Blogger Week is coming

So let's see if this works:

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.
Registration code: XXXXXX 328730

Yes, it's time again for the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker (WBCOOP) at PokerStars. One of my favorite online events. Six days of preliminaries next Monday through Saturday, qualifying folks for the 2010 WBCOOP Main Event at 2 pm (St. Louis time) next Sunday.

I'm coming down with something, stomach's really bothering me the last day or so. And even well I'll probably only be available for two of the prelims (stupid real-life work). But I'll be there giving my all when I can; I'm ready, recent run of bad beats and running into pocket aces aside.

Whadaya know, sixth try and the PStars badge/link is finally working. Now I can take this out of "editting drydock" and post it -- just when I was giving up! Rah. And good luck all.

Good Mini-UBOC start ... sorta

Played my first event of the Ultimate Bet Online Championships 6 on Sunday -- the Mini-UBOC Event 2, Sniper No Limit Holdem Deep Stack. The event offered $5 bounty for each foe you eliminated, and cost $30+$3 to enter.

On the downside, I didn't finish in the money. Wound up 288th of 1,609 entrants, and top 180 finishers got paid. Very disappointing; more on that in a minute. On the upside, I did get two bounties, so earned $10 back.

The hand of the tournament for me showed that Sham Luck doesn't always go bad. It went like this:

Stage #525811249 Tourney ID 5885386 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 300 - 2011-01-16 18:02:57 (ET)
Table: 24 (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 1 - GROOVE58 (9,498 in chips)
Seat 2 - JSLAB24 (5,455 in chips)
Seat 3 - SHANGO_BANGO (5,685 in chips)
Seat 4 - SHAMANALIX21 (6,739 in chips)
Seat 5 - SOUPERUSER (10,827 in chips)
Seat 6 - DRDOOM2U (22,871 in chips)
Seat 7 - JMOODLEY (3,865 in chips)
Seat 8 - MOOK2307 (5,175 in chips)
Seat 9 - OAKTREE12 (10,900 in chips)
GROOVE58 - Ante 25
JSLAB24 - Ante 25
SHANGO_BANGO - Ante 25
SHAMANALIX21 - Ante 25
SOUPERUSER - Ante 25
DRDOOM2U - Ante 25
JMOODLEY - Ante 25
MOOK2307 - Ante 25
OAKTREE12 - Ante 25
SOUPERUSER - Posts small blind 150
DRDOOM2U - Posts big blind 300
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to SHAMANALIX21 [7d 7h]
JMOODLEY - Raises 900 to 900
MOOK2307 - Folds
OAKTREE12 - Folds
GROOVE58 - Folds
JSLAB24 - Folds
SHANGO_BANGO - Folds
SHAMANALIX21 - Raises 6,600 to 6,600
SOUPERUSER - Folds
DRDOOM2U - Folds
JMOODLEY - All-In 2,940
SHAMANALIX21 - returned (2,760) : not called
*** FLOP *** [9s 4s 7s]
*** TURN *** [9s 4s 7s] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [9s 4s 7s 6c] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SHAMANALIX21 - Shows [7d 7h] (Full house, sevens full of fours)
JMOODLEY - Shows [Ac As] (Two Pair, aces and fours)
SHAMANALIX21 Collects 8,355 from main pot
SHAMANALIX21 Collects Bounty Prize of $5
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(8,355)
Board [9s 4s 7s 6c 4h]
Seat 1: GROOVE58 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: JSLAB24 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: SHANGO_BANGO Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 4: SHAMANALIX21 (dealer) won Total (8,355) HI:(8,355) with Full house, sevens full of fours [7d 7h - B:7s,P:7h,P:7d,B:4s,B:4h] BOUNTY awarded: ($5)
Seat 5: SOUPERUSER (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 6: DRDOOM2U (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: JMOODLEY HI:lost with Two Pair, aces and fours [Ac As - P:As,P:Ac,B:4s,B:4h,B:9s]
Seat 8: MOOK2307 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: OAKTREE12 Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Wow. Cracked me some aces with my flopped set. Didn't expect to run into such a strong hand; been doing that a lot lately it seems, especially ambushed by AA or KK. That's the way it goes, though, so I'll take wins any way I can get 'em.

Really, though, I was on my best game most of this tournament, which made coming up short of the payouts extra disappointing. One thing about bounty (sniper) tournaments is that the temptation for some extra money makes folks sometimes do things they normally would not do. Me too. I got my first bounty very early in the tournament when I trapped an AK with my AA, getting them all-in after a preflop four-raise bidding war. And my AA actually held up! Then they next three times I tried to eliminate shorter stacks I missed the bounty and doubled them up -- there's the normal Sham Luck.

I was up to 94th place of 1,220 players competing starting the Level 5 before the first break. My missed bounty attempts plunged me to 1166th/1205 players (late entries were/are accepted for 2 hours in this and all UBOC events). But I didn't give up, steadily coming back and reaching 513th/906 at the second break. My above-detailled luckout cracking the aces came early in Level 10. But I lost some of my new chips shortly thereafter going for another bounty, when my nut flush didn't arrive on the turn or river for a 6,500-chip pot. Such a rollercoaster ride!

And it continued!!

I pushed an 88 and got called by the table chip leader, who had 66. My hand held, I scooped a 13.5K pot and climbed to 242nd/598 left. By the third break I was 90th/396, and starting to let tiny thoughts about the first-place prize -- only $8,500 or so -- cross my mind. But such thoughts can be very dangerous, and it wasn't to be. I had my late-position AK run into AA and fail with a 27K pot on the line, dropping me to about 9,000 chips. Can you say greeedy, unlucky and dumb? Shortly thereafter, the rest of my chips went in for my 33, the table's big stack called with 88 and I was toast.

On the whole, well-played. On the outcome, very disappointing, Leaves me a few things to do serious work on in my game. But things are coming along.

I've got my eyes on a few more Mini-UBOCs. Decided to skip Mini 5 (NLHE) tonight and maybe aim for Mini 7 (NLHE) on Wednesday. Then Mini 12 is another NLHE Sniper (bounty) game Friday. The Minis run through Jan. 30; hopefully there'll be better, more complete play down the line from the Shamster -- and some good paydays.

Meanwhile, good luck all!

Busy times a'coming

The modelling work begins again in earnest tomorrow (Monday) after about a month off for the holidays. Seems like everything's picking up at once, though: 'Tis the season for some huge online poker series. I must take a deep breath for the hectic times to come.

Today UB and Absolute Poker start hosting UBOC 6. Two divisions: the main tournamernts (means expensive, most of them a little over my playing bankroll budget right now), and the Mini-UBOCs. I've got my eyes on about a half-dozen of the latter, starting with Mini-UBOC Event 2 in a couple of hours. A $30+$3 entry, and you get $5 for each foe you eliminate. I love bounty/sniper games!

