2007/10/11 - Number 10 - Annual Post HAHA

K so where the hell have i been?

Well too busy playing reading and generally living poker.

The dream was always to become a pro (and by pro i just mean make a living from poker, rather than claim to be a great or famous player).

You might be surprised to read that i am 80% there.

I guess i would classify myself as a semi pro. I have gone casual at my place of work reducing my full time schedule from 38hrs p/w to only 11 hours. I think i may be "let go" soon though, as i have booked a flight to Melbourne Australia for the next couple of weeks to play the Pokernews cup at Crown Casino, and my boss is getting annoyed that i am having a few days off here and there out of only 2 i am supposed to work.

I think he will give me the "its no point having you on the roster when you hardly come in" speech - i think if he asks me to quit it wont bother me - its a drag everyday having to go there.

So back to the update - in a nutshell - what has happened over the last year?

Well the first major thing was I played another Burswood qualifier tournament, this time to the Western Classic 2006. I did gain entry and went on to finish top 3 which won me a flight to Melbourne, accomodation at Crown Towers AND a $10500 entry to the 2007 Aussie Millions!

Fantastic trip but a disappointing end, when i was bundled out of the main event on day one by a string of people willing to call any amount on a gutshot straight draw (which they hit) OR underpairs to my AA or KK on boards of J10x that they then hit for trips on the river.

The week after placing at the Western Classic I took out a tournament held in a central suburb of Perth known as the Tournament Of Champions. Basically 100+ of Perths better (and luckier) players. That was worth 3k so in 2 weeks i had won $20k from poker - good times.

Over the following months i continued to play some tournaments and even came runner up in the 3rd Tourn of Champs after coming back from what i consider the worst live bad beat EVER that i have come across. And this was after the same fish put a shocking beat on me earlier.

Let me set it up. The donkey on my right has been playing A grade CHEESE* all night and calling down with Ahigh and 4 kicker and somehow winning pot after pot. I on the other hand have been playing great, good reads, good cards, and upto the hand in question my hands were holding up.

So anyway, i get KQ in the blinds - couple of limpers inc donkey and when it gets to me i think ive got 11k avg approx 2k i think i can hopefully take this down and if not its prob only donkey to call and i know i can outplay him and he'll pay me off if i hit so i raise - donkeyboy is only caller.

Flop is 22K - i am pretty sure i am up with KQ so i lead out knowing he will call with anything. he does. Q on turn upgrades my 2pr and now i KNOW i am up - i lead out a weak bet and based on recent hands think he will try to steal - he goes all in (we started the hand me 11k him approx 10k) and i instacall. He has 33!! WHAT A FISH.

So anyway 3 on the river and he doubles to 20k and i am barely alive at $1500.

So over the next 30 mins or so I continue to play well get a couple of hands and start building my stack again. He finally starts losing some hands and we come to the point where i am leading again with 12K and he is back down to about 10K.

I am in the blinds again and have AA. I instantly think i am gonna knock this clown out.blinds are now 200/400. a shortish stack calls leaving himself about 2100 and donkeyboy also calls (what else is he gonna do?) I look at my cards have a little think and decide if i raise 800, short stack may all in (if so donkey will call then i can all in) or if short calls donkey will call and on the flop i can continuation bet 800 which will make short fold if he has NOTHING at all or more likely get him to all in for his 1300 which will reopen the pot so when donkey calls as i know he will, i can then reraise vs donkey.

So short calls as does donkey and the flop is A 8 5 RAINBOW

Let me say that again : A 8 5 RAINBOW. I flop trip A the nuts....

SO plan B is to be put into action. I pause then lead out confidently with 800, short stack says yeah alright im all in - donkey calls of course. Now here is where i go to Hollywood, i look at donkey, i look at my cards, i really ham it up - anyone would prob see through this charade but not donkey - i then give him the evil stare and say "IM ALL IN" and thrust my remaining 11k in the pot - donkey INSTACALLS!!! I think what the hell has he got????

i flip over my AA and the railbirds and players on the table are amazed - AAA and 25k in the pot. WHat does Donkey turn over?

POCKET 2 - yep 22!!! Did he learn from the 33 from before ie he won but he called and was in BAD shape - NO he didnt and this time its even worse - to win he needs the IMPOSSIBLE - his tourney life is on the line and he needs running twos for quads to beat me....

