Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Poker (Snow) Day

I'm essentially snowed in. We got about 6 inches last night and the official snow blower is out of town. A neighbor is taking pity on me and digging me out after he gets home from work.

What to do with my day? Hmmmmm.

I fired up FTP and enjoyed some 1/2 and 2/4 limit when I spied a $10 tournament starting in about 20 mins. I had all three tables up for a while then I decided it might be time to pay attention to the tournament.

I played a masterful short stack. The tables were pretty tight and many of my shoves went uncalled. I did manage to double up a couple times to keep me in the game. The final table bubble burst and I wasn't in horrible shape.

Only a few hands in I pick up AK in the BB. It was raised before it got to me and a re-raise would commit virtually all my chips so I just shoved it in. It was pretty much an insta-call.



I think I can safely say that nobody I know would put almost all of their chips in preflop with KQo. Well, if you do please don't tell me about it.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5409121777: $10 + $1 Tournament (41039275), Table 3 - 1000/2000 Ante 250 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:27:02 ET - 2008/02/26
Seat 1: upuponly888 (15,276)
Seat 2: watson503 (45,871)
Seat 3: dopeishope (50,693)
Seat 4: fcporto3 (54,402)
Seat 5: gadzooks64 (25,001)
Seat 6: pebbles0129 (25,042)
Seat 7: KINGcupido (48,053)
Seat 8: Kimmett08 (29,376)
Seat 9: fister37 (51,286)
upuponly888 antes 250
watson503 antes 250
dopeishope antes 250
fcporto3 antes 250
gadzooks64 antes 250
pebbles0129 antes 250
KINGcupido antes 250
Kimmett08 antes 250
fister37 antes 250
fcporto3 posts the small blind of 1,000
gadzooks64 posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gadzooks64 [Ah Ks]
pebbles0129 folds
KINGcupido folds
Kimmett08 raises to 6,000
fister37 folds
upuponly888 folds
watson503 folds
dopeishope folds
fcporto3 folds
gadzooks64 raises to 24,751, and is all in
Kimmett08 calls 18,751
gadzooks64 shows [Ah Ks]
Kimmett08 shows [Qs Kd]
*** FLOP *** [4h 9h 4d]
*** TURN *** [4h 9h 4d] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [4h 9h 4d Qh] [4s]
gadzooks64 shows three of a kind, Fours
Kimmett08 shows a full house, Fours full of Queens
Kimmett08 wins the pot (52,752) with a full house, Fours full of Queens
gadzooks64 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 52,752 | Rake 0
Board: [4h 9h 4d Qh 4s]
Seat 1: upuponly888 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: watson503 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: dopeishope (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: fcporto3 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: gadzooks64 (big blind) showed [Ah Ks] and lost with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 6: pebbles0129 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: KINGcupido folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Kimmett08 showed [Qs Kd] and won (52,752) with a full house, Fours full of Queens
Seat 9: fister37 folded before the Flop

Monday, February 25, 2008

Revenge Is Sweet!

Just in case you haven't seen this yet, and, if you haven't what rock have you been hiding under????



Well, you tell me, how sweet is this?

Friday, February 22, 2008

Friday Night Poker

Snarf talked me into playing the Blogger Donkament after I talked him into playing a $3 KO. I don't know why I bother to play the KO turnaments because I rarely ever get any KOs. I did manage to make it to the final table for a cash though.

All the while I was also donking it up with the bloggers. I was thrilled to see meanhappyguy playing since I met him at the MGM mixed games last summer. We decided to pick horses after the rebuys were over. My horse promptly bit the dust and mhg took out his own horse, doh!

We agreed to post pictures drawn using paint on our blogs commemorating the event. I suck at this but here we go. A horse is a horse of course unless I draw it in paint. For you meanhappyguy.



