If anyone that reads this blog thinks I have any poker wisdom at all, please reexamine your belief system. I was so tickled with my last post that I finally signed up for 2+2 and posted it there. They mostly tore me to shreds.
They made some good points:
1.) Playing A9o here sucks. I mostly agree with them. In 90,000 hands of (winning) limit hold'em with 6 or more players , I've only limped into a pot with A9o when dealt it in the SB 20% of the time. I'm guessing that almost all of that is in an unraised pot. I'd try to figure out how much lower that % is against a raise, but my pokertracker database is getting very very slow. I do think there were exceptional circumstances that made it much better here that it normally would be. But it is hard to conclude that it pushed it past the +/- EV line. I cringed as I made the call, which is usually something that happens on the river, not preflop...
2.) My river play sucks. No doubt.
They made some other points about the play of the hand. Although I disagree with some of them, they are worth checking out. Always good to hear different thoughts about hands.
Several times I was personally insulted. So intense is adamstewart's hatred of me, I conclude he either was my victim in this hand, or he is convinced I killed his mother.
The entire thread is available here. If that link doesn't work, it is posted in the Texas Hold'em General Forum, user name "adspar" post titled "Odd play in a big pot, funny reaction."
I still like my flop bet, which is why I was so excited about the hand in the first place. So excited that I misplayed the river, then misplayed my first 2+2 post. Luckily I don't really care what they think about me, as long as they help me learn.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Fun and games
I'm not a big fan of FullTilt but they have a 50% rebuy bonus going, and I'm trying to branch out, so I bought back into that site. I instantly remembered how they never have many hold'em games going and the bonuses take forever to earn back. I doubt I'll play there enough to earn all $300 within the 60 day window. But while I was sitting in either a $2/4 or $3/6 shorthanded game, an interesting hand arose, and hilarity ensued. (Non-poker people may or may not agree on the hilariousness.)
Another reason Full Tilt sucks is that they don't offer hand histories, so I'm recounting this hand from memory...
Preflop - 6 handed
Flop - 5 players, 15 small bets in the pot
Anyway, I mentioned that hilarity ensued. I very rarely engage my opponents in chat, in fact I usually turn the chat feature off, but this was too good to pass up. The big blind was pretty upset about losing a big pot on the last card, so he begins berating me for what he thinks is bad play. It always pisses me off when I see players criticize their opponents' play.
Big Blind says - "That was absolutely horrible"
He is insulting me, telling me my play was horrible. Now keep in mind that I'm pretty proud of myself because I used some fairly sophisticated moves that paid off. Also note that this guy went a little overboard with his middle pocket pair. If he hadn't 3bet preflop I probably would have just check-folded on the flop, although maybe someone else would have sucked out on him. But that is the nature of middle pocket pairs. The point is that he brought this "bad beat" upon himself.
I reply - "Yeah betting the river there didn't make too much sense for you. Horrible."
I turn it around on him. He probably shouldn't have bet the river. Lots of opponents will call until the river with a hand containing an ace or a ten, so checking probably would have been a better play.
Big blind says - "Well I figured your hand hit the flop... you know, since you called a reraise."
Actually I called a raise not a reraise, but who's keeping track. So he is now defending his river bet, saying he figured my hand was made on the flop and that the Ace didn't help me. I love how it started out with him criticizing me, and now he's flopping around trying to defend his own play.
I reply: "Horrible figuring."
Outzinged, he pretty much gives up on the "horrible' line of conversation, but is still fuming mad.
Big blind says: "I love it when idiots fall a$$ backwards into a hand and then act like they played it right"
This is so replete with irony:
1. At no point in our little conversation did I ever defend my play to him. I didn't act like I played it right; I simply questioned his play, but he's too mad and/or stupid to realize that.
2. Second, as I've already mentioned, with the possible exception of my preflop call, I think I did play my hand right, but he's not a good enough player to realize that. And I didn't fall into that hand, I had to work hard for it! But to his ignorant a$, my play looked idiotic. (By the way, I find it hilarious when angry players find ways around the poker software's auto censoring: a$, fu_ck you, chit, etc. Where there's a will, there's a way.)
3. If you believe your opponent is such a bad player, why would you tell him? Criticism is going to piss a person off, which usually has one of two effects - it is either going to make them play better, or it will make them leave. Do you really want your opponents to get better? Do you really want a horrible player to leave your game?
I was content to simply enjoy irony #1 without further comment. As for irony #2, I felt no need to defend my play. I didn't want to educate him any more than I had already done by questioning his river bet, which I was only willing to do because I knew I wouldn't be playing in this game much longer. On that note, I figured I'd teach him irony lesson #3.
I responded: "You are mean. I don't want to play with you any more. Your meanness is driving this bad player away from your game."
And I left the table.
Another reason Full Tilt sucks is that they don't offer hand histories, so I'm recounting this hand from memory...
Preflop - 6 handed
- me in the small blind: A♥9♠
- 2 donkeys limp. Button raises. I call cause I could easily have the best hand. Big Blind 3-bets. All call.
Flop - 5 players, 15 small bets in the pot
- board: 8♥ 6♥ 3♣
- I bet out because I figure the BB will raise his overpair, which will probably get everyone else to fold. That cleans up my Ace outs and maybe gets overcards out if pairing my 9 would be good, and I have the backdoor flush draw and a possible weak straight draw. The pot is huge, so its worth taking this shot.
- I bet, big blind raises, all fold to me and I call.
- Sweet, exactly what I wanted.
- board: T♥
- Now I picked up the flush draw, plus an inside straight draw. I figure I have 9 outs to the nut flush, plus 3 Aces and 3 sevens for probable winners. That's 15 outs of the 46 unseen cards, so I have an easy call getting 10.5 to 1 from the pot.
- I check, big blind bets, I call.
- board: A♦
- Sweet, I rivered top pair. No point betting it, but I probably win.
- I check, big blind bets, I call.
- I drag the 13.5 big bet pot after big blind shows 9♦9♣
Anyway, I mentioned that hilarity ensued. I very rarely engage my opponents in chat, in fact I usually turn the chat feature off, but this was too good to pass up. The big blind was pretty upset about losing a big pot on the last card, so he begins berating me for what he thinks is bad play. It always pisses me off when I see players criticize their opponents' play.
Big Blind says - "That was absolutely horrible"
He is insulting me, telling me my play was horrible. Now keep in mind that I'm pretty proud of myself because I used some fairly sophisticated moves that paid off. Also note that this guy went a little overboard with his middle pocket pair. If he hadn't 3bet preflop I probably would have just check-folded on the flop, although maybe someone else would have sucked out on him. But that is the nature of middle pocket pairs. The point is that he brought this "bad beat" upon himself.
I reply - "Yeah betting the river there didn't make too much sense for you. Horrible."
I turn it around on him. He probably shouldn't have bet the river. Lots of opponents will call until the river with a hand containing an ace or a ten, so checking probably would have been a better play.
Big blind says - "Well I figured your hand hit the flop... you know, since you called a reraise."
Actually I called a raise not a reraise, but who's keeping track. So he is now defending his river bet, saying he figured my hand was made on the flop and that the Ace didn't help me. I love how it started out with him criticizing me, and now he's flopping around trying to defend his own play.
I reply: "Horrible figuring."
Outzinged, he pretty much gives up on the "horrible' line of conversation, but is still fuming mad.
Big blind says: "I love it when idiots fall a$$ backwards into a hand and then act like they played it right"
This is so replete with irony:
1. At no point in our little conversation did I ever defend my play to him. I didn't act like I played it right; I simply questioned his play, but he's too mad and/or stupid to realize that.
