PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

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Registration code: 2899213

Session #69 - #73 - Damn, I've fallen behind!

Hey, sorry for not updating in a long time folks. Last week, our whole family came down with a really nasty flu bug. How nasty you ask? Well, let's just say I lost 12 pounds in 3 days. And then this past week has been a real upheaval in my life. I quit/got fired/mutually agreed to leave my job so I'm back doing my old career of painting houses. It's not that bad really. I can bill myself out for $25/hour and I set my own pace so what's not to like about that? And when the schedule is loose, hey, I can swing by the clubhouse for a little action.

I swear, after the last few outings I'm sticking strickly to the no-limit game. I'm just too aggressive and play too many hands to be effective at the limit game. And I dropped a huge number on Omaha night so I think I'll be staying away from that game as well.

Since it's been so long since I've posted, I'll try to be as accurate as I can.

Session #69 - $3/$6 limit -> -$10
Session #70 - $3/$6 limit -> +$40
Session #71 - $4/$8 Omaha Hi/Lo -> -$280
Session #72 - $1/$2 no-limit -> +$180
Session #73 - $3/$6 limit -> -$100

I also lost $75 online in this time which I won't attribute to any one session as it was so spread out.

Live Sessions Total = -$170.

Live MTD earnings are +$95 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$169 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$4 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$617.50 US.

Session #66 - 68 - "Don't Give Me A Six!!"

I finally got my computer back from the doctor's office today. A few minor repairs and it's right as rain again. Those guys did a great job and didn't make me break the piggy bank to do it.

Anyways, Sessions #66 and #67 weren't much to talk about. In fact, in 66 I broke even and 67 I made $11 so I won't even bother counting those two. The most notable thing that I remember happening was BikerBoy shouting out at the river "Don't give me a six!" and sure enough a six falls, he bets it, gets two callers and turns over the gutshot straight that the six made him. I damn near fell out of my chair at the two caller's expressions when they realized how owned they were. LMAO!

Today my afternoon work got cancelled on me so what else is a guy to do with four hours to spare but pop into the clubhouse for a little $3/$6 limit hold 'em. I started it off by scooping $30 off the owner in a little Russian Poker action while I waited for a seat to open up. Quite rare actually, he's the luckiest mofo in that game and I usually end up giving him a bunch of my money so it was nice to get some off him for a change.

I started off not very well at all, and was actually down $90 before I had time to even blink. But then the cards really started falling in my favour. One notable hand was when I had AK suited in the big blind and six people limp into the pot so I make it two bets to go. SuperDog makes it three and I don't want to give off any more strength with that many in the pot so I smooth call and lo' and behold I flop the nut flush (but there was a straight flush potential on board). I decide to bet out since I figure most people would figure me for slow playing such a hand and sure enough, SuperDog makes it two bets and I smooth call and we're down to four. I check-raise the turn and bet out the river and get two callers on the end and rake a very nice pot.

Another notable hand had me again in the big blind (this was an earlier hand actually) and saw me with 2-3 offsuit in the big blind. Again, I call SuperDog's raise, partly to protect my big blind, and partly because I figured he actually had a good hand and if my rags hit, I would get paid off handsomely. And what do you know, the flop comes down 3-K-3 and I've hit a sneaker set. I check-call the flop, check-raise the turn and bet the river and rake a nice pot. The eye-rolling at my 2-3 off was kinda sweet, too. ;-)

BikerBoy was giving me a lot of ribbing about the blog so I figure if I don't mention him at least twice an entry he might start getting upset. Haha!

Session Total = +$280.

Live MTD earnings are +$265 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are +$1 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are +$71 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$621.50 US.

Session #65 - Anatomy of a 5-Table Sit-N-Go

So I bought in to a 5-table sit-n-go tonight on Poker Stars while I was watching the Oilers flounder against the Sharks (actually, it was a really good game, but the Oilers lost in the end). My personal theory on sit-n-gos is to play extremely tight until the blinds hit 50/100 and 75/150. At those levels, it starts becoming worth it to steal the blinds and loosen up your play a bit. With this very tight play, I usually sit near the top of the pack by the time those levels hit (unless I get very unlucky and get sucked out) and barring any bad beats, I like to think I can make top 25% most of the time as well as make it to the money 20% of the time. One of these days I'm going to have to crunch the numbers just to see how well I really do.

This 5-table tournament worked out perfectly scripted for me. With 45 players in I was chip lead by the time we got down to 25. I only relinquished that crown for a short while when I called all-in with my 77 pre-flop, short-handed with only 10 players left in the tournament (five each on two tables) and buddy turns over AA. It took me no less than two rounds of the button to get my chips back stealing the blinds and pushing one short stack all-in.

This first screenshot is when we're down to five players and you can clearly see I'm in a dominant chip lead position which further enables me to push the blinds around. Sure I have to give some up here and then when someone catches a hand and comes over the top on me but that happens only once for every four or five steal attempts so no problems.

Now you can see the second screenshot here where we have lost a player and I dipped a bit in chips. It was around here that I made my biggest move of the tournament. The fellow to my left had AQ (and I figured he did) so I bet out a reasonable amount when the Q flops (I had JQ) and he comes over me for $6K and after a decent pause I push him all-in. He goes into the tank and comes back typing "I'm laying down my monster AQ" and throws it away! Scoop! What a score. He queried me on it and I told him I had KK. Lol! I had so many chips no one could touch me by this point.

And the third we are now heads up as two dropped in one hand:

And this is the final hand. Heads up with a massive chip lead I'm definately calling his all-in with any ace and I got lucky enough to make my flush to seal the deal.

So I take first place which was $139 minus my entry of $11 for a nice little profit.

Session Total = +$128.

