Thursday, December 22, 2005

"Drowning in Someone else's Pain"

Last night I decided to play some tournaments at Poker Time. First tournament I definitely felt the pain. First I entered a 15 player SNG. I was dealt pocket kings. I had an average stack and there were six players left. I made a nice raise. I got re-raised. I popped him back. He re-raised me again. Geez the only hand that can beat pre-flop us AA. Does he have it? My gut says he is pressing with QQ or JJ. I push all-in. Doh! He did have AA and I am out in sixth. Oh the pain!

I then played a 10 player SNG. Nothing really eventful other than I finished on the bubble in 4th. Oh more pain!

I capped the night by playing in another 15 player SNG. I played well and I do not think I risked any chips unnecessarily. We were down to 4 players. I had $4K. Two players were hovering around $1K and the chip lead had $9k. The chip lead was leveraging his stack and stealing chips.
I thought certainly if I am patient one of the short stacks will be eliminated and I would be in the money. I even folded AKo when the chip lead was in the big blind. I knew he would pop me for a large portion of my stack. Finishing in the money was my goal, so I would at least end up even for the night. The chip lead called numerous all-in plays by the short stacks. Every time he did they would suck out and win. The two short stacks grew to over $3K and my stack dwindled to around $2K. The chip lead was around $5K now. I could tell he was a bit on tilt, especially after his AK got walloped by T5o.

I went from "yes I am going to finish in the money and at least second place" to "Oh Crap am I even going to make it in the money!" I was patient and defended my blinds as best as I could. Soon it happened! The player who was the chip lead went all-in against the new chip lead and was eliminated. Off he went in a cursing storm. I went from drowning in his pain to shouting with glee!

After that I got a little crazy and sat in a 5 stud pot limit game. After some high stress and losing most of my stack with KK to a set of dueces, I managed my way back to win a couple of dollars.

This morning I discovered the ME channel on Time Warner. It is nice to hear Austin artist. Heck they played a Reivers video. I was a Reivers junky in the day.

Today I pray the freaking plumbers come back to finish their job. I got screwed yesterday! I still need to battle the shopping scene one more time. I think we should simply stop exchanging gifts and every family MUST place what they spend on Christmas into a savings account. Or better yet donate more to their favorite charity.

Bah humbug!

Oh one other thing - in my previous post I stated that was April sitting next to Mr. Mac. Couldn't be cuz that chick is wearing a dress! Just kidding April! :o)

Play on!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

"Look Alike"

I have read stories about Mr. Mac sneaking out to win tons of cash. What I did not know was that Mr. Mac modeled for a player at Check N raise poker. Here is the evidence. Look at the player on the bottom left. Hmmm! That could be April sitting next to him.


How much does Mr. Mac get paid from Check n Raise poker for using his likeness? Does he like cigars?

I have been playing a little to much poker since I am on vacation. I have eeked my bankroll back up, but it is not as healthy as it should be. Again my down fall is my addiction to Omaha-8. That game has huge swings, especially why you bet aggressively on the turn with the nuts and hammered when the board pairs on the river. Soon it will be my turn to get those big pots.

Currently I do not have much to post. I am waiting on the plumber to get here again. Yesterday he installed one of our pedestal sinks, but the faucets we bought leaked. Two lessons to share:

1. Never permit your significant other to start a remodeling project during the holidays!

2. Do not buy cheap faucets if you are paying a plumber by the hour!

I did learn a ton doing this remodel. I did the demolition, removed and installed tile, and repaired the wall. So far the wife is happy! Now we just need to get the sinks installed. Since I could not install the sinks we are looking at being close to $1000 over budget.

That translates into I need to pay Mr. Mac to teach me how to spin straw into gold!

Hopefully one more post before Ho Ho HO, but just in case all 5 persons who read this crazy blog have a very Merry Christmas.

Play on!


Sunday, December 11, 2005

"In the MONEY"

Well I needed to do a quick post. I have been busy grinding at the tables and attempting to remodel our master bathroom. Remodeling is definitely putting me out of my element.