The actual miracle of the evening was Snarf's resurrection from the near dead to HU with me after an incredibly tight final table. It hard to believe these were the same players we started with. Snarf and I luckboxed our way to HU and agreed on a chop. Lucky for him, too, because I was hitting cards right and left while we negotiated the chop.

Regardless, I have the trophy! I can now officially say that I've won a blogger event. Don't worry, it's totally going to my head.

Oh, and Blaz, a pox on you for railing Snarf like that!


Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Braces: Round 2

We knew it was coming. We just didn't know it was coming so soon. But here we are. The boys have been seeing the Orthodontist every six months just to keep on top of things knowing full well that eventually they'll both probably need braces.

The verdict came in last week.

Zooks99 needs to have braces now.



As you can see from this before picture he will definitely benefit from some braces. He's in for about 9-12 months of no gummy vitamins, starbursts, tootsie rolls, laffy taffy, etc. Bummer dude.



It was picture day at school today. He was so excited that I let him where his Colts jersey for his pictures that he had to get matching bands: blue and silver! I'm pretty sure that Old Gold & Black will be next.


What a babe magnet!

Bad Influence?



Well, duh. My kids knew that ages ago.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

House Shot

Yes, I'm posting about bowling. Again.

Get over it.

Sunday was the second week of the Chameleon. I didn't even come close to bowling as well as I did the week before finishing up with about a 450 series. I think I might have found my line about the 8th frame of the last game. Might have.

Last night was back to the house shot which I like significantly more. I started off well with a 220 and I won poker when I picked up a 4th nine in the 10th frame to best Jimmy's full house! Wooooot!

The second game I finished with XX9 to hit 200. I sit down, rifle through my cards knowing I have to beat a full house when I was shocked to see:



Let's just say Jimmy wasn't happy but not terribly bummed because he and I had a side bet about who would win that game: him or Trey. I accepted his wager when Trey was ahead and running well. Little did I know that Trey would choke and Jimmy would finish out his game for the win. Sigh.

I needed 9 or better on my last ball of the 3rd game to make a 600 series. But no, I get an 8 count for a loverly 599. Eff. Me.

Friday, February 15, 2008

My Poker Night

So this is how my night is going:

All in preflop in a token frenzy on FTP.



All in on flop in a 2 table token SNG.



Nothing like shoving into the nuts to make you feel like a total idiot.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Position Round

No, not that kind of position round.

I'm talking about bowling!



So far this season we've been firmly planted in second place behind some very serious bowlers. The team is made up of 4 very good bowlers. The woman on the team bowled a 300 the very first game of the season. She takes bowling seriously. Too seriously. Hell, for that matter, she takes herself too damn seriously as well.

For some strange reason my team had to play this team the very first week of bowling. Then we played them again the first position round. The very next week WE PLAYED THEM AGAIN FOR THE REGULAR ROTATION. The season is only 30 weeks long and we've already played them 10% of the time.

Today was yet another position round AND WE PLAYED THEM AGAIN. For the most part they've kicked our butts. We've never managed to have all 3 of us play well at the same time which is what it takes for us to beat them, well, that and for them to break a leg or three. We have hardly any handicap and they have none so it's really a scratch contest.

The first game we managed to beat them by over 100 pins. Wooooot! The three of use each bowled 200+ while they struggled. The next game was too close for comfort. We ended up losing by 7 lousy pins. We still had our 100+ cushion but it would have been really nice if we could win the last game and take 3/4 points but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. We fell apart in the end and they managed to beat us by 30+ pins. We ended up splitting 2/4.

It's absolutely no fun for me to bowl these people. Not because they kick my butt but because they aren't happy UNLESS THEY KICK MY BUTT. And, if they don't kick my butt their whole fucking world is going to come to an end OMGWTF!!?!?!?. Blah Blah Blah. They are so ridiculously competitive.

