$2500 FTOPS Event Part 2

I worked my was up to about 14,000 by picking a ton of small pots. People are still playing pretty snug, so it wasn't too hard to grind my way up.

FullTiltPoker Game #3292234622: FTOPS Event #12 (23186107), Table 71 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:47:17 ET - 2007/08/18
Seat 1: TheMasterJ33 (6,285)
Seat 2: dot_carter (14,650)
Seat 3: 999_999s (1,440)
Seat 4: Sirens (9,805)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco (5,915)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka (3,970)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 (5,485)
Seat 8: two8off (4,800)
Seat 9: NotoriousBIL (7,095)
dot_carter posts the small blind of 40
999_999s posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Ad Ac]
Sirens folds
CrazyMarco folds
Paul Wasicka folds
JGLaZe080 folds
two8off folds
NotoriousBIL folds
TheMasterJ33 raises to 200
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter raises to 700
999_999s folds
TheMasterJ33 has 15 seconds left to act
TheMasterJ33 raises to 2,100
dot_carter raises to 14,650, and is all in
TheMasterJ33 has 15 seconds left to act
TheMasterJ33 has requested TIME
TheMasterJ33 is sitting out
TheMasterJ33 has timed out
TheMasterJ33 folds
Uncalled bet of 12,550 returned to dot_carter
dot_carter mucks
dot_carter wins the pot (4,280)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,280 | Rake 0
Seat 1: TheMasterJ33 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: dot_carter (small blind) collected (4,280), mucked
Seat 3: 999_999s (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Sirens didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: two8off didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: NotoriousBIL didn't bet (folded)

I obviously wanted a call here, but it's never bad to pick up a nice pot without seeing a flop.

FullTiltPoker Game #3292683799: FTOPS Event #12 (23186107), Table 71 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:36:50 ET - 2007/08/18
Seat 1: TheMasterJ33 (5,350)
Seat 2: dot_carter (12,910)
Seat 3: Rocqoel (7,022)
Seat 4: Sirens (10,495)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco (5,445)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka (4,790)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 (6,070)
Seat 8: two8off (6,135)
Seat 9: NotoriousBIL (6,050)
dot_carter posts the small blind of 50
Rocqoel posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Ad Ac]
Sirens calls 100
CrazyMarco calls 100
Paul Wasicka folds
JGLaZe080 folds
two8off folds
NotoriousBIL folds
TheMasterJ33 folds
dot_carter raises to 600
Rocqoel calls 500
Sirens folds
CrazyMarco calls 500
*** FLOP *** [8s 6c Qc]
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter bets 1,700
Rocqoel folds
CrazyMarco raises to 4,845, and is all in
dot_carter calls 3,145
CrazyMarco shows [6d 6s]
dot_carter shows [Ad Ac]
*** TURN *** [8s 6c Qc] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [8s 6c Qc 4h] [Qs]
CrazyMarco shows a full house, Sixes full of Queens
dot_carter shows two pair, Aces and Queens
CrazyMarco wins the pot (11,590) with a full house, Sixes full of Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11,590 | Rake 0
Board: [8s 6c Qc 4h Qs]
Seat 1: TheMasterJ33 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: dot_carter (small blind) showed [Ad Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 3: Rocqoel (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Sirens folded before the Flop
Seat 5: CrazyMarco showed [6d 6s] and won (11,590) with a full house, Sixes full of Queens
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: two8off didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: NotoriousBIL didn't bet (folded)

This was the big blow of the tournament. Marco played a lot of hands (and did not play most well) so his range here is pretty huge. I don't think there was anything else I could do in this hand. He's not going to believe me and will get in with a Q or any draw almost every time there. Those chips would have been a huge boost, but I still had plenty to work with.

FullTiltPoker Game #3293007935: FTOPS Event #12 (23186107), Table 71 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:13:21 ET - 2007/08/18
Seat 1: TheMasterJ33 (6,335)
Seat 2: dot_carter (7,580)
Seat 3: Rocqoel (5,077)
Seat 4: Sirens (10,585)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco (12,570)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka (4,110)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 (6,335)
Seat 8: two8off (4,585)
Seat 9: NotoriousBIL (7,090)
Rocqoel posts the small blind of 60
Sirens posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [7h 7c]
CrazyMarco raises to 325
Paul Wasicka folds
JGLaZe080 folds
two8off folds
NotoriousBIL folds
TheMasterJ33 folds
dot_carter calls 325
Rocqoel folds
Sirens folds
*** FLOP *** [2s 3c 5h]
CrazyMarco bets 550
dot_carter calls 550
*** TURN *** [2s 3c 5h] [3d]
CrazyMarco bets 1,050
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter calls 1,050
*** RIVER *** [2s 3c 5h 3d] [6c]
CrazyMarco has 15 seconds left to act
CrazyMarco checks
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter bets 3,000
CrazyMarco has 15 seconds left to act
CrazyMarco folds
Uncalled bet of 3,000 returned to dot_carter
dot_carter mucks
dot_carter wins the pot (4,030)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,030 | Rake 0
Board: [2s 3c 5h 3d 6c]
Seat 1: TheMasterJ33 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: dot_carter (button) collected (4,030), mucked
Seat 3: Rocqoel (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Sirens (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: CrazyMarco folded on the River
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: two8off didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: NotoriousBIL didn't bet (folded)

This was one of the more interesting hands of the tournament. Marco is raising almost every time UTG, so I'm not giving him any extra respect here. I call the flop because I think there is an opportunity to make some extra money later in the hand which I wouldn't get by raising here. When he bets the turn I'm pretty sure it's just a double barrel, but he could also have a hand like 88-JJ. When he checks the pot to me on the river it leaves me in an interesting spot. I am most likely ahead, but I don't really want to check behind and have him scoop the pot with 88. I am fairly certain I'm not going to get called by anything but QQ+ so I fire 3k and he folds.

FullTiltPoker Game #3293331940: FTOPS Event #12 (23186107), Table 71 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:50:21 ET - 2007/08/18
Seat 1: TheMasterJ33 (8,445), is sitting out
Seat 2: dot_carter (10,695)
Seat 3: 13luckyplay (18,349)
Seat 4: Sirens (8,775)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco (23,677)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka (4,140)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 (6,415)
Seat 8: leroidesanimaux (3,479)
Seat 9: jennifer89 (36,114)
13luckyplay posts the small blind of 80
Sirens posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Ks As]
CrazyMarco folds
TheMasterJ33 has returned
Paul Wasicka raises to 450
JGLaZe080 folds
leroidesanimaux folds
jennifer89 folds
TheMasterJ33 folds
dot_carter raises to 1,700
13luckyplay folds
Sirens folds
Paul Wasicka has 15 seconds left to act
CrazyMarco has been disconnected
CrazyMarco has reconnected
CrazyMarco has been disconnected
Paul Wasicka calls 1,250
*** FLOP *** [8d Td Js]
Paul Wasicka bets 2,440, and is all in
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter calls 2,440
Paul Wasicka shows [Qh Qc]
dot_carter shows [Ks As]
*** TURN *** [8d Td Js] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [8d Td Js 3h] [3s]
Paul Wasicka shows two pair, Queens and Threes
dot_carter shows a pair of Threes
Paul Wasicka wins the pot (8,520) with two pair, Queens and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,520 | Rake 0
Board: [8d Td Js 3h 3s]
Seat 1: TheMasterJ33 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: dot_carter (button) showed [Ks As] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 3: 13luckyplay (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Sirens (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: CrazyMarco didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka showed [Qh Qc] and won (8,520) with two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: leroidesanimaux didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: jennifer89 didn't bet (folded)

Here was another run in with Paul Wasicka. His flop push looks like a text book stop and go, so I am getting a good price against any low pair. I think he might do this with some bluffs/draws as well. I'm not worried about a set at all since he would definitely check that an let me continuation bet. Basically I just lost the "Classic Race Situation" with my AK.

FullTiltPoker Game #3294159374: FTOPS Event #12 (23186107), Table 71 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:22:16 ET - 2007/08/18
Sirens has been disconnected
Seat 1: FlyingStart (21,545)
Seat 2: dot_carter (7,260)
Seat 3: 13luckyplay (12,419)
Seat 4: Sirens (14,732)
Seat 5: CoinFlip (10,381)
Seat 6: Grndhg25 (66,002)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 (17,800)
Seat 8: naskoxx (5,792)
Seat 9: jennifer89 (65,061)
FlyingStart antes 25
dot_carter antes 25
13luckyplay antes 25
Sirens antes 25
CoinFlip antes 25
Grndhg25 antes 25
JGLaZe080 antes 25
naskoxx antes 25
jennifer89 antes 25
dot_carter posts the small blind of 150
13luckyplay posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [7h 7d]
Sirens has 15 seconds left to act
Sirens has 46 seconds to reconnect
Sirens has reconnected
Sirens has 15 seconds left to act
Sirens folds
CoinFlip folds
Grndhg25 folds
JGLaZe080 folds
naskoxx raises to 5,767, and is all in
jennifer89 folds
Sirens has been disconnected
Sirens has reconnected
FlyingStart folds
JGLaZe080 has been disconnected
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter raises to 7,235, and is all in
13luckyplay has 15 seconds left to act
13luckyplay folds
dot_carter shows [7h 7d]
naskoxx shows [Ah 8s]
Uncalled bet of 1,468 returned to dot_carter
*** FLOP *** [4d Ks Tc]
*** TURN *** [4d Ks Tc] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [4d Ks Tc Kc] [Td]
dot_carter shows two pair, Kings and Tens
naskoxx shows two pair, Kings and Tens
naskoxx wins the pot (12,059) with two pair, Kings and Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12,059 | Rake 0
Board: [4d Ks Tc Kc Td]
Seat 1: FlyingStart (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: dot_carter (small blind) showed [7h 7d] and lost with two pair, Kings and Tens
Seat 3: 13luckyplay (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Sirens folded before the Flop
Seat 5: CoinFlip folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Grndhg25 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: naskoxx showed [Ah 8s] and won (12,059) with two pair, Kings and Tens
Seat 9: jennifer89 folded before the Flop

Nothing super exciting happened until this point. I floated between 7k and 12k for a while. In this hand I was pretty sure I was at worst flipping and needed to build up some more chips. I lost the race and was out of the tournament a few hands later in 149th place. I feel like I played extremely well the entire tournament. I had a good handle on my tables and was able to build up a nice stack from my aggression. But just like any other tournament I needed to win some flips, but couldn't.

