Played some online poker… June 30, 2008

So I played in one of the wsop ft fantasy freerolls (limit holdem rofl) and came in 11th place out of 1078 for $7.50 and was happy with that. I was burnt out tho so I told all the girls in the lps tournament I was off to make a chicken burger with gouda goat cheese (num) and told them I’d prolly drown my sorrows in some .10 pl omaha sngs on ps.

I got back and signed up for one and waited and waited and it never filled up. So I hopped in a NL omaha h/l 2-table sng for $1.50 and then hopped in what I thought was a 2nd one of the same exact thing. I ended up cashing in both and after I finished in the 2nd one I realized that I’d actually signed up for one $1.50 sng and one $3.00 sng lol….BONUS as the $1.50 I ended up 3rd for $5.40 and the $3 one I ended up in 2nd for $16.20…weeeeeeeeeeeeee.  

Learning tools for the game.. June 22, 2008

I’m constantly thinking about how to improve my game and looking for new ways to do so.  I’ve found a variety of resources that have helped me improve as a player.  I haven’t played poker in a couple days as I’ve been nursing a bad cold so I’ve just been searching around online and reading a book and thought I’d add this blog.  Some of my favorite learning tools are…

Books…I love to read poker books and right now I’m reading “How to Beat Low-Limit Poker” by Shane Smith and Tom McEvoy.  I’m currently trying to improve my live limit cash game so it was a good primer to start with, informative but not overly technical.  I think my favorite two books I’ve read so far are:  Read em and Reap by Joe Navarro, Online Ace by Scott Fischman (this one really improved my online tournament game), and although I’ve not read them in their entirety (I skipped chapters I felt were boring or at the time didn’t apply to my game) I enjoyed both Super System (1 and 2) and The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide (tournament edition).

Magazines…I don’t subscribe to any magazines but I do pick them up on my trips to casinos and love the articles found inside.  I normally pick up Card Player, Poker Player Magazine, Bluff, and Poker Pro.

Blogs…this has been one of my favorite learning tools.  First it is getting me to write about and delve deeper into my game and from that comes a wealth of knowledge I wouldn’t have had otherwise.  Second, I’m reading the most amazing stories from other poker bloggers and I’m gaining huge knowledge from these blogs and I thank you for that.

Poker Forums…I’ve been on one forum or another for the last 2+ years and have gained knowledge and friendship from them all.  I especially love reading and analyzing hand histories and trip reports.  Lately I’ve been hanging out on 3 forums for 3 very different reasons.  Lady Poker Sharks (www.ladypokersharks.com) is the forum for serious poker for women.  I love and cherish this forum for this reason.  I know at any given time I can log on to sharks with a question and get back the most wonderful, knowledgeable, and caring answers and I appreciate that.  Another women’s poker forum I love to log on to is ladiespokernmore (www.ladiespokernmore.yuku.com) which is everything I ever wanted in a forum…good poker talk and talk on other subjects as well (current events, news, politics, tv, books, movies, etc etc etc).  My third forum is Dog Pack Poker (www.dogpackpoker.com) and it’s a forum that was created by a group of friends from the railbirds community.  I don’t log on to railbirds anymore (I feel I’ve outgrown it) but I love to log on to dpp and say hey to all my friends and see what they’ve been up to lately.

Beyond poker forums online, I also love to follow tournaments live on poker reporting sites and read hand histories etc.  I’m also big on looking at online stats on sharkscope and OPR.

Poker Journals…I’m a fanatic about a good poker journal.  It’s the one thing that my hubby drilled in to my head when I first started playing holdem.  He bought me a poker book and a journal for christmas one year (maybe xmas 2003?…yep that was about a year after he started playing holdem) and told me if I wanted to play poker I’m to read the book and keep a journal.  I took that to heart and have always kept a journal since…I am now on my 6th journal lol.  I actually have 4 filled journals, one current online journal, one current live journal, and one small notebook that I use to keep track of just my Foxwoods limit cash game trips.  I love to look back at my old journals and see my old successes and failures, read my notes, and see how much I’ve grown.

