Sleep With the Fishes, Dine on the Whales

Another quick poker note. One of the purposes of this blog, that I sometimes forget is to track my mistakes, not just to get abuse from my entire reading audience (my mom and dad) but also to pound them into my head so I won't do it again. Sometimes I forget the obviousness of 1-2. There is no subtlety there. Matt Byrant hits on that a bit on his blog Pobody's Nerfect (I believe that was the slogan of a failed Nerf Golf game) which is a good read and like the Honest Player's blog will be linked on GCP imminently. Anyway, one mistake in my session yesterday was not betting my hand. I get a little out of line with 5h3h. I raise it from middle position. I have a chip stack and depending on the action of the others it's a hand I'm going in with the intention of bluffing... or hitting and blindsiding somebody. Of course board texture will determine bluffing. I get a couple of callers and a min-re-raise. Guy calls the new total (24 maybe? I was leading ou...

Got away from 2nd best hand a lot in the Harrahs tournament today. Then, I ran into AQ on a Q high board. I had QJ in the BB. I got away again. Next hand KQ in the SB. Tight button raises. I call. Flop is Queen high I'm short stacked. I check he bets. I call. Turn is a brick. I realize I can check call for the rest of them or shove them in there (like I should have done on the flop). I push he calls. AQ again. Oh. Then I burn through 3 buy-ins in the cash game. Guy chased to river a flush on my trips. Made a call against the nuts with a redraw that wasn't a redraw. Guy shoved the nuts on a small pot. Why would he chase away his customer. I called yet my spidey sense was tingling--that's what he wants you to think. It's just odd because, I wouldn't think my image would justify a bet like that. It worked so maybe I out-leveled myself. Then I go on a bit of heater. Walk out a decent winner including tourney buy-in and Monday night's loss I was...

Alright, I'm back. I'm now half the man I used to be... or now everything I own is only half of what it used to be... no, no, no, I now have a better half. Yeah, that's the line. I'm married and returned from the honeymoon. Had some ups and downs in the poker room in the lead in to the marriage with my friends in town. More ups than downs so that was good. Gene D tells me he was on a heater before his wedding too, so if I get to play tonight we'll find out if that marriage karma is over or not. Some quick thoughts... Spent the h-moon in Disney World. They had the Wine and Food Festival at Epcot. I encourage anybody who likes to eat (isn't that everybody, it's like saying I like to sleep, breathe and circulate blood through my body, or when really full I also like to relieve myself or kind of like 20 year olds on myspace saying they like to party--no kidding) and has to go to Disney World to time it around this event. We got plenty of Photopass pictur...

Thomas Wyatt. He wrote the poem below. Circa Reget Tonate--means the thunder reverberated through the realm. It references an ancient Greek poem. Wyatt's imagery refers to a crisis of his time: a King with a bit of matrimonial bloodlust (and incidentally turned the Christian world upside down because of it). Wyatt's viewpoint was from his literal viewpoint in the Tower of London as Ann Bolynn was beheaded by Henry the VIII. However, I think the poem works well with the state of affairs facing the country now. Literal in places becomes figurative, but still a lot of it works. Anybody that thought I wrote it. Thanks but not true. Okay... nothing to do with Poker there. Looking forward to Gene D recounting his conquest of Shortys. Sounds like he had a night and a half. Played Saturday at Boomtown and saw some odd things. I bubbled two off the money. Fun. Card dead all morning, and just kept waiting and waiting. Made moves to keep my stack from sinking into the felt bu...

