Poker Stars Beta Software

Ok, this is the mother-freakin' bomb! Poker Stars now has available the Beta Version of its new poker software. I mean.... table resizing, themes, tile tables, cascade tables, save settings, custome themes... oh yeah! I'm all over this like white on rice.

Click here and check it out.

Session #90 - An Even Smaller Win, But Hella' Fun!

This is a catchup for Tuesday when I had a couple hours to kill mid-day, but the game at the club was a really slow one. Like, zero live players, a bunch of tight guys, and like three or four staff. The game actually broke at about 1:45 so we decided to occupy ourselves with a sit-n-go until more players showed up. This got the other staff who were sitting around interested so we actually ended up nine-handed! Everyone put in $20 and the payout was agreed to be $120 to the winner and $60 to second.

BikerBoy started out really aggressive and managed to more than double up very quickly when him and BigD went to a showdown. He stayed very aggressive and two more were knocked out in short order. Then we had a showdown. I figured him for just being aggressive so I was going to push if I got any hand with an ace. The hand that solved it was my A-x suited vs his 8-10 suited. Unbelievably, the flop comes down Q-J-9 with one of my suit. He flopped a straight! The turn was a diamond giving me a four card flush and everyone exclaimed and then the river was the king of diamonds and everyone clamored over that one and BikerBoy was just rolling his eyes. What a suckout! It was like a true Internet hand.

My next win was against BigDawg when again I push with A-9 and he calls with A-J. The flop gives an ace and I'm way behind. I need to catch one of the three remaining nines to live. I actually would have had chips left should I have lost, but not many. Now just as the turn is falling TJ yells out for a nine and sure enough, a nine falls! Hahaha... you should have seen the look BigDawg shot TJ, as if TJ had just reached out there by shear force of will and had made that nine fall. It was priceless.

I now had a huge chip stack and it was down to me and JT. We went back and forth about ten hands before someone suggested we chop what was left so I took $100 and JT took $80. Fair enough.

Live Session Total = +$5.

Live MTD earnings are -$902 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$1071 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Holy crap! What a tourney!

No, not the SNG I played at the clubhouse today, I'll post about that later. Tonight on Poker Stars I entered a small FPP (Frequent Player Point) freeroll qualifying tournament, and whaddaya know... I won! Out of a field of 800 players the top 15 got a freeroll into a WSOP qualifier where the top prize(s) is a $12K WSOP package.

I feel like I played a very flawless tournament and didn't have to bluff once, other than one spate where I stole about 7 blinds and antes in a row when it was around the $3000/$6000 level.

Once we were down to 15 left, it just stopped the tournament and awarded the remaining players the freeroll. The players left are listed in alphabetical order, but I finished 6th at the end with around 135,000 in chips.



Now I get to see how I do on Saturday in the World Series qualifier.

The BC Poker Championships

I thought I would post a notice here about the BC Poker Championship since I seem to be getting some regular readers. And hell, just to be nice and provide a bunch of convenient links. The BCPC is once again being held at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond BC.

• The official BC Lottery site for the BCPC is here.


• The registration page at River Rock Casino is here.

Someone please post a comment if you find out that the casino in View Royal is holding satellites yet.

Cheers.

Session #89 - Small Win, But I'll Take It!

I really liked my game today. I played a lot tighter than I normally did, and didn't chase as much as I usually do, and was rewarded with decent increases in my chip stack. I lost a bit at the end when two hands I was in that had big draws didn't hold up, but I'm still very pleased with my play today. My emotional stability at the table was much more in check as well.

Live Session Total = +$23.

Live MTD earnings are -$907 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$1076 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Session #88 - Will The Bleeding Ever Stop?

I took a break from work last night for three hours to stop in and play $1/$2 no-limit. I killed some time waiting for my seat playing Russian with Genesis, but after a dozen or so hands it was only +$5 in my favour so no biggie there.

I had three noteworthy hands to talk about so I might as well go about it in the order they happened. The first one had me sitting in the small blind with 5-5 and three people limp into the pot and Young Gun comes into it with his standard $5 raise on the button. I call as does the big blind and the limpers. The flop comes 4-4-8 and at this point I've put Young Gun on two over cards so I bet out a tease bet and he comes over the top for all-in. Without hesitating I call and he nods at me and says "nice hand" and I know I'm in front and show my 5-5. I think I astounded him a bit with this call, and I don't want to give all my reasons for doing so, but I had no qualms making the call. The hand held up and I doubled up nicely.

