Random short thoughts on a Thursday afternoon, having cancelled my modelling gig today (too far to travel, too much time, too little pay) and hiding inside from what's left of the 10 inches of snow St. Louis got Tuesday over primarily a five-hour span (hey, that ain't much to a New Yorker or a Rocky Mountaineer, maybe, but it's more than I've seen here in 10 years back!). Anyway:
-- Read Doyle Brunson's blog!!! (Link at right.) Sorry, Eric Clapton, but Doyle is god! The March 4 entry is classic, featuring the scoop on the NBC Heads-Up outcome, Doyle at a country-western concert on Fremont, downing 10 beers, giving his hat to a musician, Phil Hellmuth drunk and dancing to country at a biker bar, Clonie Gowen and Doyle's daughter on the bar, and so much more. Reading Doyle makes me want to write more and more. And get my move to Vegas finalized.
-- Started reading Michael Craig's superb "The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King" last night. Awesome. Love the insights, behind-the-scenes and thought processes. Well done. Gonna be hard to put down; I read slow, but will be done with it before dawn Saturday.
-- Talking about gambling and high rollers gave me an "aha!" moment. (I love those!) I'm the kind who'll bet $20 on Mizzou, $20 on Texas, $20 on whoever's playing Kansas, etc., rather than playing one or two games heavy and solid. It's the action junkie in me. Hmmmmmm!!! And at the poker tables I'm trying two events at once, instead of pouring full focus and effort into one? And playing micro rings, instead of stepping up to brick-and-mortar-size contests? Aha!
-- Get well soon, bwop and ig and anyone else hurting ...
-- Classical music is far and away the best. Classic rock is a solid runner-up. Rap is missing a letter ...
-- My early Kentucky Derby money is on Fierce Wind, Colonel John and Z Fortune. War Pass (who will probably be the winner May 3) and Pyro are awesome and will be in my exotic wagers, but I gotta go with the best-paying prospects in the Future Pools.
-- World Series 2008: Detroit vs. the New York Mets. The Cardinals won't make .500 at the wire. Looking forward to two fantasy leagues I'm going to play (well, one I'm in, the other I'm hedging). Both of those leagues draft next Monday evening.
-- I forgot what I was going to put here. Siiiiiigh ...
-- I can't believe it's been almost exactly 10 years since I moved out of Austin. I miss the Hill Country. Hope to make it back there for the first time in 6 years for Weekend at Mookie's or whatever the Blogger Bash is called. The wallet's ready; it's up to the work commitments ...
-- Speaking of Poker Bloggers, I'm plunging back into the BBT3 wars tonight at Full Tilt; the weekly $10+$1 Riverchasers game is at 8 pm St. Louis time.
-- No poker Friday. Off to model at my favorite, Principia College up in Ilinois, and will make a day of it at the Argosy Casino, Fast Eddie's restaurant and a number of clubs I get to all too rarely, sadly. This class ends the quarter at Principia (they're one of the rare schools who don't go by semesters), and figure drawing is only offered during this "third" quarter. But there's encouraging talk of a figure painting class in the fourth quarter, so ...
-- Busy poker weekend ahead, altough not as big as the five-star events ths following weekend. My schedule will include: (3:05p Saturday) Nationwide Poker Tour online satellite to Sunday's $500 Bodog Open Main Event, at Bodog; (7p Saturday) Final Four Package Tournament, at Oddsmaker; (3p Sunday) either Bodog Open Main Event or Bugsys Championship Series Main Event, a $110 buy-in NLHE with $15K guaranteed prize pool; plus the usual assorted games and leagues from Aces Cracked, Poker Analysis, Maximum Poker League, The Bluffers, Real Poker Players, AJ Poker and so on. What was that I said about picking and choosing???
Peace. Back to the book ...
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
That's A Winner!
The Bugsys Championship Series is currently under way at Bugsys Club. It offers 27 events through Sunday, with a Championship Playoff on March 15. It may not be as big or lucrative as FTOPS or WCOOP, but I wanted to give it a try in my steady dive into tougher challenges and competitions. Even though I hadn't played at Bugsys since April '07 (I don't know why).