Mini-UBOC and UBOC will be fun. But I'm really looking forward to the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker running Jan. 24-30 at PokerStars. Love playing with and against my fellow writing addicts. Some great players out there in the fellowship; for instance, change100 just yesterday won the PCA Ladies event in the Bahamas (super congrats ma'am!). It's a great challenge, the WBCOOP. I want to try to qualify for the Finals as I've done a couple series past (memory's bad as usual, I'll have to look things up and report later on my past performance goals to beat this time, know I cashed in one WBCOOP Final!). The Finals and family Birthdays Brunch get-together are conflicting with a live charity event I wanted to play on Jan. 30; too often there's just not enough of me to go around!

This is where PokerStars' WBCOOP badge/ad would go if things were working right. Sooner or later it'll get here. PStars supports us well; but some of us old writers are sooooo computer-hopeless...

Got a Twitter Poker League game about to begin, time to start preparing and psyching (and check on Da Bears' continuing success). Then Mini-UBOC 2, then some poker101a or Holdem Poker Chat forum games. Go Patriots! And everyone have a great day!

Happy New Year 2011?

Just got finished reading Daniel Negreanu's latest blog, with his summary of his 2010 resolutions and his plans for 2011. Daniel's an excellent writer. I always enjoy reading him, even though I don't always agree with him or some of his stands. To each their own -- the key (in my humble opinion) is to respect others, allow them their opinions without trying to force them to change, and not be petty or controlling and always trying to get in the last word.

It's a new year (OK, it's four days old, but who's uber-picky?). Time for new paths and new hopes ... as well as polishing up the good old stuff that doesn't perhaps get the due it deserves. Time for some resolutions. To be honest, they're more like goals or wishes -- five for me, five for the world, all with at least a tinge of poker to them since that's my main thing. These are for 2011; here goes:

WORLD:

1) PokerStars and Full Tilt and other online poker sites to get along, to give their pros and players more freedom to compete (especially in each other's TV events). I was going to wish for a properly regulated and taxed internet poker business community, with easy deposit/withdrawal/transfer, safety of accounts and reasonable fair share for the governments, but that ain't gonna happen with the Republicans running the U.S. House of Representatives. I'm crazy, but I'm not insane enough to expect good things from the current government situation. Ah well, Status Quo is much better than Reid Bill would've been.

2) An 11th WSOP bracelet for Doyle Brunson. He's the true face of poker, what it was, is and should always be. He ain't perfect (who is!), but he is really special. The Godfather of Poker deserves one more shining spotlight -- at least!

3) Less poker splintering, more unification. Too many magazines, TV shows, tournament tours, online sites, "teachers". It's good that more people can get involved and show their stuff and make some money without really doing anything. But I don't like it. I don't think it's good for poker. Quality, not quantity, please!

Hmmm, harder than I thought it'd be to come up with reasonable resolutions/wishes for the world. ("Reasonable"?!) I'm hijacking the remaining two for myself! Seven seems like a good number for me anyway...

ME:

4) Work to better overcome the unpredictable irrational panic attacks and fears that keep me from progressing my game to the next levels. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Manic Depression may seem like cop-out words and phrases to most people. But they're real. They can be devastating, They are definitely no fun. Sometimes suicide seems much preferable. Thank goodness I discovered poker back in the Moneymaker-Raymer era; that was a dose of cure that has kept me going.

5) Play more poker. Online. In the brick-and-mortar rooms. In the bar leagues. In home games. I love a good, friendly, competitive game. I love to play and learn and laugh. I really want more, even if it means less art and massage employment.

6) Get three four-digit prizes in poker tournaments. At least three! My first five-digit prize (no, you don't count to the right of the decimal point, wiseacre) would really be gratifying and exciting. It is definitely possible. And in this resolution spot also would go qualifying for a seat in a live tournament, such as WSOP or a WPT. (PCA ain't gonna happen this month, sniff sniff; next year!)

7) Continue to improve my game. Walk into less monster AA etc. hands. Not be afraid to lay down my hand, or conversely to make hero calls or to chase potentially high-profit pots when the situation is right. It's only a hand, only a tournament, there'll be another along shortly. Live in and for the moment fully.

8) Play more ring games. Had two winning sessions to end September trip to Vegas (one each at Bellagio and  MGM Grand); won $37 for about 90 minutes' play of 1-2 limit at PStars in late December. But I still prefer tournaments soooo much. Plus I do lousy when trying to do more than one thing at a time (multi-tabling for me stinks!). That and mental-meltdown-fear keep me away from the ring games much.

9) Post in this blog more -- and regular. I've got posts sitting in "edit", plus that I've put elsewhere (deviantArt, Facebook, mail, forums). Need to get them all in here where they should be. Again, conglomeration and organization usually beats scattershooting!

10) Get a regular writing/column job with a poker publication/employer or three. Haven't had anything I've felt good about since the boxing days with Flash, RING, KO, Boxing Illustrated and the El Paso Herald-Post. I really should get more serious about it again, fears and bad memory be danged!

As an 11th resolution/wish, I hope that everyone out there has a wonderful 2011. Know when to hold them, when to fold them, be nice to each other and try to always smile ... at least a little. Nothing lasts forever. So enjoy now, and spread the enjoying; there's plenty to go around! Peace.

PCA Fantasy Finals Fun

I love PokerStars. One of my big goals in life is to play in the site's PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournaments in the Bahamas some January.

Noticed the other day that PStars is running a thing called PCA Fantasy from Nov. 7-Dec. 12. OK, that's as good a way to satellite into my dreams as any. I played a 50-cent, 90-player sit-and-go Saturday, with the top 9 finishers getting a ticket to one of the 12 PCA Fantasy Final freerolls (two per Sunday). I played good (haven't been playing much lately, but I have been going deep and having decent success when I do play). I finished 4th, earned $3.64 (that'll buy 7 more satellite tries! lol), and got an FF ticket. I like that return on investment! One try, one ticket!

Late Saturday and early Sunday my results inother tournaments were nothing to write home about, play-success wise. Nevertheless, I decided to use my Fantasy Final ticket Sunday evening for the 7 pm (CT) game. Hey, who knows what the next Sundays will bring? Next Sunday's my birthday, then comes Thanksgiving weekend; so better take a shot while I can! A long shot, with 13,179 players enterred, top 2,000 paid, and winner alone getting the $15,780 package of a trip to play in Paradise!