That is all my major tools to learning this crazy game we all love and hate (at times lol).  I’d love to hear any other tools I might be missing for my game.

Super Turbo nlhe stt on Full Tilt June 21, 2008

Has anyone tried one of these yet lol? You start with 300 in chips (yep, really…300 in chips) and the blinds go up every 3 minutes. I tried one once when they first started on FT and got dealt QQ the first hand and lost to something like 75 off lol. I was frustrated with omaha tonight and really wanted to try something different and out of the box so hopped in one of these. They cost $3.50 +.30 and it’s a nlhe stt. It only took 61 hands for me to win.  I listed the hands below just because I thought the whole concept was pretty interesting. This is definitely not a stt that I would play all the time but it was something different to try for once.  I’m definitely happy with turning my $3.80 into $15.75 tho lol for such a weird and strange structure. 

1- 6,7 off fold (15/30 blinds with 300 in starting chips)

2- 2,2 in ep,stupidly try to limp and decide to fold to an all-in/call (1 gone so far)

3- 9,9 in bb…utg raises, I move in and win (utg has KT)

4- A,5 spades in sb, bb is all in for 30 chips and 2 of us check down to split pot with
two pair on board with Ace kicker (2nd person out)

5- 8,4 off on button and fold

6- 2,9 off in co and fold (20/40 blinds)

7- 4,6 suited and fold

8- K,6 off and fold

9- J,5 off and fold

10- J,7 off and fold

11- T,8 suited in bb, check and flop comes T high…I check and it’s check around (bummer no check-raise)
turn is a Q and sb bets 40 (minimum) and I call, river comes with a 3 and he bets 80
and I just can’t put him on a Q and decide to call. In hindsight I could have played
the hand faster. (he had J6 off lol) I am at 810 chips at this point.

12- 87 off in sb, try to limp and bb moves all in and I fold. (760 in chips) (25/50 blinds)

13- J,9 off on button and fold

14- K,T off and fold

15- 6,2 off and fold

16- 7,4 off and fold

18- 3,5 off and fold (6 players left at this point)

19- 2,5 off and fold

20- 8,8 in bb and fold to heavy action (have 700 in chips now and blinds are 30/60)

21- T,T in sb and button raises pot and I move all in for my 670 chips and lose to
A4 and AK (yep they hit an ace on the river grrrrr) (5 players left)

22- K,J off on button and limp (should moved in as I only had 275 chips left, wasn’t thinking
straight lol)…flopped trips and win hand. (now have 365 chips)

23- 9,2 off and fold (4 players left now)

24- 8,T off and fold

25- 8,3 off in bb and fold on flop to bet (285 in chips left)

26- Q,Q in sb and raise all in and bb calls with K3 off and I knock him out (have 530 in
chips left and in the $$$)

27- 8,2 off and fold

28- T,8 off and fold

29- 7,6 suited and it’s folded to me in bb (570 in chips) blinds are 40/80

30- 4,T off and fold (530 in chips)

31- K,J suited and I raise pot and they fold to me (blinds 50/100 and now have 680 in chips)

32- 5,4 suited in bb and fold on turn to bet (580 in chips)

33- T,8 suited in sb and fold to button raise (530 in chips)

34- 3,9 off and fold

35- 9,9 in bb and it’s folded around to me (580 in chips)

36- J,2 off in sb and fold (530 in chips)

37- 4,9 suited and fold to an all-in

38- 8,3 off in bb and it’s folded to me (blinds are 60/120 now)

39- Q,4 off and fold

40- A,7 suited and move in and folded to me (710 in chips)

41- A,8 off and move in and folded to me (890 in chips)

42- J,9 off and fold to an all-in

43- K,9 off and folded to me in bb (950 in chips)

44- 5,9 off and fold

45- Q,7 off and folded to me (heads up now)

46- J,2 off and I fold

47- 8,8 and move in and take blinds (1010 in chips)

48- 5,8 off and call and fold to all in (80/160 blinds)

49- Q,J off and call all in and win (1700 in chips)

50- Q,J suited and move all in and win blinds (1860 in chips)

51- 8,T off and fold to all-in

52- A,6 off and raise all in and they call and I lose to KJ (now down to 700 chips)

53- K.8 off and folded to me in bb

54- 3.9 off and fold

55- 2.3 suited and folded to me in bb

56- 2.T off and fold and they show me AA lol

57- A,4 off and I move in and they call with J7 and I double up to 1400

58- 2,4 off and fold

59- A,6 off and call their all in and they have A3 and my A6 holds up to cripple them to 60 chips.