(This is where the screenshot of Sunday March 2's Event 5, Limit Omaha H/L, $1,000 guaranteed (prize pool eventually closed at over $2K), buy-in $25 + $2.50, should go. If I can ever figure out how. Thank you pal sharbear of MaximumPokerLeague et al. for taking the screenshot at Bugsys for me; I could cut-and-paste from your PM into an e-mail for my records, but haven't been able to c&p the shot into any forum posts or here yet. (siiiiiigh!) Some day...)
Anyways, if you were looking at the screenshot, you'd notice that 82 players enterred, and when the smoke cleared the $615.00 first prize belonged to shamanalix. Yup. A solid payday for the shamster. I'm still walking on air a bit!
It was a very enjoyable event: calm, straightforward play, only a couple of jerks. A number of luckouts and bad beats, but you get those everywhere, even live ... and this game I was able to avoid most of them. We started with 2,500 chips each. At the first break I was 29th of 60 left, my best hand having been quad aces in level 3 that won me a 1,425-chip pot (no low). The second hour I played steady and picked my spots and mostly avoided mistakes and chases, so that at the second break I was 6th/16 remaining. Ten got paid.
I seriously had my eyes just on cashing, not on winning the whole thing, but the first hand after Break 2 alterred my thinking. Level 13, blinds 2,000/4,000. A 2 turn and 3 river gave me a small boat and got me firing back at the table bully/big stack until I was all-in. He'd hit a flush on the river, but I had him and scooped the 31,000 pot. And that's when my gear-shifting and gameplan intensified.
We hit the final table (and the money) with the shamster 4th/10. My strategy and cards had me in and out of 1st place in levels 14 and 15, the latter when we were down to 7 players. Then I beat the bully again with 2s full of As and soared to 102K chips -- about 80K ahead of second place! I eased the attack, then I couldn't land a filler/killer, and my big lead shrank; but so did the field size.
Finally we were four-handed in level 17 (8K/16K blinds), me barely ahead as we all had about the same amount of chips. I took out the bully in fourth for a 92K pot; I flopped trip 6s, we built it till he was all in and his chasing couldn't catch me. Eventually I was heads-up against MiaLauren, who'd done a superb job of bouncing back from being ultra-low-stack a couple of times. She took the lead from me when she got quad 7s and I folded to her river bet; this was level 18 (10K/20K). But pots were big, I got the lead back in a couple hands and then wrapped it up with a 10-high flush as she couldn't fill her boat. I had a bigger two pair than her (quit thinking dirty, Al and ck!) until the river, when the 10 of spades gave her a bigger two pair (hush ig) but completed my flush. We both had straight draws to boot, and no low qualified, and it had been over 3 hours for the tournament, so this hand was the final showdown.
It was just my night/game. The universe needs more of those! Sorry I missed the Big Game of Miami Don's that kicked off Battle of the Blogger Tournament 3 at Full Tilt, but there'll be plenty more of those. This $615 payday will give the sham's bankroll a boost in picking and choosing points of attack at BBT3. Likely starting Tuesday with the Blogger Skill Series (if it ain't stud!). For sure Thursday with Al and riggs' Riverchasers game. (I didn't know my Poker Analysis pal wolfshead, aka herb, was a Riverchaser from Pennsylvania; dang!...)
One good game like Bugsys on Sunday can erase 10 frustrating games, and give insecurities a necessary boost. The adages are really true: Just keep playing your game and try to maintain an even keel, and it all works out in the end.
On the WSOP front, I can get a Vegas studio apartment for June and July for about $2K. Anyone want in? Still not 100 percent sure with my mom's health that it's wise to get away for so long. I do have my eyes on WSOP events 2 ($1500 NLHE, the monster-sized "opener"), 42 ($1k seniors), 51 ($1.5k HORSE) and 54 ($10k Main Event), plus some others. I'll preregister for sure it the next 10 days for the Seniors to get on their players list, and then we shall see what develops.
Meanwhile, back to the journey. Can't over-enjoy a success, just like I don't dwell on the non-successes. But this sure feels real real nice...
(This is where the screenshot of Sunday March 2's Event 5, Limit Omaha H/L, $1,000 guaranteed (prize pool eventually closed at over $2K), buy-in $25 + $2.50, should go. If I can ever figure out how. Thank you pal sharbear of MaximumPokerLeague et al. for taking the screenshot at Bugsys for me; I could cut-and-paste from your PM into an e-mail for my records, but haven't been able to c&p the shot into any forum posts or here yet. (siiiiiigh!) Some day...)