My wife was kind enough to let me take a break and play in the CNR $10,000 challenge. There were 179 players I believe competing for a total purse of $10,000. I think I was supposed to be in this tournament a year ago. Any rate I sat down this afternoon at 2:00 PM.

Interuption - I just saw on the news how the Texans lost. Geez maybe I can take the job as their placekicker. April I feel the pain!

Any rate I was playing in the tournament. I played extremely conservative. If I decided to get in the mix I made a decent raise, which usually resulted in stealing the blinds. The tournament pays the top 30 players. It was 4:00 PM and still around 60 players. I was in the middle of the pack. I told my kids that I needed to win a couple of hands in order to make it in the money. I got AA and KK exactly when I needed them. I only won the blinds, but I was not going to let anyone suck out on me. At around 5:00 PM. it was down to 31 players. I was staggering around 19th place, but for the past hour I was at a table with three of the chip leaders bullying the table. I had to be patient. For awhile I had #2 on my right and #4 on my left. I could not make any moves. One player at our table ended up making it to the money with only $134. he was patient and I think said numerous prayers that the blinds would not go up! I really had no clue how much the payouts were. So I happened to peek. To my amazement I had just won $100. I would have to make it to the final table to really increase the winnings by much. I found myself on the button with AJ. I went all-in for my last $6K. Of course I got called by the big stack, who had me by the seat of my pants with AQ. I ended up finishing 26th place.

Now it was time for me to install some tile. I figured I had better earn my keep. I borrowed wet saw. I made my first tile cut and it was off. I should have doble checked the measurements on the cutter. After that I could not get another piece of tile to cut. The blade kept binding. Of course I got very frustrated. I called Lowes and it turns out they will cut the tile for me for $.25 a cut. Shit I wish I had known that earlier int he morning. Tomorrow I am off to Lowes to get my tile cut. We will be down to one bathroom for a little while longer. We have grandparents coming on Friday, so I had better get busy.

I should be asleep right now, but I am wired.

I couple of other mentions before I play a few more hands. I ended up making a mistake at Party Poker. I lost almost all of my stake and was down to $4.75. I had to take the kids to a party, so I exited. Well now I can not even lose my last $4.75, because it takes a minumum of $5 to sit down. I will wait another 6 months and maybe they will give another freebie. I am a great "fish" for Party Poker. I still have $8 at Poker time. I am still playing at Paradise with my original $2 stake.

I big thanks to CNR for hosting the tournament today. I am now $100 richer.

I hope April and the other bloggers had a safe journey to Vegas and all come back with huge bankrolls.

Play on!

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

"Free Money"

I am only posting a quickie, so Mr. Mac does not smack me around. I do not know why they do it, but Party Poker gave me another free $50. Iggy swears this site is full of fish. I conclude I am a BIG FISH. The suck outs on the river simply amaze me.

So lets go right into the details of back to back hands. I found this to be funny! Wine, tequila, and beer help with the humor.

I had pocket 4's in the BB. The flop comes A4x. I bet and I get raised. We cap the betting every time. Hmmmmmmm! Does my opponent have pocket aces. Normally this girl calls with anything, so I keep pressing with my set. The river brings a 4. I believe quads are good. Yes she did have pocket aces.

The very next hand I get pocket aces. Again maximum betting to the river. Yup the lady filled her straight to take her money back. I thought for sure I could retire ahead for the evening.

I have not lost my free money yet, but I have come close a few times. I think because it is free money I play a little crazier than normal. We will see just how fast I lose this bank roll.

Two more quick comments then I had better get my butt to bed. Fortunately I can sleep in until 6:00 AM!

I am truly sorry I could not play Friday at Adam's. I think I would have been the winner. Yeah right! I wanted to host a tournament, but man this time of year fills up fast. Especially if your better half decides to remodel the master bath. The demolition was fun!

My final comment of the night. How about those HORNS!

play on!