Like I said earlier I'm not too into online tournament poker right now, but this was an excellent event and I hope we see a lot more like it in the future.

$2500 FTOPS Event Part 1

I’m not a huge fan of online tournaments, but this was a good event. Not too many people, a big prize pool, and a lot of room to maneuver. The play started out incredibly tight so I just tried to pick up as many pots as I could early. The first interesting hand came in the second level against Paul Wasicka.

FullTiltPoker Game #3291185987: FTOPS Event #12 (23186107), Table 71 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:47:33 ET - 2007/08/18
Seat 1: lo4815162342st (2,925)
Seat 2: dot_carter (5,290)
Seat 3: 999_999s (6,975)
Seat 4: Sirens (7,440)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco (5,170)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka (4,810)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 (5,030)
Seat 8: two8off (4,750)
Seat 9: E Tyme (2,610), is sitting out
E Tyme posts the small blind of 15
lo4815162342st posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [5c 5d]
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter raises to 105
999_999s folds
Sirens folds
CrazyMarco folds
Paul Wasicka calls 105
JGLaZe080 folds
two8off folds
E Tyme folds
lo4815162342st folds
*** FLOP *** [Td Ad 5h]
dot_carter bets 200
Paul Wasicka calls 200
*** TURN *** [Td Ad 5h] [7c]
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter bets 600
Paul Wasicka calls 600
*** RIVER *** [Td Ad 5h 7c] [6c]
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter bets 1,750
Paul Wasicka has 15 seconds left to act
Paul Wasicka calls 1,750
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dot_carter shows [5c 5d] three of a kind, Fives
Paul Wasicka mucks
dot_carter wins the pot (5,355) with three of a kind, Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,355 | Rake 0
Board: [Td Ad 5h 7c 6c]
Seat 1: lo4815162342st (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: dot_carter showed [5c 5d] and won (5,355) with three of a kind, Fives
Seat 3: 999_999s didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Sirens didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka mucked [Ah Qs] - a pair of Aces
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: two8off (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: E Tyme (small blind) folded before the Flop

I’m not a fan of how he played this hand. Believing I’m triple barreling with worse is just wishful thinking.

FullTiltPoker Game #3291438672: FTOPS Event #12 (23186107), Table 71 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:16:46 ET - 2007/08/18
Seat 1: lo4815162342st (2,695)
Seat 2: dot_carter (8,075)
Seat 3: 999_999s (6,625)
Seat 4: Sirens (7,530)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco (4,630)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka (1,960)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 (5,005)
Seat 8: two8off (4,260)
Seat 9: E Tyme (4,220)
lo4815162342st posts the small blind of 20
dot_carter posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Kc Ks]
999_999s has 15 seconds left to act
999_999s folds
Sirens folds
CrazyMarco folds
Paul Wasicka folds
JGLaZe080 folds
two8off folds
E Tyme raises to 140
lo4815162342st folds
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter raises to 500
E Tyme calls 360
*** FLOP *** [Qc Ad Qs]
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter bets 650
E Tyme has 15 seconds left to act
E Tyme calls 650
*** TURN *** [Qc Ad Qs] [2d]
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter checks
E Tyme bets 1,500
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter folds
Uncalled bet of 1,500 returned to E Tyme
E Tyme mucks
E Tyme wins the pot (2,320)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,320 | Rake 0
Board: [Qc Ad Qs 2d]
Seat 1: lo4815162342st (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: dot_carter (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 3: 999_999s didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Sirens didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: two8off didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: E Tyme (button) collected (2,320), mucked

This was a very unfortunate flop. E Tyme was not playing very good at all in this tournament, and this was a spot where I could have picked up a bunch of chips given a better flop. At least the flop was so bad that I got out only losing a small amount of chips.

FullTiltPoker Game #3291725384: FTOPS Event #12 (23186107), Table 71 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:49:40 ET - 2007/08/18
Seat 1: lo4815162342st (825)
Seat 2: dot_carter (7,375)
Seat 3: 999_999s (7,000)
Seat 4: Sirens (7,000)
Seat 5: CrazyMarco (4,220)
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka (3,655)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 (5,645)
Seat 8: two8off (5,120)
Seat 9: E Tyme (4,160)
Sirens posts the small blind of 25
CrazyMarco posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Td Ts]
Paul Wasicka has 15 seconds left to act
Paul Wasicka folds
JGLaZe080 folds
two8off folds
E Tyme calls 50
lo4815162342st folds
dot_carter raises to 225
999_999s has 15 seconds left to act
CrazyMarco has reconnected
999_999s raises to 600
Sirens folds
CrazyMarco folds
E Tyme folds
dot_carter calls 375
*** FLOP *** [Tc Js 8d]
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter checks
999_999s checks
*** TURN *** [Tc Js 8d] [5s]
dot_carter bets 1,200
999_999s calls 1,200
*** RIVER *** [Tc Js 8d 5s] [6c]
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter bets 3,000
999_999s calls 3,000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dot_carter shows [Td Ts] three of a kind, Tens
999_999s mucks
dot_carter wins the pot (9,725) with three of a kind, Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9,725 | Rake 0
Board: [Tc Js 8d 5s 6c]
Seat 1: lo4815162342st didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: dot_carter showed [Td Ts] and won (9,725) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 3: 999_999s (button) mucked [Kh Kc] - a pair of Kings
Seat 4: Sirens (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: CrazyMarco (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Paul Wasicka didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: JGLaZe080 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: two8off didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: E Tyme folded before the Flop

This is a good example of how passive people were playing in this tournament. Most other tournaments he goes broke on the flop. Given how he played this hand I’m glad I wasn’t able to get a check raise in, as I think he probably would have folded. I think he cost himself more chips by not cbetting/folding the flop. My calling range probably hit this flop pretty hard. I would have been very impressed if he called the turn and folded the river. Just like the 55 hand I’m probably not making such a big bet on the river without something huge.

There are some more good hands, but I can’t seem to get the HH converter to work, and don’t want to make this post too huge, so I’ll just do a part 2 later tonight.

Gold Jersey an Omen?

I've been playing all the interesting FTOPS events the following week. It's been good to change it up a little from the cash games. I wasn't able to cash in any yet, but hopefully that will change as the biggest events are going on the next 2 days. Today is the $2500NL 2 day event with tomorrow being the 2 mill guaranteed $500NL main event. I played very well in all the other events but lost some key flips that would have propelled me very deep. I won my FTOPS event earlier this year, but I only received the gold jersey yesterday. I must assume that it's a good omen and I'm now a lock to win at least one, if not both, of the final two events. If I go deep in either I will certainly make a video of the event.

Wish me Luck!

I'm Going To Have A Sister!

I talked with my Dad yesterday and he informed me that he and my Step Mom are going to be having a little baby girl soon. Pretty crazy, I didn't expect to have another sibling in this life time. It's pretty cool, I've never had a sister before so it will be a whole new experience.

We saw Rush Hour 3 (it was pretty funny) last night then hung out at the bar for a while. Spear and I have started playing darts for $50 a game, I was up one on him from the last match but he won the first game of the night (I started slow but almost made a sick comeback). I crushed the second two games. I've recently become a dart ninja. It's not like I've been playing or practicing at all, I'm just hitting my spots a lot better now. After the third game the alcohol started to outweigh my ninjaness and Spear was able to pull it back to even. His girl friend then went on to own up both at the punching bag game.

You know you live the good life when you have to set an alarm to wake up at noon. I had an early personal training session today (yes 1pm is early). It feels really good to get back into that after taking a month and a half off for Vegas. I'm playing some FTOPS events now. I was doing good in the $535 PLO, but had one tough hand, made the right decision, but took too long and was auto folded. I'll probably make a post about that hand later. I got knocked out on this hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3222367222: FTOPS Event #4 (22695266), Table 43 - 120/240 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 17:01:02 ET - 2007/08/11
Seat 1: xqsays (6,120)
Seat 2: BiceTILT (14,157)
Seat 3: DirtyTowel (35,130)
Seat 4: TheLizard (9,180)
Seat 5: Foleys_Page (13,881)
Seat 6: dot_carter (6,743)
dot_carter posts the small blind of 120
xqsays posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [3c 6d 2h 6s]
BiceTILT folds
DirtyTowel folds
TheLizard folds
Foleys_Page has 15 seconds left to act
Foleys_Page folds
dot_carter raises to 720
xqsays calls 480
*** FLOP *** [8c 4s 6c]
dot_carter bets 1,440
xqsays has 15 seconds left to act
xqsays raises to 5,400, and is all in
dot_carter calls 3,960
xqsays shows [Qc 6h 9d 5s]
dot_carter shows [3c 6d 2h 6s]
*** TURN *** [8c 4s 6c] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [8c 4s 6c 7h] [Kd]
xqsays shows a straight, Nine high
dot_carter shows three of a kind, Sixes
xqsays wins the pot (12,240) with a straight, Nine high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12,240 | Rake 0
Board: [8c 4s 6c 7h Kd]
Seat 1: xqsays (big blind) showed [Qc 6h 9d 5s] and won (12,240) with a straight, Nine high
Seat 2: BiceTILT didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: DirtyTowel didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: TheLizard didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Foleys_Page (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: dot_carter (small blind) showed [3c 6d 2h 6s] and lost with three of a kind, Sixes

82/18.... doesn't get much better than that in Omaha oh well. I have about 10k after the rebuy period in FTOPS #5. First is 100k so it wouldn't be too shabby of a win.

