Sooted Cards

POT AGU

2010-04-19T19:20:00.001-04:00

Two more agricultural stocks that I haven't paid attention to that are getting beaten down and are looking cheap. Haven't done the work and don't know the whole story behind this sell off but my instincts say BUY.

MON

2010-04-13T20:10:00.005-04:00

Monsanto (MON) stock has been getting pounded lately. Although I believe the recent news is material, I would look to buy this stock when it stabilizes and finds a bottom probably in the low-mid 60s. MON, to this point, has greatly underestimated generic competition. They have been hurt in earnings and growth forecasts, and have stated that they are committed to focusing more on customer demands to turn around what has been a very disappointing quarter so far. MON admitted that they overestimated the loyalty of their brands, and their pricing power is not as strong as they had hoped. Admitting the problem is usually the most difficult. Given all this, I still believe the agriculture sector will be a strong growth story going forward, and MON still has plenty of strong brands to rely on. They are a solid co that makes money and still has good growth potential. They're #1 in their market. I would look to buy MON somewhere in the mid to high teens '10e P/E. Try to leg into this one. Outlook is long-term positive despite the recent negative news.

Buy MON - look to leg in at lower levels from the current $67.XX

Back but...

2010-04-01T18:15:00.005-04:00

Going forward, I am going to be looking for ways to make money in the markets. As much as I love poker (and I do miss it), those days are over for me. The game is great and has been good to me. However, I know in my heart that this is not a career that I want for the rest of my life. So, I suppose I have "retired" and can be found in the list of has-beens. This decision was made a couple years ago to start a new sustainable career. Since then, I have been working at a bank learning to become a trader. I have struggled thus far to find that same passion that drove me to be successful in poker. I was able to excel and make good money in poker while going out, enjoying social life in college, and earning very good grades. Sometimes, I look back and wonder how I did all that because now it seems like the only thing I do is work, and I don't feel even close to being satisfied or successful.

So, in an attempt to find that "fire", that inspiration again, I will start writing on this blog. I expect many bumps along the rode. I expect to write and have many ideas that turn out to be wrong or just plain stupid. I have to figure out that hands like KJ and AJ are not really that strong before I can learn to make money with them. Although, I was able to climb the poker ladder within a couple years, I realize that this career will most likely be very different. That's why I chose it. I didn't want a challenge that would last me a few years. I wanted one that would keep me going for a lifetime. Don't get me wrong, poker takes seconds to learn and a lifetime to master, and if you stop learning at any point, you will fall behind the curve. However, their is a ceiling to the game. The monetary potential is much more limited (note that I don't believe this to be a good enough reason for a career choice). The only way to reach the highest echelon's of thinking is to constantly play against the very best. However, no smart player would ever do such a thing! It is irrational, the profitability is so marginal, and volatility is high. If you are the 10th best player in the world, you would never play with the 9 best in the world. Even if you did it for pride, at those levels, it becomes a game of trying to think at one level above the other person but not two levels. Of course, there are many many nuances to the game that even some of the very best will miss, and that's where one will be able to gain an advantage. There is still usually more value with playing against worse players at lower limits. I just don't believe that poker can match up with the number of dimension in the investment world. There are many more variables and possibilities to consider in an ever-changing market. There are many products to learn and an endless number of companies to look at.

Anyways, let's get on to the subject that this blog will now be about. I will mainly only be looking for trades for my PA (personal account) and will keep work separate. So, far I have traded around my PA and only lost money. I decided to start small and dropped a few grand here and there, but it was worth the valuable lessons that I learned. Now, I am ready (I hope) to put some real cash to work. To start, I will be mainly looking to trade stocks as I am restricted in many ways. First, I have to hold any individual stocks for 30 days, no day trading, and I can't buy options on any individual names. What I can do is trade index ETF's without any holding restrictions and buy options on index ETFs. I would love to be able to buy options on individual names, but it is what it is.

Right now, I believe the market is overdone in the short-term. Currently, I own various single name stocks and the SPY as well as a couple triple short ETFs that I bought a little too early (I probably never should have bought them too; a lesson learned multiple times unfortunately). So, on a day like today where the market was up small, I ended up making <1% on my account. I have come to the conclusion that the right way to trade this market is from the long side. This may be a secular bull market, but I believe stocks will continue to rally in the medium term and trade somewhat range bound with higher highs and higher lows. I want to stay nimble and keep a watchful eye on the Fed as this zero-interest rate environment has been a key driver to this rally. Don't fight the Fed! That's a lesson that I took too long to learn. Recent trades I made were to buy VZ at 29.13 and LLY at 35.64. I like these names because they have high dividend yields and are somewhat defensive. I felt like I had some upside in VZ with the iphone that wasn't priced in, but I don't think it's a game changer. If the stock rallies more on the back of this, I will sell my shares when my holding period is up. My target on VZ was low 30s even after the upcoming dividend. I expect to make 10-20% and get out. LLY is a large-cap with a good dividend yield and low P/E multiple. The headwinds here are its low growth, patent issues, and acquisition fears. Even then, this stock just looks cheap. There are many more names like this, but it is difficult for me buy a portfolio of these for multiple reasons. Transaction costs would be too high if I tried to buy a couple grand of many of these names, and unfortunately, my PA is not that large. At $20-$25 to get in and out of a trade, I want to make sure that transaction costs are less than 1% of any trade.

Buy VZ
Buy LLY

playing 6-max cash

2008-07-31T23:48:00.003-04:00

The key to beating 6-max games is simple. DON'T SPEW.

like this...

Dealt to Egarim [Ad Jc]
ALLIN4HIGH folds
KnAbWoNsX raises to $12
Egarim calls $10
zordingdedingue folds
*** FLOP *** [3s As 4d]
Egarim checks
KnAbWoNsX bets $17
Egarim calls $17
*** TURN *** [3s As 4d] [3c]
Egarim checks
Captai Morgan11 adds $90
Captai Morgan11 has returned
KnAbWoNsX bets $45
Egarim calls $45
*** RIVER *** [3s As 4d 3c] [6s]
Egarim checks
KnAbWoNsX bets $115
Egarim raises to $720.40, and is all in
KnAbWoNsX calls $411.20, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $194.20 returned to Egarim
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim shows [Ad Jc] two pair, Aces and Threes
KnAbWoNsX shows [3d 6d] a full house, Threes full of Sixes
KnAbWoNsX wins the pot ($1,202.40) with a full house, Threes full of Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,204.40 | Rake $2
Board: [3s As 4d 3c 6s]
Seat 1: ALLIN4HIGH didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: mscell is sitting out
Seat 3: KnAbWoNsX (button) showed [3d 6d] and won ($1,202.40) with a full house, Threes full of Sixes
Seat 4: Egarim (small blind) showed [Ad Jc] and lost with two pair, Aces and Threes
Seat 5: Captai Morgan11 is sitting out
Seat 6: zordingdedingue (big blind) folded before the Flop

Mistake #1: I should've just 3-bet like I normally do. However, I chickened out here because I'd be doing it every time and I have a lot of history with Knabwonsx where I've 3-bet him a ton preflop.
Mistake #2: Spewing on the river obviously...
Here was one hand vs him where I actually had it.

Dealt to Egarim [Kd Kh]
Sweden75 folds
childish games folds
KnAbWoNsX raises to $12
Egarim raises to $40
Jomibakkus7 folds
riverbaby11 folds
KnAbWoNsX calls $28
*** FLOP *** [2s 5s Jc]
KnAbWoNsX checks
Egarim bets $72
KnAbWoNsX calls $72
*** TURN *** [2s 5s Jc] [Kc]
KnAbWoNsX checks
Egarim has 15 seconds left to act
Egarim bets $180
KnAbWoNsX has 15 seconds left to act
KnAbWoNsX raises to $500
Egarim raises to $618.70, and is all in
KnAbWoNsX calls $118.70
Egarim shows [Kd Kh]
KnAbWoNsX shows [Ts 9s]
*** RIVER *** [2s 5s Jc Kc] [Qs]
Egarim shows three of a kind, Kings
KnAbWoNsX shows a flush, Queen high
KnAbWoNsX wins the pot ($1,464.40) with a flush, Queen high
Egarim is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,467.40 | Rake $3
Board: [2s 5s Jc Kc Qs]
Seat 1: childish games didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: KnAbWoNsX showed [Ts 9s] and won ($1,464.40) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 3: Egarim (button) showed [Kd Kh] and lost with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 4: Jomibakkus7 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: riverbaby11 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Sweden75 didn't bet (folded)

I think it is a huge mistake to be calling those raises out of position with suited connectors vs good players. You just find yourself in too many tough spots such as 9 or 10 high flops. Good players are not stacking off to those hands, so it is tough to play those profitably out of position vs good players.

Finally, never ever call a 3-bet with KJ. I'd rather have 87 any day.

Dealt to Egarim [Kd Ac]
Jens_of_SE folds
gsheezy2 raises to $14
paddiewaddie has 15 seconds left to act
paddiewaddie calls $14
gorillapoker11 folds
Egarim raises to $56
sohigh247 folds
gsheezy2 has 15 seconds left to act
gsheezy2 calls $42
paddiewaddie folds
*** FLOP *** [6h 4d Kh]
Egarim has 15 seconds left to act
Egarim bets $88
gsheezy2 calls $88
*** TURN *** [6h 4d Kh] [Tc]
Egarim checks
gsheezy2 has 15 seconds left to act
gsheezy2 has requested TIME
gsheezy2 bets $65
Egarim has 15 seconds left to act
Egarim raises to $588.20, and is all in
gsheezy2 calls $177, and is all in
Egarim shows [Kd Ac]
gsheezy2 shows [Js Ks]
Uncalled bet of $346.20 returned to Egarim
*** RIVER *** [6h 4d Kh Tc] [Qd]
Egarim shows a pair of Kings
gsheezy2 shows a pair of Kings
Egarim wins the pot ($787) with a pair of Kings
gsheezy2 is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $790 | Rake $3
Board: [6h 4d Kh Tc Qd]
Seat 1: gorillapoker11 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Egarim (small blind) showed [Kd Ac] and won ($787) with a pair of Kings
Seat 3: sohigh247 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Jens_of_SE didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: gsheezy2 showed [Js Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: paddiewaddie folded before the Flop

So I stopped writing... Sue me

2008-07-28T01:50:00.000-04:00

I guess too much real life = no writing in blog.
Quick summary of recent events:
At the WSOP I cashed in Event #52 $1500 NLHE and finished in the low 1000s in the Main Event for $0. I played a couple Venetian Deep Stack tourneys with no luck as well. No big online wins since, but plenty of deep runs. Today, I finished 8th out of 920 in the $163 on FTP, 91st out of 4k+ in the Sunday Warm-up (1mill guranteed), cashed in the million, and 17th out of 1174 in the $530 on Stars. Tough long day. I feel like I'm playing very well and very due for a win.

Lately, I've decided to take on the 6-max cash games for NLHE and PLO at 2/4 and 3/6 stakes. So, far I've been learning a lot and making a lot of money in the process. Unfortunately, I will start working at my "real" job very soon, and my poker time will be substantially cut in a week. This comes at a bad time since I feel like I'm really crossing into a higher level where I can substantially increase my profitability. But that's life. I have no complaints. Either way, I'm excited to jump in and learn as much as possible in my trading job. I feel like the ceiling for money is a lot higher. I hope to still be able to play on Sundays, but it very much depends on how demanding work will be. I would love to take down a tourney before I start working. I keep going deep, but nothing so far. I'm pretty happy with my play, but I still have a few tune-ups to make. I saved some hands to post, but I already discussed them all with a friend. Unfortunately, I'm too tired to re-write everything that was said. Well, off to sleep after another grueling teasing Sunday.

2008-03-26T02:54:00.003-04:00

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MIA

2008-03-25T20:15:00.003-04:00

I've been MIA from this blog for quite some time now. The main reason is simply that I have not felt like writing at all. I didn't want this blog to feel like a chore, and if I don't feel like writing then I simply won't write anything. I do wish I would have written about a lot of events that took place such as my experience at the WSOP and Australia. I had a great time in Australia, met some poker players, and got to talk to some pros. I enjoyed talking to Erik Seidel a lot, and I thought he was a very down to earth guy and a class act. John Juanda seemed like a really nice guy. They shared some interesting stories with me, but I feel it is not my place to share. I will say that there were some pros that I thought were too full of themselves. However, the majority of the FTP pros were class acts.

Australia was wonderful. The weather was warm and sunny. I was able to sunburn myself pretty badly despite the fact that I rarely ever burn. Unfortunately, I didn't cash in any events, but I also took some horrific beats. In the PokerPro (Tables with screens like online poker), I was seated with Hachem and TimeX. I did resteal Timex once early on in the small blind when he raised the cut-off with Q2os and he folded and showed 77. Later, a loose passive fish limped utg and a euro pro raised 4-4.5x behind him with 15bbs to start. I flatted in the small blind with AA knowing the fish would come along which he did. Flop was something like Qxx and we checked to the Euro pro who shoved AK. I called. Runner runner straight leaving me with like 5bbs. GG. Timex went on to take down that tourney.

In the Main Event, I ran bad and played really bad. I don't have any significant hands that I recall. In the 6-max tourney, I probably had my most memorable poker experience in Australia. Fairly deep in the tournament but before the money, I was seated at a very tough table, and I had a ton of interesting hands. I had 2 young Euro pros on my left, one of which was a FTP pro whom I did not know. Three to my left was Eddie Scharf (FTP pro). Although I didn't know who he was, I knew he was an FTP pro. Two to my right was Sorel Mizzi who moved there a little later. And the guy on my right was a tight unknown. Later, at the FTP dinner I was able to talk to Eddie Scharf, and he told me that it was an extremely tough table to play on. Sorel was reraising him nonstop, and I was reraising Sorel nonstop. I was also battling it out with the Euro pro two to my left as well. Anyways, I basically had a small-medium stack when Sorel sat down. Sorel had a HUGE stack with well over 100bbs. I think he had like 70k at 200-400. I probably had like 20k. Well, the short version is that I end up destroying Sorel and taking most of his chips until he was short-stacked with like 10-15bbs. However, I ended up giving my chips to the Euro pro and to the random donks who sat down. At the end, I lost 3 straight coinflips and a 33%er preflop. It wasn't meant to be.

The table was awesome to play on. We were thinking on much higher levels than I ever get a chance to play on. It was a very intense table. My most memorable hand was when Sorel raised it up UTG+1. He was raising pretty light and I had the button with 87s. I didn't want to flat call because I knew he would double barrel very light and put me in a tough spot. Also, I knew that if I flatted he would put me on a hand like the one I had. So, I felt like he had too much fold equity for me to play my hand profitably by just calling preflop, and I wasn't getting paid if I did hit. At this point we were both very deep, so I calculated about how much I had. He had me covered. I knew that if I reraised him big and he 4-bet me I would not have room to shove again. So, I made up my mind to reraise him small KNOWING he would 4-bet me and I could 5-bet shove on him. Basically, whoever had the opportunity to go all-in first would win the pot. So, I did exactly this. I reraised him very small so that it looked very suspicious. I think he raised 2.5x and I reraised a little more than 2x his raise. Within 15 seconds he then reraised 3x my raise just as I expected. I looked down at my chips and quickly up again as if I wanted to shove them in (which I did!) just as amateurs do with aces. I pretended to think for like 10 secs and pushed my chips into the middle. My heart rate barely went up. My eyes never blinked. Sorel asked how many chips I had, but once I showed him my 5k chip stack, he quickly mucked. It was a great table and a lot of fun. Although, I didn't cash in any tourneys, I was able to make a good portion of the buy-ins back from playing 5/10NL. I would have played higher, but I didn't have the cash reserves on hand. In any case, the 5/10NL was a great game and played higher than the stakes. The Australia locals are horrific. The action is great.

Online poker has been rough on me as well as the player I am staking. I've played really well at times, and just taken brutal beats. However, I realize that MTT's have high variance, and I'm trying to keep my spirits up. I also recognize that my tournament sample is considerably smaller than most tourney pros, so I am proud that I have maintained such a high ROI. Variance is bound to even out I guess. In any case, I'm feeling pretty good about my game. The only think I'm lacking now is patience and focus. Once, I get those two things back I will be tough to beat.

I've also started back up playing PLO cash games. I may begin posting PLO hands again soon. I'll be playing anywhere from 2-4 to 25-50 PLO. PLO is a gambling high variance game. I realize that I need become more adept in dealing with the bad side of variance. I have noticed myself tilting more and more these days. Hopefully, I will get back to playing well consistently and making sure my D game is not too far from my A game.

I'll be back again. I guess I feel like writing now. :)

No Poker

2007-12-14T01:58:00.000-05:00

I really haven't played any poker lately. I have tons of papers and finals this week and next. Meanwhile, I've been having interviews nonstop. It looks like I'll be getting a trading job one way or another. I'll be having some big decisions to make soon. Right now, I'm still trying to figure out all the details. So, until December 21 when all my finals are done, I expect little if no poker.

750k FTP Final Table Again...

2007-11-26T02:37:00.000-05:00

I'm too tired to go over the tournament. Basically, I hit the final table again and lose a 60/40. GG. 8th out of 4025. Final Hand:

Seat 2: tschueg (1,097,586)
Seat 7: Egarim (585,506)
antes 7,500
ELIA posts the small blind of 30,000
tschueg posts the big blind of 60,000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Egarim [As Tc]
3 folds
Egarim raises to 578,006, and is all in
3 folds
tschueg has 15 seconds left to act
tschueg has requested TIME
tschueg calls 518,006
Egarim shows [As Tc]
tschueg shows [Qh Kh]
*** FLOP *** [Jh 6s Ks]
*** TURN *** [Jh 6s Ks] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 6s Ks 8c] [4s]
Egarim shows Ace King high
tschueg shows a pair of Kings
tschueg wins the pot (1,246,012) with a pair of Kings

Donkey play

2007-11-12T21:15:00.000-05:00

Early in the 162 on Stars:
Dealt to Egarim [Qd Qh]
2 folds
beauW: calls 20
2 folds
Egarim: raises 80 to 100
1 folds
gbit272: raises 160 to 260
2 folds
Egarim: calls 160
*** FLOP *** [8s 6s 9h]
gbit272: checks
Egarim: bets 280
gbit272: raises 320 to 600
Egarim: raises 2170 to 2770 and is all-in
gbit272: calls 2150 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [8s 6s 9h] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [8s 6s 9h Th] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
gbit272: shows [Ad Ah] (a pair of Aces)
Egarim: shows [Qd Qh] (a pair of Queens)
gbit272 collected 6060 from pot
I totally botched this hand on the flop. I really have several options here. #1 I can check behind on this flop which I don't mind too much. #2 I can bet this flop, but once he check raises I can call or fold. I should never 3bet all-in in my opinion as I get no call value. He is only calling me when I'm beat, so my value here is reraising for fold equity when he has AK here. The only possible hands that I beat are Tens and Jacks that he could possibly call me with. However, if he has anything else, I am in very bad shape. My best plan is to call here if I don't believe him, and fold if I do. I'm probably not folding here often because it doesn't make sense to check raise such a dangerous flop with aces. Of course, I have to realize I'm playing against donks who don't know better. In any case, I made a horrific play and got what I deserved.

PLO Bad day

2007-11-06T22:23:00.000-05:00

I'm stuck 10k on one table thanks to some nasty coolers/beats. PLO is definitely a high variance game...

Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [Ah Ks Kd 2s]
1 folds
Egarim: calls $50
2 folds
LuckyGump: calls $25
Bamboo100: checks
*** FLOP *** [Qh Qc Kc]
LuckyGump: bets $100
Bamboo100: folds
Egarim: calls $100
I could raise and build a pot here if he has a queen, but I know he's a cautious player and won't commit much. Also, I think his range for leading here is light, likely a flush draw.
*** TURN *** [Qh Qc Kc] [As]
LuckyGump: bets $347
Egarim: raises $1041 to $1388
LuckyGump: calls $1041
At this point he leads strong which tells me he has a strong hand. I'm thinking he probably has AQ in his hand here, and this is the time to build a pot imo.
*** RIVER *** [Qh Qc Kc As] [3d]
LuckyGump: bets $3123
Egarim: calls $1256 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
LuckyGump: shows [Ad Ts 5c Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Queens)
Egarim: mucks hand
LuckyGump collected $5635 from pot
Wow. One-outered on the turn. How sick is that? First off his aces is disguised since he didn't raise preflop (although I and many others probably do that a lot since you don't want to give away your hand out of position). Secondly, I have an ace in my hand! What are the chances that he one-outers me here? So tough to put him on aces full here. Sigh.

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [2h As Ad 3d]
3 folds
Egarim: raises $100 to $150
Goldenfaith: raises $300 to $450
Egarim: raises $900 to $1350
Goldenfaith: raises $1920 to $3270 and is all-in
Egarim: calls $1150 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Qs 6d Jh]
*** TURN *** [Qs 6d Jh] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 6d Jh 7d] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [2h As Ad 3d] (a pair of Aces)
Goldenfaith: shows [Qd Kh 6h Ac] (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
Goldenfaith collected $4998 from pot
Pretty standard. I get it in as big a favorite as possible in PLO. I am a 70-30 favorite which is seriously the best you can do preflop. His reraises were horrible...

Aussie Millions Package 2?

2007-11-05T00:28:00.000-05:00

I played in the $535 Aussie Millions Satellite again today. This time two seats were being given away and third place paid out $500 (Of course, I just receive 18k since I already won my package). So, I got down to three-handed. Stacks were around 90k, 80k, and 40k+, and I had the 80k stack. Unfortunately, I played less than optimally and finished in third place. I've never been in a situation like this short-handed where there is such a big difference in payouts. Although, I ran bad, my strategy was not sound. I was playing too many pots with the short stack when I had little fold equity. Another tough lesson learned. This time I gave up 17.5k. It was definitely one of my most frustrating finishes to date. I ended up playing poorly in the Sunday Million after this finish, but eventually I got my head straightened and went deep in the money in both the Second Chance and FTP 750k. Nothing to show for it though.

Dilemma

2007-10-31T01:22:00.000-04:00

It seems that the Aussie Millions package conflicts with the PCA package. I have already won my Aussie Millions seat, but planned on going to the PCA (I intend to win a PCA package within the next couple weeks, but if I don't win one I can tag along with brother and buy-in directly). Now, I have to decide whether to just go to Australia, or split time between the Bahamas and Australia sacrificing some value.

So, I won my Aussie Millions seat thinking it would just be for the Main Event which starts the Jan 14th. The PCA is Jan 5th - 10th. However, I receieved an e-mail from FTP stating that I will depart from LAX Jan 7th and return Jan 21st. So, here are my possible choices:

1. Go to PCA. Fly out of Bahamas Jan. 11th. Make several connections and fly the whole day arriving in Melbourne on Jan. 13th.
Pros- I get to play in the PCA and Aussie Millions with my bro. I get to see Bahamas and Australia. I get two shots at two big tournaments.
Cons- Plane tickets cost 2k a person for roundtrip tickets to Melbourne. FTP will give me 3k to make my own reservations. So, -$1,000 if I take a person. I sacrifice a week of free hotel in Australia, time spent relaxing, VIP functions with FTP Pros, and an assortment of entertainment that I do not know the specifics of.

2. Go to Australia and skip the PCA
Pros- I get to enjoy Australia to the fullest extent. I've always wanted to go there. I get to enjoy all the FTP VIP functions and hang out with the Pros, etc.
Cons- I miss out on the PCA and possibly millions... My brother will have to meet up with me on the 13th in Australia.

So, what should I do?...

Bubbled PCA Package

2007-10-28T23:45:00.000-04:00

:(. Pretty disappointing day. I was hoping to kill two birds in one day, and have all my satellite packages won. Unfortunately, a big stack lag raised his 4th straight hand and I restole into AJs. GG. I definitely didn't play optimally in that tournament. I'm not used to slow satellite structures, but I feel like after this experience, I have learned a lot and will make less mistakes in the future. I'll just have to wait till next week to win a PCA package.

To Australia I go

2007-10-28T18:26:00.000-04:00

I just took 1st out of 57 in the Aussie Millions Satellite on FTP. The package is worth $18,000, and will be from January 14th to the 22nd. Unfortunately, I'll be missing a couple days of school, but it will be worth it as I've always wanted to go to Australia. Right now, I'm still trying to win a PCA package which is from Jan. 5th-11th. I'm excited to have the opportunity to travel so much this winter break. Hopefully, I'll make the best of these opportunities.

Meanwhile, I'm still playing tourneys and I just got knocked out of the Sunday Million on this awful hand:

Seat 2: Logon66 (14825 in chips)
Seat 7: Egarim (14100 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [Ac Kc]
3 folds
Logon66: raises 800 to 1200
4 folds
Egarim: raises 4000 to 5200
Logon66: calls 4000
*** FLOP *** [Jc 2d Kd]
Egarim: bets 8900 and is all-in
Logon66: calls 8900
*** TURN *** [Jc 2d Kd] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 2d Kd Tc] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Ac Kc] (three of a kind, Kings)
Logon66: shows [Ad Qc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Logon66 collected 28400 from pot

GG thev0id

2007-10-15T23:50:00.000-04:00

2+2 Forums
GG thev0id on Poker Stars. I think Poker Stars made the right decision and took a strong stance against cheaters. Hopefully, this will deter others from trying to multi-account. If they win a big one multi-accounting, they may not get their money. I have no respect for cheaters. I don't care if JJProdigy is the best player in the world. His lack of ethics and morals leaves nothing to be desire, and I have absolutely no respect for him.

In other news, I have noticed that my posts have been getting shorter and shorter as well as less detailed. Here is my inspiration: http://plusev.net/d/20070316.html

Another run at the Sun. Warm-up

2007-10-14T21:15:00.000-04:00

Deep in the Sunday Warm-up. 56 players remaining. I'm feeling really good and ready to take one down:

Seat 2: jaygee1984 (514158 in chips)
Seat 8: Egarim (291413 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [Jd Ts]
power2prut: folds
daobvious: folds
scrubbyz: folds
lorenzo79: folds
Egarim: raises 25000 to 40000
Slaktaren007: folds
rottie face: folds
jaygee1984: calls 25000
*** FLOP *** [8d 5h 7h]
jaygee1984: bets 64000
Egarim: raises 185913 to 249913 and is all-in
jaygee1984: calls 185913
*** TURN *** [8d 5h 7h] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [8d 5h 7h 6h] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jaygee1984: shows [Js 9h] (a flush, Ace high)
Egarim: shows [Jd Ts] (high card Ace)
jaygee1984 collected 599326 from pot

68.5% EV. No good. Out 56th.

WBCOOP

2007-10-03T18:46:00.001-04:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7964506

WCOOP ME

2007-10-01T00:48:00.000-04:00

I went busto in the WCOOP ME :(. I lost a big pot with AJ vs k10 all-in pre and lost another big pot for a coinflip. I never recovered and finished somewhere in the 1000s. Then, I played awesome in the 2nd Chance. When it got near the bubble...

Dealt to Egarim [Jh Jc]
6: folds
bet2win: raises 4777 to 7777
Egarim: raises 73135 to 80912 and is all-in
sixhigh6: folds
bet2win: calls 73135
Bet2win instacalls...
*** FLOP *** [7d As Th]
*** TURN *** [7d As Th] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [7d As Th Ts] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Jh Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Tens)
bet2win: shows [6d 6s] (a full house, Sixes full of Tens)
GG me. Sigh. I really felt I was heading to this final table too. I was playing very well, and the structure was sooo slow.

WCOOP PLO Event

2007-09-30T01:30:00.000-04:00

Finished 7th out of 1046 in the WCOOP PLO event for $15k. I got unlucky when I raised the pot with AAT2ss and the big stack re-raised me with Q987 no suits. I, of course, put it all-in, and he had the right odds to call. GG. I got it in good as well as you can in PLO preflop. I keep going deep, but I haven't ran too well at final tables lately. I'm not complaining though :). I'm happy to keep playing well.

9/24/07

2007-09-24T22:19:00.001-04:00

I had an interview with Morgan Stanley today which went okay. I could have done a lot better if I was prepared, but I ended up staying up all night because I finished 6th in the FTP 750k Guranteed for 23k. I'm not sure if that was +EV or not. Anyways, I lost a big coinflip vs. Huck Seed with Queens vs AK after a limper and a raiser put in dead money. I was still good and chipped up. Then, I lost with Kings vs AJ and AQ. After that, I never recovered. GG. It was disappointing, but I knew I was due to finish somewhere other than 1st place. Hopefully, other interviewees for Morgan Stanley will be worse than me, so I can make it to round 2 of interviews. I plan to kick some ass if I make it that far.

stressed...

2007-09-11T21:03:00.000-04:00

I feel like I've neglected this blog as of late. There's been a lot of good reasons though. First, I went to Los Angeles for a week for my cousin's wedding and as part of a vacation. Funny thing is, I was flying out the day I won the Sunday Million. I thought about not even playing just because I had to fly out the next morning. Oh well, I'm happy with my decision... Anyways, once I got back from LA school started immediately. Since then I've been working my ass off. I've been putting together resume's and cover letters for job applications, and going to employer presentations to network myself. All of this has been stressing me out. Right now, I'm not even sure which direction I want to go. Last night, I had an epiphany. Something just clicked in my head as I was laying in bed. I just realized it wasn't time for me to go to graduate school right now. BAM. That decision has been weighing on me for a long time, and just like that... it was over. I really don't understand it. I've learned to trust myself and my instincts which have gotten me where I am today. For whatever reason, I am not meant to go to graduate school right now, and I know it. So, now I have to figure out if I want a job, and what kind of job I want (other than poker obviously). I would love to focus on poker and play all the WCOOP events. Unfortunately, I have a class Monday through Thursday from 5 to 6. So, I can't play any WCOOP events on those days. I guess I'll make an attempt to play as many WCOOP events to make up for missing almost all the FTOPS events. I feel like I've missed out on so many opportunities, but at the same time, I want to keep my priorities straight. School is still more important than poker.

WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO

2007-08-27T04:45:00.000-04:00

Sunday Million.
1st Place.
$243,115.80.
No chop.
GG thx.

Another final table

2007-08-13T02:12:00.000-04:00

I know I should have written about the WSOP, about the taking down the Sunday Warm-up, and all of that while it was fresh. Honestly, I have no excuse. My only reason is I just have not felt like writing. That's it. I'm in a weird state of mind right now. I just want to play, and I don't feel like writing and evaluating too much. I feel "on" my game. So, I just finished 5th on full tilt in the Sunday Mulligan for $10,868. I played with a lot of good players, and had sctrojans on my final table. I played well except a couple mistakes which really cost me. In the end, I shoved on the button with a little more than 10 big blinds with a2os and the small blind reshoved with kjs. GG. I should have all the hand histories from my tournaments, so I can always go back and review them on this blog. Until then... I'm just not in a writing mood.

WOW

2007-07-23T00:12:00.001-04:00

My next post was supposed to be all about the World Series detailing hands in the tournament, my experiences with name pros, and how I've come to terms with the finish in the main event, but tonight has been a special night to say the least. I took down the Sunday Warm-up for 85k. Meanwhile, I was still in the 11+rebuy, and I ended up steam rolling through the final table to take that down for 18k. I never asked for a chop once. Right now, I'm in a state of awe. My run tonight has been incredible. I've been long overdue. No words can really express the state I am in right now. WOW.

WSOP ME Busto

2007-07-14T07:39:00.001-04:00

Worst day of my life... My brother busts in the low 200s cashing for 51k which is a ridiculously small payout. He limp re-raised all-in with AKs and a douchebag called with queens. If he wins he has a 1.5 million stack. Then, I go out in the 180s with a bad beat. I have been playing really solid since the guys on my left were giving me a ton of trouble re-stealing with their larger stacks. So, I pick up kings early position and raise 35k with 5-10k blinds 1k antes. I started the hand with over 500k in chips. The big blind calls with a large stack. We had some history together from earlier where i bluffed my chips off to him and doubled him up. That was another sick hand where he 2-outered me to make the call, but that's another story. So, the flop came 876, and he checks. I bet 50k and the dealer says "30k bet". He thinks and throws out 30k in chips, and at that point I correct the dealer. He pulls back the bet for a sec and thinks, then calls anyways. The turn is a queen and he instantly shoves all-in. I figure he has the 9 and sigh in disgust because I don't want to be all-in for my tournament here, but I have to call with the best hand. He shows a10os. River is a 9. Goodbye. Payout is 51k still...

WSOP ME Day 1

2007-07-11T02:04:00.000-04:00

I finished Day 1D with 80k chips and the next level will be 500/1000 with 100 ante. I was up over 110k but lost 30k at the end of the day with kings versus aces preflop. Anyways, I'll have to update on hands later. Right now, I need to get some rest so I will be ready tomorrow.

Back to Vegas

2007-07-03T14:59:00.000-04:00

I'm heading back to Las Vegas on July 5th. Unfortunately, I booked my flight so I arrive at 9:35pm, so I will miss the last mega satellite for the WSOP ME. Right now, it looks as if I won't be able to play in the main event. I'm feeling pretty good about my tournament game right now. I'm going fairly deep in almost every tournament I play. I'm playing well and just lucking out. I'm so ready to break out and win a big one. I can feel it. Anyways, I will be there until July 17th, so I will definitely hit up the cash games, and maybe play in the Venetian deep stack or Bellagio cup. I really want to play in the main event, but unless I win a big online tournament real soon or a single table satellite at the RIO the night before... it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Variance

2007-07-01T02:54:00.000-04:00

Variance is a concept that keeps many poker players from becoming very successful. It always seems that when you are running bad, you are also playing bad. You are receiving bad beats nonstop, unbelievable coolers, and always showing down the second best hand. You can't do anything right, and you keep calling on the river with the worst hand. You know you're running bad, but now, it has gotten to the point where you are playing bad because you can't believe that you can lose this many hands in a row. You are playing solid preflop poker, but somehow, you just keep getting crushed. I think I'm finally coming to terms with how big variance can be. I'm running extremely bad in tourneys, but I know I'm playing well. The last tourney I went deep and went out with set over set. I'm on over a 5K downswing, and I don't even play really big tournaments. A few days ago, I droppped 53BB's in 3 hours at 15/30. The next day I was down 64BB's at 10/20 in 3 hours. I played solid preflop poker, but kept getting crushed, and then I started calling down almost every hand because I just could not believe that the best hand preflop could never win. Well, that's variance. I can start with the best hand 20 straight times and still lose. That is what makes poker so great, and that is what keeps the fishes coming back. Of course, later I was determined to get back to the grind and just focus on playing good poker. After one and a half hours at 15/30, I was up 82BB's. The next day I went up almost 40BB's in 2 hours at 30/60. Variance can create big upswings and downswings in very short periods of time. Understanding variance allows a poker player to eliminate tilt and focus on playing well during bad runs to minimize losses. I understand variance now. I am ready to take my game to the next level.

Fun hand in my last Stars $162 tourney:
My limit hold'em skillz at work.
Dealt to Egarim [Qs 9s]
7 folds
Egarim: calls 50
TherookieQQ9: checks
*** FLOP *** [5d 2s 5c]
Egarim: checks
TherookieQQ9: checks
*** TURN *** [5d 2s 5c] [5s]
Egarim: checks
TherookieQQ9: bets 140
Egarim: calls 140
*** RIVER *** [5d 2s 5c 5s] [Ad]
Egarim: checks
TherookieQQ9: bets 280
I instacall the river.
Egarim: calls 280
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TherookieQQ9: shows [6c 8c] (three of a kind, Fives)
Egarim: shows [Qs 9s] (three of a kind, Fives - Ace+Queen kicker)

Sick Hand

2007-06-24T16:47:00.000-04:00

Dealt to Egarim [Ad 3d]
2 folds
MrsRain: calls 200
1 folds
Egarim: calls 200
lynum: raises 800 to 1000
1 folds
byroneindy: calls 900
1 folds
MrsRain: calls 800
Egarim: calls 800
*** FLOP *** [8c 4c Ts]
byroneindy: checks
MrsRain: checks
Egarim: checks
lynum: checks
*** TURN *** [8c 4c Ts] [4h]
byroneindy: bets 2000
MrsRain: folds
Egarim: raises 6075 to 8075 and is all-in
lynum: folds
byroneindy: calls 4040 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [8c 4c Ts 4h] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
byroneindy: shows [9c 3c] (three of a kind, Fours)
Egarim: shows [Ad 3d] (three of a kind, Fours - Ace kicker)

I went on to finish 270 out of 2300 in the Sunday Warm-up losing with 10s vs AJos. Unfortunately, at the end I got seated with my friend on my left with a big stack. So, I had to play pretty abc at that point.

New High!

2007-06-22T01:49:00.000-04:00

I have finally surpassed my old high water mark in profits! Of course, the last high point that I had reached was just before that dreadful night where I dropped 13k at 100/100. It took me a long time to recover, but it feels good to finally be back. My confidence in my game has returned. It definitely helps to run well, and recently, I've been doing so well at 15/30 and 30/60 that I've put off my run at NL cash games. Here are some nice hands:

Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [3d 6h]
6 folds
Egarim: calls $5
tyrantp: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac 3h Ah]
Egarim: bets $15
tyrantp: raises $15 to $30
Egarim: calls $15
*** TURN *** [Ac 3h Ah] [7d]
Egarim: checks
tyrantp: checks
*** RIVER *** [Ac 3h Ah 7d] [7c]
Egarim: checks
I give up.
tyrantp: bets $30
Egarim: raises $30 to $60
tyrantp: folds
Egarim collected $147 from pot
Egarim: doesn't show hand
All he had to do was check and he would win. He tried to bluff with the best hand and ended up losing the pot... unless he had 34 or 35.

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [Kc Kh]
6 folds
Richervo: calls $30
croth8: raises $30 to $60
gibralter#1: calls $45
Egarim: raises $30 to $90
Richervo: calls $60
croth8: calls $30
gibralter#1: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [Kd 7h 4d]
gibralter#1: checks
Egarim: bets $30
Richervo: calls $30
croth8: calls $30
gibralter#1: calls $30
*** TURN *** [Kd 7h 4d] [5d]
gibralter#1: bets $60
Egarim: calls $60
Pair the board please!
Richervo: folds
croth8: folds
*** RIVER *** [Kd 7h 4d 5d] [Ks]
gibralter#1: bets $60
Quads!!!
Egarim: raises $60 to $120
gibralter#1: calls $60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Kc Kh] (four of a kind, Kings)
gibralter#1: mucks hand
Egarim collected $837 from pot
It feels good to run well...

Tourney drought

2007-06-18T15:19:00.000-04:00

I have been playing really good tournament poker as of late with no results to show for it. I know the variance in tournaments can be huge, but that doesn't ease the pain. I dropped 1k in buy-ins on Sunday in 5 tournaments. I played well in all but one. The WSOP qualifier I got it all-in with kings versus aces. I took a bad beat in two. I got caught stealing in the small blind versus big blind with about 10BB's in another. In the second chance WSOP qualifier, I played horrible and definitely deserved to lose that one. Fortunately, my brother is running well, winning another FT seat yesterday and taking 2nd in two other tourneys for about 20k and 30k. I guess I just need to be patient and wait to hit a big win. In the meantime, I will keep playing well. I also need to start making plans to head back to vegas for the main event. However, I still have not won a qualifier, and I'm not sure if I will play in it or not. Even if I win a seat online, I will be tempted to just keep the money. I guess it will depend on how I run in the next couple weeks. Right now, I'm running well in the cash games, and it feels really good after having such a long drought.

Two unorthodox hands...

2007-06-18T14:51:00.000-04:00

Inducing the bluff with QJ high:
Dealt to Egarim [Qd Js]
acemaxer: raises $15 to $30
Egarim: raises $15 to $45
2 folds
acemaxer: calls $15
*** FLOP *** [6c 9s 2h]
acemaxer: checks
Egarim: bets $15
acemaxer: calls $15
*** TURN *** [6c 9s 2h] [Th]
acemaxer: checks
Egarim: checks
*** RIVER *** [6c 9s 2h Th] [2d]
acemaxer: bets $30
Egarim: calls $30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
acemaxer: shows [5s 7d] (a pair of Deuces)
Egarim: shows [Qd Js] (a pair of Deuces - Queen kicker)

Bluffing the bluff or bluffing with the best hand?
Dealt to Egarim [7d As]
4 folds
VittumCats: calls $30
1 folds
love4faith: checks
Egarim: raises $30 to $60
The limper is really weak, so I make a position raise with the best hand preflop.
Natran: calls $45
1 folds
VittumCats: calls $30
love4faith: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [Jh Ks Jd]
Natran: checks
VittumCats: checks
love4faith: checks
Egarim: bets $30
Natran: calls $30
VittumCats: calls $30
love4faith: folds
*** TURN *** [Jh Ks Jd] [5d]
Natran: checks
VittumCats: checks
Egarim: checks
Natran called out of the small blind, so he has a decent hand. He could easily have the king or jack.
*** RIVER *** [Jh Ks Jd 5d] [Jc]
Natran: checks
I guess he just has a mid pocket pair or something like AT.
VittumCats: bets $60
He's definitely bluffing. The only question is whether to just call to catch his bluff or raise and push Natran off his best hand or possible chop. I'm not sure if he would overcall here with ace high, but I think there's a good chance he will call with something like 9s.
Egarim: raises $60 to $120
Natran: folds
VittumCats: folds

Learning...

2007-06-14T17:51:00.000-04:00

Going through the whole learning process again has helped spark better play in my limit game. Recently, I've been playing very well in the limit cash games and running pretty well also. I've revamped my preflop range for various positions, and also adjusted my play out of position to be less aggressive in certain situations. I finally added pokertracker to my repertoire (I know it is long overdue). I always felt like I wanted to learn the game first according to players and not focus on statistics and percentages. I feel like I reached the point where I leveled off, and it's time to take my game to a new level. I'll mainly use PT for keeping track of my own game, and occasionally use it to see how other players I play with a lot are doing. Although, I have PAHud, I haven't found it too useful. I suppose when I start multitabling, it will come into better use. Anyways, here are more NL hands:

Hand #1
Seat 6: Egarim ($642 in chips)
Seat 7: james7449 ($461.35 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [As Kd]
4 folds
2fouroffsuit: raises $18 to $24
Egarim: raises $54 to $78
james7449: calls $75
James has been calling preflop very loose, and he has shown that he can't fold top pair for his life.
1 folds
2fouroffsuit: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qc 3s 2h]
james7449: checks
Egarim: bets $96
james7449: calls $96
*** TURN *** [Qc 3s 2h] [8c]
james7449: checks
Egarim: checks
*** RIVER *** [Qc 3s 2h 8c] [Jd]
james7449: checks
Egarim: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
james7449: shows [Ad 4d] (high card Ace)
Egarim: shows [As Kd] (high card Ace - King kicker)
Egarim collected $375 from pot
WTF? I can't bet the turn right? I was actually thinking about calling a riverbet. Of course, I didn't know he was this weak. Wow, 3/6NL players are so bad.

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [Js Jc]
1 folds
croth8: raises $18 to $24
1 folds
Egarim: calls $24
Croth has a strong range here, so I don't want to reraise and have to fold to another raise. I have position and want to keep the pot small.
4 folds
*** FLOP *** [3d 7s 2c]
croth8: bets $36
Egarim: calls $36
*** TURN *** [3d 7s 2c] [8h]
croth8: checks
Egarim: bets $54
croth8: calls $54
I'm confused as to what he has. AK? How does he check call the turn here. Mid pocket pair?
*** RIVER *** [3d 7s 2c 8h] [3c]
croth8: bets $120
Egarim: calls $120
*** SHOW DOWN ***
croth8: shows [Ah Ac] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
Egarim: mucks hand
I didn't like calling the 120 bet on the river. I felt like I was beat. Can I possibly fold on this river? His play was very odd in my opinion. I understand he was trying to keep the pot small in case I flopped a set, but then why is he betting out so much on the river? Will he fold if I raise? That's the only way it would be a good play.

Hand #3
Dealt to Egarim [Kh Ad]
2 folds
croth8: raises $18 to $24
1 folds
Egarim: raises $48 to $72
This time no cold calling. He saw me cold call with jacks, so he has to give me credit for a better hand here. If he reraises I probably fold.
4 folds
croth8: calls $48
*** FLOP *** [7s Td Ah]
croth8: checks
Egarim: bets $60
croth8: calls $60
*** TURN *** [7s Td Ah] [2h]
croth8: checks
Egarim: bets $90
croth8: calls $90
*** RIVER *** [7s Td Ah 2h] [2s]
croth8: bets $222
Egarim: calls $222
*** SHOW DOWN ***
croth8: shows [Kd As] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)
Egarim: shows [Kh Ad] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)
Yuck. I hate the way I played this hand. I wanted to keep the pot small so I made really small bets on the flop and turn. Once he called the flop I put him on AQ,AK,TT, or 77. On the turn i put him on AQ. On the river, I knew he had a made hand, so it was either AK,TT, or 77. I had 2:1 odds to chop the pot. I used my timebank and almost folded. Good call? I don't know. I thought my small bets would represent pocket aces, and he couldn't make such a bet on the river with ak. I was wrong. If I raise he can't fold... This guy seems like a sitting duck to me. I wonder if I need to bet stronger on the flop and turn here.

Hand #4
Dealt to Egarim [Jd Jc]
1 folds
Euphoria18: raises $18 to $24
6 folds
Egarim: calls $18
*** FLOP *** [9c 3h 8d]
Egarim: bets $24
Euphoria18: calls $24
*** TURN *** [9c 3h 8d] [Qh]
Egarim: bets $42
Euphoria18: raises $78 to $120
Egarim: folds
Euphoria18 collected $180 from pot
Euphoria18: doesn't show hand
Ugh. How else can I play this hand. The guy was playing really tight so his range was strong. I don't want to check raise on the flop and create a big pot out of position. I don't know if I got semibluffed off the turn. Check call the turn? I kind of like my line of play as long as I'm playing a flopped set the same way here.

Hand #5
Dealt to Egarim [8h 6c]
6 folds
2fouroffsuit: raises $12 to $18
Egarim: calls $12
*** FLOP *** [6h 4s 6s]
2fouroffsuit: bets $26
Egarim: raises $46 to $72
2fouroffsuit: raises $138 to $210
Egarim: raises $414.90 to $624.90 and is all-in
2fouroffsuit: folds
Egarim collected $453 from pot
Egarim: doesn't show hand
No slowplaying here. I guess he was 3bet bluffing me on the flop with something like AK.

Back in the city

2007-06-13T02:20:00.000-04:00

It feels good to be back in the city. I spent a week and a half in Las Vegas and probably played about 100 hours of poker. I pulled one 24 hour session during that time. It was actually all not worth it. I'm stuck 4k for the trip not including hotel and airplane expenses, and I got sick. I caught a cold after pulling the 24 hour session, so now I have to recover. Although, I dropped 4k on the trip I'm still happy with it overall. I thought it was a good learning experience, and it broke me into live tournaments which seem quite different than online tourneys. I went 0-3 in the Venetian deep stack tournaments dropping about 1.2k in those. Overall, I'm still up 6k from vegas, so I'm happy. Maybe, I'll write about the trip in more detail later.

Recently, I've decided to try to switch to no-limit cash games. Tonight is my first night at testing it out. I haven't decided if I want to switch entirely to NL cash games because I feel I'm already so good at limit games that it will take me awhile before I can match my limit cash game profitability. Anyways, I'm starting off at 3/6NL, and so far I have seen players making horrendous plays. My plan for now is just to play solid and feel out the game.

Here are some of my hands... any comments or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [Qs Ah]
5 folds
Egarim: raises $12 to $18
1 folds
bobbym1: raises $211.95 to $229.95 and is all-in
bobby sat in about 15 hands ago and was in short for like 150 and played like 5 of his first 7 hands. Then I won 4 of the last 6 hands without showdown, but I was catching cards. It looked like I was playing a lot of hands. Then, he makes this play. I put him on at best a mid pocket pair. I'm not sure if calling is the right move here in any case, but I thought that he thought I was just stealing a lot.
Egarim: calls $211.95
*** FLOP *** [Ts 3c 4c]
*** TURN *** [Ts 3c 4c] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 3c 4c Kc] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bobbym1: shows [Tc Td] (three of a kind, Tens)
Egarim: mucks hand
bobbym1 collected $459.90 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $462.90 | Rake $3
Board [Ts 3c 4c Kc As]
I lost the coinflip, but I'm not upset about that. I really don't know if this was a bad call, good call, or borderline call. I do not have much invested and can easily fold. Even if he is restealing with something like 97, I am not that big a favorite. I don't know if I am getting much metagame value off this call or not.

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [7d 9d]
1 folds
phi1430: calls $6
jon_la has returned
Kelisitaan: calls $6
Egarim: calls $6
2 folds
rytoast: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc 7c 5h]
rytoast: checks
phi1430: checks
Kelisitaan: checks
Egarim: bets $18
rytoast: folds
phi1430: folds
Kelisitaan: calls $18
*** TURN *** [Jc 7c 5h] [8h]
Kelisitaan: checks
At this point I know he's weak. Now, I'm not sure if he has a flush draw or a 7 with a better kicker. It's possible he has 87 here as well. I figure the best way to play this is to bet to get information and fold if he check raises. Also, by betting here I can safely check behind on the river if he has me outkicked. I take my limit game approach and keep the lead.
Egarim: bets $30
Kelisitaan: calls $30
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7c 5h 8h] [6h]
Kelisitaan: checks
Egarim: bets $48
Kelisitaan: calls $48
He instacalled the 48, so in hindsight I guess I could've bet more. I'm not really afraid of the flush because I figured he would lead out on the river with it, and I don't think he's capable of a river check raise bluff. I probably should've bet 60 to 80 here.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [7d 9d] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Kelisitaan: mucks hand
Egarim collected $216 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $219 | Rake $3
Board [Jc 7c 5h 8h 6h]
Seat 7: Kelisitaan mucked [6c 7h]
Seat 8: Egarim showed [7d 9d] and won ($216) with a straight, Five to Nine

Hand #3
Seat 4: rytoast ($687.20 in chips)
Seat 8: Egarim ($744.90 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Egarim [Ks Kh]
1 folds
Egarim: raises $12 to $18
4 folds
rytoast: raises $48 to $66
2 folds
Egarim: raises $678.90 to $744.90 and is all-in
rytoast: folds
This is where my lack of NL experience comes into play. I had no clue what to do in this situation. I decided that I was was willing to get stacked with kings vs aces here and shoved allin. However, after thinking about it, I'm not sure if this reraise has any value as he might only be calling with aces here. So, how should I play this hand? Just calling would be deceptive, but it also seems weak. With my lack of experience I didn't want to play my kings out of position here. I could reraise to something like 200, but I wouldn't know what to do if I get reraised allin. Do I make the fold or call and get stacked with kings vs aces? Does he call my reraise with hands like queens and ak? I doubt he would shove allin after my reraise with either of those hands. I think my best play here is borderline between all-in and reraising to around 200, and just take the cooler if he has aces.

Hand #4
Dealt to Egarim [Ah Ac]
1 folds
jon_la is disconnected
Egarim: raises $18 to $24
jon_la is connected
gl79: calls $24
5 folds
DangleSauce: calls $18
*** FLOP *** [4h 7s Ks]
DangleSauce: checks
Egarim: bets $36
gl79: calls $36
DangleSauce: folds
*** TURN *** [4h 7s Ks] [7h]
Egarim: bets $60
gl79: calls $60
*** RIVER *** [4h 7s Ks 7h] [4s]
Egarim: bets $84
gl79: calls $84
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Ah Ac] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
gl79: shows [8s 9s] (a flush, King high)
gl79 collected $432 from pot
This hand is quite interesting. I think I underbet the turn. There was a good probability he either had ak,kq, or a flush draw at that point and I should've bet more to make the flush draw pay and get paid off more by the king. I actually like my river bet. It was a defensive bet. I felt like I would get paid off if he had the king and he couldn't raise if he hit the flush draw. If I checked, I didn't want to face a larger bet and have to call off more money. Of course, I could have check folded, but due to my lack of inexperience I didn't feel like I could make a good laydown here as I felt he might bet the king on the river. So, I didn't want to put myself in a situation where I had to make a tough decision. Maybe as I get better I will check fold on this river.

Hand #5
Dealt to Egarim [Qc Jh]
aias22: calls $6
4 folds
Egarim: raises $24 to $30
I'm steaming a bit after my aces just got cracked and the limper had just limped in the last 2 pots, so I felt like punishing him.
gl79: calls $30
3 folds
Yuck. I don't like being cold called here.
*** FLOP *** [9c 8s Jc]
Egarim: checks
gl79: checks
*** TURN *** [9c 8s Jc] [Qh]
Egarim: checks
gl79: checks
*** RIVER *** [9c 8s Jc Qh] [2h]
Egarim: bets $42
gl79: calls $42
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Qc Jh] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
gl79: shows [2c 2s] (three of a kind, Deuces)
gl79 collected $156 from pot
This hand deserves to be thrown in the trash. I was steaming and felt like keeping the pot small so I checked the flop which was really weak. I usually cbet here. On the turn his check behind meant I was ahead, so I thought I could get in a valuebet on the river with my top 2 pair. Unfortunately he hit his 2 outer thanks to all the freecards I gave him. I'm curious as to how poorly other NL cash game pros feel I played this hand. I hate to be too results oriented. Given the results I obviously feel horrible about this hand.

Hand #6
Dealt to Egarim [Qh Qs]
3 folds
rytoast: calls $6
2 folds
Egarim: raises $18 to $24
1 folds
rytoast: raises $423.45 to $447.45 and is all-in
Egarim: calls $423.45
I won the last 2 pots after stealing utg. The next hand rytoast limped in and I reraised to 30 out of the sb with aces and cbet an A9s5s flop and took it down. Now, I pick up queens, and he pulled the limp reraise on me. I actually called fairly quickly here. I just went with my gut and felt like he was steaming a bit and didn't give me credit for a big hand. I'm not sure if I should normally fold here or not.
*** FLOP *** [7s 7h Td]
*** TURN *** [7s 7h Td] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [7s 7h Td 2c] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Qh Qs] (two pair, Queens and Sevens)
rytoast: mucks hand
Egarim collected $897.90 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $900.90 | Rake $3
Board [7s 7h Td 2c Kh]
Seat 4: rytoast mucked [Qd Ac]
Ship it.

Going to Vegas

2007-05-16T18:32:00.000-04:00

I've decided to go to Las Vegas despite running badly. I will be heading there May 28 to June 8. That will give me a few days to try to satellite into WSOP Event #1. Also, I plan to hit the cash games really hard. If I don't get into the wsop event there's always the bellagio tournaments or venetian deep stack tourneys. Either way, It will be one and a half weeks of being immersed in poker. Despite how I am running right now, I feel very confident about hitting the cash games in Vegas since the players are much, much worse in live play. I already booked my plane tickets and hotels. I think they trip will cost me around $1200 total for plane tickets and hotels. I'll keep the same plan I had for my first trip - come back with more money than I leave with and cover my hotel and travel expenses.

Running very bad

2007-05-11T19:41:00.000-04:00

I need to vent... I'm on such a sick downswing. My 30/60 downswing is now at 200BB on Poker Stars. Right now I'm down 60BB at 15/30 in a couple hours of 2-3 tabling the fullring game. The summer just started, and I already need a break. My bankroll just can't take these hits. My idea of hitting the WSOP is looking bleek. My brother even offered to buy half of me in event #1, but 2.5k is still a lot to put up for one tournament. Besides the main event, there is no other event I want to play. I feel I have such a big edge in it since it is half no-limit and half limit hold'em. Most people can only play one or the other. I'm going to try to grind through this, but it looks like I'll have to do it at the 15/30... half the stakes I want to be playing.

Dealt to Egarim [9s 9d]
1 folds
junho83: raises $15 to $30
9alepoker: calls $30
1 folds
Egarim: raises $15 to $45
stinkyB74: calls $45
3 folds
junho83: calls $15
9alepoker: calls $15
*** FLOP *** [7c 7h 6d]
junho83: checks
9alepoker: checks
Egarim: bets $15
stinkyB74: calls $15
junho83: calls $15
9alepoker: calls $15
*** TURN *** [7c 7h 6d] [7s]
junho83: checks
9alepoker: checks
Egarim: bets $30
stinkyB74: folds
junho83: calls $30
9alepoker: calls $30
*** RIVER *** [7c 7h 6d 7s] [Ks]
junho83: checks
9alepoker: checks
Egarim: bets $30
junho83: calls $30
9alepoker: raises $30 to $60
Egarim: folds
junho83: calls $30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
9alepoker: shows [Kc 5h] (a full house, Sevens full of Kings)
junho83: mucks hand
9alepoker collected $502 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $505 | Rake $3
Board [7c 7h 6d 7s Ks]
Seat 1: junho83 mucked [Ad Jd]
Seat 2: 9alepoker showed [Kc 5h] and won ($502) with a full house, Sevens full of Kings

Summer starts now

2007-05-10T19:41:00.000-04:00

Finals over.
So, now I need to get back into "shape". Of course, the first thing I do to start off the summer is jump into the 30/60 instead of working my way up. Initially, I was up like 50BB's playing short handed and full ring. Then in the last 30 minutes of my 3 hour session I hit a sick run of bad beats and coolers, but still manage to be up 2k. Then, the next day I come back to my usual 30/60 slump dropping 3.5k in one hour of heads up and shorthanded play. I was so card dead. I still made some mistakes, but it was quite sick how I had the 2nd best hand everytime. Oh well, that's variance. I just need to focus on playing well and improving my game. Worrying about results won't help me. I need to go back to what made me successful which was focusing on saving and maximizing bets on every single hand. I would constantly search for mistakes that I made and keep track of how many big bets I lost per session. Anyways, here are some hands:

Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [Kc As]
1 folds
NYC99: raises $30 to $60
Egarim: raises $30 to $90
2 folds
NYC99: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [6c Jd 5s]
NYC99: checks
Egarim: bets $30
NYC99: calls $30
*** TURN *** [6c Jd 5s] [6d]
NYC99: checks
Egarim: bets $60
NYC99: calls $60
*** RIVER *** [6c Jd 5s 6d] [7c]
NYC99: checks
Egarim: bets $60
NYC99: calls $60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Kc As] (a pair of Sixes)
NYC99: mucks hand
Egarim collected $523 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $525 | Rake $2
Board [6c Jd 5s 6d 7c]
Seat 1: NYC99 mucked [Ts Ac]
Seat 5: Egarim (button) showed [Kc As] and won ($523) with a pair of Sixes
Nothing hurts worse than being valuebetted by ace high and calling with a worse ace high.

