Another day, another poker adventure or two or 22. I just tried a T$26 token turbo at Full Tilt. Late level two, middle position, pushed with KK after table leader raised things to 100. Passed around to him, he went into tank, finally called me, showed AK. His ace came on the turn, and out I went in 192nd/213 entrants.
Never surprises when I get in with the best hand and get outdrawn -- usually by an ace falling. I've also had many a pair of bullets cracked when a foe hits a set. That's poker. I take it in stride (try to). I try to think positive. But it still hurts. And there's no answer to it. Play conservative? Don't push, and give myself room to bail out if the situation calls for it? Or keep plugging away full steam ahead when things look and feel right? I'll continue with that latter plan; hopefully it will begin paying off happily for me more often. Meanwhile, maybe I should see a voodoo healer or a shrink; sometimes I just feel cursed! lol ...
On many folks' recommendation, I finally switched to Mozilla Firefox this morning. Scare stories about another Microsoft Internet Explorer browser hole that made it exploitable by pirates nudged me into the change. I'm a stubborn armadillo (or mule, for you oldtimers), and change does not come easy. Now I have to learn to use Firefox, incorporate my favorites into it, dump parts of it I don't want (a quick "no thanks!" to red-underlined spellcheck), and try to be patient and open-minded. My main mail is still AOL (7 boxes); wish there was an easier way to incorporate that into Firefox (like have a quicky button to access). Also wish my cursor/pointer would stop misbehaving (occasionally wanders off to margins, usually highlights what things are about and I don't want to know or be distracted, activates aggravating advertisement movements, etc.). Patience, sham ...
The World Blogger Championships of Online Poker are well under way at PokerStars. Wish I could say I was doing well, because they are fun. The frustrations are familiar.
Monday was Pot Limit Omaha. I was playing ultra tight, by third level was 2nd with 403 people left (top 72 get prizes), enterred fifth level (30/60 blinds) solid 34th/325. Flop comes Q994 two clubs; I have Q9xx. I bet pot. Table leader with a few more chips than me reraises enough to put me all in. Heck yeah I'll call and risk it. Are we playing with a 10-queen deck? Must be, because he has two of the girls and his boat's bigger than my boat. Thought he was chasing the nut flush. Ah well. Finished 309th/450 entrants. Don't tell me the odds, or that I should've held back a little on the off-chance the one hand that beat me already was out there. I was more worried about the club flush or bigger boat landing on down the streets. Ya buys your ticket and takes your chances...
Tuesday was No Limit Holdem. Flopped a set in level one and slow-played a bit since there was an ace on the flop. Good thing, since aces came on turn and river and rival ended up with quad bullets. I avoided going broke, but was pushed to the back of the bus and in survival mode. Did survive, which is something to be proud of, until just before second break (late in level 12). Think I just finally ran out of chips and luck, and ended up 143rd/559 entrants. Exasperating yet encouraging.
I could make a mile-long post of bad beats and tough losses, especially in the last month, but I won't. Maybe another time. Suffice it to say those things will happen (just please stop doing it to me so much, poker goddesses!!). We shall play on. Tonight (Wednesday) features WBCOOP Qualifier 3: Pot Limit Omaha 8/Better (High/Low), beginning at 9pm my time in St. Louis (I like that late start!) I feel very very good about this one!!! Also tonight at Pokerari the three-month On Tilt Radio Bad Azz TPL continues to wind down, with my forum squad poker101a far ahead for the team prize. I'm still in first in the individual standings, but only 85 points ahead of the runner-up. Tonight's game (PL Omaha H/L, nice coincidence to the WBCOOP action) probably won't draw the minimum 10 and will get cancelled; that'll leave five more games in the series. I have got to hang on!!!!!
Doyle's Room is having its last Bounty Tournament of 2008 at 8:30 tonight; I'd love to play with Doyle Brunson, Mike Caro, Hoyt Corkins and company, but I have to focus on the WBCOOP. The Poker Analysis Freeroll League invades a new site, RPM Poker, but I'm trying to hold off on downloading new sites right now. Muffmoney has a private game at 4:30p at Spin32, and I'll probably invest my $2.50 in that. Blogger Mookie has his weekly game at 9p at Full Tilt; maybe next week I'll rejoin them. Yes, friends, Wednesday is not an easy night for a bad multi-tasker like me to choose where to devote his time.