The second hand had me again on the button, this time with 8-9 suited. JT made it $10 to go before the flop and four of us came along for the ride. The flop is 9-8-9 with two clubs and it's checked to JT who bets $20. I call and everyone else folds. The turn is a rag and we check-check it and then a club falls on the river. JT bets $20 and I make an even raise to $40. He shows the flush and I show my flopped full house and JT laughs knowing he had fallen for the trap.

The final hand of the night for me was a monster in more ways than one. I had built my stack up to a nice $360 or so and I'm on the button with A-A. JT makes it $25 to go (the preflop cap) from mid-position (which put him all-in) and small blind calls, I call, UTG calls and another mid-position calls. The flop comes down 4-4-K. Small blind bets out $20 and I thought about it for a second and put him on A-K or K-Q. My thinking here was that I wanted to chase out flush potentials as I wasn't worried about the 4 with so many in the pot with a preflop cap. In hindsight, I definately overplayed my aces and should have been concerned about the pocket kings.

Regardless, I come over the top all-in. Mid-position says "Alright" and calls and then small blind blows me out of the water when he calls and I'm thinking "Holy shit, I'm either loaded or dead." Turns out I was dead. Mid-position shows a suited A-4, so not only does he have me dominated, he has one of my aces. Small blind then stomps both of us by saying "I have a full house" and shows his kings. JT then puts the nail in the coffin by saying he had the other ace and I'm completely 100% drawing dead.

Small blind raked a HUGE pot. Probably close to $800. If I were to play this hand over, I would come over the top for $80 or so to see what that would have brought on. Could I have gotten away from this hand? I don't know. Hard to put someone on a four and even harder to put small blind on pocket kings.

Live Session Total = -$120.

Live MTD earnings are -$930 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$1099 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Xorply?

I get enough people that ask me where or what Xorply is that I'll explain it here.

I received my first email address way back in 1991 before most people were even aware the Internet existed and before the World Wide Web came into play. The Internet was all about newsgroups, bbs (bulletin board service) and email. My real name is far too common to be used as a User ID as there was usually always someone that had taken it and you didn't want to be User5487 or some stupid thing like that. So I came up with a name off the top of my head that was just a random connection of consonants and vowels that could flow together as a word and would be unique enough as to never be duplicated. Hence "Xorply" (which I pronounce zorplee).

So I universally use that as my Internet nickname. It is my screenname on every poker site I play at, my screenname at Internet Infidels (one of the oldest message boards on the web), where I am a long-time contributor, as well as my yahoo and msn names. And of course, I own the domain name of this website and my email address off it.

'Nuff said.

Session #87 - "Pull My Finger!"

This was a fairly innoccuous session 'cept for watching Busdriver rake in pot after pot. Boy was that guy hitting. You were just afraid to go up against him after awhile because he was just on fire. I ended up throwing stuff away like K-T suited preflop when he was in the pot because I just didn't want to go there.

Oddly enough, the funniest thing that happened was in a hand with Busdriver in the Big Blind, me in 9th spot and Salty Sea Dog on the button. About seven players limped into the pot so I came along with 5-6 suited (a hand I quite like in late position) and the flop comes down good for me with 3-4-5 rainbow. It gets bet out and I raise it and only Busdriver and Salty Sea Dog are left. The turn is a jack and Busdriver bets out so I think for a bit (I think I made a hmmm-hmmm sound as well) and after a couple of seconds Salty Sea Dog disgustedly throws his hand in the muck and starts going on about how I take too long and go humm-humm-humm all the time (in quite an agitated and pissed off manner).

Now I look at him with a cocked eyebrow and watch the antics for a couple of seconds and the only thing that popped into my head was how funny it all was so I pointed my finger at him and said "Pull My Finger!" and then threw my hand in the muck. I think Jynx and Blasto were the only two that heard me and they were in stitches. I had to go to the can, and I heard TJ tell Salty Sea Dog I had the right to think about my decision and that he was out of line. When I got back Salty Sea Dog was gone and TJ apologized for his behaviour (which you totally didn't have to do TJ).

I feel bad that he was upset enough to leave, I like having him at the table, he's a fun character to be around. My time thinking was not excessive, literally no more than a couple of seconds before SSD reacted so I think something else was bugging him and this was just the reaction point. I had top pair with an open-ended straight draw but I threw it away to Busdriver's turn bet.