I played good. Dang, I really did play good for about 3 1/2 hours. Started slow: 10,740th of 11,136 left and 8,478th/8,685 at two early points. Kept plugging and playing my game, which could be anything. Got lucky a couple times when I needed to. Reeled in a couple gamblers when I had the goods. Made the money with ease. Got up to 68th/730 left. With the blinds and antes rising fast I was still 173rd/257. And then, eight eliminations from a $3 jump in the payouts, this happened:


PokerStars Game #52717429720: Tournament #324632380, Freeroll  Hold'em No Limit - Level XX (3000/6000) - 2010/11/14 23:33:13 ET
Table '324632380 294' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: CESAR1802 (77142 in chips)
Seat 2: Cudvin379s (148009 in chips)
Seat 3: akfoldem49 (233155 in chips)
Seat 4: cheveuxdor (20441 in chips)
Seat 5: Shamanalix (29102 in chips)
Seat 6: Acropolis616 (70036 in chips)
Seat 7: ganador63 (106674 in chips)
Seat 8: The Dimes (56061 in chips)
Seat 9: Guryan Chayk (53184 in chips)
CESAR1802: posts the ante 600
Cudvin379s: posts the ante 600
akfoldem49: posts the ante 600
cheveuxdor: posts the ante 600
Shamanalix: posts the ante 600
Acropolis616: posts the ante 600
ganador63: posts the ante 600
The Dimes: posts the ante 600
Guryan Chayk: posts the ante 600
The Dimes: posts small blind 3000
Guryan Chayk: posts big blind 6000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Shamanalix [As Kh]
CESAR1802: calls 6000
Cudvin379s: folds
akfoldem49: folds
cheveuxdor: folds
Shamanalix: raises 22502 to 28502 and is all-in
Acropolis616: raises 40934 to 69436 and is all-in
ganador63: folds
The Dimes: folds
Guryan Chayk: folds
CESAR1802: folds
Uncalled bet (40934) returned to Acropolis616
*** FLOP *** [8c 2h 4h]
*** TURN *** [8c 2h 4h] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [8c 2h 4h Jd] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Shamanalix: shows [As Kh] (high card Ace)
Acropolis616: shows [Ts 9s] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
Acropolis616 collected 77404 from pot
Shamanalix finished the tournament in 205th place and received $8.00.
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 77404 | Rake 0
Board [8c 2h 4h Jd 7c]
Seat 1: CESAR1802 folded before Flop
Seat 2: Cudvin379s folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: akfoldem49 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: cheveuxdor folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Shamanalix showed [As Kh] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 6: Acropolis616 showed [Ts 9s] and won (77404) with a straight, Seven to Jack
Seat 7: ganador63 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: The Dimes (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Guryan Chayk (big blind) folded before Flop

Runner-runner straight. That's poker. But now I won't be able to get to sleep for quite a while. Can't win them all, but that was really a bad time to lose one...

Sigh............................. And AAAARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

OK, I'll be back, satellites. I want another FF shot. The sirens of Atlantis are calling me, and I can never say no to beautiful women...

More poker, less art -- WBCOOP's coming!

Since my last Las Vegas trip in September I've been tied up in a lot of art projects and work. My poker has taken a back seat. Played a couple times live and a couple times online. Did well, to be honest. But mostly taking a break from the fun and the challenge of the felt and faux felt for other things in life.

And now PokerStars has announced its plans for the next World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. Can you say inspiration? I've taken part in these series the last two years, and they've some of my most fun (and successful) outings! The next WBCOOP will be in January 2011.

OK. I'm inspired! Look out shufflers, the shamster is hungry and on the prowl for chips and cash...

(Can someone PLEASE explain to me why the WBCOOP badge from PStars captures all the info from my right-hand column? What end-code is missing to get my things back where they belong? Grrrrrr...)

It's coming...

Thank you spavel of Google Help pages if this goes right. Three days of working on putting up a banner/link that messes up everything else in the blog. Fingers crossed. Wish I could figure out what's going wrong here... Hmm, but now the PStars badge is gone. I swear it was here. Come on, PokerStars, fix your coding please. Siiiigh...

Trying to get that feeling again...

Yawn.

For some reason I have not been able to get enthused about playing online poker the last couple of weeks. Maybe it's the end-of-the-summer blahs, which seems to have dumped me into a deeper-than-normal pit of depression. Maybe it's the newest artistic bug that bit me, making me try again to write through ye olde writer's block and expand my modelling and massaging work. Maybe it's the "bad beats" and lost races, making me more choosy about when and what I spend my playing time (and money) on. Maybe it's the impending brief return to Las Vegas (Sept. 8-14), centered around my niece's wedding.

Whatever. There still have been some sweet results recently on the faux felt: second for $42 in a GFN Buy-In on Sunday at Absolute Poker; 96th for $33.78 in the PocketFives Open on Sept. 1 at PokerStars; third for $8 in the Poker Analysis Freeroll League Monthly Bonus Game on Aug. 31 at AbPoke; wins in GML's #24 Limit 5-Card Draw on Aug. 24 at PStars and #21 NLHE Six-Seat on Aug. 21 at Full Tilt; and a top-10 finish in the Grinders Mix League's August standings (got up to 3rd before depressing away the final week). Also cashed in a The Big Little Tournament at FTilt and a Beat the Brunson 10 bounty event at Doyle's Room, and played well and had fun (though didn't cash) in OFC (Doyle's), WPT Legends Main Event (AbPoke), Mini-UBOC (AbPoke), Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge Weekly (Doyle's) and Stoners vs. Staff (Reefer) tournaments -- all since mid-August.

Maybe by the final days of August I was just a little burned out from challenging more higher-profile (and higher-entry-fee) events. And the weather and real-life chores were changing. And I admit to being a tad disappointed to be doing good, but still not as good as I want. And running into things like what knocked me out of a turbo tourney yesterday (Sunday) at PStars: my AA vs 88, we got it all in after the 10-high flop, the turn was an 8, and I was out of the event one card later. Last weekend I also flopped second-nut flush and got it all in against what turned out to be the flopped nut flush. There seem to be more tales, but you don't want to know, and I don't want to remember; tg for a bad memory!

Bring on the real play in Vegas. That may be what I need, poker-wise. A table you can touch with live foes and chips I can fumble. If nothing else, it'll be fun and a distraction.

I shall return ...

Nice Benefit Game Sunday at Full Tilt

I'm working on changing this blog around some. Trying to make it easier to read, easier to get around, easier on the eyes and mind. But with my computer phobias and dumbness it's a struggle...

Of course, the bad streak I'm on, I might as well just fool around here and stay away from the games. I played one earlier today, and ran into every flopped nut or river save-card imaginable. I was first out of the eight-player Grinders Mix League game (Mixed Holdem) at PokerStars. Not my day. Sure hope the mood changes tonight when I try a Mini-UBOC game, Mini-UBOC 4 Sniper NLHE ($4 bounties). I'll be playing from Absolute Poker for my first UBOC of this series, which runs through Aug. 29.