Hopefully I've gotten most of today's bad beats out of my system already, and now the fun can begin!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Always Optimistic
This was a very nice e-mail to receive:
"Hello Shamanalix,
"Congratulations, you've successfully registered to play in this year's
World Blogger Championship Of Online Poker (WBCOOP)!
"Your account has been credited with a ticket which is good for entry
into any and all of the Qualifier tournaments beginning on December
15th. ...
"The qualifying tournament schedule is as follows:
124189658 - Dec 15 - 14:00 ET - Pot Limit Omaha
124189659 - Dec 16 - 17:00 ET - No Limit Hold'em
124189660 - Dec 17 - 22:00 ET - Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
124189661 - Dec 18 - 14:00 ET - No Limit Hold'em
124189662 - Dec 19 - 17:00 ET - 8-Game Mix
124189663 - Dec 20 - 15:00 ET - No Limit Hold'em
"Registration opens two hours before the start of each event."
Fantastic! Now I have something to look forward to every day next week!! No modelling gigs, so I get to concentrate on my favorite job! These are going to be fun, and tough competition. I accept the challenge and am eager to see how I'll fare.
Things have been looking up lately for me on the faux felt. Won a Shark's Home Game (Shark Poker Tour Forum) on Thursday at Absolute Poker ($57.60), then poker101a's Midnight Madness on Friday back at Absolute ($15). In between I should have cashed at another Shark Poker Tour event, but with 16 players left (9 got paid) I went for it all when the flop gave me an open-ended royal flush draw and couldn't finish anything, coming up short against my rival's set. Ah well. Can't win 'em all. Although I want to...
Busy weekend ahead. Nothing to show so far today (Saturday) after two tournaments, but I'm getting in the groove. My top targets today are the OnTiltRadio Bad Azz TPL games at 1 and 3 pm (CT) at Pokerari and Suited Pockets' Sober Saturday Bounty game at 9:30p at Cake. Sunday includes SP's Razz-A-Ma-Tazz at noon at AP, a Shark game at 1p at Ultimate Bet, Holdem Poker Chat's 3rd Day of Christmas at 2p at Reefer, the Poker Analysis Buy-In League at 5:30p at Nordica, MaximumPokerLeague's Bounty Freeroll at 6p at Carbon and Rounders Radio's UB Games With Annie Duke, which start at 9p after she's on the radio with the gang at 7p. And maybe others; I'm a spur-of-the-moment kind'a guy!
Always lots of poker fun and challenges to be found on the net. Now to try and close the year with a strong finish and a couple of solid cashes. Them holiday bills won't pay for themselves, and I do like being generous!
G'luck all.
"Hello Shamanalix,
"Congratulations, you've successfully registered to play in this year's
World Blogger Championship Of Online Poker (WBCOOP)!
"Your account has been credited with a ticket which is good for entry
into any and all of the Qualifier tournaments beginning on December
15th. ...
"The qualifying tournament schedule is as follows:
124189658 - Dec 15 - 14:00 ET - Pot Limit Omaha
124189659 - Dec 16 - 17:00 ET - No Limit Hold'em
124189660 - Dec 17 - 22:00 ET - Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
124189661 - Dec 18 - 14:00 ET - No Limit Hold'em
124189662 - Dec 19 - 17:00 ET - 8-Game Mix
124189663 - Dec 20 - 15:00 ET - No Limit Hold'em
"Registration opens two hours before the start of each event."
Fantastic! Now I have something to look forward to every day next week!! No modelling gigs, so I get to concentrate on my favorite job! These are going to be fun, and tough competition. I accept the challenge and am eager to see how I'll fare.
Things have been looking up lately for me on the faux felt. Won a Shark's Home Game (Shark Poker Tour Forum) on Thursday at Absolute Poker ($57.60), then poker101a's Midnight Madness on Friday back at Absolute ($15). In between I should have cashed at another Shark Poker Tour event, but with 16 players left (9 got paid) I went for it all when the flop gave me an open-ended royal flush draw and couldn't finish anything, coming up short against my rival's set. Ah well. Can't win 'em all. Although I want to...
Busy weekend ahead. Nothing to show so far today (Saturday) after two tournaments, but I'm getting in the groove. My top targets today are the OnTiltRadio Bad Azz TPL games at 1 and 3 pm (CT) at Pokerari and Suited Pockets' Sober Saturday Bounty game at 9:30p at Cake. Sunday includes SP's Razz-A-Ma-Tazz at noon at AP, a Shark game at 1p at Ultimate Bet, Holdem Poker Chat's 3rd Day of Christmas at 2p at Reefer, the Poker Analysis Buy-In League at 5:30p at Nordica, MaximumPokerLeague's Bounty Freeroll at 6p at Carbon and Rounders Radio's UB Games With Annie Duke, which start at 9p after she's on the radio with the gang at 7p. And maybe others; I'm a spur-of-the-moment kind'a guy!