The game broke early, around 8:00, so I didn't have time to counter my downswing. It was a pretty tough table though, so maybe it just saved me from pumping off what was left.

Live Session Total = -$120.

Live MTD earnings are -$810 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$979 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Session #86 - It Took A Lot To Get There

But I actually had a small winning session. It started off rough. I had three open-ended flush draws that didn't pan out and those always cost money. The first $100 pumped off quick enough and I had to ask Big Dawg if I could go $100 over my sheet as my real life job doesn't finish until this weekend (I'm self-employed) and that's when the real money comes in. He's agreeable as usual since I've never let him down yet.

The only hand to talk about was right after where Roofer busted my A-8 suited on the button with K-4 in mid-position. I flopped top-pair with top-kicker and he flopped bottom pair but got lucky enough to hit his king on the turn. So this next hand he starts juicing me for getting lucky when I finally hit my open-ender so I cock an eyebrow at him and quiz him on luck regarding the previous hand.

Live Session Total = +$30.

Live MTD earnings are -$690 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$859 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Session Catch-up - Sessions #83-85

Just a quick update on a number of sessions I've not reported on.

Session #83 - $3/$6 Kill -> +$120
Session #84 - $1/$2 No-Limit -> -$300
Session #85 - $3/$6 Limit -> -$40

Live Session Total = -$140.

Live MTD earnings are -$720 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$889 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

TWBCoOP - I'm out.

Here's my final hand:

PokerStars Game #5293074860: Tournament #25183930, Freeroll Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2006/06/18 - 17:55:39 (ET)
Table '25183930 38' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: mxzx_rev440 (8207 in chips)
Seat 2: Hoejyland (7002 in chips)
Seat 3: Milo Damon (12160 in chips)
Seat 4: slickdog (5643 in chips)
Seat 5: ScottFX (18625 in chips)
Seat 6: Draxa (10645 in chips)
Seat 7: wheatrich (3730 in chips)
Seat 8: Xorply (3299 in chips)
Seat 9: stevengg (4315 in chips)
mxzx_rev440: posts the ante 25
Hoejyland: posts the ante 25
Milo Damon: posts the ante 25
slickdog: posts the ante 25
ScottFX: posts the ante 25
Draxa: posts the ante 25
wheatrich: posts the ante 25
Xorply: posts the ante 25
stevengg: posts the ante 25
Milo Damon: posts small blind 200
slickdog: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Xorply [8s 8d]
ScottFX: folds
Draxa: folds
wheatrich: folds
Xorply: raises 800 to 1200
stevengg: folds
mxzx_rev440: folds
Hoejyland: raises 5777 to 6977 and is all-in
Milo Damon: folds
slickdog: folds
Xorply: calls 2074 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [4c 5s Qd]
*** TURN *** [4c 5s Qd] [6c]
Xorply said, "7"
*** RIVER *** [4c 5s Qd 6c] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Xorply: shows [8s 8d] (a pair of Eights)
Hoejyland: shows [Ad Qc] (a pair of Queens)
Hoejyland collected 7373 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7373 | Rake 0
Board [4c 5s Qd 6c Jc]
Seat 1: mxzx_rev440 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Hoejyland (button) showed [Ad Qc] and won (7373) with a pair of Queens
Seat 3: Milo Damon (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: slickdog (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: ScottFX folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Draxa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: wheatrich folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Xorply showed [8s 8d] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 9: stevengg folded before Flop (didn't bet)

So even though I'm out, I really like how I performed in this tourney. One lucky hit for some dumbass making a lousy call and I'm crippled. That is poker and it can be brutal.

Final position for me was 436th place out of 2247 entrants isn't too bad of a showing and it would have been much better if not for that bad beat.