As a 2 pops up on the turn the table erupts and people start running over to see what all the fuss is about. As i sit there thinking it is just IMPOSSIBLE that after hitting 333 on the river b4 he could now crack my flopped AAA trips with running 2 quads, the dealer lays out the case 2. ITS TRUE - i have many witnesses to this - he did it again.

As he sat there smiling and laughing with his stupid girlfriend congratulating him, my favourite comment was some guy who said to him "You know what u just did? You jumped in front of a speeding bus and instead of being smeared all over the fender and windscreen, the bus split in half like a Fred Flintstone 7-10-split bowling ball and missed you."

So how did i come runner up? Well to shorten this up, i came back playing well - gambled only once "at the right time" and doubled up then steadily built my stack till i got heads up for the championship with a 7:1 chip lead.

The last 4 hands were played all in - i had the best of it every time (and they weren't all coinflips i had him dominated twice AQ vs Q7 and Js10s vs J4 "I thought you were bluffing" and lost every one - hence runner up!

So i have graduated from the 10/20 limit game and now play pretty much exclusively the $5/$5 No Limit game. $500 max buy-in and swings can be pretty large as Perth seems VERY aggressive and in fact the 5/5 game plays more like a 5/10 game with 35-45 being a common pre flop raise. Where in the world is a standard raise 10% of your stack????

What is interesting is that i tend to win more when i play less. I dont know if this is statistical probability that the more hands i win i am due to lose one OR that i tend to lose concentration.

I DO believe the former because all i can do is put my money in with the best. Case in point 2 days ago i raise with AQh and get 2 callers. One a fish another a very loose aggressive player "Rowan" who could have anything. If i hit either card i know with his range i am likely 99% to be ahead. Flop is Q low low, i KNOW he would have reraised me with a pair so at worst i am splitting but im pretty sure i am up.

He checks and i bet $50 happy to take it down (he may have a K and if he does hes likely to hit on the turn coz hes a luckbox). ANyway fish calls and Rowan all in another $200 - I instacall coz he will often push a hand here. His thinking is I will fold anything maybe inc AQ in the unlikely event i have it and if i do i can think he has trips - but i KNOW him so i all in to isolate and kick out fish who can also always suck out.

Fish calls as well and we show ME=AQ FISH=QJ and ROWAN=Q10.... Q10!!!!!

So 10 on turn and Rowan sucks out again!

OK well that is enough for now.

I'll prob post again when i return from Melbourne - I am pretty focussed on doing well there so i will be pretty disappointed if i dont get some kind of result.

* cheese

(n) piece of cheese. "Throw that cheese in the muck" is sometimes said by someone who has made a bet, usually large, to the person contemplating calling that bet, implying that the caller cannot win with his (supposedly) inferior hand.

2006/07/01 - Number 9

Hopefully a quick post - certainly a much happier one.

Sat Night was a special night because the organiser of our weekly game actually came second at the Casino tournament I mentioned in our last post and collected $8000!!!

WELL DONE KING.

To celebrate, he graciously offered Pizza for all who attended AND a free box of 500 casino chips for all 9 who made the final table.

I felt like I wanted a feed of Pizza and chips and set myself for a solid performance.

27 people attended (the word free brings people out of the woodwork) and thanks to some slow playing of flopped sets i built a handy stack.

Long story short it came to heads up and with $500 for 1st and $300 4 2nd we chopped for $400 each.

This win means i will enroll for next $125 tourney again.

2006/06/25 - Number 8 - Where Have I been???

OK I have been VERY BUSY playing reading learning experimenting POKER.

Yes, although all books say keep records over the last two months my time has been spent reading books, discussing strategies with fellow players, plying my trade at the $10/$20 limit game at my local casino.

Do I have a running total? No. Am I up? Well all players say they are and if you wish to believe me or not I am. I am a winner at casino 4 times out of 6 avg win $300. I have cashed a couple of times at our weekly Sat games. I am now also playing online at a couple of sites but mainly Pokeroom and now Titan (for reasons mentioned below)

The most important thing to happen Pokerwise was a tournament at our casino I entered.

There were 2 "qualifiers" costing $125 ($110 to final pool) for 80 people each. Top 20% (16 from each qual) made the final where a further 48 could buy in for $550 ($500 to pool)

I made top 16 and was raring to go for the $40,000 prizepool.

Which was today.

So what happened???