Always lots of poker fun and challenges to be found on the net. Now to try and close the year with a strong finish and a couple of solid cashes. Them holiday bills won't pay for themselves, and I do like being generous!
G'luck all.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
A "Winning" Streak
Hey, it may only be a fourth-place finish, but I'm not complaining. Especially since it came in Online Forum Challenge #49, the Poker PayDay Buy-In at Wass. There were 253 entrants paying $5.50 each today (Sunday), and the generous and awesome folks at OFC added $5,150 to the prize pools for players and the forums they played for. Thanks, Wolf, Tara and company!
Fourth for me meant $158.56 into my Wass account (and here I was all ready to give up on that site, since I was under $2 after the buy-in and I don't care for a number of cosmetic things at Wass, or in the Merge Network software). Plus, I'll get $100 a month for three months added to my Wass bankroll as a bonus. I'd have preferred first place, which was worth about $1,300 in cash and bonuses ... but the way things have been going I won't complain.
Shoot, the rest of Sunday was a wash with the normal bad luck and bad timings. Did win a Suited Pockets Forum razz tournament at Absolute before the OFC event ($7 prize), but I ran awful later in the Real Poker Players League game and the Rounders Radio Buy-In, both at Ultimate Bet. And I lost three first-round matches at Full Tilt in the start of its final week of NBC Heads-Up '09 Qualifiers-Round 1. I'll be back at those heads-up games A LOT trying to make next Saturday's Round 2; all I have to do is win eight straight matches! That's all...
In the OFC, I played tighter and more patient than usual in the early going, letting almost every speculative hand go. No missteps meant I hung around, and in Level 15 when my all-in 77 cracked KK thanks to a flopped 7 (all right, so my timing still leaves a lot to be desired!), that set me off on a heater that made up for the last two weeks. I could do no wrong, soared from 20th/37 left to 4th immediately and eventually into the lead. From there I was mostly second coasting to the final table, and it was a lot of fun playing with other Forum heroes until I went out suddenly in a three-way all-in -- I flopped top pair, but both rivals also did and outkicked me! Shoot, if I hadn't been over-cautious and too patient I'd have won two big pots in the time between 15 and 10 left, gone way over 100K chips, and eliminated the eventual champion and runner-up! Ah well...
My finish and teammate Wassuuup's 14th place scored 47 points for our Poker Analysis Forum team, good for fourth place overall (what is with me and fourths?) and a forum prize of a $100 freeroll. Uuup and I were the only ones who played for PA Sunday. And support and congratulations were rare after the event (guess folks are busy elsewhere). Think I'll be offering my services to Shark Poker Tour, poker101a and MaximumPokerLeague in upcoming OFC events. I'm such a mercenary. And there're folks I really like at each forum.
My depression peaked today with family problems. I feel miserable and lousy. Thank goodness for this $458 (eventually) cash. And with things to look forward to like Tony Holden's The Tuesday Night Game on Dec. 16 and the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker on Dec. 15-20 (both at PokerStars), and Michael Craig's Relay for Life charity event Dec. 21 and the "Extra" Holiday $100K Dec. 28 (both at Full Tilt), I have plenty to psyche me up in the weeks ahead and carry me through the holidaze doldrums. I hope...
May yours be happy.
Fourth for me meant $158.56 into my Wass account (and here I was all ready to give up on that site, since I was under $2 after the buy-in and I don't care for a number of cosmetic things at Wass, or in the Merge Network software). Plus, I'll get $100 a month for three months added to my Wass bankroll as a bonus. I'd have preferred first place, which was worth about $1,300 in cash and bonuses ... but the way things have been going I won't complain.
Shoot, the rest of Sunday was a wash with the normal bad luck and bad timings. Did win a Suited Pockets Forum razz tournament at Absolute before the OFC event ($7 prize), but I ran awful later in the Real Poker Players League game and the Rounders Radio Buy-In, both at Ultimate Bet. And I lost three first-round matches at Full Tilt in the start of its final week of NBC Heads-Up '09 Qualifiers-Round 1. I'll be back at those heads-up games A LOT trying to make next Saturday's Round 2; all I have to do is win eight straight matches! That's all...