TWBCoOP - Lost a monster

I'll let the hand history tell the story:

PokerStars Game #5293046353: Tournament #25183930, Freeroll Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2006/06/18 - 17:52:35 (ET)
Table '25183930 38' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: mxzx_rev440 (6357 in chips)
Seat 2: Hoejyland (7077 in chips)
Seat 3: Milo Damon (5280 in chips)
Seat 4: slickdog (6143 in chips)
Seat 5: ScottFX (18725 in chips)
Seat 6: Draxa (10745 in chips)
Seat 7: wheatrich (3830 in chips)
Seat 8: Xorply (8654 in chips)
Seat 9: stevengg (6815 in chips)
mxzx_rev440: posts the ante 25
Hoejyland: posts the ante 25
Milo Damon: posts the ante 25
slickdog: posts the ante 25
ScottFX: posts the ante 25
Draxa: posts the ante 25
wheatrich: posts the ante 25
Xorply: posts the ante 25
stevengg: posts the ante 25
Xorply: posts small blind 200
stevengg: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Xorply [4s 5d]
mxzx_rev440: folds
Hoejyland: raises 400 to 800
Milo Damon: calls 800
slickdog: folds
ScottFX: folds
Draxa: folds
wheatrich: folds
Xorply: calls 600
stevengg: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [3s Ac Qs]
Xorply: checks
stevengg: checks
Hoejyland: checks
Milo Damon: checks
*** TURN *** [3s Ac Qs] [2c]
Xorply: checks
stevengg: bets 800
Hoejyland: folds
Milo Damon: raises 1255 to 2055
Xorply: raises 2745 to 4800
stevengg: folds
Milo Damon: calls 2400 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [3s Ac Qs 2c] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Xorply: shows [4s 5d] (a straight, Ace to Five)
Milo Damon: shows [Qc Ad] (a full house, Queens full of Aces)
Milo Damon collected 13135 from pot
mxzx_rev440 said, "yoink"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13135 | Rake 0
Board [3s Ac Qs 2c Qd]
Seat 1: mxzx_rev440 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Hoejyland folded on the Turn
Seat 3: Milo Damon showed [Qc Ad] and won (13135) with a full house, Queens full of Aces
Seat 4: slickdog folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: ScottFX folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Draxa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: wheatrich (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Xorply (small blind) showed [4s 5d] and lost with a straight, Ace to Five
Seat 9: stevengg (big blind) folded on the Turn


Current chip count = 3324

TWBCoOP - Took a stab and lossed and then made it back

Second time this tourney I flopped a nut flush spade draw and it doesn't pan out. Checked to the river so I throw 1k out to take it down and I'm raised to 3k by the guy next to me and I throw it away.

Two hands later I call an all-in for 1700 with A-10 offsuit and I'm up against A-Q but I'm lucky enough to hit 4 clubs and I take it down with the nut flush.

Current chip count = 8654

TWBCoOP - Forced to call value bet

I have A-Q suited and the button calls my raise with 10-10. The board improves neither of us and we've checked to the river and he throws 300 out into a 2k pot and I call.

Current chip count = 8344

TWBCoOP - Smackin' the blind stealer

Blind stealer comes in in mid-position for 500 with 200 bb and I call with Q-2 suited. The Q spikes on the flop, I check raise him all-in and he goes away.

Current chip count = 8544

TWBCoOP - Couple of beats

I just suffered back to back beats that have knocked a few chips off my stack. The first was an all-in for 1800 with my A-10 suited vs Q-K suited and he makes trips. The second was a 9-10 suited on the button calling an all-in for roughly 500 with 2 other callers and I make nothing out of the hand.

Current chip count = 7719

TWBCoOP - Win, after win, after win, after win!!

My god I'm on a role. I've had JJ, AK, QQ, KK and an 83 in the big blind that spiked two pair. All winners!!

Current chip count = 11785

TWBCoOP - QQ is my friend

QQ again in late position this time. I figure it will be just a steal as both blinds are "sitting out" but the button calls my 3x raise and then I call his 3x raise on the flop with a K showing. We then go check-check and I never see his hand as he mucks to my QQ.

Chip count = 8810

TWBCoOP - Me vs the Same Maniac

Maniac that I just doubled up on goes all for 910 with K-5 and I call with 4-4 and it holds up.

Chip count = 8360

TWBCoOP - Won a monster I should not have been in

Wow! I just took down a monster. Maniac raises 5x the big blind UTG (same thing he did for three hands in a row) so I raise to 1500 and he goes all-in. I figure this guy to be making a move so I call and it's my suited A-7 vs his A-J and I spike a 7 on the flop and it stands up to take down a monster double up.

