat to change the pace. Not much of significance to write about there, just made some solid plays, nut peddled when I could, and took some nice pots. Feeling embolden on Friday night I played the donkament and the 4K PLO for a little Vegas warmup. Donkament went as donkaments go. Got a little traction early but pissed it away, then never really got going after the rebuy period. I think I went out on a race but maybe not. Don't really remember.

The 4K PLO saw the number make by 8 bucks, only 167 runners, which is a pretty good size for me. First hour didn't see me do much of anything. Entering the second I had about my starting stack. I don't remember the blinds, early in the second hour so still pretty small relative to stack size, anyway I called a smallish raise from the button in the BB with A8d95. The SB also called and the flop came an almost perfect Ac7d10d. Figuring the button most likely hit an ace I went for the checkraise here. This turned out to be perfect as the button bet pot, the SB called, and I repotted putting in almost my entire stack. In a complete unexpected move they both folded. I didn't know people did that in PLO with chips in the pot. A few rounds later I made consecutive preflop raises, the second with AAxx, and took out someone who thought I was stealing. This got my stack up to around 10K. Unfortunately this is where things petered out. I really couldn't get any traction. I stole enough and hit enough to keep my stack afloat but barely. Now the hand I went out on, I'm curious on some opinions because I think I made the right move but I'm still second guessing. The UTG (who I had played most of the time with and was running about 55VPIP) raised with blinds of 500/1000 and I have 10K we are 3 from the money. I am second to act after him and I look down at AJdK10. Now I figure this to be ahead of his range since 1) we are near the bubble 2) he has a bigish stack and can afford to steal 3) he's playing 50% of the pots and raising almost any broadway paired hand. I go with my read and repot committing all my chips. The best laid plans of mice and men..........the guy to my immediate left insta repots. Not good. Even worse is the AA hand he turns over, AAKJ. Thank you Full Tilt. Opinons? Can I really fold that hand there? Calling is not an option as I see it but maybe I'm wrong.

Saturday saw another buy in+ take down at PLO. I feel like I am playing pretty well when it comes to PLO right now. On top of that running pretty well too. Hopefully this translates in Vegas to a nice cash at Binion's and a registration at the WSOP. I can hope can't I? I'm pretty happy with my play at this point and not burned out at all which I think I was a little last year when we headed to Vegas. Here's hoping that helps.

I'm slammed with shit to do this week before I go. Probably very little poker this week. Riverchasers on Thursday may be the only tourny I make. Maybe CHIMPS Tuesday but we'll see where the week goes.