Everyone Loves Poker

The more I interact with people on a day to day basis the more the government’s crusade against online gambling infuriates me. Many online poker pros are hesitant to tell people what they do for a living. I think they see the government and “family values” people coming down on it and assume people will be put off by it. I have never been this way. I love what I do and if someone asks me what I do I’m more than happy to discuss it with them.

You know what? I have never received a negative reaction or seen someone offended by the notion. Most people think it’s the coolest thing ever, some are very curious, and many didn’t even know it was possible. I love to talk about it, and most people are so fascinated that they let me go on as long as I want. The truth is that a large percentage of our country plays or has played poker. It’s only the small vocal minority that is out to bring us down. Government and religious types have a much louder voice than the millions of people who play a $10 home game each week. Everyone loves poker and it’s a shame we have to put up with these BS laws trying to “protect us from ourselves”

I was out running some errands the other day and in a matter of 2 hours I had 3 different conversations with random people about how much they loved poker and how cool it was that I played for a living. I was wearing my Dynasty Shirt to the bar last night and 4 different people came up to me and talked poker. I think this is closer to the sentiment of the nation than the negative press we often get. The problem is most of the casual players have no clue there is anti poker legislation and aren’t motivated enough to do anything about it anyway. I guess the PPA should really try to tap into that segment of people and at least get some positive press. I try to make sure I tell people I meet about it and ask them to pitch in just a little bit. It something little, but if all of us did it each day it would probably have an impact. Ah well, I can only dream of the day when poker is legalized and we all become richer than we ever imagined.

PS

Congrats to Flamm for going deep in FTOPS #1 and winning a $25 last longer bet vs me. Keep crushing the tables Flamm!

MMMM Multi-Tabling

I've started to play 9 tables after spending the last 2 months only playing 6. Seems to be working out pretty good so far. I'm up 15 buyins in the first 5k hands, but sometimes stuff like this happens:

RyanAIM (11:54:15 PM): dont you hate when you are on the turn
RyanAIM (11:54:17 PM): the pot is huge
RyanAIM (11:54:21 PM): you have q7s
RyanAIM (11:54:23 PM): and are like
RyanAIM (11:54:27 PM): htf did I get here
JaredAIM (11:54:57 PM): at that point my only question is
JaredAIM (11:55:01 PM): do I have an overcard
RyanAIM (11:55:10 PM): I had a flush draw
RyanAIM (11:55:31 PM): so it was like christmas

Living The Good Life

I’ve really been enjoying life since I’ve been back from Vegas. People tend to complain about all the small insignificant stuff just to have something to bitch about. It’s no different than the guy who lives to tell bad beat story after bad beat story. I guess it’s just human nature to complain. I honestly think the quality of human existence would go up significantly if everyone just let the small things go.

If I ever notice myself drifting into this mindset all I have to do is remind myself that I have the greatest life in the world. I get to wake up play a game for a living, walk over to the pool, go to a baseball game, or even hop on a plane for a weekend trip if I like. I have pretty much everything I want, and what I don’t have is attainable in the near future. I’m not trying to brag, it’s just a good feeling knowing that I’m living a life I truly enjoy.

That’s one of the reasons I started this site. There is a great sense of accomplishment in helping someone achieve a dream. I might not be able to cure world hunger, but if I can help a few hundred people obtain the dream of being a poker pro/semi pro I’ll be happy. I know it’s not easy but if that’s really what you want in life you should do everything in your power to make it happen.

While I’m already on seemingly random tangents I might as well talk about a few things outside the game that I’m doing to help improve my poker. The first is doing 20 minutes of meditation each morning. My mind is often going a 100 miles a minute and this is really exactly what I need to slow things down. With poker the ability to slow things down and experience each hand in the moment does wonders with your profits. I’m still a meditation newb, but I can already see many of the positive benefits in other areas of my life.

The second is finally maintaining a diet and continuing to work on getting in shape. Before Vegas I was getting personal training 3 times a week. I really enjoy that, but never worked much on fixing my diet so the results weren’t fantastic. I was reading beanie’s blog on Always Bluff (they have some good bloggers you should check them out) and he posted this diet that I have been using ever since. I started at 285 2 weeks ago. I think I’ve lost some weight already but haven’t got a scale yet. The diet works very well for me as I really enjoy all the foods it entails. It’s also very easy to maintain which is important for me.

Hopefully you enjoy my non poker entries as much as the others. I really enjoy writing about topics like this so there will be plenty more to come. It’s easy to let poker totally consume you, and I try my best to be a well rounded human. One of the keys to surviving as an online pro is to make sure the game doesn’t take up too much of your life. If it’s all you ever think of you let it control your emotions. Too many pros are happy when winning and depressed when their not. I think this is a terrible way to live and it’s something you should be aware of if you get serious into the game.

I think that’s enough random rambling for the day…. Gotta get up early tomorrow for the 3:10 start of the Devil Rays game!

This Is What You Get When You @#$% With Dynasty

This POS router couldn't keep a stable internet connection for our whole trip and cost Jared, Nick, and myself at least a few thousand dollars.

I Almost Got Arrested Last Night......

For DUI......

While riding a bike.....

Not a motorcycle..... A BIKE

After a few pitchers at Hooters followed by a few hours at Peabodies (an excessively loud bar/pool hall in Tampa) for dollar drink night I decide to chill out and watch Pulp Fiction before I passed out. Being fairly drunk the “Royale” with cheese scene made me incredibly hungry. I’d drank way too much to even think about driving, so I jumped on my bike to head over to 7-11. I manage to make my way there, coming close to crashing into bushes only 3-4 times, and when I arrived there were 3 cop cars sitting in parking lot. I purchase the obligatory slurpee and microwavable quesadilla. I must have been noticeably tipsy, because as I get on my bike one of the cops stops me and says:

“Son, you know you can be arrested for DUI on a bike”

I this can happen and all I can say is “yes”

“Well, I have the mind to take you in”

I am about to go on mega tilt, because getting a DUI for riding your bike to a 7-11 would have to be in the top 10 stupid arrests of all time. I don’t want to be belligerent to him, so I just say.

“If you want to take me in for riding a bike here instead of driving go ahead. It’s your call”

This must have been the right thing to say because he just told me to go home and be careful. I guess not all cops are complete assholes.

I’ve been keeping very busy since we returned from Vegas. The end of the WSOP is almost like a poker New Years Eve for me. I reflect on the previous year, and make goals for the next. Looking back I am very happy with how last year went. My cash game skills improved massively and I took down some tournaments for nice paydays. The back to basics experiment showed that with hard work, good poker resources, and a passion for the game it’s possible to make a living at poker starting with just $2000.

By the next WSOP I want to accomplish even more than I did last year. I am going to focus most of my time on cash games and plan to be beating 25/50NL by the time I get another chance to win a bracelet. With the improvements that I’ve made recently I see no reason this won’t happen.

My bankroll is currently a little smaller than I would like, the Vegas trip and all the expenses for the Poker Dynasty site upgrades have put a dent in it. I’m not too worried about that. With back to basics I went from playing $50NL to $600NL is only 6 months, so getting to 25/50 should be a piece of cake :)

I am also very excited about the future of this site. When the new site arrives we are going to be rolling out a ton more videos/articles than we do now. If you are interested in becoming a charter member (basically a discount to the people who have helped build up this community), or know someone else that might, make sure you sign up for our weekly poker tips newsletter here:

Poker Tips Newsletter

This is going to be the only place that you will be able to get the charter member discount.

