happy birthday!

to my friend abby (who is blog-less) and bayne.

congrats to hoy for his riverchasers victory. i made it into the points, which these days is an accomplishment for me, so yay me! lost when i was short stacked and pushing w/ various hands trying to gather up some chips, and ran my J7 (soooooooted) into AT. oops.

i think a congrats also goes out to kod, who last i heard was in the final 6 at his wynn tournament yesterday. i have no girlie chat at work so not sure what final result was, but as far as i'm concerned, any result in the money is a good one. yay chad!

played a few $2 turbo sngs - out of my first five i failed to cash in one. ran TT into AK and AJ in second hand, they turned an A. oh well, maybe bad time to push, could have called the raise, and w/ no A on flop pushed then, but probably both of them would have called. players in these things are TERRIBLE. in another one i had AQ and flopped top pair, bet out and got called, turn was a second J and perhaps made a bad play betting again, he pushed, i was priced in, and he showed JT. i was down to 155, and still came back to take first prize. proud of that one. : ) thanks to bayne for railing me!

don't know how much playing time i'll have this weekend, since i'm hoping to get to the beach tomorrow afternoon. not sure if i'll be back in time for big game, which, not having won a token, i might let myself buy into should i get back by 9:30. it's way cheaper than a night out of drinking in nyc (plus i have my bottle of hendricks at home) and it would just not come out of bankroll. that may be a bad practice to get into, but for the last bbt i'll make this one exception.

my work won't let me comment!

it's really annoying, but on certain blogs i can't get past a security warning on the comments page. booooooooooo. that is why i couldn't respond to chad calling me cheap yesterday.

as i just wrote in the comments, i know i can be cheap about some things. but this is not a matter of being cheap. i've lost a lot of money in a short amount of time on ftp. it's not crippling me -- i'm not going to lose my apartment, i can still eat and even drink lots at the bar, but it hurts ME b/c i don't like losing, and i don't want to be a losing player.

and when i look at my ftp results over the last month, i have been on a downward spiral, and the answer is not to pop even more money into my account and figure that all of a sudden i will get astin's cards and bayne's luck.

i'm trying to do something different that hopefully will work for me and turn me from a losing player to a winning player, because i think i have the skill to do that.

poker poker poker

not too much to say on recent poker results, since i promised no more whiny posts, but i am trying to change my game up a little bit.

my next move is a personal challenge, but i have yet to decide what that challenge will be (um, winning?). something along the lines of testing my results in 20 or 30 sngs, or trying to set some kind of goal in .5/.10 cash. i made the mistake of sitting down at the blogger cash table the other night, on a night when i was already frustrated by some bad play in the 26k and math, and i'm trying to take it as a lesson in both tilting and bankroll management (thanks for the article, bayne). i'm not sure why bayne needed an article on bankroll management, since his seems to build at an unbeatable pace, but it was helpful reading for me.

i cashed in my first two $2 turbo sngs, so maybe i'll try to track my results in the next 25 of those and see how i'm doing. if my roi is sufficient (no idea how to define that) perhaps i'll allow myself to move back up to $6. also deciding whether i want to play turbos or try the regular pace $2 or $5 one table sngs.

chad may make fun of my .5/.10 cash game (we can't all be KOD, though how can i not appreciate the "railing" and little fish pictures) but i think my only real option right now is to try and build my bankroll from the bottom up. i've been playing at the $3 cap limit, and can't decide if i like it cause it limits my losses when i make donkey plays, or hinders it, because i can't really learn to play a cash game like that. i had JJ and despite raising it the max got called by 22 who flopped a set. when i have 25 bucks behind me, i'm not sure he can make that call (it is ftp, though, so who knows).

all this is a long way of saying i need to really set a solid bankroll goal for myself, and, more importantly, i need to set an actual bankroll! my problem has been that since vegas i put too much money into my ftp account, and tried to play above my means and ability. no more!!

i need to decide how much to put behind me, and then not get lured by the blogger cash tables or 50/50 (or buying into the 26k, tokens only!) and actually start building up. so i've got the next couple days to think this over and work out a plan and some goals. obviously any suggestions/advice are welcome and appreciated. i may make one exception for the blogger big game, since it's hosted by one of my favorite bloggers, and it is the last event in the bbt, but that's the last event for awhile that i plan to play outside of my general comfort zone.

young americans lean left

nytimes article here.

i don't have the greatest memory, but i feel like two years ago there was a surge in articles claiming that college-age americans were leaning right, and more conservative. i wonder if there has been a shift, and whether bush can be held accountable for it.

my favorite results in the poll - a) "They are more likely than their elders to support the legalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana;" b) "Forty-four percent said they believed that same-sex couples should be permitted to get married, compared with 28 percent of the public at large;" and c) "62 percent said they would support a universal, government-sponsored national health care insurance program"

health insurance in this country is a joke, and i can't wait for someone to do something about it!

i thought

that taking vicodin after a few drinks was supposed to HELP you sleep, not hinder it. boooooooooooooooo.

i'm not normally a drug on top of drug girl, but given the late hour i figured it couldn't hurt, and i've got a valid reason for having it -- braces hurt!

no more whiny posts

i promised. so a moment of silence for donkey lj. may she never, ever return.

bong hits 4 jesus

i was away from my computer all afternoon, so it wasn't until i got home and checked out the ny times that i realized the SC issued two decisions today.

unfortunately i haven't had time to read either, but the one i've been waiting for is morse v. frederick, aka bong hits 4 jesus. you can read the decision here, and a useful summary of the decision is provided by drug war rant, one of my favorite blogs, here. (coincidentally, the second item down on the blog's homepage right now is a fantastic article from this weekend's star ledger (here) about cory booker, newark's mayor, and his new ideas about battling the drug war). for a summary of of morse more generally, see, where else, wikipedia.

the morse decision seems very narrow, and appears to say that a public school can restrict speech that advocates illegal drug use, and NOT speech that simply renders an opinion on the debate over criminalization of drug use.

my favorite part is this passage from the dissent, quoted by drug war rant, and written by, who else, justice stevens.

"Reaching back still further, the current dominant opinion supporting the war on drugs in general, and our anti-marijuana laws in particular, is reminiscent of the opinion that supported the nationwide ban on alcohol consumption when I was a student. While alcoholic beverages are now regarded as ordinary articles of commerce, their use was then condemned with the same moral fervor that now supports the war on drugs. The ensuing change in public opinion occurred much more slowly than the relatively rapid shift in Americans' views on the Vietnam War, and progressed on a state-by-state basis over a period of many years. But just as prohibition in the 1920's and early 1930's was secretly questioned by thousands of otherwise law-abiding patrons of bootleggers and speakeasies, today the actions of literally millions of otherwise law-abiding users of marijuana,9 and of the majority of voters in each of the several States that tolerate medicinal uses of the product,10 lead me to wonder whether the fear of disapproval by those in the majority is silencing opponents of the war on drugs. Surely our national experience with alcohol should make us wary of dampening speech suggesting--however inarticulately--that it would be better to tax and regulate marijuana than to persevere in a futile effort to ban its use entirely."

god bless ford for nominating this man to the supreme court (and the house and senate for confirming him), and AMEN justice stevens.

apparently thomas goes all crazy, insisting that students have no free speech rights. god help us when he's in the majority of a free speech case.

the other decision handed down today is rather important for campaign finance, and loosens restrictions on companies and unions using television advertisements before elections. i don't have the time nor the energy to go off about how politics in this country will always be the domain of the wealthy, and i haven't read the decision so i'm not disagreeing with the logic, but...it really pisses me off that in order for the person i support to get elected, i'm expected, along with millions of other americans, to not only vote for this person, but also to contribute as much money as possible to his or her campaign. and the politician who gets the most money from businesses and corporations is probably going to win anyway. craziness!