Live MTD earnings are -$15 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$264 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are +$71 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$621.50 US.

Sessions #62, 63 & 64 - A Little Bit of Catch-Up and a Whole Lot of Juice

Real quickly, I have to catch up on two sessions that I didn't report on and which were both losing sessions unfortunately. To the tune of $240.

Today I stopped in at the clubhouse around 1:00 in the afternoon to be greeted by the usual suspects. I plopped into seat nine, bumping the houseman out, with Tess on my left and Pinky on my right. BikerBoy's in seat one as he usually is, Giggles is in seat three and the same weak player I talked about in Session #60 is in seat two.

The very first hand I look at is A-Q offsuit and I raise and the crowd thins to four. By the time the river comes it's down to me and Tess and he pays me off. Second hand I look at is 2-3 suited and I flop a flush draw and come along for one bet on the flop. The turn is checked giving me a free card and I check call the flush on the river vs BikerBoy and he shows top pair and I rake my second pot before my seat is barely warm.

My best hand of the night came in the form of pocket 3's under-the-gun and I make it two bets and by the time it gets back to me it's capped. I flop my set when 10-7-3 falls and I bet out as I figure that's the better than check-raising as it disguises my hand a bit more and gives me an opportunity to push the pot. However, only one guy in the middle comes along with the button making it two bets to go so I just smooth call to keep him in. I check-call the turn and then check-raise the river (which paired the board), but the guy in the middle of the sandwich folds out and I get paid out by one instead of two. I'm not complaining though!

The other fun part of the day was with how much juice was flying around the table. BikerBoy was laying it pretty heavily on Tess after his flopped set fell to Tess' backdoor flush for a monster pot. Didn't stop chatting about it for the better part of half an hour. And both BikerBoy and the Club Owner were giving me the juice for this blog. Questioning me about, checking on the nickname's I'm using for people ("What am I called?" Owner asks me. "Owner." I reply.)

Pretty good session for me though. +$175.

Sessions Total = -$65.

Live MTD earnings are -$15 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$264 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$57 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$493.50 US.

Session #61 - Another Reason Not To Play While Liquored

So this was Thursday night after the wife, myself and the kids went to a friend's house for a bbq and I had quite a few brews. After we got home (she drove), and got the kids to bed (it was late so they were asleep in the car) she wandered off to bed and I sat at the computer and finished the last of the beers and played some poker.

I was a maniac! I've never been a complete maniac at the table but I'm generally aggressive and (perhaps too) loose. But man, get a few drinks in ya and any two cards look like aces. I was perhaps emboldened by early success, jumping from table to table, being immediately aggressive and hitting. Playing the .50/$1 NL tables, within an hour I was up $300 and just as quickly pumped it all off, then I was up $200 and pumped that off. By the end of the night I was down a total of $57.

Ooooooo, my head.

Session Total = -$57.

Live MTD earnings are +$50 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$199 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$57 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$493.50 US.

Session #60 - Aces Busted. Busted By Aces. Busting Aces.

So on May Day (that's May 1st) I popped into the clubhouse for a little afternoon poker action. I was in seat one with BikerBoy in front at seat ten. Roofer was two doors down from BikerBoy, a weak player was to his right. One of the housemen (off duty) was in seat two (who's a tight/aggressive) and Shale was to his left in seat three. Tess was over in seat five.

Fifth hand into the session I look down at pocket aces in mid-position and make it two bets to go and I get four callers including the blinds. The flop comes J-9-9 and the small blind bets out. Now he's a weak player so I figure him for a jack and make it two bets and he re-raises and I call. We're heads up and I'm a bit confused as to his aggression. Being a relatively weak player I would have figured him more for a trap play if he had made his trips but I wasn't sure. I call his bet on the turn and river and he flips over Q-9 offsuit. Aces busted and I hadn't even warmed up my stack yet.

This next hand was one that got heads up between myself and Tess very quickly. There's four limpers to my 8-6 suited on the button so I come along with an average hand but with position. The flop comes A-8-6 and I love my sneaker two pair. Tess bets out, everyone folds and I raise. He re-raises me so I re-raise back and he calls. Now that was a good play on his part because it confused me into thinking he had A-K. He checked the turn but a little bell went off in my head and I checked and I could see the dissappointment in his face as he was definately looking for the check-raise. I pay him off on the river and he shows aces. Nice play Tess but you missed a bet! ;-)

I loved my play on this next hand. I'm sitting in the small blind and I look down at pocket fours. Houseman calls and Shale raises. Now Shale was having a bit of a tough go of it, not getting good cards, getting good cards run down, and his frustration was showing. This was pretty unusual as he's usually very collected and, in my opinion, one of the better players at the club. So I immediately put him on one of the top three hands with his early position raise. No less than four players enter the pot behind him and by the time it gets to me it's three bets, I call and Shale caps it and we have seven in for the flop with a pre-flop cap. The flop comes down 10-7-4 with two clubs. I bet, Shale raises and I smooth call and there's still five of us in the pot. The turn is a rag but I figure this is a perfect spot to check raise, as I'm sure Shale thinks he has the best hand (by this time I'm positive it's aces) and when he bets and everyone stuck in the middle calls I can make it two to go and it worked to perfection. Memory is a bit fuzzy here but I think we lost one. I bet the flush card on the river (without fear!) and I get Shale and one other caller but no one can beat my set and I rake a sweet pot. Shale remarks with a shake of his head how badly he's playing.

I should also note that Pinky stood up as soon as I came in and left the table to go play a game of Pan. Wasn't sure if it was because of me or not but I know he doesn't like me much so maybe it was. Who cares really?

Session Total = +$50.

Live MTD earnings are +$50 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$199 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are $0 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$550.50 US.