60- 4,2 off and they are all in in blind and they win

61- Q,3 off and they are all in in the blind and I win the stt

6/16/08…Foxwoods June 18, 2008

Hubby and I grabbed the bus to Foxwoods on Monday. I was going to play some 5/10 limit but he signed up for it first and there was only one table going so I sat down at a new 4/8 table. Double-glasses lady tried to move to my table when she saw me (she must think ima fish lol) and she got yelled at by the floor guy and he made her move back to her other table and refused to give her a table change. It kinda made my whole day rofl. I also saw the luckbox from the other day who was hitting any two cards…I pointed him out to hubby and we watched him play for a few…any two cards will do once again…only problem for him this time was during the hours I was at the next table I saw him blow $400 playing any two cards….exactly what he won the week before.

As I was playing, I typed out my key hands (hands that made a major difference in my stack or were big starting hands) on my phone. I worked on reading the players around me and just logged more hours at the table. I didn’t finish my day up but it didn’t matter as it’s about logging hours, seeing hands, and working on my game. Here are the key hands I saw:

• …J8 of clubs in late position…flopped trips…action to river where it was folded to me. I thought of Mel and her going out with J8 suited in the 150 guarantee…weird that it was my first hand and the last hand I heard about the night before.
• …KK…raised and folded around and won blinds.
• …45 off in bb…flop came A36 and sb checked and I bet and button folded and sb called…turn was another 6 and sb checked I bet and he folded. My only bluff of the day but always happy when a bluff works at a limit table.
• …limped from mid position after a couple other limpers with pocket 4’s…flop came A55 and it was checked around…turn was a 4 and it was checked to me and I bet with two callers…river a T and it was checked to me and I bet and all folded.
• …A9 on button…flop two pair and I call a bet….turn puts three straight on board and it is bet then raised by me with one caller (original person who bet)…river a 2…he checked and I bet and he called and then he turned over nut straight. He says “wow, I thought you had me beat, couldn’t figure out what you had” (well considering he had THE NUTS, wtf did he think I had that could “beat” him lol). Anyway buddy, thanks for saving me money lol.
• …JT on button…flop comes ten high and it is bet and I called…turn 9 and it is bet and I raised he called…river a blank and he bets and I call and he has hit 2 pair on turn. (this will not be the first time today this guy outdraws me by the river with a worse starting hand)
• …so far have only seen 2 pocket pairs…KK and 44 (bleh)
• …TT (see I just needed to type that and then I get some pairs lol)…limped on button with lots of limpers before me (shoulda popped it possibly to build a pot)…flop comes 342 rainbow and it is checked around to cut-off who bets and I raise, all fold and he calls…turn is an A and he checks (I put him on an ace) and I check….river is a 5 putting straight on board and he bets I call…he has an ace but board plays and we split lol (did he really think I was going to fold to one more bet on river lol?)
• …KJ off on button and many limpers and I limp too….flop came AT3 with two hearts…bet and called around so I called…turn was K hearts putting 3 hearts on board (I have the J of hearts) and it is checked around…river was a heart with no pair on board and cut-off bets and I raise and he calls…he has two pair and I have 2nd nut flush….he says “omg I didn’t even realize that you could have a flush”, doh!
• …AQ off in sb…buncha limpers and I completed and had to throw away on missed flop to heavy action.
• …AQ off utg and I raised with lots of callers…flop came J high and it is checked to me and I continuation bet with one caller…I bet on turn with nothing and he called…river was blank and he checked and I was going to bet and saw him reaching for chips and checked behind knowing he had me beat and he did. The whole table laughed at him at how easy he is to read.
• …AA in sb…I raised and it is called…flop came Q high and it is bet by me and called…turn and river brought 4 straight on board…it is checked around and I win.
• …QQ…and I raise and got 4 callers…flop came ATJ and it is checked to me and I bet and two called…turn came with a blank and I bet and one raised and other cold called so I called (wouldn’t have called if other didn’t cold call) and then folded on river knowing she had KQ.
• …had AT in sb and completed…flop came A99 and I bet with one caller…turn J and I bet and one caller…river is third club and we both check…he tells me he has a crappy kicka and then turns over AQ to beat me lol. I wasn’t mad though, he was sooooo old and he said he honestly forgot what he had as a kicker rofl.
• …AQ and raise utg after a straddle (I’m way down at this point and decide this is going to be my hand to get chips or cash out)…flop comes queen high and the straddle bets and I raise and him and two others call…turn blank and I bet and all call…river is a queen and I bet and get one caller to win.
• …AK utg (after Aq hand) and I raise and next guy calls all in for his last $8 with three other callers including blinds…flop comes queen high and checked to me and I continuation bet and all call….turn comes with a J and I check and have to fold…crap cards win hand and all in guy also had AK.
• …97 soooted on button…limp in after many limpers…flop comes A97…it’s bet and I raise to get rid of draws and hopefully crap aces…turn is a 5 and she checks to me and I bet and she calls…river is a 5 (pfffft) and she huffs and checks and I check behind her and say “show me your Ace and kicker so I can muck” and she turns over A3 off (played from early position) and I much my crapped out on two pair. 