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [Js Jd]
Egarim: raises $30 to $60
3 folds
sangiovesex: raises $30 to $90
4 folds
Egarim: raises $30 to $120
Betting is capped
sangiovesex: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [Jh Ac 2s]
Egarim: bets $30
sangiovesex: raises $30 to $60
Egarim: raises $30 to $90
sangiovesex: raises $30 to $120
Betting is capped
Egarim: calls $30
I'm jamming versus a big ace and hoping he throw in a raise on the turn as well.
*** TURN *** [Jh Ac 2s] [Kh]
Egarim: bets $60
sangiovesex: raises $60 to $120
Egarim: raises $60 to $180
sangiovesex: raises $60 to $240
Betting is capped
Egarim: calls $60
Capped? AK or aces? I'm really afraid of aces here because it would be a pretty bad play to cap with ak here.
*** RIVER *** [Jh Ac 2s Kh] [5h]
Egarim: checks
sangiovesex: bets $60
Egarim: calls $60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
sangiovesex: shows [Ah 2c] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)
Egarim: shows [Js Jd] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Egarim collected $1122 from pot
Wow. A2 lol. I guess I missed some bets here, but I didn't know this guy was that bad a player.

Hand #3
Dealt to Egarim [4d 4s]
1 folds
countcobra: calls $30
Egarim: calls $30
1 folds
bxpeter: calls $30
1 folds
joedi20: raises $30 to $60
skearney2: raises $30 to $90
xiaobao: folds
jakedarake12: folds
countcobra: calls $60
Egarim: calls $60
bxpeter: folds
joedi20: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [Ts 4c Jc]
countcobra: bets $30
Egarim: raises $30 to $60
joedi20: folds
skearney2: raises $30 to $90
He's defined his hand as a big pair. I'm going to go for a check raise since I have the best position on the turn as I'll get countcobra to put in 2BB's.
countcobra: calls $60
Egarim: calls $30
*** TURN *** [Ts 4c Jc] [7c]
countcobra: checks
Club on the turn. My plans are foiled. I can't risk the chance of skearney checking behind afraid of the flush since there was a lot of action and he's facing 2 players.
Egarim: bets $60
skearney2: calls $60
countcobra: calls $60
*** RIVER *** [Ts 4c Jc 7c] [Qd]
countcobra: checks
Egarim: bets $60
I guess countcobra had something like AT or AJ with the ace of clubs. Skearney will definitely call with his big pair. No one has the flush, so I have to valuebet.
skearney2: calls $60
countcobra: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [4d 4s] (three of a kind, Fours)
skearney2: shows [Qc Qh] (three of a kind, Queens)
skearney2 collected $1002 from pot
Yuck. That's how I run.

Procrastination is like masturbation....

2007-04-23T20:14:00.000-04:00

...it feels good until you realize you're f***ing yourself. I'm procrastinating from doing my schoolwork... paper due wednesday, two papers due next monday, and then 3 final exams after that... So, I need a distraction and a boost of confidence. Here are two hands that I played well recently,

Dealt to Egarim [Jc Ac]
1 folds
chadditty: calls $10
rejiehamonds: calls $10
pyckeu: calls $10
Egarim: raises $10 to $20
deffer_panic: calls $20
kermitt5: calls $20
1folds
articiano: calls $10
chadditty: calls $10
rejiehamonds: calls $10
pyckeu: calls $10
Action table... I love it.
*** FLOP *** [Js 3s 8d]
articiano: checks
chadditty: checks
rejiehamonds: checks
pyckeu: checks
Egarim: bets $10
deffer_panic: raises $10 to $20
kermitt5: calls $20
articiano: calls $20
chadditty: folds
rejiehamonds: calls $20
pyckeu: calls $20
One raiser and 4 cold callers. I could 3-bet here and get 2 1/2 BB's more in (assuming he doesn't cap) as a favorite. However, there are tons of draws out there and I decide calling is better here as I have the best position since I act last relative to the person who now has taken the lead in the hand. I'm pretty sure he will bet again on the turn too unless a spade comes unless he has the flush draw. I figure by not 3-betting I will act in position on the turn and have more information on everyone. It would be much tougher if I kept the lead and had to decide whether to bet the turn and call down any raises if a non-spade card came that could make a straight like a 10, 9, or 7. The only hand I'm worried about here is deffer_panic having a set, but its doubtful.
Egarim: calls $10
*** TURN *** [Js 3s 8d] [2d]
articiano: checks
rejiehamonds: checks
pyckeu: checks
Egarim: checks
Perfect card! Check to the bettor now...
deffer_panic: checks
Oops...
kermitt5: bets $20
Thankfully, there's an aggressive bluffer behind him who loves to bet when checked to. I have him labeled as a pretty bad player.
articiano: calls $20
rejiehamonds: calls $20
pyckeu: calls $20
I'm 85% sure I'm ahead and with so many people most likely chasing with horrible hands like gutshots, I can maximize value here and amplify their mistakes. Of course, I will still have to dodge on the river, but I don't control the cards. I'm a favorite right now, so it's time to get more money in the pot.,
Egarim: raises $20 to $40
deffer_panic: calls $40
kermitt5: calls $20
articiano: folds
rejiehamonds: calls $20
pyckeu: calls $20
I got so many people to put in 2BB's on the turn way behind... I'm sure of it.
*** RIVER *** [Js 3s 8d 2d] [9h]
rejiehamonds: checks
pyckeu: checks
Egarim: checks
QT, T7, and J9 seems highly likely here. With so many chasers, I'm thinking there's a 90% chance someone hit that 9. I think the best play is to check and see what develops. I think there's a small chance someone behind me may bluff, and I don't really feel like folding at this table if someone raises me because the table is so bad, and I've seen plenty of bad bluffs.
deffer_panic: checks
kermitt5: bets $20
rejiehamonds: raises $20 to $40
I call QT out loud.
pyckeu: folds
Egarim: folds
deffer_panic: folds
kermitt5: calls $20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rejiehamonds: shows [Qh Tc] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
kermitt5: mucks hand
rejiehamonds collected $562 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $565 | Rake $3
Board [Js 3s 8d 2d 9h]
Seat 3: rejiehamonds showed [Qh Tc] and won ($562) with a straight, Eight to Queen
Seat 8: kermitt5 (button) mucked [Qc 8h]
Lol. Value-betting third pair on the river and calling a check raise... Nice. Great table. Everything went as planned. I played the hand perfectly. I maximized value when I had the best hand and folded when it was no longer good.

Dealt to Egarim [5d Qh]
6 folds
Rownder: calls $10
Egarim: calls $5
Dereckstrong: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ks Kc 2c]
Egarim: checks
Dereckstrong: checks
Rownder: bets $10
Egarim: calls $10
I'm thinking he limped with a suited connector. Only other possibility is something like aces. It's possible he has something like QT, but if he does, I figure he will slow down and try to check it down. So, it only costs me one small bet. I could check raise here to get the other guy out, but this guy is a bluffer and I'm not really willing to stand any heat here if he 3-bets with a flush draw or something. I figure if the guy behind me stays in then I'm done with the hand.
Dereckstrong: folds
*** TURN *** [Ks Kc 2c] [3s]
Egarim: checks
Rownder: bets $20
Egarim: calls $20
Seems like a safe card. I could raise here and get him out of the hand, but there's also the possibility he will 3-bet bluff me as he loves to bluff, and he most certainly would 3-bet here with a flush draw or king. I figure I'll play it safe out of position and keep the pot controlled. I can also let him hang himself on the river if a non-club comes. He may then think I missed a flush draw or he may just bluff at it since he missed his flush draw.
*** RIVER *** [Ks Kc 2c 3s] [4s]
Egarim: checks
Rownder: bets $20
Egarim: calls $20
Sticking to my read.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Rownder: shows [Td 7d] (a pair of Kings)
Egarim: shows [5d Qh] (a pair of Kings - Queen kicker)
Egarim collected $127 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $130 | Rake $3
Board [Ks Kc 2c 3s 4s]
Seat 4: Rownder (button) showed [Td 7d] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: Egarim (small blind) showed [5d Qh] and won ($127) with a pair of Kings
Calling down with queen high in a full ring game is something that rarely happens. I admit that I most likely would not have played the hand this way in the past, but with much more short handed experience, I've added this play to my repertoire. This hand also sends a message to many people at the table. The message will probably be interpreted in many different ways. The guy caught bluffing will probably be somewhat flustered and frustrated after seeing me call down with queen high and may very well tilt. The others can be consider me "crazy" to call down with queen high, unbluffable, or really good. Most will probably go with the former two interpretations which I like.

Sick

2007-04-08T17:31:00.000-04:00

I'm sick with a sinus infection, and I have the worst headache ever. Then, I have finals coming up, and a lot of studying to do. So, it looks like I won't be updating much, and I don't even know if I'll get to finish my 3-part series on my Vegas trip. I'm still running bad at 30/60. I'm down about 10k total now. Last night I was 1 for 3 with aces, 1-2 with queens, and I ran into aces a few times. I love it :). This is how I've been running:
Dealt to Egarim [Ad As]
1 folds
rrgigi: calls $30
3 folds
PokerSnoopy: raises $30 to $60
1 folds
Egarim: raises $30 to $90
1 folds
rrgigi: calls $60
PokerSnoopy: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [Qh 6h 3c]
Egarim: bets $30
rrgigi: calls $30
PokerSnoopy: calls $30
*** TURN *** [Qh 6h 3c] [3h]
Egarim: bets $60
rrgigi: calls $60
PokerSnoopy: calls $60
*** RIVER *** [Qh 6h 3c 3h] [7h]
Egarim: checks
rrgigi: checks
PokerSnoopy: bets $60
Egarim: folds
rrgigi: calls $60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PokerSnoopy: shows [Ah Js] (a flush, Ace high)
rrgigi: mucks hand
PokerSnoopy collected $687 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $690 | Rake $3
Board [Qh 6h 3c 3h 7h]
Seat 1: PokerSnoopy showed [Ah Js] and won ($687) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 7: rrgigi mucked [6c 7c]

Google Keywords

2007-03-27T20:31:00.000-04:00

These are 5 Google keyword searches that brought people to my blog within the last week:

1. lordhuttyx
2. bkice poker
3. fuck my wife stories
4. who is gunning4you
5. matusow donk song

LOL. The #3 searcher must have been pretty disappointed when he clicked on my blog and found out it wasn't a porn site.

HU Game

2007-03-25T23:51:00.000-04:00

My heads up game has improved dramatically over the last couple days. Despite still running bad at 30/60 (9k downswing), I've been killing 5/10, 10/20, and 15/30. Today, I took over 80 big bets from 10/20 and over 100BB's from 5/10 mostly from heads up and shorthanded play. I did all this within two and a half hours. There's no doubt I'm running well, but I have been crushing my heads up opponents. I just took 80BB's off one opponent. I was stuck about 30BB's to him because the deck was hitting him hard. I stayed patient and turned it around and crushed him! I'm also up about 100BB's from the 15/30 over the last 7 hours played there. I've been running well and crushing every game below the 30/60. I wish it was the other way around. I'd rather run really well at 30/60 and run horribly at 5/10. Of course, it makes you wonder if I'm really running that bad at the 30/60 or getting outplayed. My long run results show I'm still a winner at 30/60, and watching the plays people are making, I have to go with the former. This is by far the biggest 30/60 downswing I've ever suffered, but I'm confident it will turn around eventually.

I've decided I'm going to play in the WSOP ME, and I really want to play in Event #1 Mixed Hold'em 5k buy-in. I played te 650 satellite on Stars and busted early with a fullhouse to a higher fullhouse. Not much I can do there. I'm going to keep trying to satellite into the ME, but I'm uncertain as to what I'm going to do about event #1. I don't think I'm willing fork over 5k out of my bankroll for one tournament unless I run extremely well between now and then. I might look for backers, or go to Vegas early and see if there are satellites for that tournament. $5,000 is a big chunk of change for one tournament. However, I really like my chances in that tournament since its half no limit and half limit. Since I excel at both games, I feel I have a good edge. No matter what, however, I will play in the WSOP ME come July. There's no way I'm not playing in it.

PWNED

2007-03-25T01:11:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I saw someone sitting at 15/30 waiting for heads up at a full ring table on Stars. So, I jumped in. Not too long later we were three handed and later 5-6 handed. I took some brutal beats and was stuck early but stayed on even keel. Eventually, it was just me and two bluffers three handed. I stayed patient and picked off their bluffs. Finally, one fish got cleaned out. So, I was heads up with the other guy. He had $532.50. Within 7 minutes I cleaned him out.

Dealt to Egarim [Qc 3s]
Chicksdad: calls $5
Egarim: checks
*** FLOP *** [Kc Kd 8s]
Egarim: checks
Chicksdad: bets $15
Egarim: calls $15
*** TURN *** [Kc Kd 8s] [9h]
Egarim: checks
Chicksdad: bets $30
Egarim: calls $30
*** RIVER *** [Kc Kd 8s 9h] [Ad]
Egarim: checks
Chicksdad: bets $30
Egarim: calls $30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Chicksdad: shows [Jh 4d] (a pair of Kings)
Egarim: shows [Qc 3s] (a pair of Kings - Ace+Queen kicker)

Egarim: raises $15 to $30
Chicksdad: raises $15 to $45
Egarim: calls $15
*** FLOP *** [6h Ts As]
Chicksdad: bets $15
Egarim: calls $15
*** TURN *** [6h Ts As] [4c]
Chicksdad: bets $30
Egarim: raises $30 to $60
Chicksdad: raises $30 to $90
Egarim: calls $30
*** RIVER *** [6h Ts As 4c] [Jc]
Chicksdad: bets $30
Egarim: calls $30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Chicksdad: shows [Qc Qh] (a pair of Queens)
Egarim: shows [Th 4s] (two pair, Tens and Fours)

Dealt to Egarim [5c Kd]
Chicksdad: calls $5
Egarim: checks
*** FLOP *** [8s Ad 9h]
Egarim: checks
Chicksdad: checks
*** TURN *** [8s Ad 9h] [9s]
Egarim: checks
Chicksdad: bets $30
Egarim: calls $30
*** RIVER *** [8s Ad 9h 9s] [Qs]
Egarim: checks
Chicksdad: bets $30
Egarim: calls $30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Chicksdad: shows [Td 6c] (a pair of Nines)
Egarim: shows [5c Kd] (a pair of Nines - Ace+King kicker)

Dealt to Egarim [Qd 7d]
Chicksdad: raises $15 to $30
Egarim: calls $15
*** FLOP *** [Ac Js Qc]
Egarim: checks
Chicksdad: bets $15
Egarim: calls $15
*** TURN *** [Ac Js Qc] [Qs]
Egarim: checks
Chicksdad: bets $30
Egarim: raises $30 to $60
Chicksdad: calls $30
*** RIVER *** [Ac Js Qc Qs] [8c]
Egarim: bets $30
Chicksdad: calls $30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Qd 7d] (three of a kind, Queens)
Chicksdad: mucks hand
Egarim collected $269 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $270 | Rake $1
Board [Ac Js Qc Qs 8c]
Seat 5: Egarim (big blind) showed [Qd 7d] and won ($269) with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 10: Chicksdad (button) (small blind) mucked [Tc Th]

Afterwards, I played a much better player heads up. Unfortunately for him, I picked up on his betting pattern quick and was dominating him. Heads up swings are pretty big. I've gotten a lot better at heads up and shorthanded play. Tonight, I picked up about 50 big bets in just under an hour.

Vegas Trip Part 1

2007-03-24T17:40:00.000-04:00

I had a great trip and lots of stories. I've been putting off writing about it because I have so much to write about. Well, things started off poorly before heading to vegas. I was running bad on Stars, and I had lost some of my confidence. I scrounged together 2700 in cash to bring with me to Las Vegas. I had another 1k in 50 dollar bills, but I decided not to risk the bad luck and just left it here in NY. My mom decided at the last second that she was going to Vegas which was a bit of a disappointment. She called me during my midterms out of the blue and told me she would meet up with me and my brother there. I assume she found out I was going from my cousins because I never told her I was going. I wasn't really looking forward to spending quality "family time" for my spring break in Las Vegas. She ended up staying two nights at the Mirage with me while my brother stayed at my cousins house which was annoying, but it's my mother, right? Okay, well aside from that I was running well whether I played badly or not.

I arrived on Monday and only had like five hours of sleep on Sunday night, so I decided to wait until Tuesday before I started playing poker. I watched high stakes poker, 300, and just relaxed. On Tuesday I headed over to the Bellagio. I took a seat at 8-16 to break myself in. I played for like three hours and was up 190. Then the Bellagio 540 was starting, so I quit and played that tournament. My brother bought half of me because I didn't want to buy in that much for a tournament with such a short structure. I played tight and caught no hands. One hand I raised on the button with 34s to 2.5x 100bb. Both blinds called. Flop was 235. The big blind lead out 100. I threw in a 500 chip, and the big blind instacalled 400 more. As it turned out, throwing in a big chip is only a call (I'm a casino newbie) and not a raise. So, since I saw him instacall there I checked down on a Q turn and blank river. He had A5, but was a donkey and there was no chance he would have folded. I get short to 9BB's later and shove after a raise and a call with 10s. I get called by QJs from the original raiser and AJos overcalls 2/3 his stack. The ace spikes, and I walk out silently.

I take a walk outside and watch their fountain show. I go back in and waitlist for the 30/60, 15/30, and 8/16. There were 2-3 30/60 tables going, and the players looked horrible. There was only one 15/30 going and it looked tougher than the 30/60. Anyways, I sat there for awhile waiting then decided to just leave because I wouldn't have much time to play since I had to meet up with my mom soon for dinner. So, I go back outside and decide to call up a girl in one of my classes who went to Vegas too. This is actually a pretty odd story. I've discussed it with a couple friends, and my male friend finds it weird while my female friend says she completely understands. I think it's weird too. Anyways, the week before spring break, I'm sitting in my econ class next to her. I only met her two weeks ago when my normal seat was taken and I ended up sitting next to her. She immediately introduced herself to me, and we talked briefly. She is a foreign exchange student with okay english. She immediately facebooked me. The next week I forget why, but I didn't sit next to her. Then, the week before spring break, I'm sitting next to her and she asks me what I'm doing for spring break. I tell her I'm going to Vegas. She says thats awesome and tells me about the trip she planned going to DC then Toronoto by bus. She's going alone, but there are a lot of other foreign exchange students going too. She doesn't sound very enthusiastic and tells me she would rather go to Vegas. So, I tell her she should. She can still book it pretty cheaply. We exchange phone numbers, and she tells me she'll call me after she gets back to her room for information on going to Vegas. She ends up calling me, and I help her look for flights and stuff. Unfortunately, it's pretty expensive, and she decides not to go. Then, that weekend she writes on my facebook wall that she booked a trip to Vegas! WTF!? Is that not weird? She had a trip all planned out for spring break and at the last second ditched it all to go to vegas. On facebook, it says shes "in a relationship" too, so I'm not really thinking in those terms. She's cute, but I'm not looking for anything to happen with a foreign exchange students who's already in a relationship. That would be a bit messed up. So, she happened to be outside the Bellagio which made it convenient for us to meet up. We walked around the strip for about an hour before my cousin picked me up for dinner. I invited her, but she didn't want to go.

From here on out the details of exactly when and how long I played get fuzzy. I can remember hands and players very vividly, but my concept of time was thrown out the window. I had to have played atleast 60 hours. I was pulling out anywhere from 12-16 hour sessions. I think Wednesday (not 100% sure) was the first night I pulled an all-nighter at the Mirage. I wanted to play 10-20, but the game was full. There was a 20-40 game open, so I decided why the hell not? I had about 2500 on me. I felt 60 big bets was good enough. I could also jump down in stakes if I took too big a hit. I ended up playing till 2pm the next day. I think I started around 8-9pm. I was up big the whole night. I had so many stacks of $5 chips, I had trouble reaching around to get my cards. I kept hearing in my head:
WORM: You know what cheers me up when I'm feeling shitty?
MIKE: What?
WORM: Rolled up aces over kings.
MIKE: Is that right?
WORM: Yeah. Check-raising stupid tourists and taking huge pots off of them.
MIKE: Yeah?
WORM: Stacks and towers of checks I can't even see over. Playing all-night high-limit Hold'em at the Taj, "where the sand turns to gold."
MIKE: Fuck it, let's go.
WORM: Don't tease me.
MIKE: Let's play some fuckin' cards.
I was killing the game and catching cards. The table kept getting shorter and shorter through the night. Eventually it was four handed with a Japanese tourist on my left, a asian woman (it seemed like she played for a living) on my right, and a young pro to her right with a cap who looked really young like me (I think he was 24 or 25). The woman was stuck most of the night and went on a huge rush taking most of the chips from the young pro. She then decided to leave while she was up. The young pro asked if I was going to play long, and I said maybe not if its just three handed. So, he decided to leave. We chatted for a little bit and he asked me if I played online. I pretty much said yes, but didn't want to go into details. I ended up playing with and seeing him a lot the rest of the week. So, he leaves and I ask the Japanese tourist if he wants to play heads up. He agrees and we play for a few hours heads up. I totally annihilated him. My reads were dead on, and I was playing close to perfect poker versus him. As an example, there was one hand where I raised on the button with AQos. He called. Flop was 983. He check calls. Turn is a blank. Check check. River is a Q. He bets, I raise, and he 3-bets. I shake my head and disgust and say I guess you have JT and toss my cards in the muck pretty quickly. He shows me the JT. That's pretty much how every hand was going. It was like he was playing his cards face up. He played pretty straightforward, but everytime he tried to bluff I would pick him off with bottom pair. I ended up going on a nice rush winning seven straight hands versus him for decent size pots. He went on a smoke break and the dealer who seemed like a really nice woman says to me, "He's (the Japanese tourist) a really nice guy. Take it easy on him." I looked up in surprise and said, "Well, you dealt me the cards!" She said something about not winning every hand, and not playing 74os. I was laughing pretty hard inside.

Eventually someone joined the game in the middle of the morning and ruined my heads up match. I had played with the guy earlier, and he's very aggressive. His name is Steve. When we were talking he told me about how he had been playing at the Mirage since it opened for about 20 years. He called the Mirage and found out I was playing heads up here, so he came as soon as he could. He is also another great story. The next day when I was playing through the whole night, I was chatting it up with the dealers and players. One of the dealers who has been at the Mirage forever said Steve has had to have lost over a quarter million dollars. Another player says something like "No way! He's definitely lost more." Apparently, Steve plays as high as he can whenever he can. He used to play at the Bellagio and jump into an 80-160 with only a couple grand before he got banned from there for mistreating dealers or something. So, now he just plays all the time at the Mirage. He plays so bad that I was wondering how he could be a winning pro here at the Mirage for 20 years. I couldn't understand how the pros could be so bad. Now, I understand. Whenever he has cash he plays as high as he can 20-40 or 40-80 at the Mirage. Whatever they have. The other pros said they loan him money at times and he always makes good on it. They don't know where he gets the money. His wife is a dealer, and all Steve does is play poker all the time. So, he is a professional poker loser! My nickname for him is ATM. So, I played with ATM and the tourist three handed for awhile. ATM is very aggressive, plays every hand, and loves to bluff which is why he gets slaughtered in full ring games. Unfortunately, he can do okay in shorthanded games. Well, he immediately dropped 2 racks and was stuck, but he dished out a few really bad beats to me with runner runner to get a lot of it back. By noon a lot of regulars were filling up the table (most of the regulars were weak tight and not very good), so i decided to leave at like 2pm since I was dead tired. I made between 2500-3k that night. The Japanese tourist said he dropped like 2k to me heads up, but I'm not sure if that's true otherwise I think should've made out with a lot more. I did drop back a lot in the last few hours of play when the table filled up which could explain it. I made one or two mistakes, but the deck was hitting me cold. So, that made my decision to leave easy. All the regular pros were licking their chops looking at me. They saw a young kid with a ton of money, and I looked like a fish since I didn't know how to handle the chips. I was accidently making big bets on the flop by counting the wrong number of chips. They asked when I would be back, and I half-jokingly replied "I'm going to the Bellagio later to lose all my money there." I intended to go to the Bellagio later, I just didn't intend to lose. I now had the cash to sit in the 30/60. I was focused, determined, and unknown. I felt like Mike McD in Rounders, making a run at it to clear Worm's debt. I was right on pace. I didn't need to eat or sleep. I was running on sheer willpower. Nothing could stop me.

Stars hates me

2007-03-10T19:22:00.000-05:00

For whatever reason, I keep getting my ass handed to me at 30/60 on Stars. I keep seeing horrible plays from others, and somehow I keep losing. Today, in 2 hours I lost over 2k and not one single big pair held up. I'm down 8k overall on Stars at the 30/60 and up about the same amount from everything else (5/10, 10/20, 15/30). This is so sick. I know I can beat the 30/60 on Stars because the players are still playing poorly (although not as juicy as Party's 30/60). It's pretty frustrating to build up my Stars account through the low limits and keep losing it all in a couple hours at the 30/60. I'm averaging 40/hr at 5/10, 70/hr at 10/20, and 120/hr at 15/30. I'm averaging -640/hr at 30/60. Stars just ownz me.

Old Hands

2007-03-09T22:48:00.000-05:00

Random old hands...

Hand #1
$175 Sitngo:
Seat 2: horrilibis (2990 in chips)
Seat 3: gunning4you (3535 in chips)
Seat 9: Egarim (1745 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [3d 3h]
gunning4you: raises 100 to 150
1 folds
Egarim: calls 150
1 folds
horrilibis: calls 100
*** FLOP *** [Td 5d 6h]
horrilibis: checks
gunning4you: bets 350
Egarim: raises 450 to 800
It smelled like a regular continuation bet, so I raised to protect my hand. I figure horrilibis behind me has to fold any pair here except maybe AT.
horrilibis: calls 800
gunning4you said, "wow"
gunning4you: folds
Ugh. This is not looking good. I'm ready to fold.
*** TURN *** [Td 5d 6h] [2c]
horrilibis: bets 2040 and is all-in
I didn't like his call on the flop. However, this play really doesn't make a whole lot of sense... unless he has a flush draw. I go with my read.
Egarim: calls 795 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Td 5d 6h 2c] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
horrilibis: shows [Jd 9d] (high card King)
Egarim: shows [3d 3h] (a pair of Threes)
Egarim collected 4015 from pot
This was a very unusual hand. I felt I made a really good call here because if he had any pair I was drawing slim. I think the original raiser actually laid down the best hand, but there was just too much action for him to continue in the hand. He probably folded 9s. I think horrilibis played the hand pretty bad. If he's calling there I think he was better off reraising. There was a good chance I would have folded at that point.

Hand #2
Seat 3: Egarim (6300 in chips)
Seat 8: jarydjaybe (21532 in chips)
ante 15
Dealt to Egarim [4s 4d]
3 folds
Egarim: raises 600 to 900
4 folds
jarydjaybe: calls 600
*** FLOP *** [3d 7s 8h]
jarydjaybe: checks
Egarim: checks
Even though the BB called preflop, this hand smells kind of suspicious. I'm pretty sure this is a good flop for me even though he could have 76s,87s, or 98s. I figure it would be best to keep the pot small and take a free card and wait for the turn to get more info from him.
*** TURN *** [3d 7s 8h] [4h]
jarydjaybe: checks
I guess he doesn't have much. I just hit my set, it's time to build a pot.
Egarim: bets 300
In hindsight, I should've bet a little more like 600-900. I wanted to give him a chance to try to bluff here though.
jarydjaybe: raises 900 to 1200
Egarim: calls 900
I'm fairly sure he doesn't have a draw here. I don't see why he wouldn't just call the 300 bet if he was drawing. The check raise means he is either bluffing or already has a made hand. I figure if he has a made hand the money is going in no matter what comes. So, I should give him a chance to bluff on the river.
*** RIVER *** [3d 7s 8h 4h] [7d]
jarydjaybe: bets 1800
Egarim: raises 2385 to 4185 and is all-in
jarydjaybe: calls 2385
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [4s 4d] (a full house, Fours full of Sevens)
jarydjaybe: shows [Kh Kd] (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
Egarim collected 12855 from pot
My good instincts allowed me to catch my 2-outer with a free card. I punished him for slowplaying. The trapper became the trapped.

Hand #3
Dealt to Egarim [8d Td]
8 folds
pwheats: raises $5 to $10
This guy likes to bluff, and keeps trying to push me around.
Egarim: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [3c 7d Jc]
pwheats: bets $5
Egarim: raises $5 to $10
I've made this raise here with top pair, trips, and better vs. him already. This time I happen to just have a gutshot.
pwheats: raises $5 to $15
Egarim: calls $5
*** TURN *** [3c 7d Jc] [Qd]
pwheats: bets $10
Egarim: calls $10
*** RIVER *** [3c 7d Jc Qd] [Ac]
pwheats: checks
Egarim: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pwheats: shows [6s 2s] (high card Ace)
Egarim: shows [8d Td] (high card Ace - Queen+Jack+Ten kicker)
Egarim collected $68 from pot
No point in betting the river here. He's not calling with his hand, and I already have the best hand :). Honestly, I don't think he'd fold any pair here. The only hand I could possibly bluff him off of is a king high given the board. So, a bluff on the river didn't seem reasonable. I was hoping he either had 45, 56, or a complete bluff, and my call on the turn showed I wasn't folding making him give up his bluff. Ironically, if he bet the river I would have folded. This was the only time he slowed down on the river, and he was wrong to do it. This will tilt him.