Anyways, if you were looking at the screenshot, you'd notice that 82 players enterred, and when the smoke cleared the $615.00 first prize belonged to shamanalix. Yup. A solid payday for the shamster. I'm still walking on air a bit!
It was a very enjoyable event: calm, straightforward play, only a couple of jerks. A number of luckouts and bad beats, but you get those everywhere, even live ... and this game I was able to avoid most of them. We started with 2,500 chips each. At the first break I was 29th of 60 left, my best hand having been quad aces in level 3 that won me a 1,425-chip pot (no low). The second hour I played steady and picked my spots and mostly avoided mistakes and chases, so that at the second break I was 6th/16 remaining. Ten got paid.
I seriously had my eyes just on cashing, not on winning the whole thing, but the first hand after Break 2 alterred my thinking. Level 13, blinds 2,000/4,000. A 2 turn and 3 river gave me a small boat and got me firing back at the table bully/big stack until I was all-in. He'd hit a flush on the river, but I had him and scooped the 31,000 pot. And that's when my gear-shifting and gameplan intensified.
We hit the final table (and the money) with the shamster 4th/10. My strategy and cards had me in and out of 1st place in levels 14 and 15, the latter when we were down to 7 players. Then I beat the bully again with 2s full of As and soared to 102K chips -- about 80K ahead of second place! I eased the attack, then I couldn't land a filler/killer, and my big lead shrank; but so did the field size.
Finally we were four-handed in level 17 (8K/16K blinds), me barely ahead as we all had about the same amount of chips. I took out the bully in fourth for a 92K pot; I flopped trip 6s, we built it till he was all in and his chasing couldn't catch me. Eventually I was heads-up against MiaLauren, who'd done a superb job of bouncing back from being ultra-low-stack a couple of times. She took the lead from me when she got quad 7s and I folded to her river bet; this was level 18 (10K/20K). But pots were big, I got the lead back in a couple hands and then wrapped it up with a 10-high flush as she couldn't fill her boat. I had a bigger two pair than her (quit thinking dirty, Al and ck!) until the river, when the 10 of spades gave her a bigger two pair (hush ig) but completed my flush. We both had straight draws to boot, and no low qualified, and it had been over 3 hours for the tournament, so this hand was the final showdown.
It was just my night/game. The universe needs more of those! Sorry I missed the Big Game of Miami Don's that kicked off Battle of the Blogger Tournament 3 at Full Tilt, but there'll be plenty more of those. This $615 payday will give the sham's bankroll a boost in picking and choosing points of attack at BBT3. Likely starting Tuesday with the Blogger Skill Series (if it ain't stud!). For sure Thursday with Al and riggs' Riverchasers game. (I didn't know my Poker Analysis pal wolfshead, aka herb, was a Riverchaser from Pennsylvania; dang!...)
One good game like Bugsys on Sunday can erase 10 frustrating games, and give insecurities a necessary boost. The adages are really true: Just keep playing your game and try to maintain an even keel, and it all works out in the end.
On the WSOP front, I can get a Vegas studio apartment for June and July for about $2K. Anyone want in? Still not 100 percent sure with my mom's health that it's wise to get away for so long. I do have my eyes on WSOP events 2 ($1500 NLHE, the monster-sized "opener"), 42 ($1k seniors), 51 ($1.5k HORSE) and 54 ($10k Main Event), plus some others. I'll preregister for sure it the next 10 days for the Seniors to get on their players list, and then we shall see what develops.
Meanwhile, back to the journey. Can't over-enjoy a success, just like I don't dwell on the non-successes. But this sure feels real real nice...
Sunday, March 2, 2008
The Real 3 R's
Some may have you believe the "3 R's" of learning are readin', writin' and 'rithmetic. Sorry, not true. To a poker player like me, the 3 R's are reading, reacting and 'rmadilloing.
The education picks up a notch today with the official start of BB3, a.k.a. Battle of the Blogger Tournament 3. Three months, 55 tournaments, a Tournament of Champions at the end for individual event winners only ... and even World Series of Poker prizes amongst the swag put together by the legendary Sir AlCantHang and Full Tilt Poker. The official information is at http://alcanthang.blogspot.com/2008_02_24_archive.html#5035587135491417942. (Dang, why can't I make copy one thing and html link a separate thing? Like worked finally with the BB3 banner? Grrr. And the link's not even a live one to click? Sorry. Siiiiigh...)