Well that’s it for key hands…had a hard day with lots of gross rivers but I got to see lots of hands and log more poker hours so all is good. Sorry for the super long blog…had lots of key hands I guess.  Had a hard time getting spaces between hands, not sure why, which is why they are all outlined like that lol.  Just trying to make them so they aren’t run together.

 

Another Foxwoods trip with more to come… June 14, 2008

So I’m posting another Foxwoods trip.  Hubby and I have had to cancel all our poker vacations away for the year as his mom is sick again.  Instead of vacations, he’s decided I should start going down to Foxwoods on the bus a couple days a week and after two very long years of not having a real working bankroll, he’s finally given me my bankroll back that we used for household expenses a couple years ago.  He wants me to start with 4/8 holdem again and work my way up to a higher limit.  I’ve not played limit cash games much in a while and he doesn’t want me to move up until I’ve built my bankroll up a lil and re-read some of our limit holdem books we have.  I completely agree as the next game up at Foxwoods is 5/10 with a kill and there is usually only one game going so if things aren’t going well or if I’m feeling outclassed at that table there usually isn’t another one to move to.  Same with 10/20 and 20/40, there is only usually 1 10/20 game and 2 20/40 games going but that’s irrelevant as I’m completely not ready for more than 5/10 at the moment.

Took the bus down again (which will almost always be the case) and had the worst bus driver ever, bleh. Got seated almost right away at a new 4/8 table with mostly “tourists” and old guys (my favorites). There was a kid seated two to my left who was trying to act all funny and like he was a pro. He held up the hand ranking sheet and said “I have all the hand rankings in case anyone needs help…guffaw guffaw (his laugh lol)”. His lil joke about hand rankings went over like a fart in church.

It was a very weak passive game and I knew if I could catch cards I would have a great day…unfortunately even with a seat change after lunch to get away from a smelly guy, I never did catch any great hands. I had KK twice…the first time I won the blinds only and the 2nd time…sigh. I raised and only the bb called. The flop came KQ9 rainbow…he checks and I bet and he calls. Turn comes with a T still rainbow and he checks and I bet and he calls. River comes with a J (putting a straight on board and giving him the best hand if he has an Ace) and he checks and I check behind him. He says to me (and this is the quote of the day)…”I’m playing the board too”…PFFFFT, WTF??? Until the river fkd me I was NOT playing the damn board. I said to him “well I wasn’t actually playing the board until the river, I actually had a set of Kings and he said “well I had something too, I had a pair of 9’s” and proceeds to flip over 69 OFF. He called my raise and then called me all the way down with 69 OFF. What a great game lol…this is why 4/8 has always been a profitable game for me in the long run. 