In the OFC, I played tighter and more patient than usual in the early going, letting almost every speculative hand go. No missteps meant I hung around, and in Level 15 when my all-in 77 cracked KK thanks to a flopped 7 (all right, so my timing still leaves a lot to be desired!), that set me off on a heater that made up for the last two weeks. I could do no wrong, soared from 20th/37 left to 4th immediately and eventually into the lead. From there I was mostly second coasting to the final table, and it was a lot of fun playing with other Forum heroes until I went out suddenly in a three-way all-in -- I flopped top pair, but both rivals also did and outkicked me! Shoot, if I hadn't been over-cautious and too patient I'd have won two big pots in the time between 15 and 10 left, gone way over 100K chips, and eliminated the eventual champion and runner-up! Ah well...
My finish and teammate Wassuuup's 14th place scored 47 points for our Poker Analysis Forum team, good for fourth place overall (what is with me and fourths?) and a forum prize of a $100 freeroll. Uuup and I were the only ones who played for PA Sunday. And support and congratulations were rare after the event (guess folks are busy elsewhere). Think I'll be offering my services to Shark Poker Tour, poker101a and MaximumPokerLeague in upcoming OFC events. I'm such a mercenary. And there're folks I really like at each forum.
My depression peaked today with family problems. I feel miserable and lousy. Thank goodness for this $458 (eventually) cash. And with things to look forward to like Tony Holden's The Tuesday Night Game on Dec. 16 and the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker on Dec. 15-20 (both at PokerStars), and Michael Craig's Relay for Life charity event Dec. 21 and the "Extra" Holiday $100K Dec. 28 (both at Full Tilt), I have plenty to psyche me up in the weeks ahead and carry me through the holidaze doldrums. I hope...
May yours be happy.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
PokerStars Is Doing It Again!
As promised, here's the info on the PokerStars World Blogger Championships of Online Poker. The events are Dec. 15-20, and are open to anyone with a longstanding blog -- and it doesn't even have to be about poker! From past experience, these games are a lot of fun. Following on the heels of the World Cup of Online Poker, Meet Mats Sundin, PCA Freerolls and PCA Boot Camp games, the fun just seems to keep on coming at Stars. There are just too many events ... but you won't hear me complaining! Hope to see ya at the WBCOOP; even if you can't play, come watch and cheer and play other tourneys or ring games at Stars ... and start a blog for next year! More details, info and full schedule at www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament.
More later on that. I'm still playing pretty awful and getting few good breaks ... but I did finish second in a Poker Analysis Buy-In League game tonight for $36 -- a good way to start that league's December action. I'm due for a good streak!!! Tonight's game was at PDC; but yes, the league plays at PokerStars, too! Wouldn't be a good league if it didn't!
Now I'm back to my immediate target: qualifying for the NBC Heads-Up '09 TV show. One more week of Round 1 qualifiers at Full Tilt. Last night I won four games before being knocked out -- halfway to what you need to win (an 8-match, 256-player s&g) to advance to next Saturday's Round 2.
Keep smiling...
... And be patient and nice!!!
More later on that. I'm still playing pretty awful and getting few good breaks ... but I did finish second in a Poker Analysis Buy-In League game tonight for $36 -- a good way to start that league's December action. I'm due for a good streak!!! Tonight's game was at PDC; but yes, the league plays at PokerStars, too! Wouldn't be a good league if it didn't!
Now I'm back to my immediate target: qualifying for the NBC Heads-Up '09 TV show. One more week of Round 1 qualifiers at Full Tilt. Last night I won four games before being knocked out -- halfway to what you need to win (an 8-match, 256-player s&g) to advance to next Saturday's Round 2.
Keep smiling...
I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!
The WBCOOP is an online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers.
Registration code: 894023
... And be patient and nice!!!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Blogger Championships Coming Soon
Look like PokerStars is finally ready to hold its annual Blogger Online Championships. No official announcement yet, but I see games scheduled Dec. 15-21. Perfect timing; school ends and I'm on a break that week. Sweet! Although the way I've been running the past couple weeks, I must be crazy to set myself up for more bad beats and disappointments...
Stay tuned. More info here as soon as PStars lets us know! Meanwhile, be gentle -- and Happy Holidaze!!! See y'all at the Online Forum Championships events this weekend, plus elsewhere...
Stay tuned. More info here as soon as PStars lets us know! Meanwhile, be gentle -- and Happy Holidaze!!! See y'all at the Online Forum Championships events this weekend, plus elsewhere...
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