No matter what else is going on, I intend to be at Full Tilt Sunday at 5 pm St. Louis time and playing a $5+$5 game that's listed under the Privates tab (the game is open to anyone, password's right there on the ame lobby).

The Shamster is always on the lookout for good games, good women, good causes and any good combination of these.

This poker tournament Sunday (Aug. 22) at Full Tilt fits enough of my criteria that I will play it and also spread the word. A dozen registered FTilt red pros caught my eye, and Michael Craig confirmed the event in his FTilt blog as follows:

"This Sunday at 18:00 ET, just as the $750,000 Guarantee is starting, Full Tilt is holding a private tournament that I encourage you to join. A few years back, a young boy named Shaun Doss was in an automobile accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. The tournament is called 'Shaun Doss Miracle' and can be found in the private tournament lobby or by pressing Control-t from the Main Lobby and entering tournament # 177449229. The password for the $5 + $5 tournament is “shaun”.

"A lot of red pros will be in attendance. The second '$5' will benefit the Shaun Doss Miracle Fund, which is raising money for him to undergo surgery at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama that may give him the chance to walk again. When I heard about Shaun’s story, my first thought was, 'what a horrible tragedy – a seven-year old boy, unable to walk.' The tournament, however, isn’t just a chance to do something nice for someone victimized by a fate they didn’t choose. It’s a chance to celebrate the miracles of modern science, and provide an opportunity to be part of one of those miracles.

"I hope you’ll sign up."

Craig's post convinced me. So did the registration of familiar names like Chiu, Jett, Beevers, Rossi, Violette and Zhu. As I type this, 24 folks are currently registered -- 16 of them FTilt red pros. The chance to play challenging poker, possibly be at the same tables with some of these players, win a little money, and to do it all for a good cause ... I'm in!

See ya there? Don't make me put a $10 bounty on The Shamster...

Happy Anniversary Doyle

Missed his recent birthday, so I'll just wish Louise and Doyle Brunson a very happy anniversary. Amazing! I'm reading the Godfather of Poker's autobiography, and just can't put it down; to heck with playing much right now. Did play the Brunson bounty tournament last night at Doyle's Room, and had Todd on my right. Unfortunately, I didn't claim his bounty, or finish in the money. Maybe next time.

This blog site's really misbehaving, so I'll stop and try to come back later. I hate (complicated sites and) computers...

Latest SCOOP Poop (and I do mean...)

Just a quickie to exorcise the demons of a too-early exit just now from SCOOP 30-L (Pot Limit Omaha H/L) over at PokerStars. This was the fourth SCOOP I've played in this series; cashed in two of my first three outings, so I'm still ahead. I'm just going to flush this result as quick as possible, forget what might have been in 30-L if Sham Luck wasn't so Sham Luck-y, and look to the future. The crusher that took me from contending to the brink of extinction:

PokerStars Game #44049349525: Tournament #2010050301, $10+$1 USD Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit - Level VI (40/80) - 2010/05/13 18:29:01 ET
Table '2010050301 253' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: dibydgallows (4654 in chips)
Seat 2: Roeleind (3899 in chips)
Seat 3: StewieZA (6487 in chips)
Seat 4: Cleber_bito (10262 in chips)
Seat 5: idemm (5723 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (7225 in chips)
Seat 7: jeeby2 (5585 in chips)
Seat 8: sickcall27os (3917 in chips)
Seat 9: rigsi74 (2338 in chips)
StewieZA: posts small blind 40
Cleber_bito: posts big blind 80
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Shamanalix [4h 5d Ad 6s]
idemm: calls 80
Shamanalix: calls 80
jeeby2: folds
sickcall27os: raises 360 to 440
rigsi74 has timed out
rigsi74: folds
rigsi74 is sitting out
dibydgallows: folds
Roeleind: folds
StewieZA: calls 400
rigsi74 has returned
Cleber_bito: folds
idemm: folds
Shamanalix: calls 360
*** FLOP *** [2s 3d 3s]
StewieZA: checks
Shamanalix: checks
sickcall27os: bets 1480
StewieZA: raises 4440 to 5920
Shamanalix: calls 5920
sickcall27os: calls 1997 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [2s 3d 3s] [9h]
StewieZA: bets 127 and is all-in
Shamanalix: calls 127
*** RIVER *** [2s 3d 3s 9h] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
StewieZA: shows [Jd Ah Ts 3h] (HI: three of a kind, Threes)
Shamanalix: shows [4h 5d Ad 6s] (HI: a pair of Threes)
StewieZA collected 5140 from side pot
sickcall27os: shows [7s 2d Ac 5h] (HI: two pair, Threes and Deuces)
StewieZA collected 11911 from main pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 17051 Main pot 11911. Side pot 5140. | Rake 0
Board [2s 3d 3s 9h Qs]
Seat 1: dibydgallows folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Roeleind (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: StewieZA (small blind) showed [Jd Ah Ts 3h] and won (17051) with HI: three of a kind, Threes
Seat 4: Cleber_bito (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: idemm folded before Flop
Seat 6: Shamanalix showed [4h 5d Ad 6s] and lost with HI: a pair of Threes
Seat 7: jeeby2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: sickcall27os showed [7s 2d Ac 5h] and lost with HI: two pair, Threes and Deuces
Seat 9: rigsi74 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Next shot at SCOOP redemption: 33-L on Friday night, No Limit Omaha H/L. Now that will be wild!!! Also targetting SCOOP 36-L Saturday (HORSE) and in SCOOP 38-L Sunday (NLHE Main Event).

(Sorry I'm not writing much lately, but been working and even playing some. A person must choose priorities...) ;o)

BBT 5 Helps Feed My Poker Hunger

The hunger is back!

The World Series of Poker Circuit Events here at Harrah's-St. Louis (April 1-15) are successful history. Unfortunately, I didn't cash in any of them. But that's a story for another day.

Being around live poker players, plus watching lots of (mostly new) poker once again on TV -- WSOP reruns starting last night on ESPN, Heads-Up Championship began today on NBC, NAPT starts tomorrow on FSN, High Stakes every Sunday on GFN -- has me once again thinking seriously and deeply (for me, anyway) about the game. And the WSOP is just around the corner, barely a month away.

And guess what I found? Battle of the Blogger Tournaments 5 actually starts today at Full Tilt, running 6 weeks and offering quite a few seats in WSOP events. I haven't played with many of my blogger compadres in a while. Time to change that!

So, without further ado, here's the banner to the BBT 5 info:

Rah, it worked!! (Fourth try.) Thank you Dave McCarthy!!! Yeah, it's ugly, but so's my poker ...