There's plenty of action, and plenty of chances along the way to have that one miraculous in-the-zone game and win a TOC seat. Or perform steadily and win a monthly prize. And since they're all buy-ins (of various amounts, at varying games), there's oodles of greenbacks to be earned. I'll pass the rich opener tonight, the Blogger Big Game ($69+$6) hosted by Miami Don. Got a seat in Bugsy Championship Series Event 5 (Limit Omaha H/L), so that takes precedence and sham's limited attention/focus. But with BB3 events nightly Monday through Thursday, I'll be gathering the shekels and tokens and showing up there often.
Saturday went well. Won the MaximumPokerLeague TPFC qualifier at Nordica, as me and four teammates qualified for the final there in two weeks. Picked up a little cash at DoylesRoom ring games, the first time I've played those since they let the Yanks back in (well some of us, they still ban residents of the O'Shunned Eleven states).
Full schedule today, resuming sortly with The Bluffers League game at Absolute Poker. Bluffers are a fun group, you should check them out. Link at right. (I'll learn how to put more links into the copy slowly but surely, thanks to the patient teachings of folks like Al and Irongirl. Maybe.) Also I'm playing a lot with Real Poker Players league; $25 for a year to join, then lots of league games and monthly prize events, plus about a buy-in a week at Ultimate Bet ... and these folks play tight/tough.
Gotta keep improving and learning, while the escalator continues the climb to whatever's ahead...
The education picks up a notch today with the official start of BB3, a.k.a. Battle of the Blogger Tournament 3. Three months, 55 tournaments, a Tournament of Champions at the end for individual event winners only ... and even World Series of Poker prizes amongst the swag put together by the legendary Sir AlCantHang and Full Tilt Poker. The official information is at http://alcanthang.blogspot.com/2008_02_24_archive.html#5035587135491417942. (Dang, why can't I make copy one thing and html link a separate thing? Like worked finally with the BB3 banner? Grrr. And the link's not even a live one to click? Sorry. Siiiiigh...)
There's plenty of action, and plenty of chances along the way to have that one miraculous in-the-zone game and win a TOC seat. Or perform steadily and win a monthly prize. And since they're all buy-ins (of various amounts, at varying games), there's oodles of greenbacks to be earned. I'll pass the rich opener tonight, the Blogger Big Game ($69+$6) hosted by Miami Don. Got a seat in Bugsy Championship Series Event 5 (Limit Omaha H/L), so that takes precedence and sham's limited attention/focus. But with BB3 events nightly Monday through Thursday, I'll be gathering the shekels and tokens and showing up there often.
Saturday went well. Won the MaximumPokerLeague TPFC qualifier at Nordica, as me and four teammates qualified for the final there in two weeks. Picked up a little cash at DoylesRoom ring games, the first time I've played those since they let the Yanks back in (well some of us, they still ban residents of the O'Shunned Eleven states).
Full schedule today, resuming sortly with The Bluffers League game at Absolute Poker. Bluffers are a fun group, you should check them out. Link at right. (I'll learn how to put more links into the copy slowly but surely, thanks to the patient teachings of folks like Al and Irongirl. Maybe.) Also I'm playing a lot with Real Poker Players league; $25 for a year to join, then lots of league games and monthly prize events, plus about a buy-in a week at Ultimate Bet ... and these folks play tight/tough.
Gotta keep improving and learning, while the escalator continues the climb to whatever's ahead...
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Flowing
Anger. Frustration. Disappointment. Tiredness. Poker. Arrrrgggghhhhh. Close. Cigar? No. Way.
Satisfaction in recent results and play. Perturbed by near-misses and short-handed meltdowns -- twice tonight (Friday)!! Adjusting my game, but so many adjustments and tweaks and one-way streets that truly hold a thousand options. My head and my gut and my heart tell me it'll never work, never get better, never get ... it. But they're not really telling me that. What are telling me that are the things that are right, yet all wrong. So I'll ignore "them" and plug on.