GL at the tables,

RC

The Best View in Vegas

This is by far my favorite view in vegas



I messed around in some PLO games on full tilt today. I think it's about time that I learn to play the game well. Even with my limited experience I was still easily the best player at the 1/2 6 max PLO games I played. I'm going to be learning at the shorthanded games, as I pretty much can't stand playing full ring cash games anymore. Omaha also seems like it is a much more interesting game with 6 or less people. I'm probably going to dedicate 2000-3000 hands a week to learning it, and I think it will be a good gear switch from the 20k holdem hands I plan to play each week when I get back to FL. Here are a few interesting hands from the session today:

FullTiltPoker Game #2941874917: Table Hathaway (6 max) - $1/$2 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 3:45:44 ET - 2007/07/14 Sea
Seat 1: dot_carter ($211.65)
Seat 2: pokerPIMP_5 ($221)
Seat 3: dsindy ($162.Seat 4: D
4: DHGFZL ($265.60)
Seat 5: PlzWarnMe ($213.75)
Seat 6: turbosp44 ($499.80)
dot_carter posts the smalld li $1 po$1
pokerPIMP_5 posts the big bof $2 The2
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Deo dot_cart_carter [Ad Jd] dJd]
dsindy raises to $7
DHGFZL calls $7
PlzWarnMdsfolds
turbosp44 fold_carter r
ter raise30 pok30
pokerPIMP_5 calls $28
dsindy calls $23
cGFZL calls $23
*** FLOP *** Jc] dot_]
dot_carter cpokerP
pokerPIMP_5 dsindy
dsindy checks
DHGFZL checks
*** TURN *** JTh 3d ] ] [5d]
dot_carter bets $120
pokerPIMP_5 120 dsind0
dsindy adds $67.40
dsindy folds
DHGFZL folds
*** RIVER *** Jch 3d Jc 5d] [Kd]
dot bets $61ets $61.65, and is all in
pokerPIMP_5 calls $61.65
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dot_carter shows [Ad Ac 4d Jd] a flush, Ace high
pokerPucP_5 otcks
dot_carter wins the pot ($480.30) with a flush, h e high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $483.30 | Rake $3
[Th 3d Jch 3d Jc 5d Kd]
Seat 1: dot_camaer (small blind) showed [Ad Ac 4d won (d won ($480.30) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: pokerPIMP_5 (bi) mucked mucked [8c 6h Td 9d] - a flush, King high
Seat 3: dsindy folded on the Turn
Seat 4: DHGFZL folded on the Turn
Seat 5: PlzWarnMe didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: turbosp44 (button) didn't bet (folded

not sure that I should be betting this turn, but nobody showed strength on the flop so I figured I was probably good.

FullTiltPoker Game769: Tabl769: Table Hathaway ($1/$2 - $1/$2 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 4:21:44 ET -14 Seat 114
Seat 1: dot_carter ($488.25)
SeatPIMP_5 ($PIMP_5 ($203.05)
Seat 3: dsindy) Seat.45)
Seat 4: DHGFZL ($258.05)
Seat 5: PlzWarnMe ($261)
Seat 6: turbosp44 ($880.40)
pokerPIMP_5 posts the small blind ody posts
dy posts the big blind of $on is in
ton is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_ca 3s 3c] DTc 3s 3c]
DHGFZL folds
PlzWarnMe has 15 seconds left to act
PlzWarnMe raises to $7
turbosp44 calls $7
dot_carter calls $7
pokerPIMP_5 folds
dsindy calls $5
*** FLOP *** [9h As Ts]
dsindy has 15 seconds left to act
dsindy checks
PlzWarnMe bets $29
turbosp44 has 15 seconds left to act
turbosp44 folds
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter raises to $116
dsindy folds
PlzWarnMe has 15 seconds left to act
PlzWarnMe calls $87
*** TURN *** [9h As Ts] [Ad]
PlzWarnMe checks
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter checks
*** RIVER *** [9h As Ts Ad] [8c]
PlzWarnMe checks
dot_carter has 15 seconds left to act
dot_carter bets $261
PlzWarnMe adds $62
PlzWarnMe folds
Uncalled bet of $261 returned to dot_carter
dot_carter mucks
dot_carter wins the pot ($258)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $261 | Rake $3
Board: [9h As Ts Ad 8c]
Seat 1: dot_carter (button) collected ($258), mucked
Seat 2: pokerPIMP_5 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: dsindy (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: DHGFZL didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: PlzWarnMe folded on the River
Seat 6: turbosp44 folded on the Flop

The pre-flop call was most likely bad, but I think I have to raise that flop. Him just calling really surprised me, and I figured I was toast when the send ace fell. When he checked again it looked to me like he must have had a bigger flush draw, so I shoved. Thankfully he didn't show up with quads.

Sunday is our last day in Vegas. We're going to eat a nice steak dinner, gamble a little then hit the road. I'm looking forward to being back in FL, I have some interesting projects to work on along with playing a ton of poker.

Vegas Sans The Poker

I put in about 50 hours live last week, with little to show for it. I made about 3k in the cash games but ran very cold in the $525 and $1030 satellites. I decided to take a few days off and enjoy Vegas for its many other activities.

On Saturday Jared and I went to the Ultimate Fighter 5 finale UFC fight at the Palms. They upgraded our tickets, so we were sitting on the stage right next to the octagon. It was disappointing that the Gamburyan/Diaz fight was decided by a non fight related injury. All the other fights were awesome, and the experience made me a big fan of the UFC. I had been riding the fence before this, but I definitely will be getting into it more in the future. It’s too bad I left my camera in the car for this; there would have been some sick pictures.

After the fight we met up with Mo and B for dinner at one of my favorite Vegas restaurants, Nobu. The dinner there was delicious as always, and we even got Mo and B to try some raw fish. The bento box desert had some of the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. You know you’ve had the perfect meal when you leave completely satisfied, but don’t feel so full that you have to immediately pass out.

Delicious

I wanted to grab a drink at the Red Square, so we went over to the Madalay Bay. The club/bar that’s next door looks interesting so we get a table/bottle to enjoy for the night. Getting a table makes the club experience 100x better. No waiting in line, and no standing around all night.

2 pimp ass ninjas

Fish #1 and Fish #2

A deer in the headlights

B is definitely drunk by now

lol I'm so drunk here

They actually play some decent music there, and half naked women dance/swing across the ceiling. Our table had a great view with one of the dancing platforms directly overhead.

There could have been more women there, but it was a good time none the less. Mo even invented his own dance titled "The All In"

Mo tried to get us to play drunk live poker, but I would get bored so fast when drunk I'd be pushing all in every hand within one orbit. It was a good night that definitely shook off some of the live poker tilt I was feeling. I have a ton of website work to catch up on this week, so I doubt there will be much poker time. Delicious food and casino war will most likely take place multiple times this week. God I love Vegas.

Vegas Part 1: Live Poker – A cross section of dementia

We’ve been in Vegas for a week and a half now. Jared and I haven’t been around the site too much because on top of being busy in Vegas the internet at our house has been down. I’ve put in a good number of hours at the tables. I’ve played about 20 single table satellites, and am down about 4k on those. I’ve been running really cold when it gets down to 3-4 handed. The blinds get really big at that point so you eventually have to win a 60-40 at the end to lock it up, but I haven’t been able to do that yet. The cash games have been a little better. I’m up about 3k playing 5/10 so far. I played in the 2500 6 handed bracelet event, but ran into some rough hands early on to knock me out.

The trip has been pretty interesting so far. The live poker world is a totally different animal than the online scene. Here are some of my observations from the trip so far.

Live poker sucks: I guess I’m just spoiled with internet poker, but playing full ring poker live is like watching paint dry. Occasionally people will donk it up so much it’s hard to hold back the laughter, but if the table is a bunch of boring pricks it’s hard to handle. I really enjoy the games when they get short handed, but I’m glad I don’t have to make a living playing live where you get 40 hands an hour and have to play 9 handed most of the time.

Live players are insane: I’m not sure if live poker attracts the crazy people or if it creates them, but live players have to be the most demented group of people on earth. I thought online players could be major dicks, but the ratio is much higher live. People who are otherwise civil members of society turn into huge assholes at the poker table. I guess poker is just a game that brings out the true spirit of most people. I can’t really blame them either. If all I ever played was live poker and I had to wait 3 days for AA only to have them cracked by 74o, it might start to grind on me. It might also drive me crazy if it took me a year to play the same number of hands I play online in a week. It seriously must take these people 10 years to actually figure out if they are winning players or not. Live poker is a fun break, but online poker is definitely where I want to spend most of my time.

Vegas is a great city: I’m not even talking about the casinos/night life. Our house is outside the city and I find it’s hilarious that every store in town must have slots/video poker. I walk over to the grocery store to pick up some grub, pay for it, and then I just have to throw down a bet to try to get my groceries for free. I’m 2-2 so far! Seriously, I don’t know how people have any money here. You go to the deli and can lose your kid’s tuition before you get your cold cuts and cheese. There is no reason online poker should be illegal when I can get a hair cut while playing $1 slots in Vegas.

The house is pretty pimp, and I’m sitting poolside as I write this. The Vegas weather is actually really nice. I could imagine myself owning a house here. I’d rent it out half the year, and travel the other half. I can play poker from anywhere so that type of lifestyle really appeals to me.

We have some good seats for the UFC fight tonight and will probably go check out the night life after that. I played too much live poker this week so I need to recharge before I go back to the tables. I’ll probably split my time between live and online next week. The next event I want to play in is the 5k 6 handed so there is plenty of time to make the buy in.

WEEEEEEE Live Poker

After coming in 2^nd to Sam Grizzle (we had equal chips at 500/1k blinds I pushed w/87 and he decided to call with 98...) in the first sat I played, I woke up on Thursday and decided I would play some more satellites all day. The players seemed ridiculously soft so I figure I should be able to make a decent amount of WSOP chips if I play a ton.

The first one I played I chopped a $225 with another knowledgeable player who said he had been to the site a few times. Next I played a $525 and when it got 3 handed I negotiated a chop that gave us our buy in back then played for the rest. I was the low stack and ended up losing a flip the very next hand. I don’t want to be chopping too many of these because the other players will make a lot more mistakes than I will, but if I’m up against someone good or the deal is really in my favor I’ll do it every time.

That was the last taste of victory I would have for the day as I ran ice cold the rest of the way. I’m so used to the speed of online poker that it’s pretty hilarious that I could play 12 hours of poker and not see AA, QQ, or JJ once. I knew the variance was going to be pretty high in these so losing 8 in a row is pretty common. I didn’t make any mistakes, just didn’t win the flips and 60/40s I needed to near the end. I’ll just have to do the same again tomorrow and hope I can get some decent cards and win some races. The first event I want to play isn’t until Monday so I have a few days to get some chips together.