2. Second, as I've already mentioned, with the possible exception of my preflop call, I think I did play my hand right, but he's not a good enough player to realize that. And I didn't fall into that hand, I had to work hard for it! But to his ignorant a$, my play looked idiotic. (By the way, I find it hilarious when angry players find ways around the poker software's auto censoring: a$, fu_ck you, chit, etc. Where there's a will, there's a way.)
3. If you believe your opponent is such a bad player, why would you tell him? Criticism is going to piss a person off, which usually has one of two effects - it is either going to make them play better, or it will make them leave. Do you really want your opponents to get better? Do you really want a horrible player to leave your game?
I was content to simply enjoy irony #1 without further comment. As for irony #2, I felt no need to defend my play. I didn't want to educate him any more than I had already done by questioning his river bet, which I was only willing to do because I knew I wouldn't be playing in this game much longer. On that note, I figured I'd teach him irony lesson #3.
I responded: "You are mean. I don't want to play with you any more. Your meanness is driving this bad player away from your game."
And I left the table.
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Huge Pot
Hints:
UTG = Under the Gun = first person to act after the blinds
UTGB= Under the Gun B = 2nd person to act after the blinds
MP = Middle Position
Button = last person to act on all betting rounds
Party Poker 10/20 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop:
UTG raises, UTGB 3-bets, MP1 calls, 1 fold, MP3 calls, 1 fold, Button caps, 2 folds, UTG calls, UTGB calls, MP1 calls, MP3 calls.
Flop:
21.50 SB = $215 in the pot. 5 players for 4 bets each.
8♦, 3♥, 2♣
UTG checks, UTGB checks, MP1 checks, MP3 checks, Button bets, UTG calls, UTGB calls, MP1 calls, MP3 calls.
Turn:
13.25 BB = $265 in the pot. 5 players still in.
2♠
UTG bets, UTGB raises, MP1 calls, MP3 folds, Button folds, UTG calls.
River:
19.25 BB = $385 in the pot. 3 players still in.
K♦
UTG checks, UTGB bets, MP1 calls, UTG folds.
Final Pot: 21.25 BB = $425
Results and commentary in white below (highlight to read):
UTGB has Ah As (two pair, aces and twos).
MP1 has 7c 7s (two pair, sevens and twos).
Outcome: UTGB wins 21.25 BB.
I had the Aces. After 5 people see a capped flop, my priority is maximizing my chance to win the pot, as opposed to maximizing the size of the pot. I didn't raise the flop because it would have still been right for almost any hand to call me. Nobody would have folded and everyone would have odds to call if I bet the turn. By not raising, I induced UTG to bet out on the turn, giving me the chance to raise it to $40 and force 2 people out, and forcing the guy with 77 to make an incorrect call.
This was the biggest pot I've won in a long time.
UTG = Under the Gun = first person to act after the blinds
UTGB= Under the Gun B = 2nd person to act after the blinds
MP = Middle Position
Button = last person to act on all betting rounds
Party Poker 10/20 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop:
UTG raises, UTGB 3-bets, MP1 calls, 1 fold, MP3 calls, 1 fold, Button caps, 2 folds, UTG calls, UTGB calls, MP1 calls, MP3 calls.
Flop:
21.50 SB = $215 in the pot. 5 players for 4 bets each.
8♦, 3♥, 2♣
UTG checks, UTGB checks, MP1 checks, MP3 checks, Button bets, UTG calls, UTGB calls, MP1 calls, MP3 calls.
Turn:
13.25 BB = $265 in the pot. 5 players still in.
2♠
UTG bets, UTGB raises, MP1 calls, MP3 folds, Button folds, UTG calls.
River:
19.25 BB = $385 in the pot. 3 players still in.
K♦
UTG checks, UTGB bets, MP1 calls, UTG folds.
Final Pot: 21.25 BB = $425
Results and commentary in white below (highlight to read):
UTGB has Ah As (two pair, aces and twos).
MP1 has 7c 7s (two pair, sevens and twos).
Outcome: UTGB wins 21.25 BB.
I had the Aces. After 5 people see a capped flop, my priority is maximizing my chance to win the pot, as opposed to maximizing the size of the pot. I didn't raise the flop because it would have still been right for almost any hand to call me. Nobody would have folded and everyone would have odds to call if I bet the turn. By not raising, I induced UTG to bet out on the turn, giving me the chance to raise it to $40 and force 2 people out, and forcing the guy with 77 to make an incorrect call.
This was the biggest pot I've won in a long time.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Its been a long day
I've written before about how I got to be playing the Party Poker $3/6 hold'em game. The key point is that over a couple months I averaged $90/hour of winnings by playing 4 tables at once in that game. While I knew that my "true" winrate over a larger number of hands wouldn't end up that high, I still fancied myself quite a success in that game.
When I found myself playing poker full time, I figured I'd start with that game as my bread-and-butter and go from there. I started to get frustrated with that game, made fun of my opponents, wallowed in some introspection, and eventually decided to try $5/10 instead.
So that gets us to yesterday. If you asked me 2 days ago, I'd tell you my main game was playing 4 tables of Party $5/10 full-handed tables. But after losing 73 big bets ($726.50) in 2 hours late Thursday/early Friday, I started to wonder if that was really my best choice of game. I've played almost 30,000 hands, and I'm winning a mere 0.37BB/100 hands, which translates to less than $10 per hour. That's no way to pay my bills while building a bankroll. So something has to change. What should I change?
Here are the variables: hold'em, cash game, limit, $5/10, full-handed, Party Poker, 4-tabling.
1. Hold'em: While I enjoy dabbling in Omaha and a little 2-7 Triple Draw, I'm sticking with Hold'em. This is the hottest game in the country, and if I can't make it as a hold'em player right now, I need to stop playing poker.
2. Cash Games: In my experience so far, I suck at tournaments. I'm good at the 1 table quick ones, but that's about it. I don't have what it takes to win these big online multitable tournaments. I'll still enter a few of them for fun, but I'm sticking with cash games mostly.
3. Limit: From time to time I've given serious consideration to moving to the no-limit side of the world. Everyone sees tournaments on TV and wants to go all-in. I have to imagine there are tons and tons of awful players playing no-limit these days. My first poker experiences were playing no-limit games with my buddies in college. I regularly destroyed those games, so I have to believe I've got some no-limit talent.
But I'm not comfortable making this switch yet. There are still lots of awful limit players all over the place, and I have a lot more experience with the limit game. II feel better playing no-limit when I can see my opponent. Limit hold'em is a lot more mechanical, and I can pick up very good reads based on betting patterns without seeing the players. So for now I'm sticking with limit.
4. $5/10: To pay the bills and try to build my bankroll to move up in limits, I need to be playing at least $5/10 most of the time. I'll play $3/6 if it is shorthanded or heads-up because I can get a lot more hands in, but for the most part I need to be looking to play higher.
5. Full-handed: This one is tricky. I've written a bit about the short-handed vs full-handed struggle. Playing poker live and at limits below $5/10 online I've always been very strong at shorthanded play. But that damn Party $5/10 6-max game is my master. I just can't beat it for some reason. I crush the $3/6 5-max on Paradise. So I'm not sure what my problem is with shorthanded play. I know I'd like to be able to play short, because you get in so many more hands. I don't know what to do here. This leads us to...
6. Party Poker: Party is my favorite online cardroom, and you've seen me pimping it from time to time. There are tons and tons of bad players, more than any other site. But since I've decided so far that I want to play $5/10 and higher, and I'd like the option of playing shorthanded (and winning), I have to look at the results. And the stats say that I'm just not winning enough in Party's limit hold'em games, full or short at $5/10 or higher.