Hand #4
Seat 1: Egarim (21284 in chips)
Seat 2: Tracker965 (5910 in chips)
Seat 4: heighten111 (11758 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [5d 6d]
2 folds
Egarim: raises 300 to 450
Tracker965: calls 450
1 folds
heighten111: calls 450
3 folds
*** FLOP *** [9h 3s 5s]
Egarim: bets 750
Tracker965: calls 750
heighten111: calls 750
I'm not too happy having 2 callers. Atleast one is on the flush draw.
*** TURN *** [9h 3s 5s] [2d]
Egarim: checks
Tracker965: checks
heighten111: checks
Wow. I'm surprised no one took a stab at this. Maybe, theyre both drawing... 67 for a double gutshot?
*** RIVER *** [9h 3s 5s 2d] [Tc]
Egarim: checks
Tracker965: bets 1200
He didn't bet the turn. JTs? This is a somewhat peculiar bet as I feel like he'd prob bet a little smaller to get paid off. This would be a very nice spot to throw in a bluff since I checked twice and the other guy checked behind on the turn. All I can beat is a bluff here. So, he either hit that ten or has a busted draw and is trying to steal it because of all the weakness shown.
heighten111: folds
Egarim: calls 1200
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tracker965: shows [Qs Js] (high card Queen)
Egarim: shows [5d 6d] (a pair of Fives)
Egarim collected 6225 from pot
I made a good read and picked up a nice pot. I also set up a good image so people wouldn't try to bluff me (assuming people actually pay attention to this stuff). Either way, I end up blowing my big stack despite playing tight later in the tournament.

Midterms over

2007-03-09T02:49:00.000-05:00

Spring break has officially started for me finally! I've been studying all day for the last few days averaging probably 5-6 hours which is not enough for me. I usually require around 8 minimum. I'm glad it's finally over. A few more days and, Las Vegas, here I come.

A Poorly Played Hand

2007-03-02T03:19:00.000-05:00

I'm brushing up my limit hold'em game before heading to Vegas, and I am looking very rusty. I can still kill these low limit games, but man... it's embarassing when I make such silly mistakes.

Dealt to Egarim [Ks Kh]
rekopcraz: calls $10
reed1206: raises $10 to $20
vball9: calls $20
1 folds
Luckylady629: folds
1 folds
IThrowCash: calls $20
1 folds
Egarim: raises $10 to $30
2 folds
reed1206: calls $10
vball9: calls $10
IThrowCash: calls $10
*** FLOP *** [8s Kd 9c]
rekopcraz leaves the table
Egarim: bets $10
reed1206: calls $10
JC-TheGuide joins the table at seat #5
vball9: folds
IThrowCash: raises $10 to $20
Egarim: calls $10
reed1206: raises $10 to $30
IThrowCash: raises $10 to $40
Betting is capped
Egarim: calls $20
reed1206: calls $10
How nice... Flop top set and two players jam for me.
*** TURN *** [8s Kd 9c] [6h]
Egarim: checks
reed1206: bets $20
IThrowCash: raises $20 to $40
Time to punish them!
Egarim: calls $40
Brain freeze.
reed1206: calls $20
*** RIVER *** [8s Kd 9c 6h] [Ac]
Egarim: bets $20
reed1206: calls $20
IThrowCash: calls $20
Omg. WTF did I just do?
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Ks Kh] (three of a kind, Kings)
reed1206: mucks hand
IThrowCash: mucks hand
Egarim collected $437 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $440 | Rake $3
Board [8s Kd 9c 6h Ac]
Seat 1: IThrowCash mucked [9d 8d]
Seat 3: Egarim (small blind) showed [Ks Kh] and won ($437) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 6: reed1206 mucked [Kc As]
I know better than to slowplay... It would be too easy to blame it on the fact that it's 3am, and I'm tired after bombing my midterm earlier today. There's no excuse. I lost way too many big bets here. I need to sharpen up my game, so I don't play like an amateur when I get to Vegas.

Trip to Vegas

2007-02-25T17:36:00.000-05:00

I have hours upon hours of reading to catch up on for my classes. I was out drinking until 6am the last two nights for my friend's birthday. I don't think I'll be doing any more partying until spring break. I just booked my flight and hotel reservations for Vegas for the 12th-16th. I'll split a room at the Mirage with my bro and his friend, but we'll probably spend most of our time at the Bellagio. That's supposedly where all the action is. Since, this is my first trip to Vegas where I can legally gamble, I'm not sure what to expect. I'll prob bring a couple thousand, and break into some small tournaments and cash games. Maybe, I will start with 10-20 limit and move my way up as I get more comfortable. In any case, I expect the trip to pay for itself. I actually hope to come back with more money than I leave with. Other than poker, I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing in Vegas. I'd like to go out and have fun, but I don't know many places. There is a small possiblity my friends will make it out to Vegas with me. I may also meet up with cousins, but it would be nice to go out with friends and party. Girls would rank pretty high on my list of things to do, but I doubt I'll meet any that I'll be interested in. I assume most of the girls in Vegas are either fake or have too much green in their eyes. So, my goal for the trip is to cover the cost of the trip and come back with more money than I started with. Also, I just heard from my brother that he came in second in a tourney at the Wynn for 50k. That's awesome! That makes me even more excited to get to Vegas and play poker. I'm glad my bro finally got his chance to score a big one. He deserved it. Congrats!

Sunday million and studying

2007-02-11T17:05:00.000-05:00

I went to a bar with a bunch of friends and got drunk last night for my birthday. I filled up a pitcher full of puke. Other than that I had lots of fun. Unfortunately, I have a midterm tomorrow which I have not studied for. I have about 60-70 textbook pages left to read. So, of course, I decided to play in the Stars Sunday Million while I study. Here are the key hands:

Hand #1
Seat 2: Mando Phats (12200 in chips)
Seat 9: Egarim (9875 in chips)
CrackityJ: posts small blind 25
Mando Phats: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Egarim [8d Kh]
DR2122: calls 50
5 folds
Egarim: calls 50
CrackityJ: calls 25
Mando Phats: checks
*** FLOP *** [3d 8h 8s]
CrackityJ: checks
Mando Phats: bets 50
DR2122: calls 50
Egarim: raises 150 to 200
CrackityJ: folds
Mando Phats: calls 150
DR2122: folds
It smells like he has the 8 with a worse kicker. I wish he would have reraised here.
*** TURN *** [3d 8h 8s] [Ah]
Mando Phats: bets 150
This is a strange bet. If he just had a 3 or a mid to low pocket pair then he's trying to represent the ace and hope it's a scare card for me. So, I'm prob not getting much more action if he has either of those hands. However, he could easily still have an 8, and he doesn't want me to check behind because he thinks the ace is a scare card for me. I have to raise for value here.
Egarim: raises 350 to 500
Mando Phats: raises 5750 to 6250
Egarim: raises 3375 to 9625 and is all-in
Mando Phats: calls 3375
I insta-shoved allin. I just knew I had him.
*** RIVER *** [3d 8h 8s Ah] [3h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Mando Phats: shows [5c 8c] (a full house, Eights full of Threes)
Egarim: shows [8d Kh] (a full house, Eights full of Threes)
Good read. Bad river. Thank you Stars.

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [7s 9s]
4 folds
oneyellowman: calls 50
Eversin: calls 50
1 folds
Egarim: calls 25
CrackityJ: raises 150 to 200
oneyellowman: calls 150
Eversin: calls 150
Egarim: calls 150
It smells like aces or atleast a big pair. I have to overcall here with 97s.
*** FLOP *** [5c 9d 9c]
Egarim: checks
CrackityJ: bets 200
oneyellowman: calls 200
Eversin: folds
Weak bet by crackityj. Still, there is a good chance he has aces here. yellowman could be flushing. With a bet and a call, I have to raise. The only question is how much. In hindsight I like a raise to 800 better, but I kind of wanted to give crackity a chance with a hand like aq, ak, to chase.
Egarim: raises 500 to 700
CrackityJ: calls 500
oneyellowman: calls 500
*** TURN *** [5c 9d 9c] [Kh]
Okay, so they both called here. Interesting. I think there is still a good chance crackityj has a big pair and wanted to see a safe turn card because he didn't want to get it allin versus a flush draw on the flop. Maybe, he was afraid of the 9 here too. The king is either a really good or really bad card for me. There is the possiblity that he has kings and hit a full house. There's also the possibilty he has ak and hit tptk. At this point, I figure I should overbet to push out yellowman's flush draw. I also don't see any way for crackityj to fold ak or aces here. I think those are two very likely hands in his range. Queens and kings are also in his range though. However, at this point I don't feel there's anyway to get away from my hand given the board unless another club comes or an Ace or King comes on the river. If I lead out and he has kings full I'm getting stacked. So, I overbet for value.
Egarim: bets 9175 and is all-in
CrackityJ instacalled allin. Uhoh... kings full...
CrackityJ: calls 8350 and is all-in
Yellowman uses half his timebank before calling. I was wondering what he was thinking about. Did he hit the king? Then it occurred to me that he had a 9. I said to myself "Oh no, he has A9. Please fold." Immediately after that thought, he calls as if he was reading my mind.
oneyellowman: calls 7400 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [5c 9d 9c Kh] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [7s 9s] (three of a kind, Nines)
CrackityJ: shows [Ac As] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
Egarim collected 1900 from side pot
oneyellowman: shows [9h Ad] (three of a kind, Nines - Ace kicker)
Ouch. I'm left with 2800 after this hand and proceed to donk it off.
Back to studying...

Depressed

2007-02-05T00:32:00.000-05:00

I finally get my phone working. It was such a big hassle... I'm never losing my phone again. So, I the day started off bad, but then it became good when I had a working cell phone. I don't think anyone can live in the city without a cell phone. Then, it just turned into a very bad day with the Bears losing the Super Bowl. Now, I can't focus on studying, and I can't sleep. Rex Grossman, you better go hide with Bartman...

Phone

2007-02-03T15:33:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday night, I played in a live 1-1NL game hosted by some students at a dorm. It's actually run pretty nicely by a couple freshman. They charge $3/hour, but they get the games together which have pretty good action. I wouldn't expect freshman to be putting a game together like this with dealers and charging rake. Anyways, there's no limit on the buy-in, but I bought in for $200 as there were two others who bought in for the same or more. The game started at 9pm and I was there till 3am. One guy I know who plays a lot online showed up after 1am and bought in for $400. I ended up stacking him when he pushed in for 7s preflop versus my kings after two shortstack all-ins. However, I did make a big laydown with AK and tptk versus him (it turned out to be the wrong play, but oh well, I have a theory on those kinds of plays that I was going to write about if I wasn't so busy). So, that night I left with $1250 after buying in for $200 in a 1-1 blind structure game! I love rich kids! I did drop $134 the last week, so I'm up $1116 in a live 1-1NL game after maybe ten hours of play. When I left the game that night all I was thinking about was getting a taxi to get back home so I don't get mugged with over $1250 in my pocket (I had brought another buy-in with me that I didn't need to use). I've never carried that much money on me before. When I play for lots of money I only see numbers on a computer. It is a completely different feeling to actually be holding the cash. So, when I got back home I realized I didn't have my phone. I immediately IM'd a friend to ask his friend to get my phone when he got back to his dorm. It was around 4am at that time, so when he got back to his dorm he forgot to get my phone. I called him the next day, and he looked for it, but it was gone. I went to the dorm to look for it too, but it was to no avail. I ended up calling it a thousand times and leaving a text message offering $50 to whoever had the phone. Then, I upped the offer to $100 before I cut off the service. It's been a big hassle, and I ended up buying a refurbished one for $300. I probably could have saved a lot of money buying one off ebay, but I just needed a phone real quick. The way I see it, losing my phone was a $300 bad beat. So, I'm up $816 in the game because I took a bad beat without even playing a hand! I also lost all my phone numbers and lots of time put into getting a new phone. So, technically, I've lost some hours which equate to dollars. I'll just try to ignore my economic intuition, and move towards blissful ignorance and say I'm up $816, so all is well. :)

55 6-Max

2007-02-02T02:05:00.000-05:00

Just took down a 50+5 6-max. 1st out of 168 for $2,310. Yeah, it's not much, but it feels good to finally take one down after dominating play the whole tournament. I did give a couple bad beats but they were versus shortstacks where I was priced in given my opponent's range. When it was four-handed I took down over 50% of the pots. There really wasn't much post-flop action as everyone folded to my raises and gave me walks. There were only a few post-flop hands of any interest:

Hand #1
Seat 4: BKiCe (42639 in chips)
Seat 5: Egarim (58097 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [Js Kd]
2 folds
BKiCe: raises 4000 to 60001m
Egarim: calls 4000
*** FLOP *** [Th Ac 5c]
BKiCe: bets 7500
Egarim: raises 44497 to 51997 and is all-in
BKiCe: folds
Egarim collected 27400 from pot
Egarim: doesn't show hand

Hand #2
Seat 4: BKiCe (81328 in chips)
Seat 5: Egarim (96397 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [Qs Qh]
BKiCe: raises 5000 to 8000
Egarim: raises 16000 to 24000
pink71: folds
BKiCe: calls 16000
*** FLOP *** [3d Td 7d]
Egarim: bets 72247 and is all-in
BKiCe: folds
Egarim collected 51450 from pot
Egarim: doesn't show hand

A few hands later...
Hand #3
Seat 1: pink71 (54175 in chips)
Seat 4: BKiCe (83128 in chips)
Seat 5: Egarim (114697 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [6c 7c]
Egarim: raises 6000 to 9000
pink71: folds
BKiCe: calls 6000
*** FLOP *** [9d 5s 8s]
BKiCe: checks
Egarim: bets 9000
BKiCe: raises 64978 to 73978 and is all-in
Egarim: calls 64978
BKiCe said, "loooooooool"
*** TURN *** [9d 5s 8s] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [9d 5s 8s Jc] [Js]
BKiCe said, "nice flop and hand etc etc"
BKiCe said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BKiCe: shows [Ac 8c] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
Egarim: shows [6c 7c] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Egarim said, "gg"
Egarim collected 167906 from pot

Going into heads-up play we exchange raises on the button and neither of us decide to call out of the big blind. Shee was over-raising preflop, so I didn't feel any need to get involved without a good hand when she was folding her big blind everytime too. Then, I restole her button raise once:
Dealt to Egarim [Ks Jh]
pink71: raises 9000 to 12000
Egarim: raises 184325 to 196325 and is all-in
pink71: folds
Egarim collected 24300 from pot
Egarim: doesn't show hand

After this hand she folded her button everytime, and I decided to keep the pots small by limping everytime since she had only 30k+ in chips. I ended up taking down 8 out of the next 10 pots until this next hand:

Dealt to Egarim [Jc As]
pink71: raises 9000 to 12000
Egarim: raises 212525 to 224525 and is all-in
pink71: calls 15175 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [8h 2c 9s]
*** TURN *** [8h 2c 9s] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [8h 2c 9s 5s] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Jc As] (high card Ace)
pink71: shows [Td 9d] (a pair of Nines)
pink71 collected 54650 from pot

She took down 3 out of the next four pots, and it looked as if the momentum was swinging. She had gained some confidence after the last hand. Then:

Dealt to Egarim [3c Jh]
Egarim: raises 6000 to 9000
pink71: calls 6000
*** FLOP *** [3s 3h 4h]
pink71: bets 56300 and is all-in
Egarim: calls 56300
*** TURN *** [3s 3h 4h] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [3s 3h 4h 7s] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pink71: shows [5d 5s] (two pair, Fives and Threes)
Egarim: shows [3c Jh] (three of a kind, Threes)
Egarim collected 130900 from pot

GG Ship it!

Very busy

2007-01-26T20:54:00.000-05:00

The next couple weeks will be very busy for me. I have lots of friends' birthdays coming up including mine. I also have a lot of school work to do. I'm looking for internships so I have to make a resume/cover letter and all that stuff. I found a nice .5-1NL home game on campus which will occupy me for some nights. I'll occasionally play some online, but I doubt it will be much. I've noticed that the games have been really dry. I see a lot less tables than before Neteller cut Americans out. Oh well, just another bad beat. That's poker. Actually, I like this phrase better: that's life.

Online Poker

2007-01-18T18:59:00.000-05:00

With neteller leaving the US market, the demise of online poker does not seem too far away. After Party Poker left, the cash games just haven't been the same. The games at Stars are much tougher mainly because the majority of players play tighter. Lots of the tables are fulls of nits. Ever since Party left, the cash games have become less profitable. Now, with neteller gone, a lot of fishes won't be able to deposit money easily. This will deter them from redepositing funds when they get cleaned out. Soon, the games will dry up. It is only a matter of time. Sure, the addicts will find a way to get their money on, but regardless, the ratio of fishes to sharks will greatly decrease. The people who were breaking even will become losing players, those who were barely winning will become break even players, and etc.

I would like to thank the US government for imparting their views on the morality of gambling onto me. Their establishment of the UIGE act has succeeded in impeding my liberty and pursuit of happiness. The United States was founded on the idea that everyone has "the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This act spits in the face of our founding forefathers, and undermines everything that this country stands for. The UIGE ensures me that the United States is no longer based on such ideals. Now, I can safely assume that in addition to not having the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we also no longer have the right to life. In accordance with such a conclusion, I believe that it is our duty and right to create chaos from hereforth. So, I plead to all human beings of any decency to take up arms and overthrow the government. Democracy is a symbol of liberty, and as such, we must do our duty to destroy it and create anarchy. Thank you UIGE act for opening my eyes and giving me a new direction and inspiration... Oppression for all, freedom for none!

I should find a job now I guess...

Luck

2007-01-14T22:34:00.000-05:00

Poker is a game that has fascinated millions. It has become an obsession. The popularity of poker today can be seen by simply turning on the television. One can always find poker being shown on a channel. Only recently have I come to understand the game's popularity. Poker is fun. It can satisfy people's competitiveness or need to gamble. It is exciting and drama-filled. Watching a player go on tilt is just as entertaining as any reality tv show. The thrill of winning a tournament for millions of dollars is addicting for those who win it and those who are merely observing. However, none of these reasons explain the popularity of poker. Poker is popular because it replicates life. Everything in life can in some way be metaphorically explained by this game. Poker is a game of life, and people love it because the lessons learned from the game can be applied to life. Poker is a simulation of life within a game.

"Poker is a game that takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master." This motto also holds true to life, although I will admit, it doesn't exactly take a minute to learn. People can learn to walk and talk. One can learn the difference between right and wrong. However, we still spend our whole lives figuring out the best way to live life. There are many methods in which one can relate poker to life. It depends on what perspective one chooses to relate the two. Looking at the game from a simple perspective of how it is played, one can see many life lessons. Poker is a game where the players are dealt cards. Some are dealt better cards than others. Those cards represent the life that we are born into. Some people get dealt pocket aces. They are born into the upper class with a loving family and financial stability. Others get dealt rags. They may have no family or no home and many other shortcomings. However, the starting cards are meaningless because all that matters is who has the best hand by the river. Rags can turn into riches. There are innumerable accounts of people who went from the bottom to the top. Pocket aces can get cracked. There are many stories of people who have lost all their money, home, or family. Maybe, these people played their hand badly, or possibly, they ran into bad luck. Bad beats are unavoidable. Whatever cards we get dealt, all we can do is play those cards as best as we can. The rest is up to lady luck.

So, how much influence does luck have? There is no incorrect answer. Luck can have anywhere from zero to complete influence on one's life. One can play a hand perfectly and still lose. Other times, luck won't be a factor and the best hand holds up in the end. There will always be people complaining about this. Why does this person deserve to get dealt aces? Why does this idiot deserve to suckout on the river? Life is unfair. Yes! That is the beauty of life. This is why we live. Our starting hands can turn from bad to good and vice versa. Luck, as we call it, is what keeps the future uncertain. This uncertaintity is our motivation to keep going. If our lives were already written, then what is the point in living if everything we do is already known and set in stone?

In order to become a good poker player, I have had to learn many strategies and apply them at the tables. I have had to learn to deal with big ups and downs. I could compile a list hundreds of pages long on what I have needed to learn and do to become a good poker player. Now, I realize that in order to become a great poker player one needs to understand luck. Luck is what makes poker such a great game. Uncertaintiy is what makes life so great. If I learn to embrace luck then I will be able to appreciate life and live it to the fullest.

MTT's and cash games

2007-01-10T14:42:00.000-05:00

I planned on updating atleast every other day during the break, but as it turns out I just couldn't get around to it. I've been consumed by poker, and thus, I have spent no time writing about anything. My game has become multi-dimensional. I feel very good about my MTT game. I finished 9th in a $11+Rebuy, 8th in a $109, and 11th in $33. I cashed a few other times, but no results of any importance. I keep going deep, but just can't get there. Anything below 3rd really doesn't pay too well. I'm still looking for my first place finish, and I've been putting myself in good position to get there. I'm still making adjustments in my game.

I have made many major adjustments in my MTT game. First, I stopped trying to accumulate chips too fast. No one can win a tournament by the 8th level. So, the goal has changed to getting in the money. Don't get me wrong, I still play for first, but you won't have a shot at first if you're not around late in the tournament. I have also made great steps in my strategies at different levels. Obviously, all of this is dynamic and still dependent on my table and how my opponents play, but my strategies serve as a good general guideline. My stats from http://www.officialpokerranking.com (which any tourney player should use) are:
8/39 21% ITM
Finished:
Early: 3%
Early/Middle: 18%
Middle: 46%
Middle/Late: 15%
Late: 18%

They only thing I'd like to change is finish in the early/middle less and in middle/late more. So take 5% of E/M to M/L. Still, these %'s compare well with proven MTT'ers although it is a very small sample size. I feel very confident I can improve on this though.

Meanwhile, I've been playing a lot of short-handed and heads-up limit hold'em. I've been thriving in three/four handed games. The variance is large, but I know I'm making a good profit because I see the players making lots of mistakes. I'm making some myself, but I've improved quite a bit in the short time I've been playing. In heads-up, I've crushed some weak players, but also learned a lot running into good ones. I was facing one guy who was holding over me (probably caught cards too), but then I figured him out and changed my strategy and the tables turned. I know that given enough time, I can learn to beat anyone. I've really enjoyed HU and wish Poker Stars would have some HU tables. Variance, of course, is pretty big, but I know I have the stomach for it. I can stay on even-keel pretty well and wait for opponents to tilt and give me their money.

So, as of now,fullring LHE is probably still my best game. My MTT game is coming together strong. Also, my short-handed and heads-up LHE is improving very quickly, and I really feel like this can become my best game because of all the post-flop play which allows me to take advantage of more mistakes by my opponents. I did spend a couple hours playing 1/2NL, and made a couple hundred, but right now I don't feel like going back to NL cash games. I did start off there before learning limit, but now that I've learned limit, I feel that the limit games are more profitable. I did notice that the Poker Stars games plays much different than the Party games. Much of the NL cash games on Stars is played preflop. Lots of reraising preflop. I think this is due to a lot of the players playing too many NL tournaments. In my opinion, playing this style isn't optimal, but that may just be for me since I thrive post-flop. I also see a lot of reraise stealing which seems pretty unnecessary to me. I would only do it very occasionally, but in the long run I don't think it's that profitable because it puts you in a lot of grey zones. Of course, it depends on your opponent. If you keep reraise stealing from weak players then it's okay, but from what I saw people were reraise stealing from everyone. If a tough player comes into a hand, smart players should stay out of there way without the goods. There really is no need to get involved. It is a cash game. Just fold. Well, that's my two cents, but I'll admit I'm not a NL cash game specialist, but I do have some experience. Unfortunately, I forgot to save a lot of hand histories, but I do have a few. So, I'll have some hand histories to come...

2007 Improvements

2007-01-01T21:13:00.000-05:00

Parts of my poker game that need improvement:
1. Patience. This used to be one of my strengths. Currently, it is one of my weaknesses, and I want to change that. When players are playing very poorly, I need to sit back more and just wait for cards. I have to remember that folding is the play that has the most positive expected value most of the time versus such bad players. In the cash games, I have been forcing it. I've been trying to make money as fast as possible by playing in pots versus bad players with marginal hands. In tournaments, I've been trying to accumulate chips too fast. I can't win the tournament within a couple hours. Also, for this winter break I had set high goals for myself as far as how much money I wanted to make. With further reflection, I've decided to change that. I can not put expectations on variance. All I can do is play good poker. So, I need to focus on play hours and not results. I need to put in the hours, be patient, and the results will come.
2. Table selection. I haven't been as selective with my tables as I was in the past in cash games. I've let my ego get the best of me. I have been sitting down at any table thinking that I'm good enough to crush the games. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what level you play at. If the table is very nitty, there is no point in sitting down. It is still hard to beat. Even if I have an edge, it is a small one. I am better off just waiting for a juicy table. A juicy 5/10 table is better than a 30/60 table full of rocks.

Came across another personality test...

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman	70%
Hulk	70%
The Flash	70%
Spider-Man	65%
Robin	60%
Green Lantern	60%
Supergirl	50%
Wonder Woman	45%
Iron Man	45%
Batman	35%
Catwoman	25%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Your results:
You are Apocalypse

Apocalypse	62%
Dr. Doom	55%
Lex Luthor	52%
Magneto	51%
Venom	48%
Green Goblin	44%
Mystique	44%
Juggernaut	44%
Mr. Freeze	43%
The Joker	38%
Dark Phoenix	36%
Kingpin	36%
Catwoman	34%
Riddler	25%
Poison Ivy	21%
Two-Face	20%

You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

Poker update

2006-12-27T01:53:00.000-05:00

At the moment, I don't feel like writing in detail about how poker has been going. So, I'll just do a quick summary. I played a lot of 5/10 then 15/30 and made a lot of money. Then, everytime I jumped into the 30/60 I hit a horrific run of cards and after depositing about 4k on stars I'm down under 1k. Of course, that's normal variance for 30/60, but regardless it still sucks especially after working the 5/10 and 15/30 for awhile. Then, after that I played some 5/10 but have been catching a real bad run of cards still. I've been playing some tournaments with mixed results. Overall, I'm down in the tourneys, but I'm learning and making fixes to my game. I also experimented some with short handed limit at the 5/10. I played some short handed 1/2NL last night and made a few hundred in an hour and a half. That's pretty much it. So, right now I find myself in a big slump with a battered online bankroll. Nothing is going to well and Christmas hasn't been too great. Life hasn't been good, but I have to suck it up and make the best of it. There are better times ahead. I'll make sure of it.

I saved a lot of hand histories, but I've decided to just scrap them all save maybe one or two. Right now, my plans are to fly back to New York on the 28th. Then, I'll either go to Maryland to visit my mom or she will come up to see me for new years. Then, I plan on playing lots of poker. I may decide to move up the limit hold'em ranks again, but this time I may learn short-handed play. I'll probably be playing a lot more MTT's also. I feel very confident in my MTT game, and I've picked up some nice strategies off my brother who mainly plays sitngos and mtt's. Right now, my biggest weakness is my impatience at the tables. I really need to work on that. This slump has been really tough, but I've stayed poised and in control thus far. My new year's resolution is simple. I am going to learn a lot, move up the poker ranks, and kick some ass!

My World

2006-12-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

I lay in bed thinking for hours. I think of who I am, who I want to be, the life I am living, and the life I want to live. Images flash through my mind. I imagine different lives, but I can't figure out which one is the one I want to live. Eventually, my thoughts begin to drift, and I can think no more. Darkness overtakes me.

I am holding someone in my arms. I open my eyes and see a beautiful woman who I feel like I have known forever. Her warmth is comforting, and I can feel her happiness. She puts her forehead to mine, and our noses touch leaving our eyes inches apart. She looks into my eyes, and says, "I love you." Her eyes glisten with a spark that causes my heart to begin pounding rapidly against my chest. My heart feels like it is going to burst because it is filled with love, and it can no longer contain all of that love. I want to let it all out and share it with her. I look back into her beautiful, mesmerizing eyes, and respond, "I love you, too." Her smile grows bigger, her warmth feels more comforting, and her eyes gleam with happiness and love. I know we are meant to be. I would give and do anything for her. My heart belongs to her. She is the love of my life.

"Daddy! Daddy!" I hear two kids clamoring behind me. They each cling to one of my legs, and I begin walking, carrying each child on each leg. They are both laughing and smiling as they go along for the ride. They both hold on tightly, and through their grips, I can feel their happiness. I arrive at the couch, at which point I stop and pick them both up in my arms. I kiss them both on the cheek and tell them I love them. They both give me a big hug and say, "I love you too, daddy." They are my dedication and my goal in life. I will make sure that they will lead better lives and have more opportunities than I did. I will always protect and love them as long as I live.

I put my two children down and watch them run around the room laughing and playing. My eyes turn to the couch, and my heart stops. Sitting on the couch is the cutest, most adorable baby girl in the world. Her little arms and legs, plump cheeks, and wide-eyed look could steal anyone's heart in an instant. I pick her up in my arms and lay down on the couch. I hold her up in the air above my head and smile. She smiles back. I laugh, and she responds by giggling. I tell her that I love her, and she smiles even bigger. I know that the words mean nothing to her, but somehow, she seems to understand. I can feel her love too. I set her small and fragile body down on my stomach. Slowly, I feel her crawling up my chest. One arm and leg moves forward together followed by the other arm and leg. Her weight is oblivious to me. The only thing I feel is her love. She reaches my face and places her tiny hand on it to support herself. She examines me with her other hand by running it along my face from my forehead to my chin. I look into her eyes, and I see my inspiration. I see a part of me in her. I see life.