ftp is out to get me

haha, just kidding. first off, ftp is most definitely not out to get chad. kod was in full effect last night, as he took down first place. i was watching him before i went to sleep, and given his chip stack relative to others, i definitely didn't think he was gonna pull down first. he continues to amaze me w/ his poker prowess, and if i didn't know what a sweet guy he was i would definitely hate him.

as for me -- sigh. i had a pretty bad day yesterday, and i won't bore you with all of the losses i sustained. since i don't know how to copy hands or post screenshots i'll just give you a quick rundown.

i was supposed to wake up and do some work, but i saw a satellite to 500k and decided it was my moment. and i was kicking some ass. tripled up in first hand w/ AK when two donkeys eventually went all in w/ straight draw that didn't hit and bottom pair shitty kicker. niiiiiiice. but i lost it all on this horrible hand. i'm in decent shape with about 6-8k in chips. i call w/ nines, another limper, shortie in sb goes over the top all in for about 500 more (blinds are about 80/160). i call, but then the other dude re-raises for another 500 or so. at this point i put him on a higher pair or AK, but decide to call. lo and behold, flop comes A9x. i bet out the size of the side pot, he calls. at this point i'm praying he has AK and not AA, but figure if he has AA i'm screwed no matter what. turn is another blank, i bet out the size of side pot, and again he calls. river is a K, he pushes all in for maybe a quarter of the side pot, i call, and he turns over KK for a set on the river and i'm out. in retrospect, i probably should have shoved all in post flop, and if he makes the call he's just an idiot, rather than "slow playing" myself right out of the tournament.

i'm still dumbfounded that he called my first two bets with the A showing on the flop. he was beat in so many ways, yet he continued along w/ his piddly pair of kings. i got greedy, thinking he had an A and i was gonna take him down, and ftp rewarded me w/ one of his two outs on the river. thanks ftp.

instead of thinking that maybe this was a sign and i should just get to work, i continued to donk away money in all sorts of mtts and sngs. i played in the riverchasers horse and had no hands of note, but it reinforced my opinion that i suck at stud hi.

then i played the $2 rebuy tournament satellite to the 50/50. things were going really well. i didn't rebuy at all, and only added on, for a total investment of $4. i had built up my chips and was in the top 10-20 most of the way, when i got aces in sb. guy in middle position raises, i re-raised, he called. flop came Qxx with one club. i bet out 3/4 pot, he called. turn is another club, i jam, he calls with AQ of clubs, and hits the flush on the river. he's got more chips than me and i'm out. in retrospect i don't think i was getting him off of this hand. even if i'd shoved all in pre-flop, which i thought about doing, the only reason i thought about it was b/c he was a big chip calling station and i thought he might actually call. i took this as the sign i should have taken hours earlier, and ended my play for the evening.

i'm trying not to get frustrated, because i know i'm at least a decent player and that lately my results haven't been reflecting this. i think i still have a lot to learn, and am trying to implement it all, and i can't let a stupid beat in a $2 satellite get me down too much.

so, i'll try not to post any more whiny bad beat posts for awhile, and hopefully it will be b/c i don't have any. : )

dinner is served

in honor of astin's recent posts, i give you my meal of the evening.

the hardest part was deciding where to order from. doozo, noodle bar, song chu mei, and isle were all in the running. but in the end i went with dallas jones bbq.

forgive the graininess of the pics, i was hungry and didn't want to spend a lot of time framing shots and making sure they looked perfect.
yummmmm. mac n cheese.

fresh cut french fries

scrumptious ribs.

and an ice cold bev.


it may not be an elk burger, but it'll have to do. : )

really?

i cannot believe that in nyc the police do not have better things to do than to raid poker clubs. click here for more info.

my favorite place to play was busted last night. all of the nice people who work there who i've gotten to know over the past few months are apparently still in jail, and i'm pissed.

there was a robbery last week at another poker club, and the manager was arrested there, so i guess maybe they used that as a catalyst.

i understand that collecting any rake/time is technically illegal in nyc (though actually playing doesn't appear to be based on my limited knowledge) but i really think this city has far too many "real" problems for this waste of resources.

i cashed!!

so i'm pretty excited. after going out right on the bubble of the 50/50 on tuesday night, i cashed wed. night in the midnight madness and thursday night in the 26k.

my bubble play in the 50/50 was terrible. i pushed w/ a crappy hand in my bb, and tripled up, and then found K7 off in my small blind. there were already 3 or 4 people in the pot, and with my stack it was a no brainer for me to push the rest of it in. but i was too much of a wuss, and watched four people in the pot basically check it down, so i know that my K7 would have won with 2 pair. if i'd played that hand i would have cashed, and it frustrates me to no end that i make those incorrect decisions over and over. just like my fold w/ AJ in a salami tournament and my fold w/ 66 in my first treasure island tournament. i just can't seem to make the right decision. i am going to try to learn a little from hoy, and take a few more chances when i get short stacked and card dead in my next tournament and see if i can't make something out of nothing. i may not have the golden touch he has, but i think i need to mix something up.

unlike astin i don't seem to pick up AA, KK, AA, AK over and over again, but i generally do what i can with the hands i'm dealt. i went out 61st in the midnight madness, but i was so tired by that time that i was practically begging to be taken out.

i was getting rather short stacked in the 26k last night by the time the bubble came around, and while i can't remember the hand i went out on, i think it was a desperation play, and i was pretty psyched to cash, even at 162.

my new plan is to put most of my bankroll from the wsop into ftp, rather than use it for live cash, which was my original plan. really, spending $26 on a tournament should not be as big a deal as i make it out to be (thanks chad, for your blunt assessment of my bankroll skills over girlie chat), and if i just started with a larger bankroll (which i now actually have) i think i have much greater potential to grow as a player online.

congrats to iak, who final tabled the 19k and went super deep in the 50/50. hoy went out just a couple spots after him (i believe they were 16th and 14th, respectively). i met iak in vegas, and can definitely picture him, but am sorry we didn't have more of a chance to chat. based on his blog and some talking up of him by other bloggers, he sounds like a cool dude.

tonight i'm going to try to play in the donkament before going out (it is a friday night, after all) and i'm looking forward to giving the 19k a shot one of these coming days. it starts at 8, which may be tough for me to make it home for, but at least it ends earlier than the 26k, which is pushing it for me. if i can satellite into the 50/50 i may try to play that one also.

yay don!

big ups to miamidon, who made the final table at the deep stack venetian tourney that started on june 19th. he is a major ballah, and scored a really nice cash. and despite our previous skirmishes over politics, i'm super happy for him. yay don!

midnight madness

despite my early exit from the mookie (which i think i'm finally over. sigh.) i was convinced to play in the midnight madness. i LOVED the structure. antes kick in very late and i felt like i'd been playing for hours by the time the blinds got to 100/200. i'm sure that's an exaggeration and just a reflection that the players are retarded, but whatever. unfortunately i only made it to 61st when my AJ went out to K9. the guy who had K9 (soooooted) made it 3x blind utg. he'd been raising a lot, but i never really had a hand to push with. one lesson i took away is that i need to start shoving earlier, and with a much wider range of hands once my m is getting low. by the time i went over the top w/ my AJ he only had to call another 11k to take me out, which was too little. i needed to be doing that when i had 20k or so, and maybe he then he'd fold K9s to an all in reraise. not positive, though. i know you're not supposed to think about what you had and how it would have hit the flop, but a few hands earlier, my 96 would have hit trip 9s to take down a big pot, and the hand later my Q9 would have hit a straight. granted, it would have been up against bigger hands, but it still would have won!