And here for now is a backup link to the BBT 5 explanation page:

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/poker-from-the-rail/bloggers-on-the-rail/battle-blogger-tournaments-5

Play when you want, watch when you can, and cheer for your favorites. Including, I hope, me. I'll play the next couple Wednesdays and go from there; the goal is to take one down and get a TOC seat!

More later about BBT 5. Meanwhile, I got dumped today from the TeamBattles at Tilt (thank you pokerzentrale.me and Mixed Games Forum for the wonderful series!) sooner than I wanted, 81st/134 players. Not many points from me for my team River of No Return today (and this after my solid 12th/138 last Sunday). Now to get ready for GML 18 at PokerStars (Mixed Omaha today) and GFN Forum Wars at Absolute Poker later today.

I'm playing better. But there's a lot to do, a long way to go. Come and enjoy the ride!

It's NBC Heads-Up Championship time!

I wish I was in Las Vegas this weekend. Caesars Palace, to be exact. It's time for the 2010 NBC Heads-Up Championship, one of my favorite events annually.

Here in St. Louis, I don't get to see much of it when NBC gets around to the broadcast. Sundays are dominated by the local affiliate showing St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. Who cares about those losers??? Gimme my phenoms and flashes from the felt! I'm left waiting for the shows to rebroadcast on CNBC or somewhere. So I expect to be keeping up with the action as it happens this weekend live, via the online poker news reports or NBC's blog.

I'll put observations in my blog this weekend. But I'll put them at the end of a post, and say SPOILER WARNING!, so that folks who want to be kept in the dark and suspense until the tournament airs don't read something they don't want to know.

OK, prediction time! I consider this good practice for the NCAA Brackets I'll be filling out later this month. But in the Heads-Up Championship, anybody can truly beat just about anybody. Thanks to NBC for the event bracket, posted at its website after Thursday night's Pairings Draw Party at Pure Nightclub in Vegas.

I'm doing two brackets, so it's me against me. First, here's the summary of my initial bracket which I posted in several forums I belong to, such as Poker Analysis and Holdem Poker Chat:

"Jiminy Christmas, what matchups! What potential matchups!!!

"Didn't know whether to go with who should win or who I want to win. Who'll play serious or who'll play drunk. Old school or new wave. As usual, decided to go with a mix ... which is when my cute crabs usually run into pocket rockets. Oh well.

"How're these for real first-round matches: Seidel-Seed, Negreanu-J.Mercier, Lederer-Hellmuth, Greenstein-Rousso, Hansen-Raymer and the Duel of the Jennifers (Tilly-Harman)? Wow. The Diamonds Bracket is definitely the "Region of Death." I'd love to see Hellmuth-Obrestad in the second round, Negreanu-Dwan in the third. And one of my predicted semifinals would set the internet afire if it materializes.

"Sham's Final Four: Patrik Antonius vs. Tom Dwan and Doyle Brunson vs. Antonio Esfandiari. Bracket darkhorses: Ted Forrest, Shawn Rice, Annette Obrestad (shoulda been Doyle as that group's darkhorse, I shoulda picked Chris Ferguson to win it, but oh well -- and if Doyle doesn't play the Chrisis the man to win the Hearts) and Jen Harman.

"And the winner is: Antonius over Antonio. But as bad as my picks were last year, those two are probably hexed for good. Good luck all; more in my blog."

That's my starter. But I always liked pairs ... twins ... two at once ... diversity ... you know what I mean ... So I'm doing another bracket right here, right now, my Blog Picks. And I just know I can beat me -- the Forum Picks, dirty mind!

Start in the CLUBS Bracket -- FIRST ROUND: Patrik Antonius over Chris Moneymaker seems good. Eric Baldwin over Lee Wolpert just because. David Williams over Joe Cada because Williams is one of the solid bets who could easily run the table with six wins in three days. Huck Seed over Erik Seidel, gotta go with the defending champ and someone (think it was Daniel Negreanu in his blog picks) noted unlucky Seidel has yet to win a match here. Erick Lindgren over Dan Ramirez, one of the unknown qualifiers I figure. "Elky" Grospellier over Peter Eastgate, a tough matchup. Ted Forrest over Stephen Quinn; although Forrest hasn't been in the news much lately, he like Seed and Chris Ferguson have a tremendous track record here. And Dario Minieri over Jamie Gold in a tossup. SECOND ROUND: Antonius over Baldwin. Williams over Seed, I think David's motivation will be very high especially against the defending champ. Grospellier over Lindgren, largely due to Erick's seeming inactivity in recent months. Forrest over Minieri, because it's Ted's "home." THIRD ROUND: Williams over Antonius, because I have to make some major picks different from Forum Sham. Forrest over Grospellier, I just like Old School best (so boo me). FOURTH ROUND: Williams over Forrest. I think it's David's time.

SPADES bracket -- FIRST ROUND: Phil Ivey over Gavin Smith, depends on how many golf games and other things Ivey has scheduled this weekend, I just think he's made it a project to tear up the major tournament circuit in '10 -- and the Biggies start here. Scotty Nguyen over Richard Edwards, should be easy, and I just noticed how small the Asian delegation enterred this year is, disappointing. Shawn Rice over Joe Hachem, a good tough match. Gabe Kaplan over Johnny Chan, another tough one but Chan never seems inspired. Jason Mercier over Daniel Negreanu, one of the best first-round pairings and the winner's likely to go all the way. Pieter de Korver over Mike Sexton, tough to pick but I'll risk it. Tom Dwan over Phil Gordon, like Ivey "durr" has a goal of being a breakout star on the tournament swing in '10. John Juanda over Phil Laak, another difficult decision that will depend on timing, cards and chip stacks. SECOND ROUND: Ivey over Nguyen. Rice over Kaplan. Mercier over de Korver. Dwan over Juanda. THIRD ROUND: Rice over Ivey, the upset of the event, but I think Phil loses concentration a tad in his second match of Saturday. Mercier over Dwan, another coinflip and another disappointment for those wanting an Ivey-Dwan Quarterfinal Super Showdown. FOURTH ROUND: Mercier over Rice, going with the hottest of two hot new stars.

HEARTS bracket -- (Got a tournament in 13 minutes so I'm going to speed this up; sorry ... more later.) FIRST ROUND: Jason Hougaard over Allen Cunningham, who's another player who seemed inactive in recent months. Eli Elezra over Greg Mueller, one to the experienced guy. Craig Ferguson over Annette Dworski. Dennis Phillips over Kara Scott. Doyle Brunson over Brock Parker, although Parker beats any late sub. Don Cheadle over John-Paul Kelly. Phil Hellmuth over Howard Lederer, a great first-round match. Annette Obrestad over Orel Hershiser. SECOND ROUND: Hougaard over Elezra, one against the experienced guy. Ferguson over Phillips. Brunson over Cheadle. Obrestad over Hellmuth, and won't that be fun to watch! THIRD ROUND: Ferguson over Hougaard. Obrastad over Brunson, with two toughies in one day, the king is "dead", long live the queen. FOURTH ROUND: Ferguson over Obrastad, the old guard still rules.

