Full weekend

Friday night I got permission to go play at a local game that I had been invited.  It was a rebuy tournament for the first 2 hours.  I was playing tight but got outdrawn on the river to get busted out for a lot of chips at the end of the rebuy period.  I bought back in but busted shortly after break.  My live poker skills have diminished terribly. 

Saturday we had our nephews 3rd and 4th grade football game to go watch an hour and a half away.  On the way home we saw several tarantula crossing the road.  The first one I saw was about the same size as my hand. 

We stopped by some friends house out in the country.  It was a really nice place and had a great outdoor area with lots of decking and a pool.  We sat around visiting there while the boys got to ride a 4 wheeler and pet some horses. 

We needed to get back to town as our friends from OKC were coming up for the fundraiser dinner that evening.  We got back right after they had arrived.  Everybody was a little tired so we sat around until it was time to get ready for the dinner.  We were all pretty pumped about the night out without the kids, a steak dinner and some alcohol.

They had an auction after the dinner.  Everything was selling well above regular price, and it was fun watching people bid each other up.  Towards the end of the auction they brought out plates of cooked steaks for auction.  One of our party was making fun, saying that they are getting a little crazy if they are selling already cooked steaks.  My wife said that means it's almost time to go.  She raised her arm and said woo hoo.  The auctioneer pointed in our direction and said SOLD!  At this point my buddy is freaking out.  He doesn't know what his wife just bought or for how much.  He just knows that everything has been going extremely high.  When they told him he paid 25.00 for a plate of ribeye's he was quite relieved.  It was our joke of the night.

Later at the bar, his wife was getting a little wild and kept raising her arm.  There was a bell right above her.  If you ring the bell, it symbolizes that you buy the whole bar a round of drinks.  She got lucky this time and missed the bell.  It was quite a night.

On Sunday, I took a 5 hour nap.  The last week had caught up with me.  When I woke up, I logged into some tournaments.  After a lot of play I was bubble boy in 3 different tournaments.  It was pretty ridiculous.  The last 1 I was sitting in 6th with 13 left, and 11 getting paid.  I had KK and called all in on a J high flop.  The other guy had QQ and hit a Q on the river.  I usually fold hands like this preflop near the bubble because I lose there 99% of the time.

 

Pre-Dinner

Tarantula Crossing the Road

Exhausted

Last night was one of those nights you just put behind you and move on.  After working late trying to get way too much accomplished at work, I was exhausted.  My wife was out of town picking up diapers and formula, so I lay on the bed and tried to get a game of FL Badugi going. 

There was nobody joining so I fired up a game of Omaha Hi/Low.  My lows would not get there and my hi's kept getting drawn out on.  It wasn't pretty.

I am taking a break from tournaments for a while.  They take a lot of time, and I have been feeling too tired to put that much time in this week.

My wife brought home Chinese.  It's a treat since we have to go 25 miles to get it.  We ate and decided to go to bed early.  I haven't slept well the last couple nights.  My shoulder has been hurting from playing a volleyball tournament over labor day weekend.  Instead of going to sleep I decided to see if I could manage to win back any of the money I lost in Omaha, playing NL Holdem.  I loaded up multiple tables and got to work. 

In an hour and a half I had AA once, and ran 2 full houses into 4 of a kinds.  At the end I did get some money back, a total of 26 cents.  I'll take it.  It was all thanks to a last minute heater I went on.  I was glad i played out until the blinds.

This weekend we have some friends coming up to attend a fundraiser dinner with us.  The house is a little bit of a mess and we have a lot of cleaning to do by Saturday.  There's an overwhelming amount to do at work as well.  I stay busy.

Wednesday Weigh In #5 - Las Vegas In 1 Week

This last week I slipped a few times with some larger meals, donuts, snacks, and lack of exercise.  That's probably why, when I stepped on the scale this morning, it said 213.8 instead of 212.

With one week left, I am going to push hard to try to reach my goal of 210 pounds.  It hasn't been too hard getting to this point, just a little change in eating and drinking habits, some studying on weight loss, and a little more execise. 

I have noticed a little change.  Mainly in the mid section of the body.  My handles are dissapearing.  Nice!  I can look straight down and see my feet.  Whhhaat?  My step is a little lighter and my back hurts a little less.  I feel a little more energetic. 

I thought 210 would be my ideal weight for my 6'3" height.  Maybe if I was ripped.  It's pretty close.  I still feel like the belly sticks out a little too far.  I don't know that I'd want to get much below 190.  I look at some of my high school and college pictures and I was pretty scrawny.  I want to still be a little intimidating.

Next week at this time I will be in the air on my way to Las Vegas.  There is a lot to do at work so it will get here pretty fast.  I'm ready for the Vegas tourist lifestyle.  Gambling, poker, buffetts, drinking, wandering around and checking stuff out.  We don't have anything planned.  I am hoping to meet up with Grrouchie at some point during the trip. 

My other friend and his nephew will be arriving out there before I do.  They should have a shot poured for me by the time I get to the hotel and checked in. 