my goal in playing was to try a tighter game, and learn some end game, and i guess to that end i accomplished a little of both. unfortunately, i won't be learning w/ the midnight madness again anytime soon. to really go deep, deep, i would have been up until 5:43, and that just won't work on a school night. gonna try harder to win satellites/build bankroll to play 50/50, since i went out just before the money the other night, and i think i have a chance in an event like that. also want to try the 26k. i know the boys say it's full of donks, but if i can avoid lousy beats and play smart poker maybe i can navigate the field.

congrats to bayne for taking down the mookie (and railing me in my mm), chad for taking third in 26k (and ensuring w/ his K5o that i was not gigli in mookie), and astin for going deep in 50/50 (and fourth in the mookie). you guys rock.

i hate lucko

for real. he raises to 90 in middle position. i re-raise to 240 w/ my JJ (trying to play tight, like hoy recommended, but aggressive). and he calls. wow, he must have a good hand, like maybe AK. i figure if he has AA or KK he pushes pre flop. so flop comes T87, i bet out more than pot (about 540) and he pushes all in. i call and he shows A fucking 9 OFFSUIT. and of course, in keeping w/ his lucky fucking name, a 6 comes on the turn. and i'm out. in 81st. stupid effing lucko. i hate him.

ok, caveat: i'm sure he's a really nice guy in real life. but for tonight, i hate him.

vegas part penultimate

woke up sat am and arranged to meet anna and steve at mgm buffet. astin was supposed to go to venetian, but i think nobody hollered when he was hungry, so he came along with us. anna and i talked law while astin and steve looked bored.

from there we checked out the pretty but very crowded pools, and then astin and i hit the orleans. i met a lot more bloggers, and settled into table 22. mostly i was praying not to be gigli and my prayers were answered. i lost a decent portion of my stack when i called a bunch of bets w/ TT to a raggedy board, and the better turned out to have KK. oops. then pauly, one of my favorite bloggers, busted me in two hands and my day was over.

i headed over to the rio, where i met drunk dude and registered for the tourney. the bloggers were supposedly hitting up a tournament somewhere, but since nobody could decide what to do i decided to go back to mgm and take on the cash tables. my over the hill memory is failing me now as to any significant hands, but the one i remember best is when i called a raise w/ 44. flop came K4x. i check, he bets, i call. river is Q, i check, he bets, i go over the top. he thinks, and thinks, and thinks, and finally folds. DAMN. i'm pretty sure he put me on KQ, and he had AK. super big bummer. that was a common theme for me -- not making (more) money when i had the best hand. i also have a problem folding when i don't have the best hand, as anyone who watched me play tonight can attest to.

i quadrupled (or thereabouts) my buy in, and then decided to hit diego for some delicious mexican food. margaritas were solid and food was fantastic. surf and turf (filet mignon and shrimp enchiladas) was gold, as was guac and seaside tasting. then it was back to the tables. i lost half my stack chasing a flush draw to a chick who told me she had top set. then i lost the rest of my initial buy in to a huge stacked penner who had JJ (overpair on board). stupid play, stupid call, stupid to sit down at ballah blogger table. went back to table 12, oh how i love thee table 12, and managed to get back a little bit. i think. again, failing memory. grrrrrrrrr. unfortunately, fri and sat night both involved playing lots of poker at table 12, and i'm having trouble discerning what happened on what night. either way, i def ended the night up about four buy ins. which was fine by me, considering my horrid play/luck on mon and tues. hit bed semi early in order to get lots of rest for my big wsop debut.

so i already wrote a post on sunday day. after i busted, bayne and don headed to the hooker bar w/ me for drinks. somewhere along the way we lost bayne to the craps tables, and i ended up having way too many drinks with don. i almost left when he let it slip that he voted for this donkey and a heated political debate ensued. ugh. i can barely stand to look at his smirking face. not trying to offend any right leaning readers out there (do i have any?), but imho any true republican should straight up be ashamed by him. ok, now back to non-political vegas wrap up.

i have a vague memory of wandering drunkenly around the rio poker room at 7am, where there were maybe four tables going, insisting i was ok to play some poker (haha, which shows just how drunk i was, since i can't even win at the .10/.25 tables on ftp sober). don convinced me to wait until the next day at mgm, put me in a cab, and sent my wasted ass back to excalibur. i kept replaying my last few hands from the tournament in my head, when i wasn't cursing myself out loud for being stupid enough to drink till 7 (with a republican, no less). the next morning (er, afternoon) i found a nametag from "keith" at the rio in my purse, which i remembered excitedly paying him 10 bucks for. it's now got a prime spot on my desk at home.

i woke up around 1, and after a quick, drunken shower, went down to the excalibur poker room where we arranged to meet. the players looked shitty (though jordan didn't have the greatest experience there), but just as i was about to sit down, don arrived, and we decided to get some grease at fatburger (not before stopping at starbucks, where the woman hilariously did a double take at my second consecutive iced mocha order in a half hour).

ok, this is getting long, and since chad won't read long posts, i'll continue tomorrow. but, no joke, my trip to fatburger was probably the highlight of my trip (ok, maybe second after cashing) and i'm not sure i can do it justice. it was the most seinfeld moment of my life, and i'll get some sleep and try to tackle it in writing tomorrow.

excited for mookie tomorrow. maybe THIS will be the blogger tourney final table i've been waiting for.

ny to london

hee hee. from atl, link here to google maps ny to london. as david points out, check out step 21.

booo pushmonkey

well, really, boo me. i was really psyched for MATH last night, and desperately hoping to finally cash in some blogger event. but it wasn't meant to me. i actually built up a healthy chip stack, mainly due to ooooosssssuuuuuu's knack for trying to bluff me at the completely wrong time (and me being unable to fold my tpsk when he missed his straight). i also took out kat w/ my AJ to her KJ. but i immediately donked away all her chips to pushmonkey. i called w/ T9s (i've started to love this hand, but perhaps i love it too much), he raised 3xbb, i call (maybe this is my biggest mistake, but i had a healthy chip stack and figured i could afford to see the flop). unfortunately for me, the flop came w/ two of my suit, Q high. push bet out the pot, if not more, and without even thinking, i decided he was bluffing me and re-raised, he put me all in, and at this point i have to call. i picked up an oe straight draw on the turn, but alas the river we neither a diamond, nor a J nor a 6, and out i went. : ( in my defense, had i won, i probably would have been chip leader!

i then had good times railing chad and waffles, both of whom went deep in the first ever 50/50. chad went out brutally, when he went all in w/ QQ and stupid bb picked up AA. no queen and chad was out in 9th. which he knows i'd be over the moon about, but i think for him, nothing less than 10k and 1st prize was gonna be good.

i missed the beginning of waffles' hand, but somehow he ended up all in w/ A2o v. K7o. yes, this is with 32 people left in a tournament w/ a first prize of 10k. wow. flop had a 2, but with chad chanting K, K, K on the rail, what fell on the river but a K. it was too funny, but also sorta sad. but yay waffles, for such a deep run!!!

i'm gonna try to finish up my vegas report in one longish post later, cause my memory is already mostly faded. how much longer can i drag this out, right?!

yay bayne and fuel!

i've been, gasp, busy today, but didn't want to wait too long to congratulate fuel on his main event seat (how totally awesome) and bayne on his crazy cool run in the 26k last night. bayne, as he is well aware, is my newest hero. not only is he an amazing poker player, but he both cares about grammar (see here) and is fucking hilarious (see here). the previous parenthetical is a link to my favorite bayne quote thus far, "My wife has now discovered I have a blog and is shocked that I have done something sociable." I also love the thoughts on his daughter, "Daughter did wake me up and present me with 2 fine Tommy Bahama shirts and another pair of shorts. By end of day she let me know I was annoying her. She is 12, I am usually annoying." that's exactly how I felt about my dad when I was 12. hee hee.