A distant irritable buzzing drums in my ears. The noise is growing louder and louder. My head is aching and pounding. I open my eyes slightly, reach my arm out, and hit the snooze button. I quickly close my eyes. No. Don't go away. The world is fading away from me. I feel my wife, my children, and all that love slowly disappearing. I reach out and try to hold on, but I feel them slipping through my fingers. I don't want it to end. I want that world to last forever. Buzz. Buzz. My alarm goes off again. I quickly slap the snooze button again. Think! Remember! I refuse to let it go. I want to relive it again even if it is for just a second. I want to feel their love and happiness. Buzz. Buzz. It is gone. I open my eyes. Reality hits me. It was all just a dream. Get up. I still lay there staring at the ceiling. I have none of that right now. I have no one to love and no one who loves me.

Buzz. Buzz. I reach over and pick up my alarm clock preparing to heave it across the room. Instead, I stop and lay there listening to the buzzing. It is buzzing in a rhythm -- like a heartbeat. I smile as it reminds me of my dream where I am holding my baby above my head. Life. Today is a new day. It is another day in which I can take a step closer towards my dreams. Instead of getting up because I have to, I do so with a smile because I want to. I won't let life pass me by. I will enjoy every moment to the fullest. I have faith that my dreams will one day become reality as long as I continue to follow my heart and live a life full of love and compassion.

Update

2006-12-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted much lately and that trend is likely to continue for a bit. I have finals coming up in just over a week, so I will be quite busy. I have also had a lot on my mind lately. I have been writing some, but I haven't written anything that I've felt like posting. I have a lot of interesting thoughts that I want to get around to writing about... but no promises. Life has a been a roller coaster lately, and I just have not been in the mood to write anything good. So, for now I'm likely to just post some hand histories and that's it. I have been playing more poker lately. I finally put enough on Stars to feel comfortable playing the 15/30. I also decided to try to win a trip to the PCA. Unfortunately, I started late, and the last chance qualifier is Dec. 10. I'll basically have one shot at it. I'd wish myself good luck, but we all know it's not about luck.

Tourney Hands

2006-11-23T22:47:00.000-05:00

$100+9 Rebuy Tournament tonight. 1st place payed $16k+. I rebought once and bought the add-on for $309 total.

Hand #1
Seat 2: JohnnyBax (2820 in chips)
Seat 6: Egarim (9700 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [Jc Qc]
1 folds
Egarim: raises 200 to 300
4 folds
JohnnyBax: calls 300
2 folds
*** FLOP *** [7d Qd 5h]
Egarim: checks
JohnnyBax: bets 400
Egarim: calls 400
*** TURN *** [7d Qd 5h] [Ts]
Egarim: checks
JohnnyBax: bets 820
Egarim: raises 8180 to 9000 and is all-in
JohnnyBax: calls 1300 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [7d Qd 5h Ts] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Jc Qc] (a pair of Queens)
JohnnyBax: shows [Tc Qh] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
JohnnyBax collected 5790 from pot
I really misplayed this hand. Sure, bax got lucky on me, but I still played this hand poorly regardless. I wanted to control the size of the pot and throw in some deception. However, I would have been better of just keeping the lead on the flop or at the very least check raising the flop. It was still the rebuy period, so I shouldn't have been so cautious.

Hand #2
Seat 6: Egarim (8730 in chips)
Seat 8: don060243 (5390 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [Ah Qd]
1 folds
stikit: raises 300 to 450
4 folds
Egarim: calls 450
1 folds
don060243: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [3h 8h 5s]
don060243: bets 300
stikit: folds
Egarim: calls 300
*** TURN *** [3h 8h 5s] [Th]
don060243: bets 1050
Egarim: calls 1050
*** RIVER *** [3h 8h 5s Th] [Ac]
don060243: checks
Egarim: bets 1000
don060243: calls 1000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Ah Qd] (a pair of Aces)
don060243: mucks hand
Egarim collected 6125 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6125 | Rake 0
Board [3h 8h 5s Th Ac]

Seat 6: Egarim (button) showed [Ah Qd] and won (6125) with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: don060243 (big blind) mucked [9h 9d]
In my opinion, the villain misplayed this hand on every street. I thought I was priced in on every street with the implied odds. It just so happened that I hit the ace on the river as oppose to a heart. In any case, I think I would have been payed off with a heart or queen on the river too.

Hand #3
Seat 2: JohnnyBax (6640 in chips)
Seat 6: Egarim (13205 in chips)
Dealt to Egarim [6c 9d]
3 folds
JohnnyBax: raises 400 to 600
3 folds
Egarim: raises 1000 to 1600
JohnnyBax: calls 1000
*** FLOP *** [3h Kd 5s]
Egarim: bets 2000
JohnnyBax: calls 2000
*** TURN *** [3h Kd 5s] [2s]
Egarim: bets 9605 and is all-in
JohnnyBax: calls 3040 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [3h Kd 5s 2s] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [6c 9d] (a pair of Nines)
JohnnyBax: shows [4h 2h] (a pair of Deuces)
JohnnyBax said, "sdfgsdfg"
JohnnyBax said, "sdfg"
JohnnyBax said, "sdfg"
JohnnyBax said, "sdfg"
JohnnyBax said, "fd"
JohnnyBax said, "sgh"
JohnnyBax said, "drtyjh"
JohnnyBax said, "uy5"
JohnnyBax said, "i5i"
JohnnyBax said, "5"
JohnnyBax said, "67ui"
JohnnyBax said, "67"
JohnnyBax said, "8i"
Egarim collected 13380 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13380 | Rake 0
Board [3h Kd 5s 2s 9c]
Seat 2: JohnnyBax showed [4h 2h] and lost with a pair of Deuces
Seat 6: Egarim (big blind) showed [6c 9d] and won (13380) with a pair of Nines
Bax made a very questionable call of a large re-raise from me with 42s especially since I had been playing very tight and folding my big blind a lot. I was laughing pretty hard at the end of this hand. He had it coming...

Hand #4
Seat 6: Egarim (28990 in chips)
Seat 7: lordhuttyx (23510 in chips)
ante 25
Dealt to Egarim [7h 6c]
2 folds
palomito: calls 400
3 folds
taktloss47: calls 400
Egarim: calls 200
lordhuttyx: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc 7d 6s]
Egarim: bets 900
lordhuttyx: calls 900
palomito: folds
taktloss47: folds
*** TURN *** [Jc 7d 6s] [5c]
Egarim: bets 1400
lordhuttyx: calls 1400
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7d 6s 5c] [9c]
Egarim: checks
lordhuttyx: bets 5200
Egarim: calls 5200
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lordhuttyx: shows [5d 8s] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Egarim: mucks hand
lordhuttyx collected 16825 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 16825 | Rake 0
Board [Jc 7d 6s 5c 9c]
Seat 5: taktloss47 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Egarim (small blind) mucked [7h 6c]
Seat 7: lordhuttyx (big blind) showed [5d 8s] and won (16825) with a straight, Five to Nine
I played this hand poorly on every street. This is partly due to my very rusty NL game. I bet too small on the flop. I should have either bet stronger or check raised. On the river, I really had no reason to call there. I was not thinking clearly. If he had a jack he would have checked behind. If he had two pair he would likely do the same. There is also a good chance he has 89. I couldn't figure out what he had though by the way he played it, and I called out of curiosity. I didn't feel like he had 89 by how fast he kept calling and how fast he bet the river. 85 didn't cross my mind, but it makes sense now. On the river, I knew he would only bet there with the straight or a complete bluff. I have prior reads on lordhutty and know he is very capable of bluffing, but I also know he's a good player. Bad river call.

Hand #5
Seat 6: Egarim (32425 in chips)
Seat 8: brsavage (14447 in chips)
ante 50
Dealt to Egarim [7d 7h]
5 folds
Egarim: raises 1400 to 2200
1 folds
brsavage: raises 12197 to 14397 and is all-in
Egarim: calls 12197
*** FLOP *** [Ac 4c Tc]
*** TURN *** [Ac 4c Tc] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 4c Tc 7c] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
brsavage: shows [3h 3c] (a flush, Ace high)
Egarim: shows [7d 7h] (three of a kind, Sevens)
brsavage collected 29594 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 29594 | Rake 0
Board [Ac 4c Tc 7c Qd]
I had just taken a bad beat for about a 7k pot a few hands ago with aqs vs k9os. I was 99% sure I was in at worst a coinflip situation and instacalled the allin.

Hand #6
Seat 5: taktloss47 (11580 in chips)
Seat 6: Egarim (19328 in chips)
ante 50
taktloss47: posts small blind 400
Egarim: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Egarim [8h Ah]
6 folds
taktloss47: calls 400
Egarim: raises 3200 to 4000
taktloss47: raises 7530 to 11530 and is all-in
Egarim: calls 7530
*** FLOP *** [Td Qd 5d]
*** TURN *** [Td Qd 5d] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [Td Qd 5d Th] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
taktloss47: shows [Ts Kd] (a full house, Tens full of Queens)
Egarim: shows [8h Ah] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
taktloss47 collected 23460 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 23460 | Rake 0
Board [Td Qd 5d Th Qs]
Seat 5: taktloss47 (small blind) showed [Ts Kd] and won (23460) with a full house, Tens full of Queens
Seat 6: Egarim (big blind) showed [8h Ah] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens
I took a couple seconds to call. I was 99% sure I had the best hand again.

Hand #7
Seat 1: sheets (9335 in chips)
Seat 6: Egarim (7098 in chips)
ante 50
Dealt to Egarim [Ks Ts]
2 folds
Egarim: raises 6248 to 7048 and is all-in
3 folds
sheets: raises 2237 to 9285 and is all-in
2 folds
brsavage said, "depends"
*** FLOP *** [Td 2d 8d]
*** TURN *** [Td 2d 8d] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Td 2d 8d 9c] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Ks Ts] (a pair of Tens)
sheets: shows [7s 7d] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
sheets collected 15746 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 15746 | Rake 0
Board [Td 2d 8d 9c Jh]
GG. I went from big stack at my table to out within 10 minutes thanks to 3 bad beats and then one coinflip. I did misplay one hand earlier for a big pot, but I still had a big stack at the time and rebounded nicely by playing good poker. I just lucked out in the end. It would have been nice to have something good happen to me for once.

Go Bears!

2006-11-12T23:38:00.000-05:00

Instead of studying for my midterm tomorrow, I spent the last few hours watching the Bears vs Giants game. It was well worth it. Great game. 38-20 Bears win!

There was some great commentary tonight. Hester caught a missed field goal in the end zone and bluffed like he was going to take a knee, and then suddenly he ran and returned a 108 yard missed field goal for a touchdown.
John Madden: (Referring to Hester) I'll tell you what. You don't want to play poker against that guy.
Al Michaels: Yeah, he'd be all-in every hand.

Busy

2006-11-11T20:43:00.000-05:00

I have a midterm on Monday and Wednesday, so I will be busy for until they are over. I did manage to get a couple more hours of poker in, but other than that not much has happened. I've been pretty busy, but did manage to have a party last night. I have had some interesting thoughts and ideas, but none of them have managed to find their way to paper. The 5/10 game has been so easy! I probably have been running well too, but I have the utmost confidence that I can teach anyone to beat that game for atleast $50/hour. That's equivalent to about $100,000/year if one works 40hrs/week. Of course, that is a lot of hours of boredom and solitude. It is not a job I would recommend. Money is just paper and numbers after all. It can't buy happiness.

Classes, running well, and Fearless

2006-11-05T22:17:00.000-05:00

I've pratically lived at the library the last week. Unfortunately, round two of midterms is coming up in a couple weeks. Anyways, I ended up with mixed results. I aced my first two midterms for econ classes. On another econ class I ended up with 90/100 with a class average of 58. I thought I did poorly after I saw the answers posted, and I felt really down for the day. After seeing the results, I'm quite happy. Then, I studied my ass off on a Saturday and Sunday for my Theory of Numbers class (the title is representative of what the class is about... something of which I am completely clueless), and did bad on the test. There were four questions and I missed half of one. -13 points. I missed 1/3 of another part on a stupid computational mistake. -9 points. I had erased some work and rewrote the correct answer showing my work. -1 point. The professor said it looked "sketchy". 77/100.

The mid lhe games on Stars is looking very weak. Right now there aren't even three full 30/60 games! I'm praying that the this is only due to players having trouble getting lots of money deposited quickly, and hopefully, after some time those Party fish will be showing up. Anyways, I'm running well at the 5/10. After 2100 hands I'm making almost 5BB's/100. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but the players at 5/10 are extraordinarily bad. So, I don't doubt that it is possible.

I just saw Fearless the other night. I thought it was a pretty good movie. Unfortunately, it was highly inaccurate with regards to the true story of the person's life, but disregarding that, it was a good movie. There were a lot of good moral lessons, but I only want to delve into one of them.

If you haven't seen the movie, I suggest you go watch it. It's not as good as Hero, mainly because the characters weren't developed as well. I also liked how they made it more realistic, but still kept some of the artistic style of Chinese films. Nonetheless, the fight scenes were good.

Fearless.
At the beginning of the movie, fearless is defined as being unafraid of enemies and opponents. It is being free from fear of pain or death. Huo Yuan Jia is unafraid to face any danger. He is willing to fight any opponent and unafraid of any consequences. His fearlessness and ambition allows him to become the best fighter in his province. After the tragic loss of his family and time spent away from the city, Huo Yuan Jia returns with a new definition of fearless. He realizes that his previous beliefs were misguided. Instead, fearless is about being unafraid of losing. It is having the courage to face failure or the loss of one's pride. A truly fearless person does not strive to win at all costs, but instead, he sets aside his pride to do what is right and good.

A person at the poker table who plays very aggressively and sometimes borderline recklessly is often described as fearless. A better description is probably a maniac, because those types of players are usually quite prone to tilt. Tilt is a result of damage sustained to one's pride. Someone who is truly fearless at the poker table, is one who strives to always make the right decisions without regard for one's pride. Being outplayed or taking bad beats have no effect because pride is not a factor for a fearless player.

If I am able to become fearless at the poker table, then I will be able to handle bad beats and large downswings better. As such, I will become a much better poker player. More importantly, however, I will strive become fearless in life. Then, I will also become a better person.

Grinding

2006-11-02T20:54:00.000-05:00

Grinding it out at the 5/10. I played another 150+12 buyin tournament and went out in the 200s out of 700. I really need to work on my slow gear and patience.

Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [9c Qh]
Willieron: raises $5 to $10
JOHNNYGWIZ: calls $10
5 folds
Egarim: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [Kd 8c 9s]
Egarim: checks
Willieron: bets $5
JOHNNYGWIZ: calls $5
Egarim: calls $5
*** TURN *** [Kd 8c 9s] [Qs]
Egarim: checks
Willieron: bets $10
JOHNNYGWIZ: raises $10 to $20
Egarim: folds
Willieron: calls $10
*** RIVER *** [Kd 8c 9s Qs] [2s]
Willieron: checks
JOHNNYGWIZ: bets $10
Willieron: calls $10
*** SHOW DOWN ***
JOHNNYGWIZ: shows [Jc Td] (a straight, Nine to King)
Willieron: mucks hand
JOHNNYGWIZ collected $109 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $112 | Rake $3
Board [Kd 8c 9s Qs 2s]

Seat 2: Willieron mucked [Kh As]
Seat 3: JOHNNYGWIZ showed [Jc Td] and won ($109) with a straight, Nine to King
There were two reasons I was proud of this laydown. First, I did not hesitate when folding this. I trusted myself and folded it pretty quickly. Second, this is a 5/10 game and players are horrible. I was also playing 3 tables at once, so it is hard to get good reads on players. However, in this case I was sure I was beat and folded it easily.

Another reason this hand was interesting is because when I put myself in Willerion's position I would find it harder to fold top pair top kicker, even though I easily folded two pair which is better. Looking at it from another perspective is a good way to improve one's game. Sure, it would only cost 2 more bb's calling in his position versus 3 bb's calling in my position, but two pair is better than tptk and I'd say its hand value is worth more than 1 more bb when compared with tptk. So, I need to work on folding those tptk's.

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [Ad Ac]
3 folds
Egarim: raises $5 to $10
1 folds
Abbaddabba: raises $5 to $15
1 folds
Egarim: raises $5 to $20
Betting is capped
Abbaddabba: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [As Qd Ah]
Abbaddabba: checks
Egarim: bets $5
Abbaddabba: calls $5
*** TURN *** [As Qd Ah] [6d]
Abbaddabba: checks
Egarim: bets $10
Abbaddabba: calls $10
*** RIVER *** [As Qd Ah 6d] [Jc]
Abbaddabba: bets $10
Egarim: raises $10 to $20
Abbaddabba: raises $10 to $30
Egarim: raises $10 to $40
Betting is capped
Abbaddabba: calls $10
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Ad Ac] (four of a kind, Aces)
Abbaddabba: mucks hand
Egarim collected $152 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $155 | Rake $3
Board [As Qd Ah 6d Jc]
Seat 1: Egarim showed [Ad Ac] and won ($152) with four of a kind, Aces
Seat 3: Abbaddabba (small blind) mucked [Jh Js]
It's so hard to flop quad aces and get action with them. Once, I was raised on the river I was 95% sure he had pocket jacks. It's also rare for me to see an opponent a hit a 2-outer and have it help me.

Hand #3
Dealt to Egarim [Kc Ah]
1 folds
nagoyaqueen: raises $5 to $10
Egarim: raises $5 to $15
5 folds
kali11: calls $13
1 folds
nagoyaqueen: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [Jh Qd 6h]
kali11: checks
nagoyaqueen: checks
Egarim: bets $5
kali11: calls $5
nagoyaqueen: calls $5
*** TURN *** [Jh Qd 6h] [Tc]
kali11: checks
nagoyaqueen: checks
Egarim: bets $10
kali11: raises $10 to $20
nagoyaqueen: raises $10 to $30
Egarim: raises $10 to $40
Betting is capped
kali11: calls $20
nagoyaqueen: calls $10
*** RIVER *** [Jh Qd 6h Tc] [2h]
kali11: bets $10
nagoyaqueen: calls $10
Egarim: calls $10
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kali11: shows [Kh Ac] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
nagoyaqueen: mucks hand
Egarim: shows [Kc Ah] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
kali11 collected $108.50 from pot
Egarim collected $108.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $220 | Rake $3
Board [Jh Qd 6h Tc 2h]

Seat 2: kali11 (small blind) showed [Kh Ac] and won ($108.50) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 5: nagoyaqueen mucked [Jd Js]
Seat 6: Egarim showed [Kc Ah] and won ($108.50) with a straight, Ten to Ace
I should have raised on the river and got one more BB out of the set of jacks. I didn't think it through long enough. The way it was played the other guy with the straight couldn't have a flush. In addition, I had the ace of hearts. I wish I took my time on that river. -.5BB.

Hand #4
Dealt to Egarim [8h 8d]
1 folds
LadyGreMLiNX: raises $5 to $10
Egarim: calls $10
1 folds
Pumdemup: calls $10
2 folds
bugsbunny75: calls $10
GWillmeng: calls $8
flushman19: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [6h 6s 3h]
GWillmeng: checks
flushman19: checks
LadyGreMLiNX: checks
Egarim: bets $5
Pumdemup: calls $5
bugsbunny75: calls $5
GWillmeng: calls $5
flushman19: calls $5
LadyGreMLiNX: calls $5
*** TURN *** [6h 6s 3h] [3s]
GWillmeng: checks
flushman19: checks
LadyGreMLiNX: checks
Egarim: bets $10
Pumdemup: folds
bugsbunny75: calls $10
GWillmeng: folds
flushman19: calls $10
LadyGreMLiNX: folds
*** RIVER *** [6h 6s 3h 3s] [7h]
flushman19: checks
Egarim: checks
bugsbunny75: bets $10
flushman19: calls $10
Egarim: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bugsbunny75: shows [7s 7d] (a full house, Sevens full of Sixes)
flushman19: mucks hand
bugsbunny75 collected $137 from pot
flushman19 leaves the table
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $140 | Rake $3
Board [6h 6s 3h 3s 7h]

Seat 5: bugsbunny75 (button) showed [7s 7d] and won ($137) with a full house, Sevens full of Sixes
Seat 7: flushman19 (big blind) mucked [Ah 9d]
A bet saved is a bet earned.

Hand #5
Dealt to Egarim [9h 8h]
1 folds
GWillmeng: calls $5
1 folds
gmble23: raises $5 to $10
1 folds
Egarim: calls $10
3 folds
GWillmeng: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [9c Qc 9d]
GWillmeng: checks
gmble23: checks
Egarim: bets $5
GWillmeng: calls $5
gmble23: calls $5
*** TURN *** [9c Qc 9d] [5s]
GWillmeng: checks
gmble23: checks
Egarim: bets $10
GWillmeng: folds
gmble23: raises $10 to $20
Egarim: calls $10
*** RIVER *** [9c Qc 9d 5s] [8s]
gmble23: bets $10
Egarim: calls $10
*** SHOW DOWN ***
gmble23: shows [Qd Qs] (a full house, Queens full of Nines)
Egarim: mucks hand
gmble23 collected $109 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $112 | Rake $3
Board [9c Qc 9d 5s 8s]

Seat 8: gmble23 showed [Qd Qs] and won ($109) with a full house, Queens full of Nines
Seat 10: Egarim mucked [9h 8h]
Wow, I saved lots of bets here (compared to the average player anyways). I really, really wanted to fold when he check raised me on the turn. However, this is 5/10, and I think it would be -EV to fold trips there. It's possible he would do that with aces or kings and maybe even tptk. I have no read on the guy since I was playing 4 tables at the time. I've seen such horr ible play at the 5/10 that I don't see any way to fold here. It would have been an awesome fold though. Ironically, I wouldn't know it if I had folded.

Rounding

2006-10-27T13:55:00.000-04:00

"Happens to everyone. Time to time, everyone goes bust. You'll be back in the game before you know it."
-Knish

I just deposited another $600 into my Poker Stars account. I had originally deposited $150 and was down to $120. So, of course, after depositing money I immediately jump into a $150+12 buy-in tournament. Naturally, I played really bad and finished in the 200s out of 600+. Here is one hand from the tournament:

$150+12
Seat 3: Frymealiver (4860 in chips)
Seat 5: Egarim (2255 in chips)
M X 5: posts small blind 50
dunk1922: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Egarim [Jc Ad]
2 folds
Frymealiver: raises 200 to 300
I gave him quite a large range of raising hands here.
1 folds
Egarim: raises 600 to 900
4 folds
Frymealiver: raises 3960 to 4860 and is all-in
Egarim: calls 1355 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Jh Jd Kd]
*** TURN *** [Jh Jd Kd] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [Jh Jd Kd Qc] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Frymealiver: shows [Ac Ah] (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
Egarim: shows [Jc Ad] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Egarim collected 4660 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4660 | Rake 0
Board [Jh Jd Kd Qc 5h]

Seat 3: Frymealiver showed [Ac Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Jacks
Seat 5: Egarim showed [Jc Ad] and won (4660) with three of a kind, Jacks
Am I rusty or just a donkey?

So, after the tournament, I decided to spread out the rest of the money in my account on 3 5/10 tables where I am able to bring $200, $200, and $150 on the three tables. Somehow, I manage not to lose it all and actually end the night with over $800 in my account. After playing at 30/60 and above for so long, I have forgotten how horrible players are. I think I can make about 2BB's off each table for about $60/hour fairly easily.

5/10
Egarim: posts small blind $2
TyGa10: posts big blind $5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Egarim [Ts 6s]
2 folds
fratman: calls $5
5 folds
Egarim: calls $3
TyGa10: checks
*** FLOP *** [5s 4d 8c]
Egarim: bets $5
TyGa10: folds
fratman: calls $5
*** TURN *** [5s 4d 8c] [8h]
Egarim: bets $10
fratman: calls $10
*** RIVER *** [5s 4d 8c 8h] [4c]
Egarim: bets $10
fratman: calls $10
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Egarim: shows [Ts 6s] (two pair, Eights and Fours)
fratman: mucks hand
Egarim collected $63 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $65 | Rake $2
Board [5s 4d 8c 8h 4c]

Seat 6: Egarim (small blind) showed [Ts 6s] and won ($63) with two pair, Eights and Fours
Seat 10: fratman mucked [2d 2s]
I was betting for value ;).

Downswing

2006-10-26T02:03:00.000-04:00

I have been catching cold cards for the past two weeks. This time the cards are real life cards. Like poker, I have to play my way through it. I have to keep going and just take it all in stride. I can't let the pressure get to me.

“Whether you think you can or think you can't -- you are right.”
-Henry Ford

I will not give up, and consequently, I will not fail. I know my strength of will and determination will carry me through.

Life

2006-10-25T00:55:00.000-04:00

I wake up. I am lucky.
I breathe. I live.
I shower. I am clean.
I go to school. I learn.
I eat. I am satisfied.
I think. I imagine.
I talk. I am funny.
I laugh. I have fun.
I smile. I am happy.
I walk. I exercise.
I go home. I am fortunate.
I sleep. I dream.

Thoughts on The Night

2006-10-22T01:05:00.000-04:00

Quite honestly, I do not know where to begin. So, I will write in no particular direction, and just keep going to wherever my thoughts take me. That night was obviously really bad for me. The next day I woke up and went to classes as if nothing happened. I'm not sure if I was in denial or I had become immune to the effects of losing large amounts of money. I believe that it was a combination of both. I also had a lot of midterms coming up, so I had to block out poker and focus on school. I ended up getting perfects on my first two midterms. I just took a hard midterm and felt good about it, but I also have a really difficult one coming up. The amount of money I lost that night still has not hit me. I thought that writing about it would allow me to feel the full force of what happened, but I still don't feel that devastated. I lost all the money I had made during the summer and more... in about 5 hours. I'm practically broke. I took a shot, and I missed. I went Mike McD vs Teddy KGB in round 1.

"If you're too careful, your whole life can become a fuckin' grind." That pretty much sums up how I felt when I jumped into the 100/200 game. I jumped in way over my head. I knew it too. I just didn't care.

Yesterday, after over an hour of frustration, I managed to deposit $150 onto Poker Stars. The customer service there is great. So, I jumped into 3 1/2 limit tables. The skill at the limits were as I expected... horrible. Somehow, I still managed to lose almost 50BB's in an hour and a half. I took a tremendous amount of beats, and I knew I was playing well. I lost some big bets by calling when I should have folded, but that only accounted for a fraction of my losses. Also, most of those calls were somewhat justified because of how bad the players were and the pot odds I had. If it had been at higher stakes, I certainly would have folded. Just a few hours ago, I played in a home game - tournament and cash game. I had accumulated a big stack and got my aces cracked by a guy who had no idea what he was doing with a huge stack. So, I was out of a tournament with about 20 people and $15 buy-in. I played a cash game with 2 others. One was a girl who was horrible and had no idea what she was doing. The other guy was at least somewhat decent. The buy-in was just $20 (.10-.20 blinds), but after some beats I bought in for $20 more. The girl had accumulated over $50 by getting lucky. Eventually she got wittled down to $25 and decided to quit, so she could end the night up. I pretty much just slowly took her money. So, I had about $45 on the table and the guy wanted to play heads up (he had around $30). So, I agreed. After over an hour of play we ended with me at $35. So, I lost $5 total plus $15 from the tournament equals $20 total. In the heads up match I had queens and kings twice. I won once with kings where an ace flopped, and little money was put into the pot. I folded top pair without hestitation after being check raised on the turn that put a second deuce on the board. I told him he hit trips on the turn, and sure enough he showed it to me. I came in with a sound strategy, and played good poker, but still ended up losing a lot of money (relative to what we were playing with).

I'm not mad. I'm not even frustrated. I am actually very happy that I'm taking this bad run of cards for very low stakes. These two experiences helped put things into perspective. I can catch a really bad wave of cards and lose a lot! I know for a fact that I can beat the 1/2 game and the home game, but I still managed to lose. This has helped me quell my doubts about whether the loss in the 100/200 session was due to a bad run of cards. I caught a bad wave of cards. There is nothing anyone can do about it. That is poker. I jumped in over my head and hit a bad run of cards at the same time. Sure, it sucks that I happened to catch the bad wave just then, but that is life. Too bad. I have no one to blame but myself for jumping in way over my head and putting myself in that position.

I have very mixed feelings about "the night" (I can't think of a good nickname for it at the moment). I feel that in order to become a world class poker player, one has have a certain disregard for money. Almost all the top professionals have a similar history. They all went broke at some point in their careers. I think that is due to the fact that they had reached the "level" where money did not matter to them. They regarded money just as numbers, nothing more. Money is just a tool, and the best poker players in the world understand that at the poker table, one can not care about the money. One can not let the stakes affect the person. Up until that night, I had prided myself on never going broke. I thought that I had learned the lesson from the beginning where I had put very tough restrictions on myself to prevent myself from going broke. I started winning and never looked back. However, I felt I lacked the disregard for money that I needed to become really good. I felt like it was holding me back. Most of the best players in the world went broke several times, and eventually they learned how to managed their bankrolls. I started off managing my bankroll very conservatively by myself without ever reading any books or forums about the subject. I do look back and regret how conservative I was. I definitely could have progressed much faster had I not had such tough restrictions on myself. Eventually, I learned. Maybe, that was all just part of the process for me. In any case, after that night I feel I have reached the state of mind where the money does not matter. That is the one "good" thing that I got out of that night.