The teams I bowl on really have a good time bowling. We have fun whether we are winning or losing and we try to make it as much fun for the other teams as it is for us because that's what it really comes down to: Bowling is Fun! If it's not, then you're doing it wrong - not unlike that other position round sport.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Chameleon

My internet "teh sux" today. Apparently there is a known outage in my area. What they really mean is a crawlage. I have service but it is slothfully slow.

I made the mistake of trying to play a sng today - my first online poker in quite some time - only to be disconnected from Full Tilt a number of times before I gave up and called for backup. "I" bubbled just like I normally would have. Sigh.

Let's twiddle thumbs while we wait for the page with the pattern description to come up so I can cut n paste it right over there for you to enjoy, cause, well, we all have nothing better to do, now do we? Yawn.

Chameleon

Length: 39 feet

Chameleons change color to outsmart their enemies. To excel on this pattern, bowlers must be versatile in many styles of play.



Chameleon measures 39 feet and resembles a "retro" approach to pattern design. Oil is placed in "strips" and requires the player to play in a specific zone on the lane, as compared to a "multiple angles" condition. The scoring pace for this pattern can range from low to high, depending on the condition of the surface.




Let's just say that I did my best to hit the 500 series I spoke of last time but it wasn't to be. Color me a lovely 499. Once again I had the best games and series of my team. We did manage to win 4/5 points. Shocking I know. Truly.

I threw so many 9 counts it wasn't even amusing after a while. And when that last pin would wobble and STAY STANDING I was on the verge of going postal on somebody's ass. That SOMEBODY was one of my teammates that had the nerve to try to tell me how I should adjust when he couldn't seem to pull HIS OWN HEAD OUTTA HIS OWN ASS AND BOWL A DECENT GAME. Not a good time to point anything out to me, just sayin.

Not picking up a few key spares definitely held me back. I ended up with 168, 156, 175 for a 499. For the most part everybody struggled with this shot. I can't wait to see how I do on it next week. I think I do have a couple more tricks up my sleeve. Provided SOMEBODY doesn't try to mess with my head I should have a shot at improving over this week's performance.

Last night it was back to the house shot. Turns out we were bowling the bye! Wooooooot! Always fun to goof off without having to stress over winning. I started off with the Blade but it was behaving erratically. I switched to the NV for the last game and pulled it together after getting 3 nasty splits out of the first 4 frames to finish out with a 215. 181, 180, 215 = 576 just a hair over my 573 series average.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Drunken Stuff

I guess I owe my 3 readers a post.

What has gadzooks been up to you are wondering?

Drinking.

Thursday night the chatroom effers decided a drinking game was in order.

And drink I did. DRINK!

Zerb: guy to my left is the clueslessest fuck in the known universe
blaz: maybe push
blaz: depending on the player
thesnarf: push it real good
Zerb: shove it in
khan: aaaaaaaaah push it
zooks: push it hard
zooks: DRINK
khan: k
zooks: am I the only one drinking ehre?
zooks: come on bitches
khan: no
Zerb: no, huh uh, not at all
khan: im a drink ahead of u ho
zooks: that means you're still ahead
zooks: cause we all know what a lightweight I am
khan: lol

The next night was Bunko, er, Drunken Bunko. WTF was I thinking? I had two helpings of Gigi Juice even though I knew I had to be up at the buttcrack of dawn on Saturday for the last swim meet of the season. I stumbled home and passed out.

The next morning came upon me fast and furious but I still made it to the swim meet with plenty of time to spare. Once again the Social Secretary from hell double booked me for a swim meet and Drunken Euchre on the same day. That bitch needs to be fired. Srsly.

After lunch I had to prepare the eats for Euchre, deliver the remaining dues notices in my neighborhood, nap, shower and get a serious attitude adjustment before the guests arrived at 7:00.

Euchre gets going and we are having a great time. I did deal myself the equivalent of a royal flush last night. JsJcAsQsX and the Ks was my pick up card! Suhwheat! It, of course, gets passed around to me and I pick up the Ks and say, "I'm going alone and it's a lay down." That's 4 points, Bitches! A few Vodka & Cranberry mixers and I'm ready to call it a night.