add to above qualities that he spent hours last sunday railing me at the wsop after he played in a tournament of his own, and a new hero is made. look forward to seeing him make the money in many more tournaments soon! (except the hoy tonight, where i plan to make my first ever final table!) : )

we interrupt the vegas trip report

to bring you the tale of my CRAZY $6 turbo sng results. i know, i know small potatoes to most of you sharks, but my bankroll needs to be built slooooowly. i won a small pot early on, donked some of my chips away calling a silly bet w/ a pair of sixes, and then lost a HUGE pot when my straight on the river lost to a card that made my opponent a flush. i saw the third spade, but really thought i was good. yeah, i wasn't.

so i'm down to about 310, i go all in w/ jack (shit) and everyone folds. now i think i have 5 something and pick up pocket jacks. i go all in and get called by a guy who limped w/ AK. he doesn't hit, and i'm up to 1k. two limpers, i find pocket jacks AGAIN (thank you, ftp), go all in, and get called by SAME DUDE who must be tilting cause he called me w/ A6 off. really? i just showed you pocket jacks and you think i'm gonna risk my whole hard-earned stack with something that doesn't come close to beating A effing 6! i think the bloggers have influenced me b/c after he lost the pot (thank god, if an ace hit i woulda been PISSED) i was like, great call! which is very unlike me at the tables.

so now i'm up to 2k, i push w/ A7 suited and get no callers (finally, these people learn not to fuck with me) and then i chip up to get around 3k. then the small blind calls to my bb and i check w/ 64 off. flop comes 765. i have middle pair and straight draw, and when he checks i bet out half the pot (240). he re-raises to 760. i am not really sure what he has, and am thinking either he's bluffing, or has top pair, but prob not straight draw. i figure w/ a pair and straight draw good enough and push. he calls and shows 77 for a set. an 8 beautifully falls on the turn, blank on river, and he's left w/ 210 (he was a pretty big stack). now, i realize i made a loose re-raise on the flop, but w/ a pair and straight draw i didn't think it was crazy. dude fucking called the bb. if i had a pair of sevens and everyone folded around to me in the sb there's no way i CALL. bb could have 23, flop comes 33x and i'm crushed. why wouldn't you raise, and get me out of the pot. donkey.

he's pissed, and i eventually finish him off when he raises my bb double, i call w/ 73, he shows 64 and i high carded him. hotness.

i'm now up to about 5k, and i'm coasting along, and w/ one limper i check my bb w/ T2 off. flop comes T72. i think i checked, he bet half pot, i re-raised, and he pushed ALL IN. this is being second in chips, where three get paid, and there are four left. i guess you could say he's playing to win, but did he really think i was bluffing? he shows T8 off, my two pair holds up, and he's out in fourth. i guess he just thought top pair shitty kicker was good.

long story long i end up in first and add a much-needed $27 to my bankroll.

vegas part II

i rolled over to the mgm a little nervous to meet all these bloggers, most of whom had no clue who i was, except some donkey who always dumped chips on them in tournaments (if they even knew that much). i was also a little out of sorts b/c i was wearing a very short dress w/ much cleavage -- not my usual attire, but supposedly some friends were going clubbing later and i wanted to be dressed appropriately. thankfully i ran into astin on my way over to the sportsbook, and he recognized some people. it's all a big blur right now, but i remember talking with meanhappyguy and falstaff, and ig and carmen, and someone who brought his own bowling ball (a penner, perhaps?). i was sad to find out upon arrival that mgm hadn't reserved us a table, so mixed games were off. and while i am quite the chatter, i finally decided i needed to play some poker -- so i found myself a 1/2 table, and declined the offer of the bloggers to join them for some 3/6 horse.

well, needless to say, it was a good night. on one of my early hands i had KT. i honestly can't remember now whether i limped, raised, or re-raised w/ any of my hands. i'm lucky i still remember some of the betting. so i have KT, flop comes TTx. i slow play, as far as i can remember, and the turn brings a second heart. this drunkish girl who is making friendly w/ the guy next to her bets, and i call (i believe she also bet out on flop). river is a K of hearts, putting a flush out on the board, while making me a full house. i check, she bets, i raise, she goes all in, and she shows JT hearts for the flush. but i've got the boat, and i scoop. i can't really recall how i built my chips up, exactly -- i think i stole a lot of pots, had people bluffing in on me, it was totally insane. i also got the girl all in again on her second buy-in. i think i had AQ and she had QT, and she just overplayed it her top pair and ended up going all in. can't remember for sure, though. the last hand that i really played was my favorite of the night. i'm not sure i played it great, but it put me over 1k, which on a $200 buy in i was pretty psyched about.

so i have AK in early position, and i raise. i get about five callers. flop comes Kxx, rainbow. i bet out about 3/4 pot, and get two callers. the button, and the bb. button is a drunk dude who has already rebought twice, so i'm psyched for him. bb had just lost a decent pot to me recently, and i think was gunning a bit. turn is a Q of spades, putting 2 spades on board. i bet out about 3/4 pot again, and once again, i get two callers. i am pretty sure i have drunk dude beat (can you say calling station), but am worried that bb has flush draw. well, just my luck a third spade comes on the river, and bb pushes for his remaining 70 bucks. i think for about two seconds, but i'm clearly priced in. there's over 200 in the pot, and i have tptk. yes, two pair is a possibility, but he was the bb, and it's unlikely, and if anything he has two shitty spades. but i have to call, and as i do i say, "i have to pay your flush off" which in hindsight was prob not a good thing to say. cause drunk dude was still in the hand. well, imagine my surprise when drunk dude also calls. i am then utterly floored to find that bb has AQ OFFSUIT for second pair, and drunk dude has K8 for top pair shitty kicker, and i scoop a pot of over 400 bucks. WOO HOO!!!!

i decided it was time to leave around 1:30, and i used the 2am tournament at treasure island as my excuse. i was worried i'd lose my stack again, though in hindsight i think i shoulda stood up and sat back down at the same table (if possible) w/ 200. i was just on a roll! i lost a huge pot early in the ti tournament on w/ AK to a set of nines, and was done in about a half hour. i bid astin good night and headed back to the super hip and happening excalibur for what i hoped was a restful night of sleep before the big blogger tournament on saturday.

vegas, baby! (part I)

i'd been to vegas 3 or 4 times before this weekend, but i think this will go down in history as the most memorable trip ever (bold statement, i know).

i arrived thurs night, and thought about trying to meet up with the bowlers/pai gowers, but was just too tired. i checked into my hotel and collapsed, hoping to sleep in, but figured if it didn't work out i'd meet up with astin for the 11am treasure island tournament. we hadn't met previously, but astin holds the distinct honor of the being the first poker blogger to comment on my blog. i had a horrible night of sleep, and was wide awake at 9am, so off i went to register for the tournament. did not realize you couldn't hail a cab on las vegas blvd till i was already at the bellagio! luckily one brave soul bucked the law and stopped for me.

after registering i met astin at the coffeeshop where he pulled the, i'm going to call this person and when i see who picks up their phone i'll know which one she is, move. it worked, we played (different tables) and sadly i was out once we got to the last two tables. i made yet another terrible fold, which seems to be a continuing problem for me late in tournaments. i just don't take enough chances. i was in middle position, and was almost planning to push with any two cards, when the guy in front of me pushed instead. i looked down at two sixes, and somehow thought a fold was in order. i ended up pushing next hand w/ Q8 (yes, i see the pattern) and lost to pocket aces. nice.