DIAMONDS bracket -- FIRST ROUND: Barry Greenstein over Vanessa Rousso. Antonio Esfandiari over Sammy Farha. Jennifer Harman over Jennifer Tilly. Mike Matusow over Jerry Yang. William Huntress over Darrin Moon. Andy Bloch over Annie Duke. Paul Wasicka over Andrew Wilson. Greg Raymer over Gus Hansen, one of my upset specials, to cap a very very tough bracket. SECOND ROUND: Esfandiari over Greenstein. Matusow over Harman. Bloch over Huntress. Raymer over Wasicka. THIRD ROUND: Esfandiari over Matusow. Raymer over Bloch. FOURTH ROUND: Raymer over Esfandiari.

SEMIFINALS: Williams over Mercier. Raymer over Ferguson. And does this seem familiar ... FINALS: Williams vs. Raymer -- and this time David Williams wins! (No relation, durn it...)

Bubbles can be fun

Today is going to be a hellacious Sunday, tournament-wise. There are so many that I'm afraid I'll be ghosting a lot, and skipping others I wish I was in. Gotta choose my spots, though, and give my best attention to the ones I decide to concentrate on. Being half-assed or distracted would mean I might as well not even play. I'm out to win, or do the best I possibly can.

Didn't win my first event of the day, but that's a good thing, really. Long story short: Pocket 5's Forum, of which I'm a largely silent and background member (hey, those guys and gals are probably the best online, definitely in top 3 mobs) ... anyway, Pocket 5's was holding a $10+$1 Ultra Turbo (2-minute levels) this morning guaranteeing at least 5 seats (worth $1,050 each) to the UBOC $1 million Main Event later today (3 pm, all times St. Louis). Thought I'd give it a go, my day's kickoff and warmup plus a chance to play some of the best.

So the Shamster Luck continues. I finished sixth. No UBOC Championship seat. That's OK, I have a ton of other games this afternoon. Plus the P5s thing paid six places; the seat bubble got the leftover cash, which was $85. Sweet!!! That I will not complain about. Sure, the UBOC ME would've been fun if I could devote my full attention to it. But it wasn't guaranteed money, either, so this prize is fine.

The P5s game saw me playing some of my best poker. Rah! Plus the quickly soaring blinds and antes made it a pushathon. I was in the right place at the right time, even having AJ hold against two foes (that hand has killed me lately). Finally was crippled when my AT at the final table went heads-up against low stack's AK, leaving me only 2K chips. Trippled up with the powerful Q3 as two pair materialized. Then came the end, courtesy of Shamster Luck:

Stage #20284967 Tourney ID 5087039 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 3,500 - 2010-01-31 09:41:40 (ET)
Table: 6 (Real Money) Seat #7 is the dealer
Seat 2 - JOEPO (10,374 in chips)
Seat 5 - TRAILERACES (26,595 in chips)
Seat 6 - PWNYEXPRESS (24,696 in chips)
Seat 7 - 2XQUIZIT (13,607 in chips)
Seat 8 - XTJBIRD13X (13,774 in chips)
Seat 9 - SHAMANALIX (5,454 in chips)
JOEPO - Ante 350
TRAILERACES - Ante 350
PWNYEXPRESS - Ante 350
2XQUIZIT - Ante 350
XTJBIRD13X - Ante 350
SHAMANALIX - Ante 350
XTJBIRD13X - Posts small blind 1,750
SHAMANALIX - Posts big blind 3,500
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to SHAMANALIX [10s 10h]
JOEPO - Folds
TRAILERACES - Folds
PWNYEXPRESS - Folds
2XQUIZIT - Folds
XTJBIRD13X - Raises 5,250 to 7,000
SHAMANALIX - All-In 1,604
XTJBIRD13X - returned (1,896) : not called
*** FLOP *** [6s 8h 9s]
*** TURN *** [6s 8h 9s] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [6s 8h 9s Js] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
XTJBIRD13X - Shows [4h 7d] (Straight, five to nine)
SHAMANALIX - Shows [10s 10h] (One pair, tens)
XTJBIRD13X Collects 12,308 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(12,308)
Board [6s 8h 9s Js 5d]
Seat 2: JOEPO Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: TRAILERACES Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 6: PWNYEXPRESS Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: 2XQUIZIT (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: XTJBIRD13X (small blind) won Total (12,308) HI:(12,308) with Straight, five to nine [4h 7d - B:9s,B:8h,P:7d,B:6s,B:5d]
Seat 9: SHAMANALIX (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, tens [10s 10h - P:10s,P:10h,B:Js,B:9s,B:8h]

Ah well. Got the cash and the experience. Now the madness really begins. Here's how the schedule shapes up, only listing the things I'll probably play or qualified into, and leaving out the Gaming Forum Network, UBOC, PStars Million, H0 Radio, Nationwide Poker Tour Weekly and many others I'd like to be playing:

-- 1 pm: Forum Poker Series $500 Kickoff Freeroll at Easy Play Poker. Playing for Team Poker101a. Getting three eligibility tokens to Valentine's Day games at EPP just for playing. Plus trying to help Team2Win's forum (101a) win the FPS's prize.

-- 2 pm: GridIron Sweepstakes $50 Freeroll at Easy Play. Very small field of 30 max, people who won teams in EPP's GridIron Sweepstakes regular season (I won Da Bears. Lucky me. But they did earn me $30-some bucks one week. Wish I had Colts and/or Saints...). I won't be here much because Easy Play and Reefer are both Merge Network sites and you can't have both open at same time (wish I had another computer...). And over on Reefer...

-- 2 pm: Online Forum Challenge $2,000 Freeroll at Reefer Poker. Go Team PA! Trying to bring glory to my main forum, Poker Analysis, even though this is not a team competition. Thank goodness they moved the game back an hour, it was originally supposed to start at same time as FPS. (I hate corporate rivalries and one-upsmanships, although I benefit from such.)

-- 2 pm: World Blogger Championship of Online Poker Final at PokerStars. I should be in this game, it should be my big game of the day. But I am very unenthused. The WBCOOP has been no fun this year: too many sitouts, ill-mannered 4-year-olds pretending they're players, hooligan behaviors, uninspiring prizes. I love PStars, but they really bombed here. I wouldn't pay to play in these circumstances. Last one (December '08) was sensational, and I cashed in its final. Now I'm yawning and real disappointed.