F The Spurs

Jared and I rolled into SA a few hours before the game, checked into the hotel, grabbed a bite to eat on the river walk (which is a pretty cool part of the city), got the tickets, then rode over to the arena which was a good ways outside of downtown.

I didn’t think it was possible for me to hate the Spurs anymore than I already did, but after attending day 2 of the NBA finals I have found even more reasons to hate. I have never seen a group of fans more lame than the 18k packed into the AT&T center. They were very loud when the PA announcer told them to, but I don’t think I heard one bit of spontaneous noise the entire game. When the game got close the announcer had to tell them to get loud every 5 minutes or they would be dead silent. This is the NBA finals, you should be on your feet screaming your ass of for 4 quarters. Their dancers did a choreographed dance to “Ice Ice Baby”, and for some reason the decided it would be a good idea to randomly blare music in the middle of plays.

Ice Ice Baby


It would have loved to see the Cavs take down that game just to see the looks on those people’s faces. It was basically just a bunch of rich white people who came just because it was the thing to do, and not for the true love of the team. Mike Brown could not make that a reality for me as he really gave the game up with his first quarter strategy. Hmmm Lebron gets two fouls early, so not only does he bench him for the whole quarter but immediately puts in a line up that had 0 scorers. When I saw that happen I told Jared that they would be down 15 by the time that lineup was off the court, well I was wrong they were down 17.

The 2nd half was a lot more interesting when they finally realized that Lebron driving every play and either drawing a foul or kicking it out to someone who could make a 3 was the correct strategy. The AT&T center was located in the low economy area of the city and as we slowly made our way down that street everyone was out in front of their tiny houses making noise and celebrating the victory. The people who weren’t at the game jumped into their cars and started in impromptu parade. I really wish those people had a chance to go to the game. The people who couldn’t afford it were the true fans and the ones who really should have been in the arena; it would have been a great atmosphere if they had been.

The plan for Monday was to play poker all day, but the hotel’s internet didn’t work. So, we just hung out at the river walk for a while, saw the Alamo, and relaxed. There was a bomb ass steak house near the hotel and we ate like a 6 course meal there.

We saw what had to be the most awesome restaurant of all time on the way to the game, so we had to eat there before we left on Tuesday. It was called “Tanks Chicken and Waffles”. For $2.75 you could get a giant waffle and a fried chicken leg. We went there pretty much as a joke, but it actually turned out to be quite delicious.

Delicous


After almost running out of gas (there are like 40 mile stretches of nothing in this part of TX) and the road being blocked by a helicopter air lifting someone from a nasty accident we ended up stopping off in el Paso tonight. This is the only high way I have ever seen in the US that has an 80 m/hr speed limit, it was pretty sexy. The original plan was to drive to Phoenix tomorrow then the grand canyon Thursday, but we need to get our WSOP fix in soon so we’re just going to do the 11 hours there tomorrow and skip everything else. We’ll probably grab a hotel on the strip until we get the house on Saturday and hopefully the cash games and satellites will go well so we can get into a bunch of events.

Some Hands + WSOP Here We Come!

I haven’t posted a ton about my actual poker play since I stopped the back to basics blog. I don’t want this to be a results blog, but I will definitely be posting up all the interesting hands/situations I get into as well as general thoughts on the game I come up with. I’ve been playing anywhere from $200NL to $600NL 6max, some $400 heads up, and even a little 6 max Omaha the last few weeks. For a while it was looking like I would repeat the pre WSOP month long cooler from last year, but I was able to pull out of that and have consistently been able to make some good money. I’ll be able to take a decent chunk of that to Vegas, so hopefully I can continue doing well and come back with a bracelet or 3. Here are some interesting hands I’ve played so far this week.

I made the huge preflop raise because this guy had been getting frustrated with me and had started to call all my bets. I knew the extra large bet would make him do something stupid. We were both a little more than 2 buyins deep, so getting as much money in early is definitively a plus. The turn was an amazing card since it lets me play the hand like I have the nuts. I'm still probably going to get the money in vs this guy even on a scarier board, but it's always nice to know you have the best hand in a huge pot. My turn smooth call works very well because he proceeds to bluff a buy in and a half on the river then fold when he only has to call $300 more into a $2600 pot. I wish it were easier to post bodog hands, stuff like this happens all the time.

I had an interesting 2/4 heads up session. This guy ran very hot early and took a few buyins from me. He was a tight preflop player who really fished it up when he did see a flop. I played him for about 5 hours and it took me like two before I realized how terrible he was. I picked up on some triggers that would make him bluff big or call down with ace high. After the rough start I was able to come back and built up my stack to about $3000k before we finished. At points we were playing 4+ buyins deep each. Here are some of the hands from that match (in no particular order).

FullTiltPoker Game #2557084922: Table Ahey (heads up) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 3:24:10 ET - 2007/06/01
Seat 1: pareshjain ($2,046.80)
Seat 2: dot_carter ($1,009.50)
pareshjain posts the small blind of $2
dot_carter posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [7d Qd]
pareshjain calls $2
dot_carter checks
*** FLOP *** [4s Ad Td]
dot_carter bets $8
pareshjain raises to $32
dot_carter calls $24
*** TURN *** [4s Ad Td] [6d]
dot_carter bets $72
pareshjain raises to $288
dot_carter raises to $973.50, and is all in
pareshjain calls $685.50
dot_carter shows [7d Qd]
pareshjain shows [Kd 5d]
*** RIVER *** [4s Ad Td 6d] [9h]
dot_carter shows a flush, Ace high
pareshjain shows a flush, Ace high
pareshjain wins the pot ($2,018.50) with a flush, Ace high
dot_carter is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2,019 | Rake $0.50
Board: [4s Ad Td 6d 9h]
Seat 1: pareshjain (small blind) showed [Kd 5d] and won ($2,018.50) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: dot_carter (big blind) showed [7d Qd] and lost with a flush, Ace high

FU TURN CARD!

FullTiltPoker Game #2557625887: Table Ahey (heads up) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:36:37 ET - 2007/06/01
Seat 1: pareshjain ($2,443.20)
Seat 2: dot_carter ($1,341.50)
pareshjain posts the small blind of $2
dot_carter posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Ac Tc]
pareshjain raises to $12
dot_carter raises to $36
pareshjain calls $24
*** FLOP *** [8s 9s 3d]
dot_carter bets $55
pareshjain calls $55
*** TURN *** [8s 9s 3d] [Td]
dot_carter checks
pareshjain bets $182
dot_carter calls $182
*** RIVER *** [8s 9s 3d Td] [9h]
dot_carter checks
pareshjain bets $424
dot_carter calls $424
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pareshjain shows [Kh Ts] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
dot_carter shows [Ac Tc] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
dot_carter wins the pot ($1,393.50) with two pair, Tens and Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,394 | Rake $0.50
Board: [8s 9s 3d Td 9h]
Seat 1: pareshjain (small blind) showed [Kh Ts] and lost with two pair, Tens and Nines
Seat 2: dot_carter (big blind) showed [Ac Tc] and won ($1,393.50) with two pair, Tens and Nines

Deep stack heads up is fun!

FullTiltPoker Game #2557521030: Table Ahey (heads up) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 5:48:39 ET - 2007/06/01
Seat 1: pareshjain ($1,863.10)
Seat 2: dot_carter ($1,543.80)
pareshjain posts the small blind of $2
dot_carter posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [7d Td]
pareshjain raises to $12
dot_carter raises to $36
pareshjain calls $24
*** FLOP *** [6c Qh 9d]
dot_carter bets $55
pareshjain raises to $145
dot_carter calls $90
*** TURN *** [6c Qh 9d] [5s]
dot_carter checks
pareshjain checks
*** RIVER *** [6c Qh 9d 5s] [4d]
dot_carter bets $255
pareshjain has 15 seconds left to act
pareshjain calls $255
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dot_carter shows [7d Td] (Queen Ten high)
pareshjain shows [3c Ac] (Ace Queen high)
pareshjain wins the pot ($871.50) with Ace Queen high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $872 | Rake $0.50
Board: [6c Qh 9d 5s 4d]
Seat 1: pareshjain (small blind) showed [3c Ac] and won ($871.50) with Ace Queen high
Seat 2: dot_carter (big blind) showed [7d Td] and lost with Queen Ten high

This was the hand that made me realize what a mega fish he was. I got him to call me with A high 4-5 more times in the session when I actually had a hand.

FullTiltPoker Game #2557452749: Table Ahey (heads up) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 5:19:27 ET - 2007/06/01
Seat 1: pareshjain ($2,749)
Seat 2: dot_carter ($666.60)
pareshjain posts the small blind of $2
dot_carter posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [7h 7d]
pareshjain raises to $12
dot_carter raises to $36
pareshjain calls $24
*** FLOP *** [6h 7c 3s]
dot_carter bets $55
pareshjain calls $55
*** TURN *** [6h 7c 3s] [5d]
dot_carter checks
pareshjain bets $182
dot_carter calls $182
*** RIVER *** [6h 7c 3s 5d] [Qc]
dot_carter checks
pareshjain bets $546
dot_carter calls $393.60, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $152.40 returned to pareshjain
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pareshjain shows [Tc 8c] (Queen Ten high)
dot_carter shows [7h 7d] (three of a kind, Sevens)
dot_carter wins the pot ($1,332.70) with three of a kind, Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,333.20 | Rake $0.50
Board: [6h 7c 3s 5d Qc]
Seat 1: pareshjain (small blind) showed [Tc 8c] and lost with Queen Ten high
Seat 2: dot_carter (big blind) showed [7h 7d] and won ($1,332.70) with three of a kind, Sevens

Had to let him bluff of his stack here.