So I'm starting to sniff out games at other sites, and I have noticed very distinct differences in playing styles at different sites. It is entirely possible that my playing style and strengths just don't work well against the games at Party. I'm a marginal winner at Party, but maybe I could be a big winner somewhere else.
Why would this be? A factor is that 6-max tables at Party are available most only at $1/2, $5/10, and $10/20. Those games are very popular, as are the $3/6 and $15/30 full-handed games. I have to think that the play in the full-handed games at the $5/10 and $10/20 levels is heavily influenced in some way by the abundance of short-handed games. I don't know exactly how it is influenced, but I definitely notice a difference in play when I go to other sites with different limit offerings.
Luckily, I'm not writing a thesis, so I don't have to figure out all the reasons. And I'm not trying to prove my skills to anyone, so I don't feel like I have to beat whatever game I play. I just have to make money. So I'm going to try to find games I can beat, which might mean less playing at Party, at least at these limits.
7. 4-tabling: I've been 4-tabling $5/10 because I 4-tabled $3/6. But as I was moving up from $1/2 to $2/4 to $3/6 I dropped some tables when I moved up, then gradually added them back. I never did that for $5/10. I probably should have.
I'm playing on a 17" monitor, so there is overlap for more than 2 tables at once. Maybe being able to see all of the players on every table all the time would help. I'll get a 21" monitor once I'm sure that 4-tabling is profitable for me.
But I read this guy's story. And some analysis of my results suggests that I do a lot better with fewer tables. So I'm going to try playing 2 tables for a while instead of 4.
So there it is. I decided to stick with limit hold'em cash games, and try playing 2 tables on various sites at $5/10 to $10/20 limits. In the 24 hours since the disastrous session that made me rethink things, I've won $1200 with my new approach. Its been a long day.
When I found myself playing poker full time, I figured I'd start with that game as my bread-and-butter and go from there. I started to get frustrated with that game, made fun of my opponents, wallowed in some introspection, and eventually decided to try $5/10 instead.
So that gets us to yesterday. If you asked me 2 days ago, I'd tell you my main game was playing 4 tables of Party $5/10 full-handed tables. But after losing 73 big bets ($726.50) in 2 hours late Thursday/early Friday, I started to wonder if that was really my best choice of game. I've played almost 30,000 hands, and I'm winning a mere 0.37BB/100 hands, which translates to less than $10 per hour. That's no way to pay my bills while building a bankroll. So something has to change. What should I change?
Here are the variables: hold'em, cash game, limit, $5/10, full-handed, Party Poker, 4-tabling.
1. Hold'em: While I enjoy dabbling in Omaha and a little 2-7 Triple Draw, I'm sticking with Hold'em. This is the hottest game in the country, and if I can't make it as a hold'em player right now, I need to stop playing poker.
2. Cash Games: In my experience so far, I suck at tournaments. I'm good at the 1 table quick ones, but that's about it. I don't have what it takes to win these big online multitable tournaments. I'll still enter a few of them for fun, but I'm sticking with cash games mostly.
3. Limit: From time to time I've given serious consideration to moving to the no-limit side of the world. Everyone sees tournaments on TV and wants to go all-in. I have to imagine there are tons and tons of awful players playing no-limit these days. My first poker experiences were playing no-limit games with my buddies in college. I regularly destroyed those games, so I have to believe I've got some no-limit talent.
But I'm not comfortable making this switch yet. There are still lots of awful limit players all over the place, and I have a lot more experience with the limit game. II feel better playing no-limit when I can see my opponent. Limit hold'em is a lot more mechanical, and I can pick up very good reads based on betting patterns without seeing the players. So for now I'm sticking with limit.
4. $5/10: To pay the bills and try to build my bankroll to move up in limits, I need to be playing at least $5/10 most of the time. I'll play $3/6 if it is shorthanded or heads-up because I can get a lot more hands in, but for the most part I need to be looking to play higher.
5. Full-handed: This one is tricky. I've written a bit about the short-handed vs full-handed struggle. Playing poker live and at limits below $5/10 online I've always been very strong at shorthanded play. But that damn Party $5/10 6-max game is my master. I just can't beat it for some reason. I crush the $3/6 5-max on Paradise. So I'm not sure what my problem is with shorthanded play. I know I'd like to be able to play short, because you get in so many more hands. I don't know what to do here. This leads us to...
6. Party Poker: Party is my favorite online cardroom, and you've seen me pimping it from time to time. There are tons and tons of bad players, more than any other site. But since I've decided so far that I want to play $5/10 and higher, and I'd like the option of playing shorthanded (and winning), I have to look at the results. And the stats say that I'm just not winning enough in Party's limit hold'em games, full or short at $5/10 or higher.
So I'm starting to sniff out games at other sites, and I have noticed very distinct differences in playing styles at different sites. It is entirely possible that my playing style and strengths just don't work well against the games at Party. I'm a marginal winner at Party, but maybe I could be a big winner somewhere else.
Why would this be? A factor is that 6-max tables at Party are available most only at $1/2, $5/10, and $10/20. Those games are very popular, as are the $3/6 and $15/30 full-handed games. I have to think that the play in the full-handed games at the $5/10 and $10/20 levels is heavily influenced in some way by the abundance of short-handed games. I don't know exactly how it is influenced, but I definitely notice a difference in play when I go to other sites with different limit offerings.
Luckily, I'm not writing a thesis, so I don't have to figure out all the reasons. And I'm not trying to prove my skills to anyone, so I don't feel like I have to beat whatever game I play. I just have to make money. So I'm going to try to find games I can beat, which might mean less playing at Party, at least at these limits.
7. 4-tabling: I've been 4-tabling $5/10 because I 4-tabled $3/6. But as I was moving up from $1/2 to $2/4 to $3/6 I dropped some tables when I moved up, then gradually added them back. I never did that for $5/10. I probably should have.
I'm playing on a 17" monitor, so there is overlap for more than 2 tables at once. Maybe being able to see all of the players on every table all the time would help. I'll get a 21" monitor once I'm sure that 4-tabling is profitable for me.
But I read this guy's story. And some analysis of my results suggests that I do a lot better with fewer tables. So I'm going to try playing 2 tables for a while instead of 4.
So there it is. I decided to stick with limit hold'em cash games, and try playing 2 tables on various sites at $5/10 to $10/20 limits. In the 24 hours since the disastrous session that made me rethink things, I've won $1200 with my new approach. Its been a long day.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
The Royal
In a $5/10 game yesterday I was dealt
A♠T♠
There was a limper, then a late position raise. I called the raise from the big blind, as did the limper, and the 3 of us saw the flop came down
Q♠K♠8♣
We both check to the raiser, who bets. I call with my strong draw, and the other guy calls. The turn comes
8♥
and everyone checks. The river delivers my
J♠
and I bet my Royal Flush. The preflop limper raises me, and then the preflop raiser 3-bets! I gladly cap with the mortal nuts. At this point the 1st guy gives up, and the preflop raiser calls me with
A♣T♣
I guess he thought I'd cap the river on a paired, flushable board with 2 pair. I won the $144 pot.
That is the 3rd royal flush I've hit at Party Poker in since December (all 3 were spades), and at least the 6th in my life. I seem to be a royal flush luckbox. I've often told the story of my first royal flush, but for those who have never heard it, here it is.
In college we used to run up to Atlantic City to play poker at the Taj. It was about a 3 hour drive, so we'd usually leave in the early afternoon when we woke up, get there early evening, play all night and then drive back. Occasionally we'd sleep in our car. Paying for a room never really crossed our minds.
You're supposed to be 21 to gamble in a casino there, and while they usually check IDs at the other table games, nobody ever IDed us in the poker room. I probably played a dozen casino sessions before my 21st birthday.