I'm not really sure if having that disregard for money is a good thing. I find it hard to seperate it from the rest of my life. Even though I know I should get an internship, I have not done so because the money would seem too ridiculously small to me. Anything under $20/hour seems worthless to me. I spend money much more carelessly than I did in the past. I can't relate to any of my friends when it comes to this... not even my rich friends. The worst part is, I have not even spent any of my poker money. I planned to save up until I didn't have to worry about tuition and loans. I have been spending on future expected profits (being an economics major, I have a lot of insight into this). Life right now is a big mess. I'm not going to complain however. I know I have it much better than a lot of people. Life is not easy, and I don't expect it to be. Whatever cards I get dealt, I will try to play them as best as I can. The cards will fall the way they fall. The bad beats will come. I just have to keep playing well. I know that if I stay the course and continue to live life as best as I can, great things will happen.

100/200

2006-10-22T00:44:00.000-04:00

These are all the 100/200 hands that I e-mailed myself that night. Bad beats, good beats, and coolers. Needless to say there were plenty of bad beats that I didn't e-mail to myself. Here are the hands in the order I sent them to myself.

Dealt to Egarim [ Qc, Ac ]
2 folds.
Egarim raises (200) to 200
3 folds.
CallMeDownFish calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Qh, 7c, 4c ]
CallMeDownFish checks.
Egarim bets (100)
CallMeDownFish raises (200) to 200
Egarim calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 2h ]
CallMeDownFish bets (200)
Egarim raises (400) to 400
CallMeDownFish calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ 9s ]
CallMeDownFish checks.
Egarim bets (200)
CallMeDownFish raises (400) to 400
Egarim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $2444.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ Qh 7c 4c 2h 9s ]

CallMeDownFish balance $10423, bet $1200, collected $2444.50, net +$1244.50 [ 7d 9h ]
I shrugged this one off well.
Egarim balance $1950, lost $1200 [ Qc Ac ] [ a pair of queens -- Ac,Qc,Qh,9s,7c ]

Dealt to Egarim [ Jh, Js ]
3 folds.
bigpkrpodcas raises (200) to 200
2 folds.
Egarim raises (300) to 300
3 folds.
bigpkrpodcas calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ad, Jd, 9d ]
bigpkrpodcas checks.
Egarim bets (100)
bigpkrpodcas calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4s ]
bigpkrpodcas checks.
Egarim bets (200)
bigpkrpodcas calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ 4c ]
bigpkrpodcas checks.
Egarim bets (200)
bigpkrpodcas raises (400) to 400
Egarim raises (400) to 600
bigpkrpodcas calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $2544.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ Ad Jd 9d 4s 4c ]

Egarim balance $5884.51, bet $1200, collected $2544.50, net +$1344.50 [ Jh Js ] [ a full house, Jacks full of fours -- Jh,Js,Jd,4s,4c ]
bigpkrpodcas balance $3212, lost $1200 [ 4h Ah ] [ a full house, Fours full of aces -- Ah,Ad,4h,4s,4c ]
This guy seems like a pretty good player. He didn't cap the river. I'll stay out of his way.

Dealt to Egarim [ 5h, 5s ]
Piet111 raises (200) to 200
greatgolfr99 calls (200)
SenFrist_SUXX folds.
poker__shen folds.
Egarim calls (200)
NYC_313 folds.
anna_banana9 folds.
lightsout14 calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 4c, 4s, 6h ]
lightsout14 checks.
Piet111 bets (100)
greatgolfr99 raises (200) to 200
Egarim folds.
lightsout14 folds.
Piet111 raises (200) to 300
greatgolfr99 calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6s ]
Piet111 bets (200)
greatgolfr99 calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ Th ]
Piet111 bets (200)
greatgolfr99 calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $2244.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 4c 4s 6h 6s Th ]

greatgolfr99 balance $3257, lost $900 [ 7d 7c ] [ two pairs, sevens and sixes -- Th,7d,7c,6h,6s ]
Piet111 balance $5423.99, bet $900, collected $2244.50, net +$1344.50 [ Js Jh ] [ two pairs, jacks and sixes -- Js,Jh,Th,6h,6s ]
Nothing great... just a nice fold. I stayed out of trouble.

Dealt to Egarim [ 9h, 9d ]
greatgolfr99 calls (100)
YoouuShutUp raises (200) to 200
1 folds.
Egarim calls (200)
6 folds.
greatgolfr99 calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Kh, 8s, 9s ]
greatgolfr99 checks.
YoouuShutUp bets (100)
Egarim raises (200) to 200
greatgolfr99 folds.
YoouuShutUp calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 7d ]
YoouuShutUp checks.
Egarim bets (200)
YoouuShutUp raises (400) to 400
Egarim raises (400) to 600
YoouuShutUp raises (400) to 800
Egarim calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ 6d ]
YoouuShutUp bets (200)
Egarim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $3144.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ Kh 8s 9s 7d 6d ]

YoouuShutUp balance $9883.50, bet $1400, collected $3144.50, net +$1744.50 [ Ks Kc ] [ three of a kind, kings -- Ks,Kc,Kh,9s,8s ]
I seriously thought about just calling the check raise on the turn, but figured this guy would make the same play with ak here. I guess if I was a world class player, I may have been able to fold to the cap and saved 2 big bets. However, not many players can do that, so relative to the players I'm against I didn't really lose much expected value here.

Dealt to Egarim [ 8h, Ad ]
2 folds.
ba_ba_bouie raises (200) to 200
Egarim raises (300) to 300
3 folds.
ba_ba_bouie calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5s, 7d, 9d ]
ba_ba_bouie checks.
Egarim bets (100)
ba_ba_bouie calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Qs ]
ba_ba_bouie checks.
Egarim bets (200)
ba_ba_bouie calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ 8d ]
ba_ba_bouie bets (200)
Egarim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1744.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 5s 7d 9d Qs 8d ]

ba_ba_bouie balance $7012.95, bet $800, collected $1744.50, net +$944.50 [ Ac 6h ] [ a straight, five to nine -- 9d,8d,7d,6h,5s ]
Egarim balance $2709.25, lost $800 [ 8h Ad ] [ a pair of eights -- Ad,Qs,9d,8h,8d ]
This guy would have led the river with no hand here, so I had to call. I really thought I had the best hand on the turn.

Dealt to Egarim [ 3c, 6s ]
1 folds.
MONIC01 calls (100)
3 folds.
ba_ba_bouie calls (50)
Egarim checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6d, 7h, 5d ]
ba_ba_bouie checks.
Egarim bets (100)
MONIC01 calls (100)
ba_ba_bouie folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 3h ]
Egarim bets (200)
MONIC01 calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ 4h ]
Egarim bets (200)
MONIC01 raises (400) to 400
Egarim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1694.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 6d 7h 5d 3h 4h ]

Egarim balance $2756.50, bet $800, collected $847.25, net +$47.25 [ 3c 6s ] [ a straight, three to seven -- 7h,6s,5d,4h,3c ]
MONIC01 balance $1019.50, bet $800, collected $847.25, net +$47.25 [ Ah 2c ] [ a straight, three to seven -- 7h,6d,5d,4h,3h ]
I should not have bet on the river. So, I lost a little EV on that bet, but not much.

Dealt to Egarim [ Qc, Ad ]
StoliRazz raises (200) to 200
Outlaw77 folds.
ba_ba_bouie folds.
Egarim raises (300) to 300
aa60647 folds.
MONIC01 calls (250)
keiter33 folds.
StoliRazz calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5c, Kd, 3d ]
MONIC01 checks.
StoliRazz checks.
Egarim bets (100)
MONIC01 raises (200) to 200
StoliRazz folds.
Egarim calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Qh ]
MONIC01 bets (119.50)
MONIC01 is all-In.
Egarim calls (119.50)
** Dealing River ** : [ 2c ]
Creating Main Pot with $1633.50 with MONIC01
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1633.50 | | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 5c Kd 3d Qh 2c ]

Egarim balance $2037, lost $619.50 [ Qc Ad ] [ a pair of queens -- Ad,Kd,Qc,Qh,5c ]
MONIC01 balance $1633.50, bet $619.50, collected $1633.50, net +$1014 [ Kh 8h ] [ a pair of kings -- Kh,Kd,Qh,8h,5c ]

Dealt to Egarim [ Ad, Qh ]
Egarim raises (200) to 200
aa60647 folds.
MONIC01 calls (200)
keiter33 folds.
StoliRazz folds.
Outlaw77 calls (150)
ba_ba_bouie folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Jh, As, 7d ]
Outlaw77 checks.
Egarim bets (100)
MONIC01 raises (200) to 200
Outlaw77 folds.
Egarim calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Js ]
Egarim checks.
MONIC01 bets (200)
Egarim raises (400) to 400
MONIC01 calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ Kd ]
Egarim checks.
MONIC01 checks.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1894.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ Jh As 7d Js Kd ]

Egarim balance $2184.25, bet $800, collected $947.25, net +$147.25 [ Ad Qh ] [ two pairs, aces and jacks -- Ad,As,Kd,Jh,Js ]
MONIC01 balance $1280.75, bet $800, collected $947.25, net +$147.25 [ Ah 9c ] [ two pairs, aces and jacks -- Ah,As,Kd,Jh,Js ]

Dealt to Egarim [ As, 5s ]
MONIC01 raises (200) to 200
4 folds.
Egarim calls (200)
3 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 9d, 6d, Ks ]
MONIC01 bets (100)
Egarim calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 5c ]
MONIC01 bets (200)
Egarim raises (400) to 400
MONIC01 calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ 9h ]
MONIC01 bets (200)
Egarim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1944.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 9d 6d Ks 5c 9h ]

Egarim balance $3078.75, bet $900, collected $1944.50, net +$1044.50 [ As 5s ] [ two pairs, nines and fives -- As,9d,9h,5s,5c ]
MONIC01 balance $1320.75, lost $900 [ Ah 2h ] [ a pair of nines -- Ah,Ks,9d,9h,6d ]

Dealt to Egarim [ Ac, Ks ]
2 folds.
MONIC01 raises (200) to 200
TheWacoKidd raises (300) to 300
2 folds.
ba_ba_bouie calls (300)
Egarim calls (300)
2 folds.
MONIC01 calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 9h, Kh, 2h ]
MONIC01 checks.
TheWacoKidd bets (100)
ba_ba_bouie folds.
Egarim raises (200) to 200
MONIC01 folds.
TheWacoKidd calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 5s ]
TheWacoKidd checks.
Egarim bets (200)
TheWacoKidd raises (400) to 400
Egarim calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ Jd ]
TheWacoKidd bets (200)
Egarim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $2944.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 9h Kh 2h 5s Jd ]

Egarim balance $930, lost $1100 [ Ac Ks ] [ a pair of kings -- Ac,Ks,Kh,Jd,9h ]
TheWacoKidd balance $4645.50, bet $1100, collected $2944.50, net +$1844.50 [ Qh Ah ] [ a flush, ace high -- Ah,Kh,Qh,9

Dealt to Egarim [ Kd, Ks ]
2 folds.
MONIC01 raises (200) to 200
TheWacoKidd raises (300) to 300
3 folds.
Egarim raises (350) to 400
1 folds.
MONIC01 calls (200)
TheWacoKidd calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 2h, 8d, 3d ]
Egarim bets (100)
MONIC01 calls (100)
TheWacoKidd calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4c ]
Egarim bets (200)
MONIC01 calls (200)
TheWacoKidd calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ Ad ]
Egarim checks.
MONIC01 bets (200)
TheWacoKidd folds.
Egarim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $2594.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 2h 8d 3d 4c Ad ]

Egarim balance $2414, lost $900 [ Kd Ks ] [ a pair of kings -- Ad,Kd,Ks,8d,4c ]
MONIC01 balance $8086.50, bet $900, collected $2594.50, net +$1694.50 [ 6s As ] [ a pair of aces -- As,Ad,8d,6s,4c ]

Dealt to Egarim [ Th, Qc ]
4 folds.
Egarim raises (200) to 200
4 folds.
MONIC01 calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7h, 3c, 9h ]
MONIC01 checks.
Egarim bets (100)
MONIC01 calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6d ]
MONIC01 checks.
Egarim bets (200)
MONIC01 calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ 5d ]
MONIC01 checks.
Egarim checks.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1044.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 7h 3c 9h 6d 5d ]

Egarim balance $1553.50, lost $500 [ Th Qc ] [ high card queen -- Qc,Th,9h,7h,6d ]
MONIC01 balance $8909, bet $500, collected $1044.50, net +$544.50 [ 7s 2d ] [ a pair of sevens -- 9h,7s,7h,6d,5d ]
This is just pretty much how every hand that I played against this guy went. I had folded quite a bit too which is why I felt comfortable raising with q10os in middle position. I knew the players on my left would give me plenty of respect.

Dealt to Egarim [ Tc, Kh ]
Egarim raises (200) to 200
I folded a lot after the last hand... but I'm probably tilting a bit. I hadn't been getting any action on my EP raises, but theres not much value with k10 utg here. Nonetheless...
4 folds.
MONIC01 calls (200)
2 folds.
ba_ba_bouie calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7c, Kd, Qh ]
ba_ba_bouie checks.
Egarim bets (100)
MONIC01 calls (100)
ba_ba_bouie calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6d ]
ba_ba_bouie checks.
Egarim bets (200)
MONIC01 calls (200)
ba_ba_bouie calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ Qd ]
ba_ba_bouie checks.
Egarim checks.
MONIC01 checks.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1544.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 7c Kd Qh 6d Qd ]

ba_ba_bouie balance $8365.20, bet $500, collected $1544.50, net +$1044.50 [ 5d 2d ] [ a flush, king high -- Kd,Qd,6d,5d,2d ]
Egarim balance $1053.50, lost $500 [ Tc Kh ] [ two pairs, kings and queens -- Kh,Kd,Qh,Qd,Tc ]
MONIC01 balance $8706.25, lost $500 [ 7h Th ] [ two pairs, queens and sevens -- Kd,Qh,Qd,7h,7c ]

Dealt to Egarim [ 4h, 4s ]
4 folds.
MONIC01 raises (200) to 200
3 folds.
Egarim calls (100)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Js, 2h, 3c ]
Egarim bets (100)
MONIC01 calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6s ]
Egarim bets (200)
MONIC01 calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ Ac ]
Egarim bets (200)
MONIC01 raises (400) to 400
Egarim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1844.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ Js 2h 3c 6s Ac ]

Egarim balance $153.50, lost $900 [ 4h 4s ] [ a pair of fours -- Ac,Js,6s,4h,4s ]
MONIC01 balance $9650.75, bet $900, collected $1844.50, net +$944.50 [ 5s Ah ] [ a pair of aces -- Ah,Ac,Js,6s,5s ]
I misplayed this hand on the river. I should have just check called. So, I lost one big bet here. However, I really bet that river not as a bluff, but as a value bet. This guy easily would have called me with a pair of deuces or threes, and there was a chance he would call with king high as well.

This is all that I e-mailed to myself. There were plenty more. I guess I didn't e-mail any of the bad beats I dished out. I did give a couple bad beats. However, I left out plenty of other bad beats that I took as well. These are just the hands that I happened to e-mail myself for whatever reason.

OMG

2006-10-12T02:52:00.000-04:00

I just had the worst run of cards ever. Sooo many bad beats. -13k+. Thank you variance. This really wasn't a tilt session or me dumping the rest of my money on party. Obviously, it's hard to give an objective point of view, but I saved so many hand histories and about 90% of them were beats. Each bad beat pot was for an average of 2.5k. So, I'm about 5 bad beats in the hole. I don't think I even won a hand in the last hour. I had kings several times and never won. Got sucked out by an ace-rag on the river atleast once. I'm so sick right now... I'll rant tomorrow and vent all my bad beats then. There are soo many bad beats, and I don't care how if no one wants to read it. I'm posting it anyways. I need to get some sleep. Goodnight.

100/200

2006-10-12T00:46:00.000-04:00

Since Party will be cutting off Americans Friday, I decided to scout the cash games out to see if anyone was dumping money. I happened to look at the 100/200 game, and people were going crazy! So, of course I waitlisted myself for both full ring tables. Do I have the bankroll for 100/200? Of course not! I don't really even have the bankroll to play 50/100, but that doesn't stop me. The game is absolutely a goldmine. The game played as badly as the 30/60 tables except with more money. So, I end up getting onto both tables, and right off the bat I take a bad beat with top pair top kicker and the nutflush draw versus second pair. I lose to two-pair on the river. No big deal. Just a $2500 pot, but it seriously did not affect me in the least bit. I've been playing for 2 hours now (I am still playing as I write this), and I'm down a lot! I've just taken a platoon of beats in the past 300 hands. I had kings shot down twice. I ran 2nd set into top set for a $3000+ pot. I flop 2-pair just to get it run down by a higher 2-pair in a large multiway pot. Things couldn't be any worse. I jump into the biggest stakes I've ever played in, and the cards decide to literally shit on me. Well, I am still playing well, and the game is still very juicy. The money doesn't seem to be affecting me much. I feel like I'm playing with monopoly money.

Google Keywords

2006-10-10T00:50:00.000-04:00

I haven't had much luck on the poker front. I didn't play any cash games this weekend. I busted out of the Sunday Million with a set vs a flopped flush somewhat early in the tournament. Then, I busted out 333 out of about 1000 in the Super Monday on a bad bluff after playing well the whole tournament. There were some interesting hands that I may get to another time. Anyways, I though this was quite funny:

Key words from Google searches that brought people to this blog:
1. "Chris Paul"
2. Douchebag1

Bubble boy

2006-10-08T02:06:00.000-04:00

Just busted out 103 out of 950 in the 200k Guranteed. Top 100 in the money. I played really well and just got really unlucky for the most part. I'm disappointed, but not that upset because I played well. It does suck though since I had nothing else to do tonight, and I was really feeling "it". Here's a wrap up of how the tourney basically went.

Hand #1
Seat 6: UrNo1Fan (11192)
Seat 9: Egarim (10780)
FullBoat370 posts small blind (100)
Lopezzz posts big blind (200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Egarim [ 9s, As ]
UrNo1Fan raises (571) to 571
joran_sloot calls (571)
1 folds.
Egarim calls (571)
6 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6h, 2s, Ks ]
UrNo1Fan bets (696)
joran_sloot folds.
Egarim calls (696)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 7s ]
UrNo1Fan bets (1280)
Egarim calls (1280)
** Dealing River ** : [ Qh ]
UrNo1Fan bets (3551)
Egarim raises (8233) to 8233
Egarim is all-In.
UrNo1Fan calls (4682)
Creating Main Pot with $22431 with Egarim
** Summary **
Main Pot: 22431 |
Board: [ 6h 2s Ks 7s Qh ]

UrNo1Fan balance 412, lost 10780 [ Qs Js ] [ a flush, king high -- Ks,Qs,Js,7s,2s ]
Egarim balance 22431, bet 10780, collected 22431, net +11651 [ 9s As ] [ a flush, ace high with ace kicker -- As,Ks,9s,7s,2s ]
I guess I lost some value by not raising on the turn here. If another spade came out, I wouldn't get all his chips. In hindsight, I misplayed this hand, but in the long run I don't think I lost that much EV if any.

Hand #2
Seat 2: Shen333 (14318)
Seat 7: joran_sloot (11654)
Seat 9: Egarim (25056)
prtypokrsuxx posts small blind (100)
Egarim posts big blind (200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Egarim [ Ac, 2d ]
2 folds.
Shen333 raises (400) to 400
4 folds.
joran_sloot calls (400)
1 folds.
Egarim calls (200)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Tc, 3s, 2h ]
Egarim checks.
Shen333 bets (200)
joran_sloot raises (400) to 400
Egarim raises (1200) to 1200
Shen333 raises (1800) to 2000
joran_sloot folds.
Egarim calls (800)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Kh ]
Egarim checks.
Shen333 bets (6152)
Egarim folds.
** Summary **
Main Pot: 11852
Board: [ Tc 3s 2h Kh ]

I think I should not have called that extra 800. I was most likely drawing dead here. At best, I prob had a 2-outer for another deuce. He probably had aces or a set. I called thinking I might have 5 outs at the time, but looking back, that was a -EV play.

Hand #3
Seat 1: kingscup111 (16971)
Seat 3: Poquehonta (12150)
Seat 9: Egarim (25056)
Egarim posts small blind (200)
is1977 posts big blind (400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Egarim [ Tc, Ad ]
kingscup111 calls (400)
1 folds.
Poquehonta calls (400)
5 folds.
Egarim calls (200)
is1977 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 3s, 8d, 2d ]
Egarim bets (1000)
is1977 folds.
kingscup111 calls (1000)
Poquehonta calls (1000)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Js ]
Egarim bets (3000)
kingscup111 calls (3000)
Poquehonta folds.
** Dealing River ** : [ 3c ]
Egarim bets (7000)
kingscup111 calls (7000)
** Summary **
Main Pot: 24600
Board: [ 3s 8d 2d Js 3c ]

kingscup111 balance 30171, bet 11400, collected 24600, net +13200 [ 9h 9c ] [ two pairs, nines and threes -- Js,9h,9c,3s,3c ]
Egarim balance 13656, lost 11400 [ Tc Ad ] [ a pair of threes -- Ad,Js,Tc,3s,3c ]
Yuck. I blew my big stack away on a stupid bluff. Once he called on the turn I figured he probably had a mid pocket pair. My instincts told me to check the river, but I didn't listen to myself. I knew betting was the only way to win the pot. The turn call should have scared me though. I think the only decision here is to either go allin or check. I think checking is by far the best option since there is a good chance he will call the allin on the river figuring I had a busted flush draw or something. It's party poker. People love their pocket pairs.

Hand #4
Seat 3: Poquehonta (11950)
Seat 9: Egarim (10756)
Poquehonta posts small blind (300)
TOURNYPRO111 posts big blind (600)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Egarim [ Ac, Jc ]
4folds.
Egarim raises (1600) to 1600
2 folds.
Poquehonta raises (11650) to 11950
Poquehonta is all-In.
Ugh. He quickly moved all-in once the action was on him. After that last bad bluff, I told myself to bear down and focus. It was a bad play, but there was no point in dwelling on it. I had enough chips to make a comeback. However, I felt strongly I had the best hand here. I can't say for sure that the last bad bluff had no impact on my decision, but I know for sure that I felt I had the best hand if it was not a coin flip. The guy had not been playing really tight or really loose, but I felt that he was tired of my raising.
1 folds.
Egarim calls (9156)
Egarim is all-In.
Creating Main Pot with $22112 with Egarim
Creating Side Pot 1 with $1194 with Poquehonta
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 8s, 4s, 9h ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Jd ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Tc ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: 22112 | Side Pot 1: 1194
Board: [ 8s 4s 9h Jd Tc ]

Poquehonta balance 1194, bet 11950, collected 1194, lost -10756 [ As Ts ] [ a pair of tens -- As,Jd,Ts,Tc,9h ]
That was a scary flop and turn, but my hand held up. I'm back in it with plenty of chips.

Hand #5
Seat 6: liliannakj (19604)
Seat 9: Egarim (19912)
Egarim posts small blind (300)
Villain posts big blind (600)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Egarim [ 4s, 3c ]
3 folds.
TOURNYPRO111 folds.
1 folds.
liliannakj raises (1400) to 1400
2 folds.
Egarim raises (4700) to 5000
1 folds.
liliannakj calls (3600)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Tc, 6c, Jc ]
Egarim bets (14912)
Egarim is all-In.
liliannakj folds.
Creating Main Pot with $25512 with Egarim
** Summary **
Main Pot: 25512
Board: [ Tc 6c Jc ]

Switching gears. I felt he had a pretty large range of hands that he could have raised with here, so I decided to re-steal. He called, and I felt he couldn't call without the ace of clubs or an overpair. Worst hand I felt he could call with here was aj, and I'm not sure he would call without the flush draw. Or maybe I'm just riding the rush.

I built up my stack more by stealing a lot, and just playing good poker. In the next hand, I've replaced my opponents name with Villain because he is a top online tourney pro making 6figures so far this year, and I don't care to have a lot of google searches bringing people here.
Hand #6
Seat 9: Egarim (44637)
Seat 10: Villain (54726)
ante (25)
wausau posts small blind (400)
TOURNYPRO111 posts big blind (800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Egarim [ 8h, 4h ]
4 folds.
Egarim raises (2400) to 2400
Villain calls (2400)
4 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5h, Qc, 3s ]
Egarim bets (3500)
Villain raises (9600) to 9600
Egarim raises (14500) to 18000
Villain folds.
** Summary **
Main Pot: 33850
Board: [ 5h Qc 3s ]
I had been a thorn in the Villain's side since he moved to our table. I pretty much took down every pot against him up to this point, and I knew he was sick of it. So, I pick up a big pot and a lot of confidence too.

Hand #7
Seat 6: BC_LOBO (54793)
Seat 9: Egarim (69492)
ante (75)
BC_LOBO posts small blind (1000)
axelaxel posts big blind (2000)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Egarim [ Kd, Ks ]
1 folds.
Egarim calls (2000)
6 folds.
BC_LOBO raises (5000) to 6000
1 folds.
Egarim raises (14000) to 16000
BC_LOBO raises (48718) to 54718
BC_LOBO is all-In.
Egarim calls (38718)
Creating Main Pot with $112186 with BC_LOBO
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Tc, 9d, 5d ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4h ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 5h ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: 112186 |
Board: [ Tc 9d 5d 4h 5h ]

BC_LOBO balance 112186, bet 54793, collected 112186, net +57393 [ Ad Ac ] [ two pairs, aces and fives -- Ad,Ac,Tc,5d,5h ]
Egarim balance 14699, lost 54793 [ Kd Ks ]
I built my stack up without much risk, and then ran into this hand. I really don't see how I can fold kings here online especially on Party Poker with no read on the guy. Maybe, if it was live I could lay this down. This is pretty much a cooler. Not much I can do.

Hand #8
Seat 6: BC_LOBO (119636)
Seat 9: Egarim (14224)
ante (75)
Villain posts small blind (1500)
The_Kig posts big blind (3000)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Egarim [ Ad, Qh ]
3 folds.
BC_LOBO raises (6000) to 6000
1 folds.
Egarim raises (14149) to 14149
Egarim is all-In.
2 folds.
BC_LOBO calls (8149)
Creating Main Pot with $33398 with Egarim
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 4c, 5c, Js ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 9d ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 8h ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: 33398 |
Board: [ 4c 5c Js 9d 8h ]

BC_LOBO balance 138810, bet 14224, collected 33398, net +19174 [ Ah Jc ] [ a pair of jacks -- Ah,Jc,Js,9d,8h ]
Egarim balance 0, lost 14224 [ Ad Qh ] [ high card ace -- Ad,Qh,Js,9d,8h ]

Man down...

2006-10-06T23:20:00.000-04:00

I just sprained my ankle tonight playing basketball. So, I guess I'll have plenty of time to hit up party poker before they cut off Americans. I did have a short hour and a half session at the 50/100 that went well last night. So, I feel good about playing some more cash games. Too bad this is a long weekend because there are no classes Monday due to some stupid holiday. Instead of partying, I'm stuck with a sprained ankle. What a horrible week.

A bad night

2006-10-04T01:02:00.000-04:00

Okay. So, obviously the whole online poker thing is pretty frustrating. I don't even want to talk about it right now. I also have a midterm Thursday and should probably be studying. Instead, I have some thoughts on my mind right now and need to vent. This is not poker-related. It is merely about my bad day for the most part. If you don't care, don't read it.

The Start.
I leave my last class of the day ten minutes early at 6:00pm because it is really boring and the professor is just reviewing stuff I already know for the midterm Thursday. The whole class was really boring, and I felt really somber afterwards.

Dinner.
I'm eating dinner with a friend, and he tells me that two of my other friends are mad at me because of what I said at a party last weekend. Basically, there was a girl that liked them both and they both liked her. I was talking with her alone, and told her it was unfair for her to lead them both on. We were both a bit drunk at this point, but we were having a very friendly conversation. I told her that both of them liked her, and she told me in more words that she liked them. I was trying to help both of my friends and asked her to make a decision soon because it was unfair to them both. Now, neither of my friends know what exactly was said, but they know that I told her that both of them like her. So, one was really mad because "I blew his spot". The other friend was mad at the time, but I've since talked to him and he's okay with it and understands I had no bad intentions. Anyways, my friend at dinner makes some comment about "no honor". Whenever I have my integrity questioned, I am not a happy person. I played it off anyways (good poker face), but inside I was not happy to say the least. I wasn't angry as much as I felt bad for what I did although I still don't think I did anything wrong. I could go on about this, but I'll save it for another time.

Basketball.
I had an intramural game at 9:30pm. I get there an hour early to shoot around and warm up. My team is not that good. They're mostly a bunch of friends just there to have fun. Of course, everyone still wants to win and plays to win. A couple don't really play basketball, but I don't mind. So, before the intramural game starts a few teammates decide they want to play a 3on3 for a warmup with two random guys. I'm already warmed up, so I'm just taking it easy saving my energy for the intramural game (5vs5 with 20 minute halves). I am standing near the basket in the center of the paint and a guy (who I shall call Donkey1 from here on out) on the other team drives. I am not even guarding him or doing anything. I'm standing completely away from the action just waiting to get the rebound if he misses. Donkey1 drives, lays it up with his right hand, and suddenly swings his left hand out for no reason. He basically punches me in the face. I have a huge gash on my bottom lip and it is bleeding profusely. Donkey1 never says anything to me. I just walk away back to the locker room and hold a papertowel to it. It doesn't stop bleeding, but I go back out to the courts because I know our game is starting soon. My friends imitate his actions afterwards. Donkey1 held his hands up, palms facing forward, and said he didn't do anything. Now, that really pissed me off.