Well as luck would have it Zlonk Poker put on a freeroll at Titan Poker for us bloggers starting at 9am my time. 300 places, top 15 paid from a prizepool of $150.

I had to be at cas by 12 to register my attendance for the final but thought I could warm up with a little online action and try some stuff....

To my surprise I played really well, got somewhat lucky a couple of times (as any person who finishes high would have to admit) and ended up 2nd for a US$30 cash.

It finished heads up between me and IgotBIGnuts. I had a HUGE chip lead and dont think it would be disrespectful to say I really feel I could have won except for the fact we were still heads up and it was nearly 12!!!

I had to just go all in on everything as i had to rush to the tourney and in the end his K6 hit a K to my A3 which only hit a 3 and he won.

Still I was VERY pleased with my play and thought it boded well for the final.

FAST FORWARD 30 mins, I am sitting at the tourney at casino having not played a hand. I look down to see QQ. UTG raises to $150 (we had $3000 starting and blinds were $25/$50 - no limit). Folded to me in mid position and I raise to $300.

Two more folds and an arrogant guy who I have seen play limit at the casino goes all in over the top. Folded to me and I have a decision to make. Now before I tell you what I did let me set some things up. I had said a few things pre game to entice action - including one quote "I am playing so scared I would prob fold AA to an all in early on" He had said at the time "You may as well go home now if you aren't gonna play that" or words to that effect.

Now back to decision time. I have been practising reading people alot and have gotten pretty good. Although I dont particularly believe in ESP or whatever I have found that 99% of the time my first gut instinct is correct. My thoughts are as follows - I know he doesnt have AA (how? I just decided I KNEW that) The best and only think he could have is KK or AK. So there is only ONE POSSIBLE HAND he could have that is up on me as I would def call with QQ if someone showed they had AK preflop.

Anyway I think for a while. I recall our conversation. I think to myself that my plan was to not overcommit early but I have $300 in, PLUS QQ!!! My next thought is that if I was confident I wouldve called straight away, so I reason my instincts are to fold.... BUT, when taking all things into consideration including the conversation 3 mins earlier what are the odds???. Can I fold QQ here???? I think for a while and think if he has KK, then he has me covered, but anything else I win. I decide if i walked into KK now it wasnt going to be my day anyway, and if he has anything else I will likely double up to $6000 and be able to play tight and steal when possible and cruise to at least top 20 then have a chance from there...

I call - he flips the cowboys. There is a glimmer of hope as the spades pile up (I have Qs) but then I realise he has Ks!!! I end up praying for a Q on the river.....

But alas - no such luck.

I am SO disappointed at going out so early - NOT FIRST mind you, prob 3rd I think - The ignominy of last was collected on the first hand where pocket 10 (which I WOULD have folded) also lost to KK!

So if ANYONE, EVER reads this, please leave a comment and either educate me as to the logical reason I should have folded, OR make me feel better by convincing me I made the right play.

Thanks again to Matt at Poker Savvy and Zlonk Poker Forums.

Also if you wanna read a quality poker blog instead of my drivel, check out :

Gene's Blog at http://meangenepoker.blogspot.com/
Grubby at http://www.pokergrub.com/ and
Double As at http://doubleas.blogspot.com/

2006/04/04 - Number 7 (REALLY LONG CATCHUP)

+$148

So it's been a while since I posted and its probably because I had been a bit pissed off at what I felt had been some mistakes I have made and some more bad beats (or at least what I thought were bad beats).

Before I begin this is for any other poker bloggers out there.

http://www.pokersavvy.com/blogtour.html

So since my last post on 18/3/06, here are my results.

21/3/06 Had a JVC product launch that was held in the Grand Ballroom across from the casino. Fantastic meal, boring presentation and $200 thrown away in quick time.

-$52

I was annoyed at how I played on Tuesday night and swore I would make amends on 22/3/06. I was about $300 up and started getting cocky. I chased time and again, but when my straight hit I didnt respect the flush or full house possibilities and got nailed time and again. I ended up going all in on pocket 7s and knew I was up until the guy hit a 6 on the river to add to the 6 on the flop and the one in his hand. Result Minus $200.

-$252

I didn't play Sat 25/3/06 as my mates Buck's night took precedence - nothing to report here unfortunately...just drinks at a pub.

I was very disappointed in my recent losses and decided I had better come up with some rules so that maybe I can minimize losses and maximise winnings.