I never had AA, QQ, AK, lost with JJ, lost with AQ, AJ AJ, lost with TT when someone chased me to the river with bottom pair and caught their 2nd pair on river, won a small pot with 99 when I flopped a set of 9’s. Had 88 twice, one with them once and lost with them once. Never had 77, 66, 44…had 55, 33, 22 and lost with them all. I never saw any high suited cards only mid or low suited or unsuited connectors. I played A7 suited on the button once and the flop came A7X all spades…a loose old guy bet (prolly had a stray ace) and I raised to isolate, but everyone still called lol….turn came a blank, they checked around to me and I bet and they all called (chasing the stray spade?) and the river came with a 7 (whew) and I bet and they all folded. Beyond that I really wasn’t seeing any playable hands.

The funny guy two to my left on the other hand…he was a “pro”, sigh. He was one of those players who had watched poker on tv and felt like he knew what he was doing. He had all the “poker lingo” down but knew nothing of hand selection. Unfortunately he was hit with the deck no matter what he played…I saw him play T5 off from 2nd position for a limp and the flop came T55 lol. I saw him play any two suited cards and hit his flush almost every time. He couldn’t miss and I hope I see him in a game there again. As he was leaving 3 racks up (yep you read correctly, up 3 racks of yellows aka $2 chips in 4/8 holdem…this equals $600 extra he took of the table) he said it’s by far the best he’d ever done playing, why am I not surprised lol.

I had a weird day playing…I went on a tear three times. When I first sat down I won 5 hands in a row (someone told me this lol, he was counting) and then nothing for hours…and then I won 3 hands in a row (again someone told me lol) and then nothing for hours. Then before I left I won a couple more pots and ended the day -$60 and can’t imagine how bad it could have been if I’d not been catching cards and been at a tougher table, I’m very glad to only lose that much. Oh and when you take the bus, you get keno vouchers and I cashed my in before leaving and found out I won $155 so for the day I finished +$60 after paying for my bus and with my poker loss.

Oh and a funny side note…I saw double-glasses lady with inside out earphones from the week before and thought I was going to get to spend the day playing against her but she’s moved up in the world froom 4/8, she’s a nl player now…lucky for whoever she is seated with the way she plays rofl.

Bus trip to Foxwoods… June 10, 2008

Somehow I convinced the hubby to take the bus to Foxwoods again today.  We get there and sign up on the 4/8 holdem list and get seated at a new table right away…TOGETHER.  Us together is not always a good thing, I feed off his attitude and get myself in trouble lol.  It started off okay, I won a pot when I limped on the button (after 4 limpers) with Q3 soooooted (diamonds) and the flop came Jack high all diamonds.  There was a woman (wearing trendy eyeglasses with even trendier sunglasses over them with lots of bling and wearing her earphones inside out so we could all hear her music (big sigh) who just couldn’t believe I had a flush and called me all the way down…thank you thank you.

Next round in late position I have 74 soooted (spades) and limp after 3 limpers and the flop comes giving me a gutty straight draw….one bettor and all call so I call (kinda loose yah I know), turn comes with a 7 giving me a pair and a gutty…one bettor, one caller and I call (shoulda raised but didn’t lol) and river comes with a seven…one guy bets, rest fold and I raise and he calls.  He wasn’t too happy with me and hubby was starting to look at me funny lol.  I’ve recently starting loosening up my limit game to include some mid sooooted connectors (and the occasional loose button limp) and it seems to be working for me.  I’m not getting all crazy lol but I am playing the table a lot more.