we met up w/ anna and steve at the craps table. anna was a year ahead of me in law school but we didn't know each other till we were both at a college reunion party and recognized each other from our antitrust class. turned out she graduated from the same college a year later than me. the three of them gambled, and i observed and sipped cranberry vodkas. we all decided to sign up for the 2pm tournament. anna and steve never played before, but i think they had fun, despite early bustouts. i made it to i think the final three tables, and ended up at the same table as my friend bama. she was randomly in vegas the same weekend as me b/c her boyfriend's brother was getting married. very pleasant surprise. she went out the hand after me by being blinded out, whereas i tried to steal the blinds w/ an all in move, despite a healthy chip stack, with QJ (which i guess i played like AA). at least it was suited! unfortunately i got called by JJ, and lost to his set. oh well.

after stopping for a quick lunch, we made our way to the tropicana, where i dropped a buy in at the poker table in no time. i wasn't in a perfect mindset, and i just got pounded. i hit top pair and a flush draw, flush doesn't hit, and i lose a huge pot to AA. then i got called after i bet pretty big pre-flop with JJ to a guy who flopped a straight with his 78off and i decided i was done playing. hung out w/ paul at the blackjack table and drank some more, then went home to change for dinner.

dinner was at the tropicana japanese steakhouse, which was delicious. it was all of the wedding party's family, including some kids, and it was cool to be around the happy couple and all of their proud fam and friends. then it was off to meet the bloggers!!!

oh hell yeah

so lately i haven't blogged about much besides poker but gotta interrupt the poker news to point out the us team's fantastic performance so far in the gold cup. according to nytimes former quake brian ching has been making a difference and playing well, and generally the team sounds like it's coming together under bradley. i was hoping klinsmann was gonna take over, but i'll have to give bradley a chance (not like there's an option, it's not like i really have another national team to support. well, maybe nl). unfortunately i wasn't able to see any of the games (poker in vegas doesn't stop, even for soccer) but i plan to watch the next game on saturday. u.s.a! u.s.a!


ching's a cutie, no?

2007 wsop ladies event

i rushed over to the rio on saturday afternoon after the blogger tourney (more on that in a later post) to buy in for the event. my plan was to play one satellite, and if nothing panned out to buy in for the full amount. i got on one line, but realized that it wasn't the same line for satellites. this totally trashed dude in front of me told me he'd save my spot if i wanted to look around, and when i found the satellite line it was at least 50 deep, and they weren't even running satellites b/c they didn't have any tables.

i get back on line and drunk dude is mumbling about being late for all three events he'd entered, and how he had a suite at some hotel and was spending too much time partying. "yeah, it kind of appears that way," i responded. people on line started snapping at us because we weren't going to the open windows fast enough, so i ended our enthralling conversation to throw down my thousand dollar shot in the dark.

drunk dude had mentioned being on high stakes poker in a couple weeks, and i was cursing myself for not offering him up the chance to stake me. luckily, he started talking to me as i emailed my dutch friends outside the main room at the rio, and i gave him the opportunity. he scoffed at my offer of 20%, but i told him that i'm far less of a gamble than the 80k he supposedly lost on the craps table yesterday. no dice, and so finally i ditched him for greener pastures (ok, the mgm and my friends anna and steve -- i'll cover my lucrative fri and sat cash games in another post, and try not to whine too much about my horrible mon and tues games).

i woke up around 9:15 and hurried to get ready so i wouldn't be late to meet irongirl. we met in front of the buffet at the rio, where i ate a disgusting mix of eggs, waffles (yes i like waffles!), chicken & vegetables (teppan yaki style), sushi and chicken fingers. if your stomach is hurting just thinking about it, you can somewhat imagine how i felt afterward. note to self: no more buffets before big poker tournaments. in fact, no more buffets before ANY poker tournaments.

now, for the actual event: ig and i made our way over to our seats. i was dying to meet change100 (longtime readers know i'm a fan), and i think i saw ig talking to her from across the room, but i'll never be sure. turning my attention to my own table, i looked over at the woman next to me, and instantly found her way too familiar looking. shit, i thought, i got stuck next to a pro. i couldn't place her face, though the thick make up on her face was a dead giveaway that she was anticipating massive photography. another woman made her way over from a nearby table and said, "hi cheryl. i'm phil gordon's wife. blah blah blah. good luck." aha, i thought, her name is cheryl. i don't know any pros named cheryl, but she's clearly well connected in the poker world if phil gordon's wife is making a point to say hi.

we started playing, and the table was extremely quiet. everyone was very serious. i sized up my competition. (this is the part where if i had a better memory and/or took notes, i'd describe them for you.) i broke the ice a couple times by commenting on the lack of conversation, and the crazy hush that fell over the room for the first few minutes of the tournament. i was also still steaming a little from the fact that they introduced a lady from THE FUCKING SWAN before the event, who couldn't even muster up a proper "shuffle up and deal." change100 has a great post up at pokerworks about this and other aspects of the ladies' event that i recommend.

at one point the woman next to me (my new buddy cheryl) asks if i've said i'm a comedian. i laugh heartily and explain that while i try my damndest, i'm actually an attorney in nyc. but once she says she's from la, in response to someone else at the table's question, i realize who she is. cheryl freaking hines, from curb your enthusiasm. love it!!!! soon after, she's in a two way pot with another woman, the flop comes 2QQ, and they get all in (cheryl reluctantly calls). The woman shows 22 for the flopped full house, and cheryl shows AQ. turn = 10, river = 10, and cheryl has counterfeited her full house w/ a full house of her own. crazy.

not long after showdown, i get involved in my first real pot. i'm steaming a bit from my fold of T8suited, when i then watched five other people limp into pot, and the flop came T88. of course. i would've scooped up some serious chips on that pot. so anyway, i pick up kings in mid position, and raise it up. at this point i've raised a few pots and everyone's either folded or folded to my cbets. big blind calls. as i sit there thinking "no ace, no ace, no ace" the flop comes down A rag rag. i bet out anyway, hoping she doesn't have an ace, but thinking if she calls i'm done. well, she doesn't call, but says, i guess maybe i'll be joining my friends soon, and goes all in. i hadn't looked at her chip stack (huge mistake) and her all in was only about double the size of my cbet. i was totally priced in, so i call, and say, if you've got an ace you've got me. she flips over pocket tens, phew, and i scoop the pot and send the grey haired lady from hawaii along her way.