Won 18 cents in the Quick Draw at Doyle's (249th/2,454 freerollers). Made $15 for taking 2nd/23 in TheBluffers game at Reefer. Earned 12 points as 3rd/44 in Real Poker Players League's Limit H.O.R.S.E. at Ultimate Bet. Three-for-three "good" outings. After my 7-days-of-profit streak had turned into 2-days-of-losses, we're headed back in the right direction.
And I should have won those last two tournaments. Long heads-up with Bluffers rival (sorry, bad with names, forgot already); led most of the way until I finally lost one big hand and gave him a lead I could never overcome. And in RPP game I was a maniac at final table, dispatching foes and building 20K-chip castle, 10 times more than my last two rivals each had ... yet it all disappeared in Omaha 8/b, normally one of my best games. The poker goddesses were sure having fun with me.
Gotta not let the results and the immediate happenings bug me. Just like loud-mouth sore losers (no names of juvenile clown bloggers who could use a swift kick in their humanity-lessness). Too sensitive, too nice, the shamster. Gotta shrug it all off. One hand at a time. All that matters. And nothing really matters.
Big weekend of games ahead. Model Saturday morning, which'll put a crimp in my participation but offer a nice distraction, a good opportunity for reflection and re-planning. Then back to the faux felt starting Saturday dinnertime. There are big events at Bugsy's Club and Bodog and elsewhere to choose from, plus the usual league challenges. And the BB3 is right around the corner.
(Weird, I type a word and a different word appears on the screen. Haunted keyboard? Or bad misconnect between "brain" and "fingers" -- plan and execution? Just old? Pooh...)
Maybe that's the trouble. Maybe there's no trouble. Definitely there's a bed calling. Morning is another day. One big success will more than erase a thousand defeats and disappointments. And it IS coming! Meanwhile, we'll continue savoring every little victory, every step in the right direction ... while not making a big deal of them, just like we treat the oopses.
You can stop shuffling. For now. New deal soon...
Satisfaction in recent results and play. Perturbed by near-misses and short-handed meltdowns -- twice tonight (Friday)!! Adjusting my game, but so many adjustments and tweaks and one-way streets that truly hold a thousand options. My head and my gut and my heart tell me it'll never work, never get better, never get ... it. But they're not really telling me that. What are telling me that are the things that are right, yet all wrong. So I'll ignore "them" and plug on.
Won 18 cents in the Quick Draw at Doyle's (249th/2,454 freerollers). Made $15 for taking 2nd/23 in TheBluffers game at Reefer. Earned 12 points as 3rd/44 in Real Poker Players League's Limit H.O.R.S.E. at Ultimate Bet. Three-for-three "good" outings. After my 7-days-of-profit streak had turned into 2-days-of-losses, we're headed back in the right direction.
And I should have won those last two tournaments. Long heads-up with Bluffers rival (sorry, bad with names, forgot already); led most of the way until I finally lost one big hand and gave him a lead I could never overcome. And in RPP game I was a maniac at final table, dispatching foes and building 20K-chip castle, 10 times more than my last two rivals each had ... yet it all disappeared in Omaha 8/b, normally one of my best games. The poker goddesses were sure having fun with me.
Gotta not let the results and the immediate happenings bug me. Just like loud-mouth sore losers (no names of juvenile clown bloggers who could use a swift kick in their humanity-lessness). Too sensitive, too nice, the shamster. Gotta shrug it all off. One hand at a time. All that matters. And nothing really matters.
Big weekend of games ahead. Model Saturday morning, which'll put a crimp in my participation but offer a nice distraction, a good opportunity for reflection and re-planning. Then back to the faux felt starting Saturday dinnertime. There are big events at Bugsy's Club and Bodog and elsewhere to choose from, plus the usual league challenges. And the BB3 is right around the corner.
(Weird, I type a word and a different word appears on the screen. Haunted keyboard? Or bad misconnect between "brain" and "fingers" -- plan and execution? Just old? Pooh...)
Maybe that's the trouble. Maybe there's no trouble. Definitely there's a bed calling. Morning is another day. One big success will more than erase a thousand defeats and disappointments. And it IS coming! Meanwhile, we'll continue savoring every little victory, every step in the right direction ... while not making a big deal of them, just like we treat the oopses.
You can stop shuffling. For now. New deal soon...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)