Driving home from one of these trips, The Biz told me "if you ever get dealt a royal flush you'll have to fold it." He went on to explain that he saw someone at his table hit one, and that the casino gives you a free dinner as a prize. They put the free dinner on your comp card, which you have to show valid ID to receive. So since I didn't have a comp card and didn't have a fake ID, I'd get busted if I made a royal. "Whatever, dude."
A few days later, The Biz and I were back in elegant AC. We were degenerates. A few hours into my $2/4 hold'em session I was dealt
J♠K♠
(Always spades) I limped in along with 29 other people. No fold'em hold'em, baby. The flop came
A♠T♠A♣
At this point I remember the warning, and I hope that there is a bet and a raise to me so I can reasonably fold my draw. But somehow all 29 people checked, and some brick hit the turn. I was thinking, "alright whatever moron was slowplaying their ace-three offsuit can go ahead and bet it now so I can fold." But somehow, everyone checked again. This was unheard of. So the river delivers my glorious nemesis, the bitch of spades.
Q♠
Now I start hoping that everyone checks again, so I can bet and then everyone will fold. But of course some jackass immediately bets. Everyone folds to me and I have a decision to make. Can I really fold a royal flush? How can I do that? I don't remember making the decision, I just remember my hand throwing out enough chips for a raise.
Please just fold, jackass! Of course he calls, and now I need to figure out what I'm going to do.
On the outside I proudly show my cards, while on the inside I'm thinking SHIT SHIT SHIT!
The dealer looks at my 2 spades, and the 3 spades on the board and announces "King-high flush."
YES YES YES! I like the sound of that. She doesn't notice it is a royal!
Then the rest of the table erupts in applause. "No, that's a ROYAL FLUSH!!! WOOHOOO!!!!"
SHIT SHIT SHIT!
The dealer calls for the floorperson, who I know will ask take my nonexistent comp card to give me my free dinner. When I tell the floorperson I don't have a comp card, she'll say "oh that's no problem, just come with me and we'll get you set up with one." Then she'll find out I'm not 21 and I'll go to jail and get raped. (I realize now they probably would have just told me to cash out and leave. But at the time it was scary.)
While the floorperson is making her way over, I turn to the woman next to me and ask what is going on. "Oh they'll give you a free dinner on your comp card."
"Oh, where is the dinner?" SHIT SHIT SHIT! She tells me it is to some restaurant upstairs. "Oh don't really like that place... plus I don't have a comp card..." SHIT SHIT SHIT!
"Well why don't you use my card?" she offers. YES YES YES! "Although all the floorpeople know me. They probably won't let you use it." SHIT SHIT SHIT!
Then she turns and sees that the floorperson coming over is the one guy that actually doesn't know her. She hands me her card, and I realize that there's no way I'll get away with giving a card with a woman's name on it. SHIT SHIT SHIT!
But then I look down at her card. Her name is Pat. YES YES YES!! Hooray for androgynous names!! I give the dude Pat's card, and he returns it 5 minutes later without incident. Pat got her dinner, and I got away with it. The End.
By the way, check out Luke's blog. Funny story about playing poker with Cameron Diaz.
A♠T♠
There was a limper, then a late position raise. I called the raise from the big blind, as did the limper, and the 3 of us saw the flop came down
Q♠K♠8♣
We both check to the raiser, who bets. I call with my strong draw, and the other guy calls. The turn comes
8♥
and everyone checks. The river delivers my
J♠
and I bet my Royal Flush. The preflop limper raises me, and then the preflop raiser 3-bets! I gladly cap with the mortal nuts. At this point the 1st guy gives up, and the preflop raiser calls me with
A♣T♣
I guess he thought I'd cap the river on a paired, flushable board with 2 pair. I won the $144 pot.
That is the 3rd royal flush I've hit at Party Poker in since December (all 3 were spades), and at least the 6th in my life. I seem to be a royal flush luckbox. I've often told the story of my first royal flush, but for those who have never heard it, here it is.
In college we used to run up to Atlantic City to play poker at the Taj. It was about a 3 hour drive, so we'd usually leave in the early afternoon when we woke up, get there early evening, play all night and then drive back. Occasionally we'd sleep in our car. Paying for a room never really crossed our minds.
You're supposed to be 21 to gamble in a casino there, and while they usually check IDs at the other table games, nobody ever IDed us in the poker room. I probably played a dozen casino sessions before my 21st birthday.
Driving home from one of these trips, The Biz told me "if you ever get dealt a royal flush you'll have to fold it." He went on to explain that he saw someone at his table hit one, and that the casino gives you a free dinner as a prize. They put the free dinner on your comp card, which you have to show valid ID to receive. So since I didn't have a comp card and didn't have a fake ID, I'd get busted if I made a royal. "Whatever, dude."
A few days later, The Biz and I were back in elegant AC. We were degenerates. A few hours into my $2/4 hold'em session I was dealt
J♠K♠
(Always spades) I limped in along with 29 other people. No fold'em hold'em, baby. The flop came
A♠T♠A♣
At this point I remember the warning, and I hope that there is a bet and a raise to me so I can reasonably fold my draw. But somehow all 29 people checked, and some brick hit the turn. I was thinking, "alright whatever moron was slowplaying their ace-three offsuit can go ahead and bet it now so I can fold." But somehow, everyone checked again. This was unheard of. So the river delivers my glorious nemesis, the bitch of spades.
Q♠
Now I start hoping that everyone checks again, so I can bet and then everyone will fold. But of course some jackass immediately bets. Everyone folds to me and I have a decision to make. Can I really fold a royal flush? How can I do that? I don't remember making the decision, I just remember my hand throwing out enough chips for a raise.
Please just fold, jackass! Of course he calls, and now I need to figure out what I'm going to do.
On the outside I proudly show my cards, while on the inside I'm thinking SHIT SHIT SHIT!
The dealer looks at my 2 spades, and the 3 spades on the board and announces "King-high flush."
YES YES YES! I like the sound of that. She doesn't notice it is a royal!
Then the rest of the table erupts in applause. "No, that's a ROYAL FLUSH!!! WOOHOOO!!!!"
SHIT SHIT SHIT!
The dealer calls for the floorperson, who I know will ask take my nonexistent comp card to give me my free dinner. When I tell the floorperson I don't have a comp card, she'll say "oh that's no problem, just come with me and we'll get you set up with one." Then she'll find out I'm not 21 and I'll go to jail and get raped. (I realize now they probably would have just told me to cash out and leave. But at the time it was scary.)
While the floorperson is making her way over, I turn to the woman next to me and ask what is going on. "Oh they'll give you a free dinner on your comp card."
"Oh, where is the dinner?" SHIT SHIT SHIT! She tells me it is to some restaurant upstairs. "Oh don't really like that place... plus I don't have a comp card..." SHIT SHIT SHIT!
"Well why don't you use my card?" she offers. YES YES YES! "Although all the floorpeople know me. They probably won't let you use it." SHIT SHIT SHIT!
Then she turns and sees that the floorperson coming over is the one guy that actually doesn't know her. She hands me her card, and I realize that there's no way I'll get away with giving a card with a woman's name on it. SHIT SHIT SHIT!
But then I look down at her card. Her name is Pat. YES YES YES!! Hooray for androgynous names!! I give the dude Pat's card, and he returns it 5 minutes later without incident. Pat got her dinner, and I got away with it. The End.