shortly thereafter our table gets broken. i sigh, and joke that i'm sad my time next to a famous actress has come to an end. i tell cheryl that i love her show (i know, how lame am i?!) and move on to my next table. it seems tougher than my first, but i pick up a bunch of pots with my raises. i lost a bunch of chips when i cbet on flop and turn, thinking my opponent has nothing, but when she flips over pocket jacks to scoop the pot i'm a little stunned. i'm down to just over 2000 chips again (the starting stack) and starting to worry. then this hand comes, which is basically the turning point of the tournament for me. everyone folds to cut off, who pops it up to 500 (blinds are now at 100/200, and i can't recall if we've started antes yet, if so there were 25 in antes from each person). button calls, i make a very loose call (imho) with K8s in small blind, and big blind also calls. flop comes K rag rag w/ two spades. thinking that my top pair might be good, and wanting to take down the pot, i bet out 1k. i was scared to shove, b/c i could be outkicked, but i figured i'd see what the other ladies did. one woman, the initial raiser, called me and the other two folded. turn is another meaningless card, and i checked. now the initial raiser goes all in for her last 700. i take a deep breath and make the call. she turns over A5 of spades, river is a blank, and i scoop up a pot of almost 5k. back in the game!!! i am able to raise and pick up a bunch of blinds, and then a new player bets big. i am up to maybe 8k at this point, push her all in and she goes into the tank. finally she calls and turns over AK. we chop, but i was thisclose to her folding. other women at the table commented that they definitely thought i had AA or KK, but i figure that's just good. i can't remember all the hands perfectly, but i know i called an all in w/ 66 and scooped that pot, and then the same woman who had the AQ re-raised my raise all in. it was 2 or 3k to me, and as i made the call i said to the table, i know this is a bad call. i had KJ of hearts (but they were SOOOOOOOTED) and she flips over AQ. wouldn't you know it, jack hits on the flop, another one on the turn, and she's gone. my table is now sort of laughing at me making fun of my "i call" which apparently i said in the same sort of hesitant but sly voice each time. (good, they can't read me!) i am now running this table, until an attractive asian woman with a white chanel purse sits down, who has an even bigger stack than me. i call her preflop raise w/ AJs, flop is 998, i check, she checks. we check the whole thing down, and i'm actually thinking my AJ is good, but then she flips over pocket fives. i'm not sure if i bet, i take this pot, but i didn't want to risk her going over the top of me and having to lose chips, and i was proud of myself for keeping the pot small. i tried to do a lot of that at this point, just not overbetting the pot, trying to protect my stack but scoop up some chips at the same time.

our table (sadly) broke not too long after, and i was moved to the front section. it was strange, to be moving to a table that looked like it'd been together for awhile, and there was a very serious woman to my right who never blinked and just listened to her ipod the whole time. i am forgetting many hands here, but i called few all ins and took down some smallish pots, and virtually every time i raised the table folded. i was doing ok, and just building my chip stack. just as i was feeling pretty comfortable, our table got broken, and i moved to yet another. this table had a bunch of ladies with chip stacks larger than mine, and this is where i lost my first big pot. (unbelievably, aside from the hand w/ pocket jacks where i was crushed, and the pocket fives that beat my AJ, i can't think of a single pot i lost). then i made my first mistake. i had raised a few times and everyone folded. i decided to steal the blinds again, raising from mid/late position with A5s. i was called by a pretty asian woman on the button. when the flop came AJ5 with one spade i bet out a 3/4 pot cbet. instead of folding (like she should have) the woman on the button counts out about 4x more than my cbet and re-raises. now i'm hating my hand. i have top pair, but virtually any Arag beats me. she could have AJ, and i was actually thinking she might have JJ for a set. she obv could have been wildly bluffing, but that wasn't the read i was getting, so i thought for a long while and folded. i wasn't crippled, but it made a difference, and i needed to tighten up. just before the next break i got up to pee (shocking, right) and missed a HUGE hand. apparently there were a couple callers, a medium stack shoved, and the woman who took the pot off me earlier called. after going into the tank, the woman who placed 10th in 2006 folded queens, and another woman who i think was named sherry (and looked just like the woman who plays cherie jaffee on the l word -- imdb tells me it's rosanna arquette, did not know that) folds 10s. shover has JJ, caller has AA, and now the big bully two to my left has a MASSIVE chip stack coming back from break. the table can't break soon enough for my taste, and now we're all moving to the back of the room where we'll stay for the duration of the day.

my next, and final table, was by far the toughest i sat at. just before the dinner break a grey-haired lady (lots of them in the tournament) with squirrely glasses min raises my big blind. i call with Q9off, and the flop comes JTrag rainbow. i'm convinced i made a huge mistake here by not betting the flop. i have open ended straight draw, there's no flush draw, and by betting, if she re-raises i've committed myself. blinds are at 300/600 and can't recall antes, either 75 or 100. instead i check the flop, and she shoves for 7500 more. now i'm priced out. there's only 4k max in the middle, and i tank, but in the end i can't make the call. it would have virtually halved my stack, and i'd be playing just to stay alive upon return from the dinner break. i fold, and much later she tells me she had top set. not sure i believe that, though, i'm thinking probably high pair (aces, kings?) b/c weird min raise, and if you have a set why shove? scared of the very small chance i have a straight draw?

astin and don try to calm me down over dinner at the tilted kilt, where i downed their fries and some pizza (not a good day for food) and hope that my newcastle relaxes me a bit. i throw all sorts of questions at them about hands and how to play and they just reiterate that i need to play position, try to raise, not call, and play my game.

i tried, but lost some more to the grey haired lady shortly after we return from dinner. i've raised a bunch of pots and haven't gotten any callers, so once again i try to steal the blinds from late/middle position. i have KT suited. she's in small blind and calls. she checks, i make a cbet of about 3/4 pot, and she shoves over the top. flop was Qragrag, and once again, i'm stuck. no way i can call, it would be even worse than the prior hand. i'm convinced she has nothing, but i have less nothing, not even A high, and if she has a Q i either have three outs or need runner runner to hit straight. (and i have no way of knowing how many kings were folded pre flop). so i fold and once again i've donked off a bunch of chips. prior to this i doubled up a very dangerous player (ipod girl from previous table) by calling her all in for what i thought was not too many chips. it was a terrible call, though, b/c even though i was in bb it cost me about 2.5k more to call, and all i had were pocket deuces. she flipped over pocket kings, and as a result of my donkey play she was able to amass some serious chips, which came into play in a later hand which was almost my siren song.

everyone folds around to me in mid position where i have pocket tens. in hindsight, i absolutely should have shoved here. all i wanted were blinds and antes, but i got greedy and just raised so i could sucker someone into pot (who's the sucker, though, huh) aforementioned ipod/KK girl (they are one and the same) in small blind calls my raise. i think blinds are 600/1200 and i raised to 4k. flop comes Aragrag and now i'm in trouble. i can shove, but if she's got an ace i've got two outs and i'm out of the tournament. so i check, she bets 6k, and i fold. i just didn't have the balls to make the call. however, i don't think she had that strong a hand, though i did put her on an ace, and i think if i go all in pre-flop she's outtie and i scoop it up. or she calls, doesn't have an ace, and i win the pot, but i'll never know.

now we're getting down to bubble, and several times i'm in the bb and everyone folds around, but the small blind pushes on me three times in a row. i have shit hands each time, and fold. grrrrrrrr. finally the bubble breaks, tears well up in my eyes, and i realize that for the last twenty minutes i have been playing only to make the bubble and have given up on playing to win. so two hands later, same sitch. everyone folds, small blind goes over the top, and i peek down at ATs. best hand i've seen in several orbits. saw threes and twos, but folded them given the bubble and my unease at getting into a race and losing the chance of making back my buy in. well, i decide that with only 8k behind me, blinds about to jump from 800/1600 to 1k/2k that it's now or never. i call, she flips over AK, and a K on the flop does me in. i pick up a ten on the turn, but the river doesn't do it for me, and i'm done in 97th place. talk about just barely beating the bubble!

i'm upset, and cursing myself for calling, but i think i make the same play every time. i would play some of the other hands differently, but there's nothing i can do now. i'll never know if a K or 8 would have hit against grey haired lady making me a straight, so i'm trying not to replay these hands too many times. i'm super excited at making it to the top 7% of a wsop event (even if it is the ladies event) and all i really wanted was to make my money back. so next time i'm going to set my sights higher and my goal will be to make it to top 5% or hell, final table one of these babies?! : )

i wanted to try and play at a ladies event in a/c this w/e at the borgata, but it's looking like the timing won't work out (how the hell do i get there by 10am on a sunday morning from the city) and plus i'm still jet lagged from my trip back and absurdly tired. so, perhaps i'll just freeroll it this weekend, and maybe try my luck at some cash games if i'm not too beat up. i'll write up a few of my cash hands later in the week (there were some sweet ones and some doozies) and i'm pretty sure that i need to work on making more money off of my winning hands, cause i got a lot of folds when i had the nuts, and i want to learn to milk it better.