I had AA in ep and raised with 4 callers…flop came TT2 and they check around to me…I bet to see where I am at, the sb raises me and the bb QUICK CALLS so I toss my AA…turn comes with a 2 and a raising war is happening…when the cards turn over the sb has a T for tens full of 2’s and the bb has quad twos.  I saved a bunch of money on that hand lol.  A few hands later I have AA in lp and it’s raised utg and I re-raise and two call and raiser calls.  Flop comes Jack high rainbow…utg checks, I bet and someone calls and utg re-raises and I re-raise to isolate and the other dude cold calls (eh lol), turn is a queen and the utg checks to me, I bet and both call…river is a king (ding ding ding) and it’s checked to me again and I bet and utg raises (duh I should have known that) and I call and he flips over kings where he’s hit his 2 outer, sigh.  I was fine until he started heckling me telling me I was a chaser (yep me and my aces chased him all the way to the river) and it was about time he beat me and blah blah blah.  Hubby left the table for a different game at this point and I took a walk.  When I got back that dude was gone so all was well lol.

I had a couple other hands where I flopped or turned straights and got max value out of my hands.  I had AQ soooted in the sb and after 7 limped I limped too and flop came KJT RAINBOW…thank you!  I ended up getting double glasses lady for a chunk of chips on that hand.   Another straight hand I had was when I limped with 56 off on the button after many limpers…the bb raises it and we all call.  Flop comes K47 rainbow…he bets and almost all of us call.  Turn is a 3 (I chanted 3 3 3 3 3 in my head lol) and he bets and one calls and I raise…he re-raises and the one caller folds and I cap it.  River is an Ace and he bets out again and I raise and he calls.  He was stunned at my straight, it never occurred to him that I would have it.  I finished the day up $85 and very happy with my play.

Hubby had another bad day at the tables, sorry to say.  He said he’s going to help me get a bankroll together so I can take the bus down once a week to play limit holdem.  We used to play once a week but without a working bankroll he had a hard time justifying both of us going each week.

WSOOF freeroll event on Full Tilt… June 8, 2008

So as I’m still at a bit of a loss as to what to blog about and there is nothing exciting going on with my game as I haven’t been playing much and when I do play it is up a dollar, down two, up two, down one lol.  I’ve been concentrating on a certain project for the last week which has taken up all my thoughts and time and am very behind in reading everyone’s blogs and I’m sorry…I’ll catch up soon!

Anyway lol, the wsoof (world series of online forums) freeroll…there were 1907 entrants with many missing bodies at the beginning.  My table started with 3 of us playing and 6 sitouts.  I broke those two people and then they moved in 2 more  and I broke those two people lol, and then they brought in another sitout and left one seat empty.  I collected blinds for a while and then they filled the seat with a decent stacked player who decided to play hardball and he too was out lol.

This went on for a bit and then I hit a royal flush (YAY) where I collected a few more chips.  We get down to 27 players and I’m average stacked and now the forum I am playing for is collecting points each time a person gets knocked out.  They are paying top 9 places and what you win is a $50 entry into the wsoof main event where they are giving out a wsop me seat (I wish!).  Well with 16 players left I’m under-average stacked but not in trouble.  I’m in the bb and one person in ep limps and the sb completes and I check with Q8 off.  Flop comes QJ8 rainbow…sb WAY OVERBETS the pot and I’m thinking…mid pair steal move…I re-raise pot and ep folds…sb moves me in (he has me covered by 5K bleh) and he has…QJ…what a frickin cold deck…sb and bb both flop 2 pair.  I don’t improve and I’m out in 16th, boo hoo.

I’m very happy with how I played and I’m glad I got some points for the forum I was playing for but again bummed that the deck still isn’t cooperating with my hands lol (well, minus the whole royal flush thing tee hee).

Anyway, that’s it for now…I’m way behind on my beading (I have things to ship out) and I’m exhausted from playing 4 hours of poker so that’s it for now.  Like I mentioned before, I’ll get caught up on everyone’s blog real soon.

Daytrip to Foxwoods… June 3, 2008

It’s been a looooong time since Jason and I have taken the bus to Foxwoods to play poker.  We’ve decided it’s something we want to add back into our life.  So this morning at 5:30 am my alarm went off  and I got my arse up to get ready to get to the bus station for 6:45.  Jason informs me we are going to walk to the station because it’s easier than driving over and finding a parking spot.