I remembered a documentary I saw about a guy who gambled as his main income - he played many casino games specialising in craps but I remembered his plan and although I questioned it at the time it suddenly made perfect sense to me.

So basically this is what he said. Every day he went to the casino with $1000. That was his bankroll for the day. He would make a decision that if he lost say $300 in the first hour or say went below $500 he would leave and go home. He would take that as a daily loss. The point he made was valid - YOU CAN'T win everytime or everyday you play. You have to accept that there will be winning days AND losing days. The idea is that if 3 days in a row he loses $300 he is $900 down but if on day four he wins $2000 he is $1100 up over 4 days - THAT is a reasonable income...

The key is to recognise a losing day and get out with as little a loss as possible. It's true that the greatest people in sport, work etc actually fail or underperform a good deal of the time. The most important thing to do is to win plenty on the good days and to lose as little as possible on the bad days.

With this in mind I have decided to have a little system and this is how it goes.

I buy in for $300. If I lose $150 I get up and leave and take the minus $150. If I get say $200 up, I set aside my initial stake plus $100 and then only play with what I have above that. This way if I take a bad beat or two (which would likely put me on tilt) I walk away $100 to the good.

I felt good about my new system and was keen to try it out on Wed 30/3/06.

I arrived full of vim and vigor only to be told at the door I could not enter.

"Why", I enquired?
"You can't enter with those pants", the large doorman.

I had put on some VERY NEAT and dull coloured track pants as the casino aircon is FREEZING at the tables. I have seen MANY people wearing similar and worse. Anyway he says I cannot enter as they are "Active Sportswear" which is not allowed.

Active sportswear I ask incredulous. What are those runners that guy is wearing? They are neat enclosed shoes and are OK.

Alright, so the rule is "ACTIVE" Sportswear. "Tell me ONE sport in the whole world where you actually WEAR track pants????" I ask him with pride and the glint of a winner who has just asked the worlds most perfect conundrum.

"You can't wear them in here" is his response. Bitching about the long trip I had made and that I had worn them before made no difference. I forced him to call out the manager knowing it would do no good but seeing as my day was ruined I may as well get them jumping through hoops. So boss (even bigger) comes out and just says "You can't come in like that" over and over.

As I trudge off I think "do I drive all the way home (30 mins) or do I try to find some suitable attire?" I have been wanting some light canvas/cotton slacks for a while and reason if the local shopping centre can provide these at a reasonable price it will make this trip worthwhile and get me in there!

The short story is I didnt find what I was looking for BUT I did find some cool denim long shorts for $28 (and remembered I also needed a new pair of those) so I bought them and headed back.

I flipped the same doorman the bird as I entered, safe in the knowledge that as the security at the casino had been on the news in recent nights being accused of heavy handedness they would not touch me - and luckily I was right.

I had decided to play 4 today as it is my wifes fave number and I wanted to say to her "look what I won and it was because of your 4!".

Second hand I got was 9 4 offsuit. I threw it and only remembered when the flop came 3 4 4 what I should have done. I played tight aggressive and was about $150 up after 2 hours. By now it was getting close to the time I had to go pick up my girls from daycare/school so I set aside my initial $250 buyin plus $100 in winnings and decided to play the last $50. I finally got a reasonable hand and put in my blind and the first raise but realised it was going nowhere and folded and thought +$112 was ok for about 3 hours grinding. (I reason if I look at it like work about $20 an hour tax free is acceptable - ideally I would like to make at least $50 an hour, but I had my system and I was gonna stick to it).

I got up and on the way to cash out walked past the roulette. I saw that 11 (MY number) was about to disappear of the board (that shows the most recent numbers). Then I saw 28 came up (my birthday) Then I remembered I said I was going to play number 4. I placed a $2 chip on number 4 and was told the minimum was $2.50. This had changed some months ago but since poker I never lay random luck games like roulette so had no idea.

Long story short - 4 came up and I pocketed another $88 - YAY me!!

-$55

So Sat April 1st (yes April Fools) arrives and I plan to use my new strategies and odds I have been learning at our regular $50 tourney.

I am playing well until I had A 9 suited and everyone was limping/folding. Blinds were $50/$100

I raised to $300 I think one caller only (chip leader). Flop comes A 10 6.I bet $300 to end it. He calls. Turn is 6. I check knowing he will bet the 6 if he has it and he checks.