mookie

can you say suckouts? so i put luckylu (aptly named) all in w/ AJ to his/her Q10 the board ends T987J. nice. i'm crippled, then pick up AK two hands later. buddy dank raises to 3x bb, i push, he calls, and he has AQ suited. flop has one heart, but of course he turns and rivers hearts, and takes me out w/ his flush. boooooooooo.

so i MUST give a shout out to buddy dank. cause even though he fucking ousted me from the mookie, his radio show is unbelievably awesome. i have never had this much fun playing a blogger tourney! he plays dope music, totally pumping, and the commentary is hilarious. he just called don a hypocrite for dropping the hammer, which was totally spot on given his post that it was all 2004. plus he played salt n pepa, run dmc, violent femmes, beastie boys, zz top and lots of other good shit. look forward to hearing other shows.

wsop boot camp

i thought long and hard about signing up for the wsop ladies boot camp, but decided to save the $1600 and just go at it on my own.

apparently the woman who won, sally boyer, did attend the camp, and despite not finishing in the top ten of the boot camp tournament (which automatically got you entered into the event) she won another tournament and used the winnings to buy in the ladies event. pretty damn cool!

97th out of 1286 ain't so bad

i'm about to board my flight (go mccarrren w/ free wireless) but i wanted to give an update to those of you waiting with bated breath. i'm happy for the cash in my first big tournament, but obviously it would have ruled to finish higher. big shout out to astin, bayne, carmen and pauly for their support throughout the day (and irongirl for our relaxing bfast) and a special shout out to don who spent his BIRTHDAY railbirding me almost from start all the way to the finish. i had an amazing weekend testing my poker skills and meeting some super rad bloggers, so thanks for the memories!!

what would you do?

five players left in two table sng (live), top three pay. blinds are 500/1000, antes are 200. hero has about 10,000. player to hero's left has been going all in with his massive chip stack with limpers. one off the button hero picks up A10 off, first player has folded. hero raises to 4k. button (big stack) calls, sb/bb fold. flop comes 652 rainbow. hero pushes, button calls, showing a pair of fours. turn is a 10, but river is a 3.

so obviously i'm the hero here, though not for my play. i can't figure out how i should have played this, if at all. i could have folded, though five handed i think A10 off is a decent hand. i could have pushed, but given his hand, i think he may call me here. he called an all in earlier for all his chips w/ AQoff, so he has a pretty wide range, and even said earlier that with all his chips he can call more hands down. so...thoughts? maybe i limp? but button has been pushing like crazy, and i wasn't sure i could get away if he pushed. he's prob gonna raise w/ his pair of fours, though, and then i guess i could have folded or called. next, i'm not sure about my cbet here. with no pair, i prob get him to fold, he could have called with suited connectors, or just about anything, given his chip stack. once i check, he's betting no matter what. i haven't played that many hands at this table, i think i showed QQ once. so i could not cbet, he bets, then i fold.

the fourth guy went out not long after me, which left three in the money. my chip stack would have been crippled with a fold after the flop, and i'd have to pray for a good hand in the next orbit. so, just wondering what others might do in that sitch, and how you think i could have played (or not played) that hand better. thanks!

sick poker night

alan and i had talked about meeting up for some poker, but he had dinner first, so i went over to play in the rebuy tourney. i doubled up early w/ 10s v. Js when i hit a 10, and then a few hands later hit a flush to take a huge stack off another dude. i turned another flush right before the final table, but after putting patrick (the really nice guy next to me) all in, the board paired on the river and he hit his full house. grrrrr.

then i made my worst move of the night. i'm getting short stacked, have about 4500 w/ blinds 500/100, and the small blind goes all in, after three callers. i have AJ offsuit, and i knew i should call, but was really worried that one of the other people had AQ or AK, and so i folded. in hindsight, it was terrible given how short stacked i was, and his probable desperation, and he got one caller. the flop comes KQ10 (BINGO), and i woulda taken it -- he held K8 and the girl who called had A4s. i think she might have called even w/ my call cause i had less than the all in, but who knows. either way i would have been in great shape, and instead i went all in the next hand when i was small blind w/ Q8 off, got called by patrick w/ 75s and he rivered a straight. bye bye. there were six left after me, and only three places pay, but had i doubled/tripled up w/ my AJ (no way do i then play the Q8) and i'm back in the game. sigh.

so i head up to meet alan, who is about to arrive in manhattan. i show up before him, and sit down at a 1/2 table with 200 in chips. first hand, bb, J9s, flop has Q10rag, and there is a small bet. i call, with another guy. turn doesn't help, another half pot bet, two callers. river is a K, and i'm worried it's too much of a scare card to check, so i bet out around half the pot and get a caller. thankfully he doesn't have AJ. sweet.

two hands later utg makes it 10, three callers, i call one off button w/ 109s, and everyone else calls. flop comes 998 w/ two clubs. initial raiser checks, check, all in for 68 - i re-raise to 150, guy next to me calls, everyone else folds. turn is the fourth nine, i put guy next to me all in for about 50 more, and river is a club, i think the K. guy next to me has a flush w/ J10 (straight flush draw on flop), and all in guy flashes his 8. i scoop up a huge pot.

a few hands later i have A9 and call in latish position. flop is 9 high w/ two diamonds. one guy bets 5 or 6, guy next to me raises to 20, i flat call, as does initial raiser. turn is J. check, bet of around 40, call, call. river rag, no flush draw, he bets out again for maybe half pot, i call, other guy folds, and he shows 109s and i scoop the pot.

i lost a few chips w/ AJ on button, everyone checked around, initial raiser makes it 20 on turn (flop was K98, turn was J) and with my pair i called. river is a 9, and he bets 100. i fold. prob shoulda folded the turn, but oh well. he told me later he had a K.

i pick up more than i lost from him a few hands later when i have A rag, call the bb, an ace flops, and he calls my flop bet but folds on turn.

in my last big hand i pick up aces. woo hoo. at this point i haven't raised at all, so while i think about it for a sec, i decide to call. the guy on my left notices and says pretty loudly, whoa, what was that little move there...there are about six or seven in the pot. not ideal, but he has already read me like a book, and if i raise i think almost everyone goes away. flop comes three clubs, K high, and i have two black aces. the guy to my right makes a small bet called by me and the guy on my left, and maybe one other. turn is a red card, rag, and same guy bets out half the pot, me and the guy on my left call again. river is another club, woo hoo, and the guy to my right checks. i bet 50 bucks, into the pot of maybe 200, and the guy next to me starts talking. he tells the other guy he bet too small, and now i made the flush, and blah blah, and then decides to call. the other guy folds, sick about the river card, until he sees my aces. he limped pre-flop w/ AK, and was behind the whole way. dude on my left has KQ w/ Q of clubs. i'm surprised he called, especially given his early read on me, but i suppose i just as easily could have had all red cards. he told me if i'd bet more he would have folded, but i'm not sure i couldn't have gotten another 50 off of him. i figure if i check there's not a great chance he bets, just in case someone has the ace.

anyway, i then went card dead for about 45 minutes, and finally got up right before the next bb/time. very psyched with the result. obviously i got pretty lucky (quad nines! ironic given how i lost on sunday) but i'll take it!!

i went over to watch alan play, but he was up and decided it was a good time to bail also. all in all a good poker night. i feel like i learn more every time i play. one of my big goals is to try and read players better, and use my observations at the table to get more money out of players and also lose less on reads. i also need to remember to put people on hands, and make my bets accordingly. all in good time, hopefully...