By the way, check out Luke's blog. Funny story about playing poker with Cameron Diaz.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
(Needlessly Profane) Blatherings
- Poker is a sick disgusting game. Anyone that plays poker is sick and disgusting. I went into tonight riding a sick disgusting losing streak. Within an hour I was down another $500. Sick. Disgusting. I was starting to think about things like my sick resume and disgusting rush hour traffic. That was around 1am. Now its 4am and I finished the session with $41 more than I started with. What the fuck is wrong with me at the beggining of my poker sessions? I can't win then to save my life, but I swear I'm a fucking world championship caliber player starting in my 3rd hour at the table. Obviously I'm exaggerating a little bit. Sick and disgusting...long run....EV...variance...full house...big blind...omaha...serenity now. SERENITY NOW!
- One thing that I've learned in my first few days with the sweet Yahoo Music Unlimited thing is that Lyle Lovett is awesome. Before this endorsement sets off a wave of sarcastic comments, make sure you've actually listened to some of his stuff before you bash him. I know he's an ugly dude and superficially its hard to see how he ever got Julia Roberts, but he's fucking talented. Even if his stuff isn't your style, you're going to have a hard time not respecting him if you are any kind of music lover.
- I saw Star Wars tonight. I hadn't even seen all of the first trilogy before college, but I became a fan. I've enjoyed the last two new movies, and was looking forward to this one. For me, Star Wars is great for creating a fascinating far-away exotic galaxy that we can all relate to this world. The plotlines are intricate, but they rely on simple themes: good vs evil, destiny, father vs son, etc. The battles are usually very well done, and Jedis are just really cool. So that's what I like about Star Wars. But these movies consistently deliver awful acting and cheesy dialog. Why can't we have a fucking decent actor be a Skywalker? Sigh.
- Next week I get to take the big splint off and just tape my pinky to the ring finger. Looking forward to that. My left wrist is so sore from being locked in place by the splint. Aww, poor me. Sigh.
- I count 4 F-bombs in these blatherings. Chill out?
Thursday, May 19, 2005
I need a break?
I've decided to take a few days off from poker.
Since March 26, I've only had 3 days where I haven't played at all. My results have been awful the last 2 weeks, and yesterday was my 2nd worst day in these 2 months. I'm hoping some time away from the tables will help me clear my head to come back focused and fresh. I'm on a $2,000 downswing, which is a lot for me, so I'm taking desperate measures here.
I don't know how much I can attribute my poor results to this, but I've been on real world time for these last two weeks, going to bed around 1am and getting up around 9am. I always thought the games were best between midnight and 6am, so I've been sleeping through the easy games and trying to grind it out in the tough daytime games. After this coming weekend I'm planning to get back on vampire time.
Medical Update:
I have a followup appointment tomorrow morning to make sure my finger is healing properly. I'm hoping that he'll set me up with a different splint that I can take on an off.
Since March 26, I've only had 3 days where I haven't played at all. My results have been awful the last 2 weeks, and yesterday was my 2nd worst day in these 2 months. I'm hoping some time away from the tables will help me clear my head to come back focused and fresh. I'm on a $2,000 downswing, which is a lot for me, so I'm taking desperate measures here.
I don't know how much I can attribute my poor results to this, but I've been on real world time for these last two weeks, going to bed around 1am and getting up around 9am. I always thought the games were best between midnight and 6am, so I've been sleeping through the easy games and trying to grind it out in the tough daytime games. After this coming weekend I'm planning to get back on vampire time.
Medical Update:
I have a followup appointment tomorrow morning to make sure my finger is healing properly. I'm hoping that he'll set me up with a different splint that I can take on an off.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Online Poker Screen Names 2
When you sign up to play poker at an online casino, you pick a screen name that other players see when you sit at a table. Here are some names I've played against. Players in red are losers in games I've played; green are winners.
(Online Poker Screen Names 1)
Sexual/Vulgarity:
Weird:
Gross:
Funny References:
(Online Poker Screen Names 1)
Sexual/Vulgarity:
- CugeHock - This must be Jon Reremy's alias
- RATDICK - Now that I think of it, Jon Reremy kinda looks like a rat.
- Stu Pidasso - This must be Ben Dover's alias
- BenDovr - Hmm, maybe not
- bend_over - I guess we dropped the formality
- TapalotaPuss - Sounds like a Bond girl. Um, actually maybe a Bond guy. No, that doesn't make sense either. Let's just move on.
Weird:
- KhanhAir - This is one of two things. Best case is that this guy's name is Khanh, or he's somehow affiliated with something named Khanh. In that case, he decided to come up with a play on words and related his name to the name of the movie "Con Air." That's like when my friend Erm had the IM screenname "ErmNHammer." I understand the pun and all, but couldn't you have come up with something cooler than baking soda or a crappy movie? (Yes, Con Air is on my honorary mention Badass Movies list, but I'm trying to make a point.) So that's the "good" case. The worse case is that this guy is in no way associated with the name Khanh at all, and he just thought he'd come up with an alternate spelling for Con Air. That would be really really weird.
- CMSyouup - "I'm on some team called CMS. We'll mess you up." NOBODY ON PARTY POKER KNOWS WHAT CMS IS! NOBODY CARES!! YOU CAN'T TALK SHIT WHEN NOBODY KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?
- CubstoWSin03 - Its early 2003, and you are sitting in your Chicago apartment. You're a big Cubs fan, and are thinking about baseball while you sign up to play Party Poker. Excited about your team's chances for the upcoming season, you decide to choose a name to predict success for your team. But you are a complete rampant idiot. The Cubs didn't make the World Series in 2003, and now its 2005 and you are still using this name. Also, if you are going to make big, bold and erroneous predictions about your team, why do you only pick them to get to the World Series? Why not pick them to win it? You should go throw yourself under the A-train.
- PsychoErectus -This is just a great name. Bravo. With a mind capable of producing this name, its no wonder he's won $347.50 in the 68 hands I've seen him play.
- weed4zeke -On the other hand, this moron has won $294.50 in 70 hands, proving that poker is for morons.
Gross:
- mymomishot - Oh I know she is.
Funny References:
- deadhooker - I'll assume this is a reference to a great scene from "Dirty Work."
- rikjaymesbch - Weird spelling of "I'm Rick James, bitch!" By the way, Dave Chappelle disappeared after signing a $50 million contract, and then turned up in a mental hospital in South Africa. I'm not making that up.
- SunTzu68 - I only include this because it leads me to the conclusion that someone, somewhere has probably combined Sun Tzu and 69. All's fair in love and war?
- fishbulbman - Homer Simpson is the fishbulbman.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Once upon a time...
Long, long, long, long ago, Handsome Prince was sitting in his house in Montgomery Village, chatting on AOL Instant Messenger with his old girlfriend, Sexy Ex-y. The details of the conversation, long since forgotten, are unimportant. What is important is that at some point in the fateful conversation, Sexy Ex-y took a picture of her breast and used IM's direct connect feature to send the image to the handsome prince. It was creative high-tech flashing. Good clean amusement between consenting dorks with a digital camera and high-speed internet.
Many moons passed, and Handsome Prince drifted away from Sexy Ex-y, and the picture was long forgotten. However, unbeknownst to Handsome Prince, evidence of the exchange was retained, in the downloaded pictures cache of his AOL IM files...
A new young lady, Beautiful Princess, entered his life. Handsome Prince and Beautiful Princess were very happy together. Their days were filled with joy, and nights with passion, until one day, he stumbled across the long, long forgotten picture while she was sitting right behind him. Did I mention that I had long since forgotten about this picture? Oops I mean, the Handsome Prince had long since forgotten about the picture, and it meant nothing to him.