I think I'm going to work some Omaha into the rotation. It seems like a fun change of pace, especially if people play this bad:

FullTiltPoker Game #2602540992: Table Atlantic (6 max) - $1/$2 - Pot Limit Omaha - 2:19:30 ET - 2007/06/07
Seat 1: ykamikaze ($267.35)
Seat 2: dot_carter ($396)
Seat 3: sweets166 ($506.25)
Seat 4: marcjays ($321.30)
Seat 5: monkey68 ($164.95)
Seat 6: ClownBluff ($198)
ClownBluff posts the small blind of $1
ykamikaze posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Ah As 7c 9h]
dot_carter raises to $7
sweets166 raises to $24
marcjays calls $24
monkey68 folds
ClownBluff folds
ykamikaze calls $22
dot_carter raises to $121
sweets166 calls $97
marcjays has 15 seconds left to act
marcjays folds
ykamikaze folds
*** FLOP *** [8s 5d 8c]
dot_carter bets $275, and is all in
sweets166 calls $275
dot_carter shows [Ah As 7c 9h]
sweets166 shows [4h Js Qd Qh]
*** TURN *** [8s 5d 8c] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [8s 5d 8c 2d] [8h]
dot_carter shows a full house, Eights full of Aces
sweets166 shows a full house, Eights full of Queens
dot_carter wins the pot ($838) with a full house, Eights full of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $841 | Rake $3
Board: [8s 5d 8c 2d 8h]
Seat 1: ykamikaze (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: dot_carter showed [Ah As 7c 9h] and won ($838) with a full house, Eights full of Aces
Seat 3: sweets166 showed [4h Js Qd Qh] and lost with a full house, Eights full of Queens
Seat 4: marcjays folded before the Flop
Seat 5: monkey68 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: ClownBluff (small blind) folded before the Flop

Finally a graph of my last 35k hands at full tilt. It's a shame I can't get bodog into the graph as well!



Jared and I are leave for the Vegas road trip tomorrow, and will be making a stop in San Antonio to catch game 2 of the NBA finals. We are taking our time to get to the WSOP since we don't have the house till the 16th. We were both too pumped to sit around the apt anymore so we figured that we might as well go see a the basketball game. I've never been to the finals of a big sports before, hopefully this will be the first of many big sporting events I attend in the near future. We still need to do the pre WSOP competition I wrote about earlier. We will most likely get it done on the way to Vegas. The real question is should I make Jared dye his hair pink, blue, or red when I crush him?

Poker Weekend #1 Part 3

We both went light on actual poker play on Sunday. Jared spent the whole day going over his poker tracker database and I got a massage in between 2 1k hand sessions. It really topped off a very relaxing weekend. My back usually gets pretty stiff after a long poker session, so I might have to make it a habit to get a massage every other week or so. Maybe there is even a place near by that also does happy endings.

I returned to play my second session of the day and managed a massive $13 win to close out the weekend. Before we packed up and left we both went over all the hands we played over the weekend and had some pretty interesting poker theory discussions. We both decided that this would be the tradition for the end of every poker retreat. Digging into your PT database and really going over problem hands is probably the best way to make fast improvements in your game. I know I came out of the weekend a much better player than I entered.

We will definitely be doing more of these in the future; maybe we can even get some other dynasty members to come as well. I think it would be pretty fun to get a small group together and do nothing but play and talk poker for a week. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

The Grand Bohemian Hotel

Nice.... but no where near Jared's whip

Jared's Poker/Smoke Station

Can't have a poker weekend without red bulls on ice

The hotel came with complimentary bad beat protection

Pimpin' Ain't Easy

Poker Weekend #1 Part 2

So, after 20 minutes of feeling sorry for myself I am once again ready crush some fishes. One of the things Jared and I discussed over the weekend was how poker is more volatile than we had even imagined. The rough patch I was it was pretty harsh, but it could still get a lot worse. The conclusion we came up with was that if we let the ups and downs of poker have an effect on our mood it was going to be a lot harder to make a living at this game. This is something you always strive for as a poker player, but it’s a lot harder than it looks. I don’t think complete detachment should be the goal, but when the rest of my life is so good why should a few bad weeks of poker matter?

The next 6 hours were great positive reinforcement for this type of attitude as I proceed to play awesome poker and book a nice 14 buy in win over 3600 hands. After that we decided to order up a little room service, smoke a little bit, and watch a movie. The biggest lesson learned over the weekend was to be wary of the munchies when room service and a mini bar are involved. I’ve never tasted better $9 gummy bears, $11 cashews, $5 snickers bar, $6 toblerone, $6 pretzels, and $4 Pringles in my life. Also, The Covenant just might be the worst movie ever made. It started off as “so terrible its hysterical” and moved quickly to “so terrible it sets humanity back 50 years”. I knew I was in for a treat when in the beginning chase scene one of the boys with powers yells “UP YOURS HARRY POTTER” while driving off the cliff. No I wasn’t high that actually happened.

iamBLACKmo came out Saturday morning (by that I mean 5pm) to chill and watch the UFC fight/Spurs-Jazz game. I wanted to get in a session before they started and I was lucky enough to find myself in some very good games on Bodog. A few minutes before we were supposed to leave a mega fish outdrew me in 3 pretty big pots. I told Jared and Mo to head over to the bar without me, as this was the kind of fish that you just don’t let off your hook. It wasn’t about getting my money back; the guy was just so bad I had to play him until he was gone.

He was reacting really poorly to my 3 bets so I decided to reraise every single time he opened. This basically made him go crazy and get in with some pretty atrocious hands. I was never really able to make up ground against him as we just seemed to be trading pots back and forth. However, my image also made the rest of my table go crazy and I broke the rest of the players a few times to keep the damage less than a buy in. It was a pretty fun experience. Going ultra LAG on certain Bodog players makes them do some hilarious things.

I went down to meet up with JDS and Mo at a pretty nice sports bar. They had seats at the bar and the UFC fight was just about to come on. These UFC fights are really starting to become an event, I was really surprised with the amount of ladies that seemed into it. We had a few beers and watched the fight when Mo D decided to fish it up a little when a gorgeous Brazilian looking girl started talking to him. She walked over to the bar and stood right next to him in a way that made it pretty obvious to me that she was interested. When someone stands so close to you they are practically sitting on your lap, it’s probably the signal you’re looking for. She got some drinks and Mo said something to her I couldn’t hear, but assumed it was going well as she was laughing. Mo turns back to me and we continue to watch the fight. She doesn’t leave but Mo just continues to talk to me. I give him the “WTF are you doing look” and he just looks confused. I’m not saying I’m the ultra master when it comes to the ladies, but when a women wants you to talk to her they make it pretty obvious. She talks to a guy on her left side and keeps looking back at Mo. I guess Mo is much better at reading cards than women as we end up leaving without her #. Mo is on mega “I just donked off 10 buyins” tilt from the experience so we head back up to the room and grab some room service.

I get in another 4 hour session with some of the Bodog players from earlier and able to still use my wild man image to take 4 more buyins from them. I was hoping to make 3k-5k over the weekend and I’ve pretty much passed the high end of that already. The poker retreat is turning out to be a very good idea, and we still have one day left.

Poker Weekend #1 Part 1

With the WSOP not far away the Poker Dynasty apartment has been in full blown poker mode for the last few weeks. Everyone is trying to fine tune their games while building up enough money to have sizable online, live, and tournament bankrolls. Jared suggested that we take it up a notch and devote this past weekend to nothing but playing poker and discussing poker theory. We decided that if we were going to do this we had to do it in style. So we made reservations at a nice hotel in Orlando for a distraction free poker weekend, with some room service and relaxation thrown in.

We head out to Orlando Thursday evening (it’s only about an hour from Tampa) trying to make it there before Jared’s coaching session at 10. We pull up to the Grand Bohemian Hotel and Jared’s battle worn Honda Civic fits in perfectly with the shiny Bentley and pearl white Rolls Royce that are also waiting for the valet. The hotel is pretty pimp, as it has tons of modern art at every turn. There are some interesting pieces, but some of the more “modern” art looks like something you expect from any preschool finger painter.

The first thing we do after checking in is bust out our laptops (the internet is the crack of our generation). After our computers boot up we give each other the “OH FUCK” look when we realize that the hotel doesn’t have wireless internet in the rooms. Apparently the rest of the hotel has wireless, but they are still working on integrating it into the guest rooms. These days I really expect every building in the country to have wireless, so it’s a pretty big shock when they don’t. The room has 2 ether net jacks, but only has one 8 inch long cable. Jared does his lesson and we decide to go find some cables in the morning, and just get some room service and watch sports center that night.

In the morning the concierge (aka old guy using Google) tells us that Radio Shack is only half a mile down the road turning left out of the hotel. It’s a pretty nice day so we go on foot instead of grabbing a taxi. I’m a bit skeptical about this info as the hotel is at the very edge of the downtown area, and left means going away from all the buildings. My scientism turns out to be right as after walking for about a mile we don’t find anything besides a bum fishing in a little man made lake.

We head back to the downtown area and search for something there until we decide to grab a bite to eat and head back to the hotel for better directions. Downtown Orlando is a pretty nice place, I will have to visit it again sometime that I’m not going to be playing poker for 4 days straight.