http://rumorsandrants.com/2008/10/david-west-has-obamas-back.html www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Who list his wealth and ease retain, Himself let him unknown contain. Press not too fast in at that gate Where the return stands by disdain, For sure, circa Regna tonat. The high mountains are blasted oft When the low valley is mild and soft. Fortune with Health stands at debate. The fall is grievous from aloft. And sure, circa Regna tonat. These bloody days have broken my heart. My lust, my youth did them depart, And blind desire of estate. Who hastes to climb seeks to revert. Of truth, circa Regna tonat. The bell tower showed me such sight That in my head sticks day and night. There did I learn out of a grate, For all favour, glory, or might, That yet circa Regna tonat. By proof, I say, there did I learn: Wit helpeth not defence too yerne, Of innocency to plead or prate. Bear low, therefore, give God the stern, For sure, circa Regna tonat. www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Yesterday I played my weekly double. Did fine in the morning tournament at Harrahs. I looked down at Queens and had a bad feeling. Evil man shoves with JJ. I call. Suicide Bomber scenario that used to always knocked me out. Da Rock of Aces was dealing and threw the Jack in the door. A guy I regularly final table with tells me after the hand he folded a Queen. I said you should have said it during it and I would have had a shot at the case queen. It always comes once somebody announces there is only one left in the deck. I left Harrahs pretty unaffected by my "bad beat." The last two times I final tabled I hit my set on overpairs... so it happens. Then I realized I was fine so why was I leaving. All the folks that went busto in the tournament were hitting the cash games on Tilt. Just like Monday night after that Saints debacle. A room full of tilters... easy money. Now, if I was tilting I just go home but this time why leave? I crushed the cash game. Made some tou...

See Reid's comment on the post below. Last night after the Saints game, with an open-ended time frame (no trapping here because of ladies) I met up with the Tiltin' Texan, and cash game specialist Joe Busch at Harrahs. I lost half my buy-in with two pair on the first hand. Guy had a weird tricky straight. And this time my read was right as I minimized my loss. Then it was smooth sailing. Despite being down to less than a 100, I got dealt hands and they held and this morning I walked out a big winner. Got a new Harrahs hat when I coolered a guy. I had 8s9s. Flop was 10d7s6s. We got it in after some action, he said, "I got a straight," I said, "So do I with a redraw." On cue the turn was the 5s. Ouch. Was just thinking I hadn't gotten a straight flush in a while. Called a guy down with King high, Jack kicker to beat his King high crap kicker. So I was playing good as well as running good. Course it's a lot easier to play good when you are running goo...

My lady (remember say it with the inflection of the Pina Colada song) had to go to a Charity Ball at the Hilton. I would therefore drop her off and play at Harrahs until she was ready to go. Sounds like a plan. Right? I hate playing under the spectre of a timetable. In the past I've either pressed when I shouldn't to turn a quick profit or left angry because I didn't have time to amass one. Last night started with a guy running a mini-angle on me. I had a weak top pair, two to a flush on board. I bet he called. Turn was a brick, he checked, I bet, he called. River paired the board and gave the third to the flush. I was done. He got his hand as close to the table as a WWE referee to the mat on the third count when the hero is in trouble--but doesn't hit. I followed suit and checked. He pulled back, THE HULKSTER GOT OUT OF THE PIN (Jim Ross echoing through my mind) and then reached for his chips. He got me in his trap. He fired out more than a small bet. I ...

My header on GCP .net mentions I'd blog about issues facing the Gulf Coast. In the wake of Katrina, I felt that I wanted to touch on some things like that. In fact it used to say "politics" rather than issues facing the gulf coast and today, I warily will broach that subject. Politics and poker are hardly strange bedfellows. Most politicos, Obama included, are avid poker players. It is said Nixon ultimately jump started his life and later funded his campaign based off of money grown from poker winnings. Currently poker is a political issue, perhaps things are in such a sad state of affairs poker players may not have the latitude to vote on candidates supporting issues important to us such as legalizing online poker, bar-room poker, or home games, but it's important we be aware where our candidates from President to representative sit on these issues. Therefore, I'm going to get political for a second, and not really feel bad about doing it. More than anything I...

Not playing the Harrahs weekly today. Couple of interesting moments from Monday night. I was playing next to the Tiltin' Texan with two great football pool numbers 4 and 7. Course not so great with a field goal fest waiting to happen with the Steelers/Ravens. Pretty early on needing to factor a safety into the football math to win, I was focused only on the table. Still, I had a brain fart. I usually keep a stack of 6 to 8 chips in my hand to occupy myself when out of the action. I play with it away from my larger chip stacks and sometimes leave it out there on its own. Suddenly, I was down to just a couple of chips in my hand and the little stack had disappeared. I was dumbfounded. It was like it just disappeared from the table. I asked the Texan if when he had scooped a pot, maybe I had left it out there and he pulled it in. Yet, in my mind I felt he hadn't scooped a pot since it "disappeared." In fact, he had gotten resucked out on just before that in a bi...