Maybe I should have bet here, but the way he checks I KNOW he doesnt have the sixes.

The river is a J and I look at what he may have had. I again discount trip 6. I am positive he didnt have pockets of ANY kind.

The only thing he could have is A plus second pair, A plus high kicker or the most unlikely K Q for a straight. He asks if I have an ace and I say I do (I AM honest afterall) I decide to check and hope he bets... He thinks and puts me all in for my $3500.

I agonise and "knowing" he didnt have A or 6, and he COULDN'T have K Q I call his "bluff"

He had K Q.....

In our tournaments I am constantly accused of playing tight or weak but EVERY time I call or raise I am inevitably rivered after leading all the way...... I have lost ALL my "all ins" for last 4 weeks after being up all the way and being rivered.

I was so annoyed about this until I read this article :

When you watch poker on TV, do you ever see some plays that seem incomprehensible? Recently, a student sent me such a hand from the World Poker Open in Tunica, Mississippi, and asked, “What’s going on here?”

Here is the hand, played between Gary Gibbs, a tournament regular with lifetime tournament winnings of more than $300,000, and Gavin Smith, who has been on a tear recently and has lifetime tournament winnings of more than $2 million. With 11 players left (all in the money), there was a fivehanded and a sixhanded table. The blinds were $8,000-$16,000 with $2,000 antes. Thus, at the fivehanded table, the total pot before the deal was $34,000. Gibbs was one off the button with a deep stack of just over $1 million. Smith was on the button and had Gary covered.

Gibbs raised to $48,000 and Smith called. The flop came K Q 5, Gibbs bet $65,000, and Smith called. The turn card was the 7, Gibbs bet $150,000, and Smith called. The river card was the 9, Gibbs checked, Smith bet $400,000, and Gibbs moved all in for about $650,000. Smith called, showing the 10 8 for a flush, and Gibbs showed the 8 6 for a straight. Smith won the biggest pot of the tournament to that point, and Gibbs was eliminated tied for 10th place, and took home $34,600.

OK, what really was happening here? What were these two guys doing betting and calling with nothing at all? I have no way to know what was going on in their heads, and I am looking at this hand out of context, but I will take a shot at it. I apologize in advance to Gary and Gavin if I am misrepresenting their thoughts. I also am not going to tell you that their actions were good or bad. These are the actions they made at the table, and I am going to try to reason why they made them. Here is my analysis of their thinking:

Gibbs: I am one off the button. Everyone is playing pretty tight, trying to make the final table, so I will raise here to steal the blinds and antes. After all, someone has to. A standard raise to $48,000, three times the big blind, has been working at this table, so I will try it.

Smith: Gibbs raised, but he would do that with almost anything, trying to steal. I don’t want to reraise and risk a bunch of chips in case one of the blinds wakes up with a real hand and comes over the top, making me fold. I have a pretty good hand to call here, as it can make some unexpected big hands. With my position, I should be able to take this pot away from Gibbs. Plus, I may flop a miracle.

(The flop comes K Q 5; the pot holds $134,000.)

Gibbs: I missed the flop, but I have only one opponent, and he probably missed, too. I must make a standard continuation bet here of half the pot. He will probably give up if he missed, or even if he has middle pair. If he calls or raises, I will just give up on the hand.

Smith: I missed, and he is betting. Of course, he will pretty much always bet with one opponent after he has raised. I will risk a call here and see what he does on the turn. If he missed the flop, he will probably check and fold on the turn, as my call will look scary to him. I estimate I will have a 50 percent chance of stealing this pot, and I am getting 2-to-1 for my call.

(The turn is the 7; the pot holds $264,000.)

Gibbs: Smith’s call was scary, but I just picked up an open-end straight draw, and I have eight outs to make a real hand and possibly double through. Plus, if I bet, he will think I’m strong and will fold many hands with which he would call on the flop to see if I really have strength. Had I missed the turn completely, I would have given up, but this draw now enables me to fire a second barrel. I need to show some strength here, and I should bet more than half the pot to convince Smith that I have the goods. A bet of 60 percent of the pot, $150,000, should do it.

Smith: Well, he bet again, so he really must have something. However, I just picked up a well-hidden flush draw. His bet of $150,000 is pretty big, but if I hit my flush, there is a good chance he will give me his remaining $650,000 in addition to the $414,000 that’s already in the pot. So, I am really calling $150,000 in an attempt to win more than a million. With a 20 percent chance to hit, that moves the odds in my favor. I know I am drawing, but my flush will be well-hidden. Since his turn bet shows strength, he probably will pay me off.