Drunken Chat, Drunken Bunko, Drunken Euchre. I'm too old for this shit.

What's on the agenda for today you ask? Go ahead, ask. I'll let you.

Bowling.

PBA Experience bowling with some other kick-my-ass oil pattern that will teach me to be happy with a 500 series. When did I turn into a too old to be drinking this many days in a row masochist?

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

'The Grand' Trailer

Is it just me or does this movie look FRIGGIN AWESOME?!?!?!?!??!

Weather

Suxors.

WTF Already!

The temperature swings have been unreal lately.

It's driving me and my sinuses crazy.

Enough already.



The kids are out of school from Friday to Tuesday.

Looks like it will be bowling and movies. Unless I go postal before then.

Monday, February 04, 2008

SuperPoker Sunday

Some of you might remember that I helped to run a Super Bowl Sunday poker tournament on my birthday last year. A friend (not Zerb) and Khanwoman even traveled in for the event!

I wasn't lucky enough to have them come in for this year's event but Scoot from my home game did come out! The buy-in was raised from $50 (last year) to $100 this year but we only lost 8 runners from last year (34) to this year (26).

I ran out of the house hoping to get there about 30 minutes ahead of start time to get everything set up but I was about 1/3 of the way there when I realized I LEFT MY DAMN CHIPS AT HOME. Sigh. I called home and had them ready for me to throw in the car and I was off again at breakneck speed. I still, somehow, managed to show up about 20 minutes early. Scoot helped me get everything set up while I registered and bought-in players.

Last year's winner was noticeably absent even though he'd said he was going to play. Turns out it was his birthday the night before and he was hung over but good. We went ahead and bought him in after a phone call said he was on his way. He was so drunk at last year's final table that he had somebody else put his chips in the pot! Khan was so mad when she got all her chips in good HU and he managed to suckout for the win! Second place still payed a nice $400 though!

We started with 3000 in chips and the blind structure was very slow. Very very slow compared to any casino tournament you will play. We ended up paying the top 5 spots. I used the payout that Tournament Director suggested even though it was a little top heavy for my taste but I just didn't have the time to mess with it.



The first hand I played was AA and I, of course, raised it up. This table was easily the most limp happy table I had ever seen and several players played darn near every hand. One of the "every hand" players called my raise. The flop came out A high with two clubs. I checked intending to check raise and sure enough he obliged me by betting. I raised him 3x his bet and he called. The turn was a blank and I bet out about the pot and he finally folded. Scoot told me later than I must have been thrilled when another club didn't fall knowing I was trying to lose him if he was drawing to a flush.

Brett, last year's winner was blinding off between Scoot and I for the first level. He finally showed up and was pretty quiet until this hand. I raised UTG with KK. It folds around and Scoot in the SB says, "If it was anybody but you I'd play this hand as he mucks." Brett in the BB looks at his hand and says, "I call". Oooooooookay. The flop came 7K5 all clubs! Ewww. He checked to me and I said I was all in - I had him covered. He starts mumbling that he has to call. WTF? Have to call? I knew if he had the clubs he would have insta-called but I really didn't want to see any club in his had since I sure didn't have any but I did have a boat redraw. He ended up calling with QQ - NO CLUBS! I was thrilled. Had he had a club he would have hit it on the river. Woooooot! Turns out Scoot had 77 and would have gone broke to me on the flop! Lucky he folded.

We start having some bustouts - mostly from our table -and I eventually get moved to another table with some very active players with some huge stacks. I go card dead on yet another limp happy table. Every time I pick up a hand it's in the BB after half the table has limped. I ended up sticking it all in preflop once with AA, once with KK and a final time with AQs and get no callers after at least 2 people limped in. The AA hand 4 players had limped in. I was glad to take down just the bets on the table that hand. Ironically, the old hand I would show down the entire day was the KK hand with Brett.