-- 3:20 pm: RP League Winter Series II Final at Reefer. With $500 added and a $109 coupon for the winner, plus 124 entrants max, this one has my attention and focus. Hopefully I'll still be on Reefer for the OFC; hate to multi-event, my record is awful, but I'll give it a go if necessary.

-- 5 pm: Shark Poker Tour at PDC Poker. A $2 buy-in with $50 added. I have't been playing much with the Sharks lately. I miss them. I want to be there more. But we'll have to see what my situation (tournament positions, emotional strength) is when this one comes up.

-- 6 pm: Sunday Football Special I at PokerStars. Now this is a tournament!!! For $10+$1 I get a shot at Super Bowl tickets plus spending money. So what if the full 40,000 entrants show. I will play ... although probably not until SFS II at 9 pm!

-- 7 pm: Suited Pockets $50 Freeroll at Doyles Room. I love Doyles, and I love the Pocketeers. But we'll have to wait and evaluate my situation.

-- 9 pm: SFS II at PStars. See 6 pm. See me cap the day with a big score. I hope. I've had my fun bubble; now for bigger and better things!

Dontcha love quickies?

A week since my last post? Geez. Time flies when you're having real life...

Mom's better. As of last night my poker game's better. More on everything later (four days off in a row starting Thursday -- ahhhhhhhh!!!)

Just wanted to make note I played my first World Blogger Championship of Online Poker yesterday (Tuesday). Work kept me out of Monday's, and will sideline me again today. But starting Thursday I'm registered for four in a row. Tuesday's WBCOOP #2 was Pot Limit Omaha, and it was not a memorable experience -- I finished 755th/1,634 entrants. Blah. For an excuse I'd explain I was still in a Mixed Games Forum league game (Limit HA) when the WBCOOP started, at a tough final table, and I do not do well dividng my attention -- proven fact, look at the records, it's just my game/temperment. On the bright side I won the GML #26 game, my first win in the league (which I only joined mid-January). That league is fun; I'll have to had them to my forums menu at right soon!

Tuesday night I played Mini UBOC 12 (Limit HORSE) at UB (formerly Ultimate Bet). I made some really dumb moves (will post three really bad hands next time), but somehow survived them and finished 18th/308 for a $56 cash. My first UBOC game (in this series); with my schedule I hope it's not my last. Fun and educational.

Speaking of education, off to work I go at St. Louis Community College-Meramec. A lot of buses, trains and walking ahead getting there and back. Hope the weather holds. Not driving can be a pain (dang panic disorder). But whatever is and will be, so be it. Peace...

A small pause

Sorry I've been quiet, and unfortunately it'll probably be that way until the weekend. Got a couple viruses on my computer I'm trying to get eradicated and repaired. School's started back up, which means back to the modelling grind (rah!). And mom has carotid artery surgery tomorrow; she's 80.

Meanwhile, if you want good poker games for a great cause, play tonight (Wednesday Jan. 20). At Ultimate Bet or Absolute Poker is a Play for Haiti benefit at 20:30 ET; $5+0, turbo, rebuys for first 30 minutes, one add-on, capped at 750 players, Annie Duke among those already registered. And at Doyle's Room the regular 21:30 ET Wednesday Bounty has been tweaked into a Haiti Relief Celebrity Bounty Tournament, featuring Doyle and the gang plus celebrities like Mickey Rourke; it's $25+2.50 well-spent.

Be nice and stay happy.

Still hungry for more BLT

Taking a break before evening action, and thought I'd go ahead and put something up. You're not limited to one blog post a day, are you? Over three years here, 10 years online, and I still don't understand nuttin'...

The third BLT was today at Full Tilt. One more BLT next Sunday -- another turbo like last week. I prefer the regular speed; I'm now 2-for-2 at cashing in them. But I should've done better today. The killer, as Sham's Law finally ends the fun:

Full Tilt Poker Game #17681184600: The Big Little Tournament (125975242), Table 100 - 600/1200 Ante 150 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:18:32 ET - 2010/01/17
Seat 1: PavliX (65,078)
Seat 2: x-Rocky 36-x (9,940)
Seat 3: Zarachr (27,027)
Seat 4: syenite (24,732)
Seat 5: Itch52 (33,441)
Seat 6: bamfer77 (34,728)
Seat 7: shamanalix (6,470)
Seat 8: bailli (26,158)
Seat 9: badmoouth (36,427)
PavliX antes 150
x-Rocky 36-x antes 150
Zarachr antes 150
syenite antes 150
Itch52 antes 150
bamfer77 antes 150
shamanalix antes 150
bailli antes 150
badmoouth antes 150
shamanalix posts the small blind of 600
bailli posts the big blind of 1,200
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shamanalix [Ac As]
badmoouth raises to 2,400
PavliX raises to 10,350
x-Rocky 36-x folds
Zarachr folds
syenite folds
Itch52 folds
bamfer77 folds
shamanalix calls 5,720, and is all in
bailli folds
badmoouth has 15 seconds left to act
badmoouth has requested TIME
badmoouth folds
PavliX shows [Tc Th]
shamanalix shows [Ac As]
Uncalled bet of 4,030 returned to PavliX
*** FLOP *** [7s Td 2s]
*** TURN *** [7s Td 2s] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [7s Td 2s 7h] [Qs]
PavliX shows a full house, Tens full of Sevens
shamanalix shows two pair, Aces and Sevens
PavliX wins the pot (17,590) with a full house, Tens full of Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 17,590 | Rake 0
Board: [7s Td 2s 7h Qs]
Seat 1: PavliX showed [Tc Th] and won (17,590) with a full house, Tens full of Sevens
Seat 2: x-Rocky 36-x folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Zarachr folded before the Flop
Seat 4: syenite folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Itch52 folded before the Flop
Seat 6: bamfer77 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: shamanalix (small blind) showed [Ac As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 8: bailli (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: badmoouth folded before the Flop

Finished 1,944th of 33,030 entrants, earned $15. But I (always) want more... dang big stacks and Sham's Law.

More real soon. Gotta start plugging the World Blogger Championships of Online Poker coming up later this month at PokerStars ... before I miss the whole thing! That was a lot of fun last year!!! Unfortunately, classes and work will likely keep me out of the fun the first three days. Durn.

Wrong way to end a slump?

Finally broke out of a mini-slump (I hope!!!), as well as feeling better from the stomach flu and actually starting to get my hearing back from the Lady Gaga concert. So why am I not happy?

Guess it's because I played "dumb" in "ending" the current slump. (Postive thinking -- I insist the slump is over, and good things lie ahead!) I finished 45th/246 entrants a little while ago in one a $1.10 Satellite to Sunday's Big Little Tournament at Full Tilt. My $4 prize will pay for most of my entry in the 12:45pm (St. Louis time) BLT.