So, our intramural game is about to start, and my lip is still bleeding pretty badly. It looks pretty bad too. However, I didn't go there to sit and watch. So, of course I play. I'm a gamer. Halfway through the first half we are winning. I box out the other team's biggest guy who is over 200 lbs and about 6 foot 3 inches to get a rebound (I will call him Douchebag1 from here on out). To put things into perspective, I guess I have to describe myself. I am about 5'6, 135 lbs, but athletic and strong for my size. I always end up guarding people a lot taller and bigger than me. I never back down and am a fierce defender. So, after I box him out, and we get the rebound, I proceed to turn and run down the court. Douchebag1 suddenly shoves me in the back by extending his arms. I don't take it lightly and turn around and tell him in his face not do push me again. Later, with under ten minutes left in the game we have a eleven point lead. I go to the top of the key to set a pick for our biggest guy. Of course, Douchebag1 is guarding him. He turns and looks at me then lowers his shoulder and plows through me. The referee calls a foul, but of course it doesn't mean anything since no one can foul out. I am really pissed at this point. I'm not sure if I said anything to Douchebag1, but if I did it was probably something about not doing that. Then, I go up to the ref and tell him that this is the second time. I'm in his face and letting him know how unhappy I am. He kind of nods his head and agrees in a patronizing way. He then says, "Yo, if you punch him, I got your back." He seemed pretty patronizing to me, and I didn't appreciate it thought it was quite funny. Some of my teammates laughed too, and I couldn't respond to that. So, I tell him not to patronize me and that I am not kidding. I shake the ref's hand and walk away. They make a comeback at the very end, but will still pull out the win by three points. Needless, to say I shook everyone's hands but Douchebag1's after the game. He never responded to any of my remarks and never looked me in the eyes.

So, the reason this has all been on my mind is not just the fact that I am angry. I am very tolerant person, and I don't get angry easily. However, I am wondering if I overreacted because I made a pretty big scene. The fact that my lip was busted up probably fueled the anger more. Of course, I have the right to be mad, but the problem is that if Douchebag1 had done anything else, I definitely would have retaliated. He would have atleast gotten a punch to the stomach, a low blow (Chris Paul style), an elbow to the face, or simply a punch to the face. I know I am half his size, but I don't like being pushed around. I am also not afraid of people bigger than me (whether that is good or not I don't know). When I get pushed, I push back. I don't run away even if I know I can't win. At the very least I will go down fighting. That is me. I like the quality in me that makes me resilient. I believe it is a good trait to have. I don't give up. Even though this is a good trait, I am not proud of the fact that I would have resorted to violence. It goes against my morals and values which I have worked so hard to build. I should always look for a peaceful resolution first. Hatred should not be fought with more hatred. Love should be used to fight hatred, and peace to fight violence.

I am still torn, however. I still feel like if the exact same situation happened, I would feel the same way. Part of me wants to fight still. I feel that in a fight versus Douchebag1, I would probably lose, but I wouldn't mind getting beat up because I know that I will give him a beating as well, and that would make it worth it. I think that is a horrible way to think, but I still feel strongly about it. I am not sure whether I should change it or how I can. My instincts tell me that these thoughts are hypocritcal with regards to my morality. However, I want to retain the good traits in me that cause these thoughts such as the resilience and fight inside me. Those traits are part of what allows me to be successful. I wonder if there is some way to retain that, and still not think this way. Maybe, I can just change the way I feel in situations like this. I don't have an answer, and it is eating me up inside.

To make things worse, my friend is having a lot of issues with her boyfriend. She has been arguing with him and has to make a decision about breaking up or staying together. I am trying to help her in the most unbiased way possible. I don't want to influence her decision. I only want to help her make a good decision because she is a good friend of mine, and I care a lot. I don't like listening to her cry on the phone. It hurts me inside, and I can't fall asleep until this is resolved. So, I am dealing with all of this drama while I am writing this. It is almost 3:00am right now. So much drama...

That leads me to another thought which I may not be able to fully write about tonight. Drama. It seems to me that we as human beings are attracted to it. The television shows that have high ratings are just about drama. Grey's Anatomy is all about drama. Why is there so much drama? As many good friends can attest, I hate drama. I honestly feel that I dislike it more than a vast majority of people. I can't stand it and avoid it as much as possible. However, I can't deny the fact that sometimes when I am daydreaming, I dream about situations full of drama. Do we need drama to make our lives more interesting? Do we create it because of this? If our lives are too peaceful, will we naturally feel it is dull and proceed to create drama? I'll stop with these questions since it is late, and I am tired. I wish I had more answers.

Me = Angry

2006-10-02T21:35:00.000-04:00

Maybe, all this craziness with online poker is just God telling me to go find an internship and stop being lazy. Life isn't easy... suck it up and get a job.

Or... maybe, it is Satan trying to take away all the benefits I have reaped through a lot of hard work. Satan is trying to make my life hell. This seems pretty plausible since dealing with Party Poker support is like living in hell. I have to set up a new bank account which i have neglected to do for awhile since I don't cash out. I promised myself I wouldn't spend any poker money until I had tuition and loans covered. So, now I'm stuck with a lot of money in Party... Great.

Most likely, however, this is just a result of those stupid people (namely those ignorant republicans). I hate to label all republicans bad, but they have crossed the line. I have the right to spend my money how I please, and entertain myself as I please as long as I don't harm others. Playing poker is my right.

Anyways, I have so much homework to do right now. This whole mess is really pissing me off and making my life more stressful. Only thing that makes me feel better is reminding myself that it is just money. Money can't buy happiness. However, I can't help but think about how debts can ruin happiness.

Bill Frist is a retard

2006-09-30T15:35:00.000-04:00

I have nothing good to say about him, so I shall say no more.

Impossible

2006-09-29T01:53:00.000-04:00

Impossible is a narrow minded word. It defines the boundaries and limits of our minds. Impossible describes our unwillingness to change, lack of courage to try, and acceptance for failure. It is an excuse for being less than we can be.

Impossible is a word... no, an idea, created to give ourselves boundaries for a finite world, one which is easier to understand. The idea has become instilled in our society, and prevents us from reaching our full potential. This sense of impossibility is part of what sustains ignorance.

A mind without limits or boundaries is one that can reach up to the stars and change them. Impossibility will not control my life.

A straight and a flush...

2006-09-28T01:11:00.000-04:00

Dealt to Egarim [ 8s, Ts ]
1 folds.
Day_Three calls (30)
1 folds.
mrslater calls (30)
4 folds.
Egarim checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Js, 7s, 9s ]
Egarim checks.
Day_Three checks.
mrslater: no qq aa now eh mrlucky
mrslater bets (30)
Egarim calls (30)
Day_Three raises (60) to 60
mrslater calls (30)
Egarim calls (30)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 3c ]
Egarim checks.
Day_Three bets (60)
mrslater calls (60)
Egarim raises (120) to 120
Day_Three calls (60)
mrslater calls (60)
** Dealing River ** : [ 7d ]
Egarim bets (60)
Day_Three calls (60)
mrslater raises (120) to 120
Egarim raises (120) to 180
Day_Three folds.
mrslater raises (120) to 240
mrslater: lol
Egarim calls (60)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1182 | Rake: $3
Board: [ Js 7s 9s 3c 7d ]

Egarim balance $1617, bet $450, collected $1182, net +$732 [ 8s Ts ] [ a straight flush, jack high -- Js,Ts,9s,8s,7s ]
mrslater balance $1079.46, lost $450 [ 7h 9h ] [ a full house, Sevens full of nines -- 9h,9s,7h,7s,7d ]
Wow. I can't even remember the last time I had a straight flush. It has been a very, very long time. This couldn't come at a better time. Variance is starting to come back to my side. This will definitely help me dig out of my 7k hole from the last downswing.

Back to 30/60

2006-09-24T20:17:00.000-04:00

I think I should stop playing the 50/100 for a bit. I know I can crush the 30/60 game, and even though the 50/100 isn't much harder, my bankroll simply can not handle a large downswing at those limits right now. So, I'm just going to try to stick to 30/60 for awhile to build up my BR. I may occasionally jump into the 50/100 if its very, very juicy. Ironically, that will have more variance, but atleast I won't have any doubts about my game. The mistakes other players make, and the bad beats will be much more apparent. I've been having doubts lately about my play in the 50/100 game. I know I'm still making mistakes as all players are. I'm still seeing them and trying to improve which is good. I just feel I need to slowdown for a bit. Poker isn't going anywhere. It's hard to focus and keep a good rhythm at the tables with school and many other things going on right now. I did save some more hands, but I don't know if I'll have time to go through any. I have 3 assignments due tomorrow, and although I'm pretty much done, I just want to relax right now.

Not much going on...

2006-09-19T00:50:00.000-04:00

Currently in about a 7k downswing. No poker for now. I hate stopping on a downswing when I feel I'm playing pretty well still. I'm not really that frustrated with poker, and I don't feel the usual pain associated with big downswings which is good. Of course, a negative consequence of that is the fact that I'm probably becoming more and more insensitive to money. Last week, I bought a $120 pair of sunglasses and a $55 shirt. That is a lot for me especially considering the fact that I don't have much money. Anyways, I want to fight through the variance, but school comes first and I'm getting pretty busy. I had 3 assignments due Monday and one due tomorrow. I still have lots of reading and other stuff to do. Social life also comes before poker, so poker is on the backburner right now. I have nothing interesting that is poker related to write about. However, I'm working on a few philosophical ideas. I can't promise anything because those things always get started but never finished. I have tons of philosophical ideas and questions I go through in my mind. I always wanted to write them down, but my writing can't keep up with my thoughts, and I lose my train of thought. Hopefully, I'll be able to go through them. I feel like I lose a lot of my ideas because I don't write them down. Also, whenever I want to think about it again I have to go through the same process to get to the point where I left off. Hopefully, I will take the time to share my insight. I know it will help me understand myself and my life better.

Everything going wrong...

2006-09-15T16:55:00.000-04:00

There are just those days I guess... except it has been a whole week. Everything has gone wrong. I'm on about a 5k downswing. Not really that abnormal, but tough nonetheless. It's been pretty frustrating with some sick beats and tough cards. I always run into sets with top pair top kicker, kings vs aces, etc. Usually, I'm able to seperate my poker mood from the rest of the day, but right now I'm feeling pretty down after losing about 1500 in 2 hours. I was bluffing way too much, and definitely did not cut my losses well. Maybe, I shouldn't have played. It's almost 5pm, and I still haven't eaten anything. I went to a club and got pretty drunk last night which was fun. I wish I could hang out with myself when I'm drunk. I'd be so much fun. I'm too honest, happy, and can't walk straight. I have the most random thoughts too. Anyways, I didn't really meet any girls, but I had fun anyways. My friend who is a girl told me it is because nice guys finish last. Oh well... it's like a bad beat. You just have to shrug it off. I want to play my cards as best as possible, and that means being as good a person as I possibly can. It's a tough beat to take though.

Now that I think about it, I'm feeling even more down. I can't win at poker. I can't get any school work done. I can't find a girl. I'm feeling pretty lonely and depressed. Well, I guess I shouldn't feel lonely since I hang out with friends pretty much all the time which is what takes away most of my poker time. I should be thankful for everything I do have. I'll probably go out again tonight. I'll just have fun and stay optomistic.

A few more hands...

2006-09-13T23:20:00.000-04:00

I played for a little more than an hour today after classes while waiting for others to show up and eat dinner. I was absolutely brutalized. I dropped about 2k in the 50/100 game just one tabling. Soooo many beats... Ugh. I took it well though, and didn't let it affect the rest of the night with friends. I'm proud of myself. I stayed positive and kept a good attitude. I know I played well, and in the long run it'll come back. Anyways, here are a few hands from awhile ago that I saved for whatever reason.

Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [ 7d, As ]
onlywin333 calls (20)
4 folds.
Egarim raises (40) to 40
3 folds.
onlywin333 calls (20)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ks, 4d, 7c ]
onlywin333 bets (20)
Egarim calls (20)
This is an odd lead. I put him on 56, middle pair, mid pocket pair, a weak king or a bluff.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Th ]
onlywin333 bets (40)
Egarim calls (40)
He's capable of betting with the previous range, so I call.
** Dealing River ** : [ 5h ]
onlywin333 checks.
Egarim bets (40)
onlywin333 calls (40)
When he checks I know he is weak. I think he would bet a weak king here, but I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a 10 beat either because I feel he'd bet the river with that too. If he was bluffing then he's giving up here and surely is not calling any bet. I just don't feel he would play a bluff this way. He's more likely to follow through to the river with the bluff. So, the question is will he call with any hands that I beat? Yes. If he has a pair of 7s he would call with a worse kicker (this guy doesn't fold). If he had 56 he might call trying to pick off a bluff if I missed with a hand like aq, aj. Those two hands make sense the way the hand has been played. I could just check behind and hope to take it down, but the difference between good players and even better players is making tough value bets. 1BB/hr is a huge difference.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $306.50 | Rake: $3 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ Ks 4d 7c Th 5h ]

Egarim balance $1855, bet $140, collected $306.50, net +$166.50 [ 7d As ] [ a pair of sevens with ace kicker -- As,Ks,Th,7d,7cAs(kicker card) ]
onlywin333 balance $869.75, lost $140 [ Js 7s ] [ a pair of sevens -- Ks,Js,Th,7s,7c ]

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [ Qd, Qc ]
2 folds.
eldoble calls (30)
2 folds.
und2fold raises (60) to 60
1 folds.
Egarim raises (90) to 90
2 folds.
eldoble calls (60)
und2fold raises (60) to 120
Egarim calls (30)
eldoble calls (30)
I'm pretty sure und2fold has jacks/ak and up. Eldoble has a weak holding, and I'm happy its capped because I want him putting more money in. He can't fold and chases a lot.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7h, 6d, Qh ]
eldoble checks.
und2fold bets (30)
Egarim calls (30)
eldoble calls (30)
Good flop, but I'm not in the best position. There is a flush draw out there, and I don't necessarily want to slowplay this hand. Plus if und2fold has a big pair, then I disguise my hand better by raising here. I decided to smooth call however because I want eldoble to come into the hand probably drawing close to dead. He would definitely come in with any pair here.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 8d ]
eldoble checks.
und2fold bets (60)
Egarim raises (120) to 120
eldoble calls (120)
und2fold calls (60)
It's time to pop it with two flush draws and straight draws out there. Eldoble's call means he's drawing. I think und2fold may have aq, kings, or aces. I know he's pretty strong, but I know I have him dominated.
** Dealing River ** : [ 5c ]
eldoble checks.
und2fold bets (60)
Egarim raises (120) to 120
eldoble calls (120)
und2fold calls (60)
This is where things get tough. There is now a four card straight on the board and und2fold leads here. This is quite interesting. The only hand that he could have me beat here with is pocket 9s. Could he have 9s? Well, the flopbet makes sense with 9s, but would he really bet the turn again into 2 players? He surely would just call a raise. Wait a second... he capped preflop. I highly doubt he would do this with 9s in his position, so this hand is unlikely. He could definitely have kings or aces, and felt I had aq and didn't want me to check behind on the river with a worse hand like aq. I make tough value bets and this would be a nice value raise on the river, but I can't neglect eldoble. He stayed in on the turn with a draw. Could he have a 9? He's certainly bad enough to have it. Maybe 89, 97, 96. However, he checked this river, so I can't assume he has the straight and be afraid of it. I raise for value, but when eldoble calls I'm not thrilled. He could still have the worst hand though.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1211.50 | Rake: $3 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 7h 6d Qh 8d 5c ]

und2fold balance $1407.50, lost $390 [ Kd Ks ] [ a pair of kings -- Kd,Ks,Qh,8d,7h ]
Egarim balance $750, lost $390 [ Qd Qc ] [ three of a kind, queens -- Qd,Qc,Qh,8d,7h ]
eldoble balance $1353.50, bet $390, collected $1211.50, net +$821.50 [ Jc 9s ] [ a straight, five to nine -- 9s,8d,7h,6d,5c ]
und2fold probably thought that if I had aces I couldn't raise here with the four card straight on board. So, he felt there was a good possibly I would bet with aces, and he would have to call with kings, but I would probably check with any holding less than kings. So, in his eyes he should bet and get payed off by lesser holdings while it would make no difference if I called with a better holding. Well, he thought wrong, if he was actually thinking at this level. Good thing Eldoble didn't 3bet because I would have certainly called. In hindsight, knowing his cards I obviously wouldn't have raised, but no one is putting him on j9. But the hand isn't this straightforward. What if I just smooth called the riverbet? I think there's a very good chance eldoble overcalls with a bad hand like a pair of 7s, 8s, 2pair like 56, 57, and top pair bad kicker, The other times he folds. Obviously, he also calls with a straight or raises. So, if I just call I risk one bet and stand a chance to get another one out of him. I also have to look at what hands he would call 2bets on the river with. Eldoble would call 2riverbets with 2pair, probably any top pair, and any straight. So, the only extra value I get in just calling is hands where he just has a pair of 7s, 8s, or even mid pocket pairs 9s-jacks though they are highly unlikely here. I don't feel that those extra calls makes up for the definite call from the guy with the overpair. However, I also have to factor in the risk of him having a straight. I really feel he would check raise on that river with the straight. I think he chickened out because I raised, and he felt I wouldn't raise on the river with atleast a 9 high straight. He probably also wanted the other guy in too as he correctly assumed he would call atleast one more bet on the river. So, if I just smooth called, and he check raised on the river with a straight, then smooth calling may be a better play than raising if I am capable of folding on the river. I really don't think I can fold top set on the river there to this guys check raise. I wasn't in the mindset or mood, and this guy was horrible. So, since I wasn't folding to a raise on the river, I prefer the play I chose. Of course, there's the risk of him 3betting in which case raising is even more questionable. I think it's a really close decision here and the lost EV of the wrong choice is very very miniscule. I still feel raising here is the best play because there is still a good possibility eldoble doesn't have a straight and has a busted flush draw or something, and I want that extra bet from the other guy. So, in my opinion raising is the best play though it is close. Anyways... nice hand, sir. J9...

Hand #3
Dealt to Egarim [ 4c, 4h ]
4 folds.
und2fold calls (30)
1 folds.
Egarim calls (30)
wissenpoker calls (30)
boba0223 calls (15)
soloAces checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6d, Ad, 3c ]
boba0223 checks.
soloAces checks.
und2fold bets (30)
Egarim raises (60) to 60
wissenpoker folds.
boba0223 folds.
soloAces folds.
und2fold calls (30)
Maybe I'm steaming a little bit? Oops... I'm raising a guy that can't make good laydowns. If he has any ace he will call down.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Kd ]
und2fold checks.
Egarim bets (60)
und2fold calls (60)
WTF am I doing?! The flush draw filled, and I still bet. Well, he didn't hit the flush because he just called instead of raising. If he has an ace he's not folding. I give up.
** Dealing River ** : [ 9h ]
und2fold folds.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $386.50 | Rake: $3 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 6d Ad 3c Kd 9h ]

Egarim balance $986.50, bet $150, collected $386.50, net +$236.50
Thank you... I'm a genius once again. I got my guy to open fold on the river... lol.

Random thoughts and ramblings....

2006-09-12T23:09:00.000-04:00

So, I saved a few hands that i planned to go through, but I haven't taken the time to do it. It hasn't been due to a lack of time... just laziness. In fact, I've done virtually no work since school started. I planned on taking it easy this year, but that doesn't mean I should become a bum. So, I need to get back on track, and get into a good habit of staying on top of things. I have plenty to read and 3-4 assignments due Monday. I hope I don't wait until the last minute.

Anyways, I just watched an episode of Law and Order SVU. I feel pretty depressed. I know that it is just a tv show, but a lot of the episodes are taken from real life. In this episode, we find a girl beaten badly and sexually abused at the beginning. She also had a finger cut off. Two teens are arrested for the crime. They're 14 and 16, brothers and sisters, and black. They committed the crime because her and a friend beat there older brother up who is in his 20s I believe. So, they go to jail. The oldest brother is over 300 pounds and very obese with diabetes. The girl and her friend (both white) beat him up because he was fat. They are both arrested, but the cops have to let them go because they don't have enough evidence. The oldest brother in a wheel chair goes to the police station and ends up shooting the guy who beat him up. He of course ends up going to jail, but has a kidney failure and loses a leg or something while he's being tried at court. He's convicted. The girl ends up admitting that she beat him up because she hates fat people. We learn that she used to be very obese when she was younger.

Hatred.

Where does all this hatred come from? Did society teach it? Did family? Well, 2 brothers and sisters had a single mother who worked all the time. She seemed like a nice lady just trying to raise 3 children. It seems unlikely that she taught her children the hatred. So, did society teach the hatred? They weren't "gangbangers" who lived on the streets and saw violence everyday. They were average kids in school. They participated in orchestra and led normal lives. Where did all this hatred come from?

I asked this question to someone, and I was told society taught the hatred. Sure, there is plenty of violence on tv. Kids can be influenced in school toward violence and hatred. Our society has plenty of violence and hatred in it. True. However, society is made up of individuals. These individuals create the society. In order for society to be full of hatred the individuals must have it. So, where did the individuals get it in the first place. Are we born with it? Is everyone born with a "potential" for hatred?

I'm told that individuals can learn hatred from not understanding and hating themselves, which in turn can transfer to hating others.

So, hatred can be self-created with the help of outside factors or circumstances, but is there still a choice? If there is still a choice, then does that mean most people choose hatred? Or do they have a choice up to a certain degree? Maybe some people are more easily influenced than others. Factors in life can more easily sway people who are not as strong minded towards hatred. However, if they know what they are doing is wrong and bad, why do they do it? Is it a choice if they know the difference between right and wrong?

Someone tells me that people choose hatred because it is easier.

It wasn't easier for the guy to go home in a wheel chair, grab a gun, go back to the police statoin, and then kill a person. He has never killed anyone before. Now, he will spend the rest of his life in prison. That won't be easy. He won't be there for his siblings and mother. His mother will suffer. Wouldn't it be easier if he just let the police handle it, and did nothing? I think most people would agree that doing nothing is far easier than doing something. So, I don't buy the "easier" excuse.

After the guy shot him, he testified in court. Eventually, he admitted that he was not sorry at all. He was glad he killed the guy. So, he did it for revenge. Does revenge come from hatred or is it a form of hatred? I think it can be stated without proof that hatred and revenge are both wrong and bad. The dictionary states that hatred is an intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury. Revenge is an act or instance of retaliating in order to get even, an opportunity for getting satisfaction. So, revenge is a specific form of hatred meant to retaliate or inflict pain to satisfy the person who was inflicted with some sense of injury. (One can definitely argue that revenge is an act while hatred is simply an emotion. I'll save the debate for another day.) Revenge has a goal: cause pain.

The reason we choose revenge is because of the power of the emotions. Maybe, people choose hatred because it is such a powerful emotion. It overwhelms and controls people. Nevertheless, isn't love just as powerful as hatred? The stronger emotion would have more control over people in this world. So, is this world full of more hatred or love? If they could both be quantified, which would be in more abundance? Could they both be balanced?

I want to believe that love is stronger, and therefore, more abundant than hatred. I don't know if it is true though. I can't honestly say that to myself. If hatred is greater than love then there is no hope in this world. It would be destined to become a desolate cold place . That's not a world I want to live in. There must be hope. Hope that the world can be changed... that love can conquer hate, and therefore, that love would be greater than hate and prevail in the end.

Back in the city... and a few hands

2006-09-05T00:56:00.000-04:00

It feels good to be back in NYC. I find it hard to imagine myself moving back to the midwest. I can only see myself living either here or in California. I enjoy the walking, the people, and the night life. Of course, there are plenty of downsides such as the traffic, the people (yes, this is a pro and a con), and the lack of fresh air. The water is much "harder". My hair is much drier after showers.

So, my room kind of sucks. I got stuck in a low cost triple. Thankfully, the third random roommate seems okay so far. He is a bit weird though. His bedsheets look like those of a 6 year old with pictures of little bats and baseballs everywhere. He left "Arthur" hand soap in the bathroom (yes, that cartoon that little 4-5 year olds watch). Another thing that I actually didn't pick up on until someone pointed it out to me, was the fact that he has a portrait of himself on his desk. I really didn't find it weird because I'm used to seeing people with pictures of themselves on their desk. However, those pictures usually include family or friends. This picture just includes a headshot of himself... Let's just hope he's not a serial killer. As I type this he is online now looking at pictures of girls... I think on facebook. My other roommate is asleep, and I would like to be too except this kid has his desk light on which is really bright. I can't fall asleep with that on.

Here are some hands from the few hours of poker I managed to play. My first session in NYC I sat down at one 15/30 table just to break myself into the new environment. It also helped that a maniac on my buddy list happened to be sitting on this table.

Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [ Qh, Qs ]
bewitched1 calls (15)
Egarim raises (30) to 30
7 folds.
smallSOLDIER raises (30) to 45
bewitched1 calls (30)
Egarim raises (30) to 60
smallSOLDIER calls (15)
bewitched1 calls (15)
I know the 3bettor has a pretty strong hand here, but there is a good chance he just has ak. His range is 10s-AK and maybe 9s. I figure I want the limper putting as much money as possible here.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 2c, Js, 6d ]
smallSOLDIER checks.
bewitched1 checks.
Egarim bets (15)
smallSOLDIER raises (30) to 30
bewitched1 calls (30)
Egarim raises (30) to 45
smallSOLDIER calls (15)
bewitched1 calls (15)
I'm not happy about being check raised here. I figure bewitched is drawing pretty slim and I want him to put in more bets. Also, I want to get more information out of smallsoldier. If he has aces he will cap. If I have him beat he will slowdown. It's possible he will slowdown with kings since I'm playing like I have aces.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 2h ]
smallSOLDIER checks.
bewitched1 checks.
Egarim checks.
Horrible turn card. I put bewitched on bottom pair. I also think there's a good enough chance that smallsoldier has jacks or kings, so I check behind because if I bet and get raised I'm not folding since bewitched is willing to raise with anything.
** Dealing River ** : [ Jh ]
smallSOLDIER checks.
bewitched1 bets (30)
Egarim calls (30)
smallSOLDIER calls (30)
I can't fold to one bet by a guy who would bet there with any hand.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $411.50 | Rake: $3 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 2c Js 6d 2h Jh ]

bewitched1 balance $1862.66, bet $135, collected $411.50, net +$276.50 [ 2d 3d ] [ a full house, Twos full of jacks -- Js,Jh,2d,2c,2h ]
Egarim balance $1847, lost $135 [ Qh Qs ] [ two pairs, queens and jacks -- Qh,Qs,Js,Jh,6d ]
smallSOLDIER balance $120, lost $135 [ Kc Kh ] [ two pairs, kings and jacks -- Kc,Kh,Js,Jh,6d ]

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [ Kc, Ah ]
kelaita raises (60) to 60
2 folds.
Egarim raises (90) to 90
6 folds.
kelaita raises (60) to 120
Egarim calls (30)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7h, 2d, Ks ]
kelaita bets (30)
Egarim raises (60) to 60
kelaita calls (30)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Qd ]
kelaita checks.
Egarim checks.
Yuck. I got him on Jacks/AK and up. If he has jacks he will probably fold. Otherwise he most likely has a set here.
** Dealing River ** : [ Ac ]
kelaita bets (60)
Egarim raises (120) to 120
kelaita raises (120) to 180
Egarim calls (60)
OMFG. I completely botched this hand. I hit top 2 pair and suddenly felt an uncontrollable urge to raise. WHY?! At that point I made the crying call just to see what he had. My best play is to just call here giving the range I put him on. He's not calling my raise with anything that I beat. I guess in the heat of the moment I thought he could have had aq? I don't know... Anyways, I should have atleast folded when he 3-bet me there. 2 big bets lost here...
** Summary **
Main Pot: $761.50 | Rake: $3 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 7h 2d Ks Qd Ac ]

kelaita balance $1129.50, bet $360, collected $761.50, net +$401.50 [ Qc Qs ] [ three of a kind, queens -- Ac,Ks,Qc,Qs,Qd ]
Egarim balance $2026, lost $360 [ Kc Ah ] [ two pairs, aces and kings -- Ah,Ac,Kc,Ks,Qd ]

Hand #3
Dealt to Egarim [ Ah, 4d ]
5 folds.
Egarim raises (100) to 100
2 folds.
Tazz2003 raises (100) to 150
Egarim calls (50)
He's fed up with me raising his big blind and he 3-bet me so fast here I was sure he was just playing back at me. So, I made up my mind that I was going to call him down since I knew I had the best hand coming in, and he was going to bet every street.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7d, Kh, 3d ]
Tazz2003 bets (50)
Egarim calls (50)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Td ]
Tazz2003 bets (100)
Egarim calls (100)
** Dealing River ** : [ Jc ]
Tazz2003 bets (100)
Egarim calls (100)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $819.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 7d Kh 3d Td Jc ]
He quickly bet every street like a bluff and I called him down.

Egarim balance $3546.48, lost $400 [ Ah 4d ] [ high card ace -- Ah,Kh,Jc,Td,7d ]
Tazz2003 balance $5258.23, bet $400, collected $819.50, net +$419.50 [ 5h 7h ] [ a pair of sevens -- Kh,Jc,Td,7h,7d ]
Turns out he was bluffing with the best hand. Ugh. Sucks when you make a good read, but the guy hits a lowly pair to beat you. I'm not sure how I could have played this better. I knew he was making a move at me, and he wasn't going to slowdown with his hand. I figured if he would keep jamming and would make a crying call with any pair, so it would be best if I just let him hang himself. If I raised the flop, he was not going to fold with 2nd pair. I could have raised the turn in hindsight, and there is a possibility I could get him to fold. However, I really doubt he would have. He probably would have called me down. This hand really has me stumped. I don't see any better way to play it. Folding isn't really an option because I'm 97% sure he's making a move. Should I have capped preflop? Should I raise at any point? Good questions, but no answers right now.