Upon seeing the very meaningless image, the Beautiful Princess shouts "Oooh, busted!" and walks away. Except she did it in a way where it was hard to tell if she was pissed or amused. Handsome Prince, being quite smitten with Beautiful Princess, immediately recognized the deliciously precarious nature of the situation. His cool exterior belied the panic alarms sounding inside his head:
Crap, she just saw Sexy Ex-y's breast!! Why is that picture there?!! DAMMIT WHY DOES IM SAVE PICTURES!! Crap, I hope she realizes that the picture was auto-saved a long time ago. Oh god I hope she doesn't think I saved it intentionally. Actually, that breast could be anyone's, right? You can't see the face!! Whew! Oh no, shit, or maybe she thinks girls just send me pictures of their breast. Maybe she thinks some girl is trying to seduce me and I haven't told her about it. Oh god, now she thinks I'm either hiding pictures of old girlfriends or pictures of random would-be seductresses from her. Wait, what did Beautiful Princess mean by her comment? Maybe she thought it was just some random breast from somewhere on the internet! The internet has lots of breasts, and maybe she doesn't realize it came from IM. Surely the Beautiful Princess wouldn't care if I just had a random breast picture from the internet. Maybe "busted" was just sarcastic, yeah!! Right? Well now its been too long and I haven't said anything to explain. If I say something now, it will just look like I'm making up a story. Dammit, we've been watching all those Sopranos episode where all the men cheat on their wives, and we just watched that scene in "A Perfect Murder" where Michael Douglas comes up with a beautiful lie right out of his ass. I don't want it to look like I'm full of shit. No, I better just not say anything now. She probably thinks its just a random boob, right?? I'm FUCKED. Actually this is all kinda funny...
Later that day, the Beautiful Princess finally asked the Handsome Prince about the picture, apparently after hours and hour of mulling it over in her mind. The Handsome Prince had been so worried about what he should do, he never stopped to think that if he just told the Beautiful Princess the truth, she wouldn't care at all. And then the wonderful Beautiful Princess was so concerned about not wanting the Handsome Prince to think she distrusted him like a stereotypical jealous girlfriend that she agonized about the situation for hours before finally asking him. In the end, she didn't care, and they both wasted a lot of energy worrying about nothing, all because the Handsome Prince is a moron.
The End.
The 4 morals to this story:
1.) Tell the truth, you stupid Handsome Prince. She's not going to care. Don't put her through needless agony. What the hell is wrong with you?
2.) Don't create the appearance that you keep some kind of secret archives of sexual souvenirs from your ex. Oh, and don't call her "Sexy Ex-y." Call her "Plain Jane" or "Inferior Ingrid" or something like that. What the hell is wrong with you?
3.) If you are an internet poker player like the Handsome Prince, don't assume that someone in the real world will think that taking suspiciously long before acting might be a bluff. Usually when people take a long time before betting, its cause they have a monster hand. But she knows you're too smart for that, so your girlfriend might raise you on the river because she thinks your delay means you missed your overcards. So either bet right out, or have the monster. What the hell am I even talking about?
4.) Always use thinly-veiled fairy tales on your blog as a way to make peace with your girlfriend while simultaneously amusing your audience. That way everyone is happy.
Finally, since I realize all you dirtballs are going to ask to see that picture, here it is.
Many moons passed, and Handsome Prince drifted away from Sexy Ex-y, and the picture was long forgotten. However, unbeknownst to Handsome Prince, evidence of the exchange was retained, in the downloaded pictures cache of his AOL IM files...
A new young lady, Beautiful Princess, entered his life. Handsome Prince and Beautiful Princess were very happy together. Their days were filled with joy, and nights with passion, until one day, he stumbled across the long, long forgotten picture while she was sitting right behind him. Did I mention that I had long since forgotten about this picture? Oops I mean, the Handsome Prince had long since forgotten about the picture, and it meant nothing to him.
Upon seeing the very meaningless image, the Beautiful Princess shouts "Oooh, busted!" and walks away. Except she did it in a way where it was hard to tell if she was pissed or amused. Handsome Prince, being quite smitten with Beautiful Princess, immediately recognized the deliciously precarious nature of the situation. His cool exterior belied the panic alarms sounding inside his head:
Crap, she just saw Sexy Ex-y's breast!! Why is that picture there?!! DAMMIT WHY DOES IM SAVE PICTURES!! Crap, I hope she realizes that the picture was auto-saved a long time ago. Oh god I hope she doesn't think I saved it intentionally. Actually, that breast could be anyone's, right? You can't see the face!! Whew! Oh no, shit, or maybe she thinks girls just send me pictures of their breast. Maybe she thinks some girl is trying to seduce me and I haven't told her about it. Oh god, now she thinks I'm either hiding pictures of old girlfriends or pictures of random would-be seductresses from her. Wait, what did Beautiful Princess mean by her comment? Maybe she thought it was just some random breast from somewhere on the internet! The internet has lots of breasts, and maybe she doesn't realize it came from IM. Surely the Beautiful Princess wouldn't care if I just had a random breast picture from the internet. Maybe "busted" was just sarcastic, yeah!! Right? Well now its been too long and I haven't said anything to explain. If I say something now, it will just look like I'm making up a story. Dammit, we've been watching all those Sopranos episode where all the men cheat on their wives, and we just watched that scene in "A Perfect Murder" where Michael Douglas comes up with a beautiful lie right out of his ass. I don't want it to look like I'm full of shit. No, I better just not say anything now. She probably thinks its just a random boob, right?? I'm FUCKED. Actually this is all kinda funny...
Later that day, the Beautiful Princess finally asked the Handsome Prince about the picture, apparently after hours and hour of mulling it over in her mind. The Handsome Prince had been so worried about what he should do, he never stopped to think that if he just told the Beautiful Princess the truth, she wouldn't care at all. And then the wonderful Beautiful Princess was so concerned about not wanting the Handsome Prince to think she distrusted him like a stereotypical jealous girlfriend that she agonized about the situation for hours before finally asking him. In the end, she didn't care, and they both wasted a lot of energy worrying about nothing, all because the Handsome Prince is a moron.
The End.
The 4 morals to this story:
1.) Tell the truth, you stupid Handsome Prince. She's not going to care. Don't put her through needless agony. What the hell is wrong with you?
2.) Don't create the appearance that you keep some kind of secret archives of sexual souvenirs from your ex. Oh, and don't call her "Sexy Ex-y." Call her "Plain Jane" or "Inferior Ingrid" or something like that. What the hell is wrong with you?
3.) If you are an internet poker player like the Handsome Prince, don't assume that someone in the real world will think that taking suspiciously long before acting might be a bluff. Usually when people take a long time before betting, its cause they have a monster hand. But she knows you're too smart for that, so your girlfriend might raise you on the river because she thinks your delay means you missed your overcards. So either bet right out, or have the monster. What the hell am I even talking about?
4.) Always use thinly-veiled fairy tales on your blog as a way to make peace with your girlfriend while simultaneously amusing your audience. That way everyone is happy.
Finally, since I realize all you dirtballs are going to ask to see that picture, here it is.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Not satisfied
I'm not happy with my poker results.
After dropping almost $500 today in a 3 hour session (ugh), I've played 18,000 hands since moving to $5/10, and I'm only winning 1.06 BB/100 hands. In the 66,000 hands I've played while 4-tabling $3/6 and $5/10, my BB/100 is at 1.35. That is about $21.25 per hour of poker winning. Blegh.
While I do feel like my game is improving in certain ways, its not improving enough. I'm stagnating. I realized that aside from browsing through the 2+2 forums and reading Cardplayer articles, I haven't invested enough time in poker education lately. So I just ordered these books:
After dropping almost $500 today in a 3 hour session (ugh), I've played 18,000 hands since moving to $5/10, and I'm only winning 1.06 BB/100 hands. In the 66,000 hands I've played while 4-tabling $3/6 and $5/10, my BB/100 is at 1.35. That is about $21.25 per hour of poker winning. Blegh.