Of course, if I'd finished one spot higher I'd have got a ticket for the full $5.50 entry. I made the money, but bubbled the 44 tickets. And I should have coasted in for one. But I got KK the last hand and pushed my 5K, got called by the big blind -- who had been the table big stack and bully and whom I had a history with in my short time at Table 22 in the 5-minute turbo event.

I didn't think anyone would challenge my push, since we were one spot from the money and two from the tickets. But my foe had me covered, must've figured he had nothing to lose and could embarass me, and called with AK. And of course, as per Sham's Law, an ace flopped.

I shouldn't have gotten personal and taken riskes. I should have coasted. But I want to win tournaments, not just survive them. I folded my QQ to him a few revolutions earlier when an ace flopped and he push-raised my check (that was when he had twice as much as anyone at the table, before he went on a small losing streak). As bad as things have been running for me, I wanted to attack now that I had KK and get momentum on my side. And the poker gods and goddesses are still laughing at me.

Ah well. I won something. That's a step in the right direction. I also finished 3rd/6 Saturday morning in a Pot Limit Omaha High/Low tourney (ray101bassman's weekly PokerStars $1.10 fun) for a 10-cent profit.

Another lesson learned from having kings cracked in an unnecessary bubble-time risk? Nah, not the way I felt, and as little as I had to lose. I already intended to buy in direct anyway to Sunday's BLT; just decided to try one more satellite as a warmup and game-sharpener.

I'm playing to win. I'm thinking positive. I'm learning, and using (some of) what I learn.

Bring it on, felt Foes and poker Fates! The Shamster will always bounce back. Eventually.

Good results on Reefer

Hmmmmm, that title may get me in trouble at a casual glance. Oh well. Coming down with a stomach flu (something I ate?), just want to go to bed, don't care about much of anything right now.

What I do care about, and what has me feeling a little better in my pain, is that I just got out of my slump a little. Played the Reefer Poker League Winter Series II's Event 3 (why'd nobody alert me that the Series started with two games last week??), played mostly solid (though far too card-dead and thus over-cautious the third hour), and finished 6th/58 entrants for a $23.40 payday. Would have liked to do better; I was tournament leader most of the first six levels (flopping a set of kings to crack aces on a three-way all-in in the first five minutes sure helps!). But the way things have gone the last few days, I'll take any rays of sunshine!

Winter Series II runs all January, games every Tuesday and Thursday (8:15p CT) for $5.50 each. The eight-game series qualifies coupon-earners to The Final at 16:20 Reefer time on Sunday, Jan. 31 -- and that championship features $550-added plus a $109 coupon for the winner.

If only Merge Network software wouldn't freeze up so often, primarily on its "refreshes", and be so slow to update the standings or translate my wagers. I was about ready to throw the computer through a wall a couple times. Why can't computer/software geniuses come up with good dependable solid smooth programs for poker????? But surviving so long/well (and cashing) against such a tough field made the frustration a little easier to bear. If Reefer (a member/skin of the Merge Network) only ran smoother, and if it only got the old agreement with PIC Club going again, it might become my favorite site of all the poker internet. Ah well...

I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I'm playing live at Lumiere Place casino in downtown St. Louis. I sure hope I feel better...

(Full) Tilted again ... and again

I do not believe or agree with the paranoids who say all online poker is fixed, and that the RNGs (Random Number Generators) ain't really random at all. Why would poker sites take such a chance and cheat as an institution (we won't talk about random individual cheating right now)? Why would sites care about any one account, especially a small one, when they make so much money off rakes and fees?

Then bad luck smacks me in the face, and all I can do is shake my head and repeat one of my mantras: "This too shall pass; I'm a good person!"

Sunday was basically an out-and-out disaster for me on the faux felt. The imperfect ending to the imperfect day came when I was knocked out of Satellites to Full Tilt's Big Little Tournament, not once, but twice, on rivered flushes when I was ahead. Don't tell me the odds...

The first time, I was sitting pretty in about 25th place of 70 left in a chase for 41 BLT seats. I should've just sat out and backed in. But I flopped a Broadway straight, looked at cementing my seat by taking the pot by pushing all my chips to scare others, and got called by the only stack at the table bigger than me. I should have gone slow with two clubs having fallen in the flop; another club turned, Stackie had two clubs in his hand, and I was out in 65th with no seat and down a buck-10.

Another 1.10 satellite was just starting, and I jumped into it, really ticked at myself for blowing one game but confident I could maintain the steady good play I'd been doing and win a seat this time. But I was card-dead early, which is not a good thing to be in a turbo (5-minute levels) event. Finally I pushed my last 800 chips with T9 from early position, and got called by one player who showed AKo. Wouldn't ya know it, I flopped another straight and got the lead! But the shamster (me) is the unluckiest of players; there were two spades in the flop, caller's A was a spade, and the turn-river came 2 of spades, 3 of spades. Flushed again! Why me???

Sunday had started horribly with me 22,239th/33,736 in the weekly Big Little Tournament finale. I don't know what happened, but it wasn't pretty; it was also 5-minute turbo, and I wasn't in sync or in the right frame of mind ... I guess. I do promise to do much better in next Sunday's BLT (regular 10ish-minute levels) -- and I will cash!

Bombed in two other tourneys Sunday to make the day a total washout. Was much more fun watching the Arizona-Green Bay NFL playoff scorefest. Today I haven't played anything yet; a touch of sinuses and depression and just not feeling in the groove. We'll see what the evening brings. I will play something somewhere sometime!

I am intrigued after finding out Absolute Poker is holding AP Touchdown Wednesday tournaments this month, with Super Bowl packages as the prizes. I'm going to have to look into that, especialy its satellites. Also hoping PokerStars has a new round of NAPT-Venetian qualifiers this week; nothing on their schedule yet, but then again they didn't start playing them last week until Wednesday.

As a final thought on Full Tilt's reputation for unbelievable bad beats on rivers and an inordinate amount of worst-hand-wins ... well, it happens everywhere. Even live. There's no perfect online site for a good game. The software hangs up too often on the Merge Network, the Cake Network, worst of all on Microgamings (I grandfathered in so I can still play some of those). Even PokerStars, my first site to play online and to play real money, is not always dependable. I got royally rooked by them when they did their Player Quiz; I got the survey all correct I am certain, but they never gave me the ticket to tournaments that they promised and I earned. Probably because I didn't capitalize the "S" in my site name or something trivial? You'd expect a lot better from "the best." Nevertheless, grumpily, PokerStars remains my favorite site, followed by Full Tilt, Doyle's Room, Reefer Poker and ... let's call it about a seven-way tie for fifth.

If you hear a scream later tonight, you'll know I just got flushed again...