I Actually Feel Bad for the Guy

I have been running North Pole cold since Vegas, until yesterday when I pulled down a Stars satellite to the 530 (cashed for T money immediately) at the same time Garth did.

Tonight, this happened in a 20+1 heads up sit and go on the FIRST HAND.

Ouch.

OK, not THAT bad....

Go Ryan (a/k/a my horsey)!

See the flop...

Post Lag

It’s been awhile. Normal excuses: lots of work, family in town.

Truth of the matter: I’ve been running a bit cold and trying to avoid depressing people.

Actually, when I say running cold, I mean mostly playing more poorly than I’d like. Two hands really depressed me as they make me question my ability to ever be more than a mediocre player. Both involved 400+ pots, both in involved players (correctly) calling in late position my preflop raises from middle position with small pairs, both involved me having a pair of aces after the flop (in once case AKs pairing, in the other having AA pre-flop with a queen high flop) and both involved me paying off sets with my whole stack. Both, especially the first, also involved me working to get the information that I was beat post-flop and both involved me nevertheless ignoring that information when I had at least a possibility of only losing half my stack.

I am just not good enough to make those laydowns yet and it really eats at me.

Oh, they also happened online on back to back days the weekend before last, with a Friday night prelude at the Salami with the KATM as witness to me losing 200 on a coinflip plus, making that weekend a full G drop. Quite a comeuppance after actually winning money against bloggers in Vegas.

I have sworn off Salami for now as I am not willing to play it with a deep enough buy-in to play actual poker (I think against the average big stack there I am probably even, with the occasional advantage, but in not a few cases I am significantly outclassed) and short stack play that can make a lot of money against the huge field of short-buying crack aggro donkeys (aggro even for New York at this place) that otherwise populate that room involve playing a poker-like substance game that is just not that fun for me, especially as I seem to have lost every 53-47, 65-35 and similar pre-flop all in race that might make me enjoy the poker-like substance notwithstanding the lack of thought involved. How’s that for a run on sentence?

I am in the hole at least one more WPBT trip report which I promise to write when I get around to it.

There you go DP.

See the flop...

Bobby Bracelet Hangs on Against SoxWife

Major kudoes to my better half, who did this all while coughing up blood. Imagine if she had been healthy.

My advice to her on playing Bobby Bracelet: "hit him with a 2x4 in the cranium, it's the only thing he understands."





Here they are on a hammerless hammer flop:

See the flop...

WPBT Report First Day

Thursday:

I flew in after working a half-day at home (thank you kind boss for agreeing to that). Knowing sleep would be at a (massive) premium once I got to sin city, I popped an Ambien and slept the whole 5 hour flight (I think I'll do this every time).

Hit Excal, dropped off my bags and found Chili at the bizarre 1-3 NL they spread, and then DonkeyPuncher, the first bloggers I met for the weekend. First quote from DP: “I am not making any prop bets with you”. Wonder what he could be talking about? Didn’t really stop him as I took yellow on the first wheel spin for a dollar. But after amazingly getting back to even a half hour later, he even more amazingly refused me any further action. Go figure.

A long run of bloggers then went through the card room, highlights definitely including Mr. Can’t Hang’s unsurprising surprise visit. Also, I didn’t know it at the time, but I met for the first time (ok I probably met him in December, but who knows) StatikKling, who I must say is one of my new favorites, who is funny as hell and seems to be a genuinely nice guy. Also great was final meeting face to face Louddownunder and Kat.

Took a break from the poker up a tiny nip from my first session to have a few {cough} socos with Al and the whole crew. Had the world’s most toxic chili dog. Had a few {cough} more socos. Joined 2-4 blogger limit game prepared to donk off significant cash, given (a) I don’t play limit, (b) I was slightly {cough} inebriated, (c) this was a blogger table and (d) I don’t play limit.

So of course the deck exploded on me and I was up more than 100 in no time in multiway capped pots. Madness and variance seemingly caught up with me as I ended up back down. After a small rebound, I noticed that a 1-3NL table had become another blogger table, or at least 50% blogger. What could be a better idea than tossing a few {cough} down and playing no limit with Bill Rini, Joe Speaker, Dan Mikulski of Pokerrati and a few others that frankly blur? As Weak Player might say, good times.

This was not a table for the faint of heart. After trying a few Sox little bully moves and getting beaten down like a red-headed stepchild down to 130, I decided to try the Sox big bully moves. In second position, I raise it up to 15. 2 callers, someone chatty (forgot who, sorry), and Bill Rini in the big blind.

AQ5 all heart flop.

Mr. Rini opens for 25.

Fuck it, I’m all in for 105 more.

Chatty on the button pauses for a LONG time, says “JJ or QQ, I fold”.

Mr. Rini waits, well, not so long before mucking.

“BOOYA” says Sox, flipping over a heartless jack hammer (damn that was stupid drunk fun).

A few hands later, 66 in mp, RAZU to 15!

Get two callers, Dan Michalski and (I think) Bill Rini. Flop is 778 and I’m actually thinking I’m good.

I bet 25 and both the boys come along for the ride. I am pretty sure my hand is good here.

Turn is an ace. I actually like that card, it gives me gusto to push out draws and I really don’t see either one of those guys with an ace here. So with 120 in the pot and 120 or so behind, I push.

Holy shit Dan called me! Fairly quickly too.

I am so FUCKED. He must have an ace or a sorta-over pair. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me a 6.

River is 6!!!

I so sucked out.

Or did I?

6 made Dan a straight.

Yep. He called me with a 9T draw on a paired board.

Yikes.

Wish I had like 500 more behind since as most people realize, a boat beats a straight.

That was it for Thursday night poker—if you count Thursday night as ending say around 5:00 am PST. If you count the fact that we then went back to the bar, and then decided to play the 10:00 am at Binion’s, well that’s another post.

See the flop...