We pay our $33 each (cheaper than driving there lol) and get on the bus.  On the way down, we stop along the way and pick up other passengers.  I see two people picking their nose in their car and when we go to one of the bus stations, there is a guy standing on the sidewalk waiting for his bus and BRUSHING HIS TEETH!   After he’s done he starts doing yoga right in line lol.

Anyway, we get to Foxwoods at 10 am and I go sit at a 4/8 table (not much of a wait)…after about two hours I’m down almost $200…I’m getting no huge starting hands and any playable hands I get are completely missing the flop.  Finally I look down and see two purdy black Aces.  I raise and a couple people call.  Flop comes A76 rainbow and they check to me and I bet and they both call.  Turn comes with another 6…they check to me again, and I bet and one calls and the next person raises me.  I don’t put him on quad sixes lol but I pause for a second like I’m worried and then just call (this was my bingo moment lol!).  River comes with a blank and he bets and I raise, and the other folds.  He re-raises, and I re-raise, and he re-raises (and I decide to put in one more raise because now I’m wondering…does he actually have quads lol) so I do my last re-raise and he mumbles “omg you have the 6’s” and just calls.  I flip over my pocket aces and the whole table is in shock…not one person has put me on a pocket pair of Aces.  The other raiser had pocket 7’s for 7’s full of 6’s which lost to my Aces full of 6’s.

After that my hands turn around and finally I’m getting dealt some playable hands and they are actually holding up.   Around 4:15 (an hour before our bus leaves) I see Jason lurking and not playing.  He tells me that he’s ready when I am (ut oh, this means something icky happened if he’s already packed up) and after one more round where nothing exciting happens, I decide to pack up $92 up for the day.

Jason tells me his HORRIBLE story and I’m just in awe that this can happen.  He said he had x amount of chips on the table all afternoon as well as some 20 dollar bills.  The dealer had dealt cards directly at those twenty dollar bills for hours and never said anything about them.  Jason is in a hand and he’s raised all the chips he has preflop (which was like $21 or something)…he flops top set and tries to bet $60 in twenty dollar bills.  The kid starts mucking his hand until he sees that Jason is betting the 20’s.  He then starts freaking out on Jason saying “you aren’t allowed to play 20’s at all in 1/2 nlhe”…Jason was stunned as the dealer had been dealing directly at these bills all afternoon.  So the dealer tells him “no playing 20’s, only 100 dollar bills are allowed to be played only”.  Soooo, the dealer tells Jason that he is considered all in and the other guy who was mucking gets to keep his cards and the turn and river will be dealt.  At this time the guy has NOTHING but two clubs in his hand and one on board…the turn comes with a club and the river comes with a club.

So the guy says to Jason after “well at least I saved you 60 dollars”   Uhm not quite says the fearless Jason.  If he’d been able to bet the 60 dollars the guy was going to fold and Jason would have won a decent sized pot.  BTW, nowhere on the table info did it say “twenties don’t play in a hand” but the floor came over and ruled that it did. 

Anyway, that is my lil story…no big outstanding hands besides the ones mentioned…just a fun day (for me lol) playing poker.  Not so sure Jason feels the same way.

I’m at a loss as to what to write anymore… June 2, 2008

I don’t even know what to write in my blog anymore.  I’m still not running well although I’ve snapped out of my bad play and am playing a better game these days.

I ventured into the weekly sharks game this week and we were on the bubble.  I was in the big blind with AA…first one in is sb who double raises to 400…I re-raise to 1000…she calls.  Flop comes Q9x rainbow and she sets me all in…I call, she has 88 so I’m ahead, turn blank, river EIGHT and I’m out on the bubble. 

I’ve been spending a lot of time going out on the bubble which is fine with me.  I’m not going out on the bubble because of bad play, usually it’s just bad luck.  I’ve spent the week playing a sng here or there…played a $1 45 player one on ft (yes this is what my bankroll dictates at the moment) and came in 2nd (he sucked out on me twice heads up to beat me, sigh).  Have tried some stts here and there and am either going out near the money or in the money.

Anyway, like I said…I don’t even know what to write about anymore.  I’m in a blog rut and am not sure how to get out of it.  I need to spend some time catching up on all the sharkbait blogs.