Here's the hand history:

PokerStars Game #5292492949: Tournament #25183930, Freeroll Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/06/18 - 16:51:44 (ET)
Table '25183930 38' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: mxzx_rev440 (2015 in chips)
Seat 2: CMAhockey22 (1405 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 3: NorthRaven (1475 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: edgebaby (4335 in chips)
Seat 5: ScottFX (11190 in chips)
Seat 6: mfaustus (3135 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: LifeWriter (6626 in chips)
Seat 8: Xorply (3575 in chips)
Seat 9: stevengg (1700 in chips)
CMAhockey22: posts small blind 50
NorthRaven: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Xorply [As 7s]
edgebaby: raises 400 to 500
ScottFX said, "it cause I had her in my hand there"
ScottFX: folds
mfaustus: folds
LifeWriter: folds
edgebaby said, "awww sneaky"
Xorply: raises 1000 to 1500
stevengg: folds
mxzx_rev440: folds
CMAhockey22: folds
NorthRaven: folds
edgebaby: raises 2835 to 4335 and is all-in
Xorply: calls 2075 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [5s 6c 7c]
Xorply said, "seven!"
Xorply said, "yes"
*** TURN *** [5s 6c 7c] [Ad]
edgebaby said, "jack!"
*** RIVER *** [5s 6c 7c Ad] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
edgebaby: shows [Ac Jd] (a pair of Aces)
Xorply: shows [As 7s] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
Xorply collected 7300 from pot
Xorply said, "not this time babye"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7300 | Rake 0
Board [5s 6c 7c Ad 3c]
Seat 1: mxzx_rev440 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: CMAhockey22 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: NorthRaven (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: edgebaby showed [Ac Jd] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 5: ScottFX folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: mfaustus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: LifeWriter folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Xorply showed [As 7s] and won (7300) with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 9: stevengg folded before Flop (didn't bet)



My current chip count = 7350

TWBCoOP - Another folder missed

I should learn to fold those pocket pairs in the big blind when I'm raised. But this time I felt good about it if I hit. UTG raised 3x the big blind for 300 and I was the only caller with 4-4 in the hole. The flop missed me and I got away cheap, but I know if I had of hit, all his chips would have been mine.

Current chip count = 3575

TWBCoOP - Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

Two quick wins in a row. I have J-Q and flop open-ended, bet it, and take down the pot.

Next hand small stack in UTG bets 200, I'm next and raise 500 to isolate him and he goes all-in for 890 and I call. It's my AK vs his JJ and I end up with 2 pair!!

Chip count = 3925

At this point in the tournament I am 312 out of 1718 remaining players.

TWBCoOP - 1st Bluff Success!!

I'm in the BB with K-2 offsuit and the flop comes rag-rag-ten and I bet out the potsize (125) button raises me 250 and I know he has nothing so I put 600 in and he folds. King high baby!

Chip count = 2985

TWBCoOP - AQ on the button

No one enters the pot so I raise 3x the BB and BB calls. Flop top pair, bet 400 and take down the pot.

Chip count = 2685

TWBCoOP - QQ UTG + 2

I smooth call QQ in 4th position and one more caller comes in before loose cannon on the button raises to 600. Perfect! I go all-in and he calls with 66. My QQ holds up and I more than double up.

Chip count = 2585

TWBCoOP - TT in the big blind

I should have folded this one preflop. Called 300 and flop comes 4-5-Q with two diamonds and mid-position bets 1k. I go into the tank but decide to fold to wait for a better spot.

Chip count = 1230.

TWBCoOP - Flush Draw doesn't pan out

I have AJ suited on the button and raise 5x the BB. Small blind calls and flush draw hits. I Bet 200 and am called. I bet 300 on turn (no flush) and am called. River is a rag and SB goes all-in, I have to fold.

Next hand I have A2 suited and call the BB. I bet the turn and am called by a flush draw. River misses and we check-check and I recover half of my chips from last hand.

Starting chip count was 2000 and I'm now at 1530.

TWBCoOP - Steal Attempt (sort of)

I had A3 of hearts in 2nd to last position and raise 3x the BB. Button and BB calls. Flop hits my 3 but BB bets 200 and I fold.

TWBCoOP - Pocket Queens Again

I had QQ UTG and raise 4x the BB and all folded. I guess I'm not the only one playing tight.

TWBCoOP - Prize Pool

Here's the prizes for the WBCOP.

The World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

The WBCOP has started and there are 2247 entrants. I've started off slow and plan to play tight and let the crowd ween itself. My first big blind I was forced to fold and then had QQ in the small blind but no one entered and I could only grab the big blind who didn't call.