While I do feel like my game is improving in certain ways, its not improving enough. I'm stagnating. I realized that aside from browsing through the 2+2 forums and reading Cardplayer articles, I haven't invested enough time in poker education lately. So I just ordered these books:
- Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play, Ed Miller
- Doyle Brunson's Super System II
- Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players, David Sklansky & Mason Malmuth
I would really like to get my winrate at $5/10 up to 2.0 BB/100, or at least over 1.5 for a meaningful number of hands before I make my next move up in limits. I see plenty of room for improvement in my game, and I can't be lazy about plugging leaks.
Grant Hill
Did anyone see Grant Hill in the ABC studios last night? High comedy. He was so over-the-top, like some caricature of someone trying poorly to be a broadcaster. It was as if he was trying to make every single word he excruciatingly deliberately articulated seem like the most important thought in the history of time. His performance was actually quite reminiscent of the man sitting next to him, Bill Walton, except with different vocal patterns. The two even exchanged some mutual man-love to start the broadcast, something to the effect of
Hill: "Thank you ... for having me. ................................................................... And what a .......................... tremendous ...................... honor.... to be sitting ........................ here with a ............... top-50 Hall of Famer ....................... Mr. Bill Walton."
Walton: "NAY, GRANT, IT IS I WHO AM HONORED TO BE HERE WITH YOU ON THIS LIFE-CHANGING DAY! THAT YOU WOULD DEIGN TO GRACE US WITH YOUR MAGNIFICENT PRESENCE IS A POWERFULLY HUMBLING EXPERIENCE, ONE THAT I SHALL SURELY TREASURE TO THE END OF MY DAYS!!"
I can only hope that Hill finds a job in TV when he retires as a player. I'd ask that he always be paired with Walton, but that would be too much to hope for. And my head might explode.
Hill: "Thank you ... for having me. ................................................................... And what a .......................... tremendous ...................... honor.... to be sitting ........................ here with a ............... top-50 Hall of Famer ....................... Mr. Bill Walton."
Walton: "NAY, GRANT, IT IS I WHO AM HONORED TO BE HERE WITH YOU ON THIS LIFE-CHANGING DAY! THAT YOU WOULD DEIGN TO GRACE US WITH YOUR MAGNIFICENT PRESENCE IS A POWERFULLY HUMBLING EXPERIENCE, ONE THAT I SHALL SURELY TREASURE TO THE END OF MY DAYS!!"
I can only hope that Hill finds a job in TV when he retires as a player. I'd ask that he always be paired with Walton, but that would be too much to hope for. And my head might explode.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
back
- i'm back home.
- my finger is put back together properly. i've got a very uncomfortable cast/splint over an extremely sore hand but am otherwise in good shape. no pins were needed. 6+ weeks recovery projection.
- there wont be much capitalization on here until i can use my left hand.
- i need to put in a lot of poker hours of my best game (5/10 full) over the next few weeks to make up for inactivity and poor results in other games. luckily i wont be playing sports for a while so i have some extra time.
- planning has begun for the 2nd annual celebration of hobbits and calories.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
more gimp-type bah
-so much for being on normal person time. i fell asleep on the couch at the start of the pistons/pacers game (8pm) and woke up around the start of the suns/mavs (11pm). now its 3am and i'm downloading pokerstars software over my parents 56k modem.
-nobody can stop amare, and the mavs get nothing offensively from dampier or bradley, so why bother playing them? why not just throw out dirk and 4 guards and see if you can confuse the suns by playing their exact same style? i'd put henderson in the game before dampier or bradley. nobody on the mavs attacks the rim except stackhouse and occassionally dirk. damn the suns are good.
-i cant eat or drink anything between 7am and 4pm. sweet.
-nobody can stop amare, and the mavs get nothing offensively from dampier or bradley, so why bother playing them? why not just throw out dirk and 4 guards and see if you can confuse the suns by playing their exact same style? i'd put henderson in the game before dampier or bradley. nobody on the mavs attacks the rim except stackhouse and occassionally dirk. damn the suns are good.
-i cant eat or drink anything between 7am and 4pm. sweet.
Monday, May 09, 2005
MY gimp-type updates
*commence 1.5 handed gimp-typing*
MY hand:
at the parent's home in bel air, got that doctor's appointment at 1pm. hand doesnt really hurt much right now, but gonna hurt like a mofo when he tries to set it again. not fun. looking at the palm-up view of my hand pictures, you can kinda see where the bottom fragment of my finger bone was pushing up from below the knuckle. that is what he needs to get back into place.
MY sleep:
friday - 7:30am to 5pm
saturday - 9am to 7pm
sunday - 11am to 2pm (woke up for mother's day party)
sunday/monday - 10:30pm to 6:30am
suddenly i'm back on regular people time. ACK!
MY poker:
awful day saturday night/sunday morning. gave back all my profits from tuesday thru friday. i just suck at party 6max for some reason. i do so well with paradise 5max and heads up, and stars 6max. i always considered shorthanded play a strength in my game, but party tells me otherwise. but i might be starting to figure it out the differences in the games. we'll see if i adjust.
occassional dalliances nonwithstanding, my main game now is party $5/10 full handed, 4 tables. 2 possible progressions from here, within the party limit hold'em world:
1.) $5/10 full --> $5/10 6max --> $10/20 6max
2.) $5/10 full --> $10/20 full --> $15/30 full
not sure which way i want to go. shorthanded i'd get more hands and more rakeback which would make up for the smaller stakes, assuming i can handle 4 tables shorthanded. but i suck at party shorthanded so far. and you hear a lot about party $15/30 full, but never much about $10/20 full. so i dont know what to expect at that level. living off my playing bankroll obviously slows bankroll growth, so for now i probably oughta just bare down on my main game and try to put in a lot of hours.
one other consideration would be investing in more monitor space and adding more tables. i think i could comfortably handle at least 6 full tables, maybe 8.
MY awesomeness:
fully intact. projected to continue steady expansion for foreseeable future.
*cease 1.5 handed gimp-typing*
MY hand:
at the parent's home in bel air, got that doctor's appointment at 1pm. hand doesnt really hurt much right now, but gonna hurt like a mofo when he tries to set it again. not fun. looking at the palm-up view of my hand pictures, you can kinda see where the bottom fragment of my finger bone was pushing up from below the knuckle. that is what he needs to get back into place.
MY sleep:
friday - 7:30am to 5pm
saturday - 9am to 7pm
sunday - 11am to 2pm (woke up for mother's day party)
sunday/monday - 10:30pm to 6:30am
suddenly i'm back on regular people time. ACK!
MY poker:
awful day saturday night/sunday morning. gave back all my profits from tuesday thru friday. i just suck at party 6max for some reason. i do so well with paradise 5max and heads up, and stars 6max. i always considered shorthanded play a strength in my game, but party tells me otherwise. but i might be starting to figure it out the differences in the games. we'll see if i adjust.
occassional dalliances nonwithstanding, my main game now is party $5/10 full handed, 4 tables. 2 possible progressions from here, within the party limit hold'em world:
1.) $5/10 full --> $5/10 6max --> $10/20 6max
2.) $5/10 full --> $10/20 full --> $15/30 full
not sure which way i want to go. shorthanded i'd get more hands and more rakeback which would make up for the smaller stakes, assuming i can handle 4 tables shorthanded. but i suck at party shorthanded so far. and you hear a lot about party $15/30 full, but never much about $10/20 full. so i dont know what to expect at that level. living off my playing bankroll obviously slows bankroll growth, so for now i probably oughta just bare down on my main game and try to put in a lot of hours.
one other consideration would be investing in more monitor space and adding more tables. i think i could comfortably handle at least 6 full tables, maybe 8.