Scoot ends up on my table again when we get down to two tables. He's about a short as me but we managed to outwait a lot of other players and before we know it we are now short stacks at the final table of 9 with top 5 getting paid. I continue to be card fricking dead while Scoot manages to pick up some hands and doubles up once.

We are on the bubble and this one player that is in a regular limit game gets involved in a hand and spews a ton of chips when he gets bet all in on the river. He pays off the guys turned flush with second pair. D'oh! Scoot and I enjoy a look of "I can't believe we just made it into the money on a hand like that!"

I continue to be card fricking dead - notice a trend here? I see a free flop in the BB with 73o vs. an UTG limper. The flop is Kx3 and I thought about shipping it then and there but didn't. The turn was a Q and like and idiot I ship it and he calls me with Q9o. Sigh. At least I made it to the money!

While we were playing the weather was having a field day. It had been thundering something fierce and it had also starting snowing like crazy. It was almost a white out with a good 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. I finally said I needed to get going home; they swapped out my equipment so I could leave. Once on the road I noticed the most amazing sheet lightening I had ever seen. IT WAS SNOWING AND LIGHTENING! And there were an absurd number of people on the road. The Super Bowl was going to kick off in about 30 minutes and all these people were on their way somewhere. Go figure.

I did make it home safely with my ill gotten gains. Mike, the host, was kind enough to pass me some $$ for organizing and running the tournament which I really appreciated. I have already purchased my plane ticket to Vegaspalooza '08 so that extra cash will come in handy. I'm going to be out during the WSOP, June 6th-14th, so come join us Effers and Ante Uppers if you can!

Friday, February 01, 2008

Roccopalooza Day 3

Day 3 started much too early. Mostly because several of us wanted to make the $80 1:00 pm tournament at the Majestic Star Casino that was about 50 minutes away from the hotel. We wanted to get there about an hour ahead so we would be able to get a seat before they sold out.

We drag our tired butts outta bed and get showered before heading over to the Poker Party Palace to pick up the rest of the degens that are going to play. We pile into the Slutmobile for our adventure.


Who wouldn't be intimidated by this crowd?

Five of the six of use are playing the tournament. Khanwoman decided she'd rather just hang out and make friends with the bar tenders if you catch my drift. I was the only one that didn't get a buddy at my table. Sly, Knighty, Huck and Rocco all ended up at a table with one other effer.

Right off the bat I noticed one guy playing almost every hand with any two cards and picking up pots that nobody was showing any interest in. Another two players were playing just about every hand even to a raise. I knew they wouldn't be around long and sure enough they were the first two off the table. I didn't play any hands for the first 3 rounds when I looked down to see JJ after one of the looser players had shoved from up front. I called and the players behind me instafolded. My JJ>AK. Wooot I finally played and won a hand!

I was so happy with my read of this next hand. UTG limps in (warning bells are going off in my head because he's definitely a tight player), LAG raises and gets called in two places. Back to UTG who repops it huge. Duh, I knew he had AA or KK. I just knew it. LAG folds and first caller takes forever to shove. The second caller said he was going to call if the first guy didn't but is now going to fold. UTG calls and they turn up: KK and TT. Woooooooot! I so had that nailed! The folder had AK and was sick to see an AAX flop. He would have been in great shape had he called but he made the correct play.

After folding for a long time I decide to raise from late middle position with A8c. I figured my table image will get me a lot of folds but then realized that LAG was the BB and he was definitely going to call. The flop was 8 high rainbow. Woooooot! I bet about 2/3 pot and he calls. Turn is a 9 and he shoves. Now, I wasn't real thrilled about that considering his previous hand ranges. He could have easily hit 2 pair or made the straight. I look intently at the board and riffle my chips in my right hand. Not much left there. I slowly look down from my 4 seat to his 8 seat and OMGWTF he looked terrified. I look back at the board and say, "Aight, I call." He turned up AK to my A8; he was drawing dead to a K. MHIG! Wooooot! That's the first time I've played a hand based on a read and it payed off!