Stay tuned, I'll post updates as they happen.

I have three sessions to catch up on posting and will get to that when the tournament is over.

Session #82 - So Much For A Break

I popped into the club on Wednesday to pay off my sheet and TJ says "You're number one on the list" and I think "Well, whatever, I do have a couple hours to kill." Next thing you know I've sat down and I'm having a pretty good session. That's the lure of poker for you. When you're down, you're really down on yourself and when you're up, you're having the time of your life. I think the road to becoming a good or great poker player is paved with obstacles for you to conquer your emotional stability at the table and your ability to absorb the inevitable beats.

So when it comes to this hard-to-beat $3/$6 game, perhaps it isn't as hard to beat as one might think. Know the players at the table, know your emotions, know your limits, know the dynamics of the table, know the cards to play in the position your at, know the reactions of your opponents and what they mean for any given hand. The list goes on and to beat it, you have to be part of it and be aware of it.

Am I there yet? No. But I'm working on it.

Live Session Total = +$50.

Live MTD earnings are -$580CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$749CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Session #81 - Time For A Break

I don't know what has happened to my game, but I think it's time for a break.

Did I ever get rundown yesterday. No less than seven times (I kept count) did I get queens or better pocket pairs and get rundown. The last hand I played was in a kill hand (blinds were $6/$12) and I was on the button with KK and I made it two bets to go. Street called $11 cold from the small blind with JQ offsuit.

What's the flop you ask?

J-Q-A.

No king or ten comes and I'm done.

I'm gonna take a break from the clubhouse for awhile to get away from this run. I'll be in next week to pay off my sheet and then I'll stay away until my wife is done her practicum and her vacation to Hawaii in August, then I'll see how I feel. If the clubhouse decides to run a tourney I'll come down for that (so someone please let me know) but other than that, I'm on poker vacation.

Live Session Total = -$100.

Live MTD earnings are -$630 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$799 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Session #80 - Eating No-Limit Crow

After all my limit rantings, I have to eat some no-limit crow. Thursday night saw me at the clubhouse playing some $1/$2 no-limit and I quickly pumped off the first $100 after getting top pair knocked out by a low-pocket pair that tripped up on the turn. Then I hit my stride and made several nice hands and one sweet turn-raise bluff that got my stack up to $295 putting me $95 to the plus.

Then I played a bonehead hand. I had just watching JT bluff a big hand and he came in the very next one with the same raise pre-flop and the same bet on the flop ($30). I didn't hit anything but thought I would make a play against him and raised to $60. He thought about it a few seconds and then called. He checked the turn and I bet $60 and he called. That should have been my warning sign (duh) but I tried again on the river with an $80 bet and he called. Dammit. There went $185 in one hand that I shouldn't have been in and in which I didn't even have a decent high card. I was pretty mad at myself and looking back I definately put myself on tilt and cost myself a lot of money.

Dumbass.

Live Session Total = -$290.

Live MTD earnings are -$530 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$699 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Session #79 - Oh, Did I Mention I Was In Limit Hell?

Another day of $3/$6 limit poker, another day of bullshit calls, beauty hands that don't hold up, etc, etc, etc. I'm gonna have to find the discipline to avoid the day game and stick to the no-limit game and higher limit games.

Instead of dwelling on my misery today, I'll just say for those that don't know, the clubhouse has installed a new game schedule. Off the top of my head, it's the $3/$6 game during the day everyday, except for Friday which will be $2/$4 Kill. Monday nights is $4/$8 limit. Tuesday nights is $4/$8 Omaha hi/lo. Wednesday nights is $4/$8 dealers choice flop games (Hold 'Em, Omaha, Omaha hi/lo, Pineapple and Crazy Pineapple). Thursday nights is $1/$2 no-limit. Friday nights is $4/$8 Kill (that should be a great game!). Saturday night is Pot Limit Omaha hi/lo (bring your bankroll!) and Sunday night is $4/$8 hold 'em.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Live Session Total = -$95.

Live MTD earnings are -$240 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$409 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Session #78 - Limit Hell With A Pack of Coconuts

Well, my limit hell continues onward on Tuesday. I mean, how can you fucking win? The answer is.... consistantly.... it's very fucking hard. I've come to accept the fact that in a $3/$6 limit game, it is very, very difficult to win consistantly. And the reason why is that there are so many people who will chase your quality hands down with absolute crap that it narrows your win probability to the tiniest of margins. It's not that there is one coconut, but you're dealing with a whole table full of coconuts.