After the shot, it's downstairs to the poker area for a little poker play.  If they don't have a game going, I'm going to go find a game.  I want to start this trip off right.  The last couple of trips have involved very little poker.  It used to be all about the poker.  The last few times those pesky slots have been trying to take our money.  Darn them and their mini games. 

I would really like to get into a couple/few tournaments.  With the Wynn being fairly close I may try to get in some tournaments there.  Last time we were in town we tried to hit up some of our old smaller tournaments.  We would sit there and wait and the games would never take off.  I played 2 sessions of poker the whole trip.

Exciting times are ahead. 

The Poker Maximus Series Is Over - Time To Settle Back Into The Norm

The Poker Maximus Series is over.  This weekend was crazy with poker.  I played games that I hope I have a chance to take a shot at again sometime when my bankroll gets larger.

We went to the high school football game Friday night.  Our team lost but played well against a team that looked very good out on the field. 

Saturday I got up and started playing NL cash.  I had a pretty good run and felt confident that I would do well in tournaments the rest of the day.  I played a ton of tournaments.  It didn't go to great.  I only made 1 final table in the PL HO where I finished 2nd.  That still left me down for the day.  I got in another tournament and played some HU SNG's while I was playing it.  I got talked into playing at higher stakes than I should have, with a player that I kept beating.  When the dust settled I was up a couple hundred dollars after hours of playing.  I was in 1st in chips on the tournament, with 3 tables left.  I was the table bully, and was doing really well, until I fell asleep.  I finished in 14th place. 

Sunday was Main Event Day with 6 Main Events going on and the 4000.00 guaranteed game.  I might have pushed it too hard on Saturday, because I wasn't wanting to play too bad.  I still played.  I was doing o.k. in the 2.20 and 215.00 games.  I couldn't do anything in the others and busted out when the blinds got high enough I had to push and pray. 

I lost the 215.00 game when I took a chance and raised AK suited from early position.  I got 2 callers as usual for that table.  All low cards and 2 of my suit hit on the flop.  I pushed hoping to get the other 2 players out of the hand.  I got called by big blind who had QQ.  My A K or other suited card did not fall.

In the 2.20 game I got to rolling right after we got into the money.  I doubled up then doubled again right away.  I became 2nd big stack at the table.  Then I ran into the big stack with JJ.  He was directly to my left and would re-raise me every time I raised.  This time I shoved my stack.  He called with K 2.  The rest is history.

I played fairly solid in the Maximus Series and had some semi-deep runs.  I cashed in most of the Maximus tournaments up until the end.  The last 2 days were a little harsh.  Luckily I had bought into most of those games with tickets. 

Now that the series is over and I have taken my shots, I will settle down again for a while.  At least until next week when I leave for Las Vegas. 

It will be back to playing after 8:00 on the few games I can get into.  Back to familiar territory with familiar faces (avatar's), with some extra poker thrown in on the weekends when we aren't doing somehting else.

I Love A Rainy Day

There were clouds rolling in last night as I got off work.  The air temperature was dropping as the wind slowly died down.  We were planning on going to the Jr. High football game.  They had to reschedule due to the rain and lightning. 

I cooked supper, then played around with the kids for a little bit.  Around 8:00 I decided to see what was going on in the poker world.  There were a few tournaments I could still get in.  I also registered for a 10.00 NL cash game.  The 3.30 PL HO game was over as soon as I started.  I had to re enter and lost again just as quickly.  My hands just would not hold up.  I got in a 2.20 game.  I also got in a 5.50 game. 

We reached the money in the 2.20 rebuy game first.  I had a middle of the pack stack when I got pocket jacks.  The big stack called my 3 bet with an A5 and caught an ace on the flop.  I checked waiting on him to bet and then raised him trying to get him to go away.  He called.  We checked it down from there and I lost a large chunk of my stack.  The next hand I had AK and went all in.  I was called by QQ and eliminated in 14th place with one tournament remaining.

I was disappointed that I did not reach the final table after getting so close.

The 5.50 game had 15 minute blind levels so I was able to wait for opportunities to play.  I eventually made it into the money on that game as well.  As we worked up the pay scale, I was also increasing my stack.  When we got to the final 2 tables I was 9th in chips.  We got down to 12 and I was the 2nd lowest stack.  I could have skated into the final table but was hoping for a double up and a shot at the win for close to 400.00.  I ended up getting it all in pre-flop with 10 10 to the big stack's 9 9.  He ended up catching a straight to the 9 on the river eliminating me from my last hope of the night to make a final table.

On a night I wasn't going to play, I was able to make a few dollars.  It was nice to have a couple good runs.  I have the taste of 1st still in my mouth and as I got closer, I started salivating.  Then it was taken away.

200th Post!

This is my 200th post.  So far my poker adventure the last year has worked out.  I have learned a ton.  I still have tons to learn. 

This is what I have learned in the last year.  I suck at NL Cash.  My results are negative stellar.  I would love to be good and play somebody like me.  I am o.k. at SNG's.  It is not a very profitable game for me.  Tournaments have had the best results for me.  Breaking that down further, tournaments with long blind levels and deep stacks have shown the best results.