(The river is the 9; the pot is $564,000.)

Gibbs: Holy cow! I made my straight. He will never believe it. Now, how do I get a lot of money from him? I can just push all in, but that probably will scare him off top pair, and I want a big reward for my miracle catch. If I bet a little, I probably will get called, but I want a bigger payoff. I will check! He has called thus far, so he must have a pretty good hand. He will bet most of his hands to get paid off, and perhaps will put in enough to get pot-committed, so when I check-raise, he will have to make a crying call. I may double through here. Plus, even if he has a weak hand, he may bet something on a desperation bluff, and I will get something from him instead of nothing if I bet. All in all, I will try the check.

Smith: Holy cow! I made my flush. He will never believe it. Now, how do I get a lot of money from him? I know he has a good hand because he bet the turn, but his check probably means he does not have a huge hand and does not want to face a fancy raise by me. I need to bet something here that will get paid off. I don’t want to put him all in, as he probably will fold, and I won’t get anything. The pot is $564,000. If I bet around two-thirds of it, he can make a crying call and still have $250,000 left, which he just might do rather than see the whole pot go to me. Maybe I should bet a little less, but I think he might pay me off at $400,000, so I will bet that.

Gibbs: I did it. He bet. And he did bet enough so that he’ll have to pay me off. I will just push all in here and he will have to call the rest. Final table, here I come — with a big stack.

Smith: What is this? A check-raise? Did he make a bigger flush? Could he have the Q J? I hope not, but it doesn’t matter. I have a real hand, and I am totally pot-committed. I will call and just hope he was trapping with something I can beat.

That is my take on Gibbs’ and Smith’s thinking. Certainly, these players could have made different decisions at every point, and may make different ones tomorrow based on their table image, their view of how well their opponents play, the stack sizes of the other players, especially the blinds, tells they may have had on each other or the field, their goals in the tournament, and many other factors.

Announcers on TV do not have time to go into hands (especially poker math) in any depth, so their analysis is necessarily somewhat superficial. Perhaps my analysis, if close to correct, gave you a feel for what these players are thinking as they approach and play at the final table of a major event.

So anyway to finish off last Saturday, I also lose another $35 in what we call the losers game afterwards.
-$140

So 5/4/06 my little girl fakes sickness and my wife jumps at the chance to say I have to stay home and look after her and therefore not go to the casino.

She gets her wish, but by the time she gets home from the gym at 8.45pm I am itching to get a game and after an earlier argument I am not hearing her objections. I am heading to the casino to show her!

I get to the casino at 9.30pm where I play the $10/$10/$20/$20 structured game. Second hand I get pocket 7s. I raise and hope. Some callers and flop is 554. Checked to me and I bet. Some callers and turn is 6. With top pair and an open ended straight I bet. All fold but 1 guy raises and I call. River is x and my 77 55 beats his 66 55.

I play tight aggressive and am up about $500 in less than 2 hours. Finally the cards fall like they should and my hands hold up! I am counting out my chips to cash in when the dealer deals again. I am worried that I may see a hand that forces me to play and lose my "hard earned" winnings. I consider chucking them without looking but I am too curious so I look.

9 5 spades. If it was 9 4 or 10 5 I would have thrown but the flush AND straight possibility make me call. The flop hits 8 10 A spades - I have flopped the flush! I decide I will bet/raise all the way and hope for no 4th spade.

It doesnt come and I add another $200 odd dollars to my kitty and before they can push the chips over I say "KEEP IT AND CASH ME OUT!" + $768

+$628

2006/03/18 - Number 6

+$198

I won't bother mentioning the 5c/10c online poker I have been playing as it is too boring and pretty annoying as well - Unless I win big or lose big.....

$50 buy in tonight game - 23 players, 2000 chips each.

I play poorly, flop trip 9s and play them to perfection and am now 2000 up.

I revert to playing poorly by chasing, calling that extra card I KNOW I shouldn't chase.

Between all that my "Spider Senses" are really good as I fold quad 2's and 10's full of 3's.

Anyway I am down to my last $400 and am dealt pocket 6s.

I go all in.

Small and big blind call.