An example would be me vs Pinky (goddam that guy makes me nauseous) and I have KK in the hole and he has A-4 offsuit and he calls two bets cold in mid-position. The flop comes down all mid-rags and I bet out, he calls. The turn is a four, I bet, he calls. The river is an ace, I check, he bets and I pay him off.

Do you see what I'm looking at here? I mean, do you really fucking see what I'm looking at here? HE CALLED TWO BETS COLD WITH ACE-RAG OFFSUIT AND THEN HE CALLED THE FLOP WITH NOTHING!!! NOTHING!!!

So I'm cracked wide open at this point and the Owner knows it as I've asked for my third $100 (my sheet is only good for two) and he comes along for two bets on the button with K-9 offsuit. This time I have K-Q suited. The flop comes K-rag-rag and small blind bets and I raise. He calls. The turn is a nine. I make a continuation bet and he raises, I call. Now, I'm not condemning his play here. In fact, he played the hand in the exact same way I would have. He got lucky on the turn and got maximum value out of his cards. Kudos to him. I just wanted to illustrate how unlucky my day was.

I fucking hate the limit game but I know the house isn't going to change the day game for a number of reasons. 1) It's affordable for some that just want to play some cards 2) Higher limits dry up the action too quick 3) The house won't make money if the action dries up.

So I'm stuck having to play this shitty day game and trying to tweak my game in a crowd of complete idiots. Don't get me wrong. The majority of people that play at the clubhouse are solid guys and solid players, but everyday, there's at least two or three people at the table that make you want to put a gun to your head and just end the misery (and I mean that metaphorically, don't worry).

So there was some good news to this day. At one point I was down $290 and I only had six bucks left to my name. That's right. Six dollars. I was in the small blind and put it all in with six players in the hand and whaddayaknow... I spiked a jack and it held up. I went on a quick tear and managed to recoupe $115 of my losses.... from $6!!! Still a losing session but there was some light at the end of this tunnel.

Live Session Total = -$175.

Live MTD earnings are -$145 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$314 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.

Sessions #74 - #77 - I Think I'm Not A Limit Player

So this post seems to indicate to me that I am definately not a good limit player, and that I'm a better-than-average no-limit player.

Session #74 was the day limit game at the clubhouse. I only had an hour and a half to play before I had to pick up my daughter from school so in the end I didn't have time to counter the downswing and walked out $30 down. Not so-so bad, but not a winning session.

Session #75 was the Thursday $1/$2 no-limit game and I was able to use my stack to great effect. One example was four in the pot capped for the $25 pre-flop maximum and I'm on the button with 5-6 of hearts and Tess is in front with KK in the hole. The flop comes down with 3-A of hearts and a 7. The first two players check, Tess bets $40 and I push all-in for $170 total. Tess immediately smiles that someone-just-made-a-play-at-me smile and said "You Bastard!" (in a fun buddy sort of way). Tess loves to call you down in the limit game if he has a pair but in this case the ace on board and the flush draw gave him many reasons to lay down his cards because he would have been all-in for another $120 and in the end he did lay it down. A great example of no-limit play being able to force the action and tilt it in my favour. I left $160 up.

Session #76 was the limit day game again and an example of a hand I could have won in the no-limit game but got sucked out on the limit was me on the button with 9-9 and PizzaMan in the big blind with A-10 of diamonds. The flop comes down giving me a set and PizzaMan the flush draw. Now, all I can do is bet a measley $3 and hope the flush doesn't hit. PizzaMan calls and the flush hits but he checks it to me so I make a continuation bet and he raises with the nuts. I make a bonehead play and try to show strength and reraise and of course I get reraised back. My only chance is for the board to pair on the river and it doesn't and I pay him off another big bet. Now if this were no-limit, I could have pushed hard on the flop and he would have been hard-pressed to call for a significant raise. *shrug* I love no-limit. This session cost me $100.

Session #77 was a series of attempts to qualify for a WSOP package on Poker Stars to no avail. $75 down.

Live Sessions Total = +$30.
Online Session Total = -$75.

Live MTD earnings are +$30 CAN.
Live YTD earnings are -$139 CAN.

Online MTD earnings are -$75 US.
Online YTD earnings are +$542.50 US.