Over the year I have tried many things to help me to make a buck at online poker.  I paid for and downloaded poker tracker software.  I'd be lying if I said this did not help out a little.  Mainly to improve my play by seeing how others are seeing my play.  It helped my see what percentage certain hands were winning and losing and the amount I have won or lost with those hands.  It also helped me see that I do not belong at a NL cash tables, unless I'm just there to have some fun.

I tried Table Tracker out for a short time.  It wasn't a big help since there were so few tables to choose from in the first place. 

One thing that has helped out a lot is getting a subscription to Card Player Magazine.  There is a lot of technical writing in there that has helped me to improve my play and see why others have made the plays they have.  It's nice to get some new ideas once in a while from people who know what they are doing.

During this last year I lost rakeback on Carbon, and decided to switch to Lock to get rakeback.  It seemed like a sound decision and was working out really well.  I was getting rakeback, deposit bonuses, and cashing in on points.  In the course of a couple months I was building my bankroll quickly and looking to move up to play games I have never had the opportunity to before.  That all faded as I heard rumor they would not be doing cash outs any longer.  I hit the cashout button in August and it still has not processed.  I went back to Carbon as there are still players saying they can get money off there.  It just takes a long time. 

I took advantage of the deposit bonuses and attempted to grind enough hands at the lowest limit to get me to the maximum tier I could reach in a month.  The VIP points did not help my upside down graph that is supposed to show my earnings.  I decided to try something new.  I would just play for fun and not worry about making or losing money.  I got back into tournaments and SNG's and started making a profit for the 1st time in almost a year except for my stint playing on Lock.  My bankroll was growing again and I was playing the games I love. 

As the Maximus Series got closer, I decided to pre-register in a bunch of tournaments.  I told my wife that I would be disconnected for a few weeks from family activities on the days I played.  I had tried the rest of the year to play late in the evenings as it was getting close to the kids bedtime, so that I could still do family things.  This opened me up to play some longer blind level tournaments, that I felt that I could do some good at. 

On the first Sunday I ran well in all of my tournaments and finally cashed in the 4 digits.  The next couple days my streak stayed alive and I final tabled a few more tournaments, increasing my bankroll even more.

Since my winning streak I haven't had a lot of success.  I have made a few semi deep runs in tournaments to keep my bankroll even. 

I have considered withdrawing some of my roll.  It sounds like I may lose the bonus I have going now if I do so I will wait until I clear the bonus.  I am going to keep enough money on the site to play up to 5.50 tournaments and SNG's and 4.00 NL cash.  I know, I know, but I have to get better at cash sometime.  I have years of tournament experience and now I have close to a year of cash game experience.  One of these days it may start paying off.  Plus, I can play shorter sessions at cash, giving me more time to spend with my family. 

If it was all about poker, I'd be all about tournaments.  I'd lock myself it a padded room and play hour after hour.  Fortunately for me, I have already committed to having a family.  They have put up with an extraordinary amount of poker for the last year, quite ofter pulling me away from them.  It's impossible to balance the two.  I have to follow my dreams.  If I give up on them I will become a shell of a man.  I have had dreams fade away, this one has taken others over.  I may not be playing next year, I don't know.  I have taken year long breaks from it before.  It defines who I am now.  I'm a poker player - fisherman - husband - father - business professional - fun guy - etc.  Not necessarily in that order.  One of my dreams that I have fantasized over is for poker to provide some trips for me and my family to exotic locations around the world.  I understood then as I do now, that this may be years in the works.

When I hit 400 posts, I hope to look back and say that I'm glad I put all of this time and effort into this game.  Looking back 200 posts, I can say today, that I am glad I put all of this time and effort into this game. 

Wednesday Weigh in #4

After a week of not doing so well on my diet/excersize, I was happy to see that I am now down to 215.8 pounds.  With 2 weeks left to go I am still on track to reach 210 pounds.  I will have to do a little more than I did this week in order to get there, I feel.  I have changed my eating habits.  That is helping the most.  Last night I cooked my normal 3 cheeseburgers for supper.  When I got done with 1 I was full, so I put the rest in the refrigerator for later.  In months past, I would have at least ate 1 more just to eat. 

I thought hard about running last night.  After the day I had at work, I decided I was going to play some poker even though I had planned for a break for the night.  It helped me to get my mind off of work.  The kids were playing the xbox right next to me so I didn't get in any games that I would have to concentrate too hard on.  I played a bunch of 6 man super turbo's, heads up's, and finished the night with some cash games as my wife came in to watch T.V. with me after the kids were in bed. 

I started out losing, then losing, then losing some more in the sng's.  It was like the rest of my day.  I could get all my chips in with the best hand and see the runner runner flush coming.  Then it changed, just like that, along with my attitude.  I went on a winning streak.  I went from being quite a bit down to being up a little.  I thought about quitting at that point, but felt that I had been playing good all night, so I continued.  The streak continued and I had a good profit for the night.

In 2 weeks, I'll be leaving for Las Vegas.  Tonight I have a poker Maximus game, I have 2 on Saturday and 6 of the Main Events on Sunday.  We have quite a bit of football to watch on Thursday and Friday nights.  The weekend after this we have a dinner we are going to.  My schedule is booked.  I've got to keep myself busy.