We get an address this time and take a cab to the Radio Shack that was a 15 minute drive instead of a half mile walk. We make quick work of purchasing the cables and get back to the hotel at about 5pm ready to hit the tables. We got off to a late start, but still plenty of time to play a ton of hands.

Over the past two weeks I’ve been running horrible. It started when I took a great calculated shot at Bodog 5/10. I played incredibly well, but a few massive beats forced me back down to the $300 and $600 tables. That stung a bit as I was dominating those players and if I had been a bit luckier I’d be well rolled for the game, even after taking out WSOP money. It didn’t get much better after dropping back down but I was able fight through and break even the last few weeks, when I should have probably lost a nice chunk of change.

I felt like I was going to break out of the slump this weekend as it’s pretty hard to lose when you’re able to fully concentrate on your game while playing a massive amount of hands. There first session almost crushed my optimism, as I got owned for about 5 buyins during the first 4 hours. I was really frustrated at this point, closed my computer, flopped face first into the bed, and buried my head in the pillows. I could feel the tilt coursing through my veins, but after about 15 minutes of stewing it went away. I simply decided that I wasn’t going to let it bother me anymore and all I could do was go back out, play good poker, and play a ton of hands. It’s going to come back eventually and if I put in the hours during the weekend it would come back very fast.

After that I was once again pumped to own the shit out of some fish and play better poker than I have before.

In part 2 we’ll find out if I was able to make a comeback or if poker decided I would look great in a straight jacket and sent me off the deep ending with some more monster beats.

Poker and Baseball

I think every major league team could learn a lot from poker players. When you break it down the pitcher vs. hitter battle has a ton of similarities to a poker game. Each player is trying to out think the other and the batter must often make a decision on what type of pitch is coming before it leaves his adversaries hand. Many of the great pitchers of our era could probably be monsters at poker if they decided to take it up.

One of the funniest things to watch is a pitcher go on tilt. One hanging pitch or missed close call can set a pitcher into the massive tilt that many of us experience after a bad beat. Maybe it’s just because I am so familiar with the signs of tilt, but I am able to tell the exact moment that the pitcher loses it. It’s not when he is noticeably angry, fiery passion can often get strike over, but when that anger stews long enough to completely numb his brain. It’s at this point the pitcher should be taken out of the game. No matter what the situation is, there are going to be some runs on the board pretty soon.

I’ve never understood why managers are so bad at making timely pitching changes. Even the best of the best seem to leave the pitcher in one or two pitches too long. They always wait until the pitcher completely blows it instead of taking action preemptively. It’s basically the same thing as getting up from the poker table after you tilt away your stack instead of catching the warning signs and saving yourself some money. In both games failing to act before the tilt costs the player/team a lot.

It seems pretty obvious to me that the guy who just game up a hit and two walks on close pitches probably isn’t going to get you that third out. Some MLB team should pay me 10k a game to sit in the dug out with the sole purpose to tell the manager when to take the pitcher out. I seriously think having someone paid to do this could win a team 10-15 extra games a year. Apparently managers are just as stubborn as most poker players and can’t admit that they could improve in this aspect of the game.

A Challenge: Ultimate Skills Competition

With only a month until I leave for the WSOP I feel the need to really get my gambling juices flowing. Jared and I have been known to gamble on just about anything we come across. Jared, the lucky SOB, has been running hot in our competitions and has got the better of me more times that I’d like to admit. I’m not a man who chases his losses, but it’s time I got even. With this ultimate skills competition I’m finally going to knock him off his heater and show him who’s the boss here at Poker Dynasty. Here’s how this competition is going to work, if he’s man enough to accept:

We will both come up with a list of competitions where one person does not have a dominating edge over the other. After flipping a coin the winner will select the first challenge from the list. After that challenge is completed the loser will then select the next competition continuing until someone has 4 victories. Here is the list I have come up with so far:

First to 20 RPS match victories
Best of 5 Heads up SNGs
Best of 3 Darts games
Best of 3 pool matches
Hot dog eating contest
19 holes of miniature golf
Best of heads up basketball

The best part is, I’m going to let the Poker Dynasty community select the stakes for this wager. Over the next couple of days I’ll take selections and they will be voted on at the forums. The ultimate skills competition deserves a better prize than just money, so be creative. Keep in mind that we will be at the WSOP all month, so something that can be done there could be very interesting. Anything other than “dress up as X during the main event” will be considered as that’s been done to death.

I fully expect Jared to accept my challenge and am greatly anticipating crushing his hopes and dreams in the competition.

I started a forum thread about this for you guys to post your ideas here:

Ultimate Skills Competition

The FTOPS Main Event…

…was fun for the 45 minutes it lasted. I had position on the fish who limped/raised almost every pot. I raised anytime he limped and he would fold to my continuation bet every time. He got fed up with that after a while and put in a few raises. Then we played this pot:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2470893593: FTOPS Main Event (15941974), Table 325 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:38:24 ET - 2007/05/20
Seat 1: TheLizard (2,485)
Seat 2: ScooopIT (4,510)
Seat 3: djmonkey (6,260)
Seat 4: Plumbob12 (4,010)
Seat 5: TheMightyDoobs (4,520)
Seat 6: bagelbob (2,975)
Seat 7: GUITARZAN32 (8,265)
Seat 8: nvestr21 (6,630)
Seat 9: dot_carter (5,345)
ScooopIT posts the small blind of 25
djmonkey posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [7c Qc]
Plumbob12 folds
TheMightyDoobs folds
bagelbob folds
GUITARZAN32 calls 50
nvestr21 folds
dot_carter raises to 225
TheLizard has 15 seconds left to act
TheLizard folds
ScooopIT folds
djmonkey folds
GUITARZAN32 calls 175
*** FLOP *** [8s 8h 8c]
GUITARZAN32 checks
dot_carter checks
*** TURN *** [8s 8h 8c] [7d]
GUITARZAN32 checks
dot_carter bets 300
GUITARZAN32 calls 300
*** RIVER *** [8s 8h 8c 7d] [Th]
GUITARZAN32 checks
dot_carter bets 500
GUITARZAN32 raises to 2,625
dot_carter calls 2,125
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GUITARZAN32 shows [As 9c] (three of a kind, Eights)
dot_carter shows [7c Qc] (a full house, Eights full of Sevens)
dot_carter wins the pot (6,375) with a full house, Eights full of Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,375 | Rake 0
Board: [8s 8h 8c 7d Th]
Seat 1: TheLizard (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: ScooopIT (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: djmonkey (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Plumbob12 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: TheMightyDoobs didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: bagelbob didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: GUITARZAN32 showed [As 9c] and lost with three of a kind, Eights
Seat 8: nvestr21 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: dot_carter showed [7c Qc] and won (6,375) with a full house, Eights full of Sevens

I almost checked behind on the turn but though better of it when I decided that he would definitely try to bluff me if I made a smallish river bet. The call was pretty easy as there was no way I could fold when the whole point of the play was for him to bluff raise me.

This hand was pretty disappointing as I would have been in great shape if I held up. This would be a good idea against someone else this deep, but it’s a no brainier against someone like guitarzan32.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2470939599: FTOPS Main Event (15941974), Table 325 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:44:25 ET - 2007/05/20
Seat 1: TheLizard (2,785)
Seat 2: ScooopIT (4,335)
Seat 3: djmonkey (6,185)
Seat 4: Plumbob12 (4,010)
Seat 5: TheMightyDoobs (4,670), is sitting out
Seat 6: bagelbob (3,375)
Seat 7: GUITARZAN32 (4,440)
Seat 8: nvestr21 (6,630)
Seat 9: dot_carter (8,570)
GUITARZAN32 posts the small blind of 25
nvestr21 posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Kc Ad]
dot_carter raises to 175
TheLizard folds
ScooopIT folds
djmonkey folds
Plumbob12 folds
TheMightyDoobs folds
bagelbob folds
GUITARZAN32 raises to 575
nvestr21 folds
dot_carter raises to 8,570, and is all in
GUITARZAN32 calls 3,865, and is all in
dot_carter shows [Kc Ad]
GUITARZAN32 shows [As Jh]
Uncalled bet of 4,130 returned to dot_carter
*** FLOP *** [Jd Td 7d]
*** TURN *** [Jd Td 7d] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [Jd Td 7d Tc] [5s]
dot_carter shows a pair of Tens
GUITARZAN32: ty
GUITARZAN32 shows two pair, Jacks and Tens
GUITARZAN32 wins the pot (8,930) with two pair, Jacks and Tens
TheMightyDoobs has returned
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,930 | Rake 0
Board: [Jd Td 7d Tc 5s]
Seat 1: TheLizard didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: ScooopIT didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: djmonkey didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Plumbob12 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: TheMightyDoobs didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: bagelbob (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: GUITARZAN32 (small blind) showed [As Jh] and won (8,930) with two pair, Jacks and Tens
Seat 8: nvestr21 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: dot_carter showed [Kc Ad] and lost with a pair of Tens