missed the hoy

prob for the best. instead i dined on delicious spare ribs and pork buns (and soft shell crab and fried artichokes and oysters) at ssam bar. man, do i love this place!! for anyone visiting nyc, i think a trip to momofuku or momofuku ssam bar should be high on the list. it's not the best restaurant ever, and can get v. crowded, but i've never had a bad dish, it's not insanely expensive, and it's especially great for sharing.

i almost went home at this point to play poker, but given how badly i've been running, and the fact that friends were out, i decided some good old fashioned social interaction was in order.

from ssam we moved to centovini. it's a relatively new little italian place on houston. obv i was a little full from dinner, but we had a bottle of their cheapest rose and it was DELICIOUS. my time in amsterdam converted me to rose, and i'm not sure i ever tried one that was this good. a friend had some pasta, and it wasn't bad. for twenty bucks it wasn't the largest dish of pasta you can find in the city, but it's fresh made with lots of spices.

from there we went to pegu. i had numerous queen's park swizzles last week when i was there, and none of my drinks last night measured up to those. i think it is a crapshoot which bartender you get, b/c even my hendricks and tonic was not up to my usual standards. that being said, monday night is a fantastic time to hit it up. there were only a few other people in there, and given that we all wondered why the people in the banquette next to us never moved down, given how much space there was in the place (in the end we decided they were enjoying our raunchy stories).

i also want to give a shout out to employees only. i stopped in there w/ a friend sat night after dos caminos had a power outage and could only serve guac and cocktails. the guac was not as good as usual and had some consistency problems, but employees only filled the void and more. i've never had a bad meal there, but they're often crowded and it can be difficult to get a table.

we stopped at little owl first, but of course they had a two hour wait. so we got to eo around 8 and the woman said she didn't have anything, but if we wanted a bar table we could have one, or if we didn't mind being out by 9:30, we could have a table in the back. since we had other things to do later, we took the table, chowed on some oysters, steak and pasta, and left right on time without feeling at all rushed. the steak (ribeye) was very fatty, but also fantastically spiced, and came with jalepenos and salt. the drink i had there, the amelia, is, BY FAR, the best drink i've had in months. it was pureed blackberries and...lots of other stuff that i can't remember. but SO GOOD! can't wait to go back for more.

but first, VEGAS BABY!!!!

99

i lost a huge pot earlier today with 99 because i don't know how to fold a losing hand. i limped in, six players, flop is 678 rainbow. i bet 6, guy next to me raises to 20, i call. i check turn, he bets 35, and i make what i think is my third worst play of the hand. instead of folding or calling (reasonable w/ top pair and oes draw) i min raise him. he calls. i then (second worst mistake) bet out 100 on river, which is a 6, pairing the board. he re-raises me all in and i make my worst mistake, which was calling, knowing that i was almost certainly beat.

the absolute worst part is that i was utg in the hand, and was about to get up cause i wanted to leave before my next bb. so instead of leaving up, i left down my initial buy in. terrible. i realize i could have played the hand better, but the part that frustrates me the most is not folding to his all in. i still had a fair amount of chips behind me, and could have ended my day down a little, instead of down a lot. the problem is that i didn't stop and try to put him on a hand. i didn't think about his range of hands at any point during the play of the hand, and that is something i need to fix, asap, if i want to win in vegas.

this loss happened after i chopped for fourth in the freeroll, which i was psyched about. i thought i played pretty well, although fourth doesn't pay much.

after my stupid beat w/ 99 i headed home to play in a rtr freeroll. i ended in about 44th place, which i thought was pretty good considering i came home to find myself blinded down to about 570 chips (starting stack 1500) and a guy w/ 23k at my table.

i'm still ahead in my cash play overall since i started playing around nyc (though barely) and as frustrated as i am by my loss today (which is the reason i'm not much more ahead) i feel like at least i'm learning from all of my sucky play. at least, i hope so!

so much for a break

i've stopped playing online cash cause i want to review my limited hand history in pokeroffice before continuing. i am extremely frustrated by pokeroffice's glitch of disabling chat on full tilt. how could they not come up w/ some way around that!

so on a bit of a whim i decided to play at nicelook's (c'mon jordan, euphemisms!!) freezout tourney fri night. it's 120 to play, and not only did i make it to the final table, i chopped for fifth! i went down to two tables extremely short stacked. aside from a big cbet w/ 99 on a pot i raised when the flop came down A10 rag (the dudes at my table were convinced i had an ace) i wasn't able to do much. so i'm short stacked, push w/ AJ only to be called by AK, but i flop two pair and it holds up. after chipping away at a few pots this really serious dude raised to 6x the bb (i think we were at 1/2 and he raised to 1200). i'd been watching him for awhile and thought he was one of the biggest threats at the table. preparing to auto fold i looked down and saw pocket rockets. i fiddled w/ my chips for a bit, and finally decided to raise to 3k. he instantly went all in and i insta-called. amazingly my aces held up and i went into the final table (of 9) with over 13k chips.

unfortunately i found a way to lose a bunch early on. i raised w/ KQ suited, to 4x bb (150/3 to 1200) and an australian guy went all in for just over 3k. i called, he showed AK and he high carded it. i then raised 3x the bb later when they were up to 2/4 w/ JJ, got smooth called by this innocent yet dirty looking dude a few seats down. flop came AQ rag. he blind checked and i checked behind him. i think maybe i should bet to find out where i'm at, but i also am thinking he almost certainly has an ace. another ace comes on the turn, he bets into the pot for 1400 and i fold. there were three diamonds out there, and although i had the J of diamonds, i'm pretty sure he's pushing on the river, and he had around 5 or 6k chips. so now i'm pretty crippled, left with about 6k, and i just did my best to stay in. finally, with about just over 2k chips and in the bb there are two callers. i pick up two pair with 105 (all clubs on flop) and go all in for my remaining 1200 or so. i get called by a goofy looking guy in an orange polo shirt who i sat next to at my first table (and who played fantastically) and he says solemnly, i have the nut flush. (AJ clubs) lo and behold a five comes on the turn and my boat takes the pot. he was just so happy i didn't have more chips!

finally the australian guy went out in sixth, and i suggested trying yet another deal (we'd tried numerous times but there just wasn't enough money in the pot) and all accepted. i had a party to get to, so i was psyched, and given that it was my first real money freezeout ever, proud of my final table finish.

played both freerolls today. doubled up w/ two pair when i made a desperate call for all my chips w/ QJ (guy next to me made two pair w/ 10 9 on flop, jack on the turn, and the board paired on river, i had thought i lost till a nice guy at the table pointed out my win). then this guy who i've played with before, i think his name is mike, called an all in of mine thinking (i think) that he was donating chips to me rivered a straight and just crippled me. he is always running back and forth b/w the freeroll and his omaha table, and the first time i played with him he kept going all in w/ terrible hands and catching two pair or a straight to build a massive chip stack. so i finally went all in w/ A rag and lost to A8 who turned a boat.

second freeroll i made a "good" play, i think. so guy in early position raises to 700 (100/200) i called w/ AQo, but then a guy a few off the button goes all in. first raiser calls, and i just figure i had to be beat. i was -- all in had KK, and initial raiser had 10s. but of course, flop is AA rag. blech. so i was down 700. maybe had pot odds to call, but i was convinced i was beat pre flop and thought it was possible one of the two had AK. i went out w/ K7 and two live cards, but couldn't pick anything up.

i'm playing in a ladies bracelet race right now, my last chance to pick up my buy in for the ladies event online. then i'm gonna try to go out, but after partying late last night and getting up early for the freeroll i'm not sure i have it in me.

jordan, i emailed you w/r/t your comments. mike, thought you said you left another comment? did you do it anonymously?