I call that same guy's all in later with AJd and he shows AK but we end up splitting the pot. I got really lucky that time! It seems he has tightened up significantly after the first break. At one point he chided a player that pushed in after a few limpers saying, "You stole my move." I commented that he must be getting HUGE pot odds to call when he responded, "Not with these cards. They suck." I retorted, "That didn't seem to stop you earlier." The dealer then told "Gus" that I just said he sucked at poker! LOL! I guess this guy was a regular.

AQs is the next hand I play. UTG raised it up 3x and I flat called from the cutoff. The BB puts another few chips in and is all in. UTG and I both call. The flop comes out AXX with two small spades. UTG checks to me and I shove hoping I have his A beat or my spade draw hits. He calls and shows AQh. Woooooot! I'm freerolling for the whole pot! The BB had nothing and UTG and I end up splitting the pot. WTF is with all the split pots already! Live poker is so rigged ;).

I'm getting short stacked just before the second break when it is folded to me in the small blind and I peek down at 88. I push and the BB - a solid tight player - starts hemming and hawing. He makes a big show of mucking 66 face up. I look at him and say, "You can still reconsider" as I show my 88. Sigh.

The structure of this tournament was nice for the first 3 levels then it turned into a crapshoot - the antes and blinds were huge compared to the stack sizes. After the second break we picked up some more new players. I had heard about players that limped into every pot even when they had very few chips, players that asked every time how much they had to bet, players that had to be told every time is was their SB or BB but I never believed that you could get all of that IN ONE PLAYER. This guy was on my right and I was appalled every time he did one of those things. A player across the table caught my eye and we shared a look of "Can you believe it?"

Mr. I Limp KK UTG raised UTG and I find 77 on the button and shove it in. He calls saying he knows he's behind (he's got the chips now to make that call). He turns over 9sTs to my 77. Shit, I already don't like this. The dealer counts out the three flop cards and flips showing only the Js door card. Not crazy about that card but I can live with it. Then he slowly reveals the next card: 9. I literally yelled, "Fuck you!" Then the dealer ever so slowly revealed the next card: another effing 9! I yelled, "Fuck you harder!" I was standing up getting ready to leave when the dealer, at a glacial pace, burned and turned the turn card. OMGWTF! it was a 7s! HO MY GAWD! Did I just suck out in the most horribly brutal fashion or what? Even if I did, he still has outs. As one nice person reminded us, he had a straight flush draw to the 8s. Sigh. The river was the 6s giving him a flush to my boat. I survived! Wooooooooot!

While the dealer was dealing the next hand he says he needs to give me a warning for dropping the F Bomb. "Miss, if I recall correctly, you said "Fuck you!" followed by "Fuck you harder!" We just can't be having that." The whole table was cracking up.

I got moved to another table not long after that. I pushed once with 99 and got no callers. After that I was in push or fold mode - mostly fold. It was folded to me on the button. I shipped my 2 BB in with JTo. BB woke up with A8sooooooooooted and he called me. Really bad push by me there. This guy would have called with just about any two cards he was that active and deep. His hand is good and IGHN. I supposed I can't complain too much, 14/105+ is decent enough.

Of the 5 of us that played, one went out before the first break and the rest of us made it down to two tables. The money bubble was 12th. Three of us went 15,14,13! D'oh! The last man standing went out 8th for $200! Well done Knighty!



We were hoping to make it back to the hotel with time enough to pick up the rest of the crowd and head to Rocco's downtown lair but the football game had already started and we weren't going to make it all the way to Rocco's and still be able to see any part of the game. So we started up a S8 table and watched the rest of the game in the Poker Party Palace.

The rest of the story will have to wait. Stay tuned.