Board has 8 9 J, Turn is K and I think I am dead. But no, they are checking all the way! I think I am up here!!! River is a beautiful 4! SB checks then BB raises $500!?

OK good bet, the SB folds and now she is 50/50 right?

I turn my pocket 6s and then see her pretty yet UGLY smile as she shows her.........
































POCKET 4s!

Rivered up the arse again!

+$148

2006/03/15 - Number 5

+$444

This will be short and sweet.

Went to the Casino today.

Tried a different card protector - My Gold Medal received in 1984 for winning the under 12's Grand Final.

Bought in for $250, got dealt CRAP for 3 hours. Was down to about $84 when finally dealt pocket rockets. The flop comes 6 Q 9. Small blind raises and I call putting him on a Q. Couple of others call, but people are always chasing - Including me today I must admit!

Turn and river give junk - no straights or flushes and no pairs on the board plus everyone checking then limping to my raises. I go all in with last $20. Small blind and one other call.

SB HAS a Q, I flip my Rockets and everyone goes yep....until mr silent turns his 6 9 off to give him two pairs.

I don't think I could've gotten away from that and I leave with my pocket aces still staring back at me with $4 in my pocket.

Suffice to say Under 12's Medal goes back in it's box!

+$198

2006/03/11 - Number 4

+$444

Yes anyone who can count (not me obviously at that time in the morning) realised I am +$444 not +$446

So anyway, I decided to play Saturday night after all.

26 Players and top 6 got paid.
1st $500
2nd $325
3rd $200
4th $125
5th $100
6th $50 - money back.

Not much to report except I insisted we reduce the blind timing to 30 mins instead of 45.

We have been finishing every week between 3am and 4am and I believed that this was too late - especially as most people just take off leaving the host and same few to pack up and leave even later.

For the third week in a row I have had the same guy sitting on my right. He is friendly enough and a nice guy, but he has 2 really annoying habits.

1) He takes 10 minutes to make every decision. He will stare at you as if getting a read (see point two) then put his chips out string betting different sized stacks. At no point does he say "call" or "raise" and if it is a raise, he doesnt announce how much. I spend all night having to count his chips he bets to announce to the table what he has done.

2) He claims to have "studied body language". If he did study it, they obviously didn't have to pass a test at the end or he wouldn't mention it because he has no clue what I or anyone ever has. Most pots he wins are by sucking out or picking up a good flop.

Anyway story goes like this. Pretty disciplined game I played but got rivered a couple of times and was low stacked...for a change! - Alannis Morissette would call this ironic!!!

Anyway pushed all in with AQ or AJ suited and was called by the host with his pocket 4s.

Surprise surprise his flopped set sent me home at a respectable 12.30am, $50 richer and happy to be in bed before 1am.

Once again I forgot my camera but when I remember I will get said executioners to "re-enact" there hands.

I think I will head back to the casino this Wednesday which will be the 15th March.

I am unsure whether I will use the same buy in "for luck" or any of that.

One of my plans was to ignore all superstition and talk of luck yet I strongly believe in the power of the mind. I know that all my life, when I have TRULY believed I would get/achieve something, I have.

The problem is DO I BELIEVE IT?

I have found and used on Staurday a $5 chip from the casino that I picked up in 1993. It was my 21st birthday and by coincidence the 5th anniversary of the casino's opening so they "minted" some special $5 chips. It is colourful and no longer in circulation and everyone I show likes it. It "got me to 5th" on Staurday.

I was planning on using it as my card minder for Wednesday but then started thinking "If the casino sees it can they claim it? I seem to remember someone somewhere saying all chips are casino property and cannot be taken from the premises? It seems odd - there is NO WAY that this chip would have cost them more than 20 cents I reckon... but do I risk losing it?

I used it on Sat night and although I came 5th and didn't win, any placing in a tourney and any plus finish has gotta be pretty good.... Hmm I just realised $5 Chip, 5th Anniversary, Came 5th... Maybe the chip is holding me back?

I have another few disc like things I was considering using including a medal I received from my Junior Footy (Aussie Rules) club for reaching the 125 games milestone. I actually played a year away so technically should have gotten a 150 but I was still very proud and it is the only "trophy" I have kept except for the one I won in under 8s (the first year I played) I dismantled this and just kept the base with the plaque as a paper weight, but I digress....

I think my mind is made up.

I will play on Wednesday again
I will buy in with $215
I will bring my 125 games medal

Wish me luck!

+$496