I’m still in fairly good shape with 4k after losing that pot. The next big hand I played was this:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2470978891: FTOPS Main Event (15941974), Table 325 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:49:35 ET - 2007/05/20
Seat 1: TheLizard (2,825)
Seat 2: ScooopIT (4,215)
Seat 3: djmonkey (6,095)
Seat 4: Plumbob12 (3,740)
Seat 5: TheMightyDoobs (4,550)
Seat 6: bagelbob (3,500)
Seat 7: GUITARZAN32 (8,770)
Seat 8: nvestr21 (7,305)
Seat 9: dot_carter (4,000)
Plumbob12 posts the small blind of 30
TheMightyDoobs posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [3d Ad]
GUITARZAN32 is feeling angry
bagelbob folds
GUITARZAN32 folds
nvestr21 folds
GUITARZAN32 is feeling happy
dot_carter raises to 180
GUITARZAN32 is feeling confused
TheLizard folds
ScooopIT folds
djmonkey folds
Plumbob12 calls 150
GUITARZAN32 is feeling normal
TheMightyDoobs folds
*** FLOP *** [Td 4d 9h]
Plumbob12 checks
dot_carter bets 300
Plumbob12 raises to 1,320
dot_carter raises to 3,820, and is all in
Plumbob12 calls 2,240, and is all in
dot_carter shows [3d Ad]
Plumbob12 shows [Th Ts]
Uncalled bet of 260 returned to dot_carter
*** TURN *** [Td 4d 9h] [As]
*** RIVER *** [Td 4d 9h As] [8s]
dot_carter shows a pair of Aces
Plumbob12 shows three of a kind, Tens
Plumbob12 wins the pot (7,540) with three of a kind, Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,540 | Rake 0
Board: [Td 4d 9h As 8s]
Seat 1: TheLizard didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: ScooopIT didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: djmonkey (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Plumbob12 (small blind) showed [Th Ts] and won (7,540) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 5: TheMightyDoobs (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: bagelbob didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: GUITARZAN32 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: nvestr21 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: dot_carter showed [3d Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces

This is pretty standard for me at this stage of the tournament. I’m not going to get away from the nut flush draw when he had room to fold and there isn’t a very good reason to think he has a good hand. I just happened to run into the top of his range here, oh well, I still had outs.

It was very fitting that Guitarzam32 put the nail in my coffin. I wouldn’t have had it any other way! It was a pretty amusing hand.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2470987342: FTOPS Main Event (15941974), Table 325 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:50:42 ET - 2007/05/20
Seat 1: TheLizard (2,825)
Seat 2: ScooopIT (4,215)
Seat 3: djmonkey (6,095)
Seat 4: Plumbob12 (7,540)
Seat 5: TheMightyDoobs (4,490)
Seat 6: bagelbob (3,500)
Seat 7: GUITARZAN32 (8,770)
Seat 8: nvestr21 (7,305)
Seat 9: dot_carter (260)
TheMightyDoobs posts the small blind of 30
bagelbob posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dot_carter [Jc Kc]
GUITARZAN32 calls 60
nvestr21 folds
dot_carter raises to 260, and is all in
TheLizard calls 260
ScooopIT folds
djmonkey calls 260
Plumbob12 folds
TheMightyDoobs raises to 1,200
bagelbob folds
GUITARZAN32 raises to 8,770, and is all in
TheLizard folds
djmonkey folds
TheMightyDoobs has 15 seconds left to act
TheMightyDoobs: aces?
TheMightyDoobs folds
GUITARZAN32 shows [Ah Kd]
dot_carter shows [Jc Kc]
Uncalled bet of 7,570 returned to GUITARZAN32
*** FLOP *** [5c 2h 9d]
*** TURN *** [5c 2h 9d] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [5c 2h 9d 3s] [4h]
GUITARZAN32 wins the side pot (1,880)
GUITARZAN32 shows a straight, Five high
dot_carter shows King Jack high
GUITARZAN32 wins the main pot (1,360) with a straight, Five high
dot_carter stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,240 Main pot 1,360. Side pot 1,880. | Rake 0
Board: [5c 2h 9d 3s 4h]
Seat 1: TheLizard folded before the Flop
Seat 2: ScooopIT didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: djmonkey folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Plumbob12 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: TheMightyDoobs (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: bagelbob (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: GUITARZAN32 showed [Ah Kd] and won (3,240) with a straight, Five high
Seat 8: nvestr21 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: dot_carter showed [Jc Kc] and lost with King Jack high


It’s too bad this post couldn’t be longer, but I would rather bust out fast playing well than grind for a few hours only to bubble/place barely in the money. The next tournament I play in should be a WSOP event so hopefully I’ll be writing a post about that with a bracelet on my wrist.

Thank God for the UIGEA?

I know anything I write today will be a let down, as you were probably waiting for some crazy stripper/booze related story from Jared’s birthday party last night. Sadly, Jared was feeling pretty shitty when we all went out to dinner and we had to postpone the festivities to another night.

I have not always been a glass half full kinda guy, but since life has been so good to me the last few years it’s hard not to be. Just like everyone else I was livid when the UIGEA was announced. I knew the games would get harder and it would be difficult to move money around. The poker scene has pretty much played out as predicted the last few months. For those of you who weren’t around in the earlier days of online poker you probably don’t realize how much tougher the games are now than they were even one year ago.

While I would obviously have preferred the UIGEA to never have existed I had to look for some positives in the situation in order to keep myself from becoming totally depressed about the state of online poker. I truly believe that this whole mess will be cleaned up in the next few years. Once the government gets their cut of the poker pie any of their faux moral motivations will fall away. Many people want to play poker and even more people believe we should have the freedom to do so. I just don’t see some sort of resolution not happening in the near future.

When this does happen there is going to a “poker boom 2”. Nobody will be afraid to play poker online and the game will return as strong, if not stronger, than it was in years past. That means those of us who went through the trial by fire of the UIGEA and came out winners will be handsomely rewarded. If you are able to dedicate yourself to the game and become a winner in this climate the sky is the limit a few years down the road. If I can make 75k-100k a year now a number as high as a million wouldn’t be out of reach with another poker boom.

This is why I think it’s so important to invest in your game now, even if you’re not able to get all star type results yet. The UIGEA climate has exposed flaws in all our games that went unnoticed because the games were so good. If we take the time to work those kinks out we will all be some rich fuckers. So, even if the results aren’t here now just think about investing in your poker future. If you ever had the dream of being a pro poker player, even though it looks bleak, this is not the time to give up hope. Like they say in the stock market “Buy low and sell high”

Anti Work Movement

Life is like a treadmill, niggas runnin in place
Gettin nowhere fast, a whole year done past
I vowed to never stop winin, 'til the earth stop spinnin
Rock hot lenin, cop hot cars and hot women
If it's not him then you got it confused, y'all not remembering,
My motto is simply I will not lose

- Jay Z

I knew from a very early age that the 9-5 life wasn’t for me. You could never call me a good employee and even though I did very well in school I was far from a “good student”. In every job I’ve had I always found a way to get my work done faster doing it my way instead of “the right way”. Apparently I never learned value of hard work because this never sat well with my bosses. My jobs would inevitably end one of two ways. First I would get in an argument with the boss over why their current methods were wasting time, and with me not wanting to continue wasting time and they having too much pride to admit things could be done better, we would soon part ways. The second way would be to request time off work, having that request denied, and me promptly quitting. Freedom has always been the most important value in my life, much more than knowing I will be getting a check every two weeks.

Even though I knew I didn’t want to go through life with the standard game plan, it was still very difficult to actually make that happen. The pressure from society to go to college, get a job, start a family, and save for retirement is extremely difficult to overcome. If you don’t follow the crowd you’re not respected and just considered lazy. I gave into this pressure for a long time and ended up spending a year of misery at the University of Michigan. This was the place I had always wanted to attend, and the only school I applied for. I couldn’t help feeling empty the entire time I was there. Everyone was so worried about getting their degree to move on to their 50k/ year job. Even at the best parties nobody truly seemed happy.

After that year things were really in perspective. The “American dream” was not what I wanted for my life. I wanted to do the things I enjoyed from life when I wanted and how I wanted, and I didn’t want to wait till I was 60 for that to happen. So I took what most people would consider the biggest gamble of their life. I dropped out of school and left my old life behind forever. To me this wasn’t a gamble at all. No matter how it ended I would be the winner.

At this time I had not even started playing poker online. I bounced around from Chicago, Texas, California, Seattle, and Michigan. I worked a few very interesting jobs and quit them as soon as they became not so interesting. The main thing was I enjoyed every minute of it.

During this time I met my soul mate, and her name is No Limit Hold’em. I started playing while in Chicago and improved my skills over the following year and a half of bouncing around the country. After taking a road trip across the US with my good friend Jared Devlin-Scherer we both decided to take the plunge and moved to Florida to peruse our careers as professional poker players.

While there have been both ups and downs, the positives have greatly outnumbered the negatives. Poker not only gives me freedom to live my life the way I want, but also the financial means to do so. In the 3 years I’ve played professionally I’ve had the opportunity to spend months in Europe, sit courtside at NBA playoff games, travel the USA, attend baseball games 3 times a week, and play in the World Series of Poker main event.

I don’t say this to brag. What I want to do with this blog is open people’s eyes to a life style that anyone can have. This site portrays a mentality I like to call the “Anti Work Movement’. For those of you not satisfied working a 9-5, making someone else rich, I hope I can make you take a look at your life and put the wheels in motion for you to break this cycle. I’m not suggesting you tell your boss to fuck off and become a poker pro, this particular life might not be for you. Why not figure out what you love to do and turn that into a business? Maybe there is a job you actually enjoy doing. If you’re doing something else figure out a plan that changes that.

I can’t tell you what will make you happy with life, that’s something you’ll have to figure out yourself. The most important thing to realize is the risk is minuscule compared to the rewards available. As a poker player this type of situation is exactly what I look for at the table. You should be looking for these same situations in life. Never be afraid to make a low risk high reward decision with your life. Hopefully reading about my life in this blog will inspire you to do everything in your power to design a life that you’re truly happy to live.