MY awesomeness:
fully intact. projected to continue steady expansion for foreseeable future.
*cease 1.5 handed gimp-typing*
Friday, May 06, 2005
Serious Inconvenience
It is very much broken, just above the knuckle. The bottom piece of the bone is still out of position, despite several extremely painful attempts by the doctor to yank it back into place. He concluded that the swelling is too severe now to move it, and I go back Monday to try again. He told me the anesthesia will be even less effective then. If he can't get it set right, we'll have to resort to surgery and put pins in to hold it in place.
Aside from the bitch of paying the $500 deductible on the temporary insurance policy I bought (good thing I got one though, since the total bill could go a lot higher), and the frustration of being sidelined from my basketball, tennis, and soccer teams for at least 6 weeks, this will also likely decrease my blog output, since one-handed typing sucks.
While waiting for my next post, enjoy these pictures I took before I headed to the doctor.
Note the fatness, purplehood, and the 30 degree rotation.
Yummy!
Aside from the bitch of paying the $500 deductible on the temporary insurance policy I bought (good thing I got one though, since the total bill could go a lot higher), and the frustration of being sidelined from my basketball, tennis, and soccer teams for at least 6 weeks, this will also likely decrease my blog output, since one-handed typing sucks.
While waiting for my next post, enjoy these pictures I took before I headed to the doctor.
Note the fatness, purplehood, and the 30 degree rotation.
Yummy!
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Ouch
I dislocated my finger playing ball tonight. It still seemed messed up after I popped it back in, so I hope nothing is broken. Hopefully it is just the massive swelling, but it seems like there is something goofy going on at the 3rd knuckle. Apparently 3rd knuckle dislocations are less common and more serious than the middle knuckle ones. I'll go get it X-rayed tomorrow at my dad's office. Luckily its my most worthless finger, the left pinky, so after the pain and swelling go down I shouldnt be seriously inconvenienced.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Online Poker Screen Names
When you sign up to play poker at an online casino, you pick a screen name that other players see when you sit at a table. Here are some names I've played against. Players in red are losers in games I've played; green are winners.
Sexual/Vulgarity:
Weird:
Gross:
Sexual/Vulgarity:
- SexMachine69 - 95% chance this is some 15 year old dork with his mom's credit card.
- IButtSexU - Classy!
- fxxckyouall - that isn't my censoring effort, that was his brilliant idea
- LkmyNuts - In poker, the "nuts" are the best possible hand. Such clever double entendre!
- AAshole - Your starting cards in hold'em are called your "hole cards." Starting with 2 aces is the best possible starting hand. Such clever double entendre!
Weird:
- HeroinAbuser - Who thinks of this why they sign up to play poker? Weird.
- intheloo - Why would you claim to be in the bathroom you British weirdo?
- Kirk_Cameron - I didn't know this guy still had fans. Maybe this is is the actual actor from Growing Pains...
- 401k - Dude must really love pre-tax retirement savings.
- ImFrankZappa - No you aren't.
- DonCorleaone - Um, you spelled it wrong.
Gross:
- MrBrownfolks - I assume this is supposed to be racist.
- ShesGotWood - That female has an erection. Lovely.
- DogsGoneWild - These dogs are willing and able to do everything! It’s real, raw and uncensored! No rules, no owners, and of course, no collars!
- ILOVEMUNG - I'm not sure if I know what mung is, but it sounds gross.
- SerialRakist - The "rake" is the money that the casino takes from each pot as their fee for hosting the game. Apparently giving yourself a name that sounds like "serial rapist" is cool. Wow.
- WitchPoo - What can I say?
Monday, May 02, 2005
Sleep
For as much as I obsess about sleep, I'm surprised I haven't written pages and pages about it on here. I give heavy consideration to the sleep implications of anything I considering doing. I rank time spent sleeping with someone (literally sleeping with someone, no euphemism intended) as the ultimate in "quality time." If I like talking to you, chances are I've often bored you with conversations about my sleep. I hate my alarm clock more than Weezer fans love shitty music, and Weezer fans obviously LOVE shitty music.
Sleep is on my mind right now because my already bizarre sleep schedule is about to get weirder.
Saturday I woke up around 3pm for a tennis match after going to sleep at 10am. 5 hours. Sunday I woke up at 4pm after going to bed around 7am. 9 hours.
Now in spite of the poor night sleep on Saturday, you would probably think I'd feel well rested on Sunday afternoon. But you'd be very wrong. By 10pm I was seriously dragging, so I took a nap from 11pm to 2:30am. Now its about 6:30am on Monday morning and I'm sitting here eating a McDonald's sausage and egg biscuit and wondering when I'll be able go to sleep again after such a delightful nap.
While it is unconventional, being awake all night is convenient for me right now, because that is when I think the poker games are easiest. Any obligations I have (tennis, soccer, basketball teams) are usually in the early evening, so waking up in time for those hasn't been a problem. I do miss the Junkies though, who are on the air from 11am to 2pm.
I've always believed that one or both of the following are true about me:
A.) I require more sleep than most people, and keep some kind of cumulative sleep deficit record. 9 hours of sleep wasn't enough on Sunday because I only had 5 from the night before, and averaging 7 hours just isn't going to cut it for me. When I was working at GE, I would average about 7 hours of sleep on work nights, and then would routinely sleep for 11 or 12 hours on Friday and Saturday nights. I've also had times where I only slept 2 or 3 hours one night, and then slept for 10 or 12 hours the next 2 nights in a row. I think I tend to average out to about 9 hours per night over any given length of time, which is probaly 1 or 2 hours more than most people.
B.) My body's natural rhythm isn't a 24 hour day. I think I'd probably be more comfortable with a schedule that is more like 10 hours of sleep and then 18 hours awake. Alas, the earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours, so that is the schedule that almost every other living being on the planet uses. I'm always being oppressed by tyrannical systems.
Sleep is on my mind right now because my already bizarre sleep schedule is about to get weirder.
Saturday I woke up around 3pm for a tennis match after going to sleep at 10am. 5 hours. Sunday I woke up at 4pm after going to bed around 7am. 9 hours.
Now in spite of the poor night sleep on Saturday, you would probably think I'd feel well rested on Sunday afternoon. But you'd be very wrong. By 10pm I was seriously dragging, so I took a nap from 11pm to 2:30am. Now its about 6:30am on Monday morning and I'm sitting here eating a McDonald's sausage and egg biscuit and wondering when I'll be able go to sleep again after such a delightful nap.
While it is unconventional, being awake all night is convenient for me right now, because that is when I think the poker games are easiest. Any obligations I have (tennis, soccer, basketball teams) are usually in the early evening, so waking up in time for those hasn't been a problem. I do miss the Junkies though, who are on the air from 11am to 2pm.
I've always believed that one or both of the following are true about me:
A.) I require more sleep than most people, and keep some kind of cumulative sleep deficit record. 9 hours of sleep wasn't enough on Sunday because I only had 5 from the night before, and averaging 7 hours just isn't going to cut it for me. When I was working at GE, I would average about 7 hours of sleep on work nights, and then would routinely sleep for 11 or 12 hours on Friday and Saturday nights. I've also had times where I only slept 2 or 3 hours one night, and then slept for 10 or 12 hours the next 2 nights in a row. I think I tend to average out to about 9 hours per night over any given length of time, which is probaly 1 or 2 hours more than most people.
B.) My body's natural rhythm isn't a 24 hour day. I think I'd probably be more comfortable with a schedule that is more like 10 hours of sleep and then 18 hours awake. Alas, the earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours, so that is the schedule that almost every other living being on the planet uses. I'm always being oppressed by tyrannical systems.
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