This blog...

2006-08-29T14:27:00.000-04:00

I have stumbled upon a dilemma as I proceeded to post some of my 50/100 hands. I had e-mailed myself four hands that I found interesting. I only posted two. I really wanted to post the other two, but I felt like it gave away a lot of information about my play. In the past, I've never worried about that for several reasons. First, I didn't think anyone actually read this blog. Second, I didn't think anyone that played with me would ever read this blog. Third, I didn't think it mattered because the players were so bad. Finally, I knew I could always change my name, and start with a clean reputation. I believe Party Poker allows everyone to change their screenname every 6 months, and I have yet to do it once.

So, why do I suddenly care? Well, I stumbled upon a link for google analytics and decided to try it out for fun over a month ago. It gives a lot of cool information about who reads this blog. It shows that most readers have come here via a link from Poker Chronicles and DoubleAs. It also shows what keywords people have searched google for in order to get here. I finally checked that out a couple days ago and found that some unknown persons had searched the screennames of some 30/60 players that I played with, and come upon this blog because their names are in some hand histories. I went ahead and did the same search and found this guy has a blog. He posts a lot of his hands, and honestly... he is awful. He gave me a lot of insight into his play, and I was able to update my notes for him, so when I sit at the table with him again... he will be an open book for me. Now, I don't know for sure, but I have a good inkling that this guy googled himself and stumbled upon this blog. I just don't see any reason for anyone to want to google this guy and click next to look at other sites that google found relating to the screenname. His blog comes up first under the google search, and my site doesn't come up on the first page. Others have googled their screennames and stumbled here because their name is in a hand history.

Now, one could argue that all I have to do is just take out names in my hand histories and use a converter so it shows position such as MP2 etc. Well, I experimented with converters, and I couldn't find one I liked. They either left out information I wanted or made it more difficult for me to post hands. I decided it was far easier for me to just edit my own hand histories. When I started this blog I didn't have any intentions of creating a blog for others to read. This was more of a journal for me, so I could look back and reflect on my progress. Of course, 170 hits means nothing especially since most of them are just people passing through. Google actually gauges visitor loyalty and it shows that 7 people have been here 26-50 times, 7 for 9-14, and 14 for 6-8. That's not very many, but it is more than I ever expected. Anyways, the point of this blog was for me and not others. Therefore, I need the names of other players in the hand histories, so when I come back to this blog and read them I will know what is going on. I have a very, very good memory. So, I can remember my read on players for hands I wrote about a long, long time ago as long as their names are there.

So, here are my options:
1. Shut down this blog and keep a seperate journal for myself offline.
2. Change my name on Party and edit new hand histories to just say "Hero". I really don't want to do this yet though because I like the rep that I have.
3. Don't post hands that give away too much info. I really don't like this option either because I feel it takes away from the whole point of why I started this blog. I wanted to give a detailed explanation of hands, so that in the future I could look back and see how I used to think and how I have progressed since. Also, when I run bad I can look back at some hands that I played really well to give myself some more confidence and get back on track.

Some 50/100 Hands...

2006-08-29T14:12:00.000-04:00

Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [ Ac, Ah ]
2 folds.
MrSkuda raises (100) to 100
5 folds.
Egarim raises (125) to 150
oobme raises (150) to 200
MrSkuda calls (100)
Egarim calls (50)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5c, Ks, 4h ]
Egarim checks.
oobme checks.
MrSkuda checks.
At this point I'm 95% sure oobme has pocket kings.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 9c ]
Egarim checks.
oobme bets (100)
MrSkuda folds.
Egarim raises (200) to 200
oobme raises (200) to 300
Egarim calls (100)
But I check raise anyways! WTF am I doing??? Ugh... Once I checked the turn, I realized that if I just called down that would be way too weak, so I decided to raise just in case he had ak... make sense? No... didn't think so. I think I had a lot of alternatives to playing this hand. I could've played it the way I did and folded to the 3bet. I could have led the turn and just called down after he raised. However, he could smooth call the turn hoping to suck in the third guy then plan to raise the river and I don't see myself not betting the river. Versus this guy I'm not sure if I would lay that hand down to a river raise since he had shown a propensity to bluff. Of course, I could have just check called down and played it weakly. I think I like leading the turn best here or check raising the turn and folding to the 3bet. I guess I need to step up my game to another level and make better folds.
** Dealing River ** : [ Qd ]
Egarim checks.
oobme bets (100)
Egarim calls (100)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1394.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 5c Ks 4h 9c Qd ]
oobme balance $3714, bet $600, collected $1394.50, net +$794.50 [ Kd Kh ] [ three of a kind, kings -- Kd,Kh,Ks,Qd,9c

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [ 3s, 6d ]
oobme raises (100) to 100
MrSkuda folds.
easyroller folds.
jingobob folds.
Spanish_Torero folds.
Egarim calls (50)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 9c, 7h, 3c ]
Egarim checks.
oobme checks.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4c ]
Egarim checks.
oobme bets (100)
Egarim calls (100)
** Dealing River ** : [ Ah ]
Egarim checks.
oobme bets (100)
Egarim calls (100)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $619.50 | Rake: $5 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ 9c 7h 3c 4c Ah ]

Egarim balance $4047.97, bet $300, collected $619.50, net +$319.50 [ 3s 6d ] [ a pair of threes -- Ah,9c,7h,3s,3c ]
oobme balance $1700.25, lost $300 [ Qs Jc ] [ high card ace -- Ah,Qs,Jc,9c,7h ]

Owned.

Summer already over...

2006-08-28T18:33:00.000-04:00

Wow. I can't believe summer is already over. I fly back to NYC Wednesday. I have two more days to just relax. I went white water rafting this weekend, and it was fun although not as dangerous as I had hoped. Looking back on this summer it is hard to believe I came in just hoping to make it to the 30/60 game by the end of this summer. I ended up working 40hrs/week, and I still accomplished my goal! I not only made it to the 30/60 level... I'm also beating it and occasionally sitting in the 50/100 game. I rode through plenty of ups and downs. I managed to put aside the doubts, shrugged off the bad luck, and made it. I am a far better player than I was before the summer started. I have no doubts that I still have much to learn, but I think this summer proved that I can do anything that I set my mind to. So, the only question left is ,"What do I want to do?" I think for now, I'm just going to play it by ear and try to enjoy the school year. I thought I wanted to set certain goals for myself as far as how many hours per week I should play, but I don't think I want to anymore. Poker will become more of a chore for me if I force myself to play a certain number of hours per week. I'll try to play as many hours as I can as long as it does not interfere with school and my social life. Poker is not going anywhere. I'll have plenty of time to pay off those loans...

A generous inventor

2006-08-25T02:45:00.000-04:00

I stumbled across a pretty interesting site. Usually I stay away from sites that supposedly tell you your personality or IQ. However, for whatever reason I felt compelled to try this out. I'm glad I did.
My personality
The results were fairly accurate and quite interesting. I learned a little about myself, and reading some of the traits also made me feel good about myself. I'm not quite sure how my femininity is a 60, but my masculinity is 100. I wonder what questions gauged those ratings, but I think theyre somewhat accurate (maybe the femininity could be lower ^_-). I do fit into a lot of the stereotypical masculine traits such as sports. However, I'm a sucker for love stories like The Notebook, and I still enjoy watching animated movies. I think my spontaneity is a bit low. In order to be a poker player one needs to be somewhat spontaneous. I have made a conscious effort in my life to become more spontaneous. I really feel my empathy rating is right on. I can put myself in other peoples shoes easily. I think that is also part of why I am good at poker. I can put myself in other peoples heads and think the way they do. The extroversion rating is pretty accurate too. I need to make a conscious effort to be more outgoing.

"You have the confidence to make your visions into reality, and you are willing to consider many alternatives to get that done." -I really like the quote in my profile.
"The full spectrum of possibilities in the world intrigues you—you're not limited by pre-conceived notions of how things should be."-I'm proud of this quality. I'm not sure if this comes naturally or not. I know that I have consciously made an effort to be as good as possible in this area.
"Problem-solving is a specialty of yours, owing to your persistence, curiosity, and understanding of how things work." -This is definitely one of the reasons why I am so good at poker. This trait really defines me well. This is probably one of the reasons why I was so intrigued by physics and wanted to major in it. Of course, I've come to my better senses since :).
"It is more interesting for you to pursue excitement than it is to get caught up in a routine."-Very true. I get fed up with having the same daily routine. Ironically, this is why I don't see myself playing poker all my life. Even though the poker life definitely provides a unique lifestyle (with plenty of traveling if you play on the tournament circuit), I feel like the daily grind of the cash games would just be too boring for me. It just doesn't seem fulfilling.
"You tend to more proactive than reactive—you don't just wait for things to come to you."-I like to think this is true, but I'm not sure.
"Your independent streak allows you to make decisions efficiently and to trust your instincts"-I don't quite know what "independent streak" is... but in order to succeed in poker one definitely needs to trust one's own instincts and make decisions quickly and efficiently.

Suggestions given by the site to improve my life:
"Given how attuned you are to others' thoughts and feelings, you might find that trusting people more is a way to broaden your perspective even further."
"While you know how much can be learned from observing the world around you, remember that much of life can be lived by experiencing it, not just by understanding it."
I think these are both really good pieces of advice for me, and I'll try to take them to heart and make an effort to improve in these areas.

Play good poker... play good poker...

2006-08-25T02:30:00.000-04:00

Today, I woke up after 1:00pm. It felt pretty good, but I would like to wake up a little earlier. I planned on playing basketball, but I ended up watching a WPT Battle of Champions IV. Then, I looked at the cash games the 50/100 just looked too juicy to pass up. Unfortunately, it didn't work out well for me. I sat down and was immediately stuck almost $2,000. I opened up a second 50/100 table that looked really juicy. At that table I dropped another $1,000. I was pretty frustrated, but I really wasn't playing that badly. I ran into aces 4 times. Each time I had a pocket pair or top pair on the flop. I regained my composure and played solid. After an hour I was down about $2,000 after another bad beat, so i decided to quit. I hit the courts to vent my frustration. After a lot of thinking, a lightbulb just lit up in my head. I knew what I had to do, but the problem was actually doing it. I needed to focus solely on playing well and not worry at all about results. I don't know how to explain it, but it just clicked in my head. Later, I jumped into three 30/60 tables and played very good poker. I took plenty of bad beats and suckouts and was down a couple thousand early, but I wasn't frustrated. I continued to play well, and it felt good. My mind wasn't clouded with frustration and anger. It was like everything was falling into place. The cards no longer mattered. After almost three hours I found a good place to stop and found myself break even. The way the cards went, I was very proud of myself. My new goal is to focus completely on playing well and not worrying at all about results. If I lose $5,000, so be it. If I win $5,000, okay. It doesn't matter. I just need to play well... It's all about play hours, not results.

Not for the faint of heart...

2006-08-24T00:53:00.000-04:00

This past week of poker has been brutal and mentally wearing. After my big 80+bb swing in a couple hours, I proceeded to drop about 40bb's in a couple hours the next day. Some doubts resurfaced as to how good I really am. Then the next day I have a 40bb+ upswing. I run well for a couple days until tonight where I drop 30+bb's in an hour. I quit before I could lose more because I was getting some sick bad beats to runner runners, gutshots on the river, and all big pairs cracked. That is good I guess because that means others are playing badly against me, but still... I don't want them catching! I understand that poker is one long game. Just like life. These so-called "sessions" mean nothing. It is simply a way for me to break an endless event into blocks that I can evaluate and say how much I won or lost during a given time. However, understanding that poker is just one long game does not completely eschew the frustration that comes with big downswings. It does not matter how good you are at poker. If you can not handle the brutal swings, then you can't play for a living. Poker is not for the faint of heart.

130th out of 976

2006-08-19T01:39:00.000-04:00

Finished 130th out of 976 in the Friday Special. Top 100 in the money. Once again... going deep but can't get there. I'd been waiting all week to play a tournament, so this is kind of disappointing. I ended up losing like 3 coinflips at the end. I chipped up nicely. Early on I won a coinflip for 3/4 my stack with queens vs ak. After that I picked up a lot of pots and had aces and got payed off. I ran into aces twice. Got it allin on a k33x3 board w/ kq vs aces. Later I had jacks vs aces but got away from it. Then I picked up more pots. When it got pretty late there were two big stacks at my table that were really stubborn and wouldn't let go of hands. So, I started playing tight and only restole from them once in awhile. They were complete idiots, so I just had to wait for a hand versus them. Unfortunately, I pick up ak and some idiot reraises quickly all-in with 7s for half my stack. I have to call. I lose. Then I lose more coinflips, and I'm out. There were some really cool hands where I called out my opponents hands exactly. On one hand, I told my bro what they had on AIM before they showed, and I was right. I was really on my game too. I folded jacks preflop without hesitation after a limper and a regular raise because I was so sure I was beat. Turns out I was up against queens and kings. The guy who raised was not tight either. I just knew by the way he raised and the quantity. Sick...

Deja vu or something new?

2006-08-18T17:16:00.000-04:00

I hear a faint, yet irritable sound in the distance. Slowly, it grows louder and louder. My ears are in pain. My head feels like it holds the weight of the world, and my eyes dare not open. I sling my left arm around and reach. What am I reaching for? My left arm is outstretched and my hand frantically searches. I know not what I am looking for. I only know my instinct tells me it is there. What is it? I found it! The sound is gone. I lift it up and slowly begin to open my eyes. I break through a crusted layer that previously sealed my eyelids shut. I know this seal was not meant to be broken until my head felt rested and clear. I have no choice though. I rub my eyes with my right hand and slowly focus on the object in my left. 5:35 AM. I know what I must do, but I can not. I still have time. I set it back down on the desk next to my bed. Darkness takes over me, and I lose consciousness once again. I am at peace.

Again! A blaring noise pierces my ears. My head is throbbing as if there is a second heart inside my head beating as though I had just run a marathon. 5:45 AM. I lay there for a few minutes pondering my options. I have to get up. I go to the bathroom, and in the mirror stands a stranger. His black hair is puffed up resembling a fro. His eyes are squinted. I can not tell whether they are in their natural state or simply protecting themselves from the bright light above. I turn on the water and splash water on my face and head. The hair disorder is quickly cured. I dry off and look into the mirror again. I see a tanned and well-toned body. There is a look of confidence and a hint of a smile on his face. Is he flexing his muscles?

I slip on a shirt and a pair of shorts. Easy, quick, and comfortable. I grab my wallet, phone, and a pair of socks. Downstairs I grab a drink and wait. Ten minutes pass by. Ten valuable minutes of missed sleep. I picture myself back in bed. No pain... no worries... sleep. Finally, I'm told it is time to go. I drive my father to the airport, say goodbye and hug him, and then I drive back. I go back to my room and look at the clock. 7:15 AM. I slip off my shirt and shorts and jump back in bed. An odd inexplicable feeling overcomes me. I know not what it is. It feels like a combination of relief and happiness. It feels as though someone is slowly emptying my head and body of all afflictions.

Deja vu. I am awaken once again by the shrill of the most annoying yet necessary invention by humankind. The alarm clock. 9:00 AM. I go downstairs and take another person to the Greyhound bus terminal this time. First, we stop at Starbucks. Despite the fact that there is a Starbucks on every block in New York City, I have managed to avoid the growing addiction that has gripped New Yorkers. Coffee. I intend to keep it that way, so I order green tea. I don't even like green tea, but it is supposed to be healthy, right? I picked some nasty pineapple pie-like breakfast. I don't like it, but I eat it nonetheless. I arrive back home at about 11:00 AM. I lay down on the couch and watch some television hoping to fall asleep. It is to no avail.

11:45 AM. I open up a table on party poker. The last few days have been devastating to my morale... losing around $5,000 despite supposedly playing good poker. There are only three full ring tables filled at the 30/60 limits. Not exactly prime hours. The tables are probably just full of rocks. I get on the waitlist and sit down on the first seat that opens up anyways. I fold and fold for a bit. The second seat opens up, and I sit at another table. At the same time, the first table breaks apart, and I leave down $3. Another seat opens, and I find myself sitting at two 30/60 tables. I feel deja vu happening all over again. Already I am down about 10BB's. -$600. I continue to grind it out though. I see constant mistakes. Someone limps under the gun with k7s. Another raises in early position after a limper with a5os. Someone cold calls an early position raise with j10os. I can beat this! I know I'm good enough to beat this game.

I lose all sense of time. I hear Worm in my head, "Stacks and towers of checks I can't even see over. Playing all-night high-limit Hold'em at the Taj, 'where the sand turns to gold.' " Cards are flashing by the screen. Aces. Kings. Ace king. Queens. Ace king again. Aces again! And again! Quads! I'm punishing everyone. The douchebag on my right who has sucked out on me numerous times by raising me with king high on the turn and catching the king on the river to beat me... I call him down twice with ace high and no kicker. He has nothing. I punish him later when he can't fold his mid pocket pairs vs my flopped top pair. I stack another guy with aces. I lose with top set queens to 8s on a qjx910 board where I bet all the way. Keep it up fish. I am unphased. I look at my balance. I am sitting with $5,000 on one table and over $3,000 on the other after buying in for $1,500 at each table. I look at the clock. Two and a half hours have passed by. The fish have left one table leaving the waters calm and uneventful. It has filled with rocks. Time to get up from that table. My other table is still juicy. I am up over $5,000! Let's just sit out and enjoy the day. If I continue to sit here, the cards could turn sour, and I could lose a lot of it back. I need to log this big win. Cash out... please. I don't want to play anymore. I am tired. I am hungry. It is time to eat lunch! I succumb to my conscience.

I am back. The red has been erased, and I see only black numbers now. I can and am beating this game. Luck is only short-term. Skill will always prevail.

The cup is half full...

2006-08-17T02:02:00.000-04:00

High Stakes Poker

Whenever I get frustrated with a lot of bad beats and coolers... I can just watch this video. This will help put things into perspective. Atleast I didn't lose a $600,000 pot to a one outer.

Darker red...

2006-08-15T22:46:00.000-04:00

After a few hours of play today I went into the red another $2,000. I still feel I played pretty well. I did get frustrated a couple times and called down when I normally would have folded. They would have been tough folds for most players, so I don't think the plays would put me into the red. I am proud that I'm staying positive through this 50+bb downswing. I still feel I'm playing solid and good poker. Mathematics is just catching up with me. I knew my bb/hr was just too high. I will continue to play well and play 2 30/60 tables. If it gets so bad that I go down 100bb's then I might have to go down a level for a bit. I have always thought that if you go beyond a 100bb downswing then you are doing something wrong. Phil Ivey said, "There's no such thing as running bad. There is only playing bad." If I go down $6,000 then I will have to re-evaluate my situation. I would still have the bankroll to continue playing at the 30/60, but I don't want to stretch myself too thin. I never want to sit down at a cash game where the money means a lot to me. So, I will continue playing well, and hopefully, the colors will lighten up.

Running bad

2006-08-15T01:19:00.000-04:00

It has been a rough day. I've lost over $2,000 today. The cards were really tough on me. I thought I played really well for the last few hours, but still came out in the red. Variance. I don't feel that it is really affecting me at all which is good. As long as I'm playing well I am happy. Luckily for me, I jumped into two 20/40 tables instead of 30/60. I followed a really bad player to a table and decided to open another that looked juicy. None of the 30/60 tables looked very juicy at the time. If I had been at the 30/60 tables I would have lost a lot more considering how the cards fell. Of course, one could argue that if I had sat at the 30/60 tables then the cards would be different, but I'm not going to worry about silly details. Fact is, I was due for a bad run of cards, and I jumped down a limit to take that hit. I wonder if I can do this more often. I knew a bad run was due after I had pretty good winning streak. Mathematically the chance of a bad run coming becomes quite high after an extended winning streak. So, maybe next time I'll ride the streak until the cards turn sour and jump down a limit... or maybe not. I might not be able to convince myself to go down a level for no reason. In like 500 hands I caught aces once and everyone folded preflop to me. I had another big pair in the bb when everyone folded to me. That's how bad streaks go I guess. I am running bad but still feeling good. I like it.

Goals

2006-08-14T17:28:00.000-04:00

Now that I have a couple weeks to play some poker I thought I should set some goals. Last night I had decided that I would aim for 25 hours/week of cash games and play any tournaments that I want to and have time for. Today, I woke up and logged onto party, and couldn't find a decent table to sit down at. The tables usually don't get juicy until the afternoon which leaves me in a bit of a dilemma. So, today I decided I would try to learn shorthanded limit and sat down at a 10/20 6 handed table. I proceeded to drop $1,000. I played pretty poorly, and I have no doubt that I need a lot of work on my shorthanded limit game. However, the cards were really spitting in my face. Nonetheless, I could have cut my losses much better. I think today was the first time in a long time that I played on tilt numerous times. Albeit it was a much more controlled tilt then in the past. So, what should my goals for the next two weeks be? It's hard to log many hours of cash games during the day, and there are no big tournaments at that time either. One option is to completely change my sleeping habits and stay up all night and sleep all day (which is already starting to happen). I want to try to wake up by 11:00am everyday though. I could just sit down at some solid tables and grind out a small profit if I want. I could also just find something else to do. Watch tv, play basketball, etc. Unfortunately there is nothing on tv that early in the day, and no one is out on the courts either.

I'm going to tentatively set my goals at 20 hours of cash games a week and as many tournaments as I want. If I go deep in a tournament then I will be satisfied with less hours at the cash games. Maybe, during the day I'll try to clean the house and prepare for school. Buying a book to read wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Some hands from last night

2006-08-13T21:01:00.000-04:00

I played stuck about 1k for awhile they caught a rush of cards, and ended up winning a good amount. It turns out that was that was the most I'd ever won in a session. It definitely did not feel like it though. Here are some interesting hands.

30/60
Hand #1
Dealt to Egarim [ Jd, Jc ]
6 folds.
UHUDLA raises (60) to 60
Egarim raises (90) to 90
1 folds.
nutshot99 calls (60)
UHUDLA calls (30)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ts, Ac, 9s ]
nutshot99 bets (30)
UHUDLA calls (30)
Egarim raises (60) to 60
nutshot99 raises (60) to 90
UHUDLA calls (60)
Egarim calls (30)
Poorly played by me on the flop. I should not have raised there. The lead from nutshot is a strong lead. I should have just called and taken one card off on a 2-outer and backdoor straight draw or folded. I was trying to take control of the hand a represent a big ace and possibly get an ace to fold and go against a flush draw or just get a freecard on the turn. I wasn't really sure. Either way it was a stupid play and definitely -EV. At that point I had to call one more bet as the pot was so big. I put nutshot on a pretty big hand to be able to do what he did.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Jh ]
nutshot99 bets (60)
UHUDLA raises (120) to 120
Egarim raises (180) to 180
nutshot99 calls (120)
UHUDLA raises (120) to 240
Egarim calls (60)
nutshot99 calls (60)
Gin. I gladly 3bet here. I'm sure one has a set. However, when UHUDLA caps there I'm a little worried. Could he really have kq? 87 is possible. I don't see how he could cap here with just a set. He has got to be worried about an overset the way the hand has been played.
** Dealing River ** : [ Kh ]
nutshot99 checks.
UHUDLA checks.
Egarim checks.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1271.50 | Rake: $3 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ Ts Ac 9s Jh Kh ]

Muse_Guy balance $1418, didn't bet (folded)
UHUDLA balance $1088.75, lost $420 [ 9d 9h ] [ three of a kind, nines -- Ac,Kh,9d,9h,9s ]

Egarim balance $2812.51, bet $420, collected $1271.50, net +$851.50 [ Jd Jc ] [ three of a kind, jacks -- Ac,Kh,Jd,Jc,Jh ]
JALILO82 balance $1733, lost $15 (folded)
nutshot99 balance $1727, lost $420 [ Td Tc ] [ three of a kind, tens -- Ac,Kh,Td,Tc,Ts ]

UHUDLA capped it with the bottom set like an idiot. Of course, I hit a 2-outer like a donkey, so... we're even :). However, as happy as I am taking down this huge pot and actually delivering a 2-outer to someone else for once, I can't help but notice I missed a bet on the river. Should I have bet that river? Yes, there is a 4 card straight on board, but would the 2 players have checked there if they had a queen? Surely they wouldn't if they were good. The pots so big no one is going to fold their hand. They would have to value bet the river if they had the straight because otherwise there would be a good chance it would get checked down. However, I still feared the 87. So, maybe that justified the check. I'm not sure. This is a tough call. Atleast, this won't be a situation that comes up very often so I'm not losing a lot of money here in the long run.

Hand #2
Dealt to Egarim [ Js, Jh ]
5 folds.
shibbidy raises (60) to 60
1 folds.
Egarim raises (75) to 90
1 folds.
shibbidy calls (30)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ah, Ts, 9c ]
Egarim bets (30)
shibbidy raises (60) to 60
Egarim raises (60) to 90
shibbidy calls (30)
I felt like this guy was playing back at me or had a weak ace. He had shown that he could lay down a hand. It was possible he just had 2nd pair here too. I figured I'd play back at him and put in a turnbet then give up.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Jc ]
Egarim bets (60)
shibbidy raises (120) to 120
Egarim raises (120) to 180
shibbidy calls (60)
Deja vu?
** Dealing River ** : [ Kh ]
Egarim bets (60)
shibbidy calls (60)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $866.50 | Rake: $3 | Jackpot Contribution: $0.50
Board: [ Ah Ts 9c Jc Kh ]
shibbidy balance $2836, lost $420 [ Ad 9s ] [ two pairs, aces and nines -- Ad,Ah,Kh,9s,9c ]
Egarim balance $2175.07, bet $420, collected $866.50, net +$446.50 [ Js Jh ] [ three of a kind, jacks -- Ah,Kh,Js,Jh,Jc ]
Better lucky then good... That's two 2-outers. Wow. I don't get to see these kinds of good beats that often. I see plenty of these going the other way around. I probably look like a huge fish here. I'll gladly take that reputation. In any case, shibbidy played his hand very poorly even though I got really lucky to suckout on him.

Friday Special Tournament
Hand #1
Seat 2: J_thoeger (3870)
Seat 4: Egarim (5800)
Seat 7: Chromium111 (5135)
Seat 10: K_Pellinore (1129)
TheNewSteve posts small blind (20)
K_Pellinore posts big blind (40)
Dealt to Egarim [ Qs, Jh ]
1 folds.
J_thoeger raises (80) to 80
1 folds.
Egarim calls (80)
2 folds.
Chromium111 calls (80)
2 folds.
K_Pellinore calls (40)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Qc, Ks, Jd ]
K_Pellinore checks.
J_thoeger checks.
Egarim bets (200)
Chromium111 calls (200)
K_Pellinore calls (200)
J_thoeger calls (200)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 8c ]
K_Pellinore checks.
J_thoeger bets (500)
Egarim calls (500)
Chromium111 folds.
K_Pellinore raises (849) to 849
K_Pellinore is all-In.
J_thoeger calls (349)
Egarim calls (349)
Creating Main Pot with $3687 with K_Pellinore
** Dealing River ** : [ 4d ]
J_thoeger bets (1026)
Egarim folds.
** Summary **
Main Pot: 3687 | Side Pot 1: 1026
Board: [ Qc Ks Jd 8c 4d ]

J_thoeger balance 2741, bet 2155, collected 1026, lost -1129 [ 8s 8d ] [ three of a kind, eights -- Ks,Qc,8s,8d,8c ]
K_Pellinore balance 3687, bet 1129, collected 3687, net +2558 [ Ac Tc ] [ a straight, ten to ace -- Ac,Ks,Qc,Jd,Tc ]
I don't know how the guy can be in there with 8s, but whatever. I wouldn't have won the pot anyways. I knew there was a good possibility I was beat when I got so many smooth calls on the flop. However, I just don't see how the guy can be in there with 8s. His lead on the turn seemed so strange I could not put him on any hand. So, I decided to call and see what develops even though I thought my hand was bad. I did correctly believe I was drawing to 4 live outs. When the shortstack pushed in on the turn I figured he flopped a straight. I made a very good fold on the river. I couldn't put the donkey on any hand, but I knew I was beat and folded it. The guy was a really bad player though which is why I consider the fold a good play. Versus good players that would be an easier fold.

Hand #2
Seat 2: J_thoeger (2581)
Seat 4: Egarim (4111)
Dealt to Egarim [ Ah, 2c ]
4 folds.
J_thoeger calls (40)
1 folds.
Egarim raises (250) to 250
3 folds.
J_thoeger calls (210)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 3c, 2d, Qh ]
J_thoeger checks.
Egarim bets (350)
J_thoeger raises (700) to 700
Egarim raises (3511) to 3861
Egarim is all-In.
J_thoeger folds.
Creating Main Pot with $5121 with Egarim
** Summary **
Main Pot: 5121
Board: [ 3c 2d Qh ]
I just have an uncanny knack for weakness. I ended up showing the hand which may have been my demise as I kept bluffing and made a large bluff vs a very bad player who could not fold any good hand he saw. It was a very bad call, but it was my fault for bluffing into a donkey like that especially after showing my hands so I looked like a maniac. I should've stayed patient and played to my reputation, or I should have just not shown the hand at all. This isn't the first time this has happened. I show my hand to look like a maniac, and then I continue playing like one. I need to learn my lesson.